Taking it to Taiwan: How Has God Shown You His Love This Week?

Out in the Taiwanese jungle:)

Our investigator Kuan looks like my cousin Chase and we teach him in English!

3 generations!!!

Dear family and friends,

HAPPY ALMOST 2 WEEKS UNTIL GENERAL CONFERENCE! :) That may be the most exciting thing coming up in my life. haha. Here is a little about my week:

1-We had an Outdoor Zone Conference which was amazing and so much fun. It's so fun to be with so many missionaries all the time! We were combined with another zone and so I got to see lots of friends that I haven't seen in a while :) So we all got on the buses for a while and then rode for about an hour or so to a mountain whose name I have forgotten and then we started our hike! We hiked to the base of the real climb and President gave us some training. Then we continued our hike to the top of this small mountain and once we got to the top, we got some training from our APs and Sister Jergensen. We also took a million pictures (naturally) and then headed back down to get more training from our Zone.

I learned a bunch from this training. But a really overarching theme was obedience. And casting our nets aside and really diving into this work. I think I've really been refined here in Xinan and I'm trying my best to consecrate myself to the work :) I've learned that obedience is how I show my love for God.

At the top of our mountain doing some zone training!

The Wanda district

2-We got many referrals this week. Most of our area is a college campus and so there are a lot of students moving up here for the new semester and we're hoping to have more college-student investigators in the next couple weeks.

Our most promising new investigator is a sweet 18 year-old named Lilly. She's actually been an investigator for a couple years but she just moved up to our area for school. Her mom is a member and she has a really big desire to be baptized. What's better? She might be able to get baptized on the 10th of October! Which... would be 10/10. AMAZING! :) Tender Mercy from the Lord for sure.

3-Today during studies I really just wanted to feel God's love. I had opened my Mom's package earlier, but I didn't know what was in the ziploc bag. I saw a BYU shirt, but I didn't know what the white one was. I felt prompted to open up the bag, and as I did, what did I see but a white v-neck t-shirt. It was literally Heaven sent. For those of you who don't know, T-shirts have always held a special place in my heart, but especially white v-neck t-shirts. They remind me of years on the soccer field in the heat and working hard and going out with friends and just... it took me right back to a place of comfort and safety. I'm so thankful for my Mom and a loving Heavenly Father :)

How has God shown you His love this week?

I love my white v-neck t-shirt!!!

4-So we contacted this dad at a park pretty near to our house and he was super awesome! But they live with his parents and they would be super upset if they had missionaries coming over. His son had also prayed with us and so I kneeled down and introduced the Book of Mormon to him. I showed him the pictures at the front and told him about some of the stories that are inside of the Book of Mormon. Initially Baba (the dad) accepted a Book of Mormon, but then right before he left he gave it back to us. We were pretty bummed. So we walked back towards our bikes and we noticed that this little Didi (little boy) just kept staring at us... (And he's the cutest) so we ran back over and asked if we could take a picture with him. After this picture was taken, this little boy reached over and grabbed the Book of Mormon right out of my hands. He didn't say anything to me or his Dad. But his Dad just looked at him, then looked at us, and said ok.

BOOK OF MORMON WIN!

He wanted this Book of Mormon!!

5- So a tradition that Sister Fenlaw and I have started in our apartment (which may or may not have been mentioned in a previous post) is called "the gift". What that means is that we make up an impromptu song and dance for any Sisters who come and stay in our apartment. It usually just includes their names and Sister Fenlaw and I looking ridiculous. But this week Sister Fenlaw and I were on exchanges! So Sister Branch and I came up with a song for Sister Fenlaw and Sister Aldous and Sister Fenlaw came up with a gift for me! It was a joyful night had by all. Also, the Giles clan will be happy to know that my rapping ability was given a chance to shine :)

Sister Branch and I keeping it real!!

I'm finding that I love Taipei. Honestly. It is a very beautiful city. It's so fun to ride your bike and weave in and out of cars and people and ride past the parks and get one solid whiff of fresh air :) haha

I love you all. I know this church is true.

Gu Jiemei