Christmas In The Mission Field

I hope you have a great Christmas. I hope that, even though all of your kids are spread out all over the place, you feel how close your Savior and your Father in Heaven are. They know YOU. They love YOU. I feel so blessed. I'm so excited to be able to skype this week!

The Sister's Christmas Tree and Gifts

The big picture you got with all the missionaries at the Buddhist Temple is from our mission Christmas activity. This past week on Thursday all the missionaries in the whole mission got together, we went to Sun Moon Lake and got to look around and buy souvenirs and things. It was sooo cold and foggy, but it was still really fun. Then we went to an all you can eat steak house and ate waaaaaay too much food, then we went to a chapel and had a Christmas fireside. It was soooo good. 

All You Can Eat Steak House

President and Sister Blickenstaff, along with all the Senior missionary couples did the nativity and all of us missionaries sang Christmas songs in between. I couldn't help but cry as we sang and watched them act out the Saviors birth. Everyone has been saying how this will be the most memorable Christmas of my life, and it really is turning out to be that way. Taiwan doesn't really celebrate Christmas. There are a few Christmas lights put up, and every once and a while you'll run into a Christmas tree in a store or something, but no one really knows what Christmas is all about. But as Sister Henderson and I have been out on the streets testifying of Him, and then gathered together with 200+ other missionaries singing and remembering His birth and His life, as much as I miss home and all of the Christmas traditions, I wouldn't wish to be anywhere else right now. I can't think of a better Christmas gift to give to Christ than sharing His gospel with these wonderful people in Taiwan. This morning Sister Henderson and I were talking about how lucky we are to be here in Taiwan and what more we can do to hit our goals, and every single investigator, RC, LA, and ward members in my 3 different areas flashed through my mind. I truly have been so, so blessed to meet these people. I love them with my whole heart. 

This week really has been so amazing. We have seen so many miracles! This week we had a sister call us, we thought she was an LA, she thought we were different missionaries. We both weren't who the other was expecting, but she is great! And she became our new investigator! We also have another super cute new investigator, a young mom. We met with her on Saturday, we asked if she had prayed before. She told us how she has a lot of Christian friends and they keep telling her how their religion has really helped their lives. So she decided to say a prayer, even though she had no idea how. The next day she met Sister Henderson and me on the street! Pretty crazy right? Or pretty not so crazy. Heavenly Father knows ALL of His children. It's no coincidence that we met her right after she decided to say a prayer. And I told her that. We taught her how to pray, gave her a Book of Mormon, and we are meeting with her again this week. 

We met with Wei JM and her mom this week. I think it went well, we brought another mom from the ward who lives in their same building. Wei JM shared her testimony, and I invited her mom to think about letting Wei JM get baptized. She said she wants to have her wait til after she takes her big college test (in 2 years). We invited her to come to our ward Christmas party on Saturday. Anyway, Friday night we called Wei JM and she said her mom had agreed to come if it wasn't raining (it had been raining for like, 3 days straight). So, Sister Henderson and I prayed in every single prayer from Friday night down until right before the party that it wouldn't rain. To no surprise at all, there was NO rain on Saturday afternoon! Heavenly Father is too good to us! So Wei JM, her mom, and her little brother came to the activity! And it was so great! The ward is SO amazing and they came and ate with them, talked with them, took pictures with them. It was so wonderful. 

Investigator Wei JM

We had 2 other investigators come, too and the ward members invited their friends and family to come (non-members) so we were able to talk with them too and set up times to share the gospel with them. To top it all off, after we were about done eating, Bishop called us up to the front and they presented us with a giant box full of Christmas gifts. I got really teary-eyed. What did I do to deserve all of these miracles? What did I do to deserve such a great ward that is so good to us? I feel so blessed.

A member in the ward.  She is letting Michaela and her companion

use skype to call home on Christmas.

I don't really know what else to say. Every day we see so many miracles. Beitun is on fire right now. We have 5 progressing investigators, lots of new ones who will soon be progressing. We have a baptism scheduled for Wednesday that WILL happen (we have been fasting and praying so, so hard). We have another one scheduled for the 11 and we have 2 or 3 more working for the 18. The ward is helping us take care of our investigators at church, and they are more and more willing to help us peike. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. 

A view of the city from Michaela's apartment window

I'm Still Loving Being A Missionary

This week was SO GREAT!  On Wednesday we had a mission tour, Elder Funk of the Seventy came and we spent the day learning from him and President Blickenstaff. I learned so much! I loved it! During the conference they had us practice saying the first vision and then extending a baptismal invitation. As I was practicing with my companion, the spirit witnessed to me so so strongly that Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, really did appear to the young boy Joseph Smith. I couldn't finish reciting it without being brought to tears. That one single event changed the world, it changed my life. That experience, and another experience that has happened within the last couple of weeks with a member attending our lesson and completely focusing on the language barrier, has finally brought me to realize that the spirit really is a universal language. Although my Chinese is getting better and better all the time, it doesn't even really matter if who we are talking to completely understands what we are saying or not. As I testify of Jesus Christ and the truthfulness of this gospel, the Holy Ghost will be there to let the investigator feel that what I am saying is true. That is the most important part. The Holy Ghost is the true teacher.

