We had a baptism!

Hi!

This week was crazy. We had a few trainings and we had to prepare our training for missionary council. We trained on steps 1-5 of WPS. It was fun. We had a funny biyu that the assistants helped us with. This next week my pday will be on WEDNESDAY. We have specialized training starting next week so our pday got switched. Also next next week, it will be on WED as well due to the temple. :) So don't freak out if i don't email on monday. Tomorrow we are going to the east coast for 4 days to go finding!! I'm going to Taidong!! woo!!! pray that i wont get eaten alive!! ahh. okay i dont have much time. here is what happened this week. 

This week was really busy and great! I always love missionary council, even if I have to stand up there and talk in front of everyone. :) Thanks for helping me overcome my fears. We had 3 exchanges this week and all of them went really well. And to end the week, we had an awesome baptism!

As for Jin Hua, we had a wonderful baptism this last week! Our little 9 year old, Zheng tongxue, got baptized! Her dad was able to attend as well! It was so cool to see him there. I think he really felt the spirit. Zheng tongxue was really nervous and scared before her baptism and wasn't in the best mood but she finally built up the courage to go into the water. I was so proud of her! When she came out of the water, she literally was a different girl. She was SO happy and not in a bad mood anymore. She said that she felt really good. I know she was filled with the spirit and that her mom was watching over her from the other side. When she got confirmed on Sunday, she was really nervous to go up there, but she did it and after church I asked her how she felt and she said she felt really warm inside. She has changed and progressed so much and I can't wait for her to one day go to the temple and do work for her mom. She has such a big desire to go to the temple. What a miracle little girl!! Heavenly Father has definitely blessed us this month and really does answer our prayers! 

We have this cute little 16 year old girl investigator, Liu tongxue. We had an awesome plan of salvation lesson with her and she really loved the resurrection part. I also asked her how she felt about baptism and she said she was really excited. She said she wanted to be a better person. She said that her parents don't fandui her coming to church and meeting with us. Miracle!! I'm praying that they won't fandui her getting baptized. She was going to come to church this weekend but had a fever. I asked her if we could meet her family and she said that her older sister might be interested in learning the gospel. I'm excited to meet her! 

We are meeting with Wu DX tonight. We are praying this lesson goes really well and that it will be filled with the spirit. His baptism date is this weekend and he really needs to make the decision if he wants to do the interview or not. He is ready, he just doesn't have faith in himself. I've been praying really hard for him this past week. He was in Yilan over the weekend and was going to attend church there but they had stake conference in Taipei. I have faith that through my mighty prayers every night for him, he will get baptized before he goes to Thailand in 2 weeks. I know he can do it! I'm just hoping that through the powers of heaven, he will make the decision to get baptized. I can just picture his family in the temple getting sealed next year! I really want to be here for his baptism. 

This morning I read Ether 2 and it is all about mighty prayer! The brother of Jared offers a mighty prayer and God grants him the desires of his heart. He had such great faith! I hope that my prayers can be mighty like the brother of Jared. I know that God has the power to do miracles if we express our desires to him in faith. I'm trying to do that every day. I know that we can call upon the powers of heaven to help us. 

Sister Miao and I are doing well. I think she is a little stressed and really tired but she can do it. She asks me how I'm able to power through everything and not get tired. I told her that I'm super tired but I have to keep going or else I'll get behind and be not as diligent. I want to be diligent until the end. I want to keep encouraging her and help build her faith.She is an awesome missionary. I think she is still adjusting to life here. I love her a lot. It's been a good learning experience for me. I love the work and I don't want it to end. 

Love you all!

Sister Chao

My last transfer!

Hello!!!

Happy Birthday Kaitlin!!! I can't wait to go to the temple with her!!! 

Wow, I dont even know what happened last week. We had 7 new missionaries come in and we got to make pancakes for them and do some training. It was fun. I also got a new companion! She is a native and my only native companion i will ever have. FINALLY!!! I think I'm the only sister missionary that has gone this long without a native companion. She is really great and I hope my chinese will get better. I have to help her with her english though. We are going to be really busy this transfer with the missionary tsunami going on next week on the east coast. We get to go to the east coast for 4 days and find every day! wooo! Also we have specialized training coming up after that. yay! The weeks just get busier and busier. and we have a BAPTISM this saturday!!!!! Our little 9 year old girl passed her interview! She used to be scared of me and not talk to me but now she loves me! Our member said that she talks about me all the time. so cute. ha. hopefully she wont be scared on the day of her baptism. Well, I'm going strong for the next 6 weeks. No time for rest. I'm really happy to be here and I've learned so much and still am learning. I dont want it to end! The mission really is the best decision i've ever made! 

