Week 13

Ni Hao!!!!

I made it!!!

It was a long travel ... and a little stressful... but I'm finally here!!!

I'm going to try to go in chronological order...

We got in late Wed night and did short introductions and then hit the hay....

On Thurs we had a full day of training, food, and interviews. We really got to know President and Sister Bishop. They are amazing!!!  They are both so sweet! They both love the gospel very much and are quite passionate about missionary work. I love them!

 That afternoon they threw us right into contacting as we were walking to dinner. It was crazy!!!! I loved it! Sister Rigby and I got to be companions for a little bit (she is the sister I met before I left and I could probably write an email just about how amazing she is and how blessed I have been to have her as my roommate and dear friend... oh I love her!) Anywho we were contacting and we stop to talk to this sweet girl when we noticed we lost our group...... of course it would be us to get lost the first day here... we actually didn't start to panic... we said a prayer and within a few minutes we saw President Bishop walking aka storming down the other side of the street... we were so happy to seem... we thought he was going to be mad but once we walked over we could feel how much he cared and how worried he was even if we were only lost for 10 min. He is great!

After dinner we went to the night market... oh is that a crowded place! We found out that we would be doing what is called Dan Jones night haha...YEP! So we started with singing Love At Home and then the AP's and office Elders got on the boxes and started yelling... Oh did we get a crowd! Then we each had to get on the box one by one and yell our testimony.... once we stepped off an older missionary would grab our arm and take us into the crowd to contact.... It was awesome! It really was so fun! Both President and Sister Bishop Participated. It was crazy packed so we talked to a lot of people and all together we got almost 300 referrals!!! Such a fun night!

Friday was the day of goodbyes, find your trainer, and find your area.... i wasn't a fan of the goodbyes but the trainer part was really cool! I was the last one to find out who my trainer is... talk about a test of patience... Her name is Sister Koay. She is awesome! She is from Malaysia (so she is fluent in Mandarin and like 30 other languages... English being one of them) She plays the guitar and loves to sing. She loves cities and is not a fan of the outdoors so we are quite different in that way... she's pretty quiet. She mainly gives me correction and the rest I find out from asking her. She is an amazing missionary and she really loves the people! I'm in the Gaoxiong (Kaohsiung) area. It's down in the south and its a crazy, big, and beautiful city!... and yes the city does scare me a bit but I'm getting used to it.

Friday night was pretty hard.... the language is tough. The roads are crazy. I like the bike but I'm still getting used to it. I was having a really hard time contacting on my bike and was about in tears when i went up to a couple and they were like oh you are the new sister... Song Jiemei.... they told me there names which i didn't understand but then the lady said just call me Susan!... It totally changed my feelings...

Saturday we hit the ground running! We had 5 lessons!!! 3 were progressing investigators and 2 were 1st lessons. It was crazy... I didn't understand almost all of them but they were all kind and smiled when I tried to teach or share my testimony... one of our investigators, Hao Mei, is pretty close to getting baptized! They are all so great and I love them.. even if i can't pronounce all of their names :)

Sunday was amazing!!! I needed it even though I didn't understand almost all of what was being said, i needed the sacrament.We cover 2 wards and they are both so amazing! Members are so involved! They are all so sweet. I really wanted to get to know the members so I tried hard to talk to them and it mainly went well.. I didn't understand alot and they didn't understand me but the spirit was there and that's what matters.

After church I talked to a sweet girl and helped her fill out an application to BYU Hawaii. Her English name is Phoebe. She attended Snow college so her English is really good! It was so great to have someone to talk to. She helped me so much! I love her!

Tonight we are having FHE with a few of our investigators and the ward mission leader. It truly is amazing how the ward gets involved and it is so needed. I'm so excited...

Over all it has been a great but very hard week... the Lord has given me a tender mercy everyday to help me get along... I feel so blessed to know that He is with me ALL of the time. I love Him!

Well the field is white so I must be going!

I love you all!!!!

Until next week!

Week 12

Ni Hao!!!!!!

Wow! 12 weeks went by so fast!!! I can't believe it!

This week has been a little crazy but great! I'm not a huge fan of goodbyes but its time for them and i know there will be goodbyes my whole mission. Yesterday in sacrament we sang the efy medley (as sisters in Zion and we'll bring the world his truth and yes i might have helped recommended it) I cried my little eyes out. I always cry when i sing that song but yesterday was especially bad! The whole zone was in tears...

