Transfers

Wow I can't believe another week has past and that I am now "done" with training. However I am not so foolish to think that I am done being trained. I know this life is an entire training and I am willing to continue to learn. I am so grateful for the lessons I have learned from my last companion Chu Jie Mei. I am so grateful for the Lord bringing us together and helping us build a strong and dear friendship. I learned so much about becoming like Christ from her.   I have been called to stay in YiLan! I am so gratful to be here for another transfer and be able to help the people here come unto Christ. I love YiLan and I am gratful to still be here. My new companion is... AMERICAN! Sister Gruwell from Texas! She is 20 years old blonde hair blue eye and full of love for Christ and this work. Already I am learning from her. We are going to need to set some really high language goals as we are both coming from ben di ren companions so we do not want our chinese to get worse just cause we can speak english. My last companion Chu jiemie is the TEMPLE SISTER and cool relation is that sister gruwells trainer also became the temple sister after training her. SO basically something big is in store for this new companionship! So I am having a new experience!! Sister Gruwell is amazing and I can already tell I am going to learn so much about love and how to serve with charity from her. I will admit this week was so stressful. I really felt as though I had done NOTHING when I was being trained to learn how to do a DPS or WPS or teach or contact! I felt so stressed and worried. And then I realized I was scared because I was trying to impress my new companion. My concern should be toward the Lord. And it is not me. The Lord will direct this area and we are merely the tools he is going to use. I admire my companion so much. Our second day here together we had literally NO set ups for the first time ever on my mission and I had no idea what to do in that situation. So we knocked and contacted and walked. I was so grateful for her good attitude of endurace and good attitutde. While I was concerned with killing off my new companion I realized her true love for the Lord and doing his work in whatever way is necessary even if it means we are contacting the entire day! I am already learning from her and grateful for her service. We had a very amazing experience. We were at the trainstation doing some more contacting until our train came and we decided to go talk to a woman. Well on the other side Sister Gruwell began to talk to another woman who was from China. And suddenly next thing we knew there were at least twenty chinese people siting talking laughing wondering who we are what we are doing why we could speak chinese. They asked us questions and though they were not so concerned with our answers my companion was impressed to sing to them in their own language. So, we sang Silent Night. I have a firm testimony of the power of song and the blessing it is. The spirit it brings. I am not ashamed of this gospel! It was out of my comfort zone I felt odd but as I felt the Spirit. I knew! THIS IS TRUE! Perhaps they will not look us up or learn more but they know who we are. We are Mormons and one day when China will open they will recieve the missionaries. This week was one of learning. To really trust the Lord. He will guide this work despite the weaknesses of man. And I am confident that Sister Gruwell and I are going to become disciples and servents of the Lord and help YiLan progress. I love the Lord. And I love this gospel!   -Sister Thornley