Excellent Excellent Excellent



August 26, 2013

From the subject title you can all probably assume my last week was quite excellent to say the least. In fact, yesterday while at church I was thinking about my week and about all the things I was learning from the speakers, and realized they all linked together. So, this week I'm just going to tell you what I learned at church yesterday.

I went to the 4th Ward this week, which starts out with Relief Society, then I'll go to Gospel Principles class, and then end it with Sacrament meeting.

Relief Society

Zhang JM gave a wonderful lesson on 4 roles that define us. Her lesson was based of President Uchtdorf's talk given to the men at general conference, but we linked it to women. The first role is that we are children of Heavenly Father. This reminded me of one of our friends, Guo JM. She has been meeting with us for a few weeks and has a strong testimony of prayer and her relationship with God. She loves coming to church and is working to prepare for baptism next month. She shared a cool experience with us last week about how her and her mom don't have the greatest relationship. She said that they often fight and don't really see eye-to-eye on a lot of things. She took our invitation to pray to heart and started to pray for their relationship to get better. She came back the next time giddy with excitement because her prayers had been answered. As she's worked on her patience and not getting upset so easily with her mom, her mom has also started showing more love and understanding. I know that Heavenly Father wants to bless our lives and help us see the good ineveryone, for we are all his precious children.

The next role was Disciples of Jesus Christ. A huge part of this comes from our own study of Christ's life and how He interacts with those around Him. I thought upon my testimony of the Bible and Book of Mormon. I also reflected upon the chances this week I had to bear my testimony of what I had learned and come to know that was true. First, while in a lesson with a wonderful Jehovah's Witness sister. She had come prepared with a list of why we are terrible and wrong and how we could not be Christian. However, as we lovingly shared scriptures with each other, bearing our testimonies of their truthfulness, she was touched. At the end, she looked me straight in the eyes and said, so you actually believe the Book of Mormon to be true? How? I was able to share a tender experience when I myself, 13 years old, came to know the Book of Mormon was true through feelings of the Holy Ghost. As I'vecontinued to study and read over the years, my testimony is strengthened everyday. As we study these things, the next part is to go and do! Fun story: We were about to get on our bikes to ride when I noticed a cute old man trying desperately to ghostride a bike home. It would go astray every few seconds and he would have to stop and readjust frequently. I ran over to help him stand the bike up straight and then asked where he was going. He said not too far, so I got on the bike and told him I'd ride it for him and then walk back. After being on the bike a few minutes, I began to realize that this bike was special... This bike had no breaks. Haha, it was a really funny ride (especially since it was a tall boy bike and I had on a skirt) but we made it! It was fine and that was that. We said goodbye and walked back to our bikes. I want to be better at doing nice things for people. It feels good. 

The next was "Healer of the Soul" We get to comfort the brokenhearted, help the sick and afflicted, strenghthen those who have lost their way, share the light of the gospel with our loved ones. This role is pretty special. Last week we went to visit a few members of the church who haven't been in many years. Many have been burdened down by the last few years of trials that keep piling up. They want to come back and feel free from it all, but are just not quite sure how to. As we become their friends, they realize that God has not forgotten nor ever will forget them. They feel that spark of hope and allow the atonement to help their lives feel peace again. 

The last was Heirs of Eternal life. Remember Chen JM, the miracle miracle who was baptized a few weeks ago? We met with her last week and I was able to hear the story from herself. She'd been meeting with missionaries and coming to church for several months. She was excited to be baptized, and had her parents permission (even though she was 26 years old) to get baptized. It was wonderful. 2 days before her baptism her best friend in the world tells her suddenly that she has to pick between getting baptized, or being her friend. She was really hurt and called the sisters, not knowing what to do. The sisters bore testimony that she was making hte right choice and to keep praying about it. Chen JM felt it was right and decided she'd still get baptized. The next day, her boyfriend of 2 years does the same thing, and again she decides to keep going. The day of her baptism, that best friend went to her parents house and told them how she didn't want her to get baptized and convinced her parents to forbid her. She came home from work to grab her baptism clothes to a changed house. Her parents locked her in and wouldn't let her out, forbidding her to be baptized. She called the sisters and told them of the situation. The baptism was about to start in a few minutes, so everyone was there. They all said a fervant prayer together and had the feeling that they should just wait for her and that she would come. 6:00 comes by and her boyfriend pulls up, her right behind, ready to be baptized. Turns out, her boyfriend changed his mind once he realized how happy church made Chen JM, he went over to her parents house and smoothed everything over, and attended the baptism with her. It ended with him even saying that he too would like to be baptized one day. I know that's a long story, but it just shows the faith and determination of a wonderful 25 year old woman. She will continue to learn and grow in the gospel and one day will be the heir to eternal life.  p.s. the best friend is still friends with her... no change after baptism haha.

