Week 33: It's Getting Hot Here!

Hello!!!!

First of all, what the heck, everyone is getting married. Second of all, I love being a missionary. Shocker! :) Bet you didn't know that one huh?

So this week, was another hai hao week. (so so). We didn't make the new investigators key indicator but we definitely worked our hardest. Also, it got pretty hot this week. So I may or may not have a really good watch tan line...gotta love it.

We saw a really awesome miracle this week. Actually yesterday, we were sitting down, taking a break, cause we just were like "I don't know where to go". So we were sitting and talking to people as they walked by, and I asked a guy going by if he spoke English, he said "Sure" and we started talking, and it ended up that he met two elders in our district last week, and that he was going to Utah in a month to visit some of his LDS friends that he met last summer while they were here teaching English. So he basically is so prepared. He knows everything about the church, and he is really open to hearing more. His English is awesome and he's just really cool. He came with us and did a chapel tour with us and the elders. But I just know that God was leading us. And it was such a testimony builder to me because even though we don't really have any investigators, and I've just felt like a failure missionary, I know that God is leading me. And allowing me to have different success then I imagined. SO yea, that was super awesome.

We also go to hear from one of the very first missionaries that came to Taiwan! It was so so awesome! His name is Elder Kitchens. He shared about his experience and shared some stories. He shared a story about an Elder who was there for three years, and baptized one person. His whole life he thought his mission was a "waste" but it ended up 40 years later, he found out that he had met and contacted the person who translated the Book of Mormon from English to Chinese. The Spirit really testified to me that my time has not been a waste. I haven't felt like I've touched the lives of many people, and haven't seen the "fruit of my labors" but I know that God is using me. I don't know exactly how, but that God is making me the person and missionary he wants me to be.

I also learned later this week, that I'm ok with whatever God puts in my path. I just want to stop worrying so much about me. Which I'm sure I've said before, but I've been trying to look at it from an eternal perspective. That whatever is happening right now, is preparing me and others for something more. I just have such a strong testimony that this is God's work. That's basically it. It's God's work, and it has nothing to do with what I want, but it's all about Him.

I also had a cool experience this week of teaching a lesson. It was an unplanned lesson because a member brought a friend to church, so we shared the first lesson. And Sister Wong was saying the first vision, and I just looked at the picture, and felt the Spirit so so strong. And it was also really cool, because I felt a difference in my Chinese and knowing what to say, and it just flowed a lot smoother. It was really cool! I'm so grateful. It's been a while since I've had a lesson like that. But what I learned from it is to just trust the Spirit. To think about what He would say.

OH I ALSO GOT TO SEE BECKY, KELIN, AND LEO FROM TAI DONG!!! They came up to Taibei for an activity at Jin Hua Jie, and they came to my ward for church!!!!!!!! MY THREE FAVORITE PEOPLE FROM TAI DONG. Actually I can't say that. Everyone is my favorite :)

Well, I think that's all I've got. It's scary how fast time flies. I feel like my Chinese isn't where I wanted it to be by this time, and that I'm not anywhere near as good of a missionary as I want to be. But that's just how it is. And I'm doing all I know how to do. I know this church is true, and I know that God and Christ live. I know that what I'm doing is the work of God, and I basically ask myself everyday, how did I get to lucky to have this opportunity? What did I ever do? I love this gospel and I love Taiwan. The people are amazing. The food is amazing. I couldn't be more blessed! I love you all!!!

Love,

Sister Roberts

Visiting the 101 building

Peeling a pineapple

Sister Hughes!

Sister Nau!

Love the children :-) 

Kelin from Taidong

Add caption

Yummy dinner!

Watch tan line

Internet cafe where we email from

Week 32: Faith ... it's a hard one

Hello everyone!

This week was really great and kinda hard! Really, I don't have much to say. 

Thursday we had temple tours and it was so awesome. We saw so many miracles. It was a Thursday so the temple isn't very busy. BUT we had 7 tours AND 3 were random people off the street!! What? That never happens!!! SO amazing! We had a temple tour training last week and I was so excited for this week because I knew through preparation that we would see miracles. And we did! Yea that's basically it :) 

This week... I really don't know what to say. We just had a lot of finding time. And didn't really find anyone. It's just been a real test of my faith. District meeting was all about being positive and it's something I've been working on a lot. It's really humbling when you don't find investigators, and when all your few investigators are too busy to meet and aren't willing to make time, and just tough. 

Also Rachel, she was scheduled to be baptized next week but the day of her baptismal interview she told us she wasn't ready to be baptized. She was a little worried about a man helping her be baptized and she just has a lot of stress. She also said she doesn't feel like she has met Jesus yet. But she doesn't pray everyday, and doesn't read everyday (she doesn't like reading), so we don't really know how to help her. She says every time we meet with her it causes her a little stress because she knows we are going to tell her to read and pray. We are just going to give her a little break. 

And other than that, we have no one else to report on, and it's hard. I am trying so hard to stay positive, and to have faith that the field is white and ready to harvest. We pray over where we go, we pray all the time about which direction we should head, we talk to everyone we can, we are obedient, we are doing all that we know how to do! It's just a little frustrating. Anyway. I learned that I am being tested. Through prayer, I've felt I just need to be patient, and I was reading a talk in the 2014 Feb Liahona by Elder Scott and found this:

"Even if you have the strongest faith, God will not always reward you immediately according to your desires. Rather, He will respond a piece at a time with what in His eternal plan is best for you. Your continuing exercise of faith will forge strength of character available to you in times of critical need. Such character is not developed in moments of great challenge or temptation. That is when it is used."