Saturday I was able to attend a couple of investigators' from Nantou wedding and baptism! It was SO wonderful! They are amazing! Hong Dixiong and Zhang Jiemei. They have been together for 7 years, and I met with them at least once or twice a week for the entire time I was in Nantou. They have completely changed their lives around and exercised incredible amounts of faith, and on Saturday I was able to see them make a covenant with their Heavenly Father to always follow Him and keep His commandments. And it was beautiful. It is these happy moments that make all the rejection and long days and sleepless nights and hard work worth it. This is what true happiness feels like, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Saturday night we had a Thanksgiving activity at our church. We combined with the other two wards that meet in our building and it was a HUGE success! There were about 150 people there, give or take. It was so wonderful! Each district of missionaries made a traditional American thanksgiving dish, and then we had everyone who attended bring something they made from home. Our district made your famous mashed potatoes and everyone LOVED them! Don't worry, I gave the credit to you ;)

 Asian Thanksgiving Dish

(Not sure what that is....chicken feet?)

A pro at eating with chopsticks

Saturday night we got home pretty late (our church is about a 40 min bike ride away), and around 10 pm President Blickenstaff called. He asked me to train next move call. I was a little bit shocked, I feel like I just got here, why would anyone trust me to train a new missionary? But at the same time I think Heavenly Father has been preparing me this past week. I had a feeling I would be training, I just didn't want to believe it. So I told President that I would. So...my new companion will get here on Wednesday, then on Friday I will go get her and bring her back to Beitun. I'm a bit nervous, but I know that Heavenly Father will be with us and I've already gotten so many answers to prayers on how to improve, so I know it will be ok. 

Well, that's about all of the big things that happened this week. I'm still loving being a missionary. I can't really remember what it's like to be out in the "real world", which I like. I rode my bike past a Buddhist temple this week and was like, "hey they're putting up Christmas lights for Christmas!" It took me a second to realize the irony in the situation. I'm excited to be here for Christmas. I am excited to bare witness of Christ in a place where not a lot of people have a lot of knowledge about Him, especially at this wonderful season where we celebrate His birth. It will be so great!

I hope you have a fantastic week! You are in my prayers every night! I love you lots and lots! 

Love,

傅姐妹

I'm In The Best Place In The World

Our district at the Taipei Temple

Well, as for me...this week was SO GREAT! We have seen so many miracles and every day we were able to see the Lord's hand in this work. We met with our new investigator, Huang JM (she's 17 and just happens to be friends with our other 17 year old investigator, Wei JM). We went over to a members house (yeeeah! Hurray for member's help!) and watched the restoration video. It was so great! We testified of the Book of Mormon and promised that it could help her in her life of tests and studying and family. She is willing to read and pray to know it was true, and as she said the closing prayer she asked to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. She is so cute and so receptive to the gospel! 

We also met with like, 4 other new people this week! It was so amazing! Saturday night Sister Mancilla was calling through old phone numbers from a long time ago and she talked to a 17 year old girl who, when she first started meeting with the missionaries, was too busy. She set up for the next morning! We met with her Sunday morning and had an awesome peike (again, YAY for help from the members) and she was totally interested and willing to continue meeting with us! She too is really receptive to the gospel and is willing to read and pray about the Book of Mormon! After that lesson, Sister Mancilla and I were about to ride away on our bikes when I stopped us and made sure we said a prayer of gratitude. As I offered thanks to Heavenly Father on the side of a busy street with scooters zooming by, the spirit witnessed so strongly to me that what I am doing every day is the most important thing I could be doing right now. Tears of joy formed in the corner of my eyes as I thought about all the wonderful people I have met here and how blessed I am to have seen how the gospel has changed their lives. And it has changed my life as well. I've never been so sure that this is the one and true church. That Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world, and that we have a Father in heaven who knows and loves each and every one of us. And it's so happy! I just want to share it with everyone! :)

We have seen a lot more love and help from the ward this week as well! YAAAAY! Missionary work goes SO much smoother when we have help from the ward! We had about double the amount of peikes this week (lessons with a member present), and we also had people inviting us over to their houses for dinner. There was one night that a family took us out to eat at this really fancy restaurant. It was like, a 7 course meal......way too fancy. It was fun though, and they invited all the return sister missionaries from the ward. It was really neat. They have all helped us peike and they are all really amazing people. Shi JM helps us peike almost every week, and yesterday she gave me her coat. I tried not to accept it, but she wouldn't let me. The people here are amazing. I love them! 

Sister Shi

Sister Mancilla and I are still working super hard, and I love it! We work really great together and we have way too much fun doing it. We are constantly laughing. Because of our continued diligence in finding new investigators, this week was just overflowing with them. Heavenly Father really does love all of His children, and He is putting prepared people in our paths. 

 I ate raw fish. I bet you won't believe that, but I did it. I talk to lots of people every day and I do it in Chinese. That's hard to believe too, but it happens. I get to go to a wedding/baptism this Saturday for my investigators from Nantou, the ones that are AMAZING. Brother Hong and Sister Zhang. I am beyond excited. The church is true. I'm in the best place in the world. I have the best calling ever. 

Sister Mancilla and I were a little sick so we wore these masks.  

Even if you're not sick, it is the cool thing to do to wear these masks.

I hope you have a great week! Try to find some way you can help the missionaries out this week :) I love you mom!! Thanks for being the best mom in the world! 

Sister Fuller

I'M HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE!

Hi Mom!! 

Thanks for the fun email!

