i moved. i'm in chaozhou, a bit southeast of pingdong. my new companion is
sister stratford. her dad was the president of this mission like 13 years ago or
so. she goes to the y. she grew up in shanghai. i don't know what to think of
this move. i'm trying not to think to much. she and i always joked about serving
together, so when i heard that we'd be companions i was really excited. then i
realized that the last move i was really excited about ended up being my worst
move. the move i was most worried about, on the other hand, was spectacular. so,
i'm worried about being excited. maybe the two will cancel each other out and
we'll have a so-so move. actually, i'm sure it will be good. the blessing of
agency is that i can decide right? on of the first things sister s said to me
was that she feels like we'll be together for two moves. we'll see. things will
be good. i look forward to it all.
my last few days in tainan were great. as moves approached and all predictions
pointed towards me leaving i didn't feel that sad, which made me sad. i didn't
feel very attached to the area. after getting the call that said i'd be headed
south again, i started to realize that there are people i would miss. then,
bearing my testimony in my final sacrament meeting, i realized i really do love
tainan, a lot. i think that's one of the best feelings. loving. of course, it's
great to be loved, but to be able to love is a bigger blessing. missionaries are
so lucky. we get to love so many people. and we get to feel heavenly father's
love for his children all the time! it's SO cool!!
the investigators left in tainan all seem to be doing well. they are all in
their own place, moving at their own speed, but moving. on friday we set a date
with fuxian! i was so excited. she's wonderful and she's getting baptized. the
date is pretty far off (december), but i think she'll pull through. if she puts
in effort, and the missionaries teaching her continue to work prayerfully,
nothing is too great to get in the way of her baptism. we visited her on
saturday to say goodbye. she took some pictures and recorded a video on her
phone that she said she'd email to mom.
word on the street as to my release date... elder richter somehow knows tons of
inside information about everything. president hsu and sister hsu are released
about two weeks after i'm supposed to head home. to make sure that things aren't
too crazy and hectic they are talking about moving my group up and sending us
home four weeks early. they'll also move the group above me back two weeks and
we'll all go home together around june 1. this is not confirmed, just hearsay.
in considering heading home that soon i have mixed feelings. part of me filled
with joy, knowing that seeing my cute sisters isn't too far away. part of me
feels like i'll miss out on the whole mission experience, i'll love four weeks
to teach and meet people and use chinese. part of me wonders if i'll be ready to
leave. part of me thinks i'll be ready. but, that's still far away, so there's
not much use thinking about it. dad, i think before you buy plane tickets you
should get in contact with president hsu. it would be such a waste to buy
tickets and then have to get them refunded. also, i have not yet seen any
creches.
OH! I almost forgot! LAUREN HOLLEY ANDERSON is pregnant! i about died when i
found out. sister fan and i came home from a district meeting or something and
there was one letter. i love love love looking my name on an envelope and
knowing who wrote it. as soon as i read "sister jade lani ozawa" i said, "my
best friend, lauren. i'm waiting for the letter that says she's pregnant." i
opened the letter. first sentence- "i'm pregnant!" weird! but so cool! she is
going to be the best mom and she is going to have the most beautiful family. i'm
sad that i won't get to see the first child birthed by one of me close friends,
but i'm so happy for lauren and dave! yeah!!
i'm not sure what else to write about. last week was kind of boring in tainan,
nothing too crazy happened. the craziest thing was a girl and her coworker that
came to the church. sister fan and i were in a lesson, so the elders sat down
with them (allowed because the co-worker was a man). as soon as we came out of
our classroom, the elders called us over and told us they needed us to talk to
the girl. we were confused, but sat down. it turns out she was reading a book
that mentioned the protagonist going to church and finding peace in the chapel.
then she watched a movie that mentioned church. so, she decided that she would
try to see if our church could help her with "her problem". she said she had
some questions so we set up another appointment. she asked if we wanted to hear
the questions now or at the appointment that we set. to help us prepare we said
she could tell us then. her problem- she has a coworker that has always been
interested in her. she in not interested and has told him that they are just
friends. he moved on kind of and got married. but now he won't leave her alone
and always tells her he can't forget her. pretty much he wants to have an affair
with her. she asked us to tell her what to do. i was so thrown off. sister fan
and i looked at each other, waiting for the other to say something. all i could
think about was a line in preach my gospel that says nothing we do or say can
help those we teach more than the gospel of jesus christ. i know that is true.
so, we started talking about prayer. she asked, "i can just pray and god will
change my coworker?" so we explained agency and tried to help her see that we
can't solve her problems for her, but she can through heavenly father. i'm not
sure what will happen, and whether or not she'll keep meeting with sister fan.
but i think a lot of people have an interesting view of religion. many people
here look at belief in god as a crutch, others see religion as a tradition and
nothing more, a lot only turn to it when they are desperate for help of sorts. i
love that the gospel of jesus christ is more than any of that. i've recently
thought about how it's a roadmap. we know what we need to do to receive
exaltation. we are given a simple path, the hardest part is staying on it. when
we tell investigators christ's teachings can change their lives, i wonder what
they think. i assume some expect a marvelous "flip of a switch" type change.
usually it doesn't happen like that, but i know that following christ's
teachings does change that around us by helping us know what to do. i love
thinking about the change that my life has gone through and then being able to
testify that i am a different person because of the savior.
next week's email will be full of details about chaozhou. i'm excited to get to
know this place. OH! guess what?!? do you remember guo jiemei, the investigator
in pingdong. her husband opposed but she wanted to keep working towards
baptism... she's actually a chaozhou member. and she got baptized on saturday!!
i'm so happy that i'll get to see her. we'll meet with her on friday! wonderful!
i love you all and look forward to next weeks emails.
love,
sister jade
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