2/12/14
TEACHING EXPERIENCES:
We taught Daijiemei about Christ's mature through scripture and I think she understood, but I honestly have no idea what to do next. Iv'e never taught past HOW TO PRAY, GOD IS OUR HEAVENLY FAHTER, and JESUS CHRIST SHOWED US HOW TO LIVE. I just don't know... What I DO know is that I am so happy God is on my side, (I'm on His) and He will guide me through.
2/14/14
Valentine's Day!
Tianfu ai wo! (Heavenly Father loves me) Today I got so many sweet letters! I loved it and felt so loved! It is weird celebrating the day of love and romance in the MTC but I love it here!
2/15/14
Three Realizations:
1) Church building tours are amazing! When I first heard that some missionaries would be assigned at times to give tours of churches, I thought "Oh they must have more missionaries than they know what to do with." BOY, WAS I WRONG! Trust the Lord, He knows what he's doing! We did a role play today of taking an investigator through a tour and when we got to chapel and talked about what we do in that room, I FELT the difference from a classroom to the chapel. Ah! so cool.
2) Read Helaman 12:9-15. I realized God is THAT powerful. He can move mountains, and if He can do that, He can help me speak Chinese! Also, the Lord is preparing people across the globe to hear and accept Jesus Christ's gospel.
3) God will not force anyone to do anything. The agency we have is critical to the whole plan. It made me think, God won't make anyone believe in Him. Showing HImself would ruin that because then we would KNOW and not need faith. We need to have that bit of faith and ACT on it to show our trust in the Lord.
2/16/14
The Atonement:
Tianfu ai wo! We had a district meeting with a lesson about the atonement. I've been wondering lately if I actually knew the atonement. It made me realize more about what it really is. We need to know it for ourselves before we can help others understand it. I've thought of the atonement for me, my fears, my weaknesses, my sins...but for the next 17 months it's about THEIR atonement and what it can do for those we teach. I LOVE it!
Teaching Investigators:
I guess we were more spiritually in tune when teaching today. We had a plan going in to the lesson, with scriptures we'd use to help him understand scriptures because he has been struggling with this. As it got to the point where we were going to open to a scripture, I thought, "Liken him to Nephi" and I suggested another scripture. (My awesome companion thought where is she going with the? This is NOT what we discussed at all! But she went along with it. He read 1 Nephi 1 and I asked him questions as he went through it to check for his understanding. Bit by bit he began to pick up on the language of the scriptures and then get the message of Lehi was a prophet, and the book he had was THIS book, or became this record, the Book of Mormon. It was awesome.
TEACHING EXPERIENCES:
We taught Daijiemei about Christ's mature through scripture and I think she understood, but I honestly have no idea what to do next. Iv'e never taught past HOW TO PRAY, GOD IS OUR HEAVENLY FAHTER, and JESUS CHRIST SHOWED US HOW TO LIVE. I just don't know... What I DO know is that I am so happy God is on my side, (I'm on His) and He will guide me through.
2/14/14
Valentine's Day!
Tianfu ai wo! (Heavenly Father loves me) Today I got so many sweet letters! I loved it and felt so loved! It is weird celebrating the day of love and romance in the MTC but I love it here!
2/15/14
Three Realizations:
1) Church building tours are amazing! When I first heard that some missionaries would be assigned at times to give tours of churches, I thought "Oh they must have more missionaries than they know what to do with." BOY, WAS I WRONG! Trust the Lord, He knows what he's doing! We did a role play today of taking an investigator through a tour and when we got to chapel and talked about what we do in that room, I FELT the difference from a classroom to the chapel. Ah! so cool.
2) Read Helaman 12:9-15. I realized God is THAT powerful. He can move mountains, and if He can do that, He can help me speak Chinese! Also, the Lord is preparing people across the globe to hear and accept Jesus Christ's gospel.
3) God will not force anyone to do anything. The agency we have is critical to the whole plan. It made me think, God won't make anyone believe in Him. Showing HImself would ruin that because then we would KNOW and not need faith. We need to have that bit of faith and ACT on it to show our trust in the Lord.
2/16/14
The Atonement:
Tianfu ai wo! We had a district meeting with a lesson about the atonement. I've been wondering lately if I actually knew the atonement. It made me realize more about what it really is. We need to know it for ourselves before we can help others understand it. I've thought of the atonement for me, my fears, my weaknesses, my sins...but for the next 17 months it's about THEIR atonement and what it can do for those we teach. I LOVE it!
Teaching Investigators:
I guess we were more spiritually in tune when teaching today. We had a plan going in to the lesson, with scriptures we'd use to help him understand scriptures because he has been struggling with this. As it got to the point where we were going to open to a scripture, I thought, "Liken him to Nephi" and I suggested another scripture. (My awesome companion thought where is she going with the? This is NOT what we discussed at all! But she went along with it. He read 1 Nephi 1 and I asked him questions as he went through it to check for his understanding. Bit by bit he began to pick up on the language of the scriptures and then get the message of Lehi was a prophet, and the book he had was THIS book, or became this record, the Book of Mormon. It was awesome.
2/16/14 continued
We had a devotional where we watched "Legacy". (Click button below for more about Legacy, the film about Joseph Smith).
