Selfless Service

     

This week has been awesome!

Monday

     Went to our area Fuli (15-min train ride down south). Very beautiful. First took pics in a fun area. It was a cloudy day, so we went up a steep mountain in the most gorgeous view I have ever seen...covered in fog. That's ok, we had the place to ourselves. I definitely want to go back sometime when it's beautiful weather and take breathtaking pics of the view of the valley. We then went to a dried river bed and hunted for jade or some sort of expensive blue stone. We have a ward member who knows where precious, expensive blue stones are and sells them for a living. He always give some to missionaries when they leave. He gave my companion Sister Scharman some expensive, beautiful blue earrings and a small stone to make a ring when she went home. 

     Got a new branch president yesterday! He is super awesome and all fired up about missionary work. The members of the branch are so awesome right now, they are itching to help us with missionary work. We just need to have the right prepared investigators, and see how we can work their schedules with the members schedules and ours, which is hard, since we are all have busy schedules and they work hard and are diligent. So excited to see what happens and what miracles unfold!

     Chinese New Year (Guonian) is coming up very quickly! I have a love/hate relationship with this holiday. I like it because a lot of people from out of town and college students will come here to visit their grandparents, there are decorations, and it's exciting, but I also hate it because people use it as an excuse to not meet with us, and it's true they are busy being with family that time. Guonian is big like Christmas, but it's filled with just eating and being with extended family like Thanksgiving for a week or two.  Members always feed missionaries for Guonian, but our members are out of town, so guess we will have to fend for ourselves. It's probably a good thing, I've heard horror stories of missionaries being fed like crazy by members during Guonian, to the point of throwing up and one sister saying she almost went bulimic. It's like being invited to Thanksgiving dinners multiple times a day for a few weeks, and you have to eat all the food otherwise the person will get offended. I think I would enjoy it more if I weren't on a mission. But it's my only one, so I'm going to enjoy every second of it!

     Already getting the excuse Guonian kuaidaole, tai mang, meiyou kong. "Chinese New is coming up, very busy, no time." Yep, it's that time of the year, my favorite... I remember my trainer being like, "As soon as Christmas is over, the excuse to not meet because Guonian is coming soon (even if it's weeks away) will be used." And we are like,"Nooooo!" Oh well, the work must go on! Hopefully, we can meet some really cool people. I'm grateful I'm down here in the south instead of Taipei or anywhere up north, where it's cold. Plus, everyone will leave Taipei and Kaoshiung to visit family, and those people are coming to us :) Hee hee hee.

Chinese New Year Facts 

- People give each other pineapples as peace offerings, so at grocery stores we see tiny pineapples with bows on them 

- It's the Year of the Rooster, seeing tons of rooster stuff everywhere 

- Lanterns are decorated in the towns like Christmas lights 

- They have a day where they clean their houses-(another excuse why they can't meet with us) 

- Red envelopes are given to children filled with money, so they go broke giving money to a lot of kids (like Christmas).  People think money is better than gifts, cause they can use money for many things. 

Other random facts :

     Most of the time, you take shoes off when you go into homes. even at the temple you take off your shoes before entering. Talk about white carpet!

eating with chopsticks and spoons, gotta love it!

They have little temples here with their tiny idols/gods. sometimes there are parades filled with firecrackers, drums, and little gods in their small shrines being bounced up and down by the people carrying them. They are going around to see their people. We figure the gods are going for a walk. They also have birthdays, so on those days it's pretty busy at their temples, or as they are called, miao. 

     Yesterday after church, I originally wanted to go to Lehe the aboriginal village to visit a girl, but we followed the Spirit and instead tried to visit RC Ding JM. I didn't know where she lived, so I went right off the baptismal record address. I think she didn't know her new address yet since she recently moved, so we went to her old house written on her baptismal record and someone else was there. We then went to the Veterans hospital nearby. (It's for everyone not just for veterans. Did you know Veteran in chinese is rongmin, which means "glory person"?).We went there and met a cool guy with a broken foot. He was Christian, and he was telling us how his minister just reads out of the Bible at church, so he doesn't really understand much about God. We taught him the restoration, gave him a tract and the Book of Mormon, and we hope to see him again. Just a cool miracle of following the Spirit to prepared people. 

