IT SNOWED IN TAIWAN.

IT SNOWED YESTERDAY. IN TAIWAN. IT NEVER SNOWS HERE.
it was REALLY light, but it was still snow! My companion is from singapore, so she's never seen snow. Yesterday she was pretty excited, except today the sun came out and she was like. oh I like the sun better than the snow I decided. haha! It hasn't been this cold in almost 10 years I heard!

This week was really hard, because my companion was sick like I was last week, and it was SO COLD. But it also included one of the most memorable days of my whole mission. I am really amazed that we were able to have such a successful week, even with Sister Tan being sick from Tues. to Sun. We only worked full days on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. It really felt like we were in a lot this week, but when we were counting our numbers and looking back on the week last night, I saw that we actually were able to do a lot with the little we had. It just showed me how much potential we have when we're actually healthy and going 100%, not 60%, like this week. This week will be so great. Now that the infection has run it's course in our apartment we will be able to go 100% this week in this amazing weather. :)
Saturday we had a baptism! It was Xiao Su Qin from last week's email. It was the best baptismal service of Sister Tan and I's missions. The theme for her baptism was Alma 56:48 "And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it." She is exactly like the mothers in this story. She has shown so much faith in the Lord and has not doubted Him. At the beginning we were just focusing on her daughter, then she slowly started having interest and developing her faith. Then she had to overcome a word of wisdom problem, and had to learn how to repent because of a law of chastity problem in the past. She was so strong through all of these obstacles and met her original date! It was so fun to introduce her to the ward. When we were telling them about her and all the things she's been through to get baptized, Sister Tan and I almost started tearing up. She just kept looking up at us and saying, "I'm really just grateful to you two sisters, and to Heavenly Father for teaching me." We were taught by her. She's been a great example to her 19 year old daughter, Chao Wen Jing, who is on date for 2 weeks from now on 2/6. Xiao JM's husband died about 9 years ago, so it's just her and her daughter living together. Their life has been really sad, but we've been able to see how the gospel really changes lives and changes people. It's been such a blessing to know these two.
After the baptism, we met quickly with them to discuss with Wen Jing how she felt at her Mom's baptism. At one point in the lesson, Xiao JM said, "Can I share something I didn't want to share in my testimony before? When I was getting out of the font I could feel that my Mom and Dad were there, along with a lot of my other ancestors. That's why I was nervous and didn't say very much when I was bearing my testimony, because I could feel that they were there listening." The tears that we'd held back earlier in the day all came out when she said that. The spirit filled the room stronger than I've felt it probably in my whole life.
Later that day as we were biking through the 4 degree Celsius weather, I remembered something that happened one day as we were biking up to teach them. They live about a 40 minute bike ride up a hill away from where we live. One day it was especially hard to go up the hill for some reason. Then I suddenly had a thought come to my mind, "You need to go teach them. Xiao JM's ancestors are pulling for you and need her to get baptized. They are helping you get up this hill. They need you." I made it up that hill with no problem after that. I had totally forgotten about that experience until Xiao JM brought up her ancestors after her baptism. It was just one baptism. But the effects of the "one" are being felt for generations, in the past AND the future. What a privilege it is to be a missionary. "How great is your calling!"
I'm a little bit nervous for transfers this week, but I think because Sister Tan only has 1 transfer left, and we've only been together for 1, not a lot is going to be changing. We've got a lot of work to do out here in Zhudong. It's such a special place!

Pray for us to not freeze!! Taiwan doesn't have heaters like they do in America!

-Sister Oviatt

Sick week... :/

Really quick. 3 months from today is my 21st birthday... and my last PDay. SO WEIRD. I literally feel so old lately. and I don't like it. I love being a missionary.

This week was kinda lame, but also miraculous. I was out for 4 days with a dumb cold. BUT our investigator passed BOTH of her baptismal interviews this weekend and is getting baptized this Saturday! YES! Also, yesterday the weather was awful, but one of our investigators still came out to Sacrament, toting 2 toddlers! She had told us earlier in the week that she probably wouldn't make it, but she still came and loved it(: Such a big miracle!

As far as the work this week, it was a little rough, but somehow it still managed to not look too bad. We were in all day Thursday, then we had 1 lesson Friday afternoon. Later Friday night, I tried to bike 40 min, up a huge hill, to the city that 3 of our most progressing investigators live. We made it up to our first appointment, but our investigator's mom, who is a member, saw the state I was in and insisted that she take me to a doctor that night. So she drove us back into the city to see a doctor. He gave me some medicine for my normal, but annoying cold and we went home.

