Week 2 in Taiwan - Still a Wai Guo Ren

Hola Family!

Well Week 2 has already come and gone!  I loved hearing from all of you!! Keep it up ;)  The Brigham City Temple is gorgeous!  I can't wait to go!  Sounds like the summer adventures are coming to an end....yay for school!

  

I want to try to send a lot of pictures today, so I will try to give a little overview of our week :)

Sister Gibson and I had a lot of lessons this week which was great.  Our "golden" investigator right now is Nitti :)  She is 19 and is SO prepared, it amazes me.  Her baptismal date is September 8th so she is getting close!  They found her through English class and her mom actually has cancer right now so it has been a hard time for her family.  In our lesson with her on Mon, she told us how she had been reading the B of M and had read a verse that had answered her own prayers in Alma 32 on Faith.  Her Faith is incredibly strong and she is just so happy.  I learned a lot from her in that lesson........and then on Wednesday we taught her the WOW.  We knew she liked to drink tea and coffee( as most Chinese people do) so I was a little worried.  We had a wonderful pei ke( member at the lesson) who helped a lot......Nitti asked her questions, but decided right then and there that she wouldn't drink tea or coffee anymore!  When her family goes to get coffee, she tries hot chocolate and other sweet drinks which she is still getting used to :)  She is becoming an incredible example to her family as she has begun to try to pray with her mom and it has greatly blessed her mom.  She came to the Elders baptismal service on Saturday and said it helped her to not be nervous and is so excited for hers :)  She couldn't come to Church this Sunday because she already had family plans which we were kind of bummed about.  About 10 minutes before Sacrament ended, I heard someone walk into the Chapel.  I turned around and it was Nitti!  Her mom's plans had changed so her mom said it was fine for her to come to Church!  The Lord is preparing her so much and I literally feel like we have a miracle with her every day.  Keep her in your prayers as this beautiful daughter of God prepares for baptism :)

We have a Mom and a daughter we met at English class last week who have no religious background and were really excited to meet with us.  We met with them on Thurs and showed them the Restoration video and are meeting with them again tomorrow so I'm excited to see what happens with them!

We have an LA( less active) mom who's daughter we taught this week.  Her name is Xie Jie Mei and she hasn't been to church in about three years.  We have been struggling in trying to figure out how to get her to come back because she still thinks she is a strong member, but she needs church on Sunday!  For comp study today, I did the lesson on Activation through Family History.  It testified of the power of family history with bringing LAs back to Church.  It reminds them and helps them understand what the Church is all about- bringing every soul back to God's presence.  I think it is what we need to try- so pray for the LAs and that Family History work will help them!

My first Sunday with the wards!  We have two wards, so Sister Gibson and I have to split up on Sunday and each go to one of the wards.  I was super nervous, we had an investigator coming and I didn't know what I was supposed to do.  The ward was so kind to me and it was one of my favorite Sundays of my life!  As a missionary, Heavenly Father helps you to do things you would never be able to do.  It's amazing.......I know with faith we can do anything.

Ok funny story for the week........we went to a ward singles activity last night at a member's house.  They had a soup dinner things that you put over noodles.  There was a sweet hong dou( red bean) mixture next to the big bowl of soup that I assumed also went on top of the noodles.  This nice newly baptized member tried to stop me as I poured it on my noodles....I was like it's hond dou, I like it!  Apparently that was the dessert......and nobody puts it on with the soup.....yep still a wai guo ren( foreigner).  Everybody thought it was pretty funny and kept teasing me about my love of hong dou the rest of the night.

Things are great and wonderful!  We have hard times and good times :)  The Church is true wherever you are......open your heart and Heavenly Father will pour out His Spirit to you.  He loves you all so much........we have a Savior who has given everything for us.  I love you!

Sister J. 

PICTURES!

Sis. Jarvis and her MTC Sisters

Arriving in Taiwan!

Sis. Jarvis and her first companion, Sis. Gibson

Welcome to Taiwan...and Tainan!!

Sis. Jarvis's first report from Taiwan!  She refers to Sis. Fitzpatrick, who was her roommate during her semester abroad in China....

