Week 34

This week has been really good. I think Elder Braithwaite and I still been adjusting to a new place and new companions. But I think there will always be those problems no matter how long I stayed here. We're trying to do our best to get to know the branch around here. I know that a lot of them just don't come to church, and it's really hard to get to know people who can peike. Right now we only get 4-5 of the same people to peike. We're really trying to avoid overusing people. Recently our exchange with the Zone Leaders was really great. We really saw a wonderful miracle. I went with Elder Haueter. He said at the beginning of our transfer "What kind of miracle do you want to see today?" In which I responded "Uh...a good one?" He just smiled and said "Okay, Let's get one person inside our church building today, and shang4ke4 with them." So I just agreed. We prayed that we could see that miracle, but I didn't think much more of it.But he did! He kept asking if we'd be by the church for our plan that day. We went to a lesson 10 minutes away, made some calls, ate dinner, and a bunch of other things. At the end of the day, we were at the church making calls. We still had to evaluate what we learned in our exchange, so we were going to spend some time at the church at the very end of our day. Elder Haueter just kept walking around outside contacting people while I finished up some calls. He said "hey, wait a minute" to this lady and her friend on her scooter, and asked if she wanted to come into our church. She said "okay, wait a minute" and she drove off. I just thought this was a lame excuse to reject him, and we were about to just go back inside, but he was persistant that she might be the miracle we wanted. And sure enough, after 10 minutes of waiting, she came back and said "I said I would come back." her name is Winnie. We gave her to the sisters to teach, and she setup another time to meet. I have learned that I still need to do better at relying on the Lord. In a way, I can expect to see miracles, because I know I am doing my best to do the Lord's work, the Lord's way. But I also need to realize that these things hinge on other people's agency and my hard work as well. Elder Braithwaite is doing well. Sometimes he gets a little tired and doesn't seem like he wants to plan very long. But I know that's just a reflection of what I need to do better at. So i'm trying to be an even better example at having a good attitude. Love you all, sorry I don't have much time today. -Elder Liu