Sister
Coco Mack
June 19th,
2012
MTC,
Provo, Utah
Dajia hao!
Wow. WHAT A WEEK!!!! Tomorrow I will have been in the MTC
for a MONTH! Is such a thing possible???? How can it BE?!
Let me just tell you that I am loving every single minute,
even the really hard parts. I have never been so exhausted in my life, but I
feel that the things I am doing and learning are so important, and I am just so
happy to be a missionary! Every day is full of little surprises and I am so grateful
that I keep learning and loving it all.
There are a THOUSAND and 12 things to tell you about this
week, but I'm just going to narrow it down to a few experiences for the sake of
time. One day I will reveal all my experiences though :)
This week Jin JieMei (my companion) and I extended the
invitation to be baptized to both of our investigators. A few weeks ago we
were reading in Preach My Gospel and there was something that said we should
not be afraid to extend the invitation the first time we teach someone. The
thought of that terrified me. How can I ask someone to be baptized after one
lesson? Wouldn't it drive them away and make them uncomfortable? Well...that
was really rather stupid of me. I clearly did not have enough faith. In both
instances that we extended that invitation this week, the Spirit was so
powerful. I will just tell you about what happened with one of our
investigators, Zhang Jie Mei.
Now please keep in mind that our investigators are actually
our teachers role playing as investigators that they knew and taught on their
missions. Sometimes that makes it hard because you want to think about them as
a real investigator but you're like, wait, I know you are my teacher. Anyway.
It was possibly one of the best lessons ever. When we went in to teach her I
could immediately see a change in her--she was very bright and smiley, warm and
excited. Normally she is really quiet and kind of shy. She told us that she had
been reading the Book of Mormon and that she felt it was true. She asked us for
advice about how to get her children to pray and I wanted to laugh when I
thought of all the times we have had family prayer and everyone is pinching
each other and crying or sleeping....it's just so great. We talked to her about
Mosiah 18 quite a bit. I got so excited about the whole thing and she seemed
really eager to keep hearing more. I really enthusiastically tried to talk to
her in Chinese about my love of the baptismal covenant, and how I think it so
perfectly describes Yesu Jidu de fuyin--the teachings of Christ, teachings of
loving and caring for all people. She really liked that. We shared our own
experiences with baptism, how it was an exciting time in our lives and then
felt moved to ask her if she would be willing to be baptized. She said yes! As
we were talking about it, I was completely overcome by it all. I was so full of
love and happiness for her, and I could see that she was so happy and so
touched by the Spirit. I wanted to say a thousand things to her but of course
did not have the words...in English OR Chinese. I got tears in my eyes as I
tried desperately to tell her what I was feeling. God gave me everything that I
needed to say in that moment, and it was so cool!!! I told her that God and
Jesus Christ were so happy about her decision, and that as she continued to
pray they would help her make the preparations she needs.
I know it wasn't technically a "real"
experience....but it was. The Spirit of God was so real in that lesson. The
love of God that filled me to the point where I thought I might burst with such
pure and exceeding joy was so real. Her happiness and her experience of coming
closer to Christ was real. I have decided that this is what makes all the hard
parts SO worth it. I would gladly have 100 or 1000 or even a million bad
lessons if I could have 1 lesson like the one we had with Zhang Jie Mei.
Missionary work is a beautiful beautiful thing. I can't believe how blessed I
am to be part of it!!!
We had another really incredible experience in the TRC this
week. A woman who served her mission in Taipei like 5 years ago was the first
person we taught. The goal of the lesson was to teach the volunteer how to gain
revelation through prayer. My companion was in charge of sharing the scripture
and she accidentally turned to the wrong one but it turned out to be really
powerful and it really touched this dear Sister. I don't think there are any
accidents here. God directs this work, and more and more I feel that he is
right beside us as we strive to say what he would have us say, to teach the
things he would have us teach his precious children. Towards the end of the
lesson, I once again was able to open my mouth, and say the words that God
wanted me to say. I told this sister: Wo zhidao TianFu he Yesu Jidu dui ni you
xinxin. Wo keyi ganjue tamen de ai wei ni. Wo zhidao yinwei ni you hen xinxin,
tamen shi hen kuaile wei ni.--I know God and Jesus Christ have faith in you. I
can feel their love for you. I know that because you have great faith, they are
so happy because of you. She started to cry, and I know the spirit touched her
heart. I love teaching in the TRC. The majority of the time we are teaching
members of the church and it is so cool to me, the fact that we all still need
to be ministered to. The process of being converted to Christ is one that never
ends. Everyone needs reminders and help getting there every day. It's such a
special blessing for me to do that with my investigators, the volunteers, my
companion, and the Elders in my district. It is such a precious experience for
me, and I relish the moments that I get to draw nearer to my Savior with all of
them as my guides too. I just...love learning! I learn so much every day and I
am so blessed and so happy.
More and more every day, I get excited to serve our Chinese
brothers and sister in 2 short months. More and more I know that God has
entrusted me with a great work, to minister to and love his children. More and
more I know that with God I can do all things.
"And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I
will go before your face, I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my
Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you
up."
I know that God is with me. Thank you for your love and
support, I feel it every day. Know that I pray for you constantly. I love you
all so dearly.
Love love love
Sister Coco Mack
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