So here's the deal. As I'm drawing in on the end of my mission, it feels like I'm blowing through each new week on one of those Japanese high-speed trains. I only see everything for a split second and by the time it's passed, it's all just a blur in my head. But I'll try to make some sense out of the past week.
Some of our investigators are turning out to be not quite as "golden" as we thought they were. We had a good discussion last Friday during our planning session, though, and I think we figured out some good ways we can move things forward in the coming week. We called Junhao and he's been praying. He said he's been seeing the benefits. We'll be meeting with him again this Sunday. We had a REALLY quick lesson with Rodger, someone we met with a couple weeks ago, on Saturday. It was literally 10 minutes long because he came late and had to leave pretty quick for a competition somewhere else. But darn it, we used those 10 minutes to the fullest. We introduced the Book of Mormon and gave him a copy. He said even though he's super busy, he'll be able to find some time to read it every day. He's an awesome guy. We went over to the rockstar guy's house and found out he's in pretty bad shape financially. It was a little heartbreaking to see however that rather than doing those things that would make him truly independent and happy, he wanted to mooch, for lack of a better word. One of the saddest things I see is when people have all the resources that could improve their life at their fingertips, but because they require more immediate effort than temporary solutions, they won't just reach out and use them.
Travis is pretty bummed because the time of church is changing to the morning and his family makes him work during that time on Sunday. It's especially said because he had finally set a solid baptismal goal the week before the times changed. The way it is now, he could technically get baptized, but unless his work situation changes, he won't be able to come to church or keep the Sabbath day holy. We're going to the beach with him today, though, so hopefully we can strengthen him and help him see that by facing this set-back with faith, he can strengthen himself and grow in the process. Please pray for him and us that we can have faith strong enough to overcome this challenge!
The Jiang family. I don't know if I've talked about them. There are 11 people in the Jiang family which is absolutely UNHEARD of in Taiwan. They used to be super active members, but one Sunday they were offended by another family in the ward, so they started going to the other ward, and slowly just stopped coming. However, we're at a point where we really think we can help them come back. The Bishopric just changed, they really like us missionaries(they have us over for dinner and a spiritual share every Monday), and one of the daughters wants to go on a mission so there's lots of reactivation potential. I'll keep y'all updated on their situation:).
This week was MLC. As always, it was super inspiring. President has an awesome vision for the mission and I feel really privileged to be a leader in the mission. He shared about the vision, goals, and plans the mission has. It helped me lift my vision above my own companionship and zone and see what our efforts add to the whole. He really wants to unify the mission. The Assistants showed us the clip from Finding Nemo where the fish have to work together to break free from the net and had us talk about how it related to us working together as a mission to achieve mission standards and help every companionship baptize. It was surprisingly inspiring and made a big impact on us.
Well, that's about it. I love you all and I hope you have a great week.
-Elder Smith
This week's song, at a request from my Grandma is both introduced and sung in Chinese. It's "We Thank Thee, O God For a Prophet"
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