A Personal Savior

 

Gotta love the panda shop! 

Do you want s'more?

Well who knew, it's already been another week! We finally had to pull out the heater and start sleeping with a blanket this week, although yesterday and today have been quite comfortable.  I am so not missing the Utah weather! We did make fake snow for our English class Christmas party though, so that might have helped (: 

I did get my Christmas package, thank you! Sister Wright opened it to see if there was anything needed before I open it on Christmas, so we decorated with tinsel and my stocking from last year.  It looks great! Thank you!

 My bestie, Xie jiemei is leaving next week.

We met on outdoor zone conference, and I'm going to miss her!!

 Reunited with my Yilan Sistas!!  Sister Strong and Carly (:

Man, this week was awesome! We had transfers, and even though we weren't being transferred, we still got to go to the meeting because Sister Wright's sisters are all dying early for school.  AHH I can't believe they're all gone! It's just the generation above me that was in the MTC together.  Things are getting serious here. We're excited to start a new transfer though, and with the splitting of the stake, we're now over two zones (5 companionships) as STL's so we'll be really busy! 

 Taipei Zoo

 Heavenly Father's got our backs :)

 

Teresa, Elder Hawkes and Boyce, Lin DX (LA), Jia Qi (member), me and Sister Wright

 The elephants--trust me, they are cooler in person

Last week for P day we went to the Taipei Zoo, and that was so fun! Today, we're going bowling and we'll go to this poop-themed restaurant... haha I'm not sure what to expect but the members were really excited to go with us! 

 ...poop

We  have all the time in the world now that we don't have choir practice every monday! We still have performances though, which has been so much fun.  We just had our Christmas party in Beitou and we had such a good turnout, including 6 investigators and 2 of our LA's! Our ward is so great (: 

So... This is what we did for our English class Christmas party

 THE missionary Christmas choir

 Two of our RC's-Chen hui mu and Huang ye ye.  They're the cutest!

 Yi ting, Teresa, and Hui Ci at the Christmas party

 Da jia! The elders, Chantelle, Sister Wright, Yi ting, Teresa, Brother Su, 

Judy, Zeng JM, Jia qi, me

We had a ton of miracles this week! So one day, we got fang'd (can’t remember the exact translation... they didn't come to our lesson) and we only had 15 mins before we had to go to a meeting.  We just walked around the MRT and we talked to this guy, Xie dixiong, and he was so awesome! We've already met with him once, he committed to a baptismal date (even after hearing about no coffee), he came to our Christmas party, and church yesterday! I'm so excited to keep teaching him! Then right after we walked away, this guy came up and talked to us, and it turns out that he and his wife are here from Singapore (he served in Malaysia)  to get sealed in the temple! That was so gandong to hear. We're so lucky to have a temple so close to us! 

 This is the guy and his wife from Singapore who are

getting sealed in the Taipei temple!

Then, right after that, we went to a Starbucks to go to the bathroom and we talked to this woman who just so happens that her sister is a member, and they're both from Texas.  Haha she said they've been trying to convert her for years.  But we made a good impression on her and said a prayer for her sick grandmother.  Okay, just one more! Yesterday, this guy came to church (and the Christmas party)  that we met probably 3 weeks ago and hadn't had any contact with! And this is even better: as he was walking up the hill to the building, another random guy asked where he was going, he told him he was going to church, and so they both came together! Haha when do these things even happen?? This is so great. 

My ponderize scripture is 3 Nephi 1:12, talking about how the Savior will be born.  How comforting that would have been to know that a Savior would be born in their lifetime! We did a little activity for temple training a few weeks ago that we did really silly things, and then right after, shared our testimony about the Savior.  Then in contrast, we closed our eyes and thought about what the Savior means to each of us, and then shared a really deep, heart felt testimony.  I've been trying to remember that as I share my testimony of the Savior with others.  How much he really means to me, and why we actually celebrate Christmas.  What a wonderful time of year! Well, I'm excited to get to talk to the family and see everyone! I told dad already, but it will be MY TIME Christmas morming at 9am.  Haha sorry, you can figure out what time on Christmas Eve that is for you.  Love you!!

Love, Feng Jiemei (:

 I met Mr. Ding and shook his hand this week.  He's

a candidate in this year's elections

Icing to My Dangao

​'Tis the season! Even in a Taiwanese hospital!

Well darn, the awesome email I was just writing somehow got deleted.  So you'll get the short version! This week was crazy! We had a ton of performances with our missionary choir, and it's been so fun to get to travel all around taipei and perform for the different wards.  We also had a nativity thing that we sang for for the English ward! 

 This is why we be on time...and don't run in the chapel halls.

 So I may have met a few famous people this week.

 Yup, I passed off Phase 2!!!!!

