Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord: June 2009

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

California Long Beach Mission

Mission Website(s)

LDS Mission Network (Alan Whitcomb)

A. La Mont Henriksen Obituary

Blog(s)

Elder James Henry Haskell 2009-2011

Elder Ben Rubert 2009-2011

Articles

Jamshid Askar, "Vermont family believes in missionary work," (mentions Elder William Dunoskovic, a Cambodian speaking elder who is one of four kids out from his family) Church News [Wednesday, 12 May 2010].

"New Mission Presidents," (mention former missionary Colleen Bonner Tanner whose husband Robert Marshall Tanner was called as president Brazil Campinas Mission) Church News [Saturday, 8 May 2010].

"New Mission Presidents," (former counselor in California Long Beach Mission Craig Lindsay Ward called as president of Panama Panama City Mission ) Church News [Saturday, 27 Feburary 2010].

Jena Peterson, "Letting Go of Your Missionary," (Angie McMurray) LDS Living Magazine [29 June 2009].

"Some 1,300 Referrals Collected," (missionaries from Los Angeles, Arcadia, and Long Beach Mission at Cinco de Mayo celebration) Church News [Saturday, 20 May 2006].

Timothy Cobbley, “A Light in the Darkness,” New Era, Feb 2003, 11.

"Cambodians Converted," Church News [Saturday, 5 March 2005].

“Comment--A Sense of Heritage,” (Sister Amy Gooden) Ensign, Jan. 2005, 79

“Q&A: Questions and Answers--I want to serve a mission because I know it’s the right thing to do, but I’m very nervous about receiving a mission call. How do I know I’ll have what it takes to be a good missionary?,” (Elder Kevin Bryant) New Era, Jun 2000, 10

"City Recognizes Missionary Service," (Elder Chad Butterfield and Elder Kevin Carver) Church News [Saturday, 22 April 2000].

“LDS Scene--Procession of Light in Huntington Beach,” Ensign, Apr. 2000, 78

"From Around the World--300 members join interfaith effort," (President Grant Pullan mentioned) Church News [Saturday, 19 February 2000].

“Thirteen New Missions Created,” (The California Long Beach Mission is created from a division of the California Los Angeles, California Arcadia, and California Anaheim Missions. The new mission will serve approximately 1.5 million people, with about 24,000 members organized into seven stakes.) Ensign, Apr. 1998, 76.

"New missions created; total now 331," (Three missions - the Los Angeles, Arcadia and Anaheim missions - will be divided to create the California Long Beach Mission. The new mission, centered in the harbor and naval city of Long Beach, will have a population of 1.5 million and a Church membership of 24,000 in seven stakes.) Church News [Saturday, 10 January 1998].

Stories

LDS Mission Network

Jo Phillips, "Missionary Moments: One Baptism," Church News [Saturday, 9 August 2003].

Monday, June 29, 2009

Missionary Letter: Becoming a New Person

Sunday, June 28, 2009 11:28 PM

Hello again from Zhongli. From the looks of it, I will be here forever...my companion leaves two weeks early during this transfer, so either I will go senior for 2 weeks with a native Taiwanese who will become a missionary for 2 weeks, or I will become a three-some with other sisters. That would be hard though because the closest sisters are Bade and Taoyuan. Both are a train ride and then like 10-15 more minute bike ride. So it wouldn't be easy to visit my investigators during that time. But it would be hard to be with a native Taiwanese who doesn't really know the missionary lessons and would be unable to speak to me in English. My Chinese is not at par to be able to handle that yet, and I highly doubt it will until I change companions....But yeah, I think white washing isn't a super common affair, so unless something uncommon happens, I'll be in Zhongli this and next transfer. But that's just my personal opinion...you never know.

President Grimley will be here on Wednesday. We saw President and Sister Nielson for the last time here in Zhongli on Sunday. They came and spoke in the 2nd ward. It was nice to see them for the last time...and we finally got those letters we wrote to them...My companion lost the letters twice...so we had to bike all over the world and waste a lot of time and energy both times just to get them...but I put a lot of effort into them, so that really was a blessing that we were able to find them again both times. The Nielson's told me I looked good and had a light in my eyes and stuff. I guess I was happy to hear that, because its true. I really have changed a lot from when I first got here and I'm a lot better. Still a lot of things I need to change, but as long as I'm making steps and becoming a better person a little every day, I figure that's what really matters. You can't become a new person in one day. I used to want to, and tried, and failed. I mean, maybe some people can, but for me, it's just step by step.

But yeah, it was really cool, President had us missionaries get up and we sang I am a Child of God. It was a really neat experience. I saw a lot of woman crying in the crowd. I think it was a good thing for our ward.

Then later that night, we had a missionary fireside for the other ward. So this was a good week for the wards.

This week has been pretty slow. It hasn't even been a week since we wrote. I guess the cool thing of the week is that 11 people were at church. So that's really good. Especially since we only have 2 people with dates. But honestly, I was still a little :( because I had a goal for 15, since 20 people said they were coming. My companion said she highly doubted that many would come. She was suprised 11 came. So I guess wo de xinxin bu gou. My faith wasn't enough. Maybe one day.

Mom and Dad...I need you guys to send me a family picture I asked for forever ago! Also I need a way to get my pictures from my camera to the computer...I've been borrowing my companions and she leaves in a couple weeks. I told dad forever ago for just a couple bucks you can get something that converts my sd card to a jump drive. So if you could find that really soon so I can keep sending pictures that would be great!

And gigi, can you try to get me the following addresses, I would like to write....Amanda Lowder, Sara Medina, Nick Drake, and Cole. Matt Moses will probably have Cole's address, the other ones have facebook. So if you could do that for me, it would be great. I thought of other ones before, but now that's all I can remember.

Okay well time is up, byebye.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Philadelphia Mission President Works Off the Pounds of Three Missionaries

President Mike Murray of the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission has been working his missionaries so hard that three of them have lost a combined weight of 215 pounds. The Biggest Loser has nothing on the rigors of serving under Murray as he keeps them super-busy. Check out The Biggest Loser--Missionary Style.

Pennsylvania Harrisburg Mission Dissolved

Mike Murray, President of the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission revealed last week on his blog that the Harrisburg Mission was dissolved with missionaries going to the Pennsylvania Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Missions.

He describes the area that his mission picked up in great detail:

Effective July 1, 2009 the Scranton Pennsylvania Stake will become part of the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission (PPM). There are 8 units (wards or branches) in this stake and there are 22 missionaries currently serving in these areas. Previously this stake was part of the Pennsylvania Harrisburg Mission. The Harrisburg mission is being absorbed into its two adjacent neighbors -- PPM on the east and Pittsburgh on the west.

PPM will now consist of five stakes: Scranton, Reading, Valley Forge, Philadelphia and Wilmington. A stake typically has 5-12 units and 3,000 - 5,000 members. We will have 142 missionaries assigned to our mission.

