Saturday, October 6, 2012

sun shiney greetings from your favorite sweaty faced missionary in the smoke filled billiard parlor September 17th, 2012



Dajia Wu'an!

Today our regular email place was closed, so we are in this super junky internet cafe attached to a billiard hall.  The stench of cigarette smoke is surely stenching our clothes so that, while we might leave this place and look like disciples of the Savior, the way we smell might not match what is coming out of our mouths.....

Also because this place is so....basic...there will be no pictures this week :( I had a lot to send you, but this computer is way too slow, and I'm kind of thinking meiyou banfa (not have possible). Sit tight for next week though!!!

Ok just in case she reads this...here is a birthday shout out to one of my favorite, goofiest love ducks, RJD!!!! Happy 21st! A birthday letter will find its way to you in about...3 weeks :) Also congratulations to my beloved KB on getting married! So exciting and so wonderful!! I wish I could have been there.

So last week we had sister exchanges which meant 2 crucial things: 1. I got to go to a new part of Taiwan and have an adventure with a new companion. 2. I saw my cherished MTC companion who I love with all my heart! All the sisters met at the train station, and so I saw her there twice, at the beginning and end of transfers. It was glorious to see her.  She looked incredible and happy. There was too much we wanted to express to each other and not nearly enough time, but I was grateful for the tender mercy of being able to see her and give her several huge hugs. It was like seeing family. We also saw each other at this meeting for trainers/trainees...and two of our MTC Elders were there too! What a week.

On my exchange I had a marvelous time with a totally amazing sister who is from Taiwan. Earlier in her mission, there was a death in her family. She got permission to go home, but after a couple of days she called the mission president and told him she needed to come back out on her mission. She told me that being at the funeral made her realize the vital importance of the plan of salvation, and she desperately wanted to share that with people. She has seen a lot of miracles on her mission.  Her incredible faith inspired me and gave me so much strength. The area I visited is enormous.  It is a lot more rural than my area, so that was a big change for me. The traffic was pretty skimpy.  There were a lot of fields.  Here in my area, it is buildings stretched out everywhere as far as the eye can see, and the only time the streets might be empty is if it's pouring rain, but even then the traffic is pretty steady. The area I visited still has its fair share of pollution, though.  My contacts were very dry by the end of the day.

While I was on exchange, we went to visit a former investigator who was Buddhist. The teaching record mentioned how this woman always gave the missionaries TONS of food every time they went to visit her, so we thought "How interesting" and went to see her, having no idea how accurate the previous missionaries' phrase "she fed us her entire fridge" was. In fact, this generous woman was so concerned about giving us food, we were completely unable to give the message we had prepared. It was a little discouraging. We spent a lot of time thinking, praying, and preparing to share a spiritual message with her.  While she really admired us for being missionaries and making the sacrifice to be on missions, she wasn't really willing to pause for a minute and listen. She was really kind and friendly, and EXTREMELY giving, sending us on our way with two bags full of food....including some food that she ran out and bought on the street in the middle of our visit. After visiting her I thought a lot about how I can prepare and fast and pray to share this message with other people, but in the end it completely comes down to their agency. THEY have to choose to listen. They have to choose to let the Spirit bring truth into their hearts, or they can let the Spirit bring the truth UNTO their hearts, but not let it in. It is a somewhat frustrating but very beautiful principle. Heavenly Father will always let us choose for ourselves and in His mercy, He will give us countless chances to choose Him our entire lives, and even in the life to come! He truly loves us.

Ok two funny things I need to point out: 1. My chopstick skills are still not improving that much. Apparently it's really obvious, because one of the less active sisters we visit pretty frequently gave me a training pair of chopsticks the last time we went to her house. It's like the kind that little kids use when they are first learning how. The chopsticks are connected at the top by this rubber figurine of a little girl. It's hilarious. I actually think they are harder to use....

2. My Chinese skills are also chugging along kind of slowly. There are some days when I can hear my strong American accent every time I speak, and I realize that my tones are ALL OVER THE PLACE. The other day I invited this couple to church, then the light changed. I was about to speed off on my bike, and I turned around to say one last power sentence, perhaps to promise them some fantastic blessings, or say something inspiring to them that would make them want to meet with the missionaries.  A whole jumble of sounds came out. Not Chinese, not English. They really were just a bunch of strange sounds strung together. I smiled big and sped away, murmuring, "Oooookkk...THAT'S not Chinese." Almost every day I have to remind myself to be patient and that with time....apparently MUCH more time....this language will come to me. In the meantime, I'm having some really hilarious experiences.

Time for my spiritual share of the week. On Sunday during sacrament I was flipping my scriptures open to read 3 Nephi 11, but accidentally turned to chapter 16 instead. I LOVE verses 2 & 3:

"For they of whom I speak are they who have not as yet heard my voice [...] But [...] I shall go unto them, and they shall hear my voice, and shall be numbered among my sheep, that there may be one fold and one shepherd [...]." This Sunday we had 2 really incredible investigators come to church. They are both such fabulous women who have really different backgrounds, challenges, struggles, and needs, but they have kind of become friends.  One helped the other figure out what to do, because she came last week and therefore knows the ropes ;)   As I read this scripture in 3 Nephi, I thought about these wonderful friends who were sitting in the congregation with me.  I realized how glorious it is that I am able to witness them as they hear and recognize the voice of their Master and Savior for the first time in their lives. I reflected on how at certain points in my life, I have been a lost sheep.  Through the mercy of God I was able to find my way back and start the process of true and lasting conversion to Christ and His teachings.  I'm serving a MISSION now...and I get to help other people recognize their Savior's voice beckoning them, and help them come unto Him. What a supernal privilege it is to be a missionary!! I have never felt this joy before....and I love the women I get to work with so much.

One woman has been meeting with us nearly every day for the past week and a half. She is progressing rapidly. I think I mentioned she has been keeping a gratitude journal and the entries are in English. She has had so many challenges and has gone through so many dark periods in her life...even a time when she completely lost her will to keep living because she was so miserable. Now that she has started to taste of the great light of the gospel, she clings to it and hungers more and more for it. She started wearing skirts when she meets with us :) We invited her to a baptism last week, and she started crying. I asked her why she was crying and she said she was so moved. She realized how special baptism is and how holy it is. She desperately wants to be baptized but because of some decisions in her past, she thinks she is unworthy and is afraid to make something that is so holy, dirty. We are working on building her self confidence.  It is amazing to see how much the gospel has changed her life already. Yesterday at church she showed me her gratitude journal entry from Saturday. She wrote about how she had had a dream in which she joined the church and everyone in her family was mocking her and making fun of her. She wrote "I actually bravely tell them, yelled, 'Yes! I joined the church! Him is good!" She is totally amazing. This gospel really can heal us, it really is for everyone.

"Press forward, saints, with steadfast faith in Christ, [...] thus saith our God, Ye have eternal life"! Continue to spread good and be publishers of peace, wherever you are.
I love you all so much.
Love,
Ke JieMei
Sister Coco Mack

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