Week 9 in Taiwan - The News Travels Fast!

Sis. Jarvis received the news of the change in missionary eligibility on Sunday at church....

Hello, hello, hello, hello!!

18 and 19 WHAT?!!!! Is this not the coolest, craziest thing ever!!! Let's go back to a Thursday night two weeks ago.........my companion and I were sitting in our beds talking and she asked me if she thought they would ever change the ages for missionaries........I was like "uh I don't know, they've been this way for so long - I don't know if they would ever really change them again."( o o o was I wrong ;D) Flash forward to yesterday at Church......we were talking with the primary president, Sister Skyles( her husband is American, but they are living in Taiwan right now), and she suddenly asked us if we had heard the news that they had changed the age requirements for missionaries to 18 and 19. I was like, " zhen de ma?!( trans: really? o come now....) She was like, "Zhen de!" But I still didn't really fully believe her - in my head I was thinking, "O stop, pulling our leg Sister Skyles" :) Well, there we were sitting in Sacrament meeting and the 1st counselor announced it again! I turned to my tongban (companion) and we both had shocked faces - so honest truly our first reaction was, "Ah! We're so OLD!" Selfish, I know :) But once it settled in, I couldn't believe what incredible revelation this was! How many hundreds more missionaries there would be, how much this helped girls after freshman year who wanted to go, how marriages will be changed forever (as I think there will be many more people getting married sooner in their early twenties), and of course what this meant for the world - For missionary work! These Book of Mormon prophecies that this message would fill the entire Earth- it's happening, right now! Ah! I think that mormon culture and the church will be changed greatly because of this revelation. There will be so many more people serving missions, so many sisters!! I wouldn't be surprised if most girls end up going on missions now - the youth are ready to fight this fight and spread this glorious message! They are stronger than we were at their age :) I could have a companion in 6 months or so who is two years younger than me - that's so crazy! But so cool! The time is now for the Gospel to be spread to every land and people - what an exciting time to be a member of the Church! I'm so excited for these young men who don't have to worry about school immediately and can go right out on their missions and for these young women who can leave just after the young men do! I think about myself going at 19 (not sure that I was mature enough to go then ;) )- it would have changed my life.....and will change so many lives! So excited to see what great plans the Lord has in store for missionary work!!

All is well here in Tainan! Fall is in the air- I left my hair down all day for the first time yesterday so I know it is getting cooler :) All of the sisters were so touched by the Relief Society General Broadcast- it was so powerful. Everyone here is so excited for General Conference this coming weekend- a time to hear living prophets speak and receive personal revelation. We taught an investigating family and an inactive family this week. So grateful for this sacred opportunity to help these amazing people.

Sorry, talked a lot about the new missionary standard, but it's just so exciting! I'm so grateful to have a living prophet on the Earth who leads and guides us. I'm grateful for technology that allows members all over the world to hear his words in their own language. I love this Gospel with all my heart and know it is the truest thing on the Earth. Hold onto the truth that you know- it is our anchor of hope in this world :) 3 Nephi 28: 31- great and marvelous works are happening every day!

Love you!
Sister J

Week 8 in Taiwan - The Blessing of a Prepared Investigator

Sorry we are so slow with the postings!  Sis. Jarvis is having a great experience with a new investigator....

Hello all! Da jia hao!

Another week of preaching the Gospel in Dong Qu Tainan! This was mine and Sister Gibson's first week with all focus on the 2nd ward............it's been quite a change for us :) The first ward had more investigators and is a much bigger area.........so needless to say we have found ourselves with a lot more free time which means finding time! I didn't realize how blessed we have been to have so many lessons and really no unscheduled lesson time. I definitely feel like we have to work even harder now.....so bring on the smiles and good attitudes and we will bring the Gospel to this little(literally) corner of the world!

