Sister Cecily Roberts: Week 17: Earthquake on the 10th Floor & Chinese New Year!

So wow....let me just start by saying I'm alive haha.

There was a 6.4 earthquake in Tainan which is two cities away from Tai Dong. During the earthquake I was in Hua Lien Which is a blessing. We were on exchanges. Everyone in Tai Dong is fine and no damage was done. But it was scary. It happened at 4 in the morning and we were on the 10th floor of our STL's apartment building. I woke up, and was like "Oh ok, an earthquake" Then it got bigger, and didn't stop. It lasted I want to say for a good 10-15 seconds. But maybe not because I was kinda half asleep. But it was scary. I heard that buildings collapsed in Tainan. Yea, everyone I know is good though. :)

So that was probably the most exciting part of my week. Exchanges. They were fantastic. They always are. And by always I mean the two that I've had :) I was with Sister Haupt this time and it was just so good. It was a lot of finding but then we had two lessons. The Spirit was so strong, and I just felt my Chinese really flow as I bore my testimony to this investigator that we can say this church is true, but he won't know unless he feels it for himself. I'm so grateful. While at exchanges I learned that I need to have more faith. It's so interesting because faith is the first principle of the gospel. I have faith. of course. I wouldn't be here if I didn't. But it's so interesting because in the gospel, there is always deeper knowledge or deeper levels of the most basic principles. I realized that I needed to have more faith to find. More faith in my Father in Heaven and that this is His work. That this is Christ's work. I need to have faith that we will baptize. That we will find prepared people. That God will lead us to the prepared. So that's my goal this week is to have more faith.

Sister B and I are doing a thing called "project purification" it's basically a 40 day spiritual fast. So you fast for a day, and write down a list of things that are "poking at your spirit". That are keeping you from having the Spirit as a constant companion. Once you've made the list, you pray and covenant with the Lord every morning that you won't (or will) do the things on the list. And you ask for the strength to be able to do them. Then at night, when you pray before bed, you evaluate how you did. And figure out what you need to do better. The point is that by the end of the 40 days (basically a whole transfer), you're heart will be in the right place. I think it's a talk somewhere. But I'm really excited because I know this will help me to give my whole heart, might, mind, and strength. I hope that made sense. Oh the reason I said that is because Sister B and I are doing it as a companionship. So we have personal goals, but we also have companion goals. So hopefully this transfer, we just explode, and we just will be able to become awesome missionaries together.

This week was pretty straight forward. We only had one lesson with an investigator because everyone is "too busy" because of guo nian (Chinese New Year). And this week everyone is going out of town, so all of our investigators are on hold. Wen JM has been really busy the past few weeks and has canceled on us so she isn't progressing anymore which is a bummer. But she is still in contact with us so we know there's still hope. We have another really cute investigator named Yolanda. This is her English name and she's just so funny. She tries to speak English all the time. We haven't been able to meet with her either, and she's also pulling the "I'm way too busy" card. So we have to figure out how to overcome that. Our other investigator Lynn, or Chen JM is the most solid one right now. She's in Taibei, but we know she's praying, and she asked us to send her scriptures because she forgot her Book of Mormon at home. We asked her to pray about her baptismal date, to receive a confirmation, and she said "I already know that this is a big decision, and I've already made my mind." She's just incredible. I can't wait to meet with her more! I love her! I love them all!

This week we only found a few new investigators, but one specifically is really cool. His name is Ted, I think he's like 20? I don't know. But he's super cool. We were contacting, and we heard a guitar. Sister B looks at me, and goes "you can play for them!" I was like "Yea yea yea!" haha just like that. I was so excited! We go, and their door is open (like most are), and we said hello and I asked if I could try. So I played for him, and he played for us. We had a little lesson with him, and as he was talking I just looked at him and thought "I could see us being really good friends, and being friends beyond my mission". I have high hopes for him. Especially because Sister B said that she had met the Ama (his grandma, who was also in the room, but not a part of the discussion, she's really old) and that her and her companion sung for her and the ama actually said that she had a grandson that she wanted to come to church. So miracle! Yay! :D I can't wait!

Other than that, it was a pretty straight forward week. We met some cool people and helped a lady prepare vegetables for guo nian, and almost got eaten by a lot of dogs, and met some really cute girls who were down the street and waved at us and then RAN to say hello which was cute, Yea you know, all the normal haha.

I love Taiwan. This country is amazing. And guo nian is so fun. It'll probably be a really hard week cause it'll be straight finding but I'm kinda excited. I know that it'll be full of experiences. Hopefully we don't get fat from all the food!

I love you all and I invite you all to work on your faith this week. Trust in God. Put your confidence in Christ. I also invite you to read the church magazines. The Liahona and Ensign. They are amazing! I was joking with Sister B and said "Why didn't anyone tell me about these sooner?" It's one thing to hear the apostles speak and another to read their words and study them. It's so awesome. I know that this church is God's church on this Earth. My heart burns with that knowledge. I know that when you hold the Book of Mormon in your hands, you hold the word of God. When you hold that book in your hands, you hold the very piece of information that testifies that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. That Jesus is the Christ. And that this Church is God's kingdom once again restored on the Earth (refer to Book of Mormon intro for the complete promise of the Book of Mormon). That book is true. And I invite and encourage you all to find out for yourself. GOd has challenged us and told us to ask Him. He asks us to TEST HIM. Our Creator has asked us to TEST HIM. He promises us that He will answer us if we ask sincerely. I don't know what's more amazing then that. This Church, His plan, is such a gift. It is so pure and so perfect, and I don't know what I did in my life, or before this life to deserve the opportunity to have this gift. AND to be able to share it with others. How lucky am I? I love you all! Have a good week and Happy Chinese New Year!!!!

Love from Taiwan,

Sister Roberts

luo jie mei ( I still haven't taken the time to figure out how to write them in characters. Some day :) )