oh. my. gosh. you would not believe how crazy the food we are eating is! i think
i've become desensitized. they serve us a huge whole fish or a whole chicken in
chinese medicine soup and no longer flinch. now it's the portions and variety
that have my jaw dropping. it's out of control! i'm learning to eat really slow
and "play" with my food to make it look like i've eaten more than i actually
have. taiwanese people are amazing though, they know! you can sneakily dodge a
dish and think you got away with eat, then the wife says, "zeng jiemei, you
haven't eaten the barbequed beef yet." i'm definitely learning about hospitality
here.
this last week has been good. we;ve had some exciting things happen.
-zone conference! i love zone conference! this transfer it was extra special
because elder perkins from the first quorum of the seventy was here with his
wife. he taught so many cool things and really complimented our mission. his
wife said that usually he won't share such deep doctrine, but elder perkins
could tell that we could handle it. he didn't feel like there were any obedience
problems that he had to bring up. i'm sure president and sister hsu were proud
of us.
one of my favorite things that he talked about was how the gospel blesses
families. this is one of the principles we share in the first lesson, sometimes
i think it's a kind of hard one to teach. that sounds weird huh? you'd think it
would be the easiest, a lot easier than the great apostasy. i think that because
i grew up in the church, the knowledge that following christ will bless me and
those around me has become intrinsic (that doesn't mean i always act
accordingly). i forget that others don't necessarily realize what a large
impact christ can have on all they know. elder perkins bore testimony to all of
us who grew up in an lds family and to all of the converts in our mission that
whether or not we see it immediately or within our lifetimes, nothing can or
will help our families more than our efforts to live the gospel. i know that
what he said is true. i am so grateful for this great plan!
-we met the most golden golden golden investigator ever! i have so much i could
say about yu peizhen, but not much time. we'll see how this next week goes and
i'll fill you in next wednesday.
each time we go eat at a member's home we have to share a short message. our
purpose is to strengthen ALL we come in contact with. president hsu has asked us
that during chinese new year we share about family. as i studied the other day
in preparation i read a scripture that hit me differently than usual. doctrine
and convenants 18: 10, 15-16. in sacrament meeting a couple of weeks ago a
bishopric member shared a dream he had in which he waited outside of the
celestial kingdom. heavenly father asked him, "why is it only you?" implying
that he should have done more to get his family there with him. i think the
three-fold mission of the church fits perfectly within our families we have
three major resposibilities: 1. family history and temple ordinances for our
ancestors (redeeming the dead) 2. working as hard as we can to have a strong
family built on a gospel foundation so that our descendants may also be active
in the church (perfecting the saints) 3. sharing the happiness we have been
blessed to know with our family (and friends) that don't realize what they are
missing (spreading the gospel). our resposibilities are great and may appear
heavy, but i know that as we share all that we have spiritually (and temporally)
with those that came before us, those that will come after us and those around
us, we will see our happiness being enlarged. i know the celestial kingdom is
the happiest place there is, but i imagine it wouldn't be very happy if we were
there alone, without our parents, siblings, spouses and children. the kingdom of
god or bust!! let's all keep striving.
i love you all. hooray for eternal families! i get to spend FOREVER with you!!
love,
sister jade!
1 comment:
hey Jade! THis is Charee? I really Miss you! hOpe yOuR havIn A FanTaStiC tiMe!
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