so, last week i forgot to tell you about our district motto. i think it's so funny. i love serving with funny people. "do that thing!" (some of us say it with a black girl flare: do that thang!) it comes from 2 nephi 3:24 which mentions being an instrument in the hands of god and "doing that thing which is great in the sight of god." so, we are reminded at least once a day by elder richter to "do that thing!" next time you ponder what i'm doing in taiwan picture me with a perspiring brow, doing that thing while also doing my thing, trying to balance sister ozawa and sister jade.
this week has gone by so fast, i can't believe it. some great things have happened. today has already been a blessed day... before coming to the email joint we stopped to develop pictures. as we walked into the picture place a 20 something girl walked out. she asked us, "are you from the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints?" i was thrown off by not being asked, "moermenjiao, ma?" we responded with the affirmative. she asked when a convenient time to come to the church was. what? that's what we ask, "what's a convenient time to meet with you?" so we told her about english class and sacrament meeting. we learned that she met with sisters before but got busy and stopped for a while. so we asked if we could meet with her. she was more than willing. she set up for TOMORROW and asked, "should i bring my book of mormon?" way cool. she's cute. i'm excited! new investigator, yeah!!
grace is still doing well. she's cute. we're seeing her on friday.
on sunday i attended church in tainan for the first time. the week before last there was a typhoon and church was cancelled. crazy! we cover two wards, they have such a different feel than the branches in pingdong. as of yet, i still prefer the smaller meetings, but all meetings are good. during the second sacrament meeting guo baba brought in a white girl and pointed to me. she came and sat with me. angelina. from new zealand. i did my best to translate but after about 8 minutes she said, "i'll just read my scriptures i think." kind of funny. the speaker was talking about the economy and america, words tied to investments and capital are still not part of my vocabulary. but when he started talking about commandments i was good to go and translated main ideas. angelina is teaching english for fun here. she served a mission a while ago in japan. i think she's brave. i remember my first days in iceland, being beside myself because i had NO idea what to do. i imagine here it's even harder. so, we gave her our number and offered our help. she's cute, and it's refreshing to speak english to a girl.
on monday i went on exchanges for the first time. i was nervous. i went to west tainan to be with sister hatch. she was with sister jiang before i was. i worried that sister jiang had told her horrible things about the amounts of patience it takes to be my companion. but, it was fun! we had some great lessons and teaching with her felt good. plus, because we only had a day to get to know each other, we talked a lot. i love talking! so it was good. plus, in xi tainan i was paid two compliments i've never heard before... sister hatch said that i run fast. dad, remember when you said i won't use the new balances we bought before i went into the mtc. they are on my feet every morning with the exception of typhoon days, zone conference days and sundays. i'm starting to really like running. i hope this sticks with me. the other, a woman that works at the west tainan sister's apartment asked me if i was a foreigner. i replied, "of course!" she said she wasn't sure. yes, i'm turning asian!
yesterday was zone conference. i love zone conference! i decided yesterday that zone conference is like a party for me. i get to see friends and play! i saw sister angulo, sister juang, elder welling, elder chen, elder yeh. it was wonderful! i love them all. and i love president and sister hsu. they are hilarious. this move was focused on the spirit, especially using our study time and prayer to bring the spirit into our days. it was cool. i'm surrounded by such amazing people!
those are the highlights of this week. things are still great. taiwan is cooling down and i'm glad. tainan is wonderful. we have 3 baptismal dates! i've never had so many before! it's exciting! i pray that you are all well and happy! i miss you! and love you!
love,
sister jade
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
a breath of fresh air, in a smoke filled internet cafe... transfer 5: week 2
i'm in tainan and the world is wonderful. everything is looking up and i'm so happy for that.
glasses in taiwan are a lot less expensive and a lot cooler than in the us so i think
so, tainan. is. wonderful. i'm still getting the hang of it all, but so far it's amazing! sister fan is the greatest. get this--she listens to all of the ridiculous things that pour out of my mouth! we laugh a lot and my chinese seems to be getting better by the day. i love talking to her in mandarin because it seems to flow out lately, i don't have to stop and think as much as i used to. her english is improving too. we switch days. one day we speak only english, the next only chinese. she's from taipei area. she's 26 and was converted by her boyfriend who is serving a mission in california. she's adorable and has a cool deep voice.
our district is also great. the district leader knows scott. he's from mesa and went to mountain view, graduated '06. his name is christian richter and he's hilarious. his companion is from texas, elder snyder. elder kitterman from the mtc is with a taiwanese elder chen. OH MY GOSH! WANNABE BY THE SPICE GIRLS JUST CAME ON!!! IT IS GOING TO BE IN MY HEAD FOR THE NEXT MONTH. (MCKENSIE-THIS IS A SIGN THAT YOU NEED TO WRITE ME!) i think this move will be good. our district has a lot of love. and we laugh all the time. so good.
