All in A Missionaries Day: Baptizing Four Then Hearing President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

You know what? Yesterday Dieter F. Uchdorf came to our mission...and spoke to us...and between the meeting with us missionaries and the member meeting, it hit me that I am going home. I guess it hit with perfect timing because I had promised my companion we would not even focus on that I was going home until after all the baptisms...and, they all happened. The baptism by water and the baptism by fire...and only hours later listening to a prophet of the Lord speak to us about how going home was both a happy and a sad thing...and to not waste;our time, it hit me that my time was one more week. Don't get me wrong, it's not like that I think that my mission is over...I will put my heart into this week as much as I can...but now with this Preparation day, and me interviewing with President Sunday...I have the exit interview letter to write...stuff to pack...and about10 people who have reminded me a couple times that if I don't write for their mission bye bye books they will be sad...I've got my lunches and dinners...nights and mornings all cut out for me! But yeah, it hit me yesterday and it was kind of a weird feeling. The last two weeks I said I'd let myself feel that way, but it didn't dawn on me that I really WOULD until it happened. Crazy crazy. I'll have a lot of decisions encountering me when I get home, with the news of the economy, etc etc....but all and all, if I have learned one thing on my mission, it is that Heavenly Father loves me and I will be okay. So onto the stuff you guys all actually want to hear instead of my whole mind thought process...That stuff is boring.

This week was a pretty good week, but it really gave me a testimony about just how many people are prepared to hear this gospel. At this point, everyone who we meet with who starts progressing are given baptismal dates...they almost all are progressing, and a good portion of them are getting into coming to church habits. We met a lady named Huang Shijin just 2.5 weeks ago. She's already come to church twice, and came with her son to the Uchdorf member meeting yesterday. After attending the baptism Saturday, felt she was ready to set a date and prepare for it. Her son set a date as well. He was the cutest kid I ever met. He'd really never heard of Heavenly Father before. So we explained to him prayer and Heavenly Father...to which mother had to speak in very very layman terms and explain to him that there was a spirit inside of him and that Heavenly Father was his father of that, and that she was the mother of his body. I guess he prayed in the car all the way home to get to know Heavenly Father, then when he got home he told his father he had something called a spirit and that it was inside of him and that's what helped him think and went on and on about it. Haha. His dad was pretty much just like...okay...but to hear Shijin tell us about her son I was just super touched. To know that we are teaching a 9 year old child about his Heavenly Father is amazing. I know this knowledge will help him for the rest of his life. This gospel is TOO amazing. Seriously.

On Tuesday we had the fun experience on going on splits with the members. I've heard this happens a ton in the states, but here in Taiwan it is a rare thing. I've only done it twice. We have members come and attend our lessons a good amount...but splitting is something that is rare...However, especially back when we were three people, President had told us we had 2 very experienced missionaries in one area and we should use this to help the area grow...so we arraigned with a member going on her mission soon...and with one of my recent converts Whitney to do splits. That day we had too many appointments to cover ourselves so it seemed perfect. We gave Whitney and I all the church appointments, and the responsibility to go drop off some notes not too far from the church...and my companion and Caitlin Zhuo (who is going to Manchester England) took the bikes and did some house visits. In the end, quite a few people ended up canceling and changing appointments...but it was still a super great exchange. I think Whitney had a really good time. They attended District Meeting with us...which was fun, 10 people in our district that week! We already have a huge district...hehe. Then, we did role plays during District of course. Me, I'm not a HUGE role play fan. I'll do them, because they help your teaching and your plans and they are an improvement opportunity...but I'm never like...YES..role play time. I'm just like...okkkaaay role play. But Whitney loved them. Haha, so cute, it helped me appreciate role plays more, because she was like, "Is district meeting always like that? It was so fun! They taught us how to be missionaries and all those games were super fun." Haha and then role plays were games. So yeah, Tuesday was a really good experience. It helped our week a lot, because we weren't in our area most of Wednesday or Sunday...because we had Zone Conference this week, as well as the Uchdorf thing.

