Putting the TRAINING WHEELS ON

Forget about counting the weeks, I'm done with that. Now that I'm over the HUMP, just like a camel, I've got all my knowledge and everything I need stored up in order to keep on going on this journey!!!!

Well this week was a whirlwind in the best kind of way. 

Thursday (MY HALFWAY MARK, NO BIG DEAL) we went to Taipei and I got my temporary companion of Sister Luo, the cutest funniest little Taiwanese sister and we were companions for like 24 hours but I LOVE HER!!!!!! The funniest thing that happened was the mix-up about where we were going to sleep and how we were getting there, so we waited in the Taipei chapel until like 9:30pm and finally found out that they WEREN'T coming to get us, we had to take a train and meet them somewhere. Then we get there and they don't pick up the phone and the temple sisters thought that the Xin-An sisters were meeting us there, but THEY thought we knew how to get to their house. 

Finally we get the address of the apartment, and we ask a taxi to take us and he says to WALK, it would waste his time and our money to take us. 好吧 so we walk and we get lost cuz neither of us had ever served in Taipei so its 10:25 at night and Sister Branch and Sister Wu run to find us and we finally get inside at 10:27 pm and it was TERRIFYING to be outside that late, so uncomfortable, how did i EVER pull all-nighters in college????? But yes, i got to spend the night with MY trainer and I LOVE HER SO SO SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!! Friday morning, I picked up the amazing Sister Haupt!!!!! She is a ballroom dancer, graduated last year, and took 3 years of Chinese. How LUCKY am I??? 

Saturday, we had conference!!!!!!!!!! My favorite talks were the one about music and dancing of course, it spoke to my soul!! And the one about Shiblon, SO GOOD!! What were everyone's favorite talks?:) THEN we had the world's most stressful, quickest baptism in the one hour break between sessions!!!!!!!!!!! We ran and took like a 2 second picture, We filled up the water during the beginning speakers and no one had hymn books and turns out his friend who baptized him--the one who introduced him to the church!!!--was a recent convert and so we FREAKED out, not knowing if he even had the priesthood, so they had to ask as they went into the font!! Haha he did so it was fine though:) Anyways,

Pan Dixiong was dipped slowly and gracefully into the water and came up just GLOWING!!!!!!!!!!!! HE GOT BAPTIZED GUYS, HE GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday was awesome, Liao Dixiong is excited to learn commandments so he can keep them, which is SUCH  good attitude. Wang Dixiong is just immersing himself in our church culture, he was at General Conference ALL day Saturday and ate dinner with us too!! We also saw a miracle visiting Gao Family, who we have visited a million times, but THIS time, the 3rd oldest and 4th oldest daughter were home and had a lesson with us and the 6th daughter!!!!!!!! We gave them copies of the Book of Mormon because they didn't have one!! Then the 4th oldest daughter is our age and wants to come to English class and church! We read about faith in Alma 32 and she was IMMERSED and so focused and it was magical, SUCH a miracle that we met them both, because they are NEVER there!!!! 

Sister Haupt is already racking in the miracles:) She is so cute and just READY to go!!!!!! She ate seaweed already and rode her bike down a Taiwanese highway at night on her first real day of proselyting!!!!! We have been so busy, we have hardly had time to talk at all!!! But I am excited to get to know her more and I am determined to get to know her thoughts and desires and what she likes and all of that and just LOVE her. I think one of the only things I did to prepare to train was filling my heart up with love for this new missionary even before I met her, and it really has helped. I just want to do what she needs in order to feel like she can DO THIS. I really am just incredibly blessed to have Sister Haupt though.

I also have been made aware of a lot of my weaknesses as well, and this morning in personal study, freaking out about teaching a super awesome lesson to a less active family offended by the bishop and worrying about how my companion wouldn't be able to say anything, I was hit with the recognition that Heavenly Father has different expectations for our companionship now. His expectations for me now are to be more patient and more loving, helping this new precious soul accustom to this new life. His expectations for her are to learn and soak it up as much as she can, and my expectations of her canNOT be to bike fast, speak Chinese fast, and make phone calls while I update teaching records or fill out a progress record. 

