Sister Cecily Roberts: Week 26 - Summer's Coming & General Conference

I just need to say... right away that God is a God of miracles, and that this truly is His church and His work.

Hi! How is everyone??? Any exciting stories? Funny moments? Love to hear 'em!

So this week was another amazing one! God is just so merciful and I don't know what I did to deserve this! We made almost all of our key indicators and it's just such a miracle. We found 8 new investigators this week! The standard of excellence is 6. Wow! Obviously some are more solid than others but they all agreed to set up. A new investigator suans (counts) if we have a lesson with them and they set up with us. So amazing!

This week went by SO SO SO fast! It definitely helps that general conference took up our two longest days, so I can't complain. Especially because I LOVE general conference! I don't think I have ever loved something so much! I just can't explain how much I yearned for spiritual nourishment, and just how much I held on to each word! The thing I learned from General Conference that has been a theme in my life recently is charity. I was studying it at the beginning of the transfer, then it came up during district meeting, then at zone meeting, then in general conference. Obviously God is telling me I need to have more charity :) No but it's exactly what I needed because I learned that charity is the underlying reason (or should be the underlying reason) that I am here on my mission. Because I love God, because I love Jesus Christ, because I love God's children and want to share the gospel with them. Love NEEDS to be the underlying factor because without love, you don't have the right reasons. Am I finding because I want numbers and don't want to look bad? Or am I finding because I have a genuine desire to share the gospel and a genuine love for the person I'm talking to? It's been a good reflection moment, and I definitely have improving to do.

So for my bao gao (report). Huang JM is scheduled to be baptized this week but she canceled on us once this week so it'll be a bit of a rush to finish the lessons. Obviously we won't rush if she's not prepared but she came to general conference and loved it, and just she's golden. So it's kan ta. (up to her). She shared a beautiful experience of her confirmation last week and I just realized that conversion is such a miraculous thing, and I can't express how grateful I am to be doing this work, and seeing people come to Christ. We often have people tell us "Oh that's so xing ku" like basically it means "I feel sorry for you" or "I feel for you" but I always say "Not xing ku, xing fu" which xing fu means rejoiceful ba? I don't know exactly how to translate it, I just know how to use it.

Xu JM (Dora) Is also doing great! She also came to general conference and she's so awesome. Her baptismal date is next weekend, and so far she's on a roll!!!! Hopefully her parents say yes!! her testimony is so amazing and I admire her so much.

We met a miracle girl last week at the library, named Maggie. I'm sure I mentioned her. Well she came to general conference thsi week and we met with her last week and she said she wanted to meet with us because of how enthusiastic we were, and also she wants to know how the Atonement applies in her life. What? She's awesome! She's also from Da Lu (mainland China). And President told us this week that we have to get people from Da Lu special permission from China and from a 70 because of China's regulations. So we were afraid she wasn't going to be able to be baptized, but she actually has a Taiwanese passport and so do her parents so it's all good!!! Miracle!!! She's so precious and so ready to be baptized! I can't wait!

I can't believe that this week is the second to last week of the transfer! It went by SO fast! Oh my goodness! Like there's a possibility I could be leaving Tai Dong!!! No!!! The area is finally growing and we finally have people to teach! And the ward is so perfect and so amazing! I can't leave now! I have a feeling Sister Hadley and I will stay for one more though. We will see!

General Conference is amazing and it just really strengthened my testimony of this work, but also of the apostles and prophet. I loved listening to general conference and thinking about what it would be like to be an investigator listening. Because we had investigators hearing it for the first time. And I just gained such a strong testimony of the leaders of this church, and I'm so grateful for them, and for their humility and love. I know that they have the restored keys of the priesthood. I also KNOW that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and that because of him, we have the necessary keys that allow us to prepare to return to God.

I also gained a stronger testimony of baptism. I loved that Elder Bednar said that baptism is a departure, not a destination. It's so true. baptism is the FIRST step. Not the FINAL. I'm so excited to go teach that to others and help members and recent converts and EVERYONE go to the temple and make the necessary covenants! I love this work! I'm so happy and I'm just so grateful for everything!

I'll just share one more experience I had. There was one day this week where I was just having a "ugh, I don't know why, but I just am done" there were little things that happened that day that just put me in a "I just want to lay down and just think and do nothing" mood. For example, we sat down for planning and found a cockroach on my desk. Which is fine cause it was small. But we tried to kill it and couldn't. It disappeared. Next thing you know I find it crawling on my leg!!!!!!!!! Ugh! Just to top off the night I had to have a cockroach crawl on my leg. Literally that is my worst nightmare. Not really but still. I killed it pretty fast after that though. So that kinda just put me over the edge and I was just like...."I'm done". After planning i was just sitting there kneeling, and laying my head on the bed thinking, enjoying the moment of pause. And I had the thought "wow I'm grateful I killed that cockroach quickly. Then I had another gratitude thought. And I realized there were a lot of things to be grateful for. So I said a gratitude prayer. And from then on my night was great. I just realized how amazing God is and how many little tender mercies He gave me. Also, Sister Hadley made my bed. Which was such a tender mercy because I forgot to put my sheets in the dryer!

I know this church is true and I know God is watching out for His children. As Elder Holland said, the first and greatest truth is that we are divinely created and that we are children of the most high God. When all else seems to fail, we are still children of God. And I can testify that there isn't a greater truth. I know with all of my heart that He loves His children. He helps us in everything we do. If you don't think so, just take a step back and pray for your eyes to be open to the miracles and to see His hand in your life.

I love you all so much!! Have a great week!

Love from Tai Dong and Taiwan,

Sister Roberts