Sister Winters - April 22, 2013 Life's Greatest Roller Coaster

Dear family,

 

Thank you for your inspired and wonderful emails. They've added some fuel to the fire I'm trying to keep blazing until the end. I can't express how much love and support I've felt from "hearing" your voices through letters each week. Thank you for keeping me burning bright!

 

People often say that missions are an 18-month-long roller coaster. It is so true. And I've felt like the ride this past week has had particularly dramatic ups and downs. :) Thankfully with going to the temple and talking to President Day for a little bit afterwards, I was able to tell Satan to "get behind me" and rid the feelings of doubts that I wasn't doing well in my mind. But there were still some super-crazy things that happened this week. For example, I was talking to this lady on the sidewalk but she looked so unwilling to talk to me that she just started saying, "No thanks, I'm good" over and over again while not paying attention to where she was walking and walked into the street right as a motorcyclist was pulling over. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back onto the sidewalk and said "WATCH OUT!" (in Chinese - I'm already bracing myself for the Chinese that I'll say all the time on accident when I get back). She didn't looked fazed at all - just kept saying that she didn't have time to talk and then walked away. So crazy.

 

I think Saturday was probably the craziest day of them all. That was the day we had planned to go to the temple with Yu Jiemei that morning and then have a baptism later that night (aka one of the best days of my mission). It all happened, but definitely not according to plan! We got to the temple at 7:40, 20 minutes before the first earliest session started. The temple president looked confused as to why we were there, so I explained that we were there to see Yu Jiemei. He said, "What?! But the session's already started!" And I said, "How is that possible? We got here for the earliest session!" I guess that sessions don't really "start" at a time if people are ready - they had everything set up. One of the temple workers sped off to the room as quickly as he could without running while I tried to see what could be done. When he got back he said that they hadn't actually said anything in the session yet, that if we got ready super-fast we could still join in. You better believe that time was the fastest we ever got ready for the temple! The session ended up being great - my first time doing it in Chinese. Yu Jiemei was crying by the end - she was so happy to be in the temple. I said, "You see? This is why we started talking about the temple right after you got baptized. This is the happiness we wanted you to experience." She just nodded her head. I love her so much - she's planning on going back to the temple next month to do work for her mom and grandma and then get sealed to both of her parents. I'm so proud of her. She is enduring to the end in the best and most real sense - she is rejoicing to the end.

 

That day we had a lot small things that went wrong that really weren't super-bad but were still a little tiring/stressful. For example, I forgot to turn on the heater and the water for Jing Xuan's baptism (you're supposed to get it started a few hours early) until an hour before, so I called the zone leaders. Poor Elder Patrick. This is pretty much a direct quote of how the phone conversation went:

 

Elder Patrick: "Hello?"

Sister Winters: "I need you to turn on the heater and the water RIGHT NOW."

Elder Patrick: "Relax, Sister Winters, we've had it turned on for a while. You're going to be fine."

Sister Winters: "Oh. *huge sigh of relief* Thank you so much. Sorry."

Elder Patrick: *Laughs* "We'll see you later. It'll be fine."

 

...I'm sure all of the elders think that I'm kind of insane sometimes. So we got the water worked out alright (and the musical number - Elder Slawson thought I was kidding when I said I wanted us to play a violin duet and didn't bring a violin. Note to reader: I was not kidding. But I got an extra violin). The only problem that needed resolving was Jing Xuan. We told her to come a half an hour early at 6:30. Didn't make it. 7:00. Didn't make it. Called. Said she'd be about a half and hour late. I said, "Jing Xuan, this is YOUR BAPTISM. Everyone is waiting here for YOU." Poor thing - she was sick and I think had to go take a bus on her own to go see a doctor and then I think lost track of time. That half an hour (it ended up being about 45 minutes) of waiting for her was pretty bad. Multiple people asked me if my other baptisms were like this, if this was a "normal" thing for me. It killed me to think that this was my only baptism in Shilin after working here for so long, but things were going so wrong. And instead of the members feeling like I'd helped them and served them, it felt like they wished I hadn't ever served there. There was even an investigator that came with her husband (who isn't a huge fan of the Church but was willing to see what it was like) who had such a bad experience at the baptismal service that she's not sure she'll ever get baptized now. Jing Xuan finally made it and the baptismal service itself went very smoothly, but there was still a big weight on my heart with how hard my "perfect day" had been and how I felt like the members viewed me. I poured out my heart to Heavenly Father (I can say that I've been doing that even more than usual in these past few weeks) and told Him about everything that's going on. I told Him that I knew it wasn't about me, but that I really wanted to be able to see some fruits of my labors and to feel like He was proud of me.

