Hello everybody!
Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the street contacts, the cancelled appointments, the exhaustion, the weather, the food, and the countless other little things that make up a mission. I’ve found, however, that it’s keeping an eternal perspective in those small moments that really makes all the difference. Are we paying attention? It’s those small miracles that make every hard thing worth it. And that is true happiness.
I came across a quote this week from Elder [Joseph B.] Wirthlin that says:
“For too many, happiness is just over the horizon, never reachable. Every time we climb one hill, happiness beckons just beyond the next. It is a terrible thing always to be waiting for tomorrow, always depending on tomorrow, always excusing our today’s because we are sure that only in the future will we possess the things that will fulfill us. Don’t wait for tomorrow. Don’t wait for the right job, the right house, the right salary, the right dress size. Be Happy today. Be happy now.”
At the beginning of the week, with the new transfer dawning, I got a call from President. Not only would we be becoming a trio, we were going to have a lot of work to do. We would need to be covering both the Taoyuan 2 Ward that I was currently in, as well as the Guishan Ward. He also told me I would have a big responsibility in helping my new companion realize that missionary work is joyful! I was a little nervous and definitely feeling inadequate.
Let’s just say, it’s been exhausting, and pretty much nothing has gone according to our plan. However, Heavenly Father definitely has His plan, and I have been blessed to see it unfolding.
One day this week we made sure to stop back in to our favorite vegetarian fried rice shop. The owner is amazing! Our first time there, we talked a lot about why we came as missionaries to Taiwan. The second time, we left her with a Book of Mormon. The third time, we shared the Restoration and invited her to read the book and pray to know. We came back this time, only a week later, and she had read all of 1 Nephi, said a prayer, knew it was true, but was stuck. She was already a baptized Christian, and now she was afraid her church was wrong. Is there something more, she asked? Well of course there is. There’s a fullness of truth waiting for you. Do you want to have the whole truth? The desire was there and we proceeded to share the Plan of Salvation. Who knew that talking to everyone would mean finding those ready to hear the Gospel in a rice shop. Thanks Heavenly Father for helping us to be bold in sharing with everyone.
Another day, two of our lessons just didn’t show up. One was actually a member and just completely forgot. That’s when the young missionary looks at you and say, “what now?” Well at this point, all I’ve got is prayer. So we say a prayer and then we text a friend we met at the middle of last transfer and ask if she finally has time to meet. She had just gotten off work, had a really rough day, and said she could use the joy of our message. So we sat together in a Seven, with our friend named Clover, and taught her all about how the Restoration of the Gospel could bring her happiness. She was overjoyed and set up to meet again and continue learning. Thank you Heavenly Father for helping us see miracles.
We have a friend who was progressing towards baptism really quickly. College started again, he got really stressed, and there was no way he could achieve his baptism goal. He felt bad, felt like he had let people down, and disappeared. He didn’t come to church for 2 weeks, and we couldn’t even contact him. Then a member stepped in and invited him over for lunch. As we were being told the experience later we learned that the member had asked him why he was keeping all the missionary commitments. This 19-year-old boy who hadn’t even been baptized yet said he knew he was developing a relationship with Christ. He came to church the next day and asked us to help him get ready for baptism. We reviewed all the commandments which he had already been taught, and he said he was willing to keep them all. Thank you Heavenly Father for your perfect timing.
At the beginning of each day since this new transfer, we have asked Heavenly Father for the help to accomplish everything in the day that needs to get done. Well it seemed like He had a funny way of having all of our plans get cancelled or not show up. BUT THEN…He let us see even bigger miracles!
It’s so easy to get stressed when there’s too much to do and when there’s not enough to do. But it’s God’s work, so I’m just gonna do my best to let Him worry about it and enjoy the time I get to be His full-time missionary. Missionary work is a happy work!
Funny things that happened this week:
1. We were at a YSA activity at the church and a giant flying cockroach decided to make his presence known on the ceiling. A member disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a rubber band. One shot and he hit it dead. Talk about some Karate Kid accuracy! Hahah nasty but funny.
2. We ran into three strange men this week on the street haha. The first one was the most hilarious. He told us his name was anonymous (IN English mind you haha). So in English I asked him about his family. He then asked me if I would be his wife…um no thanks. Should have been flattering I guess? Haha he told me he would change religions for me…oh dear hahaha
Anyways, I hope General Conference was amazing! I’m so excited to listen to it next week!
I love you all so so so much!!!
安姐妹
Sister Kara Andersen 