Week 26

Goodbye Qingshui, or Shalu..‏ 

This week was a nice week on the island. Last Monday we had some down time to just play ping pong and relax. Then that night we had family home evening, which was pretty fun. Tonight we have family home evening again and we are in charge of the game so I guess we will see how it goes. The weather was also really nice last week! It wasn't too hot and it wasn't too cold. 

So last Tuesday we were doing companionship study, when we got a call from the Office Operation Elders. They called and were asking Elder Fox a thousand different questions about our apartment, and the reason for that is because our apartment is becoming a 4 man! Our stake is splitting this week, and because of that our ward is splitting also. So we are getting 2 new Elders to take over the half of our ward we do not take. That means we are losing half of our area, members, and investigators! We have investigators in both areas, but the majority is on the Shalu side, which is the side more south. I think that's the ward we are being assigned to, but I am still not sure. I guess next week I will have to tell you about it, and about all the new Elders in our apartment.

 

Then last Thursday me and Elder Fox went out on an adventure. We (as of right now) have 8 separate districts in our area. We usually are in Qingshui, Shalu, or Wuqi, but sometimes we go to Longjing or Dajia. We also have Waipu and Dadu, we've been there a few times but we don't go there very often. Then there is Da'an.. I have never been to Da'an. We currently have no formers from Da'an and only 5 less-active members. So last Thursday me and Elder Fox took huge water bottles and biked out to Da'an. It took us about an hour and the way there was a beautiful bike ride. On one side of the road was green rice fields and green mountains in the distance, and on the other side was the coast. I wish I took pictures! Then we got to Da'an and realized why we have no formers there. It was a small village by the coast with one 7-11 and some houses. Everyone there speaks Taiwanese (so their Chinese has a huge accent) and is either Buddhist or Taoist. We left 3 hours later defeated by the people of Da'an.

 

On Sunday we had a family come to church! It was the family we met in Longjing and played basketball with, the kids names are Peggy, Alex, and Borrus, and the dad's name is Lin Jin Lai. They are super willing to learn more and had a great time at church. Also at church we had a rep. from the stake presidency come over and split the ward. We saw which members would go to the Shalu ward and which members would go to the Qingshui branch, and after looking at how the wards were split we decided we definitely wanted Shalu Ward, but I guess we will see.

 

And the last bit of news, we have another investigator getting baptized! His name is David and we decided that I would be the one to baptize him! So I am kind of nervous, and I need to practice the words in Chinese, but I am also excited. He is going to get baptized this Friday.

 

David taught me a great lesson. At first, he was not progressing. We urged him again and again to read and pray, but he just wouldn't. Finally he told us he started to read and pray on his own. After that his testimony just took off. He no longer had problems with any commandments or any other issues. It helped me realize if we are reading and praying everyday we don't need to worry so much about our testimony, because through this our relationship with our Heavenly Father will strengthen.

 

Love, 

Elder Quist