Week 28: I'VE BEEN TRANSFERRED! & BIKE ACCIDENT #1

HI HI HI HI HI!!!!!! 

So I'm not in Tai Dong anymore!!!! Surprise!!! :D I'm in San Chong which is basically the heart of Taibei....and I must say I have quite a lot of a culture shock. Tai Dong is so not a city. I've been really nervous and anxious biking here. It didn't help that I didn't have my bike, and that the brakes don't work very well. Oh and it REALLY doesn't help that I got in a bike accident the night before I left Tai Dong. SURPRISE! :D I'm ok. Don't worry. All I will say is that God is a God of miracles, and that I basically shouldn't be alive and should have broken a bone. The "shouldn't be alive" is a little dramatic, but at the same time not really. I'll just stop rambling and explain :) 

We were on our way home from English class (Wednesday night). We had like 2 minutes to get home and we were almost home, but we were biking fast. I was in front, then Sister Child, then Sister Hickenlooper (I was on exchanges with them because Sister Hadley is training! So she went up to Taibei early for the trainer-trainee meeting).  Anyway, I was in front, and I was biking fast, and I see this scooter on the left that I am about to pass. Well he slows down a little and starts moving into me and I realize that he's turning into the street to my right. But of course it's too late, then I scream a little as he t-bones me. The next thing I remember is rolling, catching my breath, sitting up, and looking down at my skirt and thinking "oh no my garments are showing".  Haha kinda funny. Anyway, I sit on the ground for like 10 seconds and stand up, pick my bike up as the poor man tries to help me and just keeps saying sorry. I tell him it's ok and thank him for helping me pick up my bike. Of course I'm in shock and don't really realize what's going on. But yea. I look at his moped and see his grandson on it, and I waved goodbye, then walked away. The other sisters are freaking out and are saying "Oh my gosh, are you ok? How are you walking? Etc". They said I flew in the air, and rolled three times. And I just can't tell you how much of a miracle it is that I'm ok. I walked away with no pain except for road rash on my arm, a cut on my ankle, and a bruised tailbone. A few days later, I realized I had very tiny scratches on my knees and my left arm felt like I had gotten a shot... like my muscle was sore. But I hope you all understand how miraculous it is that my hands weren't scratched, I didn't have a headache, my bike didn't land on me, in fact my bike wasn't anywhere near me. How did I get off the bike? How did it not crush my leg? Sorry now I'm just rambling. Before I left for my mission, in my setting apart blessing, my Stake President blessed me with safety, and Heavenly Father definitely protected me. I was truly blessed with safety. It was interesting because for the days leading up to the accident, I had been thinking about how he had pronounced that in my blessing. I feel bad for the man, and I hope he knows that I'm ok, and that he isn't feeling guilty. And I'm so glad that he and his grandson are ok. 

My bike is a little scratched up. The rear wheel is also a little warped but you know. After the accident, I had to finish packing because we were leaving at 5:30 the next morning for transfers ...it's hard to pack while in shock. Ok i'm done talking about it. Every time I think about it, I want to tear up because I'm just so grateful that I'm ok. It has definitely caused a lot of stress and anxiety biking in the city. I just feel so frazzled every time I get off my bike. The first day biking in the city, I was on the brink of tears the whole time because I'm just so terrified to be on a bike right now. Anyway sorry... now that my e-mail is half about my bike accident. 

Monday night at FHE I found out that Sister Hadley is training (woohoo for her!) so that meant I knew before everyone else in Tai Dong that I was leaving. I also got to say goodbye to everyone, and it was such a tender mercy because we had set ups with almost all of our investigators and I got to see all of the members I love so much. In the midst of saying goodbye though, I realized that my whole life has been goodbyes, and I got a little teary eyed because goodbyes are hard. I realized I will never be in Tai Dong that way again. Living among the people and having responsibility to find the prepared.  

So I'm now in San Chong, and we have the nicest apartment!!! Like oh my goodness I feel like I can live again. I'm not worried about cockroaches or anything like that! it's so amazing! They are new apartments and it's literally called A+ Mansion. LOVE IT. 

It's been a little weird adjusting to a new area, but I love my companion, Sister Wong. She's from America. ABC (American Born Chinese). Her family is from China. She didn't speak any Chinese before she came and her Chinese is already basically fluent, which that was kinda discouraging because I thought I was doing well, but yea she's awesome and has worked hard. Oh sorry I forgot to mention, I'm breaking her, which means I'm her first companion after training. Because I'm "breaking her" of her habits with her trainer. So we are both very new missionaries. It's so exciting though! I've been here for about 4 months and she's been here for about 3. Yikes! President really trusts us I guess. Well and God :) 

I haven't really gotten to know the investigators yet so I'll "report" on them next week. The one challenge we've had is keeping the time limits. As in, how long we are with members, how long we teach lessons, and just using time wisely. So hopefully next week will be better. I just have this gut feeling of being guilty because I know that's not what God wants. But that's just how the missionary work was done here before. I'm gonna change that though. We will be 100% obedient. 

