Happy Birthday to me!!:D

Hello!

 

Thank you all for your wonderful Birthday wishes! It was a fabulous birthday that actually was not focused on me very much- which was kinda cool! We had a 3 hour planning seesion, then lessons, dinner at Subway, a slice of cake and that was it. Oh! I forgot the bithday cake pancakes that Sister Gibson made me with frosting as syrup. So yummy and smart! We don't have an oven so she just used the batter to make pancakes. So smart huh! I think a tradition might have just started!

 

This week was seemingly uneventful besides my birthday, Sister Gibson getting sick, and us finally having some investigators coming to church! On Sunday morning before our first ward we only had one investigator confirmed for church and she ended up cancelling. But the Lord came through for us and we ended up having 3 investigators that we weren't really planning on coming there! I love miracles!

 

This week we had a really cool first lesson with a He Jia Wen. It was the first time we met with her so we were going to do some beginning teaching phrases and then a simple first lesson overview. But as we were discussing God and life, we realized that she had some great questions that would easily be resolved by understanding the Plan of Salvation- so Sister Gibson and I made a quick decision to go ahead and teach her that instead. All throughout it she kept asking us more great questions but still it didn't "hook" her. Until we told her that in the Celestial Kingdom we can live with our families forever. She then told us that her mom passed away when she was 9 and she has always kinda wondered what exactly happened to her. Immediately the Spirit was so strong in the room as I was able to testify from my own experience the hope and comfort of knowing our parents are not lost from us forever brings. Her heart and reservations literally melted away as she let what we were telling her sink in. It seemed that her other concerns didn't matter nearly as much. She was genuinely interested in coming to church and being baptized, both of which she told us "we'll see" earlier. I am so grateful for the Plan of Happiness that Heavenly Father has created for me and for all of the other children out there that have lost their parents. There is a special connection and hope that I find in the Plan of Salvation knowing that even though I didn't have the chance to develop a relationship with my father on earth, I will one day have that opportunity. I love this gospel, this 'happy news'. I am so grateful I have the opportunity everyday to share it with those around me.

 

I love you all! I am excited to possibly talk to some of you next week. Be safe and remember who you are!

 

I love you more than all the delicious, fresh pineapple I am going to eat this week! YUM!!

 

Sister Amy Reece

Rain, rain, go away!

Dearest Family and Friends- Da jia hao!

The rain goes on and off like someone is playing with the hose in heaven. It wakes us up in the morning, then is completely sunny during studies, but as soon as we get on our bikes to head out it is pouring again. And then that just continues all day long. Which then leaves everything really humid and hot- almost like I am on a tropical island! :D I love it! I love being here in Tawain- it truly is an adventure everyday.

And boy did we have some adventures of the books this week! On Tuesday during our District Training Meeting all three of our companionships were so excited because we all had investigators set to get baptized in a combined ward baptismal service on Saturday afternoon- and us sisters actually had 2 investigators all ready to go. We were so excited and proud it just seemed too good to be true... and unfortunately it was! :( One of the set of Elders' caught their investigator smoking while driving through a super random place in their area on Thursday- which meant he was out. Down to three baptismal candidates. Then on Saturday morning we got a call from our Single's Branch investigator who told us she decided that she was actually not ready to get baptized. Sister Gibson and I both tried talking it through with her, but with doubting questions of her family she wasn't ready to make the commitment. We were then down from 4 invesitgators to 2. And because of the rain we Sisters were worried about our investigator Sister Lin actually showing up. I am happy to report though that SHE DID!!! That in and of itself was the first of many other miracles preceeding her actual baptism. I am not sure exactly why, but our President Bishop told us that he and his wife and their visiting family wanted to come attend our baptism. We didn't really think anything of it as we are close to the mission office and he likes to attend baptisms when he can. But aparently the Lord knew more than we all. After a beatiful musical number and talks we all made our way to the baptismal font where the Elders' Brother Wang was first baptized. Then it was Sister Lin's turn. Let me tell you a little about her real quick- because of a work related stroke she can't really use her left arm or leg and walks with a limp. She is such a trooper though. We knew that she was going to need special care to be baptized but we didn't really think through what that meant. The poor man that was trying to baptize her had never baptized anyone before and was trying so hard! But despite his best efforts each time she went down Sister Lin managed to swallow a ton of water but not get completely immersed in the water. She either couldn't hold on with only one hand, or her leg would unknowingly pop out of the water. After about 4 or 5 times President Bishop decided to come to the rescue. That man changed from his suit to a white jumpsuit quicker than Clark Kent changing into his Superman suit! In one try he was able to stratigically hold down her leg, completely support her body and push her into the water all in one swift movement. It was so wonderful! And through this all Sister Lin kept a smile on her face and was just trying so hard to make it work. We found out afterward that she is even scared of the water! She said that because she had swallowed down so much of the water that she was truly clean inside and out! That was definitely the happiest and most spiritual baptism I have ever attended- all in one!

