Taidong to Taipei is Like Going From PG to NYC:)

Our new bishop invited us over for dinner at his restaurant when he heard I was leaving. He insisted that I eat chicken foot. Guess what?  It was really good!!! haha.

Here's what it looked like before I ate it:)

SAYING GOODBYE IS ONE OF THE HARDEST THINGS A MISSIONARY HAS TO DO:( I LOVE THE PEOPLE OF TAIDONG. THEY WILL ALWAYS HAVE A PIECE OF MY HEART

The sweet Liang Family!!!

My last visit with the Lin Family

Saying goodbye to Chen Zhuo 

All the Taidong Sisters!!!

My last picture with Zhang JM. She was my first friend in our branch in Taidong. She was my companion every Friday before Sister Johnson came. She's one of the most amazing members I've ever worked with and I will never forget her :)

My last picture with Hou HZ before I left Taidong!

Saying goodbye to my boyfriend:) For some reason he really likes me. haha

Sister Walker braided my hair this week!  It was awesome:)

Dear Family and Friends,

A few things from this week:

1- So in our mission we do this thing called Babysitting on the first night that the new missionaries arrive
in Taiwan.... 

All of the trainers are randomly assigned to a trainee and then you go out on the streets of Taipei to find! It was so fun and took me right back to my first day. I got to go out with Sister Bayne. (baine?) She was so sweet and willing to put herself out there. I really admire all of the new missionaries. I think they're so courageous! It's awesome to be a part of this mission. 

We saw many miracles! Not one of the least of which was running into a family full of members! They asked us where we were from and once we got to talking we realized that their oldest daughter had actually served with one of our member's in Zhubei! Then their other daughter was preparing to go on a mission! It was a sweet tender mercy for me to see members in this big unfamiliar land of Taipei :) haha

Sister Bayne and I with this family of members:)

2- My new companion is Sister Christina Fenlaw she is from Sandy, Utah. She is awesome!!! We are in Xinan.... I literally have broken into hysterical laughter about that every day since we've been here. It is the EXACT opposite of Taidong. I went from the least populated area to one of the MOST populated. We are in the very center of Taipei. So we are re-opening an area that was formerly had by Elders. So... kind of whitewashing? We are serving in the same ward that the APs are in. Also the same ward that Wu JM was in right before she got made temple sister. So far Wu JM has already served in all of my areas :) haha  Taipei is like New York City and Taidong is like... a small town in Kansas. Everyone knows everyone in Taidong and most people don't know their neighbors here in Taipei. Everything is very american here and very Taiwanese down in Taidong. It's a BIG change:) haha.

Sister Fenlaw and I!! Hot, sweaty, tired and dirty after our first day together:)

Elder Bellingham from my MTC district is also training right now! So here we are with our cute companions:)

3- Here's a cool miracle from this week...

So last night we had 30 minutes to find. It was with faith that we set the goal of 3 lessons and 4 copies of the BOM. We pulled over to the street that my companion had selected and as we opened our eyes after our prayer there was absolutely no one there... it was really so strange. haha but we started walking. We didn't see immediate results. We got rejected a lot. I was starting to worry,  but we just kept finding. And do you know what happened? We had 3 lessons. and we placed 4 copies of the Book of Mormon!

There was one couple who told us that they really didn't need the Book of Mormon in their life. I then testified that I know that even though our lives are going good now, there will be trials and challenges. I told them that I hope that when their day of trial does come that they will know that they can rely on the Book of Mormon to help them. THey accepted!

We were then able to give 2 copies of the Book of Mormon to two young women walking on the street. One of them was Christian and as she left she put her hands on our shoulders and prayed for us. It was very sweet.

The third copy of the Book of Mormon we gave to a woman who originally had told us she was running late and didn't want to talk to us. But we testified of the Book of Mormon and then we told her that God answers our prayers through it. She was all of a sudden very interested. She stopped and we were able to have a lesson with her. She asked God a question in prayer and then opened up the Book of Mormon randomly to Alma 58:30... So we learned that that doesn't always work... but she laughed! and took the Book! haha

 30 Yea, and it came to pass that the armies of the Lamanites did flee out of all this quarter of the land. But behold, they have carried with them many women and children out of the land.

I know that God loves his kids :) I know that he listens to our prayers and is going to help us :) I love the people of Taidong and will miss them so much. I'm grateful for Sister Walker and the things she taught me. I look forward to whatever the Lord has in store for me in Taipei:)

Thanks for all the love and support!!!

Love,

Gu Jiemei

Dirty feet and a fabulous frisbee. 

So far one of my very favorite parts of living here in Taipei is that we play frisbee in the mornings with our zone! But we play on this ridiculously muddy field so we are always so gross when we come home :) haha it's a blast!