Back with Xiao JM in Yilan

I got to visit Guo Jiating on exchanges--Best day ever!!!

Also, I passed off phase 2!!! I still haven't memorized all 2000 words, but that will be done by the transfer, which is this Thursday! AHhhh time is going by too fast.  We had exchanges with the Yilan sisters, which meant I got to go back to my birth place with Xiao JM, and we even got to eat dinner with GUO JIATING!!! That was the icing to my dangao. 

We had stake conference, and because we were splitting the stake, Elders Toronto and Funk (of the Asia area 70?) were there. That was such a neat experience to see, especially since I've been in this stake my whole time here.  So now we're the North Taipei stake, and at the transfer we'll probably be north taipei zone! The work is hastening, y'all!

 What a beautiful day at Jin Hua for stake conference!

Update on Teresa, our most shining golden investigator: She's doing awesome! She came to the nativity thing on Saturday night, Stake conference on Sunday.  We met with her last sunday at a members house, and the member was talking to her after we left.  She told her if she doesn't know something, to just pray about it.  (haha why didn't we think of that? I guess even golden investigators have doubts?) so She prayed to ask if God was real, and then she opened up the Book of Mormon to Mosiah 4:9, "Believe in God, Believe that He is, that he created all things..." AHH that was perfect! So now she totally knows that Heavenly Father is real, and the Book of Mormon answers our questions! What a gem she is.  

 We went to the hospital this week...That place is completely organized chaos!

 Finally cool enough for a nice cup of buy-one-get-one hot chocolate (:

Sorry this is a totally lame email, I promise it was going to be better! Thank you for your prayers and everything.  This week I'm working on humility, patience, and being diligent.  Your continued prayers would be so appreciated! Love you so much!

Love, Feng Jiemei (:

Temple Tour Miracles

 Happy December!!!

I'm freaking out that the holidays have arrived!! But I'm loving it (: This week went by soo fast! Before I forget, it was Ashley's year mark on the 2^nd-- I wrote her a little letter, so maybe she'll get it by Christmas or something. 

Tis the season!  Wrapping a white elephant for zone meeting

I hope Lys and Manuel have a safe trip to Peru! 

We had so much going on this week! So we had our zone meeting, and it went really smooth. Time was a bit of an issue, but other than that it was great! We started with a little white elephant/get to know everyone thing, so that was fun! 

 Taipei East Zone

                               Sister Howell and Qiu at zone meeting--I just love these sisters (:

 Lu Jiemei, another Taiwan missionary who's waiting to go to Temple Square

 MTC REUNITED--Sis. Bowman, Jensen and I got to see each other

four days this week for all our performances

We went  on exchanges with the temple sisters, so it was way fun to be temple sister for a day! temple sister is basically like sister AP's.  Haha but it was nice to see that even they are not perfect, and even they don't know what to do sometimes. 

                      Exchanges with the temple sister, Sister Kunzler-We were in the MTC together

Sat next to Sister Lindsay at temple tour training.

We were also in the MTC together

The Chen Chong Yong that we found a few weeks ago on his balcony dropped us, dang it! He even came and did a temple tour with us, and the next day he called us and said that it would be easier to not be baptized so he doesn't have conflict with his Christian wife.  Sometimes the easiest choice isn't always the best choice, but I'm not sure he could wrap his mind around that.  I really hope this doesn't come back to bite him later, but we're still praying for him. 

Kao digua (BBQd sweet potato) and xiancao (grass jelly).

It's not a drink if it doesn't have dongxi!

Teresa, on the other hand, is doing awesome! She's the one here on vacation that's been living in Utah for like 10 years. She also came and did a temple tour with us, and came to church yesterday, and we're so excited about her! 

Angela from China--I'll definitely need to come back and visit her

So temple tours this time was AMAZING!! We just saw miracle after miracle!! My favorite one, I must tell. So we went out to dinner, and this girl asks us if we're Christians.  Then she asks if she can follow us back to our church.  Haha gang hao we're doing temple tours that day. So her name is Angela, and it turns out she's from China!! I don't know what it is with temple tours and daluren.  Anyway, she was baptized 2 years ago, but we did a restoration tour with her and she was so excited when we invited her to be baptized on Christmas!! Unfortunately, she's the AP's area, but maybe we'll get permission or something to see her baptism! We're all on team Jesus, right? Ahh She's amazing!!! 

 Haha Yi Ting is a great pal (:

We also met a member from dalu, who was baptized in 3 DAYS!! I didn't even know that was possible! China is so great (: 

This week’s ponderizing scripture is Ether 12:27.  Yes, I have weaknesses, and they have been very prominent (woah, that was a gaoji word) especially this week.  But I know that the purpose of my weaknesses is to make me humble and help me to rely on my Savior to become stronger.  

