Jasmine's Baptism

Sunday, December 27, 2009 11:32 PM

This week has been fine, not a whole lot to update on.  This week has not exactly been the most productive and we have the lowest numbers of my whole  mission, but when I got here my companion was SUPER sick.  She felt really bad about being so sick, but the thing about a missionary, is if you go out in the wet and cold when you can't even talk in the first place day after  day, it never gets better.  Which, is what she'd been doing for 2 weeks and kept getting worse.  We went and saw a doctor who put her on a lot of drugs and stuff, and now, a week later, she's a lot better, so next week should be a lot more busy, at least I hope so...I'm not sure what it is, but a lot of times I move to areas that aren't exactly dead, but they are in transitions, so I get there and it's a rare investigator or 2 that are coming to church or progressing.  We supposedly are the sisters for 5 wards.  I know we technically go to two, and I'm not sure what our rights are on the other wards I know we at least have investigators passed over at times, if we find someone in those areas we teach them, and the Elders ask us to help withlessons such as the Law of Chastity for their females... so I'd like to find out, and if I'm in this area long enough, if we really have the rights to attend the wards too.  At least the Shipai one.  With so many different wards, I think a lot of good membership work could be done in this area.  I just by no means want to step on any Elders toes.  I'd just like to do more finding work through members, which means get to know more members.  It's all not certain how long I'll stay though, and it's going to take a lot of thinking, since all the chapels are in 4 different places of 5, and even the two wards that meet together are at the same time...so we switch off going to Danshui or Beitou every week, so that's already hard to get to know the members, if I'm only here a transfer, they would have seen me 3 times only at church.  So yeah, we'll discuss it more at WPS what we can do to pump up such a large area that doesn't have a whole lot going on right now.  I see a lot of contacting next week, but if we do things right, plan and stuff, after a week of contacting, and planning we should be able to fill up our schedule with appointments, especially since there is a lot of travel involved, so eventually contacting should be on way to appointments.  That's always the ideal, but its just not the case right now.  I'm not sure why, but that's how it was when I got to Jilong too.  It ended up being built up.  I guess every area goes through it.

As for any information of anything we did this week, the news is in Jilong.  Saturday I had permission to go to Jasmine's baptism.  It was amazing, but quite an interesting experience as well.  I felt really self concious because it wasn't my area and I didn't want to get in the other sister's way, but they were both really good.  They had me introduce her and sit next to her.  They sat next to her mom so they could get to know her mother better.  I felt the spirit so strongly at her baptism and I know Jasmine was one of the most prepared people I have had the opportunity to meet on my mission.  It was actually really not the perfect baptism for her, but she responded positively to pretty much everything.  First, the boy she asked to baptize her, has a bad habit of being late.  I remember last last week when she asked him to baptize her, she asked if he was going to be late.  He even laughed at that.  But then, he was honestly late!!!  I got up and introduced her after a song and prayer...I got to talk about how helpful she was, from the first moment she met us how she wanted to know if we were lost and help us out, and how she would teach us as she learned to apply the scriptures in her life extremely fast...then I sat down and a new member Yiting gave a talk.  I noticed towards the end of the talk Michael was still not there, and told the Elders to call him.  They got up and stood in the back.  After
Yiting, us missionaries did a little musical number from the primary hymn book.  He finally showed up in his clothes during the musical number and sat in my seat.  Then, it looked messy as we all had to change chairs since he was sitting in one of ours.  Right after the number was the baptism, so he was barely in the nick of time...but he didn't show up early like he was supposed to!  So, they never practiced.  They get in the font, which was cold, and he baptizes her good, totally under, but then E. Leavitt is like...Um, you are raising the left hand to the square!  So then, they had to do it again, but her knee came up, so they had to do it a third time.  In the locker, she was cold and was like, OH MICHAEL, it's all his fault, I couldn't breath.  But she got over it really fast and told me she was scared the first time, so God gave her the opportunity to do it so she wasn't scared and so that she was extremely clean.

She talked as she bore her testimony about how she was scared and it was really dark so she said a prayer, and before she even said Amen, S. Kunzler and I said hi.  Then she talked about how she went to church a lot, but it never felt RIGHT.  But, when she met us she was really able to read the Book of Mormon and feel the love of a Father in Heaven, a love she was never able to feel from a Father growing up.  It was a beautiful testimony and I was touched that we got the opportunity to teach such an amazing girl!  She really strenghted my testimony.  I know that God will put us in people's paths who are prepared and willing to hear the gospel if we are doing what's right.  That night we met her at the bus stop, we were just on the way to another lesson.  Jesus performed miracles on the way, and I've noticed that us missionaries can do a lot of good on the way as we open our mouths and use the Spirit and faith.  The Spirit is so important in our lives!  Always live worthy of his guidance. I've learned it is just so important to have the Spirit as our guide.  And that's the promise after baptism, is the Spirit.  It's so important to us as we do the endure to the end part of our lives.  How blessed we are that Heavenly Father gave us such a happy path to follow his Son.  The only way.  I read an article this week that helped me realize that the only intelligent way to do things, is the obedient way in which we give our will to God.  I'm in no way perfect, but every day I'm trying to be a little more better.  I hope you all can do the same.

I'm excited that I'm still in this area, I should see Jasmine Sunday at the monthly Taibei fireside, so there were no tearful goodbyes like with Sister Kunzler when she went far to Xinzhu.  Just a see you all Sunday. We left
right away after the service because I did not want to be home late.  We go t home in plenty of time.
At church this week, we went to Beitou and the member support there is really amazing.  I was happy to meet people who are so supportive of the missionaries.

That's my week here!  I love you guys! See you next week!

Sister Flora Bruno

Transfer 7 Week 1: Moving to Danshui (near Taipei)

Monday, December 21, 2009 2:53 AM

Okay, not a lot of time to write this week, especially because I'm MOVING IN................Yeah.  So I have quite the news to tell you all this week.  That is, my area is being whitewashed!  Okay, well half way, because both my companion and I moved.  Sister Chen Shuting stayed in the area to take care of it.  Sister Olsen is her new companion.  They are going to do great, My area was not REALLY white washed, Chen jiemei was in half the area, but she is a little stressed because she wasn't teaching a lot of our investigators, but she has met them, so it's a little better than white wash, and they are doing great!  President Grimley is the best and he gave me permission to go up to my area this Saturday for Jasmine's baptism, especially since Sister Kunzler went to Xinzhu's Jubei, so she's too far away to come back. 

Now for the exciting news before I have to go (but worry not, I will call Friday) my new area is...DANSHUI.  But even more exciting, my new companion is my own truely, MTC companion, Sister Mackenzie Ackerson! We both were shocked, in the best way possible.  In this area, we don't ride bikes, so I went from the rainy, hilly Jilong, to Danshui, Betou, Shipai, Tianmu, Shilin (yeah our area is huge so we ride the Metro (MRT) a  fast bus throughout the Taipei area.  The rumor is Danshui is the coldest place in the mission, but I don't care...I'm cold but happy, and Jilong was pretty cold, so far not a HUGE difference.  But to tell a super fast exciting experience, on move calls my district leader said I'd freak out, I was like, "I will not unless I'm going to Danshui to be with Sister Ackerson" and he was like, WHAT?  How did you know you were going to Danshui to be with her?  Hahaha.  Too great.  I did freak a little.  Sad for my area but too excited.  We put my bike in the dark garage down in B3 for the transfer, and now we have much to plan and do. OH!  And Elder Bret Smith is back in my district!  We were together 4 in Zhongli, so I thought that was too cool.  So many good friends here.  My district is already awesome.  we have a brand new taiwanese district leader Elder You.  Talk more later!  Love ya!

Transfer 6 Week 6: Death and Personal Trials

Wednesday, December 16, 2009 3:43 AM

It's week 6 of the transfer!  That means next Preparation day is Monday, not Wednesday so you need to email me by Monday night.  And I need everyone's phone numbers.  I don't know them.  And how it will work when I call.  Like will you guys three way?  I used to be the one to figure all that out, does anyone else know how?  Who should I call first?  Who will be together? 

So yeah, so for all we missionaries know, we'll be with different companions, districts, etc for Christmas, and we still don't even know them!  They don't have a Christmas party this year, but I guess our district will get together and do service activity and then we will proselyte at night.  Nobody will be sure what their area will be until Friday night, and we won't know our new district (area if we move) until move day Monday, so it will be quite a Christmas. 

There is so much that happened this week, but I think I'll actually travel back to last Wednesday after I emailed, the long day that happened there.  So...last Wednesday, we emailed and then all the Sisters (all 4 of us) biked back to the church, went to the bathroom really quick, and ran and bought lunch to eat on the bus to Taipei.  It was our zone's temple day, so we were all excited to go to Taipei, go to the temple, etc.  Well, we get on the bus and I start to eat my fried rice, just eating, talking, all good. 

But lets back up to last transfer in week 4.  Something I never mentioned, because I forgot because a mission goes by fast, is...well, I have one root canal right?  It fell out when we went on exchanges last transfer.  I was with a Taiwanese missionary, Sister Zhang.  And I freaked out.  Teeth are expensive, and I don't think you guys can afford for my tooth to just be falling out.  I remember what a hassle Gen's teeth were on a mission.  And mom's teeth too.  Teeth are expensive.  So I cried.  I don't cry a lot or often, but I cried a little when my tooth fell out.  I told Sister Zhang, "I'm going to look like a Taiwanese man with no house, with no teeth, teeth are expensive." And another reason I was scared, is partly because  I'd never learned dentist words, I only learned tooth because sister Zhang kept saying my "yachi" fell out.   Well, it was too late to do anything, so we planned to find a dentist in the morning.  The next morning we went running, and on the way to the school track, we found a dentist right next to our apartment.  We found out it opened at 10 and went and moved language study to the afternoon.  Well, lucky that I am insured in Taiwan and Taiwan has a government run medical health care. It cost 150 kuai to get in and see the dentist.  That's like 5 dollars.  Well, he took my tooth, looked at it and talked about how my American doctor didn't put in a good support, and he hoped to save me money so he'd see what he could do.  He popped it back in, said it was still at risk because it wasn't done well in the first place, but it'd cost around 200 American dollars to fix (I think cheaper than America though?), but he hoped I wouldn't have to spend that... and Sister Zhang and I  were out and on our way to normal missionary work.  The dentist knew a little English and we were able to use Chinglish to communicate. It ended up being fine.  After that day it was fixed, I forgot it happened, minus a picture I have.