But one good thing did come out of going to the doctor! I got a full Chinese name finally! :) The receptionists couldn't understand that I was just, "Sister Ou" and demanded that I have a first name. So our member picked, "歐家妤" "Ou Jia Yu" for me. It is so perfect and I love it. :) "Jia" means "home/family" and "Yu" means "beautiful/fair". I've been waiting almost a whole year for a Chinese name and now I have one!
We then stayed in again on Saturday, because I was so beat from the huge trek up to Er Chong Pu the day before. We did go out to our chapel for our investigator Xiao JM's baptismal interview. We were so glad to be there when she came out of her interview, telling us that she's passed and was excited to get baptized this Saturday. She was a little nervous about her 2nd interview the next day with President Chang, but still faithful. Yesterday she had her interview, and passed! She will be getting baptized this Saturday! We are so lucky to get to see this miracle. She has come so far in just the month that we've been teaching her and that I've known her. She started out having no interest at all, to now being excited to become a spiritual daughter of Christ and have a new start. She's been a huge example of humility and faith to Sister Tan and I. A big testament that this gospel does change people and families! Next, we're really going to work on her daughter, who is preparing to get baptized 2 weeks after her mom. We're hoping she'll realize the blessings the gospel has given to her mom, and then have the faith that it can change her, too. I'm so grateful for this opportunity I've had to meet both of them!
I hope that today will be my last day of having this cold, then the rest of this week we'll be able to get out and work. There's a lot to be done out here in Zhudong, but none of it is impossible. I really feel like this is where I'm supposed to be right now. I'm so grateful for the lessons I've learned thus far in my mission to get me where I'm at today.
"Forget yourself and go to work" is literally the best piece of advice I could give anyone preparing to go on their mission, or on their mission right now. The only way to find yourself is to lose yourself.
加油!!!
-Sister Oviatt

January 5th 2013. The day the Taiwan Taipei Mission cried.

Well this week we had Zone Conference. The church is rolling out some BIG changes for us! 1. We have a new focus/vision for the year. "Teaching repentance, and baptizing converts". I think as we teach repentance more and help people to see the blessings of repentance, they'll be more fully converted and then be able to better endure to the end. This will definitely be something we want to emphasize more with our investigators now. I know that my own personal repentance and conversion has meant all the world to me. This week I've been focusing on D&C 20:37. I've broken it down into the different requirements and everyday I've studied one of the requirements it talks about and why it is an important prerequisite for baptism. I've had some really great studies about baptism and I'm not done yet, so I'm excited for next week. Next change, 2. When we go on exchanges, both missionaries leave their area and go work in the leader's area! So weird. and 3. the last, possibly biggest change this mission's seen in a LOONG time. Also the reason for my subject line today, NO MORE TRANSFER MEETINGS! Anyone that has served under President Day knows how awesome transfer meetings are. So full of energy and tradition. But now instead of meeting up with everyone in Taipei, having a big meeting with a slideshow and a 100 clapping crazy missionaries, we just get on a train and go right to our next area and meet our new companion. I literally had to pray to know that not having transfer meetings was the Lord's will. I know I'm crazy. But it's going to be so weird for our mission to adjust to that. haha #missionarylife I think it just shows how the work is hastening and the Lord needs us at our best to bring about His great work of salvation. Getting close the end has also taught me how precious time is. I'm a little sad that I'm coming down to the final months of my mission, but I'm comforted... and overwhelmed.. by the fact that His "work and glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." is an ETERNAL work that will never end. 

Our biggest focus for the next week will be on Chao Wen Jing and Xiao Su Qin. It's the Mom and her 19 year old daughter I've been talking about the last few weeks. Their interviews are scheduled for this Saturday and we will be finishing up the commandments with them tonight. We taught the Law of Chastity to them yesterday after church and it went... not as smoothly as we'd hoped. We knew the daughter, Wen Jing, has had some chastity problems in the past, but she REALLY was not accepting yesterday. She was going on about how if it's love and two people are together then it's fine. She is going to need a lot of faith to overcome this. We're trying to help her understand that living the law of chastity helps us see what true love really is and it helps us respect ourselves so much more. Then her mom said, "Oh it's okay she's just young. She'll grow out of it." So that was a little bit scary. But other than that, we are pretty certain that the mom will be baptized next Saturday. Wen Jing might need a little bit more work. Keep praying for them!! They are our two most progressing and promising investigators right now, so they will be a big focus of our efforts this week.

