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!!