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.

 

Monday, March 30, 2015

So we made banana bread this week in our rice cooker, and because of it we got an investigator to come to a baptismal service and another investigator come to sacrament meeting...the power of banana bread!!!!! 

Something I've learned this week is that I feel the Spirit the most when I'm teaching one of my investigators.  When I teach and actively listen I can just feel where I should take the lesson.  What questions I should ask, which scriptures to share, what to say.  It's amazing when it happens because we're all uplifted and edified and I come out knowing we were successful in helping them come more unto Christ. 

Also, another thing I learned this week was the power of peikes! We were able to hit our goal we made of district meeting of getting 7 peikes. It was amazing to see how much our investigators progress when they have someone there who understands them and understands their chinese and is able to explain it so clearly.  We tried to make a goal of having a peike at every scheduled lesson.  For the most part we were successful, and I hope the members were able to feel that Spirit and get excited about missionary work.  

We met with an awesome investigator this week named Fan Dixiong and he is amazing.  We went through the baptismal planner and planned when he was coming to church and according to that we gave him a new baptismal date.  When we gave him the invite, I've never seen anyone so excited! And I've never seen anyone outside of missionaries say 'yuanyi'...he even said excitedly, "FEICHANG YUANYI!!!" 

I'm super pumped for General conference!!! We don't get it until a week after the actual Genearal conference, sooo....yea, I'm still excited! 

Love you all! You are all the best! keep jia youing it up over there and see you next week!!!

 

Yu Jie Mei

This is a short black guy...we went to a ghost temple on Monday and the god of hell has two bodyguards that catch escapee bad ghosts...one is tall and white and the other is black and short...haha. it's cool.

Sis Fisher and Haake.  After daysssss of raining the sun finally showed it's face.

Love

Sister Fisher, Gan Jie Mei and Sister Haake

Monday, March 23, 2015

So this week was CRAZY!!! 

We had exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders and it was definitely a learning experience. I love how focused Sister Smith is in the work and she doesn't waste time. We had service on Friday where we had to take a bus and we did former calls and investigator calls inviting them to church. I definitely learned new ways I could use my time more effectively. Another thing is spirit knocking. Instead of knocking all the doors in a Xiang we knock the ones we feel prompted to knock. It's definitely different and interesting and I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but we've been trying it and it has had success. It's definitely not easy. 

 
We've seen amazing miracles this week with investigators. A lot of them have to do with peikes. Peikes are SOOO important in missionary work, especially if you're language isn't the greatest. They understand our investigators and are able to help answer things we are not able to answer. Only one investigator made it to church but we're working this week to get them all to church and to the baptismal service this Saturday . The baptismal service will help so many of our investigators, we just have to get them to come! Getting people out of their houses is like pulling teeth. so hard! 

We met with Gan JM this week and it was another great lesson full of the Spirit. At the end of the meeting she mentioned how she learns so much from our visits and feels so happy afterwards and when she prays. We asked her if she knew why it made her happy and she said it was theS pirit and faith. She is so close to baptism, and I'm kind of at a loss as to how to get her to accept baptism. I guess we just keep being bold in invitations and eventually she'll accept the invitation. But in the meantime we're making sure she has really good spiritual uplifting meetings and keep trying to get her to come to church. 

 
We also met with a Fan XS who was a self contact. He has a date for next month, but we found out last lesson that he probably doesn't live in our area. He listed about 4 different areas that is 'close' to him...including ours -___-. But it's okay! He is so prepared and we're all for Team Jesus right? :)  

So hopefully our tub will be fixed this week!!! I'm really excited to be able to shower normally and not have to worry about things coming out of the crack.  Last night I killed about 100 little moths in the bathroom with bleach...I love bleach :)  

Also, on exchanges we were taking the bus and the bus driver was texting and driving...good thing I'm a missionary because I felt scared for my life and they had no seatbelts! 

Charity and Love for the people you teach is so essential in the work.  The Lord is here for us and listens to our prayers! You guys are amazing! love you all!

Yu Jie Mei

Big crack in our bath tub!!

Monday, March 16, 2015

Guess what happens when you mix wind and sand and a beach with a whole lot of missionaries? yep! SAND EVERYWHERE!!! I had sand in my hair for about three days.  It's true, but it was tons of fun, so I guess it was worth it ;) Also, last week was my 8 month mark! next month is half way done! where has the time gone?!

So this week was full of meetings. Zone meeting we talked about being more bold with our baptismal invitations and the mission vision which is to work on Sheep, Sweep, and Loving them Deep (from Luke 15 parables).  This month we're focusing on LA's and bringing them back to the fold.  Here in Toufen branch we are so close to becoming a ward and me and Sister Haacke plan to help them accomplish it.  We only have around 45 active members, yet our ward list is about 8 pages long...lots of LA's. Unfortunately, that's very common in Taiwan. 

In zone conference we talked about the four languages that a missionary needs to be fluent in to be an effective missionary: the Language of Love,  the Spirit, the Gospel, and Chinese.

The miracles keep coming! It's amazing to see how hard work pays off. You show the Lord that you value the time He has given you and even when you have that random 30 minutes in a day you make the most of it. Street contact, call formers, potentials, or ward members and try to set up a time. It's amazing to see the miracles in that. The Lord literally SENDS people to us and they find us wherever we are. The Lord is in this work and when we show our dedication, He will send the prepared to us. 

We were able to get a baptismal date investigator. Her name is Wu Jie Mei and she has been an investigator for a while and has previously had a baptismal date in the past before I got here. When we set the date we were able to give her a baptismal planner and put church every Sunday on it. We were able to show her how the baptismal planner can help her get to the font. 
 
Our investigator Gan Jie Mei's lesson this Saturday was A-mazing! The Spirit was so strong and she is so close to accepting baptism! She's one of those investigators who teaches herself and we talked about the importance of scriptures and why we're supposed to read them everyday. She loved the scriptures we shared along with the tree of life. One step out at a time we're picking Toufen up and running with it. We will make that goal to help Toufen become a ward. Little by little. 

Yu Jie Mei

Having fun at the recycling center.

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