This week was really great. Family, friends, RM friends(Return Missionary, not Retired Mormon remember?), thank you for your prayers and good wishes. We felt them this week as we met 2 miracle people. But I'll talk about that in just a sec.
First, Conference was the best. Some talks that really made me think and deeply reflect on what I can do change include, but are not limited to: Both of President Eyring's talks. I gained a whole new understanding of the law of the fast and how I should pray. Linda K Burton's talk. I love when she said "complete, don't compete." Even though it was talking about husbands and wives, it also applies to missionary companionships. Elder Renlund's talk. I love his reference to William Shakespeare. "Twas I; but ’tis not I: I do not shame to tell you what I was, since my conversion so sweetly tastes, being the thing I am." We can change! Elder Anderson's talk was full of music metaphors I could geek out about so I basically just loved that one a lot. Plus I loved the mental imagery of the Native American medicine man asking the doctor if he could dance, then giving him those words of wisdom. "I can teach you how to dance. But you have to hear the music." President Monson's talk in the Priesthood session. It was very personal and helped me realize more fully the sacred trust the Lord has given me. Elder Holland's talk. He so clearly and powerfully tied the doctrines of the fall and the atonement together and with President Uchtdorf's talk about grace directly following, it helped me see more fully what grace and mercy can mean in our lives. I also loved Elder Nelson's talk about the Sabbath day. I think that's a commandment that many members either neglect or don't fully understand how to keep fully. I found it really helpful when he said "In my much younger years, I studied the work of others who had compiled lists of things to do and things not to do on the Sabbath. It wasn’t until later that I learned from the scriptures that my conduct and my attitude on the Sabbath constituted a sign between me and myHeavenly Father. With that understanding, I no longer needed lists of dos and don’ts. When I had to make a decision whether or not an activity was appropriate for the Sabbath, I simply asked myself, 'What sign do I want to give to God?' That question made my choices about the Sabbath day crystal clear."
As far as what actually happened this week, I'll keep it short since my Conference analysis ended up being pretty long...
The first miracle person was a 14-year-old kid named Joe. He's super cool. He's the number one basketball champ in his grade at school, and he's super spiritually sensitive. We shared about the restoration and he just seemed so interested and willing to learn. When we asked him what he wanted to pray about he said "I want to thank God for giving us Jesus Christ." I'm super excited to keep meeting with him! We were kind of bummed because he said he'd come yesterday and then he didn't show up and when we called him, his Grandma who doesn't speak Chinese answered the phone so it was impossible to get to anyone else.
The second miracle person was Sister Miao(like the sound a cat makes). She just showed up to the church without invitation Sunday morning. She said her son had given her a flyer he'd gotten from one of us, but she didn't know where it was. Then, she drove by one day while she was dropping her son off at kindergarten and found it so she decided to come on Sunday. She had been baptized into a different Christian church before, but hadn't been there in a long time. she said as she watched conference, it felt like a lot of the talks were talking about her. We're meeting her on Tuesday night at a member's home, so we're pretty stoked!
The sad news is we had interviews this week and President told Elder Gathright he's leaving in 2 weeks for sure. At least we know it's coming. I hope we can set Mingjian ablaze before he leaves though. He's a good Elder.
Love you guys!
-Elder Smith
At my Grandma's request, I sang a hymn in my native tongue of Chinese this week. It's called Lead Kindly Light(慈光歌).
And some pictures:
At Sun Moon Lake last Monday. It started POURING right before we left it was the worst!
A rainbow we saw when we got back to Mingjian
Elder Who and Brother Chen.
A member over in Nantou who owns a restaurant that we ate at every Tuesday before DTM. However, she's closing it, so no more delicious food and ridiculously low prices, BUT she can start coming to church on Sunday! Woohoo!
Mad respect to the guy on the racing wheelchair with the racing helmet.
My bus card that I drew missionary things on. I hope someday a bus driver sees it and asks questions.
Our primary kids practicing their musical number for Branch conference this weekend. See that kid on the far left? Yeah, those primary kids are the same in Taiwan as they are in the states. Loud and proud.
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