Rain rain go away.....

Hi family!

Okay I have llike no time left...we had an emergency tooth crisis. My companion needed to get her tooth fixed and we've been running around all day. All is well now. This week I got to do a tour for the Xinzhu members because my old MM leader there got married and he had a ton of family come. It was fun seeing all the Xinzhu members again. I missed them! I went on an exchange in Tucheng and it was so much fun. It was SUPER windy that day and sunny and we biked across this bridge and thought we would never make it. we biked to shulin. It was so great. I missed biking. anyways. here is what happened this week. 

This week was just full of miracles...AGAIN! We went on two exchanges as well. The Lord truly blesses His missionaries. 

This week, we had a huge miracle! Our investigator from China, Shi JM, is getting baptized! We met her about 5 weeks ago and she was an Atheist. She was searching for truth and happiness and was curious about all the different religions. She continued to meet with us and just LOVES church. She fits in perfectly with all the members, especially the YSA. She is so driven and smart and thought a lot about baptism. She finally said that she wanted to get baptized because she might pass up a good opportunity. I feel like all the lessons we've had with her have been so powerful and filled with the spirit. Without the spirit, she wouldn't have changed and developed faith in Jesus Christ. I feel like she is going to lead the church in China. She is truly prepared and Heavenly Father put her and us at the right time and at the right place so we could find her. 

The family we are teaching, Wu Jiating, came to church this Sunday. The mom and kids came a little late so they didn't take the Sacrament, but Wu DX came on time. Wu DX is progressing really well. We ran into some bumps when he had a friend tell him that we were the church of the devil and how he shouldn't join this church. We had some good lessons with him and he is still reading and praying daily. He mainly wants to join the church for his kids. He worries about his 2 girls a lot. His wife seemed like she loved church, especially relief society. However, she feels like she can't join the church because of all the commandments. She definitely needs more faith. Her husband however is prepared and I believe he can get baptized within the next week or 2. He just needs to give up coffee completely and be willing to keep the commandments 100% of the time. I have seen the power of the BOM change his life. He said that his wife doesn't have as much faith. We told him that if she starts to read the BOM, she will change. We are trying to get him to get his family to read and pray together everyday. However, his family is not always on board with that. They don't really seem to have the best relationship. But I know with time and Wu DX's example, they will all be baptized. His wife and kids are just a little slower. It's been so great teaching the Wu family. They feel like my second family. They love having the missionaries over. 

We have a new investigator named Kriss and he came to church this last Sunday. He is kind of unique and I could tell he has had a rough life with lots of mistakes that he wishes he never made. He told us that he wants to change and make better choices. The elders were so nice and took care of him at church for us. I think Kriss has a lot of potential and I know this Gospel can really change his life for the better. He needs it! I'm glad we are able to teach him about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. 

We have had some miracle finding times and found a few new investigators this week that I hope will stick around. We really need more people to teach and it's been a blessing with the new investigators we have found. I know we have to find lots to get to the one who is prepared. We have almost met our goal for the month and we know that if we work extra hard this week, even with exchanges in Hualien and Taidong, we will make our goals! I have faith we will! 

Love you all!

Sister Chao

Happy Mother's Day!

Hello again! 

It was so good to skype with everyone!!! The family is so crazy! So many kids and they are all growing up so fast. Everyone is taller. I probably won't be able to eat with Gugu...the white handbook said that we should refrain from seeing family on the mission. I will ask President Day though and see what he says. Send me some pictures from mother's day. I can't believe I will be home in 3 months! Please continue looking for housing for me! Rachel, can you update my blog? Thanks!! Here is what happened this week. 

We had a miracle while knocking doors. I love knocking doors. I hadn't done it in awhile and kind of forgot how it felt. We knocked into this business in this small apartment building and this young guy named David opened the door. He was the only one in the office and was waiting for a package to come before he went home. He was so nice but it seemed like he didn't have much interest when we said hello. For some reason this contact reminded me of my investigator Zhang DX when Sister Bennion and I found him. I had a feeling to keep talking to David. We shared about baptism but he was unsure about it. He thought prayer was a cool feeling and very different. We asked if he would be willing to meet with us again and he said yes! We set up a time for next week. I think the spirit was really working on him as we were talking to him. He loosened up a bit and started to have more interest. I'm excited to see where this goes. He really needs purpose to his life! I know this Gospel can really help him be happier. 

