Sister Winters - April 30, 2012 "Refreshes you when you're thirsty and makes you happy"

Dear family,

 

I'm sitting in the middle of a sketchy computer cafe with a huge smile on my face - I love hearing about all of the things you are doing! I'm so proud of all of you. This week was really great - we had a special training meeting in Hualien with Elder Gong of the Area Seventy - it was absolutely fantastic. More about that later.

 

For those of you who are wondering what the subject line is all about: when English companies become worldwide and change their names into Chinese ones, there are a few methods they can go about doing it. One way is to have it sound similar but to completely lose it's meaning. Another is to have a similar meaning but to change the way the word sounds. And sometimes the company is smart enough to be able to have the product name still sound similar while still keeping a meaning. An example of this would be Coca-Cola. It's Chinese name is Kekou Kela, which translated means "Refreshes you when you're thirsty and makes you happy." I thought you'd all like that. :)

 

In missionary news, the work is going well. I'm gradually getting more and more bold as I get more and more confident in the language. This past week we were meeting with one of our investigators - she's very old, and was already baptized when she was younger. We went through 3 Nephi 11 with her and explained how our church's baptism was different than others', and it was because our method was Jesus Christ's. She said, "Yes, I can see that your church's baptism is correct - it's the right way." So we asked her if she'd get baptized. She said, "I've been baptized once already - once is enough." I said: "Ni de xili bu gou," or "Your baptism isn't enough." Wow, did I really say that? Thankfully she didn't get offended - I think it was what the Spirit wanted me to say, because I didn't really regret it either. My companion was kind of in shock, but she said afterwards that she was really glad that I said it. We're still working with her - she eventually changed her mind after she said she didn't want to get baptized and ended up deciding that she'd see more baptismal services and then would get baptized... probably.

 

Another hilarious story with a very old investigator (like old age-wise). Since there are two branches, my companion and I have to split every Sunday. This also means that the lessons we teach after church also only have one companion (plus a member helping us). This is fine most of the time, since my Chinese is at the level where I can teach the lessons, understand most of the concerns that people bring up, etc. However, there are some times where I'm reminded how I still have a long way to go - and not only that, but that it's very important that I learn it as fast as I can. Yesterday after church was one of those times. I was meeting with, as I said before, an old investigator. The fact that she's old and also that she's from mainland China makes her a little harder to understand in general. I was going over the 10 commandments, numbers 5-10. We got to #6, "Thou shalt not kill." I said, "I'm pretty sure you don't have a problem with this one." And then she said, "Well, I naturally don't want to kill, but, one time my friend and I..." And then I didn't understand the majority of what she was saying. I was in shock. Was this lady a murderer? What was she up to with her friend? I struggled to understand, but nothing. I only got words like "friend," "killed," "sick people," "hospital," "husband," (her husband passed away), "gave him candy," "died," and "I used to feel bad about it and I still feel bad from time to time, but my heart feels fine about it now." Oh, and I can't forget the body language she used - she made beheading motions with her hand over her neck, and also made suffocating gestures after she talked about giving candy to the sick people. I was praying that I'd be able to understand what I needed to, and I kept looking at the member sitting next to me to make sure she was getting it. I was sort of relieved, because her face was impassive. But then, on the other hand, it looked like a not-paying-attention kind of impassive. Well, I got out of the lesson and told my companion that our 60-something-year-old investigator might be a serial killer. She looked at me in shock and then called our investigator to ask her for more clarification. Nothing was reported - the lesosn was great, she could understand my Chinese, etc. Then we called the member. Apparently, she and her husband killed their neighbor's dog. On purpose. Because it got into their garden or something. While killing other people's dogs certainly isn't kosher, I'm glad that she hasn't killed any people. Or at least I don't think she has - we still haven't figured out what that whole part about the candy and suffocating is all about. Stay tuned.

 

Okay, now Elder Gong's part. Elder and Sister Gong gave some fun Taiwan statistics that i thought you'd like. The fertility rate here is .9 children per couple. In the USA, the number of people per square kilometer is 34. In Taiwan, the average is 641. That gives you an idea of how packed it is here! Of course, the numbers in Taidong are a lot smaller, but still - tons of people everywhere (a missionary's dream come true).