Everyone says that a mission is like 18 years of life experiences packed into a year and a half. Sometimes I would have to agree with that. With all the weight I have gained, the wrinkles somehow appearing on my forehead that hopefully will go away and sometimes my knees hurt really bad from all the bike riding. It's all really worth it though, I'm having the time of my life.

Well, I MOVED! I was actually really sad about it. Sister Anderson is just too amazing and was asked to train this move-call, so I got kicked out of beautiful Nantou. I was only there for 6 weeks which is really sad. I was in my first area for 6 months and my second for 6 weeks, but it was just as hard saying goodbye after 6 weeks as it was 6 months. I really loved that place. And saying goodbye to our investigators, especially Hong DX and Zhang JM, was really hard. I moved on Friday morning, so Thursday night Hong and Zhang called and said they were outside our apartment, they wanted to give me a gift. So we went and grabbed it and opened it back up inside and I started crying really hard. They had printed out a picture we had taken together earlier that day and put it in a nice frame. They also printed out some pictures from Sun Moon Lake to give to me.

 It was so nice of them. I'm going to miss them and some really other great people in Nantou, including Sister Anderson (it was harder saying goodbye the second time than it was the first).

BUT. I have moved to Beitun, which is actually really really close to my first area, Xitun, in Taichung. So I'm back up in the big city! Lots of people to talk to, lots of people to introduce the church to! Yay! And I am with Sister Mancilla! She is so cute! She just barely finished being trained, so I am now a senior companion (whatever that means). The area is extremely small, so it shouldn't be too hard to learn the area. And the ward is really really great so far! We have to ride our bikes about 40 minutes to get to our church which is kind of a bummer, but I just practice teaching lessons during that long bike ride. 

It's pretty amazing how much I've already seen Heavenly Father helping me since moving. I was a little bit nervous to become senior companion because I was a little doubtful about my language skills, but I've been praying really hard and I have already noticed a big improvement. As we have been teaching together the past 3 days or so, I've been amazed at how naturally and easily I have been able to speak this language. And I know that as I continue to work hard and be 100% obedient, He will continue to help and bless me, allowing me to improve more and more each day. Heavenly Father really does qualify those He calls, and it's a good thing because there is really no way I could do it without His help. I'm really learning how to rely on Him and to trust. It's pretty humbling. 

Oh, also. I live in a 4 man apartment now and it's a lot of fun. Also, I can't tell if I'm turning Taiwanese and think that anything under 80 degrees is cold, or if it really is getting cold. Either way, I went and bought some long sleeve shirts and a cardigan today. As for Christmas, I will never turn down clothes. (I asked her what we could send for Christmas) I'm so sick of my clothes. I will also accept anything you are willing to give me. I don't really need anything. Fuzzy socks? I like those. 

Love you!!  Have a good week!

This church is just so amazing!

Hi Mom!

Thanks for the pictures! You look super cute with that scarf! I love the colors, so cute! Kristen is good at picking out outfits. Is it a church outfit? Or just a whenever. It looks like it could be for either. It's weird to think you are wearing scarfs over there, it's still super hot here! It got a little cooler for about a week, but this week it is really hot again. There are lots of mountains around and stuff, but it's just about as hot as it was in Taichung. I think it's a little more humid here, though. We keep the windows in our apartment open (not in our bedroom because we have AC! YAY!), but when I go out and sweep the floor it doesn't look like anything is on the floor, right? But then I sweep up the dust that you can't really see, and it's so humid that it turns into mud. It's kind of cool and really gross. So yeah, maybe that gives you a better picture of how humid it is.

I got your cute little card in the mail this week! Thank you! I really needed it. This week was really hard. I think I was depressed for like, three days haha. Everything made me upset and I cried too often over dumb things and I thought a lot about giving up. I was really grateful for your card. It was cool, actually, because as we were getting on our bikes to leave the apartment I said to Sister Anderson, "I hope someone sent me a letter today." I've gotten a total of like, 3 letters on my mission so it was pretty doubtful. And sure enough I got two letters that day; one from you and one from an investigator in Donghai. I thought it was pretty cool that even though I am like, 6,000 or so miles away, my mom is still always there when I need her most. So thank you, mom. I love you! I also realized that it is the same with our Heavenly Father. It seems we are so far from Him, but He is always, always there for us. I prayed harder and more than I ever have in my life to have help from Heaven. And it came. I kept working and praying and now I am back to my normal happy self. So don't worry or anything.

Also, CONFERENCE WAS SO AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! Oh man, I didn't want it to end! I learned so much, it was so great! We invited like, everyone we know to come. We had one investigator make it for one hour, so that was good! When we invited people, we also invited them to think of a question they had, write it down, and then come listen to conference and we promised them that their question would be answered. I wrote down a few of my own questions, and every single one of them was answered. Heavenly Father even answered some questions that I had that I didn't write down. He knows us so well, and He knows our hearts, and He is so willing and excited to answer our prayers. I'm so thankful for this knowledge. And I'm so thankful for Prophets and their willingness to serve and live worthily to lead and guide us! This church is just so amazing! I can't get over it!

