Why Are Families Important? And The Battle With The CO Monitors!

Let's start with some responses to a few of my questions for Sister Peng this week:

1)  What is your favorite snack to eat?

Here?  I really like these pancake waffle like things that are filled with stuff like red bean, taro, and pudding.  Especially when it is made by this very old man on Zhong Hua Road.  He is soooo old!  

2)  How has your view of the world changed since you have been serving?

I don't know....  Perhaps I'm just more optimistic about things.... And I've just gotten to the point that I know things will happen on their own time, and that I shouldn't stress over the things I can't control.

3)  Do you feel a stronger tie to your ancestry and a deeper appreciation for your heritage since serving there?

Ummm.... a little bit?  I actually can see how I'm a mix of American and Taiwanese culture put into one person.... But I'm not really sure if it makes me deeper appreciate my asian heritage.... people here are.... interesting....  But don't worry, I still love them.

Hello Mom, Family and Friends,

How is everyone doing on this fine January day?  I'm doing great considering it's a P-day.  I love P-days! Though.... This week would be better if it wasn't for our CO monitor.... but that's a story I'll share in a bit.

Well, I'm currently on my last week here in Ping Dong.  We got the call again from President Blickenstaff that Sister Schultz will be serving as a trainer next move call, and he promised us that it was for sure this time.  Haha! That's good, because it would be awkward if I had to go through the process of telling everyone in Ping Dong "Good Bye" only to stay for another 6 weeks.  Anyways, I still don't know where I will be going, but I already pretty much figured I would be moving this move call anyways, so I never fully unpacked from last move call.  Of course, it's amazing how things tend to spread during 6 weeks... so, I need to do a bit of packing before I leave.  Also, tip for future missionaries, don't pack your bags full before you go into the MTC, because you tend to acquire things while on your mission as well in the MTC.  Mandarin speaking missions are probably more so, since I pretty much have over 30 pounds of language study..... uhhh..... yeah.... And I don't even have all of it..... soo....  I'm working hard on memorizing things so I can just leave some language study when I move and not have to always lug it around with me.

Gonna Miss These Missionaries!

Anyways, I'm sad to move, though I've already prepared myself mentally for the move.  I really love the people in Ping Dong, and I've had so many good experiences here.  I'm sure wherever I end up going next will be the same story.  I've learned that my favorite part of being on a mission is making new friends.  I've made so many good relationships with people who are so different from me.  And I've realized that it's so easy to make friends with people when you are trying to serve the Lord.  There is a saying that goes:  "The best way to make eternal friends by sharing eternal truths."  I've learned that that is so true! As I share the gospel with those around me, I am sharing something that has blessed me so much and is very close to me.  I am able to feel more of God's love for other people, and in consequence I start feeling a personal connection with them myself.  I really do love the people here!  I see them as very close friends, and even as family.  When I started my mission, I really wanted to know what "Perfect Love" felt like, and I think that so far, my understanding has grown.  Christ had perfect love.  He loved everyone, no matter who they were and what mistakes they made.  As a missionary, you have a chance to experience that love.  The people you meet may frustrate you because they aren't progressing in the Gospel, they aren't repenting and coming to God, but you still love them so much.  You desire for their conversion, because you know of the happiness it could bring them.  You know of their potential.  And you know that they are truly a part of your Heavenly Family, and you want to help them to come home.

I'm sure I'll love the people in my next area, just as much as I love the people in Ping Dong.  And I am excited to see where I go, and to help people in another part of Taiwan.  So, next Monday I'll update you all on where my new area is and who my new companion is.  :)

Sister Peng & Sister Schultz

I'm actually moving out of Ping Dong before the move call, on Friday, because Sister Schultz will be becoming a trainer, and the new missionary will be moving in on Friday... Though... I kind of wish I could stay for at least this next weekend, since a member in the ward is having their wedding reception, and I wanted to go since it sounds like it's going to be soo much fun... Oh, and did I mention that Sister Liu (my trainer who has already finished her mission) will be coming down to Ping Dong?  I miss her by a day! Sadness! But that's okay, I'll see her some other time... probably after my mission...