i want to share with you my testimony of the gift of tongues. so, this move i'm working as hard as i can to listen and identify the things i don't know. i'm working on characters and they're coming faster and faster. it's so cool to hear things and be able to guess their parts and what they mean. when i hear things i don't know i write them down and look them up that night. amazing things are happening. when i came to taiwan i didn't understand a lot but i couldn't pick out the parts i didn't know. as my language got better i understood the bigger part but still couldn't pick out pieces. the last few moves i understood stuff. it seems like as i learn new things i still understand what is being said, but can also pick up new things. i swear that before last move no one ever said "dang..." to describe a state of being, but as soon as i learned it everyone says it. so it is with many words and phrases. i swear the spirit has worked up to this point to put things that i would understand in my ears when they weren't exactly what was said. it's amazing. the church is true. and heavenly father loves his missionaries.
now, let me tell you about the best parts of tainan so far...
the first investigator i met was anna. she's from brazil, so her chinese is really hard to understand. but she loves when we visit her and cries when she prays. (then her husband says 'brazilians love to cry!') teaching her yesterday was interesting. we were using preach my gospel because it is so simple and clear and she has one in portuguese. there were three sets of scriptures and three pmgs on the table, in three languages. i got to be the bridge. my portuguese goes as far as css lyrics. but through english, french and spanish i could at least recognize the written words that were important and help her define and understand them. it was great. mom and dad, if you know anyone in our ward that speaks portuguese would you ask them to write their testimony of the restoration and christ and baptism and send it this way asap. i know gray does, but he's starting law school and probably super busy.
every tuesday afternoon we have service with our whole district. we sing at a hospital for accident victims and senior citizens that cannot take care of themselves. it is so fun and they are so cute. one of our ward mission coorelators runs the whole thing. guo baba. he's the funniest guy. he is missing some fingers. i'm not sure why. yesterday he told elder kitterman to give him 8 and put his hands up for a double high five. so funny. he plays the harmonica while we sing and teaches harmonica lessons at the church during the week. randomly he'll call on us to sing solos. yesterday i got to sing come thou fount on my own. one of our ward members, wu jiemei is there. her mind functions just as ours, but she was hit by a concrete truck and cannot control her body. it's so sad. it's hard to understand the things she says, and you know that there is so much more inside of her. here in taiwan, if a big truck hits someone and they don't die immediately, they will go back for a second and third time until the job is done because funerals are less expensive than hospital bills. so, she was hit twice but still lived. it's sad, but she's optimistic and has a strong testimony. i can't wait to see her at the resurrection. it will be so cool!
this week we met a miracle new investigator. her name is grace, and it fits her perfectly. sister fan and i were visiting less actives and it had been a long day. i forgot my water and was dying of thirst. i kept thinking to myself that i should tell sister fan taht i wanted to stop for a drink but didn't. then she asked if i was tired. i said, no, but thirsty. she said, let's stop now but we decided to go a bit further. we started up a big hill and i spotted a little drink stand. we went and immediately grace started asking us questions (she works there). we talked a bit and went the next day and taught the first lesson. she's really good. i think she's going to become a great investigator.
i only have five minutes. so next week i'll tell you more. we have some great investigators. this move we'll have two baptisms and next move two or three more! so great! (i've said great like 50 times this email huh? sorry.)
oh yeah- look up the typhoon we had last weekend. it was crazy. we had to spend two days inside, so we baked and made prayer rocks (i think you taught me that mom). the destruction in taizhong and taibei was supposedly pretty bad.
i love love love you all. thank you for being wonderful!!!! know that i miss you, but love this work!
muah!
sister jade.
glasses in taiwan are a lot less expensive and a lot cooler than in the us so i think
so, tainan. is. wonderful. i'm still getting the hang of it all, but so far it's amazing! sister fan is the greatest. get this--she listens to all of the ridiculous things that pour out of my mouth! we laugh a lot and my chinese seems to be getting better by the day. i love talking to her in mandarin because it seems to flow out lately, i don't have to stop and think as much as i used to. her english is improving too. we switch days. one day we speak only english, the next only chinese. she's from taipei area. she's 26 and was converted by her boyfriend who is serving a mission in california. she's adorable and has a cool deep voice.
our district is also great. the district leader knows scott. he's from mesa and went to mountain view, graduated '06. his name is christian richter and he's hilarious. his companion is from texas, elder snyder. elder kitterman from the mtc is with a taiwanese elder chen. OH MY GOSH! WANNABE BY THE SPICE GIRLS JUST CAME ON!!! IT IS GOING TO BE IN MY HEAD FOR THE NEXT MONTH. (MCKENSIE-THIS IS A SIGN THAT YOU NEED TO WRITE ME!) i think this move will be good. our district has a lot of love. and we laugh all the time. so good.
