Good morning, America! It's been a full week. Full of miracles, funny experiences, and most of all, full of food. I'm still full from last week! Guonian was insane - imagine eating eight or nine Thanksgiving dinners in a row. Now you know how I feel. Sarah, to answer your questions, yes, Taiwanese kids have the whole week off (their winter break doesn't start until the end of January, so it still covers Chinese New Year). I wouldn't say it's the most important Chinese holiday, but it's definitely the longest. The purpose before was to scare away the "year" monster, but now I think it's just to spend time with family. People here say it's like Christmas in the States since people spend their time with their families at home, but of course Guonian doesn't have anything to do with Jesus Christ, while Christmas definitely does. This year's probably most exciting dish that I had was jellyfish... twice! It was actually kind of crunchy and good... weird, right? Seriously, though, we were really blessed this week - guonian sometimes is a nightmare for missionaries (everyone's gone and nobody wants to talk to the missionaries because they're busy relaxing for once), but there was no significant dip in our numbers. We actually exceeded our mission's "golden standards" in some areas.
There was something really exciting that happened this week - something that I never imagined would happen on my mission. So I was in our kitchen leaning against the wall while drinking a glass of milk (I know, living the good life, right), when I saw a black splotch scurry from underneath the stove into the laundry room directly across from me. I was not too close to it, so it could have been a cockroach, but I was pretty sure it was a rat. I walked back into the main room with a sort of dazed expression on my face and Sister O'Brien asked what was wrong. I said, "We might have a rat in our laundry room. And there might be more." So what else could we do, except go into the laundry room and check? There were some blue fabric things on the ground, so I started trying to dig through them and see. When I picked one of them up, there was a RAT that fell on my skirt and then scurried away. I'll have to be honest - normally I am the one in my companionships who is the strong, yes-I-will-kill-that-bug-for-you kind of person. But when the rat fell out I yelled, "It IS a rat! And then ran away and slammed the door to the laundry room... with Sister O'Brien in it. Just kidding. :) Sister O'Brien was right on my tail (get it?), but everything else was true. So I called the operations assistant and told him what was going on. He said, "That's bad. Like really, that's very very bad." There were a million responses that I could've given to that slightly-obvious comment, but I decided to just stick to agreeing with him. He encouraged me to call President Day to see if the zone leaders could come over and help us get the rat. So I called President Day and told him our situation. To my surprise, his first question was: "Are you sure it was a rat? Was there hair on its tail?" I was pretty sure that it was a rat, but I asked Sister O'Brien just to be sure. She looked back at me resentfully and said, "I wasn't looking at its TAIL, surprisingly enough. Shouldn't the fact that there is some RODENT in our house be enough?" (Side note: just because Sister O'Brien looked at me resentfully doesn't mean that she's a resentful person. She's quite lovely and a wonderful companion. Ok, that's all.) Anyway, we eventually got permission and the elders came over... with no results. Apparently there's a hole in our screen door to the great outdoors in our laundry room - our new pet probably used that to get in and out. The elders played the part of looking disappointed that there wasn't a rat after all, but I'm pretty sure they were actually relieved they didn't have to add "rat-killers" to their long list of responsibilities... I would be, anyway. We had interviews with President this past week and I found out that there was an apartment of elders who also had some rat issues. But whereas the sisters tried to use a broom (or elders) to try and get rid of the problem, the elders ended up using the freezer. Yes, you read correctly: there is an apartment in the Taiwan Taipei mission with seven or so frozen rats hanging out in their freezer. Anyway, we've tried to plug up the hole in the screen door and so far have not seen any more black splotches scurrying across the floor... I'll keep you posted, though!
A few of you asked about how our investigators are doing, especially the new ones who set baptismal dates. Because of guonian and everyone and their dog going to a different place in Taiwan, it's kind of hard to judge, but it seems like most if not all are doing pretty well. We had a really great "breakthrough" moment with one of our investigators this past week. Her name is Sister You (pronounced "Yo", like Yo Yo Ma), and she's the one that has been meeting with the missionaries for five years. One of my fellow BYU violin studio members was actually her missionary for a while - she loved him, so once she found out that we were classmates it really was a miracle to her. We've helped her come to the chapel once (her only time since meeting with the missionaries), because she's normally busy with her work. So yes, you can pray for her to come to church. :) Anyway, she has two kids and they're pretty "pi," or misbehaved. One of them is a sullen-looking 10-year-old named Anthony. He ran in while we were teaching his mom this past week and she made him stay in for a little bit while we taught them about faith. Now, Anthony clearly did not want to be there - he was pouting and trying to get free from his mother's grasp, etc.. We were talking about faith, and suddenly an idea came to my mind. I secretly grabbed a $10 coin from my wallet and held out my fist and said, "Anthony, I have $10 in my hand. Do you believe me?" He shook his head, still frowning. I said, "Really? Why not?" He said, "I can't see it." I said, "Well here, give me your hand. Don't look!" and I slipped the $10 piece into his hand instead. His face was so funny - it lit up like a lightbulb with a look of surprised delight, and he and his mom started laughing just from the look of sheer incredulity that he had. I said, "Now do you believe that I was holding a $10 piece in my hand." He said, "Yes, now I know you were." I said, "Why? You can't see it!" And he said, "Yeah, but I can feel it." I told him that was like faith - we can't see God, but we can feel that He's there and that He loves us. The Spirit came into the room and I think everyone left that lesson uplifted and with greater faith. I've never used that analogy before, but it was perfect for that situation - I love how God really does guide us in even the most minute details of our lives.
Last fun story from the week - yesterday at church we had a senior missionary couple from Hualian speak. It was so good to see them - last year when I was there, they had just gotten their mission call to serve in the Taipei temple. Anyway, it seemed from yesterday's talks that they're doing great. It was like coming home to hear them speak and share experiences - I think that a part of my heart will always be in the East Coast of Taiwan. Elder Jiang saw me in the front row when he was speaking and said, "I have a special story to tell Sister Wei" (me). He then proceeded to go on, "As you all know, Sister Wei does an excellent job of playing the violin. Well recently, my own granddaughter started playing the violin. I thought it was strange, since in Hualian, not very many people play. As I asked her mother why they chose the violin of all instruments, I found out that it was from watching Sister Wei play the violin. She did such a beautiful job of playing that my daughter-in-law wanted her own daughter to be able to have that same gift." When I heard that story, I almost cried. I was only in Hualian for six weeks - and it was at the beginning of my mission, when my Chinese was at its worst. And yet through God's help and the gifts He's given me, I was still able to make a difference and beautify my first area. I know that Elder Jiang's story was an answer from God that He's pleased with the work and effort I've given. Now I just need to keep sprinting to the finish!
That's all for new and exciting news this week! There's a mission conference tomorrow - I'll tell you all about it and the other adventures I encounter in next week's novellette.
I love you! Have a wonderful week!
Sister Winters
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