August 23, 2010

Dear Friends and Family,

Time is particularly short today, so sorry if this letter is a little on the brief side!

We seriously saw MIRACLES this week! Honestly, I feel like every day here in Taidong with Sister Lin is a huge miracle and blessing. I love it here.

First off, we met with a ton of new really golden people this week. First, a Girl named Lan Wanling. Sister Lin pulled her over on a motor scooter. She is 23 and just graduated from college and moved into the area, and we met with her once and she already attended a church activity and church and she loves it all and the ward loves her. I love missionary work! Then there is a woman named Wendy who met the senior missionaries who referred her to us and she said she knows the church must be true because they had a light and we have it too. Her and her husband and child attended a ward activity and the branch members loved it! Wow! Then there is a family that we tracked into - Sister Hu and her two small children. They came to church despite the fact that it was POURING rain and they don't have a car. They got their Aunt to take them. It was awesome!

Today was also really great! WE went to a place called BaXianDong - Eight caves. It is a beautiful mountain right along the coast up past ChengGong with eight caves! We only had time to visit six of the caves, but it was really awesome! I love Taiwan! I especially love Taidong! This week is move calls and I really, REALLY hope Sister Lin and I stay together here. I have learned so much from her! I love her so much! I know whatever happens it is what God wants, but I really hope He wants us to stay together here. :)

I love you all and hope all is well!

Love,

Sister Collyer

August 15, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was AMAZING! Ok, I know I say that every week, but that is because it is true every week!

Last Monday we went up in the mountains with Brother Lin and the members that came down for the weekend to barbecue. It was beautiful! I feel like I was dropped into a little piece of paradise here in Taidong. It was really great - we sat by the river and built a fire and cooked a TON of meat over it and we forgot chop sticks so Brother Lin cut down pieces of young bamboo and we used them as chopsticks and it was beautiful and it wasn't too hot and it was perfect! I am so grateful for Brother Lin and the members that came down from Taipei. It was truly an experience I will never forget.

Then we seriously saw miracles this week, and the biggest miracle is the Xu family. Last week a mom and two children came into church after it had already ended and asked if they could attend. We said of course, but it was already over so set up a time to meet with them. When we visited them, we met the rest of the family - FIVE kids and Xu Baba (the dad). The youngest is seven years old. We met with them on Monday and it was great! They all prayed with us, then we set up a time to meet with them on Friday. We called on Thursday to confirm and the mom said, "But we are in the hospital. Three of the kids have pneumonia." We asked if we could visit them there, and Friday we took the long trip across the street from our apartment to the hospital. :)

We met with them and they were so excited to see us and sing with us and hear stories of Jesus. The two younger kids said that they read and pray together every day and we gave the daughter a hymn book because she loves to sing and play the piano. It is great! We went back Saturday and Sunday also to visit them and they are the most amazing family ever. They are all so humble. This week we mostly got to sit down with one daughter and one son, and they are seriously great. Every day before we leave we ask them what we learned and they say things like, "We are all like the lost lamb - and when Jesus finds us he can hug and comfort us and we can feel warm and happy." I have never heard such sincere and wonderful prayers as those two little children offer. I love them. They call Sister Lin and I their Aunties. I love it - it makes me feel like I have a real family right here in Taiwan. I love them!

I love you all and hope that all is well!

Love,

Sister Collyer

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.

August 2, 2010‏

Dear Friends and Family,

Hello again! It is me, the Sister Missionary who had been banished to the far end of the mission never to return to the crazy city life of Taipei again...at least I hope so! I love it here! Before I forget, I want to start off by telling some things I find funny in Chinese...

First off, if you are going to say the number 20, you better get the tones right, or else you are going to tell someone you have earwax. Second, there is a particular kind of really tasty noodle, and the rough English translation is "Goat meat snot noodle." I love Chinese!

Things here continue to go great. We continue to do the work of the Lord, and it is fantastic! Our investigators are doing great. Not all 13 from last week are still willing to meet with us, but that is ok because the ones that are still around are absolutely amazing! Which brings me to a point I want to make...Talk to your friends about the church! The best investigators we have (all of which are working towards baptism) came from their friends talking to them about the church. It makes a huge difference! We can spend all the time we have in a week finding new people and even contacting names that others have given us, but in the end have no results to show for it. But when others are talking to their friends about the church, THOSE are the real success stories. PLEASE HELP US MISSIONARIES OUT! We love to teach people, but nothing happens in missionary work until we actually have someone to teach. And the best ones to teach are ones who have been initially contacted by members. Hands down. Yeah, just share the happy message about the restored gospel. There is nothing greater in the world.

This week was a great one. We went up to GuanShan, which is about a half hour train ride away, to visit one of our awesome investigators. She is 13 years old and she really wants to join the church but her dad doesn't want her traveling that far every week for church. Ah! We are working with them to overcome this challenge. On the positive side, the train ride up to GuanShan is absolutely gorgeous! I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life. Taiwan=Heaven. I love it!