 

...And then yesterday I got my answer. And then got it again. And again. And again. It started out not too well - there were quite a few investigators who were supposed to be at church who didn't come. After the first hour, I asked Sister George if we could go to an unused room in the church so I could pray for a while. There were some small feelings of peace and clarity, but my mind was so full of thoughts that it was hard to concentrate on those feelings. The members were very sweet and would occasionally stop and squeeze my hand and say things like, "thank you for everything you've done here." Clear evidence that God heard my prayers. But then last night He really outdid Himself. Last night we had a "going away party" for Elder Darley (who's also going home) and me. It was very simple - we ate food and then both of us had 15 minutes apiece to share things about our missions. I was a little worried - I don't think I've ever given a 15-minute talk before, much less in Chinese. But the Spirit was strong as I bore my testimony about how much I loved my mission and the people in Taiwan. I was able to tell a few stories from preparing for my mission and from serving the people here. Tears were in people's eyes as we all "rejoiced and were edified together." It was the same way with Elder Darley. Something that was amazing to see at the activity was just how many difference spheres we're able to touch as missionaries. Yes, there were investigators present. But there were also members, less-active and active, new and old. There were even people from English class that I'd taught who were grateful for my service. There was an investigator who I met in my second week here in Shilin. She had just assumed that missionaries stay in an area for a certain amount of time that's set before they arrive - she was shocked to find out that I had a chance of moving each transfer but ended up staying. "God knew that I needed you here," she said. There was a less-active who I talked to who was in tears that I had to leave. When I got here, she had hit a super-low point in her life and has through God's help made some huge changes in her life. "Thank you for coming to Taiwan," she said. "If you hadn't come to Taiwan, I wouldn't have known where He is." There was a family that came late - I only visited them once, but it was at a time where they too needed serious help. Although they were normally very active, they had hit some huge setbacks in their lives and needed God's help. I feel like we came at just the right time. They hadn't been reading their scriptures for a couple of weeks, but with our invite to come fully back, they put their trust in God and are now fully active again. There was a less-active who came to church yesterday for the first time in years. She's a 70-year-old woman who we saw on the ward roster but didn't know anything about. Turns out she just needed people to show that they love her and want her back at church. Through only a few visits, she came to church yesterday. And loved it. And is planning on coming back every week now.

 

Like I said, Heavenly Father really outdid Himself. Last night I was overwhelmed with gratitude as I saw my prayers answered over and over again as I saw the lives of so many people that I've touched in the short time that I've served here. And I know that that number of people will continue to grow - President Day called yesterday to tell me that there are now an added 20+ people attending each branch in Taidong and that there are nine people getting baptized between the two branches next week. God loves us. It's so exciting to see the miracles happening on this small island. As President Hinckley said, "God must love the Asian people... because He made so many of them." It's true. Not only because He made so many of them (although that is definitely true), but because I've felt it. I love the people of Taiwan. And will love them forever. I've loved my mission. It has been more than everything I hoped it would be. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I know that He and Heavenly Father want us to be happy. I know that They want us back in Their presence. I know that only by following the Savior can we achieve real lasting happiness in life. In these past 18 months, I have found this happiness. I have been so, incredibly happy. I know that this church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is God's church. I know that this church and Jesus Christ's Gospel can change lives - I've seen it, both in others' lives and in mine. I love the scriptures and know that they are the word of God. I have loved sharing them and the Gospel with others - I have "rejoiced in it above that of the world."

 

Thank you again for your unfailing support over these past 18 months. Your letters have so often been the answer to my prayers and have been such a huge source of strength. Your prayers have also been felt - thank you. I will still need them this week as I finish with everything that I have to give. Please pray for us to find those who are prepared to hear these "good tidings of great joy." They're out there, they just need us to find them! We found a potential yesterday who is SO PREPARED and whose last name is "Wei" (same as mine, which isn't very common) who we're meeting with on Wednesday - those are the kinds of people we need to find. Thank you thank you thank you! I love you all and am excited to see you soon.

