Sister Winters - August 27, 2012

Dear family,

 

I love hearing from all of you! You are all so worth waking up super-early for (and for those of you who have served a mission, you know that that's saying something). I'm so glad you're all doing well. I'm doing pretty well too, as you'll see from this week's report.

 

So, in most important news, Susan got baptized this week! And confirmed! I wasn't sure that last part was going to happen - it was 3 minutes before church was starting and she still wasn't there, her phone was turned off... bad news. So I paced around desperately not knowing what to do for a little bit and then went up to Susan's primary teacher and said, "Will you go get her with me?" She looked at my face for a second and then said, "Okay." So we ran out to her car and were starting to drive away when we saw Susan racing into the parking lot. She apparently had only woken up a half an hour before that and needed to bike over to the church in that time as well. Whew. Let's just say it was a little bit stressful. The baptism also had a few stressful moments as well (water needing to be filled again, needing to be baptized three times, etc.), but as one elder said, "It all came together in the end." I just hope that things all start coming together in the beginning soon! :) It will make my job a lot easier.

 

BUT, one cool thing about that whole experience that I wanted to share - yesterday I was sitting next Susan in church. Before she went up to be confirmed, I explained to her once again what would happen. Anyway, she was a little nervous when she went up in front of everyone, but dutifully sat down and was confirmed and received the Holy Ghost. There was a very sweet spirit there as that happened. And then she went back and sat down next to me. I asked how she felt. "So nervous!" she said. I said, "Yeah, but when they put their hands on your head and gave you that blessing, what did you feel?" Then she smiled at me and said, "I felt really really good." So great! Moments like that are ones that missionaries live for.

 

For the weather report this week, we actually had a real typhoon a few days ago. It actually hit Taidong, which practically never happens. I feel a little guilty because I was kind of excited to see what one actually looks like, but there was actually a lot of disaster involved. Huge trees getting completely uprooted, etc. Well, actually not too much etc.; huge trees being uprooted was mostly it. It was a little startling riding around the next day and seeing that. Thankfully it happened during the night so we still got to be out and about the next day - I was grateful for that.

 

Funny/awkward contacting story for the week: as some people have already found out through my brother's email about La Duzi, the Taiwanese have no TMI ("too much information") borders. They just don't exist here. While I hope that I can really embrace the culture of the people whom I serve, I hope that my sharing-too-much-personal-information level never quite gets to the point of the Taiwanese. An example of this is Mr. Luo. We were trying to visit a girl named Jane Luo. I had heard that her dad was quite strict, so I was a little nervous to see what kind of person he'd be. But I was determined to find her, so we found her house and knocked on the door. Nobody answered, so I knocked again. And then I heard something inside, so I said (already knowing the answer to my question): "Is there anybody there?" Finally, a man opened the door about six inches wide and then poked his head out.

 

"Yes, what do you want?"

"Hello, we're missionaries."
"Oh! Oh! *awkward laugh* Well, you see, um.. I'm not wearing anything. I'm not wearing any clothes."

"Oh."

 

Even though I only said, "Oh," what I meant was, "Why on Earth did you come to the door without wearing anything?!" Or, "What would make you think that it would be acceptable to come to the door without wearing anything?" Or, "Is this a normal thing for you?" Thankfully that crack in the doorway never got wider than six inches. And thankfully I just happened to learn the word "tuoli" (naked) in my mission vocabulary program this week (don't ask me why that word's in there, because I don't know), which enabled me to have my clever email title. 

 

Okay, spiritual part: this week I've been studying hope. It's been interesting because I've always thought that I'm a pretty hopeful person in general so I haven't ever studied hope too much, but it's part of my mission-long study of charity ("hopeth all things") so I decided to give it a try this transfer. It's so great! I love hope. Preach My Gospel describes it as being made manifest in "confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance." Those are all things that I hope to have more of, so I'm happy to be studying hope. I've found as I've had hope more in doing this work, we've seen more miracles, and we've been made better - made into more than we were originally. I know that that's only through the Savior, whom we have a hope in, along with His Atonement. I'm hoping for great things this week, and I know that as I continue to hope in Jesus Christ that I really will be able to do all things in Him, who strengtheneth me.

 

Have a wonderful week!

 

Love,

Sister Rebecca Winters

Sister Winters - August 20, 2012

Dear family,

 

I love hearing from all of you! You are all so worth waking up super-early for (and for those of you who have served a mission, you know that that's saying something). I'm so glad you're all doing well. I'm doing pretty well too, as you'll see from this week's report.

