August 9, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello again from paradise! I really love it here in Taidong with Sister Lin. Things couldn't get much better. Well, I guess if our investigators would come to sacrament meeting, that would be better, but other than that things are fantastic!

This week was particularly exciting. I went up to Hualian twice this week - once for Zone Conference and another time for companion exchanges. It takes about a 3 hour train ride each way to get to Hualian, so each time we go it a a really long new adventure! The train ride view is absolutely stunning, so I really love it.

I don't know if I already told you, but I am the only non-Taiwanese Sister missionary on this part of the island. The other set of Sisters live in Hualian and their English is worse than my companions! I am resigned to the fact that at least for the next long while I won't be speaking much English at all. If my English grammar gets bad I am sorry! Just know that my Chinese must be getting better. :) Your prayers are always appreciated!

This week I went on Exchanges up in Hualian with Sister Wu. She is the only member in her family and they oppose her being on a mission. I really admire all of the missionaries who have given up so much to come on a mission. Sister Wu is a great missionary! And Hualian is a fun place to be. Ironically, It felt HUGE! As in has ton's of people. Compared to Taidong anyways. It seems funny to me how used to Taidong I already am. Just before Taidong I came from one of the most populated cities in the world, and after only three weeks a town smaller than La Crescenta already seems huge! I love Taidong. :)

On the more adventurous side, the actual exchanging part of the exchange was kind of crazy! Here is how it goes - The trains from Hualian and Taidong meet up in Yuli for exactly 2 minutes. Basically, one companion stands in the train doorway while the other companion leaps off the train and runs to the other train before it takes off. It is crazy! Well, this time my companion's train was delayed, so I had to get off and we missed our train back to Taidong. The next train doesn't take off till over an hour later! So we were stuck in Yuli forever! Luckily, Yuli is absolutely gorgeous! And my companion is so easy going. It is so great to be with someone who doesn't sweat the small stuff. We eventually made it home, but on the second train we didn't have seats, so we just sat on the ground of train. It was quite the adventure!

This week also had a really unexpected and happy surprise! Some of the members form my ward up in Taibei came down to Taidong for a vacation. They came to church on Sunday and I was so happy to see them! One of our new members in Taibei - Xiaolan - came too. It was so great to see her! I love her. She is going to make and amazing missionary one day.

This week I came across a scripture that I really like. In Doctrine and Covenants 105:14 God says "I will fight your battles." I was really touched by this scripture. I know that when our battles get too much for us to face, God will fight them for us. I have felt his help and support too many times to count, and I am so grateful for it. This gospel is true! God is leading this church!

I love you all and hope that all is well!

Love,

Sister Collyer

Note from Rebecca: Sorry I haven't posted the past few weeks, for some reason I couldn't open the emails. Now I have it figured out and hopefully there won't be any more problems.