8/11/14 ~ A fun/fast/frustrating/hot/fast/long.week!

1). Are doing anything else besides relaxing today?

Nope. Original Plans were to go to Lugang... but, we are kind of dead.  Oh! We also now have another duan chuan.  Oh! and I sent out a package, it's just a bunch of stuff that I had but probably don't really need on my mission...  Probably the last package I'll send.  Sending packages is expensive! 

2). Are there a lot of moon cakes being sold since it's almost harvest moon festival?

Not yet, we still have a little bit of time before it starts, and then we'll know for sure that it's started because everyone will be giving us them.

3). Are you getting close to another transfer date?

Yup, this week is the last week....

4). Did you get fed by anyone this week?

Hmmm... Oh! Yup! A Zheng family and Huang JM (bishop's wife) fed us.  And since we went to the duan chuan activity, they gave us dinner.

5). What have been your favorite things to snack on?

I'm trying not to snack.

6)  Is the weather cooling down any at all?
Nope!

7). Are your new investigators progressing?
Nope...

8). What is the best thing that happened to you this week?

Umm... temple!

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Dearest Mom, Regan, family and friends,

First of all, a big shout out to my grandpa, who turned 80 last week!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Gong Gong!  I love you so much!

Also, Happy Birthday Regan! :D

Well, time goes by, and people get older... people still think I'm 19 though... sigh... They just say that I look really young... maybe it's just my hair and my personality. :P  Though, I feel like I'm a lot older than when I left.  The mission changes you... Most missionaries become more mature.  Also, the mission wears on your body like none other!  I feel so tired! And your memory starts going away... :P  Ah well, it's worth it!  So much fun!

Well, this week was fun/fast/frustrating/hot/fast/long.... yup!  It feels like it was more than a week crammed into the space of a week....  And now I'm left with only one more week left in this move call. Scary! How did time fly so fast?  I'll probably be moving, so this may be the last email from the beautiful place of Zhang Hua.

So, as to what happened during this week.  Well, the mission was doing a thing called: No missionary left behind, where every companionship needed to have three new investigators.  If a companionship/area needed more help, missionaries from neighboring areas would come and do some finding for you.... so needless to say... we had a total of 8 missionaries (at least....) working in our area.  We did get the 3 new investigators.... though... They are going to need a lot of miracles to become progressing.... and one, we just found out, isn't in our area.... so.... yeah... this challenge just left us more stressed... But, we did get a few people to set up for this new week, so maybe that's where the miracles will come in!

On Monday, we didn't have p-day due to our temple trip on Wednesday.  And we originally had a busy plan... but over half of our lessons cancelled or stood us up.... But we did get to meet with the Zheng family, who are members, and they took us missionaries out to eat lunch.  It was so yummy! They are so fun and so nice!  Zheng DX (Brother) is the Sunday School teacher for the Gospel Principles class, and he is Awesome! And his wife is so cute and fun to be around. Oh! Also on Monday we got to see Gu JM's new baby! He is so cute! And he was all red! Haha! Gu JM is awesome! She is a great Mom, and she definitely has her hands full.  But the ward is great at helping her out. :D

On Tuesday we had ZTM, in Yuanlin, so that took up the majority of the day.  It was on focusing on having the spirit with you when you contact people, and to always focus on our Mission Standards (like our goals... key indicators... which ours are always low... sadness!)

WEDNESDAY was a happy day! I got to go to the temple! It was so wonderful! I love the feeling I get at the temple, it's so peaceful and happy.  Also, it was funny, because the workers kept trying to direct me into the Chinese sessions, and I kept having to tell them that I was a missionary and I wanted to go to the English ones. Heehee!  But going to the temple was the spiritual boost that I needed! However, I was soooo tired for the rest of this week... We had to get up at 4:30 am... and traveling on buses makes you even more tired... and then afterwards we had English class... those kids are CRAZY!

Thursday, we went and visited Li JM, an LA RC.... She's as.... good as ever.  She was getting so distracted though.  I'm not sure how to help her... We just keep praying for her....  And we went and visited Gu JM and her baby! So cute! We just played with the kids for most of the time, since they were just bursting with energy.  We brought bubbles. :D  The baby is so cute!

 

Friday, we just did a lot of finding.... As well as weekly planning. Nothing too special...

And Saturday we went up to Lugang and tried to find our three investigators.... We also visited a You Family, who are all super awesome!  But on Saturday, as well as Sunday, Taiwan has been having some huge BaiBai holiday, where everyone is outside BaiBai-ing gods and ancestors and such... so most people were a bit busy to meet with us... Someone even asked if we could call back later, because she was in the middle of baibai-ing... awkward!

Sunday was crazy... Because We had three people say they could come to church, and all morning they were calling me and such... only one ended up staying for church... and then we also had to figure out how to get to the Duan Chuan activity (we got a new duan chuan/mini missionary)... and such... but, everything worked out great.  And our Duan Chuan, Liu JM is great! So hopefully this will be an awesome week!  I pray it will be!  I am probably moving from Zhang Hua at the end of this week, and I want to leave it with good memories in my heart.

That's about it... Today, nothing exciting. It's just hot, and I want a nap.

Hope you guys are all doing great! Here's a great video that just came out! http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3701964025001&cid=HPTH073114368

Love, Sister Nicholle Peng