Elder Smith and I made the trek out to the Bade chapel to attend the District Training Meeting there. It was crazy to hear Elder Rauckhorst's (my breaker:First companion after your trainer) dying testimony. I enjoyed serving with the man, and I'm excited for him as he moves on to the next chapter of his life. As he testified, the Spirit hit me with three truths: the work we do is of real importance and is a true and worthy cause as we endeavor to bring about the salvation of souls, the time really does pass by quickly, and finally, the mission isn't the end of everything. The Lord has great plans and bright futures in store for each of us. I felt this to be true for me. It helped me, as I was already thinking about how difficult it would be to not be a missionary one day. Luckily, I've still got a good while :)
With Elder Rauckhorst and Elder Hinckley
Elder Raley is back!
Children's Amusement Park
For P-day this week we saw a baseball game: Mexico vs. France
With Elder Raley again
I hit my one year on island mark on Thursday of this past week. I still can't comprehend that it's been that long. So much has changed in such a short time. I reflected on some of the things I've learned to-date, and I'll quickly mention a couple: 1.God exists. He knows us. He knows our situation and He can and will bless us. I remember my first day in Taiwan. I couldn't really speak Chinese. The person I knew best was a guy I had known for 2 months if that. I couldn't communicate, I felt like I was on an alien planet, I was exhausted, and in short, I felt very alone. I remember that night very well. With my last ounce of energy before passing out that night, I said the most sincere prayer of my life. Heavenly Father heard me that night. He taught me that the Savior, Jesus Christ, felt what I felt, and He sent the Spirit to comfort me. He gave me the strength and comfort I needed to move forward, and He has been with me all the while. I'm grateful for His companionship.
Helping change a tire
Also, people can change. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, people can change. I know I've changed. I don't have a lot of time to share more examples from my mission, but I've witnessed this truth time and time again. We had an awesome lesson with an investigator who had really lost much interest in learning more, but by the end of the lesson on the Plan of Salvation, he was trying to find time to get baptized that week. The Spirit is the teacher.
Thank you for the package grandma Shana
Riding my bike at night
Our ward had an American cookie making party and a linger longer
A friend of mine in a different part of the mission told me of a hilarious rumor they heard about me this past week. Worst of all, they actually believed it. Apparently, I went to a Taiwanese night market, whipped out a guitar, played a verse or two of "Hotel California," and baptized two or three people found through the experience. One, I don't really play guitar. Or I should say, I really don't play guitar. Two, I've never even heard the above-mentioned song, "Hotel California." Regardless, I got a good laugh. I think my favorite part of the week was giving a blessing to a return missionary's family. I didn't actually know what they were in need of but it was oh so great to be worthy and led by the Spirit to ask the right questions to learn of this sister's need and be able to help. I love serving the Lord. It is the life.
All is well,
Elder Dickson
As always, Taiwan has the best food!
With RuiCong
With YuJie and BoHao
With Sister Jiang
At the Bishop's house
