Knock, knock, knock.....Q: "Who Is It?" Answer: "Missionaries" Response: "No one is home." O.o

Do you have to go tracting on Thanksgiving?

Yup.  Thanksgiving doesn't exist in Taiwan.  We don't believe in being thankful through eating turkey here... Turkey is expensive apparently... But we are going to have a Thanksgiving party on Saturday for the ward.  We missionaries have to do a play explaining Thanksgiving.... I'm going to be an Indian! Of course... Haha!

How far do you have to travel to church?
8 minutes if we bike at a very relaxed pace.  2-3 minutes if we bike our guts out.

How many investigators did you have at church this week?
Only 2.  but that's okay. :)  Better than none!

What food do you miss the most?
Not really that I miss it... but Mexican food is pretty rare... oh, and very very yummy sushi!  Taiwan sushi is weird.... and Indian food! There is an Indian place in Ping Dong though.  Looks expensive, but I've made it a goal to go there. :) 

Have you been hit on your bike yet or had a close call?
I haven't hit things yet or been hit.  Knock on wood!  I've probably had some close calls, but everyone has close calls on Taiwan streets.  Actually, Ping Dong isn't very bad, rode wise.  Not as many people on the streets.  Though, traffic laws are a bit more laxed here as well... so.... it kind of balances themselves out.  Don't worry, I do my best to be safe.  :)

Oh, sorry about the lack of pictures recently... we really haven't had many opportunities to take some.  This week and next week we'll for sure have some opportunities though!

***************

Hello Mum and other really awesome people!

How is life in the states?  Is it getting colder?  Because it's getting cooler here.  We actually wear sweaters in the mornings and evenings because it gets a bit colder than normal... which means it's not in the 80s or something... actually, most days it's my companion who wears the sweaters because she is cold.  I wear them because if I don't, everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) I talk to says: "Ni bu hui leng ma?" Which means "You won't cold?" or in plain English: "You aren't cold?"  And I always say, "Bu hui."  And then I get lectured on how I'll get sick if I don't wear a sweater....  Yeah, everyone here in Taiwan is concerned about other people's health.  Which is pretty nice I guess.  My favorite greeting here is : "Ni chi bao le me?" Which means:  "Have you eaten full yet?"/ "Have you eaten yet?"  I've always wondered what would happen if I just awkwardly said "Hai mei"/ Not yet.  Would they offer to let us in so we can eat?  Perhaps that would be a good strategy to getting into doors... Haha!  Taiwan people are so concerned with food and eating.  I like this culture! Haha!

Talking about getting into doors.... When we are door contacting, we get some pretty funny/interesting experiences.  Such as when we ring the doorbell and people from within shout: "Who is it?"  And we answer back: "Missionaries!"  And they answer back: "NO ONE IS HOME!"  Or another one of my favorite answers:  "I'm in the shower!"  Half of the time, you can see them through their windows... And A: I'm pretty sure if you weren't home, I wouldn't be able to see you... and B:  Why are you showering in your living room without water????? 

Also, I've never been bowed to so much in my life.  I've learned that in Taiwan, one of the most common ways for missionaries to get refused is through bowing while walking backwards and saying "Thank you. Thank You. Thank You. Thank You. Thank You...."  We get bowed to every day!  And these people are thanking us just for saying something along the lines of: "Hello, we are missionaries and we are in your neighborhood sharing a happy message about Christ and how he can bring more peace and happiness in your life."  They just get so excited they just keep saying thank you, over and over again and they are unable to take much more of our message, so they go back inside....  Yeah... that's pretty much sums up 95% of the experiences we have contacting people in their houses....

So, this week has been pretty good for the most part.  Though, with lessons it's been kind of slow or not as productive as we would want them to be.  Most of our people have been too busy to meet this week due to testing in all of the schools.  Also, when we were teaching Amber, her son was all over the place, so we weren't able to have her focus very well...  But I have a feeling if we keep pressing forward and trying harder to find new investigators and praying for the investigators that we are teaching that we'll have some miracles.  I'm just really praying to have some of the investigators I've been working with for a while be baptized soon!! They are so ready! Most of their problems is the fact that they haven't come to church as much as they should.  That's the only thing keeping Amber back... because she has Logan, her son, and she is about 8 months pregnant.... very very very pregnant.... she doesn't think she can do it... she just needs faith!

Anyways, Wednesday was Sister Schultz birthday!  Happy birthday to her!  The Lord gave us a pretty pleasant day, especially with teaching English.  Our English class went more smoothly than it has for a loooong time!  Also, for part of lunch we stopped by a cafe to grab some cake for her birthday.  And after we finished eating our cake, a couple was celebrating their 30th anniversary with a cake in the shape of a duck.  They were so cute!  And so was the cake!  And they just gave us two slices of their cake, right out of the blue! It was super nice of them.  I don't understand some Taiwanese cake though.  This cake had a whip cream frosting.  And on the inside, it had a layer of frozen whip cream with frozen cubes of cake.... So it was cake with frozen cake as the filling.... interesting....

