Mom,
We traded areas with the Sisters this week and then they turned around and also opened up a new
area. (Last week the Sisters were receiving death threats, so the mission president had Elder Madsen and his companion change areas with the sister missionaries.) Mom, I have never seen Hell, but I imagine it is a lot like
what I have seen this past week. This week has been the most humbling experience of my entire life, not to mention the
hardest. The people in this area are less than receptive. The people are the Ibans that
don't live in the villages but have moved to the city into ghetto apartments.
All they do every night is burn fires in the streets, practice black
magic, get drunk, and then they fight each other. On my very first day in this area, on my very first step that I took, a car rolled by and a kid
spit on me. All that I caught in Malay was that he said he was going to kill me. For some reason they really, really don't like white people. They
spit, yell, cuss, and throw things. I don't want to judge...but they are
pretty much the worst people alive.
We are teaching this one family though, and they are doing
really good. His wife and his kids are members, but the husband and his
sisters that live with them are not members. The husband is progressing fast and is getting
baptized in 2 weeks. But, something happened in this family. The three oldest
sons were arrested for murder this week and apparently they are guilty. While we were teaching the husband, his wife stopped us and asked, "Can
you receive forgiveness for murder after your baptized?" We just sat in
silence thinking of what to say even though I think we all knew what we
were thinking. We just explained that with cases like this, only God
knows the true situation. The wife just broke down and
cried. We got up and hugged her and she just bawled in our shoulders. I thought to myself of how selfish I really am--to think that my life is
hard; to think I have trials in my life. No matter what happens out here
I'll be able to come home to the best family in the world, live in a
house these people have never dreamed of, and move on with my life. These people have trials that I don't think I could ever endure and yet
they stay faithful and don't give up hope. I've thought a lot about their situation this
past week and it has truly changed my life. Yesterday as I was
just struggling with everything in this new area, I asked one of the Chinese Elders for a blessing. He told me
exactly what I needed to hear even though he didn't even know what was bothering
me. In the blessing, he said that God is giving me these trials to
learn patience and that soon he will remove them. He told me that I am never to forget
how much Heavenly Father loves me and how much my family loves me and is praying for
me. He also said that I am never to forget the power of prayer. That blessing really changed my whole
outlook on things and I felt a lot better! So even with these crazy people, I
just have to keep pushing through and have faith that good things will
come of it. Maybe I wasn't sent here to change their lives, but
I was sent here so that they could change mine.
I love you tons Mom and I feel all of your
prayers!! Don't worry about me, I've got God on my side!
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