Monday, March 5, 2012

So Many Miracles!!!

Wow, what a week!!! It was full of ups and downs and twists and turns and SO MANY MIRACLES!! I wish I could just jabber away and give you all the details of everything that happened, but you'll have to wait till I get home for that. But I am seriously just in awe at everything that happened in just 7 days! And Sister Watterson and I are just exhausted from working soooooo hard! But that's just the best feeling ever :)
 
So, the week started out with that crazy adventure of Sister Watterson and I getting lost on the train on the way back to our area, but we knew from that instant that this move-call was going to be full of adventures. :) That night we went to go visit one of our recent converts, XinYin (her and her dad got baptized in December) and the miracle there was that her older brother (who's about 13) prayed with us! Both of her older brothers completely ignore/disregard the missionaries presence, but this time he stayed and actually said the closing prayer! I was shocked and knew that Sister Waterson was sent to serve here in GangShan as my companion for a reason.
 
Later we had planned to go visit someone Sister Ju and I had met on the street a while back, but it was kinda crazy because somehow I felt really drawn to go visit a certain former that lived on a street near by. I had randomly (although not by chance!) found the record and noticed that the address was on the road we'd be traveling that night, so I took it with me, just in case, and when the time came, I just felt like that was where we needed to go. So, we found the house right away, pulled out the teaching record and reviewed her investigation of the church nearly 3 years ago. Turns out she's the mom of a returned missionary living in another ward and it was amazing that the lesson plan we came up with as we quickly discussed what we could share was exactly what she had been wondering about. The lesson was completely led by the Spirit as she opened up to us and asked a ton of questions about faith and how to understand answers to prayers. She was willing to start praying again and we were super excited to come back again to answer more of her questions. As we left, rushing to get home on time, Sister Watterson and I were BEAMING with so much happiness, gratitude and excitement that we were able to find her, answer her questions of the soul (or begin to) and we were, and still are, completely confident that she's going to be one of our strongest investigators and new members. We love her so much and we're going to help her make it all the way!!
 
So many other miracles happened as Sister Watterson and I were searching so hard for new investigators. One time I called the Assistants for an unrelated purpose, but Elder Peterson asked me how many baptisms we were planning on having that month and I jokingly, but in a longingly, hopeful voice said, "like five!" and then told him that actually, we were going to work as if it was another "goal of 10" month like Sister Brownell and I had last summer and saw so many miracles from it. Sister Watterson is so sweet. She could sense the longing in my voice and when I got off the phone she said, "Sister Morey, I want you to be able to have those baptisms. I know you've worked hard throughout your mission, and I want to help you find those people. We're going to find like crazy this week so we can have people prepared by the end of this month." Tears came to my eyes as I expressed my gratitude and said, "yes, I want to find them! Ok, we're going to work so hard!" And the Lord answered our prayers in miraculous ways this week as we found SO many new investigators... more than I think I ever have in my whole mission! I'll tell you about a few more of them.
 
There was a miracle last Sunday night as Sister Ju and I were leaving a member's house. They had just told us about a family down the street that they were hoping to invite to church and meet with the missionaries but they said it'd probably be a few weeks till we'd be able to meet them, BUT as we were leaving, it just so happened that the mom was outside and we set up to meet with her and her family right then and there! So, we came back on Thursday night and when we got there a little early Sister Watterson and I were chatting a little bit and I said,"this street just has a special feeling, doesn't it?" She agreed, and it was so crazy because the investigator mom was still busy when we got there so we decided to meet the neighbors, and we shared about the Book of Mormon with 2 of her neighbors, one of which was from China and said that she had just become Christian 6 months ago but still wasn't sure if it was the "right" church. When we shared with her Moroni 10:3-5 she immediately responded with, "hao, shi shi kan." We didn't even explain it and she already said herself that she'd try it! We were just blown away.
 
shu fu" so we promised they'd be able to have the same feelings if they said family prayer every day, which they agreed to do! We immediately knelt together to say the closing prayer and they all held hands. Their mom said a really sweet prayer, and when we invited them to church right afterwards they all got excited and said yes! They all agreed to baptism, too. Seriously, I have never seen a family respond with so much faith! And sure enough, they've been praying every day since, and even made the trek to Stake Conference this week! Ahhh! The Lord is helping us so much!!
 
OK, so I don't have time to tell you about the rest of them, but I'll just say that each one is just as much of a miracle, and there's SO many of them! We're sure going to be busy!
 
Of course with a mission comes the ups and downs, the joys and the deep sorrows. This week, although it was filled with countless joys, was also filled with one of the saddest moments. I got a call Tuesday night that one of my recent converts, Lin Jiemei, the one with cancer passed away. I was so sad and just started sobbing. I miss her so much, and I was going to have the opportunity to call her really soon, but then she was gone. I was so sad, but at the same time completely comforted in the fact that she had completed her life's mission and that she had had the gates of the Celestial Kingdom opened to her through baptism, and that Sister Gibson and I had been able to take part in that miracle before she passed away. The interesting thing was that I had just shared her miracle story with some members earlier that day. It was kind of a tender mercy because I got to "re-live" that miracle one more time before she left us. She will always be so dear to me, and I can't wait till I can see her again! I got to attend her funeral on Saturday morning and sang a solo verse in "Nearer My God To Thee." It was such a special experience.
 
The gospel and the Plan of Salvation are just so perfect. My testimony has been strengthened so much throughout my mission of these precious truths. I'm just so grateful that I've had this incredible opportunity to serve here and be on the front lines in witnessing these miracles. I love the gospel, I love the Lord and I love being a missionary, more than I can say!
 
I love each of you, so much, too!! Please know that I'm sending all my love in this email!
Your Sister and Daughter, Sister Morey :)

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