Hualien - Week 32 - The Finger of the Lord
Has anyone gone and read/watched the inspiring stuff that's on lds.org right now? Holy crow, people, some big things are happening. I've included some links below that I encourage you to look at!
This week. So awesome. So many things happened.
It's burning up here in Taiwan. I'm telling ya, the weather can have a serious effect. While the rain tires out my soul and makes me feel gloomy, the heat tires out my body and makes me feel sleepy. I have been fighting not to fall asleep in language study the past few days, it's so not good! One day we were studying in Starbucks and I turned on a recording I made of Sister Tu teaching about temples and families so I could practice trying to imitate the way she speaks. But then I put my head down and I was basically out. There was an old lady sitting next to us, and when I realized that I was about to drift off I lifted my head and asked her "do you know of any drinks that can give your body energy?" Haha. I needed something magical. And she became so concerned all of a sudden and asked me if I'd eaten lunch, then she said we better drink some chocolate. Well, if this lady is telling me I should drink chocolate, that's a good enough excuse for me. So Sister Jensen and I went to buy Starbucks' chocolate java chip drink even though it would definitely put a little dent in our wallets, especially at the end of the month. But a miracle happened. We found out the drinks were buy one get one free that day! Hallelujah! And let me tell you, it was magic. I was on a sugar high for the rest of the afternoon. God is watching out for us, my friends. He is.
Another cool, quicker story: While I was on exchanges with Sister Chu, we met a guy in a Seven who was reading a history book. We found out he was a history major and said, "well, if you like history, you'll probably like this book we're sharing. It's called The Book of Mormon." Sister Chu had an extra copy in her bike box so we went and snagged it for him. As he reached out to hold the Book in his hands, his eyes widened with excitement. He told us that he wants to believe in God but there have been many things in his life that have led him to think God might not really be there. He said "I only come to Hualian one day out of the year, so I believe that it was God who allowed me to meet you missionaries. I'll remember you." So cool.
The Lord tells the Brother of Jared, that the sea will be rough, He says, "I prepare you against these t
It made me think of how our lives are kind of like the journey on the sea. There will likely be storms and big waves at times. It may seem like we, with our little boats, have no chance of withstanding the ferocious winds and struggles of life. But by following and trusting in God, we can make the journey. Cheerfully. Safely. And we can make it to the promised land, to where we belong.
As the Jaredites prepare their barges, they realize that their barges have no light inside them, they're pitch black when closed up. They need light to cross the ocean, so the Brother of Jared inquires of the Lord on how to light the barges. The Lord gives him a few stipulations but then basically says "it's up to you, buddy. You come up with a solution and I'll help you. (Ether 2: 25) So the Brother of Jared goes to the mountains and carves out sixteen clear stones and says,
"O Lord, that thou hast all po
therefore touch these stones,
in darkness; and they shall sh
may have light while we shall
And the Lord does. The Lord stretches out His finger and lights the stones as He touches them, one by one. The Brother of Jared saw with his own eyes the finger, and soon after, the fullness, of the Lord. Because of his exceeding faith in Jesus Christ, Christ was not able to keep himself hidden from the Brother of Jared (see verses 9-15).
Wow. He had so much faith that he literally saw the hand of the Lord. And then Jesus Christ actually appeared to him, and after that, he needed faith no longer. He knew, doubting nothing (see verses 19 and 20). My companion and I usually wait until after personal study time to talk about what we've learned, but before I knew it I heard myself saying, "I want to see Jesus Christ again." And I felt this longing to know Christ. Not just to know more about Him, but to know of Him, to know Him. When I see Him again, I want to recognize Him. And so, as I pondered some more, I thought of this question:
What can I do to develop faith in order to see the hand of the Lord more in my life?
I think the obvious answers are continue to search and ponder the scriptures, pray with sincerity and real intent every day, seek to learn at church every week. Some other acts of faith include repenting daily (this is huge), serving others, and as a missionary: carefully planning, setting big goals, thinking about investigators' needs during studies and all the time, continuing to work hard even when people make choices that sometimes disappoint you. We are planning on sending this chapter to one of our investigators for homework so she can start pondering what she ought to do to come to know Christ better and see His miracles.
I invite you all to consider the question I posed to myself. How can you develop your faith so that you can see the hand of the Lord more in your own life? What do you need to start or stop doing? I invite you to take action and see what happens.
I love you all so much and I wish you the best week eva.
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