I would love to learn more.....right after I put some pants on!

I love how much of a melting pot Salt Lake is. Have I mentioned that before? I think you all should really know how much I love the vast amount of cultures that make this city so diverse and wonderful! On tuesday James from Uganda made us a traditional Ugandan meal before we watched Joseph Smith the Prophet of the Restoration. He had a question about how God would appear if he really did appear to someone in the modern days so we gave him a scripture study to do about visions that prophets in times of old had and how he appeared to Joseph Smith. He doesn't have a baptismal date yet, but the next time we taught him he pretty much taught himself based on the questions we asked him about the scripture study. he concluded that the way god has appeared and will appear is determined by the importance of the message. So in order for Joseph Smith to really have a witness that he was to restore Christ's true Church, God definitely would have had to make it very clear. I know that prophets are not only messengers from God but special witnesses of Jesus Christ so that even though we may never see him in this life, we can trust that they have.

    Since transfers were this week, we have a new District leader and one new Zone leader and they're both awesome. today I get to tie dye for my birthday thanks to our awesome district! the new district leader really cares about all of us and tries to help us succeed in any way he can. It amazes me how 18-21 year old boys take on such great responsibilities and work so hard. Missions truly are training for life, and only God would have the wisdom to know that he could trust such young inexperienced men and women to be his ambassadors and ministers. I love wearing my nametag everyday because it reminds me that I am not here as Becca Pearson, but as Sister Pearson, a representative of Jesus Christ!

  So many little and big miracles happened this week. Sister Taylor was getting over being sick so we weren't able to do as much during the beginning of the week, but somehow God helped us to accomplish our weekly goals by the end of the week. One experience we had taught me that sometimes things go "wrong" for a reason. We were getting gas in Rosepark, one of our areas, when the gas pump station wouldn't give us a receipt, so we had to go inside. we were in a hurry so Sister taylor grabbed it quickly and started to walk out the door. I was about to follow her but i reminded myself that everything happens for a reason and awkwardly blurted to the cashier "Have you ever been to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints before?" He ended up giving us his information- he is 21 and single (so we can teach him!) and moved here recently. He is really open to all religions and said he would learn more! It was funny because he didn't know his schedule but his trainer must have been mormon because he overheard and handed him his schedule right away and said "now you do!"  

  Next miracle: Monday while we were trying to do some visits from a list one of the wards gave us, we contacted Yihao, a chinese student at the University of Utah.  He was walking home from the grocery store and had grocery bags in each hand. We set up a lesson with him on Saturday because he has a very busy schedule and he said he would feed us lunch. When we got there he must have forgotten about the lunch part so we just taught him a short lesson and left. Lo and behold we walked out the door and there comes another chinese boy walking towards us with a grocery bag in each hand. We stopped him and he let us come in because he didn't know when else he would have time. The apartment was dark and there was nowhere to sit, so we taught him standing. By the end we demonstrated how to pray and invited him to do so. He said he kind of believed in God, but obviously had major humility because he then went on to offer a very simple, very sweet prayer. The chinese people are so willing to learn. He already had his own chinese book of mormon and said he will start reading it! It was a miracle find.

  Last miracle of the week: we were doing some more  visits in a different area and knocked on another chinese student's door. He looked embarrassed and after we told him what we were there for, he said "uh sorry I'm in my shorts" We realized he was in boxer shorts and asked if he would want to learn more about our message soon. He said "Uh sure but let me put some pants on first" I love asians. their culture sadly teaches them to work hard and question nothing. I am so excited to start teaching them all about the true and living God!

Love,

Sister Pearson