Familia!!

A big Chinese hello from Tainan!!  My first area! Cool, right? :)  These last few days have flown by!  Let's start at the beginning.....

Flight:  Best international flight I've had!  If you aren't watching movies, you can sleep so much better and read much more inspiring books :)  It was about a 13 hr. flight to Tokyo, but it actually went by really fast and I was able to sleep which I was so grateful for. On the way to Taipei I sat by this really cute girl from Taipei who was just coming back from Idaho.  She had been to church once in Idaho so she knew a little bit about it, but I gave her a B of M and she seemed like she would really read it....so hopefully she did! I was just so excited that I had handed out my first B of M :)  President and Sister Bishop met us at the airport with the APs.  We also had 4 native Sisters who had arrived about an hour earlier- the native sisters are the best!  They are so cute and happy, and a lot of them have only been members for just over a year so they are stellar.  We had some mini orientation on the bus, went to sleep, and woke up at 6:30 the next morning to go running!  It was so surreal running through the streets of Taiwan and realizing you were finally in your mission chuan dao bu(mission area).  The Bishops are so so great!!  We got to stay at the mission home because there was a much lower number of new missionaries and it felt just like home.  Sister Bishop helped us feel right at home and it was a perfect place to get over our jet lag :) President Bishop is stellar- he makes you just want to be a good missionary because you don't want to disappoint him or the Lord.  I know I will learn much from him!  

We had orientations/workshops throughout the day and then had a traditional restaurant for dinner.  Then it was Dan Jones time......this is the mission tradition where they take all the new missionaries to a big night shopping area, we stand on boxes and shout our testimonies for all to hear.  I was super nervous right before, but it was really exhilarating to just run up, hop on the box, and yell my testimony while holding a B of M in my simple Chinese!  We were paired up with other missionaries and immediately began proselyting!  We got 6 Adds( people who are interested in meeting with you) so I was excited!  It was actually really fun and had some great experiences bearing testimony to people.  The next day was meeting our trainers!!  We met them in the Chapel and Sister Fitzpatrick was standing there with her huge smile that she always has.....it was the happiest thing ever!  I just hugged her and couldn't believe after all this time of reading her emails, I was now serving here with her!  We sat by each other during the pre-training session before we found out who are trainers were.  She is incredible- they had 19 investigators at church last week in her area!  As much as I wanted her to be my trainer, I knew that it was up to the Lord and I would be where and with who I was supposed to be.  They had each of us come up one at a time to get our hong bao( Chinese red envelope) and I read mine off.....Sister Gibson Tainan 2!  Sister Gibson is an incredible missionary!!!  I'm so happy she is my trainer because her Chinese is super native, she is so obedient, and is an incredible teacher.  Sister Fitzpatrick and I still have time :) and funny story.....I am in the exact same area where she was trained! Same bed and everything so kind of crazy! 

Well they didn't waste any time!  Sister Gibson and I immediately went to the train station and hopped on our train to Tainan and there weren't any more seats so we just bought standing seats in the doorways....sound familiar? haha As a missionary, it's so cool because things that are usually really important to you or would be a hassle, aren't...I'm still working on some things, but a hot 2 hour train ride? No problem for us :)  She filled me in that we had two lessons that night and had a ward meeting...so as a good trainer should, she filled me in on who we were teaching and had me practice some parts of the lesson.  Tainan is a big city!  It is actually split into 3 different areas....it's nice and hot too cuz it's in the south ;)   Heavenly Father wants me to love the heat more I've decided, so that's what I'm working to do!  My 12 year old self would probably be dying haha  Our apartment is quite large- I'll take pictures this week and show you next week.....and we live super close to the church!  O and Sister Gibson is from Connecticut, studying Psychology at BYU, and goes home the first of December...she's such a great missionary example!  We are actually over two wards so we have to split and each one goes to one ward....that will be a good experience for me next week!  Taiwan people are so friendly and have the cutest smiles.  There are a lot of members here, but there is also a lot of retention work right now.  Our area has been struggling a little so we have some work to do! 

