Hello family, friends, everyone!
First things first, move calls have yet to arrive, however training calls came to my companionship on Saturday night and my awesome companion will have her very own trainee this coming transfer. However, this means that I will be leaving Taidong :( On the bright side, I will be able to see my wonderful trainer before she goes home this week too, as she will be at the transfer meeting. What a blessing! It also means I don't know where I will be watching General Conference but I'm excited to watch it! Also, it means I may be blessed enough to go to the temple next week, depending on where I move. So if you don't get an e-mail til next Wednesday, please don't freak out... :)
This last week was a very incredible one and I feel blessed to be leaving Taidong this way. When Zhao Jiemei and I began our time together as companions, our vision for Taidong was that it would become a standards of excellence area and this last week, I feel like we've done well at accomplishing this. Yes, there is still room for improvement, there is always room for improvement. However, Our area is definitely on its way up and I feel very blessed to have seen this happen, to be able to leave Taidong in such good hands but also realizing that we have built this area up. I was very sad to know that I would be leaving here but I know Taidong is in very good hands and Zhao Jiemei will take very good care of it. Also, it helped lift my spirits, since when the call came to Zhao Jiemei and I knew I would be moving, I felt like I had no idea what I was to do here in Taidong, I'm still not completely sure, but I also felt like I had not accomplished my purpose here. However, Sunday night, as I saw our numbers, which reflected the growth of Taidong, Heavenly Father helped me to realize that I really have done my part in Taidong, I was able to help it grow and now as I hand the reigns to Zhao Jiemei she's going to make it even better. This was a miracle for me, seeing more of my prayers answered, and seeing Zhao Jiemei and my prayers of two transfers being answered.
Another miracle this last week was Susan. We were looking for a new investigator and had knocked a lot of doors, constantly being turned away, then on the street, at the crossroads of Zhang An and a xiang, we found Susan. Her story is truly incredible. She feels lost. She feels alone. She feels like she's in her own version of hell. She feels much as I felt many years ago before I welcomed the church back into my life. She helped me to see how much I've really overcome and been able to heal these last few years. I'm still growing, still changing, but it really did help me to feel a lot better, to better see Heavenly Father's hand in my life. To be able to tell Susan, yes, I understand how you feel, but I promise you that this can get better. We have the answer, you just need to take it. She's a very interesting character. She's Buddhist and told us she had devoted 4 years to Buddhism but it didn't help her. Didn't make her feel better. Now, she's sad and she's sick and she just wants a way out. She told us she'd met 2 girls 2 years ago in Gaoxiong who taught her how to pray and shared a little of the gospel with her but weren't able to share much but they did pray with her and it helped her to feel better for a time. She also told us she had prayed earlier that day that Heavenly Father would help her find peace and happiness. She especially wants happiness. It made me sad as I looked at this beautiful daughter of God knowing that I could've been her. In a lot of ways, I was her for a time. Then I felt truly blessed as I realized, I have the answer. I'm blessed enough to have this gospel in my life that I am no longer like her and I wont become like her ever again. She helped me to remember exactly why I'm on a mission. I want to help anyone feeling how I did to know that there's light, they don't have to always feel like that, and I feel like my prayers were answered as I spoke to her as well and was able to tell her it can change, it gets better and this gospel is the answer.
Honestly, this last week was great and had some interesting events but I don't really know what else to share from you at this point and time. Maybe you'll just have to hear about it next year. Hope all is well in your end of the world.
Ai ni-o,
Sister Thomsen
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