We had a devotional where we watched "Legacy". (Click button below for more about Legacy, the film about Joseph Smith).
Then Elder Holland's son, Matthew Holland, spoke at the devotional. It was awesome! About Joseph Smith's life and the BOM. Elder Holland came with his family so we all stood as he walked in and it was so cool to be that close to him! Today was just awesome! We love Sundays! No class! Just spiritual upliftment! I love the gospel! I love Joseph Smith! I love Jesus Christ!
2/17/14
Investigator Set backs
It was interesting teaching a lesson today. We went in totally excited to testify that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the gospel has been restored and when we asked him about his reading, he said he hadn't read it. We asked why and he said he had "googled" our church and had read anti-Mormon stuff and was now confused. GAME CHANGER! So we (heavily relying on the Spirit) asked how he felt she he read that (confused), and how he felt when he read the Book of Mormon and met with us (good). My companion had him read Moroni 7 (...Good things are from God,") Then she talked about the first vision, Joseph Smith's account and then about the apostasy. Then we asked him how he felt and if he had any questions. He said he still didn't know. So then we testified (what else do you do!?!?) Sister Murri invited him to attend church but he said he didn't know. So I said (And this was the hardest sentence I've tried to put together!) You've tried that, why don't you try this, then you can decide. So he said he'd be willing to have us give him a church tour on Thursday! We've learned that when thoughts come, just trust in the Lord...because we hadve NO CLUE what to do!
2/19/14
P-day!
Today was great! Tianfu ai wo! Today I had a cool moment. Everyone took naps after we went to the temple and I was going to but I started reading the Book of Mormon and couldn't put it down the whole hour! I studied a lot from Alma 17. I thought, Why did Mormon put this in his abridgment? What can it teach me? I looked beyond the obvious....Ammon served King Lamoni and had a great teaching moment. I wondered if it could mean more. Here's what the spirit taught me: Ammon = faithful, prepared missionary. Servants=Good missionaries who get thrown off by this experience. Flock= children of God we are teaching. Water=Christ, His gospel. Bad Guys= Satan and temptation, of course. Now read the story:
2/17/14
Investigator Set backs
It was interesting teaching a lesson today. We went in totally excited to testify that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the gospel has been restored and when we asked him about his reading, he said he hadn't read it. We asked why and he said he had "googled" our church and had read anti-Mormon stuff and was now confused. GAME CHANGER! So we (heavily relying on the Spirit) asked how he felt she he read that (confused), and how he felt when he read the Book of Mormon and met with us (good). My companion had him read Moroni 7 (...Good things are from God,") Then she talked about the first vision, Joseph Smith's account and then about the apostasy. Then we asked him how he felt and if he had any questions. He said he still didn't know. So then we testified (what else do you do!?!?) Sister Murri invited him to attend church but he said he didn't know. So I said (And this was the hardest sentence I've tried to put together!) You've tried that, why don't you try this, then you can decide. So he said he'd be willing to have us give him a church tour on Thursday! We've learned that when thoughts come, just trust in the Lord...because we hadve NO CLUE what to do!
2/19/14
P-day!
Today was great! Tianfu ai wo! Today I had a cool moment. Everyone took naps after we went to the temple and I was going to but I started reading the Book of Mormon and couldn't put it down the whole hour! I studied a lot from Alma 17. I thought, Why did Mormon put this in his abridgment? What can it teach me? I looked beyond the obvious....Ammon served King Lamoni and had a great teaching moment. I wondered if it could mean more. Here's what the spirit taught me: Ammon = faithful, prepared missionary. Servants=Good missionaries who get thrown off by this experience. Flock= children of God we are teaching. Water=Christ, His gospel. Bad Guys= Satan and temptation, of course. Now read the story:
2/23/14
Investigator set backs...the rest of the story
We met with Brother Qiao and took him to the chapel for a tour. We walked down one hallway and explained the pictures on the walls; Christ in Gethsemane, Christ teaching His apostles, and Joseph Smith. We discussed each one. Then we got to a picture of Christ's baptism. We talked about baptism and following Christ's example, and something amazing happened, he opened up to us. He said his grandma believed in Christ (unusual for Asian culture), and when she died, he remembers being so mad and going on a long run. Sister Murri (love her!) looked him in the eyes and said, " I KNOW you will see your grandma again. He said he felt good. He agreed to come to church and to prepare to get baptized. It was jsut amazing to see the change in him and watch the change in his heart.
2/24/14
Good talks to read:
Investigator set backs...the rest of the story
We met with Brother Qiao and took him to the chapel for a tour. We walked down one hallway and explained the pictures on the walls; Christ in Gethsemane, Christ teaching His apostles, and Joseph Smith. We discussed each one. Then we got to a picture of Christ's baptism. We talked about baptism and following Christ's example, and something amazing happened, he opened up to us. He said his grandma believed in Christ (unusual for Asian culture), and when she died, he remembers being so mad and going on a long run. Sister Murri (love her!) looked him in the eyes and said, " I KNOW you will see your grandma again. He said he felt good. He agreed to come to church and to prepare to get baptized. It was jsut amazing to see the change in him and watch the change in his heart.
2/24/14
Good talks to read: