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

Sister Winters - March 25, 2013

Dear family,

 

Good morning! It's honestly been a fantastic week - the best one number-wise since I've been here. And maybe the best otherwise, too. I don't really keep track of these things. Life is wonderful every week as a missionary!

 

Investigator update: there are a good five people who have firmly set dates for April 20th. That's the last Saturday before I go home. PLEASE PRAY FOR THEM. Rena ("Layna"), Annie, Sister You, Oprah, and Lisa. They are wonderful and I've seen incredible miracles from prayers and faith on our behalf. Probably the biggest one happened yesterday: YOU JIEMEI CAME TO CHURCH. Yes, this is the same has-been-investigating-for-five-years-but-has-never-once-in-her-life-been-to-church You Jiemei that I've talked about before. I honestly still can't believe it. She was progressing and we were hoping and putting our whole hearts into it but then she hit a rut and said that she just couldn't come to church and I was devastated. And we didn't come for a while because honestly, I just didn't know what to talk about. But I think in that time she changed, because she made up her mind she was going to come at least once. And so she came. And she loved it. I could have kissed the members I was so happy and proud of how well they cared for her at church (okay, I couldn't have kissed them and wouldn't really wanted to kiss them, but you get what I mean). They were awesome.

 

For those of you wondering how my new companion is, I'm happy to report that Sister George is fantastic. Last Monday we were out finding on our way to dinner and then ended up finding a new investigator instead of eating dinner. I apologized that she was probably really hungry, but she smiled and said, "That's fine! Finding a new investigator is better than eating dinner any day!" I knew from that point on that we'd work hard together and see a lot of success. We're trying to get her to a point where she can train next transfer, so we'll need your prayers. I'm confident that she'll be great - yesterday she felt a prompting to ask one of our investigators if they wanted a priesthood blessing and it turned out to be a great spiritual experience.

 

We've still been doing more service lately, and it's been so awesome. Ya Ting's little sister (the one who was terrified of the missionaries) prayed on her own this past week at her lesson! So amazing. We're definitely seeing progress there. We also went to an orphanage for disabled children this past week and I gave a special violin performance. It's been so rewarding to use the talents God's given me to help His children here.

 

Time is running short but I wanted to share a quick insight on grace that I heard this past week. Christ's grace is like a mom paying for piano lessons. The piano lessons are a free gift from Mom that she has paid for. We don't pay for the lessons - Mom does. Even when we practice, we don't "pay" for the lessons - our practicing is a way that we show Mom that we're grateful for the gift she's given us. And that's what we do when we follow Jesus Christ. Nothing we can do can "pay the price" for our sins - we've sinned and we need Him to rescue us. But we live a Christlike life because it is our way of showing Christ that we love Him and are profoundly grateful for His wonderful Gift. We live a Christlike life to show that we accept His Gift. Anyway, you all probably got this already, but for me it was a lightbulb moment. I love Jesus Christ and I love that He is a God of mercy and of grace. I need it - every single day of my life.

 

Anyway, I'm loving life and I'm loving all of you! Make this week a great one!

 

Love,

Sister Winters

 

Sister Winters - March 18, 2013

Top o' the morning to ya! And happy St. Patrick's Day! ...Just in case you were interested, no, they do not celebrate that here in Taiwan. Even the missionaries don't - I wore a nice long green skirt to commemorate the occasion, but the other missionaries: nothing. Well, they were wearing clothes, just not green ones. Anyway, I didn't quite live up the occasion as much as I normally do, but I was happy in a green skirt. And I hope you've all been happy as you've had fellow St. Patrickers out in the USA.

 

This week has been a newsy one! First things first, I have a new companion! Sister George from St. George - fun, right? She was Sister O'Brien's MTC companion, so I already creepily knew all about her even before she became my companion. She's a hard worker and an obedient missionary and we've already seen miracles together - it's going to be a great last transfer. Oh! One more thing - she was trained in Taidong, of all places, and was able to tell me about two more people that I taught there who are now baptized. Life is good.