Yesterday was probably the most glorious Sunday of my mission. The sun was shining and our family, Wu Jiating, came to church. Sacrament meeting had started and they still didn't show up. They said that they were running late. The sacrament hymn started and I was worried they wouldn't make it. Sure enough we see them walk in after the Sacrament portion and they had taken the sacrament outside. I was so happy to see them and the BEST part of it was that Wu DX came in a white shirt and tie! It was his first time wearing that in 20 years! I could just see him as the next priesthood leader in the ward. It was so cool! Then I see his wife come in and his 2 daughters. I must say, teaching a family has been such an indescribable experience. Seeing them change just makes me so happy inside. I feel so blessed to have this experience. We met with the family last week and the dad, Wu DX, is progressing the most. He has read up to 2 Nephi. I asked him how the BOM has changed his life and he said that he has a better attitude and temper now. His wife also noticed that. His wife hasn't been reading the BOM. I wish he would read with her, but they never do. At first I thought his wife wasn't into this whole church thing but she asked us out of the blue where the church was in Thailand. They are planning on going there for vacation in July and she said she wanted to go to church there. That really surprised me. She actually wants to go to church, even on vacation! I think she really wants her daughters to grow up in the church. We are struggling with her daughters a little bit. They don't seem to care for church, but maybe their parents' example with change them. Wu DX said that he might take them to English class to get them used to the feeling of being in a church building. We want to teach Wu DX about the importance of the Priesthood this week. I think that will really help their family. I'm praying that he will want to get baptized next week. I know he is ready! 

Our investigator from China, Shi JM, also came to church. This was her second time and she is loving it. The members love her and she is not afraid to talk to people and ask questions. She just fits right into the ward. She also attended our BOM reading group. She is just soaking everything up really well. She feels like baptism is a really big decision and doesn't know if she could get baptized that fast. She has a date for this month and I know she is prepared. She just has a hard time recognizing that God has really answered her prayers and is showing her He really does exist. We point that out to her every lesson we have with her. We want to continue helping her see that her prayers really are being answered. I love teaching Shi JM and seeing her change. The gospel really does change people and it is obvious too! She is so much happier now! 

We have another investigator Chen tongxue that we are working with. She has so many questions every time we meet with her. She thinks things through so thoroughly and questions everything. She has been praying and reading the BOM which has been really good. The only thing we are trying to get her to do now is to come to church. She has class every Sunday morning until July. I feel like she would progress so much faster if she could just come to church. I know she would love it. She is also someone I have seen change so much from reading the BOM. The BOM is such a POWERFUL tool!!! I can tell the Gospel is starting to give her more direction in life and focus on what is really important. 

love you!

Sister Chao

Miracle week... Also biggest miracle of my mission thus far

Hello!!! 

First off....my pday next week will be on WEDNESDAY...so dont freak out when i dont email next monday. We are going to the temple on Wednesday so that becomes our pday. 

Second off...Happy Birthday Keely! 

Third...we had a traumatic cockroach experience this week. We came home one night and Sister Barden goes and uses the bathroom. Next thing I hear is her screaming and running out. She said there was a huge cockroach crawling on the wall behind her when she was washing her hands. Mind you, the cockroaches here are HUGE! This one was about 3 inches. And some of the big ones here fly. There were lots in Taidong. So its almost 9:30PM and we still need to plan. I however still need to use the bathroom, but we are too scared to go in. We call the office elders and assistants who just live like a street away. However they couldnt help us until the next morning since it was past 9:30. They were all dying laughing. Our district leader Elder Zheng called President Day and told him about it! hahaha. President Day calls Sister Barden and gives her a pep talk about going and killing it. haha. i was dying laughing. So we open the door and tip toe in the bathroom with a huge shoe in my hand. sure enough, i cant find it anywhere! I looked in the shower too and couldnt find it. okay so the next night comes along and I'm taking a shower and all of a sudden I see the HUGE cockroach in the shower next to me. I didn't have my contacts in so I was blind and was like what is that?! Then I realized what it was and screamed and ran out of the shower with my towel and was a little scared...okay maybe a lot. I didn't even finish showering!!! Since it was too late, we couldn't do anything about it. We just went to bed and the next morning the Elders came during exercise and killed it. So funny. It was just a hilarious experience and such a freaky experience. I hate the cockroaches in Taiwan. AHH....its fun being in the office since everyone lives so close and get the cockroaches out of your apartment for you. 

Oh and this week we had a mini road trip adventure to the airport. There was this sister missionary leaving for the states because her visa came. She is going to Canada for her mission but has been in our mission for a few weeks. Well since the office elders had to drop her off, her companion would need a companion so President Day asked us to go with them. Guess what time we had to leave?! 5 AM!!! So we woke up at 4:30 AM and the office elders and us went to go pick up the sisters in Neihu. Then we went to Taoyuan airport, then to somewhere else to drop the other sister off. it was a fun mini road trip but it lets just say all of us were so tired. We got back and had to continue to do the work. I think I had the biggest headache that day but it was fun. It was really weird being in the airport. 

