So a big event this week was the arrival of Mazu, one of the most worshipped gods in Taizhong and Zhanghua. Apparently every year, they have a pilgrimage where they walk the statue of Mazu in a palanquin from her normal temple in Taizhong down through Zhanghua to Yuanlin and back up. Hundreds of people gather to follow Mazu each night. When Mazu stops, they race to run under her palanquin. Apparently Mazu was a woman who lived a long time ago and saved a lot of sailors during a storm, so they made her into a god. Since Taiwan is an island, she's pretty popular here. Sister Lin and I felt a little weird about proselyting to people who were in the midst of their own religious ceremony, so we didn't go to see, but we did see lots and lots of people walking down through the middle of Zhanghua. It was fun to have the feeling of the festival in the air. Mazu comes back up next Friday, and it's supposed to be even crazier then.
The other day it was raining, so we had our umbrellas, and then we passed this green wall, so we had to stop and take a picture.
We had a cool experience this week when we were out contacting. Lately our district has been trying out destination contacting- where we pick a destination (our next appointment, an LA we've been wanting to visit, etc.) and follow the Spirit as we go there, stopping by sevens and parks, talking to people on the street, or anything else we feel prompted to do. The other day we were on our way to try to visit some LAs we don't have phone numbers for, and I felt prompted to stop and buy some ice cream at a stand on the side of the road. The prompting was subtle, so I wasn't entirely sure whether it was coming from the Spirit or my stomach, but the man running the stand looked friendly, so we decided to stop. We bought ice cream and started chatting with him. It turned out he had absolutely no interest, so we finished our ice cream and left.
A few minutes later we were biking by the hospital and decided to stop. We tried talking to a few people without much luck, then saw a guy sitting on a scooter across the street smoking. We approached him, and had a really good contact. When we left though, he didn't want to give us his number, so we left him with ours and rode away, hoping to somehow see him again. Coming back from interviews a few days later, we ran into him on the street in a completely different part of Zhanghua. We stopped and said hi for a few seconds before he had to go. Again, we left with the hope that we would see him again.
Yesterday morning, he texted and asked what our plans were for the day. We set up with him for that evening, and had a really good lesson! At one point, I asked if he decided he wanted to find God, what he would do to search for Him. He replied that he'd probably just wait for God to come find him. Recalling the events of the past few days, I was able to look him in the eye and say with a surety that only comes from the Spirit that God has come to find him, that He sent us here specifically to find him and invite him to come back to God. It was amazing to see all the little ways Heavenly Father had arranged our paths so that His son could learn of Him. And He was even kind enough to let us get an ice cream out of it in the process! :)
Last night we had a family home evening with our neighbors and some American members in our ward. We had a lot of fun talking about our memories from our own baptisms and sharing our testimonies with each other. The American members participated in the Mazu pilgrimage because they were invited by a friend, so it was also fun to hear their stories.
Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about faith. When I came on my mission, I decided that I didn't need to see any big miracles, I was just content to plug along, steadily doing the Lord's work. At the time, I thought that personally I didn't need any miracles to build my faith, and I was more than willing to just work hard and do what the Lord needed me to do. I thought I was being a strong, dedicated missionary in saying that. I didn't realize that miracles come as a result of faith, and in saying I didn't need to see miracles, I was putting a cap on the amount of faith I could exercise. Over the course of my mission, I've learned more and more that we should desire, seek for, pray for, and work for miracles, because they are a natural part of the Lord's work if we have the faith to find them. I've learned that the turning of a human heart is perhaps the greatest miracle that can occur. The Creator of the Universe has control over all the natural elements, so to change the physical state of things is simple for Him. The one thing He relinquishes control over is our will. He gives us agency. Thus, when we choose to change, and to reach towards Him, the change that He makes in us is the greatest of all. It took me a while to start to understand this, and then I spent a while in a state of confusion because I wasn't sure how I fit into the equation. If everything is just a miracle, then how could I plan or prepare for the miracles that would come? It all seemed out of my control. I think what I've learned since then is that yes, every small decision a person makes from talking to the missionaries to being baptized to being sealed as a family is a miracle, so what I do and the part I play is absolutely crucial. I have to work to be constantly building and exercising faith so I can be a part in making the miracle happen. I have to be working to make inspired plans and follow the Spirit so I can be in the right place at the right time. I have to have unity with my companion so that we can both be in a state to follow the guidance of the Spirit together and work together for the good of our investigators. I think as I'm finally coming to understand this, missionary work makes a lot more sense. I'm a little sheepish that it took me this long, and I'm sure I still have much more to learn, but I'm grateful for Heavenly Father's patience with me in helping me learn this a little bit at a time.
That's all for this week! Hope you all have an amazing week! Love you all!
Sister Hull
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