June 16, 2013
So, a really happy thing happened yesterday...Chen JM got
baptized!!!!! YAY! It was so great! It was actually a really crazy Sunday, we
had 5 investigators at church (yayaya!) and then right after church was the
baptism. It was hard because sister Thomas and I were trying to take care of
all our investigators and get the baptism ready all at the same time. Chen JM
was just sitting on some chairs patiently waiting to be told what to do. I was
taking some investigators to the kitchen to get some food, and then Sister
Thomas comes in and was like, "I can't find Chen JM. I don't know where
she is..." So, panicked, we searched the entire church. Couldn't find her.
We called her phone a billion times. Didn't answer. We were SO worried! So we
said a prayer and then a min later she walks up behind us with a juice
box...she had gone to buy juice! haha (...oops. We'll have to go over that
commandment again haha). So we got her into her white clothes, took some
pictures, and then finally went in for the baptism. She was nervous because of
her eye (she is the one who lost her eye), but we told her it would be fast and
wouldn't have to be under water too long. Well...she kept not going under the
water all the way haha! She had to do it 3 times! After the 2nd time she may or
may not have sworn.....hahahaha! Our investigator swore (in english, I don't
think anyone else heard it but me and Sister Romenello-the sister who was in
this area before I got here) in the baptismal faunt! Oh my goodness I was
laughing so hard. It sounds like she wasn't very prepared for baptism, but
really she is amazing. She has SO much faith, it's incredible. It was so so
happy :)
On the other end of the spectrum, our investigator Cai JM
dropped her baptismal goal for this coming Sunday. We were really sad about it.
It's actually kind of frustrating because she has such a great testimony of
prayer and the Book of Mormon, and she knows that she needs to get baptized,
but for some reason she thinks that she needs more time. So, we will give her
more time. She set a new goal for August 17. She is so great, I love her so
much and I pray so hard for her.
We have a lot of really great investigators! We went with
one of our investigators, Li JM to the dedication of a new stake center in
North Taichung. She has a baptismal goal for July 27. She is 17 and so cute!
Ah! I love that girl. Anyway, at the dedication they had a lot of people
getting baptized that we were able to watch, and after they all got up to bare
their testimonies. There was an 82 year old man that got baptized that day and
he said that his life had just begun because of his baptism. It was really
cool.
Being a missionary is really such a humbling experience.
Complete strangers let you into their houses and into their lives. They tell
you personal things about them, and you instantly love them. You get to share
something that means the world to you, and that you know will change their
life. You teach them the gospel according to what the Spirit directs, and then
you just get to watch this person that you love so much change. You get to
watch them progress, learn, and become converted. And it literally has nothing
to do with you. I feel so blessed to be able to watch all of these people go
through such a personal and sacred experience. And I am trying my hardest to
live up to the great responsibility Heavenly Father has given me.
I absolutely LOVE being a missionary. I love my
investigators. I love my companion. I love being completely exhausted at the
end of the day. I love everything about it. And I know that I will only love it
more and more as time goes on. I can't believe it's already been about 5 months.
Weird! Time goes by so fast!
I'm trying to think of other questions you asked...I'm sad
about Sister Thomas leaving, she is really great. I'm really nervous for my new
companion, though I'm sure she will be really great too. The language is still
really hard, but I'm thankful for all the prayers. I know that Heavenly Father
is helping me so much.
