Another Week in Xinchu

It has been another great week here in Xinzhu! It's been kinda hot and sweaty, but not too bad. My comp, who previously served in Taipei, keeps telling me over and over again about the wind. Xinzhu is like Chicago, both a little windy which made the summers more bearable. I am grateful for the wind. 

Investigators are doing ok. It seems like with every transfer, it's scratch and start all over again. I feel like I lost a lot of investigators from last transfer and have new ones. It's ok; it's sometimes good to start over. I may FINALLY see a baptism in a few weeks. There's an 8-year-old girl who's mom is less active. My last comp, Sister Shek, had a prompting to contact them last transfer (the mom has an active older sister and nephew, who is our new ward mission leader). We've been meeting with them. The mom has a strong testimony but hasn't gone to church in a while because it's "too hot" or "too rainy." (Fun Fact: When it rains in Asia, a lot of Asians do NOT like to be outside, because of the pollution in the rain. So when it's rainy, we know there won't be a lot of people in English class or church.) We finally got them reactivated again, and the 8-year-old might get baptized in a few weeks! Since her mom is a member, we might not be allowed to count her as a missionary baptism. That's okay; at this point I will be happy if anyone gets baptized. It's probably a lesson for me to learn that I need to work hard, be patient and trust in the Lord that one day I will see the fruits of my labors. I like a scripture (in Alma 32) about how we need diligence, patience, and faith and that if we continually water our trees we will one day see the fruit of our efforts. If the tree isn't always watered, it will die, and it is harder to fix it than to keep watering the tree all the time. I hope my efforts will pay off one day. 

Miracle: So my comp and I were going to a neighborhood and saw a baby bird in the middle of the street. We went to grab a pole nearby to pick it up, but as we were about to do so, three scooters came down the street. It was dark, so they couldn't see the bird. We thought they were going to run over it, so we were expecting to see a squished baby bird. Instead, they missed it by half an inch. It was super close. I think God was mindful of us and protected the baby bird so that we wouldn't see it get squished. A girl we saw earlier came back and picked up the bird to take it home and take care of it. 

We also got our Filipino investigator to come to church again in more than a month! She doesn't have transportation or time to go, but we got the zone leaders’ investigator to come pick her up and we were able to get her boss' wife to agree to take care of her husband for an hour while she attended church (the investigator takes care of an elderly member 24/7). She really enjoyed church even though she doesn't speak much Chinese or English. It made me super grateful that I have the blessing of being able to attend church. I haven't really realized until now how much of a sacrifice church really is, especially when people have neither time nor a mode of transportation. 

Exciting newssss! David Archuleta is coming to a high school in my area on August 13, which is on Monday during pday! So I think my comp and I will be able to go to his free concert with an investigator! I am so pumped, it's gonna be a great pday that day!

My previous companions recent convert, Huang De Kai, baptized the zone leaders investigator on Saturday! Super awesome! The zone leaders a few days ago begged us to allow them to teach Huang De Kai the after baptism lessons, so yesterday, we had a pass-off lesson. Huang De Kai is doing super great! He passed the sacrament and even said the prayer in church. His grandma, as well as the rest of his family, still doesn’t know he's baptized. He told us yesterday in the pass-off lesson that he just gave his grandma the baptism paper and told her to sign it (she can't read Chinese), not telling her what it was (he fasted and prayed that he could get baptized).  Super awesome stuff. He is the one I emailed about a few weeks back, who we went to the family history center with. His dad died a few years ago, his mom is out of the picture, he is 19 years old, and his grandparents really protested when he asked if he could get baptized. It’s amazing to see the members take him under their wing, especially the priesthood leaders and the elders.  

Happy Pioneer Day, yesterday! I read some pioneer stories, and it made me super grateful for my pioneer ancestors and their great examples. I liked a guy’s article in the Liahona about how even though he was a convert and didn't have pioneer ancestors, he was still grateful for them for paving the way for us to have a better life. He was also grateful for others who paved the path for us to have a better life. It reminded me of Pres. Uchtorf’s talk that even though not all of us are related to the pioneers we can still be grateful for them and their efforts, because it helped other come closer to the gospel. I also liked Pres Monson’s article in the Liahona, when he ended it by saying how Christ is the ultimate pioneer, since he paved the way for us to return to God. 

