Ocean Baptism!

This week was awesome! We had a baptism of Sister Peng...in the ocean! Her story is amazing. She has changed so much and is one of the most happy people I know. I asked her at what point she really felt this was something she wanted to do, and her answer was touching. She said she was talking to an Elder whose Chinese was terrible and her own English was terrible, but when this Elder said, "You are a child of God, and he loves you", she realized who she was. She realized her potential and where she's from.

There were many miracles this week but one was Bryan. He is a Filipino working here in Taiwan. We met with him once and then he came to a ward activity the following day, then came to church, then after church went to a member's house for dinner. He texted me this morning and said he wants to meet with us every single night after work to learn about the Book of Mormon. The members took him in so well at church that he feels like one of them now. It was amazing.

We have been extremely blessed of the Lord and set two more baptismal dates this week with 2 amazing people. We are at a total of 7 baptismal dates right now. It's amazing to see how much this area has grown. This will most likely be my last full week in this area as the transfer is next week. It's always so sad to leave people, wards, friends, companions, and cities that you've fallen in love with, but it's always exciting to know there's somewhere else the Lord needs you to be.

We had lessons again with Mr. Zheng and Mr. Liao again that went extremely well. We are sharing commandments with them and they are still extremely excited for baptism. What they are trying to do now is get work off on Sunday and develop a habit of coming to church.

I also got the news this last week that an amazing lady, Patty, was baptized from my last area. I was the first missionary to meet her when she walked into our English class one day, and now she's baptized! It's amazing to see the light and joy of the Gospel change people. 

One of the coolest parts of the week is we had a lesson with 7 eighteen year-olds at the same time. We set up 3 of them to come...but they brought 4 more of their friends. We gave them a chapel tour and then sat down in the sacrament meeting room and taught them about Jesus Christ and prayer.  The spirit was very strong. They've all been praying on their own lately and we're excited to meet with them again. 

Elder Smith 施德臻長老