5/18/16
Nihao Pengyoumen! (Hi friends!)
Nihao Pengyoumen! (Hi friends!)
Sometimes I wish that I could just send you my journal. It has everything you need to know just chilling in its pages! But I am here and I will tell you the things.
I had the coolest experience that maybe I have ever had. Hopefully I can adequately depict it.
Our investigator HouDiXiong (my teacher, LiLaoShi) is really doing very well. We are also teaching his wife, but she hasn't come to our last couple lessons. Last lesson he told us he believes in Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Yesterday we planned to teach him about the Plan of Salvation, so we planned this awesome lesson, and went in and asked him if he had liked church. He said yes, he really enjoyed it. We answered some of his questions and things started to go off course, so we had to bring it back. We asked if he had ever heard of the Plan of Salvation, he said yes they talked about it in church, during the second hour (Which we were way excited about, because he had said that he was only going to come to the first hour, but he had decided to stay for it all!) So I asked him what he understood and he briefly taught me the whole plan of salvation so that was exciting. I asked him what he felt about eternal families and he said that they hadn't really told him much, so we started talking about that and that our families could be together forever and he was really thoughtful. We asked him if he believed that these things were true and he said yes he does. The spirit had been progressively filling the room this whole entire time and right then I really felt like I should ask this man with a tiny belief in Jesus Christ's gospel to bear his testimony for us. He was quiet for a pretty long time and then said he would. He bore testimony of the light we brought into his home the first time we walked through the door, and then the first time he prayed he felt so much peace and love. He loves how considerate the people at church are, and how his family is being blessed. He testified that he knows that God exists and that God loves him. It was very short, quiet, and simple, but my heart was bursting, filled with the spirit of the Lord. I asked him to write his testimony in his journal and really think about what he believes. As we left, I my eyes were burning and I was overcome with the spirit I had just felt. We went back to class and my teacher smiled at me and asked that we sing the spirit of God, and as we started with "The spirit of God, like a fire is burning" I felt like that was the most accurate depiction of how I felt. In this work, the spirit of god really is burning like a fire. I testify that even though we were only teaching our teacher, that was a very real experience. I know that the Holy Ghost will guide, and that we can help people come closer to their Savior. I know that this gospel is so true and can bless everyone it touches, if they will only experiment upon the word, through prayer.
Our investigator HouDiXiong (my teacher, LiLaoShi) is really doing very well. We are also teaching his wife, but she hasn't come to our last couple lessons. Last lesson he told us he believes in Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Yesterday we planned to teach him about the Plan of Salvation, so we planned this awesome lesson, and went in and asked him if he had liked church. He said yes, he really enjoyed it. We answered some of his questions and things started to go off course, so we had to bring it back. We asked if he had ever heard of the Plan of Salvation, he said yes they talked about it in church, during the second hour (Which we were way excited about, because he had said that he was only going to come to the first hour, but he had decided to stay for it all!) So I asked him what he understood and he briefly taught me the whole plan of salvation so that was exciting. I asked him what he felt about eternal families and he said that they hadn't really told him much, so we started talking about that and that our families could be together forever and he was really thoughtful. We asked him if he believed that these things were true and he said yes he does. The spirit had been progressively filling the room this whole entire time and right then I really felt like I should ask this man with a tiny belief in Jesus Christ's gospel to bear his testimony for us. He was quiet for a pretty long time and then said he would. He bore testimony of the light we brought into his home the first time we walked through the door, and then the first time he prayed he felt so much peace and love. He loves how considerate the people at church are, and how his family is being blessed. He testified that he knows that God exists and that God loves him. It was very short, quiet, and simple, but my heart was bursting, filled with the spirit of the Lord. I asked him to write his testimony in his journal and really think about what he believes. As we left, I my eyes were burning and I was overcome with the spirit I had just felt. We went back to class and my teacher smiled at me and asked that we sing the spirit of God, and as we started with "The spirit of God, like a fire is burning" I felt like that was the most accurate depiction of how I felt. In this work, the spirit of god really is burning like a fire. I testify that even though we were only teaching our teacher, that was a very real experience. I know that the Holy Ghost will guide, and that we can help people come closer to their Savior. I know that this gospel is so true and can bless everyone it touches, if they will only experiment upon the word, through prayer.
I have already written a novel, so sorry about that. The theme of our church on Sunday was the Book of Mormon. I learned a really cool thing! Gordon B Hinckley talks about how it isn't enough for us to pray about the Book of Mormon once and gain our testimony, but that we must continuously pray throughout our lives to renew our witness of the Book of Mormon. I want to take this challenge for myself, and invite all of you to do it as well, to read and ponder with real intent, and then pray, continuously throughout your lives.
We got a new district this last week, all new shipments of Taipei missionaries! I am so excited! They are all really nice and super fun. There are two fast tracks that will leave at the same time as me. We played some zone volleyball more this week. My teachers are the greatest people that have ever existed. I want to be just like them when I grow up. Skype TRC was again great this week, we talked to a man named Charles that got baptized three years ago and all he wanted to do was talk about that. Which was really awesome, but we got in trouble for not taking control of the lesson. We will learn. Hahah I loved him so much though. All the Taiwanese people are so amazing and kind. TWO WEEKS. I am so excited! Oh also, here is an update. Do you remember when I said that we were really having a hard time teaching people and not lessons? Well last week we were told that we now need to teach lessons too. Not just people. So I guess we really just need to find a good balance, but I really think that it is coming.
Also, music is the biggest testifier of the word and the spirit. I absolutely love it. We sang "Lead, Kindly Light" in choir this week and as I really listened to the words I came to love them with my whole heart. I highly recommend you all listen to it or read the lyrics. It is an invitation from us for the Lord to Lead us on and submitting every ounce of our will to him. That is what I feel that I have been taught this week, is to turn my will over to the Lord and teach His gospel. I try and teach like He would teach if He were here doing it himself. I have learned that if I don't try and control my lessons and do them how I want, that He will make them far better than I ever could have. He invites the Holy Ghost to testify and change the hearts of my investigators. Without the Lord, I am nothing. This week I have learned that the most important thing in this work is love. With that, I can be successful. I know that the Lord has a plan for each and every one of us, and that we could probably make it somewhere good on our own, but with the Lord we can accomplish things that surpass our wildest dreams and expectations. He will take us where we need to go, and He will guide, if I, if we, only allow Him to do so. We need to let Him in. His plan is perfect, and He intends for us to rely on Him, so that we may become even as glorious as He is, in that exalted day. I love you all and I know that this church is true. I love being a missionary and couldn't ask for a greater blessing.
Lastly, I would just like to leave you with a quote: "The Lord doesn't ask our ability, but out availability. As we show Him our dependability, He will improve our capability." -Neal A Maxwell
Sister Hayley DeWitt
Picture 1: I drew one half and Sister Weaver drew the other half. Mine was the not melty half.
Picture 2: I read Dr. Suess books to my friends. It's pretty fun.
Picture 2: I read Dr. Suess books to my friends. It's pretty fun.
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