Ahoy Thar!

Anyway, this week was really great. We really saw many abundant miracles from the Lord.

The biggest and most exciting of these miracles is Brother Wei. He's the friend of an active family, the Peng family. Brother Peng referred him to us before I even got here, and I met with him my first week in Tanzi. Over the course of a few meetings it seemed he just didn't have interest. He didn't desire to know whether what we taught was true. In the last week, we've seen a complete transformation. I don't even know where it came from, but about a week ago we met again as we happened to ride by and see him at Brother Peng's shop. We taught him that to develop faith he had to give it a try living the commandments, such as reading and praying, and see what the results are. He agreed to give it a shot. This Wednesday and Thursday we met again, and on Thursday he had not only read 2 Nephi 31 as we'd asked, but he'd marked it up, written notes, and told us how he felt it was directly applicable to his current situation. We asked if he'd be willing to be baptized and he said, "Of course!" That stunned me for a couple seconds, and when we recovered we helped him set a goal to be baptized.

Then on Saturday was another huge miracle. Elder Cocke (one of the Assistants to the President) was with us on exchanges and we taught Brother Wei the word of wisdom. He has a big smoking problem, but when we taught him that in order to be baptized and be in harmony with God's will he had to quit, he was willing. We asked him when he wanted to quit and Brother Peng's son (a deacon) piped up and said "Tomorrow!" in English. Brother Wei truly exercised his faith and agreed to quit smoking immediately. He says he wants to be baptized "The faster the better." Yesterday we talked to him and he said he did slip just a little and smoked two cigarettes that day, but that's a huge improvement from his one pack per day. I'm just in awe over the faith of this man, and he has a true and strong desire to be baptized on August 6.

I know why this all happened, and it's not because of anything we did. It's because Brother Wei was willing to read, ponder, and pray about the Book of Mormon. He felt the Spirit testify to his soul that it is the word of God, and he had an immediate desire to do what Nephi directs by being baptized and enduring to the end. I am so grateful to our God for giving us this amazing book and His Holy Spirit, which together change hearts and lives. I know that anyone who is willing to do what Brother Wei did and humbly try planting the seed in their hearts will without a doubt come to feel that this is indeed the true gospel and church of Jesus Christ and have a desire to follow Him.

Well, now that I'm done with that long story you probably want to take a nap from the eye strain. That was the highlight of the week, really--seeing the complete change of heart in Brother Wei.

I love you all so much! Talk to you again next week!

Carter