Editor's note:
As you write your Christmas cards this year you may consider sending one to Rebecca:
Sister Rebecca Winters
106-42
Taiwan Taipei Mission
4 FL, #24, Lane 183 Chinhua St.
Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
Dear wonderful family,
Christmas tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime is heeeeeeeeeeeeeeere! It was delightful to hear about all of the wonderful Christmasy stuff that you all did to bring in the season this past week. I got the advent calendar and Christmas package this past week and I was so excited I was like... well, like a kid on Christmas. I had just been thinking that I wished I had more Christmas decorations - thank you for reading my mind, even thousands of miles away! I love Christmas so much. There's a mall next to where I live and they have all sorts of Christmas decorations on the outside and it just makes me happy every time I pass by. I know that's more of the "worldly" aspect of Christmas, but still. We're getting plenty of the spiritual aspect too as I blast all of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas albums every day and as we still participate in the travelling Christmas choir. Mom, you asked a question about that - sorry, I guess I didn't explain it clearly. In Taipei the assistants have hand-picked about thirty missionaries to participate in "the travelling Christmas choir," which is a choir comprised of missionaries that goes around Taipei every weekend to give performances at the various chapels in Taipei. There are a few large group numbers and then some small group ones as well. Sometimes it's a little inconvenient to go to the practices (they take up about three hours of every P-day), but, as I told Sister Briggs yesterday, I LOVE Christmas music. And I love to be able to perform again. And I love to be able to sing, to play violin, and to play violin. And I love that all of the music I'm playing is about Christmas, because that means that it's all about the Savior. So yeah, my life is great. And this week is going to be even BETTER, because we'll be celebrating St. Nicholas Day! I told my companion a little bit about it and at first she thought that I was talking about a tradition in the Netherlands that if you're good you get candy but if you're bad you get stuffed in a burlap sack, kidnapped, and then someone pretends to beat you? Not quite sure how that works.... Anyway, I told her that it was a little different. Unless there's a dark side to St. Nicholas Day that you've never told me about - you'll have to let me know.
Speaking of my companion, things are still going great. We've started a lovely tradition for our three-hour weekly planning sessions: accents. A few weeks ago I did Scottish, then the next week was French, and then this week... Southern. I think Southern has probably been my favorite - a long and sometimes grueling planning session is just a lot funnier when you and your companion sound like a couple of rednecks from Alabama. Next week is Scottish again, I think - I'll let you know if we get to "Indian" or anything crazy like that.
A couple of funny stories from this week: so last week I went to Neihu on exchanges. Well, while I was there I met this man who I felt totally needed the Gospel (I feel like everyone needs it, but that's beside the point). So I talked to him and he seemed really interested. I asked him if I could ask the male missionaries there in Neihu to contact him, but then I realized that I didn't know their number. So he suggested I write down mine, which I did. Anyway, he seemed really interested in the pamphlet I gave him and said that he'd schedule an appointment, which I said sounded great. Awesome, right? Well, that's only the beginning of the story. I got a call in the middle of Weekly Planning Session from an unknown number, but I normally don't answer during planning. But then they called again, and my companion said, "maybe it's an emergency." So I answered. It turns out it was that guy from Neihu! And he was wondering if I wanted to go out with him on his motorcycle and have some fun. I said, "Excuse me?" Turns out that I had confused the Chinese word "appointment" with "date" (they're almost exactly the same), which apparently I had heartily agreed to. Talk about embarrassing! I had to apologize and assure him that unless he wanted to meet with the missionaries and learn about the Gospel of Jesus Christ ("which really will change your life and bring you more happiness!"), then I had nothing to do with him. Poor guy! Definitely was not expecting to turn down dates while being a sister missionary... Great story, though.
Another funny story involving a Taiwanese man: I was on the MRT (subway) yesterday and saw this 50-something-year-old man walk in wearing one of those surgical masks (those are super-big here). And then right as I saw him I felt the Spirit really strongly. Totally confusing - "Um, why am I feeling the Spirit right now? I am almost completely positive that this man is not my future spouse." But then the guy took off his mask and said, "Are you Mormons?" Turns out this man was completely inactive and had been baptized years and years ago but hadn't gone back to church in a very long time. We got his information and promised we'd give him a call, and he in turn said that maybe it was time for him to come back to church. A total miracle, and just further proof that God is in charge and that He knows what He's doing when He gives us seemingly random feelings of the Spirit.
I guess that leads me to another miracle that we saw last night - the bishop had asked us to go and visit a sister in the ward, so we set up an appointment at her house. Well, turns out her house is on the top of a mountain (seriously, a mountain), so that was fun (my companion didn't completely agree on that one). Anyway, we had a lovely much-needed lesson with her and her family (bishops are so inspired), and then started making our way back. The only problem is that my bike is missing a brake (I tried to get it fixed a couple of weeks ago, but then they didn't have the brake, and then we didn't have time last week to go to the other place farther away), and we were going down a mountain. And plus it was raining, so the road was slick. We definitely knew we would need some prayers, so we said some at the top before we left and then all of the way down. My bike did great - I went down really slowly and carefully, using the brake as much as possible, and it held out really well. Well, then we got the bottom of the mountain and continued biking and guess what? My other brake completely stopped working. Didn't work at all. We had to walk the rest of the way home! But you know what? That brake worked the entire way down the mountain - if it hadn't, I could have been seriously injured. I was so grateful, and we said prayers of gratitude the whole way back. And then guess what else happened? As we were walking home, we met this girl (Sister Briggs was the one who initially started talking to her - so proud of her) who ended up being our new investigator! So if we hadn't been walking, we probably wouldn't have met her since we would have been hurrying home. God is so great. I love Him.
Last thing: Lily did have her baptism last week in Sanchong! It was wonderful - she was so happy. I think I captured my favorite "post-baptism" picture yet. :) After she got baptized, she came up to us and said, "I'm finally baptized! I'm finally baptized!" I asked her how it felt and she just shook her head - she was too happy to speak. I'm convinced that moments like that are seriously some of the best in a lifetime.
Well family, you're great. Thank you for all of your love, and especially for all of your prayers! As you can see, they're definitely working. I love you all, and have a great week!
Love,
Sister Winters
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