WE also ate this GIGANTIC fruit. Boluomi. Seriously, this thing is huge, and it STINKS! And it is so, sticky that when you touch it the goop it leaves on your hand seriously resembles chewing gum. But wow, it is tasty! Tastes like fresh melon. Yum!

This week I had an interesting experience. When we ride home at night if we come from behind our apartment we have to take a back path. IT is EXTREMELY dark there. Even my headlight on my light is not enough to penetrate the darkness. This week was the first time we had to take the back path, and I am not gonna lie, I was a little scared. But I could see my companion's tail light up ahead of me, and I knew that she knew the way home, so I just kept riding. I had no idea where we were going, and I couldn't even see the road ahead of me, but I kept following the dim glow of Sister Lin's tail light. We made it home safely.

This little experience reminded me of how important living prophets are. The world we live in is really a scary place. It is dark and full of temptation and wickedness, and yet we must go through it. WE don't always know where we are going or which is the correct path to take. But that is why we need a living prophet. He knows the path because God tells it to him. WE must have faith that as we follow his light, we will make it safely home. That doesn't mean we can see and understand everything. WE are still going to walk through darkness. But as we focus on following the living prophet and his words, trusting that he is receiving revelation from God and that he knows the path we need to take, we will make it safely home.

I am so grateful for a modern day prophet who leads us today! I know that the Prophet of the Lord, Thomas S. Monson, truly receives revelation from God and that through his Guidance we can return to live with our Father in Heaven again. What a great blessing God has given us!

I love you all and hope that you have a great week!

Love,

Sister Collyer

July 26, 2010‏

Dear Friends and Family,

First off, before I forget, I want you all to google mormonmissionarybiz. It is a business report about our mission in Taiwan! And when you see the gigantic life-sized picture of Jesus on the wall of the apartment, that is MY apartment! At least it was last transfer. Ah, this mission is the best. Also, in the latest liahona - the one with the crazy tree of life on the front, there is an article that takes place in Shilin - which is part of my first area in Danshui. Wow!

Anyways, there is seriously no way I could possibly describe all the amazing and miraculous things that happened this week in one email, but I will do my best!

I just want to start by saying how much I absolutely LOVE my companion, Sister Lin. She is fantastic! Doing the work with her is so much fun! We are always laughing and having a good time, and of course bringing people unto Christ. :) I am so happy to have her as a companion! I feel so blessed!

Anyways, on with the miracles. The line comes to mind "I have a feeling we are not in Kansas anymore." Taidong is so different from Taibei! But despite differences, even for this area we still saw unbelievable miracles. This week we found a total of 13 new investigators! 13!!! What?!! In my last areas we were lucky to find 1 or 2! God is seriously guiding the work because there is no way we did anything to help this happen. The story behind our finding each new investigator is as crazy as the next! I will just share a couple.

First off, one day both of our afternoon appointments canceled so we found ourselves with a lot of time on our hands. Just as we hung up the phone with the person who cancelled, a woman rode up on her scooter. Xie MaMa was someone who had met Sister Lin last transfer but never set up to meet. We asked her if she had time right then and she said yes, so we started heading for the church to sit down. Then, on our way there she said, "It would actually be better if we met at that Family Mart. Can you wait there for me for ten minutes while I grab something from home?" So we did. In those 10 minutes we met a man named Zeng sitting at a table who really had no interest at first. But then Xie MaMa came back and right after the opening prayer the man joined us and they both loved it and came to church together! Woa!

Then we found two more new investigators because one of our current investigators called and said, "I have two friends right now over at my house that want to meet you." So we went, and both of the friends set baptismal dates right then and there! It was a miracle!

Then one night we were riding off to go knock doors in a different area and we passed by a family barbecue. We passed by, but then sister Lin said, "I think we should turn around and talk to those people outside." So we turned around and it turns out one of their friends is a member and they already knew about Joseph Smith and had plans to attend church on Sunday with their friend!!! Wow! I am so grateful for Sister Lin and her example of following the spirit.

Last one that I have time to share - we were riding over to visit a less active in our branch when we saw a mother sitting outside watching her three young boys. We didn't stop then, but the member was not home, so on or way back, we stopped to talk to the mom. She is awesome! We have already met with her three times and she is reading the Book of Mormon and praying and really has a lot of faith in the hope that Christ brings!

This week I have felt particularly grateful and humbled to be a part of these miracles. I honestly never thought it was possible. My faith was so small. But Elder Bednar once said something to the effect of, "Do your best, and then get out of the way!" Gods ways are truly above our own. He has a plan, and if we are doing our best we can be blessed to be a part of it. It reminds me of a scripture in 2 Nephi 25:23, "It is by grace we are saved, after all we can do." I know that "all we can do" is so pathetically small compared to the grace that God can give us. We seriously did not do anything particularly special this week - just did the best we could to be good missionaries. But despite our weaknesses, God blessed us. God's plan is GREAT!!!! So much greater that anyone could ever imagine!

