WEEK 27: hi craziest week of my life...

Well first of all, I'm writing on Wednesday because we HAD TEMPLE DAY, YAYYY!!! Thank goodness...because yes this has been one of the craziest weeks of my life.

First of all, I was SUPER sick Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I got a priesthood blessing and slept it off. On Wednesday we had to go to English class so I had no choice. But I made a MIRACULOUS recovery from Tues to Wed and its all because God knows He needs me to work. It was incredible how fast I got better because on Tuesday I was sure that I was about to die.

Most of the craziness comes from transfers...SURPRISE - I WAS TRANSFERRED!!!!!!!! So here's the thing... most of you know that I was in a trio with Sister Peng from another ward in our stake. So we hear that Sister Branch is moving so we stay up really late (sorry!) to pack and then we go to the transfer meeting expecting that me AND sister Peng will be getting new comps.  

But then I look at the screen and MY NAME is next to Sister Peng's name. Well, what's the big deal you ask? Not only do I have to say goodbye to my beautiful amazing trainer BUT ALSO MY WARD AND MY RECENT CONVERTS AND MY INVESTIGATORS - ALL WITHOUT WARNING. 

I was devastated. Jerry is going to finish reading the Book of Mormon and go to the temple without me there....Lu David will get baptized without me there....what about the new people we just met who won't know that ELDERS are taking over our area?? And how will the Guishan elders bike ALL the way (40 minutes) down to my area??? 

I felt like my area and my people were being abandoned...and that I also had to go home and throw everything into a suitcase and move to an old apartment that had had no one living in it. So let's just say that last friday was the most stressful day of my life....packing and moving and new area and a Taiwanese companion....A NATIVE of Taiwan. Yah so all of this frustration...no one to truly talk it out with. Don't get me wrong, her English is great, and my Chinese is ok but not good enough to express all THAT stuff to her. 

I went to a baptism for Tao 1 just so I could give the Guishan elders my past area book...Jerry and Sofia and Yoyo and Yo Rong and Lu Xiao Ping and Wu Mama and Xiao Bao and Sandra and Zhi Yang were all there...looking at me like WHY DID YOU LEAVE???? it was a shock for everyone and its so so hard because they're all an arm's length away but too far because I can't go to their ward or call them to peike or anything. It's heart-breaking.

Well...about my new ward....first off, my past ward in Tao 1 is famous for being the best missionary ward. So yes, anywhere will be comparatively not as good. At Tao 2, no one attends the meeting we have every week and it's only 25 minutes long...compared to Tao 1 when we had EVERYONE there and 6 ward missionaries who dropped anything to help us. Elder McNeil trained in this area and Sister Peng was broken here (the term broken refers to the place you are after your trainer) so they don't know the difference or how it's SUPPOSED to be. 

So you could say at our first correlation meeting, everything thought I was too 認真...aka annoying. But now they know that I'm right to make things better in Tao 2. So that is the goal right now, to get people more willing to help us...WISH ME LUCK!!! I miss Tao 1 terribly terribly much...<3

I am so grateful for Sister Branch. I know how to everything that I know how to do because of her. Whenever anyone says I'm an awesome missionary, I know it's because of her. I know that I work hard and people see it because Sister Branch was the hardest worker I know. I know that my Chinese is as good as it is because I wanted to be able to understand all that she understood. I know how to write even a few characters because she taught me. I know how to listen to the Spirit and work with members because she knows how to do it. She is amazing and I am overwhelmed at how grateful I am for her and that Heavenly Father blessed me with her as a trainer. I don't know what I did to deserve it, but I think that God knew that I needed her in my life then and forever. I can never explain how many amazing crazy unforgettable experiences we had together and I only hope that I touched her life at least a fraction as much as she has touched mine. Also, she already promised me her basement when we get home soooo...

This week I have really realized how small this time is to serve God with all that we have. I have this badge on my chest that lets me tell anyone and EVERYONE about Jesus Christ and His love for them!! How crazy is that?? This all-powerful Savior and Redeemer of mankind is someone that I am representing and get to tell people about. Also, I read "Your Four Minutes" this week, a talk from the May 2013 Liahona and I invite you all to look it up. 

I realized that this life is such a short time, that we have prepared for it forever and will have forever to reflect on it.  And this mission time is an even shorter time in this short time to perform to the best of my ability. And I have been preparing all my life for this mission, I have always always known that I want to serve and now it's here and I constantly struggle to appreciate all of it, the good and the bad. So I am taking a step back from all the little details that seem too hard to deal with and seeing what God needs me to learn from this. 

Who knows, maybe when the new missionaries finally get here, I'll train back in Guishan and that will be a whole new challenge. Or maybe I'll just move all together...Who knows?!! But I am learning to trust God because when I do, I'll have confidence in everything.

Sister Wright (Taiwan Taipei Mission)
Rèn Jiěmèi 任曼欣姐妹

My district before transfers in Yingge鶯歌 !! We are models, don't even
worry about it. Also I'm wearing PANTS what.

We found a turtle on our last day - which I didn't know would be my last day. So amazing!

My beautiful wonderful perfect amazing phenomenal trainer/best
friend forever Sister Branch <3333