Limes and Coconuts

Looks like the sisters were able to put their sickles from the previous week's photo shoot to good use… Here is Sister Fernley's message from 6/29.

Dear Family,

I loved your emails this week! It looks like Jemma's fort is a blast and that Dad did a great job on it. Playing in the sprinklers looked like fun (and the picture was so cool!), and Jemma's collection is pretty fun. It sounds like you are all happy.

So dad was confused about relationships of some of the people I talk about. Sorry for not being very clear. Huang Dixiong and Cai Jiemei are married. Here the wives don't take on their husband's last name unless they are members of the church. Huang Jiemei is a completely different investigator. 

To answer your other questions we haven't made a card or sent it to President yet. I think we should though. He'd get a kick out of it. As far as the language is going, its not what I worry about the most anymore, but it is always a trial. I'm pretty comfortable in my speaking ability now, but I think Chinese is going to be a lifelong endeavor. Lately I've been focusing more on learning characters to try and learn how to read better, because I'm pretty much illiterate when it comes to reading. That's one thing about chinese, you can learn how to say a word and what it means, but reading it has no relationship to how its pronounced like english. Anyway, its an eternal process, but for the most part I don't have to worry about it that much.

As for this week, it was rough, but we still saw miracles and had some good times together. On Monday we decided to put the song to the test and "put the lime in the coconut." I don't know how the idea started, I think it was Sister Anderson who mentioned it. It was probably the most entertaining 30 minutes I've had in a long time. Maybe we need different kinds of coconuts, but it didn't taste very good. You could taste the lime more than anything else. 

Later on that evening we held an FHE at one of our member's houses and were able to have an investigator come. She is one of the sisters that was referred by one of the families in our ward. She is incredible and just like our other referral (from the same family) she is looking for the truth and hasn't been able to find it in the other churches she's gone to. But because of going to so many other churches she has a lot of questions that we're going to have to address. It's going to take her longer to be ready to accept baptism, but I have no doubt that she will someday. She actually doesn't live in our area, but wants to come to our church in Qishan. She didn't want us to refer her to the other missionaries. We asked President Blickenstaff about it and he wants us to try. We're a little sad about not being able to teach her anymore, but we hope we can help her still be willing to meet with the sisters in her area. 

As far as the rest of our investigators go, they're still hanging in there, but not a ton of progress at the moment. We are continuing to try and help them receive their own testimony and have those spiritual experiences that will develop their faith. Cai Jiemei actually came to the third hour of church yesterday! But to our disappointment the third hour was combined and we ended up just listening to the members plan a ward activity and talk about a missionary farewell. I felt really bad, she was really confused and looked really bored. (We weren't able to sit next to her because all the seats got taken.) Oh well, we are praying really hard that that didn't turn her off of coming to church. We were really excited to see her. 

We also had another unexpected person show up at church yesterday. There was a couple that we contacted a couple of weeks ago that gave us their number and said we could go visit them. We've called, but they would never answer. The brother actually hangs out with a bunch of people every morning at the track we run at and has talked to us a few times telling us he couldn't find the church, or that he was going to come to church on Sunday. Incredibly he actually came! We were sitting in sacrament meeting when a member came up behind us and told us someone was waiting outside for us. We went out and found him sitting on the couch waiting for us. He seemed a little worried about his clothes being too sloppy and worriedly asked us if people would laugh at him. We assured him they wouldn't and invited him in. He stayed for most of sacrament meeting then told us he had to leave and walked out. Then about half way through our gospel principles class he showed back up at the church and walked into the class wearing cleaner, nicer clothes and newly combed hair. It was cute. He actually left to get better dressed then came back for more of church. Hopefully we can get a hold of them and visit them both. It his wife doesn't meet with us we'll have to have the elders teach him.

A few days ago we traveled out to one of our farther areas (I hadn't been there before this week) to meet with someone the elders contacted a few weeks ago on the street. They told us she was a little crazy, but that we could still try. We ended up sitting with her briefly and she is a little bit crazy, but willing to learn. She told us she was like she is because her brain was taken out and put back in her head a month later. The real story (which we got from her mom) is that she fell and hit her head which caused complications. Her mom isn't too excited about the idea that if her daughter accepts our religion she won't be able to worship their ancestors, but is willing to let us teach her and help her become a better person. 

The rest of our week we were able to meet with some members which was great! I was able to get to know some members I didn't know very well. I love hearing their stories and their testimonies. Because missionaries have only been in Taiwan for about 50 years most everyone is a first generation convert. Their stories are incredible and I respect their faith and their strength in the gospel so much.