So yeah, I'm sitting there, last Wednesday, I'm finally not paranoid about my tooth, it's been a little while.  And I'm eating, and I swallow, and there is a HOLE in my mouth.  I swallowed my tooth.  (Which, now I know how to say swallowed in Chinese).  I got a little emotional, and maybe shed a tear or two (but not outright crying) my first reaction was, "Sister Kunzler!  I've been through this trial, but last time I didn't swallow it, why did I have to swallow my tooth." I didn't think you guys could afford 200 dollars right with Christmas coming. Then I was a little freaked out as I tried to figure out if I should puke it out on the bus.  We were stuck on a bus for 45 minutes.  My companion and Sister Chen said THEY would puke if I forced myself to barf in front of them.  I prayed and ended up not barfing, I couldn't imagine how people would react. I thought maybe we'd get on the bus and I'd puke right before going into the temple.  I hoped in 45 minutes it wouldn't digest too far.

Well, we get to Taipei and we are in between the temple and the big chapel, my companion and I are on our way to the big chapel so I can see if I can puke it out...well, we run into my old companion Engela Chen, and she gives me an envelope with a hymn book I left in Zhongli and a letter.  My companion stopped to talk to someone, so I take out the letter to read it.  I read the first sentence.  It says, "Sister Bruno, sorry this is kind of abrupt, but Chen Huiping passed away."  I didn't continue the letter at that time.  I just had a break down.  I seriously sobbed.  In a LOUD voice, in front of tons of missionaries headed to the temple.  It was a combination of the new member that got baptized when I first got to  Taiwan passed away and I never wrote her a letter after I left Zhongli, and I swallowed my tooth and my dad was going to be really mad at me.  And I cried and cried.  I couldn't get ahold of myself very well.  And then, there was no time to go puke, it was time to go to the temple session, or we couldn't go to the temple at all.  And so we went in, and got dressed, and I just was crying (softly now) and everyone kept looking at me, and I felt like an idiot, because I think crying looks dumb.  But once the temple session started, I felt at peace and calmed down, and stopped crying.  I'm glad we can find peace in the temple.  It is an amazing place and I'm glad I got to go.

As for my tooth situation, I won't go into extensive details, but I will say, I have the tooth in my mouth (although it's still a risk) and it's sterilized by me 3 different ways and the dentist sterilized it and said I didnt need to worry, it was perfectly clean.  So I trust in that and figure I'm a stronger person for it, and we don't have to worry about it...for now.

As for more details about Chen Huiping, she was hit by a car and needed surgery.  They called the missionaries in search of family.  She got surgery and it didn't go well.  The family decided to pull the plug a week later.  (nobody in her family was close to her, she lived alone and just had a daughter and grandson in the Taipei area 2 hours away) I know before she passed away she wished to see her grandson. That wish came true while I was in Zhongli and she was very happy that day.  I still remember.  She really wanted her daughter to join the church and their relationship to become better.  Her daughter gave Sister Enge Chen her number at the funeral.  She said her husband wasn't ready to hear our message, but at least her number is in our records now.  I know one day Chen Huiping will see her daughter/grandson blessed because of her decision to be baptized. In a way it was, she'd wanted to see her grandson since he was born. She did back in August. 

In other news, we've had quite the week!  Lin2 Li4zhen1 and her 2 sons are doing great.  We taught them the law of chastity.  And oh. my. goodness.  My old district leader told me we HAVE to teach no masturbation in the LOC, so, we did.  Well, I know the formal word for it, but Chen2 Sen1 didn't understand that word, so the mother says, "Ni bu ke gen ni ziji xiao jiji wan."  And to make it even more awkward, the older brother loves English and translates something we already understood into English, "You caunt play with your own little chicken!" And I was so red and felt so awkward, the rest I don't need to explain, but pretty much, Taiwanese people are very open and I know why Elders teach boys the law of chastity and not sisters!  But in great news, the boys are obeying the law of chastity and doing SO GREAT.  They set a baptism goal for my BIRTHDAY.  Let me tell you, when they set that date, it was like one of the happiest days of my life.  I don't even care if I stay here this transfer or not, but I will try my hardest to be here when they get baptized.  They are just so great and progressing and keeping all the commandments.  I love them so much!

Also, Jasmine is doing AMAZING. I love her so much.  She teaches us more and more every week.  She talked this week about how she never felt the protective love of a father in her life until she came to THIS church.  We taught prophets and listened to the prophets voice and all felt the Spirit SO strongly in that lesson.  Her interview is this Saturday.  Also this Saturday we are singing 12 songs and doing a Christmas pageant, time is running out, talk more about that next week!

Love you guys so much!

Sister Flora Bruno
Fu jiemei

Speaks at Zone Conference in Chinese

Hello, Hello from Keelung City, Taiwan.  This week has been going really good!  Yesterday we had Zone Conference and it was very touching.  Not even kidding.  I think it was my favorite zone conference with the new President.  President changed his method of people giving talks.  In the past, you were usually called on the phone and told you would give one, then there was one person who was surprised every time and asked to give one on the topic they asked us to prepare.  However, Elder Watson came and did a Zone Conference a couple weeks ago, and he picked names from a hat, and he had anyone on a mission longer than 6 months give their talk in their second language.  Well, this zone conference, we all had an assignment to read one of the four gospels studying how Christ taught, what kind of questions he asked, what revelations we recieved reading it, and record it in a study journal.  I had the gospel of Mark.  I had just finished Matthew when the call came telling us the assignment, so it was perfect.  The talks were to be on what we learned in the process, or what we learned because we were studying the Savior.  Well, I wasn't expecting to have to give the talk in Chinese, and in my personal opinion, the old language in the Bible is a little more complicated of vocabulary.  So, I was a little scared of being called.  But, well!  I was!  Haha, actually he said "Elder...well, this says Elder Bruno, but we don't have one!  So we will hear from Sister Bruno!"

So yeah, I changed my talk to less of a focus on the actual study itself, and more of a focus just about my feelings about Christ lately.  I shared how Sister Kunzler and I were watching Finding Faith in Christ with an investigator last transfer, and it just dawned on me...people ask who your hero is all the time, and I never know how to answer, but I realized, Jesus Christ is my hero!  He was really awesome.  In the movie, there's a part where he heals a man with leprosy (sp?)  and I just thought in my mind, that man looks so gross, I wouldn't want to go near him at all, but Jesus Christ just loved him, and healed him according to his faith.  Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the ugliness a person has, like in a mission it's you see a companionship having a hard time, and a lot of missionaries will take one side or the other, and hope they don't get put with the "bad companion" but Jesus Christ wants to heal people.  He suffered for them.  He wants us to forgive them, because he promised he will forgive them.  And so, I want to be more like Alma and the sons of Mosiah.  They were great missionaries and it says they did impart the word without any respect of persons in Alma 16:14.  When I read that, I wanted to be less discriminant in who I contact.  A man came to the church yesterday night, we had just gotten back from Zone Conference and 6 missionaries had lessons at the church, so we were all there.  This man was persistant in pleading us to buy him a ticket back home.  We couldn't of course, and kept saying he didn't want money, just a ticket, and we kept saying we had no way to help him.  He wouldn't listen to us sisters, so Elder Cai4 our zone leader, came out of his lesson and talked to him for a couple minutes.  Thank goodness for Taiwanese missionaries!  He was able to tell him another opinion he could TRY to use, which gave him a tiny bit of hope, that i'd never heard of.  Well, usually I wouldn't think to invite him to church or anything at all, but after Zone Conference and reading that scripture just a couple days ago, I felt impressed we should invite him.  So after the Elders had fully explained there was no way we could buy him a ticket, Sister Kunzler and I told asked if he'd ever been to church.  He said no (there are a lot of people in Taiwan who just find a church when they are in a really hard spot because they think the church will help them, which of course we desire to help them, but usually they just want money, and we have no way of helping them in that way) and so Sister Kunzler and I testified that we had no way of helping his money and financial situation, but we could help his soul if he was willing.  We invited him to go to church when he got back home.  I felt good about that.  I want to be more searching for the good in people, and their opportunity to change.  I know my first companion was really good at that.  When I first got here, I was not very good at a lot of things.  She really had to just see my opportunity for growth to love me, since I was a hard person to love at times.  Good thing I got a companion who already knew how to do that.  I'm just barely figuring that out over the last couple days! 

So yeah, I shared about the movie and the leper, then I just shared a story from that night before, there is a sweet little Taiwanese missionary, Sister Chen Shu Ting who is my roommmate, and my companion and her companion were going to do a musical number at zone conference, so they wanted to wake up earlier than usual to get to Taipei.  Well, I just wanted to split and wake up at 6:30, but Sister Chen wanted everyone to go together.  I told her, Uuuugh, Sister Chen, I'm so tired in the morning!  You don't even understand.  We can just wake up at 6:30 and get there at the normal time.  And sweet little Sister Chen, she thinks about it for a few seconds, and then turns to me and whispers, "Fu jiemei, mei guanxi, Yesu Ji1du, ta liao jie."  "Sister Bruno...that's okay, Jesus Christ understands!" And then she was like, "Geng kuai qidao! Wen Tianfu bang ni qi chuang" "Hurry!! pray!  Ask God to help to wake up in the morning" And in the morning when my alarm clock Sister Phillips had set for 5:55 went off, I prayed really fast, and ran straight to the bathroom to wash my face.  I was the quickest out of bed.  I know it was through help because I usually don't just jump out of bed! I take a minute or 3.  Haha.  So yeah, it was really great for me.

