My last email!

Hello!!!!

I can't believe this is my 2nd to last email home!!! so sad!! I don't want this to end. I'm kinda scared to go home...more like go to school. I want to stay one more transfer. It all seems like a dream. I think it won't hit me until transfer meeting. We still have a LOT to do. One more specialized training this week and leadership council. Then we have to prepare for the new missionaries and the temple tour training coming up. yay! I'm glad i get to stay busy. I got new glasses today and it took a total of 10 minutes. Crazy! I've never been in and out of an eye doctor that fast. Anything you want me to buy? I dont think I'll have time...but i can try. well we did a wonderful training this last on teaching people, not lessons from the PMG fundamentals. It was probably the best training I've ever given with my companion. The spirit was so strong and we made a few people cry. I wish we had more time to give it. Oh well, it definitely was the spirit leading it the whole time. so cool. anyways...here is what happened this week. 

I really enjoyed the Mission Leadership Seminar. There were a lot of great trainings. I felt the spirit so strong in our training of teaching people, and not lessons. Thanks for helping out with that. I hope the missionaries felt the spirit in the room and could apply what they learned to their investigators. I've never given a training like that before and I knew it was the Spirit guiding us the whole time, through planning and through giving the training. I learned a lot. 

On Saturday, we were able to meet with our 16 year old investigator Liu tongxue. She is great and really loves learning the Gospel. She FINALLY came to church on Sunday! I was so happy to see her. Her mom said that she needed to come to church a few more times before she could get baptized, exactly our thoughts! She is progressing a lot and loved church. I'm sad I won't be here for her baptism but I know she will find the happiness she needs in the Gospel. 

We also met with a referral from the missionaries who were here for the Seminar. Ma JM is a single mom and used to meet with the Jehovah Witnesses. She has one daughter who is handicapped. She said that she is looking for a religion and hasn't felt anything yet. She really wants to make sure she "feels" something before she gets baptized. We set a baptismal date with her and we used a lot of HTBT. Then she says, "I need you to be my guides then! Guide me!" She is a really happy person and I know that if she reads, prays, and comes to church, she will for sure "feel" something. I'm excited to teach her.

That night, we had a cool finding miracle! We found 2 new investigators and set a date with one of them. Lin JM, our new investigator, was just walking down the street and I felt like I should go talk to her. She said that she was Christian but hasn't been to church in a long time. She said that she had depression and almost killed herself awhile back. She came to church the next day and loved it. She shared in Relief Society how she felt like the Holy Ghost led her to find us missionaries. She was grateful that we were able to pray with her and tell her that Heavenly Father really loved her. She is so sweet! 

Sister Miao and I did a fast for our area, investigators, and sisters last week and we felt like Heavenly Father has given us so many blessing right after. We were able to receive a lot of new investigators and referrals from the time the missionaries went finding for 45 minutes during the Seminar. We saw a lot of little miracles and I know Heavenly Father was answering our prayers. It was really cool. 

Thanks for your wonderful training on being a one-eyed missionary. I really want to be a one-eyed missionary and diligent until the end, and of course, for the rest of my life. I want to be more Christ-like and truly do God's will while I'm out here. Everything we do is to glorify God, not us. We are just His servants and a tool. I'm truly grateful to be serving here and helping so many people. The sisters in the mission are awesome and have such a strong desire to do their best. I'm grateful for this calling here at the Temple and have learned so much! I'm excited for one more specialized training and mission leadership council. Last time I have to share! :) 

love you all!

Sister Chao

Every 5 new mosquito bite represents a new investigator

Hello!!!!

I can't believe this is my 2nd to last email home!!! so sad!! I don't want this to end. I'm kinda scared to go home...more like go to school. I want to stay one more transfer. It all seems like a dream. I think it won't hit me until transfer meeting. We still have a LOT to do. One more specialized training this week and leadership council. Then we have to prepare for the new missionaries and the temple tour training coming up. yay! I'm glad i get to stay busy. I got new glasses today and it took a total of 10 minutes. Crazy! I've never been in and out of an eye doctor that fast. Anything you want me to buy? I dont think I'll have time...but i can try. well we did a wonderful training this last on teaching people, not lessons from the PMG fundamentals. It was probably the best training I've ever given with my companion. The spirit was so strong and we made a few people cry. I wish we had more time to give it. Oh well, it definitely was the spirit leading it the whole time. so cool. anyways...here is what happened this week. 