So yeah, Wednesday was my last Zone Conference. It was a little strange to me to be in the zone conference I was in. My name wasn't even on there to give my farewell testimony...but President announced that my name was on Xinzhu's list and I would be up there with the other 16 missionaries going home to bear our testimony. He also asked us to all have good attitudes about the emergency transfers taking place in our mission. He clearly announced that they would still be taking place and that you should love your area and cherish it, because you could be leaving tomorrow. I learned a lot from this last 2 weeks. I can safely say this changed my entire mission. So I really respected that President came out and told us that transfers were happening, would continue to be happening..and to trust him. I think that helped a lot of people who kept wondering what was happening. It helped me too. It was really cool to have 17 of us bearing our testimonies....out of the 25 leaving, there was a large chunk in that conference. I listened attentively to these Elders and Sisters. I felt the spirit strongly as they bore their testimonies. I was a little nervous myself to get up because I felt like I was going to cry...and I hate crying!...but I just teared up for a minute...was silent for a second, then pulled myself together...haha. I was SO not a crier before my mission, but I am totally more prone to crying these days. I wonder if it's a growing up thing, or a missionary thing. We'll see.

And then Saturday....Saturday was a special day. SO much stress...but exciting too! It was a little cramped for time with a baptism scheduled for 4 at one church, and the next one at 6...but a member took us to the church and we got there by 5:15. Everything worked out pretty good. It was an special day. It was the first time on my mission I saw so many baptisms in one day. I'm sure other missionaries have...but it was my first time...and the ward was excited. Especially Xinpu, because 3 of the baptisms were in Xinpu and the ward members were just really excited...and you could feel their excitement. I felt so much love on that day...and it was a special experience to be a part of, I felt the spirit strongly as they got up and shared their testimonies after their baptism...but hands down my favorite part was the next day, as they got the gift of the Holy Ghost, to hear the blessings that Heavenly Father had in store for three of his beloved daughters who had entered in by the way. I was a little sad we didn't get to see Wu Sijing's confirmation...but there was no way to be at both wards that day, because we had to leav Missionary meeting with Uchtdorf...but that was probably pretty super awesome too.

Well, I would tell you all about what Uchtdorf told us missionaries...but there is too much. I'll give dad my planner with the notes in it next week and he can transcribe if he so wishes. But I will mention one thing he said that actually, I strongly agree with, because in my first interview with President Nielson...back in the day...he told me that we were all God's Investigators. I spent a long time understanding lesson one principle one in relation and terms to me. I wanted to know that my life and what I did was because I loved God...and to love God, I needed to truely understand my relationship with him. It was an interesting thing, and I'm still learning...but it really struck me when Uctdorf said, "Be your first and strongest convert. I know that I do not want to be a Sunday Latter-day Saint. I don't want to just act like a member, but BE a member. I'm still in a process. I think it will take a lifetime. I'm more used to reading my scriptures and praying daily, but sometimes it still isn't the most earnest I could be. I still have TONS of room for improvement. My whole life, I've believed that a mission is just another step in our spiritual growth. I doubt I will think this mission is the most spiritual stage of my life...because I believe every day I become better, but I've definitely learned a lot. I'm still the basic core of who I am and was in the past, but I'm better in some ways, and more experienced in others. This is a wonderful work. I'm grateful for my time here in Taiwan. I'm grateful I still have some time left.

I'll see you all next week. I love you. Make sure you are at the airport in time. We leave Taiwan at 11:30 at night on Tuesday. I have a layover in California and then another one in North Carolina...then last I fly into Charleston I believe I should arrive at 10ish on Wednesday morning after about 22 hours of travel...That is not good if you do not have that information. They have the tenbrunos@yahoo.com email....it should have been sent there. If you do not have it yet, please call the mission home as soon as possible and get that information. Also, please inform the bishop and stake president of my coming home. I would like to be released on that Wednesday if possible, I think it would be weird to just bum around home as a missionary too long. Missionaries don't bum around, but I'd like to for a day or two. HAHA. Also I want to make sure everything is good for my homecoming on Sunday. I want our family to do a musical number too. Is that possible? Can you ask?