I am so grateful that I have been able to help others come unto Christ. Although most of them have a very, very basic and simple testimony here at the start they are all willing to take that step of faith out of known and into the unknown. It was been an experience of a lifetime to be able to help someone start from ground zero and build a testimony. I know that the work that is being done my missionaries and members all across the world really does matter. These converts truly are making life-changing decisions that are putting them more in harmony with the Lord's will. But they are not the only ones that need to repent and change. We all do. No matter if we were just baptized, baptized years ago or never have been baptized we all have areas that we can improve one. "This life is the time to prepare to meet God." Whether we like it or not that is what we have been sent to this earth to do. How are you doing? You of course are not perfect, but are you doing better today than you were yesterday? last week? a year ago? I know that through the love of Jesus Christ we can change. I know this because I have felt and seen it in my own life. I know that Jesus Christ born in Bethleham truly is our Savior and our Redeemer. I know that He knows more than we ever can (Mosiah 4:9) and because of that knowledge He wants to help us through this life.

I love you all and am so grateful for you!

I love you more than all the water that sweet Sister Lin chocked down!

Sister Amy Reece

Pictures:

1. Our view from our apartment one night when it was down pouring. Beautiful, huh?

2. Lin Jiemei is the one in the baptismal clothes :D. The other lady is her member friend/coworker that referred her and basically taught her all of the lessons during their lunch brakes.

3. Her all clean- inside and out!

4. Happy Sister Lin getting her hair blow dryed after her baptism. I love her!

5. President and Sister Bishop and us. I am so grateful they were there!

I love Conference!

Hello to one and all!

 

This was a crazy busy week! It involved cleaning graves, General Conference and me moving, just to name a few things! Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time today to give many details on all of those fun events though. But here's a quick rundown.

 

I don't know if you remember me telling you last year about going and cleaning the graves. It's an actual natural holiday here in Taiwan where everyone goes back to their "hometown" and cleans their ancestors graves. For most of the country this also involves worshipping them, but we missionaries stick with just cleaning. :D This year our district went by ourselves to clean one of the local graveyards in Wu Feng. It was on the side of a hill and had a ton of people there. We were able to sucessfully clear off two graves as well as make friends with a couple of our fellow "workers". It is great service opportunity that I am pretty sure most missionaries in other parts of the world don't have an opportunity to participate in. As great as it is that so many people go at and show such respect to their ancestors, it breaks my heart that they have no idea about the Plan of Salvation. How blessed we are to know that their graves are just a resting place and not an end.

 

General Conference. Fabulous, as always! One of the greatest parts for me was that we had six investigators that went with us to listen to the Prophet's voice! Two of the girls came to all four sessions and loved it! Ya! As for the messages we heard they were all fabulous! I can't wait to contintue reviewing my notes and studying their messages. I absolutely love being able to have 8 hours of such enlightening and uplifting messages! My testimony that Christ's true church really has been restored was strengthened so much! I am so grateful for this Gospel and this Church and all the blessings they both have brought to me. If you didn't get a chance to watch all of the sessions I strongly urge you to, they were all fabulous!