This Gospel is so true! I am so grateful to have it in my life! I love you all and hope you can each continue to read and pray and develop your own testimonies of Jesus Christ. And when you do develop your own Testimony, for crying out loud get out there and SHARE IT! There is no greater joy than seeing someone else's life lit by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Love,

Sister Collyer

PS - This is a picture of one of the nicer places that we get to contact in. Man, this place is full of crusty homes and tons of humble people! I love it!

July 19, 2010‏

Dear Friends and family,

Hello from...TAIDONG! Yes, I have moved again, and this one was a really, really big majorly huge surprise. In my last presidents interview he told me to, "unpack my bags and get comfortable because you are staying here for a long time." Well, I guess God had other plans. So far I am the only missionary I know of that has moved every single transfer. Most sister missionaries only have about three areas their whole mission, and here I am on my fourth already!

It was really, REALLY hard to leave Xinan and Wanda wards. we really just started to get things really picked up. We are having a baptism next week that I now won't get to see, and we met a GOLDEN family of four people who are so excited about the gospel it blows my mind! Them on top of our other investigators, members, district and everyone else I have come to love really made it hard to leave. Also, they closed our area. Eight sisters are going home but only one came in this transfer, so they had to close four areas, and mine was one of them. I am so sad! But I know that God has a hand in all that happens in the mission, and the Elders that are in the wards are fantastic and I know they will take care of or investigators and baptism just fine.

I attached a picture of my district in Taipei. I am really going to miss them a lot! We were the only district with two sets of sisters, and I really came to love them a lot. I almost felt like I had three companions! Sister Beus and Sister Chen are amazing missionaries, and amazing friends. I will really miss them along with the elders.

On the plus side, I am in Taidong! look it up on the Internet and you will see exactly why I am so excited about it - it is the farthest south city in out mission right along the east coast, and it is beautiful! It is the only area far enough from Taibei in the mission that we had to take a plane to get here! And it is known as one of the most beautiful places on the island. It is true - I don't think I have ever been anywhere more beautiful in my life! I feel so blessed.

Basically, if you could imagine a place that is the exact opposite of Taibei, it is Taidong. Taibei is so crowded that you can't take two steps without running into five hundred people. Basically the best contacting place in the world. Taidong has way fewer people - seriously. It is like a hick town compared to Taibei! There is no air pollution here and everything is so, so green and amazing. I just love it! We cover two branches down here, and I just am so excited I get this opportunity. Most of the missionaries were pretty jealous when they found out I was coming here, and now I know why. It is beautiful!

Also, my new companion is Taiwanese! She is fantastic. Her name is Sister Lin and she seems great. Her English is really non-existent, so it is time to really pray for the gift of tongues! So far things are great. We have a few appointments tonight that should be great. I am super excited to have a native companion! It is likely that I will have mostly native companions from now on because most of the rest of the American sisters are going home next transfer. Bring it on!

Last p-day we went to the zoo with one of our new members- Lin YiXiu. It was so much fun! I loved it! I have a CD of pictures I will send you.

I love you all so much!

Love,

Sister Collyer

July 5, 2010

Dear Friends and Family,

Happy 4th of July! It really doesn't mean anything here, but I dreamed of fireworks and hot dogs last night, so all was fantastic.

This week has been quite fantastic! A couple really funny experiences happened to me that I really want to share.

First, the WORM! We were writing a note to an investigator and we were standing outside her house when suddenly something fell out of the sky and bounced off the paper we were writing on and hit the ground. We looked down to see what on earth fell, and it was a worm! And it was tied in a knot! I have no idea where it fell from - there was nothing above us at all. A bird must have accidentally dropped it, but it was crazy! It spent the next five minutes trying to untie itself. I don't really know why this worm made such a big impression on me, but it did. :) So that was the WORM.

Next, we were meeting with one of our recent converts and sharing scriptures. We shared 2 Nephi 4: 20-21 where Nephi is saying that God has been his support and has filled him with love "even unto the consuming of my flesh." Our new member was really confused. Then it occurred to us all - the Chinese translation for "consuming" is "burning." She was like, "why would you want your flesh to burn!?" We had a good laugh about it, and since the word "consuming" is hard to define even in English, let alone trying to make some kind of translation in Chinese, we moved on to another scripture. I though it was hilarious. :)

Last night we had a new member fireside for all of Taibei, so I got to see a ton of people from my first area and it was so much fun! I loved it! I saw my old companion Sister Ackerson and a couple people that were with me in the MTC and it was so great to see some of the members from Danshui again. I love firesides! Apparently they are every month here, so I will get to see a lot of them. :)

Well, unfortunately I do not have a lot of time this week, but I truly love you all so much! I have such a strong testimony that when we try to do what is right, God will magnify our efforts. When things get hard, that is when God can truly show his power, so keep going strong! The Lord is always with us. He is not standing around to mock us when we fall, but rather he is standing by us to lift us, guide us, and help us. I know this is true because I have seen it so many times already. This gospel - the Gospel of Jesus Christ - is truly a gospel of love and hope. God lives! Christ is our Savior! Prophets are back!

Love,

Sister Collyer

The pictures are: first, our investigator Eve. She is awesome! And then our investigator Venus. She is great too! and, of course, the WORM!