Transfers Galore!

Hey everyone! 

     Transfers had occurred, and a lot of new changes! When Elder Evans came last week, he was pretty much saying that the culture is going to change! He was right and there have been changes. 

    Elder Evans said that if we get released from our callings, we need to let them go and let others have the opportunity to serve. I think it has applied to me and Elder Liston. Elder Liston was just barely

released from being the Assistant to the President and is now working with me and my companion as well as Elder Alder, the other zone leader, in our ward. Elder Liston replaced Elder Scovel, who I knew from Ba De. It's so weird to see him not as an Assistant to the President anymore, but seeing him as a somewhat normal missionary (he is the zone leader). I also was released as the English unit leader, and our poor, crazy busy District Leader, Elder Merrill, is the new English Unit leader. It's ok, I think God wanted him to learn the importance of English class. 

     It's crazy! So many Elders are whitewash training! (Whitewashing means that the two missionaries who were in the area both left, so the incoming missionaries are both new to the area.) Elder Scovel from Ba De as well as Xinzhu is whitewash training somewhere in Taoyuan again, the same county as Ba De. Elder Welker who replaced Elder Scovel in Ba De finally got his wish and is training (whitewash).

     So, here are the changes: Before, Sisters and Elders were allowed to teach opposite gender. Now, when we have guy investigators, we have to give them to the elders, and the elders have to give us the sisters. Which means, I am not kidding, we have to give them all but three of our investigators! And they haven't given us any female investigators, because they don't have any. All of our investigators are pretty much guys. We are at that point at the beginning of every transfer that I don't like, the start from scratch point, the point where the whiteboard is wiped clean and we have to go finding new people because we either dropped or gave away our investigators. 

     President Jergensen has been telling us lately to focus on working with members and finding families, since families build up the church the best. So that is probably one reason why we are starting over, so that we can focus more on families and less on single, older guys (people in Taiwan get married in their 30's, and think we Americans are crazy for getting married in our early 20's). 

     Sorry, gotta go. Love you all! Remember to do CPR!

-小貝姊妹/Xiao Bei Jie Mei/Small Sister Shell/Sister Brinkerhoff

CRAYYYYZZYYZYZYZYZYYZ WEEK!

     

     First of all, I hit my mission half way mark in two weeks, how crazy is that?! I swear I just came here yesterday, and I swear it was yesterday my trainer, Sister Bain told me that she hit her halfway mark when she picked me up to train me! She will go home this December.

     Speaking of which, guess what week it is? That's right, TRANSFERS! And what does transfers mean? CRAZINESS! I don't know if I will be in Xinzhu next time I email. I will let you know. I love Xinzhu and will miss it if I go. I think my companion and I will stay here and train since we are having like 40 new missionaries come (1/5 of the mission), so everyone will either be training, a leader or breaking. 

 

     My trainer, Sister Bain, (who I lived with for four transfers, which is funny because missionaries leave their trainers or their trainers go home back to the US, but not for me, I'm still with my mom/trainer :) had a companion who went home a week early along with a huge group, because school starts this week at BYU. So she doesn't have a companionship, so we have been the three amigas, or as they say in Taiwan, pengyoumen. That's right! She is the Sister Training Leader (equivalent to Zone Leader), so she had a lot of duties, such as attending an Mission Leadership Training Conference after the meeting with Elder Evans (more info to come). She has had some Ba De buddies help be her companions for a few days, which is good since we need to work in our area and she needs to help her area.  

     Yesterday was sooooo amazing! We had the new member of the Asia Area Presidency, Elder Evans, speak to us. He was soooo goood! He used scriptures and stories to help teach us. He served as a mission president in Japan as well as on the Missionary Executive Board.

     He was here to change the culture of our mission, which is good, since this next transfer we are getting A TON of new missionaries! There are fewer missionaries than when the previous mission president was here. Sister Bain was in the first group for President Jergensen, and she goes home in December. I thought it was cool, how we are constantly trying to change and improve. For example, during the prelude music before the meeting, people were talking and socializing since it's the whole mission including missionaries who live far away in Hualian, Taidong and Yuli, who rarely come up to Taipei. He said that we were trained in life to still socialize during the prelude music, but Elder Packer said that the time right before  the meeting (about 7 min) should be quiet time, time to reflect and feel the Spirit to get ready for the meeting to start and to receive revelation. I've noticed that with General Authorities in conference, during the prelude music, they are all sitting, quietly and ready to listen instead of socializing right before the meeting. Elder Evans wanted us to start that, so when the music starts before a meeting, we should be seated and listening so we will be ready to feel the Spirit.  I invite you all to try that at church this Sunday. 