 

And last but not least I moved. Yep. I got moved on my last move-call. And yes, I am super bummed. My last area was just starting to grow and flourish and see baptisms. But, I trust that the Lord has a plan bigger than mine and needs me here and out of Dali. On a happy note though I am actually still really close to my last area, next door really. And because of that President Bishop actually gave me permission to go back to Dali for Viann and Jenny's baptism this weekend. Ya! I love them and am so excited that they are actually getting baptized!

 

I know that this gospel is true and that the message we all have inside changes lives. In your own way "open your mouths" and share with others that Christ has once again Restored His complete Truth. I love you all so much! Be safe and CPR!!!

 

Sister Amy Reece

HEY!

Da gei he! 大家好!

 

There's some Taiwanese and Chinese for you! Wow, this was quite the week- unlike any I have ever had. We had fewer lessons with investigators and new members than we have had in a really long time, yet we broke my mission record for both investigators and recent converts at church. We had 8 investigators and 10 out of 14 recent converts! YA!! It was so cool. A lot of the times are lessons are quantity not quality, but this week we really focused on quality rather than quantity. We were able to find out the needs and concerns that have been on their minds, and they were prepared spirtually and physically for church. It was so cool when the ladies were introducing themselves in Relief Society and the Relief Society President mistook them for members visiting from other wards cause they fit in so well. I was such a "proud mom"! I think for the first time in a long time I am finally figuring out the secrets of missionary work. But you know what, they're not really "secrets"- it's all about focusing on the basic, simple doctrine as is found in Chapter 3 of Preach My Gospel. We've found that in the past I have taught "fluff" lessons a lot. We were still teaching doctrine, but it was taking a lot of visits before the investigators has actually heard the full PMG 1-4 lessons. And because of this my investigators for a long time haven't progressed toward baptism. I used to think that I was doing it "right" because I was- or I thought I was- focusing on the investigators needs. But as Sister Liston and I have been studying PMG Chapter 3 more in depth, we have learned that most all of their needs really can be solved when they know and understand the doctrine contained therein. I am here to bear witness that the creation of Preach My Gospel really was inspired by God. Each person has the same basic "needs" spiritually- it doesn't vary from one place to another. So wherever you are trying to "invite others to come unto Christ", take a little gander at PMG. It's awesome. Sister Liston and I are learning together- me things I feel I should have learned a long time ago, and Sister Liston things that are paving the way for a successful mission. I love it and am so grateful that I am being blessed to finally be learning the "secrets" of missionary work that aren't really "secrets" at all. We hope that this week we can still see as many people at church, but also more lessons taught. I love being a missionary! You really do learn something new everyday.

 

I think this will be the month that we baptize! We have been blessed with some awesome investigators that are so prepared. We pray daily that the Lord will not only bless them to repent and change, but bless us missionaries that we can do the same in order to better help them. This last week our President Bishop invited all of us missionaries to repent of whatever it is that is keeping us from being sanctified and consecrated servants of the Lord. . I know that as I was praying for forgiveness and strength this week the Lord was able to use me better to help move His work along. I have come to love repenting! I still have lots to change and improve, but I am so grateful that I can repent when I mess up. We all can! Elder Christofferson said in a Conference talk recently that repentance is a happy thing and there "should be a smile on our faces as we talk about it." Amen Elder Christofferson. Actually his last two conference talks are both on repenting and letting the Lord change us. Check them out- they're awesome!

 

Oh- have you all heard the hype of a one Jeremy Lin. I don't know if he is actually that big in the states, but EVERYONE in Taiwan is talking about him. In case you don't know him, he is an American-born Taiwanese guy that just recently got big playing for the New York Nicks basketball team. He is from an area close to me here. Apparently he is pretty hard-core Christian and is making this Buddhist based country of his interested in Christianity. One of our really golden, already prepared investigators we found this week told us one reason she wants to pray is because "she sees Jeremy do it before each of his games and he plays really well so it must work!" Thank you Jeremy for your great example! I love it!

