Week 58

Family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was so good to talk to you and see you!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhh! You all look so good! I just can't get over it! I LOVE you all so much!!!!! You truly mean so much to me! I hope everyone had such a good Christmas! Christmas here was so special!

On Thursday we had a wonderful mission Christmas activity. We woke up bright and early to be on a bus at 5:30am to go to the surprise location. We were on the bus for a few hours (We watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional on the bus. I was so excited because I didn't think we would see it.) then we got to a beautiful mountain with a sign that said "Sun Moon Lake." I was so excited!!!! It was so beautiful! We went up to the very top of the mountain and took some pictures with the whole mission. (P.S. I think they are sending you a recording of us singing because we also sang some carols there too) It was so great to see all my friends! Some that I haven't talk to since the MTC! It was so great! It felt like a huge family reunion! Later we had a nice steak dinner and a very beautiful and spiritual devotional. It was such a great day!

Christmas Eve was special as well. We had a wonderful Christmas activity with our 2 branches here. We watched a beautiful movie about Christ's birth. There were fun skits and talents and a beautiful slide show of the Temples in the world with beautiful testimonies. Sister Wainright and I put Christmas lights up in our room and brought in our space heater which lights up the room like we have a fireplace in there. We read the book "You are Special" and told fun Christmas stories and sang Silent Night and fell asleep.

Christmas Morning we woke up early so Sister Wainright could skype her family before church. It was so fun to watch her and meet her family! Then we went to church. We called a lot of investigators, new members, and less actives to help get them to church,one less active being Sister Li. We have been working with her for a bit. She hasn't been to church for years. We have also been teaching her teenage son. We called her and she said she couldn't make it. We were rather bummed when we went up to the chapel. But then who did we see.... Sister Li and her son. Then another less active family we have been working with...... then another...... then another. Then investigators started coming....... Oh the joy! Sister Wainright and I really wanted to have a white Christmas with a baptism but we realized our Christmas was truly white in it's own way. Our own Christmas miracle! It was so amazing! Then later last night we went to a park by a night market and caroled with members in our branch. It was so fun. It just felt like Christmas. As we were ending with Silent Night I looked over to all the members and teared up. A feeling of love and appreciation came over me. I love these beautiful Taiwanese people. I am so grateful to be here serving. I am so grateful for our Savior and for the opportunity I have to bear testimony of Him.

I love you all so very much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy New Year!

Until next week!

P.S. I have more pictures to send but the camera just died.......... next week! :)

Week 57

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!!!!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful, spiritual Christmas! Sister Wainright and I are getting pretty excited for Christmas. It's a little different here in Taiwan. Christmas isn't a big holiday here... it makes sense seeing as Christmas is more of a Christian holiday and most people here are Buddhist... but we get so excited every time we see a Christmas tree and here Christmas music. We have been listening to Brother Archuleta (David) and the MoTab any time we get :)  We have been trying hard to feel the Christmas spirit and share it with others. We realized this week that trees and music don't bring the Christmas spirit... but Christ does. I feel so very blessed to be a representative a Him and because we have been set apart with this sacred calling we are entitled to have His spirit with us as we try our best to do what He would do if He were here. I AM SO BLESSED! And family is a big part in the Christmas spirit because Christ came to the earth to helps live together with our families forever. So even though I'm not home with you... know that I am grateful to be with our other bigger family members sharing with them this beautiful message so that they too can feel the Spirit of Christ.

But....It has been a great week! It always is!
 
We had some downs this week... all of our investigators dropped. Some dropped themsleves and others had been sitting on the fence for a bit. We were doing all we could to help them but felt that they wouldn't progress then our district leader invited us to drop them and start over... That was really hard.... We started to get a little down... So we knelt down together to pray.... and Heavenly Father poured out His love and blessings upon us....

We saw so many miracles with less actives this week...

We went to visit a former but had the wrong address... We decided to look at the ward list for a less active member near by. Right on the front page there was a Sister Guo that lived on the same street we were on. We had made a Christmas tree that morning and thought we could give it to her. Then we saw that she was baptised on Christmas 13 years ago and felt that it was perfect. The address that we went to was her husbands vet hospital.  He was was very welcoming and said that she would be there in a few minutes...She was happy to see us and a little embarrassed that she hadn't been to church in so long. We set up a time to meet them at their home. When we went there her mother and sister were there from out of town. We found out her sister and father are both members and that she had shared the gospel with them. It was so great to talk to them and to meet their 2 adorable daughters. Sister Guo's mom was so nice and just kept feeding us more and more! It was so good! Sister Guo still prays everyday and she has taught her daughters how to pray. We are excited to start meeting them and helping them. They are a beautiful family. They are coming to our branch Christmas party on Sat and church on Sunday. We pray that we can help her and her father and sister come back as we also help her husband learn and hopefully receive the gospel.

We also met a less active family of 4. The Luo family. They recently moved really close to the church. The mom was baptised about 10 years ago with her son and then the 2 daughters when the youngest was 8. They haven't been to church in a long time but when we asked if we could say a prayer all of the children quickly knelt. It was amazing. We talked to them more and found out that they really missed church and their friends. They were excited that they live closer to the church. The youngest daughter, who is 10, said that she wanted to bring her friend to church this week. It was amazing. The friend that she brought was actually a boy that we had met the day before at another less active, Zhuang family's house. He obviously has some good friends in the church... So we want to help them come back and help him come in.

I am so grateful for the miracles we have been seeing. This truly is the Lord's work. This is His church. What a blessing it is that we get to celebrate His birth this week and have this special time to remember Him and all that He has done for us.

I love you all so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Until next week!!!!!

P.S. My stomach is doing much better! I'm eating and happy and back to work!!!!!!!!!! Love you!!!!

Week 56

HELLO! HELLO!

Wow it has been a really crazy and interesting first week in JiaYi (ChiaYi.) I got really sick this week... still not exactly sure what it was. It started early Tuesday morning. I had really sharp pains in my stomach and I couldn't stop running to the bathroom. I tried to keep working until the pains got really bad in the afternoon then called Sister Bishop and she had me get some medicine and rest. Well the pains kept getting worse so the next morning I went to the doctor and he said that the good news was that as of then it wasn't a parasite.... he gave me some pills and a strict diet of water rice and told me to rest and said if the pain moves lower it could be a parasite.... So sweet Sister Wainright was stuck calling phones for most of the day Wednesday (I still feel so bad.) Well I stopped running to the bathroom so frequently so we were able to get back out and teaching... then we got stopped by the cops which is a story for another day.... anywho the pain wouldn't go away and it had started to move lower so I went back to the doctor and found out that I had eaten or drank something unsanitary so my stomach and intestines are inflamed... so I was put on another great diet (because just thinking of the water rice made me gag) which was rice and bread with out the crust aka I'M STARVING!!!!!!!!! I was able to receive a beautiful blessing from the Elders and have seen a big improvement. It was amazing! I am so grateful for the power of the Priesthood and to see and feel it in my life. I feel much better today and have been able to expand the diet to include apples and bananas.... What a week!

But I do love JiaYi! Its so fun! It's a great city! Sister Wainright is amazing! She used to be a efy counselor :) so we hit it off pretty well! She loves the work. She loves it here. We got to know each other pretty fast with the sickness... so that was good!

We met a really cute new and awesome investigator Sister Liu. She was actually a referral. She is so great! She has a really big testimony of Joseph Smith and wants to get baptized asap. She also has a big testimony of prayer and has already seen the blessings in here life. I am really excited to continue working with her. She is amazing!

We also met with some really great less actives that have family members who are now investigating the church. I hope we can continue working with them and help them really progress and receive the full blessings of the gospel.

It's been a good week. I love this work! It is so amazing! It was so hard to stay in but I'm really so excited to get back out there for a full week of work!

I love you all!!!!!!!!!

Until next week!

Week 55

Hello!!!!!

Wow! I moved............................ To a place in the south of Taiwan called Chiayi (Jia Yi). Leaving my last area was really, really hard. I was there for 6 months. I love the people there. They truly became my Taiwanese family. The members there are so great. Truly my little family. Bearing my testimony yesterday was really hard. I just cried. I wish there were words to describe my love for the people there and how grateful I am that I could serve there. There were many tears shed but it will be good.

