MTC Week 8

Nimen Hao!! Hello!! It is so good to be able to write you today! I have had a great day and hope that I can share everything that I need to. Thank you all for the letters and love that continues to come in. I'm leaving..... next Tuesday!! I'll be in leaving Salt Lake at 11:00 AM MST and then I'll be arriving at LAX at 12:30 PST. Suoyi, wo gen nimen xiangyao shuo hua! ( Therefore, I want to talk to you!) I have a 3 hour layover in LA so please expect a call from me some time in those 3 hours. I'm so pumped and can't wait. Please. Do me a favor and pray for the people of Taiwan. They need this message and I know that the Lord would love your extra prayers for them. :) Today I had a super cool experience visiting with Tarah, Sarah, and Mom. Apparently we broke a ton of rules. I felt like a sinner. But if it was a sin.... it's the best sin I ever did!! :P haha I can not tell you how much joy I had and how much happiness I felt when I got to hug them. It was such a blessing to see them, but so incredibly special to see Tarah. Yes. I cried.... hahah I'm tellin' ya! Missions do it to you! Hahah I am so happy that I got to see them. We were given 20 minutes, and I feel like there should have been more time given, but it was sufficient for me to muster out a short testimony in Mandarin and for Tarah to share her testimony with me in Tagolag. The spirit was so strong and it was so peaceful. It was so so so incredible and I am so happy for that blessing. This Sunday we had the opportunity to hear from Stephen B. Allen. He had a presentation prepared to share with us about the churches efforts in the media department, but he heard that following the devotional we would be watching Sister Monson's funeral service and he felt prompted to speak by the direction of the Spirit. He shared some incredible advise that will help me as I enter the missionfield and also had some comforting things to share about the Plan of Salvation. He had us sing " Come, Come Ye saints". Next time that you sing that song, please think of the Plan of Salvation. Think of the things that we experience here on earth and then think of the life after this one. God has a plan for us and it is so great. We will all fall down and give in to a temptation of the adversary, or say some thing we didn't really need to, and the adversary will continue to tell you horrible things about yourself, and you will feel that there is nothing you can do to get back to where God wants you. But those things that the devil tells you... they are not true. All God wants you to do is to Come Unto Christ. Through the Plan of Happiness we have a way to get back on that path that God wants us on. It is through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that by applying the sacrifice of Christ in our lives, we have the ability to overcome all things. I rejoice in the Great Plan of My God. I love my family and I love the fact that I will forever be able to live with them. Wo zhidao zheshi zhenshi de. (I know this is true.) I know that my purpose as a missionary is to help others come unto Christ and I am so excited to serve God's people in Taiwan. I love this work and seal myself to it. I am the Lord's. Strength and Honor. Love, Elder Westover