Well unfortunately, just like last week we didn't get any news from President Day in his weekly email. We all feel like it's coming close and that our visas are in the final stages. We've been waiting for hmmm... 11 weeks now for them? I don't know anymore. Anyways. We've heard that we'll leave whenever they come in, and we won't have to wait for the Feb. 25th transfer to leave. So that's a blessing! That's really all the update I have for visas at this point... :/
Alright well. I think the funniest story of the week was when we went to dinner Saturday night.
A sister in our ward cooked us steaks for dinner. Earlier that day, she asked how we wanted them done, so I said medium rare. I think Sister Smith said well done. We get there and she didn't know which of us asked for which steak. She looks at me and says, 'Oh. You're from Texas. You wanted the medium rare ones right? I figured that, and went a little bit more on the rare side for you." I was laughing so hard! She'd seen my planner cover and my BoM case with Texas duct tape on them earlier that week. I was like yeah... I'm kind of a fake though! I only lived there for 2 years! She thought that was hilarious! I guess you could say I'm converted to being a Texan! I miss it! :)
Next for the miracle/spiritual story of the week. It's not too, too big this week. But still a testimony strengthener for me. :) SO Friday afternoon, I was feeling a little discouraged and homesick and just wanting to go to Taiwan. I'd just seen my Visa Waiter sistas at the New Missionary Training that morning, and it just made me miss them lots and want to go to Taiwan! But we had a lesson with Virginia that day and Sister Smith has recently been giving me bigger parts of the lessons to teach, so I knew I needed to be better intune with the spirit than I was. So at the beginning of the lesson I said a quick silent prayer and asked Heavenly Father to help me to have his spirit as I taught, and to have the words put in my mouth that I should say. (Sidenote: The gift of tongues is not just for foreign languages!) I asked to know what I needed to say and to have confidence as I followed the promptings of the spirit. Well my turns came to teach and I told her about why Heavenly Father sent us to earth. It totally blew her mind when we told her it was because He loves us, not because he wants to punish us. She has been through a lot of rough times in the last 10 years and, rightfully so, thinks this earth is Hell and she can't wait to get back to heaven. So when she heard that she's here because Heavenly Father loves her she was just shocked!
Anyways. Later in the lesson when I was my turn I felt like I needed to invite her to be baptized for the 400th time with her. Well usually Sister Smith has done the baptismal invites and it was the middle of the lesson so I we really confused at why I should do that. But I just went with it and let the spirit talk. I asked her, if, as she continued to learn these things, and pray to know if they are true, and then God told her they were true, if she'd follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding God's authority. I didn't know why I said that at all! It seemed like such a weird time in the lesson to do it! She declined the invitation and said, "Well I don't know.. I just think the water will be so cold!" We all tried to not laugh and reassure her that the water would be warm and we'd be inside for the baptism. She still didn't really believe us. What a cute old lady. :) Then seconds later her phone rang, and it was her realtor. She was there to drop off some papers for selling her house. The realtor ended up talking to her for 15 minutes, then we had to leave! So if I didn't act on that prompting right then and just invited her to be baptized, we never would've had time to do it later on. Heavenly Father knew that that was the real end of the lesson, even if I thought it was still the middle.
The rest of the day I felt so much better and so much more full of peace and optimism. I knew that I'd followed the spirit and done exactly what Heavenly Father needed me to do at that time. I was sad that she didn't commit to be baptized, but we'll keep working on her and helping her understand why baptism is SO important. I've loved being able to feel and follow the promptings of the spirit, to help people receive the blessings of the gospel in their lives. It always takes some amount of a leap of faith, but it always pays off. :)
Thank you so much for all of the support, letters, emails, and postcards. :) I genuinely appreciate them all and I wish I had time to respond to them all individually! They always come on the perfect days when I need them most. :)
Thanks again for everything!
Keep praying for all of our Taiwan visa waiters(:
-Sister Oviatt
-Ou Jiemei
