December 29, 2014

“To rationalize disobedience does not change spiritual law or its consequences but leads to confusion, instability, wandering in strange paths, being lost, and grief.”
-Robert D. Hales

December 26, 2014


S H A K E

I n g r e d i e n t s:
frozen strawberries
orange
banana
 B L E N D
 V o i l a

December 20, 2014


You can’t give your heart to a wild thing.

Truman Capote

December 19, 2014


The secret friend hidden in the deepest part of an insane mind.


No one else could hear the rhythm of his heart, and hat emptiness he sometimes gets... It's wretched.

 He's working harder than anyone knows...

And fighting a riot only heaven sees.

December 18, 2014

e g d u j

You'd have to be in a special mood to post a thought.

Don't bother to budge, though.

I get it.

You've already made a judgment in your head. 

December 15, 2014


n r u t - e R

Spindles of gray wool
wrapped, wrapped, mis-wrapped

Compare to the fleeting:
pages dusted
lines disclosed
metal rusting

Nothing but sing-ed and burning
fragrances leased and left.

December 12, 2014

H A L L E L U J A H



A year's worth of batteries for my metronome.

I love you Santa!!

December 10, 2014

A s t o r y

This morning when Joseph and I were walking to school, one of those fat ducks by the wilk waddled past us. Of course I wanted to chase it, but Joseph said, "No. It probably has enough stress in its life." - To which I said, "Wow!! What a kind thought. I never thought of it that way!" So, we didn't chase it.
Moral of the story: Be kind to others (yes, even ducks). You don't know what they're going through.

December 9, 2014

Sound Therapy and Meditation

It's the end of the semester, so it's no surprise everyone may be a little bit stressed lately.

Don't fret! Here's an awesome outlet/way to take a break and minimize stress/anxiety:


It's called sound therapy/meditation.  You can meditate at school, at work, at home, etc.  It helps diminish stress, anxiety, and other negative energy.

So, take a break.  

After hours of practicing, writing papers, teaching students, worrying about the small things, and studying for finals, my brain was about fried today.  So, I decided to take a break from practicing.  I sat in the hfac lobby and just meditated. 

Find a space, close your eyes, and relax. When you focus on breathing, envision yourself letting go of all of the negative influences, all the stress and sources of anxiety in your life. 

Before you know it, you'll be feeling refreshed and enlivened!  Try it out.



For more information about sound therapy, you can click HERE.

December 4, 2014

When I'm not working:






Rachael Yamagata: "Believes in love, loyalty and the lingering magic of music."

December 2, 2014

s u b i t o

"It's just a flick."
"Aye. 't was just a flickering. Nothing more."

I always thought human hearts were supposed to be inseparably knit, but at that moment, amidst those stitches seemingly appeared a rather candid tear.

There's never any good hiding how I feel.

I was never good at it anyway.  You know that.

"Alright," I said, "It wasn't just a flickering to me."

Silence.  Oh!! - How tangible the silence - a subito piano, the kind in a Beethoven sonata.

But to hell with the silence.  I couldn't up and tell a lie.  My heart was right.  It wasn't a flickering.

No - It was a full-blown memory - a cup of steaming hot chocolate with cream - and not just any cream.  It was a cup of steaming hot chocolate with thick, white cream foaming over the cup's searing lips...

Well, what was the use?



Some people never read with their hearts.

Not About Angels - Birdy




November 29, 2014

For M a r g i e




Sometimes you just gotta find an old friend and whistle.

November 28, 2014

S a n t a a t n a S

That's all she did:
Smile in the dark.





The world is beautiful today and everyday.



I do hard things.
I overcome challenges.
I decide my future.
I make wise choices.
I understand the Atonement.
I repent.
I forgive.
I move on.

I empower.
I recognize.

I am driven.
I am honest.
I am true.
I am patient.

I believe in improvement.
I believe in blessings.

I determine my own destiny.

November 26, 2014

For people like us


The grass listened - she trimmed, her fingers gentle daggers
The sun embraced - she absorbed, her eyes dim-lit drapes
The wind whispered - she heard, her ears barren caves

Look
  Instill
    S
      Torn
        E
          N
Trust God.

