Sunday, February 10, 2019

Seeing Miracles, Despite Being Sick (Week 67)


Sunday, Jan 13, 2019

Subject: Seeing Miracles, Despite Being Sick

Hello everyone!

This week has actually been pretty good! Which is surprising, considering both my companion and I were sick. I think we got some sort of cold. By the way, can I just say, getting sick on a mission is the worst! Because there is always work to do, and it is not overly fun to do when you feel like crap. And then if you end up having to slow down or rest due to sickness, you feel bad and kind of antsy, thinking that you should be out doing something but you can't! So, we had to slow down a bit... But we still got out and did what we could! We kept meeting our investigators and sharing with them. We went out as much as we could and contacted a bit. We encouraged people to come to church. And it worked out! We actually had five investigators at church this week, which was super exciting! And we got three new investigators! And that was the more exciting part! So, as we were sick, we could not get out as much. We did get one new investigator on our own, and his name is Anh Dong. He initially wanted to have us work at his school to teach children, but we informed him we could not do that, and that we work for our church. We told him we had a church nearby and could show it to him. He agreed to come see. It was literally around the corner. We shared with him, and he was quite open! He told us he does not follow religion, but thinks it is good for you, and is curious to learn more about it, so we agreed to help him learn more! Seriously, I don't know if it is just coincidental that now I am meeting all these people that are just open to religion, I think God has really prepared the people out here in Binh Duong to be more open to receive the message of the gospel! So that was cool. But otherwise, we did not have too much personal success looking for investigators this week. Well, the other elders happened to find two people in our area! One, Anh Hung, is someone I had contacted at the Aeon mall and invited to the English activity. He was so impressed people would ever work for free, he decided it had to do with our church. He has decided to give the church a "six-month trial" as he put it to see if it is right for him. Well, I am glad to say it is! And if he will sincerely try to find that out, God will let him know that. He will feel it through the Holy Ghost! The promises of the gospel are so great! So, he learned with the other elders initially, as he studied in their level at English and they invited him, but now we will start to teach him! And then we have Anh Hoang, who the other elders contacted and invited to church. He is Catholic, and is really committed to following Jesus. He came to church, and said he was pleased to see we also follow Jesus, and that he actually likes all the new things he saw here! He wants to learn more about it! He says it was the best church meeting he has ever been to! So, we will try to help him learn more and try it for himself, and we know he too can come to know it is true and further strengthen his relationship with the Savior! So, I would call both of these new people learning with us tender mercies of the Lord. He knew we were still trying despite being sick, and he provided a way for us to keep doing his work! It sure is good to be on the Lord's side!

Our other investigators are doing well too. Anh Tan is doing great from last week! He came to church again and is becoming more active in things! He already has a lot of faith, and I think it will just continue to grow until he determines to be baptized! And Chi Truc is also doing good! She really wants to know the church is true, and then be baptized! She just doesn't know when that will be, and does not want to set a baptismal date... But she says when the time comes, she will be baptized. So, we are trying to help her get her answers as well! Chi Hoa is still doing good. We are trying to get her ready for baptism before her trip to Taiwan, so she can go to the temple there! She is excited for that! And everyone else is doing good too. People are getting a bit busy as Tet approaches, but we are still trying to meet them and help strengthen them!

Well, I am glad to say I am no longer sick! Can't say the same for my companion, but he is on his way. Just a little bit of a sore throat and constant headache left. He should get better in the next few days. I actually got to give him a blessing too, so he has more help from on high! Oh, also Elder Quoc got to interview Anh Vuong and Anh Phat for baptism this week! They have been learning with the other elders for a bit. They are awesome! Anh Vuong initially came to English class, but then started learning and progressed really fast! He is in the intermediate level at English, so we sometimes ask him to give prayers, and he is really sincere! And Anh Phat is his brother who happened to move to Binh Duong with him about a month ago (actually my first week here), and he decided to learn too! He actually changed his job so he could attend church! And he quit smoking to follow the word of wisdom! They are both awesome, and will help out the branch a lot! We are excited for them!

And one other miracle to note. On Sunday we had 43 people at church! That is an all-time high for our branch! There were tons of investigators from each companionship there, as well as most of the members, and we even had some less active members who came and seem to be coming more actively! The branch was so lively, it was great to see! The church really is growing! The Lord progresses His work!

Whew! That was a lot to write! As you can see, lots of good stuff going on! We are excited going forward! Please pray for us, and especially for my companion to recover so we can get back full force into the work! Until next week!

Elder Watson/ Nghiêm

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