We went to the big college in our area this week and had so much fun! Contacting was surprisingly harder as we met many people who really felt no need for the Gospel in their life....they were content with what they already had. We did find a couple of great adds though :) (particularly one at 7-11 who Sister Gibson talked to as I cleaned up my soup that I had just spilled ALL over the table and floor) We actually went onto the campus for about an hour and did English proselyting which is not speaking in English( as I thought the first week :) ), but inviting people to English class and inviting them to meet with you as well if you feel prompted. So many memories of Nanjing came back to me and I loved talking to all of the young people and this time having an opportunity to share the Gospel with people I met on campus :) I really love teaching the younger people, they have so much light and faith!

Investigators: Our awesome and wonderful WJM has a baptismal goal of the 27th. Sister Gibson met her on the road and she has had a really rough life. She is one of those people who when you see at first it may be really easy to judge her, but she has such a loving heart and has so much faith. We have been meeting with her for about 3 weeks and it has been an incredible experience. She truly understands repentance.....I have never seen anyone repent so earnestly and intently. She prays and reads the B of M every day and has really come to know her Savior. She wants to make these changes in her life so she can be baptized. In about her 3rd lesson she told us how she felt "bu hao yi se"( felt really bad) whenever she said Christ's name at the end of the prayer as she realized everything He had done for her. She has come to church for the last 3 weeks and had a particularly special experience during Sunday School yesterday. This week we are continuing teaching her a few commandments that we know may not be easy for her, but her faith is growing immensely and know it is time for us to teach them. Her parents have pretty much disowned her so she's never really had a family, but now she knows she does.....she is a beautiful daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves her SO much. Sister Gibson and I have been very prayerful as we prepare for this week with her. The Atonement is incredible.......there is no greater power on all the Earth. No matter what mistakes or despair we have felt, the Savior knows and invites us into His arms to be healed. I know this is true and that our Savior Jesus Christ died, suffered, and was resurrected for each one of us- we must never forget His sacrifice.

Keep being the wonderful people you are! Enjoy General Conference this week- I'm so excited!! We won't see it until the next week so you'll have to tell me all about it! I love Taiwan, I love this world, I love the Gospel, I love

Love you all!

Week 7 in Taiwan - Faith, Repentance...and a Starfish!

Sis. Jarvis welcomes another companionship this week - and pulls out an old favorite - a Starfish - for Nitti....

Hello from Taaaaiiiiwwwwaaannnnn!

Well I have officially just began my second move-call( transfer) - crazy! On looking back at my first move-call, there were definitely moments when it seemed to go slow and I couldn't quite fathom that I would be in Taiwan for a year and a half, but I can't believe I have already been here this long and now it seems like time is just clicking away.

We picked up our new sisters at the train station today and they are great! We are going to have so much fun :) Sister Gibson and I are over the second ward and they are over the first.....which means a little separation from Nitti because she is in the first :( We can still see her every Sunday and can eat with her occassionally so that will be good - the new Sisters will also be visiting her family this Sunday so I'm super excited! It's kind of nice to just be able to focus all of our efforts on one ward, one area, one Bishop, etc. There aren't as many investigators in the second, but there are some really strong ones so we'll keep nu li(ing)- pushing forward!

We have this investigator named WJM.....it's been an amazing process to meet with her. She definitely has some worldy problems, but she has just begun to repent whole-heartedly, comes to church every week, and came to the Elders' baptism on Saturday. It's been incredible to watch the Atonement in action.....and she still has a little way to go, but through her faith and the Atonement of our Savior...she'll be baptized :) This week we read Lehi's dream with her and related it to the Doctrine of Christ....faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. I didn't realize what a metaphor the dream is for the DOC! It's so cool! Everything that Lehi experiences mirrors it...I love how the scriptures can be such a powerful teaching tool for any doctrine.

