Week 32: October's Almost Over???

Hello!

 

Wow, how did I get to be on week 32 of my mission, how did it become the end of October, and well, time is just flying by!!! I can't believe how fast everything is going!

 

The most exciting thing this week was Zone Conference!!! I was sad I wasn't up in TaiZhong to see all my friends, but I was excited to see a few people who I hadn't seen recently because they were down south, and to meet a few new people. The focus of this Zone Conference was working with ward members. It is something I've been excited to do my whole mission, but haven't know how to do so. Earlier this month we had a meeting with just our zone and we focused on this as well and it was super great, so I was excited to learn even more! It was a wonderful day, complete with seeing a few friends from the north! They came down to do a presentation on how to work with members. It was so great to see a few more friends =]

 

So, how are our investigators? Pretty good. Chen JM has only had tea once this week! This is super great! We are really trying to encourage her! She knows she shouldn't drink it, so she just has to decide she isn't going to do it. She has also been reading and praying, so this is some great progress! Another of our investigators, Liu JM also came to church for the first time yesterday! She thought it was pretty good =] And then we picked up another new investigators! Another Chen JM. We had wanted to go to a ward relief society activity on Saturday, but didn't have any investigators for that ward. The relief society president asked us to come anyway. About 10 minutes later a girl called about English. We said we only have English on Wednesdays, so she asked if we had any other activities that day. We were like, actually, we do in an hour! Do you want to come? She said yes! We were so excited! She has actually been in our referral system for a few months and we've called her several times but never gotten ahold of her. So she came the activity and had a good time, and then, even though she said she didn't think she'd be able to come to church, she did, and she brought her sister! Her mom and sister are baptized in different christian churches, but her sister wanted to check out our church. I think we have a great potential family here! I'm so excited! So that is investigators!

 

We have also been helping two less-active young woman in our ward with their personal progress. It is really fun doing it with them, and seeing them learn and grow and think about gospel principles. It reminded me when I did my personal progress. I didn't appreciate doing it, but I do realize how much I learned from it, and it gave me a renewed desire to make sure that I emphasize the importance of it with my daughters, and it is making me excited to complete it with them =] This is obviously a long way off, but I'm still excited =]

 

One of our recent converts has been bringing her 3 younger boy cousins to meet with the missionaries. They don't live in our area, so they've been meeting with the elders in their area, but since they come to church in our ward with their cousin, we've met with them a few times as well. The youngest, a 12 year old boy, is so super cute but kind of a punk. I've meet with him twice. Yesterday we were talking about prayer and I asked him if he has been praying. He said yes, and I asked him what about. He said his tests, so I asked how they went. He got really excited and said they went really well. I asked him if he prayed before his tests and he said yes, so I asked him if he thought his prayers helped, and he said he knows they did. It was really cool to see this young 12 year old boy share his testimony about how he knows prayer works.

 

So, how about some cultural things? Taiwan has a lot of people who are Buddhist, and therefore, there are a lot of miaos, or temples, all over. They all bai-bai, which is worship their ancestors through burning paper money and setting out food and chanting/praying to their ancestors. There are maios everywhere. We have one outside our church, on on the ride home, and, as I discovered yesterday, one right outside our apartment window. I mentioned last week about the fireworks all the time, so yesterday was no different, except that it was more like a cannon going off, and it was right outside our window. There was something going off that sounded much like a cannon, for about 2 hours. Then this parade or something started going on. They had cars with music and dancers who were performing for the gods/ancestors. It was so interesting to watch. All these people are out there participating in it, and lighting off fireworks and banging drums, all because they think it is what the gods/ancestors would want to see/hear/eat/etc. It made me appreciate what we know about God and about our ancestors and life after death. It made me grateful that we don't go around doing ridiculous things, but that we perform sacred ordinances for our ancestors in holy temples of the Lord. Though, I suppose, if those people knew what we did to respect our ancestors, they'd think we were weird too =] But, it really just made me think about how grateful I am to know what happens after we die, and to know that the work performed for our ancestors in the temple is the best thing we can do for them, and it has the most impact.

 

Well, that's about it for this week! Sorry I don't have any pictures today. We are going to Monkey Mountain, a mountain with monkey's, today, so next week I will have pictures for everyone!

