Thursday, April 9, 2009

Missionary Letter: Taiwanese Food and Definition of Doing a Dan Jones

4/9/09

Family,

How are you? Greetings from Taipei. I've now eaten 2 airplane Chinese food and 2 meals here. It's a lot different. I get extremely thirsty, but it's also really good. I'll just have to carry a water bottle around.

The mission president and his wife are really sweet and kind. We had a little introduction yesterday., then we ate this amazing egg and breaded thing with green onions. I hear most people come home lactose intolerant. I'm really nervous about that because I love dairy. But they don't have much here. Lots of grease though. The reason they stay thin though is they don't have many deserts and also they exercise a lot. So yeah, I'll eat at street vendors every day almost from what I hear. It should be interesting, lots of grease. Yum. But seriously, food is so much better than American food. Unique and flavorful. But I will miss a lot of American foods. I brought 2 bags of Hot Cheetos with me. Hahahaha.

I haven't met my companion yet. We will tomorrow. They are going to make us do a "Dan Jones" tonight. Bear testimony on a crate. Ahhh. Should be interesting. Okay, write more later.

Fu jeimei

Monday, April 6, 2009

Missionary Email: Whaaa

Monday, April 6, 2009 7:20 PM

Okay, so I asked questions and they never get answered, what is the deal with that? You know, I asked the temple question twice, and finally Matthew Moses ended up being the person who answered my question since gigi forwards him my emails.

I'll check my email again tonight if anyone wants to write me, and i'll call tomorrow, but yeah the Kaohsiung Elders are leaving in 20 minutes so I need to go see them off. Plus I wrote an individual email to dad that I had to, so sorry everyone, but answer my questions! Oh and good news, my suitcases are 50 and 51 lbs. I'm hoping they will just allow me the 1 lb, but if not i'll just WEAR MORE ITEMS. I'm already wearing both my coats on the plane. Hahaha. Latah.

Oh and sorry to Matt and Felicia because I was going to write them but I never had time with being sick and doctor appointments and other crazy stuff on P-days, i'll splurge and write them a letter all the way from Taiwan. Or if i have time i'll send them an email and have you people forward it to them next week. So they'll hear from me in the next couple weeks. Or maybe if i have time tonight since i'm finished packing, but it's not a high probability

Fu jiemei

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Missionary Email: Business Mostly...Duibuqi

Monday, March 30, 2009 7:26 PM

I don't even feel like writing this week because I can't stop coughing so we'll see what I can pump out in a couple minutes, or if maybe I stop coughing for a little while. It's pretty awful. I'm scared to eat because I cough so hard I gag, and if I eat I'll probably let go of my food. So there's a nice visual there for you all. The MTC is germ infested. It's not even cool in any way at all. I was sick at home before I came...got over it...came and was sick like week 2-4...and now since last week, 10, to whenever it goes away I'm sick. Except this time it's worse. What's with my awful immune system these days? I lived in the Idaho cold for 3 winters and never got this sick once. Life just doesn't make sense. It could be due to the fact that we've been reporting that the heat in our room is broken for awhile and whenever we call the guy he's never in his office and nobody has come and fixed it for us yet? And our room is 50-55 degrees at night. I wake up freezing under the like 4 blankets I've been sleeping with like 15-20 times a night. Haha. So really I blame that for my sickness, but my teacher Brother Simpson was sick sore throat, etc last week, and a few of our boys got a SLIGHT cold, so maybe my body caught that and took an extreme reaction.

This week was good, oh yeah, I bought a tape recorder too because I got a blessing from one of my teachers and we recorded it. I have 6 tapes, if you guys want to buy a tape recorder, I could send a tape home, what do you think? Let me know, it wasn't too expensive here in the bookstore, so it's probably even cheaper in real life. It's the tape recorder that takes the smaller tapes. Send me a Dear Elder if you want me to send a tape home. Which reminds me, mom did you take notes on my setting apart blessing by any chance? If you did can you send them to me, because I dont have notes on that and i'd like to see them. Even though I'm sending all my MTC letters home this week. Haha, but I guess I'll maybe send the rest to gigi and gen next week if i don't have room for the letters I get this week. Um there is a postal service thing in Provo that's free and you just write your families number on the package and stuff, and they call and say it's at the provo post office. I'm going to try to run into Amanda Nelson and give her my box, but in case I don't can I get people's phone numbers? I don't remember any in my head except mom's.