i want to share with you my testimony of the gift of tongues. so, this move i'm working as hard as i can to listen and identify the things i don't know. i'm working on characters and they're coming faster and faster. it's so cool to hear things and be able to guess their parts and what they mean. when i hear things i don't know i write them down and look them up that night. amazing things are happening. when i came to taiwan i didn't understand a lot but i couldn't pick out the parts i didn't know. as my language got better i understood the bigger part but still couldn't pick out pieces. the last few moves i understood stuff. it seems like as i learn new things i still understand what is being said, but can also pick up new things. i swear that before last move no one ever said "dang..." to describe a state of being, but as soon as i learned it everyone says it. so it is with many words and phrases. i swear the spirit has worked up to this point to put things that i would understand in my ears when they weren't exactly what was said. it's amazing. the church is true. and heavenly father loves his missionaries.
now, let me tell you about the best parts of tainan so far...
the first investigator i met was anna. she's from brazil, so her chinese is really hard to understand. but she loves when we visit her and cries when she prays. (then her husband says 'brazilians love to cry!') teaching her yesterday was interesting. we were using preach my gospel because it is so simple and clear and she has one in portuguese. there were three sets of scriptures and three pmgs on the table, in three languages. i got to be the bridge. my portuguese goes as far as css lyrics. but through english, french and spanish i could at least recognize the written words that were important and help her define and understand them. it was great. mom and dad, if you know anyone in our ward that speaks portuguese would you ask them to write their testimony of the restoration and christ and baptism and send it this way asap. i know gray does, but he's starting law school and probably super busy.
every tuesday afternoon we have service with our whole district. we sing at a hospital for accident victims and senior citizens that cannot take care of themselves. it is so fun and they are so cute. one of our ward mission coorelators runs the whole thing. guo baba. he's the funniest guy. he is missing some fingers. i'm not sure why. yesterday he told elder kitterman to give him 8 and put his hands up for a double high five. so funny. he plays the harmonica while we sing and teaches harmonica lessons at the church during the week. randomly he'll call on us to sing solos. yesterday i got to sing come thou fount on my own. one of our ward members, wu jiemei is there. her mind functions just as ours, but she was hit by a concrete truck and cannot control her body. it's so sad. it's hard to understand the things she says, and you know that there is so much more inside of her. here in taiwan, if a big truck hits someone and they don't die immediately, they will go back for a second and third time until the job is done because funerals are less expensive than hospital bills. so, she was hit twice but still lived. it's sad, but she's optimistic and has a strong testimony. i can't wait to see her at the resurrection. it will be so cool!
this week we met a miracle new investigator. her name is grace, and it fits her perfectly. sister fan and i were visiting less actives and it had been a long day. i forgot my water and was dying of thirst. i kept thinking to myself that i should tell sister fan taht i wanted to stop for a drink but didn't. then she asked if i was tired. i said, no, but thirsty. she said, let's stop now but we decided to go a bit further. we started up a big hill and i spotted a little drink stand. we went and immediately grace started asking us questions (she works there). we talked a bit and went the next day and taught the first lesson. she's really good. i think she's going to become a great investigator.
i only have five minutes. so next week i'll tell you more. we have some great investigators. this move we'll have two baptisms and next move two or three more! so great! (i've said great like 50 times this email huh? sorry.)
oh yeah- look up the typhoon we had last weekend. it was crazy. we had to spend two days inside, so we baked and made prayer rocks (i think you taught me that mom). the destruction in taizhong and taibei was supposedly pretty bad.
i love love love you all. thank you for being wonderful!!!! know that i miss you, but love this work!
muah!
sister jade.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
From Tainan to You Transfer 5: Week1
mom! i am in complete shock amd excitement. i think that's what i'm feeling. i'm having a hard time putting a finger on my emotions lately. but, this is why this utter joy is here now. we are so connected! the last week or so i've been feeling really guilty for the fact that almost every morning "my first christmas..." by the vandals is in my head. now i don't! it is quite possible that i was trying to erase it with "let us all press on" as you guys were belting it through central utah. i'm pleased to know that we're on the same page even from thousands of miles away.
every once and i while i get a small burst of homesickness. nothing too big, not anything like i am about to call president hsu and ask to return to america. just that sometimes things happen and i don't want to talk to anyone here in taiwan. i want to talk to mom or dad or lauren or chloe or the littles or a grandparent or mandi... the list continues... last thursday was one of those times. hardcore. the first was in kaohsiung when i got athlete's foot. pingdong has had a few like when i was looking for rock sugar at carrefour or wondered if i could substitute butter for shortening in making corncakes. this one was worse. probably the worst thing that has happened to me since i got to taiwan.
