Hello, everyone! I'm still here! These last 5 days have been pretty
good, keeping the work alive! This week, we have my first baptism, for a
man named Cai Pei Jin (tsigh pay jeen), which is so awesome to finally
see him get baptized! When the missionaries met him three months ago, he
smoked 60 cigarettes a day! Now, in just three months, he has
completely quit! He has so much faith, and we have seen miracles in his
life. It is such a testimony to me of how the gospel helps us become
better people, and gives us so much hope! I'm so much better as a person
because of my faith is Christ, and in His church.
As
far as fun stuff goes, our apartment stinks! The fridge has not been
working, and the 3 things we have in there have started to smell. But
it's ok, we have a second, smaller fridge, and we don't keep anything in
our fridge anyway! So it's not a big deal, we take it as it comes!...
It's kinda sad when all you have to talk about is your smelly fridge.
Sorry
if these emails are too long, I hope you at least find them
semi-entertaining. I love the opportunity I have to share my testimonies
with you all, and I'd love to hear some of yours, too! This week I have
been thinking a lot about faith, and what faith really is. In the Book
of Mormon, Alma Chapter 32, it talks about faith not being a perfect
knowledge, but a belief, or a desire to believe in something that we
cannot see. In the MTC, I was always scared out of my mind, because I
felt like I didn't have a strong enough knowledge of certain things. But
as I read that Chapter in Alma, I received so much relief. I have so
much faith, because I believe that God lives, I believe that Christ is
our Savior. And then, as the Chapter continues, it tells us how to turn
our faith into a knowledge. When we want to know if something is true,
if we have faith, we need to exercise our faith. Faith is an action
word, more than just a hope. We need to experiment our faith, to be
willing to act on the faith we have. Through scripture study, personal
prayer, and attending church, we learn of God, we learn of Christ, and
our faith is strengthened. Through prayer, we have a personal
conversation with our Father in Heaven, we ask Him questions and tell
him our worries. Through scripture study, we learn of Christ, we learn
of God, and Their plan for us. We learn how God talks to us, and how we
can receive our own answers. We learn from the experiences of others.
And through attending church, we meet with others, and hear their
experiences and testimonies. And when we do these things, we can feel,
in our hearts, and in our minds, that these things are true. And then
our faith is strengthened. I am so grateful to know that I don't have
to know. And I am so grateful that God has promised us, He has given us
an absolute assurance that if we are willing to try our faith, and show
God that we want to know He is there, He will give us a confirmation
that He is. I'm so grateful that no matter where we feel our faith is,
no matter who we are, even if we are completely unsure of something, if
we are willing to make an effort, God has promised us an answer. And He
has promised to bless us, to help us in our lives. Even if you smoke 60
cigarettes a day, God will reward honest effort.
Thank
you all so much for sticking around these 3 months, and for all the
emails of encouragement! I love you all so much, and I know our Father
in Heaven wants you to know Him, because He loves you, too.
Love,
Elder Shope
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