I HATE EARTHQUAKES!- May 26, 2014

Hola familia and pengyous

This last week was crazy interesting for a few reasons.

1. We had an earthquake again and I am starting to develop a real phobia of them. For some reason everytime we have an earthquake, I am always in a super tall high up building. We had a 6.5 earthquake the other morning during studies and we live on the 10th floor sooooo, it was really shaky. I was in the kitchen grabbing a snack and it started to shake. A few glass cups fell from the cupboard, luckily I am a ninja so I grabbed them before they hit the ground but after I started to realize it was earth-quaking I freaked out and dropped the cups--they shattered--and I hid under my comp’s bed. It was hard to come back out after cuz I was waiting for the aftershock so I just proceeded to finish my studies under her bed...I don’t like earthquakes.

2. Another bucket list item checked off. Lately, I’ve been looking through this bucket list I made in my journal awhile ago and I decided to pray and ask Heavenly Father to help me check some off. Well...miracles happen, people. We were at an investigator’s house and the mom came out with a bowl of coconuts with bendy straws in them. Bucket list item #67 is drink juice from a coconut with a bendy straw. God knows me.

3. We have this adorable investigator named Zhang An Fu. He is like 60 plus years old. I think I talked about his last week. He calls us a lot and asks how we are doing. It’s so adorable. What’s not adorable, however, is that he keeps calling us at like 2 in the morning. But another miracle is that I figured out how to turn our ghetto phone on silent! hooray!

4. Cool random experience from this last week. We are working really close with this kid named Zhang Yu Yao. He is a less active Melchezidek Priesthood holder about 19 years old. He didn’t come to church again so I called him up and said, "Hey, we missed you. Where were you?" He said, "I had work." I said.."So...?" He paused for a second then said, "Sister Tracy,can I ask you a question?" "Yeah, what’s up" "Why does it matter so much to you whether or not I come to church? Why? You put so much effort into this? It’s a waste of time isn’t it?" I paused for a second and I cannot explain what came over me (The spirit) and I got really stern and said, "I know you don’t feel it all the time but as a representative of Jesus Christ I am here to tell you that Heavenly Father loves YOU. I feel it all the time and it is something you need to feel too. Zhang Yu Yao, I will not give up until you are able to feel it too." He paused for awhile and then said, "Sister Tracy I will be there next week." Then he hung up the phone. I know that God lives and that He wants us to know that He LOVES US. That’s what He wants. I feel it all the time. When I am out on the street contacting, when I am sitting in sacrament looking out at people, when I am trying to help out my companion. What a special opportunity it is to feel that so often as a missionary. Let us not forget how much our Father in Heaven loves us.

I love you all :)

Sister Tracy

HAPPYＢＩＲＴＨＤＡＹRYAN!!!!!! May 19, 2014

Hey there!

Well we're a little upset because Wayne/ Zhou Di Xiong did not get baptized this week. He hit a few brick walls. He did not pass his first interview because of some issues in his past. And now his wife opposes his baptism because of his past and is taking out her anger on the Church. She told him that he could not go to Church anymore and that he could not pay tithing. He is in Taidong right now. We have it set up so that when he comes home our MM Leader and the Branch President will go visit him.

Not gonna lie,  I've been pretty down about it all week. It hurts! You spend so much time and energy on helping someone and then suddenly it just all blows up in your face. It feels like getting dumped but a million times worse because were dealing with someone’s salvation here. All week I've been praying really hard to be patient with everything. It’s hard. But there is still hope. In fact, he just called me like 5 minutes ago to tell me that he would not be in Hua Lien for awhile because his uncle is dying. He asked me and Sister Williams to pray for him and his uncle. He says that he has been praying. He also says that he wants to see us again when he comes home; that he will call us when he comes home. Wayne is our friend. That’s what I am happy about in the end. He isn’t just some baptismal statistic. He isn’t just some goal we are trying to hit. He is truly a good friend of ours. He trusts us enough to ask us to pray for his family, and we trust him enough that we are not going to give up on him. When he comes back to HuaLien we are going to work with him some more. He needs this. And he knows he needs it too. 

