June 7th, 2015

LOVE LOVE LOVE.

President David O Mckay said once that "True Christianity is love in action"(preach my gospel).

This week as I have strived harder than ever to forget myself and go to work, I have been filled to the brim of love for these sweet and beautiful Taiwanese people. Yesterday In church I cried all three hours. I felt so blessed to be among such wonderful, christlike people and to be able to preach the gospel in Mandarin Chinese. Every word peirced my heart. I bore my testimony and as I looked out and saw everyones sweet, smiling faces, I felt of Gods love for every single one of them. Sister Nanney and I have made a huge effort to not only visit everyone in our ward but to help with their problems, pray for them, and follow up with all of them on anything they ask of us or with their struggles. We have loved these people and they know it. Love is an action word. There were times where I thought I wasn’t doing anything for this area and I wondered if I would ever make any kind of difference for our investigators or our ward. But God has made it so incredible clear this week that we are working hand in hand with him and our efforts are enough for him to work with.

This week on monday we met with Sweet but also very stubborn, deng mama. She has been one of the hardest investigators because she has awesome questions but she also gets super fired up and won’t listen to anything we have to say sometimes.. also she says everytime that she isn’t getting baptized. On monday night we met with her and I was SOOO NERVOUS. I don’t get nervous for lessons very often anymore because I can explain everything fairly well, understand what they are saying, and I know that god will make up for my weakness. but before our lesson, I said the most renzhen prayer ever and just pleaded with heavenly father that her heart would be softened.

we were going over the plan of salvation again with her to answer her questions. That morning in personal study I studied the plan of salvation in every book I have and prayed a lot to know how to explain the information. I was prompted to use an example about the savior that I have never used before but have seen other people do. I didn’t know how it would go but I felt very strongly that, that is what she needed. As I was sharing it, I was wondering if she was understanding and I was a little uneasy. As I said the words "Christ helps us overcome all of this" her eyes got all big and she looked kind of like she was going to throw up. She covered her face and asked if I had a tissue.. I was so confused. She then yelled at me that she needed a tissue so I ran to the bathroom. As I was getting the tissue, I heard her say to her daughter "When she said that, I got really hot"... and then she started crying.

When I got back to the table, she couldn’t stop crying. I just sat there not knowing what to do and Sister Nanney was more confused because I hadn’t translated anything that had just happened. After a couple minutes deng mama apologized and said that she has never had a feeling like that before. I grabbed her arm and looked at her in the eyes with tears in mine and told her that it is the spirit testifying to her that this is all true. she just kept crying the rest of the lesson... She knows!! she felt it!! the spirit really can pierce people to the very soul. God knows what people need and he will direct his missionaries to it. We invited her to be baptized and she committed to praying about it. I know that she is in Gods hands.

Also, we had a lesson with another man named chen zi hong. We came into the lesson and he said "I prayed about my baptism.. I am getting baptized on 8/1"... sha si le!!! He also in the past refused to set a date!!! HEAVENLY FATHER IS WORKING MIRACLES IN THE HEARTS OF MEN!!

This week we also set up our beautiful Yang family to be baptized on 6/27!! We had a sweet beautiful lesson with them this week. The bishop and his wife were there and they taught perfectly for children. I used the house biyu (example)that dad always uses about baptism:) and my favorite part was at the end, I invited the sweet little boy to pray. We all knelt down and I knelt beside him and whispered the words into his ear. The spirit was so strong and when we finished, he had a big smile on his face. The room was glowing and so was that family. He said that prayer is hen bang! (awesome)

last but not least, we had THE BEST WARD PARTY I HAVE EVER BEEN TO IN MY LIFE.

we made zhong ci. its rice wrapped in leaves.. I was proud of mine and then a cute little old brother guo passed me and said "bu hao kan"...haha. Everyone was laughing about how ugly mine was. oh well. They tease me because they love me. At parties with Taiwanese people, all you do is eat food. Everyone brings some dish and everyone gathers around the table with their little bowl and chopsticks and they go at it. There was so much love in that room. We are all one big family. Sister Nanney and I included. I have never felt so close to people in my life. After we ate, they gathered in the big room and a member of the bishopbric taught everyone a dance comparable to an EFY line dance. I have never laughed harder in my life. Us misisonaries had to sit out but it was soooo fuuunnnnyyyy to see them all shake their hips like that. I am most definitly learning that dance when I go home.

our investigators LOVED IT! they were fed spiritually, physically, and learned how to shake their hips.

I LOVE THIS AREA AND I NEVER WANT TO LEAVE.

Sister nanney and I have given our all here. She has been a good sport to work so hard. Sometimes I wonder if I am pushing her too hard but then we see a miracle and we get to partake of the blessings of giving all we have to the Lord.

Taiwan will always have a piece of my heart. and my sweat.. and my tears.. haha

LOVE YOU ALL!!