It was really hard to leave Sister Watterson. I have so loved serving with her...... I am so grateful for her. I have seen her grow and do things that she didn't think she could do and in return have had the same experience. I have become a better missionary because of her. I will forever be grateful for our time together and I know that it will bless my life..... I love her. I wish you could meet her... but you will soon-ish.... she has a while.

My new area seems really great! Chiayi is technically country but I am in the main city. And this is where my previous (as in second in field) companion Sister Chen was born and raised and just so happens to be here again... So it's got to be a good place because she came out of it. :) My companions name is Sister Wainright. She is adorable! She is from Mackay, Idaho. I love her already! It's going to be great here!

Last week was so great! So great! We had so many lessons and we saw so many amazing miracles! We met a sweet little less active Sister Ji this week. This was such a tender mercy. She used to live in Taichung but moved to Zhanghua because her mom is really sick and in the hospital. She has been in the hospital for 7 years. Sister Ji has been a member for about 14 years. She has had many trials in her life but this one is her greatest. She told us that she can't believe in God because her mother is still sick and God wouldn't do that to her. I just hurt for her... Sister Watterson then did a beautiful thing. She told her of this friend that she has that went through a trial like hers. She told her of me and mom's passing and me staying. She said it all so beautifully and so by the Spirit.. then she asked her " do you know who this friend is?" ... "No".... "Sister Bray"... Sister Ji just started to cry. It was such a sweet tender moment. It was so amazing... as she talked I had so many thoughts come into my mind of what scripture to share. Going from the Bible to the Book of Mormon. I knew that all of thoughts were coming from the Spirit. I didn't know how i was going to express them but when I opened the mouth... they just flowed right out of me. I was given the word right when I needed it.... Such a miracle. We met with her the nest day and could see that her faith was already coming back. We also found out that a member in our ward is one of her good friends from Taichung so she came as well. It was such a blessing.

I needed to be there at that time. It amazes me how well the Lord knows each of us and how He will let our paths cross right when we need them to. "It passes all my understanding."

I love you all so so so so so so much!

Until next week!

Week 54

HELLO!!!

I HOPE EVERYONE HAD A GREAT THANKSGIVING!!!!!!! I AM GRATEFUL FOR ALL OF YOU AND I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Wow! It has been a great week! This week we had a fun filled POWER WEEK! So everyday we had a special assignment and specific purpose. It was AMAZING!!!!! We saw many miracles! On Thanksgiving we were given the assignment of "Flooding the Earth with the Book of Mormon." Our mission had the goal of giving out 1000 copies of the Book of Mormon and.... WE DID IT! We ended the night with a total of 1037 copies given! It was so much fun! Sister Watterson and I had a little Thanksgiving Party with some investigators, new members, less actives and active members. It was so fun! It was just a little group of us. At the end we all went out and gave copies of the Book of Mormon. It was so awesome to see these sweet women bear testimony of the word of God. Some were nervous but they did it and ended up loving it. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Sweet Ke Meimei and Didi are able to start meeting with us again! We were able to talk to their mom and she gave us their dads phone number so that we can call him and hopefully help him come unto Christ as well. We talked to Ke Meimei and Didi  about it and they wanted to help us prepare so while they were staying with their dad this weekend they told their dad of what changes they had seen in their lives because of the gospel. Ke Meimei said that the biggest change that she has seen has come from prayer... now when she has trials she knows that she can turn to Heavenly Father in prayer. Ke Didi said that he has learned knowledge. He said that from reading the Book of Mormon his whole reading has improved and has helped him in reading other books at school.... so sweet! They are so tender and I teared up when the we saw them jumping because we were ridding up to their house on our bike's. Seeing them was a tender mercy.
 
Another sweet miracle this week was Sister Bai. She was a less active when I first came to this area. We started helping her come back. She started coming to church every week. She had a goal to go to the temple and to receive her patriarchal blessing. She had challenges to overcome but she did it. Last week she went to the temple and receive her blessing. Oh what JOY!!!  She was so happy and excited yesterday. It was so sweet and so beautiful!

But some sad news.... We went to visit Penny this week because she was sick and she told us that her father really opposes her coming to church or meeting with us. It broke my heart. She is so amazing! We talked to her for a bit and she told us again of the feeling that she had when she prayed and that it is a feeling that she won't forget.... It's always so hard to hear that they can't meet with you.... but it's also so good to know that they want to and to see the beautiful pure desire they have. Penny has that pure desire. She will be okay.

A great and marvelous week!!!!

I love you all soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!!!!!!!

Until next week!

Week 53

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!! Gan An Jie Kuai Le!!!!

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! We truly have so so so so much to be thankful for! We have so many blessings. This week I was especially hit with gratitude for my family. I love you all sooooo much!!!!! You are the best! I was introducing myself the other day and showing my family picture and Claire and Sonny's new school pics and I just went off on how my family members are my best friends! I love you guys!!!!!

It has been a great week! Busy, Hot, and Good!!!!! I love it!!!!

We met a really cute girl named Penny this week. She is so great. We met her last Monday and have met with her 3 times since. She loves the Book of Mormon and she is praying everyday. Her prayers are amazing!!!!! She prayed at the end of the lesson the other day and to be honest I don;t remember what she said but I remember feeling the Spirit so strong. It was amazing! She was sick yesterday but still came to church... She is wonderful. She is so sweet and she has such a great desire. I love her!!!!

Big story... so this kinda started awhile ago. You might recall me writing home about a sweet girl from Texas named Bree.... She is AMAZING! When we met she told us that she used to be a member but she removed her records a few years ago... Well she lives in our apartment building so Sister Pomeroy and I started visiting her and building a really good relationship. Now Bree is one of my dear life-long fiends. So is Jessica a awesome girl that she lives with. Oh I love them!!! Well we have seen so many miracles with Bree. I have seen her change. Her light and countenance has change. She is so happy and so giving. She is such an amazing example. I love her! She started going to church again. She came to conference with us. She has a light! Well then she started asking us wonderful questions. She also came to baptisms. She has helped Erika and Sister Liu so much. She also came out and did missionary work with us. She is awesome! Well we started talking about baptism with her and she said she knew that she would have to be baptized again but she said just not right now.... Well this week was a big miracle..... She did some research and found out her records were never removed.... SHE IS A MEMBER!!!!!! She said when she found out she was shocked but laughed. This month is the 5 year anniversary of when she thought her records were removed and this is the first year she hasn't had hard feelings about the church but that she has actually had good feelings!!!!!! AMAZING!!!! We watched the Testaments with her and she told us that her favorite part is the end when Christ says the dad's name because she said that she knows that Christ knows us all by name and that His love is so individual. She knows of His love for her. It was AMAZING! She knows it! AHHHHH! This really has been a big miracles... miracles have happen every week with her. This is a blessing I will never forget.... I am so grateful I could meet her and that we could become dear friends. I LOVE HER!!!

Also, sweet Erika is so wonderful! Since she got baptized she really just has this light. She has a desire to share the gospel. She is amazing! She prayed in sacrament yesterday. It was beautiful! She was so nervous but it was great!

I LOVE THIS WORK! I am so grateful that the Lord allows me to wear His name. I am so grateful to be His representative and to represent His church. I have become so much closer to Him. I have felt Him so near me. I have felt the peace that has come from His atoning sacrifice. I know that He lives. I am so grateful that Our Father allowed Him to suffer and die so that we might all live again. I know that Heavenly Father loves each one of us. He hears our prayers. I am so grateful for Him.

I love you all so so so so so soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!

Until next week!!!!!

Week 52

HEY!!!!

It has been another great week! It was a rainy one but it turned out great!!!!

We had some sad news on Wednesday... sweet Ke Meimei and Ke Didi weren't able to get baptized. Their dad really opposes them getting baptized and coming to church. Although their mom supports it this is a really fragile situation. They kids are both really sad and disappointed. We talked to their mom and realized that she really does want the best for them and is doing this for their safety and protection. It's so sad and it was hard to see them so sad. But I see their desire to change and to have their dad see the blessings of the church. They will get baptized one day. They are so sweet and precious. Their mom has also asked that we stop meeting with them for right now... We haven't been able to talk to them for a few days... that has been really hard. But we hope and pray that they are doing well. Heavenly Father is watching over them... It all in His hands.

We have seen a lot of great miracles this week especially with meeting new people and part member families. Even in the rain we were blessed with success. We really see miracles everyday. It is so amazing! The Lord's hand is in His work.

