Well Hello everybody! I am fine. The earthquake was big and scary, but all is well. Thank you for your prayers. The wind is still here though. Takes us twice as long to get home at night. I will have to send a picture of us at the end of the day next week.
Big things happened this week! The Zhu family got baptized!! Titan and Vivi are soooo great. They are the most converted converts that I have ever seen. They love the Book of Mormon and are so excited to go to the temple. You know how missionaries say that there is something that always goes wrong at a baptism. Well, this went really smoothly :)) except the water was ice cold. So the elder’s boiled water in the kitchen then took it upstairs to the font. They loved their copies of the Book of Mormon that we gave them. They were so excited for the Doctrine and Covenants. They have been wanting a paper copy for a long time. The ward is welcoming them too. We don't have to worry about them trying to find friends or anything. They are a young couple and don't have a car or a lot of food. So someone in the ward usually has them over for dinner every Sunday. Vivi and Titan bore their testimonies at their baptism and in church the next day. I love fast and testimony meeting, it is so up-lifting.
Big things happened this week! The Zhu family got baptized!! Titan and Vivi are soooo great. They are the most converted converts that I have ever seen. They love the Book of Mormon and are so excited to go to the temple. You know how missionaries say that there is something that always goes wrong at a baptism. Well, this went really smoothly :)) except the water was ice cold. So the elder’s boiled water in the kitchen then took it upstairs to the font. They loved their copies of the Book of Mormon that we gave them. They were so excited for the Doctrine and Covenants. They have been wanting a paper copy for a long time. The ward is welcoming them too. We don't have to worry about them trying to find friends or anything. They are a young couple and don't have a car or a lot of food. So someone in the ward usually has them over for dinner every Sunday. Vivi and Titan bore their testimonies at their baptism and in church the next day. I love fast and testimony meeting, it is so up-lifting.
He An Ting accepted a baptismal date! She is so cute. She is planning to be baptized on March 5th. I hope she makes it. You can see by her smile that she is more and more happy.
We met with Mickey and taught her about Jesus Christ and His role in our lives. She is still confused. But the Book of Mormon helps. "Does it say that in the Book of Mormon?" Then we read it and all of a sudden it makes sense! Her daughter is super cute and loves to pray. We announced that we were going to say the closing prayer and Kiki jumped on her mom's lap and said, "Let's pray together!" She hugged herself and bowed her head. Mickey and her daughter are solid but her husband has lots of doubts. He is also not willing to change. We can't convert an unwilling heart.
We also met with Liu Pin Shao. She hasn't been able to meet with us for a long time. And we had no idea where she was at with the gospel. No idea how she feels about meeting with us. I have never prayed so hard trying to figure out what to plan for her. The Holy Ghost guided the lesson. We asked lots of questions. She wants to keep on investigating. She couldn't come to church because she was going to be out of town. But she wants to come.
We met with Mickey and taught her about Jesus Christ and His role in our lives. She is still confused. But the Book of Mormon helps. "Does it say that in the Book of Mormon?" Then we read it and all of a sudden it makes sense! Her daughter is super cute and loves to pray. We announced that we were going to say the closing prayer and Kiki jumped on her mom's lap and said, "Let's pray together!" She hugged herself and bowed her head. Mickey and her daughter are solid but her husband has lots of doubts. He is also not willing to change. We can't convert an unwilling heart.
We also met with Liu Pin Shao. She hasn't been able to meet with us for a long time. And we had no idea where she was at with the gospel. No idea how she feels about meeting with us. I have never prayed so hard trying to figure out what to plan for her. The Holy Ghost guided the lesson. We asked lots of questions. She wants to keep on investigating. She couldn't come to church because she was going to be out of town. But she wants to come.
We went on exchanges this week. I was with Sister Greenhalgh (green-ouch) She is so awesome! She is from Utah, went to BYU and is a great teacher. Sister Cardon leaves in a week. It is hard to not think about home as she is preparing. Keeping both feet in the water is rough but totally worth it.
We only had sacrament meeting on Sunday. It is Chinese New Year. Big deal around here. A full week of eating and nothing else. A family will be feeding us for every meal for the next week. It has only been a couple of days and I feel like my stomach is about to explode. On Saturday (at our first new year meal) all the missionaries weighed themselves. We’re going to see who puts on the most weight.
It is really hard to do missionary work this time of year. No one wants to talk to you. So we spend a lot of time contacting and getting numbers. But that means next week is going to be awesome! Next week is "power week". The whole mission has goals for each day of the week. (hand out 13 BOM, add 10 people in 2 hours...)
We only had sacrament meeting on Sunday. It is Chinese New Year. Big deal around here. A full week of eating and nothing else. A family will be feeding us for every meal for the next week. It has only been a couple of days and I feel like my stomach is about to explode. On Saturday (at our first new year meal) all the missionaries weighed themselves. We’re going to see who puts on the most weight.
It is really hard to do missionary work this time of year. No one wants to talk to you. So we spend a lot of time contacting and getting numbers. But that means next week is going to be awesome! Next week is "power week". The whole mission has goals for each day of the week. (hand out 13 BOM, add 10 people in 2 hours...)
There are a lot of things that I have learned this week. Mainly recognizing the Holy Ghost and saying specific prayers. Sister Greenhalgh gave me the idea to go through the personal activity in PMG about recognizing the spirit. Her insights about it were really inspiring. So I decided to go through one or two scriptures a day and learn more about the Holy Ghost and how he communicates to us. It has helped a ton! Not only for myself but also for our investigators. The questions always arise, "How do you know?" or "what does it feel like?" It is different with everyone. So as I have studied I have been able to find different ways that the Spirit can help us. In the process I have been able to be more sensitive to the spirit. I can feel it. It is really cool to feel God working through me.
Love you all and HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!
"When you bear your testimony you pretty much make wherever you are a holy place."
Love, Sister Graham
Love you all and HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!
"When you bear your testimony you pretty much make wherever you are a holy place."
Love, Sister Graham