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

Lehe

Hellooo everyone! 

It has been an interesting week.

We went to a nearby small town called Lehe, and I can't tell you, I SWEAR I thought I was with Native Americans, not Taiwanese. Let me explain.

Before the Chinese came and lived in Taiwan in the 1950's or so, there was a group of people living in Taiwan. They are called the Aboriginals. They are pretty much the native americans of Taiwan. Anyway, some 60 years or so ago, some Christian missionaries came and made them Christian. Such is the case for Lehe, where pretty much everyone goes to this one Catholic church and catholic school. An 80 year old french guy (I heard he's still alive and living nearby, I wanna see him sometime). came and converted mostly everyone, good for him. It was interesting, I've seen pictures of their costumes and the town had rock murals of it all. I remember my grandpa always wanted to see a twirling turkish dancer, and he was able to see one when he visited Turkey a few years ago. That is my dream now- to see aboriginals dance too just to say that I saw them dance.I even had a dream a few days later of some of them dancing, and I couldn't tell if they were aboriginals or native americans. My dreams have been constantly of going home for a few days then going back on my mission. Super weird.  

 

My mission so far:

Ba De- means 8 morals (Young womens lesson anyone? 8 morals: faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice and accountability, good works, integrity, virtue=mei de, which means beautiful moral ). A more small town feel, up the hill from the famous tourist attraction Yingge, lots of pottery.

Xinzhu: means New Bamboo. A city like Provo. Has 2 train stations, 2 colleges, a big mall, a christian hospitalm, and a science park, so pretty much the finding is endless.

Yuli: means Jade Neighborhood. The Japanese might have (still not sure) came here in World War in 2. We've met two people here who were here when it happened, and they still hate the japanese and love the americans. We met one old guy who was there when it  happened who lived in Lehe. He is from China. He is like 80 and his wife is 60 something. Fun stuff. 2nd to smallest area in the whole mission (just barely made from smallest to second smallest). Small branch in a guys big house. We live right above the 1 floor chapel with 3 classrooms, a kitchen and a branch presidents office where I am writing emails right now. 

It has been a good week with miracles. We have some cool investigators I REALLY hope can get baptized soon. Finding has been kinda rough, but it will be okay.

Spiritual share: 

I've been reading the Liahona's lately, and there were two good stories I liked. One was a lady who was a nurse and was having a bad day, but saw some pretty flowers as she was leaving and the lady at the desk gave them to her. As she was leaving, she saw an older lady who said the flowers were beautiful. The lady didn't want to, but the Spirit told her that the older lady needed the roses more than her, and so she gave them to her. The old lady started crying and said that her husband passed away a few years ago and her children hadn't visited in a long time, and she prayed and asked God to let her know that He still loves her, and that through this lady giving her the roses she felt His love. The lady left and was grateful that she did it. Her husband later got the flowers the flower shop forgot to deliver to her that were prettier than the ones she gave to the older lady. I love this story of selfless sacrifice and helping those in need. Reminded me of when I visited people at the Veterans home.

Yuli Bridge

Lessons learned: be selfless, follow spiritual promptings, and open your mouth asap.

Fun cultural facts:

I have felt a few earthquakes here on my mission. Some in Bade, never in Xinzhu, and two here in Xinzhu, just an hour or so ago as I'm writing emails and last night. Nothing serious, just some things shaking. 

If a divorce takes place, the kids go with the father instead of the mother.

We can't drink water from the tap, so we always have to have a filter, so we never see drinking fountains. At church, instead of drinking fountains, we have office water coolers, available in hot, room temperature or cold.

They pretty much don't freeze their vegetables. So when we go grocery shopping, we don't see frozen fruits or vegetables.

Love my  mission, Love the Lord, it will be rough for a while, but I will try to do my best. It will be okay, because I am on His Side.

-3 Nephi 5:15

Love you All!

-Sister Brinkerhoff

At the Beach...Again

Ni Hao!
     
     It has been another great week in Xinzhu...and probably my last full week here, I don't know. Transfers are next week, so next week I will see where I will be going or if I will be staying for another transfer. Funny story, I have been living with my trainer for almost half of my mission (never lived in an apartment in Taiwan without her). 

