Missionary Christmas Choir and So Much More!

This is a classic Taiwanese picture:)

Exchanges with the lovely Tucheng sisters

I love my companion!!! Sister Wood is amazing and I am learning so much from her.

Dear Family and Friends,

The church is true!!!:)

Here are a few of our adventures this week:

1- Missionary Christmas Choir-  Mom asked about our missionary christmas choir. We are going all over Taipei actually! haha. So most of our weekend evenings are booked with performances. We've seen a lot of miracles from finding people to teach on the MRT on our way to practices:) 

Missionary Christmas Choir practice

2- Zone Conference-  Zone Conference was SOOO much fun. haha I just realized (again) that I like performing. And what's more fun than bearing testimony? Not much! Sister Wood and I finished our second Zone Conference of the day and we just were talking about how good we felt. So light and so clean! And I realized that it was because we had been bearing testimony of the Savior all day long and so our sins had been forgiven us! yay! haha :) We focused a lot on Believing and faith. We actually did a really cool silent activity and it brought the Spirit. (We naturally used the Christmas lights too) We had some questions written down on pieces of paper and then a picture from Christ's life and then we just walked them around the room so everyone could see and we had music in the background. It was very fun. I think it was a training I needed to give because I needed to internalize that part of faith. We need to BELIEVE!

Zone Conference

3-Li Dixiong our awesome investigator--LIN DIXIONG IS AWESOME! So on Saturday (or maybe Friday... I forget) I called him to see if we could come and give him the sacrament at his house (he's been very very weak and we can't even go visit him). He said no. I was shocked! Then as we continued to talk he explained that he really didn't want to inconvenience people to come and give him the sacrament. I told him it wouldn't inconvenience us (like 100 times) but he just wouldn't listen. So then finally (and honestly I should've started with this) I bore my testimony and told him that I knew God had commanded us to partake of the sacrament every week and that it wouldn't inconvenience us to help him fulfill a commitment to God. Then he was quiet for a long time and said that he would come to church by himself. And he came! He looked so incredibly tired, but he came. I know God was so proud of him. And so were we :) His baptism will be this Saturday.

4- Mom asked me to tell about one thing I've learned being a Sister Training Leader-- Oh gosh... I think the biggest thing I've learned is that it's more difficult than I imagined. haha I feel like I have to be on my guard 24/7 because we're always being watched. It's good! But it means i'm a lot more self-conscious of all my weaknesses. Sister Wood and I were actually talking just this morning about how we feel like this transfer has made us both feel very exposed to all of our weaknesses and flaws. But one of the biggest things I've learned on my mission is that it's ok to be imperfect. I finally admitted to myself a couple months ago that I am a perfectionist. I never believed that about myself. But now I know. And now I have to fix it. haha. I'm so thankful for the Atonement and that I can change and improve every day. I'm so thankful that I can repent when I fall short. I'm so thankful for forgiving people all around me who are willing to see me through Heavenly Father's eyes.

5-One last miracle this week:   When I was on exchanges about a week ago Sister Kitchens and I decided that we were going to go and find an investigator right before we did our exchange evaluation. We prayed and felt the Spirit with us. Then a small girl stepped out of our apartment complex. We found out her name was Sherry. She's 10 years old but talks like she's 30. We didn't get to have a lesson with her, but we got her number. It was kind of a funny contact and I didn't really understand why the Lord lead us there... but now I know :) Sherry is now on date for baptism on Christmas. Her parents have given their permission and she's already come to church. She's met at least 5 of our member mamas and they all love her. She's coming to English class and knows most of the missionaries. She joined our ward's choir and helped to put up the Christmas tree. She might be the best Christmas present I've ever gotten :) 

I love you all!!!

Gu Jiemei

Sister Wood and I have spent so much time here this week at meetings etc that we thought we should take a picture in front of the temple:)