President Bishop gave each of us the dedicatory prayer offered by Elder David O. McKay in 1921 in Beijing for China missionary work......you should look it up.  These people are a special people and through missionary efforts, will know of their Father and Savior.  The language is.....coming haha I have much to learn, but had a really powerful experience my last Sunday at the MTC in knowing that my true teacher is my Heavenly Father and I know that if I study all I can, He will help me. 

Funny picture for you:  my first day in Tainan I really looked like a wai guo ren( foreigner).  My bike seat wasn't adjusting so I was riding across the big intersection sitting much much lower than my handle bars, my skirt is stuck in my wheel...just a typical day.  I would attempt to jie chu( contact) at the stop lights and it was pretty funny...I'm dripping sweat while trying to tell them to come to our church, but I've decided the sweat just helps us shine more :) I'm still getting the hang of a lot of things....but I do love it.  This is the real work now.....the MTC was so fun and great....but not like this.  I bare my testimony to real people every day who have never ever heard of the Church, Christ, or Joseph Smith.  I feel like I have so much to learn in how to communicate better or teach better, but I'm just trying for little improvements every day.  I was teaching the Restoration to Zhen Jie Mei last night and she had never heard any of it before.  It is such a privilege to teach such a precious story that changed the course of mankind forever.

Powerful experience yesterday.....it was Stake Conference, my first Chinese Stake Conference!  They have a beautiful new building and the new Asia Area Seventy was there along with President and Sister Bishop.  The Chinese people are so cute.....all of the women in the choir had matching blouses and all ages filled up the Chapel.  I was sitting with one of our investigators, Nitti, who is 19 and has a baptismal date set for a month from now.  At the end of church this little tiny older lady came over to us and was so surprised that Nitti was there- it was her aunt!  Background: we didn't know anyone in her family was a member and I don't think Nitti did either!  Her aunt grabbed her hand and started bearing her testimony......she had been a member for 30 years and her kids served missions...she has been doing so much family history work and been doing lots of work in the temple for them.  She had tears in her eyes as she told us she has been praying for her family to accept the Gospel and couldn't believe it when she saw Nitti here.  We all started crying as this little aunt bore such a powerful love and testimony of this Gospel and for her desire for her entire family to be members.  Nitti was also very touched and is still wanting to work her baptismal goal- yay!

This work is so wonderful....the Gospel is truer than true.  The Atonement is real and changes every single one of us.  Heavenly Father knows every worry or happiness we have :)  Love you all!

Sister Jarvis

Sister Jarvis Arrives in Taiwan!!

We haven't heard from Kirsi yet, but the Mission Office sent this photo as evidence of her safe arrival.  We did get the chance to talk with her by phone before she left the SLC airport.  She was happy, healthy and very excited for what awaits her in Taiwan.

Week 4 - Immersed in Chinese and Loving It

Kirsi is leaving for Taiwan on the 7th!  Her visa did come through so she is ready to go.

Hello Everyone!

Wow- time is flying!  I see why we need 18 months :)  Well this week was our first week with our Chinese District....and it was an experience!  Sister Bambrough and I were put into a district that had 10 elders and had never had sisters before.....we changed that :)  We were really nervous about it, but they were all so nice and made us feel really welcome.  Class this week was a rollercoaster......but when is a day in the life of a missionary not haha  We have great teachers and realized that we could understand what they were saying the majority of the time, but we learned quickly that we really don't know the gospel in Chinese like our district does.  The gift of tongues is so real.  Here are ten 19 year old elders who have never studied Chinese before, with the exception of one, and they can teach every missionary lesson in Chinese....it's amazing.  We got new Chinese investigators this week and have learned a lot from those lessons.  In our old district our "investigator" was Catholic so she knew about God and Christ, but it was a whole new experience with our Chinese "investigators" when we asked them what they thought of God and they said that they came from a Chinese background so they didn't really believe in Him, or that they had never heard of Jesus Christ, or ever prayed in their life!  It's exactly what we will encounter in the field, so even though it's hard, it's a great blessing to learn how to deal with these situations.  No matter how much Chinese I know or don't know, Jesus Christ is our master- He knows Chinese better than any other human being.  I know that it is only through Him I will be able to teach and bear testimony to the people of Taiwan.  English missionaries are so great and it is such an amazing experience, but your faith has to jump about 5 steps up when you are learning a language.....it's hard, but your not doing it for you...it's for your investigators and that makes it all worth it :)

