1). How is Chinese New Years
going? Is there a lot of excitement in the air?
New years is okay.... just a lot
of busy people.... not really excitement.... just everything is closed-
like a lot of food places and bike repair shops- which makes us sad, because we
need to get our bikes fixed.... (i need a kickstand and Sister park needs
brakes.... her's is more important!)
2). How many meals have you been
invited to?
8.... and they've all been really
good!
3) do they celebrate Valentines
Day in Taiwan?
Yup, they celebrate it three
times. They celebrate America's, there's and Japans.
4). What's the best plans you
have for the Chinese New Year season.
Uhh.,... I don't think there is
any.... all we do is wander around until someone is willing to talk to us
5). Are you still loving Tainan
and sister Parks?
Yup!
6). What is your favorite fruit
lately? Favorite drink? Favorite mom Hee,Hee,Hee.
Favorite Fruit: Guava.
Favorite Drink: Hot coco..... Favorite mom???? I'll have to think......
HAHAHAHAHA!
7). What is your impression about
your ward?
I don't really quite know
them.... they are pretty good.... I still really miss Ping Dong!
8). At you finding your way
around the city now? Has sister Parks learned how to read the as yet?
We're doing better. Still
get lost. I'd be willing to take the map and give navigating a try, but I
don't want to make Sister Park feel bad.
9). Do you walk or ride your bike
to church.
Bike
******************************************
Hello Mum and World,
HAPPY CHINESE NEW
YEAR!!!!
Yup, welcome to the
new lunar year of the Horse! I know it's not really celebrated in the
states, but here it's somewhat of a big deal. And it's celebrated in the
Taiwan fashion of celebrating everything: EATING. Yup, also cleaning, but
eating is much more emphasized. Oh, and also bai bai-ing (worshiping)
ancestors.... which we don't partake in, but there's a lot of people burning
things outside and setting off fireworks and chanting.... so.... yup....
Anyways, as to
missionary work.... it's been hard.... and only somewhat successful. All
of our investigators, which I haven't met yet, are GONE or BUSY due to the New
Year..... So, we've been spending a lot of time finding.... And
then the people we meet are also busy. Sister Park is taking it harder
than I am. She feels bad, because she is leading the area, but we haven't
had much success. I keep telling her after Guo Nian we'll have more
success, and that we just have to keep pressing forward and keep doing the best
we can.
We have had some
successes with this last week though! We were Less Active finding and met
a Sister Liu who was willing to have us come in and share with her and her
daughter. Sister Liu has been inactive for 10 years, because she moved to
China for a long time, and then came back and when she went back to church, she
said she felt like a stranger. So we are hoping the ward will start
"guanxin"-ing her (take care of/welcome/make her feel loved).
Her daughter isn't a member, but she is willing to hear the gospel, which
is fantastic! So we are going to start reviewing things with Sister Liu
as well as start teaching her daughter. Hopefully we'll be able to get them
to keep coming to church and keep building their faith in Christ!
Also, we've been
visiting a Ms. Liu who is an investigator, who has a very sad life story in
which resulted in her discontinuing any family contact since the beginning of
last year. Anyways, since she hasn't had any plans for Guo Nian, we've
been able to go over and visit her and "guanxin" her. Our last
lesson with her was really good! We went over, and she started off again
about how she feels very lonely and sad because of not seeing her family and
not feeling loved by them. But also, she kept saying it was very
interesting, how in the last year she has had several missionaries (us and some
other churches) come to her door and guanxin her and share with her. She thinks
it's God's way of taking care of her and letting her know he's there for her.
Then, we taught her to pray to Heavenly Father. It was so amazing!
As soon as she started to pray, she started crying and she kept looking
into my eyes and saying "I don't know what is happening! What is this
feeling? Why am I crying?" She kept praying for a few minutes,
and then when she finished she kept marveling at her feelings. I
explained to her, she had those feelings because the Holy Ghost was
communicating with her to tell her that Heavenly Father does really care for
her, and she only had to invite him to show her his love. Well, after
that, she said that she WANTED to pray every day, and she WANTED to come to
church. And she said, if she continues to feel such feelings as she did
at the moment she was praying, she would get baptized! I really hope
she does learn of the Gospel's truth! I really pray she feels God's love for
her.
We also had success
contacting in a park. Sister Park and I ended contacting two families at
the same time, and they were both willing to have us meet with them some other
time. I really hope they are willing to hear us share.... we need new
investigators... also, I contacted 2 Americans and then they were contacted the
very same day by the elders. Haha! Our area is sooo small! Ting Shuo
(I've heard) that our area is one of the smallest in the mission.... I wouldn't
be surprised.... Since, we keep accidentally finding ourselves in places that
are not our area.....
Anyways, other than
missionary work, all we've been doing is eating. We've eaten a
lot of yummy food, and we still have today and tomorrow to keep feasting....
O.o sometimes I see the members bring out the food and I'm like: "I really
hope we don't have to eat it all, because they made enough for an army.... and
THEY AREN'T EATING!" I don't understand Taiwan customs.... they just
don't eat that much when they have guests over.... and it's annoying,
because they keep telling you to eat all of it and you were full like an hour
ago.... Haha! And then they say that you have to eat it all, or you can't
leave. Sister Park and I are grateful for the Elders though. They
want to gain weight, so they've been stuffing themselves. The food is soo
good, and actually healthier (for the most part) than what we get to eat on a
normal basis, but the massive quantities of it makes you feel like you’re going
to explode. Haha!
So, with it being a
bit more difficult doing missionary work these last few weeks due to New Years,
me and my companion have had to focus on the fact that it's impossible to be
perfect. We can try our best, but we are always going to fall short,
because we are only human. But, we know that there is someone who is
perfect, who is always waiting to give us help when we need it: Our Heavenly
Father. If we rely on him, he'll help us in our imperfection. He'll
make sure things work out in the end. I keep telling my companion, and
myself, that this work is the Lord's work. We must rely that on His
timing, and we must have faith that He will guide us in our day to day efforts.
Sometimes, we as mortals get impatient. We hate waiting. But
the Lord sees everything in an eternal perspective. He knows when the
"right time" for things to occur is. So we just have to work
hard, do our best, pray, and follow his guidance through the Holy Ghost, and we
will see his hand in our lives.
I'm so
grateful every time I get to email home. I do miss you, but I
know that right now is the Lord's time. I'll never regret making the
decision to serve the Lord for these short 18 months, because I've already
gained so many blessings from them. I really pray that all of you are
doing well. I hope that every day, you desire to come unto the Lord.
And in doing so, you will find that your faith will grow. He is
always knocking. You've just got to open the door to let him in.
Love, Sister Nicholle
Peng
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