November 23, 2014

In e s s e n c e

Souls of pressed petals
some still silken with dew

Faltered whispers 
arduously reaching 
illuminated by repetition
tried by shame
harnessed and transparent

Solace

November 22, 2014

M i l e s t o n e s

I wasn't so sure before, but now I am.

My hair put on a millimeter last night.

I'm more loyal than you think I am. 

November 21, 2014

November 20, 2014

In [the] S P A C E

Do you see this?

If you do, then that means you probably care enough about me to go through the trouble of figuring it all out.

You see, things like this are always one-sided.

You get to see all these parts of me, but what do I see of you?

It doesn't matter what I get. 

I just can't stop giving.

I guess you can say I have a lot of coded secrets.

Maybe next time you see me, you'll act as if you haven't even discovered this blog, my coded secrets...


And maybe next time I see you, I'll act as if I don't know that you care enough to figure me out.


But in the end, it's always just the same.


We all just want to be understood, don't we?

November 17, 2014

November 15, 2014

And all there was was s i l e n c e


She wasn't smiling anymore.

Inhibited


Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

WE GET TO MEET HIM

November 14, 2014

Solo



phi·los·o·phize/fəˈläsəˌfīz/

verb
  1. speculate or theorize about fundamental or serious issues, especially in a tedious or pompous way.

apud

November 13, 2014

Emit time

time timeN time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time Otime time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time time timeW time time time time time time time time

"When?"
"Pick the right one."

u n - h i n g e d

There's always more past coded brows,
Spurred into a netted complex of "ifs" and "can'ts"

chilled wreaths wound in a nest
so intwined - "no - too entwined".

She was archaic anyway.

Just gasps of blue mused dust.

November 12, 2014

November 10, 2014

Kindness

There is no end to the good we can do, to the influence we can have with others. Let us not dwell on the critical or the negative. Let us pray for strength; let us pray for capacity and desire to assist others. Let us radiate the light of the gospel at all times and all places, that the Spirit ofthe Redeemer may radiate from us.
In the words of the Lord to Joshua, brethren, “be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God [will be] with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Josh. 1:9).

- President Gordon B. Hinckley

November 7, 2014

November 5, 2014

e x h a l e e l a h x e

Eyes tired and weary with a film of porcelain veil,
breaths - slow, deep, lone, and fading

The only sigh that kept her high -
thoughts of a growth: wood root - would wind

Eyes deep and darkened by agonizing ties
kept only by the grave demise

Someone withered and blown
with hair perfect just for a throne

Sincerity, truth, and sanity the same
endured through the blackest of black domains

Never to look and never to reign
lifted only for once for leaven so plain

Lift me up, oh Son of God.
Bear this pain I've known for love.


October 31, 2014

October 30, 2014

Blue Lips by Regina Spektor


There are people out there, people like us.
Who can't sleep.
There are people out there, people like us.
You can hear it in their voice.
You can see it in their eyes.

They've got "blue lips and blue veins.
Cuz blue is"the most human color"



Solitude

Quiet by Rachael Yamagata


October 17, 2014

No more sad. No more bad. More happy. More good.

You can still grow something good out of a pile of ashes.


G r o w i n g. :)

Patience



October 16, 2014

You're not just a book I'm supposed to burn up.

It doesn't matter what they do.

You know me better than I know myself.

You've always known what I want.

So build up your wall, but I'm staying golden.

I know I'm not helping.

You know, it's not just you who's hurting.

Cuz you're a book I'll never burn up.

I'll find you when I'm ready, and if you won't take me, I'll find somebody.

October 9, 2014

It's a choice.

No one could ever own you, and no one could ever own me.

October 8, 2014

It's Ulterior, not Alterior

They never know me well enough to see past my frame.
Painted backgrounds to a pale, white beginning, so intricate in design.
Marked by an ounce of existence.

But to inhale a heart
is simply as sensical comfort pouring over a psychotic make.


October 7, 2014

That's why I confuse you.

I try to be sarcastic never.

People wouldn't ever assume that I was crazy.



October 2, 2014

The Greatest Gift on Earth

I give you permission to love anyone you want.
I give you permission to talk to anyone you'd like.
I give you permission to do anything you wish.
I give you permission to dream all that you desire.

That's what God said to us when He saved us.

That's what He said when we came here.

However, blinded by the fears of our own power, some still stray, some still struggle.

