WOOO!!!! Finally not a Teeny-Bopper any more! haha. And how cool that it is on a P-Day?! So awesome!
We were planning on going up to monkey mountain and getting to make some little Hou(3)zi (monkey) friends! But I don't think that is really going to work out today...:( But we will see! It all depends on what we are able to get done in the next 2 or 3 hours! Gotta keep busy on P-Days :)
Oh so something that is SO awesome that happened this week was I met this group of Indonesians and they were SO funny. They can't speak English or Chinese so we were all talking really slow with each other and we all had no idea what was going on. But somehow they were able to understand when I was talking with them about prayer! It was super great! They also all took a ton of pictures with me and thought it was so great to be with a white guy that could talk Chinese (even though they all knew a few words) haha. And they were all 'missionary-appropriate' pictures so don't worry mom!
Oh by the way, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE BIRTHDAY WISHES! It is so great that on my birthday I was actually able to get on and see all the wishes! You are all so awesome! It really is needed haha. This week has had the Biggest up of my whole mission and probably the biggest down. So I am so glad that the Lord's hand is in everything and he will not let you just live in the 'down' he will always give you an 'up'. Our job is to just focus on the up! So let's talk about the up! WOOHOO!
So here it is, HUGE MIRACLE! We have been teaching this family, the H. J family. And they are so awesome! He is totally golden and has been reading about the church and is so ready to be baptized, he agreed to keep the law of tithing cause he read about it in the Liahona and we haven't even taught it yet haha. But anyways, it is his wife that has been having a lot of trouble with the church. She just didn't know if God existed and has been having a really hard time deciding to be baptized. But she has been doing everything she needs to, obeying the commandments, reading, praying, everything. And we, of course, have been pouring our heart out to God for her! But anyways, we went over this last week and we were talking to him about arranging his baptism date, and we were going to turn to her but he stopped us and looked at his wife and said "ni yao gen wo jieshou xili ma?" (Do you want to get baptized with me?) And of course we were stunned and there was a moment of silence, maybe only 2 or 3 seconds but you know how long it feels. Then she looked at us and said yes!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!! She went on to explain how she was reading in the Book of Mormon with her Husband and they were reading in Mosiah 18:21 about "one baptism," then it just hit her like a ton of bricks, she needs to be baptized with her husband. How amazing is that?! They have a son who has mental issues so he can't be baptized, but I know that they are going to be able to press forward and go to the temple together, ( I might even still be here for that!) And they are going to be able to be a family for time and all eternity! How great is that!?!? AHH!! I felt super embarrassed because I was in the lesson and when she said that I couldn't hold back the tears ( I got my dads genes ;)). I started think about my amazing family and about our future and about the amazing blessing this family has just received! I am so grateful to our Lord and Master for giving us the chance to live for eternity as a family and to experience a fullness of joy! There is nothing that I could ever hope more for than that!
So I was reading today in the D&C and I came across a scripture that applies to all of us (since we are all missionaries) and I just wanted to share it because it was so amazing! ( I might even share it later when I come across it in future studies haha) But it is D&C 100: 3-8. It is amazing how the Lord will take care of us! I know that more than anything, he WILL take care of us, no matter if we are in the down of downs or the up of ups. He is there, He loves you, He cares about you, and He will take care of you.
I am sorry I am kinda short on time today because of going through all of those birthday wishes (THANK YOU SO MUCH)! And I have to do all the senior companion duties from now on (My trainer thinks the best way to get me ready is to make me do it haha So I am senior companion from now on...even though I depend on him for SO much haha) But I want to take a second to talk about families since that is what has been hitting me big time this week. Treasure the family time that you have now. The Family Home Evening, the Family Scripture time, the Family Prayers. Treasure it, it is so precious and will bring so many blessings! Those are sacred times. There is nothing that I could miss more right now than to kneel at the bed side with my brothers (Gage on my back and Chase and I having a mini poking war until Dad makes us stop :)) And then with my wonderful parents all together saying a prayer to close our day and to report to our Heavenly Father and to prepare us for the night and next day. Or to all sit on the couch and have Dad get up and start doing the chicken dance as we sing songs and laugh and can feel the spirit through the joy that our family has together! I love my family so much and I hope that they know that! They are so wonderful and by far the biggest, brightest, and happiest part of my life! I don't know where I would be without them. I love them more than anything in the whole wide world.
Love,
Elder Gish (Ge(3) Zhang(3) Lao(3))
P.S. The pictures are from the beginning of today. Hopefully there will still be more to come! :) And that is my birthday Breakfast! And the Mexican food we went to go eat LAST P-Day....(such a relief to get real food like that :) hahaha)
