Pray for a Christmas Miracle!- December 15, 2014

Hey everyone!

First and foremost EVERYONE please please please pray for our investigator 柯舒譯 (pronounced Ke Shu Yi). She should be getting baptized on Christmas. Her interview is scheduled for the 20th (this Saturday). It can happen, she just needs to work out some things with beforehand. Everyone please please please pray for a Christmas miracle!!!! I have so much faith that she can do it!--We have been working with her for 3 months now. I have seen the gospel literally transform her life from day 1 to now.

The other day we were in a lesson and we asked her to write down her testimony about the gospel of Jesus Christ. At first she didn't really know what to write. She started by making a list of things that she usually prays for every day: help her co-worker have good health, protect her boyfriend, get married to her boyfriend next year...Suddenly she started to realize that in the past 3 months--God has done ALL of these things for her. She told us a month ago her co-worker went in for a check up--thinking that maybe her cancer had come back, but it didn’t come back! She's totally fine. Also last week her boyfriend got in a car wreck but he came out without a scratch. Also the other night she was eating dinner with her dad and he out of the blue said, "I have a feeling you're going to get married very soon." She realized that God had been looking out for her all along. When she shared this with us I was BEAMING. I felt prompted to ask her: "Do you believe that God is your loving Heavenly Father?" She smiled, looked at the ground for a second, then looked back up at me with tears in her eyes..."Yes, I do," she said crying. 

I know she can do it! Please include her in your every prayer! 

Merry soon-to-be Christmas!

Our ward Christmas party!

Nativity sets!

Love,

Sister Tracy

One Soul- December 8,2014

Hello everyone!

This week I would like to share a super awesome experience I had in the temple. This last week we had the opportunity to go to the temple with our recent converts and do baptisms for the dead. We took our recent convert 林育甄 to the temple for her first time. The morning of we went to her house and read D&C 109 with her:

12 That thy glory may rest down upon thy people, and upon thisthy house, which we now dedicate to thee, that it may be sanctified

and consecrated to be holy, and that thy holy presence may becontinually in this house;

 13 And that all people who shall enter upon the threshold of theLord’s house may feel thy power, and feel constrained to

acknowledge that thou hast sanctified it, and that it is thy house, a place of thy holiness.

We promised her that at the temple God's holiness really would rest upon her and she would be guided and protected and have the Spirit to be more with her. She was really excited but also really nervous about going in because she’s really afraid of water. She has scoliosis and when she did her own baptism it was super hard because she couldn't bend back all the way--it was too painful. It took about 5-6 trys until she was finally fully immersed. So she told us--"I'll go to do confirmations, but I don't want to do the baptism part."

When we entered the temple later that night, we were sitting in the waiting room all dressed in white and we asked her how she was feeling. She said really peaceful. After she got confirmed she was sitting by the baptismal font. A worker asked her if she would like to do baptisms for the dead. At first she panicked and said, "No, no that’s okay." The worker asked, "Are you sure?" Suddenly she stopped shaking and sat still for a moment. She didn't say anything for about 20 seconds, then she finally said, "Okay, I'll do it." She got up and went down into the water. And then...she did it!!! She had such a brave look on her face too. The worker behind me said, "She is so brave." 

My heart was just bursting. I was so so so happy. I felt the Spirit so strong. Proudest moment of my life. 

The following Sunday she bore her testimony at church. She read the scripture from D&C 109 and started to cry and said, "I know this promise is true. And I will keep going to the temple." 

Lately we haven’t had much success with investigators and baptisms. At first it was getting me down. But after this week I've learned a very valuable lesson...this is a work of ETERNAL salvation, which means we need to have an ETERNAL perspective. I've been thinking a lot lately about why I'm here in Xindian, why it’s been so hard lately to find new investigators and such, but I had a real impression the other day that if anything I am here for 林育甄. And if that’s the reason, then my time here is worth it.

D&C 18:15

 15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto

me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

I love you all :)

Sister Tracy

He is the Gift!- December 1, 2014

Hey everyone!

HAPPY DECEMBER! Yay! I set a goal that I would wait until December 1st to start celebrating Christmas. Today I am going to open my Christmas package, write Christmas cards to RCs and investigators, and members, decorate our apartment and start listening to Christmas music! YAYAAYYAYAY. 

The other day we received some training from President Day. The Brethern want us to go crazy on sharing this video called "He is the Gift" below is a link:

http://www.mormon.org/christmas 

Everyone should watch it right now, and then post it on your FB wall or your twitter or your whatever. Share it during visiting and home teaching, share it at church, share it with a random stranger. 

Missionary planning meetings

Why do we celebrate Christmas? Why do we give and receive gifts? It's to remember and celebrate the greatest gift of them all! The gift that God gave us--Jesus Christ.

