One Sister, One Country, One Mission :): Taiwan - Week 58 - September 16

Hi Family!!!

Hope you all had a marvelous week! Thank you so much for your deep heart-felt emails.....it means the world to me and it always seems to be the thing I needed to hear, so thank you :) P.S. I haven't talked about my companion Sister Chua that much, but just wanted to mention that she is absolutely incredible! She is the kindest person ever- so full of love and service!! HJM's conversion and being in the temple with her was the best thing ever!! So divinely inspired :) We've been planning her trip to come to Utah next year :)

Well the news.........I have left Zhang hua! I got the call on Sat night that I would be moving up to Tanzi in Taizhong with Sister Christensen! So I am here in beautiful Tanzi today! Wow.....I really haven't moved for a long time, about 6 months! But I have just been so excited to come up north- I'm soo grateful to Heavenly Father because one of my missionary dreams has been fulfilled! When I first got on island, I desired with all my heart to serve in every area of the mission...Tainan, Gaoxiong, Middle-Zhang hua, and Taizhong and now I will have! I'm also so grateful because I will still be serving as a Sister Training Leader.....last week we didn't go on any exchanges and it was killing me! I was missing our Sisters so badly, and I honestly, truly missed being there to help and serve them......so I know that Heavenly Father heard my silent prayers and I am so grateful to move up north and now serve these Sisters here. I have come to love this incredible experience to be so focused on the Sisters and their welfare........it's brought me so much more joy as a missionary to forget my own worries and be focused on helping these Sisters in their areas. I definitely still have lots of room for improvement and still trying to overcome my own weaknesses, but Heavenly Father has truly helped me to do all I need to do for them :) So excited to serve with Sister Christensen (from Logan, going home after this move-call, Sister Fitzpatrick's old comp, tall and super cute!) in this wonderful area!

Was it hard to leave Zhang hua? Most definitely..........felt like I was leaving home again- really truly! The members, RCs in Zhang hua literally are my dearest friends and family :) But was my time there finished and I am needed elsewhere? Yesiree........I felt like I was going to move all week....Sister Chua asked me on the road if I felt like there were still things the Lord needed me to do there and it didn't feel like there was at all.....kind of a really special feeling. It's amazing.......I arrived there 6 months ago as a young, still trying to get her hands on things missionary and now I leave as a really different person. It's hard to explain all my feelings about Zhang hua in words........it was there that I truly came to understand what missionary work is all about, it was there that I came the closest with my companions and realized how heavenly sent they were, it was there that my self-confidence was low and then felt the love and confidence of Heavenly Father that He had for me, it was there that I truly came to understand repentance and forgiveness through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, it was there that I came to understand the potential of divine light we each carry, it was there that I saw and participated in some of the greatest miracles of my life, it was there that the members became family, it was there that I was the happiest I had ever been on my mission, it was there that I came to realize my own weaknesses and how to really live the Gospel and put it into action, it was there that I learned what faith in the Savior really means and the power of it in our personal lives, it was there that I realized my own potential and vision, it was there that the scriptures came alive to me and spiritually impacted my life each day, and it was there that I came to feel the closest to the Savior I had ever felt on my mission. In small terms that is what Zhang hua means to me :) It changed my life forever and I will never be the same...........I know that we will all have places, people, and times in our life that will open our eyes to what we've been missing, realize our personal need for the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and then change us forever as we work to live up to that potential of divine light. It's been an incredible journey and now it will only continue on forever........I'd like to share the scripture I chose for my mission plaque scripture :) It came to have very personal meaning to me in Zhang hua.......

"But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God."
"Yea, I know that I am nothing: as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boat of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever." Alma 26:11-12

I know that I am weak, so very weak, but with God I have been able to do anything! He has lifted me to new heights and changed my perspective....I want to testify that I know as we have faith in the Savior, pray fervently, and boldly follow Him, we will truly come to know the power of the Spirit and our own divine potential. We are spirit children of the most powerful being in the universe and that is amazing! His light is in each one of us and as we open it up- it beams and will change others lives and help others to do the same!! This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I love it with all my heart!! I love you all so very much and each of your lights have played a huge impact in my own life........I know that we will only continue to grow and that life only gets better until we are with Him again! I love you family! I love these people, I love my companions, I love the Savior and my dear Heavenly Father and I love this work!!! Have an incredible week of faith!!

Sister J.