 

Speaking of Taidong, I've got great news: one of my recent converts will be able to go through the temple before I leave! She asked me to help her - I'm not sure if that means I'm her actual usher (we'll see about the whole Chinese thing), but I get to go through the temple with her on April 19th before I go home. I originally was supposed to leave on April 20th, which means I wouldn't have been able to go with her. But because the mission schedule changed with the MTC, I now get to go. I know that that is one of the many reasons that God lengthened my time here on island.

 

Another person that's moved up with Sister George into the district is none other than Elder Michael Slawson, who (if you remember) was my friend in my freshman year at BYU, then moved into my district in Taidong, and now moved up to the district here. Fate is a funny friend - we keep joking that when we both have our own families and are in our mid-forties or something that we'll randomly move into the same ward or something. I'll keep you posted.

 

Sister O'Brien and I made sure to love life before she moved - her last day with me was actually her birthday, so I made the most of that. Just in case you were interested, it is very hard to pull off a surprise party for someone that you're around 24/7. But I managed it, with the help of one of our members. She actually was surprised, which was delightful. And then of course eating Thai food for dinner made life even more delightful. All in all a very good day. :)

 

Okay, I've got a great story this week. So there's this member in Shilin named Donna who wants to go on a mission this year... but who hasn't been coming to church lately. Not good. We've been wanting to visit her for a while, but the only problem is that her house is on the very top of this huge mountain in our area. And she hasn't been answering our calls, so it seemed like visiting her was our only option. We knew she didn't work on Saturdays and actually had a big chunk of time on Saturday afternoon.... so we went up the mountain! Even after riding up to the top on a bus, and then changing buses to ride another one even further into the mountain, we still had a little distance to go on foot. I, of course, was sort of freaking out that we were spending so much time on only one person, but I kept repeating "leaving the 99 and going after the one" in my head over and over again. On our way up to Donna's house we came across a hiking party, led by a man with long hair and a very deep voice - perfect mountain man. They were actually going in the same direction as we were, and they invited us to join them. So we walked and talked with them for a while, but they were walking kind of slowly, so we decided it would be better to try and move on ahead. Well, surprise surprise, we still couldn't find the address and the mountain man caught up to us again. He was so nice and decided to accompany us on our quest to find Donna. His help really did come in handy, since he had an iPhone and Taiyu-speaking abilities, which were both things that we lacked. He used the iPhone (and directions in Taiyu) to find the house... and then used some more Taiyu to talk to Donna's grandpa when she wasn't there. Then he helped us arrange for Donna to pick us up at the top of the street. As we hiked back up to the top of the road, he came across a tree with some fruit and said, "You can eat the fruit of this tree. Here, try some." He picked one and ate it, so we did as well. He said, "This tree is a rare form of guava tree that's indigenous to the mountain climate - the fruit's not quite ripe yet, but still has a satisfying sour flavor." So cool. Then when we were waiting at the top of the street he pulled out some oranges that he'd picked on the mountain earlier that day - they were delicious. As we tried to stammer our thanks, he kept trying to make it seem like it was nothing. We shared a little about who we were, what we were doing, and what kind of message we were sharing. He in turn told us that he was a retired Chinese teacher who now serves as a guide for a bunch of different mountains. He said that "when [he's] not doing anything, [he's] on the mountain." I want to be like him when I grow up.

 

Oh, most important part of that story - Donna did not come to pick us up at the top of the street, but she was so touched that we would go all the way to the mountain to try and see her that she came to church yesterday. SUCCESS!

 

This week we met a girl named Jingle (yes, as in "jingle bells"). Sister O'Brien and I were contacting, and then I felt like we should go and talk to this girl on a scooter. But she was talking on the phone - not a super-good condition to talk to someone. When Sister O'Brien pointed that out, I said that we could still try and walk up slowly and hope that she'd be done talking on the phone by the time we got there, and Sister O'Brien said, "like now! She's done now! Go go go!" And so we did. And we talked to her. And she set up. Her lesson was fine (we had a few crazy things happen with the members that were there, but that's another story), but nothing really special happened until the end. She said that she's already Christian, and normally would not talk to other Christian churches to find out about what they believe. But when she saw us on the day we contacted her, she felt like she should hang up her phone so she could talk to us. And then when I tried to set up a time, she said that she asked God in her heart, "Do you really want me to do this?" and she felt like she should. And then when I called her the day before her appointment to confirm, she said the same thing happened. "So," she said, "I already know that what you're saying is what God wants for me. I already know that it's good." Talk about cool, right? I loved hearing that, and feeling like we were a direct answer to her prayer.

