(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