Dearest family and friends Haha what a week in the boonies! It truly flies by, and as I look back at everything we’ve done, I am just incredibly grateful for the Lord’s hand.
First and foremost I am grateful I was not killed by the combination of mosquitoes, savage dogs, and an extremely poorly lit road. We went and had a BBQ activity out in the middle of nowhere with some ward members that tasted soooo delicious!! It was also a great night of building member relationships!
Our friend Wu JM has been trying so hard to get a day off work to come to church, and she was finally able to come this week! She loved it! Let’s just say I’m grateful we had already taught the Word of Wisdom haha because for some reason, the Taiwanese just love to throw it around. Yikes! Anyways, she is working her way towards baptism and is so excited for the day when she can actually be baptized!
Zeng JM has been learning one of the hardest lessons to learn. After baptism life doesn’t just go smoothly and without trial. She was hit from all sides this week with full force. When she sat down to meet with us, she began to cry. I’m talking body shaking, tears won’t stop flowing, all out cry. My heart ached for her. I wanted to bring her comfort and peace. I’m grateful this week for the guidance of the Spirit to know what to say and when to say it.
On note of the Spirit, I kept getting these feelings to reach out to some previous investigators and contacts that I had when I first got to this area. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, act on the thoughts the first time they pop into your head.
The first one I reached out to was about to have a second child when I met her. Life was way too busy to start meeting with missionaries. Time passed, the texting conversation got buried under numerous other messages, but I kept scrolling until I found her. A simple “Hi, how have you and the kids been?” turned into her telling me how her life was falling apart and that she didn’t know how to be a good mom. She had moved her kids back to live with her own mother in a different city. We talked for a while. She said to me, “You know I really wanted to reach out to you before I left, but I didn’t know how.” I told her there were still missionaries where she was at, and she asked for my help to put them all in touch. Truly amazing.
Another one I reached out to was Li JM. She had been taught all the missionary lessons before, come to church many times, but said she couldn’t get baptized. I sent her the similar text of, “Hi, how have you and the kids been?” She also proceeded to tell me of how her life was falling apart and she needed to know if God was even there. (HELLO was me reaching out to you for the first time in 3 months not a big enough sign??) Anyways I told her how much Heavenly Father loved her and then she decided she just needed to get some rest.
Two days later, we are sitting in church. Most of the people who promised they would come weren’t there. And then I see these two little girls run through the front door straight to me. I immediately knew who they were and their mother wasn’t far behind them. Li JM sat in church next to a member and just cried. After, I asked her if they were happy tears or sad tears and she told me that they were tears of love. She knew God was there in her trials, and she wanted to study the Gospel again. We are set up to go to her house this week.
God truly is the cause of miracles in this work!
Funny things that happened this week:
1. The cute trainee in our home set off the fire alarm while cooking breakfast. Haha I was getting dressed and because it was the first day of the month just assumed we were doing the standard check on the fire alarm. After it passed the standard number of beeps I went running into the kitchen to see her panicking and a nice cloud of smoke. Haha all good though we used the fans to blow the smoke outside and nothing but the breakfast was harmed Haha.
2. We had dinner with the first ward Bishop’s family and all the missionaries. As Bishop was going around asking all of us if we had significant others before the mission, you could say it got a little uncomfortable Haha so when one of the missionaries perks up and asks Bishop how many girlfriends he had before he got married. Bishop got quiet and his wife started laughing so hard!! Haha
3. While biking into the boonies one day we made a funny video that sounded like either a clip from “Elf” or the candyland boardgame. Haha it was referencing what we had already passed (rice fields, pineapples, buddah head fruit) and what we still needed to pass (scary rain cloud, mango, wild dogs, banans) in order to reach our destination. Haha we have a good laugh going back to watch it.
I hope you all have a great week!
Love you all so so so much!!!
安姐妹
Sister Kara Andersen 