Hello from "Sister Miracle"

Thank you, Grandma, for the nickname "Sister Miracle." I love it.

 

Dear family,

 

Hello! Thanks for all of your fantastic emails. I had a fantastic Easter, thank you - I can't think of a better way to celebrate the Resurrected Savior than to listen to his living prophet. It was fantastic, A few of you asked how I celebrated it - well, I made my companion sing Easter hymns with me all week :), and then yesterday we watched conference, taught people, and found people to bring them closer to the Savior. Plus today we're doing an Easter Egg hunt for P-day (our idea). Hooray for traditions!

 

So, I loved General Conference. I think I now have a new understanding of what it means to "hunger and thirst after righteousness." I've always loved conference (whether it was because I got to play "conference bingo" when I was little or because I realized that I actually got to listen to the Lord's servants), but this time, it was even more. I soaked up the whole 8 hours, and wanted more. It wasn't enough! I already can't wait until October to hear them again. We had six different investigators who came, which was great. I think that so many of the talks applied to them (as well as my other investigators), so I was really excited to hear them for their sakes, if that makes sense. Tender mercy - I was so preoccupied with focusing on my investigators and their needs and concerns that I forgot to prepare my own concerns so I could be spiritually fed, too! Of course, I was spiritually fed by receiving that revelation for my investigators, but I know that Heavenly Father wanted me to feel specifically that He was aware of my needs, too. Anyway, it was during the last session that I realized that conference was almost over, and I hadn't brought any of my needs to the table! I started stressing out a little bit, because this time only comes twice a year, and it would be a while before I'd get this spiritual feast again. The weight of my calling began to feel heavy again as I thought of the prospect of enduring and serving with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength (a common theme) until the next conference, let alone until the next two before I went home. I prayed to Heavenly Father, "How am I going to do this? I'm so tired sometimes - it's such a huge responsibility to do this." Well, the choir was up to sing next. Their number was "Come Unto Jesus," a hymn that I hadn't heard in English for a while. I was starting to wonder before the music started how high the arrangement would make the sopranos sing (yes, I am still a music nerd from time to time), when I heard the words: "Come unto Jesus, ye heavy laden." I couldn't believe it. That song was a direct answer to prayer. Every single word of that song applied to me and my situation - I especially loved the lines, "Oh, know ye not that angels are near you?" and "Ever He calls, 'Come to me'." Then after that there were a few talks that talked about putting our burdens on the Lord and letting Him help us. I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers.

 

Something that I learned from conference (well, I learned a lot of things, but here's one) - a lot of the talks were about families, especially about raising children. I have to admit that I had a little bit of the attitude, "But Heavenly Father, I can't get married and have kids right now. Why am I hearing so much of this?" Obviously it was in part because the world does not revolve around me and others needed to hear it. But I also did, too. I realized during Sister Esplin's talk in the Saturday morning session that I could replace the word "child"/"children" with "investigator"/"investigators," and 9 times out of 10, it would both make sense and be wonderful counsel as to how I could help them. So, even though I don't have kids and I won't have them for the next couple of years at least, I do have people that I in part am spiritually responsible for. It was very humbling to think about that.

 

Last story about an investigator - one of my favorite investigators is a 70-something year-old woman from China. Her name's "Liang Mama," and I love her soooo much. Her favorite things to do are eating and telling long stories that she hopes will get a good reaction out of listeners - as you can probably tell, we have a lot in common. :) Anyway, Liang Mama is hilarious. I'll call her on the phone to just ask her how she's doing, and she'll say, "Shemne shi?," or "What things are you calling me about?" Or she'll always say that she'll come to our appointments... if there's no rain. "Because I'm old and my body isn't as good as it used to be, and if there's rain...." etc. OR, I was teaching her about the Plan of Salvation and she turned my question to her about prayer into sharing an experience where she saw an evil demon. And then, egged on by the nonplussed looks on others' faces, she'll continue talking until we're able to get a word in and try and change the subject again. That's Liang Mama for you. Oh! Last one. I sat next to her at an activity one time and was eating a banana. She asked me if I liked them, and I told her I did. Since then, she's been bringing me bananas every Sunday, because she heard that I like them that one time. :) Anyway, I had a really sweet experience with her a couple of days ago. I sat in front of her at the chapel while we were waiting for conference to start. I asked her how she was doing, and the sister sitting next to her said, "You're so lucky that you have these two sisters who love you so much! I've seen such a change in you from the first time you came to church until now - you used to be so grouchy, but now you're happy all of the time, and I know it's because of these two girls." (It's actually because of the gospel, but that's okay.) Liang Mama smiled and then leaned in close and said, "I wonder: will you always be caring for me, even through the eternities?" (sorry, the Chinese doesn't have a very good translation) The Sister said, "of course!" I smiled and agreed with her. Liang Mama got this big ol' smile on her face and leaned back contentedly in her chair. It really put things in new perspective for me - not only am I forming relationships for this life only, but through the eternities. Wow.