In the end, the agents won, and the sloths failed.

ydnac

So, love all you want.
Talk all you'd like.
Do anything you wish.
Dream all you desire.

All you ever wanted was for me to be happy.

It just scares me because I feel safe with you, and I'm blindsided.

October 1, 2014

I'm free-flying.

It's hard to tie down someone like that.

September 29, 2014

Uelb - That's Blue backwards, you know.

Hey,

Thanks for letting me be a kid.

Thanks for letting me dream.

Thanks for looking at my heart.

Thanks for making me smile.


September 27, 2014

September 26, 2014

BROWN

Your words are as poisonous as your eyes.

I Love You Anyway

September 18, 2014

There Won't BE Any Shortcuts



Have you been daydreaming lately?!
... yeah.

Sometimes you just gotta kick yourself in the gut.
I promise this feels better than it hurts:






The time to work is now.  It is always now!!
I'm working hard, so I can dream later.


"Forget yourself and go to work."

There aren't any shortcuts to this.

September 17, 2014

Resolutions

For the weekdays:

6:00-6:30 Wake up
Daily, insightful, sincere, and meaningful prayer
Shower/prep
7:00 Breakfast
7:30 Travel/prepare for school
8:00 Class
9:00 PERSONAL STUDY
Fifteen minutes of scripture study.
Fifteen minutes of lds.org
9:30 Practice
10:30 Homework
11:00 Class
12:00 Class
1:00 Lunch break
2:00 Practice
3:00 Class
4:00 Practice
5:00 Homework
6:00 Practice
6:30 Dinner
7:00 Family scripture study
8:00 Homework
9:00 Practice/Homework
10:00 CHILL
10:30 BED

I'M GONNA STICK TO IT.

Multiple Key Method

Group 1: C G F
Group 2: D A E
Group 3: Db Ab Eb
Group 4: Gb Bb B

"The teacher, not a set of books, is the determining factor in quality results."

"Quality teaching is determined by the results achieved, not necessarily by the methods used."

September 16, 2014

It's only a little while, darlin'

 “The pain of being alone is completely out of this world, isn't it? I don't know why, but I understand your feelings so much, it actually hurts. ”
Masashi Kishimoto



“Her eyes carried
a certain kind
of silence that
begged to be
understood and i
felt as if i was
a scientist,
staring with eager,
feverant eyes into
galaxies that have not
yet had the chance
to be named.”
Testy McTesterson

September 12, 2014

LET ME.

“When I've thought about him dying - which admittedly isn't that much - I always thought of it like you said, that all strings inside him broke. But there are a thousand ways to look at it: maybe the strings break, or maybe our ships think, or maybe we're grass - our roots are so interdependent that no one is dead as long as soneone is still alive. We don't suffer from a shortage of metaphors, is what I mean. But you have to be careful which metaphor you choose, because it matters. If you choose the strings, then you're imagining a world in which you can become irreparably broken. If you choose grass, you're saying that we are all infinitely interconnected, that we can use these root systems not only to understand one another but to become one another. The metaphors have implications...
I like the strings, I always have. Because that's how it feels. But the strings make pain seem more fatal than it is...We are not as frail as the strings would make us believe. And I like the grass, too. The grass got me to you, helped me imagine you as an actual person. But we're not different sprouts from the same plant. I can't be you. You can't be me. You can imagine another well- but not quite perfectly, you know?
"Maybe, it's more like you said before, all of us being cracked open. Like each of us starts out as a watertight vessel. And these things happen-these people leave us, or don't love us, or don't get us, or we don't get them, and we lose and fail and hurt one another. And the vessel starts to crack open in places. And I mean, yeah, once the vessel cracks open, the end becomes inevitable...But there is all this time between when the cracks start to open up and when we finally fall apart. And it's only in that time that we can see each other, because we see out of ourselves through our cracks and into others through theirs. When did we see each other face-to-face? Not until you saw into my cracks and I saw into yours. Before that we were just looking at ideas of each other, like looking at your window shade but never looking inside. But once the vessel cracks, the like can get in. The like can get out.” 
 John Green, Paper Towns



For you




“It is quite clear that between love and understanding there is a very close link...He who loves understands, and he who understands loves. One who feels understood feels loved, and one who feels loved feels sure of being understood.” 
 Paul Tournier, To Understand Each Other

T-HE-ART

You said I write poetry.

