Taiwan Week 16 - Getting to Know Sister Liang and Forgetting English!

Sis. Jarvis is starting to mix in more and more Chinese and we are not sure we can translate.  She's off to a great start with a new companion.

Update--We received some translations from a former missionary for some of Sister Jarvis' Chinese words:

Cha = tea 

Zhi hui yu = Word of Wisdom

Bei zi = cup

Wen ti = problem

Fu yin yuanze ban = Sunday School

Jia pu = genealogy

Bai-bai = worship of Buddhist gods

Hello, Yellow, Cello, Ni hao!

Happy end of November/first week of December!!  I hope you all had a fantastically scrumptious Thanksgiving!  We had some delicious shui jiao (dumplings) for our Thanksgiving feast :D Christmas time is coming!!  I keep walking into different stores and hearing English Christmas music and I'm so confused where I am :P  They love Christmas here!  & what a perfect time to share the Gospel with everyone on the streets!

New week, new tong ban, new experiences :)  Sister Liang is so great - she is a hoot!  She is a beautiful, spunky, Taiwan sister who has more clothes than I have ever seen! haha  She is an incredible teacher- she explains everything SO clearly and helps our investigators and others feel no pressure, but helps them to see the excitedness and happiness of the Gospel.  I have learned so much this week about teaching the Gospel to Taiwan ren(people) and the culture.  She has quite the story........her family is all members and she was baptized when she was 8, but was inactive until she was 20.  Her friends helped her come back to church and she read the B of M for the first time.  10 months later after coming back she decided to go on a mission!  She connects really well with less actives and investigators who are struggling to know if it's true.   I have already seen such an impact she has had on our investigators and know she is suppossed to be in Dong Qu :)

This was commandment week for ZJM.  We visited her every day and taught her the commandments.  She thinks they are all so great, except for the cha part of zhi hui yu :)  She and her husband drink a lot of tea so she just didn't know how she could overcome this.  She received a blessing on Friday from the Elders and helped her make a plan to go down one bei zi of tea each day.  I know this will be hard for her, but I have faith she can do it.  I know that if she will pray every day and continue reading the Book of Mormon every day, she will be able to overcome this wen ti through the power of God.  She is a very, very special person.  She has had kidney failure for about 10 years so she is very frail and skinny, but has the biggest smile in the world :)  The first Sunday ZJM came to church, the Fu yin yuanze ban was on temples and family history work.  She kept asking us all about jia pu after and how she could start doing it.....it seemed that it was answering her bai-bai concerns.  She met with the sister who helps the ward do jia pu last week and she showed her how to get started.  She asks all of our pei kes about jia pu and how she can go to the temple to do it - it's so great :)  Sister Liang brought up a beautiful thought yesterday......she said she was talking to ZJM about baptism and ZJM told her she feels like she needs to get baptized so she can help her ancestors also be baptized!!  I think this is very, very true for her.  ZJM definitely doesn't understand every aspect of the Gospel, but she knows the importance of baptism and that she needs to do this for her family :)  She brings her kids to church every week because she wants them to get baptized too!  It's so beautiful......I know that Heavenly Father loves this dear, adorable lady so so much and her purpose for being baptized may be for greater eternal purposes.

I forgot to tell you!  Last week was Mission Tour and Elder Wilson of the Seventy and his wife came to talk to us....it was SO good!!  They talked about how to use the scriptures well in lessons, how to look for all of the diamonds in Preach My Gospel, and just how to be better missionaries and not be so hard on ourselves :)  I'm so grateful for inspired leaders and to have them so close to us too.  Something Sister Wilson talked to the Sisters about was that we aren't perfect, no one is!  She talked about earthen vessels in the scriptures.......they all have cracks, but when you let the light shine through them they are beautiful.  We are all earthen vessels molded out of God's clay.  We all have cracks (especially me!), but when the the light of Christ shines through us, that's when the beauty happens.  The best thing I have learned is that missionaries aren't perfect!  I make mistakes every single day, but the only way I can do this work is by relying on the Spirit and letting the light of Christ shine through my cracks so that others can be edified by the Spirit and recognize us as servants of our Heavenly Father.  It is something I have to keep reminding myself over and over again, but I know it is true.  This is why we have the Atonement, this is why we have the scriptures, why we have prayer, why we take the Sacrament, why we have Temples.........so we can continually fill up our cracked vessels with light :)  I'm so grateful for a perfect Heavenly Father and Savior who know how to help me improve and overcome my own weaknesses!