I love this area or I'm learning to love it haha. It'll be a while getting used to the city but we will see. I know that God wants me to be here and I love Sister Wong! We get along well and I'm so excited for this transfer! It's amazing to see how fast time goes.  I know that God is real and I know that He loves these children. 

I'm working on being humble, and not worrying about my Chinese. I'm' just doing the best I can to learn and not comparing myself. I love this work so much and I'm so excited to help this area explode!!!! I love you all!!!

Love,

Sister Roberts

My Precious Jessica Liu

Lin JM & Huang JM .. Love them!!

Beautiful Taidong & Wonderful Sisters

Biking Selfie!!

Yang JM & Mei Mei .. we found them at the library and referred them to the Elders. They were recently baptized.

Lounge in our new apartment building ... wow!

Sister Wong & my new disrict

Bike Accident

My new view ... San Chong 

Beautiful Taidong ... my last train ride

Week 27: 6 Months & Amazing Baptism!!!

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Hi Hi Hi!

This week was so awesome!!! To start off with, Huang JM was baptized!!! It was so crazy how it happened. We taught her the final commandments before her baptismal interview. She told us that she wouldn't be able to come to church for the next three weeks. Like from the 24th on. So we were like "oh zao gao, what are we going to do? can she get confirmed three weeks after her baptism?" But she told us that morning she drank coffee. She had a sip. She sat there and looked at it, and then took a sip. But then she went deaf in one ear. So she went and prayed and as soon as she said Amen, her hearing came back! Isn't that the coolest story? She's so amazing. She prays all the time.
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 I've just never seen someone so converted! Wow :) Anyway, she had her baptismal interview afterwards, and she passed her interview. But while she was in her interview we were talking to the zone leaders who asked why she couldn't get baptized today. We were like "well she drank coffee" and they told us to call President. So we did. She walks out of the interview and is like "Can I get baptized today?" And we were like "Um we think so!!!! :D " Then we ​talked to president, who tried to understand her situation better, and he said that she could get baptized. Because she hadn't drunk coffee or tea for a while before that!!!! So we spent the rest of the afternoon getting her ready for her baptism!  And it all turned out!. She is so amazing and so prepared. She said that when she went under the water​, it's like her worlds changed, and when she came out she's like "It's like I am in a different world!" So so awesome! Then at her confirmation, she put her hand on her heart and took a huge breath! So precious! I'm so so grateful to be a part of this work! I can't tell you how amazing it is to know that she is an official member of the church. She's so involved and is​ just so great!

We also had interviews with President Jergensen this week. He came all the way down to Tai Dong which ​was wonderful​. And the interviews were amazing! Iwish I could share everything in our interview but it's a little too personal​. Let me just say that it was very motivating and ​I'm so excited!!! 

Other than that, the week was pretty normal. I just have too much to say and not enough time! We had another amazing week as far as key indicators go. I don't know what happened, but God has blessed us so much. I've been thinking about what makes an area successful, and what makes an area a "dead" area. And I think that it really comes down to the faith of the missionaries. I am determined to have faith. No matter how dead the area is, just like at the beginning of my mission, I am determined to make the most of every minute and to just have faith because I know that 99.999999999 of missionary work is faith. 

I've also felt that I've had a lot more charity too. I just love more! And I'm just so much happier! I've been working on focusing on others! It's the only way to be happy! Seriously! 

So we might have another baptism next week! Dora! We found that she had been drinking tea and we asked if she could make a goal to stop, and she said she would stop right now. And she has so far. I promised her that I also won't eat candy/chocolate. But her baptismal date is for this next Saturday but we feel there is still another problem, so we need to help her feel more prepared. I can't wait though! I just hope I'm here to see her be baptized! 

We also have Maggie and her friend Kelly. They are both 14 and Kelly is Maggie's friend that she referred us to. So awesome! We met Maggie's mom and her mom is so awesome. She's like "Can you bring your brother to church?" And "if you wanna go on a mission I'd support you" So awesome! She (Maggie and now Kelly) come to all the church activities. She's just so amazing! 