     Last week we went to the beach again. It was cooler this time. The last time we went was my last day as a teenager (June 27), right before my birthday. It was fun, we built sandcastles, held small crabs and bothered a huge one, played frisbee on the beach, collected seashells, took lots of pictures, and went through a maze my companion made. It was funny, some Elders found some huge sticks (about nine feet or so) and this big styrofoam ball, and played what looked like oversized beach hockey. Good stuff. 

     Weather has been cooling down, yippee.

     We were in charge of a youth stake missionary activity last Saturday. There was about 12 youth in total who came. We did role plays, went finding nearby, taught how to teach their friends (interestingly enough, they don't really know how to, so they had a lot of questions on how to teach their friends the gospel). They all shared their testimonies after, it was super great! Love them!

     The elders and us ate at the college food court. In Xinzhu, we have two high ranking colleges right next to each other. I haven't been to them since last June since they are kinda far away and uphill, but we met with someone at a college to teach a lesson.

     So  our investigator:  We have a cute 23-year-old girl named Anny (same as me :) that we are teaching. We are trying to help her progress in the gospel. She probably will get baptized. She came to the YSA activity last night! We had dinner and stayed for the spiritual share but left when they did the activities. It was funny, the time between dinner and the spiritual share, our MM leader Pedro/Li Di Xiong took us, Anny, the elders, and two other members to the bishop's office and was asking us for ideas for activities since he was in charge of them. She was so cute, she offered ideas. 

Spiritual share:

     Today, my companion shared a story from the February 2016 Ensign called, "Sheep and Shepherds." It was an old talk by Elder James E. Faust. He tells the story of when he was a young boy, his dad found a lost lamb in the desert and took it home to have Elder Faust take care of it. Elder Faust took care of the lamb and they became really good friends. However, one stormy winter night, Elder Faust forgot to put the lamb back in the shed. He could hear it bleating frantically, but Elder Faust was too warm and cozy in his bed to get up and put him in the barn. The next day, he found out that a dog had heard the lamb bleating and killed it. He was heartbroken, and the gut-puncher was when his dad told him, "Son, couldn't I entrust you to take care of one lamb?" He said that even sixty years later, he could still clearly remember hearing that lamb bleating. This analogy was compared to us in taking care of the lost sheep in our lives, whether they be family members, friends, investigators, people we visit teach or less active members. We have to take care of them at all times since God entrusted them to us for care. Elder Faust said that if he could still hear the lamb bleating after 60 years, imagine what our guilt be like for eternity if we fail or neglect to take care of the people we are entrusted with.

Responsibilities of Shepherds

     I also liked a story from this month's Liahona (in the New Era magazine) called, "The Power to Persevere." You should read it, it's about how a girl made it through her trials and relied on God rather than be bitter when her family got in a car accident, her mom died, she had a broken leg, and her dad remarried nine months later. I loved how she said prayer and scriptures saved her from being bitter, as well as serving her step mom. Loved her example.

The Power to Persevere

     I am also so grateful for Joseph Smith's example of having a question, reading scriptures, prayer and getting and answer from God. Through his example, we have been able to teach countless people.   Also love Mormon's example of charity and praying for people.

Cultural tidbits:

- At grocery stores, you have to buy your plastic bag.

- There are three groups of people in Taiwan: those who can speak perfect English, broken English, or no English. 

     Thanks for your love and prayers! Love y'all!

     Sister Brinkerhoff

Leofoo World

     WHOOOHOOO! Last pday was awesome! Thanks for the prayers everyone, they were answered and I had an amazing time.  We went to Leofoo Village Theme Park, the best theme park in Taiwan. It's a combination of Lagoon, Disneyland, Hogle Zoo, and Universal Studios all rolled into one.  We had the park to ourselves, the weather was perfect, and we didn't have to wait in lines! It was everyone's dream theme park experience!  Basically, it's a smaller theme park kind of like Lagoon. It is made up of four sections:  American West, South Pacific (like Hawaii), Middle East, and a Zoo section. Kinda random. Not many roller coasters or scary rides, which is good for me. I don't know if the Taiwanese don't like fast rides. It was totally worth the $20 dollars entry price.  I feel bad Taiwan doesn't have a Disneyland, but there is one in Shanghai.  (Unfortunately, not a lot of Taiwanese are able to go because of airfare costs.)

     The past few weeks, everyone has been getting ready for the Moon Festival. We've been eating moon cakes, as well as this fruit. It's big and green and looks like a bear, but in the inside it's like a big orange. 