Embarrassing story: so we had a random guy come to English class. He randomly came to the kid’s class and we said he could attend the other classes (since his English was good), but he said he was fine where he was, so he stayed in our class. Afterwards, he was like, can I buy wine for you? (He's like 40 years old, and big). I’m like, uh cant drink it. Then he's like how about Coke? I’m like how about come to church on Sunday, so he's like ok. So he came to church. My comp was thinking that he was probably more interested in American girls than the gospel. My comp and I sat next to him. He then said some stuff about another church and whispered loudly during some quiet times. I would try to tell him to be listen to the speakers.  Then, during the confirmation of the zone leaders’ investigator, he loudly whispered to me in English, I like you! I was so embarrassed. To make things worse, he drew two hearts on a sheet of paper with an arrow going through and showed it to me. I asked my comp what should I do? I was going to text the zone leaders to help me but they had like 5 investigators they were sitting with, so I knew they were busy. My comp just said to not look at him. After sacrament, he said he was going to get a drink of water, but we couldn't find him afterwards.  (He probably went home; investigators do that a lot, thinking church is an hour).

And then -- we finally got a new ward mission leader.  (Our other one was less active so we never saw him.) After church, we had our first meeting together, and he had to ask about the hearts (he was sitting right behind us in sacrament) right in front of the zone leaders: Elder Alder, who is the new zone leader, and Elder Scovel, who I knew really well (this is my 3rd transfer serving with him). Oh well, I guess we all have those awkward experiences. I remember last transfer a gay guy tried do something similar to Elder Scovel, which resulted in the zone leaders giving him to us. We taught him a couple lessons but he stopped picking up the phone so we dropped him. 

Love you all!  Have an awesome week!

Sister Brinkerhoff

WE ARE YOUNG! Breaking again, Transfers, and I'm a "dad"

Hey, y'all!  Yes, the moment has arrived-transfers!-dun dun dun! Transfers came, and my comp, Sister Shek, and I got the text to go print off the instructions at a 7/11 for leaving and picking up a new comp. We both didn’t know who will go and who will stay (Toy Story anyone?). So we went, and it turns out that Sister Shek was going to the promised land of Tucheng, where a ton of miracles and baptisms take place (pretty much the Zion of Taiwan) to finish training a missionary who's trainer had to leave early for medical issues. (I think about 5 sisters went home this transfer because of medical issues.) She was excited. So that means I'm a “dad” (when your companion is training someone in the next transfer)! It was good; it had been a hard week for Sis. Shek. Last Pday, she got an email from her family in Hong Kong notifying her that her 4-year- old cousin died of pneumonia all of a sudden. Her cousin was from a Buddhist family (as well as her grandparents) so her cousin’s mom may be grieving a lot. Made me glad I know about the plan of salvation. Sis. Shek was super amazing; she was just quietly sad but was still focused on the work. She was such a great example to me for that.

The day after she got the news, we had dinner with a returned missionary who knew her dad the bishop in Hong Kong. He and his wife are waiting for his wife’s US visa (she’s Canadian), and the process goes faster if they lived out of the country so they live in Taiwan. We ate really expensive (about $30US) Beijing duck as well as a ton of other good food. One dish reminded me of the really expensive lunches we eat weekly with the zone leaders’ investigators, which included turtle (turtle is pretty good). So far I have eaten in lung, intestines, duck, turtle, cuttlefish, chicken feet, and stinky tofu.  

It's insane with these transfers. A ton of missonaries went home this transfer (7 of them I knew), and more will leave, so we will lose about 40 missionaries total in two transfers and gain about 40 in two transfers. We have about 194 missionaries, so we lost 1/5 of our mission and gain 1/5 new people. That means a ton of training. It’s crazy!  My MTC comp is already training in her fourth transfer, and just got done breaking!  That’s insanely young! She just got done breaking (3rd transfer) and her breaker is only 6 weeks or one transfer older than her and she is now a Sister Training Leader! I am not kidding, we are short on sisters. It seems like a lot of missionaries, especially sisters, are either training or being an STL. I'm just breaking again, which I am glad I'm doing. I'm afraid I will train next transfer, which is insanely young, next transfer will be my fifth transfer. My trainer trained me in her 6th transfer, and that was kinda young.

