as we rode from our apartment to the email place across the street from the
train station this morning, i decided there is something wonderful and
refreshing about being awake and out of the house before the rest of the general
public. it was a few minutes before six at the time that we left. the sun is
still not up and the roads were clear. we rode past a lot of breakfast stores
just starting to open, and lots of cab drivers sleeping in their taxis. i think
the coolest thing we passed was a butcher shop. the butcher was tenderizing meat
and hanging up dead pigs and stuff. i think when i get home i'm going to find a
way to be on the streets before anyone else, maybe i'll be out running or going
to an early class. i think that this all is why dad goes to work so early,
maybe.
the last week has been interesting. december has been and will continue to be
extremely busy. there are things that we have to do that i feel waste a lot of
precious finding time, but we have no choice. i think i mentioned last week, my
companion is involved in christmas performances throughout the mission area.
each time she has a performance i have to go on an exchange with sisters in a
nearby area. so, all of friday i spent in xin ying with sister lin. there is
nothing that helps you appreciate your companion more than a not so great
exchange. but, i learned things while away from jiayi... a. i am stubborn and
instantly dislike anyone that tries to boss me around. i need to work on
patience and understanding. sister lin kept telling me when to pray and telling
me things about taiwan or being a missionary that i already know (i'm on my
seventh move, she's on her second). b. being a missionary has done amazing
things for my psyche. the whole exchange was really stressful because we didn't
know when our companions would be back and whether or not i'd have to sleep in
xinying (when i got ready to go, i was told i'd be sleeping at home. when i got
there it was that i'd sleep in xinying. it continued to change throughout the
day). at about 9:30pm we learned that not only would i be sleeping at their
apartment, but so would two other sisters. i think premission all of this
uncertainty and confusion would have put me in meltdown mode. not this time! :)
c. it's okay to have where the same clothes on the train ride home as you did on
the train ride there. d. flexibility is important!! i was very frustrated with
sister lin because as we planned saturday's exchange she refused to go to jiayi.
obviously, this bothered me. i had just spent a whole day in her area,
neglecting my own. it would only be fair to spend time bringing souls in our
area to christ the next day right? i don't know if it was just because she
didn't understand how exchanges work or what. i jsut know that i realized there
may be times that i do the same thing. i'm going to work on being flexible and
easy going and on having the facts and a sound understanding before i get my
mind set in a certain direction.
on monday night we had one of the most interesting lessons i have ever had. i
feel like a lot of it was shen de anpai (god's set-up, how would you say that
normally?!). last week we had a good lesson with our investigator yu chun. she
has been investigating for a few months and is struggling with the word of
wisdom. last week's lesson we focused on heavenly father and his love for her. i
really feel like if our investigators don't understand the simple doctrines of
their divine heritage, there is no way that they will be willing to keep any
commitments we extend. during that lesson i learned something new as i bore
testimony of father's love for her. all that he has every done and will ever do
is so that we can return to his presence. he wants us to be with him SO badly,
more than any parent on earth would ever want their children back at home. he
has given us the resources to accomplish his goals for us, he has given us the
resources to become gods. when we don't take advantage of these things, not only
are we interfering with our own happiness, but also with the joy that he would
have seeing us in his kingdom. so, when we sin and disregard his counsel, we are
hurting ourselves and the one that loves us more than anyone else ever will. sin
is so selfish, and i'm often much too self-indulgent and self-involved. anyway,
i think that lesson got through to her and really made her think. we decided to
let her rest a bit, because she mentioned feeling pressure when she meets with
us.
on saturday i called her to see if she wanted to meet with us and to share a
scripture i read that made me think of her (john 7:17- he that do my will shall
understand my doctine (or something along those lines)). she sounded good and
wrote down the scripture reference. usually we don't set lessons for monday
night because it's hard to get member to help because we're not supposed to ask
them to do anything for us because of family home evening (three "because"s in
one sentence. that cannot be correct grammar, sorry.). i felt good, though,
about setting her up on monday and choosing not to have a member present. we met
her at a cafe near the church. when we asked her about prayer and reading she
said that she had done neither. we talked about the apostasy, prophets and the
restoration and also about the importance of having a testimony of these things.
we weren't planning on it, but i felt impressed to ask her why she was meeting
us and to tell her that if she didn't use the principles we were teaching her
then she was just wasting her time and ours. most of the time i don't tell
investigators or members about the times when i was inactive, but i felt like i
should so i did. i told her about some of my fears about reading scriptures and
praying. if the church was true i'd have to change, and change is never easy.
after a bit she opened up and told us she had a question. it took her a really
long time to get it out, and she expressed it in a very round about way, but in
the end she told us that she's bisexual. i'm so grateful for sister chen. i had
no idea what to say, but she jumped right in boldly. she happened to have a for
the strength of youth pamphlet from an earlier lesson in her bag, so we read
from it and from the proclamation to the world. i think yuchun wants to change.
i don't know why else she would have told us. and i think that this is what has
been keeping her from keeping commandments like the word of wisdom. i bore
testimony that through every trial i've learned new things but have always
learned on constant truth: god loves me and will support me as needed. we saw
her cry for the first time. i tried to commit her to pray and read daily but she
wouldn't answer. we told her that all of this was her decision and that we
couldn't and wouldn't force her to do anything. after a long while we asked "do
you want to meet with us again this week?" she nodded. we told her we'd set up
the lesson when she came to church on sunday and she said okay. usually she
won't come to church. i think that this will be her changing point. i think she
knows what the gospel can bring to her life. so i'm happy! the spirit was strong
even in the cafe behind the church.
only a few minutes left. we're off to kaohsiung for mission conference and a
christmas party at a posh buffet.
i love you all and miss you!! you are in my thoughts and prayers!
love,
sister o.
ps- sister stratford and i decided pocky parties will be had every fourth
saturday of the month. you are all invited to participate from across the ocean.
we'll be eating pocky of the 27th here (she in chaozhou, me in jiayi). <3
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