This week has been so happy, so crazy, and so hard all at the same time.

 

There were some happy moments, some crazy moments, and some hard moments. Understand? Okay thanks, that's my email. Bye.

 

Love, Hayley

 

 

Just kidding, I will actually write an email. Silly me.

 

No really this week has been filled with possibly every emotion that it is possible to feel! Transfer calls were in and I am staying in my first area, Yilan, for another two transfers. Good thing it's such a good place. :) I have been asked to train Sister Yang, a cute Taiwanese girl serving here while she waits for her VISA. Afterwards, she will head to the MTC and the Temple Square mission. On December 13th! She is really awesome and I really love her a lot! It has been crazy speaking so much Chinese, and we are working to help each other, learning Chinese and english. Sometimes I am pretty sure that I have forgotten how to speak English so that is a little bit sad!

 

The work is coming along, and last week we had some awesome miracles happen. The lady that randomly called us is fully committed to be baptized and will progress very quickly, I can already tell! The family we are teaching came to a few sessions of general conference and they loved it! They are currently Catholic, but I know that they will slowly come to understand authority and things, and that as they do so will commit to be baptized. ChenJieMei is also doing very well. We are helping her to overcome problems with keeping the sabbath day holy, but she is practically begging to be baptized after watching general conference and things. She loves our church! It is really cool! LinYongLiang is having a hard time and we are working to strengthen him and his faith. This work is hard, but so rewarding.

 

I loved the opportunity to listen to general conference this weekend! It was everything that I ever hoped it would be and really encouraged me and answered a lot of my questions. I especially loved Elder Bednar's talk about coming closer to the Savior and believing Him as well as believing in Him. Different concepts, but both very good. I have learned a lot about myself and God this past week. He really wants to give us experiences to grow, for which I am grateful, and only sometimes complainy about. I know that He is helping me to become more humble and be the missionary that He wants me to be. I love Him and I love being the daughter of  a Heavenly Father who loves us so much. I know that even though we have trials, like one of the speakers this week said, God's intention is not to throw us out of the game, but to bring us back to return to Him. I know that this is true.  I love you all and I love this gospel, the place where we can come to be healed, serve, receive peace, and grow. It really is my biggest blessing. I love you all and hope that we can all take things from this conference weekend and apply them to our lives!

 

You are all amazing! Big Faith, and even Bigger Faith!

 

Hayley

 

P.S. I finally got my sweet Taiwan name

tag!!!!!!

I feel like I am in a foreign country!!!

Sometimes I say things that are really dumb, but really funny.
This week somehow Sister Langley and I ended up on the wrong train. It's the fastest train in Taiwan and it doesn't stop for a really long time. We ended up two hours away from home in Qidu. So then we had to get permission to be home late because it was 8:15 and we were in Qidu. That was awkward. But while we were marveling at the fact that we took the wrong train (because we use them all the time) I was looking at the huge train station in Qidu, the biggest one I have ever seen, and was like "Holy cow, look at that train! This place is so different, I feel like I am in a foreign country!" and then we realized the obviousness of my statement and it was probably the funniest thing that has ever happened. We laughed for a while. Then we got home about 10:45 and went to bed. We found out on the way back that some Taiwanese people did the same things as us so we felt a little less bad about our mistake. BUT the bad part was that train tickets to Qidu are not cheap! As in about 15% of our monthly funds. So we were pretty worried, but decided to talk to the people at the train station and prayed a lot, and the lady was talking to us and realized what we did and got all wide eyed and told us that it was a lot of money and then we told her that we had just been trying to go to a different local station, and she thought for a second, gave me my massive amounts of money back and only charged us to go to the close local station, totaling about $1.00. She told us not to tell anyone, and here I am telling the whole world. But I am so grateful and it was a complete miracle! God really looks out for his missionaries even when we are disobedient and home late because we boarded the wrong train. He is amazing!

This week has just been a giant bowl of miracles that I am not sure I could ever fully describe, but we are now teaching two families and about 5 other single people. God has increased our teaching pool and given us so many opportunities this week. We have seen the hand of the Lord so much! Things were crazy this week with the Typhoon, we had to stay inside for like 40 hours! But we called a lot of people and got three new investigators from it, who have mostly turned out to be pretty awesome! Then we had some awesome finding experiences, went to Taipei for the doctor, and then Sunday happened! Here is the story of Sunday!:
We have been praying fervently all week to have investigators at church so that they can see the joy that the church and the gospel bring. We started yesterday morning out pretty hopeful as we had five people coming. How many people were at church? 5. That has never happened, and I know that it was completely from the Lord. One of the people who came took a picture with us and left, so she didn't count, but one of our current investigators brought a friend to church who is now meeting with us. They then came with us and LinDX to Taipei for another fireside where Sister Langley and I were able to do a musical number together! It was amazing! Our investigator who brought the friend, ChenJieMei told us yesterday that she knows for sure that our church is true and got to watch the restoration. I am really running out of time, so I have to quicklye just conclude by saying that yesterday and this week we received so much help from God. I testify that he knows us and he knows our situations. He knows when we need His help and is always willing to extend His hand to us, if we only ask. I am so excited for conference this weekend, and just want to express my love for our prophet and church leaders. I hope their words answered questions this week and inspired all of you. This church is true,which is my humble testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

Big Faith!
I asked for a picture of the hat, so I guess this is the hat she got. Pretty awful hat!!! 

