Week Forty-One: 6/2/2014 to 6/8/2014--Bitter-sweet Miracles

Hello Everyone!

So, when I interviewed with president when I first got here, he said "everyone has to have at least one hard area in their mission" referring to Magong and I was like, "What? this place is full of wonderful people! I love this place!" However, as summer is rolling in, I'm starting to see what he meant.

Magong, Penghu's main industry is tourism which means that during the summer months, about 50%+ of the people on the street are not actually from here. The college students and the guys doing military service here are going home. And then, the people from here are all really, REALLY busy managing all of the tourists' needs. So, what that means for missionaries is that it's really hard to find anyone stable to teach because even if they are SUPER interested, odds are they aren't from Penghu, or they really are too busy to meet. What that means for us, is we have a few really awesome investigators that are going home for the summer or for good in the next few weeks and after that we will hardly have anyone to teach. 

But! We can be happy while it lasts. This week, we met with a guy we ran into on the road a few weeks ago. He's doing his military service hear and goes home in a month or so, but when we met him on the street, we had a Book of Mormon which we gave him. We also shared with him Ether 12:27~"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." He loved it! He said he wrote it in one of his notebooks. When we finally met with him on Friday, he had read 17 chapters and unlike most people, he had retained all of what he read. He also brought a friend. They both loved what we taught. They sent us a text later that night that basically said "I'm so grateful that God and you both gave me this opportunity to learn about the Latter-day Saint church. I'm going to start a habit of praying every day, whether or not I'm in Penghu." He also said his friend started reading and praying. I'm so happy for them. Even though we probably won't be able to see them get baptized, I'm excited to hear about what happens with them. 

Me thoughtfully pondering the Chinese Bible.

Sherry also had some big improvements. She knows all about reading, praying, and coming to church. Whenever we ask her, "What do you need to do to know if this is true," she doesn't even think twice before saying "CPR." However, she hadn't really seen its relevance to her until this wee,k when all the stresses in her life came to a head and she just felt too overwhelmed(finals week, social conflicts, etc). She met with us and after talking with her for a little bit about the importance of keeping her commitments, she started crying and told us about her concerns. I could see God's hand in her life. I felt like Ammon with all the servants around him freaking out because they think they're going to die(see Alma 17:27-30https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/17?lang=eng) I knew she needed that challenge in order to push her to come closer to Christ. She committed to start keeping her commitments for real and I'm really hopeful about her progression. She's also going home in a few weeks, however:(. 

Anyway, I'm hoping we can find some new people that will stay a little longer. I love you guys! Even though I felt a little discouraged this week, know that I still love this work more than anything and it brings me a lot of joy.

-Elder Smith