Oh and we met this other guy. Well Sister B and I met him, and he was like "yea you can come back" but we have people tell us that to just get us to go away. So we didn't think too much of it.  But one night, I felt like we should go back to his house. So we did, and that wasn't our plan to go but I realized we were in the area so we went. He gave us his number and said we could comeback! So he set up with us this week and we met with him yesterday and it was awesome! He's so prepared! I'm just so glad I listened to the spirit. In his prayer, he said "Thank you for sending me the missionaries to teach me about the true church" Wow :) So amazing!!!

That's pretty much it! We have found a lot more people and I'm just happy! I'm looking forward to transfers though to see if I move. I would like to stay because of how beautiful Tai Dong is and how much the area has grown! I can't leave these people! Or the ward! But I would also like to see more of Taiwan. I have a feeling that I may move, and president hinted at it slightly. I don't know! We will see!!!!!!! 

So I'm "obsessed" with learning how to cook. I want so badly to learn how to cook easy Taiwanese dishes because all their food is so simple. It has hardly any ingredients in it, and just yummy! So I always ask people to teach me :) 

I learned this week that we need to listen to Heavenly Father. We were talking in district meeting about how we need to listen to our investigators before we talk. And one of the sisters made a comment about how Heavenly Father is the perfect listener and that if we listen well enough we will feel Him listening, and then we will feel His guidance. I know that's true. He cares about us and He wants to help us. But if we just call Him, tell Him everything, then hang up the phone (figuratively speaking of course), then we will never hear what He has to say! So take just a few extra minutes after you're prayer to listen. Miracles happen. Inspiration/revelation comes. 

I love being a missionary and I love God and this work! And I'm learning on loving even more!

Love from Tai Dong,

Sister Roberts

Spunky Ama that finally agreed to let me help her make Baozi

This is me putting dots on the baozi so she could tell what kind they were

Chen JM & her nephew Kelvin

Yang JM & Kelin ... I love these two!!

Hiking 8 arch bridge

Kelvin's parrot

Huang JM's baptism

Week 26 - Summer's Coming & General Conference

I just need to say... right away that God is a God of miracles, and that this truly is His church and His work. 

Hi! How is everyone??? Any exciting stories? Funny moments? Love to hear 'em!

So this week was another amazing one! God is just so merciful and I don't know what I did to deserve this! We made almost all of our key indicators and it's just such a miracle. We found 8 new investigators this week! The standard of excellence is 6. Wow! Obviously some are more solid than others but they all agreed to set up. A new investigator suans (counts) if we have a lesson with them and they set up with us. So amazing!

This week went by SO SO SO fast! It definitely helps that general conference took up our two longest days, so I can't complain. Especially because I LOVE general conference! I don't think I have ever loved something so much! I just can't explain how much I yearned for spiritual nourishment, and just how much I held on to each word! The thing I learned from General Conference that has been a theme in my life recently is charity. I was studying it at the beginning of the transfer, then it came up during district meeting, then at zone meeting, then in general conference. Obviously God is telling me I need to have more charity :) No but it's exactly what I needed because I learned that charity is the underlying reason (or should be the underlying reason) that I am here on my mission. Because I love God, because I love Jesus Christ, because I love God's children and want to share the gospel with them. Love NEEDS to be the underlying factor because without love, you don't have the right reasons. Am I finding because I want numbers and don't want to look bad? Or am I finding because I have a genuine desire to share the gospel and a genuine love for the person I'm talking to? It's been a good reflection moment, and I definitely have improving to do. 

So for my bao gao (report). Huang JM is scheduled to be baptized this week but she canceled on us once this week so it'll be a bit of a rush to finish the lessons. Obviously we won't rush if she's not prepared but she came to general conference and loved it, and just she's golden. So it's kan ta. (up to her). She shared a beautiful experience of her confirmation last week and I just realized that conversion is such a miraculous thing, and I can't express how grateful I am to be doing this work, and seeing people come to Christ. We often have people tell us "Oh that's so xing ku" like basically it means "I feel sorry for you" or "I feel for you" but I always say "Not xing ku, xing fu" which xing fu means rejoiceful ba? I don't know exactly how to translate it, I just know how to use it. 

Xu JM (Dora) Is also doing great! She also came to general conference and she's so awesome. Her baptismal date is next weekend, and so far she's on a roll!!!! Hopefully her parents say yes!! her testimony is so amazing and I admire her so much. 

