So Many Sweet Blessings at Christmastime!!!

 We were so blessed this week. Here are a few of the amazing blessings we received:)

1-  We got fed at an all you can eat buffet by one of the members in the Zhubei 1 ward. It was such a blessing. I felt so loved. :)

2-  Our Ward Mission leader is amazing and got us all presents! He is displaying all of them in this picture.  The Lord is blessing us so much here. He is aware of us and our needs. Of course my gift was the lion slippers:) Perfect!!!

3-  This was one of the most awesome things of the week. We went to visit Zhen baba (he's one of my all time favorite people. I can't understand him. But I love him. hahaa :) ) Last time we visited them, I had mentioned to Zhen mama about how I wanted to learn Taiyu (Taiwanese) and she thought that was so great! So for Christmas she gave me a book of Taiyu words!!! Wha?! They are such a special family :)

4-  I bought my first poncho from Family mart! And... it ripped... right in the bum. haha :) It's a rite of passage in our mission to purchase a rain poncho:)

5- I received packages from my family, Grandpa & Grandma Giles & from the Grobergs!  I felt so loved:)

6- We had our Christmas Zone Conference:)

7-  This week we also had some really powerful lessons.

Chen JM. We had this lesson on Christmas and it was awesome!  We were able to give her a Book of Mormon with our family picture in it. Wu JM was a little worried that she would be weirded out... but we went for it anyway! haha. When she opened the Book of Mormon, she gasped and got the biggest smile on her face. I testified to her that families are eternal and that this was my eternal family. She loved it! She is really awesome and we're super excited to keep on working with her :)

Pong JM. She came to church again! Man. We love her! She has 2 little kids who are 2 and 4 years old. When she came into the chapel, she couldn't see us but I made eye contact with her little girl and she smiled and ran up to me and said Gu Jiemei! It was such a sweet tender mercy from the Lord to be recognized by this little girl. Sometimes you feel very lonely in another country where you can't understand or speak very well, but it was so sweet to sit with this little girl in sacrament meeting and feel of her love and feel of Christ's love for her. 

This is a card we made for Pong JM. The blue writing is mine:) Yay. Chinese characters.  I'm learning.  

Ke DX. Ke DX is a recent convert and he's been struggling a little bit. We decided we would watch 17 miracles with him. It was such a great experience for me. The movie was in English! haha with Chinese subtitles of course. It really helped me put into perspective why I love this gospel and what it really means to me! After the movie, I felt impressed that I needed to testify to everyone there of their importance. They literally are pioneers. The gospel has not been in Taiwan very long, but these Saints that I was with knew about Jesus Christ and His plan for them. What a blessing! And what a responsibility. It was a very cool moment. 

Cho Dx. Cho DX came to church! He loves the church's activities. He's really come out of his shell this week! It was so fun to watch him play games with the rest of the members there in FHE. He's progressing! It's been so cool to watch and I can't wait to see what the future holds for him.

This church is true. There really is no better place to be than on a mission. Christmas time was a little hard this year because I wasn't with my family or friends, but I know that I'm where the Lord needs me to be. That was a big blessing. I love this gospel. 

Thank you for everything. It's been an amazing journey so far and I can't wait to see what else is in store :) 

ALL IS WELL IN ISRAEL!

Gu Jiemei

PAX PER IUSTITIAM!