Two Tickets to Paradise/Sacrifice the Flowers

Hey Everybody!

     Lots to talk about this week: miracles and a fun adventure! Let's get started.

     Unfortunately, due to my camera battery being dead and my charger being in my other suitcase (which has been in Xinzhu for the past two weeks, still working on it getting here, some moving company confusion) along with some other stuff. So I am resorting to using my companion's pictures. She is super nice to let me do so.

     This week, my companion and I went on exchanges  with the Sister Training Leaders in their area, which is THE most enviable area of the whole mission: Hualian (Hua: flower Lian:

waterlily, so you know by the name already it's beautiful), aka Paradise. I remember when Elder Davidson (who was a zone leader and was in my ward for a transfer in Xinzhu) got sent to Hualian, the Office elders wrote on his travel instructions to meet "these two handsome office elders"  at the train station and give him his "two tickets to paradise." The only setback is that it's so far away from Taipei and the train tickets are expensive, so if you're sent to Hualian or Taidong  (further south, more mountains and fields) or anywhere in between like us in Yuli, you can't go to Taipei like everyone else in the mission for special events such as temple day (which happens every three months, which is happening this week, which is what I am missing, sad face). 

     So we came to Hualian, and let me tell you, missionaries don't call it Paradise for nothing. It is located on the southeast of Taiwan. On the left are big, green mountains with waterfalls visible in the city. It felt like being in Park City, Utah, because of how close the mountains were. On the right is the beach, which looks like California's beaches (I could see it from the Sister's kitchen apartment, the beach was so close and beautiful). It was one of the best exchanges ever! We came and started making no bake cookies with the Sister Training Leaders. The Sister Training Leader I was with is Sister Guam, my previous companion Sister Cullen's trainer. It was so fun to talk to her about Sister Cullen, and now I know where Sister Cullen picked up a lot of her habits (when you leave a companion, you notice what traits you picked up from them). We went to the grocery store to get stuff for the cookies, and came back to see my companion, Sister Scharman, and her Sister Training Leader Companion, Sister Hughes, taking pictures of the other Hualian sisters living in the apartment, Sisters Jensen and Hickman reenacting the little mermaid and Sebastian the crab (one wearing a bamboo rice field hat and crouched down wearing gray sweatpants while her companion had a flower in her hair and dressed up to look like Ariel). I hadn't seen those sisters yet, so that was my first time seeing them and my first impression when I walked in posing in the outfits. Those two are hilarious! The next morning, they lit a candle and put it in Sister Hickman's bun, using the lighter I had in my bag for a repentance biyu (example). 

     We then went to visit a lady who was an English class student and talked about the Restoration. We then went to go finding. The next day we got up and played frisbee with the elders in the zone. (There are other missionaries??!! Yuli is a pretty isolated place). It was fun.

     The next day we got up, did studies and sang with a trumpet and ukelele accompaniment courtesy of Sister Jensen. We then had lunch, pinggu (evaluation), then went back on the train for a 45-min. ride home. 

Miracles!

     We had one investigator who broke up with her Buddhist boyfriend (YAYAYYAAYAYAY)! It is one of the happiest breakups EVER! Now we don't have to worry about him not allowing her to get baptized. She came to church for the first time yesterday and liked it.  The only problem now is coffee... She even said in English, "NO COFFEE, NO LIFE!" She keeps lamenting that she will have to give it up, which is a good thing, because it means she's thinking about joining the church :) Hope she gets baptized soon!

     We also had a member come up to us yesterday and ask us to teach her 12-year-old daughter, Chen Zhi Yun. Her older brother is Chen Mung Xin, who served in his mission in Indiana, ate dinner with us a lot and served in my Purdue YSA ward. He's coming to visit this Sunday with dinner with his family (which we are invited to), I am so excited! I haven't seen him since December 2014. It's gonna be great telling his parents the funny stories about him on his mission that he hasn't told them. Anyway, she's super cute and I'm excited to work with her. 

     My brother who is on his mission in Thailand wrote about visiting an LA, who is a hospital mortician. He and his comp waited for him in a same room with two bodies covered in sheets. The LA even had my bro and his comp look in a hospital freezer to see a frozen, clothed body. I don't think i can beat that horror story. :) 

Spiritual Share

     A good story about sacrificing our will for God's, and the blessings from it. I liked how the author wrote at the end, "Heavenly Father had asked me to sacrifice those flowers, knowing that there was something better waiting for me and also that His lonely daughter needed a reminder of His love."

     So that's my motto for the day: sacrifice the flowers! Do God's will and you will get blessings. 

Would You Like Some Flowers?

     And a good story about sharing the GOSPEL WITH EVERYONE!

Don't Judge Who Is Ready

     I also like the song Amazing Grace sung by a group of girls at BYU. Look it up on youtube, it's so pretty (amazing grace byu). we've listened to it on my comp's ipod, it's amazing. 

Amazing Grace

     I know that God lives and Christ loves all of us! They have really helped me everyday and I am super grateful for their love and blessings. Remember to always remember them and make them a focus of life and you will always be happy! What I learned on my mission is that if we do God's will, we will always be happy. :)

     DC 101:7- we are all God's jewels 

     Moroni 7- a good chapter about faith, hope, charity and missionary work!!!

     Thank you for your love and prayers! 

-Sister Brinkerhoff