So yeah!  I'm excited I got the chance to share my talk in Zone Conference and talk about how my relationship with Jesus grew this transfer.  It's been a really great transfer.  Zone Conference was just really amazing focused on the Savior and what he did for us. 

It was especially touching, as Elder Daniels, now the traveling assistant, and Elder Gassin bore their testimonies.  They were sobbing.  Elder Daniels bore a beautiful testimony about how he knows his mission will bless his family, and Elder Gassin talked about how if we remembered nothing else about him as an Assistant, to remember that he truely believed this work, the restoration, and the principles we teach daily.  Elder Daniels companion, my old Zone Leader E. Worthen was also crying.  It was just so touching because it's not like they were putting on a show...they just had so many emotions.  So many of us were just really touched during that and the closing song "I Believe in Christ."  Not many dried eyes.  I myself, cried when Sister Chen (Neihu sister Chen) bore her testimony in English.  She always said she would one day, and did her last one.  It was amazing and sweet and I felt the spirit so strong as she bore her testimony in her 2nd language.

30 seconds! Bye!

Thanksgiving Report from Jilong

Gigi, thanks for giving me Nena's address, I actually finally got her letter yesterday with the address on it.  haha.  But the thing is I wrote her like 3 transfers ago, and keep seeing the letter sitting there every week, so I kept asking.  Yeah, I realize there are a couple people I'd like to write I don't have addresses for every now and then...but my opinion on writing letters has changed completely from when I first started a mission.  I used to want to write people I was used to communicating with often...Not sure why, probably because I wanted to still feel an attachment to the outside world or something...Now as my time is more pressed (the older you get on a mission, the more responsibilities you have to take on) I focus on taking the time to write those I know are wondering how I am, so I put the letters I get in a pile, and slowly work on responding.  It is nice to hear that a large majority of my friends keep up on my blog from time to time.

So yeah thanks.  As for this week, it was actually not as bad on Thanksgiving as I thought.  I was actually really sad.  I mean, I am really blessed because I'll only be gone one Thanksgiving, Christmas, Birthday, etc.  A large majority of missionaries miss 2...but yeah, it was my first one away, and in a culture with people who don't celebrate Thanksgiving or Christmas really, so I was thinking Thanksgiving would come and go, and hardly be recognized.  However, we have the most awesome Elders in our district ever.  We decided to have a Thanksgiving dinner.  Something simple.  Every companionship would make one of two things.  Well, we had a lesson that started late, we were all supposed to meet up at 5, make our things, eat at 5:30, and the Elders had lessons at 6 and 7.  We had a lesson at 7:30, and had to bus out.  So yeah, we get there ridiculously late, like 30 minutes, we can't help it!  And the Elders have really gone out of their way on this dinner!  There was a nice blue table cloth, flowers, plates and chopsticks, with name cards on each plate, candy corn on the plates...and the Zone Leaders (E. Cai Zonghan.or actually he says his English name is E. Cael C. Carter... and E. Adam Hammer)had cooked a chicken ...and E Hammer had even stuffed the chicken with bread and celery...which I hear was a hilarious endeavor they have on camera.  And E. Westin Leavitt and E. Cazier (sorry dad, I still haven't ' asked him his first name, he's newer) had made corn and mashed potatoes.  They mashed the potatoes themselves, without any kind of masher, so that had to have been hard!  When we got there, we started making pies, the Elders hadn't eaten at all...well, we keep waiting for the other sisters to eat, but they don't show up until 5:50, and the Elders had a lesson at 6.  So yeah, they go downstairs to try to start the lesson early, but then we called them upstairs really fast so we can take pictures together, then we decide we will probably just all eat separately when we have time.  Well, the funny thing, is S. Tawny Phillips thought she and S. Chen Shuting were on time, it was 5.  So she was super confused why the Elders all left right after taking pictures.  So we were just talking, they were making the fruit salad they were doing, and we were finishing up the pies, and Sister Phillips is like, "Hey, is it 5 yet?" And we were like..."Um...it's after 6!!!" and she was like "HOW DID I LOSE AN HOUR OF MY LIFE?" It was so funny.  She felt really bad, and she really just didn't know how she didn't know how she mistaked it for being 5, not 6, but it all worked out in the end.  We got to take pictures together, and eat together for like 10 minutes, and the Elders came back later and were able to eat, and it was really good food, and we loved it sooo much.  And we made all our lessons on time, every one of us.  I'm really glad, even though it was all staggered out to eat, that we were able to all make a dinner together, even a small and simple dinner like it was made us all extremely happy. 

This week has just been amazing!  Seriously.  My companion and I have just been having a really great time together and our investigators are sooo good!  We have a really golden investigator.  Her name is Jasmine, or Li Wen.  She lived in America for 12 years growing up.  Not sure if I wrote about her last week or not.  She's just so good and sooo cute.  We taught her the law of chastity, and she was totally willing to follow it.  We even mentioned that we only only wear one set of earrings in each ear, and she had absolutely no problem, she immediately took out her extra set of earrings after the lesson, and the next day at church, she had one set.  She told me she'd been wearing 2 for a long time, she didn't need to wear them anymore.  I am just really impressed by her faith.  I learn so much from her.  She really applies the scriptures to her own life...and teaches us from what she learns.  I've never had an investigator who just could read a scripture and teach me from it after reading it once.  She's an English teacher here, and she always has ideas how to help Sunday School be more interactive and everything.  She's so cute, she even was quoting the bishops ward missionary plan to help us see why questions during the Gospel Principles class is essential and important.  I love her!  Her baptism goal is the 26th of this month.  It's right after transfer calls, but that's okay, if we move, we are going to ask President if we can come to her baptism.  It's that Saturday.  I think he'll probably let us, as long as we don't move 3 hours away or something ridiculous.  So yeah, Sister Kunzler will probably move, she's been here for 10 months in Jilong!!! So she's like...oh!  I will go where the Lord wants me to, but I really hope I can see Jasmine get baptized!  She's so excited because her mom is coming into town from America and can attend (her mom really supports her) and her birthday is the 28th...so it's right after Christmas and before her birthday.  Yay.  She's even joined with us missionaries and single adults in practicing for the ward Christmas performance, we are singing 8 songs, so we practice twice a week, so we get to see her a lot, and it's great!

We are also still working with Lin2 Li4zhen1 and her two boys, and they are really progressing.  She has a lot of questions and her and the youngest talk late at night and have started discussing how they are really coming to believe in God and Jesus Christ as they have seen answers to their prayers and seen his hand in their lives.  They are really great!  They come to church every week.  The oldest boy is a little slower in progressing because he's busier, but he is very willing to read the book of mormon and loves church!  I know they are really being prepared by the hand of the Lord.

The last investigator I'll talk about this week is Lin Weitong.  She's really cute.  She has 2 little kids.  She has just been doing really great!  She's progressing towards baptism.  She's really excited.  She really sees the blessings of baptism and eternal families.  I've never seen someone with such a strong desire to make it to the celestial kingdom, but she really has a strong desire and it's so cute!  I love her a lot too.  I just have learned so much from my investigators these last couple weeks.  I'm so amazed by how much they teach me in the end.  We prepare to be the teachers, but we end up being taught so much.

Our area is really going great.  Our investigators have been progressing, we have a lot of fun in our district, and in our apartment with four sisters we just really have a lot of fun.  I'm so happy!

I love you guys!  I hope you guys are as happy as I've been!

Don't forget to send me hot cheetos and funfetti cake mix for my birthday/christmas.  hahaha.  And write me of course!

LOVVEEE from
Sister Flora Bruno

Buddish Baibai Allowed if Praying to God

Tuesday, November 24, 2009 11:32 PM

Um, why is it that nobody writes me consistently?  You guys need to be better about that, especially since I write you EVERY week, even twice sometimes when my email decides to get lost.  Nobody answered my question last week about the name, and nobody has told me Nena's address even though I asked a lot of times, I can't find out myself, someone needs to find out for me.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and they don't celebrate American holidays here (duh), so with the exception of we might spend time searching for American stores to make something tomorrow like a pumpkin pie, tomorrow will not be a holiday in anyway at all for me.  And even Christmas here, all the missionaries used to get together as a mission, since there isn't a lot of Christmas here in Taiwan, but they decided missions shouldn't do that anymore as it comes out of the mission president's own pocket I think and they can't afford it, and the stress, so there is no Christmas get together...instead there is a transfer 2 days before Christmas, so there will be a lot of people who are with a companion they've never even met before, maybe in an area they are unfamiliar with...and so the least you guys can do is write me in between playing with a baby and eating cranberry sauce and candy canes, chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate that is actually sweet!!!!!!   There is Thanksgiving and Christmas and my birthday all coming up, so you can't forget a week until Feburary. 

So yeah, basically start writing me so I don't have to waste time every week telling you guys to write and being sad because the only letter I got was from Gigi and it was all messed up so only 2 sentences sent through.

