7-7-14 Transfers! Sister Peng is staying put :)

1)  Have you got any of the letters yet?
I got the big one with the pictures.  I loved them! :D  Thanks so much!  Have you gotten my letters yet?  I've sent a couple.

2)  Is Lychee season over yet?  Are you sick of them yet?
Nope, there are still lychees.  I am a little sick of them, but I've learned that freezing lychees after peeling them make a delicious snack!

3)  What are your plans for the day?
We are going shopping... most likely window shopping.  I love shopping here! I find clothes that fit super easily, and they are cheap! :D

4)  So, did you move?  Change companions?  What are your feelings about that?
No moving.  It's still me and sister Pope.  I'm glad I'm not leaving.  I really want to help this area!

5)  Is your Chinese still improving?  How is the writing coming along?  Like your letter to Gong gong, did you copy all the words or did you just know how to write them?
My Chinese is still doing okay.  I can write most of what I want, but there are still some words that I write in letters that I have to look up.  I'm getting better though.  My goal is to make all of my plans be in Chinese, and to be able to write letters and progress reports all in Chinese without having to look things up.  My reading is better.  To look up words, I can just type out bopomofo and choose the characters I want. :D

6)  What are the fruits that are in season right now?  Do you enjoy eating them?  Oh, we've had some really awesome watermelons!!!
Like all of them.  We just had a member give us mangos from her tree.  I am soooo excited! Best of all, Sister Pope doesn't like fruit, so I get to eat all the fruit! Fruit makes her stomach upset.

7)  What do you do to relax?
To relax, I've got myself a thought book.  It's a book that I can carry around with me and write whatever I need to write to get them out of my head.  It's also used to just ponder and write my trains of thought.  I like it.  Also, I sing.  And I've gotten into drawing again.

8)  What kind of exercises do you guys do in the morning there?
Lately I'm tired.  So I do a few crunches and leg lifts, then I do the yoga position of "corpse pose"

9)  Are you still going to the pizza joint?
No pizza.  I figured out that my companion is Gluten intolerant (she kept having stomach issues) and so, now we are going to be staying away from pizza places.... but that's okay, we are setting a whole bunch of health goals.

10)  You have been doing hot pots a bit.  What are your favorite hot pot items?

I love everything!  It's soo good! :D

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大 家好！Hello! How is everyone?  This week was a ton better, I think... I don't quite remember it... time flies! But I remember not feeling so stressed out.  It was the last week of the move call, and it was a pretty good week.

We are working hard to fulfill what the mission president has vision for- basically what the whole church is working towards- which is missionaries working with members.  We are working hard to get to know our ward and let them have experiences sharing the gospel, with either their own family and friends, or people we are already meeting with.  So far, we've seen a bit of success!  This week, we went and visited a Lin JM, who we've been visiting to build up a relationship with her and to encourage her faith to grow.  Well, this week, when we went to visit her, she had invited her daughter to sit in with us as well.  And her daughter said she is willing to learn more about church! Yay!  I love visiting part member families.  We are also working on finding the time to meet with a Li JM (who is less active because of her work) and her kids (who already come to church though one is not baptized yet).  

We've also had a few successes from our own efforts as well.  Especially from calling old investigator records and old contact cards.  We called a contact card from a Cai XJ, and she imminently accepted our invite to go to church, and she actually came!   She also set up with us to meet again.  Yay!  And then, last night we were also calling phones and we got two people to set up appointments.  So hopefully those will go okay as well. :D  Oh! And Albee, our investigator (who has been really busy with work) came to church! Yay!  And, Luo JM, a recent convert (who used to not come to church due to work and school) can now come every to church every Sunday! Yay!!! :D

So, we are hoping the all the good things that have been happening over the last week is a little sample of what is to come during this next transfer.

Oh! Yeah, speaking of transfers, both Sister Pope and I are staying here in Zhang Hua.  We are both so excited! Yay for not having to pack! Haha!

So... here's a few fun experiences we've had this week:

• On our way to Lin JM's house, we were passing by a lady selling 红豆饼 (is this little pancake like pastry thingy that is filled with a range of sweet yummy stuff, like custard or red bean paste, or taro paste, or chocolate) and it smelled so good.  So, my companion reading my expression told me that we could go back so I could buy some.... To be fair, I hadn't eaten them for a long time and they are yummy! And hers were really cheap! Just 5 kuai!  So, we went to go get some, and she told us that she would just give them to us because we are so 辛苦 (hard working....) and proceeds to shove bags of the delectable snack into our hands and refuses to take our money.  Then, she tells us that we need to protect our arms from the sun, and she give us these arm protecting sleeves, and makes us put them on before we could go.  She was a sweet soul. :D 
  
• The awkward moment when a returned missionary tells us his name means "humble" and my companion tells him: "My name is cooler" and he then asks "That's a real name?"  Haha!
• Oh! We had a pioneer activity where we played a bunch of pioneer games and ate yummy peach cobbler.  I taught people how to make corn husk dolls made from banana leaves... And we missionaries played a game of tug of war against everyone else.  We won! Missionary power! Yay!
  
• Sister Pope and I have discovered that blowing bubbles is a great stress reliever.
• We ate at a 吃到饱 Hot pot again.  But this time it's because the Bishop and his family took us there.  It was soo yummy! It soon became an Ice cream buffet, because everyone ate at least two of these yummy cookies and cream ice cream bars.  Sooo good! 

Yup... that's pretty much it....  Hmm.... Oh! I've set a goal to do better at journal writing.  Did you know it's important to keep a record?  If Nephi didn't keep a record of his experiences, what would have happened to the BoM?  Think about it!  Your journal could help your future grandchildren! Or Great Grandchildren.  Our church keeps encouraging us to do family history work.  But there wouldn't be any history to learn from if our ancestors didn't record anything! So write a journal!  Record your thoughts, your experiences, but most importantly, your testimony.

2 Nephi 25:23 For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.

I love you all! I hope your lives are filled with joy and peace! Until next time!

The Missionaries of Zhang Hua

Love, Sister Nicholle Peng