Hello Mum! Hello
World! How are you doing on this lovely spring day? Well, it's actually feeling
a lot like summer now.... Can you believe that this is the last day of
March? I can't! I can't believe I passed my 10 month mark this week!
I've been a missionary for 10 months!!!! Weird.... I still feel
like I'm running/biking around and not knowing what I'm supposed to be doing...
Ah well.
I've been doing
really well lately. Though, I'm still trying to figure out how to deal
with the heat.... cuz... it's HOT! And the mosquitoes are
really happy... I'm thinking about cutting my hair... like making it short....
Like, to my chin short.... Perhaps it would be easier to manage than the mass
of tangles I try to put into a pony tail every day...
As for things needed
to be reported... Well, we have 4 baptismal goals (we gave 4 people
baptismal dates). One looks like she might hit it... she just has fan dui
(opposition) from her mother. But thankfully she is over the age of 20,
so if she wants to be baptized we don't need parental permission. Two of
the others have spouse and/or in-law fan dui... Taiwan is very
traditional, so what the husband's side of the family says must be obeyed....
And the last one is Kathy. She's still waiting on her answer, and
is very busy. She doesn't want to be baptized and then not go to church
regularly. She says she would feel very bad if she became inactive, so
she really wants to make sure this is the right church before she gets
baptized. We are just encouraging all of our investigators to have faith,
and to pray always...
Oh, also, this week
we had companion exchanges, and so I got to lead the area here in Tainan 2nd
ward. Sister Adams, I was with her last time as well, came down and we
had a blast and a day full of miracles! She is truly an example to me as
a fantastic missionary! She gave me some advice because I shared with her
my feelings of being inadequate as a missionary. "Have confidence
in yourself." I was also praying that night, thankful to have Sister
Adams' help when a sentence kept running through my head.
"Thou wast made to be a leader, but thou must first have confidence
in thineself." I know I need to work on confidence, in myself but
also in the Lord. He is my Father. He knows me, he knows my
potential and he loves me. I know that if he has faith in me, I should
also have faith in myself so I can become the person he wants me to be.
So this week, I
thought I would do something a bit different. I'm going to give you a rundown
of an average day as a missionary in the Taiwan Taichung Mission. Enjoy!
6:15 The Alarm goes
off. I'm already awake. Light pours in from the window and there
are birds chirping outside. It's hot. My covers seem to have gone
through a war and are tangled around me. Apparently our air conditioning
unit is not doing its job...
Ugh, I'm already
sweating and I haven't even done anything yet. I roll over onto my knees
and try to focus my thoughts long enough to pray.
6:30 I'm outside
running. It's hot and humid, making running almost unbearable. I'm
sweating like there is no tomorrow. I muse on the fact that even if
I decided to sit down on the tract, I could still sweat enough to feel like I
got an adequate work out....
7:05 Back at home and
in the showers. I love showers! The cold water feels so good.
I dread leaving it behind.
7:15 Ugh. I'm
sticky again. Why can't I have more time to take another shower?
7:30 Breakfast time.
My breakfast contains a concoction of oatmeal, apples, bananas and some
sort of flavored calcium drink powder. Yum! My companion on the
other hands is munching on a mix of calcium, apples, bananas,
kiwis, tomatoes and cereal....
8:00 Personal study.
I rummage around my stack of Liahona Magazines, trying to find an article
I've yet to read. Then I turn my attention to my Book of Mormon.
I'm studying 2 Nephi which contains the words of Isaiah. Nephi says
that the words of Isaiah are plain and easy to understand. I pray for the
day that I can actually relate... I start preparing for the days lessons.
I think about the people I am going to meet that day. I pray for
them and pray for guidance to know what my companion and I can share with them
to bring them closer to Christ.
9:00 Companionship
study. Sister Park and I sing a hymn, pray, and then recite from memory
(using Chinese, English(me) and Korean(Sister Park)) our mission scripture
(D&C 50: 13-14), the missionary's purpose, and Joseph Smith's First Vision.
We read from our handy dandy white rule book, refreshing our memory on
the many rules and guidelines. Then we begin to share what we studied and
planned during personal study. I try and explain what I learned from
Isaiah in Chinese. Sister Park goes off on a speech about how
she is grateful to be able to read the scriptures in Korean and about how much
she loves me. Time is up.
10:00 Language Study.
I stare at my Chinese set of scriptures and a stack of flashcards, hoping
that I can make sense of what they are saying. If I focus I can pick out
the main ideas of what the scriptures are talking about. If I don't focus
it looks like a bunch of ancient writing that can only be interpreted with the
help of the Urim and Thummim or the Rosetta Stone.
10:30-9:00 pm Time to
work! We bike all over town going from house to house teaching lessons.
Sometimes we teach in the Chapel or at restaurants and cafes.
The Sun is so hot! Sister Park is worried of getting a tan, so she
insists on wearing long sleeves. We pull up to stop lights and start
talking to the people riding the motor scooters next to us. A mom with a
child is willing to take a free English class flier and another flier
about families. A college aged girl receives a message about
"New Beginnings." A nice lady tells me that she doesn't talk to
Mormons. Ah well, you can't please everyone. I love teaching
lessons and meeting new people. I'm making new friends. I'm sharing
about something that has truly blessed my life and brought me
happiness. It's when we are teaching that my own testimony grows and
becomes strengthened. I know this is the work of the Lord. I know
the messages we share are true. I may be tired. I may be hot.
But I'm happy. I'm grateful to serve. And I love my God.
9:01 Home. We
collapse onto our knees and pray, ready to begin planning for the next day.
Planning is easy if the next day is already filled with scheduled
lessons. Other days we stare at blank pages and pray for miracles.
We plan ways to try and find people to teach. We think of ways we
can serve others. Finally our plan is filled. We get back onto our
knees and pray for the Father's help and guidance for tomorrow. We share
with him our gratitude for the day's miracles. We are so blessed.
9:45 Prepare for bed.
It feels so good to wind down. I take a quick shower, brush my
teeth, read another Liahona article, stretch and finally pray.
10:30 ZZZzzzzZZZZzzz
Anyways, I hope you
enjoyed this week’s letter. I took a long time typing... my typing has
digressed... grrr... It's going to be bad when I go back to college and have to
write reports....
I love you guys so
much! Thanks for your support and your prayers! I hope you all do
something amazing this week! Jia You!
Love, Sister Peng
No comments:
Post a Comment