More fun facts about Taiwan:

- There's a bunch of Disney stuff, everywhere. Some of the most popular include Stitch from Lilo, and Stitch (I don't know why, that movie is kinda old. I see him on people's cars and such. Kinda funny), Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Frozen (little girls wear Frozen clothing, there's some that come to church in Frozen dresses), and Toy Story.

- A lot of youth wear colored contacts, so they look interesting. Their eyes look not so real.

- When we call people, sometimes instead of hearing the phone ring, a popular song comes on. Kind of like when there's music when you're put on hold, but instead you hear a song while waiting for the other person to pick up. It's really funny when we are calling adult men and they have some girly pop song come up when we call.

- I see a lot of bats at night.

- The area I am serving in is called Xinzhu, which means New Bamboo, which is kinda funny, since I haven't seen much bamboo except at the college. Also, Xinzhu is called the Windy City (like Chicago), because it is windy. It has been a blessing, especially in the hot summer. Super grateful to be here in the summer, the wind really helps beat the heat.

Spiritual:

     At church, my companion and I sang "Joseph's First Prayer" to the tune of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing." So spiritual and it was a very pretty arrangement. Want to sing it at my homecoming.  Also, a successful missionary-led fireside.

Funny Story:

     We ate lunch with our ward mission leader and the Zone Leaders, and the ward mission leader was lamenting how nobody in the ward was helping him in his calling and started comparing himself to Abinadi. (Our ward mission leader's English name is Pedro, which he probably got from one of his American companions when he served his mission in the southern part of Taiwan. Asians don't really know how to be sarcastic, but I guess Pedro learned how to do it from his American missionary companions because, he's very sarcastic.) At church on Sunday, he taught the Gospel Principles class about missionary work. He asked the class to name off Book of Mormon missionaries, and my companion jokingly shouted "Abinadi!" He laughed so hard at the inside joke.

     Thank you for your thoughts and prayers! Remember to rely on the Lord. Have a prayer in your heart; the church is true; get married in the temple; and have an awesome day!

-Sister Brinkerhoff

Halfway There (still living on a prayer)

Hey ya'll!

     It's been another crazy busy week in Xinzhu! Today we are going to the amusement park. Sister Bain's (my trainer and Sister Training Leader) new companion, Sister Li who is Taiwanese, said it's her most favorite amusement park in Taiwan. I heard it was built in a way like Disneyland. I am scared stiff because I'm pretty much the only one that absolutely is terrified of roller coasters, and I can't be without my companion who likes roller coasters. Please pray that there will be another sister missionary who is coming that is also afraid so that we can be together for the day. I might have to ride roller coasters today, I will let you know if I survived next week.

     Tomorrow will be my official halfway mark on my mission! I entered the MTC on January 6, and go home around the end of July. Man, time flies! I am on my fifth transfer which is crazy! I am still with Sister Cullen, who I broke last transfer. This will be my third transfer in Xinzhu. I am excited, we are working a lot with members.

     This week I finally got a new kickstand! It's been about 6 weeks since mine broke, but a nearby bike shop owned by a members came up and said he ordered new kickstands (since me and Sister Bain, who has had a broken kickstand for almost a year) since we keep asking him and I guess other people wanted some as well. We also got lights for our bikes, so we look shnazzy as we bike to places at night. 

Miracles

     So you all know about the new rule here where if we teach guys we give them to the elders and vice versa? Well, because of that, we have been focusing on women, and especially, families. I've hadn't realized how many guys we teach until now. It's been a good change, because we realized how much we need to focus on families (and we don't have to worry about having female  members help come to lessons because we can't teach males without a female or two other males).       

     A new park recently opened, and there were a ton of families! We went there and met with a dad and nine-year-old daughter, who both came to church with us! Also, since we had to help our recent convert (Filipino sister) go to Sacrament at 9:20 am, we spent that time between the other church time and our church time at 1:30 getting ready for the investigators coming, and then went to this same park. An hour before church, we also invited another dad and his seven-year-old daughter to come to church, and they came an hour later! Both girls went to church and had a great time! Even both dads at the end of church said they felt peaceful. Turns out the seven-year-old girl doesn't have a mother (either left the picture or died, probably the former), and frequently asks her dad why she doesn't have a mom. In addition, the dad is in poor health and busy with work which includes traveling to China. The dad of the nine-year-old looked sad the whole time at church. When we went to primary with the girls, the nine-year-old told us that her mom is very busy at work (which is why she didn't go to church with them), and because she is busy her parents fight at home. It was very sad to see both girls come from broken homes and families, but I was so glad we had the opportunity to bring them to church to at least bring them some happiness (by being with the other primary kids, learning about Christ and being in a safe, happy atmosphere) and peace to their dads. The seven-year-old looked quiet and scared at first, but after Sunday School class, she looked so much happier and had made new friends. Both dads are willing to meet with us. 