We met a sweet lady on the street this week who is really struggling. She just started crying and opening up to us. She wants to change. We prayed and she just cried. The Spirit was really strong and powerful. We also met a sweet girl from China named Joy. She was so excited when she met us. We were able to have a short lesson with her about Heavenly Father and prayer. The next time we met with her she told us that her friend had gotten sick so she prayed for her and asked that we pray with her. She was so excited to tell us when our prayers were answered and her friend is doing better.

I have felt mom a lot this week. I met a lady that reminded me of her and she was in my dreams a few times this week. She brings such a loving spirit to the work. I just know that she would love these people so much! I love and miss her!

And I love and miss all of you!!!!

Until next week!!!!!

Week 51

Nimen Hao!!!!!

It has been a great week! I think I say that every week but really it is always a great week!!!! I love this work!!!

Time! Where is this time going?! It is going too fast. To be honest I cried about 4 times this week because of time.... IT IS GOING TOO FAST! 6 months... it just breaks my heart to think of leaving these people and leaving Taiwan. I also know that it will be hard to take off this beautiful name tag. 6 months will go fast but it is also a lot of time. I know there are many great people to still meet and more miracles to witness in the work of the Lord. I  can't waste any time!... This time will not come back!

I just LOVE this work! I LOVE the people. I love them so much! I really can't explain it and it keeps growing... They are so beautiful. Their examples amaze me. They give everything for this gospel. It is everything to them! And it shows. It amazes me the sacrifices they make to enjoy the blessings of the gospel.... I am so grateful that I was called to Labor in this part of the Lord's vineyard.

I am also so grateful for those that I get to labor with. I have been blessed with the best companions! They are all so wonderful! I am so grateful for the time I have now to be serving with Sister Watterson. She is so amazing. She is a consecrated servant. I am so grateful for her example. I LOVE her!

Sweet Ke MeiMei (little sister) and Ke DiDi (little brother) committed to be baptised this Saturday. They are so cute! And so funny! Ke DiDi needed to come to church for his baptismal interview so we went to go get them to walk with them to the church. Well, of course being a 9 yr old, half way there he decided he wanted to go home. It was so funny! Ke MeiMei and Ke DiDi acted just like Claire and Sonny a few years ago... haha it was so funny. Let's just say the usual 20 minute walk turned into almost a 40 minute walk. But he got there and the Elders took him to get a slurpee from 7-11. (the Elders are so much cooler haha) They are both so excited to get baptized! They are so sweet and precious. I am amazed by their sweet and tender desires. They are young but they understand so much. They are young but they have seen so much. I LOVE this family. The Young Womens have been so great at including Ke MeiMei and making sure that she is invited and involved in everything. Ke DiDi is quite the Typhoon. If we get him sitting it's great and luckily there are about 5 other boys in the ward around his age that are the same way... (those sweet Primary teachers) Oh I love this family! There mom is working so hard to provide for her children. She's not able to come to church right now but she has a beautiful desire to also come unto Christ and help her children do the same.

I LOVE you all so much!!!!!!

Until next week!

Week 50

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!! (a holiday that is not celebrated in Taiwan...)

THANK YOU SO SO SO SO MUCH FOR THE PACKAGE! I LOVE IT! The chocolate is already gone! Just kidding! But thank you so much!

It has been a fabulous week!

We were able to witness another beautiful baptism! Sweet sister Liu was baptized on Wednesday.  Sister Li and I met her on the street about 4 months ago. It has been such a blessing to see her grow and progress. Her baptism was beautiful. Lots of supportive people there. Sister Liu bore an amazing testimony! She has been searching for the truth for 20+ years! It was awesome to hear her testimony and how happy she was when she found what it was she was looking for... She started starting being a missionary right away. She met on of our other investigators and just started sharing her testimony and teaching. It was amazing. She is so excited to share the gospel. It is so beautiful! I love her!

We had an amazing family that are formers come to church a few weeks ago. A family that I taught. A mom and 2 kids. It was so awesome to see them again and to know of their desire. But it is actually a really sad story. The father was abusive... It just breaks my heart. The kids are 13 and 9. They are just the sweetest. They have such a big desire to be baptized and I am so grateful that I get to teach them. Their mom also has a great desire. Just a beautiful family truly in need of the protection and blessing of the gospel.

I received an amazingly joyful letter this week... One of my recent converts, actually my first baptism, Sister You sent me a letter with a beautiful picture of her at the temple. Tears were in my eyes. So much joy! She bore such a beautiful testimony of the temple, baptism, and the Atonement. It was so beautiful. Such a sweet gift. It was so great because in the picture was the member that actually gave her a baptismal goal. Awesome Tina!  It was amazing!

I love this work so much! It really is so amazing! I continued to be amazed by the Lord's mercy everyday. His love and care for all of us. His desire for us to be in His fold and His help so that we can do so is truly magnificent.

I love you all so very much!!!!

Until next week!

Week 49

Nimen Hao!!!!!

It has been a fantastic week! So many blessings!
 
Erika was baptized on Saturday! She was so very happy! Everything was wonderful. Her testimony so pure and sweet! It was amazing! She told the story of how we met her. She said it was a bad day so she was going to buy a book like she usually does on bad days. But then we started talking to her and asked if she could meet right now. She said "YES!" She bore testimony of how when she has a bad day she won't need to go buy a book because she has the best book, which is The Book of Mormon. It was so sweet! I love her!

I was especially touched by a specific talk from a sweet sister in the ward. She spoke of a trial that she had had and is continuing to have. She said that at one point she wanted to leave the church but knew she couldn't do that.She was reminded of the Savior's Atonement and was able to lean and rely on Him and continues to receive strength from His mercy. I was touched of how she told Erika to never leave the church. To rely on the Lord. Trust and turn to the Bishop and Relief Society members when you are need and know that through them the Lord can give you support. It was really beautiful!
We are really looking forward to Sister Liu's baptism on Wednesday. She also getting really excited. She has been waiting for this. We met with her before her baptismal interview and after the prayer she said "Finally!" with tears in her eyes. She said that they were tears of joy and I knew they were. I love her so much!

We had an amazing Stake Conference yesterday. It was actually a broadcast from Salt Lake and was to 19 Stakes in Asia. It was amazing! Elder Scott spoke and I was so touched by what he said. He spoke of the divinity and worth of women. We also heard wonderful talks of inviting others to come unto Christ, the Temple, and learning from Joseph Smith's example of receiving personal revelation. It was amazing!!!

Well....I hope that everything is going so great at home!

I love you all so much!!!!!

Until next week!

Week 48

A BIG Taiwan hello!!!!

First, Mom's headstone is beautiful, just like her. Thank you so much for the pictures. It turned out perfect.

Second, I am so sorry about last weeks short email. We went to the beach with an investigator and we were a little low on time and it ran out really fast on email time... I'm so sorry!

But.... now... to the goods.... :)

It has been a fabulous week! We saw many many many miracles!

Cute Erika is getting ready to make her first covenant on Saturday. She is so excited and so is the ward.  When we first starting meeting with her she had a hard time finding time to read the Book of Mormon but this week she called and said "I keep my promise!" and shared with us scriptures she loved. Later when we met she shared with us one that she thought could help us. She is so great! I love her and I'm so very excited for her!

Sweet Sister Liu is also preparing for baptism next week. She is getting excited. She was introduced to Christianity when she was 18 so it has been almost 20 years. At first she said she didn't know why she waited so long but we shared with her the first vision and about the restoration and it was clear why she waited. She was waiting to be baptized by someone holding authority and into the true church of God. We were invited to President Chen's house for dinner last night. This really helped build her excitement for her baptism and also helped her see the blessings of enduring to the end. I am so excited for her and I love her so much!!!!
 
We had many miracles at church yesterday! We had 3 families come! Truly a tender mercy from the Lord. The Huang family is formers and said they are ready to receive baptism! The Yang family we met while asking for directions and inviting them to hear about the beautiful gospel. They first said no time but it looks like they found time. Such a blessing! And a new investigator brought her husband and son to church. They all seem very interested..... It was a miracle Sunday.

I love you all so so so so very much!!!!

Until next week!

Week 47

Loves!!!!!

