Monday:
We made scripture covers for Titan and Vivi. I haven't used a sewing machine in a long time.
We also went to dinner with an active member family and had FHE. Whenever I have FHE with a family here I think of a normal American family. Brings me home and helps me realize that we are all God's children, no matter where we are.
We visited Mickey. She started living the Word of Wisdom last week. She knows it is true and loves living it. It has been so cool to see the change in Mickey. She is happier and able to overcome the challenges of life. Her husband is getting more interested in the teachings. He has seen the change in his wife. He will pick up the Book of Mormon and skim through it too. Well, you can know if it is true!
We watched "Because of Him" and talked about Jesus Christ. It is weird how so many people here have never heard of Jesus Christ or know nothing about him. After reading some scriptures she told us that she did not understand. We reread in English and she got it. She likes it when we explain things in English and in Chinese. It makes sense and she feels like when we struggle to speak Chinese the message is more personal. She feels the Holy Ghost. The gift of tongues is real, but struggling is also a strength.
We made scripture covers for Titan and Vivi. I haven't used a sewing machine in a long time.
We also went to dinner with an active member family and had FHE. Whenever I have FHE with a family here I think of a normal American family. Brings me home and helps me realize that we are all God's children, no matter where we are.
We visited Mickey. She started living the Word of Wisdom last week. She knows it is true and loves living it. It has been so cool to see the change in Mickey. She is happier and able to overcome the challenges of life. Her husband is getting more interested in the teachings. He has seen the change in his wife. He will pick up the Book of Mormon and skim through it too. Well, you can know if it is true!
We watched "Because of Him" and talked about Jesus Christ. It is weird how so many people here have never heard of Jesus Christ or know nothing about him. After reading some scriptures she told us that she did not understand. We reread in English and she got it. She likes it when we explain things in English and in Chinese. It makes sense and she feels like when we struggle to speak Chinese the message is more personal. She feels the Holy Ghost. The gift of tongues is real, but struggling is also a strength.
Tuesday:
We had a fun practice for DTM. We each had to teach our District Leader with his companion (acting as satan) tempting him. It was really hard. He was really distracting us.
Went on exchanges. Sister Hendrix came here with me. She is still in training but an amazing missionary. We saw Grace at a family mart. And guess what! She ran away from us! How silly.
We had a great lesson with He An Ting. She is 17 years old and this was my first time meeting with her. She accepted the Book of Mormon. Committed to read and pray about it. She said the closing prayer and asked Heavenly Father if the Book was true. I have never had an investigator ask in that first lesson before. She is so sincere and humble. She is always so excited to come to church too.
Wednesday:
Things that I learned on the exchange:
-I want to evaluate my testimony before every lesson. Sister Hendrix is super good about knowing what she is teaching and testifying of. The thing is I have never really doubted that these things were true. But there are some things that I cannot firmly say, "I know…" and have the Spirit Testify. (The Spirit only testifies of truth). So if we are teaching someone I want to make sure that I have a testimony in what we are sharing. I hope that as a review my testimony and work to strengthen it that it will grow and I will be able to experience the gospel in my life. I want to be able to firmly say, "I know..." to more things.
-The constant things around us are miracles. Sometimes we forget that they are signs of God working in our life.
We had a fun practice for DTM. We each had to teach our District Leader with his companion (acting as satan) tempting him. It was really hard. He was really distracting us.
Went on exchanges. Sister Hendrix came here with me. She is still in training but an amazing missionary. We saw Grace at a family mart. And guess what! She ran away from us! How silly.
We had a great lesson with He An Ting. She is 17 years old and this was my first time meeting with her. She accepted the Book of Mormon. Committed to read and pray about it. She said the closing prayer and asked Heavenly Father if the Book was true. I have never had an investigator ask in that first lesson before. She is so sincere and humble. She is always so excited to come to church too.
