Monday, July 13, 2015

Birthday Week



 Making calls...seemed like a good selfie moment
 I just can't get enough of this
Da jia hao!
I can't believe another week has already flown by! This morning I  passed off lesson 1 of phase 1.  In order to learn the language, President has us work on three phases.  Phase 1 is all the lessons, phase 2 is everyday words, and phase 3 is characters.  I've got to step up my game! I feel like I've been doing flash cards all day every day.
Chinese birthday cake!  Happy 20th!
Hey thanks everyone for the birthday wishes! I had a nice day, but it was just like any other haha, although, Sister Strong made stake and mashed potatoes for lunch, and some members got me this Chinese cake stuff from their work.  Consider it celebrated!
Birthday steak and mashed potatoes!  no plates though...
Me, Lu JM Sister Strong and Carly, the ev'n of July be 10th
We had zone meeting this week, and that was so fun to see a lot of familiar faces again. Sister Jensen from the MTC is in our zone, as well as Sister Lindsay, who also went to Georgia, and a lot of other people from the MTC.  We also got to meet President Jergensen! He's awesome! He's from Logan, and has the cutest family.  Maddie, his 20 year old daughter, will be here for the summer until BYU starts in the fall, and his twin boys, Daxton and Breckon (15 maybe?), will be here the whole 3 years.  More mission kids! yay! He's way different than President Day and even President Harding.  He's way spiritual, but yet he's so funny! He told us how he was called to be a mission president, and his experience meeting Elder Holland and President Eyring.  He said they treated he and his wife like a long lost cousin that they were so happy to see again.  The spirit was so strong as he was telling us about it! I can only imagine being in a personal interview with them, and how much more amazing it will be to stand in front of the Savior. 
 REUNITED with Sister Jensen!!
Before I forget, there's a new website that has pictures of the mission and meetings and stuff: taiwantaipeimission.com. Also, We're going to the temple next Wednesday, the 22nd so that will be our p day and that's when I'll write.  I hope they do a session in English... 
Our big news this week is that Guo qi xiang finally came to church! He even brought his Christian son! He said his church is wuliao (boring) so he'd check out ours, and hey loved it.  Everyone was so friendly and it was great.  We had a lesson with Guo jiating this week, and it went really well! We taught the rest of the plan of salvation, and they're so excited to go to the temple and get sealed for eternity.  And he totally understands that he has to go to church first, then get baptized and all that.  Ahh they're the best (: 
 Sometimes translations to English  aren't exactly correct...
 We had a lot of bus rides to Taipei this week, so just another selfie...
I also had a cool personal experience.  One day we decided to go to the bus station and just make calls/contacts.  So Sister Strong was making calls and I was left alone to talk to people around us! I finally got up enough courage to talk to someone, and it went really well! I didn't understand half of what she was saying, but I understood the general idea enough to keep the conversation going and eventually give her a Book of Mormon! That was so cool.  Heavenly Father really does help you at the exact time you need it.  All it takes is a little faith and action!
 Turtle Island! Unfortunately, missionaries can't go there :(
 We went to a hot pot place for Sister Strong's year mark
On the flip side, I had this little epiphany as we were tracting one day. The first house we knocked on answered, and it was a kid with his mom and grandma (who speaks Taiwanese so she didn't understand us).  The whole time, the mom and grandma possibly could have been an analogy for Satan.  We started talking to him, and they got all antsy.  We sat down and prayed with him, and they started mumbling stuff to each other.  We showed him a video, and they tried pulling him back so he couldn't watch.  He wrote down his number, and they pulled him back more and mumbled more stuff.  Every move we make as a missionary, Satan is getting that much more angry! As we were leaving, the grandma even came outside and tried to give us back the Book of Mormon! Haha they were nice about it of course, but still.  That just gave me all the more desire to go out and share the gospel.  Satan's army is working just as hard as us, and we've got to out-invite them! We will win!
 Egg tarts from KFC!
        Last p-day we went to a place where fish eat the dead skin off your feet.
Not the best place for a ticklish person...
One last thought; something cool that was shared in zone meeting.  We were talking about how to get rid of any doubt and fear.  Someone brought up 2 Nephi 9:39 where it says "spiritually minded is life eternal".  First of all, that's way deep! I like that.  Also, the first letters of those words make SMILE.  I've really taken Brigham's invitation to smile all the time to heart, and it's so fun to see how it totally changes a person's countenance.  All it takes is a little smile and a wave hello as we pass someone on the street, and they will talk to you easily. There is true power in a simple smile.  Man, I love the people here.  

Love, Feng Jiemei (:
 Taiwan sunsets are sooo pretty!
 Just in case y'all were wondering...I know I was!

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