This week was just a week full of miracles! I don't even know how we were able to have 35 lessons. It kind of just happened. We have been blessed so much. We also had 2 exchanges.

MIRACLE!!!! MY INVESTIGATOR FROM XINZHU IS NOW BAPTIZED!!! READ STORY BELOW. FROM KNOCKING TO BAPTISM! IT HAPPENED! I'm so sad i wasnt there to see it!!! 

The first exchange we went on was with the Xinzhu sisters. I was able to go back to Xinzhu with Sister Bennion. The biggest miracle of my mission happened on this exchange. We met with the investigator that we found together last transfer from knocking. When we first met him, he didn't want to listen to what we had to say and started closing the door, but I decided to lean a little bit on the door so he wouldn't close it. He ended up listening to our message and becoming our new investigator. Time went on and he was progressing really fast and I could see the Gospel changing him. When I left to go to Jin Hua, he was planning on getting baptized in 2 weeks. Sister Bennion kept me updated on him and told me that he decided he didn't want to get baptized until May or June because a lot of things randomly came up and now he had to find a new place to live. He wanted to settle down first. Tithing had also been an issue. Well, on exchanges, we were able to meet with him and I was able to teach him again with Sister Bennion. The spirit was SO strong in that lesson and we were promising him blessings left and right about paying tithing, keeping the commandments, and about baptism. We shared a lot about the Holy Ghost and I asked him if he believed that the Holy Ghost can guide him in all his decisions and trials he is going through right now. I told him that if he got baptized, the Holy Ghost would help him find a place to live and will provide a way for him to pay his tithing or help him find a new job. To be honest, I was really scared when I said all of this because I had the thought, "What if it doesn't all work out after he is baptized?" But I decided to follow the spirit anyways and just say it. I couldn't doubt the spirit and I knew Heavenly Father would provide a way. It was just a really bold lesson. I told him that from the 3 weeks that I left Xinzhu until that day, I saw a huge change in him and that he was so much happier. I could tell he was different, in a good way of course. Then Sister Bennion invited him to be baptized in 2 weeks but he said he couldn't because he had work that Sunday. Our awesome peike then said "How about this weekend?" And to my surprise, he ended up saying "Okay!" We couldn't believe our ears! He really wanted to get baptized THIS weekend. I was so happy I almost shed happy tears. What a miracle. So he got baptized on Saturday and was confirmed yesterday. I wish I could have been there to see him baptized but I am so happy to hear that he made the right choice. It gets even better too. Sister Bennion told me that he found an apartment to live in through a member in the ward. Heavenly Father really did answer his prayers! I was so happy to hear that someone we found through knocking made it into the waters of baptism! Seriously I couldn't be happier. It was so hard for me to leave xinzhu because of this investigator and being there at that turning point lesson just made my day. i love missionary work!!!!! I also love sister bennion. i miss her so much. we are just best friends and work so well together. 

As for the work in Jin Hua, we are having 2 baptisms this weekend! I'm so excited. Our investigator Christine passed her interview on Sunday. She is in high school and is really excited for baptism. She is reading the Book of Mormon and is in 2 Nephi. I want her to get to know the Young Women better and be more comfortable around them. What a miracle! Also, our other miracle investigator Wendy will be having her baptismal interview on Wednesday. She is the former that a member found for us last Sunday. We met with her 4 times last week and reviewed most of the lessons with her. She has one more to go. She said that she really wants to change her life and feels really happy. She said that she loves learning about the Gospel from us and doesn't want us to stop teaching her. We told her that after she is baptized, we will continue to teach her. She is a little nervous for baptism but I feel like she is prepared. I just want to make sure she has a solid testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. 

We are now teaching a family! We started off teaching the dad, Wu DX, then we met his wife and daughter. The wife and daughter are progressing slower but we are hoping they have more desire. The wife is buddhist and the daughter doesn't seem to care too much. However, I have hope this will be the next "Robles Family" from the District. I'm determined to find and baptize a Robles Family. :)

We taught this dad Benson and his wife for the first time this week. We shared the Plan of Salvation because she just had a baby. I think Benson really liked the Plan of Salvation. He shared with us that at first he didn't really look forward to being a dad, but once he held his son for the first time, he said it was a completely different feeling of joy. It was so cool to see him just love his son. 