Next class: Gospel principles.

We talked about honesty and how it is sincere, selfless, doesn't mislead, and a characteristic of Christ. This lesson affected one of our friends Qiu JM so much that she decided to quit her job that makes her do some little dishonest things, and quit her other job that usually makes her work on sunday. She decided that she wants to find a job she can come to church and learn every week, and to make sure that she feels happy and righteous at work, no matter how much money she makes. She is a wonderful example of taking what we learn at church and applying it in our lives right away!

Next class:

Sacrament meeting. 2 things really stood out to me in sacrament. 1- Love. Why do we serve? What is the purpose of our service? Love! We went to visit the Cai family, long time members of the church to do FHE with them. We asked Cai JM what she learned on her mission and she said, to love the members you serve with. I can testify that that is so important! It makes the work so much more fulfilling when we work with others to do it. A great example of love last week was the Xu family. They are ward missionaries and do an incredible job helping investigators, members, and everyone they see. We were on our way home after church and some meetings to grab lunch when they called and said they had a feeling we should go see one of our members who wasn't there today. We gladly went with them and turns our she really needed our help. It was so cool to see the Holy Ghost working in their lives and how they acted upon that prompting to help someone in need. The second thing was something that a sister said in her talk 2- "Our marriage is based on Missionary Work." What a cool thing to base a marriage off of. So many families in Taiwan have that approach. We got to go to Youth Conference on Friday night for Missionary Night. We got to play some games and help the youth see the importance and happiness in missioanry work. At the end, the stake president asked who from the youth planned on serving a mission. Almost every single youth of a group of around 400 stood up instantly. I could just feel the power of the future missionary force here in Taiwan. I am so glad they will get to experience the blessings of a mission and come to know Heavenly Father in a wonderful way.

As I read over President Uchtdorf's talk this morning, this stood out to me: "Perhaps it is ture that we are weak. Perhaps we are not wise or mighty. But when God works through us, no one and nothing can stand against us." I know that is true. I know that we can feel happiness as we turn to Him for help through our prayers. I love life. I know I say it far too much, but its true. I love you all and miss you so much!!!!!

Love, Sister Smart

Tainan oh Tainan



August 19, 2013

One day I'll write a song about how great Tainan is. But for now I'll just tell you about my supergreat last week.

FHE on monday night was a smashing success. We held it at the Xu familiy's house. It was so much fun! We had some people who recently joined the church come, also some who hadn't been to church in a long time, also some people investigating the church. We ate dinner together, then played a game and talked about how when we put Christ first, everything else works out.

The next day I went to Jiayi, about an hour train ride awaw and had exchanges with Sister Chord. We went there first for Zone training meeting, then we had a little pow-wow with the sisters and it was really fun. We talked about some of the stresses in missionary work and how we can deal with them. Afterwards I went back to Sister Chord's area, Douliu. They just opened the place up last week, so we had a nice open day just trying to meet some folks. We ended up tracting into a family who let us in and we were able to share about how the gospel blesses families. It was great! We also ate a pizza for dinner. haha

Wednesday we switched back in the afternoon and I came back to dear old Tainan. That night for english I taught them "Our Savior's Love" in english and we'll be performing it in a  few weeks for the talent show we're throwing. We talked about the lyrics. One of my favorite parts is when it talks about how the light of Christ lights our way is it breaks through clouds of strife. We together shared experiences about when Christ has led us through times when we were confused or felt lost, and what that light feels like. I know it's real.

