First of all I want to thank the awesome ward in Fayetteville, Georgia for taking great care of Annie! She told me of several "moms" who watched out for her and several families who made her feel at home. She loved coming into your homes and meeting your families. Thank You!
This has been a great week for Annie and our family. On Tuesday, we got to talk to Annie on the phone when she had a layover in Houston on her way to Taiwan. The kids' schools were delayed 2 hours so they were all home when she called and we all got to talk to her. I then watched her flights all the way to Taiwan on an app I downloaded so I knew she got there safely. Wednesday night I got a call from Taiwan. It was Annie calling to tell us she got there ok and that she LOVED it. She could only talk for literally one minute but in that minute I heard the peace and calm in her voice that let me know, once again, she is where she is supposed to be right now.
Annie's P-day (preparation day) is on Monday in Taiwan but Taiwan in 14 hours ahead of us here in Texas. She emailed us last night around 10pm our time and we emailed back and forth for about an hour. She didn't have time to write a post for this blog so she asked me to take parts out of the emails she sent us and combine it with her weekly email she sent her mission president and post that on the blog. So that is what I did. If it doesn't make sense that is why. I've also posted on another post several of the pictures she sent to us. I hope you enjoy hearing about her time in Taiwan as much as we have. We are very proud of her for enduring and thriving when things have been hard and when things haven't gone the way they were expected to. We miss her every day but we are so grateful for what she is learning and what our family is learning through this experience.
Mom Guess what!?!
I got a bendiren companion! (a native companion!)
She's from Taipei, too! CRAZY! She only has 2 transfers left! :(
3/8 trainers were natives and Sister Kirkham, Good, and I got them! WOW!
I'm serving in Taidong, on the very southern east coast of the mission. It's a poorer area from what I've heard, but all the food is SUPER CHEAP. I got breakfast this morning for like $2. It was like 75 NTD (New taiwan dollars) soo yeah i'm not sure exactly how much that is USD. also I got a bunch of FRESH fruit and stuff at a morning market/farmer's market today at 6am. almost a week of food for like 150 NTD!! It's crazy awesome.
In my interview with President Day on Thursday he said that Elder Holland said last time he came to the mission that the Lord only sends his best missionaries to the island of Taiwan. I don't believe him... haha Then I've heard all the other missionaries tell me that President Day trusts the missionaries a lot that he sends to the "east coast" so they say the fact that I'm TRAINING here, with a NATIVE means a TON. Uh....overwhelming a bit. I don't know.
BUT HUGE ANSWERED PRAYER. I have roommates! I'd heard that most missionaries here just live with their companions. So I HAVE ROOMMATES, but Heavenly Father didn't just give me that, SISTER GOOD IS MY ROOMMATE!!!! :D :D Texas for life! :) We're both so stoked(: Her companion is a native too, like I said. I'm so grateful! SO GRATEFUL.
I feel like this is FINALLY my real mission. So when we first got to Taipei we got on a cute Asian bus and went to the mission home by the temple. SO PRETTY! I love it. Then we got temporary companions for the next 2 days. I got Sister Tate who'd been serving in Houston since October waiting for her visa. She's awesome. We basically just went right to sleep after that!
The next morning we woke up at 6am and all together with President Day ran to the Chiang Kai Shek memorial. It was so pretty!!! I didn't have my camera though:( Then we did office stuff and I got to talk to you!! <3 for the shortest minute of my life! Then we figured out some bank and money stuff... and I got to write you a letter!! SO it should get there in like 3 weeks(; I wrote more about the first day in that letter. Then we had some trainings/orientations all afternoon from President and Sister Day. They're so down to earth and real. I love them so much. They know that we already have so much pressure on us going to such a foreign mission that they don't have to give us any more! Sister Day says a majority of the missionaries that come here are such perfectionists and that this mission teaches them that they don't have to be. She's so awesome. They're both just so loving and helpful. I really LOVE President and Sister Day!
Below is her letter to her mission president:
President Day,
I love Taiwan so much! I'm so grateful to finally be here! I wouldn't change a thing about my mission so far though. I'm grateful for the extra time in the MTC and our reassignments to Georgia. They've helped me become who I am today. Thank you for the awesome 2 days we spent up at the mission home. It was a great way to transition into this NEW culture and country. Thank you!
I love Taiwan so much! I'm so grateful to finally be here! I wouldn't change a thing about my mission so far though. I'm grateful for the extra time in the MTC and our reassignments to Georgia. They've helped me become who I am today. Thank you for the awesome 2 days we spent up at the mission home. It was a great way to transition into this NEW culture and country. Thank you!
Even though I've only been down here in Taidong for 2 days, we've already seen a few miracles. First of which I think is how much of the language I've been understanding. I've understood a lot more than I thought I would considering the long break away from Chinese in Georgia. I'm not very good at responding to people, though. I need to just speak more so I can improve my speaking ability.
On Saturday night we went out to go street contacting. Mao Jiemei did most of the talking, but I bore my testimony about families and said a few prayers. It was really hard. Kind of overwhelming. But the people did understand me, so maybe my Chinese isn't as bad as I think. 3 of the people we talked with became new investigators and were pretty interested in the church. It was really cool to see that happen my first time street contacting in Taiwan!
The biggest challenge so far... I don't even know! There have been kind of a lot. Probably just the new culture and new mission rules. It's hard to get used to one mission's rules and routines, then get used to this one. I'm sure I'll get over that in the next few weeks though. Obviously the language barrier is really hard, too. Living with 2 natives has been difficult because of that. I feel like sometimes I just follow Mao Jiemei around and don't really know what's going on. I just do what she tells me to do and go where ever she wants. I don't ask questions. :) I love her so much though and we're getting along really well so far! We have similar personalities and I know we're supposed to be companions! I've got a lot to learn from her at the end of her mission! I can't believe she only has 2 transfers left! It will be so sad when she goes home.
I'm really excited to serve the people of Taidong and continue to learn how to become a better missionary.
Thank you so much for everything you do for us!
-Ou Jiemei
-Sister Oviatt
