tai leng tai leng- December 30

t was so good to see my family's faces last week :) YAY! So glad you guys had a lovely Christmas. :) Though I have to admit. I was really homesick after talking to you guys, I understand why they have so many rules about not communicating with family or friends too much. It really distracted from my work. But I'm still glad that I was able to talk to you guys! It was really great! And Shu Mama got a kick out of speaking English to you all haha. 
  

Skyping with my family

Email today is going to be super short because Sister Zippro and I want to go to Jin Hua Jie and watch the Christmas choir. 
  
But last week was great cuz we had a baptism! It was a baptism to never forget... 

1. The water was started at 4pm (2 hours before the baptism) but when Sun Jie Mei and her husband showed up at 5pm the husband felt the water and said, "TAI LENG TAI LENG! GAI BIAN SHUI, WO BU RANG WO TAITAI ZAI NAME LENG SHUI SHOU XI!" (the water is too cold, fix it) Soooo we had to restart the water. So everyone had to sit around for another hour and a half for the baptism to start. lol 
2. They asked me to play the piano.......nuff said 
3. Sun Jie Mei forgot a change of clothes so I gave her some of my clothes that I left at the chapel to wear and they totally did not fit her haha. 
4. People forgot to prepare talks so I did an impromptu talk. 
5. The food we bought got cockroach infested. 
  
hahaha it was super chaotic! 
  
But all and all, it was a great service. Sun Jie Mei bore testimony and that she was baptized before in Indonesia, but this time, the feeling was different. She had a bright feeling in her heart. She looked at me and Sister Zippro and started to choke up. She said, "Missionaries bring the spirit into my home and I will never forget them." It's moments like that where I am reminded why the mission is worth it. 
  

Sun Jie Mei and her husband

esterday was a great day because we had SOOOO many people at church! It was beautiful! I was so excited for them. They loved church! And the members totally fellowshiped the heck out of them. PEOPLE AT HOME. WHEN MISSIONARIES BRING INVESTIGATORS TO CHURCH YOU NEED TO FELLOWSHIP THE HECK OUT OF THEM. It is so important!!!!! the missionaries will also love you forever if you do! 
  
We also had FHE activities with the young adults. They are so fun. I love them. We ate so much yummy food. no fried squid though. darnnnnnn 

Here they are- My hipster grandma glasses.

 

 
k this is a short email sorry gotta go. 
  
ahhhhhh also this week is transfer meeting. I start my 4th transfer.....what the heck? That means I only have 7 transfers left--and then im done. NOOOOOOOOOOO 

This says Sister Clock because "Sister Tracy" does not translate in Mandarin

Love,
 Sister Clock

Nimen hao! Zhu nimen shengdan kuaile! (Hello all! Merry Christmas!) - December 24

Nimen hao! Zhu nimen shengdan kuaile! (Hello all! Merry Christmas!) 

  
Hope all is well! Today it is Pday/Christmas Eve! Wow, so weird. This is my first Christmas away from home. Kind of hard, but at the same time I am very grateful to be here and the members are taking care of us so it's all good! Plus tomorrow we are having a very special Christmas fireside/breakfast/lunch/talent show. And tomorrow we are having a movie night with investigators and we're gonna watch a Christmas/Church movie. So that will be really fun. And then AHHHHHHH I GET TO SKYPE MY FAMILY. So excited! I have no idea what I'm going to say to you guys though, ha-ha. You're right Mom, I had better make a list beforehand so that I can make the most of the short time I have to see your faces. 
  
Last week was so great! 
  
1. THE DUCK IS HERE. So for the past 3 months, JiLong has been promoting this event called "The Yellow Duck." Basically, a giant balloon/boat Yellow Duck from Europe is docked on the harbor. There are also some tents that got put up, selling duck products. That's it. But HUNDREDS of people have showed up to see this thing. HUNDREDS. People from all over Taiwan and even China. The Taiwan mission really loves us right now because contacting has been amazing these past few days. People come up to us like every 30 secs and ask to take pics with us (cuz we are foreigners...this is really common) and then we strike up a convo about the gospel and BAM. referrals all around. Its been really fun, actually. I love contacting. 