Funny Story/Miracle:

      So we were with the zone leaders at the bishop's house (since we are in the same ward) visiting his family (his 11-year-old son is so great, when we asked for referrals he quickly stated his best friend, Howard, from English class. He is such a great example about wanting to share the gospel). At the end of the visit, we had to leave quickly since we live far away, its dark and rainy and we had to be home on time (especially since we lately been having lessons with members with the zone leaders and they don't live as far away or have to tell the district leader what time they're home, so we have been late a few times and our district leader is not as happy about it. Before we left, the bishop and his wife gave us yellow watermelon and Star Wars cookies. And then, the zone leaders started taking pictures with bishop and his family with Star Wars cookies! While we were hurrying out the door, they were still there taking pics! 

     On the way home, we prayed we'd get home on time. It seemed impossible, it usually takes longer, and add the fact it was raining and dark which made it harder, BUT SOMEHOW, we made it home on time. God blessed us to be home on time and got home faster than usual. When the district leader called to see if we were home, he was like, "Where are the zone leaders?" My companion was like, "taking pictures with bishop holding Star Wars cookies." 

     We see a few white people here and there in Xinzhu, which is freaky. I can't tell you the number of times other missionaries in my district said, "I am so glad I'm not serving in America, I don't think I can teach white people." I agree, the Taiwanese are very nice people. I don't think I could teach white people. 

     At Big City (a big mall in our area), when my comp and I and the district leader and his companion were crossing the street and we would see white people and just stare at them, and be like,"White people," or as the Taiwanese say, "Waiguoren!" (foreigners)  And then we realize we are waiguoren too! I guess we are just with the Taiwanese so much we think we are Taiwanese. 

Cultural Facts:

**Right now is the moon festival or mid-autumn festival. I see pictures of a bunny and the moon everywhere. We have been getting a lot of moon cakes lately, which are filled with red bean paste and egg. I like it except the egg part, which is too salty. 

**The garbage truck sounds like an ice cream truck. Everybody just comes outside when it comes and gives them their garbage.  Here's a link to a video of it:  Taiwan Garbage Truck Pick up

**To avoid cockroaches, we put food trash in the fridge to keep them from getting into it.  

**We can't write names in red because it is considered unlucky. 

**At church, they say, Di xionng, jie mei men, zao an (or wu an) for Brothers and sisters, good morning (or good afternoon). It was started a long time ago by an Elder from Hawaii serving in Taiwan. He tried getting them to say aloha in church, but it didn't work, so he got them to say that and it stuck ever since. 

**They have 7/11, Hi Lifes and Family Marts everywhere. They are  a cleaner version of a gas station fast food shop. They don't sell gas, but just drinks, food and other stuff. You can also pay your bills here and buy train and bus tickets, and pay your parking fees.  They are very convenient stores!

**Unless you it's a shirt from school or a club or some special event, the lettering on t-shirts is mostly in English. Also, a ton of business signs are in English. Most are both in Chinese and English, but some really fancy ones just have English and no Chinese, and the poorer, smaller businesses are Chinese only. 

**English schools ARE EVERYWHERE! 

**School is brutal here! They only have a month and a half of summer vacation (some still go to summer school). They go all day, then they go to cram school right after. 

**People wear long-sleeved shirts when they ride scooters, even in the summer. I remember being in Ba De and wondering why they wear long-sleeved shirts in hot weather? I learned later it was to prevent suntan.  They don't think dark skin is pretty. The Taiwanese are pretty healthy and pretty health conscious.  For example, whenever we pray, people either want us to pray for their family, work, school or health. 

**There are squat toilets at a lot of places. Nuff said. 

     Love you all and remember to serve the Lord and fast and pray for those who don't know God (Alma 6:6).

Sister Brinkerhoff

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