This week was really amazing and we saw a lot of miracles.  Our zone leaders have started an experiment and wanted us to start counting a new key indicator separate to our other ones in addition to everything else, to compare the old way of counting lessons and seeing how we were doing on contacting.  They are called seeds.  Us sisters made up the name for what they are called though.  Haha. Fake lessons didn't sound as good.  So anyways, to get a seed you have to share 2 principles from a lesson and invite someone to do something.  If it is on your bike to someone on the scooter next to you, and you only have 30 seconds to share two principles and an invite, if they don't want to pull to the side and set up, the invite is usually just if they will read the pamphlet we give them and try a prayer.  People usually say yes though.  So yeah, it started Monday and my companion and I got 22 so far (Monday and Tuesday).  Our original goal was 20 for the week we were counting them, but we went on exchanges Monday and Tuesday, and I went senior in the area for a day, and my companion is a Native Taiwanese, only 3 weeks into her mission, so she was just really willing to go with the flow, and when I told her to talk to someone on the train, and I'd go talk to and point, she'd sit down and try to talk to who I suggested.  She's so good.  It was fun to exchange with her, we met with our little Lin family (Chen family, the sons are Chen, mom is Lin) they are so good and meet with us 3 times a week.  It is a mother and 2 sons, but they are a little scared to set a baptism goal, but they are really accepting and I know if we give them time they will accept this gospel, this family really has seen change in their life learning the gospel.  They really had no knowledge of Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father before we met with them.  Sister Li shared about her conversion story, and the importance of prayer and realizing God loves YOU individually and knows you.  Lin Lizhen started to cry.  It was touching, and she really opened up after that.  We got to practice the listening skills we had just discussed in District Meeting that day.

Another lesson with them I really liked was, the other week we had a really powerful lesson about Satan.  That morning my companion and I decided we should teach them about Satan.  I can't even remember what it was about their situation that made us decide that...but we get there and the mother and her youngest son, Chen Sen had just fought, so he didn't want to come and listen to the lesson.  He had a test the next day, and his mom was not happy with how he did his homework, so he had to rewrite all his characters.  They were both a little frustrated with each other.  We told them we prepared a lesson about Satan and asked if they knew who that was.  The mom had a vague idea and kept telling her son to come, after about 15 minutes of her and him in there arguing, he finally came out...then we read in the True to the Faith about who Satan is and his desires for us, verses God's desires for us.  It was amazing because as we taught them about Satan, they realized the reason they had been arguing was Satan did not want them to get along.  They both were excited about the prospect of praying to get Satan's influences out of their life, and that they could know why it was that sometimes they were unmotivated.  It was amazing, people who never knew about Satan before, how much realizing God and Jesus have an enemy and adversary can lead us to understand and follow them more, because we understand more why our trials can be so hard if we let Satan control our minds.  They responded SO well.   The next day Chen Sen had a really big test, he was originally scared to take that hour and meet with us instead of studying since his mom had just yelled at them.  After learning about Satan, he went back to the study room after we left and said a prayer and studied.  The next day before his test and after he finished the test he said a prayer.  He ended up getting a 93.  One of the highest marks he's ever gotten on a test.  His faith was really strengthened, as was his mothers.  The oldest son, Chen2 Jun1 is a little harder to meet with because he buxi's every day.  But Saturdays he meets with us and the other two, and although he is progressing more slowly than the other two, he's willing to read and pray.  He's already read the whole children's Book of Mormon.  He's really good.  Buxi here in Taiwan is what most Taiwanese students spend their life doing.  What that is, is cram school.  They go to school after school.  They all go to tutor schools to prepare for tests, so the life of a Taiwanese teenager is test after test after test, and preparing for those tests, and going to class after class, until 9 at night, then waking up at 6 in the morning to go to school again.  It's really crazy.  But yeah, they are super good!

Also, on exchanges we get a call from Lin Weitong.  A really sweet investigator of ours.  She has a date and is really diligent in wanting to make it, but last week she told us she had to go to Miaoli for 3 weeks, so she couldn't make her date, and would call us when she gets back and reset a new one.  Well, she called me Tuesday at one, and said she decided to come back to time, do we have time to meet today?  So I found a 30 minute block in my schedule, and had the zone leaders call my companion to tell her to make sure to be back by 5:30.  She had no idea who she was coming back for, but we were both sooo excited to see her.  We reset a date for December 20th, and she said she's really excited.  She said she knew being baptized was a really good thing for her, and her only concern was doing the Buddist baibai, a form of worship they do here.  However, the answer is not what some expect of our religion, because yes, you can baibai, as long as you know you are not worshiping family, you worship God, but you can baibai if it will cause a lot of family contention if you don't, which it would in her family.  So as long as she promises only to worship God, and is doing baibai as way to avoid family conflict and knows in her heart she's not worshiping idols.  After hearing that she was excited and very willing.  She's excited to prepare.

Also, we recently met a girl named Jasmine.  She lived in America 12 years and is really amazing!  She also set a baptism goal in December and has stopped smoking since we taught her the Word of Wisdom.  She hasn't smoked in over a week and carries around cookies.  She is the cutest person ever, and really has seen a difference in her life since getting to know the church.  I'm so excited!  We have some many good investigators and great things are happening here.  We also have a lot of fun with so many sisters in Jilong, but this week the other 2 have been sick, they are home sleeping right now to prepare for the rest of the week.

Well, I'm out of time, love you guys.  Don't forget to write me!

Sister Fu

Unwinding As Missionaries

Tuesday, November 17, 2009 11:26 PM

Hello from Rainy Jilong City.  It was nice to get your guys emails finally!  This week when I introduced my family (Here in Taiwan it is standard to introduce your family, and as a missionary you carry around pictures, which by the way most of you look bad in the pictures I show everyone because nobody ever wanted to give me a picture of us all at the wedding like I used to ask for back in my first transfer! So I collected random pictures you sent me and stuff already on my camera and I show people those...with Franny drinking pickle juice and other such pictures...hahaha) then I was like, yeah, my sister is pregnant, except probably not, she probably has a baby, but i don't know it's gender or anything about it...then people would laugh because you know, I just make really interesting comments all the time. That's so cool I have a niece.  Why did you guys pick the name Chiara like Nikita's middle name? Nobody told me. 

This week was a lot of fun.  Last week we went crab hunting on Preparation day with our district.  I was really determined to catch SOMETHING because I went all the way out there, but by the time I decided I wanted to do it, all the rest of the Elders were done, they had caught about 5 crabs.  Well, they said I could try to catch them but the water was too high in the really easy places to catch a crab, so a native Taiwanese Elder found a crab in a deep hole and tried to get me to catch it...well there was no way, but I wanted to catch something so I kept standing there really still waiting for something to come into the part I was standing in...Well, I finally see one in a really open spot...super easy to get right?  Right, so I put my foot on a spot on the rock, and the next thing I know, I'm totally sitting in the water, my waist down is soaking wet...and the crab ran away. And I was so disappointed I said, "I can't get up!  It's so salty!"  Now...the two thoughts had nothing to do with each other, but the Elders quote me all the time now, they think it was so hilarious.  I just was stuck for a second, and the water got in my mouth and was really strong and gross, and ridiculous I fell because there was hardly any water at all, and i had to fall in and got my behind pretty wet...we stayed on the rocks catching the crabs the whole time, because missionaries cant be in the water and we didn't want to even skirt breaking rules...I'm ridiculously a clutz!  but anyways, in the end, I decided to catch a fish instead and I caught a tiny fish...so I was unique and got something, but it wasn't an edible fish, and so nobody ate it...and it died in freshwater anyways when we went out and got some shaved ice before the elders went back to the church and killed and ate the crabs. 

This week has been a little bit fast, I can't remember much else that happened.  Our investigators are doing pretty good, we have to do a lot more contacting than I'm used to as a sister, but I think it's really good for our area to have a lot of sisters.  It's fun all the time. Today we will probably go into Taibei, it's only 40 minutes away and sister Chen, a native taiwanese being trained here in Jilong with her companion Sister Phillips needs some stuff, so they want it to be together.  I'm excited.  It's Elder Cazier's birthday today, but the Elders are going to TGIF Friday's doing something sister Phillips and her companion don't want to do, so we probably won't go.  We'll make him brownies instead :)

Jilong Area Expands and Gets New Set of Sisters

Nobody wrote me this week.  I'm still in Jilong with the same companion.  However, there are two extra sisters this transfer and so they decided to put them in Jilong.  Now our area is getting split in half.  It really grew a lot since I first got here with no investigators that could progress, because the only ones willing to progress have parents opposing baptism problems and need to wait 2-4 more years to get baptized, and no people to meet with, so like 10 lessons a week..and it was quite a task to get that...to quite a few people with dates and we had 23 lessons last week.  So this area can handle two more sisters.  It should be a lot of fun to have Sister Phillips who goes home, and her trainee, who is a native Taiwanese, Sister Chen Shuting with us in our apartment.  Sisters are so spread out, it's rare to see other sisters except at zone conference and stuff, now we are the only sisters in the same zone in the entire mission according to my understanding.  How exciting.  President said he knows they are supposed to be here, and I know he is an inspired man, so I'm sure this is going to be super great for our area and we will see many miracles.

This is a great and marvelous work.  This work and church is true, and it is the only path whereby we can receive salvation.  Satan also exists and his path is not one of happiness.  He leads people to deny basic doctrine such as that there could be another truth, that families are not eternal, that God is a changing God.   People become selfish and self-serving when they follow his clutches. As a great man once said, beware of pride.  I have really seen how pride destroys every good thing.  Don't forget, God is an unchanging God, only through sacrificing yourself and creating a home of prayer, learning, and love, only through following the one true path and putting off the natural man will you be saved in the kingdom of God.  I hope you can create a home that can be a safe haven.  I remember when Thomas S. Monson was called as prophet, he said that would be his focus, to have members create a home where kids could go to escape the clutches of Satan found in this world, to that safe haven.  I don't remember his exact words, but that was his concept.

