I'll think about it Transfer 9:Week 5

ast night we spent what felt like forever trying to get a hold of members (active and less-active) to remind/invite them to come to the fireside we're holding on saturday night. i talked to a girl that refused to speak chinese, her english had a british accent and it made me laugh so hard. i can't keep from quoting the things she said to me, including, "i don't come to church because i'm busy with schoolwork." "missionaries used to live in my house. they'd speak english to me and take me to church with them." and "i'll think about it." don't say, "not funny". way funny! if you could just hear the voice!

speaking of british accents... riding around jiayi last preparation day buying groceries and whatnot, i pondered the fact that i want to speak like someone from beijing. i realized how ridiculous that is, and how ridiculous i am. (i'm starting to agree with sister hornberger. i'm so weird!) imagine a taiwanese elder serving in alabama, trying to speak english with a british accent rather than a southern drawl (spelling? i've never written that word). he would not win hearts, he'd win sideways glances. he would look like a fool. not desirable. so i'm changing my chinese mindset. i don't want a heavy accent in either direction, just clear tones and eloquence. so, yeah.

this last week has been good. this move has gone by fast. i can't believe it will be over in ten days! crazy! on monday night we had a little miracle. when i told elder welling about it on the phone that night i could hear him shaking his head with laughter. don't laugh. it's a real miracle! this is what happened... last week we were calling less-actives to invite them to the fireside. sister hornberger talked to a huang jiemei that sounded really nice, so she felt like she should set up time with her. she set for monday night at 6:30 at her house. later when she told me i asked where huang jiemei lived. she looked at the address which turned out to be in dalin, about 2 hours away. we debated for days what to do, whether to cancel or ride out there. i am deathly afraid of denying the spirit or seeing past a prompting. sister hornberger still felt good about it, so we treked out there. the map had the big streets and a ton of small unlabeled ones, we followed the spirit and made it to a neighborhood near hers in about an hour and forty minutes without getting lost! (*this is the first miracle!) we called her from a payphone to see where we should go from there. she said she'd come pick us up and was astonished that we had ridden our bikes up the hills of dalin to find her. we waited for a bit and managed to not be abducted by the creepy man with too many questions. "you're not a teacher? what a shame! you're so pretty. you should be a teafher. do you want to come to my house and sit for a while?" (miracle #2!) she came and took us to her house which we would not have been able to find on our own. she was so kind! one of the most christlike people i've met in taiwan. she is constantly serving and helping her neighborhood. i love her. she took us back to the corner store where we left our bikes. according to our watches we had an hour to get home by 9. we both assumed we'd be walking in the door around 9:29, right before our curfew. we made it into our living room at 9:01. (THE BIG MIRACLE!!) i do not know how to explain how it was done. it was heavebly father's help. we know it was. i'm grateful for this simple evidence that the lord really is looking out for us. we see miracles every day, but it was nice to see this type, one proven by our watches!

yesterday elder cornelius and elder welling had their own miracle that i'd like to share quickly... they are having a baptism on saturday. zhang jian, their investigator,was told by a friend that he should invite his parents to his baptism. his mom said she had no time. his dad said he can't be baptized. zhang jian was devastated and had no idea what to do. his friend told him to pray all he could that day. the next day his dad called him, asked him if he was joining our church. zhang jian said yes and his dad said he could be baptized. miracle! i love miracles.

right now i'm working towards my own miracle. i know that it is possible, through christ. i've been rereading my favorite talks. the other day i read tongue of angels by elder holland. i realized that i often often often come off really mean (i probably really am mean) because of my tone of voice and word choice. i started pondering the damage i've seen caused by words and the way people treat others. i never want to be the cause of such damage! ever! so i've been studying the scriptures about self-mastery and the power of words. it seems like since this study started, everything i read, whether associated to this or not, screams the fact that anything good can be brought to pass through christ's gospel and atonement. i am so grateful for him! my favorite scripture right now is alma 20:4 "i know that in the strength of the lord thou canst do all thing." in the strength of the lord we can do all things, just like ammon! (are you still doing family scripture study? can i invite you to read ether 6? it's my favorite right now. i want to hear what you think of it, then i'll tell you why i like it.)

my time is almost up. i love you all! i know that we are members of christ's church. i know it was restored through the prophet joseph smith. i cannot express my gratitude for these truths!

i hope all is well. i miss you my family!

love,
sister jade