Well, yesterday church was canceled because of a "typhoon." They called it on Saturday night, but we woke up Sunday morning to a blue, sunny sky. Haha. Saturday night the winds got really bad and some of the streets flooded etc. Sunday night it POURED rain and the second typhoon hit while we were sleeping. It's still raining and will probably keep at it until Tuesday. Happy Typoon season! We just got out of the rainy season, so now instead of always raining, it will be very hot with occasional storms.

This week was really good! We met with Sister Chen, who was baptized last week. We talked about the gift of the Holy Ghost and how to pray so that we can receive answers from Heaven. Our bishop told her that it's okay if she attends a different ward on Sundays... so we are still trying to help her understand the purpose of a ward and priesthood keys. We thought she got over that roadblock before her baptism, but it seems the bishop brought it back up again. On Saturday she took us out to a really nice lunch at a five course meal restaurant SUCH GOOD FOOD!


We also ate some really really gross squishy thing at a members house this week. Pic below.

Xray time!

Back at the doc getting an x-ray on my arm.

Some pics

A little site seeing + my mango and dragon fruit breakfast!

Sister Chen's baptism

Sister Chen's baptism!

Sister Martin

Things are going great!

Monday: We had a good pday and  then went to visit an investigator who hadn't been responding to our calls. It seemed to a pretty well and we got to meet some of her family. She also gave us a TON of fruit!! The elders called while we were there and told us we had to move some mattresses from their apartment, so we headed over and had to find a way to transport them to our house. Pics to come!

Tuesday: Today we met with a member to get to know her and as we talked, she told us that her mom has actually expressed interest in the church before and has even had missionaries visit her before, but what they shared about Joseph Smith was overwhelming and she didn't want them to come back. I assured the member that we could help her mom feel comfortable and help her "meet God" by sharing a simple message about who He is. I have found that many members are uncomfortable about inviting missionaries to teach their friends and family because they don't know what to expect. We have seen the ward respond when we are able to set clear expectations with them about what we will teach and share.

Wednesday:  Probably one of the single most powerful and impactful days of my mission. We started out the day with some contacting at the morning market and a visit to an lady who has an HERBALIFE shop. She has felt a little bit attacked by some church members who claim her products are against the Word of Wisdom and it was good to talk to her and help her refocus on her relationship with God despite the setbacks or judgments of people. We set up a time to visit her again and have a real lesson. We visited another lady after lunch and talked to her about the importance of daily scripture reading. It was amazing as I talked with these people how the Lord blessed me to feel even just a small part of how He feels about these children of His. I really felt impressed to take the time to know them and I know they felt listened to a cared for. What a wonderful call we have as missionaries! She said to my companion: "When I hear her voice, I just know that she is a good missionary." That was a tender mercy of the Lord to know that I am really on His errand and that He is shaping me into who He wants me to become. We then headed to a member of the YWs presidency to visit with her. She has cancer and both of her children are baptized, but now less active. The Relief Society president usually visits her each week, but she was busy this week and asked us to cover for her. I really felt that I was ministering to the "one" just the way Christ did. We gave her a cute paper dress and taught her how to make them and she invited us to teach the YW so they could give it to their family or some less active girls in the ward. We shared one of my favorite scriptures: Alma 36:27 about trusting God and His deliverance from trials in His timing. It seemed to be just what she needed! The Spirit really does give us what should say. Right before we left, she began to cry and thanked us for visiting, for loving her, and for coming all the way to Taiwan, so willing to serve God. It was such a special moment. Sister M and I both got a little teary and something whispered to me "This is my work." I knew that God was there. I felt like a true representative of Jesus Christ visiting the sick and afflicted. I felt a voice affirm "I am with you." This Gospel is real! This work is real! Christ is our Savior, and He is at the head of this work!

Thursday: DTM and another day full of great lessons. Our investigator Sister Chen has decided to get baptized!! We are very excited about this next step for her and we know this will bless her life. We also absorbed the investigators from the elders that left our area, and so we met a new investigator, Wilson. He is also very close to baptism and we hope we can help him take this next step.

Friday and Saturday: 
Baptismal interview for Sister Chen and exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders in Dongying ward.

Sunday: Crazy day with lots to do and lots of people to talk to. We planned the baptismal service for Saturday and had really productive Ward Coordination. We came away with a list about a mile long of things to do! Love that!

I have learned on my mission that the quality of the relationships with have with people is so much more important than the quantity of baptisms or investigators we have. We have to love people and minister unto them as the Savior did.

We have recieved 3 potential referrals for investigators to teach, and 3 LA members to work with and encourage. I have never seen this kind of success on my mission! I heard a missionary say once that "working with the ward is working with the Lord." That is so true! I have felt so motivated to do the work here in Wu Feng and I know it's because I am following the Lord's will for this part of His vineyard.

I love you all and I think of and pray for you daily!

Photos below:
Us trying to drag these mattresses home so we had to use our bike reflectors to attach them!
Notes we wrote to members. Note my origami skills!