 

I hope everyone is doing well! I love you all and am so grateful for your love and support!

Week 31: SO CRAZY!

Hello!

Well, I have been a missionary for 7 months now! And I will hit my 5 months on island mark this week! So crazy! Time is going so fast! The month is already half over, as is the transfer. I've been in GaoXiong 3 full weeks now, and its gone by so fast! I feel like I am slowly but surely learning the area and the members. I have met all our investigators and almost all of our recent converts. Things are well with my companion and I and we are having a good time. We watched conference this past weekend and it was incredible! I love conference! I'll talk about that a bit more in a little bit.

So I've felt like my emails have been a bit lame recently, and so I took better notes this week about what I could share, at least things like funny stories or cultural things I've noticed, and things I've learned.

So we'll start with last Monday. We went to another area, ZuoYing, to see one of my companions former investigators mom. We went and emailed there, then went to the mall to walk around. Then we met up with Chen Mama for lunch. We had Subway and Chinese bian dang (you just pick a whole bunch of dishes and eat them together with some rice). It was so good! Then we went and were given facials, which was the whole reason we had come. We went to some clinic place and got facials. It was so weird, but it was something fun. She wanted us to come back again so we are going back next Monday to have them again. Ok =] Then we went back to the mall to go to the grocery store. And I found Goldfish and Diet Coke! I was so happy! They don't have Diet Coke in Taiwan, only regular and zero, so I've had to come to like regular coke. I was so happy to find my treats =] That night, we met with our investigator, Chen JM, who previously consistently said she didn't want to read or pray because it was a waste of time. But, something changed and she all of a sudden wants to read and pray. She still doesn't understand what she reads often, but she has read and prayed every day this week. Yay! So it was a fun Monday!

On Thursday we were visiting with a less-active we've been working with. She wants to start coming back to church so she can go to the temple again. Her whole family is baptized, but they are all less-active. She came to church last Sunday, but ended up becoming a bit offended. We visited with her this week and she shared with us what she was feeling, and the bottom line is she doesn't want to go to the temple anymore and she thinks other churches are fine because they have God as well. We tried to talk to her about why this church was the true church and the things that she won't find in other churches. Something that also came to light is that she has her priorities out of order. As I was thinking about this, I came to realize that I want to make sure that when I go home from my mission, I keep my priorities in order, namely, God remains the most important thing in my life. Seeing what this sister is going through really helped me to open my eyes and realize how important it is to prioritize correctly in our lives.

Saturday and Sunday were conference! Our investigator, Chen JM came on Saturday for both sessions. Since my companion is Taiwanese, she wanted to watch conference in Chinese, so the only way I'd be able to watch it in English was if another sister went with me. I didn't hold out too much hope to be able to watch it in English, and that would be fine because I'd be able to read them next month, but then a sister wanted to go watch it in English! So I got to watch Saturday morning session in English, but she didn't stay for Saturday afternoon, so I watched it in Chinese. That was interesting. I was still able to hear a bit of English and read lips on some of the talks, so I got some things out of it. And then the sister came back for Sunday sessions, so I was blessed to be able to watch all of Sunday sessions in English! I was so grateful! On Sunday we had 3 investigators attend conference! One is our rockstar investigator. Super cool story that made me love being a missionary: She was telling me about how before coming she was super nervous and had a lot of anxiety because she had never been to church before. She had forgotten some important things at home and was stressing over that, but then she got to the church, and she said as soon as she walked in, she felt peace. All her worries and anxieties left her and she was at peace. I explained how that was the spirit, and she loved it! It was so great to see her feel the spirit so strong and affect her so much. I'll share my favorite parts of conference at the end.

So I have two cultural things for you all today:

1. Fireworks. I don't know why, but recently (like the last 2 weeks) they have been constantly doing fireworks. I guess the miao's (temples) have birthdays or something, and so they do fireworks. During the day. Specifically, at 7 AM. While we aren't sleeping at 7 AM, it still isn't pleasant to hear them that early. I also can't figure out why they do them during the day, since you can't see them =] But, we are constantly hearing fireworks all through out the day =]

2. A story about picking grapes: I had forgotten this story =] Last week when we went to Costco, one sister wanted grapes. And she proceeded to spend the next 20-30 minutes picking a bunch of grapes =] I love her, and it was just so funny how long it took for her to pick grapes =] The attitude of the people in GaoXiong is very relaxed; they take their time on things =] It's so great!