I could make a profession out of a hobby,

but price always corrupts the real pay.

That's what the world does to t-he-art.

September 9, 2014

I'll find you

No one said you needed to read a book to ride a bike.

No one needs permission, a degree to start to walk.

Why, then, do we tie ourselves down to the ground with mentality that says we can't fly?

September 5, 2014

An entry

So, this is a blog entry that I wrote before the mission-age change two years ago:

You can see how God really turned my whole world into hope:

"I feel like I'm surrounded by all these people who belong and know who they are.
I've spent my whole life trying to fit in, but it's tearing me apart because it's hard, and I AM different:

I've been trying to balance my life in between two completely different cultures...
I'm an American-born Taiwanese, so at home, I literally feel like I live in Taiwan.
When I walk outside, I have to try to adjust and fit in as an American. - It's hard being true to both cultures at the same time.

When I was young, I went to a private school called Challenger, skipped 8th grade, and attended my local public highschool... I was so used to wearing uniforms everyday, and so it took me a while to figure that dressing in t-shirts and jeans was social suicide. - Fortunately, I picked up my own sense of dress...

It seemed that everyone had already established their cliques, so I hung out with my sister all of my freshman year (she was a senior)...  I felt so socially underdeveloped, and it didn't help that I spent most of my time practicing to win state/national piano competitions and trying to do well in school at the same time.

All this pushed me to grow up fast, and before I knew it, I graduated Timpview with my associate's degree and plunged into my piano performance major... I started the summer my highschool graduation, decided to save money and live at home, and have been taking classes back to back - no breaks ever since.

I'll graduate with my bachelor's degree fall 2013, if that gives you an idea of my unusual life...

I'm not saying all of this to brag OR to complain.

I just wanted to illustrate my own situation to people and encourage others to be open-minded and understanding. - Don't judge others or assume anything about them if you don't even know their history!
NO ONE is perfect.  Be kind. Be genuine. Be respectful.

Because in the end, we're all trying to find something to comfort our needs and worries. - I guess in that, we're all the same.

At least, to me, is comforting."

Feeling like this...




virus suriv

Sure.

Wake up at three from a rancid cough.
Bathe in a tub at four.
Exfoliate your lips at five while listening to this:

Someone to Watch Over Me


August 28, 2014

I'm not what you say I'm supposed to be.

I've been back about a week.

What have I learned?!

At the start, I was so used to hearing people ask me how I was "adjusting".

The word "adjust" is definitely NOT the right way of describing how I truly feel about being home from my mission.

I don't believe in "adjusting".  I only believe in "progressing" and "continuing".

When you return from serving a mission, you find yourself in a lot of uncomfortable circumstances.  You come home to the world you left 18-24 months ago.

Your siblings have grown.  Your parents may have changed.  Your friends have moved on. However, I believe the greatest difference is the change you find in yourself.

Within a few days of arriving home, I attended a wedding reception of one of my closest friends.  She and another group of my best friends were present.  I was overjoyed to see all of their faces, but at the same time, I was shocked by the fact that most of my friends got married while I was on my mission.

I didn't want to dance.

I didn't want to hear the music.

I didn't want to talk to anyone of the opposite gender...

I'm basically the stereotypical returned missionary.  I know there are things I need to get used to, but there should definitely NOT be any compromise to my standards.

Another side to coming back from the mission:  You get to see how your fellow missionary friends get back into the gist of things.  Some of them seem to go back to the way they were before the mission, as if the mission hadn't changed them a bit.

Some believe that they have to "adjust", that somehow, it is normal and expected of them to lower their standards, start dating, and forget all the standards they set for themselves while serving.

It seems as if the world has been prompting me to just "adjust" back to the way I was, but in all honesty, THAT is exactly what I know is NOT the thing to do.

I firmly believe that God intended us to be on a continual progression.

Just because I don't have my name tag, a white handbook, and a companion telling me what the best choices are and what I need to do, it doesn't mean that I can just lower my standards for some "ego" or some "name".

I guess this is what I'm trying to say: I don't believe in "adjusting".  I believe in PROGRESSION, IMPROVEMENT, GROWTH...

NOT decrease, not digression.

Think about it.

