Spicy Girls Only... Transfer 6: Week 3

(from a bumper sticker)

mom! i was so so so happy to hear from you! i'm sorry if i sounded like i was putting pressure on you to write. thank you for finding time to do so much for me while i'm away. i got one of the packages you sent (the books and letters). thank you thank you! i love the pilates book and i'm figuring out how exactly to work it into my schedule. i think i'll devote at least half of my dinner hour to a pilates/yoga work-out.

i'm glad california was such fun. things here in chaozhou were great. sister stratford and i ate ice cream and sang ring out wild bells (the creepiest sounding song in the hymn book) to celebrate the season. (dad- i didn't celebrate "hump day" i don't think. maybe i ate something good but nothing more than that.)

i think this transfer is passing more quickly than any of my others have. it freaks me out to think that i'll be done in about seven months (give or take a few weeks). time flies.

we worked really hard this week and did a lot of contacting and a lot of less-active finding. it seems like we didn't have many lessons that i can tell you about, but of course there were great experiences to share...

yesterday we met a less-active member named chen meihui. i don't think i've ever been so worried about a lesson beforehand. on monday we were in her village and stopped by her house. it appeared that no one was home so we left a note. on the ward list that we have a missionary had written in large letters "does not want to give information. do not call!!" we're working on cleaning up the ward list, so we wrote a note asking if we could visit her and saying that if she didn't want us calling she could give us her signature. we figured that if she did have desires to be part of the church, calling would be too much of a hassle and we wouldn't hear from her. monday night we were disappointed to receive a call asking us to come get her signature. the next morning (yesterday), all i could think about was what we could share to get her to change her mind. i don't think any other thoughts crossed my mind while i ran. in companionship study we planned to be respectful and loving and to share a scripture in 3 nephi about christ's arms always being extended towards us. halfway through comp study she called us and invited us to eat lunch with her. we had plans and couldn't commit, but hung up confused about why she was so nice to us. we made our way to her home first thing in the morning. she was really nice. we asked her about why she wanted to remove her name. she said that right now she has no way of going to church because she's sick and her father won't allow her to. she's also embarrassed because her medication has caused her to gain weight. and she has a hard time understanding the book of mormon. she said, "people visit and say heavenly father loves me, but i don't feel that." i started crying. she is so cute and wonderful, just confused. we bore testimony over and over, trying our hardest to help her feel his love. when we asked if we could visit her once a week and help her understand the book of mormon better she said we could! then she started talking about the spirit she felt each time she took the sacrament. we told her we would do our best to bring that spirit to her home and promised that she would notice a change. i am so excited to help her! i'm sure there are more less-active members like her waiting for us to find them. i've decided my favorite part of missionary work is helping others to know that heavenly father loves them. it's the most basic principle of our church, but often the hardest to grasp. it breaks my heart each time i hear someone say that they can't perceive his care for them. i do! and i love it. i love feeling heavenly fathers love for my brothers and sisters out here!

another cool lesson happened when we were contacting in a village a ways out. we had a recent convert lesson that stood us up so we went exploring. we rode past a house set back a bit but both felt like we should turn around. there we met a Vietnamese woman and her mother and father-in-law. we talked to her for a few minutes then she went and got her husband. i don't think i've met a kinder man out here. he listened and took in what we shared. he told us about going to many different churches when he was younger. he was very humble, but somewhat self deprecating. he never went to high school, his work is unstable, he's much older than his wife and he smokes a lot. we taught him the apostasy by drawing a large circle representing the truth of christ's gospel and then smaller circles overlapping parts of the large circle. this represents the churches that emerged during the great apostasy- part of the truth is within them, but it is mixed with man's ideas. he seemed to understand. we testified that change was possible and that heavenly father wants us to know the truth. he looked at the drawing and said, "i feel like this small circle is me. i have some good in me, but a lot of bad. i wish i could be completely within the large circle. i wish i could be good." we testified of the change the atonement could bring. i know he felt the spirit. he looked at us and asked, "i can change?" i felt the holy ghost testify that no matter what we can change. the atonement of the savior is waiting for us. it's the most wonderful gift we can imagine. he gave us his information and we're going to give it to the elders. when he realized that there was hope for him, his eyes sparkled. they changed from the hazy, complacent expression that met us in the beginning to smily and hopeful. it was amazing.

there's not much time left, so i'll share some of brief moments that have made this move wonderful so far...
-realizing sister stratford and i have so much in common: we both went through a period of inactivity. we both have ex-fiances that served in birmingham england. and our favorite things include sufjan stevens, arrested development and lord of the rings trilogy version of risk. (she said, "you can just say 'lord of the rings risk'." i said, "no, this way is better." and now she is converted to saying the entire name.
-last night taking out the trash. we never seem to be home when the trash truck comes, so our living room had piles and piles of garbage and recycling. while making phone calls we heard a garbage truck closer than usual. we started grabbing bags and ran downstairs. after tossing about 6 bags in the back we ran up 5 flights of stairs to grab more. i was in charge of the largest bag. the plastic was breaking so i had to carry it like you would a child. it was gross. we ran down the stairs (the elevator was in high demand) as fast as we could. a woman at the bottom told us we were too late. we ran out to the street and saw the truck driving away. so, we started sprinting. we ran in middle of the street passing all of our neighbors who were taking their trash out. people were laughing at us and shaking their heads. it took us forever to catch up to the moving truck but finally did. i can only imagine what we looked like to them... two american girls in skirts running. one with a bag in her hand by her side, the other hugging an open trash bag full of grossness. classic. i love my mission.

time is up. more next week. i love love love you all. thank you for being my family!

love,
sister jade