Dad- you talked about your meeting with the regional general authority and how it was all about rescuing. I thought that was really neat that right there in Davis County there is a need to rescue those who have strayed or are lost, just as there is in Taiwan right now. A huge part of our work here is rescuing and helping these less actives become really actives. There is a beautiful girl we have been meeting with, LJQ. Just before I got here, she had met with the missionaries for the first time in a long time as she has been inactive for quite some time. She told them she had been praying for the missionaries to find her and they miraculously did one day :) The first time I met with her she was really down on herself and wanted to feel closer to Heavenly Father but didn't feel like she could. Since then, we have been meeting with her every week and she has come so far! She began praying every day and especially that she could find a job that would allow her to have Sundays off. You could see her countenace change and there was so much more light in her as she truly began relying on her Savior. Her prayers were answered and she found a new job that allows her to come to church on Sunday morning! I love her so much and she has such a sweet and humble spirit............she grows so much every week in both her faith in herself and in Heavenly Father. Heavenly Father never forgets his children, never. He knows each of them so well, even when they seem far away from Him, and wants everyone to come back into His fold. Christ never gives up on anyone, so why should we? I just love that there is never a one-time chance with the Gospel....His hands are always open for every single one of His children to return to Him :)

FAM- you would think this was funny :) Funny story for the week.....we were talking to NT after English class and I realized something suddenly so I pulled the "starfish" move out of excitement. NT just laughed and laughed and told me that I reminded her of a kid, a young boy to be exact haha I wasn't quite sure how to take it, but my companion assured me I'm the furthest person she knows from that and NT must have just meant I had a young personality ;) Well, when you grow up with only brothers that's just how it goes! Anyway it was funny :)

Things are going well....I feel like I'm still learning so much about missionary work, the Gospel, and myself. It's definitely pushes me every day, but I'm so grateful to have this opportunity to be on the front lines of God's army. The Gospel's true...live it, love it, embrace it :)

Love you- have an amazing week!

Sister J. :)

Week 6 in Taiwan - Splits with Sister Wang and New Roommates

Sis. Jarvis sounds a little busy this week, but great experiences keep coming....

Hi Fam!

Sorry this is going to be a slightly shorter email :)

Things are good!  Just doing our best to move along the work here and bring people into the Gospel :)

This week......well currently we have an assortment of investigators right now.  Chen (cute little sewing lady) currently has a baptismal goal of 9/29, which is pretty soon, but Sister Gibson and I both felt good about her having that goal.  We taught her about Tithing and enduring to the end, and she seemed so happy and chipper that day.  She had some previous concerns with tithing, but we had a great pei ke (member) at the lesson who shared her personal experience with tithing and the Spirit was definitely there....we know she will still have to work at it, but she can do it! 

We had a huge miracle at Church yesterday.....we had 5 investigators come, 4/5 Recent Converts, and a good number of Less Actives!  It was a tender mercy as they just kept walking in and we were in shock as some of these people hadn't been answering their phones, or we hadn't been able to get in touch with them, and here they were at church!  I know the Lord softened hearts and guided many people to church yesterday :)

O! and we are getting two new sisters in our apartment this week!  So we will just be over one ward starting next week, but we still don't know which ward......this means it will be easier for us to focus all of our attention in just helping one ward, but we will have to hand over some of our investigators to the new sisters.  There are 27 missionaries coming on island this week, which is a ton!  So yay! We will now be a 4 man apartment and Tainan Dong Qu will have even more help in hearing the Gospel :)

I went on exchanges with Sister Wang in Jia Yi this week- it was really fun!  She is from Taibei, went to school at BYU-H, and her brother is also serving in Taizhong right now too!  She is adorable and taught me a lot about remembering to laugh and have fun while you serve.  We had some great lessons with people who were working to their baptismal goals and I loved listening to her teach and tesify to her own people.  She is just so cute....her favorite english word right now is "Macho Man" haha so of course I had to teach her a part of the song ;) 

This morning as I was preparing a lesson, I read over The Living Christ.  It has been a long time since I have read it and I forgot how powerful it is.  Especially the end as you read their testimony of Christ........the Spirit testified so strongly of the truth of those words.  Christ lives and is truly our Redeemer and Savior.  He literally saves us....I have felt that saving power in my own life and have witnessed Him save and reach out to these wonderful people in Taiwan as well.  He is always there, right next to us.  It's amazing to see someone really begin to believe that Christ lives and that He loves them.  I'm so grateful for my Savior and that I can rely upon Him every day - He has given His life for everyone of us and stands at the ready to help us along this path of life.  Cool scripture:  look up 2 Nephi 22:25 and then look up the footnotes for pasture.  I did a little scripture study on pasture today and it's a beautiful metaphor for the kind of place Christ can cause our lives to become. 