I have learned a lot from our favorite investigator right now.  Her name is Lin Lizhen.  She has 2 boys.  She also has a husband...but her husband comes home very rarely.  He decided he liked another woman.  He went out and sought worldly things.  Sister Lin loves her husband.  She prays for him to come home.  She said she used to freak out a lot and call him every day, but since meeting us she said she feels more peace.  She doesn't call him anymore.  When I heard her story, I thought...Zenme keneng?  How is that possible?  After all her husband did and she prays for him to return.  It's like the prodigals son. There is so much hurt and suffering these people caused, and yet, there are people willing to take them back and love them no matter what.  I'm not yet that loving.  Maybe one day, but I don't like the hurt these people cause.  My inital thoughts are usually that I hope their repentance process hurts like....I really do.  Because they are cruel with the way they mess people up...but lucky them!  Heavenly Father will forgive them, and others, who have figured out the gospel better than I have quite yet are ready to receive them with open arms.  How blessed we are to have such a loving Heavenly Father. I can't even fathom that kind of love, but I've felt it, and it's pretty amazing of a feeling.

Hope you are all well, love you guys!  Don't forget to write me by next Wednesday, everyone owes me a letter, especially since i have NONE this week.  I have a hard time writing when nobody else writes me.  It makes me not want to write, but I do anyways because it's a rule.  I'd rather want to do it!  So yeah.  Until next week!

Sister Bruno

Turning Things Around in Jilong

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 2:25 AM

We have a zone conference tomorrow with Elder Watson of the 70.  I'm excited.  We got to meet him in Taipei yesterday and talk for a couple minutes, as we were the Tour sisters of the day.  He's a cute man.

We have a lot of amazing investigators, especially a mom with 2 children.  They are really great and have asked to meet with us more than once a week.  The son loves reading the Book of Mormon more than doing homework.

We have a lot of investigators and are very busy next week, Jilong has really completely turned around since I first got here.

This week was fun.  We carved watermelons for Halloween.  Our English class loved it.  Have lots of good pictures.  Send them later

Until next time

Sister Flora Bruno

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 2:38 AM


Okay I'm writing you like a 2 paragraph email this week, I spent my time online reading emails this week, and it was very nice to get to spend some time looking at Gigi's pictures she sent me, i was very happy and laughed a lot, especially since the longer you are on a mission, they less people write you. But who can blame them, you've been gone a long time, and you take awhile to write back because you eventually go senior companion (well, i haven't yet, but i know I will in the next few transfers, 3 at the most) and as your Chinese gets enough to communicate in complete stories and sentences and ideas, you start to get to help your senior companion out a lot more..and thus, less letter writing time on P-days, because i.e. today we went to costco (with a NICE member who has a card, because i sure don't!) to buy watermelons to carve tonight in English class for Halloween, yes, this is why missionaries look forward to their parents packages so much, because the closest thing I have to Halloween here in Taiwan is Watermelons to carve, there are no pumpkins in season right now, not even Costco had them. We were lucky to get watermelons that stand up! Yeah! So blessed. I also spent 12 dollars of the money you guys gave me to buy brownie mix, sorry, it is the only brownie mix in all of Taiwan and I REALLY wanted it. Really bad. Taiwan doesn't have a lot of sweet things, and they are expensive for us missionaries, but you only get to go to Costco once (twice if you are a lucky missionary) on your mission, so I had to buy the brownies! haha. Bitter things I wouldn't have imagined eating when I first got here, I eat and like these days..like squid. Because there isn't a lot of sweet, you get used to not eating sweet, although you miss it! I'm quite accustomed to squid, soy bean milk, tofu, taro, weird gummy things with little taste in all kinds of things, sesame seeds...(although not stinky tofu, that stuff is gross and permeates the streets and I will never try it, no matter who wants me to, i'd rather drop dead). So yeah! Funny how you can change your body to adapt to your culture, but that doesn't mean you don't miss the old one.

I found really cute Chinese style shoes, next time you guys give me money I'll buy some for myself, for now I bought some for the baby coming any day now, they were like 3 dollars for a baby, more expensive for adults. They are red and really cute. Gen and Stuart can take a picture when they fit the baby in 5 months...after i get their address and send them that is. So I was really excited to get to buy something for my first neice of nephew.

This week has been going pretty good. Last week our numbers were like a miracle, we got more lessons than I've ever gotten my whole mission. Sister Kunzler is really a fun companion. I like her a lot, I just doubt we will be together for long since she's been in this area 6 transfers, it's the longest I've heard of! 6/7 transfers of her mission here in Jilong! She's crazy strong, because this area has killer mountains, but she gets up them crazy fast. I've noticed that with every companion I have, certain things have a lot of sucess depending on their focuses. I'm lucky to have such good senior companions. They were all very patient women, they have to be to be companions with me! ehheheheh.

I think my first companion is engaged, that's the rumor from a Brother Guo, but some people don't trust him, so it's up in the air, but that's fun everyone is getting engaged and married. My girl friends already started when I was 19, now all my old guy friends are...haha. Congrats to them :). I love life, always changing. Yay! This week will be fun. Halloween! English class tonight we are carving watermelons, like i mentioned before, and now time is out! byebye!

Week 5 Transfer 4--My halfway mark--Hump Day: Missionary Letter

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 11:26 PM

Today is something I've heard missionaries refer to as a hump day?  No idea why, and nobody here says that, but yeah, I've been on my mission exactly 9 months today.  I go home July 20th with the way transfers fall here...so a day short of 9 months left.  I only noticed that since President told us when we were going home in interviews..then I was like...hmm cool, my halfway point is soon...and on a preparation day...so tadum. 

Today I don't feel like thinking of what to write, so I brought my mildy funny journal stories with me, and i'm going to copy what I wrote yesterday in my journal.  10/20/09.  9:41 pm Today was pretty good. Peike's (that's a member with us in the lesson to help our investigator progress) Yay! 2 of the lessons were really good.  With Lin Weitong we watched Together Forever.  She cried during the movie.  It was really spiritual.  We talked about the Holy Ghost and Eternal Families, and she really felt the power of the Holy Ghost.  She was like, "I don't know why I'm crying."  Our peike told her it was the Holy Ghost.  After the lesson, she prayed that she could have an eternal family.  She really wants it.  She's good.  She set a baptism date in lesson one with Sister Kunzler and Chen when I was in Neihu on exchanges. 

Also met with Lin Jingxian.  She's cute.  Has WOW problems, but also told us she felt like crying reading a WOW story, concluded (ON HER OWN! YEAH!) it was what we called "The Holy Ghost" felt like for her individually, since we told her everyone felt it differently.  She's awesome.  She said she'd stop smoking, it just might take time, but she has total faith she can do it.  She's awesome.  Today was good.  2 investigators who self admit to feeling the Spirit...not bad at all.

Besides that, didn't eat much today.  A granola bar for breakfast, Skittles, a couple cheetos, a bread with some kind of parsley on top.  No dinner.  Maybe I'll go eat raisin's right now.  Was moody.  Period heavy, but cramps not as bad as yesterday.

In one of our lessons the girls were totally unfocused, so it was 20 minutes or less.  We told them to come more focused next week.  I wasn't that upset.  They are just 16 year old girls.

Had 2 interesting contacts.  First I talked to a boy in the army (every boy in Taiwan has to do it for about a year).  I offered him a Skittle.  He said no.  I asked where he was going.  He said Raifang.  I said, us too!  I asked if he was in the army.  He said yes.  I said it looked like it, as he had a huge duffle bag at his feet.  I asked how long he'd been in the army for and he didn't understand my Chinese.  So I said he was xinku to be in the army, and that my country didn't have it as a requirement.  He asked me a question.  I didn't understand his Chinese.  I asked him something, he didn't understand my Chinese.  I tried to tell him where our church was at.  He didn't know what I was saying.  We were confused.  I gave him our church pamphlet with the addresses and told him it had the address.  The end.

The second I gave our pamphlet to a lady on a scooter who said the Elders just gave her one.  I didn't see it, so I gave her another one just in case.  Invited her to English class.

In a week from Friday's news, the other day, I got Burger King.  Well, I always make fun of Elder Cai for getting it so often, so I didn't want him to see me.  We'd all just taught English so I knew he'd be at the church soon, so I was downing it.  They arrive and I hide behind the door, holding it (the door) back and finish my food.  I see the Elders look in the room, I wait, they leave , I let the door shut, hide the wrapper in my bag, go look out the window for a couple seconds, they go back and open the door.  Elder Hammer and Cai are SO confused.  They are like, we just looked in here.  Nobody was here!  I said, I was in here the whole time, you didn't see me? They were like, no, we swear we looked good too.  Strange, it's like you were a ghost.  I cracked up inside , and later telling my companion who was in the bathroom at the time.  I kept my cool through it though, they had no idea.  The funniest thing is, nobody would have cared I was eating a Burger, I wasn't hungry earlier...I just had made fun of Elder Cai they day before though, so I didn't want him to see me.  Just because.  haha, then it was hilarious and worth it for the story.

Yesterday told my companion about the Time Traveler's Wife plot on a long bike ride.  It was fun.  I forgot how the story ends though, so she was kind of AHHH because I couldn't tell her.  haha. 

Skittles in Taiwan don't taste the same as in America.  They aren't as good.

End journal entry.

Yeah, so there's a day in the life.  Or an entry in the mind of Sister Bruno.  It was a pretty good one.

Hey can someone find out Nena's address for me, I wrote her weeks ago, but don't have her address.  I also kind of need mascara and eyeliner.  Taiwan has mascara, but not that good, and no eyeliner like I need.  So if you can send me some, I'd be really happy.  The stuff you don't need to sharpen.  I'm not good at using that kind.  I bought extra eyeliner right before I came, but it was gone when I got here, so yeah!  Now I need more...and that's all I can think of for right now.  Oh and if you really love me, and light brown base, mine broke all up and fell out on exchanges.  I could probably find it here, but since you are sending me those anyways!  And makeup here is really not good.  Not to mention like 10 dollars or more for anything, and probably imported..and old.  :) you can send it in those little packages with the bubbly wrap and it shouldn't be too expensive.

That's all!

