6/12/11

This is a weird feeling, not going to lie.  I don't really like it.  There are still so many things I wish I could have done, but this is it.  It's weird.  I don't like to think about it, I don't really talk about it a lot, but it is getting more and more real, ew. Moving on... 

  

Li wan jing is a mom with a high school son we started seeing, she likes to get side-tracked a lot, but she reads and really knows it is scripture.  We met with the whole family on sat and the son has a huge desire to know if it's true, he has had a lot of Jehovah Witness missionary influence so it is fun :)  But he is interested and willing.  Wang hao xuan is still scared of enduring to the end, so I hope she will still keep doing those chi shou daodi things so that she can gain more of a testimony.  We also just want to let her have an interview and see that she is ready.  Wu rou zhen came to church for sacrament meeting, but we think her only desire is not to offend her friend who gave her a ride.  We shall see, she will return home after finals so hopefully she will keep meeting with missionaries.
 

Oh my goodness!  Lu yi jing came to church!  It was the most wonderful day ever.  I honestly couldn't keep my excitement in; not going to lie, her coming to church almost made me happier than any investigators that came to church.  She hasn't been to church in 10 years and it was so good--everyone loved her and remembered her and she is just so sweet that she even made new friends right away.  She can't come next week for work but is set on the week after for church.  I really think she's going to keep coming.  I think that one act of her deciding to come to church helped ward relations.  During ward council they thanked us so much for helping her.  It's so hard, and it's all about other people's agency, but when the ward sees us visiting and helping the people they ask us to, they know we care about the ward.  I always have fears about leaving an area worse than I found it, that page on PMG always haunts me a little bit, but I really feel good about it right now.  AND, Li yi zhen, is also a LA we have been working with and she totally came to church!  She went to Zhang hua, but totally went.  It just took teaching doctrine of Christ and the meaning of the sacrament to realize why it was important.  We still need to help her realize some doctrine and remind her of commandments, but she will be good too.  Our new members, other than one, are all answering their phones now, and came to church so things are good.
   

I have been reading PMG again this past move-call and finishing up the Book of Mormon for the 3rd time.  It's interesting for me.  I have totally different feelings and different thoughts as I've been reading this time.  I think the biggest thing is that as I read I actually have experienced and tried things out.  Done the activities and worked on better questions, or different lessons, different ways of teaching about the Book of Mormon, and its fun to read and think, wow, yes, I have a testimony that that fangfa works because I've tried it out.  I also have quotes and pieces from my wonderful mission leaders and I've been thinking about how much I have learned from all of them and their examples.  Wow, this mission is fantastic, isn't it? 

Wow, I guess this is it,... in a bit, all my Jiayi new members are going to be here and visiting--I am so so excited.  They all carpooled together and they're almost here!!! and I have never been so excited for a preparation day, and it's the last one.....

love you!

-sister ko

 

ps marcus let me know no one was going to be there to pick me up at the airport, should I call my own taxi and let myself in through the garage? :)

Missionary Experience

The mission asked for a missionary miracle story and this is what I shared with them:

I think that there are so many experiences that happen everyday, so many emotions and so many events that it's hard to even describe how they all fit together to become what a missionary experience is.  But, recently, teaching and seeing Lin Li Hui receive baptism has been an experience I will never forget.  She was found on the road by my companion and at first she sounded really haihao.  She didn't set up when my companion first met her and all she left was an english name and a cell-phone number.  Then she showed up to the church.  And she wanted to repent.  Yes, she was golden.  But, the next couple weeks were filled with various experiences where she would call us and tell us about all the negative things she was reading online about the church and asking us if it was true.  Thankfully, she had started reading the Book of Mormon regardless.  And, of course, that's all it really takes.  She had felt of the spirit from that glorious testament of Christ and she knew that the things she felt when she came to church, when she prayed, when she met with us, were strongly different from the horrible feeling that came whenever she read the negative information about the church.  She kept meeting with us. 

 

She loved repentance, loved the Doctrine of Christ, and knew the Book of Mormon was true.  She has a gift.  She has so much faith and has such a good relationship with the spirit that she receives more immediate answers to her prayers than anyone I have ever met.  And that also strengthened her faith, as she was meeting with us she would say that before she knew about the gospel she felt like she didn't have a soul and knowing God and feeling His love and helped her feel that she really does.  That she really is a child of God.  Every commandment that came up was a change, maybe a little bit hard, but it was nothing compared to the happiness that she received when she read the scriptures or when she prayed.  Then tithing came up.  It was going to be a hard one because she was already in debt, she was willing, she just wanted to wait until December to give a full 10%.  I just had to tell her she couldn't get baptized unless she was willing to keep all the commandments. 

 

She wanted to get baptized so bad.  She had a testimony so committing to the commandments was not a hard thing--she ended up having her baptismal interview and passing with flying colors.  We set up a time to meet with her the next day.  She fanged us.  It was weird, she had never fanged us.  And her phone was off.  Her phone stayed off for two whole days and when it was on again she still didn't answer.  I felt so bad, I just got a new companion and it was her first week on the island, but I wanted to go find Lihui.  I was so confused, she wanted to be baptized so bad, and when she didn't come to church I knew something was definitely up.  I honestly thought she had been in an accident or some sort of family emergency. 