 

All my love,

Sister Winters

 

PS - Rena did not get baptized - she had a rough week. We saw her yesterday and were amazed at how changed her countenance was from not reading the scriptures daily. It really was a visible change. But then there was another change over that brief 30-minute visit as the Spirit worked on her. She will be fine, but she also needs your prayers. Thank you!

 

Sister Winters - April 16, 2013 "The dogs will capture you"

Dear family,

 

"Oh, what a beautiful morning!" Haha, I loved that part of conference. Actually, I loved all of conference. So good! I had many questions answered - both mine and investigators' - through the servants of the Lord. It was fun seeing the BYU choir too, although it was a little depressing to realize that most of the people that majored in music while I was at school were not in the choir anymore. Oh, well. I guess it helped me retain a nice "detached" feeling and I was able to just sit back and enjoy the music. It was funny - we met with one of our investigators afterwards and shared The Plan of Salvation with her. I asked her what her favorite part of conference was and she said the choir and the organ. When we were getting to the end of the lesson I turned to Mormon 7:7 and said, "You think that the choir today was good? Well, singing praises to God in the Celestial Kingdom is going to be infinitely better than that!" She got the point. :)

 

This past week was better than the week before, although numbers are still a little low. I've been kind of plagued this past week (well, and before that as well) with occasional "guilty" feelings like I'm not giving my all or that I should be ashamed of the work that I've given. But whereas before it was kind of an occasional thing that I could kind of brush off, recently it's been an almost continual wave - feeling bad, trying to feel good, finally feeling good, and then feeling bad again. Woof. Through it all I'm still trying to give it my all and keep sprinting to the finish, but I could really use your prayers. I'm going to the temple today (three times in the next two weeks, actually!), and I'm hoping that being in the house of the Lord can help me get a clearer idea of things as they really are.

 

There are some other people who need need NEED your prayers! Jing Xuan passed her baptismal interview but needs her parents to sign her permission slip and they haven't been willing to yet (they agree, but they don't see why they need to sign). We're fasting today and trying our hardest over here, but any help from the good ol' USA would be awesome. We still have faith that Rena can be baptized this weekend too, but she needs just as many if not more prayers than Jing Xuan does. She's really busy this week and we haven't been able to meet with her to help her have her interview. Plus the step of baptism will need a lot of faith on her part - Heavenly Father has answered so many of her prayers and she knows that, but it's still nerve-wracking for her to have a few doubts and still get baptized. She doesn't feel like church allows her to "rest" on Sundays as it should - she's shy and gets nervous in some of the more intimate classes where she has to answer. Thankfully about 90% of the talks in conference dealt with how the Savior can help us find true peace... she just needs to find some time to watch it. Cry unto the Lord!

 

Since Rena has been so hard to get ahold of lately, we actually tried to bike out to her house. It was quite the adventure - it's very far away in a part of the area that I'd never been to before. We got a little lost as we were driving to a more rural area with fewer houses. We finally saw this giant factory thing and pulled over to check the address. It was odd-numbered... we were looking for even. As we thought about where we should go/what to do, these giant dogs came out of the shadows in the distance and started barking at us in a very "get-out-of-here-right-now" sort of way. So we prayed. And biked out of there as fast as we could (I felt like the little girls hopping over rattlesnakes in 17 Miracles). And we made it out alive! And unscratched. And unbitten. Seriously a miracle - we met this guy afterwards and asked him for directions. He said that Rena's house was very far away. And that there were lots of dogs in between. And not only did this man say that those dogs bite people, but that "they'll bite you and then grab you. They'll capture you." And of course he said all of this with a creepy smile on his face. YIKES. Needless to say, we got out of there as soon as we could.