 

Now to the spiritual part. This month's theme for the mission was "How To Be an Effective Teacher," PMG chapter 10. Of course, I'm sure you can all imagine that that's one of my favorite chapters in the whole book. I love teaching, and I love working at being a better teacher. Well, this past week, I was a little discouraged because it was the end of the month and I didn't feel like my teaching skills had really improved a whole lot. But guess what? In the special training meeting, my companion and I were given like 30 seconds to prepare a 5 minute lesson on companionship unity. And you know what? We used pretty much all of the teaching attributes listed in chapter 10. I feel like it was Heavenly Father's way ot telling me that I'm doing fine and that He's proud of what I'm doing here. :) But Elder Gong - he talked about a lot of different things. One thing I liked is one of his points about teaching - he used Mormon 1:2 and talked about being "quick to observe." This includes seeing things, but also being sensitive and observing the things that are not seen, but that are felt. He said that the more sensitive we are and the more willing we are to obey, the more we'll be given to observe in the future - kind of like Elder Scott asking for more revelation after he's been given some already and written it down. He also picked apart The First Vision, Luke 24:39, and D&C 130:22 and talked about what we learn from these three scriptures, especially the First Vision. I actually remember doing something similar in Family Home Evening a looong time ago, so it was fun to do that again. :) Basically, the conclusion we came to is that every truth I treasure, everything I hold dear, starts back with The First Vision. It was so inspiring - the Spirit was very strong as we talked about that sacred experience. Normally with people we teach on the street we'll just teach prayer because of the Buddhist background and everything - we don't want to overwhelm them with too much information - but after that teaching experience, I felt inspired to share that with people the first time I meet with them. I'm excited to do that more and see how it changes my missionary work.

 

I know that Joseph Smith really did see God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful that I have the chance to share that knowledge with the world! ...Or at least with a small Taiwanese city. :) I love you all - stay safe and be good this week!

 

Love,

Sister Winters

Here is a picture that Sis. Gong took of Rebecca and her companion at the mission conference:

 

Sister Winters - April 23, 2012

Hello! Today was like a combination of Christmas and my birthday - I had a ton of letters built up from the last month. :) Thank you thank you thank you! I've still been loving life lately - the work moves on, and I love to help move it along! This past weekend we had a baptism - Yang Hui Ru. I actually met her when I came out here on exchanges while I was in Hualian, so I've known her for a looonnnggg time. She's so great - her life has changed so much from the gospel. That's what happens when we're truly converted (Dad, I loved your thoughts on that)!

 

So, I realized this week that on my mission, I've experienced a lot of "firsts." For example, my first time eating dried pig's blood, or, if you want to count an experience that happened last night, my first time that I saw an intoxicated lady who had fallen down on the side of the road and as I helped her up, she started crying uncontrollably and gave me a huge hug as she sobbed into my shoulder. This past weekend had another first: I won a basketball tournament. This also implies yet another first: I was actually good at basketball.

 

To explain: the branches in Taitung had an activity on Saturday morning - a basketball tournament. It was at 9 in the morning so in order for us to be able to go, we needed to wake up super-early to get our studies done. Plus we needed to have an investigator there. Now, those of you who know me and have had the misfortune of seeing me play basketball know that I am probably mediocre at best. Which is a bummer because I'm very tall, and everyone who meets me lets me know that someone as tall as me should be good at basketball. When I was younger I would play church ball to help out our team, but that was pretty much it. Until the mission - we play sports with the elders for exercise in the morning pretty much every day, and their favorite sport is (you guessed it) basketball. So I've had many many experiences for me to "make [this] weakness strong" in Taidong thus far. :) This past weekend I put it to the test at the basketball tournament. My companion is really really good, so I was excited to be on the same team as her this time. Then we just found another random member and teamed up with her. Our team name was "la la dui," or "the cheerleaders" - NOT a name I would have picked for myself. It was actually really fun though. Well, more like funny - everyone was terrified of me. Sometimes I would just go up to people and they would literally shriek and run away. Wow. That was a first for me, too. I tried squatting to make it a little more fair, but my arms were just too darn long not to catch the passes that were thrown to me. My companion was having a great time, too - she's so used to having a giant in front of her all the time guarding her that you could see it was an absolute delight to have Taiwanese women the same height as her [trying] to guard her.

 

One thing that was funny about the tournament is that I really couldn't understand the directions they were giving me - my vocabulary is mostly centered on church-related words, so basketball kind of goes over my head. I had the same experience when we were practicing with the branch choir a couple of days ago - couldn't understand anything. But there was still some constancy - the choir director kept on gesturing to her diaphragm and making these hand signals that meant "spin the air." :) Or even though the vowels we were singing were completely different than those we would sing in America and were not very beautiful at least to my ears, the personality of the choir director was pretty much exactly the same as some of the choir directors I've had in the States. :) It was very amusing to me - it just goes to show you that the Church really is the same everywhere - even down to the minor details such as the personality of choir directors!