The other day Sister Wu and I were at a park and we contacted a mother watching over her little boy. We asked her if we could show her a video on her phone and she said okay. After she watched the video we asked her how she felt and she said she felt good and wanted to learn more about Jesus Christ. We then began to show her the Book of Mormon and how Christ knows her every trial and every happy moment and that she can rely on His gospel to help her. She accepted the book and even agreed to meet with us again next week. 

The Gospel is for everyone. I testify that we all have a Savior. We all have a perfect example. We all have this person, who knows every pain, every happy moment, every little detail of our life. It only makes sense to trust Him, to trust this Gospel. 

 11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions andtemptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilledwhich saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses ofhis people.

 12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bandsof death which bind his people; and he will take upon him theirinfirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according tothe flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succorhis people according to their infirmities.

I know that the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is true and  can change lives. I see it every day in the lives of others and my own. I invite everyone to read the Book of Mormon and try its teachings out. They're true. 

I love playing with kids.  Especially Jenga!!!

Love, Sister Tracy

A week of charity- November 24, 2014

I'm Studying my Chinese!

Hey everyone. Thank you so much for the emails and letters of encouragement :) I love you. 

So obviously last week was really rough, BUT thanks to the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, I was able to jump a huge hurdle and figure things out. This week was a lot better. After reading Preach My Gospel Chapter 6 on how to Develop Christlike Attributes I decided to make a goal of developing more charity. This has changed everything about how I go about doing missionary work. I made a goal that this last week, I would not focus on trying to have a lesson with someone or just going through the motions of teaching/street contacting...I made a decision to constantly ask myself this question, "How would Christ do this?"--"How would Christ make this bike contact?" "How would Christ talk to this struggling mom?" "How would Christ treat the man smoking on the side of the road?" It all came down to--He would love them. It all came down to love. As I kept Christ on my mind this week I was able to love everyone and listen to them and just BE HAPPY. I absolutely LOVED doing missionary work this week and it's because I made a conscious effort to follow Jesus Christ. I know He is my Savior. I know He is the perfect example. I know that it’s only through following Him that we are able to find happiness. 

I invite you all to try this experiment out with me. Develop more charity. PMG lists these attributes of a person with charity. Commit these to memory, strive to develop them and you will be so much happier.

Strive to:

1. have a sincere desire for the welfare and happiness of others

2. pray for the pure love of Christ

3. try to understand other's feelings

4. always forgive others

5. help those who are sad/struggling

6. tell others you love them

7. look for opportunities to serve

8. say only positive things about others

9. be kind and patient with others

10. find joy in others achievements

On that note...I love you all!

Sister Tracy 

Christ is the reason- November 17, 2014

So not gonna lie, this past week was probably one of the roughest weeks of my mission. Just a lot of things tested my faith this week. 

One being: we have an investigator who was supposed to get baptized next Saturday. We spent the majority of this past week getting her ready: teaching her the rest of the lessons, took her to Yi Lan for a stake activity, she passed her baptismal interview and everything. Last night after a lesson our investigator called us crying telling us that her parents were arguing. Apparently her father extremely opposes her getting baptized. We went over to her house to talk to the mom. When we got there our 11-year-old investigator was sitting on the doorstep in the rain crying. I've never felt more discouraged in my life.

I got super sad last night because...I guess stuff like this has just been happening for the past 2 months. Baptisms getting so close but falling through last minute, no one willing to set up with us, people not keeping commitments. And we've been working super hard, non stop. I’ve never worked harder in my mission. I guess last night was kind of the final straw for me. I told Sister Wu I felt like my faith was dwindling. 

God answered my desperate prayers through my companion, Sister Wu. After I told her what was going through my mind she just looked at me and...I don’t even know how to explain it but then she just said everything I needed to hear. She spoke with the Spirit. She reminded me that no effort is wasted out here. Even though our investigator wouldn't get baptized anytime soon, she reminded me of all the good we've done for her. We helped her meet people in the ward, we did service for her mom, we helped her know how to pray (which she does every day now). She reminded me that were here to do what Christ would do. That's all this mission is about. She asked, "Do you feel that you help people the way Christ would?" I said, "Yes." "Then your efforts are not wasted."

I love my companion. I love that God answers our prayers through others. Despite my doubts and my feelings of distress, I know that this church is true. I know that I am not wasting time out here. I know that faith is the power. Love is the motive. The spirit is the key. And Christ most certainly is the reason. 

 

Outing to the Museum!

Love,
Sister Tracy

You Never Know How Much Good You Do- November 10, 2014

So this past week was super busy. Went on 3 back-to-back exchanges. But it was super good too. I'm slowly learning more and more throughout the mission that I like being busy (if it’s for the right reasons.) Also I got the chance to work with some incredible sisters. It's weird to think that I'm one of the older missionaries in this mission now.

