Dear Mom and Dad,
Hello! Would you like to hear an interesting story? Ready? It may not make complete sense, but I'll do my best.
We went to a baptism for the
other Elders here in Yuanlin, they helped 2 people be baptized. Yeah!
But after the baptism, it got super interesting. The sisters in Yuanlin
have a 22 year investigator. Yeah, can you believe that? She's been
investigating the church longer than I have been alive. She has a
strong testimony and a desire to be baptized, but is terrified of
commitment in any form. Well, their super awesome bishop (different
ward than mine) had a sit down with her, the sisters, and the elders
(us). He basically laid down the law, and said she had two choices. He
said she could go and visit 2 other churches, which was her idea, and
then get baptized when she knew our church was correct. Or, she could
pray to know the church is true, turn to a random page in the Bible,
recieve an answer, and get baptized right then. After a lot of
persuasion, she agreed to pray about it. She turned to a section in
Numbers, and read a section about how Jehovah prepares His people and
counts them. I can't remember where, it was in Chinese. While they
continued to persuade her, I put on baptismal clothes, still wet from
the earlier baptism, and stood in the font waiting for her. After a
while, the sisters took the bible from her hands, replaced it with
baptismal clothes, and told her her time was up. She agreed, and I
baptized her. It was after 9:30 pm. The spirit was stronger than I've
ever felt in a baptism before. While it may sound like she may have
been forced or pressured into baptism, it was not the case. She desired
it: she had a change of clothes and a towel in the car, even though it
wasn't her baptism. She needed help making the commitment. When she
finally was baptized, she had a noticable difference. It was if a large
weight had been lifted from her. She looks happy.
Here's another interesting part. She said there was three people
that needed to be there, or she would not be baptized. One was the
bishop, who originally was going to send a councilor to conduct the
meeting, but couldn't make it. The second was the councilor who
couldn't make it, who felt prompted to come to the church after the
baptismal meeting was to be over. The third was me, an Elder who was
not in her ward, and only attended the last few minutes of the baptism.
All three of us made it, and the four of us had a picture together.
Interesting, huh?
Taiwan is a place of miracles. I've been blessed to see many as I
have served here, and the greatest ones always end in baptism.
I've been reading Jesus the Christ lately, its been very
insightful. I've had faith in Jesus Christ, but now, I'm starting to
understand why. I'm beginning to understand His divinity and His
purpose. I'm beginning to understand that all of His life was focused
on His purpose, and all the scriptures never stray from testifying of
Him.
I did recieve your package, thank you! I'm enjoying dipping the
oreos in the peanut butter, its wonderful. Hehe. I did recieve
Grandma's letter, tell her thank you for me. I'll be writing her soon.
Yeah, we can definitely host the Taiwanese kids next year. That would be super fun, and I could practice my Chinese!
The Gittens? I can't remember them, sorry. I'm glad you don't
miss me too badly. You'll see me soon enough! :) I will be calling
you really soon, would you like me to call you the morning or evening of
mother's day? Let me know in your letter so I can put it in my
schedule. If you don't, I'll most likely call you in the evening. (for
me, the morning.)
That's cool that you're going to Alaska. When do you want to go to
Taiwan??? I know we have time, but its better to think in advance, so
we can actually do it. I would suggest going in the springtime. This
is a tropical island, the summer is hot, but extremely humid. But its
bearable. Its up to you, I'm not paying. ;)
Love you!
-Elder Travis Leatham
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