     When I was in Reisui, there was one older guy we knocked on the door and visited (we just said hi to his son five minutes before, who was waiting outside for a friend to pick him up). He didn't seem too interested. We were leaving, but then we saw his older brother coming in. Turns out he was a less active from Taipei, he's probably been less active for a long time. I invited him to church, and he said right now he can't (his brother isn't a member) since he's down here visiting family for guonian, but he will probably try when he goes back to Taipei. I then told him that Christ remembers and misses him, then I left. His eyes were watering as I told him this. As I was leaving, I saw him grab a tissue out of his pocket and dab his eyes before he went back in. I got his number, I will try to contact the missionaries and ask to help try to get him reactivated.

     Met a former investigator family the missionaries taught two years ago. So prepared, they just had a family friend pass away, and they want to learn more about the gospel because of it. I hope we can get a family baptism, that is the ultimate missionary dream!

     At church, we had some people come! It was such a miracle. As a missionary, your heart just aches and worries, hoping people would come to church. I realized that church is a hard commitment, and I wished I would have been more selfless and tried harder to get others to come to church before my mission instead of just worrying about me getting to church. I really appreciate church now. It is not an easy thing to get people to come to church. 

     Challenge: Bring a friend or less active to church. You will really appreciate church a lot more, how much of a blessing and sacrifice it is. I promise you, you will have more empathy and love. 

Also, visit someone in a nursing home. 60% of Americans in nursing homes are never visited by anyone. Super sad. I remember feeling so happy when I visited the veterans in the nursing home in my senior year of high school. I loved going with my grandpa to visit them, it made me happy to make them happy, especially the lonely ones that nobody ever visited. I can't ever imagine growing up and being placed in a nursing home and nobody ever visiting me, that would be super sad. I guess it's the golden rule. I would like people to visit me when I'm older, so I will do the same for people right now. 

     I guess it's one reason why President Monson's

daughter said that he went to church a lot in nursing homes. He just loved going there and visiting the people since they are so close to the veil. It seems like there are a bunch of stories about him visiting someone in a nursing home. Shout out to him who took care of 88 widows in his ward and attended every single one of their funerals as a general authority. 

     Love you all! have a great week!

-Sister Brinkerhoff

Year Mark! Fishers of Men and Liberty Jail

Hey everybody!

     Awesome, busy week. Had a lot of fun stuff happen so excited to tell you about it. We will go on a hike to some waterfalls today, so sorry my email is kinda short.

Monday

     Since it's New Year's, a lot of  the branch members had work off, so we all went to the ocean seaside. The water drops off randomly so nobody swims in the ocean, and there's no sandy beaches, just rocky ones. We first went to a member's little tourist shop store by the ocean, and went on a hike

nearby. It was so beautiful! The area used to be under the ocean. Meng xin, it was fun. We then went to a fisherman's wharf for lunch, had shrimp and other Taiwanese food, then headed to the rocky beach and skipped stones into the ocean. Really fun pday. That's why I titled this the "Fishers of Men" (as well as having awesome new investigators). Saw some fishermen with really long poles- like me, still trying to find ways to attract new investigators through the Spirit. 

Wednesday

     Went to zone conference in Taidong, super fun! Watched the Jan 2016 worldwide mission broadcast: TEACH REPENTANCE AND BAPTIZE CONVERTS  #TRBC. Soooo good!  The last time I saw it I was at the MTC. I invite you all to watch it. I liked how they talked about the Spirit being the teacher, and we are the vessels, not the other way around. Elder Oaks' talk was so powerful, about why we do missionary work- SALVATION AND EXALTATION!  All returning to live in God's presence. 

Friday

     YEAR MARK!!!!!!!!!! I have survived for a year on my mission! Yay! I spent it going on exchanges in Paradise Hualian with the Sister Training Leaders, Sister Toronto and Sister Guan. Saw a lot of miracles! Met one cool, lonely lady who will start meeting with the sisters! 

Saturday

     Continued exchanges. Went to a road that felt more like California than Taiwan because of all the palm trees. Visited some cool people. Since there isn't a McDonald's in my area, we went there to evaluate exchanges. Learned some great stuff from Sister Guan.

     The tropic of cancer runs right through my area, so its California weather here. Yay! My body is freaking out; it thinks it should be cold.

Spiritual share

     I finally feel like things are getting better here. We have some awesome new investigators, got an awesome new companion (she's been here in Taiwan for three months) who I am breaking for the third time (I've never had a companion other than my trainer who's been in Taiwan on a mission longer than me), and will get things started. We only have about 20 active members in the branch, but we will make things better with God's help. Will be a miracle transfer.