I can't believe I'm starting my last transfer! It's going by so fast. I want to make this transfer the best and work my hardest. I'm glad we will be very busy. I'm excited for specialized training and the tsunami again on the East Coast. 

The biggest and bestest news that I have for you is that our little 9 year old investigator, Zheng tongxue, passed her interview and will be getting baptized this Saturday! President, the powers of heaven is so real!!! I don't think I've ever prayed so hard/mightily this whole month for her and for a few other investigators. Mighty prayer everyday really brings the miracles! I really wanted to do the invite this month of having one baptism and I was getting really worried that we might not have one. When she passed her interview, I was so happy because she was having a little tantrum right before. I have seen this little girl grow so much. She has had a hard life and she used to not talk to me before. Now she will give me hugs! Her dad said that he will attend her baptism. I'm so excited. The member that takes her of her has really played a huge role in this. When she was having a little tantrum and in a bad mood before the interview, we showed her the temple books and went to the temple window. She LOVES the temple and as soon as she finished looking in the book, she was happy again. She said that she wanted to help her mom get baptized in the temple one day. My heart just melted right there. Here is a 9 year old girl who has the biggest desire to go to the temple. I hope that she won't be in a bad mood on the day she gets baptized! 

We had a good lesson with the Wu DX and his family. He came to church this Sunday and so did his wife! They only stayed for one hour though. His date is next Saturday and I hope he makes it. I've prayed and fasted and still am praying so hard for him and his family. I can just see them getting sealed in the temple. Something is just holding him back from making the decision to get baptized. He really liked the article we gave him from the Liahona about the Holy Ghost and about prayer. Him and his family go to Thailand on July 19th and I really hope he gets baptized before then. I know he is ready, but he doesn't know that. He doesn't have enough faith. His wife said that she and the kids will get baptized if he gets baptized, but she doesn't fully understand the commandments or the "why" of the Gospel, she is just doing it because Wu DX is. She and the kids will need more time to develop the faith and foundation. However, I have faith Wu DX can get baptized very soon. We are praying so much for this family. 

We had a few great finding miracles this week and hopefully these new investigators stick. I know July will be really busy but I know Heavenly Father will continue to bless us. 

Sister Miao is awesome and such a lihai missionary. I want to help her with her English, but I always forget to talk to her in English. I want to improve my Chinese as well. She is the first and the last Taiwanese companion I will ever have. We have English days and Chinese days. Hopefully we will remember. She is great and I know she will do wonderful things here at the Temple. 

okay love you all!

Sister Chao

I need your prayers

Hi Family! 

Hope everyone had a good week!!! Last week was probably one of the most stressful weeks of the mission but I survived! We had a sister go home because she got in an accident and broke her collar bone. We have another sister really sick and is going home this week and an elder who is really sick as well and maybe going home this week! Let's pray that we don't have anymore sick missionaries going home!!! Zone conferences started last week as well. We get to attend all of them. We do a sisters training with Sister Day. It's pretty great. We get to fly to Hualien and Taidong this week!!! I'm so excited! No train ride for me!!! That means i won't get train sick! yay. It will be an interesting/weird experience. I'm excited to go back to the east coast. I was able to do 2 exchanges this week in Songshan and Yilan. That was fun. We just had a crazy week and our investigators aren't progressing like we want them to. Pray for them and for us to find the more prepared people!!! I'm just a little worried...I really hope we have a baptism this month. Our mission invite for the month is every companionship a baptism. I just feel a little stressed sometimes about having to be the perfect example and I hope we will be able to accomplish our goals. Anyways, i love the mission life...even though it creates huge bags under my eyes and i feel like ive aged 50 years. :) 

okay here is part of the update i sent president. sorry not much time today. 

Every week just gets faster and faster. I must say, last week was pretty exhausting and emotionally draining. But I'm loving the work, wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I'm sure you and Sister Day felt that as well. Thanks for all your help with all the sick missionaries and what not. I'm sure that was a little stressful, especially with zone conferences. 