Transfer 5 Week 3: A Call to Repentance--Conforming to the Gospel Principles

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 12:28 AM

Hello there, face here.  Okay, maybe I'm not face, but I liked that cartoon way back in the days.  It's just been another week in Jilong.  And a very interesting one at that.  We watched conference...had zone conference...we also need to head out to Taipei tomorrow for President's interviews, so we've gotten quite a lot of trips to Taipei. 

General Conference wasn't actually supposed to be a trip to Taipei for us, but on Saturday morning, they couldn't get the English working in Jilong, just Chinese, so we missed the morning session of conference and caught the next bus to Taipei, just to see the last 10 minutes of that session.  It ended up being alright though, because President's Assistant, Elder Gassin, burned us a copy of that session during the break, then for District meeting Monday we watched Saturday Mornings conference.  So now, we have watched all of conference.  I thought it was unique that such a great emphasis was love and service.  I realized in my own life, the problems that happen especially with family and friendship relationships, are mostly due to selfishness.  I think the average person forgets the importance of repenting daily.  I mean, I feel like a lot of people go on a mission, invite investigators to keep commitments, such as repenting daily, and at that time come to the realization that we also need to do such...but then, I think time passes and it's easy to forget what you taught them.  The habits developed become less of habits, we digress spiritually, become more like the natural man....then as conference is watched and speaker after speaker talk about putting off the natural man, it's easy to have a desire to change...while they speak, the spirit is strong, a fire is kindled within our hearts, but do we ultimately change?  Do we put it into action?  Do our family relationships become stronger?  Do we start to feel the power of the Holy Ghost's influence in our lives daily as we do the things that invite his presense into our lives? Do we become more active in considering how others feel and what we can do for others instead of feeling like we ourselves are wronged?  What do we do because of conference?  How do we take what President Monson said about taking these things and changing, and actually change?  Seriously.  I personally cannot remember a big step I took to change after conference in my life...I remember after conference this time, feeling a big desire to change and become better.  As a missionary this is what my life is about...but then I wondered, how will my family and friends do this.  I, myself, have to take great effort to change, and that is what my life is focused on. And it's hard! Seriously.  My whole life is becoming more converted so that my investigators can be more converted, since their level of conversion can only be as far is mine is...and yet it's a daily struggle.  I focus on it constantly.  So for you guys, how is conference going to change you?  I heard maybe 3 of you guys write me about conference and tell me about what you liked, but I'd much rather know, how are you going to take conference and CONFORM?  Change and become more like Christ?  Being on a mission had made me realize our family is not very good at conforming, but conforming is a gospel principle. I hope you don't take offense at this statement, but I honestly believe it to be true. My growing up experience was unique, and I cherish that in a lot of ways...but as I testify about how the gospel blesses families, I wish to see a change in my own family that really shows how this mission is helping you guys.  Heavenly Father is an unchanging God.  His laws and his principles will never change.  And so, in order to obtain His salvation, we need to put ourselves in line with His laws.  We need to develop His love (charity) and not worry about being unique or different.  Believe me, you are unique.  You don't even have to try to be.  So what I'm wondering, is what are you guys going to change because of conference?  How are you going to be more obedient to God's will?  A big reason I ask is because I personally am struggling with obedience.  I want to be a conformed and obedient missionary, but sometimes some of the stuff I do or say shock people.  I'm working on this through goal setting...and I hope you guys can too. 

So yeah! That's what they talked about at zone conference...they talked about obedience and goal setting.  It was a very fitting zone conference for me, because both are things that I'm not good at, but I'd like to be.  I seriously in the past have hated setting goals, because I'm scared of not measuring up to them, but goals are a way to see progress, so I'll have to get over my fears and be more specific in my goals...it's not very feasible to think you can just change over night...i've heard stories, but never actually just POOF changed...So, little by little.  You can't just go from not understanding how you listen to the Holy Ghost to feeling it constantly in your life.  This isn't how I teach my investigators, and it's not what I expect for myself either.  First you teach them what the Holy Ghost is.  Then you encourage them to do things that will invite the Holy Ghost into their lives, such as baptism, and laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, prayer to recognize how he feels for you individually, being obedient so he can dwell with you, following his promptings so he stays...etc.  As I more understand righteous principles, I think I'll keep them more.  President shared Alma 32 with us about arousing your faculties..you can't just have faith in something right away.  Not true and everlasting faith.  There are steps to do.  The start is getting the desire, arousing your faculties...hoping...so yeah.  This is what my hope for you guys is....that as I do my best as a missionary to serve God and bless my family, you guys will also put faith into action...have weekly Family Home Evening, pray together, read together, strengthen your relationship, avoid things that draw you apart...change yourself for those around you...learn to love each other, more fully and more completely.  That is my hope...but I can't change anybody's agency...Only you can change, no matter how much others want you to.

In another experience, this week my companion and I had the..unique experience to have lunch with a member of a church that broke off of the LDS church, they read the Book of Mormon, but beliefs are much different than our own.  I know which church it is, but would prefer not to specify, as there are quite a few break off's of the LDS church.  Sufficeth it to say she had us come back with her to their church, one floor in a large building with many floors. 

4 minutes this story needs to be brief...anyways, we went back there, and it's really small since not many believers live in Taiwan, but they had copies of the Book of Mormon.  I picked one up and began to read the introduction.  As I was reading, the Holy Ghost came very strong to my heart that the intention of this book was completely wrong.  I felt sad for this lady, she has SO much truth, she has the Book of Mormon in her life, she has Moroni's promise, and yet, she doesn't have true authority.  The Holy Ghost just testified to me that this wasn't true and what I had in my bag was.  I'm glad for the Holy Ghost and our ability as members of this church to know truth for ourselves.  Her reason for not being with our church was the LDS churches past of polygamy.  It had nothing to do with her own feelings.  So how great that we have personal revelation.  Nobody can be forced to believe truth.  We feel it.  I know this church is true.  I felt it.  And I felt it that day, strongly.  I love that lady a lot, but I'm glad I was born into a church with correct authority.  To her, I would not say her church was wrong, I don't persecute others beliefs, but I stand strong to mine.  I know the Book of Mormon is true.  I loved Sunday Afternoon's talk.  25 seconds to send this! Bye!

Transfer 5 Week 2: Struggles in New Area

Wednesday, October 7, 2009 9:11 AM

This week doesn't have a lot in the way of things to talk about. I've found that I don't exactly like moving. I miss Zhongli a lot. Mostly because I worked so hard there in Zhongli for almost 6 months and our numbers were like, almost too good to be true, then I came here and we only have one ward instead of two, it's a lot smaller of an area and only one ward, and it's really ridiculously hard to get places, and I'm exasted to death after ever 20 minute bike ride, whereas, 20 minute bike rides in my old area were nothing...and our numbers were the worst they have been on my entire mission. I'm not really sure what to do to start to like this place. Our church is the 5th and 6th floor on a 12 floor building, and it's kind of ghetto fabulous. It has green tiled floors, and looks like it was built in the 60s. But, at least I have found some more positives besides my huge apartment and my own bathroom. Haha. One is my companion. She's actually really good. She's been here a long time, so you would think that if I thought we should stop meeting with an investigator, she'd be upset at me and want to hold on, because she's been here 6 transfers (longer than I've been on a mission) and been working with them forever, but she's very open to my opinions. We've spent a lot of time contacting, which I've never spent a lot of time doing at all...and I'm getting used to it. I have to admit, I feel like contacting is not exactly super effective because you talk to people for 2 hours, and you are lucky if you find 1 that wants to meet, but I'm talking to more people, so that's good. In the past I have not talked to nearly as many people. My legs are also pretty buff. It hurts to go up hills, but my legs are getting huge with muscles, so I'm sure I'm going to like that eventually..once it stops hurting. Rather huge with muscles than with fat right?!

Our district is also really good. Our district leader, Elder Daniels, used to be the zone leader in Hualien. Elder Lords went and took his place. He's training an Elder Leavitt this transfer, so he went district leader to train ba. His companion is very dedicated. It will be fun to see his Chinese improve, I've always been the youngest in my district until now. We also have the zone leaders in my district. Elder Cai is really funny. He was in Zhongli 2nd ward with me and Sister Hill back in my first 2 transfers. So, it's nice to be in a district with someone I already knew before. And E. Hammer seems fun too.

The only thing that I can even remember about this week, besides that we contacted a lot since we don't have a whole lot of investigators right now, so we are in a transition and finding a lot...we had the Moon Festival here in Taiwan this last weekend. There are about 3 big festivals here, and the Moon Festival is one of them. We cooked meat...steaks and squid and porkchops on a grill and BBQed them. That's a big thing to do. And FYI squid isn't bad. It's just chewy! It was a lot of fun. I just played with the kids and ate a lot. My stomach was so happy. Us missionaries are kind of poor, so we don't eat a ton of meat...at least I don't...because it's a lot more expensive. Unless I just eat like a piece of Chicken for dinner, for 50 kuai..and that's all. And I haven't had steak since America! So yum yum yum. So yeah! I enjoyed Moon Festival, too bad I only get to be here for one. But not THAT too bad, because everyone going home is always like "I'm so tired!" So I probably will be tired by next year too and not want to stay another 3 months to have Moon Festival. haha. Soooo that's pretty much it. Contacting and moon festival. Those were pretty much the events of this week! Next week we have Zone Conference and we watch General Conference Saturday and Sunday, so I'll write about that next week perhaps!

Oh! And by the way, I invited someone to baptism on the street yesterday, just to practice, um I think I confused her a little, so I need more practice at explaining it, she said "next time there's an chance.." whatever that means! But at least I did it, and I got her number, so I'll call next week and see if she'll set up. she was cute. Haha.

Bye bye!