As far as investigators, we didn't find any new investigators this week, but one of our investigators accepted a baptismal date for November 17! Yay! We are so excited! She is super great. We were sad she wasn't able to attend conference, but that's ok =]

This week we have zone conference! I'm so excited to see some friends and to learn lots! I'll tell all about it next week!

So since I don't have pictures today (sorry, I didn't take any this week...), I'll share a bit about my favorite talks from conference. I think my favorite overall talk was President Dieter F. Uchdorft's talk on Saturday morning. He talked a lot about being happy and making sure we are spending time with those we love. He said one thing in particular that really hit me: Enjoy the moment. Time is not something we can buy back, or go back and redo. My time as a missionary is going so fast, and before I know it, I will be home and back in school and work and what not, and my mission will be a thing of the past. What I also realized though is that I'm not appreciating my mission as much as I should. Every day I write in my planner why I loved being a missionary that day, but sometimes they are lame reasons. I want to look for great things in my day every day. So that's why I loved that talk. I also really loved Russel T Osguthrope's talk. He talked a lot about how to teach, and as a missionary, that is an important thing for me to know how to do =] I am so excited to go back and read his talk and discover how to become a better teacher and a better missionary!

So yeah! Conference! I love it! What were your favorite talks and why? (this goes for my family and friends =] ) I'd love to hear what you all have to say! Feel free to write me or email my mom and she'd love to pass on a message to me =] I am sad conference is over, but grateful we have 6 months to study the messages and then have conference again in 6 months! I only have 3 conferences on my mission and I've already had two of them! Ah! Time is fleeting away!

Ok, this is probably long enough =] I love you all and am so grateful for your love and support and prayers! I feel them daily and it is a great comfort to know I am loved by so many people.

I love you all!

Week 29: October Is Here!

Hello Everyone!!!

 

We are now in October! I have been in GaoXiong for a full week! And it was a great week! The best part was that two of our investigators, a mom and her 9 year old daughter, were baptized on Saturday! Be before that, let's talk about GaoXiong!

 

I love it!

 

I didn't know that I would. All the missionaries are like, GaoXiong is the best place to serve, and I was like, I really like Taizhong. I liked being in the big city and I loved being next to the mission office =] But, they are all right, GaoXiong is great! I miss Taizhong and I especially miss everyone back in BeiQu, but I can't belielve how awesome GaoXiong is! The weather is starting to cool off, so it isn't too hot right now, we live across from a river, and its so beautiful. We are about a 15 minute bike ride from the beach and we have a really nice bike path that goes along the river. We also live about 25 minute bike ride from Costco! It isn't in our area, but still in our zone, so we can get permission to go =] I'm excited! We cover two wards, so that is fun. We split on Sunday and one goes to one ward and one goes to the other. My companion is great and I can tell my Chinese has already improved since being with her! Yay! I even had a 12 year old girl tell me, you don't sound like a white person when you speak Chinese! Yay! Success! Most of the time kids are as nice as adults, so I actually believe her =] I'm starting to learn the area a little bit, so that is good! 

GaoXiong and Taizhong are so different! GaoXiong is way more relaxed, the people on the street are friendlier and more willing to talk and give you their information =] Yesterday was a holiday (Moon Festival) and people have been celebrating with BBQ and fireworks all weekend! It's been so fun to feel the excitement in the atmosphere! I love it! Last night we were riding home from a members house on the bike path and there were fireworks going off all around us and the smell of BBQ and people were out and about and I just loved it! I almost wished I wasn't a missionary at that moment (or that it was preparation day) so I could just sit and enjoy it all! Love it!

 

We currently have 3 investigators and 15 great recent converts! I've met most of the recent converts and all but 1 of our investigators. All are so great! I am excited to see what will happen this move call!

 

So, baptism!!!! Pan JM was a member referral and has been investigating the church for about 3 months. She has a 9 year old daughter (who also got baptized) a 5 year old son (who is so funny!) and a 3 month old baby girl (who is completely adorable) and her husband. It was so fun to be a part of that, and her baptismal service was so great! Her husband came as well and while he isn't interested in the church right now, I hope in the future he will be, especially when he begins to see the blessings his family is receiving.