Xiexie nimen!

Ai ni!

Sister Flora Bruno

Staying Focused and Finishing Strong at the End of Her Mission

Okay, we are coming into the end of my mission and everyone who emailed this week told me to focus at the end of my mission, so that's nice of you all to try to help me focus but I thought you should know you don't even need to tell me that because I am SUPER FOCUSED. And do you want to know why? Because this area is CRAZY busy. Haha. It's actually a really good area to end my mission in, because I have no idea when I'm going to have time to start to worry about going home, and my companion and I agreed we won't even think about it until next week on Preparation day. Plus I have a surreal view on time, so even though I know I'm going home soon, it still feels kind of as far away as it did back in transfer 1. Kind of like leaving the MTC, I didn't quite believe it would ever happen, until I was in Taiwan and with my trainer, and not understanding anything anyone was saying.

Sister Zheng was transferred this Wednesday to a new area not far from here called Shuanghe. A lot of people have been moving in the middle of the transfer. Today we were called and they needed the extra bed because someone else is moving in in another area as well, so there are moves like crazy, and my only Taiwanese companion was only with me for 4 days. Haha. Now it is just Sister Andreasen and me.

Okay, funny thing about my companion and me. We have a connection. Yes, I know this is a small Mormon world, but I rarely actually find my connections with people. Thursday we were the Temple Tour Sisters...and Thursday is a slow day, so we got some time to chat, as a threesome that was a little harder to get done...but Thursday we just sat and chatted, and she was telling me about how she feels about her future..and at one point she said..."It's not like I need to be the future Supreme Court Justice's wife..." And I said, "Ha, I had a good friend in High School who had that ambition." And she said, "Actually in college I did too...Wait...what is your friends name?" And I just knew she was expecting the exact name I said, for some reason...and I was like David James.... And of course she freaked out and said she knew exactly what I was going to say because she knew I went to high school in Texas. It was crazy...because I guess they were super good college friends, he was her home teacher and all, and spent a lot of time with her and her roommates...So then that started a good conversation with a couple David James stories, and I showed her the thing Gigi sent me with his wedding picture that night...and then from there we talked about other things...and now we are super good friends and maybe just maybe chat TOO much in companion study and before bed (my journal is getting neglected, my companions are just too fun to talk to in that 30 minutes at night and in the morning time). But it's super fun and we have been working like crazy and seeing a lot of miracles in Banqiao. That is the next topic.

This week we have been having lessons like crazy, and have been rushed and just...BUSY...and it's a super good busy, because this week, we have had 4 people pass their baptismal interviews. If that's not a miracle, I don't know what is. The sisters here have been doing super good work, and now we are just seeing everything set up...Heavenly Father is really blessing this area and these people are solid people too. Three people will get baptized Saturday at 6...and 1 person at 4. So Saturday is going to be quite an experience...a member has to drive us from one church to the other so everything can happen in correct timing.

One is a Yan Jingmin. She just got married recently to a member...and at first I guess she moved slowly with being busy with the wedding and all, but now she is pregnant and really has a desire for eternal families. She was met with missionaries 6 times only..the large part of her fellowshipping was by her husband of course. I was there for the last lesson and going over the interview questions. She passed with no problems and is excited for her husband to baptize her this Saturday at 6.

The next one is Wu Chunmei. Elder Wolfley, from my Xinzhu district actually found her last transfer with his trainer Elder McNair. It was the first door he ever knocked. This lady is a cute old lady. They've been working with her quite awhile, because her memory is not the best, but she's really good, she remembered everything for the baptismal interview, as long as she could use her pictures. I think she is actually super cute and has good starting of a testimony. She is super willing to come to church, and I'm sure they will be seeing her at church every week, because she loves church. I think it's really amazing when investigators love church because I think that is an important thing for the conversion process is a desire to go to church.