The church adds and dissolves missions for various reasons. I guess in this case the Harrisburg Mission is one of the casualties of change.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Hidden Objects: Unusual MTC Missionary Tradition

Unbeknownest to most Mormon missionaries attending the MTC are the hidden objects in their rooms many times hidden in the ceiling of their room or behind the dressers or cabinets.

One missionary Elder Justin Lee Larson of the South Carolina Columbia Mission turned me on to this little known MTC tradition that I never knew about when I served or any of my children told me about when they served the past three years. Elder Larson's blog says:

There is a tradition in the MTC where missionaries tag different objects in their dorm so that a piece of them lives on in the MTC forever. The missionaries hide the items, and somehow every new set of missionaries finds the items and then are inspired to leave their own marks. Justin’s room was all about the lost books.

&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&amp;amp;amp;amp;playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:2a50718d-9966-43d0-bd1a-5191095f2f6d&amp;amp;amp;amp;showPlaylist=true" target="_new" title="Lost Books"&amp;amp;gt;Video: Lost Books&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

I wonder what is hidden in the rooms. I hope other missionaries keep the tradition going. It is very interesting to see what creative pursuits missionaries come up with. I bet the current batch hide their swine noses or pig snouts. It is another example of Mormon folk culture. Now we all know what to look for! So missionaries need to be even sneakier.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Missionary Letter: Haowan (Progress in Zhongli, Tawain)

Wednesday, June 24, 2009 6:06 AM

This week was a lot of fun, and I want to send pictures, so once again I'm going to write as fast as possible. And since you put important information up front in things like newspapers, next week Preparation day is going to be on Monday, or your Sunday night, we get move calls Friday. So only Annika and Gigi emailed me, and I still want to hear from them again, but by Sunday night I would like Desi to write me that long email that disappeared I was promised a LONG time ago, and I'd love to see pregnant pictures from Gen and Stuart, I know you have them! And since I can't be there I need to see the pictures! hehe. And mom and dad!!!! You guys are supposed to email me every week! So you can't forget.

This week went by pretty fast. President Nielson is leaving here pretty soon, so we had our last interviews with him as president. It was a sad and happy occasion. I got to talk to Sister Nielson for awhile and I really got to see how a mission presidents wife can be involved in the missionary work. I found out that she receives inspiration about missionaries health and stuff. So yeah, the wives have a really big part in this work. We had lots of laughs. She's such a smart woman. I like the Nielson's a lot. I bet I'll love the Grimley's too. I'm so excited to meet them.

This week was just a happy week. Yesterday we didn't have a very planned out day and I thought it would be really slow, but it ended up being a lot of fun, and we visited an awesome family, and our last appointment was with the Li family, with Yvonne and her husband, and the Shan family did it with us. It was so good. The Shan family talked about how the mom and dad had split up and how they both ended up investigating the church, how the mother was a member referral, and the father saw a flyer about families and thought it was really great and realized his family had fallen apart, and they both investigated, but went to 2 different wards, so didn't even know. Then she eventually was told she has to call her husband for permission to be baptized and they were investigating the church...they got back together and now they are the cutest family I have ever seen and they love each other so much. And the Li family just really needed to hear their story. Yvonne was crying and her husband said he didn't realize how important families were before, and how he knows that studying about the church should bring them closer, but he has to slowly try to find a belief in God. Which the Elders are working on that with him! And doing great. So I'm excited for them. They are both progressing now and it is now something I see happening in the next few transfer that they get baptized.

My other favorite investigator we have right now, Rita, is just so great. I am happy when I visit her. She's willing to make a lot of changes in her life, but last lesson I think we threw too much on her at once, but it's okay, because now we know her problem is the Sabbath because it's her husbands only day off, so clearly we need to also get her husband interested to really help her. But for now she's just so cute and great, she was willing to keep every other commandment except the Sabbath day we told her about so far, and she even told us she'd invite her husband to church and see what he thought about the Sabbath day. So I'm excited for her.

Today we went to a theme parklike place with our new investigator, Lin Yuting and 2 new members, and all the Zhongli 2nd ward missionaries. I think it really helped her get to know us, and she likes church and is really good friends with the 2 boys baptized last week, so I'm excited to start seeing more of her. She's so cute. So now I will try to send pictures of today! Bye bye!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Is Swine Flu Winding Down at the MTC?: I Don't Think So

On Monday, 15 June 2009 Elder Drew Swainston reported:

Swine Flu is still a huge issue here and we still can't shake hands or play basketball. There are about 50 people in quarantine still and that lasts for about 10 days (quarantine). There is an Elder on our floor who was in quarantine since the day I got here. He said it was the most boring experience ever. He just sat and read or sat and stared at the wall.

On Tuesday 16 June 2009 Elder Daniel Brown tells us:

The hardest thing in the MTC is avoiding the Swine Flu! My district is dropping like flies, it seems like every morning another Elder or two is down for the count. My entire zone is now on TamiFlu, so it is unlikely that I will get it now. The church found some secret supply of vaccines so now they are handing them out like candy. Unfortunately, I read the side effects of the drug. 70% of the control group experienced violent diarrhea. That is kind of a bummer. The doctor who gave us the pills (I'm quite convinced he wasn't even a real doctor) told us not to read the instructions because it would make us scared! Quite funny, oh well. I'll take that over being quarantined for a week. I can't afford being out of the classroom for that long, I will fall behind way too fast.

On Wednesday 17 June 2009 a missionary reported to his family:

This has been a very interesting week. First and foremost, my companion has swine flu. He has been in quarantine for 4 days, but will get out tomorrow. He and 2 other Elders in my district tested positive. I was tested, but I'm fine. All of the healthy missionaries are on Tamiflu to make sure we don't get it. I've had a temporary companion, Elder Andersen (one of my roommates) He's a good missionary and very nice, but he's a little spastic. His favorite activities are whistling, singing, and making noise. He's fun though. After finding out that my district was so flu ridden, Carly bought me some airborne and hand sanitizer :-)

Also on the same day Elder Riley Jones Leigh reported:

Well my first piece of interesting news.... Elder Christofferson in our District got the Swine Flue! He has been moved into quarantine for 5 days and our entire district has been put on Tami flu to help prevent us from getting it too. Pretty Crazy huh? The swine flue really is hitting the MTC hard, there are sanitization booths everyone and they encourage you the use it every time you go past. Don't worry though, we are all ok and none of us are showing any flu symptoms.

Elder Brady Johnson gave a very thorough report on the same day:

Hey one and all!

