A Girl Worth Fighting For Transfer 2: Week 4

we sang mulan with the elders this morning as we went to a less actives house)
can you believe i'm halfway through this transfer and a quarter of the way done with my mission? shenme dongxi!! what the heck?!

i feel like i have so much to write this week. some really exciting (for me and my life) stuff. let's see how it all fits...

yes, last p-day was spent with the aborigines. so cool! so freaking cool. just like america and australia, taiwan has a group of ancient inhabitants. and just like in america and australia, they look different than your typical taiwanese dixiong or jiemei (brother or sister). their eyes are bigger and their skin is darker. many of them live in an area called sandimen that is in my district and one of the branches i serve in. some members come from tribes that live up in the mountains there. the elders are teaching a group of 8 or so, which i guess constitutes a tribe. pretty cool! almost all aborigines are already christian. they're conversion happened long enough ago that it have become a big part of their culture. i want to research it when i get home, but i imagine it could have happened around the time hawaii was taken over by missionaries. so, we went up the mountains pretty far. we were surrounded by green and clouds. it was beautiful to say the least. we visited a member's sister's home. she showed us jewelry that she makes out of pig hooves, pig teeth and chicken feet. way cool. and we got to try on traditional aborigine clothing. we mostly hung out and took tons of pictures of their art and living style. we ate a simple lunch of guava and sweet potatoes. i made a fool of myself during lunch, more than once, and had everyone laughing at me. you know my awkward embarassment? it has only gotten worse on this island! zao gao (messy cake/dang it)! after eating and chatting, the elders found an elementary school and played volleyball with the kids. the byu team needs to recruit in the mountains of southern taiwan! the kids were so good!!! on the way home we stopped and looked at some cool sculptures and i found the most amazing shade of green (you would have appreciated it, mom). i also got to play with "shy fern" for the first time. have you heard of it? when you touch it it coils up (or "shies away"). way neat.

today we went as a district to visit the calligraphy lady. my comp and i are going next week. i wish i had something more exciting to say about it. but i don't.

let me tell you about why friday was the most amazing day of my life in pingdong so far. you will never believe how loved i am by american friends. in the afternoon we went to tian jiemei's house in the middle of nowhere. she's a flower farmer, so we helped her pull weeds in the rows and rows and rows of potted flowers her family owns. between dodging spiderwebs and tossing weeds into the wheelbarrow, my companion and i had good conversations (we always do!). i told her funny stories from the hospital, trying to get chris pfau and kyler to take me with them, signing "take the damn bags" furiously and what not. we laughed and decided that you, mom and dad, are so strong for going through it. i remember one time arguing with mom because my legs were tired and i knew that i was standing up when all i wanted to do was sit down. she tried and tried to assure me that i was laying in a bed, but i didn't believe her. that must have been HARD. but, now we all know for a fact what the lord's comfort feels like and dad, you know that i never want to divorce you. as we rode to tian jiemei's house i had the worst attitude, but i'm so glad we went! serving her helped me so much. and seeing her conditions made me grateful. she, her husband and their three kids share a bedroom and bathroom. they have one big bed and no dressers. i think she goes to her parents' across the driveway to use the kitchen. it's so different than what we're used to. but she's happy and faithful! it amazes me. i could be so much more resourceful and grateful.
that night we were taken to dinner by a less active. it was a buffet and it was delicious. but, even in one of the nicer restaurants in pingdong, we managed to find a beetle in the french fries. funny! a little protein never hurt anyone. haha after dinner we had a lesson with aki. and i received what the elders told me was waiting at the church for me... a wonderful package! thank you mom and dad!! i was so excited to find everything that was inside. i smell better than i have in weeks (thanks to "amazing grace")! the only problem, the black shoes are too big. maybe i need a six in those particular ones. but the marzipan is delicious, the handkerchieves are handy and i'm wearing a camisole as i type (under a dress of course). what was with the package? 21 LETTERS! holy cow! amazing! i have such great friends.

i'm trying to think of other good things from this week to tell you about. i'm sorry that i'm not more spiritual. i should be bringing tears to the eyes who read this but i'm still just jade and tend to share silly details.
good points of the week:
-my "hong kong foot" is gone! i'm clean and have taken off the bells i've been wearing the past three weeks.
-on saturday i locked our keys in the apartment. the guanli (security guard type guy) at our building heard me call myself a bendan (stupid egg, more derogatory than you'd think) and now he calls me that.
-i'm working on BOLDNESS. i'm doing what i think i need to do regardless of what may be holding me back (language, stereotypes, comp, members, habits, etc.). my first step? we have a really pessimistic investigator that thinks we don't know anything because we're too young and american. she was complaining and complaining. most of the lesson i wasn't saying much because i couldn't understand what she was talking about. but, heavenly father gave me courage and i told her pretty frankly (more frank than i think i have ever been, i'm not too confrontational) that we can't help her if she won't let us. i think i kind of scolded her, actually, as i told her we can't change her life, only she can and that she hasn't been doing what it takes to have the gospel change her. i guess i've got b... (that last sentence is for you, dad. i hope it makes you smile.)
-i met the most perfect little family. the parents have no interest, but the kids are so good. maybe another baptism soon? i think/hope so.
-i had warm almond milk the other day at the 85 cafe, as my companion and i cut out laminated paper dolls to teach modesty. it was rainy outside and kind of perfect. then apologize by one republic (?) came on and i thought of lauren nani and things couldn't have been better. "you tell me that you need me, then you go and cut me down... it's too late to apologize!" that song will always always remind me of her.
-i'm so awkward! we had a lesson with aki about everyone's favorite law- the law of chastity! she was so good! she totally accepted it all. then she started telling a story about an lds woman that didn't get married until her forties. the month after her wedding she was always really tired. her friends asked her why... you can imagine the rest. i got so awkward! i don't get awkward about that kind of stuff!! i guess i'm a changed woman?
-yesterday i had some good thoughts. i read tc's blog that you sent, thank you for sending it. i'm so amazed by his family! they are so so so strong! i thought about him being a missionary with ryan (it was his birthday yesterday). i imagine ryan being his trainer and them having so much fun! i'm grateful for them. i think that those types of angel are the ones preparing the hearts of the people the missionaries are trying to find. both spirit missionaries and missionaries in the world need to be working together with the spirit. with people like tc, ryan, scotty mitchell and countless others on the other side, we know that those who don't receive the gospel in this life are in good hands.

that's it for now. i'm still in taiwan. my lips are normal size, but now i'm trying to figure out the infected bug bite on my elbow (it's gross and full of pus). my first journal is almost full. my second zone conference is tomorrow. and i'm happy!

i love you and miss you all! thank you for the emails. tricia, thank you for getting on the girls and helping them write me.

love,
sista jade