The past couple of days we have had a couple of miracles that have boosted our spirits a lot. We've been trying to find new investigators like crazy and nothing has seemed to happen. Saturday night we ended up  not being able to visit an investigator as planned, so we decided to try contacting at the night market here in Qishan. There ended up not being very many people and everyone we talked to seemed especially rude. By the time we decided to go back to our bikes we were both ready to cry. As we started biking off I thought that we should tract the houses along that street. I've thought that before when we were in that area, but we had an appointment so I figured we could go back later. This time we had nothing else to do, so we stopped and tracted.

The second door we knocked on ended up being a former investigator from thirty years ago. She let us in and we were able to get to know her and her niece and nephew who happened to be there. She was really nice and we taught again about prayer. We aren't sure if she is super interested, but we are going to try and go back and see if she will be willing to listen again. At the least it boosted our spirits for the night.

Then last night we were riding to where we planned to tract at the end of our day when Sister Anderson asked me if I had tracted the street we were riding by before. She said she thought we should tract it sometime, so we decided to change our plans and tract it then. A few houses down the street we tracted into this lady who told us that she didn't really have any time. Most the time that's just an excuse, but I still asked her if there was a more convenient time we could come back. She glanced at her calendar and told us we could come back tonight at 7:30. We were more than happy to agree and will see what happens tonight.

I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has allowed us to see these small miracles. Our faith has been a little low and we've been really discouraged, but He has lifted us up and has helped us see His hand helping us in this work. I can't wait to see what miracles are in store this week.

I don't have a lot of time left, but I love you all and am so happy you are all doing so well. I'm grateful I've had the opportunity to serve here in Qishan. This area has taught me so much and I know I needed it to become the missionary the Lord wants me to become. The work is hard sometimes, but it was never meant to be easy. It's the hard things that build us the most. I'm grateful for all I've learned and for how blessed I have been.

I know the Lord loves us. I know Heavenly Father loves us. They will never leave us alone.

They will always provide another miracle just around the corner.

With all my love,

Sister Fernley

"The field is white already to harvest"

Or perhaps that should be the field is green already to harvest. Sister Fernley continues to do well (and I continue to try to keep up on her blog…). Here is her message from June 22.

Dear family,

I was so glad to get your emails and read about how you are doing. It sounds like you've been having a lot of fun lately. Everything seemed so simple, but I think its the simple things that mean the most. 

I forgot to tell Dad happy Father's Day last week! I hope it was a good day and that you felt loved and appreciated (which you should everyday). I love you so much and am so grateful for everything you do for all of us. I honestly couldn't have asked for better parents or a better family. I am grateful for you everyday.

This week has been a little rough. We spent a lot of our time traveling so we ended up with very little lessons, but we were able to learn a lot and know what we can do to become better missionaries.

On Monday Sister Anderson and I went and took pictures with one of our RCs. For the past month I've had this vision of the pictures that we could take. We bike around rice fields all day and lately they have all been being harvested. (Just so you know Farmville is correct. Rice is an extremely fast growing crop. A field could be harvested one week and then two weeks later there's about six or seven inches of growth again. It amazes me every time, and popular to common belief they are not completely flooded with water all of the time.) Anyway, so the rice fields have been ready to harvest and I remember Dad telling me about when he was on his mission and ran across a wheat field that had been half harvested and they took pictures in front of both sides. So I told Sister Anderson and we decided we wanted to try and replicate that, just the Asian version. As you can tell by the pictures we went to the local dongxi store (pretty much an everything store) and bought sickles. We had planned on doing it after we went to FoGuanShan the other week, but it started raining. We told our RC and one of our members about what we wanted to do and they thought it was hilarious  so they were gracious enough to help us out. We were both pretty proud at the outcome. We think we should make a card and send it to President Blickenstaff with the scripture from D&C 4 at the bottom. "For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation unto his soul."

Anyway, we were able to meet with one of our member referrals earlier this week and she is incredible! She technically doesn't live in our area, but our chapel is closer than the one in her area. A family in our ward referred her and one other sister to us several weeks ago, but we had never had an opportunity to set up with her until last week. They have both been coming to church for several weeks and have loved it! 

So we met with one of the sisters at the church and shared the Restoration video with her and gave her a Book of Mormon. We asked her if she would be willing to be baptized and she immediately said yes! She told us about how she has been going to several other Christian churches, but none of them ever seemed right. She says in ours it just feels....right. She is desperately hoping to find the peace and the fullness of the gospel. She talked about how when she goes to Bai the Buddhist gods she never felt like she knew who she was praying to or what she was asking for. We had an incredible member there with us who was baptized just over two years ago and they both just clicked. Our member testified like crazy and our investigator just poured out her desires. Sister Anderson and I just sat back and watched, putting our two cents in every once in a while. It was so awesome! 