 

I have some questions that I need to answer:

What did you do for service this week? We helped a family move in - they moved into a super-old house that hasn't been used for a while, so we helped them clean and paint a little bit. They're awesome - they have two boys who are 10 and 16. They're like Chinese versions of Joseph and Jacob, it's crazy.

How are your investigators progressing? They're coming along. We didn't have as many as we wanted who came to church last week, so please continue to keep them in your prayers in that regard.

Any more baptismal dates set? Every week!

Any awesome contacting stories? See the miracle below.

Are you eating well? Trying to. Actually, a lot of the food here is very healthy, so it's pretty good most of the time. And Sister Rosander is a vegetarian, so I'm eating a lot of vegetables. :) I've gained a little weight since being here but I'm pretty sure it's muscle... At least I think so.

Are you exercising? See the basketball story above. :)

Are you feeling led by the spirit each day? I think I'm safe in saying "yes." Whether it's in contacting and feeling like I should talk to a specific person or it's when I'm teaching and I feel prompted to say something, the Spirit is helping me (more like leading me) in my efforts every day.

Any fun zone conferences or p-day trips that I should know about? We have a special training meeting this week in Hualian - there's an area seventy (I think) who's coming down.

Are you happy and finding joy each day? What do you think? :) Of course I am! Heavenly Father's so good to me - it's impossible to feel otherwise.

Are you finding ways to manage the frustration of rejection and general discouragement of missionary work? Same answer as to the last question. :)

 

As far as miracles of this week go, there have been a lot. :) But I want to share one of them from yesterday. Yesterday we needed a lot of lessons to reach our goals. And I didn't start the day of with the best feelings in my heart because I was a little grumpy that we needed to be at the church at 7:30 in order to practice with the choir, whereas their church didn't start until 9:30. Count getting studies done into that time and you can see that that required getting up rather early. Well, wouldn't you have it, a little girl named Eva was there at church waiting for us when we got there. She had gone to English class before, and just randomly decided that she wanted to come to our church service that day. We said we could give her a tour of the chapel really quick (a lesson) - as we did so, I asked her why she decided to come. She hesitantly replied that she had been reading the Bible and wanted to come to learn about Christ. The Bible was her mother's, and her mother wasn't even a Christian (Eva said that she thought her mom "just bought it for fun"). We gave her the first lesson booklet to read after our lesson while we had choir practice - I watched her from time to time, and she was completely engrossed. Wow. Talk about a miracle! It really showed me that when we try and put in our best effort, Heavenly Father really does place prepared people in our path.

 

The Gospel is true! I love sharing it with everyone. I'll continue to keep you all in my prayers - I love you so very much.

 

Love,

Sister Winters

Sister Rebecca Winters - April 16, 2012 The Noodle Dream

Wow, hearing from all of you makes me so unbelievably happy! Seriously, I feel like it's Christmas morning every Monday morning (although part of that might be because I wake up so early...) - thank you for taking the time to write to me. I love you.

 

It's been a great week here in paradise. We set high goals this week and achieved all of them (the first time that's happened in a long time) - and we set even higher ones this week, so I'll need the help of your prayers, please! Summer is HERE. I got what will probably be the first sunburn of many this past week. Everyone here is terrified of getting tan and will wear long sleeves even when it's incredibly hot outside...

  

Shout-out to college friends: good luck with finals! You all will do so wonderfully. Know that there's a girl on the other side of the world who's praying for all of you. And congratulations to those of you who will be GRADUATING! I know that's what would have happened to me this year too if I had stayed, but honestly, it's hard for me to imagine. If any of you are moving this summer, I'd love your new addresses so we can still stay in touch.

 

Okay, the subject of my email. There's this restaurant here that I love. It's cheap (a little more than $1.50 for a meal), and it's GOOD. But we only went there once last transfer, and I've had a hankering to go back since. Things never seemed to work out for us to go, though... Anyway, last time we went, my companion got fried noodles and I got fried rice, both of which were amazing - but I wanted to try the noodles next time. I tried not to think about this too much so I wouldn't get distracted from the work, but it crept into my subconcious - I had a dream about noodles. My companion got the wrong kind and they were really bad. It just so happens that the next day we went to that restaurant and accidentally ordered super-spicy noodles instead of the kind we wanted. The joys of not being able to read the menu, right? Anyway, we laughed about that, but then I realized the implications behind what had just happened. I, like Po in Kung Fu Panda, had had "the noodle dream!" I hope that that symbolizes that I'm going to be a kung fu master by the time I get back. Or at least open a Chinese restaurant.

