"I now know the meaning of tired"

Sister Peng told me she feels really bad that she hasn't had the chance to write people.  She doesn't have much down time and is only allowed to write on P-Days (preparation days); even on P-Days they don't have much time at home. She does appreciate receiving letters though.  It's her only contact to the "outside" world.

Dear mom and family and friends and strangers and dogs and The Doctor (heehee)

First off, to apologize, this key board is terrible!  The shift key is sooo stiff, and my pinky hurts from trying to push on it! 

How is everyone doing?  I hope everyone is doing well, and are living awesome lives.  It’s so weird to think that you all are living your lives in a continent so far away from me.  I mean, people are going to college!!!  Summer vacation is over already???? Weird!  I've been here for three weeks now?  Weird!  I only have like 15 months left here? Weird!  :P

It's weird to think that it's already Monday, considering the fact that everyday feels like an eternity.  I now know the meaning of tired.  I go to bed exhausted, dream about missionary work, wake up still tired, and then do real life missionary work.... yup... pretty intense! Haha!  It's funny how you can get so involved in something that it just infuses into your soul.  It's who you become.  It's nice being able to forget about your own life for a bit, so you can help others find purpose and meaning in their own life.  Service brings joy, I've learned...  Joy and tiredness.... :P

This week was great, and it's still been an adventure.

I used my first "squat pot." Not as bad as I thought, weird, but not too terrible.  I wouldn't have dared to use it, but I really had to go to the restroom. Many people here prefer to use squat pots to western toilets.... yeah... not me.... but, now I know that if I have to use one again, I can without worrying too much. :P

I went to my first zone conference, which wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be.  It was nice to see some people from my MTC district.  Elder Teerlink (the one with the glasses) is in Ping dong, so I see him every day.  But at Zone conference, I was able to see Elder Dayley (probably spelled his name wrong...), and Elder Turner.  I haven't seen the sisters since coming to ping dong, which makes me sad... I really hope they are doing well!

Going to the zone conference was an adventure.  We had to take our bikes with us to Gaoxiong.  So first, we had to go to the train station, put our bikes in an elevator, cross a small bridge thing that goes above the tracks, go down in a different elevator, and get our bikes on a train.  Ride the train, and then ride our bikes for 20 minutes until we reached the chapel.  Yay!  IT was cool riding in a different city.  IT wasn't much different....  there was a bit more hills, but they weren't bad. 

Hmm... what else?... oh, I passed off lesson 2 of Phase One in my language studies.  Basically what phase one is, is being able to teach all the lessons by yourself.  That's not bad.  The hardest part for me is memorizing vocab words and phrases....  But my goal is to finish phase one by this move call, or maybe a week or two after the move call.

Oh! I bought a pet plant!  It is an egg that grows grass from its head! It's sooo cute! And the grass grows sooo fast... seriously; it's grown like 3 inches in the last week...  I still need to name it... it's so cute! I wish I had a way to get pictures on this computer so I could show you... :(    One day....

I also broke down and bought a Chinese version of a guide to BBC's Sherlock.  It's super awesome, and I was just going to buy it and put it in my suitcase so I could have it when I go home.  But my trainer says that once I get to phase 3 in language study, that I could use it to study from.  Haha!  It has a glossary in it, so... I can learn how to say Doctor Who in Chinese!!! Yay!!! Haha! Anyways...

So far, my favorite thing here in Taiwan is the food... Food and the people. :) They have a lot of Chi dao bao (Eat till full) restaurants here.  They range from really expensive to not too bad.  We went to a really fancy one on Tuesday because a couple from the ward wanted to thank us for our service. Basically, we all ordered a steak, and then we also ate from the buffet.  It was probably about $15 for each person in American money.  It was sooo yummy! Especially the deserts and the fruit.  I got to eat a lot of passion fruit.  As well as guava and Asian pears. :D 

Me and my companion, along with a less active, also went to an all you can eat hot pot a couple days ago.  That was fun.  That one was probably around $7 per person.  But we all ate till we were completely stuffed.

Yup.  Food.  Yum!  Don't worry, we don't eat from Chi dao bao's every day.  Normally our meals cost about 3 dollars, and are pretty normal for Chinese food.  We actually haven't been eating as many vegetables as I would like to... since... idk why, can't find any?  :P  But we always eat yummy things. 