Then on Sunday the other sister who was referred by the same family came up to us and set up her own time to meet and hear the missionary lessons! These two are incredible and I truly believe that they will be baptized. I'm praying that nothing happens along the road, because right now they are so golden. I don't know if I will be able to see them through the teaching process (I have a very large possibility of moving in a couple of weeks), but I'm so grateful I've had the privilege of knowing them and getting them started on the road to baptism. 

Sunday we were also able to get Cai Jiemei and Huang Dixiong to church! Okay...they came for five minutes, but at least its improvement. We've been calling them like crazy and asking if they were going to come. I guess they went to Gaoxiong that day so they stopped by on their way out. They were able to hear the sacrament hymn and took the bread then left. It was a little ridiculous, but I am just glad we actually got them to the church. Hopefully next week we will be able to have them there for longer. I also called them a few days ago and asked about praying and reading and Cai Jiemei said she had read a little bit! I was so excited! Its been weeks where they have showed no progress and we have considered dropping them. But now there's hope! 

Huang Jiemei continues to come to church faithfully every week with her kids. We were a little stumped with what to do with her, because they weren't doing much else and we've taught prayer and the Book of Mormon a million times to them, but the same day I called to follow up with Cai Jiemei I called Huang Jiemei and she said they pray every night as a family! 

These are all really small things, but are giant miracles to us. Small progress is more than we had before. A few other miracles we saw this week were:

-Shao Jie passed her temple recommend interview on Sunday. She was so nervous, but was awesome. She even asked the Bishop how she is supposed to magnify her calling! She hopes she can go to the temple in August with the other youth.

-Cai Jiemei (not our investigator, an LA we meet with every week) got a calling and is now going to have to come to church for the full three hours! She counts as a rescued LA now.

-One of the young men in our ward got his mission call this week to.....Provo, Utah! That's the equivalent of us going from Utah to Taiwan. Most Taiwanese missionaries stay in Taiwan. He's super excited and is the first missionary in his family. His parents were practically beaming at church the other day.

We had Zone Conference this Thursday and have had some big changes in how we are going to have to do missionary work. President was really concerned about our whole mission not having very many baptisms or baptismal goals and decided to re-evaluate our rules. I think I told you a couple weeks ago about the numbers we report every week (about our number of RC, LA, and investigator lessons). Well now we are expected to visit three active members a week. President said that was an expectation not a standard to shoot for. If we get zero President will call us personally to see what happened. Then our RC and LA lessons are now required to have an active member present or else we can't count them and report them at the end of the week. 

I know this is all probably pretty boring, but we are really nervous about this in Qishan. We struggle enough as it is getting member present investigator lessons. Adding RC, LA and member lessons to that is going to be really hard. I can see the benefits in it and we are trying to have faith and do what our President has asked of us. I guess they tried this out in one of the Taizhong zones and every other aspect of missionary work improved. So we're going to need your prayers. This could either be the best thing that every happened to Qishan as far as member missionary work, or it could completely turn the members against us. We're hoping for the first. :)

Friday we were able to go on exchanges with the Tainan sisters. I stayed in Qishan with Sister Tung again and Sister Anderson finally got to go to Tainan. It was fun working with Sister Tung again. She actually goes home in a couple of weeks, so it was really fun to get to talk to her about her mission, her feelings about going home, and all that she's learned on her mission. We talked a lot about companions and what a difference good companions make. I have been extremely lucky and have had incredible companions that I have loved so much. I've been given some hard areas (Sister Tung told me they are probably the first and third most rural areas sisters can go to in our mission), but because of my companions it has all been bearable. I have loved the time I've had so far! I've learned so much and grown in ways I never thought possible. It really has been the best decision I have ever made to come out here.

That's pretty much the happenings of this week. I got the sheet music from grandma (thanks grandma! I'm sure she'll read this). 

I loved what Nicole shared with me about David in her email. Faith really is such a pure attribute. It is full of power greater than we often realize. This morning I was actually able to read Alma chapter 8 again, which is the chapter that got me through my third move-call in Nantou. That chapter isn't focused on as much as others, but it has a special place in my heart now. I love how Alma, after he's rejected in Ammonihah then is told by an angel to go back, immediately obeys and returns to the city. This is a city where he was spit on, laughed at, mocked, and thrown out; but he still went back. He, like David, had such strong faith in the Lord and our Heavenly Father. I love what is says in verse 16, it reads, "And behold, I am sent to command thee that thou return to the city of Ammonihah, and preach again unto the people of the city; yea, preach unto them." Preach unto them. That's all that we can do. We teach, bear testimony and have faith that the Spirit will touch their hearts and they will be willing to learn more. Alma and David had incredible faith. They did not doubt. I only hope I can come to have a sliver of such faith. 