Last FHE in Tainan

Greetings from the mountains

Greetings from the mountains! Haha. Kind of. My new area is right on the border of Taizhong and goes into the mountains about 17 km to the south and 15-20 km to the east. The ward has around 40-60 active members with a total membership of about 300 people. There are two small universities nestled in the mountains here, Asia University and Chaoyang University of Technology.  We actually live in the outskirts of Taizhong, in a district called Dali. Our chapel is about a 25 min bike ride to the west and it takes about 20 min to ride into our area from home. Most of the members lives further out in Wu Feng, so it takes about 40-55 min to really get anywhere to meet with investigators or find members' homes. Yay for exercise! It's beautiful here and the area is very clean which my lungs appreciate. The ward seems to be supportive of the missionaries in some ways, but in other ways it may take some time... the missionaries who were here before were all about contacting, and finding new investigators, so they never took time to get to know the ward. The members seem to think the missionaries are too busy to do anything to help the ward. We are going to change that!! This week we met with the ward mission leader, the Relief Society president, most of the Recent Converts and a few LAs. There were also a lot of non progressing investigators that missionaries had just been holding onto for a long time. We have already dropped quite a few... and may have to drop a few more. Unfortunately sometimes you have to reset and have a fresh start to get things moving again. We have a plan to visit the ward members and to find some part member families to start working with. The members have to trust us for this work to happen effectively! The area reminds me a lot of Zhanghua where I was trained. Tainan was more city, so it the pace is faster there. Here it's more relaxed and feel a bit more like myself here. There's a spectacular view of the mountains from my new apartment. Sister Martin is super great and we are already good friends. We both have the same perspective about missionary work. It's all rooted in love. We have to take the time to build relationships. We are here to represent Jesus Christ and His love for everyone. I am excited for good things ahead in this area!!

Moving to Wufeng

Hello from Wufeng in Taichung! We actually live in a place called Dali which is in the city, but our area is about 30 min away into the fields and mountains. Some craziness from this last week:
-I moved to Wufeng.
-A few elders from our district finished their missions and went home RIP Elder Christensen and Grisent!
-Susan almost got baptized... (see the story below)
-We got SOAKED in the pouring rain (again!).
-We got super lost trying to visit a place called AnPing and while trying to find our way home actually ended up in AnPing hahahaha.
-Went on exchanges in Gaoxiong.
-Tried orange Coke. Not bad.

This week was crazy. Susan called us on Monday night and wanted to meet. She told us she wanted to get baptized on Saturday, so we scheduled the interview, but then she actually had to get a second interview and we played phone tag trying to get that set up. We finally had to move the baptism to 7/8 which was frustrating. Turns out it worked better that way for Susan because she had a big test for work on Saturday when we had originally scheduled the baptism. But then we found out I was moving... which came as a surprise! Susan was not happy that I will be missing the baptism. She had her second interview at church yesterday and the baptism is scheduled for later this week. It's been so wonderful to work with her and to see her gain a testimony of the truth! She asked for a priesthood blessing on Friday for her test and she said she was really able to feel the power of this holy authority. She said "Wow. This church is really cool."

I realized yesterday at church what a good ward we have and the relationships I have with people in the ward are so special! I love Tainan! I will miss my fave Sister Schlag the most though! We had a good run and we will stay good friends. The mission blesses you with so many wonderful experiences and especially people.

I am sad to leave Tainan, especially with Susan's baptism scheduled for next week, but I know is all in the Lord's timing and plan. I am excited for a new adventure here in Wufeng ward with Sister Martin. Change is always a good opportunity to refocus and make goals. Some personal goals I have include meeting, learning, and loving the ward right away and also taking more time to study Preach My Gospel along with some other language goals I have created. I hardly believe I've already been a missionary for a whole year!! I am excited to full dedicate my time efforts to the Lord in these last 6 months. I feel like all this time the Lord has been building me up and now I am ready to use the skills and experiences to bless those around me to the fullest extent I can.

Moving!

Well, my all too short time in Tainan has come to an end. I'm leaving Tainan first ward to go back up north! I will be serving in Taizhong, Wu Feng Ward. I attached a map to chow you! I've heard it's pretty, and it's right by my old area Zhanghua, so I think I'll take a P-day and go visit my old ward. I'll be emailing again this afternoon and I'll update you on everything. I'm going to be serving with a Sister Martin who has been out about 7-9 months.

Arrived in Wu Feng

Hello from Wufeng in Taichung! We actually live in a place called Dali which is in the city, but our area is about 30 min away into the fields and mountains.

Some craziness from this last week:
-I moved
-A few elders from our district finished their missions and went home RIP Elder Christensen and Grisent
-Susan almost got baptized......
-We got SOAKED in the pouring rain
-We got super lost trying to visit a place called AnPing and while trying to find our way home actually ended up in AnPing hahahaha
-Went on exchanges in Gaoxiong
-Tried orange Coke. Not bad.

This week was crazy. Susan called us on Monday night and wanted to meet. She told us she wanted to get baptized on Saturday, so we scheduled the interview, but then she actually had to get a second interview with the mission president's counselor..... and he never answered.... so we played phone tag with him and the mission president and finally had to move the baptism to 7/8 which was frustrating. Turns out it worked better that way because Susan had a big test for work on Saturday. It wasn't too much of a big deal, until we found out I was moving... which we should have seen coming but came as a surprise! Susan was not happy that I will be missing the baptism. She had her second interview at church yesterday and she's finally calmed down about everything :). She is sassy for sure! It's been so wonderful to work with her and to see her gain a testimony of the truth! She asked for a priesthood blessing on Friday for her test and she said she was really able to feel the power of this holy authority. She said "Wow. This church is really cool."

I realized yesterday at church what a good ward we have and the relationships I have with people in the ward are so special! I love Tainan! I will miss my fave Sister Schlag the most though! We had a good run and we will stay good friends. The mission blesses you with so many wonderful experiences and especially people.

I am sad to leave Tainan, especially with Susan's baptism scheduled for next week, but I know is all in the Lord's timing and plan. I am excited for a new adventure here in Wufeng ward with Sister Martin. Change is always a good opportunity to refocus and make goals. Some personal goals I have include meeting, learning, and loving the ward right away and also taking more time to study Preach My Gospel along with some other language goals I have created. I hardly believe I've already been a missionary for a whole year!! I am excited to full dedicate my time efforts to the Lord in these last 6 months. I feel like all this time the Lord has been building me up and now I am ready to use the skills and experiences to bless those around me to the fullest extent I can.