Monday, November 17, 2014

Hello Jiating and Pengyoumen :)

 

This was a crazy crazy week.  One of the things I learned is that God protects His missionaries... if you're not doing anything stupid.  Friday we had interviews with the Mission President and on our way there me and a car crashed into each other.  Part of his front end was torn off and his light was crushed...but me and my bike were fine.  The only thing that happened to me was I got a small bruise on my heel and the chain on my bike fell off. Honestly, I shouldn't have been able to walk away from that, but I did! 

 

After Interviews we went to the train station and went on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders, so I was in Hualien for a day.  It's pretty similar to Taidong, but more city-like.  I went to SUBWAY for dinner :) and I also had ice cream from McDonalds.  It was delicious. The Sister Training Leader and I went on splits with was Sister Roy, who is pretty awesome by the way.  It was really nice to see a different missionary's view and style of missionary work.  I think it was a successful exchange and I learned a lot.  

 

This week has been a week of challenges.  By the end of the week I felt pretty stripped of everything and was left wondering "what are my talents? What has the Lord given me?" It made me realize what (or who) my rock is and the strength the Lord has given me.  This week it hit hard and it made me realize how much I really do rely on the Lord. Anytime anything happens I instantly turn to the Lord for help. He is my strength and my help. I wouldn't be able to do anything without him.

 

So I had my first confrontation with a cockroach in... 6 years.  It was a bit uncertain who was going to make it out alive, but I managed to come out on top.  Yep.  I started spraying it with some Windex and it started running TOWARDS ME!!! Yea, so naturally I freaked out. 

 

If you are ever in Taiwan and hear music, it's NOT the ice cream truck.  It's either the garbage truck or a bread/bakery truck...just FYI.

 

Well, I just want to let you know I LOVE getting letters from you guys :) This week was a pretty crazy week. And yes, mom... you did properly beat that dead horse. (MOM:  I told her that I needed more information that was being provided by her 5-point system of writing) Thank you for the heads up. I hope I have sufficiently repented ;)

 

Also, I've realized that I'm stubborn. I don't know where it came from (cough cough mom and dad)...but I'm pretty stubborn. It really comes out when my companion tells me to do something I really don't want to do...yea...

 

So story time. Saturday I was playing the piano for a baptism and Cai Jie Mei (a lady in our ward who teaches piano...she's the YW president and I think ward choir leader person) comes up to me and demands that I play "True To The Faith" for her. The Branch President asked me to start practicing this song for next Sunday because they're having branch conference or something. So, of course as I'm playing  Cai Jie Mei is watching me I epically fail...naturally. Then she continues (in Chinese) to correct every mistake I made and my tempo and beat and anything else she can correct me on and is talking to me about how it needs to be perfect. Then Zhang Jie Mei (RS president and her 8 year old son usually plays the piano for sacrament meeting comes up and wants me to play it again. Epic fail. Then she starts to tell me how important it is that the song is perfect. Then they get Elder Mansell to play it to see who's better. He does around the same as me. While E. Mansell is playing I extract myself and run to the bathroom...and bawl my eyes out. I really wanted to tell them it didn't matter who was going to be at this conference. Even if the prophet or the Savior was going to be there, I will make mistakes, and they should accept my efforts if I gave my best. AND nobody is going to care or remember in 5 years that I messed up...Chinese people....and if they wanted it played perfectly they should have one of their 8 year old students do it. So after I get control of my faculties and make it look like I wasn't crying I walk out of the bathroom and I was handed a package.  I open it and inside is a beautiful Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie mix...and a note from a beautiful mother who loves me...so naturally I start crying again...in front of everyone. So, just wanted to let you know you made my week..my month.  

 

The next day I felt better, but I was a little raw. Well, that's about it for this week! Hope everyone's week has been good! Love you all!

 

Yu Jie Mei

 

 

Exchanges!

