Monday, July 20, 2015

So this week was filled with a lot of bundiren...aka a lot of Taiwanese companions.  3 exchanges this week and I realize that my Chinese still needs a lot of work.  A lot.

We had interviews this week with president Jergensen and he took sister Jenkins and I aside and told us we are one of the leaders in our mission and told us to set an example.  Not that we were doing anything bad, but he told us as we hit the standards of excellence the sisters in our zones would do the same.  So...we raised our vision. And now Xinzhu is on fire.  YES! On fire with the gospel and with the spirit.  Why is God so great?!

Funny story. Our patio flooded because the hose that connects to the washer broke...so water all over the floor.   I spent the rest of my P day mopping that up.  I also broke down and got Cheerios at the store.  Glorious sweet mother of goodness.  Cereal. I don't know how they do without it here. 

Something that was shared in district meeting this week was that we are all a family.  God is our father.  But we are a pretty broken family. Our job as missionaries is to gather and restore the broken and scattered family of Adam.  And if you read in the Bible Dictionary it says that Ephraim's responsibility is to preach the gospel to mend the bond between Ephraim and Judah.  So literally speaking our missionary efforts are healing the bonds of brotherhood that binds us all together.  Cool right?

So we actually got a member referral.  She's only meeting with us because her parents are meeting with us but we're working on it, so hopefully, we can change that. Afterward lunch we were coming out of the family mart and I saw this lady sitting on this chair and felt like talking to her.  So we went up and talked to her and shared #becauseHeLives and taught her prayer.  She said she had this really weird feeling in her heart like not a hot feeling but really warm...guess who? It's an amazing experience to help someone do their first prayer. so amazing! And guess what?! We gave her a baptism date!

It really is interesting how unhappy people get when they don't have something to do and a lot of people don't realize it.  Working hands are happy hands.  But it's so hard to get up and actually do something sometimes because our natural man gets in the way and we want to be lazy.

It really is interesting how unhappy people get when they don't have something to do and a lot of people don't realize it.  Working hands are happy hands.  But it's so hard to get up and actually do something sometimes because our natural man gets in the way and we want to be lazy. 

I emailed Seth last week and he hasn't emailed me.  Yet.

I think it's crazy I only have 6 months left. I feel like I'm going to be so out of place when I get home. No worries I'll be excited to come home and see you, but I would have just spent a year and a half devoted to the Lord.  Every minute every second planned activity to bring about the salvation of souls. I'm don't know how to balance it with real life. how do you make that change from full-time missionary to member missionary? They seriously need an MTC for returning missionaries (member training center). Maybe just one day to get us prepared to be fully active members of society.  I don't know...got any thoughts? 

God is amazing! so incredible and awe-inspiring!
Love you all!
Yu Jie mei

Companion lunch

Flooded patio

Me and Sister Jenkins

Monday, July 13, 2015

Why is time flying by so fast? This week seriously flew by. It was a little xinku, but it still flew by nonetheless. 

Oh yea....by the way....1 YEAR BABY! IT'S OFFICIAL! I'M AN OLD MISSIONARY AND ONLY HAVE  6 MONTHS LEFT!!! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!

So all of our peikes either the member fanged us or the investigator fanged us.  It was a little rough but we made the best of it. There's a rainbow after every rain cloud. The amazing thing about this week is we were able to find and meet with a lot of LA's. constantly finding. always and forever. that's the trick.

We met with Ling JM and she is so amazing. We shared the 3rd lesson with her even though we hadn't shared the second lesson with her and we started off by talking about God and how he's perfect and how we should be like him. that started a discussion about how God has a body of flesh and bone. Then she asked what the purpose of life was. An Alma 34:32 later she asked how we can return to God which led perfectly into the 3rd lesson. I never understood when people said we need to direct the lesson so the investigator asks inspired questions until that point. it was an amazing experience. She tells us every time how excited she is to meet with us and how happy she is every time. success!

Something interesting they said during sacrament meeting was we are all God's investigators. How does God answer our questions? how does he teach us? I feel like that's the key to teaching.Teach how God teaches us.  

We met this lady this week who believes she has the priesthood and that her mom saw Jesus Christ.  I always wonder about that.  I mean seriously.  everything that makes a person do good is of God and opposite is of the Devil, but the Devil will tell you 10 truths if he can slip in 1 lie, so how does that work?
My companion lost her shoe this past week in the middle of the road and it was pouring rain and I was the night in shining armor that went to save it. I guess it was pay back for making Hailey's shoe fall off in China....cars in Taiwan :)

We had two zone meetings this week...so tiring...we had to walk 40 in in hot weather there and in pouring rain on the way back. 