2. We have a baptism this Saturday!!! (originally it was on Christmas but we moved it because her husband couldn't come cuz of work and he wants to be the one to baptize her). This amazing woman named Sun Jie Mei is getting baptized! I LOVE HER. So a little more about her. She is from Indonesia. Chinese is her second language. She (as with us) can barely speak the language. Also, she is a slower learner. Teaching her at first was really a challenge because of communication...BUT THE SPIRIT IS REAL. She has progressed so much. Teaching her has really forced me and my companion to teach very simply and using lots of examples. The Spirit was very very very easy to invite into her home and over time we were able to communicate with one another. (We also learned some Indonesian and taught her some Chinese). She has a powerful, simple testimony and is so ready. I love her and will never ever forget her! 

3. Heavenly Father has blessed us with a lot of baptimal dates set for January. We have 2 or more people set from every week of January. Having and using faith really works!
 
4. Last Saturday was...interesting. We met with this "former" who I called over the phone. She lives really far away. She has the fanciest apartment complex I have ever seen in Taiwan. When we were about to say the opening prayer my companion asked her, "Is there anything you would like us to pray about?" She said, "Yes, I have a request. Please could you pray for the end of the world? I want an apocalypse." My companion got quiet and in my head I was thinking, "LOL, how is my companion going to handle this?" I think Sister Zippro could read my mind cuz she glanced at me and said, "Sister Tracy, would you like to pray for us?" Shoot. I looked at the investigator and just was like, "Uh, can I pray for world peace instead?" Hahaha never thought I would be in that situation before.
 
5. Yesterday, we tried visiting an RC but she wasn't home. So we went knocking doors instead. A very old lady named Su Mama let us in. Her house was very dirty. She was very crude and laughed at us when we started talking to her about God and Jesus Christ. She gave us the most sketchiest apples I have ever seen/eaten in my life. We asked her if before leaving we could sing a Christmas song for her. We sang Silent Night. She stopped being loud and crude and immediately sat down and listened. The Spirit all of a sudden filled the room. Afterwards she got up, went into the kitchen, then came out again with a piece of paper with three phone numbers on it. "Here, I know some people that will want to know about your message. Thank you." WOW, music is powerful! The spirit is powerful!
 
6. The other day I saw a man sitting outside of our chapel. It was pouring rain and really cold and he was just sitting there begging people for money. I had a really good feeling about giving him something. That morning I read a scripture in Moroni 7 about how all good feelings come from God. So I decided to act on that feeling. I went up to him and said, "Sir, I don't have anything of much worth to offer you except this message." I handed him a picture of Jesus Christ with children that I had deep within my purse. I then began to testify of Christ, that He died for him, that He is the Savior of the world. That no matter what mistake we've ever made, it can be fixed. And that we can make change within our lives through Him. The man started crying and in Taiwanese (old people language) said "Gam Xia jie mei." (Thank you from the bottom of my heart, dear Sister). I will never forget that experience for as long as I live. I don't know what will happen to that man, but I know that because I acted on the Spirit I was able to help my brother feel Heavenly Father's love for Him.
 
This mission is very hard, but it's moments like that where I remember what life is all about. I am thankful for this time of year to remind me of my Savior and Redeemer.
 
Love you all.
Merry Christmas :) 

Love, Sister Tracy 

 
Well, thats the gist of last week. I wish you all an amazing Christmas
  

Changing of the Hearts- December 16

This week was nuts. And I forgot to bring my journal again so I am just going to list off random things that come into my mind: 

We three kings of Orient-are

1. It is flooding here in Jilong.   

2. The ward had its annual Christmas Party last Saturday! SO much fun! and an amazing turn out as well! We met so many new people! Also a lot of our investigators came! And so many LAs came as well. It was really great to see them all. AND THERE WAS SO MUCH FOOD. Somebody found out that my favorite cake is carrot cake and made it and brought it!!!! And the Taiwanese LOVED it. They usually make fun of me and think that the American food I like is weird but they said to me, "okay, fine this is really good." HA. There were a lot of games and candy. I played this one game where you have to turn over two cards and get them to match. If you win you get candy, if you fail, you have to take a sip of this really really nasty bitter tea. IT WAS SO NASTY. It tasted like really bitter cough syrup. I accidentally spit all over our 2nd counselor. It's okay though. He lol'd. Our bishop also dressed up as Santa and if you were under 18 years old he gave you a present of all these goodies. A mother from our ward pushed me towards the front and said, "Sister Tracy is 18 give her a gift!" Everyone in my ward was like "oh yeah you are so lucky!" I was going to say "uhh what...I am 19..." but then I saw that my present was a kaleidoscope so I decided not to say anything. I like kaleidoscopes. 
  