Funny catch-ups:  I am now officially known as the "Ba bi wa wa" missionary to many....yes that means Barbie.....I apparently have too many bright colored shirts that I wear with my blonde hair :) haha.  Another funny story........I was talking to WJM at church yesterday and she was asking who my new companion was.  I wasn't quite understanding what she was saying, and kept trying to answer her question and she was just confused and then I was confused....and then she was like "Jin jie mei (Sister Jarvis) keep working on your Chinese and I'll keep working on my English!:"  Ok it's not that funny, but if was quite hilairous with my new RC telling me to work on my Chinese - she's hilarious :)

Love you all!  I pray for you always!!  I'm so grateful for you faithful examples and hope you have an amazing week!

Love Sister J. :D

Taiwan Week 15 - A Wonderful Baptism and a New Companion

WJM's baptism was clearly a great experience for Sis. Jarvis and Sis. Gibson.  See pictures below!

Hello Hello Hello!!!

Woweeeee!!! What a week! I hope you all had a wonderful pre-Thanksgiving week and got your bellies nice and ready for next week ;) Get ready for news and more news :)

First off- WJM was baptized and confirmed!!!!! :D Everything went so so well.............there was a wedding saturday night so her baptism was in the morning. It was raining, which it hasn't done in awhile, so we were worried about the turn out but there was still a great amount of people (who all really love WJM) there - WJM said that the rain was cleaning the earth just like her baptism was doing for her :) The speakers were great, it was a very love-filled atmosphere. The most powerful moment of all was when WJM bore her testimony after she was baptized. She had it all written out and talked about the three different changes she has experienced. The first being her ability to rely upon the Lord and her Heavenly Father. She has a burning testimony that They live and knows she can turn to them for anything. Another change is her smoking change. She had smoked for 20 years, since she was 11, and she testified that through God's power she was able to overcome. When she started to stop smoking a few weeks ago, the cigarettes suddenly had no taste or flavor and she had no desire to keep smoking. Her final change was her overall life change from where she began to where she is now. She has such a strong testimony of the Atonement, especially for a new member. She has repented harder and more earnestly then I have ever seen anyone do before, and because of that, she has felt the immense love and forgiveness of her Heavenly Father. She truly understands that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is the only way to return to our heavenly abode. She testified that she knows this is the only true church upon the earth and that we have a living Heavenly Father and Savior who love us. She talked about how she doesn't want to focus on where she will go after this life, but focus on this life right now and do all she can to be worthy and a righteous follower of Christ. Many people said that this was the most powerful and thorough testimony they have ever heard a new member bear at their baptism. She truly is a prepared soul as she has given everything to covenant with her Heavenly Father and receive the saving ordinances of the gospel. She definitely still has things she is working on, but she has such a strong, trusting foundation built upon her Savior.....and that is most important :) She also has such great relations with the ward, especially the Relief Society sisters and they just love her :) I feel so grateful to my Heavenly Father for allowing me to have this experience of seeing the saving and changing power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I truly know that this gospel can change anyone and the Atonement literally covers ALL sin, pains, and burdens. I am so proud of and happy for Wang JM - she truly has become a new creature through Christ and has an incredible life ahead of her :D

ZJM is doing great and is now saying that she believes she will get baptized :D yay!