I love you all so much, and am so grateful for your support. I love my mission. I love my family. I love this gospel. I love my Savior. 

As always, there is always a miracle just around the corner. Sometimes the Lord pushes us to our limits, but then shows forth His hand in providing miracles...after we have walked forth with faith.

With all my love,

Sister Fernley

Dogs and Go Green

Yes, I've been slacking horribly lately and haven't posted Sister Fernley's letters or pictures for awhile. Here is her letter from 6/15:

Hello my dear family!

I'm so glad that you all got to Idaho safely and are having a good time. I hope Jemma has a blast with cousins and that all are happy and enjoying family time. I loved all the pictures (as usual). The black and white is really fun.

I'm sending a ton of pictures through dropbox. Last Monday Sister Anderson and I went to FoGuangShan with two of our members (one is one of our RCs). Apparently they have Budda's finger and tooth preserved inside somewhere, but we didn't have time to go see. One of our members was talking to me when we went inside and saw the place where everyone will go and worship and bai bai. The last time she had gone there was about two years ago (right before she was baptized). She said last time she went and bai baied, but she was really excited to tell me that this time she isn't going to bai and worship the Buddhist gods. It was a really simple thing, but I was so proud of her. It showed me how much this gospel can change people, and really how much they have to change here. Christianity is such a foreign concept for many of these people.Its hard for them to wrap their heads around the possibility of only one God and a loving God at that. 

I truly respect the Taiwanese people so much. They are all so devoted to their religion. They respect family and stay with their culture and tradition more than any other people I have seen. But so many aspects of Buddhism or Daoism are completely opposite of Christianity that it often feels strange to me. Here the color red is a symbol of worship and happiness. Every night while we are riding home we can look out over the rice fields and see glowing red lights in everyone's attics (most people put their shrines up there). It's hard for me to imagine that that is comforting and a place of peace for the people here, because to me it is so foreign and frankly is a little creepy. I'm so grateful that I was privileged enough to be born into this gospel, to know that we have a Heavenly Father who is a LOVING father. He is kind, merciful, and knows each and every one of His children. What greater comfort could we have? What greater blessing could we have than to know the true character of God? And because we have such a great blessing why would we refrain from sharing it with all those around us?

This week we had a really good plan that even if only most of it worked out we would have been able to hit mission standards, but as most weeks have been going lately most everything fell through. Even despite all our set backs we were still able to do pretty well, and even though our plans didn't turn out the way we would have liked we were given many things to laugh about to give us the happiness and hope to carry on. The Lord really does pour out His tender mercies small they may be.

There was one day we ended up eating lunch at the 7-11 (a common occurance). I glanced over my shoulder at a movement behind me and didn't really register what I saw. As I did a double take I realized there was a dog lying down in the middle of the aisle behind us. I casually nudged Sister Anderson and said, "there's a dog." I don't think she believed me at first, but then she looked back and we both started laughing. At first I thought he belonged to one of the customers in the store and kept waiting for him to walk out with his owner, but after about ten minutes everyone that was in the store before had already left and the dog was still there. I guess he decided it was too hot outside so he just walked through the sliding doors into the 7 to take a nap. I think the funniest thing about it is that the workers and other customers didn't care. If we were in America the dog would be kicked out as soon as discovered. Here everyone just laughs and goes on with their business. The dog was in the store for about an hour. He would get up and walk outside then decide it was better inside and would come back in for a few more minutes. About the time we were ready to leave he decided it was time to go and very nonchalantly walked out and went down the street to go back home. 

The day before the dog in the 7 we were walking down a street contacting when one of the elder's LAs (the guy who always wears plaid pants) pulled up by us asking where I bikes were. We made small talk for a minute then as he was pulling back into the street and started driving down the street he called to us, "keep the faith!" But in his Taiwanese accent it sounded more like "keep the face!" Surprisingly I've remembered that all week and at times when we are feeling a little discouraged it reminds me why we are here and that faith is what will pull us through. Faith is the answer to everything. It starts out small, but has a huge effect. 

We also survived several dog attacks this week, thanks to the protection and help of the Lord. We were going to try and visit You Jiemei (one of our RCs) when two dogs started chasing after Sister Anderson (who was in front). She started biking as fast as she could and I would have too on first instinct, but for some reason I thought that if I biked really slow the dogs wouldn't fall back and start chasing me as well. I did just that and it worked! They got tired of running after Sister Anderson, turned around and just stopped and watched me slowly bike by. I have no doubt that the Spirit was guiding me and Heavenly Father was loving enough to still a couple of dogs for me. 