Christmas Party!

Bishop Pan as Santa

New convert, Brock

3. My comp and I gave a 20 minute training at district training about "Faith." It went really well. I am proud to call Sister Zippro my companion. She is the most faithful person I know.
  

4. I bought hipster glasses...I am getting really bored with my outfits so I decided to switch things up a bit. I tell everyone that I am representing Seattle with these glasses. So now everyone in JiLong thinks everyone in Seattle wears thrift shop grandma glasses with no lenses...which is maybe kinda true...but not really...but maybe.
  

These are NOT my Hipster Glasses

Beautiful!

5. I think maybe we killed all of the cockroaches in our apartment!
 
6. I went on a fun exchange to Tucheng and got to sleep in their super nice apartment. :)
 
7. We have another Christmas baptism! Our investigator, Sister Sun, is getting baptized on Christmas and we are so excited for her! She is from Indonesia and Chinese is her second language. She knows less Chinese than we do and it's really hard to communicate. But the Spirit is there and her faith is building. And we love her and are so excited for her :) 

Sis Zippro, Sun JM, and I

8. Yesterday we went to an activity in Taipei. The English ward put on a huge production of the Nativity. They had all of these people singing and they got a pony for Mary to ride on and everything! People came from all over. We gave free tours after the production and it was the most incredible thing. People felt the Spirit so strongly. Christ has such an influence on Taiwan right now. The other cool thing was that a lot of the people we gave tours to are from China. They are going to go back to China and get baptized. Lots of great things are happening in Asia right now. The work is hastening.  
9. We had a special sister temple training meeting on Wednesday and I saw my trainer and all of my other MTC sista friends! and I ate pbandj and NUTELLA. Somebody please send me NUTELLA!!!
 
10. We had a special missionary fireside last Saturday. Elder Packer (Apostle Packer's son) from the 70 came to speak to us. It was a really incredible experience. We all stood up and got to shake his hand. A lot of the fireside was centered around family history work. One of his counselors gave a really great demonstration that I really enjoyed. He had everyone take a minute to think about one of the most precious experiences we have had in the past with a family member. Then he had us turn to our companion and share that experience with each other. He afterwards asked us to share how we felt while we were listening to our companion share that story. "Love" "The Spirit" "Happy"..he then read Malachi about the spirit of Elijah and explained that these feelings we felt when hearing about and thinking about family is the spirit of Elijah, he explained that this spirit will change the hearts of our investigators. It will literally draw them to the Gospel because they will have a yearning to understand their earthly families and their heavenly families. The whole time I was thinking about our investigators. SO many of them are ready to be baptized, but the thing that is keeping them from baptism is family opposition. I had a real big impression that the way to get our investigators closer to baptism is through the spirit of Elijah. It's through loving their families more and expressing that love more frequently. Changing their hearts through this special Spirit in the home. I used to view their family members in a bit of a negative light, but suddenly I felt like, "they are God's children too." They need to feel the Spirit too, and they can feel this through our investigators inviting the Spirit in their own homes. This past week we had incredible lessons with our investigators to help them learn how to invite the Spirit in their homes and to express love to their families more often. We had them do the same activity that Elder Packer's assistant did to us. Everyone has a story, a story of love at home, no matter how mad at their family members they might be for whatever reason, they have a story. And when they are reminded of that, the Spirit will fill their hearts, it will change them. I know this because I saw it in them and I saw it in myself. I love my family. I am so thankful that I can be with them for eternity despite any challenges or trials that we have had in the past. I am so thankful that I am here helping others discover that truth as well.
 
This week, especially with Christmas approaching, I invite you all to do this activity with a family member or friend. Invite the spirit of Elijah in your own homes. 

We found a Christmas tree!

Well that's all that I can remember right now. The work is going along great. It's certainly not a smooth ride but it's still moving along. I love you all!
 
Sister Tracy 

SHENG DAN JIE KUAI LE! (Merry christmas!)

Gotta have faith- December 8

Nimen hao! 
  