 

There were some good things that happened this week, though. As I'm getting close to going home, President has given us permission to call some of our recent converts who don't live in our areas. Last night I called Lu Jiemei, my first convert in Hualian and on my mission. She's doing so well - her kids are doing great and her testimony is still strong. She's still helping all of the sisters in the branch as she serves as the Relief Society President there. She's awesome! Both of us couldn't believe how quickly time has gone by. And then last weekend was absolutely wonderful as Becky came up from Taidong to visit me. She looked happier than I'd seen her in a while - she's great. It was hard to say goodbye again - especially since I don't know when I'm going to see her next. I told her that she needs to buy a webcam. We'll see if she keeps her commitment. :) And then of course this Saturday is going to be the best day of my life - going to the temple with Yu Jiemei (totally one of my favorite converts) in the morning and then double baptism (please!) in the evening! God is taking care of the people I've touched here. He's taking care of me. I love Him and am excited to keep serving Him with my all for this last week and a half!

 

I love you,

Sister Winters

 

PS - The rat is still there.

 

Sister Winters - April 8, 2013 "It's FOOLPROOF!"

[Editor's note: only 2 more emails left!! :)]

Dear family,

 

Dajia hao! Good morning - I hope you all loved General Conference. I'm getting so excited to listen to it this weekend, especially after getting some teasers of what will be happening. I know that the Law of Chastity talk was an answer to many prayers. This week is going to be great. Another plus about General Conference this weekend is that Becky will be coming up from Taidong to see me! I haven't seen her in almost six months and am looking forward to a very sweet reunion with her.

 

Before I forget, I need to tell you that I will not be writing next Monday - I'll be writing on Wednesday instead. Temple day! Twice, actually - I'll be going again later that week with Yu Jiemei to receive her endowments. Life is so so so good. I'm sure that will probably be one of the sweetest experiences of my mission - and probably my life.

 

This week... was not quite as good as I wanted it to be. I realized towards the end of the week that we weren't very good at keeping the invites from our zone leaders and it was seriously affecting our work. So I repented. :) And tried hard to be better. And things got better. Last week we had a zone conference where we talked a lot about using our time wisely. It was wonderful and just what I needed to hear. I want to use my time as wisely as I can, especially with a very limited amount left, but sometimes I feel like I could just use it more productively. The Assistants did an awesome object lesson to talk about using the Lord's time - Elder Peterson asked, "Who in here likes ice cream?" Of course my hand shot up, but there was another elder who literally jumped out of his chair... so he got picked. Anyway, they scooped a delightfully large heaping of mint truffle ice cream into a bowl for this elder and told him to eat it. "But wait!" said Elder Bowler. "I need to fix some things first!" So Elder Bowler got out some mustard and doused the ice cream with it. Then he got out a hair dryer and melted all of the ice cream and mustard into this nasty-looking soup. Then he added these weird crawly-looking things that none of us knew what they were. After that Elder Bowler announced that the ice cream was finally ready. We were all so sad - really good ice cream was just WASTED. Elder Peterson said, "Wasting the Lord's time should feel worse than wasting ice cream... and that's saying something." Haha it's true! I always feel so terrible when even a little bit of time is wasted. I'm so grateful we got this inspired training so that I can work harder than ever these next few weeks. The zone conference took me by surprise a little because I had to give my "closing testimony" - it made leaving the mission a lot more real. My eyes filled up with tears as I testified that this is the Savior's work. Leaving is going to be rough. Anyway, I guess the big idea that I want all of you to get from this email is that obedience is so important - even in the super-little things, like keeping a zone invite. I wasn't breaking any commandments, but there was still a big difference from not being completely obedient in the very little things.

 

Thankfully, even with my weaknesses, Heavenly Father is still blessing our investigators' lives. Probably the biggest example this week was in the life of Rena. Last week when we told her about the Word of Wisdom, she was a little disappointed. Anyway, I called her up a few days later and asked how keeping the Word of Wisdom was going and what blessings she was receiving. She said, "I've been keeping it." I said, "That's great! How did you have the faith to do that?" She said, "Well, you know how I've had a cold for ages? I finally went to go see a doctor about it, and he said that I could only drink a few specific drinks, and aside from that, I'm not allowed to drink anything else. That includes tea and coffee. So yes, I'm keeping it." I started laughing - I couldn't help it. "Rena," I said, "I can't really think of a clearer way that God would answer your prayers. You wanted to know if you really needed to keep the Word of Wisdom - well, here's your answer!" It was so great. She's progressing so well and is preparing for baptism. Yesterday in her ward they announced her baptism over the pulpit (even though she hasn't had her baptismal interview - yikes! Don't do that.), and she didn't freak out at all! She's planning on it. It's so awesome.