In other news, Li Shi Hao...GAHHHHHHHHHH That man! He is sooooo close! We reset his date for the end of this month. If I could ask EVERYONE -- I don’t care if you are a member of our Church or not--we need prayers going out to this guy! Pray that Li Shi Hao will have the control to quit smoking and make his baptismal goal for the 31st of May! He CAN DO IT!

Our Beautiful Chapel 

We are also working with this adorable old man in his 70s named Zhang An Fu. He also has a smoking problem. He came to church for the first time yesterday and he loves it! He is so adorable. I love working with the elderly. I was sitting next to him during a baptismal service yesterday and he saw me scratching my mosquito bites and he immediatley pulls out this mosquito healing liquid and pours it all over my legs hahaha. It worked too! He wears a pink hat every day but for church he took it off and said, “I need to be reverent!” He was drunk called us at 2 in the morning the other day...that was interesting. We taught him the Word of Wisdom yesterday and he said in English, "I will do! I will do! I will do!" We need more investigatgors like this guy. He is a riot. Bring on the grandpas.

I have been EATEN ALIVE by mosquitoes. I counted the other day...122 bites. 22 on my arms and 100 on my legs. It’s a mark of the east coast.

Also our RC told me the other day that I have a pokerface. That is the first time I have ever been told that. Do I have one? really?

Also, we teach the higher level students in English class now and it is a PARTAY. We spent the whole class talking about what Jumbo Shrimp is. 

Gotta love life.

Party at FHE

Our tower won!

Our Missionary District

 

Love 

Sister Tracy

(Mother's Day Edition): Mu Qin Jie Kuai Le! Birthweek and so much more- May 11, 2014

Mother! I love you! Happy Mother's Day! 
  
Also DAD totally meant to tell you this on Skype yesterday but HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I thought about you all day, no worries. I also ate cake in your honor. 
  
It was great to Skype you all. And Stephen, I love you haha. I am sorry you got the end of the call but know that I love love love you and Tiffany and talking to Rylee on the phone was the highlight of my life because I have never really ever talked to her before. I told everyone at church that I got to talk to my niece for the first time and I asked advice on what to buy her for a "taiwan gift" ;) 

So this last week pretty much rocked because it was my companion's birthday. We have a tradition here that if you are companions with me, we are celebrating your birthWEEK. So basically all week we partied and spread the Gospel at the same time. We bought my companion crocs so that her feet wouldn't die in the rain, ate Mexican food with investigators, went to Hot Pot with an LA family, our investigator made us cake as a surprise, the sisters in the apartment bought a super nice cake, a member bought us cake and took us out to eat at our member referral's restaurant, we ate mochi and gave out like 10 Books of Mormon to tourists from Mainland, and we had fun doing it all. Happy birthweek to my lovely companion, Sister Williams :) 

Happy Birthday Sister Williams!

My wonderful companion!

So we have a baptism this Friday! Wayne!!!!!!!!! Wayne came in contact with the church through English class and he loves this Gospel. The priesthood power and blessings that the priesthood bring to families is what he's most into. He is going to be an amazing priesthood holder. And his family isn't so interested in our message...yet. But we have faith. Please pray for him 

Wayne!

Li Shi Hao is smoking 1 cigarette a day. We are going to try having him smoke on and off day by day. HE IS SO CLOSE. Pray for him. 
  
We have 2 awesome investigators getting baptized in 2 weeks. A mom and a daughter. They live up in the mountains. I LOVE BIKING TO THEIR HOUSE. Its an epic adventure. We pass through all these farmlands. Ill take pics. 
  