The members of the ward here also make Taiwan enjoyable.  As well as our investigators.  Everyone is super friendly, and interesting to talk to.  The members for the most part are very spiritually strong, which is important for missionary work.  Without supportive members, it would be next to impossible to have converts.  Missionaries can only do so much to make investigators feel at home.  And members always have amazing conversion stories and testimonies to share.

Anyways, this week has been not too hot. But it has been wet.  IT's hard, since we can't check the weather before we leave.  So we've gotten into the habit of always carrying rain clothes.  This last week has been raining like crazy, and there has been tons of wind... and yet people say it's not a typhoon yet...  I don't think I quite understand what a typhoon is yet, since I'm pretty sure I've never seen so much rain in my life and people say that it hasn't been too bad....  I’m kind of scared to find out what a real typhoon is like... especially since missionary work doesn't stop when the weather gets bad.  In fact, they want us to go outside and do contacting, because people will be more likely to take pity on us and let us in.... yay.....  Haha!  It's when it's raining that I really have to trust in the Lord that this is what he wants me to do... Because no sane person would want to go biking for 20 minutes in a downpour. 

As a spiritual thought, I guess I'll share a bit on the importance of trusting in the Lord.  In Alma 36:3 of the Book of Mormon, it says "...I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day."  So far, even though I've only been serving in Taiwan for less than a month, I've learned the importance of trusting in the Lord.  Trust means to have complete faith in him.  To rely on him.  To know that he is always by my side watching over me and guiding me in his work.  I've learned that through following his teachings and his guidance, anything is possible.  My relationship with him has never been stronger.  And it continues to grow each and every day.  I can't tell you how many times I've been tempted to give up, and go home because the work here is too hard, because the culture is too different, because people aren't willing to listen, because I know I'm too inadequate to do this work.  But I don't give up.  I keep moving forward, step by step, because I trust that the Lord has called me to serve a mission.  I trust that he has confidence in me, and that he knows my potential.  I trust that he is my Father and will forever be by my side, ready to give me the strength and the power to go forth and serve.

We must all have faith that our lives have potential.  We must trust that, even though we can't see him, we have a Father in Heaven who is always watching over us.  We must learn to rely on him, and we must follow the teachings and commandments which he has given us.  He knows us better than we know ourselves.  He has known us from before the creation of the Earth.  He loves us, and wants us to return unto him.  And he will never lead us astray.  We must learn to trust in him.

I promise that as you all study the Book of Mormon and the Bible that you will come to know Heavenly Father.  And through learning of Him, and his son, Jesus Christ, that your faith and trust on him will increase, and you will be more willing to do the things which he has asked you to do.  Your relationship with him will grow, and you will find peace and happiness in this life as well as for the rest of eternity.  For those of you who feel alone and helpless or feel as if you are lost in darkness and despair, turn to the light of the Lord.  Learn of him.  Believe in Him.  Trust in Him.  And I give you my promise, as a representative of our Savior, Jesus Christ, that you will feel his love, and that you will have blessings of peace and comfort rain down upon you.  I say this in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, Amen.

I hope you all have a wonderful week.  I love typing, as you can tell... I should write a novel! Haha!  Until next time!

~Sister Nicholle Peng

First full week: Adjustments and lots of learning

This was Sister Peng's first full week in the mission field and she has survived it!

Dear Madre (yup, Spanish... for some reason, I keep thinking in Spanish...), and other fantastically awesome people who walk the face of this earth and graciously take the time to read what I write, no matter how anti climatic it is, :)

Well, today I sit here at the computer cafe drinking my lovely chilled glass of dong gua cha - a drink made by cooking wintermelon, sugar and water (which is my

Winter melon tea

favorite drink in the world!) to write to you according to the accounts of this past week.  Part of me can't believe a week has already passed.  Another part of me feels like I've been here FOREVER.  And then another part of me is who knows where.  Anyways, every day is still an adventure of sorts.  I always find things that I find interesting or weird or awesome or... yeah....