     We met with the branch president, and he pretty much said just work to have a good relationship with  members and you will get referrals. so other than new investigators, that will be a goal for us this transfer: gain their trust.

     A few weeks ago, before Sister Scharman left, we were listening to a talk by Elder Holland on her ipod speaker called, "Lessons in Liberty Jail." I invite you all to read it; it was powerful. It was about how Joseph Smith's worst time in his life was being stuck in Liberty Jail while his family and the saints were being persecuted and driven away in the cold winter. One historian called the place a "temple," because it was where Joseph drew closer to God and received revelation. Receiving some of the most beautiful scriptures we have came at a high cost (see D&C 121-123).

     It was so good for me, because I kind of felt like the last transfer was Liberty Jail for me in a way. I was stuck inside with my poor, sick companion, not able to do as much missionary work as I wanted. The branch was falling apart, I wasn't able to do anything for my sick companion to make her better, we are in a very spread out large area (middle of nowhere), Ding Jm our baptismal investigator had a lot of trials, we didn't have any other progressing investigators, and I couldn't go out and proselyte like I wanted to. It was so miserable. From that experience, however, I learned more to trust in God and that ONE DAY, the trial would be over. Like Christ when He suffered the Atonement. It must have been super hard for Him to keep going. I often ask myself what kept Him going, why didn't He stop even when it was so hard. I think that just that vision of us all being exalted with Him and Heavenly Father, having so much happiness with our eternal families was the sole thing that kept Him going, having that hope that one day it will all be worth it in the end. If He believed that one day His sufferings will be over, so can we. And that day came, when He was Resurrected. Same with us- one day, we will be delivered us from our trials.

     One day, I would like to write a song called, "One day, someday," about the hope that one day the trial will be over. But for now, I guess we can go for Orphan Annie's "Tomorrow." 

   Also, I love an article from the October 2016 Liahona (either in New Era or Ensign) called "Power to Persevere." It's the story of how a 16-year-old girl learning to trust in God at all times, especially when her family got in a car accident which killed her mother. Her story is amazing, I love the part about how she would every night go in her closet, read scriptures, write in her journal and cry for an hour and tell God how much she missed her mom. It really drew her closer to God rather than push Him back when she needed Him most. God is like a doctor, he can heal us, but we need to go to Him rather than turn away, or else we can't be healed.  I invite you all to read it.

Here's the link:   The Power to Persevere

      Have a great week!  
      
     Sis. Brinkerhoff


         

Happy New Year...Two Years Later (a surprise meeting)

Happy New Year, Everyone!

     This week was awesome and full of miracles! I got my new companion, Sister Bernhardt, who just got done training (we call this breaking, and this is the third time I'm breaking a companion). She's just on fire and we are going to see a lot of miracles this transfer.  Before she came, I was with my member companion Liu Jie Mei. She is super awesome! She's an RM who served in DC. She was such a great example to me and I love her. 

     On Christmas, us missionaries went and sang carols at the train station with a few members. It was fun!  We found a lot of cool new investigators! So many miracles.

    

     On New Year’s Eve, we ate with the Singletary's. Their son, Meng Xin, who served in my YSA ward in Indiana (he told me he is the first Taiwanese missionary to serve in Indiana) came for dinner. It was crazy, I then realized that the very last time I saw him before my mission was at a New Year’s Eve Party in 2014 at the Purdue YSA ward when he was a missionary, exactly two years ago.

     Last week, I had an amazing miracle lesson with Ding JM. She told us that she wouldn't have gotten baptized if it wasn't for my companion, Sister Scharman, being sick. It was such a miracle, I called President about it that night. He then told me to email this to her and email him a copy of the email. Here's what I wrote to her:

 Letter to My Former Companion:

    Sister Scharman! I have to tell you this miracle lesson with Ding JM last Thursday night when we met her.  I have been dying to tell you all week. It was such an amazing lesson, and it made me realize one big reason why Heavenly Father needed you to be sick on your mission. Literally, it was all for Ding JM. We were all crying at that lesson, the Spirit was so strong. So this is how the lesson went (you might want to get the tissues out):

     Last Thursday was the first time we met with Ding JM since her baptism and confirmation. In that lesson, she was telling us about another dream experience that was fulfilled (You know about her awesome dreams that she's had lately). She said she had a dream about a coworker who was sad, because on Thursday (the day we met), she forgot to co-sign divorce papers, which left her in a mess. Ding Jm didn't remember the day on the contract, but she saw it was a Thursday. She then woke up. This dream happened a few days before Thursday. On that day, she asked her coworker about it, and her coworker was like, "I forgot to sign the papers!" and then went to sign them before her ex-husband got everything. If it hadn’t been for Ding JM having that dream to remind her coworker to sign the divorce papers, her coworker would have been in a bad way. It was so cool.