That's all for this week! Love you!

Love, Feng Jiemei (:

At church, instead of water fountains, they have water bucket

things and paper cups (:

There's the random tidbit for the day...

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!!

 rooftop pic

This was the Thanskgiving'y-est shirt I had...

I hope y'all enjoyed Thanksgiving weekend and found things you're thankful for.  I was reading in Psalms this week, and it seemed like all they did was give thanks! This week was so fun-- We actually kind of got to celebrate Thanksgiving, and not only because it was the coldest day so far since I've got to Beitou.  I had to break out the cardigans again... No one really knew it was Thanksgiving so we would remind everyone we talked to be thankful for their blessings.  It's crazy to think that last year at Thanksgiving, I ate three thanksgiving dinners with huge Christian families and almost had to force myself to puke from eating so much. This time, we got qing'd to the Royal Host, which is a semi-American place and we got to eat turkey (or chicken?) and potatoes.  Just as satisfying (:

                                                           Best Zhuabing place ever!

Happy Thanksgiving from my beautiful tongban!

I just wanted to say thank you to the Eliason's for sending me a little Thanksgiving card! Thank you for your love to our family and for thinking of me!

Sister Kunzler and I were in the MTC together, and now she's a temple sister.

She's also Sister Wright's old companion

Wow, where to even start?? This week was so awesome.  We started out with a mission conference with Elder Stevenson of the quorum of the 12! He might be a new apostle, but Heavenly Father has definitely qualified him.  We all got to shake his hand, and you just look into his eyes and he's just so loving.  He talked about obedience, and how the white handbook is just a book full of blessings.  It's so true! What other time in your life do you get blessed for getting up at 6:30, exercising, and leaving the house on time? This is the life and I'm loving it! He just broke it down so simply.  When we obey, we're blessed, and that makes us happy.  When we don't obey, we're not blessed (or punished) and we're not happy.  So we're helping our investigators understand that.  He also talked about the power of testimony, and I love how President Harding would always say that you summon the Holy Ghost down when you share your testimony.  Ahh, there's so much! Just look at my notes later (: 

We also had MLC (mission leadership conference.. or council?) and I have been spiritually fed this week.  Our main focus that we'll be teaching at zone meeting will be to be obedient unto faithfulness, having the faith to drop eternal investigators, and finding efficiently. This will be my first time doing the training so wish me luck tomorrow! I'm excited!

My building in Luodong is growing. I take that to mean

that I, as a missionary, am also growing. :)

We've made progress this week with the language, and someone actually told me that I don't have any accent! I couldn't believe it! That was the best compliment I've gotten! Haha but then I tried taking the phase 2 test, and failed.  No worries, I'm not even all the way through the 2 boxes of vocab, I just took it to see what it's like.  I also started learning how to text, and it's so hard and takes forever!! Luckily, one of the trainings we'll be giving is to text everyone you met that day to make quick contact with them.  So I'll be getting a lot of practice! 

Take 1 of Phase 2: fail.  mei guanxi. Xia yi ci!

 Exchanges with Sister LeFevre, and our first meeting with Theresa

okay, where else in the world can you find Rabbit Toast?? 

I love Taiwan and its random little shops

Happy Thanksgiving y'all! The elders' investigator with me and Sister Wright,

Liu Jeimei, and Elder Hawkes and Elder Boyce

We had a total miracle this week.  So last week during emails, this girl Theresa called us and said, " I don't have a phone, but can we meet on tuesday at 11 at the chapel?" but of course! Haha we figured we'd either get fang'd or she'd be totally awesome! Turns out she was totally awesome! She's been living in Utah doing a foreign exchange thing, and she's been going to church since July! She already knows the Book of Mormon is true, Joseph Smith was a prophet, and she committed to be baptized on Christmas!!  So we'll be having a white Christmas after all (: 

Theresa came to church yesterday!

We have a lot of people we're working with that are so close to setting a baptismal date, so stay tuned for next time! We got to go on exchanges this week with the Yilan sisters! So I was with Sister LeFevre (we stayed in Beitou though, darn it!) and Sister Wright got to go to Yilan.  I at least got to go there to switch back.  It's already changed so much! There's tons of construction there because they're building a night market, I've heard.  I'll definitely have to come back after the mission and check it out! I also exchanged with Sister Hadley, and we went to Neihu! I love getting to  go to other places, it's so fun! 

 Exchanges with Sister Hadley in Neihu

 A cute little LA that we visited, fang jiemei

We've continued to see miracles every day, and I'm so excited to see what miracles December will bring with the spirit of Christ in the air.  Thank you for your prayers, they are helping!

Love, Feng Jiemei

                                                              We love the Jergensen's!

Yeah!