Fast week!!!

Well the week went by fast in my mind, but Sister Xiao was a little sick this week so the work was a little slower...

Even though this week was a little bit slower, we were still able to see some miracles. One of our investigators, Jim Lin DX, is currently doing his military service in the very southernmost part of Taiwan and only comes up to 竹東 every 3-4 weeks for a break. Last time we met with him was the beginning of March, when he said he wouldn't be back in 竹東 until the end of April for his next break. So I had his record in the area book and told Xiao JM about him. Guess what? He came to General Conference yesterday for 3 hours without us even inviting him! It was so amazing! He really wants this gospel and to know his Father at this time in his life. He quickly left right at 12 to get back to 屏東(PingDong), but he said he'd keep in contact and meet with us on his next break in 2 weeks. Jim is really prepared! I can't wait to hear what happens to him!

Another cool experience this week was going to the hospital, for the last time hallelujah, and giving Xiao JM a computer to watch General Conference on, and then watching two brethren from our ward give her the sacrament. When we told her last week that she may be missing General Conference, she was so sad and specially asked us to figure out a way for her to watch. She was so grateful to get to listen to the Prophet and Apostle's words. Then we also told her that because she didn't get to take the sacrament last week, we'd gotten special permission from our Bishop to give it to her that day. She was also pretty excited about that. It was kind of different, because we didn't have any bread, so we had to use cherry tomatoes, but the Lord doesn't care so much about the things, but about the spirit and the reason. Xiao JM was so cute. She really didn't want to take it alone, but we couldn't take it with her because of conference. Right when our member opened his mouth to say the sacrament prayer, I felt so full of the spirit and I started crying. I just had another HUGE witness that Heavenly Father really loves Xiao JM. This is probably the 3rd-4th time I've had that strong of a spiritual impression with Xiao JM. There is something really special about that spirit, and this time I'm not even talking about 竹東's special souls. I gained another witness yesterday that the Atonement was truly made one by one for each of us.
Then I think the last miracle of the week, at least a miracle to me, was a call with our Mission President last night. I actually had a few questions written in my planner I wanted to ask, but he answered the one in my heart, that I didn't want to talk about until my exit interview this week. We've had many experiences and confirmations this last week and a half-ish that have shown us the Lord's approval, our Bishop's and Xiao JM's gratitude, like the one in the last paragraph. But some of our leaders have been less than supportive of our decisions, so its taken it's toll on our companionship. Last night President gave me what I count as the last answer I needed. Last night he talked about how non coincidental it is that I have a 本地人(native) companion to help out and serve in this situation. He also talked about how grateful he was for our service. It really meant a lot and helped us feel, once again, that we've been doing what's right. When I told Sister Xiao what he said, it really meant a lot to her and she said she felt like the boulder put on her shoulders became a lot lighter. So even though I didn't get to ask him all the questions I'd planned on asking, he really answered the biggest question on my mind, "Is all of this sacrifice really worth it?". I learned through this experience that what the white handbook says is really important to remember, "Your loyalty is first to the Lord, then to your mission president, then to your companion." We are not loyal to any other missionaries, members, or investigators, besides these 3 people. Do not seek for the glory of man. Only do things that please Heavenly Father and everything will work out.

Lastly I want to add my thoughts about General Conference. WOW. I have to say that this conference one of the lessons I learned was about the relationship between preparation and personal revelation. On Thursday, my companion was resting, so I was reading the new April Liahona and read this quote in the First Presidency Message, "to gain the great benefits available from hearing living prophets and apostles, we must pay the price ourselves of receiving revelation." I felt like I really needed to prepare well for this conference, because I sure have a lot of questions right now. So on Friday I took some time to pray and ponder about what kinds of questions I needed to take to conference. Then in the same talk I received another answer, "We who listen to and watch the messages of general conference sometimes think afterward, “What do I remember best?” The Lord’s hope for each of us is that our answer will be: “I will never forget the moments when I felt the voice of the Spirit in my mind and heart telling me what I could do to please my Heavenly Father and the Savior.” The most important thing we can get out of conference is reminders or inspiration from the spirit about the things we need to do to please our Father in heaven and our Savior. So every time I received a specific prompting from the spirit, I wrote it down and put a "1" with a circle around it to show that it was specifically for me from the spirit. I was able to receive a lot more personal revelation and direction for my life by just asking that simple question. "What can I do to please thee, Father?" I received many different promptings that may not have even had anything to do with what the speaker was talking about. I want to testify that when we go to the Lord and ask in humility, He WILL give us what we need. His spirit will absolutely come testify to us the things the Lord would have us know, do, and become. We just have to stay worthy of the companionship of the spirit and do our part, keep the commandments, go to church, read the scriptures, attend the temple, etc., and He WILL lead us.

Very lastly, I want to steal another quote from Elder Holland. "The first great commandment of all eternity is to love God with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength—that’s the first great commandment. But the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength. That love is the foundation stone of eternity, and it should be the foundation stone of our daily life." I know this is true. 

HE LIVES AND LOVES US, TOO.

-Sister Oviatt