Another transfer down in this beautiful place! Big news of the week is that we had transfers! Lots of crazy things happened around here in my district, but nothing new for Sister Cooper and I! We will both be staying here in ZhongLi, and we are so happy about it! We love it here and have lots of great investigators that we are excited to keep working with! We were sad to say goodbye to our last district that really became a family, but are looking forward to this next transfer ahead of us and our new district! I also got assigned to be English Unit Leader so I am pumped for this new responsibility! This pretty much means I am in charge of our english class here! We have a free English class that we teach every week that is a great tool in helping us to find new people to teach! Lots of baptisms have come from it! So, I will now run that, train for that, and help everything to go smoothly! Go English! ha!
This past week was FREEZING here. Like the coldest of this whole winter and we do not understand why... People literally took us out to eat and fed us so much stuff because they said we needed to "fatten up to protect us from the cold."... NO PEOPLE. WE JUST HAD GUONIAN. I DON'T NEED TO GET ANY FATTER. hahah! They are so cute to us and want to take care of us, but man....RIP to any kind of a fit body. ha! As far as the cold goes though, we were grateful we had lots of lessons so we weren't outside too too much. We met with some great investigators this week and were able to meet lots of great people! It is cool to meet so many different people and see how each of them need the gospel so differently. Maybe it is to have support that they don't get from their family, maybe it is to have a fresh start, or have somewhere they feel they belong. We may all have different pulls to the gospel, but we all need it. We all need the saving graces of the Atonement, to feel the love from a father in heaven, and to come to know God's plan for us. It is really special to see the investigators find that need for themselves!
Right now, we are working with some cute part-member families to help get their kids baptized, as well as some other people we have met through members! MEMBER WORK WORKS! It really is the best way to find people to teach. Help your missionaries people. It is when members and missionaries work together that you see the most success!
In other news, Sister Cooper's bike broke this week and she was straight riding on rims for days because we had no time to go to the tire shop. There was the Lantern Festival in Taiwan the other day, which didn't mean much other than eating a whole lot of tangyuan--this special soup with rice balls in it. ha! Yummy, but yet again...RIP to our bodies. ha! But lots of good work is happening. We are working hard, and looking forward to all of the miracles that are going to come!
I studied a lot of great things this week, but one of the great things I learned is about work and relying on the Atonement. We know that this life is a time to learn, to gain experience, and to prepare to return to our Father's presence. But a big part of that is trying, failing, and trying again. We are learning to become like God people! Learning Heaven! That is not easy! It takes a constant effort of relying on the Lord, repenting when you fall short, and consistently seeking to be better. So often we forget this process. I think sometimes we try, maybe give things a half-hearted effort and then call it good. Or, sometimes we come up a little short and instead of working harder or trying again, we accept our failures as who we are or how it is going to be. We forget to really try. President Hinckley once shared a thought that just simply said,"Brothers and Sisters, all the Lord expects of us is to try, but you really have to try!" REALLY TRY people. I had to remind myself of this a lot this past week. We have been doing a lot of long hours of finding lately. Long hours out in the cold talking to people on the street, knocking doors, and trying to find those prepared people, but we feel like we haven't been finding those people we are really seeking for. The people that are prepared and want to hear this message. Sometimes it is easy to get discouraged. To wonder why you are going out again and again when so often you are finding such little success. But then you remember the miracles. You remember why you are here, and you remember to REALLY try. How can I expect miracles and for the Lord to pull me through if I am only giving half-effort? We have to go out with a smile on our face, and intent to do the Lord's work to the best that we can, and it will be enough.
I loved this reminder and I think we can all really apply it. Try people. Really try. Really try to live the commandments, to serve your neighbors, to have patience. And if you really try it will be enough. Do your best, God provides the rest.
I love this work and I love all of you! I hope you all have a great week and put in an extra amount of effort to serve the Lord with all you've got! You can do it!
xoxo
Sister Richards
Taiwan Taipei Mission
4/F, #24, Lane 183
Jin Hua Street
Taipei, Taiwan 106
1- last p day with some zone homies
2- saddest goodbye to the best district
3- love these Asian babes
Accurate depiction of our week!
Classic Taiwanese pictures
Tongyuan in red bean soup
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