 

 

Me and my Companion Sister Jenkins

1 year mark before the 40 minute walk in the rain

1 year mark AFTER the 40 minute walk in the rain

Monday July 6, 2015

You know you're sweaty when you kneel down to start DPS and you slide all around during the prayer because your knees are so sweaty. It's definitely an experience.  Sweat skiing...it's a thing :)

So this week has been crazy!! I cannot believe it. I think this is the first companion I've been instantly friends with that I haven't killed.  It's been so much fun! 

This week we met with Ling Jie Mei (actually wu jie mei) and we weren't sure if she was going to progress, but we met with her on Tuesday and read 1 Nephi 1 with her and talked about it.  She told us she loves meeting with us. She doesn't know why but she always feels happy when she meets with us. Yes...spirit power! And she agreed to come to church.

During the week we had Jedi Council in Taipei and got to meet the new mission president. HE IS SO AMAZING! I was really nervous to meet him because President Day and Sister Day were so amazing and I love them so much I wasn't sure how the new President would be.  Well, he is just as good as President Day. Different, but still awesome :)  He talked to us about how excited he was and we could all feel the spirit and knew he was supposed to be heret.  Trust God's servants.

This week we met this super cute zhen JM and she was super cool except for the next time she met with us she said she didn't want any part of our religion.  Yeah. She said it was too bothersome, to hard, and we had too many rules.  She said she looked it up on the internet and found "nothing good". Yea, so that was really sad. Pretty much all of our qiaomen time was unsuccessful.  That was a little depressing, but there are rainbows after rainstorms. God did send us the prepared. He sent us to places we needed to go.  Sure, they all rejected us, but what we are doing will affect them and maybe one day they will let a set of missionaries in.  One step closer :)

Why is it that we get SOOOOO many miracles on fast sunday? I know fasting works! We had so many amazing things happen.  To start off we met with Ling JM and we go to her apartment and her whole family is there and they stayed to hear our message. The whole family became new investigators! and along with Ling JM her two other daughters came to church with her.  During gospel principles they had a lesson on  the WOW which we were a little nervous about but throughout the entire lesson she was nodding her head and said her whole life she's been keeping it because she wanted her body to be healthy. I was like where in the world did you come from?!

So we get to church and we get a call from ARLYN (a philipino who has the greatest faith and wants to get baptised but she can't get sunday off  because she takes care of a grandma) called us and told us she could come to church today. The last time she was able to go to church was last fast sunday...I guess me and my companion just need to fast every sunday to get her to church.  oh my holy heavens we were super excited at this point.  And then in walks a miracle investigator we found a couple days before who asked us when church was so he could come.  We're pretty much on cloud nine by this point and then pan xiao jing walks in. what? We haven't been able to meet with this little punk in a while and she just walks into church. 

Last thing! Sorry this is so long! So we had a baptismal service yesterday for the elders' investigator and Wang Jie Mei and Zhong Dixiong (Wang JM is our RC from last week and Zhong DX baptised her...his first time) were there.  When wang jM saw how fast the little girl was baptised she turned to Zhong DX and said, "Hey, that was fast...hey! Why did you leave me in the water for so long?!" I thought it was super funny.  Her baptism is still by far the cutest baptism I have ever attended.

Well, if you made it this far you truly are a friend.  Congratulations for making it through me droning on about my week.

Have a great week all! don't forget to let the Lord in.  You are all miracles to me.  God be with you my friends :) next week jian!

Yu Jie Mei

1. happy fourth of July!!!

My New companion Sis. Jenkins!

Picture Sister Fan drew for us

Happy 4th of July!!!

Talking to people on the street.

Monday, June 29, 2015

Well, it's time to get my nose back of the grindstone! I spent the last transfer sprinting with my companion to her finish line...but it wasn't mine so now I'm back to just running and giving it my best! It really is hard killing a companion.  You really end up missing them a whole lot.  But it's all part of the experience.  What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. 

Monday I went on exchanges with Toufen...I WENT BACK TO TOUFEN!!!

It was great and it was POURING RAIN!!!

I actually passed off phase 2 so now I'm on Characters! Yes!

We had a baptism on Thursday! Wang Jie Mei got baptised!!!! Her husband who just got reactivated baptized her. It was his first time baptizing someone. He lowered her so gently into the water that you couldn't even see the splash. And then he kept her under the water for a little longer and when he looked up to see if it was okay to bring her up we were like pull her up pull her up! so adorable! They're going to be a great addition to the church!

Well, that's all for this week! I read Romans 8 which is like my favorite chapter.  It's all about putting off the natural man, sticking with Christ, and how everything will work out for our good.  God is in control!

You are all awesome!