Some things that Elder Evans mentioned:

     OUR MISSION PRESIDENT IS THE BEST IN THE WORLD! I am not kidding, Elder Evans said that he has met with hundreds of mission presidents, and he has never, ever seen one that is so obedient and dedicated to follow the instructions of the first presidency.  I agree, Pres. Jergensen is so amazing! We had to read a talk given at a mission president's seminar about the best mission presidents, which are ones that have both high expectations and lots of love (I immediately thought of the Pres., because it's sooo true! He has a lot of love and high expectations). Plus he has the same first name as my little brother, Jace! Also, he told the story of how President Jergensen took Elder Evans and his wife to see a Terra Cotta warrior exhibit in a museum. On the way, they meet with a lady from Japan and a person who is either not active or not a member. President begged her to come to church 17 times at that moment, and since she had good English, he finally asked her if she could come to church to translate for his wife, Sister Jergensen. She came to church and felt the Spirit and wanted to teach her non-member dad about the gospel. I love how he even tries to do missionary work! 

     LEARN THE LANGUAGE! We will use it for this life and the next to teach people about the gospel. 

     There are a lot more sister missionaries now! Elder Evans said his daughter said that if they had the age change for sisters earlier she would've gone on a mission. Same with my roommate in college. I think I would have still gone despite the age change. It was interesting, my trainer Sister Bain keeps saying that. What she got out of the conference was that our missions are prepping us for life, how to follow God, how to be better family members, church members and great people overall. It's so true, I have been through the refiners fire (still in it) and have seen so many people change. 

     Follow the WHITE HANDBOOK, especially on the rules regarding interaction with children, opposite gender, AND BE WITH COMPANIONS AT ALL TIMES!  He said that Elder Cook said that 90 percent of the problems while on missions come from missionaries who don't follow this rule, and that if they all followed it, there would be no need for a missionary council or some organization that has to deal with that stuff. 

     Do not forget to teach about repentance.  He told this story about one elder who told a story about repentance. This one elder said that before his mission, took Elder Evans aside and told him that he was born before his mom and dad were married (since it was in the 60's and at that time people were rebellious). Missionaries later taught his parents and had them get married and get baptized. The dad then said that the missionaries made him go through a sincere repentance process which included a change of heart, which lead to conversion, and if that hadn't happened, he probably wouldn't be active, and that he was super grateful for the missionary's courage to teach them about repentance. Elder Evans was trying to teach us not to skip from faith to baptism without making sure the people have a repentance process, because that is the only way to be converted. There was a scripture or a quote from PMG that said something like that only through the Atonement of Christ can the natural man become a saint. 

     Sister Evans told a story that made me cry. It was one about faith:

     There was this elder from Hawaii that was of Japanese descent and had a Japanese last name, but he didn't know Japanese really well. He struggled with the language, and to make matters worse, when he would walk down the street, people would assume that he was Japanese and would talk to him rather than his American companion who had better Japanese.  In his last area, he asked to be a zone leader in the hardest area of the mission (no member support, no baptisms in years). Elder Evans, who was president at the time, was prompted to promise him that if he worked hard and did his best, he would see a baptism before the end of his mission. The rest of the mission came and went and still no baptism. He flew home and was with his family. He was unpacking his stuff and his non-member dad saw his journal on the bed. For some reason he was touched as he saw the journal, and he asked his son when he could get baptized! (The whole family were members, the elder's older brother also served a mission, and  many missionaries tried teaching him, but nothing worked) The dad got baptized that afternoon, right before the son was released by the stake president! 

     He spoke A TON ABOUT GETTING REFERRALS, especially from new investigators and less actives, since the regular active members get asked a ton. 

     I am excited about it all! Love you all and remember to always follow God and rely on Him!

-Sister Brinkerhoff

Good News and Bad News

Hey everyone!

     It has been a crazy but blessed week. I'll get right to it!

     Bad News: David Archuleta's concert in Xinzhu was CANCELED A FEW DAYS AGO! I was so sad, because we had sooo many investigators and members bringing their non-members to the free concert. They were all so excited to go. Plus, I was really bummed I got to barely miss a free David Archuleta concert! His voice went bad a few days ago because he sang so much in other areas like Taipei. So sad that he had to get it right when he was going to sing in our area. 

     Also, to add salt to the wound, my previous companion emailed me and said she got to hear him sing in Taipei. I was happy that she got to hear him sing though. My comp's trainer in Taipei emailed a picture of her with David Archuleta in Taipei. So both of our previous comps got to see him in Taipei. Oh well. 

     Good News: MY FIRST BAPTISMS IN TAIWAN! One was an 8-year-old-girl who was less active along with her mom (she turned 8 last January), but we reactivated them through God's help, and she was baptized by her cousin!