 

p.s. I won't be emailing till Wednesday next week cause we are GOING TO THE TEMPLE!!! Ya! Finally- I feel like it has been forever, but really it hasn't. :D

 

I love you all so much! Thank you for your love and encouragement. I am so happy each week to hear that you are all safe and well. Please keep it that way! I know that this is Christ's true church on the earth. It really does change families and makes every day better. If you don't believe me, try it. CPR. Go to Church, Pray, and Read. It works.

 

Loves!

Sister Amy Reece

Fire Alarms and Bike Crashes

Hello my dearest family and friends!

 

No, my subject is not just a "cool phrase the kids are using these days", it is a five-word summary of my week. Yes. It has been an adventure since I last wrote. On Tuesday morning I was trying to warm some bread up in the microwave when before I knew it, it was completely up in flames. Yeah. To spare you all the details, it resulted in our entire complex being evacuted and five Taiwanese fire-fighters in my living room. The actual fire itself was small enough that I just blew it out with one big "huff", but there was lots of smoke. All is fine now, and a week later there is only a lingering smoke smell. :D

 

Now about the bike crash. That too was as a result of... well, me really. I was standing up and pedling when my foot slipped off my pedal. I tottered for a minute while trying to stop my bike. I failed though and ended up falling over and my bike falling on top of me. Again, all is okay except for a sore leg and shoulder and a gash on my bum. I don't feel like I was this much of a dunce before my mission. But in the last 16ish months I have had more little accidents than my whole life combined I feel like. I am very grateful though that they have all just been minor occurances. It is a testimony to me that the Lord really does protect His missionaries. Everything could have been serious but has turned out all right.  Oh, as I was ending the awkward phone-call with my Mission President telling him about the fire he said, "Well Sister Reece, do you have any more burning questions?" ha. ha. ha. He thinks he is so funny!  Apparently he was none for his "jokes" in the hospital where he worked before.  :D

 

Other than those two humbling events, this was a pretty good week. I learned a lot from my companions wonderful example. She is so great at just accepting my mess-ups and loving me anyway. She doesn't judge and never has an unkind look or word about anything. I am learning from her the importance of love. Both giving and receiving love. I feel like in my last six weeks with Sister Liston I have figured out so much about missionary work and being a good disciple of Christ that I never knew before. I think a lot of it has to do with the extra time that we have in the morning to study Preach My Gospel and the Scriptures (for her first 12 weeks we get 2 hours of companion sutdy instead of just one), but also a lot to do with our companionship. I love it! We're only halfway done with our time together and I can't wait to see what the next six weeks have in store for us.

 

This week we had a really great lesson with two of our investigators that we have been working with for awhile- Viann and Jenny. I don't know if I have ever mentioned them before, but they are great. They own a breakfast/brunch restaurant and because of that being open on Sunday haven't been able to come to church yet. A couple of weeks ago we commited them to keeping the Sabbath Day holy and they were willing to give it a try. After a couple weeks of prayer and discussion they have now commited to closing their store this Sunday and coming to church! A lot can change in a week though so we will be continually praying that they do end up coming. This week when we went to visit them with the Relief Society President we shared with them about the Law of Chastity. They had heard a little about it before but we hadn't actually "taught" it or commited them to living it. I was so grateful to have Sister Peng there with us testifying of the importance of chastity and families. Viann and Jenny are both 31, unmarried and have steady boyfriends. To them marriage and a family isn't something that they have ever really wanted. I hope that these two amazing women will come to understand the potential that they have as women and eventually as mothers. Both of these two big commandments are going to take Viann and Jenny's faith to live, but I know that once they start to see the blessings from living God's commandments, they won't want to turn back.

 

Yesterday at church we got stood up by most of our investigators that were "confirmed". That is the worst thing ever! But, on a happy note we had an investigator there that had never come before! She is a referral from a young women in the ward that we met with last week and then invited to church. I haven't had a teenage investigator for a while now. I love it! The young men/young women program in this ward is stronger than I have ever seen in Twaiwan! Yay!

 

Okay time is up for me and probably you too. :D Sorry to have taken so much of your day. I love you! I know that Christ lives and that our prayers really are heard. Even on the days when we may not feel like there is someone on the otherside, He is always there.

