Hope y’all had a MERRY CHRISTMAS! My Christmas was awesome here in Taiwan!
Here are some of the highlights of my week.
Skyping family:
Ok you must admit that skyping family is the number one Christmas highlight in any mission. It was so much fun to see my family! I love them so much and am so glad that they are happy and healthy. My family got to see the cutest little Taiwanese baby ever! We were at a members house for skyping.
Caroling:
After skyping we went caroling at elementary schools. The elders dressed up as Santa Clause. We sang songs and handed out church papers and candy. Everybody loved it! We did lots of caroling this week. Some of the ward members got together and sang to the LA's in the ward. It was so much fun to go out and sing carols. I cried multiple times. Away in a Manger gets me every time. We also got to sing at an old folks home. Reminded me of my old job.
After skyping we went caroling at elementary schools. The elders dressed up as Santa Clause. We sang songs and handed out church papers and candy. Everybody loved it! We did lots of caroling this week. Some of the ward members got together and sang to the LA's in the ward. It was so much fun to go out and sing carols. I cried multiple times. Away in a Manger gets me every time. We also got to sing at an old folks home. Reminded me of my old job.
Exchanges:
I went on exchanges with SIster Proffit. She is super awesome. She is so positive and exactly obedient. She showed me a new way of finding. You write a few questions on a poster board and ask people if they will participate in a survey. Totally worked! I like it! :) and even if you can't find people who are ready to receive the gospel then you can help others start thinking about it.
Exchanges:
I went on exchanges with SIster Proffit. She is super awesome. She is so positive and exactly obedient. She showed me a new way of finding. You write a few questions on a poster board and ask people if they will participate in a survey. Totally worked! I like it! :) and even if you can't find people who are ready to receive the gospel then you can help others start thinking about it.
Liu Pin Shao:
We extended an invitation for Liu Pin Shao to be baptized and she accepted. But she doesn't seem too excited about it. She is really scared about the responsibility that comes after baptism.
Christmas Eve:
For Christmas Eve we opened up new PJ's that we bought each other. Super comfy. And we read the Christmas story in the Bible together. It was so much fun :) I love the Spirit of Christmas! :)
We extended an invitation for Liu Pin Shao to be baptized and she accepted. But she doesn't seem too excited about it. She is really scared about the responsibility that comes after baptism.
Christmas Eve:
For Christmas Eve we opened up new PJ's that we bought each other. Super comfy. And we read the Christmas story in the Bible together. It was so much fun :) I love the Spirit of Christmas! :)
Christmas Dinner:
Sha Lu knows how to put on a Christmas dinner. There were 5 tables full of yummy food. They even stuffed lots of turkeys with rice. So Asian. Lots of members brought their friends and we were able to meet lots of new faces.
Sha Lu knows how to put on a Christmas dinner. There were 5 tables full of yummy food. They even stuffed lots of turkeys with rice. So Asian. Lots of members brought their friends and we were able to meet lots of new faces.
New Investigators:
We got 3 new investigators this week, Zhu ming wei, Fang Qui Yi and Ivy. All thanks to the Qing Shui Elders. A cute couple who love the Book of Mormon live up by the college. They were introduced to the gospel when they were in America. They stayed in a Mormon family's home. The family took them to church and to the temple multiple times. And then got a hold of the Book of Mormon. Years have past and just recently they have been wanting to find a religion and actually wanted to investigate this church but just didn’t know where to go. Then about a month ago Elder Nipper found the guy, exchanged numbers and boom. They love the Book of Mormon and what it teaches. We tried to extend a date. They wanted to pray about it. I am so excited to be teaching them! The wife's testimony is mainly based off of her husbands but she does have her own ideas about God and such. When we met with them it seemed like they wanted to sit all afternoon and learn more.
The other investigator we got is a 9 year old girl, Ivy. Her mom and brother are members. She comes to church every week. Her dad said that she can get baptized if she understands and if she knows why she wants to. So we are teaching her mainly for understanding purposes and to help her know why. She is super cute.
Church:
I am sorry but I have to mention again the importance of keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. I had a cool impression to read a talk a couple of days ago about Obedience. God loves us so He gave us commandments that will keep us safe and happy. If we love Him then we will keep His commandments. It is as simple as that. I was able to speak in Sacrament meeting on Sunday and I was able to share this talk. Towards the end of this talk it said that the recent prophets and leaders of the church have been stressing the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy and the law of the fast. Throughout Sunday we were able to go visit a lot of investigators who haven't been coming to church. We were able to talk about their lives and see what we can help them with. I noticed that only if they would make the small sacrifice to come to church (only 3 hours) every other aspect of their lives would be better. I really don't know how it works but by following the commandment of keeping the Sabbath day holy and living the law of the fast we blessed both spiritually and temporally.
This is the most wonderful time of the year. I am so grateful for my Savior and Redeemer who sacrificed for me and for all of us. Jesus Christ is the best gift that any of us could ever have. His Atonement is the ultimate expression of love from God. Because of this wonderful gift I can have hope, be forgiven and live with God again. I am so blessed to have this gospel in my life that helps me to change and grow to be like Heavenly Father. And I am so glad to have this wonderful opportunity to be sharing about Him and His Son for a brief 18 months. I love my Heavenly Father and I love Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas to all! :)
-Sister Graham
We got 3 new investigators this week, Zhu ming wei, Fang Qui Yi and Ivy. All thanks to the Qing Shui Elders. A cute couple who love the Book of Mormon live up by the college. They were introduced to the gospel when they were in America. They stayed in a Mormon family's home. The family took them to church and to the temple multiple times. And then got a hold of the Book of Mormon. Years have past and just recently they have been wanting to find a religion and actually wanted to investigate this church but just didn’t know where to go. Then about a month ago Elder Nipper found the guy, exchanged numbers and boom. They love the Book of Mormon and what it teaches. We tried to extend a date. They wanted to pray about it. I am so excited to be teaching them! The wife's testimony is mainly based off of her husbands but she does have her own ideas about God and such. When we met with them it seemed like they wanted to sit all afternoon and learn more.
The other investigator we got is a 9 year old girl, Ivy. Her mom and brother are members. She comes to church every week. Her dad said that she can get baptized if she understands and if she knows why she wants to. So we are teaching her mainly for understanding purposes and to help her know why. She is super cute.
Church:
I am sorry but I have to mention again the importance of keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. I had a cool impression to read a talk a couple of days ago about Obedience. God loves us so He gave us commandments that will keep us safe and happy. If we love Him then we will keep His commandments. It is as simple as that. I was able to speak in Sacrament meeting on Sunday and I was able to share this talk. Towards the end of this talk it said that the recent prophets and leaders of the church have been stressing the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy and the law of the fast. Throughout Sunday we were able to go visit a lot of investigators who haven't been coming to church. We were able to talk about their lives and see what we can help them with. I noticed that only if they would make the small sacrifice to come to church (only 3 hours) every other aspect of their lives would be better. I really don't know how it works but by following the commandment of keeping the Sabbath day holy and living the law of the fast we blessed both spiritually and temporally.
This is the most wonderful time of the year. I am so grateful for my Savior and Redeemer who sacrificed for me and for all of us. Jesus Christ is the best gift that any of us could ever have. His Atonement is the ultimate expression of love from God. Because of this wonderful gift I can have hope, be forgiven and live with God again. I am so blessed to have this gospel in my life that helps me to change and grow to be like Heavenly Father. And I am so glad to have this wonderful opportunity to be sharing about Him and His Son for a brief 18 months. I love my Heavenly Father and I love Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas to all! :)
-Sister Graham