June 2, 2013

Elder Noll's email subject this week was: Burgers and Boils...

Well this week was a little weird... as the title suggests! When we woke up Monday morning, Elder M found these really weird bumps all over his hands... he said they itched a little and when he touched things they kinda hurt... we went throughout the day doing our stuff. Emails, groceries, etc. and then he said he needed to go see a doctor because it was getting almost unbearable! We got some meds from this doctor but it only made it worse! By the time we got home at 9:00, he couldn't even walk anymore (he found a lot of the bumps on his feet as well)!! The next morning was even worse, and we had to be driven to the different meetings we had because he couldn't ride his bike. We had been talking with Sister Bishop and a doctor in Hong Kong, but no one knew what it was!!! Suffice it to say, we were inside for 3 days this week calling through all the phone numbers we could find! Friday and Saturday were much more interesting! We met with a couple of our investigators and had some great lessons... one of those was a lesson with our 50 year old investigator (the guy who had the dream, but his family won't let him get baptized). We talked to him about how he might be able to talk to his family about his desire to join the church, and he was pretty opposed to doing it anytime soon. We read all of 2 Nephi 31 with him and his entire demeanor changed! He told us he would pray that very night about when God wanted him to be baptized! His faith is so incredible!! I've never seen someone with such huge faith in prayer and the answers God gives to us! An incredible example of his faith happened just yesterday at church. Earlier in the week, I gave him a copy of Jesus the Christ in English (his English is absolutely incredible), but I wanted to get him a Chinese copy so that he would understand the book completely. He came to church yesterday with a question about how the Nephites got to the land of America... I told him how they got there and then handed him the Chinese copy of Jesus the Christ. About half way through the Testimony meeting, he comes up to me with a note. It said: "I found the answer to my question in this book. I didn't know you would be giving me the Chinese copy today, but I cross-referenced it with the English version and found this NOTE (it was a note about the family of Lehi coming to America) which explains it. God answers my prayers through YOU!!.. and it's a fast answer!" I'll admit that the simple note brought tears to my eyes. Tears of joy, humility, and gratitude, knowing that I had been the means by which God answered his curious child. 

     On to the more worldly part of the week! Our ward mission leader (an American working here in Taiwan) has been telling us about this American burger place he wants to take us to for a while now, and we finally scheduled a time to go with him... W O W. Guys, this burger joint outclasses even In N' Out!!! (For those of you who know me, you'll understand the gravity of that statement...) It's owned by a big, bald, scary looking American dude, but he's the nicest guy in the world. The menu is 5 pages long (at least!!) with about 10 different options on each page... ALL burgers! For an example of how AWESOME this place is, our investigator ordered "The Sith Burger" (yes, that is a Star Wars reference!!), I got a "Dark Knight Burger" (Batman!) and my companion braved "The MAN Burger!" oh man, best burger I've ever eaten in my entire life!! To top the evening off, this big, scary-looking boss guy came out with 4 bowls of ice cream and gave them to us for free saying: "I just finished making this tonight and this is the extra..." Yeah, he makes his own ice cream!!! Super awesome!! Needless to say, it was super expensive... but so worth it! I'm sorry I don't have many other stories to tell you this week! We spent the majority of it sitting at a desk call through phones!

     My spiritual share for the week is simple. Jesus is the Christ. I just finished reading the book by James E. Talmage this week, and it's changed my life. I've learned an enormous amount of facts by reading and analyzing every story of the Saviors life (pre-earth, earth, and post-earth ministries) and I've been shocked at the load of precious gems we can find if we look closely enough at the details of every action Christ ever performed! My testimony is this: Christ was chosen and ordained as the Savior of the world since before the world was. He truly came down from His throne above and walked in the most humble surroundings, serving, teaching and loving His people. He was betrayed (which betrayal He had full knowledge of and foretold it many times) and suffered into the hands of hypocrites, whom later on crucified their Lord and Redeemer. He never uttered a harmful word against those His accusers, but He blessed and begged for their forgiveness. I know He died for us, He died for me. But as surely as I know He died on that dark Friday night, I know with an absolute surety that He rose on the third day. He lived again, and He lives today. I know, and you can know too! This knowledge is most precious to me, and I promise it will be to all of you as well! I love my Savior, I'm grateful for Him and words cannot describe my feelings for Him. 

Elder Noll