Wasn't conference absolutely amazing!!!!!!! Oh it just warmed my heart! I received so many answers to my prayers. I felt that much of it was spoken just to me. I was very touched by many talks. My glass is so full and overflowing. I hope that you were all able to watch it at home and feel the joy, peace, and spirit that I did. I just want more! What a blessing it is that every six months we  get to hear the words of the Lord through the mouth of His servants. The Restoration of His gospel is a beautiful blessing in itself but is also huge testimony and evidence that the Heavens are not sealed. They are opened. What a blessing it is to know that the Lord speaks to His children!
 
I was also very touched witness our dear investigators and friends receive answers to their prayers as well. Sweet Bree attended all 4 sessions and the Relief Society broadcast. She sat and read a book for most of it but she told us that the one talk that touched her the most was President Uchtdorf. It was interesting how as we all discussed it different things were spoken just to us. What a testimony of the power of the Spirit and how He truly carries the message to our hearts.

We have seen great things with our investigators this week. Many miracles.

I am sorry this is so short! Time is out!

I love you all so much!!!!

Until next week!!!

Week 46

Nimen Hao!
It has been a great week! I am so so so so SO excited for conference! I hope you all enjoyed it! I am hearing great things!
 
Good news! Bree went to church with Jessica yesterday!!!!! She said she gets rather bored at church. But she is coming with us to conference this week. She is lightening up. Her prayers are so sweet and she is so very thoughtful. I love her!

Cute Erika had to change her baptismal date because she has a big work conference in Taipei (I might have spoken too soon about her desire to get baptized before conference.) She is so sweet and so prepared! I love her!

Sister Liu fasted for her work. She really wants to be able to receive the blessing of baptism but she just has something in the way. I love her!

We have met a lot of new, sweet, and prepared investigators this week. It has truly been a blessing. I love them!

Okay... Story time... So early Saturday morning my companion went to go to the bathroom and came back in and said..."Both of our toilets have overflowed"... I got up and yes both of the toilets had overflowed with all sorts of business that I do not need to write about all over our bathroom floors... So we went to talk to the apartment manager and he said will have to wait a few hours to call anyone. Well we were trying to study and the smell was just getting worse so we decided it would be best to go to the church. We were waiting to know whether we should pay for the plumber or the landlord. Then the one of the office Elders called and said just get the plumber there and we'll pay for it and figure it out later. So the plumber comes... with a plunger. Both Sister Watterson and I smile a little and just think to ourselves "oh thats not gonna work." He tries it. Doesn't work. Then walks around with the plunger all through the apartment. Calls his friends. They come over. Electric saw off our toilet (yes, saw off our toilet.) Stick some chain/cord thing down there and pull who knows what up. Then just cement the toilet back on and say good to go (okay wait a day for the cement to dry but basically good to go) So turns out one of the big pipes had a problem and decided to attack our apartment. We luckily didn't have to pay... but.... we spent most of our Saturday cleaning up the interesting mess. Thank goodness for Clorox because our apartment now smells like a swimming pool.... Yes, I am all pooped out! :)

But on a sweeter note... Today we celebrated Sister Wattersons birthday and went to a super cute little boutique lunch place mom would have loved. It was a lot like "Food for Thought" but better. It is a school for disabled adults to learn how to live on their own and working in the food industry. So they have teachers help them make all the food. They have cute little crafts for sell. They are so sweet! The food was delicious and it was such a sweet experience.
Sister Liu, Bree, Jessica, Sister Pomeroy and her new companion Sister Cooper all joined us for the party. Sister Watterson made us share a cake and celebrate my birthday a little too because Sister Liu, Bree and Jessica weren't able to make it to my little birthday gathering. It was so much fun! I LOVE them all so much!

I LOVE all of you so so so so so sooooooo much!

Until next week!

Week 45

Hey! HEY! Hey!
This week has been good! It has been both busy and fun.
 
We have some really great investigators right now. Sweet Erika is preparing for baptism on the 8th of October. She is a testimony to me of prepared souls. We met her on the street and she was willing to come right to the church to sit down with us. She clarified her own baptismal date (which she decided should be the day the Prophet speaks aka Conference Saturday) She originally couldn't come to church for 2 weeks but we prayed that something would come up that would keep her here so she could come to church and something came up. Her friend changed her wedding day.... kinda big but so amazing and such a blessing. She also called us to tell us she bought a skirt because she noticed that everyone at church was wearing skirts. She is AWESOME! She is so sweet and outgoing  and prepared! I LOVE her! I probably shouldn't get to carried away with her preparedness... but she's awesome!

Also, sweet Sister Liu has had a desire to get baptized for the past month but cannot come to church for the full 3 hours. She has been coming to sacrament the past few weeks and has really enjoyed it and has seen many blessings from church, reading, and praying. She even received the blessing of sleeper better and longer which has greatly helped her. This week she tried hard to have a work associate help her take her clients on Sunday. That is HUGE! Sadly no one was available to help her but she did come to sacrament and was able to meet more members and talked to the Bishop for a few minutes.

We are truly seeing so many miracles. It is amazing! I believe it is from that extra Spirit that is there in training. It is AMAZING! Speaking of training... Sister Watterson is awesome. She really is so amazing! She is so prepared and so confident. I really admire that about her.

I am getting so excited for conference! We have the week delay but oh I just can't wait! I hope you all enjoy it!

I love you all so so so much!

Until next week!

Week 44

Nimen Hao!!!!!

It has been another great week here in Zhang Hua!

The birthday was a blast! We had a little celebration last preparation day. We made the cute cake you all sent and ate, ate, ate. It was so much fun! I loved reading all the letters from the fam. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I love you guys!

I am having so much fun training! Sister Watterson is amazing and really training me. She is ready to do it all and she is a fast learner. She is picking everything up so fast and she is laughing everyday. She is doing awesome! We really are so meant to be... we have so so so so much in common. It's crazy! We definitely were long, lost friends reconnected in Taiwan. I LOVE HER!

We had an awesome experience with Sister Liu this week. She is a work-a-holic. She said for a while that she couldn't come to church because she needed to work... Well a few weeks ago she had faith and found a way to come for sacrament and again the next week. This past week we met with her and she asked us what she should say when her clients offer her tea... she then told us how she told all of her co-workers and family that she doesn't tea, coffee, or alcohol anymore and she just takes her water everywhere.So awesome!!! I was so impressed by her change and dedication. It was a testimony to me of the hand behind the work. The Lord really does all the work... It is so amazing!

Also, we have seen a big change in Bree. When we first met her she was very down and seemed  somewhat angry, but now when we see her she's happy and smiling. She's willing to help and serve. I am learning so much about her and from her. She is such an amazing person. Her cute friend Jessica and other roommates commented on the change they have noticed and it brings so much joy to my heart! She is starting to feel the Saviors love! You can see that change in her countenance. It is glorious!

Yesterday was such a powerful Sabbath. Church was amazing! Both the Bishop and the Second Counselor spoke on the members welcoming investigators, new members, and less actives. They commented on how it is they must feel coming into the ward and the importance of loving them as the Savior does. The Bishop also talked about the father's role at home with scripture study and family home evening. It was amazing! After Church we were able to meet with the Bishop. It was so good. He told us of the goals that they have right now and what he would like us to help with and families to visit. I am so grateful for meeting with him. I know it will truly bless the work here in Zhang Hua 1st ward. While we were meeting with him I had this big impression that Sister Watterson needed to come to this area. This is where she needed to be trained and I needed to train her. I thought of all the amazing ways the Lords hands have been in the work regarding us. From the time we started thinking of going on a mission until now... It is truly miraculous!

Yesterday I also thought about the power of revelation. I was thinking about how powerful it is that we are receiving revelation for our investigators, new members, members, less actives, and even the people we contact on the street. It amazes me! The power, authority, and responsibility that we have. WOW! It is such a beautiful lesson of receiving revelation and truly such an amazing preparation for our future families and callings.

I love my mission! I cannot imagine my life without it now. It is so amazing and I will always be grateful for it. I love this work!

I love all of you so so so soooooooo much!!!!!!

Until next week!

Week 43

Wu An!!!!!

It has been such a great week!