Other fun things that happened this week.  On Saturday we pretty much had a day of service.  First, we helped a convert, Xuen Xuen, clean her house.... in which we pretty just moved a whole bunch of things around because her house has a lot of stuff she doesn't know why it's in there....  She was getting frustrated, because no one in her family really knows how to clean...  So we went and helped her.  Anyways, the funny moment was when she gave me a wet rag and told me to go dry of a plastic bin with it... Well, the rag was about as wet as the bin... so I wasn't sure what the logic behind it was, and Sister Schultz was just as confused.  And then, after we helped Xuen Xuen clean, we helped Sister Hu weed her garden.  Well... weeding also includes spreading manuer all over the ground... yum!  So yeah... we got dirty....

So, now that I've pretty much written a novel, I guess I'll hurry up and do my spiritual share so I can go and email my mission president.  Yesterday in church, our bishop mentioned there were two different parts to the phrase "Children of God."  The first one is the fact that we are literally children of God.  He created us, both body and spirit.  The second is more of being known as a Child of God because we are willing to do what he wants us to do.  We are willing to be converted unto him.  That got me thinking the difference between being a child and being an heir.  We are all children of God.  But how many of us are striving to be an heir of God?  To be an heir, means to be obedient unto the Father so that he is pleased with us.  It means showing our love to him, and being willing to follow his will.  In return, he promises us an eternal inheritance. The Lord has prepared an inheritance for every one of his children.  But he will only give it to those who are worthy and will appreciate that inheritance.  For our Father is a just God.  So strive every day to be an heir to the Lord's kingdom.  Remember that we are all children of the most High King. He loves each and every one of us.  And he is waiting with arms out stretched. 

I am so grateful to be part of this work.  And though I know that I have many imperfections and am not qualified to do this work, I know that this is the Lord's work and he will see it through.  He works through imperfect people to build up his kingdom.  We just have to be willing to be humble enough to accept his help. 

I hope you all are doing well.  I miss you and love you all! 

God be with you till we meet again,

Sister Nicholle Peng

You Never Know What Is Behind The Door......

Are you still working on phase 2 of your language learning? Yup.  I have two boxes of flashcards with 1000+ cards in each...  Almost done with the first box though.  I'm actually further along than my companion....

 

What is your favorite thing about your new companion? She is very spiritual.

 

Hello Madre and everyone else who finds my wandering thoughts amusing,

How is everyone?  Well... I'm doing okay.  I just wrote a lot of my email... and then it got deleted because this computer wants me to learn patience and decided to freeze on me.  Not good....  Anyways I was doing better. All good...

So, how's the weather?  Is there snow?  I miss snow... snow is a foreign concept here.  Probably since it's "cold" here when it's in the high 70's (F)...  Members keep telling us to bundle up.... but it's the first time that I've actually enjoyed the temperature here. :P  Anyways, it looks like that we might have a white Christmas here afterall.  Not from snow, but from pollution.  Every morning I look out of the window and the air is white.... like... a really milky white... Probably not the most healthy thing ever, but as missionaries, you just got to deal with it.  Most people here wear medical mask things over their mouths (either paper or cloth ones) when they travel or go outside... missionaries aren't allowed to do that though... so... yeah...  I just try to forget what I learned about fog and air pollution in my Enviromental classes...

Well, this week has been... long? short? tiring? interesting? good? stressful?  All of the above!  Missionary work is still going on here in Ping Dong, which is really good, because I'm always afraid that I'm going to mess something up... Haha!  This week has flown by, but also feels like it's been forever.  And that's probably because missionary work always feels like being on a rollercoaster with it's ups and downs.

Right now me and my companion are struggling to hit the key indicators (goals set by the mission to identify how well we are  doing in the work such as how many lessons we are teaching and how many people are coming to church).  We've just cleaned out a lot of our old investigators who weren't progressing and now we are on the hunt for  new people to teach.  We are trying to be patient as we try to find those people that the Lord has been preparing to come unto him... but most of the time, when we find those people, we have to help them get over a few of their challenges and obstacles...

So, We are still teaching Amber, our American investigator.  She is doing well.  She is very, very pregnant though.  Like, 8 months pregnant.  Like, when the elders told us that they saw her at the park, and we asked how she was, their answer was "pregnant."  She is also having to deal with her 17 month old who is sensing a change is happening in the family.  And the only person he wants to help him is his mom.... who is the person who is least able to help him and hold him because she is pregnant.  Amber wants to be baptised, but she has to come to church more before she can do that.... so... we are trying to help her build faith in order to come.  She's just hesitant, because she'd have to bring the 17 month old (who is a very active little boy)... by herself and she isn't sure she can.... But we'll get her to church! It'll just take prayer, and a lot of member help.