I'm still trying to adjust to Taiwan and Missionary life.  I still find the weather to be very very hot.  It's not as bad as I thought it would be.  I think that's because the Lord knows I hate heat, and is blessing me by making my brain think it's not that hot.  I still sweat a ton.  It's gross.  Like, you're just sitting next to a fan, and sweat is still pouring off of you.  Yup.  I don't understand!  I keep having to drink water, because I'm afraid that if I don't, I'll end up like a raisin. :P

Stinky Tofu

One other thing that I'm still not used to is the smell of Taiwan.  Everywhere smells like food or garbage or other stuff...  The food is okay... Except when you are riding your bike down a street with a lot of vendors of the infamous Stinky Tofu (a form of fermented tofu that has a strong odor. It is a snack that is usually sold at night markets or roadside stands).  Yum....  Still haven't tried eating that again.  I just can't get over the smell!  Haha! One day though.  They have a lot of other good food here, and you can get it pretty cheap too, if you know where to go.  We've been going to a few cheaper places, which have all been yummy.  But then, we also go out to eat with less active members, and recent converts, so then we go to more expensive places.  Which we have to pay for.  Yeah... One meal is pretty much our whole budget for food for the day.  So lately, we've been trying to limit how much we've been spending, which I'm grateful for, because with buying stuff for my bike and such, I don't have much money left. :P

As to missionary life, I don't know if I'm necessarily used to it.  Still not used to talking to people when I really have no Idea what they are saying.  Still get anxious when my trainer hands me the phone and a box of referrals and tells me to go call all the phone numbers.  Still am nervous about contacting people on the street riding motorcycles and scooters, while waiting for green lights.  Still haven't figured out the whole riding bikes in skirts.  Still get freaked out when the lighting and thunder are pretty much happening simultaneously (meaning that it's very very close) and we have to ride through storms.  But all that aside, I love missionary work! I love having the spirit with me all the time! I love praying so often!  I love serving! I love getting to know new converts and members.  I love all of the people we teach!  I love learning from the scriptures! I love my trainer!  I love my area!

So yeah! Pretty much, I love my mission.  Though, some days it's been hard to encourage myself to press forward.  I can't let myself stop to think "how am I supposed to do this?  How can the Lord expect so much?"  But then I think back to 1 Nephi 3:7.  I know this is the Lord's work.  I know I don't have to do anything alone.  I know that in reality, the Lord doesn't expect much from me.  He just wants me to do my best.  He wants me to love everyone I meet, and he wants me to grow closer to him.  I can do that. :)

Language wise, I don't know how I'm doing.  I still get a bit frustrated, because it’s hard understanding what people are saying, and trying to talk back to them.  It gets really confusing when they start throwing Taiwanese in as well.  I feel like I just sit there and smile, because that's all I can do.  Of course, I've been trying to help teach and bear my testimony, but when people start talking about other things that aren't gospel related then I'm like: o.O  Of course, I know, language will come in time, and I've just got to start using it as much as possible.  Of course, my language difficulty has been somewhat of a blessing.  We have two sisters who we met at English class.  They have really taken a liking to me, because they think my accent and my jumbled Chinese is "cool."  They are super awesome and super funny.

Anyways, we have a few investigators and less actives we are working with.  I'm slowly learning their names, and some of them are easier than others to remember.  I find that it's easier to remember their names once I've been able to love them.  They become someone dear in my heart, and I really hope that they will progress.  Like everything, missionary work needs to be fueled by desire.  We must desire for others to come closer to God.  Why do we desire?  Because we love them!  This is why we missionaries go forth among strangers and share the gospel.  Because we love them!  They are our spirit siblings, and we want them to have joy and peace.  It's important for us to love everyone.  Not only is it a commandment given to us from God, but it will help us and others have happier lives.  Loving means being understanding, patient, caring, kind, and accepting.  We strive to strengthen and aid others in their weaknesses, and we serve them whenever possible.

Yup! Anyways, Sister Liu is super awesome! Everyday I'm thankful to have a trainer.  Not only would I be completely lost in this city without her, but I would be completely lost as to how to be a missionary.  She does a really good job in understanding and caring for others.  She cares about others, and is a friend to those we meet.  She is also very patient, which is good, since most of the time, she has to wait for me to catch up to speed in conversations and such. :P  

I was talking to Sister Peng about depression in the Mission field and how common it is and this was her response:  I'm not surprised about the depression.  Missionary work is heard.  It's a lot of work, with not much success; unless you look at it with a positive attitude.  I've gotten to the point that I don't care if people reject me.  It's not my problem, it's theirs.  The prophets of old were all rejected and so were the missionaries.  Today is not any different.  Satan has a hard grasp on the hearts of the children of men.  His ways are enticing.  However, as a missionary, I have signed up to wage war against him.  I have signed up to wage war against one of the most feared beings in the universe.  And yet, I am not afraid.  I am a daughter of God.  I know who I am, and what I am fighting for.  I know that this is God's work, and that he will guide me, if I stay faithful.  This work is hard.  Yes.  But only through hard work can we be changed.  Only if we put forth all of our efforts can we truly enjoy the magnitude of our blessings.