 

So, in most important news, Susan got baptized this week! And confirmed! I wasn't sure that last part was going to happen - it was 3 minutes before church was starting and she still wasn't there, her phone was turned off... bad news. So I paced around desperately not knowing what to do for a little bit and then went up to Susan's primary teacher and said, "Will you go get her with me?" She looked at my face for a second and then said, "Okay." So we ran out to her car and were starting to drive away when we saw Susan racing into the parking lot. She apparently had only woken up a half an hour before that and needed to bike over to the church in that time as well. Whew. Let's just say it was a little bit stressful. The baptism also had a few stressful moments as well (water needing to be filled again, needing to be baptized three times, etc.), but as one elder said, "It all came together in the end." I just hope that things all start coming together in the beginning soon! :) It will make my job a lot easier.

 

BUT, one cool thing about that whole experience that I wanted to share - yesterday I was sitting next Susan in church. Before she went up to be confirmed, I explained to her once again what would happen. Anyway, she was a little nervous when she went up in front of everyone, but dutifully sat down and was confirmed and received the Holy Ghost. There was a very sweet spirit there as that happened. And then she went back and sat down next to me. I asked how she felt. "So nervous!" she said. I said, "Yeah, but when they put their hands on your head and gave you that blessing, what did you feel?" Then she smiled at me and said, "I felt really really good." So great! Moments like that are ones that missionaries live for.

 

For the weather report this week, we actually had a real typhoon a few days ago. It actually hit Taidong, which practically never happens. I feel a little guilty because I was kind of excited to see what one actually looks like, but there was actually a lot of disaster involved. Huge trees getting completely uprooted, etc. Well, actually not too much etc.; huge trees being uprooted was mostly it. It was a little startling riding around the next day and seeing that. Thankfully it happened during the night so we still got to be out and about the next day - I was grateful for that.

 

Funny/awkward contacting story for the week: as some people have already found out through my brother's email about La Duzi, the Taiwanese have no TMI ("too much information") borders. They just don't exist here. While I hope that I can really embrace the culture of the people whom I serve, I hope that my sharing-too-much-personal-information level never quite gets to the point of the Taiwanese. An example of this is Mr. Luo. We were trying to visit a girl named Jane Luo. I had heard that her dad was quite strict, so I was a little nervous to see what kind of person he'd be. But I was determined to find her, so we found her house and knocked on the door. Nobody answered, so I knocked again. And then I heard something inside, so I said (already knowing the answer to my question): "Is there anybody there?" Finally, a man opened the door about six inches wide and then poked his head out.

 

"Yes, what do you want?"

"Hello, we're missionaries."
"Oh! Oh! *awkward laugh* Well, you see, um.. I'm not wearing anything. I'm not wearing any clothes."

"Oh."

 

Even though I only said, "Oh," what I meant was, "Why on Earth did you come to the door without wearing anything?!" Or, "What would make you think that it would be acceptable to come to the door without wearing anything?" Or, "Is this a normal thing for you?" Thankfully that crack in the doorway never got wider than six inches. And thankfully I just happened to learn the word "tuoli" (naked) in my mission vocabulary program this week (don't ask me why that word's in there, because I don't know), which enabled me to have my clever email title. 

 

Okay, spiritual part: this week I've been studying hope. It's been interesting because I've always thought that I'm a pretty hopeful person in general so I haven't ever studied hope too much, but it's part of my mission-long study of charity ("hopeth all things") so I decided to give it a try this transfer. It's so great! I love hope. Preach My Gospel describes it as being made manifest in "confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance." Those are all things that I hope to have more of, so I'm happy to be studying hope. I've found as I've had hope more in doing this work, we've seen more miracles, and we've been made better - made into more than we were originally. I know that that's only through the Savior, whom we have a hope in, along with His Atonement. I'm hoping for great things this week, and I know that as I continue to hope in Jesus Christ that I really will be able to do all things in Him, who strengtheneth me.

 

Have a wonderful week!

 

Love,

Sister Rebecca Winters

Sister Winters - August 20, 2012 Greetings from the Cyberdome!

Dear family,

 

Greetings from Cyberdome! Instead of going to the sketchy internet cafe close by to our house (and right next to the church), we decided to step it up a notch and go to the farther, nicer, fancier, pricier, and excellentier Cyberdome. I've actually been dying to go here ever since I saw it - the name just makes it seem like a ride in Tomorrowland in Disney's Magic Kingdom. Plus the elders and us have had a joke about Cyberdome for a while now - whenever one of us looks tired or anything, we'll just say, "Oh yeah, well I was up all night playing video games at Cyberdome." It's completely a joke, but it's also a little sad because there are people who stay up all night playing video games here. Pretty common, actually.