I have a new hat!!!!

I AM OFFICIALLY THE WORST PERSON EVER. I stole an old woman's hat. But it really was an accident! She was biking past us and I was like, wow that's a good hat that she is wearing. So I yelled hi and she stopped so fast that it was humorous and then just looked so startled so I apologized and just told her that I really liked her hat. And then she swooped it off her head so fast and said "song gei ni!" Which just means that she was giving it to me and I was like "Oh my goodness! No! That's not what I meant! I don't want to take your hat! I can't take your hat!" But she started yelling at me in english about how it was her greatest pleasure and honor to give me her hat and I was dying and I didn't know what to do and she was still speaking hilarious english and telling me that she is a very sincere buddhist and that she was just at a class for four hours-really!- where she learned to be giving and that it was her duty to give me her hat and things were getting violent at this point so I took her hat because I didn't know what to do and then she left and I didn't even give her a tract or anything. So that's the story of how I took advantage of an old lady's kindness and have a hat. Poor her.

Anyway, other things happened too this week. :) Holy cow, have I learned or what! This week honestly was a mission changer. I have been trying to figure out how to be the happiest that I can be because I know that everything revolves around attitude. One day I was just reading, and wasn't really looking to an answer to my problem, but it just hit me in the head like a ton of bricks! You will probably laugh at the obviousness of my epiphany, but it was really good! I realized that God literally sent us here to this earth to be happy. One of our main purposes in life is to have joy, and God's whole plan is predicated on us achieving happiness in this life and eternity. Somehow I had gotten it in my head that missionaries weren't supposed to be quite as happy( more serious) as not missionaries because missions are just hard. But I know that God wouldn't have his servants who are to embody the plan of happiness, be not as happy. And for some reason this small realization changed it all. Every contact is a new person ready to hear the gospel, I no longer feel entitled for blessings from the Lord, but I see that they are already there. I look for the miracles and try to serve and have gratitude. And though things are hard, I am trying to rely on the Lord and as I have done so, the hard things dissipate and there is just happiness. God id good and He provided every way He can for us to succeed. I love this gospel and I love missionary work!

This week we taught that former investigator, XuJialing and it required a lot of my patience, but I am currently learning to have more. She needs the gospel and I will further update you as things happen more. We have taught a lot of lessons this past week and have done the best so far as a companionship. I love sharing the gospel and am excited for the teaching pool that we are developing. As soon as the progressing people emerge I will give more details, right now there are too many new ones. We got to bike out to the jungle this last week and meet an investigator from the elders who is the greatest person ever! Her house is literally like a tree house and there were bugs everywhere and we ate dinner with her on a balcony and overlooked her mango trees. I have not yet gotten pictures, I apologize. We ate some really good moon cakes this week and are prepping for another fun (just rains a lot) typhoon. I love you all! I know that this gospel is so true, and encourage everyone to love the heck out of general conference! I am so excited!

Hayley

P.S. In Taiwan we wait until the 9th to hear all of the conferences because of the time difference and translations and things, so please no spoilers. ;)

"Avoid riding after dark, in heavy traffic, or in bad weather."
-Missionary Handbook

HAHAHAHA.
Either the white handbook is really funny, or Taiwan is just the exception.
This week it has been a little dark and maybe also a little rainy and windy. Maybe. (Another Typhoon hitting Taiwan)

Okay this is going to be the fastest weekly email of my life, but I have a lot to say, so excuse spelling, grammar, or any shortness of the letter. I love you all!

This week has literally been one of the longest weeks of my life, but also one that I have learned the most from. I am so grateful to God for providing leaders, scriptures, companions, and everything that we need to progress us forward in our lives and right now for me in my mission. This week I was teaching and shared 1 Ne 3:7 and realized how much that applied to me as well and that I needed to realize in my own life that the Lord doesn't ask us to do hard things without providing for us. He is amazing! This week we have seen hard times and we have seen miracles. It is always a little bit hard when a Typhoon comes to Taiwan because everyone freaks out and cancels all of our lessons because they won't go outside. But since we still go outside we get to knock for hours on end. Which is hard, but I know that the Lord rewards our efforts, even if it isn't right there in the moment. The work here in Yilan is starting back on an upward slant and I think that we will be able to progress and do very well for the second half of this transfer-holy cow time moves quickly.

