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
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