Anyway, enough about Cyberdome! This week. This week was good. I'm still getting a little used to the responsibilities of being a trainer (I think remembering everything is normally the hardest thing!), but I really love being Sister Marler's companion - her hard work, her willingness to be 100% obedient, and her love for the people around her are such great examples to me. I think she's getting used to everything relatively quickly, and she's always willing to go outside and talk to people. Her language is going great - she led about half of our lessons together last week. I think one of my favorite moments with her was when we were teaching someone with her same first name, Angela. Angela came to English class and we met with her afterwards. We found out that Angela's father had passed away when she was about two years old and now her grandfather was in really bad health. Angela didn't believe in God, but she confided to us as tears streamed down her cheeks that she desperately wanted to believe in Him. She wanted to know that there would be a chance to see these people whom she loved after she died. I then bore my testimony that she would, and that the Gospel provided answers to those questions she had been asking her entire life. Then Sister Marler shared a powerful experience about her grandmother, who had passed away last year. She shared that although it was very hard for her to know that she wouldn't see her grandmother again in this life, she knew from the Gospel that she would see her again. I know it was that experience that she shared that really touched Angela's heart.

 

So a funny experience that I knew the family would love (people who aren't in my family - judge me if you'd like): every week we go to our branch missionary leader's restaurant to have a meeting and then eat dinner on the house. It's always really fun - sometimes we get a little carried away with all of the free food that we're able to order, though. So in order to assuage (yes, I just used the word "assuage") our guilt of spending too much on appetizers, we normally order kid's meals (less money). And, great thing about these kid's meals is that they have toys in them as well! Well, this week was even better than normal, as we got some Pokemon figures as our toys that day. Elder Relyea pulled out a Steelix and said proudly, "I got an Onyx." Before I knew it, the words were out of my mouth: "That's not an Onyx. That's a Steelix." Everyone looked at me in amazement as I tried to think of a way that I could deny that moment of extreme nerdiness. Nothing came, and everyone had a good laugh about it. "Yeah," said Elder Relyea, "I guess Steelix is Onyx's... his..." And then it happened again: "...his evolved form," I said. Wait, what?! No! I couldn't believe it I had said that out loud. That's what I get for having younger siblings and playing Pokemon with them, I guess. Everyone at the table (especially Elder Relyea) was DYING with laughter. I've got to admit that I thought it was pretty funny too, and may have made some jokes about it since. There were some good consequences from it, too - the elders seem to have a new-found respect for me since that incident. Now, whether or not that kind of respect is the kind I'm looking for, I'm not sure...

 

In exciting news for this week we have a baptism coming up! Yes! Her name is Susan, she's 11 years old and both of her parents are deaf. Even though she's probably had a hard time with that, she's really happy all the time, and really great. I met her about six months ago when I came to Taidong on exchanges and had a lesson with her. I'm so excited that she'll be receiving all of the blessings of baptism this week. Come to find out five of the people that I taught in Hualian have been baptized since I left as well - it's really wonderful and humbling at the same time to see how Heavenly Father's been willing to use me to help His work a little bit here in Taiwan.

 

Hmm, in other news, I'm getting my hair cut today. Pray that it goes well. Women mullets are pretty common here, along with unhealthy amounts of hair thinning. Last night a member was telling me about these things that women put their hair on - kind of like curlers, I think, except you sleep on it and then when you wake up you take out the curlers and the hair comes out with it. Boom! Hair-be-gone! I think one of my goals for today might be to not to go prematurely bald. Not something I thought I'd plan on for my mission, but hey, surprises happen every day. If you could also pray for Sister Yang and the Word of Wisdom, that'd be great. Oh, and for Sister Winters to keep her head on straight and remember everything, that'd be nice too.

 

Oh, da jia! You all are the best. Thank you for all of your support, prayers, love - all that jazz. Best of luck this week!

 

Love,

Sister Winters

 

PS - Sorry, but pictures seem to be down this week. Sorry!

Sister Winters - August 12, 2012 Surprise!

Dear family,

 

Hello and welcome to transfer #6 on island! Some of you have already heard the news (that darn facebook) - I'm still in Taidong! And I'm training a new missionary! Wow. If that wasn't a surprise for you, you can bet your bottom dollar that it was a surprise for me. There was only one new sister coming in this week so didn't even call that since there are so many more "older" sisters in Taiwan who would be totally capable of doing that.