Crazy thing 2.......Once upon a time I was parking my bicycle next to a motorcycle, and as I got off my bike, I let out a YELP as I burned my leg on the hot engine of the motorcycle. Motorcyle engines usually have a cover, but geng hao, this one didn't :P It was just a little burn so I wasn't worried, but then the pain came - just a little stinging........Sister Gibson was all worried about it so she called Sister Bishop who told us to go to the hospital and get it checked. So we got to experience a Taiwan hospital again! This time it was a lot better though ;D Taiwan hospitals are actually super cool, everyone is in cute matching clothes :).........anyways the nice doctor gave me 3 different cream medicines to put on it and Sister Gibson played doctor for me. The miracle thing is that it never has hurt again after I left the hospital so I just need to take care of it and all is well!

Crazy thing 3.......well there are these things called mini move calls which means that there is a move call/transfer in the middle of a normal move call. This is in case someone is going home early or they just need to change a few people. We went out to eat with WJM after her xili hui and while we were eating, President Bishop called us and told us that Sister Gibson would be moving on Monday to Gaoxiong!! What!!! I may or may not have burst into tears haha.......out of not knowing what to think! I couldn't believe it! We had just been saying how we had been there for WJM's xili hui..........so after we let it settle in a little we realized it was going to be ok. It was definitely super hard to accept the fact, but then it just seemed right. Sister Gibson only has 1 month left in her mission and moved (which is super crazy!) so there must be someone in Gaoxiong who needs her :) My new companion is Sister Liang! She is a beautiful Taiwanese sister and is Sister Walbrecht's old companion. She seems really great :) My Chinese skills will hopefully improve with my first native companion! It's still a lot of change for me, but I know this is what Heavenly Father wants and I will completely rely upon my Savior as Sister Liang and I begin in this amazing work together :) It was hard to let Sister Gibson go- she is an incredible missionary, but I am so grateful we could see WJM get baptized together :)

So that's about all of the exciting news for this week! In honor of Thanksgiving, I'm so grateful for this opportunity to serve a mission in Taiwan. I'm so grateful for the miracles we see every day and how much Heavenly Father loves all of His children. I'm grateful for the eternal plan of our Heavenly Father which allows us to have the help of the Atonement every day and prepares us for greater eternal joy than we can comphrehend. I'm grateful for an amazing family and friends who have supported me my entire life and have been such strong examples to me. I'm grateful for the scriptures and living prophets. I'm grateful for happiness and laughter and music that brings the Spirit :) I'm grateful to know I have a Savior and loving Heavenly Father who are always near. I love this work and I love all of you!!

Love,

Sister J :)

Sis. Jarvis, Sis. Gibson and the Tainan Relief Society

WJM's Baptism

Taiwan Week 14 - A Baptism Scheduled....and Pictures!

Great news from Sis. Jarvis this week and evidence of B-day Celebration!  Also, she jokes about her visit to a hospital - Sis. Jarvis has never done well in a hospital!

Heellllloooooo! Ni men hao!!

I hope everyone had a great week! with lots of snow! ;)

Well the big news.....dada da daa! WJM will be getting baptized this Saturday! Yipeeee!!! She met with President Bishop and then we went and ate lunch all together (President and Sister Bishop, Sister Gibson and me, and WJM) and she was just so happy and started talking about how she wanted to serve a mission to Japan. :) Anyways, I love her so much and am so excited for this incredible change in her life. It is still not going to be easy for her, but her life is going to be so much better. Her baptismal covenant will bring her closer to Heavenly Father and through the Gift of the Holy Ghost she will feel more inspiration and light in her life. She loves her Savior, trusts in Him, and wants to follow Him so that is all she needs to keep her on the right path :) Pray for her this week!

The S family didn't come to church this week, but we visited them last week and the dad is doing sooo great! The problem is that the mom is not as into meeting with us - so we are working on that :)

ZJM, the wife of the T family, is doing so well! She is praying and reading every day, little by little, but progressing. :) She truly is a miracle - we taught their family for soooo long with no one really progressing, but Heavenly Father could see the bigger picture and knew her heart was changing! We just love teaching her because she lights up as she asks questions and learns about the gospel and how eternal it is. She has a strong interest in Jia pu which I think will help her to overcome her concerns with not being able to do the traditional worship of ancestors in Taiwan. She always asks if Heavenly Father really loves her, and we always say, "Yes, of course!" and she just smiles. :)