on thursday after district meeting, elder swenson and elder britt were asking my companion and i some questions about less-actives, for the member book that they are trying to update and put to use. as we discussed, i looked up towards the class door into the relief society room and saw xu enyu's mom. (remember, xu enyu is a less-active i've been working with since the beginning of the move with sister blackham.) her mom didn't look right. we opened the door and she started crying as she told us that enyu had finally succeeded at her suicide attempts. she jumped from the fifth floor of her family's home. i don't remember the last time i've cried so hard. i've seen enyu about once a week every week for the last three months. i've celebrated every time she's been in the chapel and have born testimony to her more than i have anyone else on this island.
on tuesday she was released from the hospital. we went to see her in the afternoon and the nurse told us that she had gone home. i'm not sure what our backup plan was but i insisted that we track her down. we headed to her house but she wasn't there so we went to her family's store. she wasn't there either. we called and met her and her mom at another hospital where her mom was waiting to see a doctor for heat stroke. we visited with them for a while and brought dinner to them. enyu looked better than she did in the hospital but wasn't completely herself. i wasn't sure when i'd see her next if i moved so i had her write her information. i wish we could have stayed longer but we had a dinner appointment. again, like when we left her at the hospital, it was tough to ride away from her solemn face.
from what her mom told us, doctor's prescribed enyu stong medication that made her shake and unable to keep down much food. on wednesday morning her mom when to the hospital for kidney treatments. while she was there some workers from the salon next door to their house called and told her what happened. no one is sure how intentional it was. enyu wasn't really able to control herself at that point. she may have gone to the balcony considering things and thinking about jumping then dozed off and fell. the necklace her mom gave her the day before was ripped off, so her mom thinks she woke up in the air and tried to grab something. i don't know. this morning we sang at her funeral. last night we shared alma 40:12? with her family about the happy state of the righteous after death. i'm grateful for the feeling of peace in their home. they asked me to keep in touch with them. her older brother has plans to come to the us, maybe vegas in the next couple of years.
i have a lot of questions in my head about all that just happened with enyu. i keep wondering if she'll be able to repent for committing suicide. or whether or not it will be held against her in consideration of the medication's effect. (in the arms of the angels by sarah mclachlan just came on in the email place) i can't help but think about how much more i could have and should have done for her and her family. i think that last move there were a lot of things that i didn't try my hardest at, and she may be one of them. i know that the branch is having a hard time. they are embarassed that enyu's mom didn't have any branch member's phone numbers and that few people knew her situation. this has helped them to realize that their less-active members really need them. i know that that is true, and that as disciples of christ we need to support one another and strengthen those around us. so, i challenge you all to reach out to someone within your ward or neighborhood that needs you. remind them of heavenly father's love for them.
i'm devastated and glad to be out of pingdong. i will miss it so so so much, but i think it was time. i cried quite a bit yesterday, my last sunday and so did some of the members. now i'm in tainan, north of kaohsiung. my companion is fan jiemei, a taiwanese sister. her last companion was sister mcintosh, my mtc companion. we just switched places; she went to pingdong! i think last move i could have worked harder at my relationship with jiang jiemei, i regret that. i'm not going to make the same mistakes again here. i'm really excited about the new challenges ahead. new people to meet. new places to see. i hear that the food in tainan is amazing, which kind of worries me. haha.
some exciting things happened before i left pingdong, a lot actually:
wednesday afternoon we went shopping. we went to a crocs store to get some shoes for jiang jiemei. i found some cute canvas crocs for post-mission use. at a bookstore, while looking for a dictionary, i found an amazing cookbook. i'll cook for you all when i come home! that night for english class we had a carnival! it was great. i loved being the english unit leader, but i'm ready for a bit of a break. each game represented a commandment or gospel principle and had a consequence: a gold dot or a black. then according to the number of dots in each color, participants, in the end, were assigned to a kingdom (celestial, terrestrial, telestial) and we had a share about the plan of salvation and the imporance of our choices and actions on earth. there were some great set-ups with english students that night!
thursday night we met with guo jiemei. her husband said she can get baptized!!!! she's so great. when she said the closing prayer after our lesson, she prayed to be able to be baptized after the autumn festival. i've never had an investigator set their own baptismal goal like that! i'm so proud of her.
friday was a kind of typical day, then we met with a mom we set up at english. teaching her was so cool. sometimes it's easy to forget why you're a missionary and what your real purpose. in pingdong we were being rejected a lot a lot a lot. things were kind of tough. as we taught this zheng jiemei, she wept about her family situation. she was able to recognize that she needs the gospel. she is ready for change and is willing to let jesus christ be the catalyst. that's why i'm a missionary! because christ's gospel changes lives!! it was so wonderful to be reminded of that by the spirit as we taught her. i'm disappointed that i won't be able to see where she goes except through letters.