Anyways, I guess I should probably talk more on the CO monitor thing, so Mom doesn't keep worrying.  So, this week our CO monitor has gone off 4 times... The first time was on Friday morning at 1 am.  The second was Saturday morning at 6:15 am, and the third time was on Sunday morning at the same time....  And the 4th time happened last night at about midnight.... Well... After calling our Operations manager every day for the last 4 days, and waking him up every time, he told us last night to leave our apartment and sleep at a member's house (On the floor), just in case there really was CO.... Well, Sister Schultz and I are pretty sure it's our monitor that's gone all wacky, since we brought it with us today outside of the apartment, and it still said there was CO wherever we went... sooo...  We are going to have to get a new monitor.  Because, frankly, I don't like getting woken up in the middle of the night to very loud, high pitched beeping.  It's made me and Sister Schultz very antsy, and we really hope our neighbors don't get too frustrated with us and our alarm...  Cuz, man, it's loud!  And now we are very tired, since we missed out on like 1-2 hours of sleep last night.... ah well, at least we are safe. :)

Yummy Drink!

So, lately our lessons have been fewer than normal, because of testing.  School is now our arch enemy (Not really.  Keep going to school, the Lord wants you to learn.... but still... it's annoying when you can't set up with investigators and recent converts because they have testing and so they have to study 24/7 and they say they can't come to church because studying for those 3 hours is apparently going to make a big difference in how they test).  But seriously, we have to help people in Taiwan get their priorities straight.  What's more important?  Getting an A on a test, or your eternal salvation?  Quick! Choose! 

Also, this week, something has been pressing my mind.... especially after my lesson in English the other day...  I asked my class the question "Why are families important?" and no one gave me an answer.  I asked in both English and Chinese....  It's like, they couldn't even really describe why families are so important!  They couldn't think of why their family was important to them!  What is wrong with this world????  It blows my mind every time I ask the question "Would you like to live with your family for all eternity?", and then people answer back "Not really, that sounds like too long."  What happened to loving your family?  Some people here put family as a "duty" and not a "blessing."  But I truly know that our families are blessings that the Lord has given us.  God's purpose for families was to give each of his children a chance to grow up in a loving environment.  Of course, on this world there are families who are less than happy, and who are broken, but this is because of the mistakes of people, not God.  He has given us his guidance, his gospel to bless families and to help all of us learn how to have good relationships with everyone around us.  He has given us his gospel to give us all peace and light in our lives.  The Gospel can bless individuals, but its impacts on families are even greater.  Families are meant to be forever.  They are important.  And if we follow God's council and if we keep his commandments, we can truly live with our families forever! But we have to put our priorities straight. 

For me personally, my priorities are:

First: God

Second: Family

Third: Friends

Fourth: Everyone else

Fifth: Everything else

When we put God first, we put our trust in His all-knowing counsel.  We have faith that if we follow His will, we will become heirs of his kingdom.  And when we put God first, he helps us know what's most important in life. And when we put him first, everything else in our lives will fall into line.

3 Nephi 13:

  19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where ^amoth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal;

 20 But lay up for yourselves ^atreasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

And:

 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

 32 For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

 33 But ^aseek ye first the ^bkingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

Well, that's pretty much it for my rant... Sorry, it just frustrates me when people can't see the importance of their families.  I guess it's because I've been soo blessed to have such a wonderful family.  I just want other people to have the blessings of an eternal family in their life as well.

My time is almost up... well... not quite, I just have to email a few people and watch a video on lds.org.  But, I think that there's not much that I can add to this email...  but I do have a few invites:

1. Figure out your priorities in life, and if God and Family aren't at the top of your list, you've got some thinking to do.

2. Think of something you can do today to strengthen your relationships with others for eternity.

3. Check your CO monitors....

4. Have an awesome week!

Cheers!  Now isn't this a cute mug?!

