The Church of All Nations

I feel I could fill pages talking about all the miracles we saw this week! A few weeks ago, a woman came to the office asking if she could be baptized. She is a former investigator who was previously unable to accept a baptismal date because she had a concern about the Law of Tithing. As we met with her, she expressed a great desire to be baptized, but still was unwilling to give ten percent of her income. This week, as we shared the blessings of tithing, reviewed the Restoration and invited her to pray about the Book of Mormon, we saw a miracle in her heart. Her testimony grew, she received an answer about the Law of Tithing, and committed to obey it. When we offered a specific day for her baptismal date, she beamed and told us in an energetic voice. "Oh I hope I can be baptized sooner. If I could, I would want to be baptized tomorrow!" Sister Chu and I are stunned by her faith. What a miracle! Another special miracle I want to share took place on Saturday during temple tours. Sister Chu and I were on a short exchange with Sisters Tsai and Sister Mao and Sister Mao and I were scheduled to give a tour to an RC who was recently baptized in Zhubei. I was so excited because I hadn't seen this dear friend (Peng Dai Jun) since her baptismal date in December. I was stunned by the light in her face. She was overflowing with happiness. She told me she had just been to the temple to participate in baptisms for the first time. As she described how she felt in the temple, she couldn't stop smiling. "It was so special" she kept telling me. She told me she wants to serve a mission and has already started talking to the Bishop about her plans. As she told me all this, my heart so full, so big. When I hugged her, I thought of the scripture in D&C 18 that talks about how great our joy will be if we bring but one soul into the kingdom. Seeing her come out of the temple was one of the happiest moments of my mission, of my life. Peng Dai Jun also brought a non-member friend to take the tour with her. As we taught them about baptism at the painting of Jesus Christ, we invited her friend to be baptized. Peng Dai Jun then shared one of the most powerful testimonies I have ever heard about her baptism, about how it had blessed and changed her. "Yes" Her friend responded without delay. This friend said she was willing to learn about the church and set a baptismal date because of the changes she has seen in Peng Dai Jun's happiness. Such a beautiful miracle! 
This week was a difficult week but it was also one of the most beautiful weeks of my mission. Many times this week, I've been thinking about a place that continually reminds me of the things I have been feeling. There is a famous church in Jerusalem called The Church of All Nations. It is situated on the Mount of Olives beside a garden of knarled olive trees. It is known as the traditional site where Jesus Christ knelt in the garden of Gethsemane and experienced the Atonement. Inside the massive church, rows of wooden benches are arranged under a vast ceiling of mosaic chipped blue tile, made to look like the evening sky. The most unique characteristic about the 'Church of All Nations' is its dark atmosphere. Windows are sparse in the church to give an illusion of night. I can only imagine this must have been designed to give a sober feel and to represent the night that Christ suffered for the pains of the world. Every sabbath I went to the 'Church of All Nations' was such a unique experience. It created the perfect environment to think, to remember the Savior, to quietly ponder if I was doing everything I could be doing to be better. I always left recognizing a need to change. My most striking memory about the 'Church of All Nations', however, is not the time I spent lost in thought in it's chapel... it was what happened when I walked out the big, iron doors into the sun.  
The contrast from cold marble to warm sunlight...heavy silence to a lively Jerusalem...rough wood pews to planted flowers was stark and wonderful. Every time I left, I felt a little different than I did before I entered. I grew to love the 'Church of All Nations', not because it was the most peaceful or beautiful church in Jerusalem, but because it helped me remember how much I needed the Savior, because every time I stepped out.. the sun seemed brighter, the city seemed much more beautiful, and I felt even more loved by my savior Jesus Christ. Recently, I feel I've been in a 'Church of All Nations'. I've experienced some new challenges, I've more clearly seen some of my weaknesses, I've seen a greater need for the Atonement in my life. I've felt the changing, enabling, strengthening and comforting power of the Atonement in beautiful ways. I know that whenever we leave the 'Church of All Nations' in our lives, our capacity to love is increased, our perspective is altered, our faith in Jesus Christ is intensified. I've felt joy and peace this week in ways I have rarely felt before. I'm so grateful for every day of this precious mission, for every person in Taiwan who has left an eternal impact on me. This week, I feel the sun has never been brighter, the rice has never tasted better, Taiwan has never been so beautiful, and the gospel has never been so extraordinary. I love this mission! 

Love, Sister Barden