WOW. So everything I thought I had been prepared for,
is nothing. Haha I have been eating SO MUCH THIS WEEK!
Normally in our mission missionaries aren't asked over to
anyone's house, because it is dirty or small or whatever the reason.
But during Chinese New Year that goes away. Everyone asks us!
Thankfully I haven't had double meals .. but the week isn't over yet so it
could happen! After every meal I have been tryign to write WHAT I ate (if
I knew what it was haha) and HOW much I ate. We started to be qing-ed (
ching
meaning Chinglish invited over) on Wednesday. There were 6 plates of
food there. Then on Thursday was THE DAY, basically New Year's Eve.
We ate for lunch, 3 big scoops of spaghetti with some crazy mushrooms, loads of
snap peas with carrots and crab, scooops of veggies with something that looked
like vegetarian fake meat maybe tofu, lots of squid, real fish sticks, bowl of
taro and coconut milk soup, spicy bacon with bocai and a big bowl of
rice. Then for dinner we had (all cold) a massive plate of eggs with
onion (no one else was eating it and everyone looked at me so I ate it all) 15
dumplings, fake meat, huge pieces of turnip, more snap peas and carrots,
2 shrimp, bowl of rice, and more bocai! THAT IS ONE DAY!
Friday we were qing-ed to McDonalds for Lunch hahaha but we
still ate more than you normally would because he bought 2 big things of
chicken wings. For Dinner we ate loads. We went to the home
of the 1st Counselor to the Mission, and all of their food was SUPER
SPICY! I still had 2 dumplings, a bunch of pork (and all their meat they
love to keep the fat on) anyway you get the idea. Loads of food everyday,
every meal. But just to make sure,
some of the weirdest things
I've eaten have been: pig knee (loads of jelly not much meat), octopus
tentacle, super spicy sausage, baby shrimp/maggots I'm not sure I didn't want
to ask. My stomach is huge. Thank goodness we have to bike
everywhere and go running every other morning!!
But the food hasn't been the best part of the week for
sure. We have had some really amazing miracles!
So no one wants to meet during this last, and upcoming week
because it is family time. Which is the best time for us! But it is
too buhao yisi (
boo-hao yee-seh meaning literally not too good
meaning, not a good idea) Anyway so we have been struggling trying to
figure out what we should do. I am in charge of our Area Books, which are
actual binders rather than on the iPad </3 but I love them because you can
flip through and see progress and why (if the missionaries put it in
there) Anyway I was flipping through and 3 Former Investigators stuck out
to me. We visited them the next day and MIRACLES! They all where
home, and wanted to meet again! Most of them were from 2004/2007 time
period. One didn't even have info, it was just a family. The family
we went to see first, and they weren't home .. initially. So we started
to write a note, messed up and had to start again. Before we finished the
second note, they came home! Weren't ready for us to meet with them then,
but said we could call them for after guonian (
guuu-oh knee-an meaning
passing year aka New Year)!!! THAT WAS SO GREAT! Since then we have
been trying to find at least 1 former each day!
We have a free English class every week here in Taizhong and
it is very successful! This last week we met a new girl who is just the
bomb!! Her English is very good and she is studying to be an English
teacher here in Taiwan. We met her once, had a first lesson where we did
How To Begin Teaching and invited her to Church. SHE CAME! AND
BROUGHT A FRIEND!!! So excited for her!
We are NOT supposed to get home before 9 but before 9:30
which this last week we have seen MIRACLES WITH! We usually bike home and
could go home just 5 minutes early but like Saturday night we see amazing
things happen if we don't. So yea we had like 5 minutes before we could
be home and start planning and getting ready for bed etc etc but we stayed
out. We were almost home but we turned down the road and went to a busy
intersection. We pulled up and started talking to people, Sister Graham
got a phone number on her first one, the person I talked to pretended not to
hear me and pull forward and away haha. So I pulled up behind her and
waited for us to move to the next intersection, but as I did another person
pulled up and starting talking TO ME! We got his number too! We
didn't have to really do anything but these people came to us!! When we
obey exactly He bless us :)
No surprise Chinese is HARD. I have been really
struggling feeling like I can do it. Which is lame because I have been
learning right? No. Teaching the gospel is completely
different! Anyway I kind of just cried and cried one day. And kept
saying I don't know what I should do, what do I do?? And I turned to
where I had been reading in the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 32. And
miracle. It was perfect. It was saying, STOP WORRYING. He
will give it to you, He will support you, He will make what needs to happen,
happen. 2 Nephi 32:4-9
4 Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye
cannot understand them it will be because ye
aask
not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but
must perish in the dark.
5 For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will
enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will
ashow
unto you all things what ye should do.
6 Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there
will be no more doctrine given until after he shall
amanifest
himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in
the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do.
7 And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit
stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the
aunbelief,
and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the
bstiffneckedness
of men; for they will
cnot
search
dknowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given
unto them in
eplainness,
even as plain as word can be.
8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye
ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning
this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the
aSpirit
which teacheth a man to
bpray,
ye would know that ye must
cpray;
for the
devil
spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.
9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must
apray
always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in
the first place ye shall
bpray
unto the Father in the
cname
of Christ, that he will
dconsecrate
thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the
ewelfare
of thy soul.
Then the even cooler thing happened. We met with one
of our STELLAR less actives. She went on a mission, but has been in
active to 10 years. She saw the missionaries on the road and wanted to
slowly start. Now she is strong and coming back and bringing her kids
with her, and her son is being baptized THIS WEEK! Her husband met with
us this last time for the first time too so super great and excited for
her! We had a really emotional lesson, she was really struggling with her
faith and talked about these SAME VERSES that touched my heart. And we
just hugged and supported each other and showed her what she did have faith in,
and made sure to tell her it starts slow, with tiny seeds like Alma says
:) Anyway perfect lesson, I know I am in Beiqu to be with her. No
doubt in my mind!!
I have really been trying to work out in my mind how I can
give myself to the Lord while I am here. How I can fully give of myself
to the people in Taiwan. I am still trying to figure that out, so any
tips would be welcome!! But I do know that I am going at it and talking
with as many people as I can find! Bearing quick and simple
testimony! A member we ate with said he saw us at the lights talking with
people and it made him happy, he also suggest that we try singing a line of a
hymn!!!! I haven't used it yet, but we will!
I have been learning so much, I never realized how many
scriptures are about missionary work!! Woah! I am marking up my
scriptures with the green for missionary work like craazy! I am also in
the process of making a box for my flimsy missionary Book of Mormon triple
column, because it just slides and gets all crinckled with out one! So I
am trying to piece one together with my Oreo box! haha
I am loving the weather! All you really need is a
light jacket and you are good to go! I don't know how to describe how
much we bike here, but I would estimate it's at least 20 miles each day
:) A good workout that's for sure!! There is this one road, Dalu
here in Taizhong that is just DEATH. It is so long, and has a slight
incline which I think is worse than like super high and there are so many
intersections that you COULD stop at, but it's a green light so you push and
keep going till Heavenly Father sees you can't go anymore and gives you a red
:)
I love you all!!
Especially my wonderful mommy who gave birth to my sorry
carcass! It will be her birthday this next week and I love her so much!
Sister King
Wang Jiemei
Juju Jimmie
2 Nephi 30:7
7 And it shall come to pass that the a
which are scattered also shall b
to believe in Christ; and they shall begin to gather in upon the face of the
land; and as many as shall believe in Christ shall also become a delightsome
people.