     So my companion, Sister Bernhardt (I'm breaking her right now, she was in the trio with Sister Althoff and Sister Munsee) talked a little about the Tree of Life, how Lehi had this amazing dream that helped his family. It then caused her to remember a dream that she had about you.

     She said that one night, she was reading the Book of Mormon and praying to know whether it was true. That night, she had a dream that you and your great-great grandmother appeared to her in the dream, and you both spoke perfect Chinese. Your great-great grandmother looked middle-aged, was wearing a beautiful blue dress and was holding your hand or shoulder as she introduced herself as your great-great grandmother. She then proceeded to testify to Ding JM that the Book of Mormon was true, and then you also testified that it was true. She then woke up, and had a stronger testimony of the Book of Mormon. 

     She then proceeded to tell us something amazing. She said that if it wasn't for you being sick, she wouldn't have taken the missionary lessons. Because she saw your pain, your sacrifice, your willingness to teach the lessons despite your severe health problems, she was willing to listen. She saw Christ's suffering and example from your willingness to do whatever it took to teach her. She started crying as she was telling us this. 

     She even told us that she saw Christ when she saw you. I asked what she meant. She said that whenever she looked into your eyes, she saw how much sacrifice, suffering and hard work you have done to help her come to the gospel, kind of like Christ and His Atonement. She was so touched by it that she was willing to continue the lessons for that reason. And the fact that she was baptized the day before your birthday, confirmed on your birthday, (and you left for Taipei to go home literally hours later after church) testifies to me that you were here for Heavenly Father and for her to the very end. 

     Afterwards, I testified that your suffering and sacrifice was for her salvation, as well as for Christ. I admit, it was hard to fight back the tears. I then realized that that was the reason why you were sick on your mission - to help Ding JM come to the gospel. It was what she needed before she joined. She is so awesome, she is so excited to start helping us Peike.  She even brought her 17-year-old son to the Christmas lunch after church last week. She is a true miracle, and I believe she will be a doorway for more missionary work and baptisms here in Yuli. Thank you for your example and your sacrifice. 

     I then ended by giving her an English tract with your picture on it. She carefully picked it up, gazed at the picture of you and started crying. I think that is one reason why you were chosen to be on there - to remind her of you. She really misses and loves you. You are her guardian angel. The first day we taught her, she said she was concerned about her Buddhist boyfriend who protested her listening to the gospel; I honestly thought that she wasn't going to progress. I remember, though, that you were so determined to get her baptized, you kept saying that she was going to get baptized before you left, which is exactly what happened. I was amazed at how much you were willing to do for her.

     Thank you for your love and example. It was a privilege working with you. I felt so humbled and grateful to serve with you.

     Another Miracle was on New Year's Day after church, we met with Meng Xin

and  his younger sister, Chen JM. She is 13 and reminds me of my sister, Lydia. In Taiwan, whenever people divorce, the kids live with the dad, so she has to live with her dad a little farther away, and he doesn't like the church so he won't let her get baptized. Her home situation isn't the best. The only way she can get baptized is having her dad's permission or if she can live with her mom and stepdad. Anyway, we talked about Christ and His Atonement, and they could really feel the Spirit. I testified that it's hard right now, but have faith and one day in God's timing she will be able to get baptized. We then knelt down and I prayed. It was so hard, I prayed out loud and started crying, I loved them so much and felt so sad about their trials and hardships. We all felt the Spirit and God's love strongly. 

     Thank you for your love and prayers. I know God and Christ live, He loves us, and this gospel is true. Christ, His atonement and His gospel definitely changes people, especially me. 

     Love you all! Happy New Year!

     -Sister Brinkerhoff

Shengdanjie Kuaile!

Best.Craziest.Week.Ever.

