Hello Family-
As you probably know, my two year mark has passed. Weird. On Saturday we went with that one dude who took us around in his car without knowing us at all ... remember him? yeah, well he took us out to an all you can eat hot pot. And I bought some Haagen dahz ice cream. yummy.
I want to tell you about my Miracle Story. It is that of a man named Chen Zheng Gong. When I first met him, his wife had been a member for a year and a half. She wanted us to teach him. When we first went over to his restaurant, he didn't seem comfortable with us there. He wouldn't let us pray, talk about the church or give him a Book of Mormon. We didn't visit him much after that. We would still pass by his restaurant and say hi once in a while, but that was it.
About one and a half move calls later, his wife called us right after a DTM. She was so excited.
"He wants a Book of Mormon!, he wants a Book of Mormon!"
That afternoon we went over and taught a really spiritual first lesson and gave him a Book of Mormon. He still wouldn't pray, but from that day on, he read a chapter a day out of the Book of Mormon. After about two weeks of teaching him, he finally prayed by himself for the first time. His wife cried. His simple heartfelt prayer was a big improvement. About a month later of meeting with us, he wanted to be baptized. But he still smoked, drank, gambled, and needed a second interview. After two weeks of not making any progress with his quit smoking plan, we felt like that for some reason we should put him in an interview. After the interview with the Zone leaders, he had enough faith to quit all of his bad habits. We aren't sure what changed in him, but he was determined to quit. To be baptized. Alcohol was easy... as was gambling. Smoking was
harder. But a miracle happened. After ten days of struggling to quit, he was helping his mom move and some of the other people started smoking. He saw them smoking and smelled the cigarettes. He said it made him want to throw up. After that he stopped smoking 100%. Whenever he smelled smoke, he felt like he was going to throw up. When people would smoke around them, he would tell them to go away. His body couldn't handle it. Two weeks later he was baptized.
Because of the change that he made, his daughter, and his daughter's best friend, and her daughter were all baptized a month later. They saw the miracle that had happened in him and wanted to be as happy as he was and is.
Sometime after his baptism and before his daughter's baptism, he was once again helping his mother move. This time he found all of his family records for the last 900 years. All of the way past the very first Chen to ever come to Taiwan. For me it was wonderful to see a man with semi-anti feelings toward the church, turn into someone who is a strong member who has baptized his family. Immediate family as well as been baptized in the House of the Lord for his ancestors. He is taking the temple preparation classes, and will be sealed in the temple soon after I leave the island. It has made me happy to see the happiness that the gospel has brought to his family.
Love Elder Graham
See ya in a couple weeks,
桂長老桂俊杰
Elder Graham
As you probably know, my two year mark has passed. Weird. On Saturday we went with that one dude who took us around in his car without knowing us at all ... remember him? yeah, well he took us out to an all you can eat hot pot. And I bought some Haagen dahz ice cream. yummy.
I want to tell you about my Miracle Story. It is that of a man named Chen Zheng Gong. When I first met him, his wife had been a member for a year and a half. She wanted us to teach him. When we first went over to his restaurant, he didn't seem comfortable with us there. He wouldn't let us pray, talk about the church or give him a Book of Mormon. We didn't visit him much after that. We would still pass by his restaurant and say hi once in a while, but that was it.
About one and a half move calls later, his wife called us right after a DTM. She was so excited.
"He wants a Book of Mormon!, he wants a Book of Mormon!"
That afternoon we went over and taught a really spiritual first lesson and gave him a Book of Mormon. He still wouldn't pray, but from that day on, he read a chapter a day out of the Book of Mormon. After about two weeks of teaching him, he finally prayed by himself for the first time. His wife cried. His simple heartfelt prayer was a big improvement. About a month later of meeting with us, he wanted to be baptized. But he still smoked, drank, gambled, and needed a second interview. After two weeks of not making any progress with his quit smoking plan, we felt like that for some reason we should put him in an interview. After the interview with the Zone leaders, he had enough faith to quit all of his bad habits. We aren't sure what changed in him, but he was determined to quit. To be baptized. Alcohol was easy... as was gambling. Smoking was
harder. But a miracle happened. After ten days of struggling to quit, he was helping his mom move and some of the other people started smoking. He saw them smoking and smelled the cigarettes. He said it made him want to throw up. After that he stopped smoking 100%. Whenever he smelled smoke, he felt like he was going to throw up. When people would smoke around them, he would tell them to go away. His body couldn't handle it. Two weeks later he was baptized.Because of the change that he made, his daughter, and his daughter's best friend, and her daughter were all baptized a month later. They saw the miracle that had happened in him and wanted to be as happy as he was and is.
Sometime after his baptism and before his daughter's baptism, he was once again helping his mother move. This time he found all of his family records for the last 900 years. All of the way past the very first Chen to ever come to Taiwan. For me it was wonderful to see a man with semi-anti feelings toward the church, turn into someone who is a strong member who has baptized his family. Immediate family as well as been baptized in the House of the Lord for his ancestors. He is taking the temple preparation classes, and will be sealed in the temple soon after I leave the island. It has made me happy to see the happiness that the gospel has brought to his family.
Love Elder Graham
See ya in a couple weeks,
桂長老桂俊杰
Elder Graham
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