I felt like the breakout session with the sisters at the zone conferences went really well. It's always fun to have a little bit of just sisters time. They needed it. Sisters and Elders are just so different! :) I'm excited for another week full of zone conferences. 

Our family we are teaching is not really progressing as fast anymore. Wu DX, the dad, was supposed to get baptized on Saturday but he said he didn't feel ready yet. We had a really good/spiritual lesson with him and President Zhou from the temple presidency helped us peike. They have met at church before. Zhou Huizhang talked about the importance of baptism and of the priesthood. They were able to talk for a few more minutes after the lesson and Zhou Huizhang said that Wu DX is depressed right now. Wu DX is really hard on himself and expects perfection. He feels like he can't be the perfect member after he is baptized. I think he still has the desire to be baptized but he said not right now. We are still praying for a miracle right now. We are hoping he can still get baptized this month. We know he is ready! We share with him a scripture in D&C 6 about how his prayers have already been answered and what did he expect more of. He just feels like he needs a bigger feeling and a more sure confirmation. His wife and kids are doing the invites so they aren't really progressing. We are meeting with them tonight and I hope we can get them all on board again. I have just felt a little sad or stressed about the whole situation because we felt like we practically did everything right with him and his family - inviting the best peikes and having really powerful, spirit filled lessons - yet everything is not really working out the way we hoped it would. Wu DX is still reading and praying everyday. I know it all comes down to his choice and agency but we felt like he would for sure make his date and then when he  told us he didn't want to get baptized yet, we were so sad! I'm praying for a miracle with him!!! Satan is really getting at him right now. 

We are also teaching a 9 year old girl right now. Zheng tongxue is member's child's friend. She has been to church 3 times and we set a date with her for the 28th. It is hard to find time to meet with her because she goes to her grandma's house everyday so we can only meet with her about once a week because her mom died a few years ago. We talked to her dad and he gave us permission to meet with her and set that date. He currently is not interested in the Gospel but he has no problem with her coming to church with her friend. She is a little slower at learning but she says that she loves coming to church. The member really takes good care of her. I have confidence she will make the 28th! I'm praying that her dad doesn't change his mind or anything. 

We had a really good temple tour with a member's friend. He lives in Zhonghe but the tour was so good! He has met with the missionaries before in Kaohsiung and Zhonghe a long time ago. The tour was just filled with the spirit and we invited him to baptism and set a date with him! He agreed! He seemed really golden and I was excited to call the Zhonghe elders and give them that referral. 

This week we found a ton of great people for other missionaries. We have been struggling on finding people that live in our area. It's been a little rough and stressful. I feel like we don't have many people to teach right now. A lot of our new investigators have been dying off too. I'm getting a little worried but I think Heavenly Father is just trying our faith right now. We really just need to find the prepared people who actually WANT this. I really want to accomplish this month's invite of having a baptism. I'm praying we will see a miracle! We need it!! But I also have to remind myself that taking care of our sisters is just as important. I know our area will take care of itself if I am doing everything I am supposed to be doing and giving it my best effort. I was so sad to see Sister Crofts in so much pain the other day. I just wanted to help her but I couldn't. I'm glad to see that Sister Wilhelm is doing a lot better. They are both great missionaries and have gone through a lot. We are praying for the sisters everyday.  

okay love you all! 

Sister chao

Still alive and running!

Hi! 

Thanks to keely's parents who brought me more goldfish and cookies! They found me at the fireside we have every month. I had to translate for Sister Day in front of EVERYONE...scariest experience of my life. I do not ever want to do that again. I was so nervous. ahhh...my chinese is so bad! People after wards would ask me "are you from America?" haha. 

I don't even know what happened last week! We had a total of 37 lessons, but I felt like we had no time to chuan jiao. That was a record. The Lord has truly blessed us. We saw a lot of miracles, even though a lot of our new investigators already died. It's kind of sad, but there are other people who are more prepared out there. We had leadership council and our training was fun. I always learn so much. This week zone conference starts. President asked us to attend all the zone conferences...so that will go on until next week. We get to fly on a plane with President and Sister Day and the Assistants to Hualien since there won't be very much time to get down there from the previous zone conference. That will be an interesting experience. That is next week though. I'm excited to go back to Hualien and Taidong though. I love the east coast! We've had some sick sisters in the mission. It's been a little rough and stressful but I hope they can get better soon. The weeks are just staying really busy. We have 2 exchanges this week as well. Then next week we will prepare for transfers again. its an endless cycle. Nothing else really going on. Or i just cant remember. Everything just seems like a blur! 