 

Saturday night, one of the wards had an activity! It was so fun! The food was good, and each table had to get up and sing a hymn and give a short spiritual share. I really enjoyed it and I got to meet a lot of ward members. So great!

 

Not much else happened missionary work wise. We are trying to find ways to find new investigators, and I'm hoping I can play the "I'm a new missionary" card with the members and get member referrals, since that's the best way to find new investigators! Our week mostly consisted of lessons and a little bit of tracting, with a little big of going and looking for formers =]

 

I am excited for my time here in GaoXiong! I know I am going to enjoy it a lot! I feel so blessed to be here on a mission and be able to serve Heavenly Father and help His children come unto Christ.

3323: The family and my companion and I and Elder Sanford, who baptized them

3335: This is what I was welcomed to in my apartment =] The previous Sis. Busath, who was here 2 years ago or so, had left this pencil, and I saw it sitting in the pencil case. So funny!!

3338: This is outside my apartment! 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Love you all!

Week 28: The Most Exciting Thing

Well, the most exciting thing this week is...

 

I MOVED!!!

 

To GaoXiong - Ling Ya/Shi Zhong, which is in southern Taiwan! Its so crazy!! I can't believe I'm far, far away now. But I'm super excited! My new companion is Taiwanese, Sis. Liang, and the crazy thing is she was previously companions with my trainer and most recently with my MTC companion. My new area is also my last companion, Sis. Wilson's, previous area, and a family friend was previously the bishop of one of the ward's I'm over, and a previous Sis. Busath who served in Taiwan served in this area as well as my first area! Its so crazy!!! I left about 10 AM and took the train down to GaoXiong. I was super nervous about taking the train because I've never taken the train in Taiwan before, but I had another sister with me, and all was well =] We had a great train ride down and I'm just super excited for my next area!

 

As for the rest of the week, lets see. We had a lot of fun this week heart attacking our ward! We don't have the greatest relationship with our ward, and so we were trying to think of ways to strengthen it, and one of those ways we came up with was heart-attacking everyone. So we did! And it was so much fun, and we saw so many miracles with getting into people's apartment buildings and finding addresses and what not. We are very convinced this is what the Lord wanted us to do. A few of my favorite miracles were, one apartment building we walked in and the gaurd was gone, so we just kept walking, and then the only building that had the door wide open was the one we wanted and then we were able to get up to their floor with no problem. Several other houses we had no key to get up the elevator, but we just stood in the elevator and always within a minute or two the elevator started to go up and either went right where we needed it to go, or above it so we just had to walk down. We had other places where the guards were super nice and willing to let us in, or even in one case, another member came right at the same time and went and did it for us =] It was just incredible! I loved it! We also decided we were going to have a Luau, so in 2 weeks they will have that as well.

 

We had 27 new missionaries come this week which mean we had Dan Jones! It was so much fun! The new missionaries are so great! We all had a great time at Dan Jones. Our investigator, A. came with us and participated as well! She loved it and was so excited! She has such a great testimony and we hope that this week she will decide she's ready to be baptized =] And then since new missionaries were coming, we had two sisters come stay at our house this weekend! Sis. Mou (From Taiwan) and Sis. Mitchell (from Australia). Sis. Mou ended up coming down to GaoXiong with me and Sis. Mitchell stayed in Beiqu! We had such a great weekend together! For most of the time we split up into two companionship's, and it was just all so fun!

 

Saturday night we went to a wedding reception that was going on at the church and then we went to the elder's baptism. It was all so fun! Wednesday night we had a pirate party at English. I was so sad I forgot my camera. It went pretty well. We did balloon sword fighting, pirate lingo and another game, then they had a treasure hunt and we did a faith spiritual share. It was all pretty great!

 

Our investigators are all doing great! They are all keeping commitments and are coming to church and doing what it takes to develop their testimonies and faith. It's so great!! I am really going to miss all of them and my recent converts, but I'm excited to meet all my new investigators and recent converts! So exciting!!!!