Also our new investigator is this famous person from Hualien with a famous BBQ corn place. We knocked into him. He gave us free corn and it was the best thing I've ever eaten. Look up BBQ Corn Hualien Taiwan on google and I'm sure you will be able to find him. His name is Lin Shang Zhe. He is like the cake boss of Taiwan. 

This mission is an adventure! Best thing I've ever done in my life! 

Mother's Day activity--a few of the men in our ward did a dance to Mamma Mia dressed as women lol!  

I love you all..especially you, Mom. 
  
Sister Tracy 

Rain Rain go away- May 5, 2014

HELLO FAMILIA [Father's Editorial Note: she is apparently in the "Little Seattle" (note the rain) Spanish-speaking region of Taiwan now] AND PENG YOUS 


This last week was ROUGH. The rainy season is here! We've also had a ton of earth quakes!  It's been warm and muggy and POURING rain every single day. Contacting has been a success though because lots of people see us and say, "How pitiful! Come inside and eat something!" So that's good. 


We met with a lot of LA less active priesthood holders this last week. My favorite new person is this man named Yang Yin Wei. The elders usually meet with him but they passed him over to us because he's in our area now. I called him up and he has the softest voice ever, it was almost frightening. We show up at his house and he lives in a MANSION. And what's best is he waited for us outside in the rain and when we came in on our bikes he SPRINTED up to us and put umbrellas over our heads. Also, he wore a suit that day because he knew we were coming over. He fed us fruits and chocolates and showed us his trophies for golf (he has a lot) and all his family photos. HE IS GREAT! We finally sat down with him and shared a lesson on sacrament and church and asked him to bare his testimony about Christ. At the end we asked him why he hasn't been at church for awhile. He started to cry and explained that his wife would need to take him but she doesn't want to wake up early and go. He said, "I want to go. I know I need to go." The Spirit hit me soooo strong, THIS MAN NEEDS TO COME BACK TO CHURCH. I will not rest until I get this man to church! 


Friday night we still had about an hour until we needed to head home so we decided to go visit a member. It was pouring rain, really muggy, dark, and we were not really in the best of spirits. I lead the way and we were biking up this huge hill and once we got to the top I suddenly realized we were completely lost and I had no idea where we were. I looked at the map and realized that I had lead us in the completely opposite direction of where we needed to go. I was sopping wet, all of my papers and bag were too. Not to mention I fell off my bike into a puddle so that was great. I turned to my companion and apologized for completely wasting time. She didn't say anything at first so I thought she was mad. As guilt quickly started to creep into my mind my companion said, "This is the most beautiful part of Taiwan I've seen yet." I suddenly looked around and saw all the trees and a really pretty view of the canal. Ahead was an empty road lined up with trees with mountains in the backdrop. Sister Williams said, "Sister Tracy we prayed before coming out here. And God wouldn't send us out here for no reason. I think this is a tender mercy. It is so beautiful up here. It reminds me of Utah too." She was right! As we were biking down the hill back to home I felt the spirit so strongly looking out at the beauty of this island. This is a special place and a special work. I think God wanted us to get lost so that we could recognize that better. He wanted us to know how proud He is of us. I know this is true because I felt it. I'm so thankful for my companion for recognizing God's hand in our lives. 

Everyone ought to take a moment say a prayer, ask God to help you better recognize His hand in your life. He will show you. Sometimes He will show you through other people. 

Pictures from my Pday last week.  We went to Taroko Gorge. So Amazing!

Here are some pictures from the water cave there:

I love you all!

Sister Tracy


p.s. THANK YOU SISTER SPERRY AND MI YW/YM FOR THE PACKAGE. ALL OF THE EASTER REESES PEANUT BUTTER EGGS HAVE ALREADY BEEN EATEN!

