Taiwan Week 29 - Feb 25 - Power Week

Hello on this beautiful 25th day of February! We are in full blown Spring over here! I still can't believe there's so much snow over there! Whoah with the new missions!!! It's pretty much the whole world! So incredible :)

Well this last week was our Power Week! This means the mission gave us a specific, pretty big goal that we needed to try to accomplish every day.  On Tuesday, we were invited to hand out 15 Book of Mormons and we only handed out 5, but they were all people who were really willing to read it! Sister Cole and I really enjoyed focusing all of our contacts on the B of M.......we had other days when we were invited to find 4 new people to be baptized, Friday was to confirm 20 people for church, and Saturday was to talk to 20 families and do our own personal "Dan Jones" which is what we do when we first get on island :) We attempted it with the Elders at a night market.......haha it was pretty funny, one of the Elders is super out-going and just went out into the center of all these people and started testifying of the B of M while holding it in the air--that takes yong gan(courage)! We did get to meet some great people though! We didn't hit all of our goals this week, but we were able to talk to a lot more people and have set up to meet with some of them next week :) Some people in the mission are amazing!! They talked to over 600 people! So cool- that's a small village! I think this last week just showed me how much more of a diligent missionary I want to be and the importance of goal planning.  It just feels super great when we do hit our goals and gives us another chance to recognize the help of the Lord and account to Him.

One of my favorite experiences of the week was meeting with a young lady that Sister Cole and her other companion had met about a month ago when her mom self-contacted the missionaries and said her daughter had been to church in Taibei before.  She has been really busy and we haven't been able to meet with her, but we finally did on Friday! We were waiting for her to come to the church and about 15 minutes went by and she hadn't come......we decided to say a prayer and just as we finished the prayer she called us and told us she was almost there :) She came and then we got to meet her a little more, she shared how she still didn't really know if she believed in Heavenly Father, and then we got to share the first lesson with her. We focused on families, Christ, and the Restoration.........she's kind of quiet so she hadn't said too much in the lesson, so I wasn't exactly sure how she was feeling.....then after talking about the B of M we invited her to be baptized and she said she thought she probably would! I was so excited and so happy that I just high-fived her! :) It was kind of funny, but I was just so happy for her!! I know that her baptismal desire will only grow as she comes to know that Heavenly Father lives and loves her :)

As we spent a lot more time talking to people this week, we really met some wonderful people. Last week Elder Evans talked about talking with people, not to people. We really tried to focus on that this week and I really felt a difference. We met a Dad who shared that he was worried about his baby boy who was born early, and had the opportunity to testify that Christ can help us to overcome these burdens. I met a lady on the road and we talked about how through the Gospel of Jesus Christ we can know what our purpose in life is and gave her a B of M and testified that this book teaches us how to prepare to return home. I really love talking to people and sometimes it goes well and sometimes not.....(occasionally forget some Chinese words ;) ) but the Spirit can testify to them and lead us in what to say! This is something I'm always trying to work on :) I know we are all Brothers and Sisters of a Heavenly Family and that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can see others as they truly are--with their divine potential, which is sometimes really hard to do, but that's ok because the Savior does and as we grow closer to Him, our hearts will change too :) This Gospel changes lives!

Have a stupendously, miraculous, joyful week!
Heavenly Father loves you so much and I do too!

Sister J.

Taiwan Week 28 - Feb 19 - Mission Conference

Sister Jarvis did not write on her usual Monday P-Day, but on Wednesday of this week due to a mission conference.

Hi!

Thanks for your letters and emails!! I super, dee-duper loved them this week :) So yes, I am writing you today (Wednesday) because we had an amazing Mission Conference on Monday in Taizhong with Elder Watson, our Asia Area President, and Elder Evans, of the Seventy and one of the Directors of the Missionary Department. It was so, so good and so, so inspiring, especially that the entire mission could be there all together to hear from them.

