May 3, 2010‏

Dear Family and Friends!

Wow, I cannot believe it has already been an entire week! Time is flying by so fast! Ah, make it slow down, please!

This week was another week filled with miracles. On Tuesday I had a new and very different English-boarding experience. I told you earlier that in Danshui we walked around a public square to English board and people came to us. Well, here there really are no public squares, so English boarding has a completely different meaning. One of the Elders in our district stands on a street corner with a huge yellow board advertising and the rest of us run out into the street when the light is green and hand our flyers to people on scooters or knock on peoples windows until they open them so we can tell them about English Class. My companion even talked to a bus for a little bit before the light turned! It was crazy. I kind of prefer the Danshui experience, but this one was definitely an adventure!

On Wednesday we had English Class and it was a great experience. Sister Mac Isaac and I teach the children's class, and it was really fun! She is great at entertaining the kids while still keeping them under control. Before she came on her mission she taught English in China, so she is right at home in that classroom, and it really shows! It was a great experience.

Thursday was probably my favorite day of the week. We rode our bikes out to a part of our area that was a little bit further away, which I loved! We spent most of the time visiting members and investigators, and riding our bikes between their houses. It was like one happy experience followed by another! I loved it! Also, I have a funny story about one of the places we stopped by. We visited a member to invite her to stake conference next week, and she invited us in. She proceeded to feed us lemon and vinegar drink and to punch my companion's behind! What?!

Ok, now for a little explanation - the vinegar and lemon drink is something that people in Taiwan really like a lot. As for me, well, definitely not my favorite. It tastes like lemon. And vinegar. Neither of those are on the top of my list of drinkable things, and mixed together they are not any better! And punching my companion's behind - here in Taiwan when muscles in the back are sore (and for missionaries riding bikes, that is often) they punch all the muscles in the behind and legs to make them loosen up and feel better. Still, in was a hilarious experience for me!

That evening we had an amazing miracle! We were headed back into our apartment complex when we saw a car with a Bumper sticker from the church, so we knew it was a member. We walked over to say hello, and it turned out being an inactive member form the Danshui area! He said he has been inactive for ten years. We talked to him for a bit and then he looked at my companions name and said, "Hey, I once knew an elder with your same name - Qu." She said, "really? Because that is my brother." She proceeded to pull a picture of her brother out of her bag and the man said, "Yes, that is Him!" Then he saw my name and said, "And when he was here, his companion's name was Ke!" We marveled for a minute at the miracles of the Lord, and we asked him what his desire for his young daughter was. He said he wants her to marry a returned missionary. We convinced him to read the Book of Mormon and get in touch with the Elders in his area. It was really amazing! Talk about a situation set up by God. It really affirmed to me that God is guiding this work - from the beginning! God cares so much for all of his children and knows exactly what each person needs.

Now, for a little bit of explanation. My companion's family are not members, and are very anti Mormon. When she joined the church, her family disowned her. A family in her ward practically adopted her, and she calls them her mom and brothers and sisters. So the Elder that the man knew was the oldest son in this family. My companion really gave up a lot for God, and it really is touching. I have a lot to learn from her example about sacrifice and service.

On Saturday we went over to the You family's home for family home evening, and it was fantastic! It was a ward event, and there was so much food that out of the thirty or so people there we only ate about half of it! Also, they gave a spiritual thought and had a game, which was great! I want to tell you a little bit about the game because it is a funny little story. one person stands in the middle and is blindfolded. They choose an animal and spin around in a circle and point at someone and that person has to make the animal sound, and then the blindfolded person has to guess who it is. Now imagine me in a room full of people who I do not know their names, and even if I did know their names I probably couldn't pronounce them. Also, I had no idea what animal sound to make when they landed on me. So of course, when one of the men landed on me, I tried my best to guess which sound to make, and he guessed it was me! Then I had to be the blindfolded person! Ah, I was horrified! Still, it was fun. When I had to guess who it was, I just guessed people's shirt color and eventually I got it right! It was a fun experience, and everyone was really nice and encouraging.

Church was an awesome adventure! We cover three wards here and luckily all of them meet in the same building. Unluckily, that means we are in church from 8:30am-6:00pm! Wow, talk about a long day! Still, it was great to meet the members and get to know people a little bit. I think I am really beginning to understand people. When I don't understand at least I know how to say, "Could you say that again, please?" Everyone is pretty nice here at helping me out, and I can feel myself improving little by little every day! It is great!

As for our investigators, I have met two really awesome people with baptismal dates - Wang Jiemei and Fan Yiwen. Wang Jiemei is a mom, and she is so great! She loves the gospel and seems to really understand how important it is to be baptized! She and her kids will all be baptized later this transfer, and I am really excited! Fan Yiwen in nineteen years old and is going to be baptized in two weeks. She is awesome! She talks really, really fast, so most of the time I really don't understand when she is saying, but every time we teach her a commandment she says she is willing to obey. She also has a testimony of God and Jesus and is just so great! I am really excited she is going to be baptized!

My companion and I are doing great. As I said earlier, it is her first time being a senior companion, and so far so good. She is really passionate about being a "Preach my Gospel Missionary," and I swear she knows the book inside out. I can't even count the amount of times I have her her say, "In Preach my Gospel..." or "Preach my Gospel says..." It is hilarious and inspiring at the same time. I can feel some more miracles coming soon because of it!

Also, I just had to add this picture. This is our scale. I think it provides the foolproof weight loss plan. :)

Time is short, but I love you all very much! Keep writing, it is great to hear form you!

Love,

Sister Collyer