We're still trying to get a good balance between retaining and strengthening the investigators we have and then going out and finding new ones to keep our pool fresh. Yesterday we did find a really promising new investigator while finding, though! He is a fairly young dad with a daughter who isn't even 1 yet. We were able to share with him how the gospel has blessed our families and how it will help his. He was really excited to hear the message of the gospel and to pray with us. He set up with us for next week to meet with him and his wife almost without hesitation. :) I feel like there are a lot of good things going on here in Zhudong! Lots of people coming unto Christ, including me.

Thanks for the love and prayers and support. They are felt!!! :)

-Sister Oviatt

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Jan. 3, 2016

i cannot believe it is 2016... and that i'm going home in 3.5 months. wow.

the coolest thing that happened this week was that i got to go on an exchange with sister kirkham! she was my mtc companion! since we got on island we've seen each other like 3 times. she was serving in taipei when i was on the east coast, then when i moved up to taipei she moved to the east coast. finally this transfer we're in the same zone! better yet, she's my sister training leader, which means once a transfer i get to switch companions with her! so this time they decided that i'd stay in zhudong with her and my comp and her comp would go serve in their area for the day. i was pretty nervous because i've been here for 2 weeks, and if i failed it would be with someone i know and am friends with! i was also a little bit nervous because we hadn't seen each other in a loong time, so i wasn't sure how our friendship would be impacted. BUT it all turned out great! we had a good time sharing our stories about how we've used christ's atonement to change on the mission and to become better people. and of course laughed about how dumb we were in the mtc. :) and one of the best parts was that our plans didn't completely fail! we taught some good lessons, had a good time finding, and had a decent english class. it was fun to do REAL missionary work with one of my best friends.

this week was a really successful week as far as the work goes. we were just 1-2 lessons away from reaching all of our goals! and i've really been able to see our investigators change and learn through the gospel. it's the best feeling. 2 of my favorite investigators are Amy, Chao Wen Jing, and her mom, Xiao Su Qin. Amy is 19 and it's just her and her mom at home. i remember the first time i met with them they were so loud and didn't really listen to us and just kept talking and arguing. now they sit quiet through the lesson and their answers are so good!.. most of the time(; they are really learning how this gospel can help their family and why it is important. they pray and read the scriptures together almost everyday. i am so proud of the changes they've made and i really hope they'll be able to meet their 1/23 baptismal goal. pray for them! :)

last thing real quick. i just watched this mormon message about the new year called look not behind thee. it's been a problem i've had on my mission a little bit. looking back to bad times and regretting or feeling guilty, or looking back to times that seemed better than what i'm doing right now and wishing i could go back to the old area or comp. but we can't live like that. we have to keep moving forward, just like i said last week. this video was a good reminder that at the new year we should look to the good things to come. look to hope and light. look to Christ. 

love y'all!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

-Sister Oviatt

Lovely Christmas week in Zhudong/Taipei

Dec. 27, 2015

We had an AMAZING Mission Conference this week. It was a really good time, and all of the parts of it were done really well. My testimony of the Saviour and His birth were really strengthened this week. :) I was really grateful for the opportunity I had to share, "The Living Christ" with the mission. I was SO nervous to recite it in front of the mission, especially because I didn't have it 100% memorized. But I still had faith in my prompting to do that, so I went ahead and did it. The response I got after was so great. So many missionaries told me how grateful they were that I followed that prompting, because that was what they needed to hear. I'm so grateful for the many opportunities as missionaries we have to share our testimonies of our Saviour.
As far as Zhudong goes, this week was surprisingly successful! Even though we had 2 full days out of our area up in Taipei, we managed to get 12 member presents and 6 other lessons! I also wasn't really feeling good this weekend, but I fought through it and now I feel 100% better. Amazing.
One cool miracle was that yesterday we were waiting for our investigator to come to a lesson, when this lady next to us asked if we were, "jiaohui de". (from the church) So then Sister Tan and our member for the next lesson started talking to her and ended up having a member present lesson with her while we waited. Then she set up with us to meet with her whole family, so she became a new investigator! It was such a cool miracle!
We also have 3 REALLY solid investigators that I believe will be getting baptized in January. One is a mom and her 19 year old daughter, and another is a 12 year old boy whose mom is really strong in the church, but his dad isn't a member. It's been so amazing to see the changes these people have made in just the week I've been here. It should be a white January in Zhudong!!
My "ponderize" scripture of the week is D&C 128:22. "Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, onto the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad." At the end-ish of the mission it's so easy to "go backward" and have regrets or should have done's, but we can't do that! Go forward! On to the victory! And if you're not happy while you're sharing(or LIVING) this gospel, you're not doing it right. REJOICE!