 

In other news, my two transfer training program is officially over today. I'm going from four hours of study every day to just two and a half - please pray for me as I make the adjustment this week! I'm also still here in Taitung - same place, same companion. Actually, our whole district is the same, except for one elder. But he doesn't serve in Taitung, so basically my little world here in Paradise is unchanged.

 

I love you all so much! Thank you for your continued love and support - I hope that you can feel it from my side as well. You're in my prayers!

 

Love,

Rebecca

 

PS - pictures!

1. Still keeping Jerusalem traditions current with jumping pictures (I picked this spot to take it, and I think it's awesome, although I say so myself.

Well, I've actually forgotten the order of the rest of them, but know that it's some pictures of paradise here, a picture I took one-handed of a hermit crab in my hand (I'm pretty proud of how well that turned out, given the circumstances), McDonald's ice cream (!!!), Yu Jiemei's baptism, and going out to lunch with Kiki, one of our recent converts. I had peanut butter pizza with pork and onions - the chef's special. It was actually really delicious. I love you all!

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Photos from Rebecca's first couple of months in Taiwan

Sister Winters - March 26, 2012

Nimen hao! It's been a great, successful week here in Taiwan. As always, we've seen miracles every day. This is the promised land! First things first: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD AND RACHEL!!!!! I hope you're birthday this week is amazing. I'll miss celebrating it with you (and not only because of the money carrot cake), but know that I'll be celebrating it in Taiwan by having a BAPTISMAL SERVICE! Woohoo! What better way to celebrate than that? (Okay, the money carrot cake is pretty good, too) In other date/time news, today is my five-month anniversary on a mission. And tomorrow is my one-month anniversary in Taitung. Wow. Time has totally flown by this transfer. I can't say that about all of the transfers, all of the time, but... this one has flown by. :) And apparently it just keeps getting faster! That's why I need to keep working my tail off. I read a talk by President Eyring a couple weeks ago on diligence (which apparently is my new favorite subject according to how much I talk about it in my emails) and he said something that I really liked - whenever he's tired or his body "begs for rest," he thinks of two words: "Remember Him." If we remember the Savior and His example, we: 1) Are inspired to be like Him and "go about doing good," and 2) We forget ourselves more fully as we think about Him.

 

Wow, I didn't mean to get into a spiritual thought right there, but sometimes that just happens when you're a missionary - everything turns into spiritual thoughts. Or at least, it should. Dad, I really liked what you said about your experience with having the elders over. I was talking to my companion about that last week about how we could keep dinner conversations more focused on the work. You and mom are always so good about asking, but nobody really does that here. My companion and I decided that we'd just tell them about it, even if they haven't asked. We actually had a lot of dinners this past week (nothing too crazy to report, although they served pig ear too), and it worked pretty well. We'll keep working, and keep trying!

 

Speaking of our investigators, we have a lot of them that are doing well. One of them stood us up for her baptism this last Saturday, which was a bummer. She just wasn't ready yet. Well, she IS, but she was scared, and we weren't able to really help her - she needs to work it out herself. :( BUT, the baptism we have for this Saturday is GOLDEN! Her name is Yu Jiemei, and she would be one of my favorite investigators, if I were allowed to have favorites. She's had a lot of trials in her life, but she loves Heavenly Father and knows without a doubt that He loves her. So she wants to get baptized - she was actually going to get baptized in April but we moved it up because she's so prepared! She shared a story with us about how she was lost and didn't know where to go, but then she prayed and an impression came to her mind which way to go, and she knew it was Heavenly Father answering her prayer. After that, she's just wanted to get baptized and show her love for Him. It's so inspiring to see that change in people. Once they really, truly know that Heavenly Father loves them, their attitude completely changes, and they want to follow Him. I was thinking about Yu Jiemei's "trials of faith" that all of our investigators have, and I wasn't able to think of any... at first. But then I realized that she had just as many trials as everyone else, if not more so - it was just that her love of God made her trials not as hard. She knew she could depend on Him. That's what allows a 30-something-year-old Taiwanese woman who's grown up where tea is like water to her to quit the Word of Wisdom in one week, no problems. Our God is a God of miracles!