I am used to going fast fast fast and right now it is a good reminder to take things a little slower,ease my new companion into things, because it will not benefit anyone if I remain high stressed and impatient. Heavenly Father will provide for the weak things, He will most definitely make this weak trainer into His tool. I believe that with all my heart and soul as I have seen it happen in my mission. Yes, I still have a lot A LOT to work on, and most of the time I expect too much of myself even. But I am learning what Heavenly Father expects of me and how everyday, we just have to make sure we are living up to His expectations and pleasing Him. I cannot set higher expectations for myself than God does, and if I do, I will ALWAYS feel inadequate. I don't know if any of this makes sense because my English is failing me, but I hope you understand that I am trying to help this new missionary and totally forget myself. I have had 9 months for myself, these last 9 months are for others. 

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

HALFWAY AND LOVING EVERY MINUTE!

WEEK 38: WE DUNKED DUNCAN

DUNCAN GOT BAPTIZED THIS WEEK YEAHHHHHHHH!!! he is our 4 week miracle. Literally he just gets it ALL and what he doesn't get, it clicks for him as soon as we explain it!! God leads the prepared to us and us to the prepared. Duncan listens to the scriptures because he hates reading haha. So we made him a special little calendar for his last week before baptism and he read all of those scriptures. He understands the scriptures REALLY well which is always hard for new members, but not him!!! 

AND - HIS PARENTS CAME TO THE BAPTISM!! We went through the beginning speakers of the baptism and he was already changed, and then his mom calls, and everyone is sitting in the room with the baptismal font waiting for him, and he runs outside in his white clothes, no shoes, to wait for his parents!!! haha it was awesome, we just waited on him like he was a super star late to his own concert or something. 

He was held under the water a little longer because he wanted the full feeling of it and wanted to pray underwater haha he is awesome. Everyone was freaking out though, like WHY is he under the water so long?? His confirmation was pretty cool too, he said he felt a warm feeling starting at his head and he really soaked up the feeling during the blessing. It talked about how his family would come in contact with Jesus Christ because of his example and that he would get married in the temple...SUPER cool promises!!! He just understands the gospel and understands how lucky he is that his first contact with Jesus Christ was THIS church. 

This gospel is really just so simple, and he is the perfect person to understand and love it in its simplicity. He bore his testimony in sacrament meeting and talked about how Heavenly Father is so close to us and that his relationship with God is so close and He sends him miracles all the time. After church Duncan also told us that his way of receiving inspiration is just like a light bulb, he knows what he needs to do or has an idea. He never questions, just acts on it and THAT is what inspiration is all about. 

Speaking of another person who their first contact with Jesus Christ was our church....miracle 王傳龍!!!!! He was ANOTHER referral from the 桃二Sister (Duncan was too) and he met with us having no idea who Christ even was but he wanted to learn more. He pretty much already accepted our message when we first started teaching. He believes that we all have spirits so it makes sense that Heavenly Father created us and that the Holy Ghost can communicate with our spirit and help us feel comforted and stuff like that. He wants to pray and read the Book of Mormon. He also wants to meet THREE times a week!!! 

The only problem...he has class on Sundays. We were really worried that his problem would be coming to church. But since this Sunday is also a Chinese Holiday, he had this Sunday off. We asked him if he could come to church and originally he said no, he was going to celebrate with his family. BUT Saturday was a chapel open house so we were having chapel tours, and he wanted to look around anyway. So we sang with him and showed him around, explained sacrament and bearing testimonies, and classes and Jesus and all this stuff....

THEN he stayed for another 2 hours as we went around handing out English fliers and waving a sign around about chapel tours. He met members and felt the spirit that is within the walls of the chapel of the Lord. THEN he CAME TO THE BAPTISM THAT NIGHT TOO!!! literally at the chapel from 2-8 besides like an hour he went home for dinner. WHAT yes this was our first time meeting him and his first time stepping foot into this wonderful gospel. At the end of the night, he said no, he wasn't going to celebrate the holiday with his family, HE WAS COMING TO CHURCH INSTEAD!!!!

Ok, this is so out of order, but I have to mention some other miracles from this week: We met a lady on Sunday so we went to find her on Tuesday...turns out she doesn't live there, but someone who lives on the floor above where she said she lives was a PREPARED SOUL!!! 