I liked the story you shared about Sister Rau and Elder Rau! As a mission we do the same thing. We all write down the names of our investigators with baptismal dates coming up and give it to the zone leaders. Then the zone leaders write them up on a paper and gives it to each companionship, and then every night we pray for each investigator by name. Prayer is real and it works! We have a couple of investigators, ____ _______ (brother) and _____ JM. They have been together for 7 years, but they aren't married.We had taught them everything except for the law of chastity and tithing. Two really scary lessons to teach a couple who are living together and struggling to save money because they have to move. So we have been praying extra hard for them, and every night the whole zone prays for them. Anyway, we went and visited them this week and planned to talk about faith, but then they started talking about baptism and asked if there were any more commandments we need to teach them before they can get baptized. Sister Anderson and I nervously looked at each other and were like....well...yeah there are still two. They asked, "is it the one about not having sexual relations before marriage or the one about tithing?" We were so surprised! They already knew! _____ JM's sister is a member and had mentioned the law of chastity briefly once while talking on the phone, and then they had read about it and the law of tithing in a Liahona we had lent them. So it was super easy to teach them and they are willing to follow both! We are just going to have to plan a wedding for them :) So yeah, prayer really does help SO much! Thank you so much for your prayers, I really do feel the help from them.

Time is going SO fast. I can't believe that I'm half way done with my mission. Yet at the same time, I feel like I've been doing this for my whole life. Did I really have a life before this? I've always been a missionary. I'm nervous that the second half will go way faster than the first, so I'm trying to live it up as much as I can. It's the hardest thing I've ever done. People warned me before I left, but it's like, 100 times harder than anyone ever made it seem like. It's also really happy, and I'm learning more now than I have in my whole life combined. I'm so glad to be here. I miss you and dad, though. You guys are great. 

What we have to share is SO IMPORTANT!

Did you ever end up going up north and see Jamie and her kids? Or is that this weekend. Probably this weekend for conference right? Oh, speaking of conference, try not to spoil any surprises this time, ok? haha!

(I told her about the temple in Cedar City last conference, before she watched conference in Taiwan.  I'll be good and keep things to myself this time!)

As for me, this week was pretty rough. Everyone is "too busy" to meet with us, which leaves us a lot of time to go through several back up plans and a lot of time to say, "well...now what?". We seriously make like, 4 backup plans every night, and they all fall through. I think that people being "too busy" is one of Satan's tools. It's really sad though because what we have to share is SO IMPORTANT! And it's going to bring so much more happiness than whatever else they are "busy" doing.

Despite all of the people standing us up and canceling last minute and investigators breaking up with us, I'm still happy as a clam. Sometimes I wonder how I can be so happy with everything going so wrong. Part of it might be because I'm with Sister Anderson and I just love her to death, but really it's because I have the gospel. I noticed this week that when it was hard and I wanted to give up, it's because I was focusing on myself and how I felt and maybe that I wasn't good enough. But when I was focusing on other people and how I could help them progress, or when I was focusing on the teachings of Jesus Christ and how I can use them to improve my testimony and change myself, that's when I was the happiest. And really this is the happiest I've ever been in my life. I love this gospel SO MUCH! I love the Atonement, and the chance that I have to change every single day. What would we do without it? It's too sad to think about.

 Sister Anderson and Sister Fuller

I know that what I'm testifying of every day is true though. We have a Father in Heaven. Jesus is the Christ. And they love us SO MUCH! It's pretty amazing how much they love us and are willing and waiting to help us through anything. 

September 2013 Zone Conference-Zhongxing Zone

Well, I hope you have a great week! Enjoy conference!  I LOVE YOU!!

I LOVE MY NEW AREA!!

I LOVE MY NEW AREA!! Also, I LOVE THAT I'M WITH SISTER ANDERSON!! She was here for one move call before I got here, but this past week was pretty xinku (rough? i don't know how to translate that). This week was a holiday, zhong qiu jie, moon festival! Which meant that no one wanted to meet with us because they were all out doing bbq and what not. We did get invited by some AMAZING investigators to kao rou (bbq) with them. It was delicious. And every night for the past 4 or so days we have had really great seats (from our apartment) to see some cool fireworks, but other than that there was just a lot of people standing us up and a lot of back up to the back up to the back up plans. BUT, Sister Anderson and I sat down and set some goals and made some awesome plans to really improve this area and see some miracles this move call! It's so fun to be with someone who is willing to be motivated and do whatever it takes to build up the kingdom!!

As for my bike and stuff, there are some moving people that we call and they pick it up from my old house and drive it over here. I was without it for a day, but it was pretty quick :) 

As for everything else, I keep learning over and over again that Heavenly Father answers our prayers. That He has a plan for every single one of us. The other day we were looking at our schedule and Sister Anderson had scheduled with a girl she hadn't met yet named Nancy, Wang JM. Turns out its the Same Wang JM that I have been meeting with in Donghai! She works in Donghai during the week and lives in Nantou on the weekend. I called her and needless to say we were both really excited because we thought we had said goodbye for forever. We're meeting with her this weekend. I just don't call that a coincidence. Also, I feel like me and Sister Anderson being together again is for a certain purpose. It's such a rare thing to happen, so we are going to work harder than we ever had to find the people we are sent here to find.

Um...what else. I feel like I went from a really big city to a small town. It's still pretty big, but I can really tell a difference. In Taichung when we stopped at stoplights there were tons of people, here we are lucky to have one or two. I like it though, I'm more of a small town person anyway. Anyway, I can't really think of anything else...thank you for your "gift of tongues" prayers. Can you add on "confidence" to those? My Chinese isn't amazing, but I can speak. I just need to believe in myself. Also, I had a dream in Chinese the other night. I remember you told me to tell you when that happened haha. It did. It was weird. 