We threw 2 activities this last week, one was a brownie night. It was really fun and we taught everyone how to make them. Of course we bought ice cream to celebrate and it was pretty funny to see them react to how sweet brownies are. The other was a pizza night. Note, if you want people to come to activities, just say there's food! Works everytime. Anyways, they were great opportunities for everyone to make friends and have a great time together.

Saturday night we went to a baptism with one of our investigators, Cynthia. She was so touched by the baptism and we talked afterwards about her own baptismal service. We set a date and we'll do everything we can to help her receive those wonderful blessings! It was such a great week. Sunday night we had another FHE (to be held on Sundays from now on) and it was also really great. The elders did the spiritual share and reinacted the 3 little pigs. It was so funny! Afterwards we played a game and everyone had a great time. Really, missions are so wonderful. I'm out of time but love you all!!

Love, Sister Smart

First week in Tainan

August 12, 2013

 

The wonderful world of Tainan is a dream beyone imagination. Just wait till I send you pictures. After our email last week, I jumped on a train to Tainan. A few hours later I found myself in the most beautiful city with an incredible companion! Sister Shen and I are just about as happy as happy missionaries can be! We got home and got right to work. This week was spent mainly getting to know tons of people, so let me introduce you to them

 

Zhou JM is our relief society president and a huge key to succcess in Missionary work. We met with her and asked how we could help the ward, especially the sisters. We talked about those who could use a helping hand and we spent the rest of the week visiting them. Her husband and her met the missionaries when their youngest child was only 2 years old. They've been incredibley faithful these last 30 years and helped us out so much.

 

Chen JM is a great girl who is investigating the church. She is in her 20's and has a strong testimony of prayer. She sells clothes everyday (get this, their jewelry is from Forever 21 haha) and has been coming to church the last few months. She is so great. A cute girl named Mango came with us to teach her, which worked out pretty great. Mango joined the church 5 years ago and has a really strong testimony of families. She is always willing to help the missionaries. That's when I started to realize that this area is full of people who love missionary work and are willing to do anything to help these people come unto Christ. It's so great!

 

Lisa is another wonderful woman. She has intesrest in the church because of Brother Lin, a co-worker. She think's he's the bee's knees, so when he invited her to come and see, she was more than willing. She has been learning so much and we'll hopefully see her again tonight for FHE. It goes to show that the most important aspect of missionary work is our own example. If we are living the gospel, others will want to come and see for themselves why we are so happy.

 

Nina is a cool 13 year old who lives in Australia. Her uncle is a member and invited her to meet with us. We got to know her and then shared about how the Book of Mormon and prayer will bless our lives no matter where we are. She'll be going back to Australia soon, but we hope shell continue to learn over there.

 

Ke family! They are the greatest. They live at the top of Gaoxiong, which is still our area, so we rode our bikes down the beach to get there. Read that sentance again. I know, right? Biked down the beach. This area is so beautiful. If I get a chance to ride that road on a pday I'll of course send pictures to you. This family was baptized almost a year ago and is getting ready to go to the temple. They have 3 cute kids, Bella, Ryan and Jordan. They are so much fun!

 

Chen JM, just got baptized 2 weeks ago. Huge miracle story I'll share with you next week if I have time. Sorry, today's time is also pretty short. Qiu JM is so funny! She wants to be baptized so bad but her grandpa objects. We're helping her continue to build her faith, and we know miracles will come. Zhang JM is so cool too! We shared the word of wisdom with her and turns out she's an alcoholic. However, as we shared the blessings of keeping this commandment, she was willing to try it before we even asked her.

