Wow, hearing from all of you makes me so unbelievably happy! Seriously, I feel like it's Christmas morning every Monday morning (although part of that might be because I wake up so early...) - thank you for taking the time to write to me. I love you.
It's been a great week here in paradise. We set high goals this week and achieved all of them (the first time that's happened in a long time) - and we set even higher ones this week, so I'll need the help of your prayers, please! Summer is HERE. I got what will probably be the first sunburn of many this past week. Everyone here is terrified of getting tan and will wear long sleeves even when it's incredibly hot outside...
Shout-out to college friends: good luck with finals! You all will do so wonderfully. Know that there's a girl on the other side of the world who's praying for all of you. And congratulations to those of you who will be GRADUATING! I know that's what would have happened to me this year too if I had stayed, but honestly, it's hard for me to imagine. If any of you are moving this summer, I'd love your new addresses so we can still stay in touch.
Okay, the subject of my email. There's this restaurant here that I love. It's cheap (a little more than $1.50 for a meal), and it's GOOD. But we only went there once last transfer, and I've had a hankering to go back since. Things never seemed to work out for us to go, though... Anyway, last time we went, my companion got fried noodles and I got fried rice, both of which were amazing - but I wanted to try the noodles next time. I tried not to think about this too much so I wouldn't get distracted from the work, but it crept into my subconcious - I had a dream about noodles. My companion got the wrong kind and they were really bad. It just so happens that the next day we went to that restaurant and accidentally ordered super-spicy noodles instead of the kind we wanted. The joys of not being able to read the menu, right? Anyway, we laughed about that, but then I realized the implications behind what had just happened. I, like Po in Kung Fu Panda, had had "the noodle dream!" I hope that that symbolizes that I'm going to be a kung fu master by the time I get back. Or at least open a Chinese restaurant.
I'm glad that you all liked hearing about Liang Mama last week. This week I'll be talking about Melody. She's a piano teacher with a Buddhist background, and she's been meeting off and on with the missionaries for the past three years. My companion thought that one of the reasons I might have been transferred here is because of Melody - both of us (my companion and I) are music majors, and music is a huge part of Melody's life, thus hopefully giving us more of a connection to build upon. Melody's problems with the church are 1) she says that it's impossible to keep the Word of Wisdom and not drink tea for the rest of her life (a common problem here), and 2) she doesn't understand why there's only one God, or at least why all of the different religions don't lead to Him (another common thought process here). She also teaches students on Sundays, which is tough. Since I've been here, we've been meeting with her but haven't set a new baptismal date (she's had like three or four) because she's very outspoken about "why she can't be baptized" (the two reasons listed above). Well, this past week we met with her again. My companion was the one who was studying for her, but I had the thought that we really should commit her to baptism this week. Well, we went over our plans in companion study later, and my companion said: "I want to use Alma 7:11-16 because it leads from the Atonement straight into baptism." I looked at her and said, "Wait, you want to commit her to baptism?" Turns out she had had the same thoughts as I had. Anyway, we went over (we were pretty nervous) and talked to her about "practical," every-day ways of using the Atonement. I shared an experience I had had last year in using the Atonement last year when I was preparing for my violin recital. This prompted her to share a story about her son, who is also a violinist, and how when she prayed for him, he won first place in a violin competition. She said that his arm was really stiff before he started ("and," she shared, "as you know, he has no way to play with a stiff arm!"), but after she prayed, he was able to play, and to win. Wow. The Spirit was really strong. Anyway, we got to verses 15 and 16, which talked about baptism. We asked Melody what her understanding was about those scriptures, and she said, "well, we all need to repent and be baptized." We agreed with her, and then asked her if she would be baptized. In the past, she'd always been really hesitant, or give some excuse, or say, "I'll try." But THIS time, she said, "yes, I will. What do I need to do to prepare?" YES!!! We told her that she needed to pray, to read, and... to keep the commandments. This would include keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. She said, "Alright, I'll just need to adjust my schedule." She was at church yesterday! I'm so excited. We'll need to work really hard with her to make sure that she'll get baptized, but we can do it - with the Lord's help. He's helping these people so much.
That's about it for this week. Keep praying for me and the people here! There's no way I'd be able to do this without Heavenly Father's help. And because of your prayers, He's helping me even more. Thank you! Also, one of our investigators, "Chun Loo Ling" will need prayers this week. Please pray for her.
I love you! This is God's work.
Love,
Becca
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