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