So today is my p-day and I’ll try to answer all of you questions if I can remember them all but I only have 30 minutes on the computer. so… the story behind the whole flu here at the MTC is that a total of 75 people have gotten it so far and I am one of the lucky ones who got it!! Haha — yeah you guys can make fun of me all you want but I know that I got it for a reason. and that reason is to humble me and make me realize that I’m not invincible! haha kind of funny really. I definitely think the Lord has a sense of humor! But the day I got sick was Tuesday and I felt sick when I woke up and was dry heaving in the morning but then I started to get chills and at the health clinic I had a temperature of 100, and I tested positive for Influenza A. The test that they do to see if you have the flu is so ridiculous! They shove a giant Q-tip up your nose and probe at your brain. I heard people talk about it and when the doctor was there and about to go in to my massive nostrils, I told her to just make it fast. IT WAS THE MOST UNCOMFORTABLE THING EVER!!! And when she pulled it out, my nose was bleeding and my eyes were watering and it was crazy! They then put one of the very stylish surgical masks on me until the test came back. So a long story short is that I had Influenza A and pretty much if you have had the flu shot and you get the flu than it is the swine because it has mutated and people can still get it. So they threw me into the quarantine and it was a nightmare! I had a lot of trials while in isolation. My patience was tried and I was going insane. The first two days in isolation I was out cold in bed all day sleeping but after that I was up and able to move around and stuff. Once I was able to move around I felt great and I wasn’t even sick anymore. So it was frustrating to know that I was stuck in a hallway with all these sick people when I was fine. Pretty much the isolation place was just a residence hall and 4 people to a room and you are locked in the hallway you are assigned and they bring you food. While in there, there was no rules as far as sleeping and stuff which was annoying because people were up at 3 in the morning messing around… but this place was gross! There were 40 elders in one hall and it was absolutely trashed. Soooooo grossss! The air was thick and hot. A kid in my room actually was up at Rockland Apartments in Rexburg and I knew him kind of so we became friends and so that was nice. But I did get a lot of studying done which I’m happy about so it was good. Once I got out Sunday morning was amazing. To actually be outside in fresh air was amazing. So that is the story of me becoming a swiner… I lucked out on my severeness of the swine. Some kids had to go home it was so bad!

A week ago 10 June 2009 Sister Sallie Wilson reported:

I spoke a little too soon about the swine flu avoiding my district here...the day after I sent that email (last Thursday), TWO missionaries in my district got quarantined, one of which was one of the sisters in my room. That meant that on Friday, our whole district got to go in for a special "health meeting," where they gave all of us a preventative medication called Relenza. All districts who have missionaries go into quarantine get it, in the hopes that it will prevent the rest of us from getting the flu. I wasn't too crazy about the idea, but I decided that it's for the best, and that I needed to be obedient. So I'm taking it...4 days left! Right after that meeting, MY companion went and got sick, though apparently not with the flu. She was in bed for most of that night, and pretty much the whole next day. We finally took her back to the clinic Saturday night (we'd taken her on Friday and they just sent her away with some Sudafed), to find out for sure what was wrong. Since it was Saturday night, that meant that the MTC clinic was closed, so we got to go to the local clinic here in Provo. Yep, I left the mission boundaries on my one-month mark. It wasn't terribly exciting, but it was nice to have a little change of scenery! A little weird to sit in a waiting room where Batman was on TV though. . . She tested negative for the flu, but the Dr. did mention that the Relenza that we're all on could have masked it and made the test come back wrong...fabulous! She's been pretty much out of it until today, which means that I've been inside on my residence floor for several days. Got some good personal study in though, and it wasn't too bad. I'm still fine, as is the other Hermana in our room. The most I ever got was a slight runny nose, so I'm very grateful!

You would think the swine flu would be winding down now that a week has gone by as you can see from Sister Wilson's report to the four other elders. In fact I am impressed that the general authorities with the mission presidents are going in there next week since older people have a harder time fighting off swine flu I hope they don't get sick. The missionaries are sure handling their bouts with the flu well.

Sister Missionary to Sing for GA's and Mission Presidents

Sister Sallie Wilson who is going to a Spanish-speaking mission in Los Angeles is excited to be chosen as one of only 36 missionaries who will sing each day for the mission presidents, their wives, and the general authorities during the four day mission presidents' seminar that will be held next week in the MTC.

Hermana Wilson shares her excitement:

So each June, they have the New Mission Presidents' Seminar, where all the incoming mission presidents come and are trained by the Bretheren here at the MTC, over a 4-day period. So that's exciting in and of itself, because it means that next week the entire first presidency and quorum of the 12, along with various other General Authorities will be here! But wait, there's more! ("It's a NEW CAR!!!" just kidding, just kidding :) Each morning they have a devotional, and they have a small choir of missionaries do a special musical number for said devotional. Small as in 36 missionaries small. 36 out of 2500 in the whole MTC. And guess who was chosen to be in this small choir of 36 (8 missionaries per part)? ME!!!! AND my companion!!! AND 2 elders from our district!!!!! BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! That means that next Thurs, Fri, Sat, and Sun (possibly twice on Sunday), I get to sing for all the new mission presidents, and at least some of the bretheren (Pres. Monson is coming on Sunday) EVERY DAY!!! I am SO EXCITED!!!!! Keep in mind that this only happens once a year, and I'm here for it!

I am surprised they didn't move the seminar up to Salt Lake City or to a different location at BYU with the swine flu problem. I am glad that the mission presidents and General Authorities are proving how tough they are to go in to the MTC. It shows they put their health where their mouth is.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Missionary Letter: Missionaries Asked to Rededicate Themselves: Church Celebrates 50 Years in Taiwan since Dedication

Everyone who lived within about 2 hours from Taipei went down to the Grand Hotel to celebrate 50 years of the land of Taiwan dedicated (13 June 2009) this last Saturday. Almost the whole mission was there. We walked from the J Train to the hotel together as missionaries.

They asked us to rededicate ourselves as missionaries. It was fun to see a lot of people from the MTC again. First picture is Sister Ho, Olsen, and I. Sister Olsen is in Bade so I actually saw her this Sunday at a baptism of a girl my companion taught for a long time, so we went down for her baptism. They were both in the MTC the transfer after me.

Got Swine? MTC Funny Picture (Both Missionaries Ramirez and Forsyth Had Swine Flu)

Missionary Letter: Investigator Commits to Baptism after Randomly Reading a Scripture

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 12:59 AM

There isn't a lot to really say about this week, I'm spending most of my time on the computer sending pictures this week.

This week went by kind of slow, but it's weird because most days I don't remember what happened. Probably because I was lazy about writing in my journal this week, so I don't really remember what happened in the days.

Yesterday we rode around on our bikes for like 3 plus hours because plans ended up falling through, and then all of the things we did were on the opposite sides of our area. It put me in kind of a bad mood because I was so hot and tired and just didn't even want to bike to our last appointment by the end of the night. But I'm glad we did because we went and saw Rita. I love that lady. She's just so happy and nice she helps make me happier. We talked about keeping the commandments and the importance of baptism. So yeah our last appointment was really good.

