Miracles.....

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!! This week has taught me so much! (That doesn't mean it was hard so don't read into it. It was a good week!) This was my first full week. Wednesday we celebrated my one week in the field and Sis. Merrill's 6 month mark (she has only been in the field 3 but was in the MTC learning Chinese 3 too). The weird thought is that I hit 1 month this week... It has gone by all too fast. Oh my release date on my ministerial card (yep I'm special) says December. Just as a side note.

I have seen so many miracles this week! Also I have had people tell me I'm wasting my life but hey to each their own I guess. This week I had 3 different people call me out and ask me to tell them about my church! Each time was unique:

The first was a boy who wanted the Elder’s numbers so he could keep taking the lessons (he was a recent convert that moved to London for 6 months, lost track of the church and wants to come back).

Second was Dong (an old Chinese man. I will explain in more detail in a second)

Third was this Muslim scary man that the Elders are now teaching (we have to turn over all English to the Elders or zone leaders unless they are older women).

So, the other day we were confirming our plans for the next day. Sister Merrill was the one praying. She prayed about our goal to get contact information for three people and I had the sudden thought of "No there are four." I said a quick prayer of "Heavenly Father are you sure there are four? We only have about an hour and that's a lot of people in an hour to get contact information for" and again the impression was "there will be four." So I told Sister Merrill and we wrote it down not thinking much about it.

The next day we had the contact information for 3 people and our bus was coming in 10 minutes but we knew there was one more person that needed us. We started walking and Sister Merrill looked at me and said somewhat jokingly "There is going to be someone that walks around that corner, sees us, yells our names, and jumps for joy that we finally found them." We both kind of laughed but hoped we would find someone. There was no one out. We turned a corner and looked around and three men started coming from different directions all Chinese (our favourite kind!). We picked what one we wanted to talk to and we started walking towards them. Then the older Chinese man called us out. It turns out one of our recent converts works for him. One day the missionaries all went to meet the convert and the owner saw them. He talked to them and when he saw us he said he wants to know more. It was such a miracle. He gave us all his contact information and we were able to talk to him and still make our bus!

Oh buses... We run for buses all the time! It is a wonderful thing. I LOVE bus contacting and talking to the people that are going places and learning more about them. It is so wonderful! I love people and learning what they believe but mostly I love sharing what I believe! Missionary life is the best!

The biggest thing I learned this week is there aren't coincidences. The Lord has everything happen for a reason. As long as we trust fully in Him everything works out. Last night we were stuck in the cold windy outside for about two hours (all 5 of our appointments fell through). We were cold, tired, and hungry because we hadn't eaten since breakfast (meals on Sunday are weird timing). We got on the bus to finally come home and there was a Chinese family. Sister Merrill had the impression to get off and follow them. This was hard because we didn't know when the next bus would come. But she was good and did it and I followed behind. She talked to them and they didn't want to listen. We walked up to the next bus stop from where we left the family (they turned down their street to go home). We talked about how even though it was hard that following them was the right thing and we just might not know why for a while or ever.

At the next stop a man was standing there and he was waiting for the bus. Sister Merrill had met him before. He told her that since they talked he decided to try and decide what religion was true and that he wants to know more about ours. It was a miracle. It taught me that the Lord asks us to do hard things sometimes but there is always a better reward. I love that each day I get to learn new things like that. A mission is the best thing ever! I wish that everyone could go! It changes your life! I have only been out for a little while but it is better than I could ever imagine! =)

The church is true and Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers each and every day. When we completely trust in Him, He can take us farther than we could ever take ourselves, even if at first we don't understand, He has a plan for all of us! =)

Oh and I love Chinese! I really don't know much. Only a few more simple phrases and words then last time. But it is fun to hear. We are working at translating lessons so we are on the same page.