August 23, 2014

Remembrance

2014.8.20  Boarding the plane was hard.

I'm pretty sure my eyes were swollen from crying that whole day.

I cried when I left Taiwan, and in Japan, and in Portland, and when I arrived at home - engulfed in mixed emotions...

I promised myself I would never forget.  I'd never go back to the way I was.

Yet, it has been three days since being here, and can already feel myself slowly slipping into the old habits, the old ways.

I guess it's inevitable.

Yesterday, my oldest brother Jeffrey left me a voicemail.  In the voicemail, he recited a whole list of "hopes".  He hoped for my happiness.  He hoped for my peace.  He hoped for my safety. He hoped for me, and because of that, I realized my faith.

I'm determined, and I'm ready.  You know, change can bring about the best in people.

I'm working hard, and most importantly, I'm remembering the covenants I made with my Savior...

Let's learn. Let's love.  Let's hope:

August 11, 2014

2014.8.11 Tanzi :) We're going to the temple!


So, this Wednesday we are going to the Taipei temple, and we will have another hour to email that day.  

Things have been going really smoothly.  Sister ko and I are still really best friends, and are finding like crazy over here.

One of our golden investigators Sister Jian met with us for the second time last week and she is already almost done reading the Book of Mormon!! We gave her a copy of the scriptures only the week previous, and she's ON FIRE!!!

Sister Jian also said that she wants to bring her 25 year old son and her husband to our church!!! SO, it's a super miracle, and she's definitely going to get baptized one day!!! :)  She's super active and is treating sister Ko and me out to dinner this week before I get back to the states.

OUR WARD IS AWESOME!!! The ward is really progressing especially with all the activities being held recently.  This Sunday night, the senior couple missionary from our ward is also being released, so our ward is holding a little activity to send us all home.

This week, Sister Packard came on exchanges with me while Sister Ko when to Dakeng.  It was super awesome just being able to follow up and catch up with Sister Packard.  We were able to talk more about what we are going to do to prepare ourselves to be the best member missionaries when we get home!! We made a plan and  we are going to follow up once every month when I get back home! :)

AHHH!!! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE EVERYONE!

This week we have a bunch of members who are treating us out to eat and stuff, and we'll be doing a lot of finding as always

LOVE YOU ALL

-Sister Verina Chen

August 8, 2014 - Tanzi Time Travel


With there only being two weeks left on my mission, I have had to make a lot of plans and set goals for the coming weeks!!! Time has gone by so fast, and it is just going by faster and faster!

We were asked to prepare a "reflection talk" for ZTM tomorrow, so here's a bit of mine that I prepared this morning during personal study:

"Pure gold does not fear the refiner's fire."

That's a quote that my brother sent in an email home while on his mission in Australia.  It has been a constant reminder to me throughout my mission.

(Here is where I do a demonstration with my companion... You all will be able to see it when I get home.)

From the very beginning of my mission, I have learned how to set goals and make plans.  I learned my purpose and started adapting to the regular schedules and appointments of a Taiwan Taichung missionary.

I'll be honest.  I wasn't expecting the mission to be the way it is.  I came out wanting to experience what my older siblings had experienced on their missions.  I wanted to "grow up".  Unknowingly, what I was really looking for was to gain knowledge.  I was searching for my own testimony, truths, and understanding.

So, did I get what I was looking for? - I did.  I got everything I was searching for and more!

Some may think that being released as a missionary means coming to an end... For me, it's just a beginning!  The mission allows young people like us to gain a better, more disciplined understanding of our purposes.  It prepares us for the future and allows us to find ourselves through selfless service and being refined in accordance with the Lord's will.

In my interview with President Blickenstaff last week, he told me about the four kinds of faith we must develop as missionaries and even afterwards as disciples of Christ:

1. Faith in the Savior (Jesus Christ)
2. Faith in our companion
3. Faith in our area
4. Faith in ourselves

There are so many things that I could/want to share with you, but everyone is different, and God has prepared different things for your own experience!

I remember skyping my family for the first time.  I had just got on island, and my sister had just returned home from her mission (also in Taiwan).  When I asked for some advice, she replied by saying, "Just be a happy missionary!!"