The view from my back window. Yeah, be jealous

I think that's all. I love you SO MUCH! Oh! How could I have forgotten, THANK YOU!! I got your package the day after my birthday and I LOVED IT!! The clothes are so so cute and they are comfortable too! Also very needed. So thank you! And the candy is delicious. Unfortunately I have promised not to eat candy so I won't be able to eat it til next move call haha but it will still be good next move call. So thank you thank you thank you. I hope you have a GREAT week mom! Tell everyone I say hello! LOVE YOU!

Baptisms and Birthdays

Thanks for the update about whats going on at home! I love hearing about it :) I can't believe how many tomatoes you guys are pulling from your garden. It sounds like it's just over-flowing! Also, the description of your Sunday dinner sounds amazing. You're such a good cook! I miss your cooking. Although, the food here is preetttty delicious, too.

So basically, my heart is breaking as I am meeting with people here in Xitun for the last time. No one has officially told me I'll be moving yet, but because my companion will be training a new missionary here, it's pretty much decided. I've been here for 6 months and I love the people here with all my heart. It's going to be really sad to leave. But everyone keeps telling me that I still have lots of amazing people to go meet, and they're right. I'm excited and nervous to go all at the same time.

This week was amazing though! XU JIEMEI GOT BAPTIZED!!! It was probably one of the happiest days of my life! I can't even explain how much I love Xu JM. She gave me a heart attack though. We have been meeting with her every day for the past month or so, and then last week she started being really flaky and blowing us off. We only met with her once, and her baptism was on Saturday. We called the two sets of elders in our district, our zone leaders, and our sister training leaders and asked them all to pray for her. They did. And then she met with us. She expressed some fears and worries and we had a nice good long talk. We then invited her to get a priesthood blessing, which she did. And then Saturday came, and everything worked out perfectly. It amazes me how willing and ready Heavenly Father is to answer our prayers. Whether it is asking something big as rescuing a nervous-close-to-baptism-investigator, or praying for the visual part of a Mormon message to work on the Internet so your investigator can feel the spirit (which also happened this week). Heavenly Father loves us all so much and is just waiting for us to ask for the blessings which He has promised to give us.

I'm also learning how important it is to do my part as I ask for these blessings, though. This whole move call I have been working on being more charitable. I have been studying it, praying for it, learning all I can about it. I have been praying for patience and charity harder than I think I have ever prayed for anything in my life. This week was my companions birthday, so I made her breakfast and put it on her desk with a card while she was in the shower. She was more than thrilled. She made me take several pictures for her, wiping away tears from her eyes between each shot. It was then that I felt the spirit tell me that this whole time I have been praying for charity and patience with my companion, but I hadn't DONE anything to earn that patience or charity. There is nothing more true than when the scriptures and prophets tell us that as we serve others, we learn to love.

Today, Xu JM put together a birthday/going away party for me and Zhu JM. She called some people from the ward and one of our investigators and we all went to an Italian place to eat a bunch of food. It was a lot of fun. Our investigator, Zhuang JM, brought Zhu JM and I flowers. There was even cake and ice cream and they sang happy birthday for us. I can't believe I am blessed enough to be surrounded by such amazing people. Goodness, how did I get so lucky? Heavenly Father loves me a lot :)

Well, that's about all. We are working hard and praying even harder. We see Heavenly Father's hand in our work every single day. We are seeing so many blessings and miracles left and right, and there is no way for me to ever deny that this church is true. I know who my Father is, and I am so thankful He allows me to feel a portion of His love for His children here in Taiwan.

I LOVE YOU MOM!! Tell Dad I love him lots, too. And don't forget cooper ;) Have a good week!

Heavenly Father's Angels

Well, things in Taiwan are going GREAT! This Saturday Xu JM is getting baptized!! Ahhh! I love her so much! She is so amazing. It's actually a pretty cool miracle that we even met. We met on the very first day of this move-call. That day I was kind of bummed because I thought I was going to move and then I didn't. I was trying to figure out why Heavenly Father wanted me to stay here for a 4th move-call (that's a long time-6 months). Then we met Xu JM. Xu JM lives in Australia, her soon to be ex-husband kicked her out of their house, so she came back to Taiwan. She doesn't usually go outside, but that day she decided to go out with her mom. Then she saw me on the street. She walked past me, and then had a feeling to go back and talk to me. And then we have met with her every day since then, teaching her about the gospel and how to pray and find answers to her questions. And now on Saturday she is getting baptized! The timing of it all gets even crazier, though. Zhu JM will be training a new missionary in this area next move-call which means I will be moving somewhere new on the 16th of September. And on the 20th of September Xu JM will be moving back to Australia. We literally had less than a 2 month period to meet and within that amount of time she has developed a relationship with her Heavenly Father and taken the first step to return to Him. AMAZING!! The other day we were at her house and I was playing the piano getting ready to sing the opening song. Xu JM was talking to my companion and told her that she thought that I was her angel Heavenly Father sent to her to help her find the church. I don't think she thought I would understand because she was speaking in Chinese, but I did. And then tears started coming to my eyes. I don't think I've been more humbled in my life. We are already  making arrangements for her to come to our house next Christmas (2014) and new years-she has never had a white Christmas. I hope that's ok :)

Um...what else. I can't think of anything else because I'm too excited about Xu JM haha. But we are working hard and I am learning lots. I think my Chinese is slowly slowly coming along (finally). I am still loving every second. Is it too soon to be excited for General Conference? Because I am. haha. I love this gospel so much. I feel so blessed to be here and to be able to give 100% of myself to building the kingdom of God. I know that He loves each of us more than we can even describe or imagine. I know that He has a plan for each of us, and that if we let Him, He will guide and direct us, helping us to live up to the potential that He created us to become. 