廖Dixiong, he was already Christian but didn't feel right at the church he was attending. He prays every night already and understand that our church has God's priesthood authority. I LOVE WHEN THAT HAPPENS! You get lied to by someone on the street - and then you find someone else who lives there needs the gospel! Ok so it doesn't happen very often, but it was a huge miracle!!! He came to English class and he came to church and we are so excited!!

Another miracle this week....literally get ready for this....we were on the way to 江家庭's house and it was a Thursday night and there's a gospel doctrine class that night so no one can ever help us with their lesson so we just didn't try to find anyone. We had made them a scripture chain so that they would have homework for the week and for Easter. It fell out of Sister Kunzler's bike so we had to stop and run back and get it. 

As we pick it up, a scooter pulls up and says "Do you guys need help?" and we figure its a friendly Taiwanese man who thinks white girls need help. No, he is a member and he got baptized 10 years ago and served a mission 2 years ago when he was 26! He asks us again "What can I help you with?" and we have no idea, but then he asks "Do you have a lesson right now that I could help with?" and we're like WHAT YES WE DO!!!!!!! he had time to help us peike a lesson that we were noobs for and didn't find anyone. Literally Heavenly Father sent us an angel. Not only that, but our topic for 江家庭 was about the Spirit and he was SUCH a powerful testimony of the Spirit. He helped answer questions we would have had no idea how to explain. 

Turns out that this Brother Joseph Peng was late to deliver something for work and was gonna get in trouble with his boss, but he sacrificed his time to help servants of the Lord and I KNOW it paid off....do you know why??? becauseeeeeee 江Dixiong...HE CAME TO CHURCH AND HE BORE HIS TESTIMONY. DO YOU KNOW HOW AMAZING THAT IS!? We were worried because at our lesson he was prideful and stubborn and it was a little frustrating, but he had a miraculous experience that he shared in his testimony....

Apparently the previous Saturday night he had gone to bed at like 2:30am, so no reason to wake up for church. But at 8:30am, he woke up on his own with lots of energy and he prayed to know if Heavenly Father woke him up so he could go to church...and because we had a lesson about the Spirit and Brother Peng helped him understand, 江Dixiong recognized the voice that came into his head that he needed to go to church as the Spirit, and he came and shared it with everyone. Yeah.  

So church was amazing....well HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!! It was beautiful and sunshiney and lovely and we only have single adult male investigators. We also met this awesome 高Dixiong this week and he came to church too!!! 

Another miracle from this week, we were biking back from Yingge and this guy stops us and talks to us and we talk to him about inviting his son to English class. We keep riding and 15 minutes later, he rides up to us AGAIN and hands us drinks!! he rode really far away to a 7/11 and bought us drinks!!! I LOVE Taiwanese people!!!! Besides the fact that he bought us tea and we couldn't drink it, it was super awesome:)

Pan Dixiong gets baptized this week and we get to watch General Conference on this side of the world!!!! SUPER EXCITED!!!!!!!!!! He wants to finish reading the Book of Mormon before this Saturday!! He is awesome and his conversion has been truly incredible!!!!

I hope you all kept the meaning of Easter in your hearts. I also hope that if you went on YouTube yesterday, If you didn't go watch this incredible video.

http://www.mormon.org/easter

 2 Corinthian 5:14-15 "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if  one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him  which died for them, and rose again."

To me this means that Christ sacrificed all for us, and so we must live our lives according to His teachings. It is that simple. Also go look at Mosiah 16:8-9 and 3 Nephi 11:7-17. I love the scriptures <3 And I love the fact that we get to be with our families forever with perfected bodies and we can see everyone we have ever loved. I never realized how sad it is, this Sunday was Memorial Day for Chinese people and they take a day to just be sad for everyone who has died. And we come to bring this wonderful news about eternal life and resurrection to people. I love it.

I hit 6 months on island last week and I hit my halfway mark next week. Not cool. oh also, I was sick this week and spent some time asleep and some time with a raging fever and a pounding headache, including riding to and from Yingge, that 45 minute ride....but this week was obviously amazing anyway:) This week was full of so so so many miracles, 

I love taking the time to look at all of the big and little blessings Heavenly Father gives me, including being companions with Sister Kunzler cuz she is freaking hilarious and knows how to have fun and we are just crazy and fun together but get stuff done and I love her! with that I'll break the news, I'm training. I will get my missionary baby on Friday. Requesting extra prayers for me and this new missionary. Bye. 

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