The humidity
and heat this week were UNREAL. Like literally it felt like we were breathing
water one night. Sometimes I feel like I am being lit on fire while sitting in
a sauna . I love
summer, only three more months of it.
We have really
been trying to do one minute power lessons and they have been working really
well. We have been really struggling getting people to talk to us, but through
the one minute lessons of really teaching a powerful doctrinal point we have
been able to find success. We did a lot of 7/Family Mart hopping and it was so
fun! We just would contact the people around us asking them random things like
what flavor of ice cream they were eating or complimenting something they were
wearing and then straight into a lesson and it was so effective! We got some
really good contacts out of it. I really hope to be with Sister McKim for one
more transfer, I don't think we've finished what we've started here in Siyuan!!
We are super pumped about the upcoming baptisms (fingers crossed that they are
able to be baptized next month). The members are really starting to do even
more missionary work and we are pumped for the activities set up for our ward
in the upcoming month. This Saturday we are doing our own little RC Fireside
(the idea was Elder Kaufusi's) and we are all performing stuff and having
members/RC's bear their testimonies with a focus on a certain doctrinal point
from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sister McKim has pretty bad asthma and the
heat+humidity are not helping so we are thinking of different ways of traveling
and contacting, we are doing more 7/Family Mart hopping, shopping area
contacting, etc. We take breaks in those areas on our way home and we figured
out a bus system that would take us to our area and back if needed (fun
way to start a contact hahaha).
Our ward is
really wanting to grow and is planning on doing a huge father's day sacrament
meeting and are excited to see how it turns out. We've really been excited for
how pumped they are to grow the ward and try to help their friends. They have
been scared about sharing the gospel saying that everyone would just come at
their own time, but as they've seen our efforts and the other member's efforts
they have been more willing to share.
I honestly
think that ward relationships with our investigators are so important. One of
our investigators - Li Jia Ling - who is one of our most progressing
investigators hit a rut last week and wasn't answering her phone. She has
depression and didn't want us to meet or talk with her, we thought we had lost
her and were praying and fasting to know how to help her. We ended up just deciding
to push off the idea of trying to find a time to meet with her and just tried
to show her how much we loved her so we just sent some encouraging texts. Then
at our weekly board game activity we saw some huge success with investigators
and at the end of the night Li Jia Ling came!! She met some people in our ward
and they really cared about her and were really welcoming. She bikes all the
way to our church (which is a 30 minute bike ride) and so two of the members
offered to take her to church (which she came and previously she wasn't
planning on it!) and that we could teach on the lower floor of her
building!!
Another one was
when we had a new investigator family come to our board game activity. We
thought more ward members and their children would be there, but there were no
children and our investigator had brought her 11 year old son!! We were worried
that they wouldn't have any fun and get to know our ward, but the ward members
that were there were super welcoming and helped them have so much fun. I also
helped them meet our WML who actually lives in the building across from them!
We have been trying to get them to come to church, but the always buy food for
their restaurant on Sunday mornings, so we have been trying to build their
faith and help them buy it on a different day. This past week they had tried to
buy it on Saturday, but they said there was nothing left to buy so they
couldn't make it to church. We told them ahead of time the father's day
activity and they said they would make time to specifically go to it!! We are
so excited for their progress!!
I truly can't
tell you how much a mission has changed me so far, I have learned more about
Christ and our Heavenly Father than I have in my entire existence. There is
nothing they truly can't change, I have learned more about who I can become and
that the things I don't like can be changed. I have learned to love people more
than what I am feeling or thinking and to try and serve them.
Nonspiritual
thoughts:
Sister McKim
and I were fasting for our area and she had eaten some stuff at 4:30pm and then
decided to start her fast. When 6 pm rolled around she was just leaning over
this desk thing and was like..."Sister Chaooooo i am in so much pain. my
stomach feels like it's eating itself. I have never been this hungry
before!!!!" I then asked her how long she's been fasting and she is just
like.... an
hour and a half....it was a night of hunger.
We also went to
the beach with our district, we wanted to go near Tamsui but it was a lot of
bus riding trying to figure out how to get to a certain beach. We spent a good
three hours trying to figure out how to get there on multiple crowded buses. We
eventually got there and it was super fun!! I had 張長老
(Elder Chang) tried and took a cute picture of my companion and I and in that exact
moment when he took
it.....the elder's threw a volleyball at me and it hit me. So my companion
looks real cute and there I am terrified cause I got hit with a ball.
After district
meeting we walked outside
to go English boarding and outside our chapel there were these HUGE wasp things
and they had built a nest right outside our door. So Elder Kaufusi just went in and told the District Leader and
our District Leader came out
and grabbed the hose and
started just spraying it
like crazy. Then he started
hitting it to have it fall down. Did
the wasps attack him? No they didn't. How is that possible? We were not sure, but it was a lot of spraying water
everywhere. They are literally so huge. This is what
happens when you ask Elders to do things.
This past Saturday was also Elder
Kaufusi's birthday so we celebrated at our board game activity. Taiwan
has these awesome stores where they literally sell everything you can imagine
so we went crazy and bought a lot of stuff. Elder Fuller wanted us to buy party
hats and so you know me...if I see something super ugly and funny...I am going
to buy it. LO AND BEHOLD I BOUGHT THE UGLIEST PARTY HATS THAT HAVE FACES ON
THEM WITH A HEART STICKING OUT OF THEIR HAIR.
Also, our A/C has started being weird and it's super fancy so we don't know how to fix it. But the A/C keeps having this stupid light on throughout the whole day and we have no idea how to turn it off. It was so bright in our room that my companion stuck tracks over it at night.
Also we are
going to the temple today!! We have the afternoon session, so that's basically
our whole pday!!
--
趙姐妹
--
Sister Tiffany Chao
Taiwan Taipei Mission
4/F, #24, Lane 183
Jin Hua Street
Da-an, Taipei 106
Taiwan
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