Then later on in the week we were tracting, so our bikes were farther off, when we turned down a side street to tract some houses farther back from the road. We rang the doorbell at one and went to go farther down when this dog started charging out of the shadow toward us. We both wanted to run and started back when Sister Anderson stopped and said, "don't run." So we both turned around and started trying to walk as calmly as we could down the street. We kept our eyes forward and tried to ignore the snarling dog behind us. Miraculously the dog stopped running and simply stood in the middle of the street barking, and made no more effort to run after us.

I have never had more dog stories in my life! I swear all dogs have a missionary radar! They see the tag and instead of closing doors, curtly ignoring, or laughing like everyone else here they chase after us. If only it was the other way around, and the running being intended to talk to us instead of wanting to bite or hurt us. That would be great! 

Anyway as far as our investigators go we were actually able to meet with them a lot this week. Most weeks our LA or RC lessons are the most, but this week we had a lot more other lessons. Not a lot of progress has happened yet, but we've been able to share a lot more and are trying to help them come closer to Christ and develop their own faith and desire to change.

We actually had an appointment with Huang jiemei for Wednesday. She had asked us before to ask our ward members to help her with some Go Green thing she does, but we didn't quite understand what she wanted us to talk to them about so she said we could come over and she would explain more. We thought it was going to be like any other lesson and we would still have time to teach so we asked Lu Jiemei (one of our members who went with us to FoGuangShan) to come with us.

We met Lu Jiemei and led her to the house, then as we walked in we were greeted by Huang Jiemei and about ten other people dressed suits and skirts. (The funny thing is the first thing that went through my head was "they're all wearing church clothes." Can you tell I'm a missionary?) Turns out it was their Go Green meeting and she had invited us over to hear their presentation. We felt super bad, because Lu Jiemei had come with us and probably didn't have a lot of time. We told her she could leave, but she was nice enough to stay and help us out. 

They actually asked us about our church and Lu Jiemei was able to talk about the Restoration and the basic beliefs of our church. Several of the people were there so we had a good discussion about religion for a few minutes. Then the conversation changed and we listened them talk about saving the world and their Go Green stuff for a while. It was getting about time for us to go when Lu Jiemei asked us when we needed to leave and if we were going to share a scripture. Thanks to her we were able to break into the conversation and have time to share a scripture. While we were listening to them talk about Go Green I was wracking my brains to figure out what to share and what scripture to share that would have some relation with what they were talking about. Luckily I remember the scripture  Ether 12:4 that talks about because we hope in God we can hope in a better world....perfect. So I shared that scripture and tied it in with their Go Green efforts and testified how because of God and the gospel we have hope and can improve our world. 

It was probably one of the most stressful spiritual shares I have done yet. I don't know why, but having a room full of professionals most probably at least twenty years older than me, dressed in fancy clothes, holding a Go Green convention terrified me. I didn't want to offend, go completely off topic, mess up with my Chinese etc., but I did want to testify and tell them what I knew of the gospel and how it really can bless our lives. Thankfully I had Sister Anderson and Lu Jiemei to my right smiling and supporting me every time I looked over. I got through my share and as I finished the whole room started applauding. It was hilarious! I have never been applauded for a spiritual share before, so I can cross that one off the bucket list now. Then as we stood up to leave everyone in the room stood up to bid us farewell. It felt really weird, and it felt really nice to go to our next appointment and sit down in a normal, informal lesson. I felt a lot more in my element, but was glad I had the chance to testify.

We were able to meet with our LAs granddaughter the other day and pretty much just reviewed the first lesson on the Restoration. She remembers most things from when her brother was taught by the missionaries. She is so excited to be baptized and I believe that she could be a great example to her family. We showed her the picture from the pamphlets of the first vision and she asked which one was Christ. We both pointed to the one on the right because that's the only way we can tell which is which in the picture. She grabbed the pamphlet and closely inspected it and replied, "oh yes, because the one on the left has a longer beard. It must be Heavenly Father." So our nine year old investigator can now differentiate between the two by the length of their beards.

Cai Jiemei and her husband still haven't come to church. We are going to try and go to their door next Sunday morning. We have some Word of Wisdom issues to work with with Cai Jiemei, but they both say they get really happy when we come over so we know they are feeling the Spirit. 

We met with Wang Jiemei again at her work and invited her to be baptized. She brought up the concern of already having been baptized (into the Baptist church), but didn't say no. She just wants to understand more before she takes that step.