The whole conference was really great! Their wives talked about the love of our Heavenly Father and the Lord and a lot was said about our relationship with our Mission President. They related a quote by one of the Brethren that these bonds with our Mission President were foreordained and we made covenants together in Heaven. Elder Evans also shared that often times when one of the Twelve is doing a mission call assignment, they first have an impression of which Mission President the missionary should go to. Elder Evans filled us in with all of the new number changes in missionaries and reviewed our full purpose (Doctrine of Christ) and that it was time to prepare for this rising generation to enter the field!

Well... Chinese New Year came and left super fast! I'm pretty sure I only gained a couple of pounds and considering all that I ate....that's pretty good! :D It was pretty fun though....eating with the members every day and eating lots of traditional, as well as Costco food ;) Here's just a small list of our eatings last week: traditional vegetables and meats, steak, hot pot, dumplings, sandwiches, cake, pasta, lettuce wraps and Costco muffins, more meats and vegetables, and more! The sad thing was that one of our Elders is trying to "diet" so when they would offer more food he would always tell them to give it to the Sisters, and usually Sister Cole was full, so that meant it came to me :) Some people wouldn't mind if you didn't eat anything, but others really wouldn't let you leave until you just about finished it all up! It was definitely an experience I will never forget. It was also a great experience to talk to a lot of members about their own conversion--one of my favorite things in the whole wide world to talk about :)

This week I received a very direct answer in the scriptures and I want to share it with you :) (P.S. Sister Cole is an awesome scripture studier!! I wish you could see her scriptures- she gets so much out of them and is such a great example to me!) I had been praying the night before just for help and comfort and then the next morning during Personal Study I was reading in Preach My Gospel about the Christlike Attribute of Patience. It directed me to the Sons of Mosiah's missionary experience and then to their own answer in Alma 26: 27:

"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success."

I haven't had a verse of scripture touch me so deeply for awhile. It really felt like the Lord was speaking to me personally. This is the most amazing thing about the B of M, there is a verse of scripture that just seems to be written for us. I know that this scripture is true and that when times are hard or our heart is low, if we continue to serve our brothers and sisters with love and patience, the Lord WILL give us success....whatever it may be:) I'm also grateful that yesterday I was able to share this scripture with one of our investigators who is going through some tough marriage times. I love the scriptures!

I hope you all know how very, very much I love you!! I love being able to testify of the happiness this Gospel has brought to my family to people on the street. I know our Savior lives, He truly lives and loves us. I know this Gospel is true with all my heart and know that it isn't always easy, but salvation is so worth it. I know that repentance is real and the Spirit will always guide us if we are faithful. Have a wonderful week!

Love you! ai ni men!

Sister J.

Taiwan Week 27 - Feb 11 - Dogs and Miracles

Chinese New Year has begun and Sister Jarvis now has her official missionary story of being chased by large dogs!

Hello Familia and Friends!

How was your week?? Hope it was wonderful!! This week was a little different from last week, maybe not as crazy happy, but still lots of blessings and seeing lives changing :)

We had a miracle last night!!! First off, let me just say that Heavenly Father's timing is incredible.......and that He's really the one who is the missionary! :)  We went to an RC's house for dinner, LJM, whose brother just got baptized and her younger sister has been an investigator for half a year now. Her sister, LMM, comes to church almost every week, but just hasn't wanted to get baptized yet. We met with her this week and reviewed a 1st lesson in which the Spirit was really strong and then at the end of the lesson asked her about her concerns with baptism. She loves Heavenly Father sooooo much and said she has always believed in Him, but has just had a weird feeling about baptism and didn't know why. We invited her to pray to Heavenly Father and ask Him about it. When we came over to their house for dinner, we didn't talk to her about it at all. After dinner, we were sharing scriptures with the two sisters and then suddenly everyone got quiet and LMM suddenly said, "I prayed about it......and I got an answer." We all paused........she said, "I feel like the answer Heavenly Father gave me is that He wants me to choose." Still frozen! Just waiting for the answer.....I started assuming in my head that she probably decided she needed more time, etc, (doubting Thomas ;) )......then really quietly she said, "My choice is OK" ahhh! My heart dropped, skipped, and jumped with joy!! I looked at Sister Cole and her sister and we just smiled.....did that just happen??? Yes, yes it did! An adorable 15 year old girl, recognized a hard answer- that it was her own choice and decided she did want to be baptized! Now what part did the missionaries have in this? Other than inviting, not too much........what part did Heavenly Father and her have in this? ALL :D and that's what it's all about (just like the hokey pokey, but better)...She doesn't have a set date, but she could get baptized next week, next month, pretty much whenever she wants and I know she will make the right choice. Love it.