Also, Wu Sijin passed her interview. She is a really cute girl who is the girlfriend of a returned missionary from the Taizhong mission. So, like Jingmin, her boyfriend will baptize her and is the big fellowshipper in this happening. I think she is really strong because Sijin had to give up smoking to be baptized. I know that is not an easy thing to do, but she is a strong girl and she has a lot of faith, so she has been doing it now...and is prepared to not smoke again.

The last one is the one I feel the most personal connection to, her name is Huang Yawen....I've been here for all but two of her lessons...I just missed lesson 1 and 2/WOW. Her getting baptized this week is actually super fast she's been to church just the required three time and this week is a week earlier than her date, but after what happened yesterday, I know she is ready for it. I've never had someone baptized this fast, but Yan Jingmin and Wu Chunmei are also in the same ward as Yawen. The Xinpu ward. This is the ward my companion and I decided I would just go to for the 4 Sundays I was here in Banqiao, because that way I could be closer to the ward members. So, I went alone to Xinpu on Sunday...and had some scheduling issues, with Chunmei not being able to do it too late at night, and Jingmin's husband not getting off work until later at night, so finally after some stressing scheduling conflicts, I was able to figure out 6. At this point (I kept being pulled out of class by the bishop, MM leader, etc) they asked me about Yawen's baptism...which was scheduled for the 15th...because the ward has a camping activity the 16th and 17th, so that week baptisms have to be Thursday. They asked me if we could just move up Yawen by 5 days. They thought it would be nice to have all the Sisters in that ward get baptized the same time. I said I could see what I could do...but I was a little nervous. I called my companion and she said to just ask Yawen how she felt and if she was ready, interview today, and if not, we'd interview Thursday...and call for permission at that point to see if she could get baptized or not...

So I sat down with Yawen after Relief Society and asked her how she was feeling about baptism. She said the closer she got the more nervous she felt, and she was scared of enduring to the end a little bit. I was honest with her and told her that the leaders in the ward wanted her to think about being baptized with the other two sisters that Saturday. She asked what she would have to do in order to do that...and lucky, by inspiration I'm sure....we were not going to teach fasting the time before we'd met, but she ended up asking what it was when she saw it on the tithing slip, so my companion and I split so I could finish teaching her about fasting..so she had finished the discussions at that time....well, since she'd finished the lessons, I told her we could go over the interview questions and see how we felt...so we discussed the interview questions, and her only problem was the last question about enduring to the end. So, I told her about what baptism was, and had a baptism and confirmation lesson with her, sharing in 3 Ne 11 exactly what would happen...and the Spirit was just there really strong, because after we prayed, she said she felt ready to have the interview, whenever we could schedule it with Elder McNair...so we waited for him to come out of his lesson, and before he went home for lunch...he interviewed with her....

I felt further that she was ready after the interview, she had told E. McNair (poor Elder, he had to do 4 interviews for us this week!)that her favorite part of the week was Sunday at church. I love that these investigators love church. They are too awesome! Her weakness he said was that she hadn't really prayed about the Book of Mormon yet. So, as she was leaving, we had a 5 minute conversation, and I in addition to Elder McNair invited her to pray about the Book of Mormon...and it's truth. That night, she went to the fireside in Taibei with us, and walking there, she shared with me that she had been fasting that day (she ate breakfast and then started fasting) and that when Elder McNair and I both asked her to pray about the Book of Mormon, she felt it was something she needed to do during her fast...so she went home and knelt and said a prayer...and then continued reading where she was...which happened to be 2 Ne 3...and she found her answer in vs. 11 and 12. I was amazed that she understood those those verses in the scriptures...she is too amazing...and the Fireside was on the Holy Ghost that night, and just just felt like everything that happened on Sunday was Heavenly Fathers answer to her that is is ready to get baptized and continue preparing to go to the temple one day. I'm super excited about this week, we have hardly any spare seconds and lessons scheduled by the half hour...but I know that we have a lot of work to do to make sure that these people have a good day on Saturday and everything continues to go through. I saw so many miracles this week, but it's been an hour and so I can't even write them all! This is a great area and I'm glad to be here for the last couple weeks. I'll write again next week...see you then!

Love you all!

Sister Flora Bruno.