Invitations

It has been quite the week. It feels like a lot has happened, even though I suppose it's mostly all within the business-as-usual categories of missionary work. I think we've seen a lot of miracles and blessings in our work this week. For starters, we met three less-active members who said they would come to church on Sunday. One is a mother who apparently just got out of the habit of coming, another is a college student who was baptized when she was 16, and the last is a woman who is vegetarian and feels bad about not eating meat at church activities. Every week we visit some less active members, and most of them do not come to church the following Sunday, so it's especially exciting to see the ones who do come. Another less-active sister that we visited this week felt like she couldn't come because she needs to be making sales. She is an older widow. She used to run a nursery, but the economy recently has made it less likely for parents to pay someone else to take care of their children. Now she sits in front of her house selling cell phone covers. I hope she can make ends meet, because her house is far from a prime location for finding cell-phone-cover seeking people.

We also set a baptismal date with one of our investigators, and we have another who wants to set a date with us this week :) Setting a baptismal date means that we invite an investigator to set a goal--a date by which they will try to prepare themselves for baptism. To be prepared for baptism, they need to have a personal conviction of some basic principles of the gospel (i.e. God is our Heavenly Father, Christ is our Savior, the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored through Joseph Smith and is led by a prophet today), be willing to repent of their sins and live life in accordance with the laws and commandments of the gospel, and have a desire to continue doing that and to take upon themselves the name of Christ. They need to attend several consecutive sacrament meetings, and be living commandments such as the Word of Wisdom and law of chastity. It's not unusual at all to set baptismal dates before all these requirements are met, but then the missionaries help the investigators learn and plan what they need to do in order to meet the requirements by the baptismal goal. So that's what we'll be doing with these two sisters in the next little while, and hopefully they can both be baptized next transfer. I would be extremely excited for both of them, especially because after baptism they would receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and be able to have His constant companionship. I know from my personal experience that always having the Holy Ghost is the way to get all the peace, guidance, and protection that I need to be happy, so it's wonderful to see others enjoy the same blessing.

Cool Stuff Happens All the Time

I'm doing email a little early today so I can get off to rehearsal for the musical group that the mission is putting together for Christmas. I'm not quite sure what it will be like, to be honest, but I hope I can hold up my end. I actually get to go on exchanges with my trainer, Sister Lin, for practice. Aside from moving to a new area, we are literally always with a companion; since Sister Frasier doesn't need to be at practices, we're exchanging with Sister Lin (who is participating) and her companion (also Sister Lin, who is not participating). They're coming up to Zuoying this morning, and from here we'll split off into our temporary companionships. It already feels strange to me to think of not having a companion with me all the time; I'm sure that will be an interesting transition after my mission. It will be nice to have alone time occasionally, but I know I'll miss having someone around to be excited with, disappointed with, late with, see blessings with, etc.

Speaking of seeing blessings with your companion, this week was no exception to the constant stream of little miracles. One of the tender mercies this week was a street contact we made. We actually contacted her three times in the same day, twice at lights and once outside a 7/11 (coincidence? I think not). The third time we had a little more time to talk, and she gave us her contact information for us to set up with her. On another occasion, we went looking for a church member who hasn't been to church for a very long time (probably years). When we called, the man who answered said she wasn't at that number, so we decided to go knock on the door of the address we had. When we got there, no one answered. We were just about to leave, when a girl pulled up to that very house. She was able to get us the new number for the woman we were looking for, who we got in touch with later that day. I'm always amazed at how the timing on these things works out just right; just a few seconds difference and we wouldn't have talked to the woman at 7/11 or the girl pulling up to the house. So basically cool stuff happens all the time, and I'm not sure if it happens more now than it used to in my life, or if I just notice it more often, but it's really exciting to see every day.

Last Friday Sister Frasier and I celebrated Six Day. No, Six Day is not a lesser-known Taiwanese holiday. It is the day that marked my six months from entering the MTC, and Sister Frasier's six weeks from going home. To commemorate this historical day, we used our dinner hour to eat out, plus Coldstone for dessert (yes, my area has a Coldstone in it. When I got to Zuoying, Sister Frasier welcomed me to little America--which I always thought was just an overly-advertised tourist spot in Wyoming--because we have tons of American restaurants and stores here). Time is flying.