I really enjoyed the Mission Leadership Seminar. There were a lot of great trainings. I felt the spirit so strong in our training of teaching people, and not lessons. Thanks for helping out with that. I hope the missionaries felt the spirit in the room and could apply what they learned to their investigators. I've never given a training like that before and I knew it was the Spirit guiding us the whole time, through planning and through giving the training. I learned a lot. 

On Saturday, we were able to meet with our 16 year old investigator Liu tongxue. She is great and really loves learning the Gospel. She FINALLY came to church on Sunday! I was so happy to see her. Her mom said that she needed to come to church a few more times before she could get baptized, exactly our thoughts! She is progressing a lot and loved church. I'm sad I won't be here for her baptism but I know she will find the happiness she needs in the Gospel. 

We also met with a referral from the missionaries who were here for the Seminar. Ma JM is a single mom and used to meet with the Jehovah Witnesses. She has one daughter who is handicapped. She said that she is looking for a religion and hasn't felt anything yet. She really wants to make sure she "feels" something before she gets baptized. We set a baptismal date with her and we used a lot of HTBT. Then she says, "I need you to be my guides then! Guide me!" She is a really happy person and I know that if she reads, prays, and comes to church, she will for sure "feel" something. I'm excited to teach her.

That night, we had a cool finding miracle! We found 2 new investigators and set a date with one of them. Lin JM, our new investigator, was just walking down the street and I felt like I should go talk to her. She said that she was Christian but hasn't been to church in a long time. She said that she had depression and almost killed herself awhile back. She came to church the next day and loved it. She shared in Relief Society how she felt like the Holy Ghost led her to find us missionaries. She was grateful that we were able to pray with her and tell her that Heavenly Father really loved her. She is so sweet! 

Sister Miao and I did a fast for our area, investigators, and sisters last week and we felt like Heavenly Father has given us so many blessing right after. We were able to receive a lot of new investigators and referrals from the time the missionaries went finding for 45 minutes during the Seminar. We saw a lot of little miracles and I know Heavenly Father was answering our prayers. It was really cool. 

Thanks for your wonderful training on being a one-eyed missionary. I really want to be a one-eyed missionary and diligent until the end, and of course, for the rest of my life. I want to be more Christ-like and truly do God's will while I'm out here. Everything we do is to glorify God, not us. We are just His servants and a tool. I'm truly grateful to be serving here and helping so many people. The sisters in the mission are awesome and have such a strong desire to do their best. I'm grateful for this calling here at the Temple and have learned so much! I'm excited for one more specialized training and mission leadership council. Last time I have to share! :) 

love you all!

Sister Chao

My last time going to the east coast

Hi!

Wow! I can't believe time is flying by so fast. It just gets faster and faster and we still have so much to do before the transfer ends!!! This last week, we went to Hualien and Taidong for specialized training. My last time before I leave. I got to see 2 of my RCs which was really happy. I miss Taidong. It really is the promised land. We had specialized training in Beitou last night and something really funny happened. So we split up with the companionships in the zone and accompany them in one of their lessons after the training. I was put with a companionship in Beitou and my companion went to Tianmu. President and sister Day were supposed to pick me up in beitou at the end of the night and then drive to tianmu to pick my companion up. There was some miscommunication and they thought I would meet them in Tianmu, but they didnt see me there when they got there. So they had to drive back to beitou and pick me up and we got home pretty late. It was funny and I felt really bad for President. But all is well now. :) Its always an adventure here. We have a 2 day mission leadership seminar that starts tomorrow and one more specialized training next week. Then we start getting ready for new missionaries to come in! yay! I love it here in taiwan and i love my mission. I really dont want to come home!!!!! i wish i had one more transfer here!  anyways here is what happened this week: 

It was so fun to attend all the specialized trainings this past week. Every single meeting had a special feeling and a sweet spirit. Although we weren't in our area very much, we were fortunate enough to see so many miracles on the east coast. The Ji'an sisters has a golden investigator who has a strong desire to change and be baptized. I was also lucky to teach an LA in Taidong and the sisters taught her all about the temple and about family history. She is starting to come back to church and is really interested in family history work. I was also really happy that I got to see Becky and Chen JM in Taidong. Becky just has a glow to her now and seems like a completely different person. So much happier! This Gospel really does change people's lives. 

