i cannot believe my fourth transfer is almost done. i'm almost a third of the
way through my time in taiwan. crazy! it's going by so fast.
this week i'm less organized. things are busy and i can't seem to keep it all
straight. i'm sorry if this email turns out scattered. know that i'm trying my
hardest and next week will be better, i hope...
for my memory's sake i'm going to work backwards, ba.
this p-day has been good. this morning i got a haircut, just a trim. aborigine
li jiemei did it for me. she is so amazing. she cuts hair for people who can't
leave their homes. every day she travels around pingdong and the rural areas
around it. mostly she cuts laoren (old people)'s hair. that woman has so much
charity. she gave me a really cool aborigine necklace that her mom gave her
before she passed away. i didn't know exactly how to accept it, and also how not
to (you know what i mean). mom if you can find anything small and nice that she
might like i would love to give her a little gift before i leave pingdong. on a
related note: my hair is really long. i think it might be longer than it was
when i chopped it junior year of high school. it's in a pony tail or bun every
day. i'm a sister missionary, and i hate to admit that i look the part.
yesterday was zone conference! i love zone conference. i feel so energized
afterwards. our mission is made up of some truly amazing individuals, our
president and his wife included. i am so blessed to serve with the people i am
surrounded by. the focus this move was the savior jesus christ. president hsu
did a demonstration that i had heard of but never seen for myself. he used my
zone in it, which made it even more impacting. at the beginning of the
conference our zone leaders asked us to write a number between one and twenty on
the palm of oen of our hands. (dad- thought to myself "pens are for paper!" you
used to say that to me over and over again in junior high. i was grateful for
gellyroll pens that came off quick with water.) i wrote 11. in middle of the
conference he asked our zone to stand up and go to the front. elder britt had no
number and stood to the side. president hsu told him to get in a position to do
push ups. he told us that the number represented sins that we committed. elder
swenson was the first to read his number, 20. elder britt had to do 20 push ups
and elder swenson got some candy, "salvation". we went down the row of
missionaries. by the time it got to me (about half way through), elder britt was
shaking and could barely move. i felt horribly, having to read such a large
number. i wish i had written 1. president hsu reminded us that our sins are far
more than the number written on our hands and that the pain the savior went
through was agonizing in comparison to what elder britt was going through.
reflecting on it now and remembering the feeling as i watched my fellow
missionary shake and groan trying to heft the weight of his body up with his
arms, i can't imagine what heavenly father felt watching his son suffer. i can't
imagine the pain it must have caused him to not be able to take any of it away.
i am so grateful for the atonement. i often feel unworthy to use it. but, it has
been done, and christ is waiting for us to come to him! so do it! repent and
endure to the end!
at zone conference i got to see elder welling, elder mickelsen and got to know
some sisters that i have never talked to before. it was such a good day. i love
being a missionary!
on top of a wonderful tuesday morning and afternoon in gaoxiong. that night we
taught an investigator i feel could be GOLDEN. my first golden investigator.
she's 17 but looks older. she has been so good about setting up with us, even
called when she had to reschedule instead of just not showing up. we taught the
first lesson and she was willing to say the opening prayer. most investigators
opt for the closing prayer. her prayer was amazing, like she already understood
that she was speaking to her heavenly father. the lesson went well. after joseph
smith's first vision i asked her what she thought about his experience. she
said, "heavenly father really loves us." what?!?! who says that their first time
hearing this stuff. she committed to church on sunday. maybe, maybe she can be
baptized before i leave here. we'll see. i'm trying to to get my hopes us too
early.
monday night we went to dinner with the wang family, an investigator family
we've been working with since i got to pingdong. the dad loves us! he invited
three friends for us to meet, and all of them we had met at some point before.
one we contacted at her apartment building, one we met as we went to visit a
grandma in a nursing home, and the other we had stopped at the store of that
morning. shen de anpai! (god's set up?) i know that his hand is in the work. we
went to a great hot pot restaurant that reminded me of the hidden treasures of
las vegas dad knows about. when we're all in taiwan together we will go there,
and hopefully take the wangs.
that afternoon we met with zhou jiemei, an investigator i love. i think i've
mentioned her family before, her husband is the doctor that thinks too much. it
was our first time taking an investigator with us. it made such a difference! i
know that every guideline in preach my gospel and the white handbook is written
for a reason. which means, everything in the bible, book of mormon and modern
day revelation also has a reason! so follow them! i'm still working on being
100% obedient, it's like a quest. i think zhou jiemei is going to start
progressing more soon. i think she's seeing what the gospel means.
monday morning jean stood us up for the first time. i think she's starting to
fall away. i don't know how to help her. i think too much pressure makes her
freeze up. but at the same time, not keeping her going might also be bad. i
don't know! it makes me sad.
saturday night we met with ke jiemei, li jiemei's neighbor. we've met with her a
few times but recently she had to go to sandimen for a while to take care of her
parents. the elders gave her to us my first move here. she's had a baptismal
date in the past but didn't go through because she couldn't give up alcohol. on
saturday we were some how able to get her to commit to a week without alcohol,
tea, bin lang and coffee! part of the deal was that i would give up chocolate.
so, this week i'm choco-free. it has been a lot harder than i expected. i didn't
realize before how many people offer us chocolate on a regular basis. i'm
grateful for this. i think it's helping me to be able to relate to her, and
other investigators, that have to overcome the word of wisdom.
friday night we rode to jiuru. we had some interesting lessons there. the first
was another woman given to us by the elders. we met with her a while ago, but
since then she's been busy with famliy stuff. we went and found out her mother
in law just past away. she's been struggling with the fact that her husband's
family is all taoist/buddist and want her to do ancestor worship, but she won't
becuase she's christian. she said she's trying to stand up against a ton of
people on her own. we tried to get her to see that she's not alone but has
christ but she wouldn't accept it. she said over and over that it's not the
same. it's so hard to know that what we have can bless others' lives and to have
them turn us away. the next lesson was with an inactive recent convert. the
electricity went out because of rain and wind as we taught. so, we used our bike
lights to read scriptures. it was pretty fun i think.
that's my week i think, at least the highlights. thank you for the emails!
grandma-thank you for the wonderful package and for the emails, that's fine.
dad- thank the berry's for the email. i would have responded, but by kaohsiung
mission rules i can't. you are all so wonderful! i love you and miss you! weird
that i only have like 10 months left. does that freak you out as much as it does
me?!?! i love it here, i don't know that i'll be ready to leave by then.
jia you! add oil! i love you!
love,
sister zeng.
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