We are also now teaching a 10 year old girl named Kelly who is super adorable!  I've decided I love teaching kids.  They just understand!  They have so much faith in Christ and their Heavenly Father.  When we asked her about her favorite part of church, her answer was "I like when they said that Jesus loves everyone and wants to protect us."  So adorable!  And you can see the light in her eyes whenever we teach, and she gets so excited to learn more.  Her parents on the other hand... have more interest in us teaching Kelly English... They say we can teach about the Gospel, but they also want us to teach English....  Which... is not why we are here in Taiwan.  We are hoping to have the parents sit down and listen to what we share as well... but, they are always busy doing their own thing downstairs... sigh....

Yesterday was a bit interesting teaching lessons though.  So, first: background.  Our bishop has set up a program where every Friday and Sunday we go on splits with the members... Well, yesterday we only had one member show up, so we had her help us in a lesson... She is a really sweet old lady... but... she kept asking the investigators (who we met for the first time yesterday) if they could see the angels surrounding us as we prayed....(of which, I saw none of.... :P ) And pretty much she scolded them for not believing in Christ.... Hopefully the investigators are still willing to meet with us and are not to weirded out or offended... The member was trying to do her best at missionary work though... She probably just needs a little bit of training as to best introduce the gospel to those who haven't heard it yet....

Oh, and yesterday was a bit interesting for going door to door contacting.  It's crazy how many men in Taiwan think it's appropriate to answer the door when only wearing their underwear....  We were contacting a street, where the majority of the doors were answered by men... and a majority of them seemed not ashamed at all for answering the door in nothing but their boxers.... Yeah... cultures are a bit different here....  We did our best to keep every door approach as quick as possible... It was sooo awkward....!!!!  So, people, keep in mind.  The next time your door bell rings.... PUT ON SOME CLOTHES!!!!

So, my time is running a bit short.  Sorry, I feel like lately these emails haven't been very good. My brain just always feel drained lately, and I haven't had the time to really have a refreshing rest....  But that's okay, I'm tired, just how a missionary should be.

But, before I sign off I will leave you all with a spiritual thought.

I was reading in Jesus the Christ, which I recommend everyone to read, when I came across a section talking about the Widow's Mite found in Mark 12:41-44.

 41 ¶And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

 42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

 43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:

 44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

The book, Jesus the Christ (page 561), explained how the angels in heaven who make an accounting of the sacrifices made by men count not by quantity but by quality.  How many times in our lives do we do things, not because we sincerely want to do what God wants, but we do them because we want people to praise us for our good works?  I worry about that everyday.  Why did I come on a mission?  Did I do it truly because I wanted to help the Lord?  Or was I afraid that if I didn't continue on with my plans to serve that other people would think down on me....  Am I serving with all my might, mind, and strength to the Lord? Or am I trying to just make sure other people see me as a "good missionary."  I think somedays I get caught in the trap of "working for the praises of men" rather than trying to please God. 

It's funny how we humans care so much about how other people think of us.  We start comparing ourselves to others, trying to make sure we aren't the worst, and trying to make ourselves look good in the eyes of others.  We become self conscious.... when really, what other people care about doesn't really matter.  What really matters is what our Father in Heaven wants.  How he sees us, as his children, is much more important... but we often forget.

Anyways, I'm not sure where this spiritual share is going...  Perhaps what I just want to say is: Don't forget your a child of a King.  Only he has power to truly judge you, and he will do so with love and mercy.  Don't worry about what other people think.  Be you.  Choose the Right.  Because that's what the Lord would have you do.

I love you all!  I hope you are doing well.  Be a missionary.  Ever day.  In every thought, word and action. 

Love, Sister Nicholle Peng

Flowers Received and Flowers Given...

Hello from the land of giant snails, weird smells, and pet raccoons on leashes....

Wow, this week actually felt really long...  I don't know why, it just feels like Monday was a month ago!  What did I even do this week??? Haha! Just kidding, I remember, I wrote things down.  Thank goodness for post it notes and planners... Seriously, how did I manage before I obtained the skill of doing daily planning... Actually, planning things out is nice and all, but sometimes it just stresses me out because I keep trying to watch the time for everything... You all know how I get anxious about being late and all... Ah well... I'm a bit more organized now, so I know what I'm supposed to be doing.

So this week has been an adventure of sorts.  Well, aside from Monday, we didn't really do things on Monday.... Just went to the store and such... 