We met a few less-actives this week who we had not met before. One was a young family who has not been to church in years. The mom is from China and married a Taiwan man and they have three adorable kids.....we are praying we will be able to help them remember why this Gospel is so important for their family. We also met another adorable sister who we met at her work (which was an exercise/dance center - big temptation for me! haha) who was baptized years ago with her husband and still just loves the Book of Mormon and meeting with the missionaries. She left the church because her parents opposed and now they go to church at another Christian church. It just breaks my heart - there are so many less active families in our ward......so many families that could be sealed in the temple for time and all eternity, but have this or that that prevents them from coming to church. I just want to help them all, but know that we all have agency - which is sometimes the greatest and hardest thing! I know that if their hearts are in the right place, that can overcome any trials preventing them from coming to church because they have the Lord on their side - so that's what we have to help them see!

A few funny updates........
- Last Saturday our stake had a blood drive at the big college near-by. They asked the missionaries to do a puppet show about smoking.....yes it's true. We kind of had to put it together last minute, so we had the tallest elders hold a sheet and the rest of us had our cute little smoking puppets. It was definitely an experience!
- We went to visit a member's friend at the hospital on Tuesday.....we went to the hospital about a month ago and it was totally fine! Well this time we had to bike a little ways in the heat and then somehow we ended up in the emergency room which I wasn't quite ready for....but we finally found the lady in her room and started talking to her. Well I started to get a little dizzy so I sat down on the chair. Then the person next to her started throwing up.....so I moved to sitting on the floor. Then we started to sing a hymn for her and moved to a laying down position as we sang. O dear.....although I'm a missionary, I am definitely still me! So I testified that Heavenly Father loved her from laying on the floor - I'm sure she won't forget that experience :)

Tomorrow is our Mission Tour and Elder Larry Wilson of the Seventy will be speaking to us. Our apartment is performing the musical number...."O Savior Thou Who Wearest a Crown" Hymn #197...it's a beautiful and sacred hymn.

We encounter so many different Christian churches here on a daily basis and I've never thought so much about what makes us different. Well the Great Apostasy is obviously a huge part with the Restoration. But it is truly the restoration of the priesthood and the Plan of Salvation that separates us from other Christian churches. They can all testify of Christ, but they don't have the power to seal families for eternity. The PLAN can sometimes be harder to teach, but it is definitely on of my favorites to teach. When people here that this life is not the end and that they can be with their families forever, ahhh! they just have this look of wowness! I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation. I know that it is truly a divine plan of Heavenly Father to help us all return to Him and to one day be like Him. This life is merely but a spec of dust on our Eternal timeline, but what a chance we have to prepare now to return home to Him (Alma 34:32).  I'm grateful for the willingness of our Savior Jesus Christ to give us a way to come to earth, have His help, and overcome both spiritual and physical death so that we can become Eternal beings. I'm so grateful for my Eternal relationships, both in Heaven and on Earth, and am so kai xin (happy!) to let these sweet Taiwan people also know they can have them as well. I LOVE the Plan of Happiness :)

I love you all so very very much!! When times are hard, just think of the Plan of Happiness because it truly will make you happy :)

Love you!

Sister J.

Sis. Jarvis and her B-Day cake from the security guard at their apartment building.

He loves the Sisters!

Birthday dinner - Ice covered in delicious stuff!

The English Class Halloween Party - the Sisters went as twins!

Pumpkin Pie baked by a member for Sis. Jarvis's B-day!

Taiwan Week 13 - Still in Tainan and Thrilled!

Although Sis. Jarvis thought she might be on the move, she will stay with Sis. Gibson in Tainan until Sis. Gibson goes home - awesome!

Hello all of you wonderful people!!!

So move call..... dada da.....I'm in..............TAINAN! I am so excited!! I get to stay here in Dong Qu with Sister Gibson for another 6 weeks! This is also Sister Gibson's last move call so it is going to be sooo goood! Our entire apartment is all still here so we are all very happy and grateful :) Heavenly Father still has work for us to do here :)

This week was amazing!!!! We had so many incredible miracles and changes this week.......I don't even know where to begin!