Really cool experience Sunday!  We got to watch The Testaments in Mandarin!  I definitely didn't understand it all, I would understand one whole section and the next would go over my head, but I've never experienced anything like that before.  We had the entire Chinese Zone crammed into a little tiny room and we would all get super excited when we understood just one word.  I hadn't seen the move in awhile and as we started watching it, my mindset was changed to that of someone who had never heard of Christ, the Book of Mormon, or even the Church before.  I watched the entire movie like that and it was powerful.......you can't deny that Christ came to the Americas, you just can't!  Christ did come, and He will come again.  Those people personally felt the wounds in His hands and feet, and one day, there will be an entirely new group of people who will have the same experience.  These are moments when I'm like- this is why I'm here.  The world needs to know, the Chinese people need to know, someone in Taiwan needs to know that they have a Savior who died for them and He will return. 

O and did I mention that I love the MTC?  I love it so much!  Sister Bambrough and I got to help host the new Senior couples yesterday and we just loved it!  O! and I wanted to tell you the conversion story of one of my teachers.  His name is Luo Lao Shi (Teacher Luo) and he is from Mainland China!  He said that he always believed in God and that his grandma is an inactive member of the church.  One day when she saw him praying, she had her friends bring him to Church.  A couple members taught him all the lessons in 2 hours....and then that next Sunday they taught him all the lessons again and he was baptized that afternoon!  So cool!  He is totally going to be the first member of the 70 from China :)  Just an example of how prepared and ready the Chinese people are!   Obedience is so key to being a missionary and I have definitely been learning that you really have to be exactly obedient.  My companion and I finally made it all the way through the lesson plans for the first time this week and we felt way more prepared then we ever have!  When you choose to go to bed at the right time, wake up when you should, or use your day as it is scheduled out, the Lord blesses you.  It goes for all areas of life though - obedience is prepatory to blessings & I am definitely learning that!

So I'm suppossed to leave with the group next Tuesday, but my Visa hasn't come yet............they aren't worried and think it will be here, but I don't know details yet.  As soon as I know, I will write you!  Just playing the waiting game, but preparing for leaving next week!  

I can't believe how close I am to leaving.........I feel like I need so much more time, but if the Lord wants me to go now I know it will be ok.  He has already helped me so much and is molding me into the person I need to become.  We finally got to go to the Temple today which I LOVED.  It was beautiful and so peaceful.....SO grateful there is a temple in Taiwan!

Well I love you and I'll let you know what I find out!  Moroni 7:33 :)  love that scripture and love you all!

 Sister Jarvis

Week 3 - Pioneer Day, A New P-Day and Taiwan on the Horizon

Hello, Hola, Ni Hao!!!  Happy Pioneer Day!