 

We also met with other leaders, like the Bishops of our wards (we have 2 wards here) and they want us to help strengthen the youth and the singles programs. They'd like us to help them throw activities and help everyone come to the church and feel loved. We're so excited to work with them! gahhh. The time goes by so fast! Next email will be more interesting because I've got 2 exchanges, a pizza party, a cookie party, and much much more coming up this next week. Haha, simply put, I love my new area, companion, and all these people. They are so wonderful and I am glad to serve them. I love you all and miss you so much! Don't forget to read your scriptures and say your prayers :)

 

Love, Ally

I don't have much time today, I'm moving to Tainan

August 5, 2013

I'm sorry I don't have much time today. The big news is that I'm moving to Tainan here in a little bit. I'll be companions with a Sister Shen and it should be a blast. I was hoping to stay my last 3 months here, but guess Heavenly Father has other plans for me. I'll go, but I'll miss this place a lot. I love Fengyuan and it has changed so much in the last several months. I figured I would be moving so I spent the week visiting the people I will miss the most. Mainly, Lily and her family. Theresa and her family. Hong JM and her family. Chen JM and her family. Lin JM, Li mama, Eva, and so many others that have touched my life. I love this area so much! I'll be taking on some new responsibilities in Tainan, so it will be a cool chance to get to serve the people and missionaries there. My train leaves in a little bit though and I'm not sure I'll have another chance to finish my emailing time today, but know that I love you all! I know the Lord loves us all and He is always by our side, helping us do the things we feel inadequate to do. I know prayer is real and that it can change our hearts. Sometimes it kinda just boggles my mind at how ridiculously happy I am... It's because there is no greater message that we could be sharing and living. It's fun and I plan on working non-stop these last 2 movecalls. Love you!!

 

Love, 宋姊妹,

9 Principles

July 29, 2013

Beloved loved ones,

Hi! I'm doing quite excellent. Lately I've been really studying the 9 principles for a successful Family and realizing how much it can relate to any aspect of our lives. In my journal its listed as "9 Principles for a successful... ANYTHING" Seriously. Wanna have success? Just do this. This week I'm going to talk a little bit on how these 9 principles fit in with missionary work this last week for me. Let's begin. I'll write some of my thoughts, or other's thoughts (like prophets and stuff) and then link it to my week.

Faith

"In uncertain and difficult times, faith is truly a spiritual gift worthy of our utmost efforts." We need to understand and believe the doctrine. This is more of a funny story. We rode home in sheeting rain Saturday night after our luau, racing to get in the door. I carelessly forgot to lock my bike (unusual) and ran inside. The next morning, we go out to bike to church and hmm.. Weird. Where did my bike go? Oops. Got stolen haha. I was strangely calm and laughed as we hiked to the nearest bus stop. We came home after church to eat really quick and I observed, "Well, I guess that guy who needed it isn't quite finished with it yet. It'll be back later" My companions laughed and I did too, still not quite sure what I would do if my bike did not come back again. We left to go meet with some people and came back that night. Still no bike. Again, "Guess he's not done... yet. Still needs it." In my mind I figured I was just joking, however, lo and behold, that night I get a call from the Tanzi sisters who live with us saying, you're bike is back! Haha, guess he was done using it and I now can ride my bike. Now this isn't some example of heroic faith that saved nations, but it was enough to give me hope and let me not worry about the future. Even if it hadn't been returned, I still know everything would have worked out fine.

Repentance

"Today is always a better day to repent than tomorrow!" This is one of the best ways I can feel the spirit daily. Continual daily repentance brings joy, hope, and the comfort of the Holy Ghost. I mess up daily. That's okay. I try to repent daily too to make up for it. We are constantly evaluating ourselves to see where we can improve and how we can better represent Christ. It just feels good.

Prayer

"As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God, then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part" When Christ wants to show others that He loves them, He prays for them. My night time prayers are filled and filled with names and people I love. Sometimes they are extremely specific, sometimes they are not, however, the feeling is always the same. God loves each and every one of us, He knows us personally and perfectly. I try to help others realize and make that connection daily. Once its there, there is nothing that can get us down.

Forgiveness

"Heaven is filled with those who have this in common: They are forgiven, and they forgive" We cannot hold grudges or judge others. This is super helpful when you live with someone 24 hours a day and for months at a time. We are different, but that's okay. We talk and work together, knowing that nobody is perfect. When we are unified, we have the spirit and can teach effectively. I have loved each and every one of my companions dearly.

