September 9th Letter--Hello!

Hello everybody!

First things first, e-mail is on Monday next week because it is move-call
already. I still feel like I just moved to Zhunan. And it has been five weeks
already.

Well, my favorite companion in the whole entire world went home on Monday. She,
Sister He, was short term for a week. She has only been baptized for a month
plus, but she was amazing. We just got along really well and had a lot of things
in common. It was kind of weird to see how much we had in common with our
backgrounds being totally different. She has decided to go on a full time
mission. She is going to work the next while and prepare for it. She still has
awhile until she can go, but I think it will be good for her to have time to
prepare. It was really neat to see her catch the vision of missionary work. She
probably has been the hardest working companion I have had. She gave everything
into every single one of her contacts. It was pretty inspiring for me. I needed
to see that excitement again. I might be getting old... and a little worn down.
So it was good to get some fire back!

We had a baptism on Saturday and it was pretty amazing. Her name is Suzy Xu. She
is about 45. She was so prepared to be baptized. She had met the church before
when she was a teenager, but had not been baptized. About a month ago, she had
been driving down the side of the road and saw the Elders. She quick asked them
where the church was and they told her. They asked her to write down her name
and number so we could call her and she said no and that she would see them at
church on Sunday. So the Elders didn't mention it to me, because, well, we hear
that a lot. She came to church on the Sunday and hasn't missed church or an
activity since. She loves the scriptures. She is the investigator that calls the
Book of Mormon the dictionary of love. She has really inspired me in my
scripture study! In her after baptism testimony, she talked about how she had
been challenged to be baptized and that night went home and opened up her
scriptures to 2 Nephi 31 where it is talking about Jesus's baptism and that
because of that experience she knew she needed to baptized. Pretty solid new
member. It is cool too because her son turns 8 on the 26 so he will be getting
baptized then too. And it counts as a ward baptism which is really good for the
ward! Exciting to be able to sit here and see the wards being built up!

Two weeks ago we had a baptism of three. One of them was a little girl. I am not
a big fan of baptizing children without their parents, but this little girl is
amazing. She comes to every activity and really has a strong testimony. She is
always talking about how when she goes on a mission. She rides her little bike
to church every week and it is not a quick little ride. After the baptism this
week, she was turning out of the church parking lot and got bumped by a scooter.
She is fine, but her bike broke. The handle bars snapped right off. She started
to cry right away and we were a little scared she was hurt. So we asked her how
she was and she was just shaking her head looking at me. And then buried her
little face in my Buddha belly. In between the sobs, she said how am I going to
get to church? (Sidenote: the ward/missionary relationships are not very good
here. And I have been working really hard on it, but hadn't seen much change.)
Then one of the members stepped in and said we will take your bike to get it
fixed and this week one of the members can pick you up. I could not believe.
This was the first time a member had helped us or one of our investigators! So
it is all because this little girl's dilligence in riding her little bike to
church and finding a place in the hearts of the members. So I am hoping that the
relationship just gets better and better from here on out. So Sister He and I
call it the miracle of the broken handle bars!

Well, we have a zone activity today. We are going to make pancakes and play
volleyball. I am not too excited, but it should be fine. One of those things
where once I get there it will be fun. It is just far away and I actually don't
know how to get there. So it should be interesting! After it, I am coming home
and SLEEPING! President Hoer has made a new rule that we can't take naps anymore
except for Preparation day. So today is my one day so got to make it worth it!
We used to take naps after planning session instead of eating lunch and then on
Sundays instead of eating lunch or dinner. It was like a mission thing, so this
is getting to be a new adjustment for all of us. Good for us... we can use that
time to eat and study now.

Well, I better get going! I love you all and miss you! Be good!

Sister Shaver