So obviously we have had some big changes because today isn't Friday :)  Yesterday was a crazy day for us- one Elder in our district found out yesterday he is leaving tomorrow!  We Sisters also found out we begin with our new Chinese district today- and it's their P Day :)  We are really excited to jump into complete immersion, but also just a little whoo-hoo, but we are excited for this next part of our adventure.....we'll see how our class goes tonight!  We know a few of the Chinese Elders and Sisters, and also just met a few more, but they have been so incredibly nice and welcoming to us.  They all think we have better Chinese then them, but they will be suprised tehe O! and from the looks of it, it seems that Brother Danny Anderson will be my teacher! haha It will be kind of funny to teach him when he's an investigator, but he's great so it should be good!  Our other teacher is actually from China so we will get the experience of listening and responding to a lot of native Chinese.  O! and our companionship is getting split :(  We are SUPER close so we were really worried, but they are letting us stay as roommates!!  It is so true that your companions become some of the greatest friends you will ever have :)  I will still be with Sister Bambrough and Sister Embley is going to be companions with a Sister from the other three-some.  It has been such a great experience to be in the International Branch and I'm so grateful I got to experience it!  We had incredible teachers and I met such strong people from all over the world......we had a Sister from Greenland who is one of 6 members in the entire country and we are friends with this adorable Sister from Madagascar who is the first Sister from her country to serve on Temple Square :)  P.P.S. You should go to Temple Square soon and look for a Sister Puttapong from Thailand....she was our roommate and is adorable :)  So if we get our Visas in time, I will be leaving August 7th! Taiwan feels more real than it ever has.  We had an amazing, yet simple, testimony meeting last night with our district.  The Spirit was so strong as everyone testified of God's blessings in their lives and thus far in their mission.  I'm trying to be better at understanding that this is not about me in any way.  It's easy to get your own thoughts going and be concerned with you, but we are literally the Lord's tools and He moves us where He needs us and we say what He wants us to say.  Nothing is about us, and I love that.....I hope to strive to let go of everything so the Lord can dwell in me and use me in His work.  Not too much to say, but just wanted to fill you in! 

I have received more letters than I ever thought I would!  Thank you SO much- I treasure every single one of them :)  Aunt Mary's family also sent me a package filled with letters and her DELICIOUS chocolate chip cookies- everyone loved them! 

Heavenly Father loves you each so very much :)

Love you all!    

Sister J :)

The End of Week 2 in the MTC...and Only 2 More to Go!!

Sis. Jarvis is now leaving the MTC on Aug. 7.  Here is her latest email....

Da Jia Hao!!

Thank you for the package!!!!  I love the family photos- best ones we have ever had!!!  We also loved the Zucchini bread :) I can't believe I am beginning my 3rd week at the MTC!  According to the last thing I heard, I will be leaving around August 7th which means I have about two and a half more weeks! ahh!  I'm so excited and grateful that I get to leave so early, but I definitely don't feel like I'm to that point yet....although I know I will be :) 

Where to begin!  Well, Chinese is hard....but it's the good kind of hard. well sometimes :)  We have been teaching our teacher's "investigator" in Chinese and the first lessons were so bad.  We just sat with our little study books on our laps and read out of them.  It's been really hard to come from English lessons where we have learned how to invite the Spirit and really cater to the investigator, to where we feel like we can barely communicate our feelings and understand our investigator.  I started to wonder if I would ever be ready to leave the MTC.......I can testify that Heavenly Father does not always make things immediately easier for us, but he helps us through the baby steps.  We had our fourth lesson with our Chinese investigator yesterday and we didn't read out of the books, but just tried to teach and testify with the words we knew.  It actually went a lot better and we felt like we were beginning to make a stronger connection with him.  Things were far from perfect though.....Sister Embley asked him out on a date while she was trying to invite him to church :) haha the beauty of Chinese!  I know it's not supposed to be easy with learning a language, even if you have experience.  We have to work hard and make mistakes or we would never appreciate it when we have experiences when it all comes together.  This is no easy task, but I'm grateful for the opportunity to work at it!  I will be so grateful for the day when I can give a lesson in Chinese like I experience with the Spirit in English. 

We have workshops every Monday in the MTC and I LOVE them!  We practice teaching each other and learn more in depth about what we do when we teach the Doctrine of Christ.  In this week's workshop, we watched the first part of The Restoration and the teacher asked us what the original question was that  brought Joseph to pray.  You know what it was?  It was how does man receive salvation?  We learned that we don't teach these lessons so that people can know about baptism, Joseph Smith, or the Plan of Salvation, but to offer them salvation.  That's the purpose of a missionary:  to help all of these people obtain salvation through teaching them the Doctrine of Christ.  It completely changed my perspective as a missionary!  Another powerful thing I have learned this week is that the Atonement is everything.....literally everything.  The Atonement is the key to salvation and therefore should be the center piece of every lesson.  Our teacher told us we should study and ponder on the Atonement every day so we can gain a stronger testimony of it to bear to those we help and teach.  I think it's amazing that Heavenly Father gives us a lifetime to learn about the Atonement.  I'm so grateful for it and know it is true.  Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and can lift any burden from us- I would not be here without Him.  I feel so inadequate when I teach about the Atonement because I feel that Christ is the only one true teacher of it.  Someone told us this week that through our missionary service, we will be able to experience a very small piece of what Christ experienced during the Atonement. 