Love

"By THIS (Love) shall men know, ye are my disciples." Love others as we know the Savior loves us. What would He do? The Xie family is one that I love deeply. A mom and her 3 sons. We meet with them twice a week and they are so wonderful. We were talking about who our best friends are once while chatting as we arrived and the oldest said without skipping a beat, Heavenly Father! These children are finding out that God loves them. We love them too. Because we love them, we share the precious knowledge that we have. Love is the most important aspect of missionary work.

Respect

"To consider worthy of high regard" "Honor them. They need to hear a good word. They need a friendly smile. They need a warm expression of true love" This last week we had a duanchuan with us this week named Lin JM. I have much respect for her. She's the only member in her family and her family really disapproves of her joining the church and leaving behind their family traditions. She has a strong testimony and is filled with faith and love for the Lord and His gospel. She was not afraid to share it with anyone and has grown so much over the last week. I am so grateful for all the people in my life that I look up to and respect.

Compassion

"To suffer with, to show sympathy, pity, and mercy for another" Sometimes people just need a listening ear. I was reading in Mark when John the Baptist dies. Christ must be feeling so sad, and keeps getting followed, no time for Himself. He goes to a quiet spot to dwell after the news and is still swarmed with people pleading for His mercy and His healing. He was not like most of us who would say, oh just a second. I'm having a hard time, can you come back later? or I'll help that person another day. He immediately healed them and blessed them. He wept with those who needed comfort and strengthened the weak wherever He went. I want to be like that. Last night we met with a wonderful Mom and her daughter (Lily's family I've told you guys about) The Mom opened up about her past and we sat and listened for a long while as she spoke about the hardships in her life. Things very hard to imagine. Some were brought to tears as we listened and thought about how blessed each of us were for our wonderful families and lives, no matter the difficulties we may face. What a wonderful gift it is to have the opportunity to meet these wonderful people who need a listening ear, and then the gospel to help find a new start.

Recreation

We had a smashing Luau on Saturday. I want to talk more about it but am out of time. Tons of people came, everyone had a great time, we took tons of pictures and I'll send them next week :)

Work

Honest labor, not wasting time, discipline, seeing it to completion, and enjoying it every step of the way. Yeah, we work hard, but we have the best time doing it. I love being a missionary. I love working hard and sweating till you're not really sure if its raining or super hot when I walk into a room (gross, right?) I love meeting people. I love hearing their stories. I love speaking chinese. I love speaking Taiyu to old amas. I love the food. I love the weather. I love riding my bike. I love the weird habits people have here. I love the gospel. I love sharing it with everyone. I love smiling and having Christ's name in characters over my heart. I love every single part of my life and am grateful for this chance I have to be here.

I love you all so much! More next week

Love, Ally

We had a duanchuan (short term missionary)

July 22, 2013

Hello folks! Sorry I'm a little bit later today. I just got back from a nice day in Taizhong city seeing some sites and eating at a really cool restaurant. I'll send some pictures!

Last week we had a duanchuan (short term missionary) Lu JM with us for just a week. It was a young men and woman's activity so she was only 15 years old and just lived with us for a week, obeying all missionary rules and going out with us as if she were a missionary with us. It was really fun and we had so many cool experiences. Welp, We just got word that we are picking up another duanchuan in just 20 minutes... AHH so I don't have much time but let me tell ya some o the good stuff from last week:

We spent a day up in Xinshe to visit some people, including a woman named Mina up in the mountains. She was really sweet and googlyeyes for Americans, but still had interest in learning the gospel so that was nice. While we were waiting to catch the bus back (no possible way to bike to Xinshe) we had a cool miracle! Benson is one of the elders' investigators who really wants to be baptized but who's mom fandui's. Well, lo and behold, we're waiting for the bus and Benson rolls up on his bike. We start to chat a little bit and turns out he just lived a few doors down and asked if we'd like to come and visit his mom! We were able to get to know her and help her understand a little bit about what we do. She said we could come back another day, so we're really excited. Crazy how things work out sometimes. That night we met with one of our new converts and she decided to bring a friend. We talked about the priesthood and how important  it is and how much it blesses us. She expressed a desire to go on a mission and wants to start preparing for that, so we're really excited! After that, we visited a friend who was baptized a long time ago but hasn't been to church in a long time. She however has been the last 2 weeks and is enjoying the new peace and comfort in her life. We were able to share a cool article from last general conference about how the scriptures are like a map on our journey in life. It was really great!