It would be so easy for me to give up right now.  So easy.  I have realized how much of a blessed life I have lived so far.  I have realized that I haven't been as grateful as I should have been.  But I can tell this work is changing me.  And I refuse to give up.  I know the lord has a plan for me, and I will try my best to follow his ways.  I will endure.  And I will succeed. 

Anyways, I don't have much more time left... Yeah... My computer time is taken up by my training time.  Fun fun fun....

Love you all!  Stay cool! Be Strong! :D

Love, Sister Nicholle Peng

And......She's landed! All is well!

Sister Peng made it to Taiwan safe and sound!  I have enclosed some pictures sent to me by her mission president.  She is doing well and seems to have a good start.  She loves her companion, Sis. Liu, who is a
Taiwan Native.  She is 26 years old and according to Sister Peng, very patient.  Nicholle noted an interesting thing regarding the paring of companions.  The native trainers for the most part got native/ or Chinese/ or part Chinese people to train.  All the Caucasians got Caucasians.

Sister Peng with Sister and President Blickenstaff

At the airport in Taipei, Taiwan

Hello Mum! And everyone else (don't worry, I love all of you, I just don't have the time nor the energy to write everyone's names.... cuz that would take a while.... :) )

Anyways, I'm in Taiwan!!!! Isn't that sooo crazy? I can hardly believe it! I'm not sure if it's totally sunk in yet.  I've kind of been too tired to totally take it all in.  I don't know why I'm so tired.  It's not like what we are doing is physically taxing....  I've even decided I like doing missionary work!  Maybe it's this dreaded heat....

So, first, I have to apologize.  I don't have that many pictures, since apparently we are only allowed to take pictures on our P-days, and we do emails a bit early to have had the chance to take a lot of pictures... I'll try harder next week to get some pictures... I might have a few this week... Not sure... I need to look at my camera...

Anyways, after 24 hours of traveling, I crossed the giant pond called the Pacific Ocean.  That was... fun?  Not really... I tried sleeping, but the seats were uncomfortable... The highlight of the trip was the fact that I got an ice-cream sandwich.  Yup... Oh! I l also had the chance to sit with a few strangers and worked on breaking the rule "Don't talk to strangers."  One was a lady going to Thailand with her husband to attend her husband's mother's funeral.  So, of course I shared a bit about the plan of salvation and the fact that families are forever.  :)  And then the second stranger I sat next to was a lady from Taipei.  She was returning home after spending time in America.  She likes to teach Chinese to foreigners, so I think she was just talking with me because she found my Chinglish amusing... Ah well. :)

Shao bing

Xiao long bao

So we got to Taiwan, and had a three hour bus ride.  Couldn't sleep on the bus though, because they thought it was a good time to do orientation... Blargh....  So by time we got to go to bed it was about 3:00 and then we woke up the next day at 6 so we could prepare to go running at 6:30.... yup.... Anyways, we got our first taste of Taiwan food on Thursday.  Including stuff like xiao long bao (this is a little steamed bun with a meat filling that is so juicy and yummy!), shao bing (this is a baked baked, layered flatbread bread with or without stuffing)  and you tiao (this is also called a Chinese donut in the U.S. – not sure why - deep fried strip of dough), soy milk, fruits of all sorts, hot pot, fish, duck, etc.... Yum!  I've missed Chinese food since I've been at the MTC for so long.  Heck, even the Chinese food on the plane made me happy. :P

you tiao

Hot Pot lunch

 On Friday, we got to meet our new companions and find out where we were going.  My trainer is Liu Jie Mei.  Yes, she is from Taiwan, and is native.  She is crazy awesome, and I'm learning so much from her.  She has a lot of patience and is very nice.  Cool story, trainers don't know who they are going to train.  So Liu jie mei was trying to decide if her trainee would be American or Taiwanese, so she could start preparing.  She started praying and came to the conclusion that she would probably have a Taiwanese companion, but their English would be very good.  So she just decided to prepare English materials.  Guess what! She pretty much got it right! I'm Asian and my English is FANTASTIC! Haha!  Anyways, she uses mostly Chinese to talk to me.  Which is great! Except for the fact I only understand 3/4 of what she says... Ah well... I'm trying... :)