Aside from that we are going to try and get a hold of several potential investigators that canceled our appointments this week and will continue to hope the Lord puts more prepared souls in our paths.

I love you all and pray for you every day. I'm so grateful for you and for your support. I know that with faith in the Lord we can do all things!

As always, there's another miracle just around the corner.

With all my love, 

Sister Fernley

ps. tell Jemma I would love any flower as long as she picked it. My other favorite color besides green is blue and that I love her more than I can say. Infinity and beyond!

"The miracles start rolling in…"

Another message from Sister Fernley. It sounds like she is doing really well and staying healthy and happy. We are so glad to hear that she and her companion get along so well. She mentions some pictures, but we didn't actually get them. Stay tuned--this post may be updated with pictures in the near future if they arrive.

Here's her latest message:

Hello again from Qishan!

Before I say anything else....HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!! Sorry I didn't say that last week. I wrote in my planner and everything so I wouldn't forget, and I forgot. I remembered as soon as the computer timed out. Anyway I love you and hope you had a great birthday! 

I also hope that this week was good and full of miracles for all. We had an incredible week! I couldn't wait to tell you all!

So I don't know if it was this way for you when you went on your missions, but President Blickenstaff has set standards for our mission on the amount of lessons we should have, baptismal goals, investigators at church etc. He always tells us that if we hit these standards weekly we will baptize monthly and it hasn't been disproved yet. But this week we were able to get closer to the mission standards that I ever have in Qishan. We were so close! We hope that if we work really hard this week we can hit them, because hitting the standards in Qishan would be an accomplishment we would be really proud of.

We had ZTM this week which is always a huge pick-me-up. I've said it before, but I love being in large groups of missionaries. It always seems to lift spirits and lets you know that you aren't the only one struggling and trying to preach the gospel on this tiny island, because sometimes it feels that way. Our zone leaders are awesome and always have really motivational training meetings. This month they were focusing on baptisms. Last month our zone didn't do very well, so they asked every companionship to pick a name of an investigator that could possibly get baptized this month and write it up on the board. Like we do every month we all wrote down the names and are praying for them every night. They talked a lot about having the faith to go out and find someone who could get baptized and invited us to fast that we would be able to have a baptism this month. It was a really good meeting and gave me a lot to think about.

While we were on the bus on our way back to Qishan I was thinking a lot about stories that other missionaries had shared and miracles they had seen. It made me doubt myself a little bit because I don't have a lot of experiences like that, but then I remember the less noticeable, but just as significant miracles I have seen on my mission. I haven't seen a lot of baptisms, but I have seen two struggling areas progress like crazy. I haven't personally found a lot of investigators, but I have seen a lot of progress in myself. Anyway, I decided that I want to give up my doubts to help further the building up of the kingdom here. I have faith and I know with God anything is possible, but I still have slivers of doubt when we are tracting, contacting etc. I want to stop that and have complete faith in everyone I come in contact with. I want to have faith in the power of God and be more open to seeing His hand in this work.

So, point being I had a really thoughtful ride back to Qishan and when we got back we saw the miracles start rolling in.

We got off the bus and started walking back home to get our bikes when I saw someone inside the bus station react at us walking past. I did a double take and saw that it was Yu Rong (the young women that always comes to church that I contacted at the 7). We turned around and sat down with her for a little bit. I asked her if she had been praying and she said she had prayed twice every day that week! I then asked her what she felt and she said she didn't really feel anything. I then asked her if she believed God existed. She replied, "a little bit." I was super excited! That is so much improvement for her! We invited her to pay attention to her feelings when she prays this week.

We were also able to meet with her for a minute after church yesterday. We taught her the Gospel of Christ and invited her to be baptized. She absolutely does not want to be baptized and says she only comes to church for friends. I asked her if she felt she had made friends and she said not really. So we think there is obviously something more than just friends bringing her to church, she just doesn't want to admit it. She is going to have a really hard time giving up Buddhism and accepting Christ, but I hope some day she will. Shao Jie helped us with our lesson and afterward kept asking why Yu Rong didn't want to get baptized or why she didn't really believe. She was so cute and had such a hard time understanding why someone wouldn't believe. She's convinced Yu Rong has a little bit of faith, and I agree with her. Hopefully we can help that grow. 

After we met with Yu Rong at the train station our front plan fell through so we tried to go visit one of our LAs. We had practiced asking members for referrals during ZTM so we decided to do the same with her and got a reaction we didn't expect at all. She started talking about how her work got changed so she could come back to church and wanted to bring her three grandchildren. (The oldest of whom has already been baptized.) She started figuring out how old they all were and if her granddaughter was old enough to be baptized. Turns out she's nine and her grandma wants us to teach her so she can be baptized. This little girl is so cute and wants to be baptized so bad. She has already been to church once and remembers a lot from when her brother was taught by the elders. (She practically taught the plan of salvation during our spiritual share in english class.) 