Exciting news: I have a new companion!!!! Her name is Sister Watterson. And she is fresh from the states! Aka I am training!!! Ahhhhh!!!!!!! I was quite shocked when President Bishop called me but now I see that it was simply meant to be. She is amazing! She is from Logan. She is super sweet and funny... and her dad actually used to be the Mission President here so she went to an American high school in TaiZhong(TaiChung). She has totally hit the ground running. I am learning so much from her and her desire to serve. I love her!
 
This past transfer has been so great. I truly learned so much from and with Sister Pomeroy. We had so much fun together. I feel that we also learned how to better do the work the Lord's way. I learned so much from her personal studies and her beautiful testimony that she so fully shows through her example. I felt that I also learned so much about myself and that I now have a new love for myself. It was a great transfer! And good news we are still in the same zone so we will be seeing each other often! :)

We saw many blessings again this week. We have seen some big changes and some little changes but one thing that continues to amaze me is the power of change. We met with the cute Chen family this week and cute Sister Chen shared with us how her boss has noticed a big change in her since she got baptized. It is such a beautiful blessing to see these beautiful people that I love change because of the blessings of the gospel and through the power of the atonement. It is so amazing to me! 

We taught a lesson to one of our miracle new investigators this week... her mom passed a way a few years ago and her dad a few years before that. She expressed how she felt so lonely and hallow... I shared with her my testimony of the power of the atonement and the plan of salvation. I shared with her my testimony that I know that Jesus Christ did not only suffer for our sins but for our every trial, pain, sickness, sadness, He has felt it all. He knows each one of us. He loves us. He can and is willing to heal us. We are never alone.

I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of the gospel and for the beautiful blessing it is in my life. It has brought me so much peace and happiness. I am grateful that the Lord has given me this opportunity to represent Him and to share this gospel with these beautiful people that HE loves. He has continued to bless me with meeting those that are truly in need of my testimony. I love Him. I love this gospel. And I love this work!

I love all of you!!!!!!

Until next week!

Week 42

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!! I just wanted to start by telling you how much I love you! Sister Pomeroy and I played a question game with our investigator Bree this week to try to help her get to know us and help us get to know her in a casual way. :) We talked about our favorite memories and our greatest joys. I am happy to say that you, my family, was involved in all the answers. I thought of great memories of decorating the Christmas tree that we went to cut down and the many Labor Day festivals that I am sure you are experiencing right now... I LOVE YOU SO SO SO SO MUCH!!!! I am so grateful for you!

Also, THANK YOU FOR THE BIRFDAY PACKAGE!!!! I LOVE it! I am saving the sweet letters and something wrapped for nest week (if I can be that patient) THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Can't wait!

Today we had an awesome Sisters' activity up at the mission home. It was all the sisters in the north. It was so so so much fun to see everyone and chat and laugh.

This week has been awesome! We have seen amazing miracles. Sister Liu found a way to come to church which she thought was not possible before. Sister Lin (pics from a few weeks ago) had her sweet 9 yr old son explain to her the purpose of life and point out to her that he thinks its kinda of weird for them to be practicing Buddhism while they are also praying with Heavenly Father and learning of His gospel. Such a sweet testimony from a child which was exactly what she needed to hear and who she needed to hear it from. We have also seen a great jump in Bree. We have gained a good, trusting relationship with her. She has starting opening up to us. She has prayed during lessons and a little on her own. She has gone to church. She was willing to watch the Joseph Smith movie with us. I feel that because she is starting to be open to feel our love for her that she will also start being open to feeling Heavenly Father and the Savior's love for her.

We also met some amazing new investigators. One just randomly on the street and willing to come right to church to meet. Another while trying to visit a Less Active that just happened to move. Amazing and beautiful tender mercies :)

This transfer has been amazing and so fun! I am learning so much! I love it! And we are really starting to see the fruits of our labor here in Zhang Hua! So many wonderful blessings!

I love you all so much!!!!!!!!!

Until next week!!!!!!

Week 41

Qin Ai de Jia Ting!

This week has been spectacular! I absolutely LOVE my companion and I am so grateful to be serving with her.
 
I feel like lately I have been putting a lot of unnecessary pressure on myself. Let me tell you why... I think the hardest thing about missionary work is me. Yeah there are hard things that are expected like riding the bike in the heat, or up the mountains, getting rejected over and over again, and all that... But lately I feel that the hardest part of missionary work is me. My weaknesses. Sometimes I just get so annoyed with myself.... I want and desire so bad to be better. To be more like Christ. I know that through Him I can change. Everything is in my favor to change and become more like Him. But it doesn't happen at once. It is a life time process and I am so grateful that the Lord calls imperfect people to do His work.

Yesterday I had a little breakdown... I was sitting in sacrament and I was just hit with missing mom. I don't know why or what triggered it but I just needed to cry. I tried to hold it somewhat together until after sacrament. Then I made it to the bathroom and just cried... then sweet, sweet Sister Lin, our Relief Society President, walked in and asked how I was doing... I cried again. I told her about mom's passing and how I miss her so much... She just hugged me and let me cry and she said the same thing President Bishop said... Sometimes I just need to cry and let it out... It was truly such a tender mercy to have Sister Lin there especially because we have truly strengthen our relationship with her in the past few weeks and I love her so much and there is just a feeling of family. Truly a tender mercy.

I think sometimes I feel bad or guilty to breakdown or to think too much about my mom or home because it takes me away from the work... But, you know what, sometimes I need to cry. I think this goes back to the weaknesses... I want so bad to give everything to the Lord and His work. I want to serve with all my might, MIND, HEART, and strength... I realised I am doing my best and that is what the Lord asks of me. He knows my situation. He knows my strengths and my weaknesses. He knows me. I am so very grateful for my Savior. I am so very grateful to be doing His work.

I love you all so so so so so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Until next week!

Week 40

It has been a great week! Of course!

We have been getting no showed a lot lately... very few first lessons actually show. But we have been blessed to go outside and meet more people and have quick sit downs with them. Truly a blessing!

We have continued to work with less actives this week and we have seen so many blessings. We found 2 sweet families. One family's story is just a miracle. It all started with one daughter, Sister Chen, joining the church and then over time the whole family joined but now they are all less active. Went to go visit them this week and found out that there is a little granddaughter that just turned 8 and wants to get baptized. I truly believe this will help this family become active again and continue to see the blessings of the gospel. Sister Chen and her parents all came to sacrament on Sunday and heard the beautiful message from the Taiwan Taipei Temple President and his wife. What a beautiful way to get their focus to the temple!

We are seeing great blessings everywhere. Cute Bree (cute girl from last week.. here teaching english) went to church again yesterday and I believe she went to an activity up in TaiZhong on Saturday night. We continues to keep running into her and it has been such a blessing to have little moments to share gospel principles and we are planning to go to lunch with her on Wednesday so we hope we can find more ways for her to see and receive the blessings of the gospel again.

Today we had a fun outing with one of our investigators, Sister Lin. She is so pretty and is such a humble, genuinely good person. We went up to Ba Gua Shan with her today. I just love her!

A little note from President Bishop's letter again... I just loved it. "Sister Bishop and I attended the baptism of a Brother Huang whose wife joined the church 7 years ago.  She has been praying for his conversion since then.  Some 芖い Τ 快 猭 missionaries were able to invite him and help him come unto Christ.  Brother Huang now has the priesthood and will be able to baptize his daughter when she turns 8 in October.  The family is planning on being sealed in the temple in one year.  As far as temple work is concerned, they will be especially busy because his genealogy goes back 1300 years. Brother Huang proudly showed Sister Bishop and me the pedigree chart going back 25 generations of Huangs.  He is anxious to get started doing temple work."

The work is truly moving along here in Taiwan and I am so grateful to be a part of it!

I love and miss you all!!!!

Until next week!

Week 39

Nimen Hao!!!!!!!!!

It has been a great week! We are loving it here in ZhangHua! We are seeing miracles everyday! ZhangHua is getting ready to soar!!!

We have been busy busy and we love it!

Two miracles that we saw this week...

We met another less active member in our apartment. She is also one of the previous Bishop's wife. We met here because we were talking to the apartment manager and having him help us read the maps. Well he ended up calling her down to help us. She was really sweet and said that she is willing to help us anytime. She said that we are invited to come over and visit but she has no interest in going to church. We understand that her family relationship right now is a little rocky... We were able to go over one night and sit down with her kids. Her daughter even came to church yesterday!

