Testimonies and Tofu...

Hey Family, I usually eliminate most or all of Jonathan's "ha,ha,ha's," and he uses a lot of "Oh, man!', but this week I decided to leave them in for the effect, or to drive his brother Joel nuts! Enjoy! We love him. Carol Anne

Hey! May 27, 2008

Oh man, things are going so great right now. To answer your questions first: Yes, Mom, my apartment is clean, hahahaha. It’s so cool that I live on the other side of the world and you still get to remind me of that. Isn't it great that I can nag from a distance?! You’re right though, it is so much easier to get a good study and receive inspiration when you aren't studying in a dump. I have finally learned how to study on my mission and how to focus better. I don't day dream as much, that was my main problem when I went to school I think, but I've learned to really cherish the time that Heavenly Father has given me to study.

I've gotten used to having church and everything in Chinese and I can understand most gospel related matter. My Chinese has improved a lot and I'm even starting to notice it myself, which is always nice. Usually it’s just a really slow progression that you can barely even notice a difference, but now when I talk, people can actually understand the things I say. The crazy thing about Chinese is you can't be careless with your tones. Everything has to be precise. A lot of missionaries try throw in English vernacular when they speak Chinese and it just doesn’t work. Chinese is completely opposite of English, and nothing really translates, especially by the way you say things, but I think I've finally reached the point where I have "standard" tones. It came from memorizing A LOT of scripture. People can understand what I'm saying, hahaha. I can actually communicate with people now. I can teach lessons and understand people’s concerns, but there is still SO, SO much I don't know. Oh man, Chinese is hard, but through diligence and patience the Lord will continue to help me.

What’s been going on here lately? I’ll tell you about the Su family, who is Sister Wang, since they keep their maiden name in Taiwan. We got their family INTO the church on Saturday. We played games and made snickerdoodles, hahaha. Snickerdoodles are the key to a family’s salvation here in Taiwan. They love them. We played musical chairs, hide and go seek and they loved it. Sister Wang was kind of prideful the whole time, comparing it to her chapel and stuff. (Our church is kind of small, that’s how most are in Taiwan). It is on the seventh floor of a huge building, but yeah, she's just had a lot of pride lately.

But, that was last week. This past week has been great. Sister Wang has been reading “Jesus the Christ”, ( I LOVE "Jesus the Christ") and she’s loved it! We gave her the part to read about "the great night of apostasy and she said "I liked it." We were like....... really? hahaha I didn't know how that was possible, because it proved every bit of her church wrong, hahaha, but she liked it. So the next day we had THE most powerful lesson of all time with her. Oh man, it was so powerful, and the Spirit reminded me of an amazing analogy I could use from my child hood. When I was little and dad gave me allowance, I usually got 4 dollars, but one day gave me a five dollar bill. I felt cheated. I cried forever and ever until dad threatened to take it away. I just wouldn’t listen to anything dad was telling me. I just closed my mind. All I wanted were my four dollar bills because it seemed like more money, hahahahaha. After I shared this tragic experience with Sister Wang, I told her how it relates to Heavenly Father and how he wants to give us answers to our prayers, but we aren't willing to listen to him. Then I bore testimony to her from the bottom of my heart. The Spirit was using me to bear the best testimony I could and it was the most powerful testimony I've ever borne. She could really feel the Spirit and she has a new desire now. And, she's lost a lot of her pride, and most of all, she mentioned something about her and her family possibly being baptized! Oh man, I love this work so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A funny thing happened at their house the other day. We were eating dinner and their grandma called on the intercom and said, “ARE THOSE FOREIGNERS STILL THERE? I BROUGHT SOME STINKY TOFU JUST FOR THEM!!!!!!!!!” Oh man, hahaha, I was afraid of what would happen next. Sister Wang told her mom that we didn't want any, that we don't like tofu, but we weren’t about to let a thoughtful gift like this from an awesome (HILARIOUS) grandma go to waste, so we told her BRING IT UP, WE'LL EAT IT!!!!!!!!

IT WAS TERRIBLE! Oh man, stinky tofu is so gross, but the grandma was so pleased that we ate her present as it meant a lot to her, and I think to Sister Wang, too. It was only just an jour before this that I had told Elder Barton that tofu stinks so badly that I never want to eat it! It smells awful. Well, so much for that. I ate it and man it was so gross that I threw up in my mouth, a lot, but there was no possible way I would let them see that so I swallowed the vomit and the tofu and that was the end. Their grandma was so happy. She hates Christianity, but loves Mormons, hahahahaha.
Well I gotta go, I love you!!!!!!