Which by the way reminds me another point of business, I thought people just called their parents at the airport because they could and that it wasn't necessarily allowed so I wasn't going to, but our mission president told us this week that we could, so I know it must be allowed if he told us we could. So yeah, I need peoples phone numbers and also people to pick up the phone next tuesday. I'll probably call the 1110 number first. I'll call you when we are in Los Angeles because we'll be in Salt Lake at like 6am, which is 8am your time and not too bad, but we don't have as long as a wait there, so I figure it will be better to make the call during our 3 hour layover in LA. From LA we go straight to Taipei, so it's not too bad of a flight. Just long. And strict regulations. I'm thinking I'm going to get my suitcases to both be 50 lbs and the carry on to be 15 like they let us. I'll have to send a lot of things to you girls in Provo to make this possible. So look for that. Sorry most of this is business but your last week in the MTC you have to take care of business. Haha. I packed necessities today and my suitcases are 51 and 53 lbs, which means i need to figure out 4 lbs I don't need. so I might even send myself a package to Taipei of like my tampons, but whatever I do, our airline is RIDICULOUS and charges 150 dollars for going over. I could send a package for like 20. So that's why i'm figuring it all out now. I'll have time to write next week too, it will be my last day in the mtc and it will be busy.

I actually only have 8 minutes left now so lets see if i can think of something interesting to write for the last little bit...this week was really good. Since general conference is next week, our schedule is a little thrown off. We only get to see our teachers 4 more times each. That makes me really sad because I really love my teachers and they are a huge resource for me. I'm going to be sad not only to not have that resource, but they are both amazing people as well and I'll miss them. That's what I've already discovered I don't love about the mission, but its a good opportunity at the same time. You meet so many people and you learn to love them. And then before you know it your time with them is over and you have to move on, and the saddest part is you'll probably never see or talk to a majority of them again, even though it felt like you went through a lot with them, and usually in the real world, people you go through that much with, are your friends for a long time since you stuck so much out together. But it's nice because you get to love and know so many people and you learn that it's what's inside a person. You can get along with anyone if you look for what's inside, at the part of that person that chose with their agency the same thing you did. It's funny how even though we know that as LDS's, we have a tendency to forget, to look at what annoys us instead of what we have in common. I know it took me a long time to love my teachers like I do. I only wish I could go back and change the days I didn't see how amazing they were, I could have gotten so much more out of the MTC than I did. But the thing is you can't go back and you can't spend forever wishing you did, so I have one week left to suck up whatever people have to teach me and learn whatever I can in this last couple days...and then I'm off to a new part of my mission. It's an exciting life. It's an emotional roller coaster. But it's worth it. You don't have to take an entire mission to realize that.

Oh and by the way, I'm going to be a baptizing missionary. Buahaha. I'll talk about our devotionals lately another time, but yeah, they keep telling us every missionary should be a baptizing missionary...so that's what I'm going to be. I'm bold. You all know that's a strength of mine :) so watch out Taiwanese people, you don't even know what's coming.

:P

Fu Jiemei.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

MTC Fireside: All Called to Baptize

Robert P. Swenson (Director of Missionary Services)

MTC Provo

29 March 2009

Some people will feel things they weren't expecting to hear. Take notes of feelings because they will have feelings they can use the rest of lives.

Why are you here as a missionary at the MTC? Purpose PGM p. 1

Invite people, ask not hope.

Get started here and now.

Everyone who isn't you is others.

Don't preselect who don't go to.

Gospel of Jesus Christ Restored. You are here to learn restored gospel so you can help others receive restored gospel through faith in his atonement. Only a few people know what atonement is/does/means.

Here at MTC for you learning what you need to teach. For you to learn what the atonement means to you. Make the atonement personal. Atonement freedom from physical death. Alma 7:11-13; 2 Nephi 31:10-11, 13,15,19,21.

You can't adequately repent if you have not repented.

Don't think you are not sent to baptize. All are called to baptize, even if not doing the baptisms. Try a time or two to extend baptism in first couple of minutes of contact.

Take upon you the name of Jesus Christ with nametag. D&C 20:37

MTC Mission Conference

MTC Provo

29 March 2009

Pamela Craig: Diligence is a Christlike attribute. Don't run faster than you have strength. The secret to missionary work is work. D&C 75 2-5 When you think we have done all we can, do a little more.

Laurie B. Craig: Need to boldly ask people to commit and repent. Commitments are the threads from which covenants are woven (Kenneth B. Johnson). Will you promise blessings, bear personal testimony. Be bold and learn early to issue commitments. Bold sisters are so good at following up and so good at commitments. Shy companion became boldest sister in the mission. We all have weaknesses, but if we go to the Lord, He will make us strong.

