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| Lin Jiemei's baptism! |
Qishan, Taiwan
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| Zhou Jiemei was eager to teach my companion Sister Biancardi this workout before she left serving Qishan |
First off: exciting news!
New Companion!
I'm getting a new companion today! I was really surprised because the move call isn't technically for 3 weeks. But they have "mini move calls" here, so sometimes halfway through the transfer people will get changed around.
I've genuinely loved each one of my companions and have learned different things from each of them.
But it is always exciting to get a new one. It's fun being able to have a new slate and being able to get to know someone again.
Craving Change
I find myself always craving change on my mission--no matter what it is--so I always find change refreshing.
It's also exciting because I'll be the one to teach my new companion the area. And oddly enough, I'm now the missionary in our district who's been in Qishan the longest!
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| Newly baptized: radiant and happy |
Lin Jiemei's Baptism
Lin Jiemei's baptism was awesome!
There were a lot of people there and we had 3 investigators come too which was super cool.
Persistence and Patience
Zone Conference! It was really really awesome. President and Sister Blickenstaff are super down to earth and I felt really nourished by this zone conference.
One thing that stuck out to me a lot is never, ever giving up on our investigators.
So many stories were told of super active life-long members that came as a result of missionaries never giving up and going back and teaching--even if it took 10+ years for them to finally accept the Gospel.
That's a concept I truly believe in: persistence and patience.
Eternalgators
Every missionary has a different "strategy", but when I put myself in the shoes of an investigator, I totally picture me as being what we call "eternalgators" -- people who get there eventually, but it just takes a really long time.
So for me, I enjoy working with "formers" (people who were taught in the past by missionaries, but for some reason stopped learning) and with people who might not progress super fast (but are still interested). My heart really goes out to them. I think I would be them had I not been born in the church.
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| A beautiful white night |
Other missionaries have more of the mentality that people are either prepared or not, and that time is very precious. So if investigators are not progressing, they need to be dropped so missionaries can spend that time finding the people who are ready.
Both strategies work, they're just different. It's interesting seeing how different each missionary's perspective is.
Unified companionships
The other thing that stuck out to me a lot is something that President said: "Unified companionships are not optional, they're essential." It's so true.
I've realized that your relationship with your companion affects every aspect of the work. It really is crucial to get along well and to make it work no matter what differences you have.
Hope everyone has a happy, happy week!
All my love,
Sister Hancock
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