O!  and we added a family yesterday!!  We are meeting with them on Sat and I'm so excited! :)

Catch up on funny stories: 

- Last week we went to the big Carrefour store, which is a huge shopping center and I bought these muffins.......well I was eating the second one and it tasted a little different, but took another bite........thought about the smell, looked at the package and realized they were coffee muffins!! ahh!  Way to go......Sister Missionary eating Coffee muffins.....not such a great combo haha we immediately had to get rid of those ones!

I love you all so much!!!  I hope you have an amazing week and please send my love to the whole family!  Thank you for all of your love and support- it means the world to me and gives me the faith to just give it my all every day!  I'm so grateful we can be an Eternal family and that Heavenly Father has given me such an incredible family :)

Love you!

Sister Jarvis :)

Week 5 in Taiwan - Baptism!

Sis. Jarvis and her companion witnessed the fruit of their labors this week, as well as powerful testimony.

Hello Familia!

What a week!  Lots of contacting, baptism, new and old investigators, service project, and new things every day! 

Well I have to start with NT's baptism first :)  Everything went SO well - there were no glitches or problems....she had a great week and had a beautiful baptism.  My trainer said that it was the smoothest xili hui(baptism) she's ever had!  We have an amazing Ward Coordinator/Mission leader who planned and set up everything.  There were also so many people there...they all couldn't fit into the room to watch the baptism :)  A very special part of the baptism was NT's family.  Remember the story I told you about her Aunt seeing NT at Stake Conference and bearing her testimony how she has been praying for years for her family to accept the Gospel?  Well her Aunt spoke at her baptism and reitterated her very powerful testimony - it was an incredible moment that I will never, ever forget :)  After 30 years of being a very strong member of the Church and praying for her family to accept this Gospel, her Aunt was able to see her neice be baptized and you could just see and feel the eternal joy that she had.  Her Aunt's son, NT's cousin, baptized her which was also very special.  NT's Mom and older sister also came, which you could tell meant the world to NT.  I don't know if I mentioned before, but her mom has been battling cancer so it has been a really hard time for their family, but Nitti has told us that since she has decided to be baptized, her family has become even closer and things were getting better.  When NT bore her testimony after being baptized, she was in tears as she spoke to her mom and sister, telling them that she knew the Church was true.  She talked about how grateful she was for her family and really just bore testimony to them.  There were so many ward members there.....so many people have played such an important role in her conversion.  One brother from the ward even had all these delicious fruit and snacks set up afterward for everyone!  I know she is in such good hands and I know she knows that too :)  

As we were listening to NT bear her testimony, I sat there realizing that this had absolutely nothing to do with us, the missionaries.....we literally just led her and guided her along the path of preparing for baptism.  She came to know her Heavenly Father and Savior herself and we were just there to help......I love that it's not about us at all, it never is and never will be.  We're here to help people receive their salvation, but it's all about their relationship with their Heavenly Father.

O!  Another miracle story with NT :)  Her Dad and sister came to Sacrament Meeting the next day when she received the Holy Ghost.  They stayed for the entire meeting which I thought was really neat.........I talked to them afterwards while NT met with the Bishop and they really really liked it! Her Dad had only been to church once before, like 30 years ago with his sister, the Aunt who spoke at NT's baptism, but he really liked Sacrament Meeting.  And lo and behold, her sister just graduated from college and her roommate was from the U.S., from Utah, from BYU, a member, and had already given her a B of M!  (Heavenly Father is truly preparing this entire family!)  I asked them if Sister Gibson and I could come visit them and share a scripture message with them and they said YES!  Not just yes, but Yes with a smiley :)  I just feel like NT's story isn't done yet and can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for her family!  She is a great strength to them and I can't wait to see what her future holds!