on saturday we went to lunch with melee. i'm still not clear as to what "the secret" is/was. the letter she gave me was another email to edit and it was not juicy at all. i don't know. it was night to eat with her. she brought her husband and daughter. they are great people. both she and her husband are philosophy professors and very skeptical. i with they would open their hearts to the gospel. one day. that afternoon we met with trista. she really wants to be baptized. sister jiang and i disagreed about what to do. trista's sister/mom say not until she's 18. i think that if that is the case we need to respect their wishes and keep teaching her until that point. sister jiang thinks trista needs to set a baptismal goal to work towards, with faith that a way will be provided. i worry that doing so will cause trista's family to say she can't come to church at all. after going to a few days of early morning seminary her sister said no more church activities except sunday. the next day she changed her mind to just no more seminary. i don't want them to think that we are encouraging trista to not follow their wishes. what do you think? maybe it doesn't matter because i've left.
after trista we visited circle. it was my first time seeing her since seattle. i will miss her so much. it was so sad to see her. she cried. she feels a lot of pressure in kaohsiung where she's going to high school. we did our best to assure her that she always has heavenly father and christ. we encouraged her to pray and read and to get in touch with the wards in kaohsiung. i hope sister jiang takes good care of her.
sunday i gathered a lot of addresses. it's going to be tough, but i am determined to stay in contact with all the people i love here. at the very least i will send birthday cards. i didn't realize how many sisters in the pingdong branches i've become attached to. one wrote in my bye-bye book (i hate calling it that! i think it sounds immature and dumb.), "you are the most non-american american we've ever met." should i be happy or offended? i'm still deciding. ding jiemei, one of my good friends, says i'm a double yolked egg, really really asian on the inside but white on the outside. i guess it's true that i love thousand year old egg and red bean, and i'm starting to think "the whiter the more beautiful". i'm going to come home so weird!
i think that's all from here for now. i still love you. and miss you all. i hope you are all well! muah!!
love,
sister jade
every once and i while i get a small burst of homesickness. nothing too big, not anything like i am about to call president hsu and ask to return to america. just that sometimes things happen and i don't want to talk to anyone here in taiwan. i want to talk to mom or dad or lauren or chloe or the littles or a grandparent or mandi... the list continues... last thursday was one of those times. hardcore. the first was in kaohsiung when i got athlete's foot. pingdong has had a few like when i was looking for rock sugar at carrefour or wondered if i could substitute butter for shortening in making corncakes. this one was worse. probably the worst thing that has happened to me since i got to taiwan.
on thursday after district meeting, elder swenson and elder britt were asking my companion and i some questions about less-actives, for the member book that they are trying to update and put to use. as we discussed, i looked up towards the class door into the relief society room and saw xu enyu's mom. (remember, xu enyu is a less-active i've been working with since the beginning of the move with sister blackham.) her mom didn't look right. we opened the door and she started crying as she told us that enyu had finally succeeded at her suicide attempts. she jumped from the fifth floor of her family's home. i don't remember the last time i've cried so hard. i've seen enyu about once a week every week for the last three months. i've celebrated every time she's been in the chapel and have born testimony to her more than i have anyone else on this island.
on tuesday she was released from the hospital. we went to see her in the afternoon and the nurse told us that she had gone home. i'm not sure what our backup plan was but i insisted that we track her down. we headed to her house but she wasn't there so we went to her family's store. she wasn't there either. we called and met her and her mom at another hospital where her mom was waiting to see a doctor for heat stroke. we visited with them for a while and brought dinner to them. enyu looked better than she did in the hospital but wasn't completely herself. i wasn't sure when i'd see her next if i moved so i had her write her information. i wish we could have stayed longer but we had a dinner appointment. again, like when we left her at the hospital, it was tough to ride away from her solemn face.
from what her mom told us, doctor's prescribed enyu stong medication that made her shake and unable to keep down much food. on wednesday morning her mom when to the hospital for kidney treatments. while she was there some workers from the salon next door to their house called and told her what happened. no one is sure how intentional it was. enyu wasn't really able to control herself at that point. she may have gone to the balcony considering things and thinking about jumping then dozed off and fell. the necklace her mom gave her the day before was ripped off, so her mom thinks she woke up in the air and tried to grab something. i don't know. this morning we sang at her funeral. last night we shared alma 40:12? with her family about the happy state of the righteous after death. i'm grateful for the feeling of peace in their home. they asked me to keep in touch with them. her older brother has plans to come to the us, maybe vegas in the next couple of years.
i have a lot of questions in my head about all that just happened with enyu. i keep wondering if she'll be able to repent for committing suicide. or whether or not it will be held against her in consideration of the medication's effect. (in the arms of the angels by sarah mclachlan just came on in the email place) i can't help but think about how much more i could have and should have done for her and her family. i think that last move there were a lot of things that i didn't try my hardest at, and she may be one of them. i know that the branch is having a hard time. they are embarassed that enyu's mom didn't have any branch member's phone numbers and that few people knew her situation. this has helped them to realize that their less-active members really need them. i know that that is true, and that as disciples of christ we need to support one another and strengthen those around us. so, i challenge you all to reach out to someone within your ward or neighborhood that needs you. remind them of heavenly father's love for them.