We walked out of that lesson shocked! We now had a new investigator who could be baptized by the end of the month without a problem. We just need to review the lessons with her!

And then the miracles just continued. We got a referral from an LA to go and find her friend who is also less active and bring her back. (She helped her get introduced to the gospel and remembered how happy she was when her friend got baptized.) We had a million lessons on Thursday. We were going from lesson to lesson to lesson (which has never happened here before). We went to Wang Jiemei's house (the old lady with the giant Book of Mormon) the same day she finished the Book of Mormon. We decided we want to get one made that's even bigger because she is having a hard time reading her's again. We went to our RCs house and determined that her son could get baptized as soon as we reviewed the lessons as well. He was taught along with his mom and sisters, but wasn't old enough to get baptized yet. He is an incredible example for his sisters and always reads and prays. 

Then on Sunday we had a lesson set up with someone we had called off of dead stack. Sister Anderson and I are both a little hesitant to call business cards, but decided to be brave one day and call one. It's always a little nerve-wracking going to appointments when you don't know the person or how they will react, but as we pulled up her sons called out to her that we were there and she was really nice and welcomed us in. We answered a few of her questions about what missionaries do and where we were from and then she very matter-of-factly asked, "So what is it you would like to share with me today?" We talked about the Book of Mormon and our Father in Heaven and Prayer and testified of the Restoration. After that was said I asked her why she was willing to meet with us. She replied, "I guess it was just the will of God." Turns out she was baptized into the Baptist church several years ago, but hasn't gone in a while. She told us we could come back to her house or her work anytime as long as we call her first. 

I was saying before that a lot of the times I doubt and don't expect reactions like this, but the Lord is definitely teaching me not to doubt and has shown us so many miracles this week. So I've learned that I need to have faith; have faith that people will accept our message, that investigators can be found, and that miracles continue to happen every day. I think this week the Lord was just nudging my memory and reminding me that this is His work and we can see it roll forth in our work, no matter where we are serving.

I love serving here in Qishan. I love the members and I love that we can find things to laugh about every day. This week we actually had a lot of rain, but every time the rain pours we seem to be inside and as soon as we are about to go outside the rain stops. It doesn't happen like that every time, but most of the time that's how it is. According to what the elders say, they seem to be outside every time it pours. So Sister Anderson and I decided that Heavenly Father must love us more. Haha, just kidding! But it is a funny coincidence.

The other day we ended up having a race with the elders from Meinong to Qishan. We had passed them while they were stopped at a corner and rang our bells as we went by. Several minutes later they come zooming past us with smug grins on their faces. Sister Anderson and I decided that we couldn't let that slide, so we sped it up and passed them a few minutes later. We thought we had the upper hand and slowed down a little when we got to the bridge into Qishan and found the elders waiting for us and the head of a secret bike trail. While we were waiting at a red light the turned and went over the bridge ahead of us. We thought it was really funny and were ready to give it to them, but were able to get momentum off the bridge and passed them while they were stopped at a red light. It was really silly, but it made the rainy bike ride to Qishan a little more fun.

This week we also heard a news report about a guy doing CPR on a squirrel  and died laughing. We got asked to stay and eat dinner at one of our LAs house that night, but their family eats while watching TV. So Sister Anderson and I sat awkwardly staring a different way and were singing hymns in our heads so we wouldn't listen. Then we started hearing english and heard this story about the squirrel. We both started cracking up! The family had no idea what we were laughing at and probably thought we were a little crazy.

Anyway those were some funny things that happened this week. The pictures I put on dropbox are of all the water bottles and cereal boxes we've gone through the past couple of weeks. I though dad would appreciate that we are drinking water :). The other is of my desk after personal study. It tends to be like that most days.

I love you all and love hearing from you every week. I pray for you every night and thank Heavenly Father that He gave me such an incredible family. 

As always, there's another miracle just around the corner!

With all my love, 

Sister Fernley

Another week in Qishan

I didn't realize I was so behind on Sister Fernley's blog! Here's the message from June 1:

Hello my dear family!

It sounds like this week has been fun filled and full of new discoveries (at least on Jemma's part). The water balloon fights look like a lot of fun! I remember when I was little dad always seemed to have a force field as well. Maybe that just comes with being a dad. Haha. I love hearing about all the fun summer activities that are going on! I miss those lazy days just going to the park and spending time together as a family. It is such a blessing to have times and memories like that. I'm so grateful for families and that the gospel focuses so much on family. That's always one of the main principles I go to when we are contacting or tracting, because focusing back on the family is one thing the world really needs. 