I'm just going to tell the highlight story of the week, then the rest of my time i'm using to send pictures. This week we had an investigator, Zhen Peiyu. She's a really cute 28 year old girl who works at the Herbal Life store with her mother. She hasn't really been progressing a lot, so we didn't schedule to really meet with her that often, we would just see her when we went to visit her mom, and just encouraged her. But back a couple months ago, she said she couldn't be baptized until the 6th month. Well, we went over the other week and said, Peiyu, June is almost here, are you ready to start keeping the commandments? And she said maybe she'd try. She said she still remembered to pray sometimes. So we decided to set up with her, which we hadn't set up with just her in a long time. So this week we had an appointment with her Sunday night. We weren't really positive what we were going to discuss because Sundays we don't usually have time for companion study. So we went into the lesson, and my companion asked her if she had prayed about the Book of Mormon yet, they met missionaries back in March. And she said she still hadn't. So S. Hill was like, (and this is me translating to my best ability) well what great luck (geng2 hao3)! We have time right now. Let's pray and ask God to give you an answer if the Book of Mormon is true, since he sees that you have faith and pray. And so we kneeled down and my companion prayed, and while she was praying I was praying that Peiyu would get her answer and feel the spirit. And after the prayer we got the Book of Mormon off the table and told her to suibien flip and see what answer God had for her. She turned to Jacob 5. She started reading towards the end of the chapter about how this was the last time he was going to labor in his vineyard, until I think vs. 75. We weren't so into reading the end about burning in the fire. The spirit was so strong and all the while, still on our knees we talked about how the Lord was speaking to her, and she was sooo excited because she said it answered the question she'd been looking for an answer to about work for a long time, about how she needed to be more diligent and other things. And then after about 15 minutes on our knees, or more...they hurt so bad...we extended the baptism commitment and told her God wanted her to keep his commandments. She said okay and we got up, figured out a good date, and had Peiyu say a closing prayer and thank God for answering her question. After the closing prayer, she still had a question. She said the reason she was willing to commit to baptism was because we didn't' give up on her, even though she wasn't progressing like Daidai or her mother who came to church, but we still wanted to meet with her. So we both shared about how we loved her and gave our reason for being out here in Taiwan and willing to not give up on her. We shared quite a few scriptures, mostly in Alma 26 about glorifying in God and about being comforted when people didn't want to listen, but knowing that this is what will bring them the most happiness in their life. It was a really neat lesson. Seriously the best one I've been in so far. So now Peiyu who wasn't progressing since I got here in Zhongli is progressing! And when she gets back from Korea, she just went to Korea yesterday, then she will start coming to church! YAY! :)

So yeah, now I will go send pictures, if I have more time, maybe I'll write more later. Probably not though! Bye!

Fu jiemei.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Scabies and Missionaries

When I lived in Hawaii I contacted scabies from my small children who picked it up in the LDS Church nursery. It takes contact with a kid or someone with them to get scabies. Hot tropical climates and other crowded areas are prone to scabies. Getting them has nothing to do with how clean you are since even clean people can come down with them. I and my kids took a bath every day of our lives as does the missionary in the case below.

The Center for Disease Control says about scabies:

Human scabies is caused by an infestation of the skin by the human itch mite (Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis). The microscopic scabies mite burrows into the upper layer of the skin where it lives and lays its eggs. The most common symptoms of scabies are intense itching and a pimple-like skin rash. The scabies mite usually is spread by direct, prolonged, skin-to-skin contact with a person who has scabies.

Scabies occurs worldwide and affects people of all races and social classes. Scabies can spread rapidly under crowded conditions where close body contact is frequent. Institutions such as nursing homes, extended-care facilities, and prisons are often sites of scabies outbreaks.

This week I read Elder S. Tyler Minetto's blog post Scabies and Baptism which reminded me of just how pesky scabies can be:

wEll well well. i hope you all love that title cause its 100 percent true

So this week was interesting. First thing is first.

So my comp and i totally got SCABIS this week. it totally stunk sooooooooooooooooooooooo bad. So i really started itching bad on sunday of last week. And i was just itching SUPER SUPER bad, i totally felt like a stinking monkey cause i would itch my back like every 2 seconds and rub it on trees and things cause i couldnt reach it sometime. hahaha. So then Tues it got really bad and i decided to look at my back and it had a huge red rash all over it. So i called sis hansen and she told mi to take pics and send them to her through the email and she sent them to the mision doctor in Mexico City. She called mi back that night at like 10pm and told mi that my comp and i had scabis. So that same night we went to the store and bought a cream and pills. And the next day our whole body just felt itchy and crazy and that morning sis hansen told us that we had to wash EVERYTHING in our house. So we washed our Graments and we took all our laundry to a washing place and we had to pay 425 pesos….like 40 bucks. Then we washed the house down like crazy. That day we ended up starting to work at like 5pm. It was horrible.

Scabis are like little bugs that get in your skin and lay eggs and then those hatch and it just keeps going. So we finally killed them all. But i think i gave them to some other guys in our zone cause they had some problems too right after us and its getting to be a problem here in the mision now cause alot of people are getting them. boooooooo to scabis. i thought only dogs got them. They killed mi and my comp. hahaha

This elder and his companion were fortunate to knock them off so easily. It took me about two months to kill them the time I had them in Hawaii. Scabies are tricky mites that come out when a person is sleeping and bite the crap out of you so sometimes it takes a while to detect them. Fortunately for these elders they were being bitten while awake. I had to have a doctor look through powerful magnifying glasses to see them since they are so infinitesimally small and hard to detect so they are lucky they were diagnosed with just a picture.

I took Permethrin to kill mine off and it was very harsh on my body. I am sure there are a few other options for killing them. I read that Lindane is used if you are unsuccessful with Permethrin. I am glad the missionaries killed theirs off the first time. I hope I never have to experience scabies again in my life since they are worse than fleas or lice and hurt like crazy. There are a few natural remedies like Thyme to kill them off on the mattress. Wickipedia has a good section on how to treat them.

It is amazing what hardships missionaries have to go through in the service of the Lord. One of the ways to get rid of the eggs of these pesks is to wash everything and I mean everything down including bedding. I even vacuumed the mattress to get rid of their eggs. It is hard to kill the actual scabies because they burrow in your skin and hatch. I am sure most missionaries don't consider that they might confront pesky little creatures like scabies, head lice, ticks, and bed bugs on a mission. These trials will prepare the elders for being parents later.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

This Week: Missionary Letter

Tuesday, June 9, 2009 10:45 PM

Hey everyone!

