Week Thirty-Nine: 5/19/2014 to 5/25/2014--"Good-Bye Elder Ward"

Hello Everyone!

So yeah, Elder Ward's gone. He's going to Douliu which is in Yunlin which is about 3/4 of the way down the island. Anyways, yesterday was basically one big going away party with some missionary work sprinkled on top. Everyone here loves him. It was ridiculous, but he is a fantastic guy so I can see why:) I won't be expecting anything half as dramatic when I leave haha. We dropped him off at the airport this morning at 10:30 with a parade of recent converts and investigators trailing behind. My new companion is Elder Washburn and he doesn't get here until this afternoon at 3:30 so I have to have a member accompany me until then. I actually know him from my first transfer in Tainan. He's been out longer than me so I'm still junior companion which is great because I'll have more time to hone my Chinese and teaching abilities without the added stress of being the leader for at least a couple more transfers. He's a really funny guy and I guess he's really good friends with the Malyons(yes, Malyons, it's that Elder Washburn!) so he can't be that bad. I'm excited to work with him and see what we can do here on the isle of Pescadores(that's Penghu's Dutch name). 

Elder Ward selfie.

This last week was pretty good. We met some new folks and continued meeting with some old folks. Colin is trying super hard to keep the Word of Wisdom and has been doing pretty well so far. We also taught him the law of chastity and he completely accepted it. I'm excited for him! We're also meeting with a college student named Sherry. She is doing well too. She finally started reading the Book of Mormon and it works!! I'm telling you, the difference in the quality of the lesson we had this week was huge. She was so much more interested. She accepted a baptismal goal, and she had a desire to come to church and discuss that desire with her boss at work so she could schedule time to come. It's not magic, everyone. It's not the fact that I speak Chinese well or have any cool skills that other people don't have. It's the position the investigator puts themselves in when they read the Book of Mormon and pray to feel Heavenly Father testifying to them that the book is true and it was written by His prophets. It's a wonderful concept. 

Other than that, not much happened out of the ordinary. I did notice a lot of my weaknesses this week which is good because it helps me identify areas where I can improve, but it's also discouraging to see how far I still have to go haha. Before we found out I was still junior companion, we thought I was going to become senior companion this transfer so all week I was totally stressing out about all the things that were going to make me an ineffective senior companion. I won't endeavor to lay out all my flaws before you, but suffice it to say there are many. I'm grateful I still have time to "humble [myself] before [the Lord], and have faith in [him]" so that He can "make weak things become strong unto [me]."(Ether 12:27). Blessings in disguise! Anyway, I'll let you all know more about this Elder Washburn fellow next week. For now, here's the last song Elder Ward and I sang together and a selfie he took on my camera. 帥斃了!:

-Elder Smith

And here is the new song (and last with Elder Ward): "Come All Ye Sons of God."