Xin Zhu
Da Jia hao!!
Hello everybody!
Well I am finally here in Taiwan! How crazy is that! I wake up every morning and have to remind myself that I am actually here in Taiwan. I am loving it! I have been assigned to Xin Zhu! So you get on the MT( subway) in Taipei go on two Mt's then get on the train for an hour. Literally you see it go from city to country. I was on the train thinking are we there yet because it just kept on going and going. It is really pretty I am loving it. It is a good mix of country and suburb. I will be taking lots of pictures and sending them home soon.
So the flight over here was so long! They put all us missionaries together. So no chance to talk with people. It was fun to sit all together because it was the last time we would all be together. We played games, slept and studied Chinese and scriptures. Our layovers were so short! The longest was an hour and that was in Tokyo so we had to go through customs! We arrived in Taiwan at 9:50. We got our stuff and walked out and there was my mission president and his AP's holding a huge sign for us! It was so cool. We got pictures taken I am assuming you got them? Then we came home and went to bed. The next day we were up at 6:30 to go to Chaing Kai Shek. The elders ran and sister Anderson and i walked with the 2 temple sisters. They told us a little about him and how people here love him and honor him. We then went and got breakfast then home to shower.
I then went on the temple tour. It was so cool. At the end they had a watch a movie called believe which was made by our mission a year ago. It was really cool. Sister Anderson and I both cried. It just made me so excited to finally be here! Then I had an interview with the mission president. He is great and I am going to love working with him. His wife is great. Such a Southern girl with a lot of sass.
In the afternoon we had meetings after meetings. In our last meeting we went in the room with all the trainers. It was crazy to think that one of them would be my trainer. We then had a meeting with them. Then after dinner we went out and tracted! I got paired up randomly with sister Cinsey. The first girl I talked to we got her number and she said she wanted to meet with us again! It was crazy because I only understood half of what came out of her mouth but I could feel the spirit.
The next day we had transfer meeting. That was so much fun! They have it in the gym so we can have fun and laugh. It was fun because there was 14 of us for new missionaries! You then introduce yourself and then find out who your trainer is. I got paired with Sister Cinsey. I am super happy. She is a perfect fit for me. Then after the transfer we had another meeting with trainer and trainees. After that we ate then went to our areas.
Ok so first things my area is the windiest and people bike ride the most. Lucky me! Now the best part there are 3 companionships in our district; 2 sets of elders and 1 set of sisters. All the elders cover one ward. My companion and I cover 3 wards. This makes Sunday super busy! Zhu Yi starts at 8:50 and Xiang Shen starts at 9:20 and Zhu San starts at 1:30. The first two wards overlap so my companion and I go on splits.
Funny funny story. So my companion told me to go to primary then gospel principles with our investigators. So in primary we have two girls whose mom wants them to be baptized. We are hesitant because they are going through a really hard time. The mom and dad just went through a divorce but their marriage was not healthy at all. These girls are emotionally damaged from what they have seen so we do not want to be baptized before they are ready.
Back to the story. I went to primary with the two girls then left at what time I was told to go to gospel principle. (In gospel principles it is all men and me and my investigator.) I go down to the room thinking I am late. I see only men and think that they had already started and my investigator was running late. My companion and I go sit down. All of a sudden my companion is talking with the teacher then she turns to me and is like we need to go. She then told me that was priesthood!! Oh no I just went in and sat in on priesthood. My bad. I got a really good laugh at it. The elders that we work with in that ward were like first Sunday is always the hardest. I was like yeah and do it in Chinese. That was a good first impression.
It is sad because the wards are small. There are 400 on the ward list but only about 80 active. Inactivity is a huge problem here. We are planning on working with less actives a lot. In Relief Society there was only 10-14 women.
I bore my testimony in Zhu San. I couldn't believe how smooth it went. The gift of tongues is real that is all I can say.
Well time is almost up.
I know that this is where God wants me to be. There are so many people here that need the gospel. I feel the hastening of the work and am so happy I can play a small part in this huge work. I love this gospel and know that every good thing in my life that has happened is because of it. This gospel means the world to me. I know that families can be together forever. I know that God is aware of each of us. I know he is watching out for and protecting you and I despite we are oceans apart. I am on this small island, but I have never seen God's hand in my life more. He is protecting me. Drivers here are crazy. But the Lord is watching out for his missionaries. I believe that with all my heart! I love you all and wish I had more time to tell you all the tender mercies of the Lord in these past 4 days! Trust me they happen hourly. People will talk to me just because I look like them. I have lost tract of how many times people have asked me if I am Taiwanese. One member was surprised I am Chinese. She told me you have eaten to much American food you look American. That problem will be taken care of in the next 15 months.
Well loves and kisses
Sister Latimer
Lei Jie Mei
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