I don't have as much time to write this week because first I took care of some business for my ward mission leader and an activity that I hope works out for our Young Women's, but since I can't email non-family members, I had to send it to gigi to have her forward it to the people I needed it sent to. Haha. So funny how many paths I had to go through to send 2 short emails. Thanks for doing that for me Gigi! But yeah I told our ward mission leader about having this testimony sharing opportunity with a ward from America, so I hope that it ends up being something they are able to do, because I know it will help them to be able to express their testimonies and everything. Some of the mothers here have expressed a concern about their children not having testimonies of the gospel, so it would be a good way for their parents to see that they really do have testimonies, written out and all. The only concern is time, so we will see what time frame she's on.

So just a really fast overview since I have only a couple minutes remaining, this week we had zone conference. It was our last one with President and Sister Nielson. It was very touching. There were a lot of tears. But good tears too. Everyone was sad to know this was our last one with them, but there were so many very strong testimonies. I really loved the two zone conferences and one mission conference I had with the Nielson's. Even though I was only here 2 transfers with them, I feel like they really love their missionaries and they are really amazing and great to us, so I am sad to see them go. But I'm sure our new mission president, Grimley will be great. We still have 3 more weeks with the Nielson's, then our mission will change. Taiwan will go down to two missions instead of three, and Taipei boundaries will change. It's kind of bittersweet, you know? Because change is a lot of fun it makes life interesting and each new day unique. But then at the same time change is incredibly hard because you learn to love people a lot. And then in seconds they are gone. Everyone always says the reason a mission prepares you for marriage is because you are with a companion all the time. But I've started to think a big reason people are more ready to get married after a mission is because they know what change is like. You change areas, companions, investigators. Your life changes a lot on a mission. Every transfer. Things aren't stable. I think it makes you feel like when you get home, you are ready for stability. Or at least, in my personal opinion it would. Everyone is different. Haha, just since President and his wife are leaving and wont be able to give everyone parting advice, they have been asking them to give them advice before they leave. So then it was on my mind for a couple minutes during zone conference and that's the conclusion I came to. Although I don't see myself getting married really soon after my mission. But I'll definitely be more ready than I was back in college, when a lot of people my age were getting married.

Okay that subject is boring now for another year at least...lets see something else at zone conference was just they talked about the fire with the baptism covenant. They talked about how we would have fire of adversity/trials. That brought a new meaning to the baptism of fire to us. In District meeting yesterday, Elder Lords asked us why it was that after baptism, it seemed like more adversity was prevalent (sp?) in our lives. The response I gave that came to my mind, although I'm not sure I'm completely right or wrong, was that with the gift of the Holy Ghost, we were then more accutely able to feel the power of the adversary working in our lives. That it was an awareness thing partly. And I said some other stuff I don't remember, but E. Lords responded that what I said sounded good, and another reason he thought it was that way is because when we make correct choices, the adversary isn't happy and is going to work doubly as hard to make us transgress, because he doesn't want us to be happy. He read to us from Moses chapter 1 about Satan. Satan is creepy in the Pearl of Great Price. I read PoGP in my first transfer and decided that. So yeah. That was neat that President and Sister Nielson talked about that and brought it to our attention.

So last Preparation day, we went down to Yingge and made pots. It was a lot of fun. I have some fun pictures I'll send one of these Preparation Days where we have time to pay for more time on the computer so we can send pictures, but today isn't one of them because in 8 minutes we are headed over to Taipei for Temple day. We get one every transfer. How lucky am I to be in this mission and get a Temple day once a transfer on preparation day. Pretty lucky I think :). The other mission gets to come once a yearish. And people in our mission too far away don't get to either. So I'm lucky to be in Zhongli, far enough from Taipei that it's a TAD cooler...but close enough it's not impossible to go for temple tours and temple day. By the way, I found out Taipei is nicknamed the concrete jungle...for good reason. It's hot here and it's not even summer yet! I'm so glad that when it's starting to get this hot next year I'm going home! I think it would be very hard for me to get through two summers here. AHHH. Me, accustomed to Idaho sent here to Taiwan. Haha. I'm hot! And it's really humid. Some days right before and after the rain it's hard for me to breathe. People used to say that about Rexburg, but I didn't feel that way. But now I do in the humidity. :)

Our investigators are doing okay. We found 6 new ones last week so I'm really excited about a new pool of investigators. My companion and I have been praying for new ones. We also fasted for them to come to church and the one we wanted most to come did! So our prayers and fasts are being answered. It's hot and the work is progressing. Life is good!

I didn't hear from mom and dad this week, don't forget to write me!

K bye!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Residence Hall Made into Isolation Unit for Swine Flu

Elder Darin Knudsen in his weekly letter home this week has given us some new information about where missionaries are being quarantined at the MTC due to the swine flue outbreak:

Have you guys heard about the swine flu?! Ha Ha its like a zoo here! Nobody dares do any bodily function for fear of being sentenced to 4M!!! (4M is like the prison for all the sick people. they have taken a whole residence building and made it isolation!!! Its crazy, our zone leader said he felt a little bit sick and we haven't seen him all week! Its the same building as the barborshop so today when I got my haircut we went up one flight of stairs and signs were saying DO NOT ENTER UNLESS YOU LIVE HERE. MISSIONARIES STAY AWAY. I talked to someone who talked to one of the missionaries in there and he said they had to talk through a small window but the kid in isolation said I feel fine but they wont let me out!! They are all so lonely in there. they just stare out the windows ha ha you can see them at night. we actually got a letter form our district president from the inside that said its like a zoo in there. A lot of the Missionaries are not keeping the rules!! ha ha I was actually way sick last week but i never told anyone for fear of 4M. Whats the news in the outside world on the swine flu. I'm not worried i'm tough as nails. Its actually way way funny!! Its totally helped lighten the mood here. And they equiped us with inhailers ha ha to fight sickness!! Its pretty serious. you can't even leave your room if your sneezing or coughing or anything!! Its funny. Oh and it helps that mom sent me with all this allergy medicine and EMERGEN-C's so thanks mom.) Sorry this letter is kinda scattered, this little red clock in the corner that is counting down is stressing me out!!!! > Anyway, my flight plans and travel plans have stayed the same. originally they weren't going to let us out of here untill the 15th but I think they know it would be best to get out of this MTC de Muerte!! but they gave me a call home pass to tell you this so let me know if you want me to call home and when. It can only be five minutes though, but when I travel I can call whoever whenever so make sure EVERYONE is by there phones on the 11th!!

It looks like they are sending a few missionaries out in to the field and revising the idea to keep them longer.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Blog of the Month: Extraordinary Missionary Effort among Ke'kchi and Guatemalan Youth Reported On Mission President's Blog

I came across a very interesting mission president's blog Torres Zion. There really aren't a lot of mission presidents' blogs out there so every one I find is a gem as I can see what is really happening out in the mission field. He reports some very interesting happenings including the visit of Elder Quentin L. Cook and preparing 1,000 Guatemalan young people to serve missions. The Deseret News missed both important events that should have been reported.