We had a cool miracle here in Jin Hua. Both of our RC's Shi JM and Wendy gave talks on Sunday about missionary work. They are both ward missionaries. Their talks blew my mind and it seems like they've been members for years. I was really impressed. I'm so proud of them and how much they have progressed in the gospel these past few months. They have already gone to the temple and Shi JM is getting ready to receive her patriarchal blessing before she goes back to China. She is going to be such a great example and leader in China. The Lord really prepared her here in Taiwan to learn of the Gospel so she can be a great missionary in China. Wendy brought her mom to church to hear her speak. Her mom originally wasn't going to come but I invited her to ask her again, and she came! Her mom really loved it and stayed for all three hours. We invited her mom to the Morphis family fireside and she and her brother came! They both became our new investigators and we are excited to teach them and get to know them more. Wendy told us that her dad is really against our church but maybe the Lord will soften his heart. I hope Wendy's mom remembers the feeling she had at church on Sunday. Everyone was so welcoming to her as well. The ward is great at helping the missionaries out! I'm really lucky to be in the Jin Hua ward. I've never seen a ward so willing to do missionary work and so supportive of the missionaries. 

Another cool miracle that happened last week was with our investigator Chen tongxue. We've been teaching her for awhile on and off but she has more time to meet with us now. She is the type of person that has to ask a question that opposes to what you just taught her. It's been an interesting experience but she loves the missionaries and still has a desire to learn. We have been trying to get her to kneel with us in prayer at the end of the lesson and finally after 10 minutes of waiting for her to kneel, she did it!!! We talked a lot about humility and currently, she doesn't want to be more humble, but finally said she would "try" to kneel. I felt like that was HUGE progress with her. She has a pride thing going on, but I know the spirit can soften her heart. Sister Miao and I really want to change this person! I think we can do it, along with the spirit! It might take a little time, but I really do see her getting baptized next month. 

Last week was a little rough for me. I had a hard time feeling happy. I don't really know how to explain it but I'm good now. I think I was just stressed about my companion and not having many investigators progressing, or just investigators in general. They just seem to die off real quick sometimes. My faith was definitely being tried this week. Our family that we are teaching is going to Thailand this week and Wu DX won't be back until I leave. He has grown so much in the gospel and I think I was just sad that I won't get to see him baptized. We've worked so hard with him. I know Sister Miao will help him get baptized when he gets back though. We have one investigator who is golden, but it's summer, so she has been gone a lot with her family. I think I was just really excited to have all these baptisms that were supposed to happen this end of the month but now won't end up happening until after I leave. I know it is all up to the Lord and His timing. I need to follow the Lord's will. Lately I've been praying to do the Lord's will and seeking His help in having more faith and happiness! I'm sad that we won't have a baptism this month but there are about 2 investigators who I know will be ready in August. I'm fasting for them today, and I know Sister Miao will take good care of them. 

See you all soon! Love you!

Sister Chao

Tsunami on the east coast

Hi!

