Dear Family/ freinds,
If there is one thing I will come away with from my mission, it's that we are all brothers and sisters. I have always Loved my family, but I never realized I could love people in the same way. Today I got an e-mail from Cecilia, a sister from China, main land China, that is a member. I met her while I was in international. She told us we were the first missionaries she had ever met. Her English was not 100%, but she helped us teach and would bear her testimony so powerfully. She was only here for 2 weeks, but if we called and asked us to help us teach she would just be so ecstatic. Only 2 weeks, and yet she is some one I will not forget. Today, she e-mailed me, and told me she just sent in her mission papers. I would not be so arrogant as to say we are the reason she's going, but just to help her, to have helped some one "come unto christ" is amazing. Missionary work, when fueled by love, is easy, and natural.
Okay, enough with that. What happened this week.....
This week sister Holmes and I worked super hard. for all you who speak mission lingo, we had to get 10 member lessons this week, because it's our new standard of excellence, for you who don't: we had to teach 10 lessons to investigators with a member present, but usually we only get about 5-7 in a good week. But if the Lord told us this is what we needed to do, sister Holmes and I were going to do it. So we worked our little hearts out, and only got 5 lessons. which compared to the 2 we got last week, is an improvement, but we were still pretty bummed. then the sister training leader called, and told us that it had been changed, we now needed *drum roll* 5 member lessons. God sees our efforts, and indeed "you receive no witness, until after the trial of your faith."
Anything else happen.... we taught.... and invited..... and ate food.... and slept.....
It was a way normal week, but such a good one.
Yep, that's all I got.
Cultural lesson: Thai singing, is way odd, because they some how get the tones into the songs and so it just sounds....... awful. of course there's good is pop music, but specifically the iisan music is too bizarre.
Spiritual lesson: And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he sufferereth it; and they smite him, and he suffererth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering 1 Ne 19:9
I think I've shared this with you before.... BUT IT'S STILL TRUE! some times people will completely reject "religion" but mostly people just think it's "a thing of naught" it's just not that important to them. They have money, friends, school, so many "more important things" and He suffers it, because of his loving kindness, and when we realize the mistake we have made, and try to reach for Him, we will find that His hand is out stretched still.
I love you all!
Sister Barber
If there is one thing I will come away with from my mission, it's that we are all brothers and sisters. I have always Loved my family, but I never realized I could love people in the same way. Today I got an e-mail from Cecilia, a sister from China, main land China, that is a member. I met her while I was in international. She told us we were the first missionaries she had ever met. Her English was not 100%, but she helped us teach and would bear her testimony so powerfully. She was only here for 2 weeks, but if we called and asked us to help us teach she would just be so ecstatic. Only 2 weeks, and yet she is some one I will not forget. Today, she e-mailed me, and told me she just sent in her mission papers. I would not be so arrogant as to say we are the reason she's going, but just to help her, to have helped some one "come unto christ" is amazing. Missionary work, when fueled by love, is easy, and natural.
Okay, enough with that. What happened this week.....
This week sister Holmes and I worked super hard. for all you who speak mission lingo, we had to get 10 member lessons this week, because it's our new standard of excellence, for you who don't: we had to teach 10 lessons to investigators with a member present, but usually we only get about 5-7 in a good week. But if the Lord told us this is what we needed to do, sister Holmes and I were going to do it. So we worked our little hearts out, and only got 5 lessons. which compared to the 2 we got last week, is an improvement, but we were still pretty bummed. then the sister training leader called, and told us that it had been changed, we now needed *drum roll* 5 member lessons. God sees our efforts, and indeed "you receive no witness, until after the trial of your faith."
Anything else happen.... we taught.... and invited..... and ate food.... and slept.....
It was a way normal week, but such a good one.
Yep, that's all I got.
Cultural lesson: Thai singing, is way odd, because they some how get the tones into the songs and so it just sounds....... awful. of course there's good is pop music, but specifically the iisan music is too bizarre.
Spiritual lesson: And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he sufferereth it; and they smite him, and he suffererth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering 1 Ne 19:9
I think I've shared this with you before.... BUT IT'S STILL TRUE! some times people will completely reject "religion" but mostly people just think it's "a thing of naught" it's just not that important to them. They have money, friends, school, so many "more important things" and He suffers it, because of his loving kindness, and when we realize the mistake we have made, and try to reach for Him, we will find that His hand is out stretched still.
I love you all!
Sister Barber