December 17, 2012
Hiiii!!! Here I am starting my 5th movecall! I'm getting old. Almost halfway done with my time on island... AHHH! Crazy. I have a new companion now! Xiao JM is Taiwanese and speaks no english. We are going to have a blast! She is way cute and really excited about missionary work. I'm excited to take her around Sanmin and help her get to know all these wonderful people! It will be a stretch for my chinese, but we will both learn a lot. Last week was so great! Monday was a nice little p-day running around with Sister King to help her get things she needed before she went home. Tuesday was sister exchanges yet again! We had what is called a zone scramble where we just switch to another sisters area in our zone. (We are all in a district with the close sisters and elders around us, then a zone that encompasses a few districts) I stayed in Sanmin, and Wang JM came here from Fengshan. We had a really great day! We had a great district training meeting on setting goals and making plans. I like goals. As a missionary we set a bazillion goals. Personal goals, spiritual goals, companionship goals, physical goals, language goals, random goals, etc etc. Sometimes it gets really annoying and you just kind of forget the purpose of the goals, so we talked about how important it is to start from a larger perspective and then work in small steps towards what you want to become.
Wednesday we got ready for our huge english party!!! (speaking of english, I am english leader for the 4th movecall in a row....... GEEZ o peez. I am working on being more excited about it haha) It was a smashing success! Everyone went to their own class to start, where each teacher shared the Christmas story. I decided to teach them the primary song "Nativity Song" so they could understand and still feel the spirit of Christmas. They loved it and asked to sing it over and over again! Then everyone headed upstairs for the group games. We had it divided into 4 stations. I ran the musical chairs one, where I taught Jingle Bells and played it on the uke. It was so much fun! One of the rounds got really crazy when 2 young boys were in the final 3 together and started fighting over the chair. One started kicking and punching the other one. I immediately got in between them... or tried to, but they were fierce young warriors, determined to get that chair! Everyone's attention turned towards us and thankfully some other people stepped in to help. We had them rock paper scissors for it, and all was well. Really funny. The next station was making snowflakes with a bunch of paper. They could turn them into cards if they wanted. We also had a frost cookie station, I didn't get to try the cookies, but I heard they were really great! The last station was a Christmas Traditions station. The elders bought a Christmas tree and gave everyone slips of paper and a paper clip, had them write down their feelings towards Jesus Christ and what kind of gift they could give Him. They then paper clipped it to the tree. It was so great! We assigned each class to bring food and so there was a plentiful feast awaiting everyone afterwards. So good! I love Taiwanese food. (With the exception of chicken testicles, which I had the priviledge of being forced to eat last week at a members house..... GROSS and slimy. don't eat it guys... don't do it) We got to talk to people and get to know our students a bit more. We also had a lot of new people come who want to keep coming to english. All in all, a success in my opinion. Yay for english!
Most of our lessons this week were meeting with people that wanted to say goodbye to Sister King. It was really fun and I think Sister King was able to see that her influence here in Taiwan, especially Sanmin, is huge. We will never fully understand the impact we have had on the people we have met here, but it is all worth it for those few times we get to see the results of our efforts, no matter how small. One lesson I specifically want to tell about is one with Chen JM. She is one of our progressing investigators I wrote about after my first week here. We began talking about how important families are and how we through the gospel can help them. We watched a really cheesy but ultra great movie called Together Forever about a few different family situations and how the gospel blessed their lives. It was made in the 70's, so the hair and clothes are pretty hilarious, but the message is wonderful. She was really touched and knows she wants to be baptized to help her family. It was so great! I love the gospel! I love families! I love Christmas! On Friday we met up with Tu JM and taught her how to make brownies for our ward Christmas party. It was so much fun and I really got to know her a lot better. They are always so impressed we know how to make cookies, brownies, and things like that. Everyone buys that stuff here. I miss your kitchen mom!!!! I even miss my college kitchen. We don't have a stove in my house, or a microwave at church haha. Oh Taiwan. I love it. Our ward christmas party was so fun! We had lots of investigators come, members brought their friends, some people brought their whole families even though they aren't members of the church. It was so wonderful to get to meet so many people and feel the true spirit of Christmas. The food was SOOOOOO good... I had curry rice. Sunday was full of goodbyes for Sister King and I followed around like a little paparazzi, it was fun! We woke up at 4:30 this morning and said our goodbyes as she left on the 6:15 train to Taizhong. I am so grateful we were able to be companions. It was a great six weeks, and I'm looking forward to the next 6 as well! Wish me luck as I attempt to fully communicate in chinese haha.
I GOT MY PACKAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WORD'S GREATEST PACKAGE EVER! My teeth are so happy, PERFECT BRUSH, my stomach is so happy, PERFECT FOOD (especially the almond roca, AHH to die for!!!) my members are so touched, PERFECT ORNAMENTS, my personal study is happy, PERFECT ENSIGN, and overall just the BEST PACKAGE EVER!!! THe stockings are hung up on my wall. Thank you so much seriosuly. I know that must have cost a fortune, I'm sorry! It truly made my birthday/Christmas complete!!! Thank you thank you thank you! Your christmas package will be late :/ sorry, but you should still hopefully get it next week. I love you all SOOOO Much!!! Thank you for everything you all do. So, exciting news! WE CAN SKYPE NEXT WEEK!!! I'm thinking Tuesday night for you, Wednesday morning for me? I found a members home who is willing to let us come over in the morning. Probably 8 or 9 AM is the earliest they could do, will that be too late for you? I'm not sure how many hours difference it is. I'll plan on that time, but we can confirm next week according to what you say in your email back. I am so excited!!!!!! Well, my time is up. I love you all!!! I should be emailing around 11 my time next monday to check. LOVE YOU
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