 

I'm glad that you all liked hearing about Liang Mama last week. This week I'll be talking about Melody. She's a piano teacher with a Buddhist background, and she's been meeting off and on with the missionaries for the past three years. My companion thought that one of the reasons I might have been transferred here is because of Melody - both of us (my companion and I) are music majors, and music is a huge part of Melody's life, thus hopefully giving us more of a connection to build upon. Melody's problems with the church are 1) she says that it's impossible to keep the Word of Wisdom and not drink tea for the rest of her life (a common problem here), and 2) she doesn't understand why there's only one God, or at least why all of the different religions don't lead to Him (another common thought process here). She also teaches students on Sundays, which is tough. Since I've been here, we've been meeting with her but haven't set a new baptismal date (she's had like three or four) because she's very outspoken about "why she can't be baptized" (the two reasons listed above). Well, this past week we met with her again. My companion was the one who was studying for her, but I had the thought that we really should commit her to baptism this week. Well, we went over our plans in companion study later, and my companion said: "I want to use Alma 7:11-16 because it leads from the Atonement straight into baptism." I looked at her and said, "Wait, you want to commit her to baptism?" Turns out she had had the same thoughts as I had. Anyway, we went over (we were pretty nervous) and talked to her about "practical," every-day ways of using the Atonement. I shared an experience I had had last year in using the Atonement last year when I was preparing for my violin recital. This prompted her to share a story about her son, who is also a violinist, and how when she prayed for him, he won first place in a violin competition. She said that his arm was really stiff before he started ("and," she shared, "as you know, he has no way to play with a stiff arm!"), but after she prayed, he was able to play, and to win. Wow. The Spirit was really strong. Anyway, we got to verses 15 and 16, which talked about baptism. We asked Melody what her understanding was about those scriptures, and she said, "well, we all need to repent and be baptized." We agreed with her, and then asked her if she would be baptized. In the past, she'd always been really hesitant, or give some excuse, or say, "I'll try." But THIS time, she said, "yes, I will. What do I need to do to prepare?" YES!!! We told her that she needed to pray, to read, and... to keep the commandments. This would include keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. She said, "Alright, I'll just need to adjust my schedule." She was at church yesterday! I'm so excited. We'll need to work really hard with her to make sure that she'll get baptized, but we can do it - with the Lord's help. He's helping these people so much.

 

That's about it for this week. Keep praying for me and the people here! There's no way I'd be able to do this without Heavenly Father's help. And because of your prayers, He's helping me even more. Thank you! Also, one of our investigators, "Chun Loo Ling" will need prayers this week. Please pray for her.

 

I love you! This is God's work.

 

Love,

Becca

Hello from "Sister Miracle"

Thank you, Grandma, for the nickname "Sister Miracle." I love it.

 

Dear family,

 

Hello! Thanks for all of your fantastic emails. I had a fantastic Easter, thank you - I can't think of a better way to celebrate the Resurrected Savior than to listen to his living prophet. It was fantastic, A few of you asked how I celebrated it - well, I made my companion sing Easter hymns with me all week :), and then yesterday we watched conference, taught people, and found people to bring them closer to the Savior. Plus today we're doing an Easter Egg hunt for P-day (our idea). Hooray for traditions!

 

So, I loved General Conference. I think I now have a new understanding of what it means to "hunger and thirst after righteousness." I've always loved conference (whether it was because I got to play "conference bingo" when I was little or because I realized that I actually got to listen to the Lord's servants), but this time, it was even more. I soaked up the whole 8 hours, and wanted more. It wasn't enough! I already can't wait until October to hear them again. We had six different investigators who came, which was great. I think that so many of the talks applied to them (as well as my other investigators), so I was really excited to hear them for their sakes, if that makes sense. Tender mercy - I was so preoccupied with focusing on my investigators and their needs and concerns that I forgot to prepare my own concerns so I could be spiritually fed, too! Of course, I was spiritually fed by receiving that revelation for my investigators, but I know that Heavenly Father wanted me to feel specifically that He was aware of my needs, too. Anyway, it was during the last session that I realized that conference was almost over, and I hadn't brought any of my needs to the table! I started stressing out a little bit, because this time only comes twice a year, and it would be a while before I'd get this spiritual feast again. The weight of my calling began to feel heavy again as I thought of the prospect of enduring and serving with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength (a common theme) until the next conference, let alone until the next two before I went home. I prayed to Heavenly Father, "How am I going to do this? I'm so tired sometimes - it's such a huge responsibility to do this." Well, the choir was up to sing next. Their number was "Come Unto Jesus," a hymn that I hadn't heard in English for a while. I was starting to wonder before the music started how high the arrangement would make the sopranos sing (yes, I am still a music nerd from time to time), when I heard the words: "Come unto Jesus, ye heavy laden." I couldn't believe it. That song was a direct answer to prayer. Every single word of that song applied to me and my situation - I especially loved the lines, "Oh, know ye not that angels are near you?" and "Ever He calls, 'Come to me'." Then after that there were a few talks that talked about putting our burdens on the Lord and letting Him help us. I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers.