I have absolutely loved the mtc..... but i am very excited to get into the field! I'm so excited to meet people and try to talk but realize i don't understand them at all! :) Our branch president said that it's kind of like the plan of salvation... the mtc is pre-earth life and then when you get to Taiwan you'll realize that you went through the veil and that's why you can't understand the language!.. Funny guy! But that really is what i am expecting :)

So yesterday i was thinking about what areas my testimony has grown the most here at the mtc and i decided to mention just a few.... Prayer works- it truly amazes me. I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers every prayer. I have felt that over and over again here and i am so grateful for it. You can find any answer in the Book of Mormon. My love for the Book of Mormon continues to grow every time i read. I am so grateful for it and other scriptures. The Saviors love for everyone. My testimony of the atonement continues to grow.... It is so amazing what the Lord has done for us. HE LIVES!!!! It is so amazing!

I love this gospel!!! It is truly amazing!!!

I am so excited to serve and represent the Lord!

I love you all!!!

Until next week!

P.S. I'm flying to Taiwan tomorrow!!!!! :)

Week 11

Ni hao!!!!!

Another great week!!!!

So funny story first.... I threw up during one of our lessons this week. It was so bad!!! Sister Smith was teaching one of our investigators how to pray and i started to get this sour taste in my mouth... you know how it is.... so i tried really hard to wait until she was done. Then i just blurted out "Do you have a bathroom?" I didn't even wait for the response... I just ran down the hall to the bathroom. It was so funny!!!

The foot is great!!!!! I've been without the boot since Thurs.  I went to 3 different doctors on Fri to talk about leaving on the 8th and i got a unanimous YES!!!! I'm so excited!!!
Physical therapy is going great!

I got my travel plans on Thurs!!!! It was so exciting!!! Guess who is the travel leader?.... ME!!!!! Haha! So it means they have to send me! I basically just have to make sure everyone gets there... I'm just a little nervous for the international part.... But it's going to be great!!!! 14 hour flight here i come!!!!!

So i read a beautiful talk from Elder Holland this week about missionary work and the atonement titled Missionary work and the Atonement :) He said that missionary work has to be hard... Whether it's full time missionary work or member missionary work.... It has to be hard because we are disciples of Christ and if we are representing the Savior then we need to spend a few moments in Gethsemane.... It has to be hard because salvation isn't cheap. It made so much sense. Everything that is of great spiritual worth requires much from us. We grow the most when we are stretched!

I love the gospel and I'm so excited to get out to Taiwan!!!


I love you all!!!!

Until next week!!!!!

Week 10

Ni Hao!!!

What a week!

So i received a beautiful tender mercy today....

I was waiting in the lobby for a ride to go get some new shoes to fit my new orthodics.... So my companion and i were just waiting and i saw this cute girl walk in. I thought to myself "she looks familiar"... Guess who it was?.... WHITNEY ROBB!!!!! I tear up a little. She was here volunteering at the TRC so she really is only in the lobby for a quick minute so i was so so so so so happy to see her. We got a few pics then said our goodbyes... It truly was an answer to my prayer! I love just love her and i love how the Lord works!!!!

So to the foot... Its doing good. I went to the doctor and I'm now doing physical therapy 3 times a week. The goal is to have me out of the boot (which i named Olga) on Thurs or Fri. They said they aren't positive on my departure day yet... They said that they might have to wait until Feb. 7th to decide.... But it's going good!!!!

Good news... Gao Dixiong is getting baptized!!!!! Since the middle of Dec. we have been trying to figure out how we can help this man understand why he needs to be baptized. He was baptized in China and he felt that there was no need for him to receive baptism again... He knows Joseph Smith was a prophet. He loves the Book of Mormon and will testify that it is the word of God. He also loves church... We thought he didn't understand authority so we spent some time teaching him about that and he still didn't want to be baptized... All of the sudden (10 minutes before the lesson) the Spirit made it clear to me... He doesn't understand the apostasy..... So we changed our whole lesson and only taught the apostasy... He put it together himself and asked "so the person that baptized me didn't have the authority?" .... we said a nice no.... he then asked "well who does and when can i receive baptism?"........ I was in complete awe!!!! It was amazing. I felt the Spirit so strong and truly had to rely on His help... I'm so happy for him.

So many good things have happen this week! I wish i could write more!

My companion is awesome! We are learning a lot from each other.... I love my roommates, my district, my zone, my teachers, and i love this Gospel!!! I'm so so so grateful for the knowledge and testimony i have! I'm so excited to share this joy with the people of Taiwan!

I love you all!!!!

Until next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Week 9

Ni hao!!!

What a week!!!!

So i have a new companion!....

Her name is Sister Smith! She is originally fr Alaska and she is awesome!!!! She lived in Taiwan when she was 16 for 10 months and loved it. She also studied in China for  a semester and taught English in Japan for a semester so lets just say that she loves Asia!!!!

She is so sweet and caring! She's also a lot of fun!...