So with Guo nian (Chinese New Year) it's pretty much like Christmas in America! Everyone closes their stores, everyone travels back to their family homes, and it's just a lot of eating and celebrating. Due to Guo nian we only had Sacrament yesterday.....it was a little sparse people-wise, but the coolest part is that we had 7 out of 8 new recent converts there!! How cool is that!! All of these brand new members still came, no matter what :) They are stellar! We also had a less-active who we have been meeting with come as well and she was talking to everyone....it was so great :)  Our 9 days of eating has begun!! It's actually been really fun and really delicious......eating with members in their homes is the best :) Our Thursday night meal canceled and the ward was so worried who would feed us, they started asking everyone if there was someone else who could feed us....we kept telling them over and over again we could survive one night on our own :) There are so many families all together right now and we have been almost hit by fireworks a few times! We also had this random man come up to me on his motorcycle while we were biking and handed us a cake.... Yay Guo nian :)

It happened.....I have my very first missionary dog story! We were biking out on this big road by the banana fields and as we went past a house two HUGE dogs (ok, they were pretty big) came running out and started chasing us.....so we biked faster and then they ran faster! Sister Cole being the smart one she is, went to the other side of the road and one dog kept following her. I kept biking as fast as I could, assuming the other would leave me alone, but all of a sudden he was at my left leg! So ke pa! His nose started to rub my leg as he was barking! It was so scary! They finally left us but we were in shock for a minute or two...it was so crazy!

This week I read 1 Nephi and had a couple thoughts......in 1 Nephi 15 Nephi's brothers complain that they don't understand Lehi's vision. Nephi asks them if they had inquired of the Lord, verse 9 and 10: "And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord? And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us." Nephi reminds them that the Lord has promised them that if they will ask, He will tell them....Nephi goes on to explain the vision to his brothers himself, but it made me think.....if Laman and Lemuel had inquired of the Lord themselves, would they have had a vision too? I don't know, but I like to think that the Lord would have shown them a vision as well.......but they won't ever know what the Lord wanted to give them because they never asked. It is so important for us to ASK or else we never know what "visions" may be waiting for us! :) Also, I love 1 Nephi 17 when Nephi talks about he has no physical strength, but is powered by the Spirit of God and has so much POWER to testify against his brethren....I wonder what that moment sounded like in person......I really love this story. I especially love that no matter our physical strength, our spiritual strength, and specifically the strength of the Spirit of God is greatest! Our physical strength sometimes leaves us or some people may be very weak.....but they are powerhouses with the Spirit, which power  will never leave us as long as we are faithful. :)

Ok, I wrote a lot this week- all different things! I hope you have a powerful week and that you will daily feel of God's love for you because it is real!! Thanks for the continued letters and prayers :)

Love you!
Sister J.

Visiting an art exhibit

View outside her apartment window

With Sister Cole and some members

Taiwan Week 26 - Feb 4 - I LOVE Da Liao!

Sister Jarvis has had a great first week in her new area.  She is back to fast biking and is enjoying the countryside and friendly people in Da Liao.

Hi Everyone!!

I hope you had a super great week! I LOVE Da Liao :) It is an incredible place! We have already seen so many miracles this week and we just want to keep working hard to help these prepared souls to be baptized!