Love y'all!

-Sister Oviatt

I MOVED AGAIN!

Dec. 20, 2015

I had a "one and done" in Songshan!

I'm now out on the west coast of taiwan in a little city called, Zhudong. It literally means bamboo east. There's also "new bamboo" and "bamboo north" that's about 45 min west of us. That's where the closest missionaries are. Yep just us and the elders out here in Zhudong. It's super small and reminds me a lot of where I started my mission in Taidong, except there's no beach and it's not a tourist spot. But there's a lot of open space, mountains, and the air is so much cleaner than it was in downtown taipei!

My new companion is Sister Tan! She was my sister training leader when I came to Taiwan, so I've already gone on exchanges with her before! Crazy!! I love her so much. She's had a big impact on my mission already! She is from Singapore, where one of their national languages is Mandarin. So basically I have a native companion. It's great. She's dying in 2 transfers, one before me! She's really hoping that I'm her last companion, but she also really wants me to train my last two transfers. So we'll have to see what happens!!

My last companion, Sister Bowman, REALLY didn't think she was staying in Songshan. She'd been telling everyone for the last week, "this is probably the last time I'll see you! bye!" She's a funny one! Now she is companions with Sister Good!! They are now the Songshan STL's! My STL's now are a native, Sister Luo, and SISTER KIRKHAM. It's been so weird.. haha lots of adjusments!!!

Being in an area for just a transfer is so weird. Just last week I had started to love finding in Songshan. We had a REALLY nice steak dinner with a member, who happens to be the #3 contractor in all of Taiwan, then had 3 hours of finding that night. It was literally $60USD per person. We were both SO FULL. But I ignored the "pain" and just kept finding and walking and talking. Then all of the sudden Sister Bowman said, "Do you want to head back to our bikes now?" and I said, "Yeah I think we should go somewhere else to find now, too" Then she said, "No we have to go home now. Shijian dao le!" I couldn't believe it! I was almost as surprised then as I was just a few hours later when Elder Ploeg said I was moving. Just when you start to get comfortable with a companion or an area, or both, the Lord calls us somewhere else to learn and have new experiences. I'm trying really hard to find out what the Lord wants me to learn from this very new area.

so yeah. a lot has happened the last 4-5 days! Tomorrow is the mission christmas party, wednesday is an english class leader meeting(yeah i got my favorite assignment as english unit leader this transfer. SCORE.), thursday is the ward christmas party, and then friday is christmas! SKYPE! :D So i guess the next 4-5 days will be eventful too!

(i gave up on the ratchet shift key at this internet cafe. sorry.)

Well that's about it. LOVE Y'ALLLLLLL!

-Annie

Last week of the transfer!

Nov. 13, 2015

Well another week is gone. 

A long week of rebuilding our area and sharpening our finding skills. We think this next week will be even better as we get to meet with them and really explain to them what this message means to them. 

We had some cool experiences getting to sing with the mission choir this week, too! Saturday we were at JinHua all day singing for the English Ward nativity. It was such a great way to celebrate this season. Plus the tree was up and we looked halfway decent so we took a cute matching scarf companionship picture. :) 

This girl has been my rock this transfer. I am SO grateful for Sister Bowman. Some days it can be hard, because our personalities aren't exactly .. similar? She's really intense sometimes and expects a lot of me. But after this week I know that she's exactly what I needed at this point in my mission. She's helped me get refocused on the work and see WHY I'm still here. One day in Personal Study I looked back at some of the things I wrote in my study journal last transfer and I saw how immensely different my perspective is on my mission. I know that a big part of that is because of Sister Bowman. She has been such an example of obedience and hard work to me. I was so scared when I knew she'd be my companion. But now I wouldn't change a thing. I needed her to help me find myself again. I feel like a much more Christlike person and a more consecrated missionary. :)

Lastly! WE HAD A BAPTISM LAST NIGHT! Li LeEr (which directly translates to happy child. such an appropriate name for her)  is a 13 year old with a really hard life. We are so grateful to have been able to teach her and help her know God and Christ. We know this decision will bless her and her family's life forever. The sweetest part was when bishop was welcoming her to the ward. He talked about how special of a spirit she is and how proud Heavenly Father is of her. Everyone including him started tearing up. It was a special day. :)

Talk to you next weeeeek!

