Hi Everyone!
We went to dinner with Susan, a member who was baptized right before I got here. She's amazing. She has really good English and she's funny and sarcastic, but she has a really strong testimony. One thing I've learned is that baptism is really only the very first step in conversion. The amount of things you need to know to get baptized is very small. Mainly you just have to understand what kind of thing you're committing to do. It's after baptism that the real learning begins. This catches a lot of new members off guard, because they just spent several months learning all about the church, so they feel like they already have a good handle on things. I've learned just how important it is for members to reach out and befriend new people entering this church. The change is big and sometimes scary, and a good friend can make all the difference.
We just finished the first week of the new transfer! Time feels like it is more and more on fast forward. I don't feel like I even had time to experience last transfer before it was gone! Despite how quickly things are moving though, life is jam-packed and memorable experiences are plentiful.
We had a little mishap the other night when we decided to go explore one of the farther parts of our area. Our area is actually massive, but the vast majority of the people live up in this one tiny corner, so that's where we spend most of our time. We had several hours one day though, so we decided to take the bus down to one of the smaller towns further South. When we got off the bus, we were a little disappointed to realize that Google Maps had lied to us about the distance, and we were only a little bit past a college that we routinely bike to. We felt like we'd kind of wasted our bus fare and should have kept going, but the bus was already gone, so we just walked into the town. We spent an enjoyable afternoon walking down the streets talking with anyone we could. Then we grabbed some dinner at a restaurant selling Traditional Tainan food. After eating, we headed back up to the bus stop in order to make it back for a lesson at the church at 7.
We got to the bus stop, read the schedule, then sat down to wait. After several minutes though, I decided to practice my Chinese by reading the bus schedule more in depth. In doing so, I noticed a little asterix I hadn't noticed before. As I stared at this new message, identifying the characters I knew and trying to make sense of the rest, I realized that it was telling me on weekdays the bus stops running after five pm. I don't think even buses in rural Southern Oregon stop running that early. Suddenly, Sister Hancock and I were very glad we hadn't gone any further south. After 45 minutes of frenzied speed walking, we arrived at the church, and were able to make it to our lesson and ward correlation afterwards. We both slept very well that night.
Our elders like to make sure we know they exist or something. We always know when they're nearby when we're out contacting because we come back to our bikes and our helmets are switched. It happens at least once a week. Last week we came out from doing our studies and saw that they'd gotten slightly more creative this time. They think they're really funny.
This week I've been studying a lot about the Restoration. We started watching the movie, Joseph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration with Roy, and it's made me think a lot (watch the movie here). After all, the Restoration is the reason I'm here in Taiwan. We believe that the heavens aren't closed, but that Christ has once again restored His full and complete church to the earth today. We believe he reveals His will to His prophet, just as He did in biblical times. We believe that God's priesthood power, given to man to act in His name, perform miracles, and complete the ordinances necessary for salvation and eternal families, has been restored in its fullness to the the earth. This message is too powerful and important to be kept quiet. I am so grateful that God loved us enough to not leave us in the darkness. I'm so grateful that He called Joseph Smith to be His prophet and restore the church. My life has been blessed in countless ways by the Restoration, and I am so grateful that I have this chance to share its joyful message so that others can receive the same blessings.
Have a fantastic week this week! Love you all!
Sister Hull
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