"If The Lord Called Me To Do It, Then I Can Do It!"

We think we found the Garden of Eden this week:) Isn't it beautiful?

Well.... this week... where do I begin?!

We had interviews this week! It's always super awesome to meet and talk with President Day. It's just like talking with my Dad :) Which is a huge blessing for me. I can tell him anything and he really loves and cares about what I'm doing and how I'm feeling.

Combined district meeting with the AP's

At our District meeting, the Zone leaders gave us a little special training. It was absolutely incredible and I have to share about it. So they  shared the story of Peter telling Jesus Christ that he loved him 3 times. They then had us face our companions. The Senior companion was to first play the role of the Savior and the Junior companion was Peter. They gave us a few minutes to prepare and I really prayed hard that I would be able to do this and remember it. As I opened my eyes I saw Wu JM smiling at me. She then asked me if I loved her. I got the biggest smile on my face and said yes. The second time she asked me, she whispered my name and I couldn't hold back the tears. After she asked me the third time, she told me that she could really feel the Savior's love for me. She said that she had never seen a missionary like me before. She said that she had no worries about our ward being in my hands and that she knew I had power and I could do it. We cried and hugged. I will miss her :) I love her. She was supposed to be my companion for every reason. 

Me and one of my favorite English students, Ryan. He is one of the most adorable children ever!

We had our valentine's English class party! It was super funny and somewhat awkward. haha Our job was the photo booth. So we made mustaches/glasses and taped them to chopsticks that people could hold up to their faces. That was the night we found out for sure that Wu JM was leaving. I honestly believe that Wu JM prepared me so well for this mission. I don't feel anxious about anything. I know that I can do it. And if I can't do it then I'll make a mistake and the Lord will help me get back up and figure out what to do :) haha

One of my last pictures with Wu Jiemei!!! I have learned so much from her. She is amazing:)

So it was transfers. Luckily I was pretty prepared for Wu Jiemei to leave. I pretty much knew from the time I got here that she would be transferring after training. She is now happily serving in a Taipei zone as a Sister Training Leader :) President Day has also been telling us a lot that we don't have as many sisters as we need, so they'll be closing down some areas. We also kind of expected that Zhubei would get condensed. That seems to happen whenever they have a situation like this. But God still has his sense of humor and decides to throw lots of surprises my way :) haha When they announced my name at transfer meeting (they do this on a powerpoint and they have the whole district's picture and then they insert the new missionaries names and pictures) my area's name disappeared and I got sucked over into Zhubei 1st ward. Then Zhubei 1st ward disappeared and became Zhubei 1 and 2 together! So right now I'm in a trio and we are working 2 wards. It's kind of crazy. But having 3 people is super convenient at times! It's like having 6 hands 6 eyes 6 ears. POWER! We also have a lot of opportunities to split up and work with lots of different members of the ward. 

The Zhubei trio:) Me, Sister Hughes from Grantsville, UT, and Sister Wood from Springville, UT

This is a pretty big responsibility for me because basically I'll be taking over this ward and having Wu JM (sister wood) and Yu JM (sister hughes) help out and I was a little nervous going into it. I didn't know how the ward would react without me and Wu JM together. I wasn't sure how this Sunday would go. But the Lord opened my eyes and he opened the windows of Heaven. I've always been worried about my ability to develop relationships with members because of the language barrier, but I have always made a concentrated effort to talk to people. My words come out clunky and I say things wrong ALL the time, but I always try to talk with people. I hadn't really felt like this was helping me much... but then yesterday at church The Lord opened my eyes. There were many people who came up and hugged me or talked to me or asked me questions and really just helped me see that I have relationships! All of those awkward conversations where I'm laughing for most of the time because I don't know what I'm doing have payed off. I'm not done yet, but The Lord gave me that little bit of encouragement to keep me going and it was such a blessing :) I know that as we do our part, the Lord will do His :) 

The Hislops own their own restaurant and on the last day of Guonian had us come over for dinner!! So amazing:)

Zheng JM one of my all-time favorite people!!!

Love getting mail and it's so cute!!!

This week was pretty miraculous. I'm excited for the challenges that lay ahead for the Zhubei trio :) It's going to be a task, but something that I have believed from the moment I opened my mission call is that If the Lord called me to do it, I can do it. I know he gives us trials to help us :) I love this work.

Thank you for the undying love and support. I miss you all and love you like crazy!! :)

Gu Jiemei