August 1, 2012

I am so happy that Li Dixiong got baptized. It was definitely the highlight of the week. I love how mom said families have their own strengths and weaknesses; Li dixiong's family has some serious weaknesses. His mother and father gave him to his grandparents when he was young, and he recently found out he had an older brother. So it hit me that now he has joined a much more stable family, the AnKang branch family. I love how we call each other brother and sister. It is so cool the first time you ask an investigator to call them brother or sister they almost always say yes and when you actually do it the first time they almost always smile. I am so grateful for this gospel family. It provides a stable environment we can rely on in our time of need and help others in theirs. 

  The next highlight was we had a specialized training meeting where President Day gave a great lesson on the Anti-Nephi Lehis, and how we are going to be like them. We will not be known as Missionaries but the Taiwan Taipei Missionaries, we need to lay down our weapons of rebellion and bury them deeply and be determined to rather face death then go and bury them back up. He had us write down our weapons of rebellion on a paper then go home and tear the paper up and bury it in the trash and be determined never to pick them back up. It was humbling writing down the weapons of rebellion but tearing them up felt so good and I am trying my best not to dig them back up, and for some I am digging the whole in hard ground and it is a slow possess but I am working on it. 

  My last cool experience was my companion and I were invited to share a 10 minute message at a ward fireside and in the morning we practiced it twice and the second time felt good but I was still nervous, but I prayed and went forth and opened my mouth and it just flowed. I didn't stumble and mess up with the grammar, I knew what to say and me and my companion had great unity and it was a powerful 10 minutes. We shared on the importance of member missionary work, used PMG president Hinckley’s quote on pg 160, and 3 Nephi 19 1-2, and committed the ward to give us referrals, after which a returned missionary came up to us and asked if on Monday we could visit her less active mother who was living with her boyfriend. It felt good that she trusted us.

Here is my email to president

  Hey president,

This week was great, Li Zheng Ru got baptized and confirmed. I was/am so happy. He said that when he was about to be baptized he was nervous but as he was baptized he felt a comfortable feeling like a shower but even more comfortable and unique like he’s never felt before. I love him and am so excited for his bright future. He has not had the easiest life but he has made good choices and through his trials god prepared him for baptism. He now has a stable family to rely on in Heavenly Father and Christ in heaven and An-Kang Branch on earth. This week was focused on the baptism and so I felt finding went down a little, and we didn't get anyone to church which made me sad because I don't want to be the companionship who stops the mission from every companionship having an investigator at church. Next week it won’t happen again.

 I also wanted to thank you for the specialized training, I have been trying to be living because of the principles behind the rules and I felt good about it. Also the feeling of tearing up and burying my weapons of rebellion felt great. I will try my best to not dig them up again. 

Thanks for everything,

Elder Sabey      

 I love being able to help others come unto christ.

Elder Sabey