I know that this is true. I am becomming who God wants me to be and He knows that I need this experience of not having people to teach, and the struggle of finding investigators. I'm so grateful for the struggle and I'm just trying to be patient. Sorry my e-mail isn't really full of stuff and I hope it wasn't sad haha. 

I love you all! Don't forget to read and pray everyday!!!

Love,

Sister Roberts

Red Velvet Pancake from Julie Lanshe

Week 31: I LOVE being a missionary!

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! Everytime 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

Fun on Pday

View of the 101 building

Exchanges - Sister Juarez & Sister Maxwell

San Chong

San Chong

Sister Wong & I 

Beautiful Clouds

District fun on Pday

District fun

Missionary selfie

Week 30: Skype on Mother's day

Hi Everyone,
No post this week since she was able to Skype with us for Mother's day and they had a busy preparation day planned out. It was wonderful to Skype with her !!!

Week 29: San Chong Week #2

Hi Everyone,

We'll, I've survived a week and I'm perfectly fine!!! 

I'm fine now with biking in the city, and I've healed well. My tailbone still hurts though but only sometimes.

This week we did a lot of finding. We have a few investigators but I don't feel any of them are completely solid. So it's been interesting trying to figure out what they need and how we can help them build their faith. And one investigator Zhang JM, told us she doesn't want to get baptized. Well, a member told us Zhang JM called her and told her she doesn't want to get baptized. We haven't been able to meet with her yet but we just need to address her fears and talk to her. It's hard because I've been thinking a lot about what to share with her, but I don't know. 

We have another investigator but his baptismal date isn't until June because he can't come to church until middle of May. So that's kind of a bummer, but he's cool. He’s 21 and he dances and is just cool. We weren't able to meet with him this week but as far as I know he's reading and praying.

We taught Zhou JM about the Word of Wisdom last Sunday and doing our daily contact, we again found out through a member that it was stressing her out. Both us and members being in contact with her every day is stressing her out. We also weren't able to meet with her this week.

We met a super cool guy this week named Yang DX. He said he isn't happy. He's got a lot of bad background and just isn't happy. He's about 30. And it's awesome because I can just feel how much he needs this gospel, and he's curious. Now we just need to make that curiosity and make it faith. But we might hand him off to the Elder's because their Chinese is better and he's also a guy. We will see. 

I miss Tai Dong but the city is good. I'm glad to be doing new things, especially breaking someone. I hope you all understand how crazy that is. She is 6 weeks behind me. So we are both VERY new missionaries. Basically God and President Jergensen must trust us a lot. It's cool though because we had a new member fireside for all the Tai Bei missionaries and seeing all the other missionaries and everyone just made me grateful of who I am. I just felt like I am doing what’s right. I don't know why I felt that way but for the first time I felt like I was doing ok and that I didn't have this constant yearning to improve. That probably didn't make sense. Basically, I'm proud of who I am, and can't wait to be better. It's cool because we both are really new missionaries. BUT I have never felt "I can't do this, or I don't know what I am doing" It's just this feeling of "I'm doing all that I know how to do right now. What can I do better?" So it’s interesting. 

We had stake conference this Saturday and Sunday and it was good. Elder Wong from the 70 is doing a mission tour right now, and he attended stake conference. He's from Hong Kong and spoke Chinese, English, and Cantonese. It was really cool. I actually understood most of the meeting. Still a little hai hao. (So so). None of the speakers spoke of this, but I really felt from Elder Wong's message that I knew these things were true. I know that the Savior lives, and that He is REAL. And I just had this question, “What can I do to put more "power" into my words? Or how do I speak with more conviction?” Because I felt like I had been just saying the words "We share about Jesus Christ". And I don't want to do that. I want to remember and think about how I know this is true as I testify to someone. So I did that yesterday and it was awesome, because I felt the Spirit testify to me.

I should probably tell you more about Sister Wong.  She is from Seattle WA but her parents are from China. She wants to be a dietitian so that's super cool, cause I also want to. She also loves to cook. So she cooks for us almost every day! And that's even better because I don't know if you remember but I want to learn to cook! And she's like basically who I want to be. She just looks at what she has and just cooks. She said "You just cook until it tastes good. If it doesn't taste good, you did something wrong" Haha makes sense. I'm excited to learn from her. I want to have more fun together.

Well I think that's it. This week we are going to work on getting more referrals and improving our teaching skills. 

I almost finished with phase 2. I have almost "memorized" all the 2000 words for Phase 2 … I say "memorized" because I don't remember a lot of them. So I have to go back and review a lot. But phase 2 will definitely be passed off by the end of this transfer. I'm hoping sooner. Anyway :) 

I know that this church is true. I'm also so grateful for the Sacrament. The Sacrament is the reason we go to church. Through the sacrament, we can have a new start. We can be spiritually strengthened and through the sacrament we show God that we are willing to follow Him. I'm so grateful and I can't wait for next Sunday. Elder Wong said "If you are going to church once a month, that's ok. Next week be better, make it 2 times a month. If you are going 2 times a month, that's ok. But be better. If you are going 3 times a month, that's ok. Just be better starting tomorrow. If you are going 4 times a month, that's good. But remember, sometimes there are 5 weeks in a month. So go." Something like that. And I loved it. :) It's true. Just always be better. Also, go to church. Haha :) 

I love you all so much!!! Oh I also realized how fast time is going.... scary.

Love,

Sister Roberts

Our district (minus 2 Elders)

Me and the Bishop's beautiful wife

Shopping

Shopping with Sister Wong

Taking a break after 4 hours of finding!

Making  our own shade with an umbrella

Park on a Sunday ... everyone goes to the park and exercises

I got to see Sister Beeston! I love her!!

Pday dinner at TGI Fridays!

English boarding ... where we encourage people to attend our English class