 

Okay, now I'm getting to the point where it's time for me to hurry. Mom, you asked what the members say about my Chinese. They're all super-nice about it. They say that it's great, that I don't have an accent at all, that it's a miracle that I've learned it this fast, etc. BUT, they're all Taiwanese people, and saying nice (and sometimes untrue) things is part of their culture, so I'm not sure whether or not I can trust them on that, haha. Chinese is a roller coaster, just like everything else on the mission - there are days where at one moment I'm like, "Yeah! I've got this! Yeah! I can understand everything! Yeah! My Chinese is actually pretty good!" And then the same day my Chinese-self-esteem plummets and I pray that my companion understands what's going on since I don't have a clue. BUT, exciting news (for me, anyway): this past week I used a really tricky, really ambiguous grammar principle (Daniel: it was "le," but not using it in the usual phrases) without thinking, and I used it correctly!!!!! It was during companionship study. My companion just kept on going, but I stopped her and said, "Wait. I think I just used "le" without thinking. And I used it correctly." *super-long-pause* "........YYYYYEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And I threw my arms up in the air (kind of like that picture). It's the little things in life. :)

 

Well, that is pretty much it. I love my investigators, I love my life, and I love you. Thank you for being wonderful.

 

Love,

Sister Winters

 

Sister Winters - March 19, 2012 The Chubby Chubby One

Hello, everyone! Thanks for your prayers in my behalf this past week (and always) - I'm feeling them, and I'm doing great! I got mail last week, which was super-fun. Mom, I laughed at the Christmas card you sent - thank you for thinking of me! Sarah, my English vocabulary is dying... I can't think of an answer to your hig-pig! But thank you for your letter (I had a huge smile on my face when I read it and even laughed in some parts) and your pictures! Okay, I'm already pretty sure that this email's going to be pretty disjointed. Bear with me:

 

- Where do I normally write my emails? Well, there are internet cafes that we use here (we used them in Hualien, too) - these seedy little joints where people come and play World of Warcraft-type games for hours on end. It always makes me feel a little sick, actually, that people are so addicted to computer games that they'll come here and waste their lives away. Okay! Onto the next point!

 

- A few food experiences from this past week: a couple of weeks ago, I tried this soup with a bunch of random things in it (they have those kinds of soups with pretty much every qing ke, or dinner at a member's house). One of the things in it was this black square. I ate it and moved on with my life. Well, when I was in Hualien, Wu Jiemei dared me to eat one of those, but I told her I'd already eaten one. Her reaction was pretty much the worst it could possibly be: "WHAT?! You ate one of THOSE?!?! Do you know what that IS?!?!" Of course I didn't. And of course she wouldn't tell me what it was ("TRUST ME, if I tell you what that is, you'll never eat it again."), which definitely left me wondering. Well we had dinner at a member's house (it happens at least once a week or so, Mom) last week and I remembered to ask what it was. Turns out it was.... pig's blood sausage. WOOF! Wu Jiemei was right - I have NO DESIRE WHATSOEVER to eat it again (even if it wasn't that bad). But, I'm also happy to announce that I've found my new favorite food here! Ice cream spring rolls. It's a spring roll wrap thing with... ice cream inside. With peanut butter-ish crunchy things. HEAVEN. I love our "celebrate with ice cream" motto in our family (and I LOVED that you did that, Dallin!), but it's created a problem here - I work so hard every day that I feel like I need to celebrate every day. Preferably with an ice cream spring roll. Oh, well. Today for P-day we're going to this place that has ENORMOUS bowls of shaved ice (and I mean enormous!) - pictures should follow next week.