     

The next day on Sunday, we had my first baptism! Her name is Alaina and she is from the Philippines. Sisters have been working with her since April. She was with Sister Pearson and Sister Shek.  Then Sister Pearson finished and went home, so I saw Alaina with Sister Shek. Then Sister Shek left and Sister Cullen and I saw her baptized! The hardest part was getting her to go to church and not drink coffee, but she was willing to do it and it was done!

     God has blessed me this week! Super grateful I was finally able to witness baptisms!

     Next month is my halfway mission mark! I interviewed with President Jergensen today (he does interviews every few months). He said, "How long have you been on a mission?" I said, "Next month is my halfway mark." He says, "It gets fun from there, because that's when you're pretty much used to everything and now you have fun." I'm still working on the language, but hopefully I will get it down one day.  

Funny stories:

     Last Zone meeting a few weeks ago, we went around the room and said our names and favorite ice cream flavors. My MTC district bro. stood up with hand in coat pocket and introduced himself by saying, "Rushton, quarterback." All the elders in the room were laughing so hard, including me. Gotta hand it to my sporty siblings to help me understand sports references :)

     Sorry gotta go.   Remember to always rely on the Lord and he will help you!

Sister Brinkerhoff

Street Food 

(It's about as good as it looks...)

Baptisms Next Week!

Hey Everyone!

The moment has finally arrived, one I have been waiting since January for- BAPTISMS!!! Ladies and Gentleman, brothers and sisters, the Lord has blessed us and we are finally seeing a baptism this weekend! It is Alaina the Filipino, one who my previous companion and her trainer have been working with since last April. Long story short, we were able to get someone to get her to church, and she is getting baptized this Sunday! Super exciting!

Also, the 8-year-old daughter of a less active we recently activated is getting baptized on Saturday! We cant suan, or count her as a missionary baptism since her mom is a member and she's 8, but i count her. Can’t wait to send baptism pics next week!

Yesterday, we were able to get a 17-year-old sister, her 5-year-old bro, and their 11-year-old sister to church! Their parents are separated, so they've been through a lot together and are super close! Reminded me of me and my siblings.  it was great to go to yw and Sunday school with them, it was fun to do something different. 

Its crazy, the Pokémon thing is starting to come to Taiwan. i saw like 10 people yesterday wandering around on their phones with the Pokémon app. My zone leader said his friend in America said its crazy, with groups of people on their phones trying to find Pokémon, even on BYU campus. Apparently, google maps will pic a place and you have to go there on your phone to get it. There have been reports (rumors?) already of people in the U.S. getting in car crashes and dying because of it. So be careful everyone!  I would recommend not using it- personally I think its a time waster, but at least it gets people on the streets, which means more people to talk to.  :)  

I have been learning a lot lately, especially about personal accountability; what a successful missionary is; and relying on the lord. Have seen a lot of miracles, especially working with members. Got a lot of meals with them last week :)

Alma 6:6- pray and fast for people who don't know about God. 

Remember to always rely on the Lord and do His will and you will be happy. 

Funny story:

So last week, we went finding in a neighborhood, and we were talking to a bunch of older ladies (about 5 or so). There was a 70ish guy with sunglasses sitting in a chair. My companion commented, "Ni hen shuai (you are very handsome)." He replied, "Hen huai (very bad, like a bad boy)! It was funny, I was so happy i could finally understand a joke! 

Our President gave us permission to go to the David Archuleta concert next week! But we need an investigator to come. I hope we can take the kids who came to church. 

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. 

Love yall!

Sister Brinkerhoff

Be the Missionary God Wants You to Be

First off, shout out to my younger brother who is going to the Provo MTC this week to start his mission in Thailand (same place as mom).

Last pday, the sisters went far away on a train to do something, so we called the two sets of elders and they were like, you wanna go fishing with us?  We were like, okay!  They told us to meet them at this one spot.  We were like, we have no idea where it is, so they were like, no prob, just take this road and go straight for a while.  But lesson learned - NEVER GET DIRECTIONS FROM ELDERS!  The area was out of our area and off our map.  They were like, at the bridge, go right, if you see cement trucks, take the path behind, blah, blah, blah.  It wasn't helpful at all!  After an hour of biking in the heat, we gave up and texted them to have fun.  We went and got love juice instead and went to Big City mall to eat dinner.  There was a movie theater by the food court.  It was interesting to see the movie posters in Chinese.  It reminded me of when I would go see movies in the summer.  We found out the next day that their idea of fishing was to just stand on some slippery platform and catch fish.  Even the professional fisherman next to them only caught one all day, so I don't think they caught any.

