September 15, 2013

Well well well! It's been quite the week!! I'll start by saying that I got the package! The shirts fit perfectly and I'm lovin' the little treats and the football program! (Elder B was lovin' it as well) Thanks so much for that! I was in serious need of some nicer white shirts!! Hopefully these will last me until I go home... 
Which brings me to my e-mail today! A year ago this month, I stepped into the biggest adventure of my life. It's changed who I am forever more, and I am so grateful that I made this decision. I've been thinking about how happy I am to be here a lot lately... Even though I still have a full year left to be a missionary, I feel like it's not nearly long enough! I know now what it means to sacrifice everything and do what the Lord would have me do, and let me tell you... It's worth every thing. There is nothing we can sacrifice that the Lord cannot repay. And if we do it with a willing heart, He will repay us 7 fold. I know this is true because it is what I have experienced since giving up my life to come here and help others find their lives. 

     I guess the reason I feel so grateful right now is because I had a chance to attend 2 baptisms this week for 2 different people who have become beloved family to me. One was the baptism of a 9 year old girl, whose family we helped bring back to activity (they have a family of NINE children!!). The other, was the mother of our earlier recent convert, and she is our miracle story for the week. 

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     We've been meeting with this family for over 3 months now. The family consists of a mother and father with two children, a 6 year old daughter and her 17 year old older brother. The Father wants ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the Church, so he didn't know that we were meeting with this family... but, with the permission of his mother, we helped the 17 year old get baptized and have been working with his mother ever since. The issue we came across had nothing to do with a lack of faith or repentance or a desire to be baptized, it had everything to do with the fact that the husband didn't want her to have anything to do with the church and he didn't know that she was attending... Now, as missionaries, we are told that when a spouse wants to be baptized, they need the permission of their husband or wife in order to do so. This was the issue we came across. We fasted, prayed, fasted some more, prayed harder than ever before, talked with President Blickenstaff, talked with the mother, fasted and prayed more as a group, and finally got an answer. On Wednesday afternoon, we talked to the mother about what she thought she should do. She told us that she felt SO strongly that she needed to be baptized FIRST before she could talk with her family and fix the issues which were in their home. We later went home and prayed for a while, discussed the situation from all angles and decided that we agreed with her. We then called the President and talked with him for a while, told him of our feelings and her own thoughts, and he ended up telling us he agreed that, if this is the revelation that we received, then we could go forth with the baptism. On Thursday afternoon, at seven o'clock, Elder L and I finished the work that we were sent to do here in Daya together by baptizing this family. It was one of the most spiritual experiences I've ever witnessed as I watched our recent convert, her son, step in the font and use the Holy Priesthood to baptize his mother. On Sunday, Elder L and I were invited to join in confirming the gift of the Holy Ghost on her, and welcoming her into the fold of God. Such a humbling and incredible experience, I couldn't hold back my tears as I watched her and her son glow with the Spirit of Christ the Lord shining through their freshly cleansed bodies. 

     I couldn't hold that little spiritual share in any longer, so I just thought I'd get it out in the beginning today! The rest of the week has been great! I picked up my new companion, Elder C (from Portland, Oregon), on Friday and brought him back to the promised land... which means that Elder L is not with me any more, but we found out on Saturday night that he will go to Hengchun (that's in Pingdong... the farthest south you can go!) today! The other news? My new zone leader is ELDER M!! My companion from Gaoxiong! Even funner, we share the area with the Zone Leaders so we see them and work with them on almost a daily basis! We're pretty excited to work together again! 

     Elder C is super awesome! We're going to be working pretty hard these next few weeks looking for new investigators and trying to really build up our teaching pool again! WE'RE READY TO TAKE ON THE WORLD!! 

Love you guys all tons!! You're all awesome!! JIAYOU.

love, Elder Ryan Noll