The week flew by. One of the highlights was definitely our investigator Sister Lin's baptism on Saturday night. She's been wanting to get baptized ever since I met her last month. The preparation process was none too easy; she had to do some really difficult things to get there, but she did it! The member turnout was really good, which is a wonderful way for someone as they become a brand new member of the church to feel the love and support system they're inheriting. Her boss, who is also the stake president, rushed back from a meeting in Kaohsiung to perform the ordinance. She was probably the least nervous of anyone I've seen yet to be completely immersed in water.
After the service, we all gathered in the kitchen for celebratory goodies. She told Sister Ma and me that from the moment the baptism was completed she felt happier than she had in a long time. She was positively glowing. Her husband, who is not a member of the church, attended, along with their two children. At church on Sunday, she was confirmed a member of the church and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. The confirmation is necessary to complete baptism. When we're baptized, we covenant with God that we are willing to take the name of Christ upon us and to obey His commandments. He cleanses all of our past transgressions, and through the gift of the Holy Ghost allows us to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost as long as we're worthy. That blessing helps us uphold our part of the covenant, because the Spirit will protect us and teach us what is true so that we can make good decisions.
To prepare for this covenant, a person needs to develop faith in Christ and change his/her life to be in harmony with God's commandments. That process of repentance is ongoing, continuing far beyond baptism, but it has to be begun before baptism. Seeing Sister Lin so full of light and joy, especially after walking part of that preparatory road with her, provided another witness to me of the power of the gospel to make us happy as we apply it, and also that blessings really do come after the trial of our faith. Also, I think I learned a lot about how painful changes really can be worthwhile when they are for the sake of something true.
Somewhere in the cobwebs of my pre-mission memories I remember an simple economic model in which there are two equilibria. One is more desireable than the other. However, if you're already at the less-desireable one, you have to go through some sort of costly process to get to the more desireable one. During the process, you may temporarily be worse off than you were when you were just sitting on the original equilibrium, but if you stick it out until you get to the more desireable one, the long-term benefits will outweigh the cost of getting there. I think that's sort of like the repentance process. Everything seems to be going along just fine, and then you find out that something you're doing isn't what God wants you to be doing. In the process of changing, you may be more sad or experience frustrations that you didn't have before. But in the end, you arrive at a place that is happier than you ever were before, and through your continued obedience, you can enjoy that state forever. I love the gospel. And economics.
(Note: If anyone who actually understands the model I alluded to reads this and is appalled by my oversimplification and likely errors, please try to take account for the knowledge atrophy that has taken place over the last 10 months in terms of anything I ever learned in school. There will be plenty time to relearn things later.)
(Another sidenote: In a previous email, I referred to the phrase "xing ku." My recent studies in Chinese characters have brought to my attention that the correct pinyin is actually "xin ku.")