 

So, we biked up the hill.  Well, let's just say we biked up the hill, over the hill, and down the other side, then her road was on the map but there were no signs....it took a good little bit of time to get to her house.  We got to her house, but before going in, I was still so scared, she had mentioned how her parents didn't have good feelings towards the church and I was so scared of making it worse.  But, outside her house we said a prayer.  It just felt good.  We went in and knocked.  She got up to the door, saw us and said, "Ko! I'm sorry!" (She was still learning that she needed to say 'sister' with our last names :) ).  She was so gandong.  We didn't say much, shared a scripture, but mostly I just got to see her and tell her how worried I was for her.  She could tell.  The problem was tithing, and she really thought she couldn't keep it and that if she didn't answer we would just find someone else and forget about her.  No way, not someone with faith like Li hui.  She agreed to come back and keep learning and keep coming to church.  The next part of the miracle was on Tuesday, I still couldn't even tell you quite what happened, but our peike was amazing.  All of a sudden she just turns to me and says, I don't care, I'm getting baptized anyway.  Saturday, right?  :)  It was a fantastic moment.  From then on, no worries whatsoever.  She was baptized the week after on April 21st, and three weeks later she was getting baptized for other people in the temple.  She loves to peike and is the most solid member ever.  She is the miracle.  She later told us more about her experience and decision to be baptized; when she saw us praying outside her house she was so gandong, and then when she saw the look on our faces she knew it was real concern and not just a "job" to help people join the church.  She felt the love of the missionaries, the members, and Heavenly Father.  I guess this story might not be that interesting to other people, but every time I meet with her and hear her testimony I have a certain feeling.  It's the feeling of watching someone change and seeing someone be truely happy.  It's a feeling I want to remember and keep having the rest of my life.  This woman has come to know her Savior, uses the Atonement to repent, and loves the Lord.  I love being a missionary.

 

6/5/11 Email

 Not too much to report on, some of our investigators are not progressing too well at this point and we just need to find more investigators.  We did have quite a few first lessons this last week which was awesome, getting some more people into our teaching pool and progressing--but the holiday and other family emergencies made it so that people couldn't make it to church on Sunday.  But one of the things we specifically fasted for yesterday was to help more people come to church.  We are thinking about better ways to help more people come to church and realize the blessings from doing so.

  

Wang hao xuan is doing ok, didn't go to church because she went home, but when we meet with her we want to help her set a goal, she is done with her tests so she should be ready and not feel too stressed out to make the decision.
    

The Chen family, dad doesn't really seem too interested when we go over, but he randomly drops in and hears bits and pieces.  At first I wasn't sure if they were interested anymore because they didn't come to English and sounded busy when they answered the next day--but we went to see them on Sat and....when she came down to meet with us she brought her ziploc-bag-protected Book of Mormon and xiao pengyou Book of mormon :)  They pray as a family and are going to start reading from the Book of Mormon together at night.  She is a fantastic mom.  We were finally able to finish a first with her and the need for a restoration totally made sense to her. She heard about the WofW in English and when we were talking about apostasy she said, Yeah, other people changed the true church, like how we aren't supposed to drink tea and coffee. :)  She is still nervous about baptism but she knows that is what we want her to help her prepare for and next time we will explain more about why.
     

Lin li hui is a dream new member.  She loves being a peike and I think the most amazing part about it is that she wants to improve.  She will think she didn't do very well and ask for improvements, and then really take them to heart.  She has a beautiful testimony of the Book of Mormon and everyone she meets can feel that.  Li wen ting is doing good.  She got done with her test and has still been a little stressed out waiting for the results but she is doing good.  I was worried about her for a while because she didn't answer her phone the whole week before her test, but I think she's also recovering from a cold so her body is just under a lot of stress right now.
   

Ok, and I have to tell you about this one investigator we met this week.  So, I get this phone call one night from this girl that says, "Hey, is this sister ko?  this is xie jia ling, I met you on the street last week and you gave me your number.  I want to come to church."  I know.  Those are the words you live for as a missionary.  I asked her if she could meet with us beforehand, so we sat down with her on Sat night.  I love how the things you are prompted to emphasize are really what they need.  As we taught at first we focused a lot on the Spirit and what the spirit does and what it feels like.  When she came to church she was there on time, in a skirt, and had a fantastic experience.  We met with her after and she was talking about how she read the Book of Mormon the night before and had a special feeling when she read the book.  She doesn't have feelings when she reads other books, only this one :)  And, she was so awesome, she said, "And I felt that when I was in church, and I feel it right now, can you feel it?"  She is just so receptive to the message and to the spirit and I know it will keep testifying to her.  She just lives in another area so we have to give her up, but she has a goal to be baptized before the end of the month and I'm so excited for her.  Golden.

  

Oh!  And I'm excited for today, Momo and xiao jin (she got baptized after I left Nantou) are coming up to visit for lunch and next week everyone from Jiayi is coming to visit.  I am so excited to see them!

 

Well, I guess this is the inevitable part that I need to get to....I got the flight plans.  Not going to lie, I will probably not be in the best shape either and will have plenty of jet-lag to get over....Leave from Taibei on Jun21 4:40pm, then on the same day :)  from LA 4:20pm to Salt Lake, get to Salt Lake at 7:05.  Then from Salt Lake to Twin at 9:50 to 10:54pm on Tuesday June 21st.  So, yes, prepare for me to be at the Twin Falls airport on Tuesday night of the 21st.

Ok.

I love you all so much, please keep praying for this area and our investigators and the people that need to be found in the next couple weeks,

-sister ko

5/29/11 Email

 In one of our meetings they let the leaving missionaries have a few minutes to give a reflection of their mission.  We also were supposed to type it up and send it to the mission, so I sent mine to you as well.  I also didn't realize how much I would need to apply those principles I thought I had learned right now.  These last weeks haven't been easy.  But, I know more than ever that there is always a way to change and our Savior will always be right there to help us.  He gives us the opportunity to change because He loves us.  If I didn't change I would just keep doing the same silly things, don't worry, I'm just changing and becoming better, let Marcus know, he was worried I wasn't changing :)

  

This church week was amazing:  that wonderful Chen family came along with Haoxuan, her friend, xu ya ting and her friend.(inviting friends along really increases numbers now doesn't it? :) )  The family only came for sacrament and thought it was pretty long--but then they went and saw the other ward with the Primary section and want to come to all three hours next time.  The only thing is that usually they go home to Zhang hua on weekends--hopefully we can help them get to church there next weekend.  They also all love English class--have I told you about them?  They have five children from age 10-1.5 and they are the cutest and honestly very guai children.  We haven't been able to share very much because of work schedule and taking care of the kids, but they really like us and love English, like church.  Mom and children were also able to come to the RS activity on Sat.  It was so good, and the ward was really excited about them.
  