 

I don't know if I mentioned about how our mission has a goal of talking to 100,000 people in the month of September, but we are already at 90,000+ people, with a week still to go! We will definitely hit and surpass our goal, but I am excited to work super hard this last week of the month, and the first week in my new area! Its going to be different, but I'm so excited!!!

 

I attached a few pictures:

#1: Lin MaMa - She was baptized last November. She had a stroke 7 years ago and is in a wheelchair, but I have loved visiting her every week for the last 4 months! I will miss her.

#2: Sis. Wilson, Sis. Mou, Sis. Liston, Me, Sis. Mitchell the morning Sis. Mou and I left. Sis. Liston and Elder Liston go home next week =[ We will miss them!

#3: Tiffany and I - She was on a business trip this weekend and couldn't come to church. I wasn't able to get ahold of her till this morning, and when I told her I was leaving, she was so sad! She called me back a few minutes later and was like, I'm taking an hour off of work! I'm coming to the church to see you! But I was like, no! Go to the train station, I'll see you there! She was in a meeting at work and she was like, I have to go, my friend is leaving! She didn't even care, she just left =] I love her and will miss her so much!

#4: My new companion, Sis. Liang and I at the train station!

 

Well, that's about it! I am excited for this new mission adventure, and excited to tell you all about it next week! I love you all!! And you can still write me letters to the same address, they just forward them onto wherever we are =]

 

Love you!

Week 27 (Sorry for being Late)

Sorry everyone for being such a lame blog poster :( I'll try and do better!

Hello everyone!!!

Today marks the end of my 4th month on island!!! I can't believe I've been in Taiwan for 4 months! I am almost done with my 3rd transfer and it's quite possible next Monday I'll be moving to a new area! Who knows though, we'll see =] I also cannot believe we are at September 17th already! Where is the time going! Before I know it, it will be January and then August again! Wowza!

 

We've had a great week here in Beiqu! I think today I'll do a day-by-day recap because last week was just so good!!!

 

Monday:

     We got our hairs cut! We have a wonderful recent convert and she willingly cut our hair =] Sis. Wilson cut a good 4 inches off her hair, and I cut 2 or 3. I love my new haircut! I can't wait till its not blistering hot outside so I can wear my hair down =] I will include pictures =]

 

Tuesday:

     Sister exchanges! I went on sister exchanges with Sis. Fitzpatrick again in Tanzi. We had an eventful night =] I won't go into details, but it resulted is us calling the whole chain of leadership, all the way up to our mission president. No worries, we are all fine, no one is hurt, but it is a night we won't forget =] Sis. Fitzpatrick and I taught a first lesson to these two girls, and they are so great! I am excited for the Tanzi sisters! I also figured out who this person on my Recent Convert list is (everyone has a list of people they baptize or help baptized). The first person on my CAL was a name I didn't know, and I discovered that I taught her on my last sister exchange in Tanzi =] So fun! So out of the 4 people on my CAL, two live in Tanzi and two live in Beiqu =] So fun! I wonder if I will ever serve in Tanzi.

 

Wednesday:

    English. Nothing too exciting that day. We decided we are having a pirate themed party this week in English because its the last week of transfers. A lot of areas have parties in English on week 6 of the move-call, but we don't, so I decided we needed to have one this week. I'm super excited!

 

Thursday:

     The beginning of our miracles! For starters, we added 3 referrals! When you add someone, its your first time you set up to meet with them, so we were really excited. And even better, one of the girl's came that day! She is so incredible! And even better, she accepted a baptismal goal! Yay! We are hoping she will be baptized October 13th =]

 

Friday:

     We met with our darling English student and her brother! She wants to be baptized so bad, but she doesn't have her parents permission yet, but we gave her and her brother baptismal goals for October 13 as well! We ended up giving her brother to the Elders to teach though, since he is 13 and its just a little less awkward for the elders to teach him. So we are super excited for the both of them! And they came to church on Sunday which was super great!!

 

Saturday:

     We had scheduled to meet with this new girl a week ago, but all week we hadn't been able to get ahold of her, so we didn't think she'd be coming. Well, she did! She is great! We also gave her a baptismal goal and we are so excited to meet with her tonight!! We also got to spend time with our recent converts on Saturday and there was a baptism so we had fun at that with everyone.