These mugs are just too cute!!!

I love you all! Be awesome! CTR!

Love, Sister Nicholle Peng

A week of funny occurrences!

1)  What time do you meet for church?  9am

2)  Do you understand much of what is said in church now?  Do you understand what the people are saying during the testimony meetings?
I understand most of everything, and I've definitely improved in my ting-de-donging (hearing and understanding).  Still, there are sometimes where I just zone out because they get into very complicated Chinese or people just drone.  It's the same in the States though, so it's all good.  People are better to keeping everything short and sweet though.  But there is this 90+ year old man....

3)  How do you guys usually break the fast on fast Sundays?
By praying, and than eating anything in sight in our apartment....

4)  Are you worried about being transferred during the next transfer?  Do you have a preference as to where you end up?
I'm going to be transferred, like I'm 89% sure, since normally you don't stay so long in your first area.  I don't really care where I go.... Perhaps somewhere that has a lot of hard biking so I can work off Guo Nian (chinese new years) weight.... I heard Guo Nian get's scary.

5)  On an average, how much are you biking a day?
Uh.... I don't really know.... a lot.... a little, it depends.  Some days more than others.  Thinking about getting myself a counter so I can actually see.

6)  Do you know how to sing quite a few hymns in Chinese now?  Do you just know the words by how they sound or can you actually read the hymn book?
I just read my pin yin hymn book that I got when I was at Startalk (most missionaries have pin yin hymn books. 

7)  How much of the words do you recognize in the scriptures?
Like.... 70%...... so far.... or less....

Hello Mum! Hello People whom I love! HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!!  I hope you all had a fantastic time celebrating the New Year.  Here as a missionary in Taiwan, New Year’s Day was just the same as another day....  I made some goals.... Oh, and at midnight we were awoken by fireworks (though that occurs on a regular basis, since the Taiwanese shoot of fireworks whenever there is the slightest reason... like a birthday.... or some obscure random holiday for the BaiBai culture....).  Other than that, New Year’s wasn't that much different.  Here in Taiwan, more people celebrate Guo Nian or Chinese New Year (Which is based off the lunar calendar).  Guo Nian starts on January 30th this year, and it is a time where all missionaries in Taiwan become very weary of anyone offering them food...  I've yet to experience a Guo Nian, but it's promising to be a very.... interesting experience.  My goal is to not gain too much weight, but you have to balance not eating too much with not making people feel offended with not eating enough of their food....  So complicated!

Anyways, this week (as always) flew by so quickly!  I have no idea what happened to it! But looking back, this week was pretty fun.  At least, there was a lot of funny things that happened... Heehee!

Our first humorous experience begins at an investigator's house.  Her name is Huang Jie Mei (Sister Huang).  Well, we were sharing with her a quick overview of the Restoration of the Gospel (The beginnings of our Church) when she noticed the picture on the front of the pamphlet we were using.  It's the one where Christ is holding a lamb.  She then gets a concerned look on her face and asks: "Why is Christ holding the lamb?  Is he going to eat it?"  My companion and I were trying to hold in our laughter as we described that the lamb represents each and every one of us, and Christ is holding the lamb to represent his love for it (And there are a lot of parables in the Bible and Book of Mormon that call Christ the master Shepherd, and we are his precious lambs).  Anyways, it took us a bit to get it into her head, that the pleasant look on Christ's face was one of love, and not one of him expecting to eat a yummy lamb.... She's sooo funny!  She also felt really bad when we were helping her clean out her freezer and she saw all the dead fruit flies.  She kept trying to assure us that she didn't mean to kill them, but that they just flew in there by themselves.... Haha!