All because of a prayer- April 27, 2014

So not a lot of time to email this week because we are taking an epic PDay trip down to Taroko Gorge. But here are a few thoughts/updates I have for the week: 
  
1. CONGRATS TO STEPHEN AND TIFFANY!!!!!!!!!!!!! BABY BECKHAM IS ADORABLE! 
  
2. WE HAD A BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!! Sweet Xing Rou got baptized and confirmed this weekend. Tons of folks showed up and it was AWESOME. She is a miracle. We met her on the street like 3 weeks ago. She said in her baptismal testimony: "It is a miracle that these sisters found me. Especially at a time when my heart has been so low because my mom just died." Our jaws dropped. Xing Rou never told us that her mom died. Wow, all because of a prayer, the gospel changed her life. 

Xing Rou got baptized!  

3. We found a family that is going to get baptized on Mother's Day! It is soooo awesome. Their dad is so faithful! He is going to make a wonderful priesthood holder. 
  
4. Shout out to Kate Lepp...I am touched that you thought of me during the MI missionaries' prayer. I testify that whatever you felt during that prayer was the love of God. I invite you yourself to pray everyday to continue to feel that love. You can change peoples' lives with prayer including your own :) 
  

I FOUND THIS GIRL IN JILONG ON MY 3RD TRANSFER. SHE FINALLY GOT BAPTIZED YEAAAAAHHH!!!!!

5. I love this mission with all of my heart. We have a lot of folks were working with this week. Man, this work is rough. But I never want to leave. 

P.s. everyone please please please pray for Li Shi Hao. He is going down to smoking 1 cigarette this week and next week he's going down to 0. HE IS SO CLOSE TO BAPTISM. Please pray for him!!!!! 
  
I LOVE YOU ALL 
sorry for the short email 
Sister Tracy 

Easter- April 20, 2014

Cool things: 
  
~Xuan Yu and Yu Mama (my Recent converts from JiLong) totally took a road trip down to Hualien to visit me! They surprised me! It was sooo awesome! They showed up at a ward party we were having and brought me all this guava and my favorite candies and pictures and cards and stuff. It was so awesome. I felt real bad that I couldn't really hang out with them but they came to Church with me and they are both really strong in the Gospel. They are doing super well. Xuan Yu is going to go through the temple soon. I am hoping she will let me go with her. That would be so cool :) 
  

My RCs from JiLong  came and visited! 

~Xing Rou is getting baptized this week!!!! This Tuesday is her interview and Saturday is her baptism! She is doing so well. That girl is a prepared soul.
  

~We set up a lot of May baptismal dates with some awesome people. :)
 
~Our new investigator's dad sells mochi and they give us free mochi every time we come over (God knows me).
  

Xie Jia ting..and LA family we are reactivating!

~OH SUPER COOL THING: Elder Wilson from the Quorum of the 70 ( a general authority in our Church) came down to Hualien with his wife. They are doing a mission tour. We had this really awesome training about the power of the Book of Mormon, They really want us to focus on getting investigators, RCs, LAs, like..everyone reading the Book of Mormon more. It's an important tool for conversion. I've been learning more and more about that every day. It's true. I look back at all of the people I have helped bring to  the step of baptism...all of them were reading the Book of Mormon daily and had a testimony about it. SOOOO that's our big focus. Their training was really inspiring.
 
~ALSO SUPER COOL. Elder Wilson wanted to interview 5 missionaries based off of random inspiration and guess who was chosen....me + 4 others. It was a really cool interview. I showed Elder Wilson all of my family photos and he was really interested in our story (I shared about Ryan and Michelle and everyone) He asked me what he could do to help me. I didn't expect him to ask that. I thought for a second and I said, "I want to be wise. I want to know the scriptures better so I can help people with their problems like King Solomon." He gave me a bunch of cool tips for making a scripture memory bank and retaining scriptures. He challenged me to memorize a scripture a day and keep a list somewhere. He said he was going to do it too. So that was neat. 

Sophies baptism! 

