My family loves to remind me in emails of the time I have left on my mission. I am okay though because this week was a good one so they cannot get me with their trunkiness. haha! Just kidding, I love them all, they really aren't saying too much about it. They are just starting to have questions about the specifics of returning home. May 25th is quickly coming. I think I am actually enjoying my mission right now more than ever. The reality has started to set in that it won't last forever which makes these last few weeks all the sweeter. It really is ending soon.
Last Monday was another boring P-day but today we are going to Buddha Mountain, so it is okay. My trainer, Elder Brady, took me there so I thought it would be fun to take Elder Shakespeare there. Maybe the tradition will continue and he can take his "Greenie" there someday.
Tuesday was pretty crazy. We are trying to find new people to teach so we went into the mountain to go tracting... Every single place was a gated community!! We didn't go to a single door... learned our lesson... No tracting in the mountains. But we did see some pretty mountain scenes.
This is the mountain where we tried to go tracting
Wednesday, we had a lesson with Brother Xie. We are afraid we are going to have to let him rest for the next little bit. He is really great, but isn't ready to accept the fact that what we are sharing is more than a philosophy or a way of thought, but rather truth from a loving God.
Thursday, we had District Training Meeting. It was my choice for the topic that was shared, so I proposed a hypothesis that made me feel like a science teacher. haha! Nerd. The hypothesis is, "It is prerequisite that a good (desired) answer must be preceded by a (the desired) good question." We talked about the power of good questions and how they are at the very center of our teaching and finding.
Friday was the most painful day. All night it rained and was bitter cold. I didn't bring my rain gear because it was sunny when we left our apartment. We were literally freezing with the cold wind and rain. The rest of the week however has been sunny and high 80's, so I should just count my blessings.
Saturday we met with a new person who was really cool. She has no previous experience with religion so she is an empty book waiting to be filled. That night we ate at Sister Wu's home. She is really cool! She met the missionaries back in the day and was baptized after 3 days... Back when there were no restrictions on how long or how many times they have attended church.
Sunday, after church, we had a cool experience with a lady in the park. She came to walk around the park because she had just been fighting with her son and was too upset to stay at home. I asked her how she was and she just shook her head in disdain and anger. We ask her why she would respond like that and she explained what had happened just a few minutes before. She explained how her son is very troubled and difficult. She actually tried to get him to go to other churches to try and help but it didn't seem to change anything. She said she wanted to meet my Mom and ask her how she managed to raise me to be a person at such a young age who could sympathize with someone so different than myself. Earlier in Church that day, I heard a testimony that really helped me in that moment. The member talked about an experience where they wanted to say something unkind about their classmate and had a strong impression or voice, if you will, say to her "In My eyes you are all the same." "In what way are you better than her." I have never thought about that before. The sinner, the missionary, the distressed mother or the troubled son. God causes his light to come upon all who have come to the Earth, not just the saint or the righteous. It was a wonderful Sunday and week for sure.
This week I saw my good friends from my district in the MTC. Elder Trotter and Elder Rollap
The flowers here are always so much more beautiful than they seem to be at home. The variety always amazes me. I guess that is because I grew up in a desert.
I love you all!
Elder Erwin
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