Top o' the morning to ya! And happy St. Patrick's Day! ...Just in case you were interested, no, they do not celebrate that here in Taiwan. Even the missionaries don't - I wore a nice long green skirt to commemorate the occasion, but the other missionaries: nothing. Well, they were wearing clothes, just not green ones. Anyway, I didn't quite live up the occasion as much as I normally do, but I was happy in a green skirt. And I hope you've all been happy as you've had fellow St. Patrickers out in the USA.
This week has been a newsy one! First things first, I have a new companion! Sister George from St. George - fun, right? She was Sister O'Brien's MTC companion, so I already creepily knew all about her even before she became my companion. She's a hard worker and an obedient missionary and we've already seen miracles together - it's going to be a great last transfer. Oh! One more thing - she was trained in Taidong, of all places, and was able to tell me about two more people that I taught there who are now baptized. Life is good.
Speaking of Taidong, I've got great news: one of my recent converts will be able to go through the temple before I leave! She asked me to help her - I'm not sure if that means I'm her actual usher (we'll see about the whole Chinese thing), but I get to go through the temple with her on April 19th before I go home. I originally was supposed to leave on April 20th, which means I wouldn't have been able to go with her. But because the mission schedule changed with the MTC, I now get to go. I know that that is one of the many reasons that God lengthened my time here on island.
Another person that's moved up with Sister George into the district is none other than Elder Michael Slawson, who (if you remember) was my friend in my freshman year at BYU, then moved into my district in Taidong, and now moved up to the district here. Fate is a funny friend - we keep joking that when we both have our own families and are in our mid-forties or something that we'll randomly move into the same ward or something. I'll keep you posted.
Sister O'Brien and I made sure to love life before she moved - her last day with me was actually her birthday, so I made the most of that. Just in case you were interested, it is very hard to pull off a surprise party for someone that you're around 24/7. But I managed it, with the help of one of our members. She actually was surprised, which was delightful. And then of course eating Thai food for dinner made life even more delightful. All in all a very good day. :)
Okay, I've got a great story this week. So there's this member in Shilin named Donna who wants to go on a mission this year... but who hasn't been coming to church lately. Not good. We've been wanting to visit her for a while, but the only problem is that her house is on the very top of this huge mountain in our area. And she hasn't been answering our calls, so it seemed like visiting her was our only option. We knew she didn't work on Saturdays and actually had a big chunk of time on Saturday afternoon.... so we went up the mountain! Even after riding up to the top on a bus, and then changing buses to ride another one even further into the mountain, we still had a little distance to go on foot. I, of course, was sort of freaking out that we were spending so much time on only one person, but I kept repeating "leaving the 99 and going after the one" in my head over and over again. On our way up to Donna's house we came across a hiking party, led by a man with long hair and a very deep voice - perfect mountain man. They were actually going in the same direction as we were, and they invited us to join them. So we walked and talked with them for a while, but they were walking kind of slowly, so we decided it would be better to try and move on ahead. Well, surprise surprise, we still couldn't find the address and the mountain man caught up to us again. He was so nice and decided to accompany us on our quest to find Donna. His help really did come in handy, since he had an iPhone and Taiyu-speaking abilities, which were both things that we lacked. He used the iPhone (and directions in Taiyu) to find the house... and then used some more Taiyu to talk to Donna's grandpa when she wasn't there. Then he helped us arrange for Donna to pick us up at the top of the street. As we hiked back up to the top of the road, he came across a tree with some fruit and said, "You can eat the fruit of this tree. Here, try some." He picked one and ate it, so we did as well. He said, "This tree is a rare form of guava tree that's indigenous to the mountain climate - the fruit's not quite ripe yet, but still has a satisfying sour flavor." So cool. Then when we were waiting at the top of the street he pulled out some oranges that he'd picked on the mountain earlier that day - they were delicious. As we tried to stammer our thanks, he kept trying to make it seem like it was nothing. We shared a little about who we were, what we were doing, and what kind of message we were sharing. He in turn told us that he was a retired Chinese teacher who now serves as a guide for a bunch of different mountains. He said that "when [he's] not doing anything, [he's] on the mountain." I want to be like him when I grow up.
Oh, most important part of that story - Donna did not come to pick us up at the top of the street, but she was so touched that we would go all the way to the mountain to try and see her that she came to church yesterday. SUCCESS!
This week we met a girl named Jingle (yes, as in "jingle bells"). Sister O'Brien and I were contacting, and then I felt like we should go and talk to this girl on a scooter. But she was talking on the phone - not a super-good condition to talk to someone. When Sister O'Brien pointed that out, I said that we could still try and walk up slowly and hope that she'd be done talking on the phone by the time we got there, and Sister O'Brien said, "like now! She's done now! Go go go!" And so we did. And we talked to her. And she set up. Her lesson was fine (we had a few crazy things happen with the members that were there, but that's another story), but nothing really special happened until the end. She said that she's already Christian, and normally would not talk to other Christian churches to find out about what they believe. But when she saw us on the day we contacted her, she felt like she should hang up her phone so she could talk to us. And then when I tried to set up a time, she said that she asked God in her heart, "Do you really want me to do this?" and she felt like she should. And then when I called her the day before her appointment to confirm, she said the same thing happened. "So," she said, "I already know that what you're saying is what God wants for me. I already know that it's good." Talk about cool, right? I loved hearing that, and feeling like we were a direct answer to her prayer.
Speaking of answers to prayer, I've had a few more experiences lately where I've been an answer to someone's prayer. It's humbling and powerful. I really do think that that's one of my favorite things about being a missionary - really feeling that you're a tool in the Lord's hands as you answer prayers. I think the best part is that I can keep trying my best to do that (and get better at doing that) every day of my life, and not only for a year and a half. I really do love this work. It is marvelous and life-changing. Please keep praying for our investigators and for me. I love you all! Have a fantastic week.
Love,
Sister Winters
No comments:
Post a Comment