Have a good week :) 

Man am I grateful for preparation days!

Well, as for me...things are going great! This week has been pretty tiring so far because we didn't get our normal Monday preparation day. Man am I grateful for preparation days! Without them there is no way any missionary would make it out alive. Being able to go to the temple was worth it though! I love the temple so much. And no, there is no new movie yet haha. (I asked her if the new temple video had made it to Taiwan)

I'm trying to think of everything that happened this week...Oh! Remember the girl I told you about last week who self contacted us by the train station and we met with her that night? We met with her like, 3 or 4 other times that week! She is SO prepared! Our first visit she gave us a pack of coffee stuff and we told her we don't drink coffee. The next day we met with her and she really worried us because she said she had a dream that we told her she couldn't drink coffee and she stopped meeting with us because she likes her freedom. Well yesterday we met with her (I actually wasn't there, we had sister exchanges which I'll talk about in a second), but we shared about the word of wisdom. We invited her to follow it, and miraculously she said YES! Heavenly Father really is preparing people and it's so amazing! Wow, when Zhu JM told me about the lesson I couldn't stop smiling for like, 10 min.

So, Sister Exchanges! I left my area for the first time since the beginning of April! haha. I went with Chen JM who speaks zero English. I was really nervous, but it actually was fine. There were a couple times where we had to pull out the dictionary, but for the most part there were no problems. I learned a lot from her, she is a great missionary and she really loves people. It was a good time.

To answer your question about the fruit, I have eaten dragon fruit. In fact, I ate it for breakfast this morning :) It's delicious!! That's probably what you saw at Smiths. Was it like a pinkish purple color? You should buy it next time you see it and try it, although it probably won't be as good as the ones I'm eating over here ;) You'll just have to come to Taiwan and eat all the yummy fruit.

One more thing and then I'm about out of time. Monday morning we went up with the Elders to a members house to help her clean. It's a really sad situation. She is from Indonesia, her husband's job isn't that great so they are really really poor. They have a son who is about 7. There house is literally just a shack made up of one room that is just cluttered with stuff. There is one wooden bed that the dad sleeps on, and the mom and the son sleep on the floor. Sister Zhu and I went on Saturday night and she was moving stuff around, so we helped. She moved a piece of furniture and there were just tons and tons of aunts. I'm standing barefoot in this pile of dirt and ants helping her sweep and I was just so sad so I told her we would come back on Monday and help. She was really grateful. We spent the whole afternoon up there, and the Elders helped fix the roof so when it rains the water wont come in. She is such a sweet lady and has such a strong testimony of prayer. It makes me sad to see them have to live like that, I was glad I could help a little bit. Hopefully we can find more ways to help them out.

Well, sorry this weeks email is kind of boring. I'll be sure to send some pictures on Monday. I hope the rest of your week goes GREAT! I LOVE YOU!

Baptisms and Transfers

Hi mom!!

First, thank you for the prayers, I really feel so much help from Heavenly Father. Second, I have great news! Last week I told you we had our investigator, Cai JM, changed her baptism date to August. Well, on Thursday morning we received a text message from her saying that she wanted to get baptized that Saturday. Sister Thomas and I started crying and laughing and crying, and then we called a bunch of people and set up interviews and then on Saturday Cai JM was baptized!! Oh man, it was so amazing! She is so so so so great! She has so much faith. It was funny, the first thing she said when we saw her was, hey I came! haha. It's also amazing because that night she called her work (she just barely got a new job) and asked if she could switch her shift for Sunday morning so that she could get confirmed at church, and her boss told her she can have every Sunday morning off so that she can come to church!! What a miracle!! Heavenly Father is so ready and willing to bless His children when they do what is right. Wow.

So that was pretty much the highlight of the week. Today was move call, Sister Thomas will be flying back to America tomorrow. So weird! I felt like I needed to go with her, but I'm glad I'm not because there is still so much to do and so much to learn. I just got here! haha. And another HAPPY thing is that when we went to the mission home to meet my new companion I got to see Sister Anderson for the first time since we got here to Taiwan! It was such a happy reunion, we hugged for like, 5 min haha. I love her SO MUCH! 

Aaannd. My new companion is SO cute! She is from Hualien Taiwan! So yeah, I have a Taiwanese companion! She is adorable and everyone says that she is just amazing so I'm really really excited. Her English is like, perfect but we decided to mostly speak in Chinese, so hopefully my Chinese will improve a lot in this next move call.

