Sister McKenna Tracy: you xinxin you banfa- November 25

Well nimen hao!

So much to tell you all...

~Heavenly Father needs me here in JiLong a little longer because I stayed in my area. Sister Barden got transferred to an area in Xin Zhu called Zhu Bei. She's about 1.5 hours away from Jilong. I really miss her. We will be friends forever.

~My new companion is Sister Zippro from Farmington, Utah. She served in Taidong (realllllly far south) for about 3 months. Its really different from JiLong. So she has been on island as long as me. This is really rare...Usually, President will not put two missionaries from the same generation (people who have been on island for the same amount of time) as companions. One usually might have more experience. And Sister Barden was here for a really short time before too. I wonder why Heavenly Father wants really new foreigners in JiLong right now. There must be a purpose but I haven't figured it out yet.

~Last Monday a member took us to a really famous market in the mountains (in our area) called Jiu Fen. It was soooo incredibly amazing. It was like Pikes Place Market on steroids in the mountains. I took a million pictures that I will forward. Also...I bought an ocerina. Yes, bucket list item crossed off. I carry it around with me everywhere and play Legend of Zelda
songs. It's awesome haha.

The duck hat

We decided that if I were a Buddah, I would be this one. The one who is always sleeping hahaha

Ocarina Store!

Beautiful!

We went with a member in our ward, YiTing.

~We also had our Thanksgiving English party last week and played lots of games. The Elders went all out and decorated the room super pretty. They also made mashed potatoes and corn and apples and all this yummy goodness. It was amazing. An elderly couple in our ward also cooked a huge Thanksgiving meal for us this last Thursday. It was amazing! She even made the marshmallow sweet potato thing that you always make, mom! And the way she made pumpkin pie was awesome cuz it wasn't from a can. It was made from legit pumpkins from the market. We didn't have a turkey...but we ate chicken. I will never forget the way that Wang Nai Nai "cut" the chicken. She didn't really know how to do it so she basically ripped it apart with her bare hands. You could hear the cracking of the bones and everything. It was nuts!

~Once everyone found out that Sister Barden was moving last week, everyone showed up at the chapel last Thursday to say good bye. She is an incredible example of love to me. SO many of our investigators showed up and said what a difference she had made in their lives. It was so touching to see. There is so much charity in our ward.

Me and my fav sista, sister chamberlain

~These last few days have been really difficult. I've had to lead in making the schedule and getting us around and teaching. My Chinese has gotten better but it's still really hard. I mess up a lot. There are just a lot of new challenges. I misunderstand people a lot. I barley know how to teach. I have to try harder to listen to their words and the Spirit. I feel like I have no idea what I am doing. I have never put myself out there more in my life. My weaknesses are clearly exposed. It's scary. However, despite these fears, I look back on Ether 12:27, my mission scripture. "I will make their weaknesses into strengths." Heavenly Father will help me. I know this. Maybe the purpose of being in this situation right now is so that He can help me fix these weaknesses. He wants to push me this transfer. I can tell. I am going to work harder than ever to learn this language and learn how to teach better because I love these people with all of my heart and I want to be the best missionary I can be for them. It's gonna take more faith on my part but it's okay...you xinxin, you banfa (With faith, there is a way)

me and yu xuan yu--our recent convert. she is honestly the most unforgetable person ever. i will always remember her story of how the gospel changed her life.