 

我愛你們!!

 

Sister Amy Reece

Hey!

Hello family and Friends!

 

Hello from Dali! Life is... going here in Dali. Unfortnately though we are not seeing as much progress as we wish we were. I still feel like I am doing lots of missionary things but not seeing the results. I hope the problem is not that is not that the links on my "missionary train" are not connected but rather this is just what the Lord has "set up" for me right now. I am not so sure though. We're getting a pretty good number of lessons each week, but it's not really showing with investigators coming to church and setting baptismal goals. So we are teaching lessons, but something is going wrong in that those we are teaching aren't showing real progress. Sister Liston and I have been discussing this and we think part of the problem is that we haven't done a very good job of helping our investigators and new members understand what real repentance is. This week as part of the First 12 Weeks (the new in-field training program we use) we studied the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As we did so I came to better understand how essential daily repentance is in all that we do- not just we as missionaries, but we as sons and daughters of God. We hope that as we focus more on helping those we teach truly repent we will begin to see real progress here in this area. I can feel in my heart that there are so many prepared souls around us each day. We just need to find and help them.

 

Yesterday we had a cool experience while visiting an investigator. This particular investigator likes to talk a lot and makes it hard for us to get solid doctrine in during our visits. But yesterday she said, "Sister Liston, you don't talk very much. I want to hear you speak Chinese." That opened a perfect opportunity for Sister Liston to bear a beautiful testimony about the Plan of Salvation and our Savior Jesus Christ. And the investigator listened intently the whole time. The investigator wanting to hear Sister Liston speak was a small, almost unnoticeable miracle. We have been wanting to really be able to share the Plan of Salvation but haven't been able to get her to listen much. But I know that yesterday she was touched by the simple, yet strong testimony my companion gave. It was awesome.

 

All in all I love this area and everything about it. And I love being a missionary for Jesus Christ. There really is no cooler thing than telling everyone about our Savior. There is a lot a still don't understand, but there also is a lot I do know. I know that families really can live together forever. But we don't have to wait till we die to experience "heaven". That can be created right now, in our homes on earth. Where ever we live we can have more happiness than we thought possible. If you're not sure how, ask your local missionaries or your friends LDS neighbor. I know they'll all be more than happy to help you better understand.

 

I love you all! Continue in the faith!

 

Sister Amy Reece

hello!!

Everyone-

 

I don't even know where to start this week. After reading the record-breaking 23 emails in my inbox I am not sure what to say. Thank you so much for all your emails and letters! Even if I don't address your letter personal I am very grateful for it.

 

First, Kevin and Reece are such an adorable little pair! These are going to be some treasured times for them. So fun!

 

Second, the family reunion sounds so fun. I don't know if knowing the plans is going to make it harder or easier to concentrate. Now I don't have to guess as to what we're doing, so maybe it will be for the good. But I think it would be best if you go ahead and leave me out of the loop on the rest of the logistical stuff and more details. I know I can't be of much help now, but I'll be ready to work when I get home so save a job or two for me. Oh and Kim- is there a China Town in the DC area? If there is I would love to take the family to try some authentic Chinese food.

 

Third, I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!! It is the best thing ever. We get to see miracles daily, and a ton of them. I love it. This last week, as I said we had our power week. Our power week was powerful in some areas and not so powerful in others. Some of our key-indicators increased while others decreased. One thing that we loved this week was the number of other-lessons taught. We were trying so hard to be looking for people to teach everywhere we went- and the Lord put them there. We were able to have some really cool lessons and meet some really great people. The unfortunate part though is that almost all of them either don't live in our area, were men or weren't interested in meeting with us again. So while we taught a lot of lessons it didn't reflect in a lot of new investigators. But we are still really grateful that we were able to find some investigators for some other missionaries. We joked a little bit this week about how we "planted lots of seeds". I like planting, but harvesting is a lot more fun! This area hasn't seen female baptisms in quite awhile and we all want one so badly. We're trying hard but still feel like we're trying to swim upstream a little bit. We have some really great people that keep progressing then degressing but still aren't progressing to baptism. Help! But we have the faith and determination to work hard. We know the prepared people are here.