Wang hao xuan, done with her test and came to the activity on Sat as well.  It was amazing, she had a friend who was visiting for the weekend and so I thought she wouldn't want to meet with us--but she brought her friend to the activity AND met with us AND they both came to church.  I think that is one of the biggest indicators that she has really been moved by the gospel, she wants her friends to know what she is doing and what she is investigating.  I missed her so much when she was getting ready for her test!--I'm really excited to meet with her again and help her set a date to be baptized!  And, she is from jiayi and so I'm so excited to tell all my friends down there about her and have them help her when she goes home on the weekends.
    

One of the LA's we have been working with lately has said she can come to church next month!  Lu yi jing.  She has been reading every day since we met with her and praying.  Her lesson last week was one of the most memorable ones.  We watched the Joseph Smith DVD she said her heart wouldn't stop pounding.  Then when we were reviewing the Book of Mormon and random gospel topics I don't really remember exactly what it was I said, but something about how I love being able to have the gift of the Holy Ghost and she just stopped me and said, "Wow, I can really tell that this gospel has blessed your life and made you so happy.  You are just so happy whenever you share anything about church."  And, it stopped me for a minute and made me really think about it.  One thing I have also gained from bearing testimony all the time is that it really is realizing that it is every single part of the gospel that makes me happy.  I love bearing testimony of any piece of it because, simply put,  it is all a witness of a loving Heavenly Father and His true gospel.  But, I also just love that Sister Lu is really recognizing the spirit again and realizing how it can and does make her happier.

  

Oh my goodness, and Anne, Lin li hui, is such a superstar.  We taught her how to be a peike and she was so excited and willing.  She attended our ward coorelation meeting on Sat and then attended the nation-wide fireside that Elder Bednar spoke at.  I love seeing her all the time, she is such a little ball of energy and excitement all the time.  She loves her scriptures and always has something she wants to share with us from it.  She is such a little miracle girl and wow, she will do great things for the ward, I'm excited to watch her grow....

Have a wonderful week, please keep praying for me and this area,

Loves!

-sister ko

5/22/11 Pictures

Pictures from the baptism on Saturday.

So wonderful!

 The one with the glasses is li wen ting and the one with the fun hair is lin li hui (anne) :)

May 22, 2011 Email

 We just had a beautiful baptism for two of the most prepared souls ever: Li wen ting and Lin li hui--it was a fabulous service and the ward mission leader already knows them and wants them to be ward missionaries :)  It was just so natural that they got baptized.  There are some people you are worried about until they are in the water, but them, I had no worries about them at all.  And, especially for lin li hui, she wants baptism so badly that her coming out of the water was just the most exciting thing ever.  I've never seen her so happy.  I didn't care, I hugged her, gave her a big hug when she came out out the font.  She's just one of those people with the greatest amounts of faith that you just wish you could be like.  I wish I could be more like her.  It was a wonderful baptism.

    

Hao xuan is taking her final test on Thursday and then will be good to meet with us again, we have been doing daily follow-ups with her and she has been seeing miracles from prayer and the comfort from reading scriptures, she's great.

  

Still working hard, biking fast, talking with everyone, getting places, Heavenly Father is not letting me leave easily, that's all I've got to say :)  It's not being easy, but I know these moments will be worth it.

 

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

-Sister Ko 
 

May 15, 2011

 That Lin li hui is doing so well.  She keeps telling everyone how the gospel has blessed her life and how she has felt our love and the love of the members and is so excited for baptism.  She comes to activities and is already set up to arrange the game in YSA next week :)  I just keep thinking about how one little bike ride up the mountain got her thinking again about what the church and what the Book of Mormon means to her--she agreed to keep meeting with us and we saw her on Tuesday.  She still brought up her tithing concern and the peike was fantastic, I was thinking we could help her set a later goal and help her develop the faith to keep the commandment, but the Lord had quicker plans in mind.  It was a miracle. Miracle peike, miracle investigator.  I went out really fast to make a phone call, came back in and she said: Ok, I've decided.  Meiyou guanxi, I'm going to get baptized this sat."  :)  It was one of the saddest things I had to do to tell her she needed to postpone it one more week so she could come to church and have it announced :)  But, she just decided on her own that she was going to go for it anyway; keep the commandments and let Heavenly Father bless her. 

  

Li wen ting is great too, I was so nervous the same thing was going to happen to her when she wouldn't answer her phone for two days after she got back (but no worries, her plane just came a day later :) ).  The ward already loves her and wants her to give a lesson on gardening for a RS activity.  She is getting busy with her tests and graduation, but she is just so ready for the blessings of baptism.
    

Xu yating has started telling us that she is not so sure about baptism anymore and not sure if she is ready.  She says she wants to read and understand more of the Book of Mormon first--I'm still not quite sure if that is her real concern or not--but she is still willing for a baptismal interview so on sat she will have one and we will see if any other concerns come up. (She had a test this week and wasn't able to have her interview this week)  Hopefully when she passes we can help her see that means she is ready, once she believes and is willing to keep the commandments.

  

It was such a great week, such great investigators to church and so many new members at church!  It was fantastic.  There were so many people at church they had to get more chairs out :)

  

-sister ko

May 8, 2011 Email

 Ok, well, I can let you know a little bit more about what's been going on here--Sister Morey moved.  Oh, she is such a sweet girl, I miss her sweetness and I know that the members do too, especially Sister Zhou and our new member Sister Peng, but they are so strong they will be fine--I have a new companion: Sister Smith!  Sister Smith from Alpine, Utah!  She also went to BYU, super smart girl and fluent in Spanish :)  She is a cute little newbie, just got on the island, but her Chinese is fantastic, I'm not sure what they are teaching in the MTC but those programs are improving every month and these new missionaries have fantastic Chinese.  She's a super bright girl so she is picking up on things really quickly and we just need to get out there more--poor girl, we had some really far places we were going right when she got here and we haven't been able to have very many 1st lessons.  Haha, we've had a bunch of less-active, new member, or haha, even a priesthood lesson :)  One of our new members is a boy, that Brother Liu, he's cool, I don't know to be honest, that lesson was a new one to me.  I've never really helped prepare someone to receive the priesthood before :)

  

Wen ting is in Thailand and won't come back until Thursday, but she is still so good, her family will come with her to church next Sunday (yeah more investigators, more people to church!)
  