i'm devastated and glad to be out of pingdong. i will miss it so so so much, but i think it was time. i cried quite a bit yesterday, my last sunday and so did some of the members. now i'm in tainan, north of kaohsiung. my companion is fan jiemei, a taiwanese sister. her last companion was sister mcintosh, my mtc companion. we just switched places; she went to pingdong! i think last move i could have worked harder at my relationship with jiang jiemei, i regret that. i'm not going to make the same mistakes again here. i'm really excited about the new challenges ahead. new people to meet. new places to see. i hear that the food in tainan is amazing, which kind of worries me. haha.
some exciting things happened before i left pingdong, a lot actually:
wednesday afternoon we went shopping. we went to a crocs store to get some shoes for jiang jiemei. i found some cute canvas crocs for post-mission use. at a bookstore, while looking for a dictionary, i found an amazing cookbook. i'll cook for you all when i come home! that night for english class we had a carnival! it was great. i loved being the english unit leader, but i'm ready for a bit of a break. each game represented a commandment or gospel principle and had a consequence: a gold dot or a black. then according to the number of dots in each color, participants, in the end, were assigned to a kingdom (celestial, terrestrial, telestial) and we had a share about the plan of salvation and the imporance of our choices and actions on earth. there were some great set-ups with english students that night!
thursday night we met with guo jiemei. her husband said she can get baptized!!!! she's so great. when she said the closing prayer after our lesson, she prayed to be able to be baptized after the autumn festival. i've never had an investigator set their own baptismal goal like that! i'm so proud of her.
friday was a kind of typical day, then we met with a mom we set up at english. teaching her was so cool. sometimes it's easy to forget why you're a missionary and what your real purpose. in pingdong we were being rejected a lot a lot a lot. things were kind of tough. as we taught this zheng jiemei, she wept about her family situation. she was able to recognize that she needs the gospel. she is ready for change and is willing to let jesus christ be the catalyst. that's why i'm a missionary! because christ's gospel changes lives!! it was so wonderful to be reminded of that by the spirit as we taught her. i'm disappointed that i won't be able to see where she goes except through letters.
on saturday we went to lunch with melee. i'm still not clear as to what "the secret" is/was. the letter she gave me was another email to edit and it was not juicy at all. i don't know. it was night to eat with her. she brought her husband and daughter. they are great people. both she and her husband are philosophy professors and very skeptical. i with they would open their hearts to the gospel. one day. that afternoon we met with trista. she really wants to be baptized. sister jiang and i disagreed about what to do. trista's sister/mom say not until she's 18. i think that if that is the case we need to respect their wishes and keep teaching her until that point. sister jiang thinks trista needs to set a baptismal goal to work towards, with faith that a way will be provided. i worry that doing so will cause trista's family to say she can't come to church at all. after going to a few days of early morning seminary her sister said no more church activities except sunday. the next day she changed her mind to just no more seminary. i don't want them to think that we are encouraging trista to not follow their wishes. what do you think? maybe it doesn't matter because i've left.
after trista we visited circle. it was my first time seeing her since seattle. i will miss her so much. it was so sad to see her. she cried. she feels a lot of pressure in kaohsiung where she's going to high school. we did our best to assure her that she always has heavenly father and christ. we encouraged her to pray and read and to get in touch with the wards in kaohsiung. i hope sister jiang takes good care of her.
sunday i gathered a lot of addresses. it's going to be tough, but i am determined to stay in contact with all the people i love here. at the very least i will send birthday cards. i didn't realize how many sisters in the pingdong branches i've become attached to. one wrote in my bye-bye book (i hate calling it that! i think it sounds immature and dumb.), "you are the most non-american american we've ever met." should i be happy or offended? i'm still deciding. ding jiemei, one of my good friends, says i'm a double yolked egg, really really asian on the inside but white on the outside. i guess it's true that i love thousand year old egg and red bean, and i'm starting to think "the whiter the more beautiful". i'm going to come home so weird!
i think that's all from here for now. i still love you. and miss you all. i hope you are all well! muah!!
love,
sister jade
(no subject) Transfer 4: Week 6
first, i forgot two important things in the last email...
a. the best part of the story of melee chewing out sister jiang was that i felt defensive. i felt this motherly instinct to protect my companion. i think it really made me feel closer to her. thing have been rough in that area this move, so i was relieved.