 

Sunday:

     We had 3 investigators come to church! One was our recent converts mom who has decided she doesn't want to be baptized right now, but she still came to church on her own! We were so happy to see her! We met with another investigator after church and that was so great =] I love her! And then we visited the Listons at night. They go home soon and we are going to miss them so much!

 

So that's been our week! We are so grateful for all these new investigators that we have, and that they all want to be baptized! Part of me hopes I stay in Beiqu next transfer so I can see them all be baptized, but who knows if I will be here next transfer =] I'll find out on Saturday!

 

The weather has also begun to change! Nights and mornings are so cool and I love it! It isn't as hot throughout the day either as it has been so that's been super nice! Love fall!

 

I hope everyone is doing well! I included a few pictures =]

 

Pictures:

#1: Me, Sara and Sis. Wilson after getting our hair cut by the lovely Sara.

#2: Sis. Wilson and I

#3: Sis. Wilson and my hair. Sara braided them the same =] She is so talented!

#4: My new hair cut (its curly because of the braids). I'd love to perm it but its kind of expensive to do and then I'd have to keep it up. But I love my shorter hair!

 

Hope you are all well!

 

Love you all lots!

Week 26: A Few Good Stories

Well, not too much exciting stuff happened this week, but I have a few good stories for you all!

 

#1: Last Monday, Sis. Wilson and I were going to look for less-actives. We have about 20 sisters that we aren't sure who they are, so we wanted to go meet them. We had 3 that all lived right by our house, so we decided to visit them. One moved, one there wasn't a way to get into her apartment building, and the third we were struggling to find. We knew exactly where it should be, but couldn't find it. Normally after about 10 minutes, I'm like, OK, lets move on, we'll go find a Family Mart and look it up, but this one particular building, I was like, we have to find it! It was so weird. So we eventually found it and pressed the button for the house. We told the lady who we were and who we were looking for. She said she was her and asked if we wanted to come up. You bet we did! So we met this super nice grandmother and her husband. She was baptized a few years ago, but her husband isn't baptized. We started talking to her and getting to know her, and we found of that they have three daughters who are all members and all live in Utah. They began showing us pictures of their family and grandkids and all of a sudden I see a picture of my friend! I was like, is she your granddaughter, and grandma said, yes! I was like, no way! She was in my freshman ward at BYU!!! I couldn't believe it, and it was then that I realized why I had such a desire to find their house! I am so stoaked! We are going to go back tonight and visit them =]

 

#2: Saturday was "Clean up the World" Day and we got to participate! We and about 30 other missionaries all went to the Taizhong Train station and helped clean it up! It was so much fun! We even got to wear normal clothes, which was super weird. I don't like wearing jeans. It was super uncomfortable riding a bike in jeans! Too funny! We helped sweep, scrape gum off the ground and clean up trash. And I got to take pictures which is always fun =] So that was something fun and different.

 

Our investigators are all doing well. Well, our one we were hoping was going to get baptized this Saturday decided she doesn't want to get baptized. We are so sad, but we hope she will let us keep meeting with her. We have two other solid investigators and we hope they will continue to progress as well! We did get one new investigator this week! She is so stinking cute! Met met her through English class, and she wants to be baptized! She came to a movie night we had on Friday and was going to come to church but didn't end up coming. We hope things go well with her as well!!

 

So pictures!

#3217: Sis. Wilson and I at Clean up the World day

#3154: When people die, they have this huge long parade of cars and drums and such to the burial place. This is one of those cars.

#3156: They also have black cars with golden Budda's on top.

#3157: A typical stoplight in our area.

#3172: All the missionaries who helped with "Clean up the World" day!

 

Sorry nothing much more exciting happened this week. Tomorrow is Sister Exchanges and I'll be going to Tanzi again, with the same sister, so apparently whatever I was supposed to learn from her/the area the first time, I didn't learn, so I'm excited to go back again and find out what it is!

 

Hope you all are doing well! Thank you for all your love, prayers and support!

Week 25: Who Gave September Permission to Come?

Who gave September permission to come?! I can't believe we are into September!

