Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Monday June 14, 2010

William Preston Vernon

to me
show details Jun 13 (2 days ago)

Hewwwwwooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!
xiayu tian!!!!! Rain Day!! It's pretty intense out there. Rain droplets approximately the size of Swallow eggs. I have no idea how big swallow eggs are, but it's raining hard. It has been the last three days. On friday we were just riding our bikes, and then it started raining super fast, and I got completely soaked in about one minute. So I wear my jacket, and some rain pants over my slacks and ride around in the rain and still get wet, I love it. Rain days are fun in Taiwan. They are all really afraid of the rain. It might be that 80 percent of them ride scooters. Or maybe they just like having the rainy day as an excuse to not go to appointments with missionaries. But it's really funny, they all ride around on their scooters with these big yellow ponchos or rain clothes on.
Yesterday was church. It rained real hard that morning, and usually you won't get any investigators to come to church in the rain. Even the members sometimes won't come in a rainy day. But most of the ward showed up, and we still got 4 investigators to come, which was good. In fact it tied for the most that day with Elder Norton (my zone leader). It's so fun to be out here and missionarying.
Every Wednsday we teach a free English class, and most of the time only members of the ward come. So It's kind of annoying. but this week I found a lady who had a cute little chinese kid, and invited them and they came to English class. Turns out the family just moved here from the da lu (Mainland China) and were interested in learning about the gospel. So we set up a time to meet with them. They fanged our gezis, (okay it's time- I guess there is a chinese legend probably about some buddhist monk that let somebody's pigeons go free, and it had some significance. I don't know. But that's the literal meaning, "you let my pigeons out!" "Ni you fang wo de gezi!" It means they stood you up.) It happens a lot. so the next day we set up an appointment. Again they didn't come. They next day when they didn't come we found out where they lived and rode our bikes around in that area hoping to see them. A miracle happened and we ran into the lady and her kid again and they still wanted to meet with us! So we set up a time that night and it rained and they didn't come. Then we committed them to come to church over the phone. It rained and they didn't come. I still hope we can baptize them. I really want to baptize a family from Dalu. that would be so cool.
That's what missionary work here is like. You talk to people on scooters, ask them to be baptized, and for the most part of the day you are calling the people you talked to yesterday on your cell phone, seeing if they actually do have interest, and if they do trying to set up a time to meet with them, and eventually you do meet with some! It's awesome. I was scared of phone calls at first because chinese people are impossible to understand on the phone. But I'm getting better at it. Now I can help my companion with the calls pretty well. It made me real happy, we were sitting down with a less active member and he guessed that I had been here almost a year. The members all think that I was transferred from another area. But I shouldn't say that because it's prideful.
Then on Tuesday? Or maybe it was wednsday or thursday I forgot, I was about to call someone and president Hoer called the cell phone. I answered and told me that Grandpa Vernon had passed away. Well actually he said "Your parents e-mailed me," And I said, did my grandpa pass away? and he said "yup." and I said, okay. I wasn't too surprised, after the e-mail last week. That must have been a special experience there when Dad gave him a blessing. Grandpa Vernon is such a good person. But to tell the truth I wasn't even sad a little bit. I don't know if that's because I was expecting it, or if I just now that I am teaching the plan of salvation have no doubt that I can see him again, and have him help me here on my mission. I told my companion a little about grandpa vernon and then said we have another member on our team. It's so true. I've felt him help me so much this last week, and it's been so great. I know the scriptures are true which tell us that ancestors can help us in this life. I especially like D&C 84:85 now "I will go before your face, I will be on your right hand and on your left, my spirit shall be in your hearts and mine angels round about you to bear you up." Chabuduo, I don't really have it memorized.
Well, I'm out of time. Till next week fam. I'll pray for you all and I hope this week is just a wonderful one. My only regret is I would have really loved to play violin at grandpa's funeral. I haven't been able to play violin for a week or so now and it's been hard. But the lord asks us to sacrifice. He who keeps his life shall find it, and he who loses his life for my sake, shall find it. I also like the scripture in Mark 10:29-30 that He who leaves a family and home and friends or whatever for the gospel's sake will receive a hundred fold in this life.
I think about Parley P. Pratt who when his younger brother William couldn't believe he was leaving a beautiful farm, house and orchard to follow the gospel, pulled out his "promisory notes" and told him from the scriptures about receiving all the father hath and blessings of the gospel.
Bubye!

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