Anika and Ruby, power and range, life experiments and experiences, fruit drink shops

Exchanges!  So happy I could spend a day with Sister Shang and ask her ALL of my Chinese questions!

18 January 2016

Hello!

This week went by really fast!

Anika and Ruby
Most exciting: our investigator Anika got back from Japan, so we finally got to meet with her. We originally set a baptismal date for the 23rd with her, but since she was in Japan for 2 weeks, we still  hadn't gone through lessons 2-5 with her. So we were going to talk to her about pushing her date back. 

But she surprisingly wanted to keep her original date and the member at her lesson really encouraged her too. So we taught her the Plan of Salvation, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and all of the commandments--all in 2 lessons! I was really surprised. They were the ones pushing it with me :) 

Anika passed her baptismal interview.
She's going to be baptized Saturday.  So happy for her :)

But she's totally prepared and it was exciting going through the lessons with her. She passed her interview on Saturday and will be baptized this week! We're so happy for her! 

Keep praying for Ruby.  She's progressing really quickly and learning a lot.
When I mentioned broccoli was my favorite vegetable,
the next day she brought me a fork and bowl of broccoli.  She's so sweet! 

Power and Range, Life Experiments and Experiences

Continuing from last week's article about experiments and experience.  BYU chemistry professor Jennifer Nelson points out that power--in the scientific context--gives us confidence in the experiment's results.  Statistical power comes from a sufficient number of trials. Range means changing the variables and conditions and increases probability of accurate results. This is exactly what the Plan of Salvation provides for us! Heavenly Father's plan provides power and range, Satan's plan had neither power nor range because he wanted to force us to make every right decision and deprive us of agency. 

I'm grateful for the gospel perspective which allows me to see trials not as mere hardship, but as a way to accumulate knowledge. 

I know that the "good news" of the gospel is true, that nothing is "fixed" but that we can always change and grow through the Atonement. President Hunter said "If our lives and our faith are centered on Jesus Christ and his restored gospel, nothing can ever go permanently wrong". 

I know that this time on earth is a time for discovery, exploration, and learning. I know that if we let them, our experiences can have us become more like Christ and learn how to rely on Him. 

Our life experiments or experiences can serve as tools to help us learn truth and make changes. I'm grateful for Christ Himself who showed us the importance of experience. It wasn't enough for Him to simply learn about the Plan of Salvation and to know all things theoretically. He had to come to earth and experience life just as us, but because He was willing to do that, He is in a position to understand us in a way that nobody else can. I'm grateful for this short time that we have to learn and turn theory into reality! I've learned so much on my mission :)

All my love!

Sister Sinclaire Hancock

Teaching my baby [new mission companion] how to be REAL Taiwanese

Spoiled--enjoying our queen beds :)

Starting to get sentimental...I'm going to miss all the drink shops in Taiwan
and how you can find about 4 of these on every street,
pull up on your bike and order a quick fruit drink!