Miriam Clegg: Missionaries lighten up! If you have the Spirit, everything else will come. Pray hard, work hard, but laugh a lot. Every verse from the Book of Mormon is true, so you can feel the Spirit with every verse. The Spirit is mild and gentle. If you can't feel it very much ask Heavenly Father to turn up the heat and he will. Pray specifically for guidance from the Holy Ghost. Pray you can find people. Create a climate Holy Ghost can witness. Feel and investigators feel. It is hard to knock in Italy so they did mostra (signs and free book displays). Mostra is the full armor of God. On Torino Street Anziano Jones and Smith at mostra board praying someone would come. A Sister Rosala who was very religious saw them and pictures of Christ and accepted Book of Mormon and commitment. She called missionaries back and was baptized to distress of family and friends. Missionaries who go to Torino will know Rosala. PMG p. 156 "Build up church D&C 123:12 Make a personal quest to recognize the Spirit. Don't accept anything less than the real deal.

J. Halvor Clegg: Loved knocking on doors but doesn't recommend. Use better ways. Satan used his agency. We have ours. You fought so hard so people you teach can have agency, reject you, not keep commitments, and sin. Moroni says "that which enticeth to do good and enticeth to do evil. Your job is to do good. See if you will choose happiness. Abraham 3:24-25 Test if we listen to good. D&C 58:26-27 He that is compelled in all things slothful. Enthusiastically engage in happy cause. Don't lose one minute. Agents unto themselves, you will decide what your mission will mean. How you use time determines who you become. Damned means our progress is stopped.

Elizabeth Smith: She is an extremely smart woman with Ph.D. degrees in Philosophy and Theology and European Studies. Christianity told members at baptism: "You members don't know what you have, the world has been in a famine, I've been looking for this my whole life." Book of Mormon can bring joy and hope. Remember converts when tired.

Ralph W. Smith: Dress can draw attention away from nametag.

To understand the language of the Spirit:
  1. Be humble and submissive.
  2. Ask in faith, believing you will receive.
  3. Be worthy.
  4. Seek peace and clarity of mind and listen.
  5. Be patient and accept the Lord's timetable.
  6. Prayers are answered in the Lord's way.
  7. Eliminate contention.
  8. Show gratitude to God for his gifts.
  9. Search the scriptures for answers. (Moroni 10:3-5)
  10. Be obedient and follow the promptings.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Friend Letter: Back at BYU-Idaho

Sister Bruno,

I was way excited to get your postcard. Oh how the tables have turned. It's kind of different now that I'm here in Rexburg and you are at the MTC. I hope you're making the best of it. I am really having a good time here at school. I never would of thought I could have so much fun. My classes are going pretty well. I probably won't end up with a 4.0 that I wanted, but I'm still learning a bunch. I haven't decided what my major is going to be. I'm thinking either business or communication. This semester I'm taking an intro to communication and next semester I will probably take an intro to business. Between the two I'll pretty much have my major and minor picked out by the end of the next semester. It's too bad Alan is getting married in April so he's moving out but Jared will still be here. My roommate James is way cool too, he's from California and served his mission in Lubbock. He may end up staying, but I'll switch rooms and take Alan's old bed. They say that bed has been handed down for a few generations to guys that ended up getting engaged. The guy who slept in it before Alan got engaged, and now Alan is engaged. The way things are going between Desiree and me, I just may keep that tradition alive. yeah, we have been getting along really well. I even talked to her parents and they seemed to like me. I did end up talking to her about the possibility that she could serve a mission when she turns 21 this fall, but that doesn't seem likely. She is great and has a strong testimony of the gospel. How is your Chinese coming? I bet you're further along than all those other sisters. But don't get discouraged if it's not as good as you want. I would get easily discouraged, but that's just a lack of faith. So, fight the good fight, and finish your course. Thanks again for the postcard.

Sincerely,

Paul

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

MTC Scripture Study: Hope

Elizabeth VanDenBerghe believers know even with strong reliance on the Lord, not all is sunny and darkness often looms, but as a suffering Job "Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward (Job 5:7) But in those troubles, religion lightens the load--offering hope, renewing strength, uniting families and encouraging followers to help one another.

Matthew 11:28, 30

Faster recoveries, health, less suicide. Faith promotes coping, happiness factor. Ezra Taft Benson Larry King Live: "Religion offers no shield for wickedness, for evil, for those kind of things. The God in whom I believe does not foster this kind of action. He is a God of mercy, love, peace and reassurance.