We also had another miracle at our apartment complex... We have 4 cute English teachers that live in our apartment complex. We had talked to them about possibly helping us peike and different things and all said yes but her... Sister Pomeroy and I thought she might be less active so we decided to go stop by one night... Well it was the perfect timing because she was just coming home. We were able to talk to her and found out that her family is all members and that she was raised in the church but in college she had a really big trial and from the way her ward handled it she decided to withdraw her records from the church... We told her how truly loving the people are here and invited her to come to church. We were able to pray with her and truly testify of the love Heavenly Father has for her... She went to the English branch yesterday!

We also had another miracle in Taiwan this week. Here is a note from President Bishop's letter this week. "This week was also a record day in the Taipei Temple.  Last Saturday was temple day for 2 of the stakes from our mission.  Over 400 people were at the temple.  Five families from our mission were sealed to be together for eternity.   Twenty two individuals made covenants and received their own endowments.  The temple was bursting at the seams.  What a great problem to have!" One of the dear familes in our ward was one of those five families... They were just glowing yesterday! Such a wonderful and beautiful blessing!

It has been such a great week with hard work, funny moments, and lots of tender mercies!
I continue to be amazed by the miracles we see everyday! It is such a blessing to see the Lords hands in His work! I love it SO much!

And I love you sooooooooooooooooo much!!!

Until next week!

Pics...
1. Sister Huang's Baptism
2. Isn't she so cute? She is so funny!
3. Look out ZhangHua

Week 38

It has been a great week!

I love Sister Pomeroy, she is a fire cracker! It has been so fun working with her! She is so diligent and positive and I am so grateful to be serving with her. Last week I was a little nervous about going senior after all but 2 of our investigators dropped so I prayed for help and strength and direction... While praying I was filled with peace and an understanding of this is God's plan. I felt and understood why I needed to go senior, why Sister Pomeroy is my companion and what things I would learn from her, and why it was in God's plan for those investigators to drop... I was filled with peace and FAITH. Faith that we can do this!

With that we spent most of our week finding... We were so blessed to have 2 cute young women call us and ask us if they could come teach with us multiple times this week... it has been such a blessing. They have been willing to come to lessons, go tracting, ride their bikes, and read maps. It was such a tender mercy!

We have a cute sister really starting to progress... sister Zhang. We were talking to her yesterday about her baptism goal and she was just like "We all need to diligently work so I can hit this goal, let's do this together." She is so sweet and I fill that her desire id\s truly growing.. I am so excited to work with her and help her continue to work to hit this goal. She is AWESOME!


And our cherry on top...

Our sweet friend Sister Huang was baptized on Saturday!!!!! Oh it was a beautiful baptism. She bore the sweetest testimony... She is truly so humble.... She has been investigating for more than 2 years.... I wish you could have seen her beautiful smile and radiating glow when she was baptized... she was so very joyous.... It was a wonderful experience... I LOVE her!

Today we had and amazing experience... We were leaving our house to buy some things we need when all of the sudden I noticed I didn't have my name tag on.... Obviously we had to go back. I felt bad that we had to go back and get it... well when we walked into our apartment complex the manager pointed to a letter so I assumed it was for us but then he explain that is was for the previous bishop's wife. Then there she was and he introduced us and we could tell she did not want to meet us... Why? She actually went less active while her husband was serving as bishop (he was released the Sunday before I came to Zhang Hua) We started talking to her and she was really nice and said she would come to church on Sunday.... I realized after that that was why I forgot my name tag... All in God's plan!

I have loved this week! I have truly relied on the Lord and have felt of His love and guidance.....I LOVE THIS WORK!!!!!

I love you all so so so so much!

Until next week!!!!!!

Week 37

Nimen Hao

It has been a great and busy week!

BIG NEWS!!!!! I am now senior companion....ahhhhhhhh! So I might be freaking out just a bit.... It was a little bit of a surprise.... since I'm still pretty young in the mission transfers but I am excited for this new adventure (especially because I can't read the map haha)... My new companion is Sister Pomeroy! We were actually in the MTC together and became such good friends. We would always joke about the day we would become companions and now it is here! I LOVE her! She is from Texas (my first American companion haha) and she is such a great missionary.

The Chen family had their sweet baby! It was such an exciting day for them and I am grateful that they invited us to share in their new blessing and joy. Brother Chen said a beautiful prayer and prayed that his son would be able to go on a mission when he was older... it was so beautiful and such a wonderful thing to hear of what kind of a person they want their son to become and how they want to teach him the gospel. I love them!

We have a wonderful miracle investigator getting baptized this week. Sister Huang has been an investigator for almost 3 years. She has gone in and out and met with quite a few missionaries. She would go to church every Sunday but would not commit to baptism. She would attend a different ward than the one that she lives in. I met her one Sunday at church and we were able to meet with her a few times but she said that she did not want to get baptized..... Then one day I had a feeling we should try calling her and she said that the night before she was reading in 2 Nephi and now she knows that she needs to get baptized and she asked me when she could do it... I was so amazed I had to give the phone to Sister Li to make sure I understood her correctly..... It's been exciting and we are very happy that she can receive the blessing of baptism this week.

We also had some down falls this week. One of our investigators dropped out...  Sister Xu. We have been meeting with her for a few weeks. She seemed so golden. She loved learning about the gospel. She has a great understanding and remembered what we taught. It was really amazing. She lives in a nursing home and I believe she has autism or something like it because she is so smart. She was doing so great and then yesterday she brought a friend with her from this place that she lives to church. We could tell he didn't like us and that he was not interested. He kept telling her to leave and that she shouldn't meet with us or come to church.... later we found her and her friend smoking at church and she told us she didn't want to come to church anymore or meet with us.. It broke my heart. Especially because I don't feel like it is her true feelings or intentions. We want to try to meet with her again and see if that is truly her feelings or just her friend... :(

Well it's been a great week.... Excited for this week... freaking out a bit but its good!

I love you all so much!

Until next week!

Week 36

Oh Hey!

It's been a great and busy week! We were blessed with a lot of lessons... I love lessons!

Can I just tell you how much I love Sister Li?! She is such a great companion! She has so much faith. Her example is amazing! She is so diligent and humble... I love her! She was baptized 4 years ago. Her family doesn't support her. They don't write her yet she always says that she receives so many blessings so it's okay. She knows her family is being blessed for her service so all is well. SHE IS AMAZING! So much faith... I LOVE her!

Oh the Chen Family! When we went to visit them Brother Chen asked us when Sister Chen could go to the temple. It was so cute because he was so excited for her to go and said he'll go and wait outside for her... But wouldn't it be so much better if he could go onside. He said "it's not possible".... oh it's possible.... They are going to get there! Brother Chen finished the Book of Mormon this week and just wants more..... His desire and faith are building!!!! And their baby is coming this week! :)

We experienced many tender mercies this week. We met with the Lin family and had a beautiful "gift of tongues" experience. Sister Li and I were able to teach them without Sister Wu signing for us. We taught most of the Plan of Salvation from the Book of Mormon and pictures. Sister Li also took a month of sign language before her mission so she was able to sign a little and is picking it up fast... I was able to teach Mama Lin and started to recognize how it is she communicates with her eyes.... It was a beautiful experience.

One thing I have been amazed about this week is Heavenly Fathers plan for all His children... I see many ways the Lord has prepared me to do His work. He has prepared me to teach His children, and He knows which of His children I, Sister Bray, need to teach.... I am so grateful that He knows just where I am needed.

I love this work! It's rarely easy but it is His work. Therefore, I love it!

And I love you all so so so so SO much!

Until next week!

Week 35

HELLO!!!!!!

Oh it has been such an amazing week! I have so much I want to write but not enough time to write it :)

Sister Chen got baptized! WOW! Yep, Chen family, Sister Chen got baptized! She was just ready to jump and I wasn't going to stop her. It was a beautiful baptism! She bore a beautiful testimony. Surprisingly there were no problems with her baby bump getting all the way in the water. It was wonderful. And Brother Chen said that he has noticed a big change in his wife since she has gotten baptized which has also built his desire to be baptized... Oh I love this family!