Always remember the WHY of everything.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

-Sister Oviatt

Weird week in Songshan!

Dec. 6, 2015

This week was crazy! One of the biggest surprises was at a Temple Tour meeting on Friday. Usually only the sisters that live close to the temple go to this meeting, but this time President had all the Sisters in the WHOLE MISSION come! Even the East Coast!　I got to see some of my friends I've only seen 2-3 times my whole mission. Like Sister Kirkham!! :)

We didn't go out on Thursday except for 2 lessons at night, because Sister Bowman caught the stomach bug Sister Farr and I caught last transfer. But I got her on the Supao(Gatorade) and water 48 hour fast right when I knew it was the same bug. Then she rested on Thursday and Friday, as much as was possible. She also took medicine that her doctor in America gave her that's supposed to kill all the bugs and bacteria in your stomach. So between all those things she was able to almost fully recover in 5-6 days. Pretty amazing!

One of the highlights of the week was definitely singing in the Missionary choir. It has been such a blessing to get to feel of the Christmas spirit this year in this way. I have loved being able to show my gratitude to the Saviour through sharing my talents with others. I have been saved and redeemed by His power SO many times on my mission and I'm still continuing to learn how to use it. I'm grateful to use music to show my gratitude and to strengthen my testimony of Him. Music is really so powerful!

Another thing that has been strengthening my testimony of the Saviour this week has been my preparation for the Mission Christmas party. I'm working on memorizing "The Living Christ" and then Sister Facer is going to play hymns in the background while I recite it. I'm so nervous! But I'm so excited. I was just reading the Book of Mormon in personal study this week when I felt a prompting to go read The Living Christ in True to the Faith. I really loved it as I read it. Then I felt that I should memorize it for the Christmas party and have someone play the piano in the background. So that day I called Sister Jergensen and she said I could do it! It's kind of hard, but it's really helped me to better understand the Saviour's divine mission and His matchless life. I think it's a good way to keep my thoughts focused on the Saviour, not just for this special Christmas season, but also when I get discouraged, I just start reciting that in my head and I can much more of the spirit with me.

We are having a baptism next Sunday! She's a sweet 12 year old girl, who lives with her RC Aunt. She passed her interview on Saturday. Her Dad had been 反對ing for a while, until about my 2nd-3rd week here. So after we got his permission we finished the lessons and she can get baptized now! It's been really amazing to see her change in the few weeks that I've been here. Sister Bowman, her Aunt, and her member fellowshipper have been able to see even more changes in her behavior and decisions through this process of investigating the church. We're really excited especially to have the guidance of the Holy Ghost after she's baptized. We know it will have a huge impact on her in her life! :)

This week I've been so grateful for God's gift to us, His Son. I want to invite all of you to watch this video and think about what an impact the Savior has had on YOUR life.

https://www.mormon.org/christmas/purpose-of-a-savior

He really is the true gift of Christmas, and of our WHOLE year! :)

Love y'all!

-Annie

AMAZING WEEK!