The new missionaries and their companion

So right now, I'm in my very first area: Ping Dong.  It's the furthest south area of the Taizhong mission.  Which means it's the hottest area in the mission... Lucky me! (Yeah, I wanted to go somewhere cold...) Anyways, Liu Jie Mei says that when I get reassigned, all of the other areas will be mild in comparison in relation to the heat.  I hope so, because it feels like I'm sweating a river!  I've never had sweat pour down my face before... Anyways... This is a gross topic... Moving on!

Our apartment is bigger than I thought it would be.  But a bit different that what you would find in America.  The floor is all tile.  Oh, and the bathroom... yeah, so the shower is just a spout on the wall, and the water just goes onto the floor of the bathroom.  There is no dividing thing between the shower and the rest of the bathroom.  It's a bit... te bie (special).  Still adjusting, but yup!

Ping Dong County - City of Ping Dong is along the coast

My bike is great, I think. Rode it for the first time this morning (I've been borrowing a different bike).  It's very light though, so I don't know if that's good or bad.  We'll see.  We are going to the store to buy stuff for it later today.

Anyways, I'm going to go back to the topic of my area.  The members here, along with other people are awesome! Everyone is super nice! Well, except for those people who turn you down when you knock on their doors.  (They say they are just about to leave... when they walk back into their house and don't come out... yeah...)  I've been worried about being judged for my accent.  But yesterday, my accent actually got us into a house! A nai nai (grandma) opened the door, heard me speak, and ushered me in so I could practice my Chinese.  She is super sweet! She is Catholic, but she said that we could come back to visit!  Hopefully visits will end up being more than just me practicing Chinese...

So, Chinese... Yup, I don't know what's going on most of the time.  I've been learning the language of smiling nodding, and giving confused looks.  I'm trying to understand, and I can talk about a few simple things, such as the gospel (:P which isn't that simple), but as to every day stuff... like people talking about life... wo ting bu dong (don't understand).  Ah well, man man lai (slowly come).

Oh! I totally forgot about the Dan Jones Experience!!!  So on Thursday, we went to go eat dinner which had a ton of yummy stuff. :)  Then, afterwards they started taking us over to a night market.  They didn't really explain what we would be doing, but I had already heard/seen pictures of the Dan Jones experience.  For those of you who don't know, Dan Jones was a very awesome missionary!  He was probably responsible for converting 5000 people in England to the church.  He was known for standing on a box and preaching.  So, that's what we had to do.  I finally had to push myself out to go and stand on the stool they had for us.  It wasn't that bad.  It was just pouring rain, and there were a lot of people staring at me.  Anyways, after I got down, I was whisked away by a Sister Smart who took me to get my first taste of contacting people in a Night Market.  I actually placed my first Book of Mormon within 4 minutes! Ahhh!  We talked to a lot of people, most were probably just trying to appease us.  But we actually did get the information of a couple of people, and other people were interested in the English class.  Sister Smart is funny.  Apparently some times, she'll go and get really close to someone and say sorry.  If the person says sorry back in English she'll say "Ni hui ying wen ma? (can you english)  And then she'll start going off about the Free English classes missionaries give.  She was supper nice and super funny! :)

Here's the link to the Dan Jones video:  Dan Jones Video - Missionaries at the night market

Funny Story: 

So everyone just assumes I'm Taiwanese.  But then I start speaking and they are like: "Wait, where are you from?"

Like there was this cab driver and we got into his taxi and he said: "You're missionaries?"

And Liu Jiemei said: "Yes"

And he said:  "I thought you always travel with foreigners"

And Liu Jiemei said: "I am traveling with a foreigner"

And he was like:" Really?"

And then I said "Yup! I'm from America!"

And he looked like this o.O

Anyways, I've written a novel once again.  Pretty much, I'm doing great! I love missionary work! I love the people! Love the food! Learning to love the heat!  Yup! 
Love you all! See you next Week!

Banquet dinner

Love Peng Jie Mei

P.s. Oh, no pictures... forgot my converter... sad...  Here, picture me smiling.  Or go onto my Facebook.  I still look about the same... just darker...

Dan Jones 8-1-2013 - Taiwan Taichung Mission