We had to leave the MTC twice this week for Dr. appts for Sister Bambrough.  It was fun the first time, but by the second, I didn't want to leave the MTC!  It is such a powerhouse and I feel so comfortable here.  When we were waiting for our shuttle to pick us up from one of the offices, we had a couple people ask us if we were Provo missionaries and then they saw our badges :) haha We decided we were the Chinese speaking Provo missionaries.....we came up with a plan to walk over to the neighborhood next to us and start knocking on some doors.....asking for Chinese referrals or Chinese food.  We're goofs sometimes- my companions are so wonderful! Sister Bambrough became the Coordinating Sister this week and one sister had gallbladder surgery this week, so it was great to help her :)  We laugh all the time together and am so grateful for them!

You know you've become a missionary when:

-You're more comfortable wearing a skirt than jeans

- When you have to sing a hymn while doing wall squats

- When you can't handle doing anything without your companions 

- Letters make you super happy :)

You're all wonderful!!!  I love you so much!!!

Love, Sister J. :) 

The Journey Begins....

The first emails from Sister Jarvis:

June 6, 2012

Hello from the MTC!  This is an incredible place!  It feels like a little mini world- there are Elders and Sisters from countries far and wide studying all sorts of languages.  As soon as the Elders took me yesterday, I didn't even have a chance to think about what I had just left because they immediately take you under their arms.  I had a darling Sister who was my host and took me everywhere I needed to go and due to the red dot on your name tag, everyone welcomes you as you walk by :)  We had a great welcome meeting with the MTC Presidency and their wives yesterday afternoon.  The MTC President, President Brown, went through every country and state where people were from who had entered yesterday.  We have three elders and one sister from Mainland China!  Amazing!  There is also this sweet Sister I met who is from Taichung :)  I love the environment, the Spirit, and the amazing people here!

I was worried I would be the only Sister in my same boat and wasn't sure if I would have a companion or not.  I feel very blessed though because there are two other Sisters who are on the Mandarin fast track and so we are a tri-panion!  They are so great and I already love them- we laugh way too much together ;)  Sister Bambrough is going to Sydney Australia and she went on the Nanjing study abroad this last year!  Sister Embley is going to Manchester England Mandarin speaking( Tell Grandmother and Papa Joe!) and lived in Shanghai for 3 years.  We all feel so grateful to have each other and to be able to work together on Mandarin.  We are in the International District which is for missionaries from Foreign Countries who are serving English speaking or are already fluent in their mission language.  Our District is made up of two Elders from Fiji who are cousins AND who are going to the same mission, we have two sisters from Samoa, one Elder originally from Taiwan, and the other from Brazil......so there are always a plethroa of languages being spoken :)  We had a little testimony meeting last night with our Branch Presidency and the spirit was very strong as everyone bore their testimony and explained why they wanted to come on a mission.  Our District is a very loud group haha.....and my companions and I realized how important patience and love are with 19 year old boys :)  It's such a happy place and it doesn't feel so so different from normal life.  We are all missionaries and representatives of the Savior, yet everyone still has their own personalities and lights.  It was amazing to think as I went to bed last night that I was actually here in the MTC... on my mission.  I thought about the next 18 months and what will and could happen every day.  I feel that is a great privilege and blessing to be here and can not wait to give my very best each and every day.  I have much to learn, but I'm excited!