Nov. 29, 2015

Literally so much happened this week.
First. On Monday I FINALLY passed off the Phase 2 language test. Now I'm on Phase 3 which is all learning how to read and write characters. It's hard, but I'm still working to have the gift of tongues. It's real!
After I took the test we went to our mission Christmas choir. Missionaries in the Taipei areas can go to a special practice for 1.5 hours on PDay to practice for a traveling choir. We're singing about 10 songs and we'll go to a bunch of wards all around Taipei and perform at their ward Christmas parties! So in a few weeks I get to go back to my old area in 永和and中和 to perform! So excited! I have really gained a testimony of music on my mission. It can really heal us, and it brings in the spirit so powerfully. We are so lucky to get to use this gift of music to spread the gospel next month! :)
Then on Tuesday ELDER STEVENSON came to our mission. What an amazing opportunity we had to hear from an apostle of the Lord. Fun fact. He was President Jergensen's boss for a long time at this company that he started. President eventually got all the way up to VP in that company. They're really good friends and it was so cool to see these 2 men with so much respect for each other and each other's families interact. His sweet wife gave us good counsel on how to be ‘PRO's' by Praying Reading and Obeying. It was a really good talk and a great reminder. Then Elder Stevenson spoke for about an hour and a half about ... missionary work? He talked about a lot of different stuff. From how intimidating his first apostle meeting was to stories about his kids when they were growing up. Before they spoke they had all of the missionaries walk up to the front to shake his hand and give a hug to Sister Stevenson. What a privilege. I'll just quickly share one of my favorite parts from his talk. He showed a picture of a family right when they met the missionaries then a few years after they were baptized. The light of Christ is SO REAL. The change in their faces was so amazing. We are here to bring the light back into their eyes. In order to help bring about this change we can't see them as they are. Strangers. Taiwanese. Smokers. Rich people. Buddhist. Daoist. Riding their scooter to work. We have to see them how Heavenly Father sees them. They are ALL His children. They are ALL our brothers and sisters. They need what we have. They've already chosen Jesus Christ once, so we have to give them the opportunity to accept it again. He didn't say all of that. Some of it was my commentary, but that's the jist of what he said. The closing song was The Spirit of God. It was one of the most powerful experiences of my life.
Right after the Mission Conference I had an exchange with SISTER GOOD! If you don't remember her, she is from TX, was in my MTC district and I met her at the BYU@UT game last September right before we reported. We were also roommates in Taidong when we got to Taiwan. Now she's my Sister Training Leader. It's so crazy! So we got to be companions for a day on Tuesday. It was really good to reflect on how far we've both come in the last year. I was really grateful for that little tender mercy in the middle of the week. Love my 顧姐妹!
Then. Sunday happened. MIRACULOUS DAY! Sister Bowman and I have been trying to find ways to rededicate ourselves to the work and find our "mission visions". So on Sunday we did a special fast to be able to know things we needed to improve on or change to become the missionaries Heavenly Father needs us to be. ...2 investigators cancelled on us... Did we give up? NO. We went out finding. We'd planned to go to this park we went to my first Sunday. We got rejected for 2 hours straight that time. I really didn't want to go back. At all. But we said a prayer and started finding. We talked to a lady on a park bench with a kid in a stroller. She was SO willing to listen and really wants to come to church. She's a little scared of how her husband will react because he's never met Christians, but she really has interest. :) Then we talked to another girl who was about to go on a run. We immediately just clicked with her. She said one of the sweetest prayers I've heard. She really wants to know Christ and how to find happiness. She'll be out of town for the next week but really wants to meet when she gets back. THEN we met a cute family walking a dog. They were golden too!!! The biggest miracle may have been that all 3 of them lived in our area! Taipei is a big place, but everyone works here. It's been SO hard for us to find investigators that live in our area lately. :) The biggest biggest miracle was that we ran into our investigator Brother Aaron, the Asia Area Oracle VP... at a random park in the middle of Taipei. There was a miracle with a Book of Mormon, too. but I don't have time! We've literally been trying to set up with him for a month, but being a VP is hard work. I FINALLY MET HIM!  Yesterday was a true testament to me that, "Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of everypeople, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen." (Alma 26:37) I know that God was looking out for all of us last night. Because of our willingness to sacrifice, He BLESSED us. And then I got on my email today to see that my sister Jessica was fasting for me yesterday, too. She is so great! She has no idea how much I needed that yesterday. :) Thank you!

I hope y'all have a great week! Talk to you later!

-Sister Oviatt

Second week in Songshan!

Nov. 22, 2015

This week went by much faster than last week! Even though this week we didn't do as much. One of our investigators had to drop us because her grandma and grandpa are SUPER opposed to her getting baptized. She was supposed to have her interview yesterday. And all the rest of our investigators are in China for business because we serve in the richest part of Taiwan. One of our investigators is the Oracle Asia area VP. Everyone is sooo sooo busy. So finding everyday it is! It's hard. It's real missionary work. It just wears you out in every way. But at the end of the day when you know you've done your best, it feels great. :)

Exciting news is that tomorrow one of the new apostles, Elder Stevenson, is coming to visit our mission. His son in Taizhong is finishing his mission today so he decided to come visit our mission, too! :) So cool! I'm in a mission choir that gets to sing for him tomorrow, too! The whole mission will be there, so that's exciting, too! I'll get to see all my friends that got sent out to the East Coast that I haven't seen in a long time.