 

Since its only been 4 days since I emailed, there isn't too much that has happened. We have gotten 2 new investigators though! On Thursday we were going to find former investigators and saw one was the daughter of a less-active, so we decided to go see her. She happened to be home and let us in. We sat down with her and talked for a bit, and went back again on Saturday to see her and her mom. She's pretty good, though she's worried about not being able to bai bai if she gets baptized. She's actually almost finished reading the Book of Mormon, so we'll see. She and her mom didn't come to church yesterday which was kind of sad =[ And then last week, the Elders had given us a referral, but we kind of forgot about it...Sis. Wilson was out calling people to come to church and saw her card. She called her and was like, do you want to come to church right now? She was like, oh yeah! I will be there in a minute! So she came and stayed for all three hours. We aren't 100% sure she lives in our area, but we are praying she is =] She seems really great and we are excited to see her on Wednesday! Our other investigators are doing well. Our self-contact from last week came to church again yesterday, and though she still doesn't know if she believes God exists, she's still willing to come to church and keep meeting with us. We hope this week we can help her come to know that He exists. Our other new investigator, who is completely golden, is moving to another area this week for school. We are so sad! But, we already gave her to the sisters there, and we are so excited for them to be able to meet with her and help her get baptized =]

 

So that's about it on the missionary work side.

 

So now for a Taiwan culture lesson. The main religion here in Taiwan is Buddhism. Everyone is bai-bai, which is where they worship their ancestors and burn paper money and pray to their ancestors. So the month of August was Ghost Month, kind of like our Halloween, but a whole month, and not just a day. On the last day of the month, they believe Hell opens and all the bad ghosts come out for 6 hours, looking for food. They believe if they don't bai-bai and give the ghosts food, they will come and take all their money and make their businesses really bad. In a lot of areas, especially the more country side, it is normal to see people bai-bai out front their house on a regular basis, but in the area I'm in, its so city, that you don't see it very often. Well, last Friday was August 31, the last day of the month, and EVERYONE was bai-bai-ing to keep the ghosts happy! It was so crazy! I had never seen so many people out bai-bai-ing. They set up a table with lots of food, the stick incense sticks in the food, and then they have this cauldren that the burn paper money in as they pray and, well, I don't know what else. We walked out of our apartment after weekly planning to 9 tables set up, full of food and a big cauldren ready for paper money. We couldn't resist, we had to take pictures! Especially because this was going to be my only full Ghost month on my mission. It was so crazy funny! The whole city smelt like a campfire. I came home that night smelling like a camp fire, and I didn't even participate! When I say everyone, I mean, quite literally every since store/house/company/restaurant/EVERYONE was bai-bai-ing, and all at the same time. The mall had a huge bai-bai tent set up with food, the hospital had a huge tent and tables of food set up, it was so crazy! So I've included a few pictures for you guys to see =]

 

Well, other than that, there isn't much else going on right now =] We are doing good and the work is moving along here in Taiwan! I love being here and I love being a missionary more and more each day! I hope you all are doing well! I love you all! Thank you for your love and support and prayers. They are felt every day!

 

 

Love you!

 

Pictures:

#1: Everyone in Taiwan is really "pa sai hai" meaning, they are all afraid to get tan...they wear jackets and pants when riding their scooters, even when its 100 degrees outside. I'm not "pa sai hai" I'm really tan...see my watch? 

Oh wait...thats just my watch tan.

#2: My watch tan even extends to the underside of my wrist...

#3: Immediately outside my apartment building. Our apartment, the second hand store next door, and the bank on the otherside of us all celebrated together.

#4: The lady in the pink owns the second hand store next door and we see her every day. I've seen her and our guan li (the gaurd at our apartment) making these red and yellow things for weeks now (yes, they made them...). They were promptly burned...You can also kind of see how much food and stuff they had set out.

#5: The little red cauldreon next to the cone is normally what they burn the money in, but since they had so many people, they got a big wire cage and some sand and made their own firepit. That is daytime guan li. He has a stack of paper money in his hand, and he is getting reading to start putting it, one by one, into the fire pit.

#6: You can see the money beginning to pile up.

#7: And then they burn it. And continue to throw more and more in. We had to leave, since it wasn't our preparation day, so I don't know how big any of it got, and we didn't see they throw in the red and yellow flower things. But we saw plenty of other people bai-bai throughout the rest of the day!