Yue Jie Mei

Wang Jie Mei and her husband

Wang Jie Mei got baptised!!!!

 

Monday, June 22, 2015

Funny story. This morning the sink wouldn't drain so me and sister smith clean it out and she sticks her hand in a plastic bag and down the drain and pulled out this HUGE mass of dark matter from the sink. At first it smelled like rotten sour cream but very soon smelled like throw up. Like one of the grossest things I have ever smelled...in all of Taiwan, and that's saying something. Taiwan has some pretty horrid smells (open sewers, need I say more?)

So this is the last week with my companion Sister Smith.  Man, it's hard to say goodbye to a best friend. I'm super excited for her because she gets to see her family this week.  It's not as bad as killing Sister Singh, just because I'm older as a missionary and am more focused. But it's still hard because it makes me think about my family and how much I miss them. But then I remember why I'm here and it puts me in my place.  I have 6 months left. 6 MONTHS LEFT. I just need to keep giving it my all.  We're saving souls out here. The best work there is ever to do. It's right here, right now. 

Monday I saw a bunch of Indonesian helpers taking their amahs out for a stroll...haha. taking amahs out for a walk. Also, my companion's luggage exploded because she's starting to pack.  The end of this week.  

Friday is DRAGON BOAT. For those who don't know what that means it's basically a bunch of men who come together and dress up in spandex and row a boat with a dragon head on it.  It's pretty cool.  We went up to Nanliao where it was Friday and Saturday with our district and our ward and passed out English tracts and lessons and also free balloons.  Yes, the best. Me and my companion met these two guys from India and we had a lesson with them.  Then one of them said the closing prayer and he said it in Sanskrit...like a dead language Sanskrit.  It was pretty cool.  Friday was really slow...like nobody there but Saturday blew it out of the water and we had tons of member support so I'd say it was worth the 40 min bike ride and the huge sunburn I got on my arms...because silly me forgot to put it on the back of my arms. Yep, I'm a smart one.

Lastly for this week.  WANG JIE MEI PASSED HER INTERVIEW!!! The district leader forgot the baptism record paper so while she was getting interviewed sister smith and I had to bike home and grab one. We walked into the church with red faces and dripping sweat, but we got it and she passed so that was worth it too.  And the even cooler part?! Her LA husband just got reactivated and is baptising her! HOW CUTE?! We're helping families be eternal. That's the end goal.  They're going to the temple next year.

Love

Yue Jie Mei

I'm holding a ...the food they eat at dragon boat....yum. they're like Taiwanese tamales

11 months!!

Best way to eat a mango...over the sink.

Sisters Fisher and Smith

Sunburn!!

Eating zhongzi...it's like a Taiwanese tamale

 

Monday, June 15, 2015

 

Hello Everyone! 

Man it's been a crazy week...it's like 10 thousand degrees outside and 100 percent humidity.  Yep...so much fun. I melt every time I go outside. Two stories for this week.

So when I was in Okinawa we had cockroaches.  They have them here too...and they fly.  So we're eating lunch one day and all of a sudden I realize there's a cockroach on the ceiling...bad news.  Everyone else totally freaks out and it's right above my companion's desk and just running around in circles above her desk.  Total freak out session...don't worry. I was calm. It wasn't even that big and didn't have wings so I got a broom and whacked it down from the ceiling and then commenced to drown the thing with two bottles of Raid.  So now my apartment smells like Raid.

We met with one of our investigators this last Friday, Wang Jie Mei.  She is so awesome.  We followed up with her about being baptized and she shared this experience where she lost her keys and could not find them and prayed to find them and if she needed to get baptized and when she found her keys she started crying because she knew God wanted her to be baptised.  I know God answers prayers.  

It is so amazing because this week I've been studying about the Spirit.  I feel like it's really hard for me to hear him, especially when I'm making decisions as to where I should knock or what I should say.  One of my companion's favorite quotes is, "Revelation comes when the children of God are on the move" I love this quote so much because as missionaries we don't have very much time for anything so if we aren't listening and acting on it then

Something I learned a lot about is the importance of Jesus Christ.  His most important role as our Savior and Redeemer really makes me pause and think.  He literally gave up his birthright to us. He is the firstborn of the father and therefore has a right to all he has and he gave it to us.  He literally gave up his life.  Because he was half mortal half God he had the power to live forever.  He gave all that up for us because He loves us.  We don't follow Christ because he was a perfect example or because he was a good person or did good things. We follow Christ because HE IS THE ONLY WAY BACK.