Tuesday was a bit more exciting.  We had a ZTM, which means Zone Training Meeting.  So we all took our bikes onto a train, to go to the Feng Shan Chapel. It was actually a really good meeting.  My favorite part was about having a vision.  We all have to have a vision of where we want to go.  That's why goals are so important to keep people motivated.  Well, our vision here in the Taichung mission is to have a Temple in Gaoxiong (right across the street from the Feng Shan Chapel) within the next 10 years or so.  Can you just imagine! Two temples in Taiwan!  That would be so wonderful! Especially for the people in the South, who have to travel 4+ hours to go to the temple.  Right now, our part as missionaries is to continue building the kingdom of the Lord, here in Taiwan.  We need to have 9 more stakes in the Taichung mission boundaries.  We can do it!  Temples are so important! Not only can people receive the ordinances of salvation in them, but families can be sealed together forever!  And also, many loved ones who have passed on will have a chance to receive their ordinances as well!  Perhaps one day, I can travel back to Taiwan, go to the Gaoxiong Temple, and do family history work there with my future family.  Gah! Sooo excited!  Jia You!

So after the ZTM, our lessons for the most part canceled on us, leaving us with a lot of time to go and tract/ contact people.  Well, we decided to start tracting right after we got back to Ping Dong, and wait a little bit before we would go and grab some dinner... well... while tracting, we were invited in by a grandma and her family.  They weren't interested in the Gospel, but they were very interested in making sure that we ate food.... They wouldn't let us leave until we ate our share of dumplings and fruit... So, we didn't need to get dinner....  Then, after we finally managed to leave there house, stomachs being completely full, we continued tracting in a different neighborhood.  Well, we found a few people who were interested, no one that would make a return appointment though.  And then, we came to a house with a lot of orchid plants on the outside.  The owner was nice, he said that his religion was "Sleep", which makes no sense in English.  But here is a little explanation:

Religion: Zong Jiao

Christian: Ji Du Jiao

Buddist: Fo Jiao

Sleep: Shui Jiao

Anyways, after talking to him for a bit, we complemented him on his orchid plants,

which are actually his wife.  Then he wanted us to take 2 of the plants... We refused, not knowing how to take care of the things... but he pretty much put them in our hands and wouldn't take them back... so... we took them, completely confused as to what just happened, and then we ended up giving one to an investigator family. :) We still have one plant, and it's still alive.  It's really pretty. Then, the investigator family gave us cake that looked and tasted very much like tiramisu... which... has coffee.... so we had to throw it away.... but yeah.... On Tuesday, people kept giving us stuff... That never happens....

So, then on Wednesday, we decided to return the favor and give people things.  We wanted to try a different kind of contacting... Flower contacting! So we bought some flowers and then went to a park and started giving all the women and children flowers.  And then, we happened to run into a member, who saw what we were doing and said we probably should get different flowers next time... We asked her why.... Apparently we bought flowers that are only given to dead people at funerals.... so... yeah... then we started worrying a bit, since we gave some very old ladies the flowers... Hopefully they didn't get the wrong impression... O.o  But now the flowers are in our apartment, and it smells like Christmas, so it's all good. :)

Funeral Flowers

On Thursday we had mission president interviews and planner and area book checks... well, afterwards I felt more stressed than ever, since well... I always feel like I could be doing better... but ah well... I'm trying hard, and so what if I'm not getting as many baptisms!  That's not my decision to make, it's the peoples.  They have their agency... I can only do so much!

Friday still seems like forever ago... Interesting highlight was the fact that we taught a drunk lady... we didn't know she was drunk at first... but she was just staring at us, while we were getting ready to leave the church, so we asked if she wanted a tour.  Well, we ended up giving her a small lesson in the chapel, where she accepted a baptismal invite and gave us her information... well... as we were teaching, it became apparent she had the smell of alcohol on her... ah well... She needs help... she's not in our area though, so we will give her information to the other missionaries... hopefully God will help her....

Saturday and Sunday weren't very exciting... Sunday is always nice though, church always makes the spirit a bit lighter.  Also, we had 4 investigators attend, which was cool. :)  Sunday school was also interesting, because we talked about life after death.  While talking about the spirit world, I kept thinking about how much the Lord really does love everyone! He gives us every chance he can to help us come unto him.  We just have to listen to him!

So, today, my plans are to go and buy groceries, look for some cool Taiwan styled clothing, and buy a ukulele (not spelled right).  Sister Schultz and I want to learn how to play.  It's going to be so fun!

Okay, well, I am running out of time quickly... sadness... I really wish I had more time... but I have to write a few other people... :( Ah well.... 

Love you all! Have a good week!  Be more Christ like in all things! Choose the Right!

Sister Nicholle Peng