 

 

Monday, November 10, 2014

This week was the week for really interesting food.... but I ate them anyways because it's all part of the experience :)
Last Monday I got bread, milk (soy, because regular is too expensive) and  I made french toast this week!!! Yep, it was SO delicious...we didn't have any syrup so I just put jelly on it. Also, I found Digestives (a British cookie type thing) at the store :) They made me so happy :)

   I've been studying the missionary purpose and I've come to realize over the past couple weeks that we as missionaries are here for the elect, prepared people.  There were a lot of people who died as investigators this week and who just didn't want to listen.  Yes it makes me want to cry, but I just keep reminding myself that I'm not here for them.  I might just be planting another seed for someone else to find, but I'm here to find those who ARE ready. ready to accept the blessings God has for them, which they can receive through baptism.  Over the past four months I've come to realize how important the basics are.  Families...I've come to realized more fully why they are the center to Christ's gospel. Prayer, scripture study, faith, repentance...these are the basics.  This is how we truly know God exists and loves us and how we grow closer to Him.

   This week was my 1 month follow up meeting.  It was so nice to see everyone from my "generation" meaning everyone I came to Taiwan with, in my MTC zone and district.  It was so great to see their faces again and talk to them about the struggles of being a new missionary and learning the new language.  It reminded us that the struggles we're going through are normal.  Everyone else is struggling with the same things and we're not alone.  One thing that stuck out to me was that we talked about Remembering the Savior.  Christ was the perfect missionary, and yet people still left.  He was the perfect example, and people still rejected Him.  When we're having a rough time in life and we don't think we can make it, when people reject us and spit on us (literally and metaphorically) we're shoulder to shoulder with the greatest life that ever lived. Rely on the Savior and Remember Him. He can help us through anything. We just have to rely on Him :)

  FOOD!! I've made it one of my mission goals to learn how to make Taiwanese food, especially baozi's (kind of like dumplings, but thicker and more like bread...and steamed)...they are so yummy.  I also tried some of my companion's cow stomach. it looked SO gross, but it just taste like stringy meat.  Fish eyeballs are really hard, and according to the member that fed it to us, the meat around the eye is the best (after she extracted some and stuck it in my face for me to eat).  I also had pancakes this week with sasame seed jelly on it.  It was this black paste stuff, and I was a bit skeptical,  but it actually tasted really good on the pancakes.

So I've decided I'm kind of like a cat.  I can and will fit into small spaces and just stay there for a while and after a while I'll feel comfortable, but when I'm out of that space and am finally able to stretch I realize how it wasn't comfortable at all...I'm pretty good at adapting to new situations and people, but when I'm with people who get me and who I miss and get along with I realize how much better it could be.  But this week I'm going to work on enjoying the journey and making the situation fun.  I'm going to try to be the best me this week...if that makes any sense.

EVERYONE GIVES US FRUIT!!! We stop to talk to people and they try to give us fruit.  So we have a lot of fruit right now ;) Or they try to buy you lunch...that happened yesterday.  We were sitting on some stones planning a lesson when this guy in a wheel chair told us he wanted to get us a drink.  We tried to tell him no but he ignored us...then he came back with a bottle of tea for each of us... -_-

We have an investigator who has like 7 sugar gliders...they are SO ADORABLE!!! and cute and fluffy...I want to die.

We were getting lunch the other day and I only had a 1000 (TWD) bill on me and the meal was only 100, so I gave it to him and said I was sorry but that was all I had.  He looked at my companion shocked and said, "She just spoke Chinese"

This is where I'm supposed to be. I just tell myself that every day.  I'm not sure why yet, but I know I'm supposed to be here.  I wouldn't have been sent here if I wasn't supposed to be here. 

It's so nice to hear how everyone's doing.  I love you all so much and pray for you all! Keep up the good work!

4 MONTHS BABY!!! I've been on my mission for 4 months. where has the time gone?! Last time I checked I barely got here.

Well, that's about it.  Hope everyone has a good week ;) LOVE YOU!

Yu Jie Mei

the first one is me eating cow stomach...
and the next is my 4 month picture ;)

Four months as a missionary!

Tasting cow stomach

Fun pipes to take pictures in.

Snazzy helmet.

Monday, November 3, 2014

So I've decided to consolidate my weekly letter to 5 main points for the week :) so, lets see how this goes.

1. People have their agency.  It's hard to accept the truth sometimes.  You have to fight really hard for your investigators, and even then they may stop.  We had two people die (fizzle out) as investigators this week...RIP until the right person comes along ;)

2. With all the biking I'm doing I'm going to have FANTASTICALLY  sculpted legs...but with all the grease and fat that is in the food I'm going to get fat...so we'll see.