And, xu ya ting, she has a test and even coming for a little bit wasn't an option because of her mom--said school was more important and wouldn't let her go.  But this week will have her baptismal interview and next Sunday will be baptized! :)  I've been meeting the young women of the ward as well and hopefully can get more to come with us to visit her in later visits, she is so willing with everything and doing well.  Her sister doesn't really have as much interest anymore, just wanted to watch tv when we came.
  

Ok. The craziest thing happened with our Lin li hui (Oh, by the way she has the most beautiful English name: Anne :) ).  Her phone was off after she passed her baptismal interview and when it came on again two days later she still didn't answer (very very weird for her).  So, we went to go visit her yesterday.  She lives very very far away.  It's not on our map (don't worry, it's still in our area, it's just the country part so the city map that I had didn't quite reach that far) so we talked to the nice patient people on the road for directions.  It was totally worth it.  At first we weren't sure whether to go in because her family is chaoji fandui.  She's 26, and hasn't even actually told her family she goes to church but is scared of their reaction, but she loves it, she really wants to get baptized.  But after praying it just seemed like what we needed to do.  We knocked and luckily she was there! And, her family wasn't! (we actually got to meet the family as we left which was actually really good, they are really nice people and I think it's good for them to see that we aren't crazy people :) ).  We sat down with her and she was so gandong.  She said that she hoped that if she didn't answer her phone we would understand she had family fandui and forget about her and find someone else to teach.  I let her know we loved her and knew she had a testimony, needed this gospel so we couldn't give up on her.  It's the tithing thing.  She hasn't mentioned it but is afraid her family won't understand so she can't get baptized.  First things first, helped her realize she can still come to church--of course taking the sacrament won't have any meaning without being baptized but she can still have the rest and peace from keeping the sabbath day holy, and still have the blessings of keeping the other commandments.  We are going to keep working with her to help her know how to talk with her parents and help strengthen her faith to be able to overcome this tithing issue--she knows that.  She's willing to keep meeting with us.  Oh I love her and, she mentioned that us coming was an answer to her prayers.  Oh, I love her and want to help her overcome this so bad.  She knows this is what she needs and wants it so bad.
  

Luo peiting broke up with us, feels like she's not receiving answers so she's going to give it a break--still going to pray and read but doesn't want to meet with us--also, committed to keep word of wisdom so we are allowed to call her in one month and see if she has seen the affects of keeping the word of wisdom.
 

Wang hao xuan, wow, committed to keeping sabbath after mother's day.  She hasn't ever been to church before because she keeps going home, but I really feel like she is committed, she keeps the commitments she has been extended and now that she knows coming to church is a commandment she is willing!  She has been nervous about letting her parents know about church and she has been thinking about getting baptized but our peike was great and she had the greatest amount of family fandui ever--her experience was really good for hao xuan.
  

We were able to have a lot of new member and less-active lessons this week!  It's interesting to meet with them, and hopefully we will be able to help them more, I've really been thinking about a couple this week and what to share with them that will help them.  A few that are inactive are partly due to becoming offended.  One knows she needs to get over it and says she is in the middle of forgiving (it's kind of sad, it's over a pot and some food during a BBQ, 10 years of activity in the church get upset by a pot), but is too bu hao yisi to come to church and see the person that offended her--thinks that staying at home and praying is good enough right now but knows her kids need more.  She has noticed they are not happy and are much lazier, but won't quite take that extra step to help get to church.
  

Love you!

-sister ko

 

5/1/11 Email

 Let me just say, this area is seeing so many miracles.  This week especially.  We have some fantasticly amazing investigators right now.  Yes, that Grandma Kang is no longer meeting with us, but we also started meeting with a Xu family who are adorable and love coming to English with us too.  We just need to help them go and do.  Li wen ting, that girl is fantastic, no one knows she's not a member yet.  She went to the talks in Taiping on Sat and sat by the stake RS pres who asked her how long she had been a member :)  Then, she bore her testimony in RS yesterday.  I don't think there is any type of rock, metal, or substance to compare to how golden she is.  She's leaving this week for Thailand, but will be back, her baptism will be announced and she will get baptized on the 21st.  Absolutely no problems, interview on Thursday before she leaves, and we invited her to invite her family to church and to her baptism and she is so willing.  I really think her family would be open to the gospel, at least give everyone a chance, right?

  

Lin li hui, she's good.  Stopped looking up online negative info about the church and we've been sharing more commandments.  It's hard for some of them, she asks a lot of why's but when it comes down to it, it doesn't matter why, it's just because God says so.  When He commands us we love and trust Him.  And, by the end of the lessons she is all willing.  You know why?  Because she knows the Book of Mormon is true.  That's it.  The feeling when she reads that book and the things she learns is undeniably from God.  She is amazing.  I'm pretty sure she's learning more from that book than I am.  In one of our lessons this week she mentioned how she knew how to face issues with her co-workers or knew how to help her family because of the things she was reading.  She read a section we gave her and said, "this is it.  This tells me how to have lasting happiness.  It's all right here."  (King Benjamin, of course mom, you would agree with this section, I always tell people that this is my mom's favorite part--other than the disarm-ingly charming story of Ammon that is)  She's good.  Oh my goodness, this week in her lesson too--it finally happened.  I had my first big twinge of: this will not last forever.  These experiences, these lessons, being a missionary, this isn't going to be forever.  There is going to be an end and it is coming ever so quickly.  One of my favorite things, aside from bearing testimony is hearing our investigators or new members bear testimony.  I love the gospel, I love seeing it change people and bring people to know their Heavenly Father and Savior.  Watching people become happier, watching it happen through commitments. I'm not going to be in taiwan forever. Ooooh.
 

Ok, that is all, I promise not to focus on that again--just letting you know it's becoming real.  Anyway, we also still have our wonderful athiest investigator, luo peiting--she came to church!  Said it was a bu yi yang de ganjue.(different type of feeling)  I think that's good, she said she didn't realize before how important families were before she came to church :)  It's just hard right now because she is doing everything reading, praying, and came to church and still says she hasn't felt anything or any sort of answer.  We are going to teach more commandments to give her more opportunities to feel the spirit testifying.

