Thats HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!?!? We made it passed 12-21-2012! I thought for sure we were done for! Haha just kidding!
So this last week has been AMAZING! I was called as the District Leader and have been severely humbled! It is GREAT to be humbled haha. I love my district and I have to seriously analyze myself and make sure that I am doing my very best all the time! I will be the District Leader until we leave for TAIWAN!!! WHICH IS ONLY 3 WEEKS AWAY!!! AHHH!!!! HOW CRAZY!?!?!?! Oh and as a side note, it takes about 3 to 4 weeks to get a letter from US to TAIWAN so if you start sending letters this week, I will probably get them my first week in Taiwan! That would be nice :).
So the principles I focused on this week in my teaching is teaching SIMPLY and INVITING. The PMG [Shannon here: PMG=Preach My Gospel] tells us that as missionaries we should be inviting EVERY PERSON we talk to to act, so be prepared for an invite somewhere in here ;). Also in order for someone’s life to change they have to act and in order to act we have to invite them! Agency is KEY in inviting, not only key in the person to choose to accept but also in the inviter asking the right question at the right time and being bold in the request! I have learned that as a representative of Jesus Christ, He will back up the promises that I make to investigators when I am inviting and prompted by the Spirit. How amazing is that? God has our back at all times! The other thing I learned was about teaching SIMPLY. This is soooo hard to do! I would teach the 5 main points of the Gospel and I thought I was being overly simply when I talked about Faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy Ghost and enduring to the end! But no, that isn't simple enough! When the teacher told me that, I thought "Shenme Dongxi!?" (What the heck?) How could I possibly teach more simply than that?! As I thought about it and tried to figure out how I could do it, I came up with these points, "Believing in Jesus Christ, Changing to be more like him, Making two way promises with, following His will and acting on it, and doing this same things over and over and continually striving to be better!” How much better is that? For people who have NO IDEA who God is...this is how I need to teach EVERYTHING. Plus, as I teach like this, I can really feel how it is more a part of me and has more sincerity in it then using the words that have been presented in Preach My Gospel. Now of course, eventually they will have to understand these terms, and we will help them get to that point, but it really is step by step and line upon line. It is amazing to see the interest level of investigators SKY ROCKET when we really teach from the heart instead of from the rote presentations that PMG gives us. Preach My Gospel is written for MISSIONARIES to HELP them teach investigators. And it really helps SO MUCH! I love Preach My Gospel! If you haven't gone through and read it I would invite you to do so! Start by reading Chapter 6 about the Christ-like attributes, that will get you HOOKED, then move through and finish it out. Really study it! I know it was written to help missionaries, but shouldn't we all be striving to share the Gospel all the time? Sharing the Gospel is what saves the lives of our brothers and sisters! Be bold and teach, share, and love the people you are with! You will see miracles happen in YOUR lives AND in the lives of those you teach when you exercise your faith in Jesus Christ and preach His gospel. Why would you not share it? Are you worried about what the person would think? What they would do? Remember Nephi when Laman and Lemuel were scared because Laban controlled 50 men? God is all powerful and all knowing. He will back you up if you have faith in Him! Don't be afraid to share the gospel with anyone, everyone! In your words and example!
I heard a wonderful quote this week, I think it was by Bruce R McConkie, I can't quote it exactly but this is the idea of it. "The "New Star" that was seen as the sign of Christ birth was not just placed there on that day (God COULD do that but it most likely didn't happen that way). God new exactly when Christ would be born and so he placed the star where it needed to be placed FAR before the birth of Christ. And this star was in the right place at the right time so that the Shepperd's could see it and think it was a new star brighter than all other stars." God has done the same thing with you and me. He has put things into motion far beyond this moment so that we could be where we are now, so that we can be that Star in someone's life. We need to "let our light shine!"
I love you all, I love the people of Taiwan, I love Chinese and I LOVE THE SAVIOR!!! I am so grateful for Him, not only for me in my life, but because of how He has blessed all of you! I am grateful for each breath, each day that God gives me. All I have is His and I will serve Him with all of my heart, forever and always!
I hope you all have an amazing week!
REMEMBER! Tian (1) Zhu (4) Zi (4) Zhu (4)!!! (The numbers are the tones, and it is an old Chinese Proverb that means God helps those who help themselves, so remember to take that step and ACT! :)
Elder Gish!
P.S. I really miss my fam :( You all are SO AMAZING! :) Thank you so much for your amazing examples to me and for all your support....YOU ROCK! :) and to everyone else, your prayers are REALLY felt...thank you so much!!!
