Hello.... this is Elder Dawson..... I'm out here serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The world is awesome, and the book and sky are blue.
Better??? Hmm.... sounds like I'm trying to hard haha, ok, so this week was good!!! Really good!!!! Except for the fact that I forgot my journal, so I cant do a day by day update this week :( Sorry!!!! I'll bring it next week and tell the interesting things :D
So yes, I'm a little weird, and I'll tell ya, watch out for this letter, near the end I'm goin' full preaching mode, and there's nothing that can stop it haha ;) So ya, a little something to worry about, or get excited for, depending on who you are ;) So just a thought, the word truncky sounds like a disease. Ewww... I don't want it!!!! hahaha
Dad, you travel the world alot.... I want to go with you!!! hahaha, have fun living the dream, making money, having fun with no children at home, you know, all the good stuff ;) Thank you so much for sharing that story dad!!!! I certainly hope that all the people here that don't accept our message, we can leave them with a good impression of missionaries, and plant that seed of faith for them. I hope to keep on working super hard, not get discouraged, and remember that I have awesome family and friends behind me supporting me!!! yay!!!! Thanks everyone!!!
So, speaking of miracles, we're probably going to have a baptism!!!! February 15th we have someone really solid that's going to get baptized!!! So I hope you can all pray for him!!! I don't really want to say his name here because it's going online, and he actually is american (kind of....) but ya, just pray for our investigator!!! Love you all, and I'll send pictures!!!! :D
Oh and dad, I love full preaching mode, so no worries ;)
So, on to this week, with what the heck happened in my life here in Taiwan haha!!!!! So I'll just be picking random events and sharing them I suppose, because I don't have my journal haha.... awkward..... oh wait, I'm not allowed to say awkward anymore!!! Ah!!! I mean.... talk about physical discomfort that's making me self conscious about myself!!! haha... ha.... ok its awkward. moving on.
So, we have these really cool less active brothers that are now active!!! They are so awesome, and they're taking us to Nan tou today!!!!!! Ok, so Elder Long's dad also went on a mission to Taiwan. And when he was in Taiwan, he left a letter to the people of Nan Tou, and it's still there!!! So we're going there today to go see it :D And these cool brothers are taking us there!!! It was so amazing to see the change in them, and how the spirit has changed and helped them. The Oldest one was working in China, and this is his story: So, before he went to China, his mom took him to the chapel to get a blessing from us. of course his mom didn't tell him, and when they got there, he wasn't super happy. Not really at all haha. However, we gave him a blessing of safety, and it was amazing, after he said he felt so much love, that he was willing to start reading the scriptures in China. He eventually quit that job so that he could come back to Taiwan, be close to his family, and go to church! And then there's his younger brother!!! So this is the younger brothers story: He's a busy college student, and we were just trying to find times to meet with him and eat and talk. His English is really good, so we bought a 3 column Book of Mormon for him (English, PinYin, Chinese) and gave it to him to use. He started reading it, and something happened! he started coming to church, coming to English class, setting up his own times to meet with us, and it was amazing!! And as of right now, they all come to church, have callings, and as a family, they read scriptures every night, and pray together. The way the spirit has touched them is amazing, and it just makes me remember that it doesn't matter what we do for people, all that matters is how they feel in the end. If they feel the spirit of not. The transformation that happened to this family is amazing, and it can happen to anyone!! Just like the family proclamation to the world says, a family based on the principles of the gospel will be a successful family that is strong! So that is that families story, and it gives me inspiration whenever I talk about them! Ah! love it!!!
Wow. I just went full preacher mode and I didn't even notice it.... hm.
So to end here, I just wanted to say the biggest thing that I feel like I've learned this week. It has to do with leading by example, and love. So. Love. Love is like the biggest thing!!! If we don't love people, then whats the point in doing things for others? If there's no love for others, then whats the point in trying to share all these things?? It says "For god so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son...." It's love! The God who created this world did it all out of love! The first great commandment is "Thou Shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart." And the Second is "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself". as we read in 1 John 5:2, it says "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments." So really, when we express our love for God, we really just show that we love his children a ton. We keep his commandments so that we can show how much we care about him. Now as for the second great commandment, I feel like everyone focuses on the part that we're supposed to love others so much. As we just learned, we have to love others, yes, but to me, the biggest part was the fact that we need to love others like ourselves. That means that to start loving others, we first need to love ourselves. now this doesn't mean that we need to get all prideful or anything, it just means that if we really love others and love god, then we'll accept the fact that we were made in his image, and that we need to love ourselves. As part of that love for ourselves, comes the realization that we are imperfect, and so is everyone else! We need to know that we can forgive others for mistakes they make, and that we can forgive ourselves for mistakes we make. As part of this commandment to love others and forgive them, I believe it also includes that we must love ourselves and forgive ourselves. Once we begin to realize that we truly are Children of God, and that we have special talents to help everyone we come in contact with, then we will realize how fun the journey to become better is! Ok I'm starting to babble now, but really, It hit me so hard this week how important love is!!! Love, acceptance, and making ourselves better!!! Another big part that goes with it is acceptance for others!!! We share this gospel because we know it will help make people better! But that isn't to say that they're not already doing things that are making them better people! So we respect others, but we share because it has helped us. There. I hope that makes sense. Hope I didn't sounds too weird, and I hope I got my point across haha!!!
So there was full preacher mode, and It's fun!!! I hope that will help someone out there who is struggling, and I hope that we all can feel of the love others have for us :D I love you all, and I love my family!!!! Internet hug!!!!! () Love you all!!!! Have a fantastical week!!!
CTR, (義)
Elder Dawson (陶長老)
P.S. Photo time??? I think so!!! Bwhahahaa!!!!!!!!!!
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