Taichung Time
I'll tell you really quick about two miracles this week!
Miracle # 1:
We
have this way cool investigator who has met with missionaries on and
off for over a year... I met him when I first came to Daya back in 2013
and we started meeting with him over the past couple weeks... we had a member come to the lesson
with us this last week as we extended a Baptismal invitation. It was
incredible. Honestly, the Spirit was so strong. We taught about the Plan
of Salvation and about what it means in our lives, and how we could be
affected by it. In the end, we asked him when he wanted to be baptized.
He said he wants to be baptized later in September! We were so happy
to see him so excited about the Gospel! It might have helped that the
member we brought was a 19 year old girl, so it may have got him a
little more excited to come to church ;)... that mixed with the Spirit and
there's no way he could have said "No!"
Miracle # 2:
We
set up with with a referral from a member on Thursday... turns out that
he used to meet with missionaries over a year or so ago and he stopped
because he got in a car accident and lost contact. The first thing he
did when we sat down in the chapel was breathe out a huge sigh and say:
"wow! I haven't felt this in so long!!" as he grabbed his chest and
explained to us that something was burning inside his heart and he just
wanted to stay in the church all the time! We were a little shocked, but
adapted pretty quick and came to find out that he wants nothing more
than to be baptized and have the gift of the Holy Ghost! He does have a
few hurdles to overcome...but God worked a miracle to help us meet him, He'll definitely work some
more miracles to get him baptized!
So
it's been quite the week! I'm grateful to be here. I want to share a
story with you that influenced my life quite a bit. My first football
coach was a guy named Coach Smith. I remember being absolutely terrified
of that guy. I was only a freshman in high school, 90 pounds and not
yet 5 feet tall with pads 2 times too big and football skills nowhere
near as good as anyone else. I remember just trying to give it all I had
every practice. I didn't want anyone to think that they could take
advantage of me just because of my height, so I tried to make up for my
lack of mass and skill with just pure heart. It didn't matter how hard I
got hit, I'd always try my best to get up before the other guy and run
out of there while he was still on the ground. It got to where I was
just totally beat up. Completely exhausted and running on empty. My
heart told me I had to keep going, but my brain was telling me to stop!
It was exhausting me both mentally and physically... until one day, we
had a team dinner at one of my teammates houses. After dinner, Coach
Smith told us all to gather around. He pulled a red shirt out of a
cardboard box at his feet. He said a lot of stuff about what it meant to
be a "Mighty Red Devil" and how we ought to give our all, but I don't
remember much about that. He said one line that I'll never forget, and
luckily enough that one line was written on the back of that shirt.
"Every Second, Every Play."
That
one line will forever shape my life. It's shaped my mission up to this
point, and I will continue to live by it every day. At that time, when I
was totally ready to give up and lay down, this line strengthened me
and let me know that I could continue on. God will not carry us through
life! He definitely can, but if He were to do that, then nothing we do
would ever mean anything to us! Brothers and Sisters, when it gets hard
and you feel like you can't get back up... when you feel like you just
got rocked and your head is spinning... get up. Keep going. Don't think
for a second that you're done. DON'T CUT YOURSELF SHORT. Don't settle
for mediocrity, because YOU were never meant to be only mediocre.
Love you guys! Have a great week!
Love, Elder Noll
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