Transfer to Keelung in the Mountains of Taiwan: Missionary Email

Monday, September 28, 2009 3:12 AM

I have come to the conclusion that this transfer, is going to be incredibly xingku and tongku.  I don't even know if that's the right pinyin and i'm too lazy to try to think of what tones those really are, so I think even people who speak Chinese might not know what the heck I'm trying to say.  So I'll try to explain.  In Chinese, when they say this xingku word, they mean to say that what someone is doing is incredibly hard and admirable because of it's hardness, so it's xingku.  Tongku is something incredibly painful. Now, in all reality if you want you can say this is an extremely bad view on it, but it just happens to be my first impression of the surroundings I am put in. 

Oh, by the way, I've moved to a new area, it's called Keelung.  Well, correct pinyin is Ji1long. I've had to say it so many times over the last couple days telling everyone I was leaving, I don't even have to think twice to just know tones.  Most words I just say them and have to say them like 10 times to remember the tones.   It's a port town, and supposedly very beautiful.  I haven't seen much besides our super huge apartment with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms...yeah I get my own bathroom.  I liked my little apartment though, this one is going to be killer to clean..but on the plus side, since we have to sleep in the same room, my clothes get their own room!  They are very happy and get a lot of air.  My suitcoats even got their own closet.  They look very dark and missionary like.  I have more suitcoats than any other sister in this whole mission...Not kidding.  And it's too hot to wear them until December I hear.  But they do get used at mission conference and when we do temple tours.  They called in on Friday and told me I'd be moving to Jilong.  My initial response was not exactly excitment.  I believe I told my companion that God wanted me to be incredibly sore and learn something from it.  You see, something I was told I'd learn from my mission is humility.  In transfer one I was told to pray for it every day.  I can't say I'm exactly a very humble person.  I've probably changed a little...but I'm still very me...like...

So yeah, my area is known for having ridiculous hills/mountains...this is because it's...mountains.  I'm living in mountains and biking up and down them.  I live uphill and it's just ridiculous!  I have to shift from first geer to third geer all the time, i've only been here one day, and I was switching back and forth the 2 times I've gotten on a bike.  So yeah, when people heard where I was going, they told me it was the most hard area in the North.  This sweet member drew me biking up a 45 degree angle with the sun scortching hot, and rain in the distance...rain here, is often.  But I have to admit, it was an exaggeration, because I haven't biked up any 45 degree angles YET. Mostly just like 25 or 30.  But yeah, needless to say, it is not going to be easy to bike anywhere here in this new area, but Sister Kunzler says I'll get used to it if I make sure to run every morning?  That's how her last companion got used to it, but her last companion is not exactly as fat as me...haha.  Her companion was Taiwanese, so she was actually quite little and skinny. So we'll see if that helps.  Zhongli probably trained me a little since it was a HUGE area...and we had to bike up some pretty nasty hills...but usually only once a week, not every day, and I would walk up some of it if I got too tired!

Hmm..My new companion is a Sister Kunzler.  In meeting, we had a very awkward situation...you see, she's from South Carolina...and she has this best friend...well, this best friend of hers lived at my apartment back that semester I was graduating...well, not literally, but he was engaged to my roommate, so he was always there...and, as some of you might remember, the relationship that ended up occurring between me and those roommates and the fiance was one of I deleted them as my friends on Facebook right before my mission, because he was really mean to me and would mock my statuses.  And I wasn't  sad about it, because to be honest, I didn't know them that well and didn't feel too close.  I just felt sad we were all immature and unable to get along. 

So I'm sure we'll be fine, especially since this companion is an SYLer...so I think my chinese will get better...but it was just an awkward beginning, at least in my mind.  I was excited to hear though, that roommate of mine married that fiance of hers...they had a date and hadn't married, then were like, not boyfriend girlfriend, then like girlfriend boyfriend during that semester.  Quite complicated, so it's good that they figured it out.  Yeah!  She's a lot different from me, at least I get that impression initially, but nothing like my other 2 companions, so this transfer should be a blaaaaast. totally new people and area (minus my zone leader was with me back in Zhongli transfer one and 2...Elder Carter, a native...he's fun so it's good to be back in his district).  woo. That is, if I live through all the death biking. 

This areas investigators and numbers aren't exactly what I was used to in Zhongli, so I believe I will be seeing more what contacting is like in this area...I didn't really do it, hardly ever in Zhongli.  Maybe just talk to the person next to you on the scooter, or a couple really down days we'd go out there to try to find investigators in the ward we had like none in...but I have to be honest, I haven't seen a ton of success with the whole self contacting method of finding, but maybe I'll see more this transfer...if I remember I'll tell you next week...which, next week will be a normal so Preparation Day will be your Tuesday night. 

In last weeks news, Chen Yiting got baptized and it was a HILARIOUS story...well, you see...first of all, someone giving a talk didn't know and freaked out when they called her up...then we went downstairs to baptize her, and the water was only up to the first stair...the chain on the plug got caught underneath and so the water had been draining while we were upstairs!!!  So we went back upstairs while it refilled and had a testimony like meeting, then finally she was able to get baptized...but man!!!  So crazy!  But a lot of fun because I've never seen someone so excited about being baptized.  She was like jumping around and so excited.  I loved it.  It made the night totally fun.  She was sad I was leaving so soon after her baptism, but she has such a strong testimony, she'll be fine.  She wrote a cute note in my bye bye book and I promised I'd write her a letter.

Sunday was hectic packing and saying goodbye, but I survived through it and a nice member took me all the way here to Jilong!  She even took work off just to take me.  Aww Zhongli members are so great!  If you can't tell, I'm a little weary of the change, but excited at the same time.  It was hard to leave my district.  Some of us had been together 6 months.  But Elder Lords and Smith also moved!  So yeah, lots of change.  :) :/ Maybe I'll have a better attitude next week, probably!  Don't forget to write!

Time to go!

Fu Jiemei

Baptisms in Zhongli

Wednesday, September 23, 2009 2:27 AM

Hello from Zhongli, although it may be my last week here (or maybe I have a long time left here, speculations and bets have begun to be made).  haha.  I think people always guessing transfers is amusing, and I'm definitely not "too good" to participate in making guesses of who is going where and who is training, etc etc.  It's usually all in good Preparation day fun as districts hang out.  I personally hope I leave, just based on the fact that I have been in Zhongli for 6 months now, my entire mission...but if I don't leave, I won't be too upset because I really love this area and there are a lot of people here to teach.  So we'll find out what happens on Friday night, and I'll be back here online emailing on Monday, so don't forget to write me before then! 

In other news, this last Friday's baptism went pretty well.  Jasmine and Petrea Ge were baptized, but Leilani wasn't.  She had a few hang-ups that were understandable.  We'd like to see her baptized this week, she will call us tonight and tell us after she talks to her classmates when she thinks a good time would be...but even if in the end it's not this week, I know she will get baptized sooner or later.  So I'm not too worried about that. Petrea was really cute at the baptism.  She was like "I'm Ge Boya, and I think getting baptized is really AWESOME."  Then she sat down.  haha.  Kids.  Jasmine is also doing really well, she likes to hang out with our awesome Wu Mujun, who tuesday night just showed up to our lesson, we hadn't even told her about it, because she wasn't at church Sunday, but she must have heard from Jasmine we were coming over, and she came too.  That's dedication.  Jasmine also just really likes the missionaries, so that's good.  She came early to church Sunday because she said her house is boring, so she just sat around well Sister Chen and I ate, and she talked to us and stuff.  She also has started attending the Advanced English class on Wednesday, and thinks the teachers are hilarious.  I think that is due to the fact that her High School English class is too easy, since she lived in Australia growing up and is half Australian, and even though rarely uses her English these days, shes really still quite good at it. 

As for Chen Yiting, she's set-up for Saturday night and she's so super excited.  She's such a funny 19 year old girl, so I'm excited for her.  She's been like, I'M SO EXCITED FOR SATURDAY...whenever we see her.  Haha.  Really cute.

Besides that though, not a lot has been happening, we teach an okay amount of lessons and just try to invite everyone to learn about the church.   This last week we must have had a really good increase in key indicators, because the Assistants called us and told us that they and President were very happy with the work we were doing in Zhongli, and they encouraged us to keep working hard, and that they could see our hard work is really paying off.  That through our work and efforts many people were coming to know their Savior.  That's the 3rd time we've received a call like that from the Assistants on my mission.  I'm not sure how often they do it, but it's nice to hear from them, albeit a little stressing in that it's just a little pressuring that twice that it has happened, our numbers were inevitably going to drop that next week in some ways. But it's not necessarily a bad drop.  So yeah, our mission has very good Assistants that follow-up.  I seriously have never seen people so good at following up as the Assistants.  If we tell them anything, they remember and ask how that is going the next time they see us.  Their memories are almost uncanny.  Gotta respect crazy good memories like that.

So yeah! Time is running out, but don't forget, write by next week on Monday, your Sunday night I think.  I'll tell you then what happened Saturday, and with move calls.  I'm excited to be moving into transfer 5.  It's almost a halfway point for sister's I think.  Time passes fast.  Also with almost being in Taiwan 6 months now, I'm noticing I'm understanding a LOT more than I used to and I'm able to pretty much teach every lesson 1-4 decently and clearly.  Cool!  :)   I can't say "It all sounds Chinese to me" anymore...how sad because I used that phrase a lot before my mission, but now Chinese makes sense...everything not Chinese sounds Korea, or Indonesian, or Vietnamese around here.  Now my ear hears the difference between Asain languages.

Until next Monday,

Fu jiemei
Sister Flora Bruno

Week 23 in Zhongli or Transfer 4 Week 5

Hmm...let's see, well, this is currently week 23 in Zhongli and not a lot has really happened that week that I have to talk about.  Most interesting though I guess, would be the situation with the Ge Girls, or the Huang girls, depending on your take.  Their mom is Huang but they are all xin'ed Ge.  It took me like 3 transfers of knowing them to figure that out though...I never knew their Chinese names until recently.  They wanted me to just call them by their English names like Mom did.  Well, this Sunday was their baptism interview with Elder Lords, since their baptism is this Friday.  In the morning, mom couldn't take them to church because she had something going on, so we went to their apartment and picked them up, but only 2 of them came and met us downstairs for their interview.  The 2nd child, Leilani, didn't come.  They said she'd come to church later with mom.