That's all folks! You are all awesome! Keep reading that Book of Mormon every day :)

Yu Jie Mei

 

Sister Fisher and Sister Smith

Cockroach? yep...it died on a string connected to my companion's suitcase...she wasn't too impressed.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Okay.  It all started Friday.  We met with Arlyn, who is the Filipino who is a complete angel and so prepared but can't come to church because she's taking care of an ama and the boss won't give her any time off work so she can come to church.  Before I got to Xinzhu she prayed and fasted and chose June 27th as her baptismal date.  Ever since then it's been a real struggle trying to come with new fangfa's to get her to church.  So this Friday we met with her and she was having rough day. In the middle of our lesson her boss (the ama's son) randomly came over and asked us if we would ask Arlyn what she doesn't like about her job and tell us.  So we translated what she wanted to tell him, and we told him about how church would really make her feel better because she's gone to church every week for her whole life.  So he said it was okay...HE SAID SHE COULD GO... if the ama was okay with going with her.  So Sunday rolls around and we go to her house with a member with a car.  Arlyn tells us the ama had been throwing up that morning and the member talked with her and the ama said she would come next week.  So we were about to leave dejected when suddenly the ama's daughter and son in law walk in to visit the ama.  We talked to them and they said they could watch the ama for an hour so Arlyn could come to church! God has a plan for us. We may not know his timing, but He does and he has everything planned.  Faith, prayer, fasting. It works.  It so works. That's not to say I didn't know it before, but it such an amazing experience to see how the Lord gets His work done. 

Also, our 11 year old investigator walked herself to church and stayed all three hours.  And then that night we met with a motorcycle guy we set up with at a stop light and he now has a baptismal date and a Book of Mormon.  Talking to people at stoplights works.  Yes, you have to get through the 100s of rejections, ignoring, or even people making fun of you before you get that one! Life is amazing.  God is great.

wWhat else happened this week...oh! I ate intestines! They weren't disgusting...but they didn't taste good.

Also, we all have spirit animals in our apartment. My companion is a leopard and I'm a flying squirrel. Not sure why, but I am.

Love you all! be good!

Sister Fisher

Finally got her birthday package.  Eating taco soup.

Intestine soup.

Yummmmm!

Best way to eat soup.

Monday, June 1, 2015

Hello everyone! 

So this week was super crazy and just well...exhausting. We went up to Taipei three times this week and went on two exchanges.  Both times I was in my area, which I had been in for a couple days.  Fortunately the Lord was with us and I didn't get lost, but it's like baptism by fire. It forces you to know your area. 

One of the exchanges was with one of our sisters and we were heading home in the pouring rain and the sister fell on her bike.  It was a little rough, but we made it through.  It taught me I need to be a little bit more loving to people.  

My companion, Sister Smith, is amazing.  She is super great at listening to the spirit and following it's promptings. She also is super good at teaching people according to their needs and knowing how to resolve their concerns.  I hope I can learn all I can from her over the next 4 weeks.  Anyway, we were in a lesson and one of our investigators apparently felt a little to much of that good lovin pressure you get when you know you need to change and decided to backlash.  It wasn't pretty.  She just said a couple mean and hurtful things to us and especially my companion. We were still planning on going back next week but on sunday we went to church and apparently this investigator had been calling members in the ward and telling them lies about us. So for some reason they took the word of an investigator rather than trusting the representatives of Jesus Christ who leave our families for two years so we can bring others into the gospel.  makes sense right? yea, so now some of the members are giving us the cold shoulder.  

But on the up side we have two great progressing investigators.  One is around 11 and is sooo sassy! so sassy.  and the other is the wife of one our LA's that's coming back to church.  She has some great insights about the scriptures.  Man, it's so amazing the stark difference between those who have a sincere desire to learn and those who don't have a desire to learn.  

I've learned a lot about leadership this week.  SERVICE AND SACRIFICE! I have no time to do anything.  It's all just gogogo! 

Love you all!

Yu Xie Mei

 

 

Me and  President and Sister Day

 

    

Monday, May 25, 2015

Hello Everyone.

 I AM NO LONGER IN TOUFEN! I am close though.....in....XINZHU. Which just so happens to be my Sister Training Leaders when I was in Toufen.  Yep. I'm a Sister Training Leader.  I don't feel ready, but I've learned to trust in God's timing and trust that He knows exactly what I need. There are girls here that need my help.  There are people here who need me. 

