Week 9 (Turning 8 Tomorrow)

Sorry this is almost a week late...
May 24, 2010

What an incredible week! It is wonderful to change and improve and come closer to Christ. Yes, even as a missionary (most especially as a missionary) I cam coming closer to Christ. What better place to learn than this as I invite others to come to Christ. I wonder how much faster the process of change will be in the field as I allow it to happen, as I allow the Lord to work through me.

This Saturday Allan was baptized! He came to know that this church is true, that it is special and he is ready now to continue... Chen Lao Shi will probably tell us the story just before we leave, but it seems like an excellent conversion. Amy is coming closer, we are teaching her the commandments. So far she isn't having any problems but she doesn't have a testimony that God loves het yet. We have a new investigator, Peng Di Xiong, he is 45, divorced, has been a Christian for a year, but doesn't really believe in Jesus Christ. We start teaching him tomorrow. Also, Mu Jie Mei (who is another missionary) she is really old (not quite sure on her age, she has a son and her son has children on missions), she has had experience with the church but isn't really ready to understand God as her Heavenly Father and isn't quite willing to pray. I am also an investigator for another companionship... I am myself without the gospel (it is incredibly hard but the conversion is real). They taught me and asked me to pray for the first time and ask if God was my Heavenly Father; that was possibly one of the coolest experienes I have had in prayer. I really hope they invite me to have more of those experiences, I hope that as the ward does the mission thing they can help the priests and others feel those experiences. I hope you all remember those experiences in your life.

Here's a request for everyone, tell me your conversion story. What helped you to know, what gave you the faith to ask?

Elder Richard G. Hinckley spoke to us last Tuesday on spiritual and physical safety. He said the important thing is losing yourself and following the instructions that are given to you. That is what I plan on doing. On Sunday Rober Swensen from the missionary department talked to us. He talked a lot about Alma 37. He said to prosper in the land, or in anything, is as simple as keeping the commandments; and it really is. He also talked about how through small and simple means great things will be brought to pass. Each missionary is small and simple, but through the Lord we can bring thousands (billions in the eternal sense) to come to Christ. He told us to serve our companion, the members, but most importantly the Lord. The rest of the day was really cool and the branch president spoke too. The topic was repentence and forgiveness, he and his wife talked about the different parts of that. He mentioned specifically that repentance as the road and forgiveness is the destination. His wife told a story of their grandson who, when his cousin left, (because of his inability to pronouce 'f' like in Finn said) loudly and proudly, "Goodbye Sin!" That is an attitude we should all have.

Beyond that I have been focusing on my lesson plans for my investigators so I can be led by the spirit more in lessons. I have been learning more Chinese and I think I have most of the grammar down, now to learn to say more. Our teachers have told us more stories, like Jiu (said Joe) the scary guy, and a crazy Santa man. Probably most incredible is Situ Lao Shi's experience in a typhoon. I hope I have fun stories to add to those. For now it is one day at a time, for the next 3 weeks I hope I have the MTC having become a missionary.

I love you all, so does our Heavenly Father, except he is better at that than I am. I know that he lives and that our Saviour Jesus Christ lives. I know that this gospel is true; I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know we having living prophets; I know the atonement provides for us to become perfected in Christ. I hope all is well, I hope peace and love abounds. I know this is the Lord's work.

Love,
Shen Zhang Lao