Hello beautiful family!!!! :)
Today is 11/13/13, Wednesday!! Do you know why I am emailing you at 3:20 a.m. on aWednesday morning?! - That can only mean ONE thing, and that is... DRUMROLL PLEASE - JUST KIDDING. Don't drumroll. EVERYBODY drum rolls. haha
WE ARE GOING TO THE TAIPEI TEMPLE TODAY!!!!
Did I just hear a scream for joy all the way from Utah?! - I know Mom and Dad must be very excited for me to be going to Taipei, and VICKY must be ecstatic as well! ;) haha OF COURSE she would!! I hope you all weren't worried about me not emailing on Monday. Monday was just another prosetyting day, so Sister Anderson and I were super diligent and had 5 lessons that day with our cutest recent converts and less-actives. It was an awesome day. Anyway, about this past week:
Last Monday, one of our less-active members wasn't at home when we went to visit them, so, Sister Anderson and I decided to go tracting for about half-an-hour, since we haven't gone tracting in a long time. Anyway, we said a prayer before we began and everything. 25 minutes passed, and all the doors that we had tracted into had either not answered or just rejected us. Anyway, time was running thin, and we decided to knock on one last door. OF COURSE, it was the last door that we knocked that actually opened. The person who opened the door was a 14-year-old boy who was at home alone. Anyway, he was really willing to listen to Sister Anderson and I share a message about prayer and the gospel while we were standing on his doorstep. It was so wonderful because Sister Anderson was able to use her AWESOME Chinese and help us say a prayer. He ended up giving us his information, and we referred him to the elders. Isn't that such a tender, small miracle sent to us from the Lord?! - That's basically the types of miracles God has blessed with here in Yuanlin. Aren't they precious?! hehe
Okay, for last week's zone training meeting, the zone leaders were teaching us all about contacting on the streets. So, we actually practiced contacting other missionaries in the gym. We did this activity where we had to find the two golden investigators as a companionship amidst 20 other missionaries who were acting like investigators on the street. The point of this activity was to help us missionaries know how to find those golden investigators when we are out on the roads every day. Sister Anderson and I were super smart and went strait to the source of knowledge - our zone leader!!! - When the timer started, we went to him and asked him where our golden investigator was. The next missionary we contacted was our "golden investigator"!! haha The point is, when you have a doubt or a question in mind, you just need to ask GOD. He knows everything, and He will always lead you to the right places. Also, wherever we go, we must be diligent and use time effectively by contacting all those who we come in contact with.
Last week, one of my favorite moments was when we visited Chu A-gon and A-ma. They are the cutest old couple in the world. When we went to their farm, Chu A-ma was on her way back to the house with her walker. It was basically the cutest, most hilarious thing ever. As she was walking her way back to the house, she had this scorning-look on her face and just kept speaking in loud Taiwanese to us. Whenever I would say something back to her or repeat what she was saying in Taiwanese back to her, her scorn would just change into a laugh. This week, we visited her again, but this time, she started singing Japanese songs to us as she was walking back. You'd just have to meet her to know what I'm talking about, but while we were walking back, there was this dog that randomly walked by, and she just shouted at it like it was some kind of fiend. haha Anyway, we eventually made it back to her house, and she just kept speaking to us in Japanese, Taiwanese, "Ke-jia hua", and anything BUT Mandarin Chinese. It was really fun just trying to communicate with her. She's so cute, she always laughs, and her relationship with Chu A-gon is so good!! I gave them two cranes, and it was really funny because the wholetime, Chu A-gon was trying to help Chu A-ma learn how to pull the tail of the crane in just the right way to make it move. AH!! I JUST LOVE OLD PEOPLE SO MUCH!!! Plus, whenever we ask them if they are happy, they always say they are because we visit them. Chu A-ma is kind of like the grandma in Mulan who asks Mulan's boyfriend if he could stay forever! haha Whenever we leave, Chu A-ma is like, "You can sleep here!" Last time, when Sister Cole went home, she was like, "Take me to America!" It's the funniest thing beacuse she's like this frail, old lady who knows better. haha
Can you believe it?! - We have 7 recent converts that we visit every week, and three of them are older people like Chu A-ma and A-gon. They all live in far off places next to rice fields. It's one of my favorite things to ride out for 30 minutes and pass rice fields on the way. Rice fields are in harvest right now, and they smell the greatest!! Also, there have been some red lanterns that have been put up recently. They are beautiful, especially at night when we are riding back home!
Guess who is on-date for baptism?!?! - CHEN JIAN RU and GAO JIEMEI!!! Chen Jian Ru is on date for her birthday - January 18th, and Gao Jiemei is on date for January 11th. Plus, we still have the cute granddaughter Wu Qi Cun who is still planing on getting baptized on December 12th. Isn't it wonderful?! God really been blessing this area.
One of our new investigators is the daughter of a less-active family (Ye family). She is only 9, but everytime we go visit with her, she has written-down questions and is so eager to learn more about our church. She's basically an adult in a nine year-old girl's body. It's really a blessing to teach her. We are going over to give her a Book of Mormon this next week. Isn't it wonderful?!?
Sister Anderson and I have been really great together. Every night, we tell one another why we are grateful for them that day. Sister Anderson is SOOO wonderful!! She's so clean, so tidy, so efficient, so optimistic, and so grateful. I love learning from her everyday! What a blessing she is in my life!
Yesterday while we were English powerboarding, our district decided to have a competition and see which companionship could get the most adds within the hour. Guess who totally added the most people?!!?! - WE DID!!! whoooo!!! Sister Anderson is just so beautiful, so all the people on the street were like self-contacting, and we got two awesome potential investigators and then a referral for the elders.
We also had sister exchanges yesterday with the sisters from Zhanghua. Sister Mack came to Yuanlin, and Sister Anderson went to Zhanghua with Sister Chord. It was wonderful learning and just spending time with these wonderful sister training leaders!! They set such great examples for me, and I taught Sister Mack how to make paper cranes to hand out to little kids on the street. She loved the idea of giving out paper cranes to all the people we contacted into on the streets.
One of the simple joys that we missionaries have is a freshly, pumped bike wheel!!! The other day, I got my tires filled, and I hadn't realized, but for the past couple of weeks, I had been biking on a semi-flat wheel. haha It was so awesome because after my wheels were filled again, I felt like I was flying!! I guess that's kind of like the Spirit. Sometimes, we run and run and run so much doing this and that that we don't realize that we need moments to re-fill - to read those scriptures, to pray, and to go to church. We all need Spiritual and physical boosts every day. :) Don't wait for it to be too late for you to realize you don't have that Spirit in your life.
OH - I forgot - Remember Jane from Zuoying?! - SHE IS ON DATE NOW!!! Sister Liu, my previous companion emailed me the other week and told me that she is getting baptized!!!! WHAT A MIRACLE!!! I am so happy for her. God really has prepared her for this wonderful event!! She's getting baptized on the 23 of this month!
Well, I love you all and I'm so excited to hear from all of you!
-Sister Verina Chen
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