I was so sad, she was the most awesome about reading and everything...she was in Jacob in no time, but because of that responsible personality, she stressed herself out about the interview and didn't want to do it...So Jasmine and Petrea did it and passed fine.  I was excited but still really sad about Leilani.  I sat next to her at church, and she wouldn't talk to anyone, she just cried and slept the whole meeting.  I'm not sure what the situation was.  Then, in Sunday school, I saw her in there sitting alone, so I had Su DX go see why.  The kids here are all really shy and our awesome Young Woman's who comes with us to their lesson, Wu Mujun was sitting by her sister.  I really wanted her to have a good experience at church so maybe we could talk to her and she could interview later.  Well, Su DX figured everything out, and I don't know how Sunday School was, but I went in there during the last hour and her sister and Mujun and I all sat together and Young Woman's was really fun.  We ate prezels and cheeto puffs and talked about how to control our thoughts, and everyone was just being really silly, and Leilani was smiling a lot.  Then, mom and Leilani were together with a counselor in the bishopric after church when we were in our meeting we have every sunday after church, and towards the end of the meeting, Huang jiemei and Leilani come downstairs and Leilani says she wants to meet with Elder Lords.  So yeah!  Then after the meeting, he interviewed her.  It took about an hour, but she passed fine and Elder Lords says her testimony is really amazing and he was so happy after that interview, because he was really able to help her, and he said that's the best kind of interviews, the ones where you really see a change with them from the beginning to the end...so I'm glad for Elder Lords...he helped her a lot, and she looked SO happy after her interview, where as the rest of the day earlier she looked so happy and stressed out.  So I'm REALLY excited for Friday.  I've known these girls for almost my whole mission and now they are getting baptized...

Also coming up on Friday is Chen Yiting's baptism interview.  She's so awesome, she's always like, I'm so excited to be baptized!  I'm so excited to come to church on Sunday!  I'm so excited to get to be interviewed for my baptism!  So yeah.  She's excited for Friday.  Her date is that following Saturday.  Move calls are Friday the 25th for a heads up, so if I forget to tell you next week, Preparation day will change to Monday not next week, but the following one.  People have already started talking about them, maybe I'll be more wondering about them by next Wednesday, but for now I have a super busy week until Sunday with Temple day in Taipei today, then we are going to Taipei tomorrow to do the temple tours, and biking out to Shanziding on Saturday...which is about a 55 minute bike ride straight uphill we've been doing once or twice a week these days for some investigators.  But since it's such a long bike ride...it takes quite a bit of time.  Like yesterday, we went all the way out to Yangmei for an appointment.  It was a 3 hour affair.  Shanziding is like that, but luckily we keep meeting people out there, and now have 3 lessons for our hard bike ride, instead of just 1 like it originally was.  So yeah, I thought briefly about it, but not too in-depth.  I feel super busy, but next week is probably not going to be nearly as busy.  Week 6 doesn't have many activities that happen, so we have nothing but time to try to fill in.  We'll do our best!  That's pretty much it though...not too many out of the ordinary things happened this week, we are just preparing for Friday, and our main focus next week will be Saturday.  We are very blessed here in Zhongli.  I've seen a lot of success.  Not to say we don't have trials, we have a lot, sometimes we have days where everyone cancels the night before and we have like 4 hours to fill in, in really hot weather, but it all ends up okay, and time passes by pretty fast.  Time really isn't the same on a mission as it was before the mission.  It's hard to explain, but yeah...time, it's warped.

Work Progressing in Zhongli

Wednesday, September 9, 2009 1:48 AM

Okay, I just wrote an entire email in an hour, then the website got all messed up, so this won't be nearly as long or detailed...and I had to spend another 25 kuai to type this. Sigh. We went and got lunch and now have to spend another hour in the internet cafe so I can write...But what can you do?

This week was really good. I had the best lesson of my life last night. Or at least it felt really good. Sister Hill will be excited to read about it if she reads by blog. We were at Huang jiemei's house, with Jasmin, Leilani, and Petrea, the Ge girls. Well, Jasmin has been getting really comfortable with the Young Woman's and attending the Friday activity, and Wu Mujun has been our pei ke and really being their friend, in fact, we went over last night, and Leilani was like, "mu jun jie jie zai nali? " Or, where is Mujun? We felt bad because we hadn't asked her to come that time, because we have been meeting with them twice a week these days, so we just wanted her to take time out of her busy schedule once a week, not every time, but now they are accustomed to her, so they were like, where is she? So yeah! When we meet with them on Friday, we will definitely see if she can come. But yeah! All three girls were there for the lesson, and it was just an amazing lesson. I was very STRAIGHT with them. At the beginning when nobody wanted to be the one to pray, I was like "Why are you guys so unwilling to pray?" and then eventually Jasmin repeated a prayer S. Chen said, then I taught them again how to pray, but I feel like they really listened this time. Then mom brought up a concern about them believing in God, so I had us read Mosiah 4:9-10 and I was like, "I don't want an I don't know answer from you..Do you believe in God?" and we went aroudn the room. Leilani and Petrea said yes, and Jasmin said she honestly was unsure. I said that was fair, and asked Leilani why she believed. Last week she was also testing it out. But we asked about her prayers and she said she prayed and prayed and prayed, to get a feeling to her prayers once or twice. And we talked about how you have to have a desire to prayer lots of times so you can get a feeling once or twice sometimes, and then you will know by that once or twice that God is listening. Leilani really progressed since last week, in a week since she committed to read the Book of Mormon, she read to the Book of Jacob. That's amazing for an investigator at all, but ESPECIALLY for a 12 year old girl. She's incredible. She was a great help in the lesson this week, because last week she went to unsure, but willing to commit to baptism because we told her it was really good for her, to this week, praying every day, so many times, and reading her scriptures. She still has a concern about Joseph Smith seeing God, but that will be easy to follow up on this week, because we told her about how the Book of Mormon connects to Joseph Smith, and she already believes in the Book of Mormon. She thinks it's "hai bucuo" which is really a compliment for her.

But yeah, so in the lesson we shared in Mosiah, then with Jasmin's concerns, I took us to Alma 32, and passed off to S. Chen who shared about faith is believing in something you can't see and how you just have to have a desire at first. Jasmin said she had a desire and was willing to start praying multiple times a day to find out if God was really there, but then talking about Leilani's concern about Joseph Smith really seeing God, Jasmin runs and gets out the children's book of Mormon and tells us that she read it all, and she believes it. She was showing us Joseph Smith's story in it. She said she believes he saw God and Jesus. So I think she believes in God, she just doubts whether or not he will seriously answer HER individual prayers. But she sounded very willing to find out now. It was just an amazing lesson! She committed to prepare to be baptized with her sisters also. So yeah! Now we just have created some very interesting lesson plans for this next week because they all attended different lessons, only Petrea has finished the missionary lessons, so now we just have to teach Jasmin part of a 3rd and Leilani part of a 1st, and a commandment here and there...but it's totally possible and I think they will be prepared for their baptism interviews in the coming week as long as we make sure to address all concerns on Friday and they keep their commitments like they said. So yeah! That's all I have time to talk about. I'm excited so excited for the Huang girls. I was really sad about Jasmin last week, and now I'm just so happy all three girls have this desire together. I felt like they were part of the reason I was still here in Zhongli, so I'm just really happy, like I mentioned like 10 times. :) They are doing really great! I remember when I first met them, they would hid behind mom, and not even say anything to me, or my companion. Now I can just act like I've known them forever and ask ridiculously bold questions, or if I hear one of them moving around during the prayer, I can just lean over and hit their knee to remind them to be more respectful...and when us missionaries come over, if they don't come straight out, I can just go in their room and be like, "We're here! Now we prepared a lesson and you guys will come listen" haha. I love it. People who respond well to my nice silly, bold personality.

Chen yiting is doing great too. She's on track for September 26th. She also is good for my attitude. She's sassy with me sometimes, because I'll be ridiculous and happy back. She went with my district last week on our P-day activity and had a lot of fun.

Gu Junru...I don't know about her, she has her goal for the 25th and we are excited, but I don't know what will happen there because mom says no way dad will agree if she has to ask, so it's up to the bishop. If the bishop says it's okay to baptize her without dad's permission, we will, our rules just say we need a guardians signature, so we left it up to bishop. Mom says it won't change their relationship, it's just if dad knows he has an option it will be no. Or something like that. So yeah, Zhang jiemei needs to talk to the bishop, and we'll see what happens, but if no, she can just get baptized at 18. She wouldn't be the first to have to do that.

My district is also doing good. This week I was concerned about set-ups. This Elder in my district gets like 4 a day, whereas my companion and I got 4 last week. It is what we need to improve, so the Elders really helped us, we did role plays in contacting people on the street in 30 seconds and stuff. So I don't see us getting 4 set ups a day or anything, but maybe this week we can get 5 or 6 set ups, instead of 4, and go from there. We don't want too ridiculous amounts, because then we lose focus on the investigators we do have because there is no time to meet with them, but we do want around 7 a week, so we can be filtering through and find progressing people, and have options instead of nothing to do for 2 hours on this day, and 2 hours on this day. Next week is going to be crazy though, we have 2 days we will be in Taipei, presidents interviews, regular district mtg and WPS...and a baptism to prepare for, so next week is going to be insane, we are trying to do as much this week to prepare for the craziness of next week. I'm excited! I love crazy weeks :)

Okay, until next time!

Fu Jiemei.