 

Sister Liston is doing wonderful! Her confidence in finding and teaching is growing daily. She doesn't see it but I frequently try to help her step back and look. I can see her growing spiritually, emotionally and physically each day. It's so fun to watch! We're both doing great health wise and in all ways actually.

 

I've recently been studying the Bible and am gaining a stronger testimony, appreciation and understanding of it than ever before. It's been cool to see that as I have been gaining this added knowledge the Lord is giving me more and more opportunities to apply it in our teaching. I feel like we have more Christian investigators than I ever before have had. And even with the non-Christian investigators am I learning how to use the bible and the Book of Mormon to support each other. I love them and know that they both are the words of God for us to read, study, and apply in our lives today. Don't be like I was before and take them for granted. Gain your personal testimony of them. I was telling Sister Liston the other day how it has been so cool to learn how to use the scriptures to answer people's questions- both gospel questions and personal life questions. I didn't know how to do that before. I am so excited to take this (can I call it a skill?) blessing and use it to receive personal revelation in my life. It works! The answers are there, I promise!

 

A quick experience about that- yesterday we went and met with a mom that we had met at a convenience store a couple of weeks ago. I've kept her card with me during this time, but haven't really felt like it was time to call her. But on Saturday night I finally did it and she set up for us to meet with her on Sunday. When we got to their apartment it was obvious that this family is really struggling financially- there is little more than a couch and a tv in the front room. As we talked to this lady she started to weep as she told us of all the struggles and hardships she has been going through these last couple of years. Watching her cry and say she feels abandoned by her parents broke my heart. It was so wonderful though to read with her in Mosiah 24:13-15 and tell her that God really will, "ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage." I know that this scripture is a true promise to the people of the Book of Mormon, to our investigator, and to each on of us. The Lord is always there and willing to help us even when it feels like the rest of the world has left our side. Turn to Him- He's there. And help there's that don't know Him find Him.

 

Now that I have finished my novel for the week, I will wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day and be off. I love you!

 

Sister Amy Reece

 

p.s. this is a shout-out/request for some cute Church and/or American souveniors. The people here in Taiwan and specifically in WuFeng are SO amazing to me and I don't really have any way to show my appreciation. If anyone is able I would appreciate it more than I could explain if you would be willing to send me a couple small things I can share with these people to show my love and appreciation. Thank you in advance- and I'll swap you some Taiwanese souveniors for the Church/American stuff. :D Thanks!

I love being a missionary!

Sorry I have been getting on the computer really early the last couple of weeks. I can't make any guarantees that it won't be this early from now on though. It's kinda nice to get the emails writen first thing in the morning so we have the rest of the day to do our things. Okay, now that I've said all that- on to the news! 

 

Hello from Dali! Life is fabulous here with all sorts of miracles happening daily. This is an area unlike any other I have served in. I feel like the Lord is really preparing the hearts of so many women here to hear the gospel. Granted, we still don't have people lining up at the baptismal font, but we are seeing little miracles each day that are helping the work here move forward. I love it!

One really cool miracle happened on Friday evening. We had a lesson set up with a new investigator for that evening, but earlier in the afternoon she had called to say we couldn't meet with her because her family opposes (which actually has happened a lot recently). So while Sister Liston was doing some language study after dinner I was calling through the contact cards of people we have met on the street recently but didn't set up with. I asked one lady if we could go visit her the next day or the day after that and to my surprise she said, "I'm free right now." So we hoped on our little bikes and pedaled away to WuFeng. The lady, Hong Xiao Jie was sooo cool! She actually already had a Book of Mormon and had read to Mosiah 27! That's not even the end of the miracle yet. We invited her to come to church on Sunday but she said she had to go home to Jhang Hua to visist her mom so she couldn't come. Then, Sunday morning rolls around and guess who drove into the parking lot bright and early!?!? Yep, none other than our now Hong Jie Mei. She stayed for all three hours, was welcomed by the ward, and loved the peaceful feeling she had. It was so cool! I love being able to be a part of so many of the Lord's miracles.