I have a new companion I am breaking. Her name is Sister Cullen from California. She is super awesome and super smart (her dad’s an engineer and her mom’s a chemist)! Her Chinese is suuuuupppperrrr amazing! She didn't know any Chinese before the mission. She is only one transfer younger than me. She entered the MTC about the same time I was about to leave. She had a Taiwanese trainer, so she speaks Chinese really well, even better than me! She speaks only Chinese a lot, so I definitely think she will really help me improve. I am so excited to see what is in store. She is so amazing!  You've heard of golden investigators (people ready for the gospel), but she is a golden missionary. She is training/breaking me. I’m just showing her the area, members and people. She just got done training as a temple sister in Taipei (giving tours about the temple). She is the easiest breakee in the world, I swear. Even in sacrament when they had her speak when we got to church, her Chinese was so amazing and then she was like, I’ve been in taiwan for 3 months, and everyone gasped and whispered, amazed, "3 months?!?" She’s being friends with the ward members already, she’s breaking me, I’m not breaking her. I’m so grateful for the Lord to let me be with her instead of having her train right now. I really needed her. I really wish I could have her with me for another transfer, but a ton of new missionaries are coming in, so my guess is that she will train.   She is teaching me a lot and humbling me. I feel like it’s training all over again, it's awesome. Speaking of which, I am still living with my trainer in the same apartment for another transfer. I think I break the record for being with my trainer the longest; everyone pretty much is separated from their trainer, but not me!  Guess I still have a lot to learn.

We have a ton of investigators right now, but we still need to help them progress towards baptism. seen miracles lately, it's been good.   

David Archuleta is coming to Xinzhu next month. The ward is super excited! I hope to see him in a car and wave to him sometime. 

I think a mission ruined Mulan for me, because in Mulan she worships her ancestors, or baibai, and it wears on you after you are told a million times a day by people that they don't want to listen about our church because they are Buddhist or worship their ancestors. So long story short, I don't know if I can watch Mulan again.  

Grateful for the gospel. 

Gotta go! Love you all!

-Sister Brinkerhoff

TEMPLE DAY! David Archuleta, Transfers, Chang-Kai Shek Memorial and Typhoon

Hey everybody! It was a great week in Taiwan!

Last Wednesday we went to the temple again. It's crazy; the last time I went was near the end of my first transfer in Taiwan. Now my companion and I are in breaking (the transfer after training), and we are breaking each other. It was super amazing! I love the temple. My comp and I did Initiatories again for Chinese people who lived 200 years ago or so. It was cool! I really appreciated the Taiwanese temple workers who did it in English for us. Made me grateful that they were willing to learn how to say hard words in English for us. We then did an endowment with the Mission President and his wife (they came this time). The temple was amazing overall as usual. Going once every 3 months made me really appreciate the temple. I am super grateful to be in a mission with a temple. It really is a blessing. 

After the temple, my comp and I went to King Mango, which the zone leaders suggested. It was good but kinda pricey, about $5US, which is expensive for local food. I also got my birthday package.  It was funny, as I was walking in the mission office, one elder in my zone was like, "Sister Brinkerhoff, you have a package the size of Israel!" it was fun! After I got it, the zone leaders told me that a week before when they had to go to Taipei with the sister training leaders in my apartment for a leadership meeting, they were going to bring it home along with a ton of other stuff, but mission president stopped them and said, "No, she can pick it up next week when she goes to the temple."  They brought back the green package with the cards though.

After, my comp and I went to the Chang-Kai Shek Memorial, which is suuuuuuuppppppppeeeerrr toruisty and popular. It's a big area with two big Chinese looking buildings (like the forbidden city in Beijing but newer, 50 years \-ish instead of hundreds of years old) and a Chinese rotunda. The memorial is a cross between the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials. It's like the Jefferson memorial but more enclosed and more steps like the Lincoln memorial. The large bronze statue of Chang-kai Shek is exactly like Lincoln sitting on a chair. A few differences include him being in normal Chinese clothes, has a mustache and smiling. There was a military display going on as well at the same time. After, we went downstairs to the museum for Chang kai-Shek’s life.

