BROTHER ELGINE ON BAPTISM DAY! Our friend brother Elgine, and Brother Alster John! And Brother Jay! A wonderful baptism on Saturday, I'll include a few parts of Elgine's testimony... he wrote it out in English and it was so amazing! Here are parts of his testimony, using his grammar and words exactly: "Good evening brother and sister!!! Thank you and im glad to be part of your religion Latter day saints. .... when i come to go church in my very first time i feel nervous. and when i meet all of you and all the member im so very glad and happy because all of you are kind and mice and also the bishop and very cool and kind. and i realise that i want to be part of this religion.... and i call my mother for my nice decision about this and i say oh mother i want to be a LDS if it is okay and she say oh my son if you want and if you are happy about for your disicion i be proud of you son. and i was happy to hear that from my mom. and i want to share with you my favorite scripture in the book of mormon in 2 Nephi chapter 9 verse 3.......... because i want to be rejoice and i want the blessing of heavenly father and for my family and future family someday...." Then he closed after saying another thank you to the ward. It was so amazing, and you could totally feel the spirit. Even though a lot of people wer out of town for new year, a few families who speak pretty good english were able to come. and some members who don't speak english came to. it was so so amazing! I love my life! in a follow up meeting with him on monday he said he called his mom again and told her how he felt as a member and said she said she was so proud of him she is sending him a shirt, tie, and black pants to wear to church. He is coming from a Roman Catholic family, but I think they are so prepared! Also he told us yesterday he wants to help his dad (who has passed away) be baptized, so he understands that the temple is real and the purpose of it. Its so cool to see him and Alster John and Jay change and progress towards the temples. I love our life and Heavenly Father blessed me so much to be able to work in this area! Love you all, have a great week!!!! CHINESE NEW YEAR! P-DAY BOWLING | So I hope pictures can explain most of the week, I don't have much time after uploading all of them, but I hope you like them! It's just a little bit of my past week and life :) This week was like no other week before! Guonian is fun and I was able to meet a ton of new members I hadn't met yet, and get to know their families. It was great, but filled with a ton of pizza. From last Sunday until yesterday (Monday) every lunch and dinner was with members or with investigators. We actually saw a really cool miracle. We called a potential and she said she was busy then she asked if we had plans for guonian. We said not really and she invited us to her house to eat with her and her husband! It was great, a meal and a new investigator... we refused the alcohol but they drank a little. Obviously the word of wisdom will be a lesson we need to go over. Hopefully she'll keep meeting with us. We were also EXTREMELY blessed this past Sunday. This past weekend was probably one of the most spiritual weekends I've ever had. Saturday our Filipino investigator Elgine was baptized and it was such a great baptism! His friend Alster John baptized him, and had to say the baptism prayer in English... so Elgine was dunked twice before the prayer was word for word, but it was still such a great experience for them, and afterward, his testimony was adorable and very spiritual. Even though they have to have everything in church translated, he is speaking what English he can with members who use what English they have to communicate, he said he felt the SPirit of love and family at church and is so excited to be "a latter day saint." It was then even more amazing to see the confirmation, another friend, Jay confirmed him. After saying the first part about receiving the Holy Ghost in English, he said the prayer in Tagalog. It was so great because then Elgine could understand, and while I didn't understand the prayer, I could feel the Spirit confirm to me it was good. So cool, but the miralces don't stop there. So Brother Alster John also passed the sacrament that day and his route included us! I was so so happy to see this worthy priesthood holder pass the sacrament to his friends and us, and others in the congregation, and Brother Alster John smiled at us so big. Him and Jay both felt the power of being worthy to hold and use the priesthood. They were both LA a few months back, but though meeting with us, bringing Elgine into the gospel, and meeting with bishop, they pulled it together and Brother Alster John told us the other day, "It's good to be back, Sister," We are working on getting them all to the temple next. Jay is a returned missionary but Alster John and Elgine have never gone to do baptisms. Super excited for whats in store and SUPER grateful that Heavenly Father allowed me to meet these amazing brothers. The church is true all over the world! We're working hard to hopefully have enough Filipinos to open a branch here in taoyuan. Maybe this year it can happen. I love this work and I love Sister Miller! She has helped me learn so much about working hard as a missionary and following the SPirit and being bold. She doesn't just go with the flow, she takes action and is proactive in deciding and following the Spirit too. I'm loving learning with her and having all these amaizng experiences together. She really loves and knows this ward and I'm starting to know them, but still working on it. :) I've written about the day in my journal so I'lll definitely have to share the full story later. Love you all! Have a great New Year full of the Spirit and prosperity! Love, Sister Smith LIMES WITH BROWN SUGAR |
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AuthorI'm Sister Smith, missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I'm serving in the Taiwan, Taipei mission until July 2015. Archives
June 2015
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