Hello!

Hey!

How was everyone's July 4th? Don't worry, I still wore my red, white, and blue here. I even watched some fireworks that the Miao puts off like every night. Last p-day we went to the beach again. This time, the closer one. We also went out as a district to this really nice all you can eat hot pot place. It was really good and there was A/C. Summer is definitely hitting Taiwan. How warm is it back home? Feel free to send me a weather report of taiwan in F. On Saturday, Xu mama invited my district over for dinner at her house. She just barely moved to Hualien and lives really far. We cover Ji'an. It was a long bike ride up this huge hill and by the time we got there, everyone was dripping. Elder Mattsson and Orchard were soaked. Xu mama asked if it had rained outside because they were dripping everywhere. it was so nasty, but funny. We got invited to dinner at another member's house yesterday too. This doesn't happen very often. We are usually on our own for food so that was nice of them. Transfers are coming up next Friday. I dont really know if I'm going to move or stay. I wouldn't mind staying, but I also wouldn't mind moving and seeing a different area. I'm just nervous that I might train next transfer because my zone leaders have been telling me that i have a good chance of training. I just dont feel capable of training someone yet. I'm almost done with Phase 1, which is this language book that you have to pass off every week. Then you move on to phase 2 and 3. The Chinese is coming along. Very far from perfect but better than when i left home at least. :) Anyways, I'll let you know if i get transferred. I'm kinda nervous for a new companion. My companion now is great. 

This week, we were planning on have 2 baptisms on Saturday. However, that isn't going to happen anymore. Lin JM and Yu JM both were on track for getting baptized this Saturday but they both cancelled on us twice this week and didn't go to church. I was so disappointed because they were so ready. Lin JM's phone has been broken all week, so it has been hard for us to get a hold of her. We were sure she would come to church because she always tells us that she loves it. I hope she still has the fire and desire to get baptized. I know that she will soon. As for Yu JM, she is just a really busy person, trying to run her business and take care of her 2 little kids. She is awesome and I think it will just take a little time for her to get baptized but I believe that she will by the end of this month. We stopped by her house a few times this week to say hello. She doesn't feel comfortable for us to teach at her home since her business is also there so we just say hi. Anyways, I learned that sometimes Satan works really hard on our investigators, but that just means we have to work even harder. I really wanted to see them get baptized and be there for it before transfers, so i was a little bummed. But who knows, i might be staying in Ji'an after all. 

We met with this 16 year old girl named Vivian. She is really great! She is a referral from the Elders and she accepted our baptism invite after we gave her the first lesson. Then we met with her again this week and taught her the 2nd lesson. She told us that her parents won't let her get baptized. I was sad to hear that because I feel like that is the case for most youth here. They want to get baptized but their parents won't let them. Also, she says that her parents won't let her go to church on Sundays. We are still going to work with her and teach her. Maybe things will change and a miracle will happen. Maybe her parents will have a change of heart. 

We also met with 2 people from English class that were interested in learning more about the Gospel. They both like it when we teach them using English and Chinese. We gave one of them, Vivian, an English BOM. She read it all in 2 weeks! She might have some kind of disability though. She doesn't seem all the way there. She didn't remember anything she read or understand any of it. She has a Chinese one too. She is really nice though and she also has a baptism goal for the end of August. The other lady we taught, Sue, is really awesome too. We met with her for the first time this week. Hopefully she will become a progressing investigator soon! I love getting referrals from English class! English on Wednesdays is a great way for people to be exposed and introduced to the Gospel. 

We went to go visit this new L.A. that we found last week, Li JM. She is a little crazy...but very nice. She has been through the temple and everything. She said that she believes in the Church, just doesn't want to keep any of the commandments. She said church is too strict and serious. She is a free spirit. She said she likes her freedom and likes to do anything she wants to do. She also told us she likes being the bad child. It was a very interesting visit. Then she told her son, who isn't a member, to come down and talk with us. We shared with him the first lesson, but I'm not sure if he really wanted to talk to us. He was willing to give us his number though to give to the Elders. We gave him a BOM too. Maybe he will be more interested in listening than his mom. We will keep trying to get her back to church and start keeping the commandments. When we visit her, we try to bear testimony a lot and help her feel the spirit again. She really wants her son to come to church though. 

We meet so many different and interesting people here. I love contacting and sharing the gospel with people. Sometimes you will meet really prepared people and sometimes you will just get rejected. It's great. love the work and love the heat! :) 

Hope all is going well at home. How is Yeye doing? What are all of your plans for the summer? Love you all!

Sister Chao