 

As far as other investigators go, Jing Xuan can get baptized on the 20th with Rena if (when) her mom signs the permission slip, and if Oprah has the faith to make the changes she needs to in her life she can also get baptized on that date. Annie and You Jiemei aren't looking too great for that date, but I'm sure that they'll keep progressing after I leave. Annie is still progressing really well - I think she just takes a little more time. One of our investigators broke a pretty serious commandment this past week and said, "I just can't feel the Spirit anymore. I feel so far away." I didn't really know what to tell her and prayed that I'd know what to say. Sure enough, when I opened my mouth, the words that came out were: "You need to repent. You need to talk it over with God. You probably will hurt for a while and won't be able to feel the Spirit right away, but I promise that if you just keep praying and keep repenting, then you will feel the Spirit again." Even though I'm sad that she broke that commandment, I'm grateful that she knows now that she can't break the commandments and expect to be happy.

 

There were a couple of funny things that happened this week as well as spiritual. One was just a random contact. We were at a stoplight and I was chatting with this guy next to me. He said, "How's America?" I said that I had no idea. He looked really surprised and said, "Wait, you're not American?" I said, "Oh no, I'm American. But I haven't been there in almost a year and a half, so I'm not sure how it is anymore. It was good before I left, though." It looked like he was still trying to process that even when he took my English class pamphlet and left. I laughed for a while afterwards about it - so did Sister George when I told her. She said that when I go back to the US I need to go up to every Chinese-looking person I see and ask, "How's Taiwan?" or "How's China?" Hahaha such an interesting question.

 

In further news, I'm sad to announce that the rat is back. We've found some rat droppings around the house (yes, we are that professional), along with some food wrappers that I'm 100% positive we didn't just drop randomly. Serious action has been taken. First Sister George set a trap of her own design - you put some food in the sink to bait it, and then you put some food down the hole in the sink... and you put some oil on the sides so it can't crawl back up! To use the words of Sister George, "It's FOOLPROOF!"

 

But it didn't work.

 

(Sister George wants to add that it's because the rat didn't fall for the bait, not because the trap itself was flawed.)

 

So our zone leaders bought a real trap for us instead - one where it just traps it and doesn't kill it, since the killing-type are illegal in Taiwan. Interesting, right? Anyway, that rat's a smart one - it hasn't taken the bait that we've set. Yet. I might buy a peanut bar at the grocery store today just to get rid of that rodent. I'll keep you posted.

 

Okay sorry, that was kind of an interesting note to end on. I love being here! I love being a missionary! I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ. I love being Their servant. Life is wonderful and I'm loving it! Please pray for me to be able to SPRINT to the finish and to use my time better than ever these last few weeks.

 

Love,

Sister Winters

Sister Winters - March 31, 2013 Happy 63rd birthday!

Dear family,

 

There is love coming your way from Taipei, Taiwan! I hope you've all had a wonderful Easter and a wonderful $63 carrot cake. :) They don't celebrate Easter at all in Taiwan (the YW teacher even asked us to give a lesson on Easter since she'd never celebrated it before), but I still had a great holiday as I thought more about the Person I represent every day. I once again read the whole book of John in the week before Easter to get myself in that mindset - it was lovely. I love the scriptures.

 

It was a great week here! Things are still grand with Sister George. Oh! You asked about the earthquake here - I'm fine. Totally fine. Earthquakes kind of freaked me out in my first transfer, but then my trainer said that earthquakes happen here pretty much every day, and I felt better? Doesn't make sense, but that's the way it is. Anyway, I didn't hear about any sort of damage or anything, so I think everything's good here. Back to this week - a lot of really good things happened. Let me tell you all about it!