This blog gives us a glimpse into the happenings of President and Sister David and Maria Luisa Torres. The blog describes the demographics of the mission as having 172 missionaries divided into six districts with two Districts that are Ke'kchi speaking. The mission comprises all of the north -eastern part of Guatemala City and its surrounding communities. The northern boundary of the mission ends at the Mexican border. There are some very colorful pictures like the one above.

A couple of weeks ago President Torres described the visit of Elder Quentin L. Cook:

On April 30 at 2pm we were blessed with a visit from Elder Quentin L. Cook in Guatemala City. We had a very special meeting with him and his wife which included the Area Presidency, Elder Don Clarke, Shirley Christensen, and Enrique Falabella of the Seventy and missionaries from all three Missions in the City as well as streaming broadcast to our missionaries in Petén and Coban (including the Polochic and Senahu Zones). All together the audience totaled over 1200 in attendance.

Elder Cook reviewed for us the importance of seeking the spirit in both finding and teaching our investigators and using the inspired book for our generation of missionaries… “Preach My Gospel.” He told us to be mindful of the 4 Loves, Love the people, Love your companion, Love your Mission President and most important…Love the Lord.

On 29 April 2009 President Torres reported an unusual event that has great significance for missionary work throughout the world:

Guatemala is witnessing the greatest number of young men to submit applications to join us in our forces to accomplish the great work assigned us by the Savior, to “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”

On April 25, 2009 young men and women participated in the “Jornada medico” where they congregated in Guatemala to attend an event that would prepare more than a 1000 young men and woman to enter the mission field.

Latter-Day Saint Doctors, Dentist, and other medical professionals came from the United States, bringing with them supplies and equipment to examine, correct minor dental issues and help each prospective missionary fill-out their applications to be submitted.

It was a great effort for the many health care professionals to donate their time and travel and medical expertise to take care of such a large group of young men and women. It is no small undertaking to give the future missionaries vaccinations, fill cavities or extract teeth. I am very impressed by the dozens of LDS dentists who travel the world helping out their fellow Saints many times at great personal sacrifice.

The mission president himself helped in a small as he described his efforts in readying the young men for their passport and VISA pictures:

I was able to help in a small way by feeding our young people and also as a “barber” on Monday afternoon. Some of the young men were reluctant to part with their locks, but I was there to sooth their concerns.

Check out Torres' Zion because this guy and his wife are really down to earth people.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Ending A Missionary Tradition: Swine Flu Breakout Catalyst for Eliminating Missionary Tradition of Missionary Drop-off Devotionals

This week Bored in Vernal and I discovered the elimination of the Mormon practice of taking your missionary to the MTC and reported on it in our new blog He Said/She Said. The swine flu breakout precipitated the decision on the part of the missionary executive committee to discontinue the practice. On the blog He Said/She Said are differing reactions to the policy. In many ways it was a faith-promoting experience that required a constant outlay of people power to coordinate the arrival of new missionaries. In addition it tied up the presidency of the MTC and a member of the First Quorum of Seventy who was usually on site to greet the families.

Tiarna Bronach reported about dropping off her brother this week:

On a completely different note (and in a completely different emotional direction), my one and only little brother went into the MTC today. We couldn't even go inside because they're having swine flu and regular flu issues, so we had to just hug and say goodbye on the curb where we unloaded his luggage.

'Twas very sad. ;_;

In Bored in Vernal's account she lamented about the discontinuation of the practice:

So with all of the policy changes which have taken place in the past few years, I very much regret to see another of our Mormon traditions bite the dust: the MTC drop-off.

It's been a wonderful tradition, ever since the Provo MTC was built in 1978, for families to be able to bring their missionaries to the campus, check them in, take pictures, participate in a brief orientation, and then bid their missionary goodbye. Families exit one door, and missionaries another, amid many tears. As a young convert missionary in 1981, I had no family to take me through this ritual, but I watched with a tender heart as mothers hugged their sons goodbye, little brothers shook hands solemnly, and the families wept. I loved being a part of it. I had the opportunity to take my oldest two daughters to the MTC in 2006 and 2007. When my third daughter departed this past January, we were unable to go with her, but three of her sisters, who were attending BYU took her through the rigamarole.

I actually saw the utilitarian side and the vast amount of effort and resources that were being expended in keeping the tradition going and felt that the Church was doing the socially responsible thing in ending the practice. In my commentary on the practice on He Said/She Said I agreed with the decision because:

I am not sure what their experience will be now that this sappy tradition is ended. I think of the literally tens of thousands of hours spent in saying goodbye and the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in traveling to Provo by families who would come from all over the country. The Church ending this tradition is being more health and resource conserving.

I fully agreed with Richard G. Hinckley and the Church's reasoning in discontinuing the practice for health security:

Hinckley says they've had outbreaks of other viruses before and similar protocols are used. However, this time it will permanently change how parents say goodbye to their children at the MTC.
"Those [parents] who typically do come, from this area, will be asked to drop them off, from this point forward in time, at the MTC and say goodbye to them at the doorstep and not come into the buildings," Hinckley said.

Check out the He Said/She Said blog for a deeper look at the subject and take the poll to express your feelings one way or the other on the topic.

Host Missionaries at the MTC: New Welcoming Technique

Elder Kevin Forsell describes a new missionary intake process that is being conducted at the MTC on his Special Delivery from Dallas blog:

Good morning! Yesterday was GREAT! We had that "mystery" thing to do with the new missionaries. Here's what it was. The MTC is no longer allowing family into the MTC to say goodbye to missionaries. (Aren't you glad I entered when I did?) Instead, this is how they're doing it: The families can drop off their missionary, take one picture, and two minutes to say goodbye. Then the missionary is taken in by a "host missionary" for 10-15 minutes who takes them to their room and shows them around the MTC. One of those host missionaries was me!! It was SO fun! I took under my wing about 6 missionaries. Not at the same time, obviously, but one after another. It was kinda sad to watch them say goodbye to their family, but they'll do fine.

I am glad to see that missionaries are now assigned as mentors to their fellow missionaries. It will help them to get situated.

Supply Train Problem at the MTC: An Unusual Aspect of Running the MTC During the Swine Flu Epidemic

Today I read a fascinating account of the back end of running the MTC during the swine flu epidemic. In an earlier post I described missionaries perspectives toward one another and their perception and fear of getting sick from one another. Now a person who works in distribution at BYU tells us about supply problem when vendors are afraid to deliver goods to a place where they might become exposed to the virus.

On the Motley Crew we read of "Duke" Clark's problems in getting vendors to bring in the goods to feed the two thousand missionaries and 6,600 meals that are served each day to the teachers and missionaries.

Here is his account from two days ago on the Motley Crew (Clark Family) blog:

Today was a tough day at work because the story broke last night at 5:20 p.m. that there were three confirmed cases of Swine Flu at the MTC. I did not know that until this morning when I got to work and saw the BYU paper with the headline. I knew they had some cases of type A flu, but not Swine flu. So here is what is happening in case some of you have heard it on the news.

