WEEKLY UPDATE--It's Already August!

Well, this week was amazing, as usual. Some exciting things that happened this week:

1. Sister Lee started cracking jokes in English for her language study...

Sister Lee: "I am a natural man."

Every Elder she says this to: "Oh, so you like camping?"

2. We were able to help a few Less Active families come to church this past Sunday and an LA that we've been working with for a while (Lin Dixiong) was given the opportunity to bless the sacrament.

3. A dead investigator (from about 9 weeks back) came back to life! Her name is Hong Jie Mei. She is about 40 years old and deathly afraid of water. The week that I came to Shilin we invited her to attend a baptismal service. After the baptism, she broke down and had a crying fit. For 3 hours we tried to comfort our uncontrollably crying investigator as we listened to her explain how her life was so hard and all her doubts about how Heavenly Father could possibly love her is all these bad things were happening. After 3 hours of consolation and 3 boxes of tissues later Hong Jie Mei went home, never to return our phone calls or reply to our text messages ever again.

(At specific times every day the rubbish truck drives through each town. At that time, the people will stand outside their door, with their bags of rubbish in hand, and wait to throw it into the truck as it passes by.)

Sister Lee had the thought to try and catch Hong Jie Mei as she was throwing out her rubbish. So, on saturday, we went to the area where Hong Jie Mei lives and waited for the rubbish. It came, and there waiting for it was Hong Jie Mei! We were able to catch up, share about how important this gospel is in blessing her life, invite her to church, and set up to meet with her another time. 

The best of this story was how we got her to church. Hong Jie Mei lives kind of a ways away from the chapel. Our ward meets at 9 in the morning and to make it to our chapel in time for sacrament, Hong Jie Mei would have to head out the door at 8am. She had a lot of "reasons" as to why she couldnt come to church. (1. The chapel is too far, 2. She doesnt have a motorcycle. 3. She doesnt like walking. 4. It's too early. etc...) But we told her we would be at her house early the next morning to pick her up and accompany her to church. 

Sunday morning comes around. We get to her house and shes waiting for us outside. She straps on her bicycle helmet and she hops on the back of my bicycle, sits on my carrier and I pack her, a twenty minute bike ride on the highway all the way to the chapel. She was able to come to church, partake of the sacrament and get to meet the members!

4. On the 10th of August, we get to meet David Archuleta. WOOT. 

Missions are flipping awesome.  

Sister Goo.