Another couple really cool experiences happened this week as we planned, prepared, and went through with inviting our three most promising progressing investigators to be baptized on specific dates! Our zone leaders invited us to do this at CDTM on Thursday which gave us an extra boast to actually do it. I won't go in to all the details, but in the end 2 of the 3 accepted goals for the 3rd of March! The third one said she doesn't have enough faith to We're so excited! Now we have our work cut out for us to help all three actually enter the waters of baptism and prepare for an enduring conversion.

A down side of the week was when our investigator who is supposed to get baptized in two weeks didn't come to church- and as a result became a drop out baptism. That's the worst. Ya. We had confirmed her for church as well as the Relief Society President, but in the end she still didn't come. We were so disappointed because it wasn't work that kept her away from church. But, we and the ward are not giving up on her! She is so prepared and we love her so much. She is the Sister Huang who's 19-year-old daughter unexpectedly passed away a few years ago. She's so great!

 

This week is POWER WEEK! That means we don't get language study time at all during the week and all of our meals are eaten on the go. This allows us to have even more time finding, teaching, and rescueing! This is a mission-wide thing that we do every year after the Chinese new year to help get everyone all boosted up and ready to go! Each day has a special theme- Power Cleaning/Power FHE night, Power sit-down lessons, Power find new investigators, power lessons taught with investigators present, power recent convert/less-active member lessons, power talk to everyone day, and then power church day! So each day we'll focusing on getting whatever it is for that day. It's so fun! Do other missions do this as well? Do tell!

 

Now that I have written your eyes off I will go ahead and close. I love you all. And I love The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know that Jesus Christ is at the head of His Church leading and guiding us through His living Prophet. I know that the Book of Mormon and Holy Bible are the word of God. Study them and apply them in your life and you will see miracles. I promise you that because I am a living witness. I say all of these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

Love,

 

Sister Amy Reece

 

p.s. we went shopping last p-day and I ran into one of my recent converts from another area. Miracle! She is the one in the middle and her sister is on the end. Her name is Xuan Hui and I love her!

Happy Day from Taiwan!

Family and Friends! And any others that might read this!

 

Happy New Year! This was... an interesting week here in Wufeng and Dali. With various meetings, appointments with members and Guo Nian (Chinese New Year) it didn't feel like a very productive week. But, we still saw miracles and tried to work our hardest. Unfortunately we don't have a ton of time today- we're going into Taichung to have lunch with our zone. YUM!

 

We got stood up a lot this week. We also had a lot of our lessons call and say they couldn't meet because of family fandui(opposition). One day after both of our first lessons called and cancelled before we even left the door in the morning I got down on my knees and prayed for the Lord to lead our work that day and help us still be able to make the day productive. And it was! We didn't find any new investigators to replace the one's that fanged us (stood us up), but we did meet and teach some amazing people. One lady that we sat down with while we were using the bathroom at a 85*cafe happened to have met the Caotun Elders at the end of last year. The Elders gave her the Sisters information (which just so happened to be me at the time) and invited her to get in contact with us. But she never did. She did however, remember the feelings that she had when the Elders were teaching her. I know that God arrainged for Sister Liston and I to be at that resturant at the specific time so that we could share even more with her. I am also grateful that I listened to the prompting of the Holy Ghost to talk with her and her friend. In the end she didn't want to leave us with her information, but I know that one day she will. I love being a missionary!

 

As for my companion she is still amazing. I appreciate her so much. Like I said in her introduction at zone conference this last week, she is so great at listening to what the investigator is really saying instead of focusing on the words that are coming out of their mouth. I love it and learn from her daily. Right now we're trying to focus on helping her- and me for that matter- set goals. Our mission President wants to know what our goals for the year are. I'm not quite sure what kind of goals to set because half of my year will be in Taiwan, an half in America. Weird. I love setting goals now though- I'm not very good, but I understand and appreciate the value of good goal setting (see PMG page 146- there's an awesome quote about the importance of goal setting).

