This week we saw SO many miracles,
especially as far as new investigators are concerned.
On Wed, Sis Jenkins and I were out
knocking doors. I had prayed that morning and felt prompted to ask that we
would be able to find someone who was prepared, someone who really needed the
gospel. We knocked on one door, explained who we were and that we were sharing
a Christmas message, and the lady let us in (which NEVER happens....I think
this is maybe the 3rd time on my mission that someone has invited us in to
their house!). She is from the Phillipines, and is married to a Taiwanese man
and they have 3 children, two of whom were there. She gathered them in and told
them that they were all going to listen to us share. The mom is Christian but
hasn't been to church in a long time, and wants her children to understand
Christianity. We taught them the 1st lesson and set baptismal
dates with all of them! When we asked them if they would be baptized on
the 24th of January, the 10 year old son asked us what day of the week that was,
and after we told him it was a Saturday, he said, "If I don't have a
football game, I can definitely do that." We assured him that we
can work around his football game schedule! :D
We also started teaching the teenage
son, Z, and set a baptismal date with
him! Both of them came to our ward's christmas party, and it turns out that the
son is friends with L, one of our other youth-age investigators. I
think God really wants to expand the youth program in Danshui...He keeps
sending us teenage investigators.
We met this week with R, the one who showed up
last week after our church block and asked to be taught. He is awesome and he has pretty much adopted
Sis Jenkins and I as his grandchildren. He came to church yesterday, and we
called him in the evening to see how he liked it, and he said he really enjoyed
it. I asked him what his favorite part was and he said that in Priesthood
meeting, one of the brothers that he met last week came up and sat by him, and
then the bishop noticed that he was new and had him introduce himself, and then
everyone said "welcome! welcome!". The elders told us that in his
introduction he said that he originally came into our church building becuase
he was interested after always seeing it from driving his granddaughter to
school, but he felt a "quiet difference" in our church and wants to
keep coming back. He said he has been to a lot of churches, but our worship
method is different, and he likes it. He said he was so touched by the warm
welcome and how nice everyone is to him. We are going to set a baptismal date with him this
week! He is such a sweet man, and I love him.
This week we had exchanges with the Sister
Training Leaders- our new sister training leader is Sis Zhong, who I was
companions with for a week back in the summer when we did the tsunami in YuLi.
It was so fun to do misisonary work with her again! Apparently she was pretty
surprised with the state of our apartment, so she told the mission office that
we urgently needed blankets, a working microwave, and a plumber. Hahaha! But
the next day some blankets and a microwave showed up at our apartment, and so
did a plumber. He and the cockroach exterminator are my best friends this week!
We haven't seen any cockroaches for 3 days!
Speaking of our apartment, Sis Jenkins and I
had another adventure last Monday! Our apartment is pretty small, which is
fine, but there was a ton of extra furniture everywhere that was making it feel
really cramped. We asked our security guard what we could do with it, and he
told us to bring it all down, and that they could call someone to pick it up
for us for free! Sweet! We started with the couch, which we assumed would fit
in the elevator.....no matter how much we shoved, it just wouldn't fit. So Sis
Jenkins and I carried it down 3 flights of stairs, laughing the whole way down
as we unintentionally shoved each other into walls and tried to figure out how
to manuver a sofa over handrails and around corners. In all we got rid of the
sofa, 2 end tables, 3 large couch cushions (that don't even belong to the couch!), a
bookshelf, and a foot stool. And we got a fantastic arm workout in the process! :D
Yesterday at church, one of our members, X,
who always helps us peike, gave a talk and spoke about how much she her life
has changed since we started asking her to help us in lessons. She said that
she used to not feel comfortable speaking to strangers, but since seeing our
example and enthusiasm, when she sees people she doesn't know, she just wants
to share the gospel with them. When I first got to Danshui, she was less
active in the church- it's amazing to see the change that the gospel, and especially
something has simple as having the chance to bear her testimony frequently, has
made in her life. Hearing her talk really touched me as I could see clearly the
way that God had used us to influence her and strengthen her resolve to live a
Christlike life.
I love you! Merry Christmas! Talk to you Friday
(my time!)!
Sis Murri
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