Some recents pics from the mission

Sorry it's been a while since the last post but Sister Chang is doing well in Taipei. Here's a little excerpt from her.

We also had an amazing lesson with Ding jiemei on Friday. The spirit was so strong. She has had interest with Buddhism and wanted to see what made our church different. We really focused on the Restoration and she said she knows this church is true. Woohoo! The Spirit was really testifying to her. She said, well, I should join this church, because this is where I can find truth. We were excited. The Lord does work in his own way. On the way to that appointment, it was raining SUPER hard,and the wind was pretty strong... and well, even though we were wearing ponchos, we got drenched. We had to wring out our skirts and socks, it was pretty funny. But after the trial, comes the blessings. I have a testimony of that. We just have to pull through and endure, and then there's something good waiting on the other end.

Sister Teh and me jumping in the rain on the roof of the apartment building in Ba de, her last area, and where I was for a few days. Yep, those are our rain coats that we wear riding our bikes. Stylish, huh?

Our English class had a Halloween party, I'm the one with the blue mask on. It was a fun night.

This is of the district with a couple Xu daughters, Elvita and Andrea, who are super cute. There is one native Taiwan Elder in the district, from Taichung, and all the rest are from USA. Elder Bastian (in the middle) is leaving today back to the US, so we took this picture.

Great people in Taiwan

We are working with some really cool people and we are excited.
Yan Hai Lan and her son Matt are progressing nicely. They came to church yesterday and I think it went really well. The mom has a really great desire to learn and her son is getting more and more interested. We had dinner at their house with a member dad (who is a midget, and his wife is a midget- remind me of Sal, piano teacher) and his son (15, and not a midget) and it was great! We had a lot of fun, and they were great encouragement.

I'm excited for this next transfer. I'm not a trainee anymore, and I feel like we can really make a difference here in Xizhi.

This church is true! Missionary work is tough, but its worth it. I'm so grateful to be a servant of the Lord, what a great calling!

Love, Zhang Jie Mei

Why was it so hard for me to decide in the first place?

Things are going great in Xizhi. My first transfer only has 1 week left, ahhh, crazy! But I love it here and we are building some good relationships with our investigators.

We set a baptismal date for Yan mama (whose in her 30's, but we call her mama) and her 10 yr old son, Matt for Nov 11. They are awesome! Although the don't have much background in Christianity, they are so willing and just so... good! She talked about how hard the Book of Mormon was to understand, and we thought she wasn't really reading. But, we got with her last night and she has been reading for almost 30min everynight and is done with 1Nephi. WOW, blew our minds.
We are also working with Chen Shu Hui, and we are trying to get her to realize that there are a lot of different religions out there, but there is one truth. Sure is searching for satisfaction and reads tons of books. We had an awesome lesson the other day and testified and promised that if she read everyday and prayed, that she would receive a witness... we are praying for her!

Tonight is our Evaluation night for our english class, which means: big Halloween Party! It should be fun. Every 6th week we do a fun activity for Evaluation night.

We went on exchanges yesterday... my companion Sister Teh went to Sanchong and I stayed in Xizhi. So, me, the trainee, was senior companion for 24 hrs and it was interesting! I was nervous to lead in the city because I'm not too good with my sense of direction (we all know) and to decide where we were going to go... but it worked out! I think it built my confidence a lot. And I found out that contacting with a white skinned American is a lot different... people actually want to talk to us! Haha, when Sister Teh and I contact, they see us two ABC's that look like we are from Taiwan, but sound like we... have guai guai de kouyin's (strange accents). But it is fun to ask someone, "how are you?" and they get very taken aback that I speak English so.. naturally.

I know this church is true and I am so glad that I made the decision to come out on a mission. Why was it so hard for me to decide in the first place?? I have learned so much, and it makes me so happy to help the Lord in this work.

Teaching the Gospel

Things in Xizhi are going well, I think typhoon season has passed, but this area is known for its incessant rain. So we wear ponchos and my companion has these rain booties (remind me of space boots) to keep dry. Yep, it rains almost everyday, and they say it rains more in the winter... haha. But its fun, its as close as I will be to swimming in a pool, so I enjoy it :)

We are doing a lot of teaching here and helping our investigators to progress. We are teaching a Yan Mama and her son, and I think their family situation isn't too great, so they are willing to hear the gospel. But they are full of faith and they are so sweet.

Its kind of sad the types of people I run into here. A big majority of people here have depression and aren't the happiest of people. Right now, we are teaching quite a few sisters that have depression, and we know that with this gospel they can find hope. We are teaching a sister named Angel-Linda, she added the Angel later because she wanted everyone to know that she always has angels with her. She is from Burma but has lived in Taiwan for 30 years, and we know she needs the gospel. We are also working with Cherry, who is awesome! She is keeping the word of wisdom and stopped drinking tea and she said if God wants her to do it, then she'll do it.. woohoo!

We are doing our best and Heavenly Father is helping us along the way. Oh, did I mention the Liang Jiating? Mom and dad and 3 kids. We are starting to work with them. Pretty much they are a Mormon family without the gospel. We don't want to push them, but are building a relationship with the kids. And well, the kids really like us now, so we think thats a good start :)

Just wanted to share some thoughts from Conference-
"Put your trust in the Lord, do your best, and the Lord will do the rest."-Elder Wirthlin's talk
"The will means nothing without the will to prepare." Sis Elaine Dalton's talk
"There is no pain that the Savior's love cannot heal." Elder Quentin Cook

Ni Hao

All is well here in Xizhi. We are still trying to get our bearings, but we are continuing in faith, teaching, and building relationships with those we teach.

So guess what? There was another typhoon, they called it a super typhoon this past weekend. So we didn't get to go to church... again. It was pretty scary outside and I'm glad we weren't in that storm riding our bikes. We stayed inside and did a lot of studying and writing notes and such.

We are working with a few sisters. Chen Shu Hui, or Sophy who has a lot of thought questions and is searching for that "satisfaction." We are trying to build her testimony to know that these things are true and that she can stop her search. She is a 40yr old, not married, and she says she has a lot of time to... think about life. She came to a baptism with us and she said she felt really happy and good, and we got to talk about her overcoming some of her doubts, so we are on the right path!
We are also working with an inactive Ai Jiemei and her daughter Lily, who is 11. They are awesome and they have testimonies. But, they both think church is boring and can't stand it for 3 hours.

Everything is going well. Funny story.. just biking to this email place, a taxi driver ran into me. Well, I was stopped at a light, and he came up behind me, and kept driving slowly... and kept going. It was really the oddest thing. He then proceeded to ask us if we knew a member of the church in Neihu, a neighboring city, without even apologizing... a bit strange.


The language is coming. I'm getting a bit better at chatting at Chinese and understanding what people say. I just have to get past that initial..."Where are you from?" which means "Why do you have such a funny accent?"