February 19, 2013

Hi guys!! I'm sorry I couldn't write on Monday! I was in Taizhong with the rest of the mission listening to a member of the 70 speak to us!

      Sorry mom, as missionaries, the Chinese new year is pretty much the same as any other week for us except for the member meals each day so I don't have any awesome pictures for you! I'll try to get some soon to send to you all! The one thing that I saw A LOT of was Bai Bai (bye bye) -  it's where people send things off to their ancestors by burning it! Kinda cool, huh? Everyday for the last week has been cloudy with smoke because EVERYONE is bye bye-ing! Guo Nian was a blast though! It was a little hard at first because our investigators all went to their old childhood homes so they weren't in Tainan, but it was a great opportunity to teach some other people and find new investigators! It was also an awesome opportunity to work with the members so much! We met with members every day, every meal last week! (one of the contacts spoke English). It's always a little weird when someone starts speaking English to me here! I'll go up to contact them and give them a friendly Ni Hao, and then they'll give me a sentence in English and it'll throw me off! That doesn't happen very often though, Chinese is just a little more natural to contact someone! I find that things we say in Chinese just don't translate at all, so it's a good thing I don't have to try contacting people in English here!

     So I've got a long week to tell you all about! We had a full week of huo guo (hotpot) which is just a big fondu pot that you throw anything into... I think I told you about that last week... Almost every meal was huo guo and it was really good! Yes mom, I will never complain about your taco soup again! 

      So this week, I went on exchanges with Elder H, an elder in my district, and had a great time visiting with their investigators and working with him. We visited some less actives and 1 other investigator and it was really cool to see how other missionaries work! We contacted, and we contacted and we contacted some more! The coolest experience we had throughout the week happened yesterday! I was talking with a guy on the side of the street while Elder S was waiting behind me. He decided he would pull out the phone and call one of the random numbers we have in the phone that other missionaries have given us through referrals. As I was talking to this guy, all of a sudden his phone rings and I can tell he's talking to someone who wants to meet him! I think to myself, he's probably talking with a missionary! I turn around and see Elder S on the phone!!! He picked a random number, on a random list of people, and it just so happened to be the man that I was contacting that very minute!! I think God is answering a prayer here!! He was really busy and didn't want to set a specific time right then, but he was really interested in meeting us again! That was a pretty crazy experience!

     The best thing to happen this week though, was the experiences I've gained out of personal study in the mornings and applying them throughout the day. There were a couple things that really stood out to me that I want to share really quick! One thing that I noticed pretty early in the week was a line in the New Testament: "But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose." A very simple line that I've never really thought about before. It's just the end to another healing story, isn't it? Of course it is, but I think we can learn something about the way Christ is, and about the way that we "arise" from this simple line of scripture. First, Christ just took a minute of his precious, very short time on earth to bless somebody. That's incredible enough, right?? 

     Think to yourself, you've been maimed or hurt, or you've sinned and you're pained from the guilt. You see Christ walking down the street and you've heard that He has the power to heal anybody. You ask Him to heal you and He has the love and patience to do as you ask. That's enough for anybody. To have been touched by the love of Christ. But next, Christ takes you by the hand and helps you to your feet. I think of the sports I played in High School. Both of them, Wrestling and Football, involved knocking somebody down. Their was always that one guy on the field though, who would help you back up if you were on the ground. I always had a lot of respect for that guy, and it showed that he was a guy of class. It's humiliating to be knocked down against your own will! I hated it! Sometimes, if the hit was hard enough, you don't even want to get back up! Christ is that person who lifts us off the muddy turf, He's the coach who picks us up off the mat after getting pinned, He's the loving father who will comfort us and encourage us to keep going, and He's the motivation to get back on the mat, to go back on the field and play one more play, wrestle one more round. It's a little weird to compare Christ to these roles that are FAR below Him, but it has helped me understand Him so much more. I've had multiple coaches in football, wrestling and even gymnastics, who have uplifted and motivated me to do better. My father has been that saving grace when I wanted to quit and when I thought I couldn't go any farther. My mom has been the one to hold me and tell me I did great even when our team lost every game that year. Christ is all of these. Not only will He heal us of our transgressions, but He picks us up, dusts us off, and keeps on walking with us.

     The next piece of spiritual truth, which goes along very well with the last, is a quote from the Prophet Joseph Smith: "Hold on, Fear not, for God will be with you forever." We all have those times where we feel like we're at the end of our rope, where we want to just let go and give up. I tell you now, that it's worth it to hold on. Don't be afraid, don't let go. God will not leave you.

     Love, Elder Ryan Noll