Hey friends!
Quick Hong Jia Jun update for all those who are interested! We have met with her twice this week! Highlights including teaching the Plan of Salvation and the Doctrine of Christ, and she set a baptismal date for 2/16/19. She is still soaking up everything we teach! She reads the Book of Mormon every day and asks the most profound questions. This week she told us she loves the idea that we are one big family with God as our Father. She is so happy! And we are set up to meet with her again tonight! I love her and have never met someone more prepared to hear the Gospel. 😀
I want to share a quick spiritual thought with you all from Mosiah 5:2 – “And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.”
So this verse is right after King Benjamin has finished giving his speech to his people. I love the words “mighty change”. There’s a quote by Elder [David A.] Bednar that says, “The essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ entails a fundamental and permanent change in our very nature made possible through reliance upon ‘the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah’ (2 Nephi 2:8). As we choose to follow the Master, we choose to be changed–to be spiritually reborn.”
This Gospel is amazing. I have seen how it’s changed me, and I have seen how it can change other people. It truly makes us better people.
This week I have been studying a lot about true conversion. True conversion comes through relying on Christ. Rely on Him. Make those necessary changes. This Gospel is here to help us change and become better. Become converted. I love you all, and I know you can do it.
Funny things that happened this week:
1. Last Monday we went to try and visit a less active member [of the church], but when we got there she told us she was resting and we should come back another time. So we decided to knock on her neighbors doors before heading home. One of the neighbors was an elderly man that opened the door in his boxers. After we gave him our little pitch and asked if we could share more, he said right now was inconvenient because he wasn’t wearing clothes….hahaha…I’m confused on why he opened the door in the first place then?!
2. On Wednesday while I was taking a shower, the light right outside the bathroom window on our balcony legit caught on fire, sparked for a few seconds, and then went out…the power in half of our house also went out, including the bathroom I was in. Haha let’s just say that we have been showering by flashlight since then.
3. Remember the compliment battles I told you about that are part of this culture? I finally had one with an 80 year old Taiwanese grandma on a scooter at a stoplight hahaha. We got into an argument of trying to tell the other they were prettier. It was really entertaining.
4. My new favorite way to make biking fun is to race scooters. The lights here all have timers and because we bike them so much we know exactly what they are. So when I start talking to someone at one light and know I only have 10 seconds, I know the next light I will stop next to them again if I bike sprint. Haha so I say goodbye at the first light, sprint to the next one and greet them with 好久不見 (long time no see)! They think it’s hilarious and then I have about 50 seconds to give them an introduction to the Gospel and God’s love for them. It’s so funny Haha
That’s about it from me. I hope you all have a great week!
I love you all so so so much!!!
安姐妹
Sister Kara Andersen 