Wednesday:
Things that I learned on the exchange:
-I want to evaluate my testimony before every lesson. Sister Hendrix is super good about knowing what she is teaching and testifying of. The thing is I have never really doubted that these things were true. But there are some things that I cannot firmly say, "I know…" and have the Spirit Testify. (The Spirit only testifies of truth). So if we are teaching someone I want to make sure that I have a testimony in what we are sharing. I hope that as a review my testimony and work to strengthen it that it will grow and I will be able to experience the gospel in my life. I want to be able to firmly say, "I know..." to more things.
-The constant things around us are miracles. Sometimes we forget that they are signs of God working in our life.
Thursday:
We had MLC (5 hour meeting for leaders). Really long but super inspiring! I left that meeting wanting to be better and help other missionary feel the urgency in the work. I thought of what motivates me to do missionary work. What motivates me to get up at 6:30 in the morning? What motivates me to do studies? What motivates me to tract and contact? My motivation is the work that I expect the Lord to do through me. I know that I cannot be a tool in His hands if I am not doing my part. I love the concept of Obedience. It is such a simple little thing but very essential. We are now reporting how many days in the week we go to bed on time and wake up on time and get in the door on time.
We had dinner at our investigators house. She is 9. Her name is Ivy. And she is not ready to be baptized right now. But her mom wants her to take the lessons. So we played a matching game with the commandments. Super fun :)
Friday:
We met with an investigator who I hadn't seen in a long time. Liu Pin Shao. She is not interested anymore. It makes me sad when people who have spent so much time and energy to investigate and they feel the spirit and then they are like...nope.
Tonight I saw a lady crossing the cross walk. She was old and struggling. She was using a broom stick to support herself. The light turned green. I ran into the road and helped her across the street. She yelled at me. I couldn't understand her though. She was speaking Taiwanese. Then when we got to the sidewalk she walked away and said, "thank you" in Taiwanese. That is like the only word that I know. I am so grateful for the opportunities that I have to serve people. Not just "teach" but be a good citizen. I have found that my desire to help others has changed. No matter who they are I pray and hope that they have a good life and are happy.
We had MLC (5 hour meeting for leaders). Really long but super inspiring! I left that meeting wanting to be better and help other missionary feel the urgency in the work. I thought of what motivates me to do missionary work. What motivates me to get up at 6:30 in the morning? What motivates me to do studies? What motivates me to tract and contact? My motivation is the work that I expect the Lord to do through me. I know that I cannot be a tool in His hands if I am not doing my part. I love the concept of Obedience. It is such a simple little thing but very essential. We are now reporting how many days in the week we go to bed on time and wake up on time and get in the door on time.
We had dinner at our investigators house. She is 9. Her name is Ivy. And she is not ready to be baptized right now. But her mom wants her to take the lessons. So we played a matching game with the commandments. Super fun :)
Friday:
We met with an investigator who I hadn't seen in a long time. Liu Pin Shao. She is not interested anymore. It makes me sad when people who have spent so much time and energy to investigate and they feel the spirit and then they are like...nope.
Tonight I saw a lady crossing the cross walk. She was old and struggling. She was using a broom stick to support herself. The light turned green. I ran into the road and helped her across the street. She yelled at me. I couldn't understand her though. She was speaking Taiwanese. Then when we got to the sidewalk she walked away and said, "thank you" in Taiwanese. That is like the only word that I know. I am so grateful for the opportunities that I have to serve people. Not just "teach" but be a good citizen. I have found that my desire to help others has changed. No matter who they are I pray and hope that they have a good life and are happy.
Saturday:
Sister Cardon contacted someone at a red light. She seemed interested. Then the light turned red. Sister Cardon had the feeling to follow her. So we did. I had no idea what she was doing. But I followed. We found her and talked to her for like 2 seconds. Instead of back tracking to the main road we decided to take the back road that we were already on. Then we hear this, "Hey!! DO you know Zhang Xin Yu ma?" There is this lady with a clothing stand waving her arms at us. It was Grace's mom! We finally got to meet her. She is so cute and trying to hard to help Grace out. She is doing her best to show her love and repent. She cried and we gave her hugs. The Lord prompted Sister Cardon to follow a stranger down a small road so that we could meet with a member who is struggling. Follow the Spirit.