3. Some funny things from the week
A. I've found out how to tell if someone is drunk.  They start speaking to me in English.  Sometimes really bad English (probably what my Chinese sounds like) One of them kept praying and playing the guitar and he kept telling us he knows he's not supposed to drink, but God told him it was okay...hmmm

B. On every moped there's either a dog or a little kid between their legs.  They just have these huge dogs sit or stand between their legs while they're going 100 miles an hour.

C. In English we say "yea" or "mmhmm" when we're having a conversation as a sign that we agree...In Taidong since they have a lot of Tai yu influence they say, "hey" which is yes or afirmative in Tai yu. Talking to people is really distracting because they'll say, "heyheyhey"  a LOT.

4. God has people prepared for us and it's our job to find them.  PERSEVERANCE! We're looking for the ones who are searching for the truth, wanting to change their lives; not the ones who slam the door in our faces.  It's definitely been a learning experience.  The language is coming SO SLOW!!! but it's coming.

5. Miracle Sunday! We had one of our investigators come to church!!! The sacrament meeting consisted of people bearing testimony about how they came to know God exists and the Book of Mormon is true :) We also found a new investigator.  We had been knocking on doors to no avail and talking to people..no luck.  The last door we knocked on had a girl who was Christian, she reads and prays pretty much every day, and she accepted baptism. YES!

Well, that's about it for this week! have an amazing week everyone :)

Yu Jie Mei

Look at the black sign in back of her.

Sisters Fisher and Chu

Apparently she's showing us her food but she didn't tell me what it was.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Hallo!!! From Taiwan to you :)

I hope everyone is having a fantastic fall...full of cool breezes and changing colors :) It's pretty much one temperature here, and that's hot...and it's not even summer. We had a lot of miracles this week and have a lot of investigators.  We have 3 with a baptismal date. Now we just have to not let any of them fall through the cracks :)

1. Wednesday we were crossing a bridge and I heard this whirring sound.  I look over to see these cows hearded by a remote control airplane. The old farmer was just standing on the sideline in ease. Briliant!

2. People here don't ever tell you they're just not interested.  They'll tell you they have no time, or really busy, or maybe another time.  They won't give you a strait up NO. I kind of wish they would, but it's just part of the culture here, so I'm learning to push through it :)

3. The Elders were going to do a service for this lady in our branch.  They get up there only to realize she needs help killing her chickens for sunday...which is against the white handbook.  She gave a pretty good demonstration of killing one by taking butcher knife and SLOWLY slicing through the neck...poor chicken

4. One of our investigators has been spending at least 1 hour EVERY DAY reading the BOM...what?

5. The Lord has a plan for everything.  We went to the train station to be one of the new sister's companion until her companion arrived.  We were going to go out to dinner and then go wait for the other companion to arrive. Unfortunately we couldn't find her for about an hour and a half. After much frustration we finally found her and because her companion was arriving in 10 minutes we just waited at the platform with her.  It was a really good thing we had to stay there because we saw the other companion on the train and were able to get her off...(if that makes any sense).  Even though things may not go our way, no matter how hard we try, we sometimes just need to trust God that he knows what's going on.  We may not understand until afterwards why it was the way it was or why we had to go through that trial.  Pray, and stay close to you Heavenly Father, and everything will be alright :)

 

I hope you are all enjoying the cool weather and getting ready for Halloween :) we won't have a Halloween, but the branch did put us missionaries in charge of a skit for thanksgiving day.  We were thinking about making the white people indians and the other people (natives) be the pilgrims...mix it up a bit ;)

Lastly, I saw something pretty cool this week :) This farmer was herding his two cows with a remote control airplane.  There was some string or something connected to the airplane and he was herding them with the airplane! Why haven't we thought of this before?!

I also met a lady on Saturday who I felt connected to.  She was really listening to me.  She didn't even know who God was.  I asked her if she believed in God and she was like, God? I pointed up to the sky and said, God...she still looked confused so the only thing I could think of was, "God is our Heavenly Father, we are His children."  We're meeting with her tomorrow, so hopefully all will go well.  Also, one of our investigators has been reading the BOM for an hour EVERY DAY!!! We haven't been able to give him the first lesson so he's really confused, but we'll help him get through it :)

Well, that's about it! I hope it starts to cool off soon, I want to enjoy some cool weather before I have to face the brutal summer :)

Love you!
Yu Jie Mei
(fishy sister)

 

 

 

 

Monday, October 20, 2014

Hallo Everyone!!!

