Happy New Year!
Well it's been a crazy couple of days and will be crazy until next Monday. We have a ging ke ( dinner invite) for every lunch and dinner from last Friday to next Sunday!! I have never felt so full in my whole life! I also have some good stories to share from this week.
On Tuesday I went on exchanges! I went to Zhu bei. It was really fun but I did miss my Xin zhu.
Wednesday came home I was happy to return back to my birth place.( missionary term of first area) Taught English class which is by far my favorite thing to do. I teach the little kids which is the best!! I love it. We just sing songs and play games in English.
After English class we meet with our investigator Vicky. She is super awesome. Her only problem is she is not keeping the Sabbath day holy. We are working with her on that. I have faith she will be baptized with in these next two transfers. She said the opening prayer and I could sense how much she need this gospel. I have realized how much a pray can tell you about someone. It really shows you what is on their mind. She really needs this gospel. She tells us she can feel how much this gospel is helping her improve the quality of her life. :)
Friday night we went to the Huang's for dinner. They feed us some pizza. That was a nice American treat. Then we had traditional food. I don't know what most of it was. I don't ask. I just put it in my mouth and chew. They were a fun family to visit. They are an older couple but there kids were in town. One of their kids lives in Taichung. He asked me do you know a sister Bao jie Mei( jie mei is sister). I was like yes I roomed with her at the MTC. He then told me that he is the ward mission leader and that she is in his ward. I was so happy to hear. She is doing great and is being really bold down there. Elder Zhang was also there. We are the same generation. Him and I wrote notes to give to him to give Bao jie mei. Then he took a picture of the two of us to show her. It was great!! I was smiling the whole way home.
Saturday by far was the most interesting day. We went with the Chen family out to a hot pot restaurant. You order your meat and then they bring it to you. So we are all looking at the menu which has translations. For seafood it said live sea food. As missionaries we thought that must be a translation mistake. The hostess thought so too. He ordered 3 of those and a few other meats. The seafood comes out on this pretty boat and I am excited. I look at the boat and think something is off. Then the shrimp wiggles!! Yes it is still alive that is what the living meant. My companion and I both jumped! The waiter was like this is a specialty. You just put it in your hot pot. I am thinking I have to grab one alive put it in my hot pot then eat it. For those of you wondering I do love shrimp. I am a huge shrimp fan. Every time it wiggled water splashed and me and I was scared the shrimp were going to hop out of the boat and attacked me. Luckily Elder Kattlemen took care of us sisters. He cooked it then gave it to us to eat. He even taught me how to de-shell a shrimp, head and all. Something I have learned I will be doing a lot here. The rest of that meal was great. I ate oysters which I loved. I also ate this flower thing. I have yet to find out what it is.
here's the deal at new year you can't have any food left. You got to finish it all!! No exceptions. So my companion and whatever elders we are eating with have a game plan. It's all about team work. My companion and I are good at this. We are helping the elders do this. They tend to be every man for himself.
Dinner was an experience. I don't know how to describe it. It was a 10 course meal!! I could not move afterwards and we had a 45 minute bike ride home.
Sunday was so much fun. The 3 wards that meet in our building combined and we just had an hour for sacrament meeting. After that my companion and I were bombarded because everyone wanted to see if we would come eat with them during guo nian. What a headache. We went to the Yang's house for luch. So good!! She had a lot of traditional food and I loved everything I ate. Again I don't know the name but I have pictures. :)
Dinner was with the Zheng family! They are adorable. He is in the bishopric. They have three kids under the age of 8. At their house I ate stinky tofu! Not to bad. I also had fish egg which kind of to me is like beef jerky. I had red bean soup with dragon eyes. Yes dragons do exist at least in Taiwan is what us and Elders Montalto and Zhang decided. The dragon eyes were really good.
Today we had lunch with the Huang family. It was so much fun. It really felt like a family atmosphere. I felt that I was at the Christensens house. Ate tons then just sat around and talked. I was smiling because it reminded me that this is what the gospel is all about families. They have 4 boys and they are funny. Two of them are in my English class so I can tease them.
In between all of these qing kes we have had lessons. Our eternal investigator Ding Jie mei set a date. February 24, 2012! I am so happy. It's really cool because I was inviting her to be baptized while my companion played with her kids. I could not understand 90 percent of what she said. I was praying for the gift of tongues but it did not come. I then felt the prompting of the spirit to just invite her. I then did something that is really bold. I told her that she needed to pray this week about whether or not she wants to be baptized then pick a date. We would meet with her next week if she picked a date great but if she felt that baptism was not for her then tell us. However, we could not keep meeting with her unless she was really exercising her faith. Yes this all came out of my mouth in Chinese! I was surprised at what I said.
Lai Jie mei is our other investigator who set a date. She is golden. We invited her then she said what day. We were like March 9 and she was like sounds good I do not have any other plans that day. She is so ready. Whatever we ask her to do she does. She loves the change the gospel is bringing to her life.
It is an amazing feeling to know that you are helping others come unto Christ. This is what missionary work is all about. Not about qing kes but spreading the gospel.
So now the story of my tag line.
The elders and us went to the Chen house in Xian Shen for lunch on Friday. Sister Chen is super classy. All the elders say she is gorgeous. So we are eating and like an American I leave my rice to the end. ( BIG NO NO IN TAIWAN!!) She turns to me and goes you did not eat enough food. My companion comes to my rescue and says sorry I have not trained her in the Taiwanese culture of eating rice along with the vegetables and meet. Sister Chen does know that I am adopted and everything. She then turns to me and says in Chinese.
Ni you Mei guo de mei li, ke shi you Taiwan de xiguan
(You have America’s beauty but need Taiwan's custom.)
All the women here tell me that I have America’s beauty. I don't know what that means. I just smile and say nali.
I miss you all! Having guo nian is great but it is sad not to be with you all and getting my hongbao. It is fun to see kids get it here. Their eyes light up.
The church is true! I know that God loves each and every one of his children. He is always reaching out to every person even if we don't feel that we are worth it. God wants us to rely on him during our good times but especially during our hard times. He wants to talk with us through prayer, but don't forget it is a two way conversation it is not like ordering take out. I know that he will comfort us when we feel that no one else is there. I know that the atonement is for each and every one of us. I know that Joseph Smith did see God and Jesus Christ. I know that Joseph Smith did restore Christ's church again on the earth. I know that you can pray and will receive an answer that the BOM is true.
I send all my love and best wishes!
It' s the start of a new year let's choose to make it a great one!
Love
Sister Latimer
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