The biggest miracle of the week was that we ran into a lady who was investigating when Sister Roberts and I first started here in Yilan, but we were never able to meet with her and her phone number stopped working. But Sister Langley and I ran into her and had an awesome lesson on the street and she re-committed to baptism and I know that this gospel will bless her life! There is more to it, but for lack of time I will leave with saying that I know we receive promptings and that God leads us to the prepared people, by putting us into the right places at the right time. I love this work!

Lastly, I finished the Book of Mormon again this morning and my heart is so full. I truly know that the Lord has given us the Book of Mormon in order to help us grow closer to Christ and so that we may learn and grow from the amazing examples inside. It is my goal to become as Alma and the sons of Mosiah, the striplingg warriors, Moroni, and so many others. They are amazing and have experiences that we can very much relate to our lives. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that by reading it we can experience the joy of this gospel. I know that it has made me so happy and has better taught me the doctrine of Christ. I know that if we pray and ask, God will make it delicious to us and we will undertsand. I love you all so much and am so grateful for the gospel that we have in our lives.

Fun experiences lately: Last week it was mid-autumn festival so there was a lot of barbecuing (squid) and moon cakes and things. Typhoons have a lot of fun and rain and things are so fun and good! I got to go to the temple randomly on Tuesday while Sister Langley was at the hospital and it was the greatest! I love the temple! We ate Mexican food:-) Have a great week!

TAIWAN IS LEAKING!!
Taiwan is a little leaky. It has rained everyday for the past 9 days, and when I say rain I mean I am pretty sure there might not be any more water in the rest of the world, because I think it's all coming out of the sky here. But that's okay because rain always provides for good experiences and helps us to recognize a lot of the blessings that we have. Plus I love rain! But the other second part of my leaking title is that it turns out our new apartment isn't so great and it seems that almost everyday we discover a new leak in our apartment, most of them from the ceiling, but some of them are coming out of the floor. All the leak water is yellow. It's all rather lovely! Hahaha we have a lot of buckets set out because they can't fix the leaks on the roof until the rain is stopped and the roof is dry. So good luck to us, because there is supposed to be no end to the rain anytime soon due to a Typhoon that is supposed to be hitting the southern part of Taiwan this week (Don't worry mom, it's nowhere close to my area) Anyway that has been a whole lot of fun! We laugh a lot :)

Also, I think many of you will be happy to know that this week I ate a whole scoop of spicy ice cream! On Monday I set the goal and it seemed it just got on my mind and about 5 hours later I was attempting it. With great fear I went for it and took it out in a minute and a half because I think if I had eaten it any slower I may have died in real life. My stomach felt hot for a few days after, but it was definitely worth it for the experience. I cried a lot and spilled my milk in the store. 

Also while we were biking yesterday I swallowed at least 16 bugs and 5 more were found in my eyes and about 100 were stuck to my forehead. Taiwan is so good. Hahaha

The work has been a little strange this week! We feel as though we are putting in our very best efforts, but our results are not very tangible. We are working to identify exactly what it is that we can improve and think that as it always seems to, it might just come down to more faith. We are working with a member referral and she is great, keeping all of her commitments and I think that she will progress towards baptism very soon. We also were given an investigator by the elders who very much believes in our church and is excited to get baptized, but also very strongly believes in reincarnation, so that has tested us a little bit to try and work with her, teaching by the spirit rather than persuasion. We will continue to see how that goes. LinYongLiang is doing really well after being baptized a few weeks ago and we are so happy about all of his progress. He is pretty busy with work and doesn't have a lot of time to meet with us, but we talk to him everyday and he shares scriptures with us and things. He really is learning from the scriptures and I love that! We are working with members and trying to strengthen their belief in member missionary work. 

Today I have a testimony of families, the plan of salvation, and family history work. This gospel provides a way for every single person on this earth to be linked and live with our families in heaven, forever. Could there really be anything more marvelous than that? Sister Langley and I are learning lately that God is a God of guarantees. He gives us a condition that is always accompanied by a promised blessing and I know that as we do our part that God will come in with all of His love and power and raise us up to be something we never imagined that we could be. This eternal life is one of His guarantees. If we follow Him and keep His commandments in enduring to the end, we w

ill have those blessings. It is also our responsibility to help others receive those blessings as well. Family history and temple work is amazing and I miss being able to go to the temple frequently. I encourage all of you to go to the temple and take family names so that we might be able to strengthen our families and give everyone the ordinances that they need for salvation. I love you all and am so grateful for my eternal family. 

Hayley

P.S. Pictures: I caught a pet fish. #proudmompics and also Sister Peck has come to Taiwan! So good to see her. :) 

I live in Taipei but I serve in Yilan.