 

-Speaking of pictures, I'm attaching some from TAROKO GORGE, the greatest place in the world! I loved it so much. It was like Yosemite but experiencing it in a completely different way. We had a member drive us up to the top of one of the mountains with our bikes on his car, and then he dropped us up on top and we rode down. It was incredible. All I can say is that I want to go again. It was drizzling a little bit, but that just made the colors pop out more for my camera. :) Thanks for your prayers! The weather really was supposed to be terrible, but it was awesome. Just a note about the pictures - I'm kind of in love with the first one (even though it seems narcuissistic of me to say so) - it's my "I LOVE TAIWAN!" picture. The next one is what it was like while we were riding around. Hmm... and this computer isn't cooperating right now, so we may or may not be able to attach more pictures. They should be coming your way by March 31st, though!

 

- Miracle of the week: mosquitoes here hate my blood, too. :) Yay for no bug spray!

 

- Contacting: I was thinking about it this week, and I realized that a lot of things we say here in Taiwan would be extremely weird or even rude if they were translated into English. A couple of examples:

"Hey, GRANDMA! Over here!"

"Hey, can you pull over? Wow, you're beautiful!"

"Handsome boy! Have you been to church before?"

"Who is he? Oh, you mean that chubby chubby one? That guy?" (I hope "chubby chubby" is never used to describe me - I get "tall tall" all the time, though).

"Oh, yeah, I remember her. She ate a lot." (I hope I don't get that one either, but you never know...)

Yeah, we say things like that all the time. Well, I haven't quite gotten used to saying the rude ones yet - we'll see how I am a year from now!

 

- Saving the best for last: my investigators! I love them so much. We're having a baptism this weekend as long as everything works out - please pray for Lu Jiemei! Her life has changed so much from the Gospel. Please pray for Susan, that we'll be able to help her get baptized as soon as possible and that she'll come to church! Pray for Yu Jiemei that she won't be lonely and that she'll find work soon. Pray that she'll also be able to resist the temptation to drink tea. Please pray for Zhou Jiemei that she'll be able to get baptized with her family, that her dad will be able to quit his smoking addiction. Pray for Elain that she'll realize the need to get baptized and that she'll have the courage to tell her family about it and then make her own decision. Pray for Lin Jiemei that she'll be able to keep the Word of Wisdom. Pray for Yang Jiemei that she'll be able to go to church on Sundays (you can also pray that Lin Jiemei will do that as well). Pray for another Yang Jiemei's situation with her husband. And pray for Huang Jiemei's son. You can also pray for our less actives that they'll have a desire to go back to church.

 

...That's not all of them, but that's enough for now. :) They're wonderful, and I love watching them come unto Christ more. I really do feel more blessed to be able to participate in this great work the longer I'm here and the more I focus on the needs of others. I love being a missionary! This work really is God's work, and I'm on the front lines, taking care of His children for Him - I feel so lucky. Thank you for everything you do for me - I love you all and I pray for you every day! Take care this week.

 

Love,

Sister Winters 

Sister Winters - March 12, 2012 Where in the World is Sister Becca Winters?

...The subject of this email is supposed to be sung to the theme of "Carmen SanDiego," in case you didn't get it. :) Hello family! Thank you for all of the emails and love and the pictures and the PACKAGE that came my way this week! I loved everything, and I really felt your love for me, too. I even feel your love when I don't get packages, but hey! It's nice to be surprised as well. Especially when that surprise involves pretzels and goldfish - neither of which are sold here and I've been craving. Thank you for reading my mind!

 

So, to answer the question in the subject of this email, I'm in... HUALIAN! And I'm going to TAROKO GORGE TODAY! Woohoo! I've wanted to go there since the MTC, so I'm super-excited that I have the chance to go. It's raining right now, so if all of you could pray that I have at least decent weather, that'd be great. It's been fun to travel more - the monkey place we went to last week was super-fun. The monkeys were so close! We'd hold out peanuts or bananas in our hand and they'd come up to us and take them from us. I've always loved my zoom lens on my camera, but last week it was a dream come true! :) I'll attach a few today. And Dad, I made a CD from some of the latest pictures (and by latest I mean last three months - sorry) and they'll be coming your way just in time for March 31!