Well in a nutshell the rest of the week.....lessons, contacting, O! and on Saturday morning was Clean Up the World Day- did they have that in Utah?  We got to ride with the Relief Society President in a car (it had been a long time since I had been in one!) to Ping An, which is right by the ocean.  Our Stake all helped clean up the dock area by the ocean, so that was really fun!  The RS Pres, who is incredible, also took us out to Friday's after so it felt like a P Day haha  O!  Remember Tian and his wife Zheng?  Well Pres. Bishop had told us to try to read the B of M with them to help them........we went over last night and read Alma 40 together and it was such a beautiful lesson.  Tian didn't make his tea and was much quieter.....his wife really began to understand about the resurrection and Tian was truly listening.  The Spirit was there.....he said the closing prayer and just poured out his heart to his Heavenly Father.  Sister Gibson and I feel like they can really keep progressing.  We just love them and are so excited as we continue to read with them :)

What an incredible blessing we have to have the Gospel, to have an Eternal Family :)  With the Savior you can do anything, anything.  The scriptures are full of power and what a blessing to have a living prophet on the Earth (I can't wait for conference!).  Heavenly Father and your Savior love you so much, more than we can even comprehend. 

Love you all!

Sister J.

BAPTISM PHOTOS!!

Week 4 in Taiwan - A baptism scheduled and pictures!

Sis. Jarvis has found a new favorite treat - ice topped with chocolate and peanuts!!

Hello Fam!!

I love hearing from all of you and hearing how life is going :)  I love you all so much!

Well first up on the list is.....NT's baptism is this saturday!!  Am I excited? O yes!  Am I shocked that we are already having a baptism?  Most definitely........so I am so grateful for this beautiful experience I have had to watch Nitti grow and gain such a strong testimony.  She's not just ready, she's super ready........and she really knows who her Heavenly Father and Savior are and will continue to learn.  She is also a really deep Gospel thinker.....for example, this last week we were finishing the rest of the commandments and read a scripture to introduce tithing.  NT gave this beautiful explanation of tithing being a way we can thank Heavenly Father for all that He has given us and why it is important that we do it...when she was done we were like, "um perfect! On to Fasting!" haha jk, we went into a little more detail on tithing, but she really is so deep when it comes to Gospel principles!

This week was really humbling as the last few weeks we have been very blessed to have a lot of lessons and a lot of adds (people we meet on the street or call who set up a time to meet with us), but this week we had more people cancel with us and didn't get as many adds.  It made me very grateful for the little things! :)  Our mission leaders just gave us a goal for September to have 100,000 other lessons this month as a mission!  This means every companionship needs to contact 300 people a week- that's a lot of people, but a lot of people who will be invited to hear the Gospel this month!

We had this dear sweet lady who is in her 60s or so, has 5 dogs and 3 cats, and we visit her every Wednesday morning in her sewing shop :)  She's been reading and praying, but hasn't really been progressing all that much in feeling the truth.  She came to church last week for the entire block and in Relief Society she said she received an answer in regards to a family issue she is dealing with her right now......we love it when investigators say that :D  When we met with her this last week, we asked her how she could apply the scripture we had been reading to her life and she totally made a personal connection!  I feel like she is really beginning to see the love of God in her life and how much this Gospel can help/change her life.........we're hoping and praying that she will continue to stay strong and this could be her month! :) 

Another investigator-like story haha......once upon a time my companion and I went tracting down this bai-bai (the main cultural religion where they burn money to their ancestors) road and knocked on the door of T and his wife Z (in their 50s).  They invited us in and we have met with them twice since then and every time is quite an experience :)  haha T always sits there and makes his tea while we talk to them and Z is pretty quiet as T does most the talking.  He has a hard time focusing in on the lesson as he can't quite understand why we can't have tea (he always pours us hot water :) ), so the lessons tend to kind of go all over the place....BUT they are feeling something because last time he told us that he wants his sons to have this Gospel because he thinks it would do something for them and told Sister Gibson last time that he has always believed in God, but never really done anything to show respect to Him or develop a relationship with Him.  We had a couple from the ward come with us last night so that was a little more helpful, but hopefully something will click with them and he'll see what we're trying to teach them!