It's taken me a while to really understand what it means to be a happy missionary, but after one and a half years of making mistakes and learning from them, I think I've got a good list of things that make me really happy:

1. Love God and trust in Him.  He knows what's going on, and He will never forsake you.
2. Read, ponder, study, and apply the scriptures to your life!
3. Charity never faileth!!  Love everyone, including yourself.
4. Be yourself!!  You discover and develop your talents constantly!
5. Companions are important.  Learn with and from them all.  Be humble!! Judge not that ye be not judged!
6. Work with ward members.  It makes the work ten times easier!
7. All the answers to your questions are found in Preach My Gospel.  Listen to the words of the prophets and follow the guidance of your leaders.

Everyone's mission is different because we are all different people.  We are placed in different situations for different reasons!!  We may be lost for some time, exhausted, tired, emotion - we may even have times where we want to give up - when we feel like going home!

Here's the truth - ALL those feelings are normal!!!  God gives us weaknesses so that we can recognize our faults and improve - change - REPENT!

Don't forget that missions also bring feelings of the Spirit - truth, happiness, joy, and strengthened testimony!  Be grateful for your mission.  Be yourself.  We are all given talents.  Find them, develop them, be happy as you use your own unique way to build the kingdom of God.  Keep the eternal perspective in mind, and never lose sight of your worth!

God sent us here to learn.  Are we learning?! - Yes! - Everyday we are learning new things.  You may think you are hopeless, helpless, and small, but remember that God knows you.  He has provided us with the atonement that we may become better - that we may be freed from our sins and weaknesses!

We are small, but by small/simple things are great things brought to pass!! God is real.  He exists.  We are His children.  The power of the Atonement is sufficient for us all.  Have faith.  I know that this is God's work, and it is so much bigger than we are!!  We are all being refined by the Lord's hand!! Trust Him and believe in Him!! I know that He will bless you. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen!
 

There you have it!!! hahaha YES.  I'm so happy that I finally figured out what I want to say.  I have been praying about that talk for a while, but this morning, everything just seemed to come together!!
:)


Oh, and PS there is a brother in our ward who is going to serve a mission in Australia.  He is leaving for the MTC around August and might need our family to pick him up from the airport to take him to the Provo MTC around August 25...  I gave him Mom's number so the MTC may or may not be calling you sometime.

Family, guess what?! - I have already started making plans for what I'm going to do when I get back home.  (That's the only way that has allowed me to NOT be nervous about going home.) There are so many things that just made me super nervous, so I had to write down a plan and make goals to keep me on-track and busy!!!!! :)

I'm so excited for this next week.  Sister Ko and I are going to find three new investigators (The whole mission has set a goal for every companionship to find three new investigators each!) Wooooohhhh!!! haha We already have some super golden investigators set up to meet with us from last week's proselyting/referrals!

I'm so grateful for this time I have to serve with Sister Ko in Tanzi.  Our ward is planning a musical fireside on the 17th, the Sunday night before I leave.  I'm really excited to be correlating with our wonderful ward to hold this activity that night! :)

Keep praying!  I'll keep praying for you too!

Love,
Sister Verina Chen

July 30, 2014

2014.7.28 Tanzi - Flight schedule


I still have three weeks left, and that's a lot right?! - GAH!  The mission is asking for my reflection's talk, a miracle story, and a bunch of pictures from my mission, and I haven't even finished!! To be honest, I kind of am stressing out about all this going home stuff.

So, this email is short because I have to email all that stuff to the mission secretary, etc.!!!

BUT, there will be a good facebook post coming up either this week or next week.  Last night during our ward's Father's Day FHE we took a really cute video of all the couples and the missionary companionships.  I'll try to edit it and get it up ASAP.

AH.  I hope you all understand that I really want to email you, but I really just want to get all this picture/going home stuff taken care of so I can concentrate better on my mission right now!!!

Anyway, this last week was amazing!  Sister Ko and I worked really hard and found six new investigators.  Some of these investigators aren't actually really interested in the gospel.  They were just interested in getting to know an ABC because their daughter is studying in the states.

Well, I'll tell you all about the rest later if I have extra time!!

Love you all,
Sister Verina Chen

2014.7.21 Tanzi What can I say more?


Last week was amazing! Sister Ko and I saw so many miracles especially since our short-time missionary was so willing to do the work with us. Sister Ko and I are still getting along so well. We are happy and are determined to continue striving for exact obedience and blessings. 