This morning my companions and I decided to go to the kickboxing class- it felt great to move around!  They also have Yoga and step- aerobics which we are excited for :)  I feel that Heavenly Father was really looking out for me yesterday because I ran into so many people!!  I saw a Sister from my BYU ward, Elder Cowser, Elder Moody, Elder Carver, Elder Valdez from SPAC, Liz Alley who I danced with long ago, one of my roommates old friends, an amazing girl I know from Folk, and then Sister Katie Beus!!  Love it :)  We have our first real class tonight and I can't wait to dive into everything!

Send everyone my love!!!

Write me!!

Sister Jarvis :D

July 13, 2012


I cannot believe I have been in this amazing place for an entire week!  You lose track of the days here because you are always busy- but it's wonderful!  There is so much to say, I don't even know where to begin!


We taught our first lesson last Saturday- kind of scary for me, but we did it :)  I call Sundays at the MTC a triple-double-decker Sunday because it's like going to Church all day, which is awesome :)  All of the Sisters have Relief Society together and they told us that in a few weeks we will be at the highest capacity of Sister Missionaries the MTC has ever had- SO COOL!  The meetings were wonderful and there are so many incredible people here.  One of my favorite meetings of the week was the Devotional on Tuesday.  It by Elder Seuer who used to be a member of the Seventy.....he talked about how our testimonies are our legacies and that missions are a time for God to get to know us better.  We also sang Called to Serve, which is a moment I have been waiting for....it was powerful :)


Sorry, jumping around, but there is so much to say!  My companions and I became really worried Sunday night about whether or not we would be ready to enter the field with only three weeks in a Chinese class.  The 12 week missionaries seemed way more prepared then we were and we wondered if we were in the right place.  We even considered talking to someone about moving- but Heavenly Father was listening :)  One of our roommates talked to us about what she did in our situation to help her language study and we began to feel better.  That night I felt this enormous burning in my bosom that testified to me that I was in the place I needed to be.  I could not deny it!  We had another answer the next day.....they announced our district would be getting split which meant that all of the Chinese speaking missionaries would be in the same class- we were shocked!  We now teach one of our teachers in Chinese and are able to practice the language a lot more than we usually would.  I am not even near a good missionary with Chinese, so I have a lot to do, but I'm here to learn! I know I am where I need to be.  I have learned a lot about faith this week and how vitally important it is to have regarding anything in our lives.  I know I will have to work hard, but when I look to the Lord with Faith, I know He will help me be prepared to teach the people of Taiwan....He has already began to :)


Investigators!  The TRC(Teaching Resource Center) is an incredible place!  There are both volunteer "investigators" and others who are employees.  They told us that some of these investigators are actually really not members.  We have one investigator from Guatemala, named Heley, and we honestly believe she is a real non-member.  In our second lesson, she opened up to us and told us that she has been yearning for something in her life that would teach her more about herself and God....she said she just feels like there is more than what she knows from her Catholic background.  We testified to her that there was, and we are so excited to keep teaching her because she wants to know more and is beginning to believe the Gospel may be her answer!  She has so much Faith and she is a perfect example of a investigator prepared by the Lord :)  We have another adorable little old man we teach, Melvin, who is in-active.  His wife passed away and he lost all his faith in God.  We had a hard time getting started with him, but I had this overwhelming feeling of both God's love and his wife's love for him and as I began to open my mouth, because I was just crying.  I felt like Heaven was in the room..........he reminded me so much of my Grandpa and I could honestly feel the love his Father had for him.  All three of us were crying and testifying - it was a beautiful experience.


I have learned how much Heavenly Father loves each of His children- those who accept Him and those who don't.  He knows each one of them so personally and as missionaries, He allows us to feel the love He has for them so we can testify to them.  The Gospel is incredible....live it, love it, share it!  Love to you all!


Sister Jarvis


P.S.  We love Dear Elders here ;)


P.P.S.  I was told yesterday that I will be leaving in the MTC in 4 weeks with the May 23 group to Taiwan! Ah! Kind of crazy, but it's right so I'm going to do it!  We are trying to do SYL every day now!


Life is good!  It's hard, but it's good!!!  This is all I want to do for the rest of my life!  ok kind of extreme, but seriously :)  My P Day is Fridays!!


Love you all!