     Last week for English class in Reisui, we had a big birthday dinner for Sister Scharman. I had the feeling that this will be her last one, which was true. All week, she was fighting on deciding whether she should go home or not.  It was a really hard decision for her. It took a lot of convincing from everyone. President has told her 2-3 times that she needed to go home and get better, as well as the nurse, her parents, stake president and me, but she still wasn't sure about it. After talking to Elder Vatcher, our mental health senior missionary for about four hours on the phone, she finally was okay to go home. We got the call Saturday night to buy train tickets for Taipei the next day. We stayed up all night helping her pack. We then went to church the next day (her birthday), where she gave her last testimony, said goodbye to everyone, and went to the train station. We got there, spent the night at the mission office getting rid of more of her stuff so it would be under the 50 pound weight limit, and then we went over and slept at the temple tour sisters' house. 

   The next day, we got up, I had breakfast with my companion, Sister Scharman, her Taipei investigator friend and another Taipei friend of hers for her birthday. We then went back, took some pics, and then she went with the president's assistant and the office elders to the airport to go home. I then went with the temple tour sisters to do emails.

     Last week right after emails, I went with the temple tour sisters and some elders on a hike to Elephant Mountain. I was still in a dress since I ate breakfast with my comp and didn't have time to change. it was ok. it was a super warm day.  Later, they had to go to lunch with an rc (who had a table reservation for them), so I went with other sisters to get a haircut. 

     Taipei was the best place ever! I had so much fun, being around other missionaries, including the office elders and the assistants. It was funny, Elder Reintjes who was my zone leader in Taidong last transfer, is now an assistant, and let me tell you, he is super sassy.  Even a senior sister missionary, Sister Mcomber (president's mother-in-law) said that someone told her the office has gotten a lot sassier lately...

Funny moments

     We were going to practice the anmah (grandma) workout dance for the talent show. Elder Reinjes asked Elder Mcomber if he wanted to dance with us. He replied, "Do you wanna get shot?" It was super funny. 

     Elder Reinjes, the assistant, was so tired from the missionary Christmas conference, he said his prayer that night was pretty much," Dear Heavenly Father, sorry I'm tired so it's a short prayer, thanks for a great day, bless the mission, love you, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

     A few weeks ago when we didn't know who the next office recorder would be, assistant Elder Aiono accidentally let slip it was Elder Lloyd. The current recorder, Elder Richards, overheard.  At the time, he was reading the church's 25 days of Christmas which usually says, "Jesus gives service..., and so can you!", and said, "Elder Aiono, look at this, it says, Jesus can keep secrets, and so can you!" 

     Elder Reinjes was talking to temple tour sister, Sister Lefevre, and she was like, "So who's your new companion (new assistant)?" (Tranfers are next week, but the assistants pretty much know where everyone is going but they have to keep it a secret.) He was like, "I don't know, we have like five options right now." Then she was like,"So you will be getting a new companion." And he was like, "Bummer." He accidentally told her he would get a new companion, so everyone pretty much knows. 

     On Thursday, we had the mission Christmas party. The assistants changed the central zone table up to the front, so I got to sit up with everyone. We had it at the American Club, which is next to the grand hotel in Taipei. It was fancy. (Pres. Jergensen is rich.)  We first did a talent show. I'm glad to be up in Taipei at the time, otherwise I would have missed half the talent show.

Talent Show

     At the mtc and the first 12 weeks on a  mission, we watched videos on missionary work called, "The District," about real experiences of missionaries in California. One district did a funny skit based on one video about an investigator who said she didn't want to meet with the missionaries anymore (but she was reassured by her husband that it was ok, she was just afraid of commitment and she then got baptized). In the skit, the elders were like, "Did you ever think we didn't want to do this anymore either?  We've been meeting with you for five months." They then named everything they missed on their missions, such as Star Wars, Avengers, grass (there's not much grass in Taiwan), famous songs and a Star Wars video game as well as getting dear johns to convince her to get baptized, it was pretty funny.

     The Taidong missionaries did a bunch of funny short clips of things that Taiwan Taipei missionaries never do/say such as: having clean, ready towels at exchanges, saying kneeling prayers at 7/11s, not having a ton of frozen food garbage in the freezers (in Taiwan we first put the food in the freezer then throw it away to keep bugs away), wanting to talk to a white person or any other foreigner (white people scare us), and wearing a vest reflector and falling off a bike.

