Dear Family and other loved ones,
We went bowling today! Chinese people + bowling are so more hilarious than just me.
And people who have bowled with me will know how much hilarious that must be!
I LOVE sister Chan--she's super-enthusiastic, fiery, dramatic, talkative, hilarious and adorable. The best thing about her is her love language is FOOD--just like me--so we get along great! :D.
She swings between emotions like a ... English metaphors fail me... let's just say I often feel like I'm a boy with a volatile girlfriend---she bursts into tears and I have no idea what just happened... but they're always HAPPY tears!!! Like last night, I asked her to close our AMAZING find with a prayer,and she's skipping along thanking Heavenly Father and suddenly she's bawling and I'm holding my breath so I don't start giggling. It's so wonderful to see the Spirit worn right up front, on the cuff, or sleeve, or as a necklace... whatever. She's so wonderful.
SO last night's find---WOWOWOWOW.
Here in the new area they have something called "Holy Teaching Time" where you PLAN for a finding time during the week. As a team, we pray about where and when, and then consecrate it. As in, we don't schedule anything else, even if investigators call, we just say we're not free for that time.
I was a little dubious--I'm more of a "let's just go to work" instead of "let's pray to know what color shirt they'll be wearing," but we tried it. AND WOW.
We decided together to schedule THREE HOURS of finding time at Hung Seui Q--a place where we don't go often--from 4 to 7 at night. Long story short, at 6:45 we were bushed, out of fliers and pamphlets and had been so successful! We had accomplished our goals and gotten two new investigators and 3 lessons taught and we were thinking about heading home.
BUT I still had ONE Book of Mormon--and we decided to use that last 15 minutes to give it to the person who needed it.
Sister Chan(She's SO CUTE! Did I tell you? I CAN'T EVEN EXPLAIN!) was so tuckered out she couldn't even walk back and forth anymore and just stood in place at the bottom of the bridge, smiling at people--so I said a quick prayer and walked up the bridge. I saw a group of men (who ignored my hello) and I thought, "Whatever, I don't care. I don't talk to men, anyway" then I thought... "Well, OK, I need to start talking to men, they need the gospel, too!" and I began talking to the very next man I met. He was leaning against a pole, so I asked if he was waiting for someone.
"Yes," he said, "And I keep seeing you missionaries walking back and forth and back and forth. Isn't this hard?"
"Yes," I said, "but worth it,"
"Hey," he IMMEDIATELY interrupted, "I've always wondered, and I was actually standing here just thinking about it, can you explalin why many Christian Churches preach the Bible, but you people seem so different?"
I looked around for the hidden camera. Not kidding, my faith is just not enough. I was seriously wondering if he was messing with me. He said he's seen missionaries for years and years and he used to work at a restaurant where missionaries came to eat all the time, but no one has ever talked to him. He recently had a death in the family and started a new job and is wondering where God is in all this.
I'm STILL not kidding. He was THE most amazingly ridiculously prepared person I've ever talked to---and as I handed him that BOOK OF MORMON, I said, "Wow, I am sent here to answer your questions."
Totally blown away, I went on, "Not just here to HK, but also HERE, this very minute, to Hung Seui Q, at 6:59 tonight, Wednesday, October 26 2011, to answer your questions..."
Then Sister Chan politely answered his questions--The ones I couldn't understand.
dihn means electricity. dihn sih = electric see = TV.
dihn wah = electric word = telephone.
dihn louh (my fave) = electric brain = computer.
I love Chinese and the people and the place and the promise! And I love the Lord, My God, who succors me.
Lots of love and faith and prayers to you,
Sister Darcey