  

And!  Xu yating is an adorable girl from an inactive family--she and her friend came to church and heard about the Word of Wisdom in sacrament meeting and decided to start keeping it because they wanted the same blessings.  It was amazing :)  She also committed to keeping the law of sabbath and chastity.  I love how she responds when we ask her why she is willing to keep these commandments: I know this is true and I want to follow God.  She is amazing.  The young women here are a great support and the YW Pres. is adorable and so sweet to them on Sunday.  We are also working with the little sister, 10.  She's a hoot, I love her.  Ok, I just have to take a second to talk about her.  She's a cute little pudgy thing that loves to eat and loves to make random comments.  She is the most not shy Taiwanese child I have ever met.  She's got a little bite to her, she makes me laugh.  We pushed back their goal so they can be baptized together and since we can only visit on Sat and Sunday it takes a little longer to finish lessons, and the little one is still a little haihao, but she is willing to change, we will keep following up with her and see if she is willing to keep living the gospel.  They are both adorable, love them. 
 

One thing I learned about patience this week was how patience needs to be accompanied by action.  At first I read Alma 34:40-41 and thought, ok, bear it out bear out the trials.  But as I was thinking about it more, patience is not just waiting for our trials to be over, that's just silly.  And it doesn't help anything, it actually makes me feel helpless that I have to wait for the 'next best thing.'  But, sometimes life isn't like that--I also read Alma 26:27, they need to go amongst the Lamanites.  When it feels like it's too much and we want to turn back the solution is to KEEP GOING FORWARD.  Just go with it and do your best.  I also love how PMG talks about hope too; how we need to work hard and do our best but hope that we will get the needed answer and being patient for when it comes.  From PMG and reading I also learned and re-remembered that prayer is the ultimate support-help for us.  I need to pray more for patience.  I would pray every day for patience in the MTC and when I first came, and of course picking it back up every once in a while--but I need to be more consistant in asking for it.  The only worry is, when you ask for it, God gives you more trials so you can develop it, now doesn't He? :) Meiyou guanxi la

 

Love you,

-Sister Ko

5/1/11 Pictures

This is Sister Zhou, and her daughters annie and zoe, (yu an and yu rou)

Sister Zhou is the one that I was telling you about, how every missionary deserves a Sister Zhou in their area.  She is the most wonderful and dedicated member ever.

4/24/11 Email

We didn't really have any sort of Easter program in church yesterday, and I almost forgot it was Easter!  But it was still a special day, and I'll take some time today to read, study, and write about this Easter and the Atonement.  That is something I do need to do more often, thank Heavenly Father for His Son.  I don't do it enough, but then again, would there ever be enough times we could thank him?  Lately I have been so thankful for the opportunity to repent.  I need to do more of it.  I love teaching about repentance.  Of course every commitment we extend is an invitation to repent and change, but something about teaching about the Savior and specifically about how to repent of our sins is special.  It's such a personal experience.  Because, He IS our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ suffered for us in such a way that I can never understand but will be forever grateful for.  He understands everything that we go through and knows how to give us the comfort we need.  Through His Atonement we can be free of the sins and feelings of guilt that come from it.  We can be clean and worthy to live with Him and our Heavenly Father again.

  

And, what I love is that this is the answer to every problem.  Our investigators have different concerns but all can be answered with the Atonement and repentance.  For example, Li wen ting, she was having family troubles so when we taught about faith in Jesus Christ and repentance we applied it to her family and how these principles will help her family.  She is so awesome, gave her a "For Strength of Youth" pamphlet.  Read it and pretty much committed to live the law of the sabbath before we invited.  She had work today but she apologized profusely that she had that scheduled before she even met us.  She is so amazing.  She is going to Thailand for her graduation but she's pretty much good for every Sunday from here until forever (she even wrote it in her planner for every Sunday :) ).She loves church, loves the feelings when she comes, loves repentance, and has come to every activity and FHE since she met us.  Everyone loves her and she shares her testimony during FHE's or during church lessons, everyone is so surprised to find out she is an investigator.
  

Lin li hui is so great, loved church yesterday and loves the feeling that church brings.  The only thing is that she keeps going back online and looking up all the negative things about the church.  We've told her where she can go to look up correct information and how it explains a lot but she'll still call us and say, "I went online and is it true that....?"  She's a funny duck, but I like her, she just needs to focus on the feelings she has when she reads the Book of Mormon and comes to church and remember that every time she reads the online things about the church she feels horrible.
  

The fengjia elders recently introduced us to a part-member family girl, xu yating, who is fantastic.  She brought her friend to church and we are referring her friend to taiping, she prays everyday and is a really busy high school student so we can only see her on sat, but I am so excited to meet with her.  She is a doll and very willing.
  

I think Grandma Kang wants to break up with us.  The last lesson she was also really shaky and not really committed to keep the law of the sabbath.  She said when she has time and if she doesn't have shi she can come to church.  She came for a little bit yesterday, but not even a full hour, and was also not really willing to set up a time we could go visit her.  But, hopefully we can just stop by, we really need to review Joseph Smith and why the restoration was important, why this is the only place that has the fullness of the gospel.
  

We had some great contact with less-actives and new members this week.  One of the new members helped our investigator have a ride to church :)  And, the wards really love less-actives.  It's really awesome, they have specific people that they want us to go visit and we were able to get a hold of most of them this past week. 

  

No big rain, I think I'll be safe from any big rain until the summer...but who knows? :)

 

Hey, guess what?

I love you.

-sister ko

 

4/20/11 Email

 I realized I hadn't even told you what this area is like-- it's part of the city, but there still are a lot of long roads.  I guess I would say it's more a city than Jiayi, but when you use main roads they have few but long stoplights so sometimes you don't get to meet as many people.  It's weird, there are no backroads here, in Jiayi I learned what roads we could take when we were in a rush, but it's all stoplights and road intersections here :)  It's making me be a lot better with planning and being on time so that we aren't late to lessons or meetings.  There are two main colleges here and one is at the top of a very large hill.  It's not bad, not too steep, just really long, it takes a good 20-30 minutes to get up it.  It's kind of funny, I have a talent for attracting people that live at the top of big hills so we've been able to go up and beyond the college a couple times the past couple weeks.  Once again--don't worry, I won't get fat. :)  Oh!  And! The church is in an apartment building!  It's so crazy, i've never served in an area that was in an apartment building so this has been really fun.  It's on the 19th floor and it's got a beautiful view of the city, especially at night.  And, it takes a little bit more effort to get to it and open everything up so it's also been helping me to be more willing to meet outside in people's houses.  President Bishop lately has been inviting us to have more lessons at people's houses instead of at the church, one of the reasons being they are less likely to fang you (i'm sorry, i've been thinking for 3 minutes and i don't know what the translation for that would be) and then you can involve the whole family--I'm excited to do that more.