     They then did the missionary Christmas concert for everyone (since we wouldn't be there). One part that made everyone cry was when an elder sang, "O Come O Come, Emmanuel." It was so cool, it was like he was singing to Christ and the choir was all looking to him, since He is our only hope.  We also had someone talk about religions in taiwan.  Then we had a fancy lunch, then a spiritual share from Sister and President Jergensen and a mission slide show.  Then we went home. 

     On Christmas Eve, I saw a bunch of members from my areas Bade and Xinzhu at the chapel in Taipei for temple stuff. it was a christmas miracle :) We also ate burgers one night, went caroling at "Babylon" (a very worldly place, like Times Square in nyc), on Christmas Eve had a picnic outside.

     I will get my new comp this Thursday, and I will know if I will stay in Yuli, which is likely.

     This Christmas has definitely been one of the most Christ-filled Christmas' ever. When I was asking Elder Aiono if i could stay for the missionary Christmas concert on Saturday night, he was saying, Nothing's better than doing missionary work on Christmas (down in Yuli), which is true, we saw some miracles. 

     I am so grateful for Christ and his gospel. grateful for Christmas too!  We celebrate Christ's birth, because He is our Savior and did the Atonement and Resurrection for us as well as a million other things.

     Very happy to Skype my family!  Love and miss you all!  Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

     Sister Brinkerhoff

I'm Dreaming of a White, Hot Springs Christmas Baptism

     

Hello everybody!

     Exciting news, our investigator Ding Jie Mei (Sister Ding) is getting baptized this Saturday! WHOOO HOOOO! SO excited! It has been miracle after miracle with her. It was so cool, after she skyped a church leader in Taipei (she had to clear up some more serious stuff but she's good), we all talked with our second counselor and ward mission leader filler-in, Brother Gunn, about locations. We only have a blue tub we get out here in the church for baptisms, but we feel like we need a better location.  Revelation struck like lightning, and Brother Gunn was like, "I remember a member who has hot springs in his backyard we can use." We called him up, and he was cool with it! 

     This Saturday, we will have a hot springs baptism! We missionaries are aiming for a white, baptism Christmas in the zone. It will be the first baptism here in Yuli since July.

   

 We are moving our apartment down to the 3rd floor. We are the first missionaries for more than 10 years who are leaving the apartment. The one downstairs is bigger and more beautiful, so I'm excited! Not the moving part, but everything else. 

     It's been really cool to see all the miracles and tender mercies of the Lord.

     Here's a recap of the week:

Monday

      Ate lunch with Americans Travis and Navi, who were going back to Taipei then flying home a few days later. They were so awesome, we will really miss them. They will probably come back to Yuli in the spring, but we don't know if we will be here.  My companion and I then bought some Christmas stuff. 

Tuesday 

     Went to Reisui and taught English class. Taught winter words, such as snowflake and gingerbread house. We even made snowflakes with them. It was their very first time, and they all did pretty well!

Wednesday 

     

Went to Taidong and had zone meeting. Discussed how to teach members to do their own missionary work and how to do better street contacting. Afterwards, we ate at Sam's Burgers, an American restaurant with Peanut Butter burgers on the menu.  At the train station coming home, I met a famous Japanese Professor who I think said he invented the lights scrolling? 

     Also, met with an investigator and her friend. They are 23- and 18-year-old Americans from Oklaholma and North Carolina, who are teaching English here for a year. Super cute and religious girls. We think her friend is ready to hear the gospel, she said she was looking for the truth and tried finding it, but gave up so she believes in everything. Carmen might be a little harder (she knows her Bible scriptures and her parents were missionaries for her church in Romania for years), but we will keep trying. 

Thursday 

     Met with Ding JM, taught her tithing and fast offerings. She took it well. Also preparing her for her baptism. 

Friday  

     Companion went to the hospital (more like the doctor's office) for health problems. Met with Ding Jm again and went over baptismal interview questions. She had to clear up some more serious stuff in a baptismal interview, so she had to skype a church leader in Taipei instead of having Elder Budd the district leader do it. 

     Also, we went on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders. We usually go up to Hualian, but they came down here, since our area needs help (Sister Scharman has been sick for the past two weeks, so we hardly went outside and visited investigators.) It was so great to be outside and doing real regular missionary work again. I went with Sister Toronto. She grew up in Beijing, China and knew my aunt, uncle and their family in Beijing (her dad's a lawyer there). She's super amazing. She really has helped me, and even said I had the patience of Job, being inside all the time with a sick companion while the branch is struggling. It's okay, I have been feeling like I've getting better at patience and have received the Lord's help. 