Rachel, can you update my blog? thanks!!! :) 

Today is temple day! We will be going in a few hours. Next week my Pday will also be on WEDNESDAY because of specialized trainings. I went to Taidong for the missionary tsunami last week. There were 14 companionships who went down to the east coast to FIND for 4 days straight. I was paired up with a new missionary and she was awesome. we had a great time. Saw so many miracles. We were out in the hot sun all day just finding and biking. everyone got super sunburned. i forgot how hot the summers got there. and there was no AC in the room we slept in. so great. i never sweated so much in my life. i loved the east coast. we also had specialized training this week in xinzhu and taoyuan. tomorrow we will go to Hualien and Friday to Taidong for more trainings. We will fly back with president on Saturday morning. I'm staying super busy. Our training is on effectively using our daily planners. President said our training had to be fun so we thought of a this fun game to play with all the missionaries. It was pretty successful. I am excited to go back to the east coast again. we have been traveling everywhere. its been kinda crazy. Next week is busy with more trainings. i learn so much from them every time. It's always filled with the spirit. I hope things are going well back home. I'm trying to type super fast. sorry if there are lots of mistakes. there is no time!!!! we had to go to the library to email today and we only have 30 minute blocks and then we have to wait in line again. ahh. okay keep me updated on whats going on in your lives. 

Last week's tsunami was awesome! I had a really good time with Sister Branch and saw lots of miracles. It was fun training Sister Branch for a few days. It was a good experience. I think she really got to LOVE finding. One cool finding miracle we had was on the last day. We were out at 8AM and didn't quite know where we should knock because it was so early and most of the people out at that time were old people. We wanted to find a family. We rode around and finally saw this really old small alley way with not very many houses. We decided to stop and try to knock there. It seemed like no one had knocked there before. After about 20 minutes, we had no success but we decided to knock one last door hiding right around the corner. This young mom came out and talked to us and prayed with us. We talked about how the gospel can bless her family and about baptism. She said that we could come back next week to share more with her. We were so happy that we stayed and found her. It was a good miracle to see to wrap up our tsunami experience. We also got some good sun that morning. :) I think the Lord really blessed the east coast last week. I can't believe we exceeded our new investigator goal by a lot! He is definitely hastening the work down there. I'm so happy I got to be apart of it. 

As for Jin Hua, we had one investigator come to church on Sunday. We have been teaching Chen JM for awhile and she finally finished all her tests and was able to come to church. She really liked it too. We were planning for her to get baptized this end of the month but she said that she might be going on vacation next sunday. She is progressing a little more everyday now that her tests are done. She even exercises with us in the morning sometimes. We have another investigator, Liu tongxue, who is progressing pretty fast. She said that she really wants to get baptized and be a better person. She is only 16 and has she has such high goals. She was so excited to come to church on Sunday but she slept in and didn't hear our phone calls or her alarm in the morning. I was so sad! She had a baptism date for the 26th, but it looks like we will have to change it. I really want to see her baptized before I go home. I'm praying that she will come this Sunday! 

Some bad news, our dad that we are teaching, Wu DX, had an interview scheduled for last Thursday while we were on the east coast, but he texted me right before and said he didn't want to go because he didn't feel ready. I was so sad and almost wanted to cry because we have prayed and fasted for him so many times and it just doesn't seem like he is progressing anymore. Satan is really getting at him hard. He is ready but he just doesn't see it. He said that he doesn't want to get baptized just because missionaries told him to, which I agree. I like how serious he is taking it, but he just doesn't have much faith in himself. I can just see his family in the temple one day. He is going to Thailand next week for 2+ weeks and I hope it doesn't make him forget about what he has learned. I know Heavenly Father is really testing my faith right now. I just have high hopes for this man and his family. I know that this gospel can change and bless this family so much! 

The specialized trainings we had so far went really well. I definitely felt the spirit at both the Xinzhu and Taoyuan zones. Thanks for that wonderful prayer. The spirit was so strong in the room. I know that I need to have more faith in Heavenly Father right now. Our area is struggling a little bit but I know Heavenly Father will take care of it while we are gone. I need to trust that everything will work out and that we will be able to find those who are prepared and help our current investigators progress. I've been thinking of ways how I could be a better example and magnify my calling here at the temple. The sisters in  the mission are awesome and I want to be able to help them. 

I'm really glad that I'm staying really busy this transfer. It was helped me be more diligent until the end. I'm sad this is my last transfer! Sister Miao is great. She is a good example to me. Thanks for all your hard work. I'm looking forward to more specialized trainings and exchanges this next week. 

Love you all!

Sister Chao