 

It has actually been very fun lately.  I hate not having lessons scheduled so it has been really fun to just get things moving and just meet with people.  We've been seeing a lot of miracles, thank you so much for your prayers and your love.  It has made a difference.  We've really been able to see some great miracles happening.  We have been doing great with finding Donghai investigators.  There were a couple golden ones we started meeting with this week and came to church and have really solid goals.  Two came to a singles activity at one of our new member's houses.  It was amazing.  One of the members gave a little share and then opened it up to comments.  Both of the investigators commented and mentioned how they really feel something special at church and feel like this is the time and they know it's the right thing.  And their baptism goal has been confirmed by about half the ward who is attending :)  One, Li wen ting, she had an amazing experience at church because the gospel principles teacher sat by her during sacrament meeting and got to know her--then during the lesson on developing talents she mentioned the investigator's talents and everyone thought she was the coolest thing ever.  Then when she introduced herself in the last hour she was so excited to mention them again and everyone was so welcoming and so nice.  She is a senior in college studying plants and forestry and everyone thought it would be so cool to learn how to grow plants from her :)  Can I just say, I love Sister Zhou, she is the gospel principles teacher and she is pretty much my idol.  She knows how to welcome people in, knows how to lovingly correct people, sincerely compliments people, and has the cutest family ever.  She loves the gospel, and it shows.  She is every missionary's dream peike.

  

We also recently met a cute Grandma Kang who is really funny.  We've been meeting at her house and been trying to teach her and her husband--but she really loves church and even is signed up to go to see a talk in Taiping.  A little bit shaky on Word of wisdom, wants to start when she gets done drinking the tea she has in her house....but says she's not addicted so she is willing.  We are still working with her :)
  

With other new members, it has been really cool to see a difference in some of them when you go visit.  Some of them have been contacted every week but not been visited and when you visit they get so gan dong that you took the time to stop by.  They are so sweet.  I've loved getting to know them, and also some of the less-actives in the ward.  There are a lot that the wards, especially fengjia, is concerned about--and I am very excited to get a hold of them and take care of them.  

  

Today we went to the temple, I love the temple.  I can't get enough of the spirit there.  Today there was a weird excited, almost urgent feeling I had during parts of the session.  As if I really felt how others would feel as they were waiting for their ordinances to be done for them.  I really love to imagine how others on the other side of the veil would feel as we did their ordinances for them.  I can't imagine how exciting it must be for those wonderful sisters and brothers who now have the blessings of the endowment because we were able to take a couple hours to go to the temple.  I especially loved the first time I went through to receive my own endowments and I imagine having to wait for something like that would be so horrible, but wow, to receive them, oh so wonderful.  I love that feeling.
  I love you all, have a fantastic week!

-sister ko

Pictures

Baptism!

Such a cute family. 

Went to the beautiful temple today!  Isn't today just gorgeous!

4/10/11 Email

 That cute little boy, ling yuchen got baptized yesterday!  He was so nervous and got so scared when he went under the water.  I think he doesn't know how to swim and he couldn't quite get his footing when he came up out of the water, but Elder Chen just picked him up out of the water and he was ok after that.  Elder Chen was worried that people would think he was trying to drown the poor kid, but yuchen was brave and he was fine afterwards.  He was really really excited to get baptized and I'm excited to keep working with their family and help them to be active.  They have a wonderful family and just need a couple invitiations and follow-ups to start them on some good family habits.

This week I really wanted to focus on recent converts and getting in contact with them.  We were able to sit down with quite a few and get a hold of a lot as well.  I want to sit down with them as much as possible and hopefully at least once a week.  As I told you last week, talking with them and meeting with them I am very nervous for a couple and feel they really need that constant reminder of doing the simple things to help our testimony stay strong. 

  AND--- the most miraculous thing.  So, when I went on exchanges with Sister Chen in Zhanghua over 6 months ago we met this woman and had one of the most spirit-filled first lessons I've ever had.  I remembered her xing was guo and even asked Sister Chen about that lady during zone conference--evidently she got baptized and then moved somewhere.  Well, she moved to xitun!  On Sunday she recognized me immediately and once she told me she met me in Zhanghua I knew exactly who she was.  We were able to sit down with her and Sister Morey tells me that she is probably still struggling so I am so excited for the opportunity to be able to be here and be a part of strengthening her.  Every day there are little reminders that I need to be here--I need to learn from these people and I need to give of myself for the ones who are here.
 

 We also have been working more with the ward and started to go visit some of the members this week and will try to set up with them throughout this week as well.  They really are wonderful, hard-working, full of testimony-members.  I've loved going to visit them or talk with them.  Also, asking them for people to visit I think will help--Sister Morey reminded me that when we show them we are doing what they want they will respect us and be thankful for us.  So we will :)  We are going to take care of and visit those precious people they are worried about right now.  I think this will help the ward, not only with the ward relations, but will also help those struggling and want to come back.
  

I just want to be obedient and I want us to look good in front of the ward, I want us to be able to get the things we need to done.  But, I know, I need to have more patience, and I learned a lot in conference too.  Oh my goodness, was that not the most wonderful weekend ever?!  Wow, what I love too, is that I still got very different things from Conference than you'all did.  No matter who we are, or what situation in life there are many things to learn and to apply.  It answers everyone's prayers.  Also, as I was thinking about our new members and investigators-- and I sorely hope that the wonderful Jiayi investigators and new members were listening.  I wrote their names in my notes and I hope they were able to watch those sessions or at least I will copy it when it comes out and send it to them.  And, I also love the spirit that Conference brings and how the spirit will tixing, will remind you what you need to do or something you need to work on.  And I think I learned different things because I really need to work on different things.  Be more giving, more sharing, more loving.  Selfless service is the key.  Conference was a really amazing experience for me, I learned a lot and had some personal tixing's about goals I need to set and qualities I want to develop.  I'm pretty sure I know what I need to do.
  

