Friday, September 13, 2013

Week 58, in which we had so many miracles!!!!!!!!!!! And in which I love Macau. And the people. And the food. Did I mention all the miracles? AND FAMILIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Teaching Sister C all about the Plan of Salvation
I am drinking Orange Juice...and I like it...MIRACLE!
Two Brits celebrating the 4th?!

Do you know what the best feeling in the world is? It's the feeling of wanting to be exactly where you are. I've never felt so content, so happy, and so exactly where I need to be. I love Sister C, and I love these people. We've been praying so hard to find families to teach, and since I arrived, we've only been teaching single women or women with families in the Philippines. But this week we found THREE families. THREE. It was absolutely incredible. We've been floating in the air for several days now.






One of the members, Sister M, met Sister D and Brother R and baby A on Wednesday, and on Thursday invited them to eat lunch with us. They came and we had a great time, shared a spiritual message, and it was a really special experience. They are the sweetest family. Brother R is shy, but Sister D is very friendly and loving. And Airees? ADORABLE. And SO fat. The first time we met, Sister D told us that we felt like old friends, and she was right. We all love each other so much already. We ate lunch with them again today and taught them about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, and they really felt the Spirit. They offered us tea, and when we told her that we don't drink tea, coffee, or alcohol, she said, "Well, I guess that means this is the last time I'm drinking tea!" They are such a beautiful family, and I am so excited for the day when they can be sealed together as an eternal family.





I've learned over and over again on my mission that family is the most important thing. I knew it before, but I learn it again every time I read emails from home, every time I study the scriptures, every time I teach about the Plan of Happiness that God has for us. I've never felt more gratitude to Heavenly Father or to my parents here on earth. Family is the greatest source of joy, and when families are founded on the gospel of Jesus Christ, then sickness or death or unemployment can come, but the family will survive and be stronger because of that trial. I love my family so much! Mom, Dad, Bec, Rachel, Rowan, that means you! Oh, and grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles (yes, even uncles), you too!





T-shirt of the week: 'A Dear Hunter.' What does it mean? And here's another one for you. (Sarah, I think you can imagine the voice I used when I read this t-shirt. My companion didn't get it.) It had Hello Kitty wearing a Batman suit and paper bag over his head. It said, "I am Batman." Yes, the bag was covering his head, so that means that I am now able to recognize Hello Kitty just from his feet. China'll do that to you. Oh, also I just realized that Hello Kitty is probably a girl, not a boy. Oh well.





So I lost a member somewhere in Macau this week. Yeah, I felt pretty bad. We brought a new member named D over from Hong Kong (she has to wait here for her visa), and she came with us to the church. By the time we were done at the church, it was too late for us to help her find President M's house, where she was staying, so we showed her the bus, wrote down the bus stop name, and told the members at her boarding house to go wait at the bus stop for her. She didn't have a phone card that worked in Macau yet, but I thought the plan was fool-proof. (haha, I just wrote full-proof, that's ironic.) Boy, was I wrong. She missed the stop! So the members waited there for a while, and at about 10:30 they called us to say that they still hadn't found her. We said SO many prayers for Sister D--she was lost in a new country filled with people that she doesn't understand. I thought she'd be pretty terrified. But after we prayed, I felt really calm, and I figured that it'd turn out okay.





The next morning Sister D called us from the member's house and told us what had happened. Apparently she missed the stop and stayed on the bus as it went all the way around Macau and Taipa again. So more than an hour passed before she made it back around to that stop. She got off, but by that time the members had left. So she stood there for a while, not knowing what to do, when she saw a Filipina walk by. She asked her if she knew of a boarding house where she could just spend the night at. The Filipina said, "Yes! Come with me!" Turns out that the Filipina was Sister M, a member, and she took D straight to President M's house! What a miracle. Sister D said that even though she had no idea what to do, she felt so calm the entire time and knew that it would all be okay. Such a blessing. God really takes care of his children.





We had so many amazingly spiritual lessons this week, but one of the most amazing lessons was with Sister G. She loves the gospel and feels the Spirit so strongly. She has changed so much from her past self--drinking, smoking, doing drugs, in and out of jail. But she has turned around and wants to follow Jesus Christ and have an eternal family one day. When we teach, Sister C teaches in Tagalog while I teach in English. But during this lesson with Sister G, I understood everything that was being said. I didn't know the words that they were saying, but I knew what they were talking about and was able to teach in complete unity with Sister C. It was a miracle, how well everything flowed and made sense and fit perfectly with what Sister G needed to hear. Heavenly Father was guiding that lesson, there's no other explanation. I love teaching, and I especially love teaching the gospel.





Anyways, those are just a couple of the miracles that we've experienced this week. I am so grateful to be here. It just keeps getting better.

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