Baptism Day

June 16, 2013

So, a really happy thing happened yesterday...Chen JM got baptized!!!!! YAY! It was so great! It was actually a really crazy Sunday, we had 5 investigators at church (yayaya!) and then right after church was the baptism. It was hard because sister Thomas and I were trying to take care of all our investigators and get the baptism ready all at the same time. Chen JM was just sitting on some chairs patiently waiting to be told what to do. I was taking some investigators to the kitchen to get some food, and then Sister Thomas comes in and was like, "I can't find Chen JM. I don't know where she is..." So, panicked, we searched the entire church. Couldn't find her. We called her phone a billion times. Didn't answer. We were SO worried! So we said a prayer and then a min later she walks up behind us with a juice box...she had gone to buy juice! haha (...oops. We'll have to go over that commandment again haha). So we got her into her white clothes, took some pictures, and then finally went in for the baptism. She was nervous because of her eye (she is the one who lost her eye), but we told her it would be fast and wouldn't have to be under water too long. Well...she kept not going under the water all the way haha! She had to do it 3 times! After the 2nd time she may or may not have sworn.....hahahaha! Our investigator swore (in english, I don't think anyone else heard it but me and Sister Romenello-the sister who was in this area before I got here) in the baptismal faunt! Oh my goodness I was laughing so hard. It sounds like she wasn't very prepared for baptism, but really she is amazing. She has SO much faith, it's incredible. It was so so happy :)

 On the other end of the spectrum, our investigator Cai JM dropped her baptismal goal for this coming Sunday. We were really sad about it. It's actually kind of frustrating because she has such a great testimony of prayer and the Book of Mormon, and she knows that she needs to get baptized, but for some reason she thinks that she needs more time. So, we will give her more time. She set a new goal for August 17. She is so great, I love her so much and I pray so hard for her.

We have a lot of really great investigators! We went with one of our investigators, Li JM to the dedication of a new stake center in North Taichung. She has a baptismal goal for July 27. She is 17 and so cute! Ah! I love that girl. Anyway, at the dedication they had a lot of people getting baptized that we were able to watch, and after they all got up to bare their testimonies. There was an 82 year old man that got baptized that day and he said that his life had just begun because of his baptism. It was really cool.

Being a missionary is really such a humbling experience. Complete strangers let you into their houses and into their lives. They tell you personal things about them, and you instantly love them. You get to share something that means the world to you, and that you know will change their life. You teach them the gospel according to what the Spirit directs, and then you just get to watch this person that you love so much change. You get to watch them progress, learn, and become converted. And it literally has nothing to do with you. I feel so blessed to be able to watch all of these people go through such a personal and sacred experience. And I am trying my hardest to live up to the great responsibility Heavenly Father has given me.

I absolutely LOVE being a missionary. I love my investigators. I love my companion. I love being completely exhausted at the end of the day. I love everything about it. And I know that I will only love it more and more as time goes on. I can't believe it's already been about 5 months. Weird! Time goes by so fast!

I'm trying to think of other questions you asked...I'm sad about Sister Thomas leaving, she is really great. I'm really nervous for my new companion, though I'm sure she will be really great too. The language is still really hard, but I'm thankful for all the prayers. I know that Heavenly Father is helping me so much.

Taiwan+Temple+Missionary Work

HI!

 

 All the missionaries in my district put on a fireside for our wards this Sunday about member missionary work and how badly we need their help. Missionaries are full time teachers, members are full time finders. So, way to go dad! :)

 

 

This week we saw some really cool miracles! It was actually a really weird week, I think because we didn't really get a p-day because we went to the temple. We took a bus which took about 3 hours each way. 

Anyway, we were planning one night and we couldn't figure out what to do because none of our investigators will answer their phones! :( Seriously, like, 5 of them didn't answer their phones ALL week. So sad. We usually fill our day with lessons, but since we had no one to teach, we had to go find new people. So we decided to say a prayer to know where to go. As we were praying I saw in my mind this street that we passed once while we were on our bikes. So we decided to go there. So the next day we went and knocked on a couple of doors with no luck, but as we were waiting for someone to answer their door (they never did) a lady came out of her house and asked who we were looking for. We told her we were there to share the gospel with people. She was interested and we set up a time to meet with her on Thursday! Then the next door we knocked on we met a girl who we will meet with later tonight! And then right as we were about to get on our bikes and leave a girl walked past us and started talking to us. She is...an interesting person. She is really depressed. She started telling us how she is really sick and can't eat and she broke up with her boyfriend and all these things and we were telling her how the gospel could help her. Then she sat down on a porch and started crying. Our phone rang and Sister Thomas answered it, and I wanted to help this girl feel better but I didn't know how. I had a feeling to share a scripture that I had read during personal study that morning with her, so I grabbed my Book of Mormon, sat down next to her and read it (3 Nephi 9:13-14). By the time I was finished reading, sister Thomas was off the phone and started talking to her again. Anyway, we set up a time to meet with her again on Sunday. When we met with her we gave her a Book of Mormon. She asked if the scripture I shared with her was in this book, and I told her it is, so she asked where. We helped her turn to it, and then she pulled out a pen and circled it. She asked me why I shared it with her. I told her I had a feeling I should share it with her so I did. Then she told me that after I shared it with her she had this really happy feeling, and that she had the same feeling right now as we were meeting. I told her that she was feeling the Holy Ghost. Anyway, it was really cool! It helped me strengthen my testimony of always listen to the spirit, because although I shared the scripture with her, I had no idea it actually helped her so much.