We met with An Ting tonight. She is awesome! There are these personalized stickers that you can get here with your name on them. An Ting put one on her scriptures. She holds that thing like it is her only treasure in life. She read the first chapter in Nephi. She wants to know if these things are true. And she committed herself to read 2 chapters a day and continue to pray about it's message. She is so awesome! And when we asked about church her face lit up and she was like, "of course!"
Sunday:
At church today An Ting opened up a little more. She is super shy and talks really quietly. But today she was talking a little louder and engaging more in conversations. The members take great care of her. She is the only YW in the ward and she still attends. She has a class with the teacher every Sunday. The teacher, Ming Ting, is also really excited to teach her. She is always asking us when we will go visit An Ting because she wants to come. Just this last week she invited AN Ting to a YW activity with the stake. And she went! She really is a miracle.
Meggi (RM in the ward) brought her friend, Andy, to church. He is super cool. He has met with the missionaries before and is willing to take the lessons again.
We spent most of the day trying to find new investigators. A lot of people said no but were really nice. We left our numbers with a lot of people. Zhou Jie Mei told us that when she met the missionaries they left her their number. They didn't pressure her to give them her number. She was surprised by their respect at such a young age. She was curious to what they were sharing. She ended up calling them and then getting baptized.
2 Nephi 28:30
I know that God knows each of His children. He knows me. He knows you. He wants us to be happy and have success. I know that we can't get anything unless we pray for it. And God will give us what we can handle. Just pray for answers. Be patient. And they will come.
I hope ya'll have a great week!
-Sister Graham
Sister Cardon contacted someone at a red light. She seemed interested. Then the light turned red. Sister Cardon had the feeling to follow her. So we did. I had no idea what she was doing. But I followed. We found her and talked to her for like 2 seconds. Instead of back tracking to the main road we decided to take the back road that we were already on. Then we hear this, "Hey!! DO you know Zhang Xin Yu ma?" There is this lady with a clothing stand waving her arms at us. It was Grace's mom! We finally got to meet her. She is so cute and trying to hard to help Grace out. She is doing her best to show her love and repent. She cried and we gave her hugs. The Lord prompted Sister Cardon to follow a stranger down a small road so that we could meet with a member who is struggling. Follow the Spirit.
We met with An Ting tonight. She is awesome! There are these personalized stickers that you can get here with your name on them. An Ting put one on her scriptures. She holds that thing like it is her only treasure in life. She read the first chapter in Nephi. She wants to know if these things are true. And she committed herself to read 2 chapters a day and continue to pray about it's message. She is so awesome! And when we asked about church her face lit up and she was like, "of course!"
Sunday:
At church today An Ting opened up a little more. She is super shy and talks really quietly. But today she was talking a little louder and engaging more in conversations. The members take great care of her. She is the only YW in the ward and she still attends. She has a class with the teacher every Sunday. The teacher, Ming Ting, is also really excited to teach her. She is always asking us when we will go visit An Ting because she wants to come. Just this last week she invited AN Ting to a YW activity with the stake. And she went! She really is a miracle.
Meggi (RM in the ward) brought her friend, Andy, to church. He is super cool. He has met with the missionaries before and is willing to take the lessons again.
We spent most of the day trying to find new investigators. A lot of people said no but were really nice. We left our numbers with a lot of people. Zhou Jie Mei told us that when she met the missionaries they left her their number. They didn't pressure her to give them her number. She was surprised by their respect at such a young age. She was curious to what they were sharing. She ended up calling them and then getting baptized.
2 Nephi 28:30
I know that God knows each of His children. He knows me. He knows you. He wants us to be happy and have success. I know that we can't get anything unless we pray for it. And God will give us what we can handle. Just pray for answers. Be patient. And they will come.
I hope ya'll have a great week!
-Sister Graham