 
This next week will be really eventful. We got Pday today (we might go hiking up to a cave so I'm stokeddddd) then tomorrow and Wednesday we have exchanges. Thursday and Friday we'll be in Taipei for a trainer follow-up meeting. And thennnnn Saturday we have a baptism!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and then Sunday I am going to celebrate Easter because by then I'll have my package and I can eat chocolate (there's not a lot of focus on Easter in Taiwan, unfortunately). YAYYYYYY HAPPY EASTER! 

We found a banana tree while contacting!

ALSO I AM SO STOKED FOR MY BABY NEPHEW TO BE BORN!!! SHOUT OUT TO STEPHEN AND TIFF. MAIL ME PICS IMMEDIATELY
 
Love,
Sister Tracy

lotsastuff- April 14, 2014

Nimen hao! 
  
This week was bomb. 
  
A few updates about people we love: 
  
~Our 13 year old investigator Xing Rou is gonna get baptized next week! We found her on the streets like 2 weeks ago and she is seriously so ready! Her dad really likes us missionaries and I'm trying to get him hooked up with the elders. He really likes to smoke and drink... man man lai...but he gave Xing Rou permission to get baptized! They both came to conference! and he reads the Book of Mormon! Xing Rou was a little sad when we taught her Word of Wisdom because milk tea is her favorite drink. But she's got it :) 
  
~We also have an awesome investigator named Wayne. He is a referral from English class and he came to conference. I asked him "Do you believe what they are saying is true" "Yeah" "Do you believe that they are called of God?" He paused for awhile then looked at me and said, "I believe." He will hopefully get baptized in the next next week! 
  
~Also met these miracle girls named Anne and Laura. They already have such a strong testimony in the Book of Mormon. They read it everyday. Their barrier right now is work; they cannot come on Sundays to church. But we are praying extra hard for them and as their faith grows they will figure it out. 
  

~Baptism this week! Super amazing girl named Sophie! I AM SO STOKED. I love this girl to pieces. Such a humble heart and solid testimony in Jesus Christ. Her baptism is scheduled for after English class so everyone is going to go over and watch right after. Yayayay :)
 
Funny things:
 
~We met a man that was barbecuing possums. They still had their fur, and when we asked him if he was going to skin them, he just said "no" and then he pulled out a blowtorch and started burning it off.
 
~Walked into a mochi store to buy a treat (mochi is this famous hualien dessert) and the lady loved us so much that she gave us 3 bags full of mochi. That's like 100s and 100s of kuai!!!!! And she is going to come to English class this week! Super duper tender mercy from the Lord.
 
~An old man that we contacted really wanted to give me a hug. I didn't know how to communicate that it's a rule that I cannot hug men for a year and a half so basically it resulted in me being chased by him down the street. I literally ran away from a hug...weird feeling. 

Does anyone know what this fruit is?????

Cool things:
 
~Temple sisters came down from Taipei to go on an exchange with us. I got to go on an exchange with my trainer!!!!!!! SISTER BARDEN! It was so cool! Last time I ever did mish work with her was way back when I could barely speak to people. I was the one leading out now and idk, it was wonderful. We invited a family to baptism and got free food. It was so cool. I love love love Sister Barden. Eternal friends for sure.
  

It was so good to see these friends again!

Me and Sister Barden!

Spiritual stuff:
 
~Conference was awesome. I got to watch it in English thank goodness. I think my favorite talk was Elder Uchtdorf's talk on gratitude. Not being grateful FOR things but rather being grateful IN things. I like that perspective. Probably because it reminds me a lot of Viktor Frankel's ideas of being happy no matter what situation you are in. I am going to focus a lot of my studies on gratitude in the coming week. I invite everyone to read that talk when it comes out.  I also like Elder Scott's talk. And Elder Holland is always a boss...
 
I am falling more and more in love with this work every day. I love these people so much. Don't make me leave in a few months. 

On Top of our Building looking down at the town

I Love this place!

Love you all
Sister Tracy