Wow this last week was busy and it flew by so fast! Mission leadership council went really well. We loved planning for it too. I always learn so much from these trainings. I feel like you always give us the topic I'm the worst at, so it helps me a lot! :) I am also so glad that fireside is over! I was so nervous translating and I think everyone could tell. I told Elder Seneca I never wanted to do that again! 

Our family that we are teaching are still progressing. Wu DX, who is closest to baptism, doesn't really want to get baptized right now. He has a lot of doubts and fears, especially coming from his friends who think our church is wicked. We fasted for him on Sunday and prayed that he would still make his date for this Saturday. We invited him to pray with his family every night and he has done it some nights. He loves the missionaries. He is just afraid that when he is baptized, he can't keep all the commandments or will mess up and will have to repent. I think he has this idea that repentance is some long and horrible process. We want to explain it to him again and let him know it is a beautiful process and you grow so much from it. I have faith he will get baptized VERY soon! He is SO ready!!! We just need a miracle to happen now. 

We currently have a lot of new investigators to work with. We set some baptism dates this week and found 9 new investigators, but over half of them died already. It's kind of frustrating because we don't really have any solid investigators besides the Wu family. Not very many people are sticking. I'm a little worried, but I still believe we will find that prepared person! There has got to be someone out there who is searching. I just haven't found him/her yet. I just pray that the people who we meet will actually show up to their second meeting time with us. 

Our R.C. Shi JM is just doing awesome. She has her temple recommend and I think she is planning on going to the temple this week. I'm so excited for her. She brought 3 of her friends from China who are visiting to the fireside and they loved it! I wish we could teach them! They said that they have never attended anything like that before. 

Pray for WU DX and his family!!! they can get baptized this month!!!! 

love you all

Sister Chao

SUN!

Hi Family! 

Gugu gave me so much food!!! thanks! Mom thanks for the goldfish and nuts. :) Ashley is SO tall!!! She is big now. 

So this past week was really crazy. We took the train down to Hualien, drove with president and the assistants to Taidong from Hualien, and took the train back to Taipei. We had 3 exchanges on the east coast and they all went really well. We got to sleep on the tile floor...probably the worst sleep of my life, but that was fun. I loved going back to Taidong and seeing my recent converts. Mom, Shi JM says hi and she wants to talk to you again...call her maybe? It was fun seeing Lily again. She is going a little less active, which is sad. She was really excited to see me though. I love taidong and the members there. Today the sun came out!!!! first pday with sun in a long time. Rachel, thanks for updating the blog. People tell me they read it. Veronica, thanks for the pictures. they are so cute! Our investigator from China got baptized!!!! WOO!! it was a good baptism. loved it. i love missionary work! 

Probably the best thing that happened this week was that Shi JM got baptized! It was such a good baptismal service filled with the spirit. She was so excited and not scared at all. She was so prepared...right from the beginning. Heavenly Father really put her in our paths at the right time and place. She felt the spirit so strong and started to cry when all the missionaries sang to her. The best thing, the next day in church, she interviewed with the bishop and got her temple recommend! She is really excited to go to the temple next. I have really loved teaching her and seeing her change. The church in China will need her. I feel like she will be a great influence where she lives. What an incredible experience! 

We didn't have that much time in our area this week but we still saw some miracles. We were able to find 3 new investigators. Our family that we are teaching came to church. Wu DX came on time but the rest of his family missed the sacrament. We are hoping Wu DX can get baptized soon. He has a lot of doubts right now, but he hasn't drank any coffee recently. So that has been good. His wife really likes church but that's about it. We are trying to get his wife and daughter develop more faith. I can really see how the Gospel has changed his life and made him happier. 

Right now, I feel like we don't have many people to teach but I believe we will find the prepared, just like how we found Shi JM. I really want to sanctify myself even more and give everything I have to the Lord. I know those prepared people are out there. I know Heavenly Father is really testing my faith right now. But I believe after the trial of our faith, we will be blessed! 

Love you all...send me more pictures. 

Sister Chao