Sharing the Message With a College Class

Dear Family and Friends,

To start off... MERRY CHRISTMAS!! haha! It has been a really great week, so I will try to remember a lot of the details!

We were super busy this week with trying to get the ward Christmas party all lined up and in order! We were in charge of getting all the decorations and wrapping all of these Books of Mormon for everyone and getting everything set up.

Sharing the Message with a College Class

We were at the church last Monday and we were about to head home after a lesson and this car pulled up and it was a member from another ward and she told us that she was a teacher at one of the local colleges! She then asked if we could come and speak to her class and tell them why we decided to come on missions and about what we do! haha so naturally we said of course! So that day rolled around and we biked all the way to the college and when we got there we had to ask around to find out what class we were going to, and everyone was just staring at us... haha well everyone is always staring at us because we are Americans, but now we have all these young Taiwanese girls and it was just magnified! haha So we get to the classroom and walk in and it is a class of like 50 or so girls! haha and we thought that we were just going to like say hi and whatever, but the teacher had us come right up to the front and just run the whole show! hahah we felt like movie stars!! They were amazed at how fast (missionaries) learn Chinese, because Elder Munger has no problem communicating and he has only been out a year and a half, and then when they asked how long I have been out and I said that I have been in Taiwan for 3 weeks they went nuts! hahah I was so confused at first thinking that I said something wrong! hahaha! Elder Munger and I talked about our families and we passed around family pictures and then talked about our missions, and why we came and then at the end we were able to share a Mormon Message with them and were able to bear testimony of the Savior. It was really powerful and really felt like it helped them. After we got a picture with all of them, I will send that as well! ...but a couple days after we made the visit, the teacher called us and told us that she really felt like the things we shared with them made a difference and touched their hearts. That was super cool.

That same night that we visited the college we were coming home from contacting up in the mountains and were at a light. So I was contacting someone on their scooter and so was Elder Munger. I can't remember what happened with who I was talking to... haha they probably just rode off haha.. the light turned green and the person that Elder Munger was talking to zoomed off, and we continued down the road. We were talking to each other and he was telling me that the lady he was just talking to was crazy and he couldn't understand a word she was saying! haha she spoke some crazy language! We were laughing heading under this overpass and up this hill and when we got to the top, Elder Munger says, "That's her!!" she had gotten in an accident with a car! It wasn't a bad one, but she was just getting up. So we went over and asked her if she was okay! She was, but she was just frustrated! haha She was white and was from South Africa and just had a weird English accent. So it was kinda hard to understand at first. The Chinese lady who she got in the wreck with was really organized and worried. haha... I know weird combination right? The lady from South Africa just wanted to go home, but you can't here when there are accidents... you have to stay until the cops come and take all these pictures and stuff. No one really knew whose fault it was, so that was the problem.

The lady from South Africa had been here 6 years... and still couldn't speak the language. We had to translate for her to the cops and the lady! Mostly Elder Munger.. haha! There is a lesson to this though.. haha during the whole process that this was going on, I am guilty to say that I started thinking that the Chinese lady was being weird and overreacting a little bit. I really don't think it was either of their faults from what I understood. At the end we were all circled up with the cops discussing the situation and they agreed that it was equally both of their faults so no one had to pay and they could go their ways. I was glad at that... because you hate to see a dumb little thing get blown way out of proportion like that. The thing that happened next still amazes me. The Chinese lady who I had thought was stubborn and unfair and didn't understand then pulled out her wallet and gave the other lady 2 pieces of candy and 1000 kuai! (about 33$) ... the Lady from South Africa was stunned at this moment and almost began to cry. It was so touching to see how concerned the Chinese lady was about this lady. It opened my eyes a bit too... it made me realize how much good there is in every single person. She didn't have to give her that money. She wanted to make sure that she was okay though. Super cool!

Saturday was the Ward Christmas party, and it was sooooooo awesome!!! we had like 90 people there and it went really well. It was just nice. I played my guitar with a recent convert to silent night and Elder Munger Sang!

Sunday was so awesome! One of our investigators really made leaps and bounds in her conversion. She is getting baptized this Saturday! I am so happy for her!!! Her friend isn't going to make the date we set, but we will continue to work with her.

I love all of you guys! The message of the Savior and his life is the most precious gift that we could ever give to someone. It is a treasure in Heaven that moth and dust will not ever corrupt. It is something that lasts. The message of the gospel and of the savior is something that everyone in this world can have in common no matter their background or beliefs. It is a message that changes lives and is a message that more importantly saves lives. I love you all!

Love,

Elder Redding