He is a modern day George Washington/Abraham Lincoln. He was a general in China for a while, but eventually left because of the communist party and started a democratic government in Taiwan. This happened in like the 1950's or something, so Taiwan’s government is somewhat new. He seems to be a super cool guy. His picture is on all the Taiwanese money.  i don' t know the full story, so if anyone happens to Google him or be on Wikipedia, let me know his full story.  My comp and I didn't have time to read the exhibits (just had to breeze through) which are in Chinese and English. (benefit of Taiwan- they have a lot of stuff in English too, like how in the us there is stuff in Spanish too. There's a lot more English in Taiwan than in Spanish though). His wife seems legit too. She was called Madame Chiang. She was pretty and a talented artist and a good supporter of her husband, so she seems really cool, too. 

After, we ran back to the train station. It takes almost 2 hours by train and MRT (like a subway) to get home. We had to cancel English meeting because we barely missed the train. it's okay, president texted every one later and said to stock up on food and water for 2 days because of the typhoon that is coming. 

The typhoon was no big deal! Just a little rainy and windy! Went on exchanges even in it. Down south on the other side of the coast is waaayyy worse. I heard one elder who is scared of typhoons because one time last year he and his comp rode their bikes in it and they were picked up while on their bikes and lifted off the ground in the wind! They made it home though.

Exciting news! Guess who's coming to Taiwan?! DAVID ARCHULETA! He is going to have a concert here in Xinzhu next month!  I really hope I can wave to him or something on his way to his concert when he performs here in Xinzhu. I really hope I can stay at least one more transfer here in Xinzhu!!! I'm worried I will be transferred out. I don't know, we will see what the Lord has in plan for me. I really hope David Archuleta will sing for our mission too, that would be sooo cooooll More to be continued next month! 

The other day I was eating zhuabings (green onion pancakes/tortillas) and another I was eating dumplings and dragonfruit (its pretty good and it's purple too). I don't know if I can handle American food when I get back.  

I'm super sad. This week about 30 missionaries will go home, and I know 7 of them. They have been amazing missionaries and had a great impact on me as well as the whole mission. We don't know what we will do without them. I am so grateful that I was able to learn from them. I really wish I could learn from them more. Oh well, they gave a lot of service to the Lord, it's time for them to go home. 

Love you all!

Sister Brinkerhoff

Me in front of The Grand Hotel in Taipei

Just Own the Night, Like the 4TH OF JULY (Katie Perry)

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the late email. Had to get up at 3:30 am this morning to do emails. Had to catch a train at 6 for Taipei for our once every three months Taipei Temple trip!  We are the earliest session for missionaries at 8:15 am. 

It has been a crazy week! Last Monday, I spent my last day as a teen on the beach with our zone and some church members missionaries brought. A few Ba De YSA members even came, brought me a present, and made everyone sing happy birthday to me while playing the ukulele!  Curtis is really good at giving missionaries awesome birthday presents. I got a plush parrot keychain, some cookies, 2 cards, and a leather “A” keychain. It was awesome! 

For my birthday, I called everyone in the district and said to meet at a place that has shaved ice with mangos. I didn't really tell the Elders why, but right after eating we went to district meeting, I was giving them ice cream I bought for them, and they were like, "wait, was your birthday yesterday or today?" I guess people got confused and thought my birthday was the day before. When I said it was that day, they broke out into birthday song again. It was fun! My trainer/mom, who lives in the same apartment as me because she is an STL, gave me an extra pair of nice looking crocs as well as paper birthday glasses. My companion, Sister Shek, gave me a keychain that had my birthday on it. After district meeting, we had two lessons, then went finding. It was a normal day birthday but a good one.

On the Fourth of July, we went to an expensive burger place called tables joes. It's like of like the TGI Fridays in Taoyuan and in America. The burgers were like $7US. It took forever for them to cook though. After, we did English boarding (handing out English flyers), then went to Big City to find for a little bit, then went across the street to the 7/11 for a quick dinner, since we were still full from Table Joe's.

