New Bridges To Cross

        One of the neatest experiences of my mission was being able to Skype in to watch my good friend Jilun's baptism! Technology is just amazing! Even though we live so far from Arizona, we got to participate in the conversion process of a student that lives hundreds of miles away. My joy was so full when he got up to bear his testimony after is baptism and confirmation. We can reach and touch more people's lives and stay in contact with people who live so far away because of the blessing of technology. Make sure if you are using social media, you use it to be a positive influence on the world around you. We also got to go to the family history center with the Fengs and the senior Shens to do some family history work. It was very frustrating at first because they had done some research on the old family search system and they couldn't link up with their ancestors. After searching for a long time, I had the idea to put a dash in between the Chinese names of the individual we were looking for. He popped up!! That moment was so exciting! We could see the work done for him and we did not have to enter in the information again. Then Sister Shen couldn't find her father. We tried everything, and I kept asking her if she was sure we were spelling it right, and we were doing the standard Romanization for Chinese (pinyin) but then we thought to spell it in the old Taiwanese pinyin and they popped up! I had such a powerful feeling at that moment. I felt like we were bridging the past with the present.
        A few days ago I found out that I am being transferred! I definitely did not expect that. It's been 6 months since I have returned to the field, and I thought I would spend my whole mission in this branch! But The Lord has other plans. I had a really hard time accepting that reality at first. I love the people here so much, they're literally like family to me. We have done hard things together, and have enjoyed so much time together learning the gospel. I felt confused, and I felt like I must have done something wrong. I don't know if you have ever felt that way, but that is always my immediate reaction for some reason! That kinda disturbed me, and so I knelt to pray for understanding. I remembered the last Sunday that I spent at home, I sung the last few lines in the hymn "I'll go where you want me to go" at church. I remembered how much I trust The Lord to lead me where He wants me to be. It was so good to have that feeling reassured by my sweet mother on Mother's Day. She has always showered me with reassurance and encouragement, and my father has always inspired me to be excellent at whatever I do. The greatest comfort comes when even though we don't understand why we're crossing a bridge of great change, we trust in The Lord that if we are faithful, we will cross into greener pastures. Here's to a new beginning!