This week when we were out finding we saw the cutest little ama! (pronounced "ahmah"=taiwanese for grandma) She told us she was 85 and where all 4 of her kids went to college. They all went to really good schools in America and her english was really good!... for an 85 year old(: Her favorite thing to say was, "This is my english composition booK. and that is s9 piano." She said it over and over again. SO CUTE! Then we asked if we could sing a hymn for her so then she started singing happy birthday in english! It was so great. We sang "Dearest children God is near you". It was really cool to sing of those truths to this sweet old lady in the middle of Asia. :) 

You gotta find the little things sometimes. Like eating Pizza Hut Hawaiian cheese stuffed crust pizza for lunch one day. Getting a soft chocolate chip cookie from Subway in the middle of finding. Telling someone you're from Texas and they ask if you're a cowboy. It's the little things that keep you going. :)

Find them.

-Annie

First full week in 松山！

Nov. 15, 2015

It was a really long week. Something about being in a new area with a new companion just makes the week go by sooo slow and it just wears me out! But we saw lots of miracles this week!
Monday, after PDay, we got invited to go to the 金華街 Jin hua jie chapel and do a part of a special YSA temple tour. We got to stand in front of a picture of the Christus and bear testimony of Jesus Christ. The YSA would come down the staircase in front of us with blind folds on. When they got down we started singing, "I stand all amazed", then when we were done they took their blindfolds off and we just told about our testimonies of Christ. There were about 5-6 groups we got to do that with. It was such a cool experience and I'm grateful that I get to bear testimony of and represent my Savior everyday! :)
On Tuesday before lunch we went knocking for a little bit. Knocking in Taipei isn't really knocking though. You go up to an apartment door and there's a box with a bunch of doorbells on it. So depending on the apartment you could have access to like 18 households just standing in one place. Pretty crazy. So after you ring the doorbell you wait for them to either talk to you through the speaker box, or they unlock the door for you and you walk all the way up the stairs to their house door. Anyways. We're ringing this apartment building and we get to the last doorbell (of course) and we wait for like 10-15 seconds and we look at each other and Sister Bowman says, "繼續！" It's her favorite thing to say. It means continue. Just as we turned around we heard the 'click' of the big door unlocking. Someone let us up! We walked up to the 4th floor and met a cool girl and we got to have a lesson with her. She asked us to pray for her parents who just got diagnosed with cancer. She was really receptive to our message. Then we asked if we could come back next week and share more.. She said yes! It was only the second time my whole 8 months in Taiwan that I've actually taught a lesson and gotten a new investigator while ringing doorbells!  Such a great miracle! You never know what plans the Lord has for His children!
On Saturday we got to go visit some members in a little town east of song shan. It's called Nan Gang. We got out there and Sister Bowman was like no wonder they took missionaries out of here last transfer, there's no one here! Then I was like OH MY GOSH! I WENT HOME! I WENT BACK TO 台東!  There really weren't very many people there and the apartments were only like 5 stories, unlike in song shan! Plus one side of the city has these mountains/hill things that are so pretty! The air was so much cleaner! I loved it(: Sister Bowman thought I was crazy. I want to live there. Close to the city, but it's not the city! haha!
That's pretty much it for this week! 3 of our investigators were in China or Hong Kong for work, so we had lots more time to go finding! I am so worn out! But it was a truly miraculous week and I'm learning so so much! Change is so hard. But it's good for me.
This week I've been reading 2 pages of Preach my Gospel everyday. I want to finish it by the end of my mission. I read a really great quote from President Lorenzo Snow. It says, “There is no mortal man that is so much interested in the success of an elder when he is preaching the gospel as the Lord that sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord’s children.”

I know He didn't send me here to fail. He is always watching over His servants and all of His children. Sometimes missionary work is hard and you feel alone or like what you're doing isn't worth the stress or the pain, but when you know whose errand you're really on, it helps a lot. :)

That's why “How firm a foundation" verse 3 is my favorite verse out of any hymn. He is with us!

加油！

-Sister Oviatt