Saturday 

     Continued exchanges. Met with an old investigator whose English name is Fish. She's a cute mom with a 7-year-old son, but her husband worships ancestors and protests her getting baptized so she's not willing to get baptized anytime soon. 

Sunday 

     I spoke in church. Talked about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (they loved that story) and how he used his trials (his red nose) and gifts to serve everyone. I like that story because, like the Savior, he was persecuted for being different, but in the end loved and served everyone. I  Also talked about my mission farewell talk I shared last year, which was based off of President Uchtdorf's talk last year at the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. He talked about the LDS charities who went to Africa and donated wheelchairs. One African guy who lived far away heard about it and asked his friend to take him, which he did. When he came, he got on the wheelchair the charity let him use, and he flew, enjoying every moment. After 10 minutes, he came back and thanked the charity, thinking they were just letting him use it for a bit. They told him that he could have it, that it was a gift from strangers on the other side of the world who loved him. He tearfully expressed gratitude. 

     I then invited the ward to ponder this question: "What will you give the Savior this Christmas?" I then told the ward that I was giving him 18 months of my life as a missionary for my Christmas gift. I'm renewing it this Christmas as well. I invite you all to ponder that question as well and see what you can do for the Savior this Christmas. 

Spiritual Share:

     While we were packing for the move, we listened to a famous talk on my companion's USB and her speaker from Elder Holland called "Lessons from Liberty Jail." He gave it at BYU a few years ago. It was so amazing, it was about receiving revelation during the hard times. He even quoted a historian who called Liberty Jail a temple, because that's the hardest time in Joseph Smith's life (coldest winter in Missouri history, can't stand up in the jail since the men were too tall, bad food and poison in food which caused them to be sick and delirious, no blankets, all just bad things). He had to endure such a hard thing to draw closer to God and have faith that He is always there. Elder Holland then said that we all will at some point in our lives, have our Gethsemene, and that we need to prepare and be strong enough to always follow God and pass the test of discipleship.

I invite you all to read or listen to it. You can find it on past devotionals at byu.org

Lessons from Liberty Jail 

     We also listened to another one about how the adversary will not give up on trying to destroy our souls. Whenever right before, during and after something happens (sometimes when it's spiritually significant), he will try really hard to bring us down and make us fear, which is when we see the bitter pains of hell like Moses did when he feared (in the Book of Moses) after he received a really cool vision, but he remembered Christ and called on his name for help. He then invited us to prepare ourselves and be true disciples so that when the hard times come, we will be ready.

     Love you all and have a Merry Christmas!

-Sister Brinkerhoff

Hospital or DMV?

     Craziest week ever.

     But first things first, favorite text of the week from our American ward member Brother Singletary (Meng Xin's stepdad) about the church's Christmas initiative LIGHT THE WORLD:

How in the heck am I supposed to light the world when I'm having trouble lighting my stove???

     It has definitely been an insane week, and let's just say I've never related so much to Rapunzel in my life because I've stayed inside a lot. I'm so excited, let's get started:

     Quick background info: My companion, Sister Scharman, came to Taiwan the same time as me, last March. In her first few months, she got her appendix taken out, and she's been having health problems ever since, I'm not even kidding. She was put on bed rest for a while on her mission, and she gets up periodically to do missionary work. She has been an amazing example to me of enduring to the end (plus she's a soccer player, and she has learned to hide her pain really well, cause in soccer if you show pain, you get out of the game. (That is one skill I want to learn). 

     Monday night, we had another, more American Thanksgiving dinner at Brother Singletary's house. My poor comp was in pain that whole night. We made apple pie from scratch (first time ever, and it was good) and cheesecake. Everyone complimented on how delicious my mashed potatoes were :) It was funny to see the Taiwanese try gravy for the first time. They liked it. 

     Afterwards, that's when it started to get crazy. My comp recently had been taking medication for her face because it was hurting like crazy from the acne she got on her mission, but it turns out it was acutane, which is super strong. We got it from a dermatologist the week before. She was fine until she started developing side effects, which sent us to the emergency room at 11pm.

