Hi, everyone!!
As another week
comes and goes I am so happy to be here once again reporting on the week
previous. It's been a great week full of both warm and cold weather. I
have had great experiences that have continued to
shape me, and I am happy to share them with you today and hope that they
both bring you laughter and spiritual satisfaction!
This week, I had the opportunity to tour the grounds of Harvard
with potential investigators that we are teaching English on a regular
basis in China Town. The husband and wife from Guangdong have been in
Boston for about a year and are trying to learn the English language. On
Thursday, after our service in China Town, we accompanied them to Harvard
where we went around and looked at various buildings and my companion
shared various historical backgrounds pertaining to each building. For
example, one of the things that Elder Yu shared pertains to the John
Harvard statue in Harvard Yard.
Hundreds of tourists gather there daily
to touch the shoe that is supposedly to bring luck into their lives.
Many of them don't know what has actually been on the shoe! Take for
example, this man so excited to touch the shoe of John Harvard. In all
actuality, every year the new freshmen have a tradition of "watering"
John Harvard's shoe. GROSS!!! For those who know what
actually goes on the shoe, we just sit there and laugh as people have no
clue what they are getting themselves into. I have to admit it seems
cruel to not inform people of the truth, even though we are
missionaries. As a result of knowing this truth, I did not do what the
previous happy Chinese man did but instead pointed at the shoe and took
the following picture. Not touching the shoe was good enough for me!
After walking around for a couple minutes, we came upon a rather small
library that to me looked to have no significance. It was only after
Elder Yu told me what was housed in there that I was truly intrigued! In
this small library is one of the first editions of the Book of Mormon.
It was owned by Hyrum Smith and is truly amazing!
Following our tour of
the great inner campus of Harvard, we took this couple and gave them a
tour of the church! I think it was better than walking around Harvard on
a windy day. There we were able to introduce them to
various paintings and tell them about what the church is used for and
what we do in the church. They were fascinated! After spending about
half an hour showing them around and discussing the church with them, we
had to depart ways as we had a meeting with our Zone Leaders. We are
eager to follow up with the couple this week at service and know it was a
great experience for both of us!!
I know my story above was long, so I will conclude with one
more short story that was the highlight of my week and illustrates one
of the blessings of being on a mission. This week in Sacrament meeting, I
was given the opportunity to translate for an unusually large amount of
English-only speaking members. For those of you who visited us in
France or Shanghai, you know that often when translation occurs, the
people who want the talks to be translated put on a pair of head sets and
the person translating sits in the back and does his or her thing. It
was such a nerve racking but neat experience as well!! I loved the
opportunity and translated the whole meeting. To be honest, it probably
wasn't a perfect job, and I don't know if I got every message down, but at
the end, I felt pretty good about myself and the work that I had put
forth.
This illustrates one of the foremost blessings I have seen on my
mission. Developing the gift of tongues truly is something
remarkable and furthermore reaffirms that I have been called of my
Heavenly Father to preach the gospel in the Mandarin Chinese Language. I
have found that it has been easier than ever before to learn the
language and help others come closer to Jesus Christ in another
language. I know I am not perfect at it and know that I have more than a
long way to go, but I thank my Heavenly Father for the strides that I
have already made in such a short period of time. For those nervous
about learning a language on their mission, I can tell you with utmost
assurance that the Lord will take care of you. I know it to be true.
President Monson said the following, and I feel it best to end with what
a prophet says, "Remember with whom the Lord calls, the Lord
Qualifies."
Elder Wilde
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