Our second fun experience of the week included going to visit a new investigator who goes by the name of Coco.  We met her when she came by herself to our church.  And she kept telling people she was a member, but she's never been baptized, making everyone very, very confused.  Well, we went there to go and teach her, since she invited us over... Well, apparently, she invited us over because she thought we could use a new apartment and she wants us to rent one from her dad.  Well, it took us a while to convince her that we as missionaries can't just go and rent our own apartments according to our desires.... We were so confused the whole time we were over at her house..... : P

Our third interesting experience happened on Friday.  Well, we were having a sit down with an investigator who we call Huang Jie Mei (Sister Huang).  She loves meeting with the missionaries... but she isn't willing to come to church or be baptized or do anything we ask her to do....  She is already Christian, and doesn't want to betray her other church.  Anyways... here is how part of our conversation went:

Us: So, what impact does the Atonement (Christ's sacrifice for us) have in your life?

Her: Well, I used to drink and smoke, but now I don't do that kind of thing because I don't hang out with the friends I used to drink and smoke with.  And sometimes when I drink tea, I feel guilty because you guys don't drink tea.  And then there are times when I eat things and they give me "la duzi" (diarrhea).  And then I think it's God telling me not to eat those things, like pork and duck blood, because he gives me "la duzi" every time I eat them."

Us:..... O.o

Our forth side tickling moment happened the next day when we went tracting.  We were knocking on houses, and getting rejected because people are "Preparing for Guo Nian" which is at the end of this month....  Anyways, we knocked on this one gate, and as soon as my hand went back to my side after knocking, a very excited voice squeaked: Hello!  An older lady, who was very excitable and very embarrassed that her hair wasn't the best looking and that she was wearing her cleaning clothes.  Anyways she told us that we can come back after Guo Nian.  And that she was sooo happy to see us.  Her words were: "I love seeing pretty girls!  You are so pretty! When I see pretty girls, I don't have to eat all day!"  And both Sister Schultz and I tried to tell her, we weren't very pretty, and that she should probably eat food still.... Haha!

And our last funny/fail moment happened on Sunday, when we decided to make and bring dinner to a Less Active's (Sister Hu's) house, since her wrists are bad and it's hard for her to cook on Sundays.  Well... We made pasta with Prego Spaghetti (I can't spell it!) sauce.... Since that's all we had... Well.... We brought it over, started eating it with her, and she didn't look very happy.... She said we needed to add veggies and meat to it.  So... So proceeded in directing us to heat up some giant green kidney beans, green beans, fish meat balls and already cooked and flavored in weird sauce pork in a pot of boiling water.  And then had us add it to our already cold pasta.  When Sister Hu went out of the room to grab something, Sister Schultz couldn't help but look down at our pasta, sigh and say: "Ugh, we've Asian-ed our pasta."  Well... I'm not sure if adding the stuff made the pasta taste any better.... But at least Sister Hu looked happier.  Also, I think that means we've failed at trying to do something nice for someone.... Taiwan people just aren't satisfied with not-Asian-ed pasta. 

Anyways, I think from this week, I've learned to always look for the bright moments in life.  Always focus on the positive things that happen, because then you'll notice that life is so amazing.  It's the small moments that make up eternity.  Sometimes we just focus on the things that go bad.... But that just makes us tired and feel blue.  Why feel blue when we can see miracles instead?  My overall goal for this year is to always be happy and have hope.  Of course, I know we need to have moments of trials and moments of frustration and sadness to help us grow, but we can decide if we will rise above them or if we'll let them pull us down.  Focus on the positive.  It's all about your attitude.  Seek after the beautiful things in your everyday life.  Never forget that you, yes, you reading this blog post, are a person full of potential.  God is your Father, and he is there to support you in all things.  And if you excursive faith, you will see His hand in your life.

I love you all! I hope you are all doing well.  Happy New Year! Let's make this a Year of Miracles!

Love, Sister Nicholle Peng

Article of Faith 13
^aWe believe in being ^bhonest, true, ^cchaste, ^dbenevolent, virtuous, and in doing ^egood to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we ^fhope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to ^gendure all things. If there is anything ^hvirtuous, ⁱlovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.