    While there, she got some IV fluids and was there a lot of the night. It was funny, she was the one getting poked by the needle and i was the one freaking out. There was nowhere for me to sleep, so I slept on benches, which was uncomfortable. At around 2 am, I made a huge mistake; I knew in the morning we had district meeting then we had to teach English class that night in Reisui (no close), so I asked the nurse how long it will be before she can go home. I thought my comp just had to finish the IV drip and we were good (I know nothing about hospitals). Because of some miscommunication, the nurse thought we were in a hurry to leave and checked us out of the hospital before my companion was ready to leave. We went home, but were locked out of our apartment since the elevator was turned off and the stairs to our apartment were also locked (it went through our landlord's home), and we forgot to tell him we were leaving. We couldn't get hold of him, so at 3 am we went to the Singletary's (they were still awake doing work). We called President at 3 am and asked if we could sleep overnight, sleep at a hotel or at the hospital. He didn't sound too happy when we called, and said just to find a hotel or go back to the hospital. We only needed four more hours til the Landlord was awake and the hotel was expensive, so we went back to the ER and Sister Singletary asked the nurse there helping us earlier if we could sleep. The nurse then took us to a back room where the doctors sleep and told us to try to hide from the ER doctor. So my comp and slept on hospital stretchers for the rest of the night.

     Tuesday we had district meeting downstairs in our chapel. The zone leaders and the Americans Navi and Travis Ely came. The Ely's were nice and went to Reisui for us to teach English class, since my comp was in a lot of pain. So we stayed in that night and let her rest.

     The next day, we stayed inside and rested. Sister Vatcher, our mission nurse, and President Jergensen called. In the mission, if you are inside for more than three days, church headquarters starts thinking about sending you home. So President set up a teleconference with  my comp, her parents, and her stake pres. to decide if she should stay or not. The result is that we will try a few more things and if all else fails, she will go home. 

Thursday, we took the three-hour train ride to Taipei. My poor comp was in so much pain. We went to the mission office, then we went with Sister Vatcher the mission nurse to a hospital called the Taiwan National Veteran's Hospital. Apparently it is so good, that even the President of Taiwan goes there. Because it is a free healthcare system in Taiwan, the hospitals run very differently. A lot of doctors work for a set salary (unlike in America, it's you get what you pay for, which increases competition, which leads to better health care), so the doctors don't have the same incentives to work fast or care too much. In Taipei, however, the doctors take more pride in their work, so they are better. 

     The hospital was huge! Taiwanese hospitals run like DMVs - you sign in for your appointment, take a ticket, sit down in a waiting area outside the office door, and wait for a nurse to come out and call your name. If the person isn't there, they skip to the next person, and if you miss it, they will let you in later. Very efficient and quick. So the nurse who spoke good English is a family doctor and gave my comp some  medication and told her to go see a doctor about her bowels.

     My comp had a cold, her chest was hurting because of inflammed muscles, her stomach wasn't working and she may have tapeworms (we still don't know), and she was really suffering all day, so we stayed the night at the temple tour sister's apartment by the mission office then went home the next day. we then pretty much stayed in all week, except to go downstairs and teach Ding jm's lesson, go to church and mm meeting. During that time , I would just read church material, since I can' t make calls and wake her up (we live in a one room apartment).

     We are so excited, Ding Jm, our investigator, is getting baptized in two weeks! She is a Christmas miracle; she has blessed our lives so much more than she has blessed ours! She is about 50 years old, divorced with two kids, and is returning to Christianity, this time to Christ's church for good. She knows it's true and she has incredible faith despite her large number of trials. The members have been incredible to her, and they teach her stuff way ahead of time so the lessons are a breeze cause she already knows and is already on her way to keeping the commandments. We are almost done with the lessons. 12 days till baptism! We are so excited, there hasn't been a baptism here since July. 

     I've been reading the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi where Lehi talks about Joseph of Egypt. I'm like, "that's cool, I should reread that story again in the bible." So I did, and let me tell you, it's amazing! I love how Joseph has faith despite trials, trusted in God and gave Him credit for everything, forgave his brothers and pointed out that his trial was a good thing that God wanted him to go through, and whatever position he was in, he did it well (even in jail when he was in charge of the prisoners). Man, he's soo cool.

     I've also was reading in the conference talks from last conf (page 20 is Jay Jay, who was in my first ward in Ba De. I've met her a few times, she has totally changed for the better). I like the one about the missionary who asked his mission president why he came to Japan despite his health problems, and his mission president said one reason was so that he can learn from him. I feel the same way about my companion.

     I also like the talks about finding hope through trials and having that eternal perspective will give us happiness. 

     Love you all! Have an awesome week!

-Sister Brinkerhoff