Follow Up, Family, and Forgiveness

10/16/16

One miracle we saw this last week was seeing the FengLin Elders getting a family to come to church. The whole ward just swarmed the family after sacrament meeting and made them feel so welcome. I felt like it really got the ward excited, and it was amazing to see. The family was so golden, and the Elders haven't even met with them more than once or twice but they still wanted to come to church (45 minute drive or more) and just see how it was. It totally brought the ward together and it got me really excited to work hard and baptize some Melchizedek Priesthood Holders so that there are enough to open a branch down there! 

     This last week we went up to Taipei to have the trainer/trainee follow-up meeting. Basically, it is a meeting halfway through training to just see how things were going and to make plans to be successful for the remaining transfer. I'm not exactly a happy grasshopper on an ATV when I have to catch a train at 6 in the morning, but the meeting was awesome and we learned a ton. One thing we decided on was to take a serious look at dropping our investigators. We don't have many, so it will have to take a lot of faith, but we haven't had an investigator at church for a very long time and we decided to use it as a gauge to measure whether or not we should keep meeting with these investigators. Next week after prayer, inviting everyone to church, seeing who came to church, and prayer again, we will see who to keep meeting with. So, in terms of investigators, not too much else to report on.

     One of my all-time favorite passages of scripture is John 8:1-11. What an extremely powerful example of teaching and such a touching message of forgiveness. With but three questions and one command, He changes the life of a woman and causes an anger-driven group of scribes and Pharisees to retreat in introspection and deep-thought. I can only imagine what it would feel like to be those Pharisees, and I can only begin to imagine what it would feel like to be that woman. How often do we feel as she does--lonely, guilty, ashamed, imperfect, accused? We all have a time when we are cast in the dirt, spiritually floundering, begging for any kind of mercy but finding none. What hope we can all find in those comforting words, "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." What a testimony I have that through this wonderful Master Teacher, our Savior Jesus Christ, we can leave whatever mess we might think we are and become that wonderful child of God that He knows we are. That is why I am here in Taiwan. I believe that is all why we are here, wherever we are. I hope this next week you can take a moment or two with me to ponder on the joy of forgiveness, and the enabling power of Christ's Atonement. I love you all!

heart attack for a convert's house. Trying to win their hearts! 

giant scary bee! 

Do you see the problem with the layout of this bathroom? They could have thought this one through a bit longer.......

What happens when your companion's binder gets soaking wet.

remainder of the typhoon, more typhoon remainder, last one of that lighthouse. Sorry for the picture overload. It's the pictures for like the last three weeks (I'm getting a new camera today probably)

Typhoon remainder  

the shells of the snails they eat here

my companion's bike crash!