Hsinchu - Week 57 - Faith is in the doing, not in the results
This week was packed with miracles, and therefore this week's post is a novel. I will be impressed if you actually read it. On Saturday night our dear friend Qian Rong got baptized! I remember meeting her on the street for the first time in early October. We shared about the Book of Mormon using a tract, and it was clear that she was very interested to learn more. She met with us the next day and then every week following. Our member friend Rene (who is headed out to serve a mission tomorrow!) was present at most of the lessons and always by Qian Rong's side at church. Each time we shared a commandment, Qian Rong usually had a question or small concern. But because of her firm testimony that she gained through prayer, reading the Book of Mormon during any spare time she had at work, and coming to learn at church, she was able to accept the commandments as God-given blessings that bring us peace and safety. She has since told us that her co-workers have noticed a change in her; she is nicer and more patient lately. She acredits that change to repentance through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. After she was baptized, she shared her testimony. She said that she knows it was God's will and timing that she met the missionaries that October day. She is ready to live a life that is in line with God's commandments and be an example for her family.
Another fun thing: as Sister Phillips and I are working with members to shoot missionary training videos to post in our ward social media group chats, we have found that members just need encouragement and training on how to share the gospel with their loved ones. For example, a cute recent convert named Ye Xin helped us role play: calling a friend and inviting them to eat dinner with you and the missionaries. After she acted it out and the video was filmed, she felt inspired and prepared to actually call her real friend and invite her to church. Her friend said SURE, she's willing to go try out church! She lives in Taipei, so next week Ye Xin will go up to Taipei and accompany her friend to church in Sanchong where her friend lives! How exciting is that? Shooting these videos is thrilling; we are training members how to do simple missionary things, such as:
invite your friend to learn from a specialist how to find their ancestors,
invite your friend over for a home evening or gathering in your home,
share your testimony,
invite your friend to free English class,
among many other super awesome ways to share the restored gospel.
This work is moving forward and members are getting motivated. Three members so far have told us they want to introduce us to their friends. (This is new for me!) President Peterson really emphasized the importance of member work this last week during a very inspired zone conference on November 22. Not only did we eat well to celebrate Thanksgiving, we feasted on the trainings of how to more effectively do missionary work. President shared a striking statistic with all of us...someone who is found through the members (aka members' friends and family) is 20 times more likely to stay active in the church after baptism than someone found on the street by missionaries. This is so serious, my friends. It doesn't mean that we are to quit talking with people on the streets. It means we will talk to as many people as we can on the way to caring for and working with members more. As members of the church it is our duty to do all we can to invite our loved ones and those we meet to come unto Christ. I have so many places I need to improve as a member of this church and as a missionary!
As we have been trying to tweak the way we do this work and really give a lot of time to the members, we realize it will take effort and patience before we start seeing huge results. Sometimes it's easy to get discouraged when our loved ones reject this glad message. I have good news for you, though:
"Faith is in the doing, not in the results," said President Peterson in order to ring the bell of our faith. As we read Hebrews 11, we are reminded that Abel, Enoch, Noah Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sara, these servants of the Lord all acted in faith. You can see action words up and down and all over the chapter. But these people "all died in faith, not having received the promises." These people still had trials and afflictions and didn't necessarily have it peachy all the time, but they knew in whom they trusted. They centered their faith on our Savior Jesus Christ, which means they acted and followed Him, no matter the results. This is how we must go about doing missionary work, all of us.
I invite you to take a leap of faith and reach out in some simple way to do missionary work. I promise it will bring you a little more joy, and increase your faith and trust in God. These blessings are REAL; I have felt them for myself. As Alma says in Alma 36: 26, "and the knowledge which I have is of God."
I love you all so much and wish you an amazing week.
Another fun thing: as Sister Phillips and I are working with members to shoot missionary training videos to post in our ward social media group chats, we have found that members just need encouragement and training on how to share the gospel with their loved ones. For example, a cute recent convert named Ye Xin helped us role play: calling a friend and inviting them to eat dinner with you and the missionaries. After she acted it out and the video was filmed, she felt inspired and prepared to actually call her real friend and invite her to church. Her friend said SURE, she's willing to go try out church! She lives in Taipei, so next week Ye Xin will go up to Taipei and accompany her friend to church in Sanchong where her friend lives! How exciting is that? Shooting these videos is thrilling; we are training members how to do simple missionary things, such as:
invite your friend to learn from a specialist how to find their ancestors,
invite your friend over for a home evening or gathering in your home,
share your testimony,
invite your friend to free English class,
among many other super awesome ways to share the restored gospel.
This work is moving forward and members are getting motivated. Three members so far have told us they want to introduce us to their friends. (This is new for me!) President Peterson really emphasized the importance of member work this last week during a very inspired zone conference on November 22. Not only did we eat well to celebrate Thanksgiving, we feasted on the trainings of how to more effectively do missionary work. President shared a striking statistic with all of us...someone who is found through the members (aka members' friends and family) is 20 times more likely to stay active in the church after baptism than someone found on the street by missionaries. This is so serious, my friends. It doesn't mean that we are to quit talking with people on the streets. It means we will talk to as many people as we can on the way to caring for and working with members more. As members of the church it is our duty to do all we can to invite our loved ones and those we meet to come unto Christ. I have so many places I need to improve as a member of this church and as a missionary!
As we have been trying to tweak the way we do this work and really give a lot of time to the members, we realize it will take effort and patience before we start seeing huge results. Sometimes it's easy to get discouraged when our loved ones reject this glad message. I have good news for you, though:
"Faith is in the doing, not in the results," said President Peterson in order to ring the bell of our faith. As we read Hebrews 11, we are reminded that Abel, Enoch, Noah Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sara, these servants of the Lord all acted in faith. You can see action words up and down and all over the chapter. But these people "all died in faith, not having received the promises." These people still had trials and afflictions and didn't necessarily have it peachy all the time, but they knew in whom they trusted. They centered their faith on our Savior Jesus Christ, which means they acted and followed Him, no matter the results. This is how we must go about doing missionary work, all of us.
I invite you to take a leap of faith and reach out in some simple way to do missionary work. I promise it will bring you a little more joy, and increase your faith and trust in God. These blessings are REAL; I have felt them for myself. As Alma says in Alma 36: 26, "and the knowledge which I have is of God."
I love you all so much and wish you an amazing week.
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