Weekly Letter to Family, May 16, 2011

Well, things have been going well this week. Our investigator with a week B goal, (name), passed his baptismal interview and came to church for his third time this week. He would have rolled into week A (translation: get baptized this week) if it weren't for the fact that he's got a big test all day Saturday and all morning Sunday. So even if we did get him baptized on Friday or late on Saturday he wouldn't be able to be confirmed for a whole week. But he's still really willing and he's doing well. I'm confident he will be baptized this month on the 28th. The only thing I'm a little worried about with him is that when he comes to church it seems like he is pretty irreverent and rowdy during classes. I'm just a little concerned he's not getting baptized to grow closer to God, but so that he can be with friends. I'm not saying having friends is bad or anything, but we will focus this week on helping him to really feel the serious and sacred nature of the covenant he is going to be making at the end of this month.

We're also working hard to help complete part member families. So far we've got some really promising looking families who want to return to activity and who have family who haven't been baptized. It looks like the time has passed for me to baptize a whole family and see them sealed in the temple. But I'm fine with that--it had to have been Heavenly Father's will, because I feel like I really worked my hardest this first year. If nothing else, I'll fly back to Taiwan on my own wallet to see a family I baptized get sealed together.

I just want to say that being a missionary is the sweetest joy I've ever experienced so far in my life. In the process of sacrificing my entire will to my Heavenly Father and doing what He wants me to do for His glory, I am becoming the man he wants me to be. I got a letter this week from Elder Turk, and inside was a photocopy of a testimony written by (name). You remember him? He was about to be baptized in Tainan and I got emergency moved. This testimony just filled my heart with joy as I read the words of that man I love so much telling the story of how he got into a car crash which severely impaired his movement (he always did walk with a limp, and he had a bad back). Afterward he was depressed and tried to find fulfillment in attending Buddhist and Confucian religious meetings, but not until Elder Turk and I introduced him to the Book of Mormon did he find something that satisfied his hunger for something more.

I know that the message I bring is real, is true, and will heal all the nations of the world as they convert to their Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ.

I love you all so very much. I'll talk to you again next week; I'm sure it won't seem like very long at all! :)

Love,
Carter