Well, transfers was a shock. I am going to love this transfer. I was pretty sure I was going to move and I knew the Lord was going to put me somewhere where I would grow a lot because I was getting too comfortable in Toufen and with the work there, and with being a trainer.  I wanted to stay because of new opportunities in the future, but I was pretty sure I was moving.  I didn't expect getting called as a Sister Training Leader. I don't feel lihai enough to be a leader, but I learned from last time that the Lord called me and He knows I can do it.  The Lord works in mysterious ways. I also didn't expect to LOVE Sister Smith right off, my new companion. She was my STL (Sister Training Leader) last transfer and I wasn't sure if I would get along with her.  When her name popped up on the screen I was like, "Oh no" but I acted excited...because I figured that wouldn't be a good way to start off a transfer if I had negative expectations.  But Sister Smith is exactly who I needed and I already love her.  She is so amazing! I am so excited to serve with her and learn from her.  She is just so open and loving and she KNOWS how to listen to the spirit, which is something I need.  The past two days have been an amazing spiritual learning experience.  I've already learned so much about how to listen to the spirit. God knows exactly what I need.  Sister Smith said something interesting last night. She looks at me and says, "God trusts you." I think I'm beginning to see that.  I'm beginning to get confidence in myself, in my abilities and talents.  I'm starting to figure out who I am, and the coolest part about it is I'm not even looking for it.  I think this is the most focused I've ever been out here.  It's going to be a hard transfer, but a really good one :)

Holy moly this was a crazy week full of crazy thing and crazy miracles

Firstly, we had a lesson with a less active yesterday and it was amazing.  It was one of the most spiritual lessons I have ever been in. And I'm like full of the spirit.  God has so much love for his children.  She felt like she's been gone for too long and me and my companion had a unity moment where we both pulled our our scriptures and opened to the prodigal son and looked at each other and realized we were thinking the same thing.  Oh my gosh you get places when you are on God's time. 

We also sang in the rain.  It's been raining all week...and I mean it... HUGE RAIN. We were qiaomening and it was sprinkling a little and this guy passes us on the street and we start talking to him and then it starts POURING so he runs under a ledge for cover and we're in our rain jackets so we don't care and follow him and have a lesson with him.  It was really cool and we sang for him afterwards.  LOVE THE SPIRIT.

Oh yea, and I crashed on my bike...like full on crash into a pole in the rain and flew off...and all I've got is a little hurt ankle to show for it...and the bike is okay. God protects his missionaries!

Yu Xie Mei

Singing in the rain.

Great lesson with less active member.

Monday, May 18, 2015

Hello!

This might be my last email in Toufen! Transfers are this week and I might be moving.  We'll see. It's getting super hot here and our AC is still broken.  But it's a work in progress. We spent about 30 minutes yesterday cleaning all the nasty black dust off it with my old toothbrush.  It still sounds like a dying cat.    

Lai DX is getting ready to be baptised and it's really cool meeting with him. He has a friend that's taking the lessons with him and he pretty much teaches his friend everything we tell him. We're so excited to help him prepare to be baptised. It's also good to see how much he's grown and his testimony. When we first met with him he was super baibai and was stuck on the fact that he can't worship his ancestors. It was so bad that we decided not to go back. Fortunately enough he called us and we invited him to church and he CAME! He's been coming to church for about 4 weeks now and even has a long lost friend in our branch so it's instant friendshipping. He even came to stake conference! This past week we taught him the 10 commandments about not baibai stuff and he totally agreed with us and said he doesn't baibai anymore. What an amazing turn around. The Lord gives us miracles every day and it's amazing to see the power of the spirit working in him. It's really cute when he  prays because he opens up by, (translated)"Dear Heavenly Father. Hello, I am Lai Dixiong. ...." every prayer.  Super cute. 

Something I've been learning lately is the power of doing your best and being okay with what you can do.  A lot of times we focus on what we don't have and what we can't do and sometimes get down on ourself because of our weaknesses.  God gave us weaknesses for a reason.  We need to rely on him to overcome our weaknesses and challenges.  Remember, we won't reach perfection on earth.  It's a process. 

I don't know if any of you remember Fan DX.  He was super golden and we shangwan ke with him (we pretty much finished most of the lessons with him) and found out he lived in Zhunan.  He got baptised this last week! And we got to go!!! 

Other than that we had a really fun time taking apart bikes and DVD players in service. So much fun :) Last P day we went to our MM leader's house and did bubble bending :) It was pretty sweet. 

 

I had an awesome birthday surprise.  We were getting chinked at a huoguo and then they asked us to go to the church and they had a cake waiting there for me and sang happy birthday to me. It was awesome. :) I love the members here. All of them came up and sang happy birthday to me.

Well, that's all folks ;) 

Yu Jie Mei

Fan DX baptism

Bubble benders

Birthday cake for the birthday girl!

Taofen birthday.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Hello everyone!

 

This week was slow in the beginning but raced through the last couple days! I feel like since I'm half way done I'm racing to the finish line. I still have 8 months left, but the last month went by in the blink of an eye, so crazy!