 It was cool, a guy that sat next to me started talking with me in English, which was pretty good. He is a talker, and my companion and me eventually were able to teach him a little about the gospel. He was hurt by what his brother did to him a few years ago, so he still has a hard time to forgive. However, after teaching him about the gospel, he was like, "Wow, you both are so happy and smiling a lot! I can even see you glow, it's like you are both a ray of sunshine!" It was cool, my companion and I could totally feel the Spirit at that moment, and when he mentioned that we were glowing, I felt like right then we glowed even brighter! It was so cool! It reminded me of my mom's mission story of when she was on the bus with her companion, and one person got on the bus. He looked at my mom and her companion for a bit, then told them, "I have been blind for 20 years, but I can see that you are both messengers of God, because of the light that you are giving off," then got off the bus and left. Talking to that guy and feeling the spirit so strong was a good pick up after a previously difficult week. He really wanted to know more, but was afraid that his Buddhist wife would fangdui (protest). I hope that he will be able to learn more about the gospel; he is so golden! He was telling us that he really wanted the happiness that we have and peace after what his brother did to him. Hopefully, he and his wife will come to English class tonight. Talking to him took about 2 hours (contacting should be 15 minutes at most), but I thought it was worth it. 

After that, we went to Big City (a big mall) to find, and we saw the Zone Leader Elder Scovel  (we share the same proselyting area as the Zone Leaders, which is awesome, since leaders areas are supposed to be good examples for other missionaries and their areas. Plus a ton of places with a ton of people to find!), and Elder Rushton, my MTC district bro on exchanges at the mall. I excitedly told both of them what just barely happened, and that it took 2 hours, and Elder Scovel's like, "That's great Sister Brinkerhoff, and I'm proud of you, but 2 hours????!!!!!! Street contacting shouldn't last more than 15 minutes!" I had to reassure him that he was golden and that he was totally worth it (plus, he is such a talker). I need to learn how to take control of the conversations more. It's okay, my companion and I have both been in Taiwan since March (we came at the same time, but because she knew Chinese since she's from Hong Kong, she fast-tracked and served a bit in Washington state while waiting for her visa).

Right after, we were going to a lesson at someone’s house, but it was kind of awkward, since a Buddhist funeral was going on right across the street. The street was smaller, so the house was very close. It was like in a small open garage with a small group of 30 or so people in chairs (it spilled out into the street) chanting the same phrase over and over again in a monotone voice. It was kind of scary. They had the guys picture (he look to be in his 30's, 40's or 50's) and I don't know if it was a casket or what. So we just rescheduled the family, since it would be hard to teach a lesson with that loud chanting going on and it was late at night anyway. My companion, Sister Shek, was telling me about when she remembered her Buddhist grandpa's funeral in Hong Kong, how in one part they would burn paper gold watches, shirts, cars and stuff, because they believed it will go to the dead person in heaven. It looked like a sad and depressing funeral. It made me super glad that I know the plan of salvation, and that our church funerals are more peaceful, quiet and happier than most funerals. 

Lately, I was thinking why I was on a mission and why I wasn't in Ba De for another transfer. I think the song lyrics from Fireworks kind of helped gave me an answer:  

"Maybe the reason why, all the doors are closed

so you can open one that leads you to the perfect road!

Like a lightning bolt, there's a spark in you, all you have to do, is 

You've got to ignite the light, and let it shine,

Just own the night, like the 4th of July."

I think one reason why I came on a mission (other than because I love God, am grateful for His gospel and want his other children to learn from it) is I felt like it was a road I can't avoid, and that all other doors (options) were closed so I can choose the perfect road. I could had done college for another transfer, but I definitely think that wouldn't be right for me, which is why it never entered in my mind. I can't imagine not being on a mission. After doing three transfers of college, I was ready to be on a mission. Just the timing and everything was great! It's also how I feel about Ba De. I was wondering why I needed to leave Ba De, and I can see now is so that a new sister can be trained there (like I said, Ba De is a birthing place- a ton of missionaries start there) as well as so that her trainer who speaks Spanish can teach the Dominican Republic family. It's a road that couldn't be avoided. It's cool to see how God works, I'm glad he's in charge. I learned lately from dying missionaries (those going home from their missions) that there is only one way to be truly happy in life- give up our own will and do God's will. If we do so, we will be super blessed and happy, even if it is hard at first. 

Thank you for your love, support and prayers! Love you all!

Sister Brinkerhoff