Taichung Time
Well, it's certainly been quite the week! Baptismal
Interviews, the most incredible companion exchange I've had so far,
Typhoons, a swimming pool in our changing room, and we have an extra
person in our companionship now! We've got a 17 year old short term
missionary serving with us! So, I'll just start from the beginning!
We met a family the first day that I got here
in Daya. They own a tiny stationary store right next to our chapel and
we started visiting them at least 5 times a week to friendship them and
help them understand the gospel... that's just what we Missionaries
do... They love us a lot! The mom is christian, but her husband is super
hardcore Daoist and didn't even know that we would go over to visit the
family. They have a son who is 17 though, and every time I talk with
him, he reminds me so much of Jessi. He's a stud when it comes to
basketball, he's pretty built too, but he's really humble and very
polite whenever he interacts with people. There are a lot more
similarities, but my point is, is I just love to be around him! We've
been working with them for the past 4 weeks, and this 17 year old is now
getting baptized on Saturday!!! He just passed his interview and has
even picked out the details for the service on Saturday night! Oh guys,
hearing about Grandpa's baptism makes me so happy! I'm seriously just
shaking with joy right now! I'm also so happy that you all got a chance
to experience the INCREDIBLE feeling of watching that someone you love
enter that water! It's incredible! I still remember watching Steph and
Alec get baptized and now I have multiple other complete strangers (now
they're my brothers and sisters) to add to my memories. These are things
that will never be forgotten, and they were meant to happen. I know
that we prepared for these special moments in the pre-mortal life!
Taking a break from the Spiritual instances
this week, let's discuss the most incredible experience (not even close,
but it made me super happy) I've had so far. On Tuesday, I had to
conduct a companion exchange with our Zone Leaders. I decided to go over
into their area to see how things were going, and after a nice long day
of lessons, we finally got to their house to end the day... but what to
my surprise when the door opened and sitting on a little patio was a
full on bench press set with a real barbell and a full set of plates!! I
think I may have cried a little bit! I finished all my nightly duties
and then just kind of gravitated over towards the weights. Of course,
what did I do next? Maxed out. I had to see how much I've lost! I've
only lost about 25 pounds on my max though! I got up 275 pretty easily!
I'm gonna try for 300 next time... pray for me. ;)
Another pretty fun experience was the typhoon! It hit Taipei
the hardest, but we still got it pretty hard down here. The winds were
absolutely astounding, and I've never seen it rain so hard in my life!
We woke up, and as I stepped outside, I noticed my feet were wet... our
changing room was totally flooded and water was spraying (yes, spraying,
not leaking) through the windows! I started going into Dad mode as I
freaked out and started trying to take care of the problem! My poor
companion didn't really know what to do, so he just sat on the bed and
watched me fly around the house (we found another room that was
flooding, so I was going back and forth between the two) with the FOUR
towels that we had, trying to stop the flow. After about 2 hours of
this, it started to look a little better. Everything was moved out of
the rooms, so no big damage, and the water was being controlled... kind
of. But I found out it was also pooring through an electrical outlet...
super safe. It took us, and by us I mean me, the better part of the day
to fix the problem. I ran out of dry materials to use, so I stuffed
tissues into the cracks of the windows and it actually worked! haha... the only damage that really happened was to our
changing rooms paint job... it's totally ruined, but everything else is
fine!
Oh yeah, we've got a short term missionary! Our
stake is doing an activity for the youth... Each companionship in my
Zone has a young man or young woman serving with them right now. It's a
pretty awesome activity! I think it would be pretty cool for Jessi to
look into when, and if, he ever has time... Our guy is named Elder S.
He's a stud!
Well, my thought today has to do with
the flooding experience. As I was taking care of the problem, the
thought came to my head multiple times to just stop and let it be. I
wanted to just give up and call the office to come and save us. But each
time that I thought this, I would think to myself about the suffering
of Christ in Gethsemane. The pain He felt there can in NO WAY be
compared to any earthly thing, let alone this small problem we had, but I
thought of it nonetheless. What would the world be like today if He had
given up? If He had sat back and NOT drank of that bitter cup? Christ
is the ultimate example of all things. His Diligence and ability to
persevere are supreme. I've learned a little bit of what it means to
persevere through out my life. From those times in the 4th quarter when
your team is down, your body is sore and you just don't want to
continue or those times when you have 1 minute left in a wrestling match and 145
pounds of stinky muscle is pinning you to the ground... Those days when
your house is falling apart "as the rains come down and the floods come
up..." When these things happen, let's ask ourselves a question... "What
is our foundation?" Is it rock or sand, worldly or of Heaven? If we are
built upon the Rock of our Redeemer we need not worry. We will be able
to withstand all the fiery darts of the adversary and no matter how dark
the setting, no matter how bleak the situation, WE WILL PERSEVERE.
Hold on guys, don't ever let go of this lifeline that we call the
Gospel of Jesus Christ, It will pull you through.
Loves! Elder Noll
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