 

This past week we went to zone meeting and the new vision is HUGE! I think because it's president Day's last two months he's really pushing us to get a baptism a month.  one in may and two in june.  We now have a lot of new rules like we have to go finding for at least 2 hours a day.  It's a little strict but me and my companion know that exact obedience brings miracles. so bring it on!

 

We met with Lai Dixiong this last week and his christian friends have all of a sudden started talking to him about how us missionaries are lying to him and are 30 years old and married and our boss is forcing us to come here and teach him...I'm like oh joy. I look 30.  but we hopefully got it cleared up.  The lesson was filled with the spirit as we taught him about the Plan of Salvation.  Our peike was amazing and really kept him on track.  It's amazing how when the spirit is there everything flows and I know EXACTLY what to tell them.  We are really focusing on him to get baptized in may because we feel like he can do it. 

We went to Liu Jie Mei's house to help her put the second coat of paint on her roof and I just went bare foot.  We decided to start and paint a little section of where we were going to go down so we wouldn't get stuck.  It didn't work.  I was painting in my area and I turn around and the Elder's had painted me in. so I was stuck.  so I got paint all over my feet...it's still there.  check the picture out! 

 

10 months!

Second coat of paint on the roof AND on me.

Rooftop fun.

Never judge a book by it's cover.  This guy named Eric kept calling us asking us if he could take us out to eat and so I just kept inviting him to church. well, he came to church...and stayed and wanted to meet with us afterward so we met and taught him the first lesson and he's been looking into religion and wants to know if ours is true and we invited him to baptism.  this week was full of miracles.  It was awesome! 

Oh yea. mosquito bites itch so much. there are these little devil mosquitos that are black and TINY and when they bite you you can't see the mosquito bite, you just want to tear your skin off because it itches so much. Our AC is still broken and our bathroom isn't fixed, but the work continues! 

love you all! stay good!

Yu Jie Mei

 

Found this really cool bridge

Cool bridge in the background.

 

 

Monday, May 4, 2015

Oh the joy of having no bathroom and no AC. It's quite fun. You should try it sometime :)

I found a really good definition for enduring this week. Endure: withstand with courage.  

I also read an amazing article in the Liahona this week called, "It isn't a Sin to be Weak." As a missionary I've lived the gospel more consistently than at any other time in my life. I've really gotten closer to my Savior and understood more of His infinite Atonement.  But I've never been more aware of my weaknesses.  But the thing that I've forgotten that I needed reminding of was that we all have weaknesses.  Christ had weaknesses.  The key is to not let these weaknesses turn into allowance for sin.  I've learned the importance of focusing on the good and trying my hardest to let Christ help me with things I'm struggling with.  He's literally there always. He can help us through anything.

Some highlights from the week is one of our progressing investigators, Lai Ming Jin, we were able to work with last Thursday.  It's really cool to work with him because even though he doesn't understand very much about Christ he has a real desire to learn about him.  He's slowly reading the Book of Mormon and gets a lot from it and has been attending church for two weeks.  Another cool thing is one of the branch presidency is one of his long time friends! It was really cool to see how the Lord works in mysterious ways.  We've also been working with a Li Xian Sheng.  He has really good questions about the Book of Mormon and about the Church.  We also had a really good lesson with Gan Jie Mei about the articles of faith and how we love her and want her to have the blessings of the gospel in this life.  We challenged her to pray about it. For reals.  

Something I've been thinking about this week is me.  Not in a selfish way, but if you want to do the Lord's work, you have to know how He made you so you can most effectively do his work.  Going to the Temple helped me find out a lot about myself.  I've been studying out my weaknesses and how I can make them strengths.  I have a lot of weaknesses and the Lord seems to be ever teaching me of things I can improve on.  sometimes I can really relate to Nephi when in 2 ne 4 he gets super frustrated because his spirit is willing but his body is too weak for it.  I feel like that a lot.  I sometimes feel like I'm not good enough to do His work and nobody's listening to me or why did I decide to go on a mission because I really don't understand His gospel.  But all those are coming from the devil and I need to learn to block them out if I want the Spirit with me to help me teach His gospel.  

Well, everyone. I love you! I know God answers prayers.  He sends us miracles everyday. We just have to open our eyes and see :)

Love you!

Yu Jie Mei

Progress on the bathroom?  Maybe.

Changkai Shek it was SO hot.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Holy moly this week has been amazing! Seriously though, the Lord is amazing. This past week we've been kept busy and it's really helped me not to think of home or let my mind wander because we're so busy with everything.  We got two referrals from Zhubei and they were awesome super prepared people.  

