Serving in the Taiwan Taichung Mission: Week 40: I've Got a New Companion!

Hello Everyone!!!

This week I hit my half-way mark! I have been a missionary for 9 months, and today I have been on island for 7 months!!

And the big news of the week is: I have a new companion! And I'm now senior companion!!! My new companion is Sis. Liu, from TaoYuan, Taiwan. This is her 3rd move-call. And the crazy thing is, she was going to school in my first area, and was a ward member in my first area, before going on her mission! And now she is my companion! So I knew her before she was a missionary! So crazy!! I expect that we are going to have a lot of fun together =] I'm nervous about being senior companion, but she will be a great companion to go senior on =]

So, how was my last week with Sis. Gibson? Oh, what fun stories I have =] Let's start with Monday.

Monday was a great preparation day. We went back to the Lotus Pond so Sis. Gibson could buy a few more things. Then that night we went and printed pictures before proselyting. Sis. Gibson had a recent convert coming to find her so we could all go out to dinner. I was unlocking my bike after printing pictures, and my keys slipped out of my hands...right down into the sewer. Now, in Taiwan, on the side of the road, they have these little 1 1/2 inch diameter holes that go down into the sewer, about every 2 feet, and then like every 3 holes there is a bigger sewer grate. And my keys didn't fall down the bigger sewer grate, they fell down the little 1 1/2 inch diameter hole! I was shocked and stunned. Now these weren't just my bike key's either...it was also our house key and our church key! So I began freaking out. Long story short, Sis. Gibson's recent converts son, Ying Zhong, ended up stripping down to his boxers, putting on a pair of rubber boots, and climbing into the sewer to find my keys! (this was after about an hour trying to find them with a flashlight and a stick down the little hole). I'm not sure the whole story because when this happened we had gone to get food, but when we came back, there were my keys! I was so grateful!!!! So that was Monday =]

Tuesday night our investigator with a baptismal date, Lin JM, had her baptismal interview, and it all went great!! We are so excited for her! She was in Taibei this past weekend for her sister's wedding, so we haven't seen her in a while, but we are so excited for her!

Wednesday we had a talent show for English class. That was fun =] We had some fun acts, and then for our spiritual share, an elder read the story of the 10 talents and the rest of us acted it out (if you don't know the story of the 10 talents, its in the Bible...I don't remember where right now, Matthew maybe?). So that was all fun!

Thursday we planned to have two dinners, one with our recent convert, Liu JM, and one with some ward members, all because my companion was going home. So we went to eat with Liu JM and that was super fun! She told us she is thinking of going on a mission! And she's only been baptized for 3 weeks! She is so incredible and I love seeing the change that has happened in her, and I love seeing how integrated and accepted she is in the ward! Then after meeting with her, we were heading towards dinner #2 when my bike broke. It has been making a weird noise for a while, but I've been ignoring it...bummer. So the axle in my back tire had broken, so finally after going to a few different shops, a man was able to fix it for me. So grateful! But, we missed being treated out to our second dinner. We were super sad.

Friday was super awesome because we had 8 lessons! And we were treated out to super yummy and expensive steak for lunch! We had some great lessons with investigators and recent converts, and I just loved that day! Though there was a ton of hard core biking, like, faster then I've ever had to go before! So crazy!

Saturday we had a mission-wide service day! All of our individual zones did a service project! Our zone did a Christmas activity at a home for older, disabled people. We had a member of one of our wards that lives there, and we were so excited to go and do this little Christmas performance for them! My companion and I ended up in charge of it, but it turned out really good! We had a little performance with some songs and then "Santa" came out! I took pictures with all the residents and Santa, and we had some ornaments cut out for all of them to color and put on a paper Christmas tree we had cut out for them. We had about 30 ornaments because the home told us there would be about 20 people. Well, there were actually 40, so we didn't have enough ornaments or treat bags. We made do with the ornaments and just opened all the treat bags and gave people a few pieces of candy. It was just super fun and we all had such a great time! Then that night my companion and I went to the church for an add at eight o'clock, but we weren't expecting her to be there. We get there and there is a member inside and she is talking with two women and I'm like, well, maybe they did come. The lady turns around and it is my recent convert Tiffany!!!! I was so happy to see her!!! She came down from TaiZhong to find me! So we met with her and her mom for a big and then they came to church the next day!

Sunday was Sis. Gibson's last Sunday. So crazy! The best part of the day for me was having 4 of my 5 personal recent converts sitting with me on a row at church. I love these 5 sisters. They are so incredible and it was so great to have 4 of them at church with me at one time. Then that night we went to a members house for dinner and the elders and other members were there. We had a wonderful night and then read the Christmas story together and talked about what Christ means to us in our lives. It was a really great night. I love being in this area!

So that was our week! It was so great! Our investigators are all doing really well. I have faith that with my new companion, we are just going to blow things out of the water!!! I am so excited!

My mom had said to me this week that my brother was challenged to read the Book of Mormon all the way through in the month of December and she asked me where I was currently reading. I'm almost done reading Alma, and I have a goal to finish it by the end of the year! When I read through the Book of Mormon earlier this year, I didn't really like the end of Alma because it is all just fighting, but this time around, I really discovered the story of Captain Moroni and the title of liberty. The title of liberty was their promise to protect their land and wives and children and religious freedom. It made me grateful to live in a time when a great majority of the world has religious freedom. I am grateful that I am free to worship the Savior and read the Book of Mormon and go to church. I know this is the exact same church that Christ established when he was on the earth, except that it has been restored. I know that through reading the Book of Mormon, everyone can know this for themselves. But you will never know if you don't read it. So at this Christmas season, when we remember our Savior, Jesus Christ, I invite all of your members of the church or not, Christian or non-Christian, to read the Book of Mormon. I'm not saying you need to read it all, but even just a little bit will allow you to feel the power it has. I know the Book of Mormon is true.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Don't forget why we celebrate Christmas. If you don't know why we celebrate Christmas, write me, I'd be happy to explain it to you =] I love you all and am so grateful for your love and prayers!

Pictures:

2: My zone, right after the activity.