 

Something that I learned from conference (well, I learned a lot of things, but here's one) - a lot of the talks were about families, especially about raising children. I have to admit that I had a little bit of the attitude, "But Heavenly Father, I can't get married and have kids right now. Why am I hearing so much of this?" Obviously it was in part because the world does not revolve around me and others needed to hear it. But I also did, too. I realized during Sister Esplin's talk in the Saturday morning session that I could replace the word "child"/"children" with "investigator"/"investigators," and 9 times out of 10, it would both make sense and be wonderful counsel as to how I could help them. So, even though I don't have kids and I won't have them for the next couple of years at least, I do have people that I in part am spiritually responsible for. It was very humbling to think about that.

 

Last story about an investigator - one of my favorite investigators is a 70-something year-old woman from China. Her name's "Liang Mama," and I love her soooo much. Her favorite things to do are eating and telling long stories that she hopes will get a good reaction out of listeners - as you can probably tell, we have a lot in common. :) Anyway, Liang Mama is hilarious. I'll call her on the phone to just ask her how she's doing, and she'll say, "Shemne shi?," or "What things are you calling me about?" Or she'll always say that she'll come to our appointments... if there's no rain. "Because I'm old and my body isn't as good as it used to be, and if there's rain...." etc. OR, I was teaching her about the Plan of Salvation and she turned my question to her about prayer into sharing an experience where she saw an evil demon. And then, egged on by the nonplussed looks on others' faces, she'll continue talking until we're able to get a word in and try and change the subject again. That's Liang Mama for you. Oh! Last one. I sat next to her at an activity one time and was eating a banana. She asked me if I liked them, and I told her I did. Since then, she's been bringing me bananas every Sunday, because she heard that I like them that one time. :) Anyway, I had a really sweet experience with her a couple of days ago. I sat in front of her at the chapel while we were waiting for conference to start. I asked her how she was doing, and the sister sitting next to her said, "You're so lucky that you have these two sisters who love you so much! I've seen such a change in you from the first time you came to church until now - you used to be so grouchy, but now you're happy all of the time, and I know it's because of these two girls." (It's actually because of the gospel, but that's okay.) Liang Mama smiled and then leaned in close and said, "I wonder: will you always be caring for me, even through the eternities?" (sorry, the Chinese doesn't have a very good translation) The Sister said, "of course!" I smiled and agreed with her. Liang Mama got this big ol' smile on her face and leaned back contentedly in her chair. It really put things in new perspective for me - not only am I forming relationships for this life only, but through the eternities. Wow.

 

In other news, my two transfer training program is officially over today. I'm going from four hours of study every day to just two and a half - please pray for me as I make the adjustment this week! I'm also still here in Taitung - same place, same companion. Actually, our whole district is the same, except for one elder. But he doesn't serve in Taitung, so basically my little world here in Paradise is unchanged.

 

I love you all so much! Thank you for your continued love and support - I hope that you can feel it from my side as well. You're in my prayers!

 

Love,

Rebecca

 

PS - pictures!

1. Still keeping Jerusalem traditions current with jumping pictures (I picked this spot to take it, and I think it's awesome, although I say so myself.

Well, I've actually forgotten the order of the rest of them, but know that it's some pictures of paradise here, a picture I took one-handed of a hermit crab in my hand (I'm pretty proud of how well that turned out, given the circumstances), McDonald's ice cream (!!!), Yu Jiemei's baptism, and going out to lunch with Kiki, one of our recent converts. I had peanut butter pizza with pork and onions - the chef's special. It was actually really delicious. I love you all!

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Photos from Rebecca's first couple of months in Taiwan