April 1, 2013

Earthquake and A BAPTISM!

Hey Family and friends!

Wow! This week has flown by! It seems as if mission time is like a movie sequence. I don't even understand how time is going by so fast. This week has been full of ups and downs but all worth it because on Sunday after church DIng Jie Mei got BAPTIZED!!!!!! She was glowing! Sister Cisney and I looked like proud parents!

Sad news when I sent you the pictures last week all got erased and the memory card does not work. Apparently at the Internet cafe sometimes when you put your camera card gets put in it gets a virus that destroys the chip. So sadly I will not be sending any more pictures. : ( I will mail you some at the end of this transfer. Wow that is in 3 weeks! So soon!!

Yes we did feel the earthquake! It was so weird. On the scale thingy in Xin Zhu it was a 3 so not really bad at all. It happened during companion study. Sister Cisney and I are on the third floor and all of the sudden we both start to feel the room move. It was kind of like being on the tea cup ride at Disney land. We both look at each other and have a look of confusion. It only lasted 20 seconds. I felt a little dizzy afterwards but it was not that bad. Our elders had a much more kuazhang (ridiculous story). Elder Cheung and Montalto (Xiang Shan elders) were on splits with the zone leaders. Elder Cheung was in Zhu nan and their apart is on the 8th floor. The earthquake starts and Elder Cheung runs to the door to get his shoes on and then Elder Zou was like the keys. They start running out the door to go down the stairs and Elder Zou (he is a native and speaks a little English) said

Deng yi xia (wait a second)

The earthquakes stops. Then he continues and says

Yinggai meiyou zenme kuazhang (Why so ridiculous)!

We got a good laugh at this story at district meeting. Elder Cheung is definitely a good story teller.

Apparently in the Xiang Shan elders apartment things fell off the table.

Tuesday we had a Zone Conference! President & Sister Day and the assistants came down. It was a really AMAZING! It was the booster shot I needed. Dad you will possibly know this but we learned about the Asia Area vision plan. They really want us to work a LOT with Less actives!! Which we are super excited about! YEA!!!

That night Ding Jie Mei had her interview with President Day AND more importantly she passed. A baptism is a lot of behind the scenes work I have learned this week. It's so great that there are people in the ward who are willing to help with the behind the scenes work. We missionaries really do appreciate this.

Sister Cisney and I were standing at the top of the baptismal font stairs. Ding JM was really nervous so adorable right. A young man baptized her and he just got baptized 3 weeks ago. It was amazing to see her come out of the water! It was really like she was a new person!! I felt the way God felt for her. A proud parent who is glad that now she has this gospel in her life. This is only the beginning step, but she is ready to take this step.

We had a really cool miracle last night. We wanted to find 2 new investigators and we had a dinner appointment Sunday night. We decided we would leave 2 hours early so on the way we could street contact. We get half way to our destination and decide to park our bikes and contact. We lock up our bikes and say a pray. The first people we stop are a couple. It turns out he is from Poland and she is a native. We spoke with him in English which is so weird. We talked for a while and found out that he is a Christian. He finds out we are Mormons and then talks about how much he LOVES Brandon Flowers (from the Killers). He was saying he respected Brandon Flowers. We then gave him an English pamphlet with an overview of the first lesson and gave him our number. He told us he has interest and will call us next month!

After the dinner we were on the way home and my companion gets the feeling to stop and talk to this one girl on the side of the road. She starts talking to her and it turns out she is a former. She actually is a former of Sister Holmes (She and I went to BYU Hawaii together). Her name is Yang Xiao Jie (If Stephanie is reading this). Yes Elder Montalto is district leader. Xin ku women right?

She and I are the only two sisters who have been born in Xin Zhu.  Mission term birth place is your first area and last area is your dying.  What a miracle!

Each of us have a special gift we have to offer and that is all that God asks of us. He wants us to use the talents he has given us to bless the lives of those we come in contact with. I have been thinking a lot lately about why God sent me here to Taiwan. I have decided that it is because I have some untapped potential. I don't know what it is yet but God does. I know that it is the same with each of you! I know that God loves each of you! I love you lots too!

Sister Latimer