We met an awesome family this week! A member in Taipei gave sent us an address of a family she knows that was interested in receiving a priesthood blessing.Well we went over to meet them and set up a good time for a blessing and found out that the referral, Sister Lin, has no hearing. Both her and her older sister are hearing impaired. We were able to communicate through writing back and forth. They explained to us that their mother had a stroke 10 years ago and has not been able to move or speak since and that they would really like for her to receive a blessing. We were able to set an appointment for the next day...... I cannot describe the beautiful feeling that was in their mothers room. She is so beautiful. Weak and fragile but truly beautiful. The blessing was beautiful. Tears were in every ones eyes. We were able to write down parts of the blessing so that her 2 daughters knew what she was blessed with. They were so grateful. They then reiterated what had been said... I was so amazed how they would sign to their mother and she would move her eyes and blink back. I was able to witness a beautiful miracle of the Spirit speaking to their hearts...It was truly such a beautiful experience I will never forget....Sister Lin and her older sister, sister's husband and 2 kids, and their member friend all came to church on Sunday. We found out one of the sisters in their ward can sign and it just so happens that she would be teaching the lesson in Relief Society that day... What a tender mercy from the Lord!

Today we had the beautiful blessing of going to the Taipei Temple. Oh it is a beautiful temple. I love the temple. I truly feel that it is such a blessing to have a temple so close and to be able to go on my mission. I realized again that that is why I am here... to help families be together forever.

Oh I love this work! It has been a great week!

I LOVE you all sooooooooooooooooooooo much!

Until next week!

Pictures
1 Sister Chen's baptism
2 Temple
3 Our District
4 My Comp and I

Week 34

It's been a really good and busy week! I love being busy....

We were able to meet with the Chen family a few times this week.. I love them! Cute Sister Chen is about to pop! They are so excited to have another baby. I love them! This week we saw a big miracle with Brother Chen....HE HAS QUIT SMOKING!!!! It is a miracle. When I first got to the area he was down to 1 cig a day... which is a HUGE improvement from his pack-a-day before. But it has now been 2 weeks with zero, zip, nothin, none, meiyou yige.... MIRACLE. He said every time he wanted to smoke he would pray and if that didn't work he would read the Book of Mormon and slowly the temptation would leave him.... AMAZING! I am so amazed by his faith! His wife has been able to attend church the past 2 weeks but Brother Chen's father really opposes him going to church and getting baptized. Brother Chen does not need parental permission but he works for his dad so he hasn't been able to get the time off to come to church.... BUT his wife told him all about church and he told us how much he wants to come to church and have the same experiences as his wife.... His desire is there. He wants to get baptized..... and he will! This family needs and deserves the blessings of baptism! Oh I LOVE them!!!!

We met some really cute new investigators this week, including 3 families! I feel so blessed to be finding and teaching families.... There is no better way to come unto the gospel of Jesus Christ than with your family. Truly such a blessing!

Well I'm sorry this is so short but my time is running low.....

I love you so so so so so so sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!!!!!

Until next week!

Week 33

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!!! I hope the fam's all having fun at a big BBQ and fireworks! I'm secretly hoping we get fireworks tonight... they do them randomly here so I thinking there is a good possibility :)

THANK YOU SO SO SO SO SO SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH FOR THE PACKAGE!!!!! Just TREMENDOUS (amazing haha) Zhende, tai hao le! I loved it so much! My companion, our investigators, members, and the beautiful people of Taiwan thank you for the foot spray. All the Amah's (grandma's) that keep telling me to wear long shirts and jackets thank you for the sunscreen. I love the shirts so much especially since they smell like home :) and the chocolate.... it's gone! Just Kidding... I have limited myself to one in the morning and one at night to make it last! :) Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I love you!!!!!

It's been a good week! We have some really great investigators... one is the Chen Family. They are so cute! Chen Jiemei is going to have a sweet baby boy at the end of this month... She's so cute and such a trooper. She's always so happy and bubbly. Her husband is really funny and so supportive of her. He's always running to go get her food and something to drink. They are a really cute family. Chen Dixiong's family protests him joining the church but said its okay for Chen Jiemei to join so we are really trying hard to help this FAMILY receive the gospel.

We also have a cute little old lady named Chen Mama. She is 77 yrs old and so sweet. She looks like she's in her 50's. She's still up and going. She is Buddhist so this week we focused a lot on the Savior, His atonement, and His resurrection which, I believe, really helped her better understand this gospel. She's just lovely.

Zhang Hui Zhu (last week) still has family fandui (protest) but is continuing to read the Book of Mormon and we're hoping to meet with her soon but it depends on her mom..... Also we found out cute Wang Yu Ying has family fandui.... she is so awesome. She reads the Book of Mormon writes questions that she wants to ask us. She is so great! ... These girls are so amazing! Truly beautiful daughters of God and they both love this gospel! I love them!

Oh I just love the people! The Taiwanese people are so sweet! They are so beautiful.....

This week in personal study I was reading in Mosiah... I love King Benjamin's address... I love how it says that they all came in families to listen to King Benjamin. They all turned their tents towards the temple to hear his words... I have thought about this in a few different ways... as their tents being their hearts, their minds, their focus.. towards the temple, or towards the words of the prophets, toward the Savior, towards things of righteousness... But I love that it is FAMILIES coming together to face the temple and hear the words of the Lord! Oh I love the Book of Mormon!

Well... my time is about up...

I love you all so so so so so much!!!!!

Until next week!

Week 32

I LOVE THIS WORK!!!!!

Oh it has been such a great week! Full of miracles and and tender mercies!!!!

Zhang Hua (Chang Hua) is so great! So I might have lied a little last week when I said it was like Salt Lake City... MUCH BIGGER! Its really city like... We do have some mountains which in a way makes it country side:) There are so many people everywhere. We have a university close to our house so its a pretty busy place. So fun!

Oh the people! I love our investigators! We have 5 investigators in their teens and they are all so much fun and they love the gospel! Zhang Jiemei is 14 and has such a strong testimony. She loves everything about the gospel. She is so amazing. But her mother won't let her get baptized... and said that for the next few weeks she can't come to church :( But she is SO strong! I love her!!! Then there's Wang Jiemei...wow! She's 17 and has been searching for the gospel. She asks the best questions...She came to church yesterday and LOVED it! I talked to her after and asked her what kind of feelings she had while she was at church. She said she felt like she was going to cry but didn't know why... the Spirit! We sat down with her and she said that she had the same feeling... the Spirit! We had a cute member that is also 17 with us and she testified to Wang Jiemei that is was the Spirit! Wang JM was so happy and asked "really?" "is this really what the Holy Ghost feels like?"... Then she said "I love this feeling." WOW!!!! Oh it was beautiful!

This week I have had a wonderful feeling of joy! So grateful for the gospel! Yesterday, I was asked to bear my testimony in both our wards because I'm the new missionary. Well as you all know I am usually a crier but yesterday... I was so filled with joy that I just wanted to shout "THE CHURCH IS TRUE!" I almost couldn't contain my joy and was just full of smiles all day... because... the church is true! It brings so much joy! It is beautiful! And this work... oh this work... It is the Lord's work and I LOVE IT! Oh it has been a great week

I believe this week has been so great because mom is here in Zhang Hua... I have felt her so much this week! I have felt her love and support. I have felt her while on the streets, in lessons, and at church. It has been such a beautiful blessing... It has reminded me of a scripture in D&C 50:40-44 "Behold ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now... " It is true that we cannot bear all things now but the Lord sends us angels to help us... I have felt that this week and I am so grateful. Oh it has been beautiful!

A great week!

I love you all so so so so much!

Until next week!

Week 31

Nimen hao!!!!

Well hello again!

I'm so happy to hear that the family is doing well and that the trip to St. George was so fun!

Well I have so news.... I moved! Just today haha I moved from the south to the north of the mission. Which means I am in the middle of the island in a place called Zhang Hua (sorry I don't know the old pinyin way of writing it but it's just south west of Tai Zhong (Taichung) I was told that I was going to the country side.... but I think not. So far it seems like Salt Lake City, just in Asia, and more crowded. But, I love it already!

My new companion is so great! (Yes, this is my 4th transfer and my 4th companion!) Her name is Sister Li. She is from Taipei. (I have really been so blessed with the natives) She has been a member for almost 4 years! She is amazing! I can already tell that she is a go getter. She loves this work. She loves setting goals and hitting them! She is so sweet and so helpful and it's just day one... I'm excited for this transfer!

