Hello world! The weather here is LOVELY! Makes me so happy to go out biking everyday. And people are actually out. I will just update on the highlights of the week. :)
We visited Mickey. She has a new light about her. She has completely stopped drinking coffee and tea. She is really pondering every message we bring. We gave her a "true to the faith" book and she treasures it like a special gift. She is still learning and searching for answers.
English was great! The spiritual share was about baptism. We took everyone upstairs to the font and talked about covenants. After wards I was talking to one of the new comers, Karen. I asked her some questions and got to know her. I asked her why she came. She told me that free English sounded good. And then I don’t know why but I asked again why she came. She said that she feels lost and needs guidance. She wants a new start with life. We set up to meet the next day. We talked about the Godhead with her. She is trying to decide on what she believes. She’s golden :)
The biggest concern that I have seen here in Taiwan is feeling and recognizing the Holy Ghost. We had ZCM in Taizhong and I got my answer. We talked about the importance of believing and knowing God, our Eternal Father. There is a reason why it is the first principle we teach. I think that it is really easy to move past God. But a lot of people here in Taiwan don't have the correct idea of who God is. How are we expected to baptize when people can't get answers to prayers? They can't get answers to prayers because they don't believe or have faith that there is one God. Anyhoo-it was a big eye opener to Sister Rumsey and I. We need to help our investigators pray to the Eternal Father with faith, not just bow head and say your wish list.
We visited Mickey. She has a new light about her. She has completely stopped drinking coffee and tea. She is really pondering every message we bring. We gave her a "true to the faith" book and she treasures it like a special gift. She is still learning and searching for answers.
English was great! The spiritual share was about baptism. We took everyone upstairs to the font and talked about covenants. After wards I was talking to one of the new comers, Karen. I asked her some questions and got to know her. I asked her why she came. She told me that free English sounded good. And then I don’t know why but I asked again why she came. She said that she feels lost and needs guidance. She wants a new start with life. We set up to meet the next day. We talked about the Godhead with her. She is trying to decide on what she believes. She’s golden :)
The biggest concern that I have seen here in Taiwan is feeling and recognizing the Holy Ghost. We had ZCM in Taizhong and I got my answer. We talked about the importance of believing and knowing God, our Eternal Father. There is a reason why it is the first principle we teach. I think that it is really easy to move past God. But a lot of people here in Taiwan don't have the correct idea of who God is. How are we expected to baptize when people can't get answers to prayers? They can't get answers to prayers because they don't believe or have faith that there is one God. Anyhoo-it was a big eye opener to Sister Rumsey and I. We need to help our investigators pray to the Eternal Father with faith, not just bow head and say your wish list.
We met with An Ting and her mom. Her mom, Xie Jie Mei, won’t let her get baptized. It's the culture of Taiwan to worship ancestors. She doesn't want to give that up. We read in 2 Nephi 31 about how the doctrine of Christ is the only way and only true doctrine. We also taught her about how we can go to the temple and help our ancestors receive these blessings. She is willing to read the Book of Mormon with her daughter and pray together everyday to know if what we have taught is true.
I learned a lot about the Taiwanese culture from a member. We were discussing an investigator and she helped us understand the whole reason why they were acting the way they were acting. It helps a ton to understand the culture as well as the language.
On Friday night we went to the church and the elders introduced us to 3 young women who are interested in learning about the Gospel. That makes a total of 6 YW who we are teaching. Last year we had no YW. They are all ready to receive the gospel and become women of God.
We went to the Bishop's house with the elders on Saturday. We had food and discussed the LA"s that we can go see and how to help he ward. The elders had to leave early for a lesson. We stayed for a little longer. I felt like we needed to say a prayer before leaving. We did and the spirit was so strong. Sha Lu ward is booming and it is really exciting! :)
A former that I met when Sister Nelson was here came to church randomly. Afterwards told us that she wants to be baptized. To every missionary this is a HUGE MIRACLE! But I don't know if her intentions are right. We will see. Would be super cool!
I am really learning about charity this move call. I thought I had that down. Haha charity is not something you can just check off a list. You need to work at it. I'll keep ya'll updated.
Love you all. Keep on Keepin on :)
-Sister Graham
I learned a lot about the Taiwanese culture from a member. We were discussing an investigator and she helped us understand the whole reason why they were acting the way they were acting. It helps a ton to understand the culture as well as the language.
On Friday night we went to the church and the elders introduced us to 3 young women who are interested in learning about the Gospel. That makes a total of 6 YW who we are teaching. Last year we had no YW. They are all ready to receive the gospel and become women of God.
We went to the Bishop's house with the elders on Saturday. We had food and discussed the LA"s that we can go see and how to help he ward. The elders had to leave early for a lesson. We stayed for a little longer. I felt like we needed to say a prayer before leaving. We did and the spirit was so strong. Sha Lu ward is booming and it is really exciting! :)
A former that I met when Sister Nelson was here came to church randomly. Afterwards told us that she wants to be baptized. To every missionary this is a HUGE MIRACLE! But I don't know if her intentions are right. We will see. Would be super cool!
I am really learning about charity this move call. I thought I had that down. Haha charity is not something you can just check off a list. You need to work at it. I'll keep ya'll updated.
Love you all. Keep on Keepin on :)
-Sister Graham