That weather report is hilarious! Wow, still getting snow?! And pouring rain for state track, baseball and tennis, wow, that sounds hard. That's kind of funny though--you probably had pouring rain when we did too :) I love the rain here, the drops are so big and there is just so much of it--the only thing is right now it's still so hot so I don't want to put on my raincoat. We ended up just biking in it anyway and letting ourselves get wet. Everyone thinks we're crazy. One thing about Taiwanese is that they are afraid of a lot of things: cold water, the sun, the rain.... they wear coats or long sleeves even when it's ridiculously hot because they don't like getting tan...they think all rain is acid rain and will make your hair fall out. All the members keep reminding us to wear long sleeves and cover our heads in the rain :)
Mom, I'm so excited for you to start your garden! You would love the gardens here, there are all sorts of gardens on the sides of the road that are just random plots of earth that people have converted into gardens.
I can't believe Devin is coming home! No way! I felt like he just got out and now I still feel like he has another year...Crazy.
You went to the temple too! That is so cute, you guys are adorable :) I loved the temple so much. It's a small temple and I think it's even smaller than the Twin Falls temple, but it was so beautiful! Still a Tawainese building, but so beautiful--and it was such a blessing to be able to go. I haven't been able to go since the MTC, and we were lucky enough to live north enough to get to go. It was still a good bus ride up and back, but wow, I love the temple so much. Nothing can compare the spirit that is there and the opportunity to remember the covenants we have made with our Heavenly Father. I am so excited that you have been able to go and especially that you can go together.
So, I really want to tell you about this one awesome lady. Her name is xu wei rong and she is, wow, awesome. One thing that has been really special teaching her is that she is actually someone I contacted on the street. It was while we were on our way home and it was almost 9. We had done a lot of contacting that day, were still one short of our goal, and I was really discouraged because I had started contacting by myself and was getting a little frustrated that I didn't understand what anyone was saying back to me. I hadn't been able to add anyone that day either which was especially discouraging. But, this lady was great and agreed to meet with us. The thing was, as I was giving her a baptismal goal her phone rang and she quickly said ok and then brushed me aside.
The first couple lessons were shaky too, we were visiting someone else and were late to our first appointment with her and then she kind of laughed while we were teaching her a first lesson. Then she told us her purpose for meeting with us was so that she could find a church for her daughter. Well, that wasn't too great, but we still set up another appointment with her anyway. My companion was really frustrated with her so I made the followup calls and a couple times she just flatly told me not to keep calling and she would remember the appointment on her own. :) Haha, she is a fireball, such a strong woman. Anyway, we were surprised that she kept showing up to appointments but she still wasn't willing to pray or read or come to church. But, after we taught the second lesson, she said once again that she was willing to keep learning and to keep meeting with us. To be honest I got a little frustrated because I didn't want to keep teaching someone who wasn't willing to do their part. So,....I just told her. I told her we could keep teaching her, but that wasn't how she was going to find out the church was true. She had to do her part. She had to read, she had to pray, she had to come to church. The way to know of the truthfulness of this church can start by listening to others' testimony, but you need to do your part if you want your own testimony. She was also really interested in the Plan of Salvation so I told her that by reading Alma 40-41 and praying she would learn more about it and know it was God's Plan for us.
I wasn't sure what was going to happen after that, but I still didn't call for a couple days, because honestly I was still a little scared of her. But, then I called about 3 days later to follow up and she was totally different person. Wow. She was actually excited to hear my voice! She asked my why I hadn't called in so long and when our next appointment was. When I asked about her prayer and reading she had done it! Not only that, but she told me how it help her understand the plan of salvation better. I couldn't believe it!
From then on she has continued to read and pray every day and to progress. She is so strong-willed. Once we taught the Word of Wisdom she drank tea once with friends a week later, and we talked with her about what she could do to help her keep the word of wisdom. She is so awesome, she said, well, I have the desire to do it, so i just need to do it, it's not that hard. Wow. She is so great! She passed her baptismal interview so quickly and wow, she is just fantastic. It's so great to see her and every day a little more friendly--but more than that, you can just hear in her voice that she is happier. This church makes everyone happier. I know that you need to be reading and praying every day in order to progress. It is so important, and so important for investigators to realize it's importance.
I love you family! Have a wonderful week! I'll be writing again soon because monday is preparation day so it'll be in only a couple days.... and I'm so excited to write more because we have some great investigators I want to tell you more about! Love you!
-Sister Allison Ko
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