 

Last P day we got to go to Lion's Head Mountain! It was pretty gorgeous and cool to see the Chinese culture. Taiwan religion is like a mixture of Buddhism and Daoism.  It's an interesting mix.  

Also, I had two dinners last Tuesday...wow it was a lot of food and they kept telling us to eat more.  I almost died.

 

We were qiaomening last week and at this one door a guy came to the door and we started talking about the Book of Mormon.  He told us to wait and then in English said, "Don't worry"...and came back a couple minutes later with an old Book of Mormon that he got 6 years ago from a friend.  He hasn't read a whole lot but he has some really good questions. 

 

When Sister Haacke and I went on exchanges with the STL's they taught this Lai XS and they pretty much had to leave because he kept asking over and over why he couldn't worship his ancestors.  He called us this week and wanted to know why we were so happy so we told him and invited him to church.  We kind of forgot about it until Sunday when he came and brought a FRIEND!!! He stayed for all three hours and answered every question right in gospel principles...and it was bout the WOW!!! Turns out one of the branch presidency is his friend.  The Lord works in mysterious ways.  

 

Well, I'll let everyone go...I got to go anyways! love you all!!!

Yu Jie Mei

 

Food from our awesome landlady

Elder Gong came as part of our training.

 

Monday, April 20, 2015

So 2 weeks down and we STILL don't have a bathroom...toilet...it's fun :) oh joy! 

Oh yea, next week I won't be emailing on Monday because our P-day is switched to Wednesday because we're going to the Temple :) YES!

This week felt like a month! It's been such a crazy week!! We went up to Taipei at the beginning of the week for Temple Tours. Basically when most of the sisters in the mission get together and have a conference...best thing ever.  They talk a lot about love and finding out who you are as a person so you can help others find themselves.  Relax and rejoice in your differences.  

The end of the week we went on exchanges and I finally got to go out of my area to xinzhu :) It was weird because I felt like I was in training again.  crazy crazy.  We found this guy with perfect English who knows about the Church and has 2 Books of Mormons.  He wanted to know more about the church and wanted to know Christ better.  awesome :) Something Sister Murri (the sister training leader) said she noticed about me was that no matter if we'd been talking to a person for 3 min or seconds when I talk to people she feels like I know them and we're best friends...if that makes sense.  She told me when I talk to people I'm very sincere and say what they need to hear.  It was such a blessing to hear that because I've felt like I've always struggled to connect with some people and teach to their needs.  It's good to know I actually can talk to people ;) 

So, big story of the week.  I don't know if anyone remembers Fan Zhu Song.  He was a self contact where he rode his motorcycle up to us and asked us where we were from...we gave him a BOM, and naturally started teaching him.  This was in the middle of last transfer.   He's from Taoyan, works in Taizhong, and goes to school in Zhunan.  When we first met with him we pulled out our map and asked where he lived. He said he had a sushe on campus and an apartment on minzu lu...well within our area. We didn't tell him our boundaries.  Well, this week we were talking to him and we asked him a question and he said, 'I don't have a house in Toufen' So we got the map out again and he showed us where he lived and it wasn't in our area. How does that happen I don't know so we told him he wasn't in our area and explained to him that zhunan elders could help him more than we could and were closer to him...he started crying. So, for those who don't know I get a little freaked out when grown men cry like that and I don't take it very well.  We didn't really realize how attached he was to us and Toufen members until he had to move.  Then yesterday he came to church and asked if we could meet with him during the week and read the Book of Mormon.  We had a lesson the time that he wanted and so we told him and told him the Zhunan Elders would be teaching him from now on.  So for the last hour of church he cried and said goodbye to everyone.  The Zhunan Elders were meeting with him that night and they said we should probably come.  The Zhunan elders were great and really helped him understand why they were going to teach him.  They told him it wasn't goodbye forever and he could still visit Toufen members.  Elder Huang explained it as we were all one big family....it was sad to see him go, but we will get permission to go to his baptism.  

We had around 80 people at church yesterday, which is a lot a lot of people especially in our little chapel.

This week has been challenging, but still full of miracles.  God knows us and loves us.  He cares for each and every one of us and leads His missionaries to the prepared.  Missions change lives, and mine is the biggest life my mission has changed.  I'm my biggest convert.  

love you all! peace out!

Sister Yu Jie Mei

1. beautiful Taiwan! It's starting to get hot

2. we went and got ice cream and among other sorts of yummy fruit...we found this abomination... in the ice cream...what?! (if you can't tell..it's a tomato)

 

Riding through beautiful Taiwan

Tomatoes on ice cream?!?!?

 

Monday, April 13, 2015

So...lets start of the week with some crazy adventures shall we?