 

Speaking of answers to prayer, I've had a few more experiences lately where I've been an answer to someone's prayer. It's humbling and powerful. I really do think that that's one of my favorite things about being a missionary - really feeling that you're a tool in the Lord's hands as you answer prayers. I think the best part is that I can keep trying my best to do that (and get better at doing that) every day of my life, and not only for a year and a half. I really do love this work. It is marvelous and life-changing. Please keep praying for our investigators and for me. I love you all! Have a fantastic week.

 

Love,

Sister Winters

Sister Winters - March 11, 2013 "…And Which One is the Fattest?"

Dear family,

 

Good morning and welcome to another week of my life! It's been great, as usual. Let me tell you about it:

 

So first and foremost, lately for service I've been teaching a few music lessons. Half-price if members bring a friend! Just kidding, they're free. :) It's been a good way for me to show my love for the members and help them. I think it will also bring in some awesome missionary opportunities. There's a member who's sister has been TERRIFIED of meeting the missionaries. But she went to a baptismal service the other day, met us, and then decided that we weren't scary when I taught her how to play my violin a little bit. She said she wants to learn piano and I offered to teach her a little bit. Well apparently since that time she's been asking her sister non-stop when she can see the missionaries again and learn piano. I'm hoping that as she becomes more familiar with the Church and what we do (maybe starting and ending our piano lessons with a prayer?), she'll be more prepared to accept the Gospel. Woohoo for service!

 

Oh, speaking of Zoya (that member I was just talking about), she served me this past week by teaching me a little Taiyu. "Taiyu" is "Taiwanese," or the mother tongue of the Taiwanese people. Unfortunately, it doesn't really have a written form - it just is passed down from generation to generation. It's based off of Mandarin so if you're really familiar with Taiyu you can kind of guess the Mandarin words you don't know based off of syllables.... but I haven't gotten there yet. Anyway, I was on the subway with Zoya and she was very patiently teaching me useful phrases like "I'm a missionary!", "How are you today?", "Have you eaten yet?" (the traditional greeting here in Taiwan - love it), etc. It was really fun. And really hard to remember (further proof that my Chinese abilities are all God's help). Anyway, I got to use them this week! I was calling a number that the elders gave us and the lady wasn't understanding anything. Finally I started using my very basic Taiyu to talk to her. I asked her if she understood Chinese and she said, "Tiabo, tiabo" ("I don't understand, I don't understand"). So I hung up, turned to my companion who was looking at me with a dazed expression and said, "She doesn't understand Chinese." Then I heard a laugh next to me and realized that the high school student sitting next to me had just heard (and understood) everything that was going on. I asked her if she spoke Taiyu and started chatting with her. Before we left I asked if she had interest in English class - she said that she didn't. I said hopefully, "Well, what about the Gospel of Jesus Christ?" She looked at me for a second and said, "Yeah, alright." So she set up! And all because of a wrong number of someone who tiabo'd!

 

