Let me just say, this area is seeing so many miracles. This week especially. We have some fantasticly amazing investigators right now. Yes, that Grandma Kang is no longer meeting with us, but we also started meeting with a Xu family who are adorable and love coming to English with us too. We just need to help them go and do. Li wen ting, that girl is fantastic, no one knows she's not a member yet. She went to the talks in Taiping on Sat and sat by the stake RS pres who asked her how long she had been a member :) Then, she bore her testimony in RS yesterday. I don't think there is any type of rock, metal, or substance to compare to how golden she is. She's leaving this week for Thailand, but will be back, her baptism will be announced and she will get baptized on the 21st. Absolutely no problems, interview on Thursday before she leaves, and we invited her to invite her family to church and to her baptism and she is so willing. I really think her family would be open to the gospel, at least give everyone a chance, right?
Lin li hui, she's good. Stopped looking up online negative info about the church and we've been sharing more commandments. It's hard for some of them, she asks a lot of why's but when it comes down to it, it doesn't matter why, it's just because God says so. When He commands us we love and trust Him. And, by the end of the lessons she is all willing. You know why? Because she knows the Book of Mormon is true. That's it. The feeling when she reads that book and the things she learns is undeniably from God. She is amazing. I'm pretty sure she's learning more from that book than I am. In one of our lessons this week she mentioned how she knew how to face issues with her co-workers or knew how to help her family because of the things she was reading. She read a section we gave her and said, "this is it. This tells me how to have lasting happiness. It's all right here." (King Benjamin, of course mom, you would agree with this section, I always tell people that this is my mom's favorite part--other than the disarm-ingly charming story of Ammon that is) She's good. Oh my goodness, this week in her lesson too--it finally happened. I had my first big twinge of: this will not last forever. These experiences, these lessons, being a missionary, this isn't going to be forever. There is going to be an end and it is coming ever so quickly. One of my favorite things, aside from bearing testimony is hearing our investigators or new members bear testimony. I love the gospel, I love seeing it change people and bring people to know their Heavenly Father and Savior. Watching people become happier, watching it happen through commitments. I'm not going to be in taiwan forever. Ooooh.
Ok, that is all, I promise not to focus on that again--just letting you know it's becoming real. Anyway, we also still have our wonderful athiest investigator, luo peiting--she came to church! Said it was a bu yi yang de ganjue.(different type of feeling) I think that's good, she said she didn't realize before how important families were before she came to church :) It's just hard right now because she is doing everything reading, praying, and came to church and still says she hasn't felt anything or any sort of answer. We are going to teach more commandments to give her more opportunities to feel the spirit testifying.
And! Xu yating is an adorable girl from an inactive family--she and her friend came to church and heard about the Word of Wisdom in sacrament meeting and decided to start keeping it because they wanted the same blessings. It was amazing :) She also committed to keeping the law of sabbath and chastity. I love how she responds when we ask her why she is willing to keep these commandments: I know this is true and I want to follow God. She is amazing. The young women here are a great support and the YW Pres. is adorable and so sweet to them on Sunday. We are also working with the little sister, 10. She's a hoot, I love her. Ok, I just have to take a second to talk about her. She's a cute little pudgy thing that loves to eat and loves to make random comments. She is the most not shy Taiwanese child I have ever met. She's got a little bite to her, she makes me laugh. We pushed back their goal so they can be baptized together and since we can only visit on Sat and Sunday it takes a little longer to finish lessons, and the little one is still a little haihao, but she is willing to change, we will keep following up with her and see if she is willing to keep living the gospel. They are both adorable, love them.
One thing I learned about patience this week was how patience needs to be accompanied by action. At first I read Alma 34:40-41 and thought, ok, bear it out bear out the trials. But as I was thinking about it more, patience is not just waiting for our trials to be over, that's just silly. And it doesn't help anything, it actually makes me feel helpless that I have to wait for the 'next best thing.' But, sometimes life isn't like that--I also read Alma 26:27, they need to go amongst the Lamanites. When it feels like it's too much and we want to turn back the solution is to KEEP GOING FORWARD. Just go with it and do your best. I also love how PMG talks about hope too; how we need to work hard and do our best but hope that we will get the needed answer and being patient for when it comes. From PMG and reading I also learned and re-remembered that prayer is the ultimate support-help for us. I need to pray more for patience. I would pray every day for patience in the MTC and when I first came, and of course picking it back up every once in a while--but I need to be more consistant in asking for it. The only worry is, when you ask for it, God gives you more trials so you can develop it, now doesn't He? :) Meiyou guanxi la
Love you,
-Sister Ko
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