I Love the Book of Mormon!

Time is flying by. I can't believe that this Friday will mark six months from the day that I entered the MTC (also six weeks from the day my companion goes home). Last week we had zone conference for this move, and the topic was the Book of Mormon. Focusing on the Book of Mormon this move has been pretty awesome, and zone conference just made it all the better. The Book of Mormon is amazing for too many reasons for me to list all of them. Probably the one I've noticed the most recently is something President Benson (former prophet) taught: "There is a power in the Book of Mormon which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path." I couldn't explain why exactly (except that God designed things that way), but that statement is so true. The Book of Mormon really has the power to change anyone's life, even if he/she has already been studying it for years. When I think about the people that I've taught as a missionary, those who embrace the Book of Mormon, read it, apply it themselves, etc. are the ones who get the happiness they're looking for, and who find out for themselves what is true. I was thinking about how God knows everything, and out of all the vast store of stuff that he knows, He's picked out the most precious and necessary to our salvation, and given it to us through the scriptures. When I think about that, I'm always asking myself why He decided to stick different parts in there. I haven't come up with answers for lots of parts, but it wouldn't be any fun to get all the answers all at once (also, it would certainly be too much for me to take in one batch anyway). The other interesting thing about the Book of Mormon is that it exists. I mean, there's definitely a book, and it came from somewhere. And it itself contains a method to figure out if it came from God or not, which is sincere prayer. I think it's fascinating to have a piece of tangible evidence of God's existence and doctrine AND not be required to take anyone else's word that it's true. For myself, I know that I've felt the book to be the word of God dozens of times as I've read it, and I also don't think a false book would have the power to change lives that is within the Book of Mormon. Focusing on all these things has inspired my companion and me to rely more heavily on the Book of Mormon as we teach and study, which is great. I try not to take for granted the time I have now to have the scriptures so naturally involved in my life all day every day...

Stress Relief and Dumplings

I think I've really been seeing the fulfillment of Ether 12:27 from the Book of Mormon as I've been in this area. I was thinking about to the things that stressed me out when I first got to Taiwan, and prominent among them are making phone calls and contacting outside (especially at intersections). Since I've gotten to Zuoying, I realized that I am no longer apprehensive about either one. In Ether 12:27, the Lord promises that he can make weaknesses into strengths, and I'm pretty positive that's what happened. I know I could still learn a lot about talking to people on the phone and on the street, but my fears about it basically evaporated while I wasn't looking. I think a lot of missionaries probably have similar experiences, but that doesn't make it less meaningful to me. I know that I (along with probably every other missionary) am inadequate to do what is expected of us on our own merits, but that's what makes it all the miraculous when things come together. It's comforting to see how the Lord makes up the difference when we fall short ourselves, as long as we put everything we have out there.

The last few days my companion has been a bit under the weather, so we've spent more time than usual inside, which means more time on updating records and making phone calls. I think we're both excited to be outside more as she feels better, but there are still blessings to be seen from the indoors. For example, during one of my many hours of phone calls, I got in touch with several church members who haven't come to church for a long time, and haven't been answering their phones, and was able to understand more about their situations. Information like that is really helpful for missionaries (us now and others later) trying to figure out how to spend their time, who to meet with, etc., so we'll chalk those conversations up under tender mercies of this week.

On one of the occasions when we were out and about, we went to give cookies to the ward mission leader in 10th ward, Brother Jin. He and his wife have a little restaurant food stand thing. It's not exactly a stand--I mean, it's in a building, but it's mostly open to the outside (until they bring down the doors at night), and you can see everything they're doing to prepare the food. They sell things like noodles and dumplings. We actually didn't know it was their restaurant, because they just moved there. By the time we got there, it was quickly apparent that we'd be eating dinner there. At first I had a faint glimmer of hope that we might be able to pay ourselves, but that was dashed as soon as Brother Jin ordered for us. They ended up serving us delicious noodles with thinly sliced pork, a plate of appetizer things (tofu, among other things), a plate of dumplings (stuffed with shrimp and seafood), and soup. It was basically amazing. Of course, we offered to pay, and of course they refused. By happy chance, two church members came together to eat dinner as well, so we all ate together. It was one of those nights when I felt really at home, for some reason. Plus, I love dumplings.