Hey ya'll!
It seemed that we spent most of the week traveling. We were up in Taibei twice, had zone meeting, baptismal interviews, baptisms, investigators that lived in the boonies. As we traveled we always had opportunities to share the gospel with people and I know that we influenced some people for good.
Because we were away from home we didn't get to meet with everyone that we wanted to but that's okay because we met some great new people and got 3 member referrals this week! That might be more than I have received on my whole mission combined. All of them have tons of potential.
One referral lived super far away basically on the border of Taizhong. We called and I wanted to gauge his interest to see if it would be worth an hour trip down there to meet him. Man I am so happy that we decided to go down. He is a spiritual powerhouse. He is totally prepared to hear the gospel. We had a very spiritual lesson in which we taught the Message of the Restoration. My companion also contributed as much as he felt comfortable. It was near the end of the lesson and I felt prompted to invite him to baptism. I did and he accepted wholeheartedly. He has already attended two weeks of church in Taizhong and has loved it. We are so excited to keep meeting with him. Li dixiong is one God has definitely prepared.
I really gained a testimony of sharing doctrinal lessons with members. We had a qingke with a great family in which the bishop was invited to as well. We had a wonderful dinner in which my new comp got to eat chicken feet. :) That morning in church the bishop got up on the stand and basically shared with us that there were many members in the ward who were having some hard problems and that he had last week spent nearly everyday taking care of members mostly because of their bad decisions. He told us that keeping the commandments was not something that we could choose it is necessary. (My English is getting horrible). He encouraged everyone to reevaluate and see how they could live their lives more in tune with the gospel.
That night when we were meeting with the family I had the feeling to share a video that touches on keeping the commandments and relying on the Lord in trials. As we watched everyone in the room felt the Spirit strongly. It was the first time on my mission I was moved so strongly by the Spirit. After the video we just all sat there thinking for a minute pondering. When I opened my mouth to speak sobs came out. I couldn't help it. I felt that God had testified to me that no matter what the trials we go through he will always be there if we will just adhere to the few guidlines that he has given us. I also truly felt that Thomas S. Monson was truly called of God and that when he speaks we should listen to us just the same as if God is speaking directly to us. I am so thankful that I had that opportunity to receive that testimony. The Bishop also described how that video was what he really needed and that God had comforted him in his calling.
As a result of the Spirit that was felt in that meeting that family gave us a referral of their best friends that lived down the street. They had come to church before but had recently told them they had encountered some economical problems and the member family really felt like they were prepared to hear the gospel. We are really excited to meet with them.
We also received an awesome referral from a member in Taizhong. There is a 23 year old woman who just moved from taizhong to miaoli. She has attended church and already started meeting with the missionaries. I spoke with her on the phone and she was super excited about meeting us and coming to English class/church. We can't wait to help her progress in her faith in Jesus Christ and conversion process.
My companion is doing super well. He is such a cool guy. We are really going to work well together. His Chinese is progressing really fast. He has a goal to finish Phase 1 in his 1st transfer and he is well on his way to getting there. We do a lot of SYL and we have a lot of fun talking together. We have a lot of similar perspectives about missionary work and this has helped us to get along a lot. I really enjoy working with him.
I feel like I have hit a new milestone in my Chinese. I am finally being able to just read stuff on the street and understand the Book of Mormon fully. I have pushed really hard the past couple of weeks and it is breaking through I feel like. I have a goal to memorize 40 new characters each day and review 200-300 per day. I have felt as I've done this accompanied with reading the Book of Mormon in Chinese I have not only increased my Chinese abilities but my ability to feel the Spirit in Chinese... If that makes any sense.
We are going to focus hard on finding some great new people this week and we are also going to have to work on getting more member lessons. I really believe that if we can do that the baptismal waters will just keep flowing.
I'm grateful to be a missionary and finally feel like I'm starting to learn to teach by the Spirit.
Well love all ya'll and I hope that you are being good and having fun. Emphasis on the having fun part...Seriously. Life is meant to be fun. I have way too much fun everyday of my mission. Make someone smile or do a kind act for someone.
Keep it real.
Love
Elder Meeks
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