I love the people here.........they seem to be slightly more open to listening to us (maybe it's the small town effect) and the members are so willing to help us! When I went to church yesterday, so many people came up and introduced themselves to me (it's usually the other way around :) ) The new converts in this area are young and super strong.....I feel like I've already become good friends with a number of them. On Friday night the Elders had a baptism and it was the brother of one of our recent converts, LJM. She was baptized in May and after her brother saw her change, he personally met the Elders on the road and began meeting with them. They have a little sister who also comes to church with them every week who hasn't set a baptismal date, but Sister Cole and I think she will be baptized really soon :) All because of LJM, her whole family is beginning to accept the Gospel....ah I love it!

I am officially back in fast-biking mode :P With Sister Liang we could not bike very fast because of her knees, but Sister Cole is one fast biker and I just trail behind.....our area is quite large because a lot of it is farmland.....it is so cool!! We had to bike out to an RC's house on Friday and we biked past all of these rice and banana fields.....I was having a hay-day because I thought it was the coolest thing ever!! It really felt like I was a missionary in Taiwan :D I love the big city, but I am loving the countryside........the people are super friendly and just seem to have a slightly slower pace about life.

Miracle story: New investigator family!!! On Wednesday, we had our English class and had 3 different families come! One was CJM and her daughter and they set up to meet with us. Well, when they came on Saturday, she brought her husband too! At first, the husband told us he was just there to listen and we could just focus on his wife. Well as we began teaching, he began asking questions....lots of questions. As we talked about Christ and His Atonement, he shared with us his thoughts about how some people say they believe in Christ but they are still bad people, etc. It gave us a wonderful opportunity to testify of the power of the Atonement and repentance and how it doesn't make us perfect, but that we continually change and improve. We had an amazing 21 year old new member who testified of her personal experiences and it really seemed to catch his attention. Our first lesson turned into a big discussion, unlike any first lesson I have ever had.  We were open with them and they were open with us, allowing us to truly know their needs and desires. We ran out of time, but they said we could meet with them all next week...including the husband :) When we invited them to be baptized, they didn't say no or yes.....just that they wanted to learn a little more first........and then CJM and her daughter came to church the next day and seemed to really enjoy it! Ah families are the best......they are sometimes harder to teach, but they are the most precious investigators. We are so grateful that Heavenly Father sent this wonderful family to us and we have great hope for them!

We also have an investigator right now with a baptismal goal for this month who is blind and can't walk. She has been meeting with the missionaries for a long time and recently decided she wanted to be baptized.....she truly has to live by faith!

Being in a smaller ward creates new opportunities of service......first thing, don't ever quit taking piano lessons! (my mother is probably laughing) I was also told that you would be needed to play the piano on your mission....well I have always been around a lot of missionaries who could play so I never worried about it. I am now one of about 3 people in the ward who can play the piano- ah! I don't even really count because I can only play about 5 or 6 hymns well :P  So at the baptism on Friday I had to pluck out the right hand to "I Need Thee Every Hour"......but they still appreciated it :) Another funny music story........at the baptism they had the missionaries sing with a couple members. My voice is just normal, nothing too exciting, but after we were done singing, the member told my companion that standing by me felt like she was standing by Mariah Carey haha These people are so great.......

Something about serving in a more country-side, working class area is that you get to see there are devoted, faithful saints literally in every corner of the world. There are very faithful members out in the little corner of Da Liao who love their Savior, know this is His restored Gospel, and serve with all their might. It's not easy for them......many of them are the only members in their family....but they do all they can to be near to the Spirit and be an example to those around them every day. They may not have much, but they have the Gospel and Heavenly Father's love....and that is enough for them. I love this work, I love these people, and I know Heavenly Father loves his children in Da Liao. I know that the Lord keeps his promises to all His children, and just as the B of M testifies, His word will go to all nations, all people.

I love you all!!!!! Thank you for all of the amazing support!

I am so so so happy here :) I feel that there are great things that will happen this move-call!! Thank you for your prayers!!!

Love,
Sister J.