Hey Fam and Friends <3
This week I am using (probably REALLY) outdated slang to title this email because I am 100% overwhelmed by life and the beauty of it!! There were so many times this week I was on the verge of tears from just feeling so much happiness and joy.
Sister Olsen and I had just experienced a really crazy ordeal that involved a crazy woman we like to call the Crazy-Lesson-Crasher who gave us bags of mustard-colored broccoli from the garbage and scared our investigator. We leave on our bikes as quickly as we can and then realize we have 10 minutes to find before our next appointment. So we decided to pull over and pray and ask to find one person in that ten minutes. BIGGEST MIRACLE EVER: We are at a stop light and I see a woman pulling up and I had such a powerful and clear feeling that it was just a thought in my head, "her." (Peyton this reminds me of you and "target spotted" but I am telling you this was SO REAL!) The Spirit was so strong and I haven't had a feeling to talk to someone so strongly as I did with this woman. In about 20 seconds I told her we were here on missions sharing about Jesus Christ and families. I then asked her about her family and she says, "I have a 1 year old son, do you want to come over sometime and see him?"....UM YES! She then says this - "I live just right around the corner, follow me so you know where my house is." I was SO stunned, because all we had was 10 minutes and she lived so close!
I looked at Sister Olsen and was like just "follow me!!" hahah (love her so much). This woman’s name is Lin Zhen Qi and her beautiful 1 year old son is nicknamed Dan Dan which means egg. :' She says "this is my house. so when can you come share with us?" We could barely speak because of how miraculous it all was (our prayer was answered). We set up a time to come back Friday. When we came we realized how much she is prepared for the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. She is a single mom. Her "husband" is in China and they are not in touch. She doesn’t have support really from her parents or friends. She lived in China and France for years but came back to Taiwan to raise her son. Her son is SO happy and smiley and you can see how happy he makes her. We shared a gospel message with her then invited her to church on Sunday. She came 10 minutes early with lil egg and they stayed the whole time. At the end of church she told us, "我有一個很溫暖的感覺， 從來沒感覺過" which translates to "I have such a warm feeling I've never felt before." We shared our testimony of Heavenly Father's love for and awareness of her and she was so teary. She cares so much about being a good mom and about her son and his happiness. We asked when we could visit her next and she said, can you come this afternoon? Sister Olsen and I were once again surprised and told Lin Zhen Qi "當然!” (of course). So we came over that afternoon and she told us that she has never felt loved or accepted like she did at church and said how kind all the people there were and talked about how much she wants to raise her son in that environment. She asked us about baptism (we hadn't even brought it up yet...:o) and then she said "I want to be baptized because this is what I have been looking for."
Meeting Lin Zhen Qi and just every interaction and conversation with her in the past couple days has given me such profound gratitude for and realization of the importance and power of family in our lives. Heavenly Father is so close to her and her son and we can feel it every time we're around them. Lin is an angel. It is incredible how the gospel of Jesus Christ can answer and heal our hardest problems, personal ones and family ones. I know there is nothing that Jesus Christ's Atonement cannot heal. Likewisssseeeee this experience has made me think soooo much about my own parents. I thought I had realized how much my parents have done for me but watching Lin with her son has made me ponder and reminisce about families and parents in ways I never have before! My gratitude for the gospel and for families and for my own parents is completely indescribable.
It's impossible to explain how much happiness and gratitude I feel from the gospel and for knowing that families are eternal! I love sharing this message with Sister Olsen out here in cute lil 頭份 with amazing people every single day.
It's impossible to explain how much happiness and gratitude I feel from the gospel and for knowing that families are eternal! I love sharing this message with Sister Olsen out here in cute lil 頭份 with amazing people every single day.
i love you all
more than 豆花
xoxxoox
sista 莫
Invitation: sit down and think about all the good things in your life and then think about all the things your parents have done for you. set a timer for at least 20 minutes. GO. ;)
After we met Lin Zhen Qi: Rain brings miracles EVERY TIME
TAMMAY! This is Tammy we've been teaching. Love her lots
Cute Carol and Betty we are teaching (and yes fam, I think of "Mr. Betty" when I see her OOPS)
ginormous guava also to be called ginormous happiness. LOOK AT IT
Making pizza with our investigator Zhao JieMei who thought it would make us really homesick:)
Best Taiwanese-Italian pizza ever: put the sauce on, crack eggs on top, grate a lil parmesan cheese, add fresh basil, BINGO.