We met a miracle girl last week at the library, named Maggie. I'm sure I mentioned her. Well she came to general conference thsi week and we met with her last week and she said she wanted to meet with us because of how enthusiastic we were, and also she wants to know how the Atonement applies in her life. What? She's awesome! She's also from Da Lu (mainland China). And President told us this week that we have to get people from Da Lu special permission from China and from a 70 because of China's regulations. So we were afraid she wasn't going to be able to be baptized, but she actually has a Taiwanese passport and so do her parents so it's all good!!! Miracle!!! She's so precious and so ready to be baptized! I can't wait!

I can't believe that this week is the second to last week of the transfer! It went by SO fast! Oh my goodness! Like there's a possibility I could be leaving Tai Dong!!! No!!! The area is finally growing and we finally have people to teach! And the ward is so perfect and so amazing! I can't leave now! I have a feeling Sister Hadley and I will stay for one more though. We will see! 

General Conference is amazing and it just really strengthened my testimony of this work, but also of the apostles and prophet. I loved listening to general conference and thinking about what it would be like to be an investigator listening. Because we had investigators hearing it for the first time. And I just gained such a strong testimony of the leaders of this church, and I'm so grateful for them, and for their humility and love. I know that they have the restored keys of the priesthood. I also KNOW that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and that because of him, we have the necessary keys that allow us to prepare to return to God. 

I also gained a stronger testimony of baptism. I loved that Elder Bednar said that baptism is a departure, not a destination. It's so true. baptism is the FIRST step. Not the FINAL. I'm so excited to go teach that to others and help members and recent converts and EVERYONE go to the temple and make the necessary covenants! I love this work! I'm so happy and I'm just so grateful for everything! 

I'll just share one more experience I had. There was one day this week where I was just having a "ugh, I don't know why, but I just am done" there were little things that happened that day that just put me in a "I just want to lay down and just think and do nothing" mood. For example, we sat down for planning and found a cockroach on my desk. Which is fine cause it was small. But we tried to kill it and couldn't. It disappeared. Next thing you know I find it crawling on my leg!!!!!!!!! Ugh! Just to top off the night I had to have a cockroach crawl on my leg. Literally that is my worst nightmare. Not really but still. I killed it pretty fast after that though. So that kinda just put me over the edge and I was just like...."I'm done". After planning i was just sitting there kneeling, and laying my head on the bed thinking, enjoying the moment of pause. And I had the thought "wow I'm grateful I killed that cockroach quickly. Then I had another gratitude thought. And I realized there were a lot of things to be grateful for. So I said a gratitude prayer. And from then on my night was great. I just realized how amazing God is and how many little tender mercies He gave me. Also, Sister Hadley made my bed. Which was such a tender mercy because I forgot to put my sheets in the dryer!

I know this church is true and I know God is watching out for His children. As Elder Holland said, the first and greatest truth is that we are divinely created and that we are children of the most high God. When all else seems to fail, we are still children of God. And I can testify that there isn't a greater truth. I know with all of my heart that He loves His children. He helps us in everything we do. If you don't think so, just take a step back and pray for your eyes to be open to the miracles and to see His hand in your life. 

I love you all so much!! Have a great week!

Love from Tai Dong and Taiwan,

Sister Roberts

Dad I knew you would love this ... a beautiful sunset (Dad did).

Garbage truck ... this is how we throw out our trash.

Cuz I'm happy! ...

Tandem biking on P-Day

Crazy sister Hadley

The things we see when finding!

Delicious honey comb

Beautiful Maggie

Week 25 - Witness Comes After The Trial of Your Faith

Hello hello hello!!!

How are you all? I hope you are all doing fantastic :)

This week went so so fast! And I can't believe that it's more than halfway through the transfer already! Where does time go?

Well this week started off kind of slow. By Thursday we hadn't had too much success, as far as key indicators go. Well I had this really awesome experience. I have been praying more to be able to recognize the Spirit, and follow the Spirit. Sister Hadley is really spiritually in tune and I really admire that about her. I also realized it's something I want to improve, so I had been praying for that. And on Friday, we were going to take some time to call people, and we had just started but I had the thought that we should go to the library. I didn't think too much about it. But I told Sister Hadley, and she goes "Yea I think we should." So we were gonna go in like 10 -15 min. But then we were both like "We should go now". So we went, and we went the bike path way (which I normally wouldn't have done but I decided last second to) and I see this girl on my left. I wave and smile and say hello, and she smiles and says hello back. As I got further away though I was like "we should go talk to her" and I did this little debate in my head. "Maybe we should go talk to her. But I don't want to miss anyone at the library. Should we? I don't know. Yea we should" So I turned around and we went and talked to her and it was amazing.  Her English name is May. She's 20 and we taught the restoration, gave her a Book of Mormon, and when we shared a scripture with her, she was like "Wait, really? Oh..." And she read it a couple times over and you could just see her really thinking. She's so amazing and I know that we were completely guided by the Spirit, and I'm just so grateful. Especially because I had been praying for it. I just need to work on not second guessing myself haha. She set up with us and I can't wait to see where it goes!