 

So let's talk a little bit about what happened. We already hadn't had much proselyting time at the beginning of the week week since we were in Yuli for a few different meetings. Then on Tuesday we got a call saying that I was training and that we needed to be up in Taipei on Thursday afternoon for a meeting. Oh, and then Sister Burton needed to just pack all of her stuff and pack enough to stay in Taipei for a while since she wouldn't be coming back to Taidong. Poor Sister Burton! After we got the call I walked over to where she was standing and gave her a hug and we both cried. She loved this transfer so much - I did, too! We'll always look back on it and think of it as "the glory days," I think. Anyway, because of problems with buying train tickets, we had to go the night before to Hualian (almost missing the train by 10 seconds in the process), and then heading up to Taipei the next day.

 

Being in Taipei was weird. But good! We stayed in President and Sister Day's apartment (on the second floor) for a night - seriously, even the house just smelled like Utah. It was so Western in every way that sometimes I had to remind myself that I was in Taiwan. The bed was probably the best part - it was so comfortable! Not to say that my bed is bad or anything, but this bed was amazing. It made me a little worried that I'm going to sleep for three days straight when I get home, it'll feel so good. Anyway, the training meetings were great - they got me pumped up to be the best missionary I can be, and really helped me feel Heavenly Father's trust in me and His love for me. I actually got a very sweet confirmation the night I was called to be a trainer as I was praying that this was really what Heavenly Father wanted me to do because He trusts me and knows that I can do it. Very humbling, and also very comforting.

 

Even though the training was great, though, the best part of that whole weekend by far was going to the temple. I went to the temple! It felt so amazingly wonderful. I think that the feeling that I had just walking inside is the strongest difference of feeling between the outside world and the temple that I've ever felt - it was solidly different; I knew more than ever that the temple is a place set apart from the world's influence. It was tangible, and it was wonderful. There may or may not have been times inside where I just cried out of gratitude that I could be inside the temple again and serving the Lord there. I love the temple! And love that President Day specially arranged for me to go. He said that he's already filed a request to the Area Seventy for us to be able to go regularly - we're just waiting for their reply. :)

 

Okay, back to training. My trainee's name is Sister Marler, from San Diego. She went to BYU as well (majored in journalism) and is a huge Trader Joe's fan, so I think we're going to get along just fine. :) Her Chinese is great! Definitely knows much more vocabulary than I did fresh out of the MTC. She's also a trooper, because: 1) She has to be my companion and had to participate with me in one of the most zaogao ("messy cake") weeks I've had on the mission, 2) I'm - we won't say "forcing," but "encouraging" - encouraging her to lead in some of the lessons already (she shared the Joseph Smith story at dinner last night with some of the members), and 3) She had to sit in the no air conditioning part of the train for three hours because we didn't have seats. Poor girl. I asked her if she was doing alright one time and she said, "Well, I'm pretty sure it can only get better from here." Ouch. Pray for us! We need your prayers, more than ever.

 

BUT, to leave things on a happy note, we are seeing miracles. Every day. Even with proselyting for less than half of our week in total, we were able to hit the mission standard (or off by one) or exceed it in all of the areas. Heavenly Father's already shown that He's going to keep blessing us. It's been really special to see how people react to how long Sister Marler's been here. There is a noticeable change in most people - they really cannot believe that she's only been here for less than a week. And then they have to acknowledge that it's due to some superhuman power - it's due to God's power. I know that as we continue to work hard, we're going to be able to show the world (or at least Taidong) that our God is a God of miracles, and that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever - we're going to be able to help Him show His power. How great is that?

 

Well, da jia, that is it for this week. Sorry I didn't write about anything other than training this week - that's pretty much the biggest thing that's happened. I'll try for a little more variety next week, though. :) I love you all! Keep me in your prayers - you'll be in mine.

 

Love,

Sister Winters

Sister Winters - August 6, 2012 "Got any John the Baptists?"

Dear best family in the world,

 

Aloha! Thanks for all of the news this past week! I loved reading about the last storm of vacations that everyone took. I'm so glad everyone had a wonderful time - as the Chinese would say, "Kan de chu lai," or "it looked like it!" Seeing all of the cousins together was probably my favorite part - I love my family!