 

Anyway. I want everyone to know that I love being a missionary. I have found out on my mission how imperfect of a person I am. And I love it. This life is our time to prepare and if we don't know what we need to change and improve on, how are we supposed to be better prepared? I know that my power to change myself and change the lives of other's is little to nothing. It is all up to the Savior. He already knows what we all need and is just standing with open arms to help us. I know that the Savior lives. I know that He and Our Father in Heaven appeared to the boy Joseph Smith and restored pure truth to the earth once more. And it is that truth that keps me going.

 

I love you all so much! Until next week-

 

Sister Amy Reece

Hello Everyone 新年快樂!

Family and Friends!

 

Happy New Year! No, I am not behind the times. I am just in a country that celebrates the Chinese New Year and it's so cool! The Chinese New Year holiday season is a lot like the Christmas season in America. Everyone goes home to their "home towns", there's lots of shopping, school is out for a couple weeks and not many people want to meet with the missionaries. :D Okay, that's not fair, we have some really great people that are still meeting with us, but we have even more people that tell us to call them after the new year.

 

I had a request this week to tell some misison stories- "Funny ones, or sad ones, or super awesome spiritual ones". So I think today I will send one of each. Funny one... I don't know if this will actually be funny with the language difference but I will try. Training a new missionary that doesn't speak the language provides lots of funny moments- some that I can laugh at, some that I can't. But one good one that both Sister Liston and I laughed about happened one day while getting off our bikes. She started telling me how a lady that she was talking to on the street earlier was not very polite to her. In Chinese shopping is pronounced, "my dong she"- which litterally means "buy things". When Sister Liston asked the lady where she was going she heard the lady's response half in Enlgish, half in Chinese- "my things"- which Sister Liston took to mean, "It's personal, I'm not going to tell you. It's my things." She was very relieved when explained to her that "my" is also a Chinese word, and that lady was not being rude, but instead politely telling her where she was going. Okay, was that still funny, or just come out as a "you had to be there- and speak Chinese-" kinda thing? :D

 

Okay, sad story. This week Sister Liston and I had a chance to sit down with a recent convert of almost a year. She is a really nice college student that occaisionally comes to church. As we were talking with her we found out that her once strong testimony of the Savior, our Heavenly Father and this gospel has now dwindled to a, "maybe their true." She said that when she was baptized she was in a hard spot in her life- things were rough at home and she was searching for a sense of worth and belonging. Since that time a year ago she found the things she was looking for and as her life got better, she slowly started to forget where the blessings were coming from. Hearing stories like these break my heart. It is like seeing the "pride cycle" in real life. Fortunately though she is not to the "destruction" part yet, and she is willing to let us missionaries help her see that she needs God at all times- the good and the bad.

 

And last but not least- the spiritual story. This one involves an investigator that I abosultely love and may have told you about- Sister Huang. She is a mother of four kids that is not in her late 50's, early 60's. About six years ago her 19-year-old daughter passed away suddenly from a heart problem. This left the mom very turn up and confused. The first time we met with Sister Huang we shared with her Alma 40:11-12 and helped her understand where her daughter is. This week we went back to visit her twice. Each and everytime we go and visit her the Spirit is so strong and she is so receptive of all that we teach her. I know that this woman has been prepared for years- in large part by her daughter on the other side of the veil. Teaching her has helped me better understand that the veil between this world and the next is not very thick. Like it says in Alma 13:24, there are angels preparing the hearts of many.

 

I am so grateful that I have this opportunity to have so many various experiences. I absolutely love being a missionary and wouldn't trade this time for the world. As I watch Sister Liston just starting her mission, I think about where I was a year ago. I don't know if it is a change that others will see, but I know that I have been refined and tested. And I love it. If you are thinking of going on a mission, or should be and are not- DO IT! The Lord has so much prepared for you and needs your help. Do all you can to prepared and be worthy to go so that you can take part in this life changing adventure.

 

I love you all! Be safe and pray for the missionaries across the world.

 

Loves!

Sister Amy Reece

 

p.s. the pics are from our new years dinner last night with two families from the ward. It was so yummy! I am collecting recipes so expect a feast in a couple months! :D