Good news and sort of bad news. So a less active member's daughter, Penny (whom my previous companion and I helped reactivate through God's help) will be baptized in a few weeks, probably 8/13! She is 8 years old and is super cute! She even has a Book of Mormon with 10 or so missionary signatures and notes. Problem? We can't "suan" (or count) her as a missionary baptism unless she is 9 years old or if her single mom isn't a member. But since she is 8 (she will be 9 in January) and her mom is a member, she counts as a member baptism and not a missionary baptism.  We talked to bishop and he said he still wants us to teach Penny and her mom the lessons, which is what we are still doing. He probably wanted the lessons to help Penny's mom. Her mom still has a great testimony, she just hasn't been to church for a year or so (until we told them to come to church again at the end of
June) and hasn't been through the temple yet, which is something we probably need to help them with. It's one of those many "TEAM JESUS!" moments you have on a mission (meaning you can't count someone that you've helped. examples include giving someone to another set of missionaries because the investigator lives in another person's area, or this case with penny). It reminded me of when our district leader told us of how he had to give his only progressing investigator to the Zone leaders because he lived in our area.Team Jesus moments happen once in a while, but it's a good way to remind us of our purpose as missionaries.  

We've found a lot of potentials lately. We only have one person who've we worked on since April (my previous companion and her trainer) who may get baptized. 

I'm trying so hard not to freak out. This transfer is ending a week early for missionaries going home so they can go to school, and we are getting a TON of new missionaries (just graduated from high school and been at the mtc in the summer). So many new missionaries are coming in and we are really short on sisters, so everyone is either going to be training, be a sister training leader (like a sister version of zone leaders), or breaking (being with a companion who just got done with training). Next transfer is going to be so interesting, since about a fifth of the missionaries will be brand new. 

I have really learned a lot lately about doing God's work and relying on Him. It's been hard, a lot of nice people but nobody really interested. God has been merciful though. My District Leader has said he was out of money for the past 3 weeks, but for those weeks he has always had a meal provided for him miraculously by a ward member or other means. I am still going through the refiners fire lately, learning how to be the missionary God wants me to be (Let It Go, Frozen anyone?). Even this zone meeting this weeks theme is being a successful missionary. I still have a ways to go, from refining my teaching, communication, people and language skills to learning how to call on the phone without my mind going blank from panic (lets be honest, tainwese people speak really fast and its harder to not see them in person what they are trying to say). God will help us because He loves us. 

Love you all!

-Sister Brinkerhoff

Rancid Milk and Mulan's Grandma

Dear Friends and Family:

This week my companion and I started a new habit: taking SWEATY pictures. It's super hot here, and we are constantly biking. Combined with the humidity, whenever we set out for the church to teach a lesson, we're pretty soaking. haha. Here are just two for your viewing pleasure.

This week a lot of things happened:

-I was waiting to cross the street at some busy four-lane traffic kind of street. Some old lady next to me got frustrated that I was waiting for the road to be clear. She grabbed my hand and just kind of pulled me across the street. It reminded me of Mulan's grandma crossing the street--she just closed her eyes and went for it and was A-OKAY. WE also survived no problem. 

-I drank some very rancid Apple Milk and thought I'd die all day. Turns out, I didn't die. So all's well there too.

-It's so hot if you stand still for too long, your face will start dripping.

-I've obtained a significant watch tan.

This week we met with Sassoon again. She's 40, unmarried and feels very alone. Her little sister (20) got a job recently at a bar and has since become an alcoholic. Her mother and grandmother were both very cruel people and recently passed away from drug abuse. She has four cats. She asked us, Where is God? How could all this happen? She says this because at church some people start to cry when telling stories or bearing testimony, but she never cries. She took this to mean that God doesn't talk to her. She wanted to know where he is, and why she can't feel his love like her. YOU DON'T HAVE TO CRY TO FEEL GOD'S LOVE. (Some people at Girl’s Camp also have this problem). He will talk to us all in our own individual ways. He lives and loves us.

Cultural Clue:

So there are many people here from Indonesia. They come over for work. Signing contracts that cause them to live here from 10-20 years at a time. They are mostly women. They leave behind husbands and children to work. They all take care of old people. Every super old person walking down the street WILL HAVE an Indonesian women at their side. These women are usually very unhappy and lonely. They work long hours and really miss their families. I had one women show me pictures of her six-year-old son she hasn't seen or hugged in four years. She was distraught he wouldn't remember her. Some of them don't even speak Chinese so they can't communicate with their bosses. We've recently been meeting with a very sweet Indonesian woman and she will soon be baptized. She's excited! Her boss is a member, and they're also excited! Yay!

Love you all!  

Sister B.