So, hopefully everyone knows about the crack in the bathtub...if not, check other emails.  Anyway, this week they came to fix it :)...the bad news? They're not done...so now we don't have a toilet or bathtub.  It was super gross when they first took it out because there was a whole bunch of water underneath that wasn't still at all because of all the bugs-wormy things underneath...gross, not to mention the moth covered walls. Oh yea, this is going to be fun! Our Landlord showed us this secret hallway that connects our apartment to the one downstairs which nobody uses so the landlord uses to store stuff.  So we've been using that for showering and such. So one day we decide to go down there before we leave for the day to use the bathroom and then just got out that way so we of course lock the door behind us.  Well, when we come home our door won't open...yea. so apparently my companion deadlocks the door every night and forgot to unlock it this morning...and it just so happens that the landlord doesn't have a key to the other door...so I spent about 30 minutes on a chair with my head and arms in this tiny window above the door with a broom whacking at the deadbolt until it finally came undone...yea, we were a little late for DPS that night.  

Something I learned from personal study this month is about Christ.  I finished Luke and was studying about when He suffered in the Garden. Something I thought about was when he asked the Father if it were possible if He would find another way.  Christ is our perfect example.  He knew cognitively (side note, I think that's the most gaoji word I've used in a while) what He had to do but couldn't imagine what it actually felt like.  Even our perfect Savior couldn't help but cry out and ask if there was another way.  In life we all face challenges and hardships and it's okay to ask if there's another way, if we really have to go through it.  But, just like the Savior, we have to be willing to accept the will of the Father because He know what's best.  But God won't let us do things alone.  If we cry out to Him, He will send us angels to comfort and strengthen us.  

General Conference was A-mazing!!! 

Something really cool that happened during the spiritual share of the English party. So we'd been trying during the meeting to get the #BecauseHeLives movie onto the big screen but it wasn't working and so we decided to just have everyone pull out their phones and split up into groups and have everyone watch it that way. It was super cool and amazing to see everyone in their little groups watching it. As soon as the first one started the spirit instantly filled the room. After some were done they started watching the others that popped up such as #BecauseofHim. It was a really sweet experience with the initiative. 

Well, that's about it for this week! Love you all! Jia You!

Yu Jie Mei

check out the pics :)

No more bathroom.

Our toilet is out in the street?

Trying to unlock the door.

Monday, April 6, 2015

Well, another week down and out...wow that flew by.  We went to Taipei this week twice (1.5 hrs both ways). One was for trainee follow up meeting and the other was for exchanges.  So much fun! In the follow-up meeting they talked a lot about Remembering Christ.  Anytime we have a hard time or feel burdened, we need to remember we are walking shoulder to shoulder with the greatest life that ever lived. we are here to represent! 

 

We just came from a hot pot buffet so that's why I'm a little late today.  I tried shark skin and chicken butt...and this lotus flower...yum! Just the lotus flower though, not the others...they're too slimy and fatty.  Not recommended. 

 

Guess what? We got two baptismal date investigators from #becauseHeLives initiative! I love miracles.  It was from exchanges with the Temple Sisters.  I was with Sister Su in Toufen and I learned so much from her about being bold and talking to everyone.  I learned that you can teach everyone about the same message (Jesus Christ, Book of Mormon, Baptism) and able to adapt it to the people you're talking to.  Also, I learned a simple and easy way of teaching the Law of Chastity so it's spirit filled and not awkward.  Now the new investigators.  We were qiaomening and we saw a girl walk by and said hello.  She had her phone out so I asked if we could share a video with her...she agreed and we shared it with her.  She really liked it. She's seen missionaries before and they shared prayer with her so we said a prayer and talked about Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon and invited her to baptism.  She is really busy buy was willing to set up a hesitant date.  The next day we found a tongxue about the same age as the one the night before and we shared the video with him and he thought it was cool.  We also shared the Book of Mormon with him and invited him to be baptized.  The power on invitations is amazing. I gained a greater conviction of the power of boldly inviting and the importance of talking to everyone.

  

I was reading in Luke this morning in chapter 19 and I can really relate to Christ in 42 when He laments about Jerusalem and how blind they are.  There are a lot of people that brush us off and don't want anything to do with us. I wish they could just see us for who we are, but then the point would be lost.  Everyone has their agency and as representatives of Jesus Christ we have to suffer a little bit of what he went through.  But there are still miracles that happen every day that carry me through.  This is such an amazing work and I am amazed by the greatness of God.  How Great Thou Art! 

PS: when it gets hot..eat ice cream! especially when your AC breaks and you don't have a fan ;)

 

Yu Jie Mei

 

 

Ice cream on a hot day.

Ice cream with my companion Sis. Haake

Eating funny fruit

It's actually called pipa fruit.