We've had so many set ups and so many lessons and it's such a miracle. I've never enjoyed being a missionary so much :) This week was good btw with Sister H. I think we've gotten used to each other and she's super fun and outgoing.

We have an investigator that's getting baptized next week! Hopefully :) Her name is Huang JM. She was a referral from the Elders, and she's golden. The only trouble we've had with her so far is that she talks too much haha. She spent the whole last lesson just talking about Taibei and going to institute. Which btw was completely her idea. She went to Taibei and the temple on her own. And she even went to institute. She's so amazing!!! And she also makes soap which is super cool and super delicious smelling!  So we have to make sure that we are straight forward with her and tell her we need to teach haha. Hopefully she can make it by next week!!! She's already been to church 3 times! :D

Our next closest investigator is Xu JM. (Dora). She's so sweet! Every time she sees us she just lights up. She came to English and she was out of town this last week so she wasn't able to come to church but no biggie. Her date is the 23rd and as long as she comes the next two weeks she'll be able to get baptized! Well and as long as her parents don't fan dui. (say no? or disagree) We met with her twice this week and she's just so awesome. She loves the Book of Mormon and already has it all marked up. Her Dad has been sitting in on the lessons too and might come with her to church on Sunday. It's General Conference so yay :)

I also had the experienced with a man who had evil spirits. Apparently that's common here. He said he hears voices, and while reading scriptures it's just...i don't know, just scary. He's the Elders' investigator and he came to du jing ban. (Scripture study class). They took care of it after du jing ban though. But the adversary is real. And the most powerful thing that he has done in this world is convince the world that he doesn't exist, that sin doesn't exist. That's all I have to say about that.

Oh we also met this really awesome girl. We met her at the library, and geng hao (even better?) a member was there and had a pei ke (member lesson) and she said a really nice prayer at the end, and THEN she came to 2 hours of church!!!!!!!!! What/???? No way! She's amazing! Miracles happen! :)

We met with Zeng Shu Yuan, and it was really good. She's the one who has the daughter Emy. We didn't think she was very interested so we did a "make it or break it" lesson. And she told us she read the passages we left for her, and she has even been doing it with her kids. I think because her kids have been involved she's more willing to "progress" but then we went back hou tian (day after tomorrow) and she said she was eating dinner and said to come back in an hour, so we did. But then she wasn't home when we got back, and her husband was waiting outside her house and told us she had gone somewhere. So I don't know. We will see. It's hard to set up with her because she never answers her phone. Oh well.

So we had a good week. Lots of lessons, and lots of miracles. I have gained such a personal testimony that the witness doesn't come until after the trial of your faith. I have learned very personally that you don't see the "fruits of your labors" until you actually labor. Having two transfers of struggling, you really learn to appreciate having people to teach. Not really that, but I have just learned that no matter how obedient I am, no matter how hard I work, that this is God's work. He is completely in charge, that it doesn't matter what I do, it's always up to Him. He's in charge of who is in our path. Who we meet, etc. And I know that He has given me this experience so early so that I could learn to rely completely on Him. I also learned to work really hard.

I have really started to love being a missionary. I love teaching, I love meeting people. I especially love the Taiwanese people. I can't express how much I love the ward here and love these people! I also love God a lot :) Haha :) I just can't express how true this gospel is. My question this week has been "How can I help my investigators have the necessary experiences that will strengthen their testimony enough to last the rest of their lives?" It's a tough question, and maybe one I will have the rest of my mission, but I just want to help them to really have a testimony. Especially because we ask them to be baptized relatively soon after we meet them.

I know with all of my heart that this is God's work. That He lives. That Jesus Christ is our Savior, and that because of Him, we can return to God's presence. Just think of that … we can return to GOD. The supreme creator of the universe. He loves us and has created for us a plan so that we can live with Him again some day. You couldn't ask for a more perfect truth. I am so grateful I get to share this with others and to bring the happiness that I feel from this gospel to the lives of others. I know this is true. I have also come to know the Book of Mormon is true. Oh my goodness I love that book!!!!! :D I love you all and I hope you have a great week!!!

Invitation: Read "Becoming Perfect in Christ"

Love,
Sister Roberts

A member made a huge mound of rice for us!

Crazy mosquitos

Sister Hadley fixed my chair ... she played a 'plank' joke on me

My fixed chair thanks to Sister Hadley

My favorite sisters