Doing service this past week, it was great!
Up in the mountains of Taiwan
This
week was insane. Every day was packed to the max with overlapping
appointments and days without studies; we even had to fenkai gongzuo (my
comp. and I split and worked with Cash and Frank to cover conflicting
appointments).
We really focused this week on
sharing the #Lighttheworld with everyone we came in contact with. Please
take a minute to watch the video (it's literally only a couple of
minutes long) and then share it with friends and family. This is
ridiculously easy to do these days through mediums like Facebook. It's
about serving others as Christ did. We introduced it as a way to give
Christmas presents to Jesus when we shared it with families with smaller
children. Christ is the Light of the World. Let us share the Light this
Christmas through selfless acts of service. Click on this link: Light the World link
We
were able to visit a lot of families this week (many members and also
several investigating families). It's always wonderful to have the
chance to meet with and strengthen families. It's easy to see why the
family is so central to God's plan for His children. The strength and
joy they derive from family life was evident in each and every visit.
The entire atmosphere of their homes stood out in those homes where
families were working together in unity and love.
I
got to play the cello for the first time in years this week. Jessica
borrowed one from a friend and lugged it all the way down from Taipei.
It was weird to play again, and it brought back a lot of fond memories
of Mr. Steve Schaffner, my junior high and high school orchestra teacher. The good news is that I
can still play. I guess playing cello is like riding a bike. The bad
news is...well that I can still play. It'll take some practice and a lot
of help from upstairs, but I think I'll be able to pull it off.
Maybe.
A great holiday P-day
P-day was wonderful; we had something
of a Christmas party. However, it was unique to be sure: sweating in
December in a foreign land up in the mountains eating all-you-can-eat
BBQ while listening to Christmas music and speaking in a foreign tongue.
I also had the opportunity to meet my mission grandpa (my trainer's
trainer): Elder Boyce. It was nice to meet several new missionaries and
also to see some old friends from Hualien: XuYangKai, Elder Cline, and
Elder Hu. Of course we can't leave out the Miaoli YSA. They're the life
of the party :)
Old Friends from Hualien
My mission "grandpa" (trainer of my trainer)
The young adult FHE was good
that night. We had 3 non-members come after we went out and extended a
very personal invitation; they were all super cool (Tony, Linda, and
Kobe are their English names). We were in charge of the game and the
spiritual share. We played Ninja, Animal Sounds (led by Sister Zang),
and finally "the game." Unfortunately I can't go into too much detail
here as it can only be played once in your life and if you know how it
works you'll never get the chance (the swim team plays it every year at
Springfield). We tied it into the spiritual share.
English class on Wednesday
was a lot of fun. We had several new students come from our English
boarding efforts. It was pretty funny. Elder Hinckley asked them how
they heard about the class and their response was "gao gao" (tall tall)
and pointing at me. The curriculum we had to cover was "Opening a
Checking Account," but we ended up having a lot of fun with it and made
our own story involving a bank robber, some really good donuts, and an
undercover agent dressed up as a cow. It was a good time ;)
We
found a lot of ways to increase our effectiveness this past week by
better utilizing exercise times, meals times, and those "dead hours" in
the afternoon: blessing the food with the restaurant workers, playing
basketball with investigators, and even donating old Liahonas to
businesses with waiting rooms. We're also trying to speak Chinese more
to communicate with one another (an invite from the zone leaders).
Zone meeting and all the bikes outside the chapel
Church
was both good and funny: Kailin gave her farewell talk (she leaves this
month on a mission to New Zealand), there was a discussion on how Jesus
and Heavenly Father were most definitely Shuai (handsome), and choir
practice is always exciting.
Spain has had a
unique influence on my week considering my being on an island in Asia. I
was given some delicious Spanish chocolate by a member, we ran into
someone from Spain over lunch one day, and my Spanish sister, Lucia,
always has a place in my heart.
I felt weak at
times throughout the week. Sickness, fatigue, and back pain among other
things kept me from doing all I wanted to do. We pressed through, but I
was a little impatient with my own weaknesses and shortcomings at times.
However, in my studies I came across several scriptures and an
incredible article in the April 2015 Liahona magazine called "It isn't a sin to be weak". I would invite you all to give it a read. It was a
great comfort to me and offered a healthy perspective for me as I
continue to learn and grow through hardships. 2 Ne. 4:16-35 ( here is a link to 2 Nephi 4 ) took on a
lot of new meaning for me as I pondered on Nephi's situation...all that
he had done and been through and yet feeling down and impatient with his
mortal infirmities. Ether 12:27
"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." This scripture is the classic in this department and a favorite of my dads. Weaknesses
are important to our growth and development. Through my weaknesses I've
been led to rely more heavily on the Savior and the enabling power of
His Atonement (Grace). Without Him, we can do nothing. With Him, there
is nothing we cannot do. Trust Him. He trusts you.
We've
got a lot of good investigators, and we're really losing ourselves in
the work. I love Miaoli and the people here and already know it will be
hard to say goodbye to them when the time comes.
My
teaching and speaking abilities continue to improve. This week I noticed
a significant difference as I relied almost entirely on the Spirit to
get through the difficulties we faced (the Miaoli sisters have been an
outstanding example of this lately as they've faced many trials and
hardships with courage and faith: most recently getting hit by a car).
Faith is independent of results; it is entirely dependent on Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Press forward. Joyfully! :D
Elder Dickson
Thanks so much for the letters I received in the mail from the Newhouses, the Cheyney grandparents, and the Bairds this past week. It was
wonderful to hear from them. Grandma also sent me some delicious cereal
that was much enjoyed! THANK YOU!!! :)
(Good to hear from ya Davis, YEE YEE)
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