Taking it to Taiwan: BIG NEWS:)

Sometimes in Taiwan I see things that I never thought I would see:) For example, this member has a pet camel. haha

Andrea Busath came to visit Sister Wu this last week. She knew her when she was first baptized. She sent this picture to me(Mom Giles) and said that Maddie's Chinese is incredible for only being there one transfer:) GO MADDIE!!!

Doing some service:)

Dear friends, family, loved ones, and anyone else who reads this blog :)

Some big news,

-WE ARE GETTING FACEBOOK. It's official, I will be a Facebook missionary. So what this means is that my old account will have to be de-activated and I will have a new account that will only have mission purposes. I can only have friends in my area of missionary work. It will be a public account and people will be able to see what I'm doing. We can post pictures on there and inspirational messages (in Chinese) and communicate with our investigators and members. We are supposed to use Facebook every day. We are absolutely NOT allowed to be friends with, or communicate with anyone from home or not in our area. So ya there's that! :) Exciting and terrifying right? We should be starting this next week.

Cho Dx: CHO DIXIONG WILL BE BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY! I can hardly contain my excitement. Here's a brief overview of Cho Dixiong's story...

On my very first Sunday in Taiwan I was earnestly following my companion (and trying to figure out what on earth was going on) when I saw Cho Dixiong on the side of the road and felt like we should stop and talk to him. But I had no way to tell my companion and she was already pulling over to the side of the road for something. Luckily, the Spirit touched us both and she also had the feeling to pull over and talk to Cho Dixiong! :) So we went over to him and taught him right there on the side of the busy Zhubei street. He said his very first prayer and said that it had a very special feeling. He agreed to meet with us again.

Our first lesson was so... awkward. haha I think he felt really uncomfortable and just didn't know what was going on and he had a really hard time answering our questions. Our second lesson was pretty much the same. I honestly didn't think much would come of this... but little did I know. Slowly, our lessons began to change. He brought his Book of Mormon to our lessons. He started to pray every day on his own. He read the Book of Mormon daily and likened the scriptures to himself. He started to understand the Atonement. He came to church. Little by little, I started to see changes in him. He started to smile more. He would answer our questions in his own words. He started inviting his friends to come to activities and learn about the gospel. He started making friends in the ward. He really looked for ways to serve others at church.

He had his baptismal interview on Sunday morning and he passed! He will be getting baptized this Saturday and become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He will receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost and take the first step to returning to the presence of his Heavenly Father.

WOW!! I have been so blessed to see him through this whole process. Cho Dixiong has strengthened my testimony so much of the ability that this gospel has to change lives! The Atonement is so real and so precious. Let us all remember that in our day to day lives. Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to become like Him. The church is so true.

I love you all :) Thank you for all of the support, prayers, love, emails, and letters. I've been so incredibly blessed and strengthened by all of you.

All my love,

Gu Jiemei