I still can't believe we have 2 baptisms this weekend. I hope everything works out and goes smoothly. I know that after they get baptized, we will be finding even more for those who are really prepared to receive baptism. We have a lot of "okay" investigators right now. They need to become progressing investigators though. Sister Barden is awesome and a good example. I think we complement each other. She is more sweet and I am more bold so it works really well. I'm loving being in the office more and more. Getting used to things now. 

It's never a boring day in the office. 

Love you all!
Sister Chao

Hi!

So mother's day is coming up. Lets figure out a definite time okay? I think i will be calling home on Monday at 11AM my time. so its like sunday night for you guys? Thats when the kids will be home alma said. 

Dad, I saw Nancy and she gave me 200 quai. Also, your friends, Brother and Sister Li from Shanghai took us out to lunch. that was nice of them. :)

Today is temple day! I'm so excited! This week we have another missionary leadership council so we will be training at that. Again, so nervous. I don't think I'll ever get over the fear of talking in front of people and doing trainings. I learn so much from the trainings though. Hopefully other missionaries will learn from them too. Next week, all the new missionaries are coming in! We get to help take care of them. We are making pancakes with Sister Day early in the morning. yay! We got to bake cookies with her last week for service too. It's been fun/different being in the office. it's always an adventure. I'm getting used to it. We got a new assistant, Elder Orchard! He was my zone leader when I first arrived in taiwan and now he will see me die. We had a few sisters from the mission really sick last week, but heavenly father has really answered our fasts and prayers! Life is stressful/busy but fun. I love being a missionary! Really though. Wouldn't give up this experience for anything. 

The work in Jin Hua is going well. I was so happy to see our former investigator, Wendy, get baptized! We met her less than 3 weeks ago and she had a desire to re-learn everything and get baptized. She has such great faith and desire. I could just see her glow! From the short time we met her to the day she got baptized, I could tell the Gospel has brought her more happiness. When she got up to share her testimony, it seemed like she had been a member for years. Heavenly Father has really blessed us with a great miracle. Wendy waited 2 years to get baptized because her family fandui. The Lord really has his timing for everything. 

Our investigator Christine was supposed to get baptized with Wendy, but the night before, her dad called us and said she couldn't get baptized anymore. He said that she was too young and he didn't want her to go to church anymore. He wanted her to focus on school. We were really sad to hear the bad news but we are praying for her and maybe a miracle will happen. Maybe she will be like Wendy and have to wait a few years and come back with a strong desire to get baptized. I'm praying that she won't forget to read and pray everyday. She was so ready but her family didn't quite agree. I know that she will get baptized one day. 

We have an awesome investigator that we have been meeting with for the past 2 weeks. Shi JM is from China and is here for school and is super intelligent. She is an Atheist and she said she is really curious about religion and if God exists. She said that she sees religion play a big part in people's lives and it makes them happier. She shared that she wants to find that happiness and not necessarily truth. However, we shared with her that happiness and truth go hand in hand. She has progressed so much and started praying and reading the BOM. She shared a cool experience with us about a time her prayers were answered this past week. She said she thinks it might have been from God and that He loves her. I was so happy to hear this from her. She has become great friends with our peikes that we bring. She talked to one of them after our lesson for 3 hours about the church! I was so surprised. Our peike called at 10PM and said "we just left the church." Our peike was awesome and answered all her questions. Shi JM said that she is willing to experiment upon the word. She has a baptism date for May 24th but she feels like she doesn't want to get baptized yet. We are praying that she sees God's hand in her life. She is awesome!!! I'm grateful for this experience to teach someone from China. 

We are now teaching a family. Wu jiating are all progressing at different rates. We first started meeting with the the dad and he has been progressing a lot and has the most interest. His daughter and his wife are not as interested but are willing to listen. We are hoping from Wu DX's example, they will begin to change. Wu jiating is incredible and so nice. We had a good family peike for us a few times. It's been a little difficult teaching them because their interest/desire levels are all different. But I'm determined they will be the next Robles family! Wu DX is great and I want to get him progressing faster. I think he can get baptized soon. The whole family is planning on coming to church this Sunday, so that will be good. It's been a good experience teaching a family. I've never taught a family before and I have faith this family will get baptized and one day sealed in the temple. I can just see it happening! 

We also just met this student Chen DX. He also doesn't really believe in God. He said that he has to see it to believe it. He was willing to listen to our message and has started reading and praying! I think he is just really curious right now. We also set a baptism date with him. He has class every Sunday, but I'm hoping a miracle will happen and he will be able to come to church. I'm excited to see where things go and see him change. 