Ahhhh my time is almost up. We have to go pick her up. Here's some things I'll try to explain next week

-Zhong ama's son having interest!
-74 folks at our english class, including 34 kids
-Ye JM in Houli wants to start learning
-Getting soaked to the bone in Houli without rainclothes, and led around by the mayor
-Eva came to church! So did Teresa and her kids! And Lily and Jenny and her friend!
-Hula class is going great, party is looking good for this week!
-Hong Jm and her daughter miracle!!! Lu JM is her daughters friend!
-Pizzaaaaaa-Baptism!
-Weird parade for a gods birthday here

Sorry I don't have time to explain it all, but I LOVE YOU GUYS! I'll write more next week!

Love, Ally

Survived another deadly typhoon



July 13, 2013

I am alive for those of you who were aware that Taiwan had a "deadly typhoon" as some like to call it. More on that later!

This week was crazy, Some of the cool highlights are as follows

-Huang JM is a cute older woman we meet with. Lately she's been really down on her self and extremely negative. We had a cool lesson with her where we talked about who we are as daughters of God and how being positive towards yourself and others can bring so much happiness! She was moved to tears as we testified together and helped her see that she has great worth and divine potential. One of my favorite things on my mission has been to see the transformation as they come to be someone with confidence who radiates happiness because of the truth they have found.

-Lily and her Mom are doing so great! Lily was the one we found a few weeks ago who hadn't been to church in 5 years, since she was baptized. Her mom is a huge support of her coming back and also has interest in learning the gospel. We love their family so much and have so much fun every time we go over there. The gospel was made for families and blesses them beyond our imagination! It's so cool

-Wednesday night at english I taught about music! We had a HUGE class of 31 kids with a few parents. It was crazy but so much fun. We all brought in instruments and I let the kids play mine. We also practiced a hula dance that one of our recent converts is teaching them... because we're throwing a luau! Yeh yeh. It's gonna be a hit. The men, women, and kids are all learning different things and performing them. 7/27 is coming up and we're doing a ton of preparation for it. It will be a blast!

-Eva is one of the girls that we teach ukulele to. She is so cute and wonderful but is always a little hesitant towards the gospel. When she came on Thursday, she didn't pull out her ukulele. She instead started off telling us some problems she's been having lately. She was confused as what she should do and asked us for advice. After a little while, I ended up saying something about how I was grateful to know where we came from, why we're here on earth, and where we go after this life, and how much comfort that knowledge has given me. She stopped and stared for a second, and then said, what!? You know the answer to those questions!? We were delighted then to share about the plan of salvation and tell her all those answers. She's excited to continue learning! The gospel is seriously so cool. 

Last, yes we had a huge typhoon. Friday night it started and the wind and rain were just howling all night. I woke up that morning a little after 6, and as I set my feet on the floor, I felt around an inch of water at my feet. I'll send pictures next week. Yep, all the windows in our house (though closed) flooded. It was a ton of clean up but we got it all under control. Later when the typhoon wasn't as bad, we went out and saw trees everywhere! We did little clean ups as we could, trying to serve wherever we went. It was really fun! And we are all safe. Don't worry!

OH and a funny story: So this week we went go and visit a lady in our ward that we haven't met yet and when we got to her house her sister answered and said she wasn't home but invited us in. And then her mom (who is this cute little grandma) came down and started talking to us. There was this baby doll sitting on the table next to her and she grabbed it and told us that she had been taking a babysitting class and she was telling us all about it while she was playing with the doll and then she went to say how she just got finished taking her babysitting test and how she failed, right as she was saying this the arm of the doll popped off! hahaha and she was like, "whoops.... i'll fix that!" after a few minutes of trying to fix it she just sat it on the side of her and said she'll do it later. hahaha it was the funniest thing ever. My companion and I were dying. Good times good times.

Well I love you all! You're the best and I'm praying for you always! See ya next time!

Love, Ally