Three elders got the Swine flu (brought in by someone's family member but I don't know where they were from). It takes about 48 hours to get a confirmation that it is actually Swine flu. Two of the elders are already fine and back to class but one is still in isolation. About 22 elders total have the type A flu. As a result of this, a decision that had been made earlier but wasn't going to take place until September is now in effect. That decision is that no family members can go inside the buildings with their missionary when they bring them to the MTC. All they can do is stop at the curb, let the missionary out and say goodbye and then drive off. There will be ushers to help them with their luggage. Apparently one elder had 75 family members in tow and officials said they could not handle crowds as large as that. It creates problems with security and they don't have enough room for that many people. As of tomorrow (Wednesday is the drop-off day every week), the families will not be allowed into the MTC buildings. That will be a permanent plan, not just for this flu outbreak.

I scrambled around all day long looking for disposable goods, especially cutlery that was wrapped. They figure this will probably last until about June 15, but it may be fine by next Monday. Some vendors freaked out and said they wouldn't deliver to any place that has Swine flu so I had to make arrangements for them to deliver to our building rather than to the MTC. Other vendors said they thought the whole blown-up issue of Swine flu was ridiculous and they would deliver directly to the MTC no matter what. I had to call all the vendors that deliver to the MTC and speak to them, reassuring them but also giving them the option as to where they could deliver their goods.

When you think about it, it's quite miraculous that there has been as little health issues as there are at the MTC considering how many missionaries come from all over the world. They have jumped right on this and have handled it very professionally without unneccessary alarm.

There are 140 missionaries waiting to be shipped to their destinations, but the MTC is not sending them out for a while. They get 500 new ones tomorrow. What's mind boggling is how many meals they will be preparing for the next week -- 6600 per day! Do you realize how much food that is?!? I personally think the MTC itself is a miracle. They handle so many people on a day-to-day basis that it's quite remarkable.

I've said it before and I'll say it now -- my job is rarely boring!

It really is amazing how a mini-disaster in Provo, Utah like this can have some rippling effects that we don't really consider like how to get people to continue doing business when they are afraid they could get ill just by going near a place. I wonder if hospitals experience similar problems with vendors. I really have learned a lot by reading the various twists and turns involved with this virus outbreak.

Quarantine in the MTC: A Missionary Sister's Perspective

One missionary's mother reported on her daughter's missionary blog an indepth account of what her daughter said was happening at the MTC concerning the swine flu. In a post Sister Erica Rogers called Quarantined she tells how missionaries are handling efforts to combat the swine flu epidemic there:

Greetings from the Provo Missionary Training Center! I figured that the title to this blog would get your attention. Did it? Well, hopefully. Quarantine is such a fun word, isn't it?

Saturday, there was an official case of swine flu detected at the MTC, so preventative measures have been put in place to try and keep things from spreading like wildfire. With the constant influx of new missionaries each Wednesday and the droves of those leaving each week for various parts of the country, it is imperative that they took such drastic steps to keep things from going crazy. There are about 2,000 missionaries here right now, and it's really easy for communicable diseases to go around (like the cold I inherited from Sister Judd). Any flu-like symptoms are reasons for missionaries to not go to class or to the cafeteria and isolate themselves from the rest of the missionaries. More severe symptoms, like a persistent fever, actually lead to a trip to the hospital.

Two of the elders in my zone have been placed in actual quarantine after visiting the hospital. They are kept in isolation, not allowed to come out of the building, for five days until they receive a clean bill of health. Which is a good thing.

These drastic implementations have brought out a lot of human characteristics that I find amusing. I mean, I shouldn't find them amusing...but I do. Some are paranoid about getting sick, going to extreme measures to avoid those they think are "sick". Some of the elders headed to Japan have face masks they wear to keep from getting sick, which is a good idea, but other missionaries assume they're wearing the masks because they're sick, and then it cannonballs into almost hysteria. People don't know what their symptoms mean, and I think some of those who are sick suffer mostly just from mass hysteria. Living with another person twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week can lead to that sort of assumption you'll end up sick, after all. There are those who are more reasonable--but we have been counseled to stay in our residence hall if we do have any symptoms. Which means that I was the only member of my district in class last night. Which means I joined one of the younger districts. Which is great.

Missionaries who were scheduled to depart this week are being kept here an extra week to ensure they don't develop any symptoms of Swine Flu. Missionaries coming tomorrow, unfortunately, aren't going to be able to say goodbye to their parents. They'll be dropped off at the curb and have to say goodbye there in order to keep us from being exposed from even more contaminates.

There's no need to worry, though. Those who are sick are receiving treatment, and those who aren't sick are pressing forward. The Lord truly does watch over us all. He isn't going to keep me from catching a cold just because I'm on a mission--the Lord wants to give us the opportunity to grow and progress. My patience is being tried this week, which is great. The only way to really know you have patience or to learn how to get it is to be placed in situations that don't seem to go the speed or way you want them to go.

Wow this H1N1 virus is really worse than I thought. I am glad my daughter is already out in the mission field in Taiwan not back at the MTC. Finding an actual onsite account is interesting. That is the beauty of reading the missionaries' blogs and seeing what is really happening. The church is keeping a good lid on conditions in the MTC so there isn't panic out there. I believe the leaders are handling it very well. Even if my daughter were in Utah I have every confidence that the missionaries are medically being protected by MTC and health professionals in Provo. I think if anything the Church is being overly cautious as well they should be and going to great lengths to protect both the missionaries in Provo and those they would contact once they arrive in their fields of labor.

Parent and Missionary Report Provo MTC on Lock Down

A mother of a missionary Whitney Robbins assigned to the MTC in Guatemala reported on her daughter's missionary blog Sister Robbins that the Provo MTC is on lock down due to the swine flu epidemic in Utah.

Tracie reports:

(Tracie's Note: The Provo MTC is currently on lock-down due to the recent Swine Flu outbreak in the P-MTC so no missionaries are leaving Provo for the next 2 weeks, this means that no new missionaries will enter the GUA-MTC and those who have completed their time there have moved out into the mission field. This leaves only the 13 North American missionaries, including Whitney, that arrived in the GUA-MTC three weeks ago there for at least the next two maybe three weeks...Can you imagine, only 13 missionaries in the the whole GUA-MTC for at least two weeks...That's some GOOD one on one time with their instructors).

An interesting point is that her daughter who went to the Guatemala MTC is getting some very good quality time with the instructors and staff since there are only thirteen of them there for the next two or three weeks until the Provo missionaries arrive.

On the Deseret News site today Carrie A. Moore in an article entitled Utah child dies of H1N1: 489 people confirmed to have virus reported "A second Utahn has died after contracting the H1N1 flu virus, and while the spread of the disease is slowing in some states, the number of Utah residents per capita who have had it is now third highest in the nation." So the Church official are not taking any chance of spreading the disease throughout the world and are holding back missionaries for two to three weeks as a precaution.