A few thoughts from this past week: 
  
A. Yu Mama got baptized and confirmed! It was really awesome. Our ward is amazing. Yu Mama doesn't really even know that many people in the ward yet but a bunch of people all pulled together and put on a really fantastic baptism for her. So many people came. I am really proud of the JiLong ward. :) And Yu mama was great. She bore a really powerful testimony and was just super excited and everyone was super friendly. As she went into the font I waited for her at the top and I just remember distinctly feeling a huge impression from the Spirit. Just really, really happy. This is Heavenly Father's will for us all. To covenant with him on earth so that we may receive His guidance and blessings for eternity. I just am really glad that I was reminded of that. So thankful. 

2. My language is nowhere near perfect but it has come really far. This last week we traveled to the Bishop's restaurant so that the new missionaries could get to know the bishop. The whole thing was in Chinese. I remember going over there the first week I was in Taiwan and feeling super helpless and "ting bu donging" everything that was being said. But this time I was able to speak in Chinese the whole time and know what was going on. I haven't even been here that long. I know the Lord qualifies us for His work. 

c. We have a lot of Christmas activities going on this week. I made a promise with Heavenly Father that I would literally give everyone I come in contact with an invite to the Christmas party. If I do this, I hope to find a new investigator at the party. Maybe I will, maybe I won't, but I have faith that something good is going to come out of this. P.S. Christmas here is really weird. No one has decorations or anything. NOTHING like America where Christmas decorations are EVERYWHERE. Thank you mom for sending me the Christmas tree advent calendar. It's about the most Christmasy thing I've seen in Taiwan so far.
 
4. I had a dream the other night where I went home for Christmas and left my mission. In my dream I told Mom, "I can't be here. I need to go back to Taiwan. I'm not done yet!" And I called Prez Day over and over and over begging him to send me back but he never answered. I woke up from my dream feeling sick, just sick, and a super awful feeling. Then I realized that it was just a dream and I was still in Taiwan. But it was interesting how I felt so terrible when I thought my dream was real initially. Things have really changed here. I miss you all but I know I am supposed to be here for a reason and I am not leaving until my work here is done. 

E. I had the best lesson 1 I have ever taught with that golden investigator Chen jie mei. She committed to be baptized on Christmas! The spirit was so strong and it was my first time extending an invitation without failing miserably! We went home that night super happy and excited to invite her twin to baptism the following day. However, we met with them after Church and they told us that their Dad says they have to wait 2 years until they can get baptized (because they are still 16). My heart broke. I was so upset. I didn't even know what to say after that. My comp had to take over the lesson cuz I just didn't know what to do. Later that night we went home and decided that we still should have extended an invite to the twin anyway and told them we would still prepare them to be baptized on Christmas. Because...we have faith. If it doesn't happen then at least we've done our part as missionaries and fulfilled our purpose to them of inviting them to come unto Christ. Tonight were gonna reinvite these twins to baptism. I have faith something is going to come out of this. With the Lord on our side, it always does. 

Well until next week...love you all! 
Sister Tracy 

It's cold...but the miracles are warming me up!- December 2

Nimen to the Hao 
  
You guys are totally going to laugh at me. I am seriously turning into a Taiwanese person. Lately in JiLong (one of the coldest places on the Island, mind you), all of the people have been saying it's going to be freezing lately! Well, in Taiwan "freezing" is about 55 degrees Fahrenheit. At first I thought, mehhh that's nothing..I'm from Seattle, I can handle that. Well...for the past few days I have been FREEZING. And its like 50ish degrees...I've been wearing scarves like every day and layers upon layers upon layers. Still freezing. You know you've been in Taiwan for a long time when you get to that point...hahah 
  
BUT this week actually has been incredible. The miracles that we've seen have been warming me up! 
  
It all started with my companion. Sister Zippro is amazing. I love love love the way she goes about missionary work. Her testimony is strong. She is very simple in her teaching. She is faithful. Her faith is really lifting me up. We were planning last week and she asked me, "How many baptisms do you think we can have this month." I looked at our board and gave her a number. She said, "Why do you say that number? We have more on the board." I said, "I just don't know how likely it will be that the other people will get baptized this month." She put down her things and turned to me and said, "Sister Tracy, I have no idea what I am doing here in JiLong. But we are both here to see miracles. I know our faith is going to make miracles." She really encouraged me to set higher goals and pray with more fervent faith. President emailed me and said we would see many miracles. And boy have we...
 