This past Saturday I was feeling super down. I made a few goals earlier last week and basically I just really worked hard this week. I talked to literally everyone, made a super conscious effort to be exactly obedient, kept mission invites, worked diligently, and there just wasn’t a lot of progress going on with our investigators, RCs, LAs, the ward vision or anything really pertaining to missionary work. People were rejecting us more than usual. People cancelled on us last minute. For a few days I felt a bit of doubt about the promises in Preach My Gospel or from the prophets or cousel of our leaders. Basically I just felt like my efforts were being wasted. 

Saturday night I got on my knees and said a prayer, "Heavenly Father...just please help me feel better."

The following day we were sitting in Relief Society at church and a leader showed us this video called "You Never Know" Watch it right now!

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-00-008-you-never-know?lang=eng 

I was asked to translate the dialogue into Chinese for everyone but I completely failed because I got super emotional and basically cried the whole video haha. This message was an answer to my prayer. We never know how much good we really do. Heavenly Father reminded me of a really important principle yesterday...eternal perspective. I was reminded that none of my efforts are wasted. This is GOD's work. Service will never lead to failure. We don’t always see the fruits of our labors...but we need to trust that they are there. 

Proverbs 3: 5-6

·        Old Testament

5¶ Trust in the Lord with all thine heart ; and lean not unto thine own understanding . 

6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths . 

Don’t forget that you never know how much good you do. So don’t ever hesitate to serve others. 

 

This was me on my very first day in the MTC.  WOW!  I had no idea what my mission would be like.

Love,

Sister Tracy

Happy Halloween! November 3, 2014

This week was good! Lol i feel like I just emailed you all since my pday was last Wednesday. 

Sister Wu and I last Wednesday at the Temple

I’m going to keep this email short because I've got some other stuff I gotta do today BUT I can share a quick miracle:

An RC from a past area came and visited me recently. By the time I left this area my companion and I had taught all of the lessons to her and had invited her to baptism multiple times. She always refused. To my surprise, shortly after I left the area I got an email from a member saying "She got baptized this week!" and attached a picture of my RC. I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy! Well when she visited me last week I asked her, "What happened? Why did you decided to be baptized?" She told me that she would email me the story. I thought I would share it with you all (p.s. She typed this in english. Her English is awesome)

Dear Sister Tracy,

nice to see you in Xindian last Sunday! I was so happy to have this chance!

You asked me why I finally joined the church. Well, I have to admit, it is not because our church is the only true church, nor we have the living prophet (so I still confuse about why I can pass the interview……) It is due to the holy spirit. It worked on me.

All began with the Alma 32:27-42. It is said that we should try to plant our faith in our heart and to cultivate it carefully. And the first thing we need to do is action, just like doing a experiment. So as I did. I read the scriptures (Bible and BoM) and prayed everyday, and step by step, I felt something started to change inside my soul, but I didn’t know what have changed.

The more I did (readthe scriptures and pray), the more desire I had. I became more and more eager for getting closer and closer to Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. I realized I should do something. But I still struggled and resisted it. I didn’t know why. When Sister Zippro asked me to set my baptism date and interview date, I refused, and told her I need to consider it well. I went home and pray for it. I was so surprised that God comforted me and eased my misgivings. So I set the dates one week later. But when I passed the baptism interview, I still refused it. I didn’t give the paper to sisters till the next day. It was Gu dixiong encouraged me to make the decision. No kidding, when I told my parents that I will have a baptism soon, I even hoped that they could refused it, and commanded me do not meet the sisters anymore. But unfortunately it didn’t happen. I was so shocked because I knew that my parents didn’t like me to go to the church and insisted in our traditional religion. Even the day before the baptism day, Sister Miller asked me the feeling, I told her ”I don’t know. I feel so strange and so uneasy. I doubt that I made a right decision.” She suggested me that I should try to put myself in God, let him help me to get out of this feeling. So as I did, and then received the baptism next day.

It was 按手禮 (sorry I don’t know this term in English) which ended the strange feeling. I knew that I’m belong to Jesus Christ after the rituals. It gives me strength and helps me to overcome the problems what I meet in the reality or in the spirutual life. Although I still meet the challenges now, I know everything will be fine if we keep laying our faith on him. He came, preached the gospel, and then crucified in order to set us free from the sin and to be free in the truth. I know this is true.

Hope this helps!!

I LOVE YOU TONS!!

All I really have to add is that I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW if anyone wants to find truth it is through daily reading and praying and pondering. I know God will answer His children. I've seen it in the lives of others and in my own. 

I ran into my first companion from the MTC!

Love you all!

Oh and happy halloween!

(I completely forgot about Halloween :( )

Love Sis Tracy