Something big that I learned this week was that happiness doesn't come before the work, it comes after.  I was reading the talk by Elder Wirthlin in the August Liahona which talks about fulfilling our duty....we have to be dilligent and fulfill our duty AND then the happiness and joy will come - such a good reminder for every day!

Love you lots and lots!!!

Sister J :)

 Sis. Jarvis and her companion found a new friend!

Sis. Jarvis with the Sisters from her zone

Sis. Jarvis at her first Zone Conference

Week 3 in Taiwan - Typhoon!!

Sis. Jarvis had her first major weather experience in Taiwan this week and her family was watching the weather reports closely.  Thankfully, it passed her area by with just a lot of rain.

Hello Momma and Familia!

Typhoon.....O I should have guessed you would have been worried :)  We were totally fine!  We had a really big wind storm one night and I woke up a lot in the night and then the next day it rained for half the day, but that was it!  We were immensely blessed....it didn't feel like we had a typhoon at all!  Some areas were hit really hard though...more south, so some missionaries will be helping with the clean-up this week.  Pres. Bishop said there are probably a few more coming, so be on guard, but we have 72 hour kits and we will keep checking up on the weather status!  Miracle Story........there was a huge Church Youth Activity this week in Taizhong for all the youth in our mission area.  They thought they would have to cancel the activity due to the typhoon, but then the youth send out a message to everyone to fast and pray and they had 1000 youth who fasted that the activity could still happen!  Right before the activity, the path of the typhoon suddenly changed direction and they were able to have it!  What great faith the youth have here.....a powerful reminder of the power of fasting and prayer :)

This was a busy week for us!  NT is still doing so great!!  Her faith grows every day and she is witnessing so many blessing in her family from it.....she learned about the temple this week and she loved it.  Everything is worth it for that, everything!  She has her baptism interview this week, so all should go well, but keep praying for her :)

Have I told you about GJ and her daughter?  I can't remember haha. Well, we met them through English class and we love them!  We have only met with them three times and they haven't been able to come to Church yet........but they are great and the daughter is 17 and she is already in the Book of Jacob in the BofM! Awesome!  & all of her favorite verses are about Christ....I love it!  Her mom also really seemed to like the Plan of Salvation, so I'm excited for them!

We have a couple of investigators who we love dearly, but just haven't made that personal connection with why this is important.....why they should pray and why they should read.  I've really been trying to ponder how to help them strengthen that line between them and Heavenly Father.  It really comes down to them acting in faith......we can't do it for them.  It is such a great reminder that the Spirit is the teacher and we are the mouthpiece.  It's been incredible to see how when we were inspired to read or say something to our investigators....it has opened another door.  The Spirit is the key!  

President Bishop has asked us to tell everyone we talk to about the Book of Mormon.  I think this is a great committment because it's not always easy, but it has so much power.  I'm really going to try to do this, this week, even with my 30 second intersection conversations :D  The B of M is the keystone of our religion, it's everything we believe and know to be true.  Sister Gibson is really great at reitterating when we introuduce the B of M in a first lesson the introduction promise:  If the B of M is true, then Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, then the Church is true, and then Christ is the Son of God.  Nitti is such a beautiful example of this because she loves the B of M and has already received her own answers through it!   

I love the saints here!  They are the cutest, happiest people!  I love all of the other wonderful people from various backgrounds we get to meet on a daily basis too :)  I love you all so much!  Remember why the B of M is important to you.........that book has changed my life.  Since I began reading it as a little girl, it has been my rock in my life.  It has always been there and has always been my greatest comfort.  I know that it is true and is the word of God.  I love you all!!!!!  Have an incredible happy, stupendous week!

Love, Sister J. :)