Elder Sam Yoshida reported on his blog from the MTC that her report is correct:

Today has been the first time in four days that I've been out of the residence halls for longer than 3 hours. Things are getting pretty crazy here. The swine flu/regular flu has hit the MTC hard. I don't know how much longer I have until I'm the last one left. Around 60 elders have already had to be put into quarantine (solitary confinement with other sick elders). I don't know what is going on in there but I can only expect the worst. and I'm safe to say that at least 40% of the elders have been hit with some sort of sickness. It's only a matter of time before the MTC turns into a place full of Missionary Mutants and a movie called I am Legend 2 will be coming to a theatre near you.

There's my story for the week. It's all true too. Things are getting pretty crazy, and I've been blessed to not be getting this sickness that's going around. Missionaries are not allowed to leave the MTC until at least June 13th. New missionaries coming in only get to have their parents drop them off on the side of the sidewalk, and that's there goodbyes. Kind of sad, but that's how bad it's getting here. I think they have a thing on LDS.org about it all. No one be worried though. This will all blow over. I just wanted to make a joke of it all. I'm perfectly fine (knock on wood) I say I've been stuck in the residence halls because my companion has been sick and we've had to stay behind with hi. It's pretty cool.

Congratulations Elder Hellewell on a successful mission. I actually have two missionaries in my zone that were supposed to leave yesterday to the Mesa spanish speaking mission, but can't leave because of the sickness.

The church is handling the situation well and is being socially responsible during this current health crisis. I would hate to see any missionary succumb to the flu and hope we would all pray for the missionaries especially during the next month.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Missionary Letter: People Learn in Steps

Tuesday, June 2, 2009 11:59 PM

Hello, and welcome to another Preparation day in the hot and humid little island of Taiwan. This week was kind of discouraging if you think transfer wise, but happy if you think long term wise. Both of our people with dates for Saturday reset them for next transfer in week 2. I'm just glad they reset their dates and that they are still progressing and growing. Because that matters more than if we are here or not. I might still be here next transfer though, since my companion is going home in the middle of next transfer. But you just never know. There's still 3 weeks before I have to worry about it.

I'm getting used to Zhongli... I know how to get to all the places we go regularly. The first transfer here, I didn't really pay attention and everything just seemed different and I watched the stuff on the side of the road more than the paths. But now I can ride in front sometimes if I'm in a petal fast mood...and if we are going down hill. Going uphill no way...I'm slow.

So this Friday is my companions birthday. Not really sure what I'm going to do for it since we are going on exchanges...so I'll only be there in the morning for it anyways. We'll see.

Hmm, I have my planner in front of me to try to figure out what to write but it all seems pretty boring and repetitive. Even though each person and lesson is unique, hearing about what missionaries are up to probably isn't SUPER interesting. We are in lessons, riding bikes, etc etc all day.

On Tuesday Yvonne's baby piao piao had her 2nd birthday. It was us and the Neili Elders, and Lin jiemei and 2 of her 3 sons. We thought it was pretty convenient that Yvonne invited a peike (member) for us. :) It was a little ... for her husband though, because S. Lin tried to commit him to baptism, but I'm sure it's fine. It never hurts to hear about baptism. We didn't know if he was ready for it yet though. Well, we know he wasn't. We had to explain to Yvonne that you have to learn principle by principle, and we met with her a lot to prepare her for baptism...and that we could still prepare her husband, but we just had to meet with him more often and teach him principles. You can't just in one day say...you can't drink coffee or work on Sunday and you need to pay tithing all in one day. Or at least not generally. Of course their will be the exception. But that's an exception. Most people learn in steps. I know I do. So yeah, the birthday party was a lot of fun. The baby was really cute and we had a lesson with the Elders. Ate cake...Wooo. Yeah then we met with Yvonne again later in the week about baptism. Her date was set for Saturday, but we already knew she wasn't ready for that, she had told us on Sunday. We reset it for her husbands birthday. It's still over a month away, so I know that if we are really diligent we can get her husband ready for that date as well. We might give him to the Elders. We are waiting to see how that works out, because it's easier for them to get over there, but he's not there that often, and his wife is always there when he is, so it might be better to just keep teaching them together. We'll see what happens though. We set up to meet on Thursday with the both of them.

Our other person with a goal, Wang Zixia missed church on Sunday. Her husband had family over and wouldn't let her go. She also talked about how she didn't feel ready. We talked about teaching her smaller lessons over again and meeting twice a week so she could remember everything. She said that sounded okay as long as it was times when her husband wasn't home. We tried to set a date at the end of the transfer, but she thought that sounded fast. We told her to pray about it and told her that Yvonne had a date for 7/14 next transfer, and she could do that if she wanted too, since she knows Yvonne. So we just had her commit to pray and we'd set a goal on Saturday at Eddie's baptism. Which she is coming to. Woo. Eddie is a really amazing investigators the Elders have been teaching. We are all excited for Saturday.

We had a really amazing Sunday. We had 10 investigators show up to Zhong1, or afternoon church. It was a miracle really. We invited one girl to try to come on the bus, and she came! With 2 friends too.

We are also meeting with this young mother who I already love a lot. She's married to a Canadian. Her name is Rita. She came and brought her baby to church. She said that she really loves the feeling singing hymns brings. And that she just is happy at church. She has a big testimony of prayer because once her husband lost his dogs 30 minutes from their house, and he prayed and promised God he would go to church for a month if he could find his dogs, and his dog found his way home. He really loves his dogs. And he said the dog was kind of a stupid dog so it was amazing he didn't get hit by a car and found his way home. He's a nice guy. And Rita is really cute and sweet. He is also a blogger. He recorded me and my companion singing a hymn in Chinese, so somewhere out there is me messing up a couple times a hymn in Chinese. That's the only English I'm aware of, but I also know there are a lot of people here that take pictures of us and say they will put it on their blog. Yikes. I'm on Chinese blogs. Ooooh blogs...haha.

It's really hot and humid here lately. It's definitely getting to be summer. We go to Taipei twice a transfer and do the temple tours. We went this last week and it was really hot in Taiwan. As I walked to the church from the train station, I noticed how even breathing here is different because it's just really thick. The smells are new, the people look different. There isn't even a lettering system. Just characters. So I understand now why my teacher in the MTC said that life seemed a little surreal sometimes. In Taipei, for a few minutes it really did seem surreal. I was in a place completely foreign and it seemed like a dream for about 15 minutes. Then I remembered how I can't see objects or color in a dream, so clearly it wasn't. But I'm starting to understand that feeling. haha.

Today we are going with the Taoyuan Sisters to make pots in Yingge. It should be fun.

Anyways, there are only 4 minutes left and 2 weeks ago I think my letter didn't send because I waited too long...so I will now send this! Byebye.