   How's life? getting cold? not here. it's still pretty hot here. OH I just can't wait for summer (not).  I'm going to die, if I don't die first from the traffic or by drunk people. 

   Speaking of drunk people.  I had a fantastic experience on Saturday, and when I say fantastic I really mean not fantastic AT ALL!!! So, Saturday we were street contacting in a city called Taiping and my companion stops to talk to this guy that's kind of in a store/street restaurant thingy.  While she's talking with him, this guy comes out of the store with some of his friends and tries to speak English to me.  Warning sign #1: they came out and started talking to us. Warning sign 2: they tried to speak English to me. Warning sign 3: They looked REALLY happy and had that glazed over look in their eyes.  DRUNK!!! So, while my companion was trying to teach the most sober one all the others surrounded me.  I firmly placed my bike between myself and them once I realized they were drunk and realized their intent.  One of them kept telling me they wanted me and tried to speak English (which I DIDN'T understand) and then Chinese (which I REALLY didn't understand).  They kept asking if I was from the U.S. and they kept trying to invite me inside and I think one of them was trying to grab me.  The only thing I could get out of my mouth was (In Chinese) "No thanks, I'm a missionary. I'm a representative of Jesus Christ" which they then wanted to know what God wanted them to hear.  The probably wouldn't have liked it.  This whole time I'm frantically trying to get my companion's attention to tell her it was WAY time to go , but she was occupied with this other guy.  Finally, she realized the other drunk guys had surrounded me and we left.  One of them asked me for a kiss before I got very far. Yep, it was definitely an adventure.  My companion was furious once I told her what had happened and she said she wanted to give them a peace of her mind.  Fortunately, we didn't.

Yesterday we went over to the Branch President's house for FHE (Family Home Evening) and we watched Mormon Messages, ate this bean soup (like the sweet beans they put in baozi's), and played Jenga. Guess who knocked the tower over. MEE!!! It had to happen, eventually.

 We finally cleaned out our fridge, after much begging and pleading.  There were spiders and cockaroaches in there and it was NASTY.

The food is pretty good here.  

Also, weird thing about this place. We put the trash in the freezer...TRASH!!! WHAT!?!  I don't understand!

Things are better on the companionship side of things.  Every day is a new day.  We just did a fast to find prepared people because we'll find investigators and then they'll quickly die (meaning that they fizzle out).

On Wednesday we had 7 lessons and gave out 4 Books of Mormon. I think we got one investigator from it, and I think she just 'died' which means she's no longer an investigator.  Something that keeps me going is something my mission president said.  He said something along the lines of you have to fight for each and every person.  It's going to take effort, because the reward is so great.  I just wish I was fluent in Chinese already because I know this gospel is so true and I can't share adequately my feelings about how I know and how this gospel can bless their lives.  It'll come though, that much I do know.

Well, you all are awesome!!!  You all are great!  Have a fantastic week and remember that you are all loved Children of God :)  He knows each and every one of you!

Love,

Yu Jie Mei

(Fish Sister)

pictures
1. some sort of temple thingy that they play REALLY loud music and plays...for the gods, it's pretty funny
2. and that is a papya...ever seen one that big before? Me either!

A Chinese Temple where they play really loud music for the Gods.

Massive papaya.

Monday, October 13, 2014

HALLO EVERYONE!!!

There is no way to be modest while riding a bike while wearing a skirt...it's impossible.  I don't know how people do it.  If I wear a full skirt it flies up in my face, if it's a little tighter it rides up. I just can't win!
We had two major miracles this week. The first one was I think .

Oh, and I'm serving in....Taitung! It's so far away from everything on the east coast.  Yeaaaaaa.... I haven't decided to like it yet, I guess it'll come with time. 

Also, I find it ironic that I'm serving here because there are SO MANY stray dogs and cats it's insane.  AND most of them are just the sweetest things. They'll come right up to you and sit in front of you and sit there and look at you with those cute little eyes. And then they'll follow you around until you ride away on your bike leaving them sitting in the road watching you drive away.  My heart breaks every time.  And we have been strictly forbidden to touch any animals because if they bite you and the owner can't prove they've had the rabies shots you have to start getting them...and they stink and are expensive, so no petting animals for a year and a half :( I'm going to die.