 

Well, even though I didn't go to Disney World this week, my week was still good. Things are coming along with our investigators (Annabelle disappeared though, pray for her!), and we're still seeing miracles, so life is good. This week is the last week of the transfer so we're dedicated to work as hard as possible to make this last one the very best. Both Sister Burton and I have been scared of leaving paradise but we're hoping we're here for one last transfer together - I've been praying for that at least (if it's Heavenly Father's will), and let's just say that I wouldn't mind if you did as well.

 

This week was a little rough on Taiwan because of a typhoon that hit the island. On Monday the wind started howling and on Tuesday the rains started pouring and on Wednesday we cancelled English class because President told all of the missionaries that they needed to go home that night before 6:30. Oh, and make sure we have a two-day supply of food and water. That was a little bit of a bummer because we love English class, we were meeting with some people we hadn't met with in a while, and well, it was sunny in Taidong. You can imagine our surprise the next day when we woke up to sunshine and we got the news that everyone was having a "typhoon day" and we all had to stay inside. Sister Burton and I were a little uncertain what to do with ourselves at first but were just starting to get settled on the idea of taking a nap when we got another call from our district leader. He had good news: he had called the mission president, told him that the weather was fine in Taidong, and had gotten permission for us to go outside! I'm a little embarrassed to say that we had kind of a mixed reaction to that good news. But you know what? I didn't get a nap, but I'm still alive. And I'm grateful that I went out and worked. :)

 

You're all probably wondering about my email subject. Well, with four hours in the apartment at night, you start to try and think up new things that you can do. After cleaning the apartment, writing records, and making phone calls, we decided to go on a treasure hunt. In the corner (more like wall) of one of the rooms in our apartment are five+ boxes overflowing with stuff that was left by previous missionaries. I've always wanted to see what's there but I never have time to just go exploring. Well, this past Wednesday night let's just say that I did have time, and I found some treasures in the process. The biggest find of the night was a card game: Bible Go Fish. I was so excited I could barely stand it - I asked Sister Burton if we could play it. So we got on our PJs, pulled out some chips and soda that we had bought for our two-day supply of food, and pulled out Bible Go Fish. So funny. I loved asking Sister Burton: "Do you have any Jonah and the Whales? Yes! How about Daniel and the Lion's Dens - uh, I mean, 'Daniels' and the Lion's Den? Hmm. Whatever it is, do you have any of those?" It was a party - missionary-style. Perhaps not quite as fun as going to the beach or Disney World, but hey, right now I take what I can get. :)

 

Funny random thing about Chinese that I found out yesterday: I think that I've already talked about how people always say here that they're busy. They don't have time, they've got things to do, etc.. I've felt the bad effects of hearing that all day even more than usual this week as I've had little kids in elementary and middle school (who are on summer vacation) tell me that they're busy. After I told them plainly (maybe too plainly) that they're twelve, they're out of school, and what things could possibly make them busy right now, only still to be rejected by the same excuse of "I have things to do," let's just say I was getting close to impatient. Last night I was talking to one of our members about how the Taiwanese are always super-busy, and she said, "Yes, I know. And I know that Americans have a lot more time." Then she went on to tell me about a common saying in Chinese (that I still haven't heard before, but oh well) - if you're busy and someone asks you if you have time to do something, you say: "No, I can't do that. I don't have time like those Americans." That, according to her, is actually a legitimate saying in Chinese! I was so surprised. And thought it was so funny. Hopefully you did as well.

 

Okay, time for the spiritual part: this week's topic is attitude. I love my life! And I love that my attitude about life and the work can influence others. It's been neat to see that throughout my mission. Anyway, I was thinking about that a little bit one day when we were out tracting on Tuesday. It was pouring down rain, the wind was blowing, and it was still really hot. And we were outside. :) But we kept at it! And because we kept our attitudes positive, we were able to really love our time out working. There were so many things that were a delight to me during that time: colorful doors, a grandma that looked exactly like Professor Trelawney from Harry Potter, old houses with ivy creeping on the sides of them, and even a house with no electronic doorbell so we had a rope that attached to some literal bells that we had to ring instead! I loved it. At the end of our time tracting Sister Burton looked at me and said, "Is it weird that I'm totally loving this right now?" I laughed and said I was feeling the same way. I really feel so blessed to be able to do such happy work.

 

Alright da jia, my time is running short. This next week should be great and probably full of interesting experiences - starting with a potential we just got from the elders who believes that Jesus was an alien. It's going to be a fun week.

 

Thank you for your love and support! I love you all.

Much love,

Sister Winters

 

 

Editor's note: Rebecca really is the queen of jumping in photos!  Love that girl...