updates:
-melee came to church on sunday, where i had to tell her that we could only teach her the gospel in chinese. she asked to cancel our next appointment, but said she'd still like to treat us to lunch. she left church after sacrament meeting, but then came back to ask me if she could talk to me over the phone about gospel things. i was thrown off and stuttered, "i guess so." this woman does what she says she'll do. within a few hours she called. i told her it was inconvenient to talk at that time and called her back later. on the phone she told me that she feels peace when she talks to me about christ, that she can better express her feelings in english (not true, i think) and that she has a secret that she cannot "reveal" to sister jiang, but would like to tell me. after swearing me to secrecy she said she would write the secret in a letter to give to me at english class (tonight). i hope i can help her, but it's hard to know what to do for her. i told her that for every letter (or email after i come home) she writes me i will write her back. i'm really anxious to learn what "her secret" is.
-a companion saw me cry for the first time (beside in the mtc about the subpeona). sister jiang and i had a companionship inventory in which i told her i feel like she doesn't like me. things have gotten a bit better since. if we stay together next move i don't know how it will be. i'm trying my hardest to make sure these last few days of the move are the best.
b. after the third and final youth conference, the hsu's took us to this delicious restaurant where i was able to eat jellyfish and blowfish skin. the blowfish was pretty bland and chewy. the jellyfish was crunchy, but not ritz cracker crunchy, really hard to explain.
update: since then i've eaten two types of snail straight from the shell. i really respect the taiwanese for their resourcefulness. they eat everything and don't waste as much as we do. i think that's commendable.
i regret to report that most of the noteworthy aspects of this week have little to do with investigators. our investigators all seem to be dying. the fact that guo jiemei and trista want to be baptized is what keeps my mind afloat with thoughts that there are people ready for the gospel in pingdong. trista is still doing amazingly well. yesterday she went to seminary, at five thirty in the morning! she's great. on sunday the zhao family (from previous emails) came to church. the oldest, doubting son proclaimed in sunday school his belief that the book of mormon was written by joseph smith, not translated by him. when trista told us about it she said that she hated the feeling she had as he said those things because she knows the book of mormon is true and is the word of god. she said, "he just needs more experience, then he'll know it's true." she's so great! i think she thinks of herself as a seasoned member, when she's only been investigator for about 4 weeks. she's going to be so great for pingdong when she does get baptized.
last weekend we discovered a cockroach infestation in our kitchen cupboards. not adult cockroaches, babies, a lot of them. we quickly emptied all of the cupboards and put in our best extermination efforts. one of our chosen tools was sticky roach traps. the day before yesterday i was checking to see how effective the traps have been and found a gecko in one of them! the poor things was already dead and losing color.
on saturday elder swenson painted my bike. it's ridiculous!! he had been talking about painting it since our first move here. a few weeks ago he asked me what my favorite colors are. i said i like plain and dark colors. elder britt chimed in that i wore a lot of gray and navy blue in the mtc. i emphasized that i hate bright colors. now every aspect of my bike is rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue. the basket, the wheels, the handlebars, the body. it looks like a clown-mobile. i'm still deciding whether or not it's a good proselyting tool. it definitely gets everyone's attention. he's really proud of the job he did and shows everyone he can. i have no heart to say less than, "it's really bright and happy!" i think i'll keep it for a bit then repaint it to something more sister ozawa appropriate.
monday we had a cool experience. every pingdong missionary's dream... we went to sandimen to spread the good word. it was kind of disorganized but really cool at the same time. li jiemei took us to a bunch of houses to tell them about the restoration. she's such a good missionary! from the first house, at about 11:30 in the morning, to all of the others, each had drunk people. the aborigines drink A LOT, so most people we couldn't teach that much to, but we did find some good ones. now the hard part is getting them to church, and getting them to let go of the christianity their parents have taught them. i hope the next missionaries (whether it's me and another or sister jiang and another or us together) can go up a few times next move. i think with better planning we can find success up there.
so, move calls are in two days. i think i'll be leaving and i'm ready. i love love love pingdong, but i think i'm too familiar with it all and i'd like to see somewhere new, and have new challenges. i think there is an energy that comes with each new move, especially new areas. i'd like a change of scenery and new less-actives to work with, new places to contact and new investigators to let go or commit to baptism. we'll see. i'll email and let you know on my monday, your sunday.
dad- i don't know pres hsu's email. you can try to find if online, his first name is william, or call the office 07-338-1242. i'm not the one to ask about coming here. i'd love it, but can't plan for it right now.
i hope all is well in the us. i heard some about hurricane gustav (i'm not sure if that's right, i heard from a taiwanese person so it might be off). the chao/zhou family told us. the dad said it has been called "the hurricane of the century". are things okay? i hope so.
love you all,
sister jade
a. the best part of the story of melee chewing out sister jiang was that i felt defensive. i felt this motherly instinct to protect my companion. i think it really made me feel closer to her. thing have been rough in that area this move, so i was relieved.