 

In contacting news, I can inform you that this past week I finally got that bug in my mouth. Except it was when I was breathing - not when I was singing or "preaching the word," which was a little disappointing. And I didn't swallow it, so I'm not even sure that it counts. Some other fun contacting stories: my companion and I were in Hualien last week for a day because she had to go to Taipei for a meeting and it takes forever to get there so we needed to go to Hualien first and then to Taipei. Anyway, we were dropped off at the chapel, only to realize that we didn't have any bikes to get home! So we walked. And as we walked, we talked to people about the gospel. There was one lady we talked to and prayed with who was Christian already (not as common), and she would say "Amen" and "Hallelujah" while we were praying. Now, I'm from the South, so I've heard it before, no big deal, but when it's a Chinese person saying "Ah mun" and "Ha lee lu yaaahh,"  or "hun bang, hun bang," (awesome, awesome) it's really hard not to laugh. Also just a little example of the miracles we see every day: when we were walking back, I saw one of the meanest dogs in Hualien. It hates foreigners, and there has been many a time where I've had to pull up my legs on my bike frame as I've been racing past him for fear of having my legs bitten off. Well, we didn't have bikes this time - no chance of escape. Frankly, I was pretty terrified. So I asked my companion if we could pray. So I did, and pleaded that we would be safe. Well when we opened our eyes after the prayer, the dog was gone! Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers. :)

 

Last thing I wanted to mention was something I've been thinking about lately - dilligence. The scriptures tell us of people who worked with "unwearied dilligence" when they were bringing people to Christ. I think that I'm pretty dilligent most of the time, but sometimes I'm guilty of having "wearied dilligence," or sometimes focusing on the fact that I'm tired or that I'm having a super-late dinner for the third day in a row instead of what really matters. The scriptures also talk about wearing our lives out in the service of God - that that's a good thing! And am I wearing my life out? Not quite yet. :) I'm working hard - I'm staying busy, with really good things, but I'm not quite at "wearing my life out" status - which means that I still have a way to go! So that's what I'm going to be working on some this week. Along with baptizing people and preaching the gospel and all of that jazz.

 

I wanted to spend the last 10 minutes of this email answering some questions that Mom sent... a looonnnggg time ago (sorry about the wait!). Hopefully they all make sense.

 

Is it harder to find restaurants there in Taitung? Nope. One reason that food is super-cheap down here is because almost everyone is in the food business. So I'm still paying about $2 for each meal that I eat out here... yes.

 

Are the members much different from Hualien? No, except fewer of them speak English. That's good - it's less of a crutch. :) I didn't rely on that too much in Hualien, but it's still better for me to practice my Chinese more! No, the members are fantastic in both places. The reason I'm actually here right now is because yesterday we had a district conference (instead of a stake conference) with the Hualien and Taitung members. It was awesome. And then on Tuesday we have a special missionary training meeting, so we were able to get permission to stay!

 

What did you take as a lesson you learned there? I'm assuming you mean in Hualien? I learned lots. But one of them is probably the importance of talking to EVERYONE. Everyone matters and everyone's a child of God. By talking to them, we're giving them a chance to change their lives for the better.

 

What are some things that you have discovered that have given you a little culture shock? Probably the people, honestly. I think I get along with most people pretty easily, but it's been a bit of a shock to only be around one culture (for example, instead of Jerusalem where I was still with a bunch of American kids in a new culture) and try and adjust to those changes.

 

What about the letters; how do you know where you are and where you are going? Ahh, the characters. :) Well, I follow my companion - she normally knows where we're going. But they also have English characters on most street signs at least. I think the hardest thing is food - my companion doesn't really read characters too well, so there have been times where we've had to guess about what we want to eat. :)

Have you heard the Guzheng or Erhu instruments? Yes, and I want to buy one for my main "souvenir." A girl in the Hualien branch is amazing at it.
What do you think of Chinese music? I love it. I don't know if I'll come back and just listen to Chinese music all the time, but it really does make me happy. :)

As for the Taiwanese people, what is their general disposition and temperament? They're really polite and nice - I get rejected every day by people, but they're usually super-nice about it.

What is hard to love about them? They're extremely blunt sometimes - which I find to be a little unsettling at times. I mean, I'm blunt, but there's no sugar-coating at all! It took a little getting used to. :)

What is easy to love about them? How nice and warm they are - they're also really willing to love people and serve them.

What do you admire in them? Their willingness to help! They are so good and are so selfless. They're always giving of their time, their food, their everything. It's really inspiring.

 

Well, that's about all I have time for this week. I love you all! Be good.

 

Love,

Becca

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