First off, WJM :) She has still been doing so great, but smoking was the last thing she still needed to stop before baptism. Well we met with her Tuesday night and we were talking about how having more love and charity towards people. She also had her first testimony bearing experience with the other Sisters' investigator who was struggling to stop smoking. WJM bore her testimony that with help from God she could do it as she personally had come from smoking two boxes a day to only smoking 5 cigarettes a day. She loved bearing her testimony about it and we loved watching her do it.....I realized in that moment what a different person she is from when we first met her and what a beautiful daughter of God she has become. Anyways.....after ending our lesson with her she asked about us being here the end of November to see her get baptized. For a long time she has always talked about us being at her baptism and we hadn't ever told her we may move before the end of the month. We told her we didn't know if we would be as it was possible we were moving next week. All of a sudden she stopped, looked at us, and said, "If I stop smoking tomorrow, can you get everything ready for a baptism next week?" Well her faith sky-rocketed in that moment....we told her we weren't sure because she would have to completely stop smoking a week before her interview but we could see. She told us not to worry, she wanted us there at her baptism so she was going to stop smoking right then and there! We called President Bishop when we got home and he told us that it would probably have to be Nov. 17th at the earliest for her.......WJM was really upset when we told her there was still a chance we may not be there.  She even said she didn't know if she could get baptized then if we weren't here. Well that worried us a little.....we wanted her to get baptized because she wanted to follow her Savior, not because of us. But when we prayed about her getting baptized then, we felt so at peace about it so we trusted that everything would be ok.

 
When we met with WJM again on Friday, she still hadn't smoked! She seemed really happy and had told us that she had already fasted that we would be able to be there at her baptism. As we were ending her lesson, she told us that she had realized that her desire for us to be at her baptism was selfish and that it was possible that the Lord needed us in other areas to help other people. She told us she had prayed and that although she would love for us to be there, she would get baptized on the 17th no matter what........we most definitely had a little freak out after she told us! We were so happy!!! This is exactly what we had been hoping for and this was why we felt so much peace as we prayed about it - Heavenly Father knew her faith was strong and that she was ready. So long story short.....President Bishop is meeting with her this Friday and if all goes well (which it definitely should :) ), she will be getting baptized next week! I can't fully explain everything she has changed and gone through to come to this point other than by saying that she has had to overcome problems with every baptismal interview question......so that's a lot of changes. Through her experience, I have learned even deeper that the Atonement can cover any pain and any sin. She loves her Savior and Heavenly Father and they love her. She is beginning her journey as a faithful, beautiful, daughter of God.  :)

Miracle: We met a family on the road last Monday night as we were heading home. They set up to meet with us and we were so excited. When we called to que ding, the Dad told us his wife couldn't come anymore so it would just be him. We told him we wouldn't be able to meet with him if it was just him and asked him to ask his wife again. Twenty minutes later the entire family (husband, wife, and their two little boys) were at the church! The wife had a little bit of a Christian experience, but the dad hadn't ever had any religious background so she had to keep retranslating things to him that we had said. SDX began to understand the power of this message though and especially liked what he read from the B of M about praying in our families. We invited them to church the next day, but they said they weren't sure if they could come. We were sitting in Sacrament meeting and about 20 minutes in SDX walked in with both of his sons! He really liked Sacrament meeting and listened intently to all of the testimonies. I have so much faith for him and his family. They have a very close family relationship and I know S DX is coming to realize what a blessing this could be for his family. I feel that Heavenly Father has prepared him and I am so excited and pray that they will all be able to have the blessing of this Gospel in their family.

So there were so many wonderful things this week........I'm so grateful for miracles and for how much closer they bring us to heaven. He is in every part of this week and I could not do it without the help of my loving Heavenly Father and Savior. I pray that you will all be able to feel their love this week in your life and remember that they are always at your side to lift and guide you on this beautiful path of life.

THANK YOU THANK YOU for the numerous birthday letters!!! There was so much love in them and I am so grateful for such amazing family members and friends in my life! Love you all!

Sister J.