Other than that, we don't really have other investigators. We are in the process of finding the more prepared people. We find a lot of people, but they die quickly. I'm really praying for more progressing investigators. I know that there are prepared people out there. We've been finding a lot of people for other missionaries though. Team Jesus! I really want to help Jin Hua grow. I also really want to help the sisters of the mission and be a good example to them. Still trying to figure out how. 

Love you all!

Sister Chao

Happy cinco de mayo

Hi!!!

Can't wait to skype you all next week. so just be on the watch for when i will go online. I will skype anytime between 10am-11am on may 12 in taiwan. Probably closer to 11am. hopefully everything will go smoothly. don't know where im doing it yet. just be online all day. haha. i got sick again! ugh. had a fever and body aches all through church yesterday and my nose was all congested. When i get fevers, my eyes start to water...its funny. our investigator thought that i was just super gandong during sacrament meeting and that's why i was "crying"...but in reality i was just having a fever. haha. so funny. i feel better today though. just blowing my nose like crazy. but all is well. im taking some onguard. the mission is just crazy! Dad, I see Brother Li a lot. He said he is going back to California next week or something. The new missionaries come in this week!!! Cant wait to meet them. We get to do some training with them this Thursday and make pancakes for them. :) Transfer meeting is Friday and this time i can attend and just relax since I know im not moving or anything. That's the nice thing about being in the office. I'm excited to see everyone. Lots of missionaries are going home. We had missionary leadership council this last week and we trained on having a more spiritual personal and companionship study. it went really well. it was a good meeting. always gets me pumped to do missionary work even better! 

I just wanted to tell you how much I loved missionary leadership council this week! It was filled with the spirit and I learned so much. It just made me want to work even harder, especially with following the spirit. This week went pretty well but I feel like there is a ton we need to jia you on for this week. We've been struggling finding new investigators, especially those who will stick. We have had so many other lessons and have found a lot of people who are willing to meet with the missionaries, but they don't live in our area. It was very much a team Jesus week. I'm hoping that this week we will find more people that actually live in our area and will have a desire to learn about the Gospel. I know there are prepared people everywhere. I'm praying that the Lord will lead us to those who are prepared in our area. I know that also comes from following the spirit! 

Probably the best thing that happened this week was that we had 4 investigators at church! It was a big improvement from last week. We are teaching a family of 4 and they all came except one of their daughters. Wu DX is the only really progressing one out of all of them. He arrived at church 10 minutes early and I asked him where his wife and daughters were since he said that they were all coming the night before. He told us that his wife had to take the kids somewhere and wouldn't be coming. Zhou Huizhang sat with him and got to know him. They live really close to each other. Then as Sacrament meeting started, I looked at the doors and saw Wu DX's wife and little daughter standing at the door. We hurried over to them and showed her where her husband was sitting. We were so surprised that she came! Every  time we taught her, she seemed the least interested. I was so happy to see her at church. After Sacrament meeting, we were going to show them where to go next, but the daughter is really shy and doesn't like to be in an environment full of new people so Wu JM had to take her home because she didn't want to stay any longer. However, Wu JM really wanted to stay and was really curious about Sunday School. It was a miracle that they all came. Maybe Wu JM will start progressing more. We want to get Wu DX baptized soon since we think he is more prepared than his family. Tonight we are meeting with him and hopefully we can stress the importance of baptism even more. I don't think he quite understands how important it is with the right authority. He was baptized when he was younger too. 

The other investigator that came to church was Shi JM. She is the lady we are teaching from China. She is a student here and is an Atheist. She has progressed a lot since we first met her. She is reading and praying everyday. She even stayed for the whole 3 hours of church! After church, she stayed and chatted and ate lunch with everyone. She met a lot of members and has become great friends with one of them. She also came to the Fireside. She is just soaking it all up and loves it. She said that she attended a different church before but it was a completely different feeling. She said that she really likes how spiritual our meetings are. We are hoping she comes every Sunday this month so she can get baptized on the 24th! I feel like the Gospel has already changed her life a lot. She just seems so much happier now. She just glows! I love her! I can just see her being a Young Women's leader in her ward in China one day. It has been a great experience teaching someone from China. Even though we can't proselyte in China, the Lord is finding other ways for people there to learn about the Gospel. It's so cool!

We are also teaching a Chen tongxue. We can't quite figure out if our investigator is a girl or a boy. It's been kinda weird. But Chen tongxue has been progressing slowly. He really wants to see evidence of things and then he will believe. We are trying to tell him that sometimes he has to rely on what he feels and thinks. We are going to talk about the spirit tonight when we meet with him. He has been starting to pray everyday so that has been good. Hopefully he will be able to progress even more this week. 

okay love you all!

sister chao