Funny story though, everyone thinks my name is hilarious because it means fish :) Also, when people are trying to explain what a word means or which tone or meaning of the word they are trying to say, they write it on either your hand or their hand...the character...that I can't understand. 

We had two major miracles this week.  I think the first on was on Thursday. We were riding around and stopped by this ama-ish lady who was washing her car. She firmly stated that she was baibaide and didn't want to hear our message. We talked to her for a little bit and she finally let us into her house. We asked if we could start with a prayer and after a little bit she allowed us to say one. After the prayer we looked up to see tears in her eyes. It was really amazing to see her heart soften. she listened to our message and agreed to have a return visit. The other one was last night. We were tracting and the first home we knocked at let us in. When we entered I think there were two or three families staying in that house (of the same family, but also had families of their own). On the bed was a man who looked pretty sick. We shared the message with this family. Most of them were in and out throughout the lesson, so the man was the only one who heard the whole message, but you could tell it really touched him. We asked him to be baptized and he agreed, but told us he was paralyzed so would have a hard time. We told him it would be okay and left him with a Book of Mormon. I know there are prepared people here...we just have to find them.

IT IS SO DIRTY HERE!!! EVERYWHERE!  even in our apartment/house thingy it is so dirty.  when we were in Korea the appliances were at least nice. Not here.  There's stains everywhere and the faucets are all rusted.  yum. We also have to drink filtered water, or we'll go crazy...literally. It happened to an elder.  His trainer was a native and didn't think to tell him that he needed to change the water filter, so he didn't change it for over a couple months...and you're supposed to change it around every month. He went crazy and had to go home.

Don't worry though, I know Heavenly Father is watching out for me and you :)

I was prepared to work hard when I came on my mission, and Salt Lake South prepared me a little for that, so the working hard doesn't bother me, but I'm struggling with my companion. I'm not exactly sure what it all is, but I just don't get along with her. But you know me, I'm stubborn and headstrong, so it could be that I don't like the way she does things and...I don't know, it's hard to explain.  I'm nice to her and a good companion, but it is really hard to stay that way. For example, something that frustrates me is her lack of emotion. She only really has one. Whether I'm talking about how Dad butchered one of our cows or my bike has a flat tire, her reaction is the same, "Awesome, okay" or something to that effect. I've been praying really hard for Christlike love and have been looking for ways to serve her because I know that is how you learn to love your companion. I hope to resolve this soon.

Well, I hope everything is going well for you! I miss you all tons :)
Conference was amazing right?! it always is, but you know, it was especially good today.

well that's all folks! Hope you all have a chance to watch conference, because It's awesome.  and if you feel inclined to write me back I will make sure that I email you :)

Love,

Yu Jie Mei

Fish Sister

YOSO! (You only serve once)

pictures
1. All 31 of us wearing our super attractive fangwandai's (reflective gear)
2.  the Grand Hotel (I think) where Taiwan was dedicated :)

3.  last district picture at the temple before we part ways

4. 3 month picture!!!

All 31 missionaries that went to Taiwan at the same time.  Sporting their reflective gear.

The Grand Hotel- the place where Taiwan was dedicated or opened for missionary work.

At the Temple

Our girl has been out 3 months!  Celebrating with some yummy food.

Saturday, October 4, 2014

UPDATE:  Cambrea and the other 30 Taiwan bound missionaries were told on Thursday that their Visas had all been approved and they had 24 hours to pack up and be ready to depart for Taiwan.  They all left on Friday morning and if all went well they should have arrived in Taiwan sometime during the wee hours of the morning (our time).

She called us from the airport in SLC at 6:30am on Friday.  She was so excited and nervous she sounded like she was hyperventilating.  Breathe Cam, breathe.  She called us again during a layover in Detroit and we got to visit when we were a bit more coherent (it was a no school day and we had slept in a bit).  She was excited to be meeting up with some of her visa-waiting comrades as they all gathered at the gate for the flight departing for Taiwan.

We haven't heard from her to say that she is there yet but right now it is still very early morning there.