Hello Family and Friends!
Long time no see...lol. Weird, when we have a p-day on Wednesday and then only a few days later have another one! ha! The incredible thing is that I still have lots to report on! ha! Never a dull moment here!
As I said in my title line, this week was a big week of growth for me. Lots of wonderful things happened, but also some of those harder moments in missionary work.
I got to start my week in the holy walls of the temple, and just felt so spiritually refreshed after visiting there! It is so different to be used to going to the temple every week pre-mission and in the MTC, to now only getting to go every 3 months:( But it really makes you cherish the time you get! So so grateful for the temple. Everyone stop what you are doing and go right now because odds are you are in Provo, Utah and there are TWO temples within 10 minutes of you. Alright, hope it was great. ha! Truly though, I love the temple with all my heart. Temple days are extra fun too because it means seeing lots of fun missionary friends and homemade waffles with caramel syrup from Sister Jergensen:) No complaints there that is for sure!
Another highlight of this week was interviews and training from President and Sister Jergensen! There has recently been a change in mission rules throughout the world, and so we now have interviews and zone conferences every transfer, instead of every other or every few! We are so excited that we will be seeing President more from now on! He is so inspired and always tells us just what we need to here. One thing that really stood out to me from what he had to say to us was about the focus of our mission. We all come out on missions to serve the Lord, (or at least we all should ha!) but we all have these great desires of changes we hope to see in ourselves and blessings we hope to receive as a result of our service. I think sometimes it is easy to get caught up in your own personal growth and changes and goals, and easy to forget how these changes come to be. President shared with us this...he said "Just focus on TRBC (teach repentance and baptize converts) and all the other blessings you want or all the changes you hope to see in yourself will come." It reminded me of the scriptures about losing ourselves in the work is where we truly find ourselves. I loved loved this reminder, and know it to be so true! I hope to keep this strong focus on my purpose as a missionary throughout my service, and to be shaped through my efforts!
Alright, quick update on some investigators. Biggest news is our homegirl, Yu Ting. She is pretty much the coolest person ever. I've told you guys all about her, but she is just so awesome and getting baptized this coming Saturday! We are SO excited to see her be baptized and continue to learn so much from her dedication to keeping the commandments, and feasting upon the scriptures. She's the bomb. We have some other people we are teaching, but they aren't progressing as quickly as we would necessarily like.. But we still have lots of hope for them and are excited to go out and find some new investigators this coming week!
Here starts some of the tougher things of this week. Every missionary knows how it feels to be stood up, rejected, have investigators drop off the face of the planet, etc. But it just seems like this week all these things were saved up and hit us all in the course of a few days. The temperature dropped, and so did a lot of our investigators, INCLUDING our bomb Gu Jm from last week. She called us and told us that she found a church only 5 min from her home that was more convenient and they studied the Bible more than we do, and so she would be attending there from now on. Our hearts broke as we remembered our powerful lesson from Monday that brought us all to tears. She said herself that this was exactly what she has been looking for. But Satan got to her:( Agency man. It's a killer! But there wasn't anything we could do. Is it bad that I prayed that she would have a bad experience at her new church? ha! no just kidding. kind of.. ha So, unfortunately, she is no longer with us. And just to make matters better, we had 5 people stand us up over the weekend so lots of good things happening! Sometimes missionary work really just breaks your heart, but it is all part of the process.
This week I studied so many wonderful things, but what stood out to me the most was Nephi's story of the broken bow. We are all familiar with this story. Nephi and his brothers go out to get food for their families, Laman and Lemuel's bows lose their spring, and then Nephi's bow breaks. And Nephi has the nice bow, so everyone starts complaining. Even Lehi! Everyone is angry and upset and hungry and starts doubting the Lord. But, not Nephi. Nephi does not complain, and instead just goes and builds another bow and then asks the Lord where he should go to find more food. What I loved about this was Nephi's attitude. He did not let the hardships they were facing, or other's complaining affect his faith. Instead of losing hope or lowering his faith, Nephi just picked himself up and trusted in the Lord. I feel like this week was my own "breaking a bow" story. After working hard, some of our investigators dropped. They stood us up, they stopped answering their phones, and their progression was slowed. At first, it was easy to want to let these things dampen my faith. "Why is this happening? We worked so hard! Why would the Lord give us this trial? How could they stop meeting with us? I know they felt it!" But, in the end, we have tried to follow Nephi's example. Not complain, preserve our faith, and just go back out there asking for the direction of the Lord. It is all a work in progress, but I know that by following the example of Nephi, we will be blessed and will be able to see so many miracles as a result of it.
I challenge each of you this week to strive to follow Nephi's example. We all are going to experience trials and hardships. It is just part of life. But WE choose how to react. WE choose to let our challenges build us up or tear down our faith. Be like Nephi. Let it strengthen your faith, and help others around you do the same.
I love you all and I love my mission. Some days are tougher than others, and there are definitely those heart breaking moments of the work. But I am grateful for them. That is how I grow! I hope you all have a wonderful week and keep on doing the little things. Don't even miss one day of scripture reading and praying!
Love you all!!
xoxo
Sister Richards
李姐妹
Lǐ Jiéměi
Taiwan Taipei Mission
4/F, #24, Lane 183
Jin Hua Street
Taipei, Taiwan 106
1- home girl Yu Ting with the red lipstick
2- our bestie
3- sweet comp
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