updates:
-melee came to church on sunday, where i had to tell her that we could only teach her the gospel in chinese. she asked to cancel our next appointment, but said she'd still like to treat us to lunch. she left church after sacrament meeting, but then came back to ask me if she could talk to me over the phone about gospel things. i was thrown off and stuttered, "i guess so." this woman does what she says she'll do. within a few hours she called. i told her it was inconvenient to talk at that time and called her back later. on the phone she told me that she feels peace when she talks to me about christ, that she can better express her feelings in english (not true, i think) and that she has a secret that she cannot "reveal" to sister jiang, but would like to tell me. after swearing me to secrecy she said she would write the secret in a letter to give to me at english class (tonight). i hope i can help her, but it's hard to know what to do for her. i told her that for every letter (or email after i come home) she writes me i will write her back. i'm really anxious to learn what "her secret" is.
-a companion saw me cry for the first time (beside in the mtc about the subpeona). sister jiang and i had a companionship inventory in which i told her i feel like she doesn't like me. things have gotten a bit better since. if we stay together next move i don't know how it will be. i'm trying my hardest to make sure these last few days of the move are the best.
b. after the third and final youth conference, the hsu's took us to this delicious restaurant where i was able to eat jellyfish and blowfish skin. the blowfish was pretty bland and chewy. the jellyfish was crunchy, but not ritz cracker crunchy, really hard to explain.
update: since then i've eaten two types of snail straight from the shell. i really respect the taiwanese for their resourcefulness. they eat everything and don't waste as much as we do. i think that's commendable.
i regret to report that most of the noteworthy aspects of this week have little to do with investigators. our investigators all seem to be dying. the fact that guo jiemei and trista want to be baptized is what keeps my mind afloat with thoughts that there are people ready for the gospel in pingdong. trista is still doing amazingly well. yesterday she went to seminary, at five thirty in the morning! she's great. on sunday the zhao family (from previous emails) came to church. the oldest, doubting son proclaimed in sunday school his belief that the book of mormon was written by joseph smith, not translated by him. when trista told us about it she said that she hated the feeling she had as he said those things because she knows the book of mormon is true and is the word of god. she said, "he just needs more experience, then he'll know it's true." she's so great! i think she thinks of herself as a seasoned member, when she's only been investigator for about 4 weeks. she's going to be so great for pingdong when she does get baptized.
last weekend we discovered a cockroach infestation in our kitchen cupboards. not adult cockroaches, babies, a lot of them. we quickly emptied all of the cupboards and put in our best extermination efforts. one of our chosen tools was sticky roach traps. the day before yesterday i was checking to see how effective the traps have been and found a gecko in one of them! the poor things was already dead and losing color.
on saturday elder swenson painted my bike. it's ridiculous!! he had been talking about painting it since our first move here. a few weeks ago he asked me what my favorite colors are. i said i like plain and dark colors. elder britt chimed in that i wore a lot of gray and navy blue in the mtc. i emphasized that i hate bright colors. now every aspect of my bike is rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue. the basket, the wheels, the handlebars, the body. it looks like a clown-mobile. i'm still deciding whether or not it's a good proselyting tool. it definitely gets everyone's attention. he's really proud of the job he did and shows everyone he can. i have no heart to say less than, "it's really bright and happy!" i think i'll keep it for a bit then repaint it to something more sister ozawa appropriate.
monday we had a cool experience. every pingdong missionary's dream... we went to sandimen to spread the good word. it was kind of disorganized but really cool at the same time. li jiemei took us to a bunch of houses to tell them about the restoration. she's such a good missionary! from the first house, at about 11:30 in the morning, to all of the others, each had drunk people. the aborigines drink A LOT, so most people we couldn't teach that much to, but we did find some good ones. now the hard part is getting them to church, and getting them to let go of the christianity their parents have taught them. i hope the next missionaries (whether it's me and another or sister jiang and another or us together) can go up a few times next move. i think with better planning we can find success up there.
so, move calls are in two days. i think i'll be leaving and i'm ready. i love love love pingdong, but i think i'm too familiar with it all and i'd like to see somewhere new, and have new challenges. i think there is an energy that comes with each new move, especially new areas. i'd like a change of scenery and new less-actives to work with, new places to contact and new investigators to let go or commit to baptism. we'll see. i'll email and let you know on my monday, your sunday.
dad- i don't know pres hsu's email. you can try to find if online, his first name is william, or call the office 07-338-1242. i'm not the one to ask about coming here. i'd love it, but can't plan for it right now.
i hope all is well in the us. i heard some about hurricane gustav (i'm not sure if that's right, i heard from a taiwanese person so it might be off). the chao/zhou family told us. the dad said it has been called "the hurricane of the century". are things okay? i hope so.
love you all,
sister jade
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