One of the major goals that we set this week was to find new, prepared investigators. Last night as we were talking, we realized how important it is to be finding those who are ready to hear and act upon this gospel message. Sister Ko and I are working hard, and we know that we can trust in the Lord entirely. Although some of the blessings cannot be seen yet, we have faith and are continually praying so that the Lord can bless us with the companionship of the Holy Ghost.

This coming Sunday, we have planned a father's day FHE with our ward. We are excited because this will allow many members and investigators to invite their friends to come in contact with the church!

I know that Heavenly Father is there. He answers my prayers, and He knows each and every one of us perfectly. Even when problems arise, I am at peace knowing that I have done my part and that God will take care of me. I love this quote from "Jesus the Christ": Prayer is not compounded of words, words that may fail to express what one desires to say...words that may have no deeper source than the physical organized speech, words that may be spoken to impress mortal ears...Prayer is made up of heart throbs and the righteous yearnings of the soul, of supplication based on the realization of need, of contrition, and pure desire."


Anyway, here's a really cool quote that I ran into during person studies this week:

"In times of distress, let your covenants be paramount and let your obedience be exact.  Then you can ask in faith, nothing wavering, according to your need, and God will answer.  He will sustain you as you work and watch.  In His own time and way He will stretch forth His hand to you, saying, 'Here am I.'"
I am so grateful to the Lord, especially right now as He has blessed me with such an amazing, strong, and faithful companion who supports me and helps me make the best decisions! Last night, when we didn't know what to do tonight after P-Day is over, we decided to get on our knees again and ask God where He needed us to be. 

Even though the spiritual promptings that we receive aren't always the strongest, we are always blessed with answers that DO come when we need them.  Sister Ko and I are looking for new investigators... As a missionary, you are ALWAYS looking for new investigators, and as we were pondering upon all the things that we could change or do better, we decided that we want to be more and more obedient every day!

We know that as long as we are doing our parts and as long as we are being obedient and faithful to the Lord and His commandments/mission rules, we can be successful missionaries.

Something that I learned from reading Jacob 5 during personal study was that in order to be successful as a servant in the Lord's vineyard, we must be diligent and watchful.  We must throw away the bad fruit at the same rate as the good fruit comes in.  We must allow the roots to be as strong as the branches.  The branches can't overcome the roots, and the roots in the same way must not overgrow the branches.

In our missionary work, we must always be looking and striving for the right balance.  Life in general is a struggle for just the right balance.  We are blessed with this gospel that allows us to find the right sources and just the right peace!

Right now, Sister Ko and I have two really golden investigators.  They are a brother and sister who live here in Tanzi.  It was really great because this last week, they went to the Morphis family musical fireside with us and our recent convert You Jiemei who is super awesome.  We were able to talk to the siblings about their baptismal date, but it's really hard for them because their family runs a breakfast shop, and they aren't able to come to sacrament meeting on Sunday.

Their desire to be baptized is so great, and they want so  badly for their parents to also learn about this gospel.  The other day, we went over to the house, and when we started bearing our testimonies about Christ and His work, they started crying.  The only thing in the way of them getting baptized is their FAITH.  We know that when they decide to completely trust in the Lord by keeping His commandments and coming to church on Sundays, putting aside work, they will be blessed ten fold!!

It just made me realize how hard Satan tries to prevent us from making the most sacred covenants and receiving the riches blessings in our lives. He uses work, the world, and countless other influences to try and bring us down.

It's when we're closest to obtaining our goal and making the best decisions that Satan decides to jump in the picture.

I know that that is why we have to build our testimonies and obey with exactness!!! God will bless us when we keep His commandments. Here's something cool from a liahona talk:

HOW TO SUCCEED IN LIFE:

1. Establish principles to guide your life
2. Don't make exceptions to your standards.
3. Be loyal
4. Live so that the Lord can guide you.
5. Serve others
6. Smile
7. Don't complain.
8. Always have a church assignment
9. Worship in the temple.
10. Follow the Savior's example.

What can I say more?! ... SO GOOD.

Well, I love this work so much. I am filled with so much gratitude and love towards the Savior and to my Heavenly Father.

I know that He loves each and everyone of us with the most perfect, eternal love in the world!!!

I love each and every one of you too!!!

Love,
Sister Verina Chen