We spent like 48 hours of this week in Taipei! Hooly cow!!! I can't believe it. Hahah anyway, we had trainer trainee follow up this week for Sister Langley since she is technically halfway through training and since we were up there they just had us stay overnight and took her to a doctor appointment the next day for her foot/leg. However, plot twist, the doctor thinks she has a herneated (I'm not sure that's how to spell that) disc that is cutting off her nerve to her leg which is why she has so many problems. They said we might not to be able to bike. That would make me sad, but we want her to be healthy! So we are going to Taipei again tomorrow for zone meeting and to get her a CT scan to confirm the stuff! She is a real trooper and does all the good missionary stuff regardless of her pain! She is awesome!

Our district leader has got us 'looking for the rainbows' this week as we look for miracles in our everyday work. I feel that being grateful and looking for the miracles has actually made it seem like they happen more! Funny how that works. Either they were there before and I just wasn't seeing them, or God rewards our gratitude. Or both! Anyway, one of my favorites was that we were talking to this girl who was the most devout Christian that I have ever met in Taiwan. And I was just thinking "What can I possibly say to this girl that will help her know that our church is somehow different and actually correct?" The obvious answer being to testify about the restoration, which is what the spirit continually tried to tell me, but I tried to resist because I didn't think it would go well to be that bold. But finally after a good push from the spirit I was like "Fine! I'll do it". So I told her that we believe that even though all the Christian churches are way awesome, we actually only believe that one church is correct and that that is our church. We know that through a really special experience that we have Christ's true church on the earth today. And then asked if she was willing to learn more, honestly expecting no as an answer. But the Holy Ghost is better than me and she said she would like to learn more and set up a time to meet with us. It was honestly a miracle and a testament to me that God really does give us promptings of what to say, and as we open our mouths he will allow us to see miracles. 

Last night we were able to travel the couple hours to Taipei so that I could be a part of a musical number at the big Taipei fireside. It was an awesome experience and I loved being able to play my violin and using it to bring the spirit and testify to people's hearts of the truthfulness of this gospel. We got home a little late, with last minute permission from President, but it was a fun adventure. :) We ate spicy ice cream again this week and I got 16 bites in this time. My goal is a whole scoop by the time I leave in Yilan. The person who tried before threw up, so we will see. I think I can do it. We have had some good adventures this week, long bike rides, and eating a lot of cold sweet potatoes. Life couldn't get better. :) 

I'll just finish by saying that I know the Savior is our compass, our direction, a star we can look to for direction like on the night of His birth. Elder Eyring tells us that when he is tempted to feel selfish, exhausted, and not serve his fellow men, he gives himself a rallying cry. "Remember Him". I testify that as we remember the Savior and remember what He has gone through so that we might be lifted up to the Father, that we will see His light in our lives and we will become more like Him. As we lay aside our personal cares and concerns to give everything that we have to others, we will be blessed and given further abilities through the power \of the Atonement. I love you all and I love this work. 

Hayley

P.S. Taiwanese doctors look like the DMV and they just call a number on a c\screen while millions of people sit in chairs (picture enclosed)

From Hayleys companions blog. Sister Roberts is wonderful and we are grateful Hayley was able to have such an amazing trainer!

My new companion is Sister DeWitt. And she is the most sweetest, funnest, coolest Sister missionary you'll ever meet! Seriously. I'm so impressed with her. We get along so well and it's so so so fun! She is so much more prepared to be on her mission than I was. She's always thinking about the investigators and her Chinese is also better than mine was. She's so great! She's from Utah and yea. I don't know what else to say. We have been here 5 days together and we just are having so much fun!

That's pretty much it, but I just love being a missionary!!!!! I think the hardest thing this week was just knowing that everything that has happened has been God's will. Sister DeWitt is so fun and she's so prepared. And sometimes it's a little intimidating :) She had an amazing experience in the MTC and she just talks about her investigators like they were real investigators. She's just an awesome missionary and yes I'm a little intimidated. But I'm working on it.

Then Wednesday... we found out who was moving! Sister DeWitt and I were finishing watching some things for training and Sister Wong (my Sister training leader who I go on exchanges with) called me and asked who my new companion was. I asked who hers was and she said (in broken english) Cecily Renae Roberts! I was like "WHAT WHAT WHAT?!?!?!" So we finished doing our stuff then went to the 7 to find out who Sister DeWitt's new comp was. And it turns out that my other Sister Wong companion, (the one that I was with in San Chong), was training someone, but that she was having foot problems, and needed to be moved to a flatter area, so she was moved out of that area halfway through training and moved to YiLan and Sister DeWitt is training! Finishing training someone! How crazy is that??? I'm so proud of her cause that means I did my job, and she did hers. The goal in training is to help them be able to train if so called upon by the time they finish training. AND THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED!!! I've never heard of that happening though here in this mission! I'm so proud of her!