This week my eyes have been opened to a whole new level of missionary work!
I have been praying a lot lately about different things, this week has been kinda stressful and crazy and I just needed to be able to focus so that we could work the hardest we have ever worked and really see the miracles and tender mercies from it.
I prayed and told Heavenly Father that I would give him everything that I have, that I will do everything I can to show my love and gratitude for everything that I have been blessed with on my mission, for the amazing blessing it is to represent the Lord, Jesus Christ.
Yesterday was that day where I gave everything that I had, my English, appointments with investigators, exhaustion, my whole heart. We took 7 Mandarin tours yesterday and it was CRAZY! Tour after tour, it was such a tender mercy from the Lord, that he truly provided a way that we could give everything. It stared at 9:45 with 10 Mandarin, then 1 Mandarin, 42 Mandarin, 33 Mandarin, a quick lunch, 24 Mandarin, contact some referrals because investigators didn't pick up, 7 Mandarin, covering Map Desk, just to then take 2 Mandarin, which one of them became our new investigator! Among all of this we saw miracle after miracle, the Spirit filled our hearts in a way I have never witnessed on my mission.
I feel like this transfer I have become so much closer to Heaven, so much closer to God and to my Savior. I have been able to see how Heavenly Father truly feels about His children and so much He wants them to know who He is, to feel the love He has for all of them, for them to know that He cares and is aware of all their situations.
Despite the craziness of the tours sometimes and the thousands of pictures that are taken as I stand still and they run up and take turns to take photos with me when we are trying to get them to sit down and listen, hahaha. I love seeing the change in their hearts as we go throughout the tour. I have so many experiences that I could share, but one that touched me so deeply was when Sister Chen was teaching them how to pray, everyone was copying her in closing their eyes, folding their arms and bowing their heads, it's like Primary all over again, they are children in the Gospel learning all of this for the first time! Sister Chen finished but there was a man, that continued to pray, you could see him mouthing words with his eyes closed and arms folded with bowed head. He finished and looked up, he had tears in his eyes, his wife too, very emotional at everything we we're sharing, it's in those moments where the Spirit can't help but fill your entire being and flow into the room, in those moments that I realize how close we really are to Heaven, how we all need to be humble and child-like to feel the Spirit testify of the gospel in our hearts.
In every tour, we had at least one person that would refer. They are all from Mainland China and know they have to wait, but they are willing, they want it and have that desire burning in their hearts!
My favourite thing is singing "I am a Child of God" to them in English, because although they may only understand a few words, we get them to close their eyes (some do, some don't, some just film us and smile, haha), and just feel the Spirit of what we are singing to them, they applaud at the end and are just so sweet, we say "谢谢!" and then testify of the spirit they are feeling and of Gods love for them, testify that He knows them and that He cares, that He wants them to come closer to Him and share how they can know who He is.
I don't think I have cried in tours combined my whole mission as I have in these past 2 weeks. You can't help but just know everything is so true, you can't help but just feel and realize the reality of everything we teach, it can be overwhelming the love you feel for them, the desire you have for them to receive the gospel, it's truly marvelous!
They all say my Chinese is great and that I have a good accent when I speak, after the shock they have that I can say anything in Mandarin at all, it's so sweet as they say it in their broken English!
My Mandarin is getting better! I'm always learning new words to say and things to tell them, little by little, and this week my goal is to learn "I am a Child of God" in Mandarin!
So far so good! I will just need to practice a lot, and get the correct pronunciation down, haha. I think Heavenly Father is telling me that Japanese isn't the only language I should learn after my mission!
Last night in the last tour we took, it was a Mother and her daughter, they are from China but the daughter has lived here for years and speaks great English. We took them on a tour but didn't get past the Statue of Christ, we sat and talked with them one on one, me with the Daughter and Sister Chen with the Mother and it was so incredible, the whole time we talked of Christ and about everything He has done, we talked about finding out if God is real and my personal experience with it with the Book of Mormon, her desire to read and know for her self is so strong. It really touched her that a man would give his life for her and that he still has the wounds in His hands to prove it.
We read 3 Nephi 11 and I asked her what she thinks it would be like to be one of those people who felt the print in his hands and feet one by one. She was just speechless and just cried about how amazing it would be,and how it would be wonderful to experience that. She asked me if I have ever seen him or had an experience like that. I said no, but then I turned to a scripture that helped me have an experience where I spiritually felt those prints in His hands. I turned to 1 Nephi 21-13-16, really emphasizing on the last verse and she was just in awe, understanding it was possible for her to have that same experience, we had a lot in common about things we have experienced in our lives. We became like best friends by the end of the conversation, and that's what it was, it was just teaching in a way that was so natural and real. It was amazing. We are excited to continue to teach her and help her learn more, she has been going to church activities, but never to church and wants to check it out! Her mother too was very receptive and will receive the gospel when China opens.
All together just like last week when I testified about how the Spirit and the Atonement is keeping me together, that was the case yesterday and I honestly didn't want the night to end, I just wanted to keep teaching and really helping them see the importance of everything the gospel can bring into their lives.
I know that This is His work and How grateful I am for that knowledge and how greatly these past few weeks have strengthened my testimony on so many different levels! I love being a missionary, I'm glad this calling never ends. I'm not going home, just Outbound to Australia, hahaha.
Love, Sister Ryan xx
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