As for leaving my old area... I has a mix of emotions when I got the call Sat night. I was so sad to leave my previous area. #1 because I love the people! We had some really great investigators progressing. Like Xu Jiemei (last weeks email) is getting baptized on Saturday. And Wang Jiemei (also from last weeks email has a goal to be baptized in 2 weeks) Oh I just love the people!  #2 I love the wards (which I guess can be included in the people) I honestly feel so blessed to have served in those wards. Shi Zhong and Ling Ya... Oh just amazing! I feel that the Lord sent me there because He knew my trial and He knew that the members and investigators would help me with out knowing my situation or knowing that they were helping me... Truly so blessed. I cried pretty hard in both wards bearing my adieu testimony... Such a great place!

One thing that was really impressed on me this last transfer was the power of the atonement. I felt the power of the atonement continuing to heal me. I also realized that sometimes I fall short and sometimes I make mistakes but through the power of the atonement I can be forgiven and the Lord can make my weaknesses become strengths (Ether 12:27) It is so beautiful!

Sorry this is so short but I hope the pics make up for it!

I love you all so so so much!

Until next week!

Pictures!
1-4 Dragon Boat Festival

Pic 5 is this beautiful building called the 85... so cool!

Pic 6 cool sidewalk art

Pic 7 cool statue art

Pic 8 Zha Bo Bo! This is the cute old man I told you about a few weeks back! He is 93 and so great! And by the way his cute nurse is reading the scriptures! He is amazing! What a missionary! (oh and yes that is my cute previous companion Sister Chen. She came for a visit this weekend... I love her so very much!)

P.S. It was so good to talk to the fam for Father's Day! I love you!

Sorry that's all for this week... I'll try to send more next week!

LOVE YOU!

Week 30

NI HAO!!!

What a week!

First thing... it is burning hot here :) I walk outside and I'm dripping in sweat... okay not dripping but it's bad. Luckily this week we had a blast of wind which leads me to a funny story... so we were traveling on our bikes to go help a new member move. It had been really windy all morning and it kept getting worse. Well when it's windy it's kinda hard to ride your bike unless you are going with the wind... any other direction... not fun. So I was on my bike and we were coming up on an intersection and I saw a woman on her scooter so I was riding up to go talk to her. Well right when I got up to her (while still on my bike) this big blast of wind came from the side and knocked me over and I fell on her.... SO AWKWARD and so funny. Don't worry she was okay but I still had to talk to her so I smiled. apologized. and then invited her to church in a very awkward manner... oh it was so funny! (Not to mention with the wind your skirts do interesting things... I'm pretty sure I don't need details with this one but its been a good, funny time)

This week we meant a wonderful former named Sister Wang. She is adorable! She said that she has been baptized but we haven't found her record anywhere. Anywho she is so great! She's read the Book of Mormon 4 times and is currently in Jacob... WHAT? Oh amazing. Well on Sat she invited us over to go meet her friend Luo Baba. So we went to where Luo Baba lives which is next to the highest building in Taiwan called the 85 (so pretty) well he lives across the street in between these two bike trails like the one behind our house. He had these 3 little shack things. Its really cool. Well Luo Baba loves to garden. He has this big tree in the shape of an elephant (yep Edward scissorhands style) Then some cool heart, sun, and moon trees. Oh do you want to know how old he is...72 and he is still climbing these trees. He also has a big bench press and I'm not even sure what other weight lifting equipment but I tried and could not move a thing but oh can he still do it. He does pull ups and gymnastic tricks and he is 72.... AMAZING! He is fun and Wang Jiemei is great so we are going to try to figure out the baptism thing and help her really enjoy the blessings of the gospel. And Luo Baba too :)

We have a few great investigators progressing right now. One, Xu Jiemei, is so great! We started meeting with her 3-4 weeks ago and she is so great! She has so much faith! She sweeps the roads so she is outside for most of the day. Her husband, mom, and dad are all sick so she is taking care of them. She is amazing. She wants to learn. We taught her the Word of Wisdom and she was just like "oh I didn't know that.. I will obey. I'll get rid of all my tea tonight." I was like "Wow!" such faith. No question just "I will obey." Love her!

So last week was the great Dragon Boat Festival!!! So fun! We went with the other sisters in our zone. We also found this really cool art area that had this awesome skate park. Sonny, you would love it! Its in an old art museum... so cool. It was a fun day!

Sorry this is so short and random but it has been a good week!

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Until next week!

p.s. pics next week!

Week 29

Ni hao with love from TAIWAN!

It's been a good week...

We had some ups and downs. Two of our investigators stopped progressing. Both have been in investigating for a few months. One seemed to drop and the other has stopped progressing. Both are wonderful and I love them. So that wasn't too fun... We have been focusing a lot on finding. This week we were blessed with a few great finds. A few a little on the crazy side... literally. Which led to some interesting lessons this week...

This week my testimony of prayer has been strengthened. As missionaries this is one of the first things we teach and I am amazed by the true power it has. It has been amazing with our interesting lessons how saying a prayer truly invites the spirit and can change the mood of the lesson completely. It has also helped bless and change investigators during lessons... So amazing.

We had a great ward activity on Saturday. It was so fun! The Relief Society President asked us missionaries to come up with some games to play at the activity. Well seeing as we all still have some kid in us we thought musical chairs would be a big hit and it was! I laughed so hard. We also had an egg toss (don't worry hard boiled eggs) Also very funny! And then a great animal efy game (yep my idea) SO FUNNY! The teenagers loved it! It was so fun and so many people were there. It was so great! A few investigators came and loved it.

As for a random side note... I have a new love.. MANGOES! Taiwan has the best fruit and this week my companion, Sister Hsin, introduced me to mangoes. Oh those delicious things!

Sorry this one is a little on the short side but we better get going to the dragon boat festival! I'll try to get some good pics for next week!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Until next week!

Week 28

Ni Hao!

It's been another great week!

Xu Ming Shan was baptized on Saturday! She was just glowing. She cried after the service (happy tears, don't worry). The service was beautiful and she had a lot of the ward there to love and support her. Ming Shan bore a beautiful and pure testimony. It was wonderful. So great! On Thursday we went out to dinner with her for her birthday. It was so fun! We dropped off flowers at her place the day before and we made her a card and gave it to her at dinner. She smiled so big when we gave it to her. She said that she's never had a birthday like this, that she had never had friends go out with her or make her something. She was SO happy! I love that feeling of helping others feel joy and happiness! Yesterday she was confirmed and received the Holy Ghost. The blessing was beautiful! The most beautiful I have heard. She cried again. She said that she could feel something special when they put their hands on her head. I told her it was the Holy Ghost. She cried some more and said that she loves this feeling. She is AMAZING!!!!

We had a wonderful mission conference on Friday! Elder Jay Jensen, a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, came to speak to our mission. It was wonderful! We woke up at 3 a.m. to be at the train station at 4 to get on a bus at 4:30 for a 3hour bus ride to TaiZhong (Taichung). We all slept on the way up (okay so the last hour we all chatted haha). That was fun! When we got off the bus we had all the north zones there waiting for us... I was so so so happy to see my friends. I ran to Sisters Reece, Rigby, and Miller and gave them all big hugs! It was so great to chat with them and hear of their areas and the beautiful people they have met.... The actual mission conference was AMAZING! Elder Jensen is a fabulous teacher. I wish I could say all that he talked to us about but there is not enough time and it wouldn't sound as good in my words. But one thing that he said is that "conversion is simply remembering what we taught and accepted before this life." I love that! Everything we teach, they already know. We are just sparking a memory. He also said that we all want to do good things but we have a battle between our spirit and our body. His example was a missionary's 6:30 wake up. The spirit is ready to get up and be obedient but the body thinks "just 5 more minutes." Its a battle we face all the time. Our spirit and the natural man. Oh it was such a great conference. Definitely worth the 3 a.m. wake up (and don't worry I changed my alarm to 6:25 just in case the 5 min thing happens haha)

I received a letter from cute You Jiemei, she was one the sisters baptized in my first area, and she is doing so well. She shared with me a beautiful testimony of the Book of Mormon and told me how much she is loving church and being a member! So great!!!

Other than that the week was full of lessons and contacting. Lots of contacting. We talk to everyone. People on bikes, scooters, and in cars. EVERYONE! I love that I get to bear my testimony so many times a day. I get rejected most of the time but I still love it!

Well it's been a great week!

I love you all so so so so much!

Until next week!