Good afternoon, my friends.
Yep, I'm gone! After 6 and a half months of the wonderful land of Tainan with bustling city streets and a strong ward, I've been sent to the mountainous landscapes of Mingjian. I haven't seen it with my own eyes yet, so I'll have to give you a personal witness next week, but from what other people tell me, it's very different from Tainan city. A lot more mountains and a lot less people, so I hope I'm able to adjust ok.
Before I left Tainan, however, some pretty awesome stuff happened. First of all, Fourth was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! That was a grand moment. Even though the baptismal service was in Chinese and he had to listen to translation, he still felt the spirit and as he bore his testimony, I could feel that it meant a lot to him. I had the privilege of baptizing him. I love the feeling of using the priesthood.
The other awesome thing that happened was one of our investigators, Vicky, asked us to give her a blessing of healing last night at the suggestion of her boyfriend who's a member. She was just pretty sick. Elder Stevens anointed and I sealed the anointing. As I spoke, the blessing came out more like a blessing of comfort and counsel than a blessing of healing. After the blessing, she was crying. Her boyfriend asked her if there was anything wrong. She said that as I gave her the blessing, I talked about some things that she hadn't really told anyone about and it shocked her as I spoke of those things and gave her encouragement in the blessing. She told me that because of that experience, she found God. She came to know that He is real. That was such a touching moment to know that as I strove to be faithful and serve others, God could perform those kinds of miracles through me. I know that priesthood power is real. It literally is God's power given to men to act in His name. I feel so blessed to be a holder of it.
I have so many people and things that I'll miss in Tainan, but I'm excited to take on a new, if daunting, challenge. Keep me and those I meet in your prayers. I love you all so much! Do great things:)
-Elder Smith
P.S. My camera is having issues so that's why pictures have been so few and far-between lately, but when I get it all figured out, I'll send them!
Today's song: Do What Is Right
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