 

Our investigators are doing great. There's one that I found a few weeks ago - Anita - that has a pretty funny background story. Sister O'Brien had told me before that I seem to stop more for the more "mousy" people. Not sure if that's true, but that's what she said. Anyway, I was riding my bike, and saw this classy-looking girl. I smiled and waved, and she smiled back and said hello. I first had a thought: "she looks too rich to want to accept the Gospel right now," and then I remembered what Sister O'Brien said! So I rode back. And she set up a time! Anyway, her name's Anita and both Sister George and I thought that she was pretty good. But then she stood us up for our follow-up appointment that we'd set up only a couple of days before. And didn't pick up her phone all week. Not good. Sister George said, "Maybe she's out of town?..." But I of course said, "Out of the country? And she didn't tell us when she set up her appointment? Not likely." O ye of little faith - guess who came to church yesterday? Anita. She was super-busy all last week with meetings in China. Sister George said, "Maybe she's out of town?..." again and I just had to laugh. God definitely has a sense of humor.

 

Another miracle happened with someone else - Rena! She's an awesome investigator, but she has work every day in the morning/afternoon and then school at night until 10 - Mondays through Fridays, and sometimes on Saturdays or Sundays. Such a hard life! We've been hoping that she'd have more time to meet with us somehow. Well, we found out yesterday that she quit her job (it's okay, she didn't like it anyway). So now her afternoons are free! And she wants to spend them by meeting with us! So great. We shared the Word of Wisdom with her this past week - she's a little disappointed about not being able to drink tea. She said, "Drinking tea is something that I do every day that makes me happy! It's like prayer!" Haha, I think if she has that take on things, then she'll be fine with keeping the Word of Wisdom. She agreed to pray to God and ask if this law is really from Him. Please keep praying for her as well!

 

Oprah's continuing to do well. She had a really powerful spiritual experience as she was reading the scriptures - she felt like she wasn't worthy to go to church, but as she read the scriptures about Satan's power and how the Holy Ghost is the opposite of that, she said it was she "felt the Sun in [her] heart." And right after that, a member called her and asked why she wasn't at church. Oprah took that as her answer to her question of whether or not she was "worthy" - God needed her at church! So now her testimony is even stronger. So cool.

 

We had another great experience with Oprah as we gave her a temple tour this past Friday - it was her first time at the temple, and she loved it. But I think the best experience that day was one that I had with one of the Shilin elders' investigators, Brian. When the elders called us to set up the tour, they said, "Um, no pressure or anything, but we're kind of counting on you to give him the best and most spiritual experience that he's ever had since meeting with us." Yeah, no pressure. So I prayed and prayed as I was preparing that I'd be able to say the words that Brian needed to hear. It was a little crazy before his tour - two other people randomly showed up at the same time that he was supposed to come. So we ended up starting his a little late and splitting with another companionship of sisters so that we could do two tours at once. But I prayed that the Spirit would still be there, and He was. Very strongly, in fact. Elder Slawson was almost crying during the whole time. At the end, he asked, "Sister Winters, are all tours like that? I feel like I'm going to collapse with how strong the Spirit was." Apparently Brian has had some doubts about baptism because he's worried about possibly making his family sad by joining a Christian church. But in that tour, when I invited him to prepare to go to the temple by first entering the waters of baptism, he said "yes" in a way that made it seem like he was never more sure of anything in his life. Just gives you a little idea of how everything in missionary work is 100% the Spirit.

 

God is changing these peoples' lives! It's so apparent. It's so awesome. How can you not love life when you have experiences like these? I had an experience that made me especially grateful that I serve in Taiwan this past week. I saw a foreigner and started talking to him in English - chatting a little bit, and then started talking about the Gospel. I said, "Have you ever been to church before?" He said, "______ no!" And no, I am not going to fill in that blank. After he swore at me, he sort of smiled and said, "I think putting it that way makes you understand my meaning pretty clearly. You understand, don't you?" I smiled and said, "Yes, I do. Have a great day!" and rode away. I am so glad I live here.

 

Happy Easter, everyone. I know that Jesus is the reason for all of the blessings and happiness that we've had, that we enjoy now, and that we will have in the future. He is aware of every feeling and situation that we face. He is the way, the truth, and the light. He is the only way back to Heavenly Father. I love Him and do my best to honor His name. I hope that we can all do our best this year to "always remember Him," regardless of whether it's Easter or not.

 

I love you all and am praying for you always. Have a great week!

 

Love,

Sister Winters