I love you all so much and hope you have fantastic weeks!  Time is going by too quickly, enjoy the time you have.  Oh wow, another semester will be over shortly won't it?

-love you!

-sister allison ko

4/3/11 Pictures

Yum!

This is from one of our English students (Teddy's best friend) who made us coordinating pictures.  It's really amazing.

Baptism!

 

My beautiful companion, Sister Morey

4/3/11 Email

Thank you so much for your prayers, the area and especially me, really needed them this week and their effects were felt and seen.  Thank you so much.  Please don't stop.  

I am so excited for conference!  Oh, I love conference so much and can't wait for new members and investigators to attend and hear prophets and apostles speaking to us.  We will be able to see the broadcasts this weekend.  On sat we will go to a bigger church to watch but Sunday will be here in this chapel and we might not have english :)

 

This week was really good for me.  Yes, there are a lot of things that still need to be done to get us up to the mission standard with lessons and to get our recent converts to church but we are setting goals and are making plans to get up there.  As we look at our schedule for this week it is already filled with planned lessons so this week as we keep working hard and have good backup plans we will be able to accomplish our goals.  Not going to lie, I got a little stressed out this week; the move was not too easy for me but I am determined to work hard because I want to see miracles.  I want this area to progress and to be the area that everyone wants to move to.  It has such potential!  We saw so many miracles this week already and will keep seeing more.  And, I have some personal goals too, to man man help out ward relations and peikes.  I had a really good experience in church yesterday too, one of the brothers shared about how we need challenges to grow.  If we don't struggle we can't grow.  It was a good reminder to me that we need to be taken out of our comfort zone to give us a chance to be better and progress; to change.

  

It was fantastic though--we had a baptism!  Our new member's boyfriend got baptized--he went home for the weekend though and we were unable to get a hold of him so we're not sure if he went to church there, but he gave a fantastic share and it was a wonderful baptismal service.  Yes, I have a boy recent convert...it's a little weird, but he's awesome and we have lessons with him and his girlfriend so it's not too bad.  He was so nervous for the baptism but it was a really great service.  There are amazing ward mission leaders here and I'm excited for the missionary work that will be happening in the near future.

One of the goals we have this week is to meet with the bishopric and their families and get to know them; let them know we are here to serve them--hopefully that will help. 
  

We also have a cute Ling family that has a son soon to be baptized.  It's really amazing, I knew them when I was in Nantun(my first area) and it is so cool so see them again--but, they need a lot of help to get them active again.  And, especially if we want to help our soon-to-be new convert endure to the end.  They have desire, they just need a little bit more to get them to act on it.  It's a mom and two kids are members, dad is not.  Still working with them.
  

New converts, we are going to be spending more time with them this week.  I did a very poor job getting a hold of them this week and it showed in the numbers.  I assummed some of them would come to church on their own and, calling all of them after church, it turns out everyone had work off so they went out to play with friends or just went out with the family.  Yes.  We have made plans to get in contact with them more often and especially to sit down with them.  They are very precious and I feel like they are at very critical times right now.  Especially now need to act and do the things that will strengthen their testimony.
  

My companion is fantastic, she is the most beautiful thing ever as you can see--she has lived all over Asia and now her family is in Draper, Utah.  She has amazing Chinese and a beautiful testimony.  She is just such a sweet sweet girl and has such a open attitude to changes, it's so wonderful to be with her!

  

Ok, dearest family, I love you and please keep praying for us--have a wonderful week, and keep thinking about Conference what goals you can make to help us live more like the prophets and apostles invite us to do.

-sister ko

3/28/2011 Email

I moved back up north to Taizhong in a northern area called xitun.  Oh I miss Jiayi and my companion so very much--but I am so thankful that I could be able to come to a new area and meet more of these beautiful Taiwanese people.  I love meeting new people and I'm excited about this opportunity to be with Sister Morey (who, by the way, is fantastic) and be here in another hilly area! So now dad doesn't have to be worried about all the good food, I will be riding up hills for the rest of the mission :) Don't worry dad, I won't get too chubby.

Jiahui did not get baptized last week. She wasn't even planning on coming to church because it was cold (yes, it's a legit excuse for a Taiwanese person) but I told her I really wanted to see her before I left and told her she should come to church.  She came.  She does, she just needs reminders and someone to wake her up in the morning.  She cried when I shared in church but when I sat by her and just talked to her a little bit she was fine.  She just needed some more reminders about how it's church and the scriptures that will make her happy and that as she keeps coming to church she will be fine.  She will be fine.  I think it's just such a change for our investigators and they don't realize that missionaries move often so the change was a little hard on some of our investigators but I am just so excited for them and the new opportunities they will have to learn from Sister Hamilton.  And Sister Peterson is so fantastic, she knows our CAL report like none other.  And she knows our investigators.  And, honestly, she teaches with the spirit, she is bold but loving, lets them know what they need to do to receive the blessings they want.  I love her. So much. Not going to lie, we both were sadded by the inevitable--but I know that she will keep seeing miracles and she has such a great attitude that Jiayi will keep doing so well.

  

That cute tongxue, cai you jia, she passed her baptismal interview!  She didn't pass the first one because she personally didn't feel she was ready, which is the last question.  And, our poor district leader was trying to be you banfa and kind of scared her but we finally convinced her to have another interview.  When we asked her what questions she wanted to review before the interview she wanted to go over 2 and then...3.(do you feel you have fully repented of your sins?)  I felt so horrible that our cute little, practically perfect you jia thought she hadn't fully repented.  And do you know why!?  Because she was still tempted to drink tea!  I asked her if she did.  No.  I loved the last half of that lesson talking about how she was doing so great because she wasn't giving into the temptation and, most importantly, about how the miraculous thing about repentance and the Atonement is that once we repent, God forgets what we have done.  We still remember, we don't want to do it again, but He forgets.  Once we repent, to Him we are perfect.  And, yes, still need to repent everyday, but when we do, Heavenly Father forgives us, every single time.  And, yes she still is a shy little tongxue so we got permission for our fantastic zone leader to do the interview.  He was just perfect for her, and honestly, she was ready.  She turned 18 this month so she still needs verbal permission but she will be baptized shortly :)  I love that girl. 
  

