Elder Coletti's Letter 12/14/2015 Week 21:
Tuesday Dec. 8, 2015:
Funny story! Elder Scovel and I went to meet with one of our investigators named Gao DiXiong. I forgot if I have mentioned him before but, he is amazing! The way we initially found him is an absolute miracle! We were originally looking for a lady and we couldn't find her. We decided to just start randomly buzzing doorbells. Gao DiXiong ended up answering one of the doors we buzzed and let us into his house! He was about 70 years old and looked pretty grumpy. I was kind of freaking out! He just lets complete strangers into his house? Who does that? I guess in Taiwan it is normal, but I was still a little bit confused! It turns out he could hardly speak any Chinese, let alone gospel Chinese (which is pretty complicated to understand). He only spoke Taiwanese. When we came back another day he was telling us about how he has no friends and he let us in because he wanted to become friends. Now, every time we go over to his house he just starts to laugh and screams, "朋友 (Pengyou=Friends!)" and then he gives us these giant hugs! We gave him a Book of Mormon, which at first he said he couldn't read. The next day when we came over he had read all the way to 1 Nephi 19! He told us how he found his glasses so now he can read! He was trying to tell us at first that he physically couldn't read. It was not because he didn't know how to or he didn't want to, but because he couldn't see without his glasses! HAHA:) Sorry I'm going off on Gao DiXiong for a little bit. I just really love him:) We were teaching Gao DiXiong the Plan of Salvation. It is really hard to teach him because he doesn't understand gospel Chinese, so we brought a member who is fluent in Taiwanese! We were teaching him and going through the entire lesson with a member translating in Taiwanese so that he could understand. We gave him a mini Plan of Salvation kit to piece it together. We asked him to do it and he basically just says, "Psh, too easy!" He starts putting the Plan of Salvation pieces together and it is in this order: Pre-Earth Life, Spirit World, Earth Life, Birth, Resurrection, Death, Judgement, and then Kingdoms of Glory. He looks up at us and says, "對不對(duibudui=am I right?!)." We just look at him and say, "Umm... Close.. but you are born before you come to earth, not after. hahaha! I love him:)
When missionaries say that time flies in the mission field, they really aren't lying. It flies! I still remember my first day in the field in San Xia. I kept asking myself..... what I have gotten myself into?! What am I even doing here?! How did I get here?! It is now 2 and a half months later and I am still here! This is the last week before my training with Elder Scovel ends. We haven't heard any details yet, but I have a feeling that I will be staying in SanXia. Elder Scovel was in SanXia for two transfers before I came. Elder Scovel has been an amazing "Dad" to me! He has taught me so much about what it takes to be a successful missionary. Elder Scovel just recently (Nov. 21) hit his year mark! He is still a really young missionary and I know I will still be seeing my "Dad" around in the future.:) One of my favorite things that Elder Scovel has taught me is that in the mission field, everything happens for a reason. A certain missionary will get put with a certain companion in a certain area for a certain reason. I know, without a doubt, that President Jergensen is receiving direct revelation from God on how he should handle each and every transfer, on what each and every individual missionary is in need of and what needs to be done in order to hasten the work in Taiwan. When Elder Scovel told me this, I started to think about everything that has happened to me here in the mission field. I've been pondering how we met certain investigators, certain district meetings I attended, certain sacraments, etc. Everything has significance in the grand scheme of things. I think that Elder Scovel's wisdom can be used by everybody! Think about certain people you talk to everyday, certain situations that you find yourself in throughout the day and certain experiences that you have.Then after NOTICING (and I capitalize noticing because part of realizing and recognizing all of the wonderful blessings and miracles that happen in our lives daily is we have to notice), think about the significance of it in your life. Think about where you are in your life right now and think about how you got there. Everything happens for a reason and I promise that if we start noticing and recognizing the Lord's hand in our lives, we will be blessed by our Heavenly Father. He truly does loves each and every one of us individually and blesses us more than we can ever comprehend. He helps us everyday and is constantly with us. Heavenly Father is in the details of our lives. Always remember that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He blessed us yesterday, he will bless us today, and he will bless us forever.
I love you all so much! Christmas is almost here and now is a perfect time to start noticing Heavenly Father's hand in our lives and recognizing all of the beautiful blessings we have.
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