1. We had a lesson with an investigator named Michele. She is a former and lately it has been difficult teaching her. She is a genius. Really intellectual--so it gets a little intimidating at times. Her desire to come unto Christ is not too huge right now, but by the end of every lesson we know it's growing. This last lesson was miraculous. We re-taught Lesson 1. When we got to the part when we were talking about Christ, we read Alma 7:11-12 out loud with her. I don't really know what happened but as I read that scripture out loud for her, I read that scripture in a really different way than I have before. And I have read this scripture for people like over 100 times. As I started to reflect on why Christ was my personal Savior, I got really emotional. I bore testimony that Jesus Christ was my personal Redeemer. By the end of the lesson, in her prayer, Michele said, "Heavenly Father, thank you for letting me feel something tonight. Thank you for allowing me to learn about your Son. If He can really lift people's burdens like that...then I like that. I think it's a good thing, and I want to keep learning about that." The spirit will testify of truth. It will let you know what to say when you don't know what to say. It will carry into the hearts of others. I know this is true.
 
2. We went to a former investigator's house and she wasn't home. SO we decided to knock doors instead. Our goal was to find a new investigator. We had 20 minutes and at first I was doubtful, but then I remembered what Sister Zippro told me earlier that week. SO I said a prayer to have faith. The very first door we came to, we found our new investigator. We are meeting with her and her family this Wednesday. :)
 
3. Yu Mama is getting baptized this Saturday! My first baptism! I am so excited for her! She has so so so much faith. The miracle here was also that she wants to get baptized QUICK. So we had to teach all of the commandments in one hour! Really really really good practice for teaching the commandments as simple as possible haha.
 
4. We had a lesson with Lin Chun Zi and taught about fasting. We read Isaiah 58:3-11 together. It was so amazing. She immediately knew that fasting was a commandment of God. She came to Church yesterday and paid a fast offering and everything. Her husband's heart is softening. I really think she can be baptized soon! She is so much happier.
  
5. At temple tours we were giving our new investigators a tour and teaching the 1st lesson at the same time. When we got to the Joseph Smith 1st vision photo I totally blanked on how to say the first vision. BLANKED OUT. I said a quick prayer in my heart that I would remember. Suddenly the first word came into my head. The rest came out perfectly. The spirit seriously brings things back into our minds. I am also way excited because they both set a baptismal date! They are coming to Church next Sunday!
 
6. At the temple I also ran into a boy about my age that I gave a tour to on my first day giving tours (back from transfer 1). He told me he was getting baptized tomorrow! That was a sweet tender blessing from the Lord that I was able to congratulate him and see this conversion in him. I am glad that I was able to be a part of it. 

 
7. Our RC ("recent convert" - mission lingo translation inserted by Dad) lost her job this week and almost had to get kicked out of her house. After fasting for her, and inviting her to fast, she found a new job! She won't have to move now! 

 8. As I have had more responsibility, I have been really really praying for the gift of tongues so that I can accomplish these things. It is amazing. My language is improving. Rapidly. The Lord is blessing me. This week I felt like I could understand so much better and speak so much better. I have been stuttering in my speech less and less. I can talk on the phone to everyone now and know what they are saying. I could never ever do these things before last last week. The Lord qualifies us! 
  
9. At the temple we met a member from another part of Taiwan and he gave us all of these family referrals. We are meeting with them all this week! 
  
10. We literally have the most golden investigator ever and this all happened yesterday. She called us (I had no idea who she was beforehand, someone that Sister Barden contacted last week) and said, "Can I come to church with you?" DANG RAN! (Of course!) So she came. She is this adorable 16 year old girl who has Sundays completely free--(MIRACLE). She LOVED church. We had an incredible lesson with her and gave her a Book of Mormon. Later that day we called her and invited her to a fireside by the temple. She came! At the fireside people sang Christmas songs and gave talks. She came up to me and said, "I feel like I need to teach about this church to my family. I am going to bring them to meet you tomorrow." YES!! Also, she already started reading the Book of Mormon and she said she would try living the Word of Wisdom (ALSO A HUGE MIRACLE. It is so hard for Taiwanese to stop drinking tea) AHHHHH SHE IS AWESOME!! 
  
Well, I am doing a lot better this week. I just have a lot of faith this transfer. Good things are about to happen in JiLong. It is going to be a White Christmas (not snow-wise, but baptismal clothes-wise ) :) 

My crazy district leader

The Jilong missionaries and a member from Nei Hu

Us singing "Come Thou Fount"- very very off tune lol.

Me and my missionary buddies!  

 
WO ai nimen! 
  
Sister Tracy