The cute, new baptized pei xiang is amazing.  Love her.  And she is already a guanxin queen.  When jiahui came she immediately went over to sit by her and comfort her.  Shared her testimony and shared about how coming to church was like a family feeling.  It was so perfect for jiahui who wants family.  Peixiang is already a fabulous member and peike (she also helped out at the wedding sat night).  She just voluntarily helps and loves people.  It's so cool to watch, she was already a sweet person before but as she has come to church she has just reached out more to others and just wants to help more.  She's also mellowed out a bit, more calm and just looks happier all the time.  Wow. So wonderful to be able to see her progress like this.
 

Not going to lie, it was hard to leave.  I love Jiayi.  It was hard to leave Sister Peterson. We may or may not have cried.  Yesterday was hard.  I don't know... I guess long story short, there were a few people that I didn't know I had made a difference on and it was really hard to leave.  I love those people.  So much.  But, it's a weird feeling, because I'm not worried for them, they love reading scriptures, know the importance of church and will continue to do the right things and progress--I'm just sad to not be there with them anymore.

  

But, honestly, I am so excited to be here with Sister Morey.  Oh my goodness she is a fantastic missionary.  She has vision, she has ideas, I'm excited.  She is also a really great worker and I'm so grateful for her and for her enthusiasm in introducing me to a new area.  I'll let you know more about her next week.  But first I would just like to ask a favor: please pray for this area.  Exercise your faith and pray for Xitun.  Pray for our investigators, pray to help us find more people to bring unto Christ, pray for our new members to make the right decisions, pray for the members to be receptive to missionary work.
  

Ok, that is the wrap-up on Jiayi, next week be ready for the miracles of Xitun!

Love you! -sister ko

3/21/11 Pictures

The Freen Burger burger.

Fantastic.

At the park, it's the year of the rabbit! Celebrate with cloth rabbit figurines!

At the park. We contact at this park a lot and I just love the little monkey statues. Just had to have a picture or two...

 

Tracting!

Zheng pei xiang got baptized!!!!

 

We asked her japanese teacher and the elder's new member, Brother Cai, to baptize her :)  He's an adorable old man.

 

 

And, this is her with her newly-found best friend and recently reactivated member Sister Wang.  They are so good for each other and will help each other grow so much.

3/21/11 Email

  Oh my goodness I hope I can stay here forever, but I doubt it.  In interviews with President Bishop last week he told Sister Peterson not to enjoy our companionship too much because it wasn't going to last too much longer so one of us is leaving and I've been here longer....Had a lot of good times with Sister Peterson this week, had some good laughs and she helps me calm down and not feel so stressed out about things we can't control.  I know I can get a little tense( ok, a lot), she helps me a lot.  We are just going to enjoy this last week together and see what happens.  I really wish I could stay.  I love the ward and our investigators more than ever and want to see them receive baptism.  But I also have this feeling that they need someone else's talents right now to help them push through those last little trials to be baptized.  I might leave.

  

But this week was so good!  Pei xiang got baptized!  It was a fantastic baptism and it was actually a really big event :)  There were so many members and investigators there, pretty much half of the investigators that came to church stayed after for the baptism, and it was a perfect one to go to.  She wasn't nervous at all and she had a beautiful share, she was even sick on Sat but still was prepared to get baptized.  I hope it helped our cute little investigators to see her testimony and see how she has grown.  You can see from the pictures she is the cutest little thing ever.  Wow, I am so excited for her and I know she is going to be the best peike ever.  It was really cute, she even ordered the Liahona (ensign-type magazine) a couple weeks ago so it was the most happy moment ever to see everyone congratulate her on her baptism and she was just there in the middle, holding her Liahona and beaming.  Family, it was an amazing moment.

  

The other jing min, long story short, she might not have gotten parent permission so she didn't get baptized.  But, yes, also making this very long story shorter--we met the family and will meet the mom and let her meet more ward members.  It has nothing to do with her testimony, she has a fantastic testimony--it's her family, but now her family knows and they want to know more about the church so: perfect. :)  I am so excited to meet her this week and let her meet people and tell her more about the church because, honestly, who hears more about the church and can't help but love it more?

  

And, recently we've been meeting with this family who are Taiwanese but grew up in America.  The Lin family.  They have twin boy and girl and they are a very well off family.  It's pretty much the most beautiful apartment I've been to in Taiwan.  It was really funny, we met them when they stopped to talk to us in English and we invited them to English class and then found out they had lived in California for over 15 years.  Then we just talked about what we were doing in Taiwan and how we wanted to share with them.  They were really interested for their kids but it has been fantastic meeting with them.  They still have very Taiwanese ways of thinking, but are actually very open to reading and praying.  They both have medical degrees in internal medicine.  Yep, they are riduclously smart and have plenty of questions, but luckily the message we are sharing with them has all the answers :)  I think the hardest part for John is that the answer really is that easy.  It's all about the doctrine of Christ.  He asks, what does your church offer for children as a way to help them face trials or prepare to face the world?  What do you do if people make mistakes?  What program can you offer them? Simple: Church.  Every Sunday we have a program the prepares us for not only the trials now, but for eternal life.  Teach them the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost, endure to the end.  It really is that simple.  Everyone makes mistakes, that's why we need to repent. every day.

  

Yeah, it's been a little weird lately, we've had quite a few lessons in English lately--one of the members is actually American and she introduced us to her American friend (who is really interesting too, from the Bible belt, oh what a character, love them love them, more on him later), and when we meet with Karen's daughter and the Lin family those lessons are still in chinglish which I'm actually a lot more comfortable speaking in.  It's been fun lately :)

 

I love you all.  I hope you have a fantastic week!

-sister ko