Week 1 in Yuanshan: Success!

Week 1 was a good week, I found out that I really do just love Sister Chang.  We have a lot more in common than you'd think.  I've loved getting to know her as well as our investigators and members.  I was able to meet with our investigator Jamie who is getting baptized on Saturday.  She is really just so great and so cute and so ready to enter the waters of baptism.  It will be sad when she has to move back to Hualian for school.  :(  

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to Kuha'o 's (he is a boy from a Mormon Message) performance.  He really is such a sweet boy with amazing talent.  His heart is full of love and he just wants to be able to share the talent that Heavenly Father gave him with everyone he can.  He was such an example of faith, love, service, and charity.

Biggest surprise, I saw my college friend Erin at Kuha'o 's performance.  Turns out she is in Taiwan for a year for work.  Surprise!

Sister Hsu

New!

Hello! So, last Wednesday we went to the temple!  It was a great experience.  I really do just loving going to the temple.  That same night we also had our English Party, it was basically a huge free-for all for children, hahaha.  There was jump-rope, volleyball, four square, bouncy balls, and chips.  Really, just organized chaos.  :)

OH and Surprise!  I am now in Yuanshan, Gaoxiong!  My new companion Is Sister Chang.  She is from Australia and super awesome.  We were in the same zone the move-call before last.  I absolutely loved my last ward and companion, but I am also so excited to see what kind of miracles this new place, new companion and new ward will bring.

Well, okay.  I'll let you in on the miracles we see next week.  :)

Sister Hsu

Beitun District

Yao Family!

"On the road again"

It's been a great week.

Pretty self-explanatory I think.

This week we had a challenge from our Mission President for every single companionship in the mission to find 3 new investigators.  I don't know if that sounds like a lot or a little to you, but it was an opportunity for us to band together as a mission and really pray for one another and really go out and also try to help your fellow missionaries find new people who have interest in the gospel.  I was feeling the pressure just a bit because it had been a while since we last found 3 new investigators in the same week, but with lots of prayers and throwing my fears and caution out the window, we were able to find our 3 in the first few days, and after that the people who seemed interested lived in neighboring areas or were guys.  So, we were about to give those phone numbers to other missionaries.  On top of being able to help other people, we received a lot of love too.  We got more contacts from other missionaries than ever before.  It was awesome to really feel the love and desire that all of us had to work together to find prepared people to teach.  Now is the really hard part, it to be able to remember that feeling, that drive and have it push me every single week whether or not we are doing it together as a mission.  It was a great experience that showed to me my potential as a missionary, and now is the time to really internalize it and just do it!  SPIRIT FIRE!!

I saw this and thought it was pretty funny. I hope it puts a smile on your face. :)

On another note, our investigator Huang JM is no longer an investigator... She is a new member!  She was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday!  We are so happy for her!  She really is full of faith and fire.  One of her biggest trials in being baptized was her fear of water, but due to some circumstance she needed to go under twice.  Sister Funk and I were so worried about her, but happy that while she was in the font, she was wiling to do it again.  While she was changing we asked her how she was doing and she said, "I wasn't scared!"  Sister Funk and I truly believe that her having to do it twice was a blessing from the Lord so that she could grow even more in confidence and faith.  She is awesome!

Huang JM was baptized!

Okay, well I think that is all for now.

Love you all!

Sister Hsu

P.S.  We are going to the temple on Wednesday.  So excited!

Tragedy strikes again

This week there was a gas line explosion in Gaoxiong.  In all honesty I don't know very much about it because I don't watch the news here, but from what I have seen and heard, the damage was quite expensive, several people lost their lives and many others were injured.  It feels like recently there have been several things happening here in Taiwan, but I can feel peace in knowing that our Heavenly Father is aware of every single person here and loves each and every one of us.  I hope that the families affected by the recent tragedies are able to have the opportunity to find peace in their hearts.  

Why come out on a mission?  To share the restored gospel of Jesus Christ so that all may know of His love and have hope.

With all that has been going on, I myself have also been doing a lot of self reflecting.  I realize that I have been given this opportunity to be on a mission to bless other peoples lives, yes, but mainly it is so that Heavenly Father can bless my life and bring about changes within me that will be of a benefit to me and my future. 

God gives us blessings in the form of trials.  Don't ever forget that.  Love it and learn from it.  

Sister Hsu  

Typhoon.

Night before the typhoon

This past week I experienced my first typhoon.  It was full of wind and rain.  But, here in Taichung because of where the city is, it really wasn't too bad.  They say that if a typhoon is really bad in Taichung, then the rest of Taiwan is in BIG trouble.  But, despite it not being so bad here in Taichung, there was still a tragedy when a plane crashed into a residential area somewhere else in Taiwan due to the typhoon.  It was a sad day.  It was crazy to think that a storm that hardly impacted our area, caused such devastation in another.

Our poor Elders blow drying their shoes.

In terms of the work, our investigator has pushed her baptism date again to the 10th of August.  Both me and my companion were thinking she wasn't ready for this past week, and we were just waiting for her to tell us, but this new date, Sister Funk and I both feel better about it and when out investigator was telling us about the change, she sounded different and more prepared and even excited, so we are looking forward to it.

Wehlp, that's all, see ya'll next week!  :)

Sister Hsu

Waiting for the bus to go to English class