Sometimes my mission feels like a lifetime ago, and sometimes it feels like it was nothing more than a dream. Did I really live in Taiwan? Were the people I found and loved and taught really as committed as I remembered? Did I really do any good? The answer I received lately from a generous and ever-loving God was yes to all three questions.
This revelation came on the heels of a rather difficult month and was such a gift. Sometimes I get so lost in my current mothering mayhem that I forget about the many life's and the amazing me's of the past. And Heather as a missionary in Taiwan, now that was a good look! She was bold. She was confident. She worked hard, loved Jesus and expected miracles. And a few weeks back when I visited with one of my new members for the first time since her baptism I was reminded that that Heather still lives in me. I can't tell you how refreshing it felt.
Nearly a dozen years ago I taught a mother and her two young children about the gospel of Jesus Christ and they quickly and confidently decided to get baptized. I remember feeling so much joy that day, but I couldn't have imagined how that family would continue to bless me through the years. About six months ago Julia, the mother, wrote to tell me that her daughter, little Jenny, had decided to serve a mission. I was ecstatic and immediately asked where she would be sent: Sister Zhang was going to serve the people of Sacramento.
The odds are too small for me to ever believe something like this is a coincidence. No, this was the hand of the Lord. Out of all the missions in the world I serve in hers and teach her family the gospel and then out of all the missions in the world she serves in mine to share the gospel with my people. Even the thought of it now gives me goosebumps. Really though, how cool is that?
On a recent trip to Sacramento I tracked down Sister Zhang, who had been in the field all of a week, and promised her breakfast in exchange for some precious P-Day time. She and her companions obliged, and I was dancing around Farmgate a la 2007 James Wigginton asking me on our first date! Our meet-up in the El Dorado Hills Whole Foods was full of hugging, stories and so many tears. Like, seriously, the floodgate opened wide and I was nothing but gushing. I couldn't help it, I felt more joy than I knew possible. Later that week I read about Ammon in the Book of Mormon who saw some old friends again and when he realized that they were still believers fell to the ground, overcome with emotion. I get it. I so get it. And I'm so grateful.
Sister Zhang told me that her Mom is serving in the Relief Society presidency. She told me that back in Taiwan they would attend the temple in Taipei together weekly. She told me that her father, still not a member of our church, has already been so impressed by Jenny's mission that he is urging his son to follow suit. I told her about finding and teaching her family, about the day of her baptism, and how sad I was that I couldn't find any pictures to show her from that day. Remember when Cinderella pulls out the unbroken glass slipper to the surprise and glee of the palace worker? Well that's how I felt when she pulled out the very picture I thought was lost from her bag. A picture with baby-face me and a whole slew of other missionaries who surrounded her family on their baptism day. She carries around that picture to show people that she was once on the receiving end of the gospel message, and that she knows it is true so truly and deeply that she now wants to share it as a missionary. Her testimony is beautiful and her spirit glitters.
There are probably a million reasons that Jenny is in Sacramento and there are probably a million people that she will impact, but tip top on that list is definitely Heather Wigginton, the former Mai JieMei. She has reminded me that the work I've done, and the work I am doing now, will bring future payouts that I can't begin to imagine. She brought me hope all the way from Taiwan. Xie Xie, sweet girl.
The picture!
My family with Sister Zhang.
Together again after such a long time. I love that girl, and will probably be stalking her again soon!
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