I'm not going to lie at first i really missed my Sister Reece and Okada (even though we still live in the same room and we're still tin the same district. which, by the way, has more sisters than Elders so that's kind of different but we love it)

I was also a little nervous about really being senior companion.... I knew I was supposed to teach her the  ropes and i wanted to do it right but i have learned that i really can only do my best.

the whole investigator situation has been crazy... each teacher wanted to do something different... at first i lost all but one investigator... then i got all of them back... then we decided to split in a weird way..... Just so we're clear my investigators are really my teachers... I'm sorry if i made it seem like they were real... it really feels way real... i cried a lot this week because i missed them so much and because i love them so much.... so i lost them, then i got them back, then we split them... so we are starting with 3... GAO (old), Liu (old but starting again with lesson 1), and Yang (new investigator) So exciting! We only taught once this week because of the craziness of deciding and because Sister Smith is overwhelmed  enough as it is so I'm really excited to get teaching again.. I have missed it dearly...

My foot is doing much better! It still gets a little sore but I have the shoe inserts now and they are helping tons... Thanks mom and dad! i have an appointment on Thursday SO hopefully it goes well and the Dr will say that I'm good to go (my branch president wants me to get some cortisone shots to help speed it up even more so we'll see what the doc says) 

Best part of the week... Guess who came to visit.... Elder Holland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So amazing! He spoke to us Tues. night and it was absolutely amazing! I know it is exactly what the Lord wanted us to hear!!!! He talked about many things but I'll just name a few from my 5 pgs of notes... yes front and back.... My favorite part was when he talked about the apostle Peter... He talked about the Savior asking Peter if he loved Him? .. Peter said Yes.. and the Savior said more then these nets, boats, ores... peter  said yes... Savior asks again Peter says yes... then the Savior asks if he loves Him more than anything... Peter says yes i do.... the Savior then says then feed my sheep... He told the story so powerfully.. I realized that i need to be better at showing my Savior that I love Him... More than anything.... It truly was so amazing and powerful!!!

I wish i could write more but I'm out of time!!! 

   Love you all!!!
  
   Until next week!!!!

Week 8

HELLO!!!!

So this week has been an exciting one!!!

My foot is feeling better. The boot is still interesting.... As of right now I'm still on track with my departure date which i found out today is Feb. 8th :) so exciting!!! As for the fun steroids they put me on...I'm done with them. Literally. I finished the pack a few days ago and I'm feeling great!!

We got new missionaries this week. A total of 24 only 5 sisters!!! Its very exciting though.

Our investigators are doing great! We finally got a hold of Liu Tai Tai! We were so excited to teach. We of course thought that she had read the whole Book of Mormon and she wants to be baptized but when we asked if she had prayed she said no. When we asked if she had read of the Book of Mormon she said no. When we asked if she remembered what we talked about last time she said no. When we asked if she still believed in God she said no.....it broke my heart.

Some interesting news for the week.... we found out on Friday that we have a new sister coming into our district which means that they are splitting our companionship and one of us will be her companion... We still don't know who. We were hoping to find out today but haven't yet. With this comes a lot of turns. Whoever is companions with her is basically changing areas so we will have all new investigators so if its me I'll definitely miss our investigators..... Lets just say it suspenseful.... I'll let you know next week!!!

Its been an amazing week and Ive learned a lot!

I love it here!

I love all of you!

until next week!

Week 7

Ni Hao!!!!

It's been another great and EXCITING week here at the MTC!

This week I experienced my first time on crutches.... Don't worry mom. I'm okay!

A few weeks ago my right foot started bothering me... After a few days I decided to go to the trainers during Gym.They didn't know what was wrong and just said to relax it for a few days and sit out in gym.So I did and it got worst. I went back to the trainers and they gave me some exercises. On Wednesday the pain got pretty bad and started shooting into my ankle and up my leg so I went to the doctor here. He didn't know what it was so he sent me to Urgent Care.They didn't know what was wrong so they put me on crutches until I could get in to the podiatrist which wasn't until Friday... Crutches in the MTC are kinda funny. Well me on crutches is funny. First day an Elder took one of my crutches out with a door when he was coming out of the bathroom... I fell into the wall. It was pretty funny. The next day I fell on my face in front of a group of Elders...I'm still not sure how it happened exactly except my good foot gave out and I couldn't work the crutches... also a good laugh. I finally went to the doctor on Friday and we figured it out...TENDINITIS!!! I guess its a pretty bad case. I'm in a boot for 3 - 5 weeks and they gave me some steroids.... I'm hoping it heals really fast cause I need to be able to walk on the plane without the boot!!!!  So with all that, its been an exciting week!

We had an amazing devotional on Tuesday. Elder Snow from the Second Quorum of the Seventy came to speak to us. It was amazing!!! One thing he said that I loved is "a testimony is something we know and feel but a conversion is something we do and become." He said this year instead of making a list of all the things we want to do in 2011 we should make a list of what we want to become! I honestly recommend it even though the year has already started.

It has been an amazing week full of laughs and the Spirit! I hope it was the same for all of you!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I love you!