We also had a lot of miracles when we did temple tours this past Friday. One of them was seriously one of the coolest miracles I've seen on my mission. I was on exchanges with Sister Ochoa (our new temple sister), and we had some time to find. So we went to say a prayer to start our finding. Sister Ochoa asked what we wanted to achieve in the hour that we had to find people to teach. I told her that we hadn't found any new investigators all week, so I hoped that we could find someone who lived in Tianmu or Shilin. Keep in mind that Tianmu and Shilin are about a half an hour away, so the chances of finding someone by the temple who lives in Shilin are very slim. But we said "the prayer of faith," and left the chapel full of fire to find. So... we talked to everyone. And met some people who were interested... and a lot of people who weren't as interested. :) And then we had about fifteen minutes left and I felt like we should cross the street to talk to this lady on the other side who was coming down the sidewalk. When talking to her she first said, "I'm not interested!" But then stopped to listen to us. After about thirty seconds she said, "Actually, I've been to your church before." Apparently her aunt is a member and she still remembers going to church with her, even though it was probably 40 or so years ago. We kept talking to her and she agreed to let us say a prayer - right afterwards she asked, "So why is your church different from other churches?" We asked her how much time she had - if she had 10 minutes, we could give her a tour of the chapel right next to the temple. She said, "Oh no, I really am busy." And then talked to us for another ten minutes or so. :) And then she said her own prayer at the end! It was great. After our lesson, we tried to set her up for another time to do a tour, and she said, "Oh, I live far away... it wouldn't be convenient." I asked (with bated breath) where she lived and she said, "I live in Shilin." It was like Sister Ochoa and I had had an electric shock. I got her phone number and she agreed that I could call her to set up a time and then bore my testimony that I knew that God wanted us to meet her and help her accept the Gospel. Then she went on her merry way and Sister Ochoa and I walked away with shocked expressions still etched on our faces. God had answered our prayers! Even with such a small thing, He was still willing to listen and help us.

 

Another much smaller but still great miracle happened later that night when the elders brought in a Swiss woman and her Taiwanese friend to take a tour. We taught them about the Restoration (neither of them had much of a religious background) - in English, which was hard for both of us. We were getting to the First Vision and I started praying, "Please, Heavenly Father - I need to be able to recite the First Vision in English, which I'm definitely not accustomed to. And I need to do it smoothly so that these people can feel the Spirit. Please help me." Well, it worked! Everything came to my mind perfectly and the tour went very well. I think they both left edified and interested to learn more. Mission accomplished.

 

As far as other miracles go, we've had some great ones with our own investigators in Shilin and Tianmu. Probably the biggest ones this week were with Oprah. As you all know, we met her a couple of weeks ago and she's shown a great interest in the Gospel. Originally we had set her date for April 27 (the normal 8-week period between meeting the missionaries and the baptism), but after we did that we felt like it was way too long. Plus we'd set a goal for having baptisms in March. And we needed to achieve it! So we decided to act on our goal and invite Oprah to move up her date to March 30. She was willing! She loves church and the feelings she has when she's there, when she prays, and when she reads the scriptures. Yesterday she shared an experience about how she was on her scooter, going to the church when she realized she was out of gas. But she didn't want to be late for church, and she couldn't see any gas stations close by. So she said, "I was praying so hard in my heart, saying, 'Heavenly Father, I want to go to church and I don't want to run out of gas. I want to be there on time. Please help me.'" And she had enough gas! She knows that God answered her prayers. I love Oprah!

 

I also love Rena (pronounced "Layna" - apparently it's Japanese?), another one of our investigators. Yesterday was her first time at church - I was worried it was going to be her only time at church, since her acceptance of our invite to go to church was "I guess I can give it a try this once." Of course with an enthusiastic response like that, I started praying that Rena would like church and would feel the Spirit. Well, she came, and in her words, "when the speakers started after the sacrament, I just couldn't stop crying - I was so touched. I don't know why." I know why - Heavenly Father answered my prayers. She wants to come to church every week now.

 

I think the fact that these two investigators like church is even more of a miracle when I think about how weird Sunday School was for both wards. One of them was a super-deep discussion about exaltation and whether or not we thought it was super-hard to become like God, and the other one had to do with prophets. Actually the one on prophets was really good - there were just a few weird parts. We opened up Gospel Principles to the page with all 16 modern-day prophets and then the teacher started asking, "Which one is the youngest?" "Which one is the oldest?" "Which one has the longest beard?" "Which one is the skinniest?" And then... "Which one is the fattest?"

 

ONLY IN TAIWAN.

 

Truth: I'm scared to death that I'm going to come home, see someone I knew before my mission, and then say something like, "Wow, you've gotten fatter since I last saw you." Can you see why? Anyway, after the fat question and then commenting on how Joseph Smith was the most handsome of all of the prophets, we moved on to spiritual things and everything was good again.

 

Dajia, life is GOOD! I love being a missionary. I love all of you. Have a wonderful week!

 

Love,

Sister Winters