 

I'm trying to think of any other cool stories...I'm sure there are but I can't remember. We are working really hard, but our investigators won't answer their phones and finding new investigators is looking really tough. I'm really loving it though! I'm really enjoying learning characters. I've only been learning for about a week or so and I've learned about 90 characters. Sister Thomas said that's really amazing but I don't know if she really means that or if she is just saying that because she is my trainer and is supposed to make me feel like I'm progressing haha. Today I learned the character "Ji", which is in the word "Jidu" which means Jesus. it's cool because the character "Ji" means foundation or base. Also, the character "ling" which means spirit or soul is made up of 3 other "mouth" radicals, and two "people" radicals which is really cool because in the Godhead there are only two people with actually bodies, but there are three members of the Godhead, one of them being the Holy Ghost. Three mouths, Two people. And the Holy Ghost in Chinese is Sheng"ling". So cool right!? 

 

Oh, to answer your question mom, yes I will be with Sister Thomas til she goes home. Which...Ah! is coming so soon! I love Sister Thomas, she is really great. We get along wonderfully. It's weird though because I am just getting here and starting my mission and she is leaving. Sometimes I feel like we are moving a little slow so I have to help us to keep things moving along haha. Missionary work is really tiring. I love it though. 

 

Well, I think that's about all. I'll send you some pictures now. I love you both lots and lots! And I'm glad you got my card :) Mom, you should remind me when Father's day is getting close so I can send dad a card. It's not the same day in America as it is in Taiwan. Anyway, Love you!   

I am still really loving being a missionary

Hi Mom and Dad!

First, thanks for all the prayers! I think they help a lot. For example, it amazes me how close I can come to colliding with a bus or a scooter and not have it even phase me at all haha. I haven't been hit yet which is good. Sister Thomas said she got hit by a scooter on her first week on island, so I'm doing good so far haha.

Well as for me, this past week was so great! We had zone conference on Tuesday which was wonderful. It made me want to work harder and be as obedient as I can. We have been focusing a lot on less active recent converts, so we visit a lot of those. Hopefully we can get them to come back to church. Not a lot of people came to church this week because it was stake conference about an hour away from here. Nothing super exciting happened, except I did get sick. We ate lunch at this Thai food place and it gave me food poisoning. We were calling phones trying to get ahold of more less active from the ward list, and that's when I started throwing up. Luckily we were at home. I felt bad because we stayed in for the rest of the night, but I was throwing up all night. I slept it off though. I slept from like, 5 pm until we woke up the next day at 6:30....I just barely realized how long I slept...I must have been really sick! 

Oh! Except guess what! My worst nightmare came to life that night! I woke up at 1 am to go throw up, and as I was walking back to the bedroom you will never believe what I saw. A giant spider. When I say giant, I mean that it was bigger than my hand. You know how much I hate spiders right? I was freaking out! I didn't know what to do because Sister Thomas was sleeping. I was like, close to tears.  Finally I woke her up. We sat on the couch (at a very far distance from the spider) and stared at it for an hour trying to figure out what to do. Then it started moving!! AAAH! Then we started freaking out even more. It crawled behind a poster that is on the wall. By this point we just decided to leave it there. We closed all the doors to all the rooms and put clothes covering the cracks so that it couldn't get into another room. All night I had bad dreams that it had gotten into our room and was crawling up onto my face. The next morning we like, poked our heads out of the door to make sure it wasn't like, waiting for us outside the door haha. It was still behind the poster. This is where I consider the miracle to happen. The day before we were supposed to have some people come install an air conditioner in our room, but they had called to reschedule for the next day. So that morning when the air conditioning people came, we asked them if they would kill a spider for us. They thought we were just being silly girls you know, afraid to kill a spider. So we handed them a mop and pointed to where the spider was. They started hitting at it and then a few of the spiders legs crawled out from the top of the poster. They were like OH! I was hiding in the bedroom, but they put it into an envelope and then let it go outside (they didn't even kill it! It's still alive somewhere!) I think Heavenly Father planned it out perfect though because there is no way sister Thomas and I could have gotten rid of that thing, so He planned it to have the A.C. guys come after we found the spider. And we got an air conditioner in our room which is also a blessing! Heavenly Father loves us! But really, that spider still haunts me, every time I enter a new room I think I see it. I'll attach some pictures.

Anyway, I am still really loving being a missionary. My testimony is strengthened every day. I love the Book of Mormon! I was just reading about the two thousand stripling warriors. As I was reading about how when they were being chased by the Lamanites and Helaman asks them if they thought they should turn back and fight, and the two thousand warriors exercise their faith in the Lord. It's amazing how much faith they had! They didn't doubt even a little bit that the Lord would be with them and help them as they were doing what was right. And He was with them and protected them, not a single soul was killed.  And I like that they mentioned that they had this much faith because their mothers had taught them. As I was reading, I got a confirmation that these are real people. This isn't just an inspirational story written to help motivate us to do better. It actually happened. And then I try to put myself into their shoes. Would I have that much faith? To go fight against an army that I knew could easily kill me and all the people I love? I like to think I would, but that's really scary? But I'm really thankful that they did. There are so many amazing people in the Book of Mormon that did such amazing things and demonstrated such amazing faith. They have set such good examples of how I should be living my life. I don't have to face a large army ready to kill me, but we all have our own trials that can be equally as scary. I hope that I can have as much faith as they did, and as much as their mothers did so that when I have my own family I can teach them and raise kids who have as much faith as a stripling warrior. 

Well, I think that's about it. Oh, to answer your question about the JM. It's just a shorter way to write Jiemei which means sister. So Zhang JM is just Sister Zhang. You say the last name first and then sister. So yeah :)  Well, I love you both! Thank you for all you do for me! And thanks for the pictures! Cooper is so cute!  Have a great week! Love you!