Well, another crazy week in FengLin
down, and I think I might be finally starting to adjust to biking 20
minutes to every teaching appointment! It gives me a lot of time to
think, which I'm not a huge fan of... But it also allows me to re-focus
on my purpose as a missionary, and always be helping others come unto
Christ.
This week we have a baptism, which is
in and of itself a miracle! The man getting baptized is named Brother
Zhong, and he is super awesome! He was preparing for baptism when I got
to FengLin, and now his time has finally arrived! He is super excited,
and he loves to learn about Christ and loves to serve others! We're so
excited for him! Also, last week, as we were biking around our area, we
ran into a woman from the Phillipines! She was baptized in 2005, and
said that when she moved to our area, she lost contact with the
missionaries and her ward. She had been praying for an opportunity to
introduce the Gospel to her husband, and then on the street one day, we
biked past her! She said she hadn't seen missionaries since 2013, and
she was so grateful to run into us! It was amazing! God truly answers
prayers!
These last few weeks have been full of
miracles, and I am truly so humbled and grateful to see the Lord
blessing the work here in FengLin. Elder Qiu and I have been praying
fervently and unceasingly to be guided by the Lord to those who are
prepared, and the first two weeks we were able to find many people, and
share this happy message! But this week, things have been a little bit
harder, and we have not found as many people to teach. At first, I was
panicking, because I was worried that our miracles had "run out". That
for some reason, we were not worthy of being blessed anymore. But as the
week progressed, and I was continually humbled in different ways, I
began to realize that the problem was not that I wasn't working hard
enough, or running fast enough. The problem was that I had started to
take a different path. I had started to rely on my own thoughts and
feelings, and not looking to the Lord for counsel in everything. The
Lord knows what's best for us, and knows what path we should walk. When
we start to stray from the path that the Lord has set for us, He can't
bless us, and so we feel left alone. We feel that God has left us, when
in reality, we are the ones walking away from Him. Sometimes it takes
Him withholding His blessings for a time, for us to realize our error,
and readjust. Our goal should not be to get God to help us achieve OUR
goals, it should be to constantly seek HIS guidance and direction,
because He knows what path is best for us. I know that God answers
prays, that He wants to bless us, because we are His children, and that
as we seek to follow the path HE wants for us, He will carry us and
support us through the trials of life.
I love
you all, and I am so grateful for everyone that takes the 4 hours out of
their day required to read these emails! I'm sorry they are so long!
Love,
Elder Shope
施長老
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