This week has been full of a lot of small miracles. Our investigators have started progressing! It's still very slow, inch by inch, but we are ecstatic at the small triumphs they have and the hurdles they are conquering. 

We were able to meet with Li Yu Rong on Monday (the young women who always comes to church), and taught her about the plan of salvation. When we asked her where she would like to go she replied that she would be happy going to the Terrestrial Kingdom. I've actually heard that from a lot of Taiwanese people and it is frustrating beyond belief. They all think the Celestial Kingdom is too high of a goal and don't want to put the effort in to go there because the Terrestrial is still pretty good and they are find with mediocre blessings. We tried to explain to her that she wouldn't be able to be with her family and friends forever in the Terrestrial Kingdom to which she replied that she doesn't need family or friends. That being with them forever would be too annoying. Sister Anderson they said she probably wouldn't have any TV, books, etc which had a little bit of an impact on her. 

BUT she did pray at the end of our lesson!!! We have been trying so hard to just get her to try and she never would. So we were really excited when she actually prayed! It was a little strange, and a little hesitant, but its progress (a lot of progress for her). She didn't show up at church on Sunday, but we are going to try and see if we can find her at a 7 tonight.

On Tuesday we were able to go contact a member referral we had gotten a few days earlier. We actually didn't have to do much. One of our members has been telling me for several weeks that she has a friend who wanted to come to church, but was always too busy to come. She told me when she came she would introduce us and set up a time for us to meet with her. This member actually ended up setting up a time on her own, so she called us told us the time and the place to meet. Her friend turned out to be this super cute 14 year old girl. Her family has been friends with this sister in our ward for years and she seems like she could have a lot of potential. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she said she was willing to read. I hope she does! Her family is struggling a little bit in their relationship so she really wants to help her family, and what better thing is there to help families than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our member was really nervous to peike (attend our lesson) because she hasn't done it for a while, but she was great. Most of the time we just sat back a let her teach. That's my favorite: when we can turn the lesson over to the members because they have a lot more influence than we do. This sister has also offered to peike any time we need for this investigator. I'm really excited to see how everything goes with this girl, she seems really willing to learn.

After receiving that referral and having our first lesson with her we were both extremely happy. I think that is the first true referral I have gotten on my mission! It was so great! We really do need the members. I think if we had gone and tracted that house they wouldn't have listened, but because one of their friends introduced us they were a lot more willing.

We were able to meet with the Cai family a couple of times this week. We're starting to think that we might need to give them over to the elders. The last time we went over Cai Jiemei started leaving and doing other things as soon as we started talking about the gospel. Her husband was still really intent and involved in the conversation, and when their son is home he is the same way as his dad. We are going to try a couple more times and if she really has no interest we will have to give them up. Cai Jiemei's husband actually called her out on leaving and got her to come back in and sit in on the lesson, but she didn't look too happy about it. Anyway, we have yet to see them show signs of progression, but for now they are still willing to meet with us. We'll take what we can get. 

One thing I have noticed lately with our investigators right now is that they really want the gospel and the church to help their kids, but aren't willing to let it help them as well. They can't expect this message to be important and change their children if they aren't willing to show by their examples that it is important to them as well. It just shows me more and more how important our examples are to our family and our children. We say as missionaries that we can't convert others beyond our own conversion. I think the same goes for our families. We are all individual and have our own spirits and testimonies, but I think the conversion we see in our family members plays a big part in our own testimonies. I am extremely grateful for the strong foundation we have in the gospel. I love that we have a long line of ancestors who were all members of the church. But most of all I love that that legacy has remained. I think we will always have lost sheep, but I am grateful that those who are strong in the gospel outnumber those that are lost. It should make it so much easier for those of us that are remaining to go and lift up those who are lost. 

Huang Jiemei has been really busy lately and has had family over on Sundays or had a wedding one week so she hasn't been able to come for a while. We went over Friday night and taught her the plan of salvation. She understood it all really well and even started teaching it to her son after he came in. She wants to help her children so bad! She had a friend tell her that if she had her kids read the Bible they would become better, so she asked if we could get her one. We told her that the Book of Mormon might be easier for her son to start with and as soon as we said that she grabbed their copy and told her son to read the verses we had just shared with her. That may not be the right method, but she has the principle down. 

We also had a Family Home Evening activity held by the ward this Sunday and Huang Jiemei and her whole family (even her husband) came! They even dressed up in church clothes. It was really cute! I think they are a little shy because they seemed content doing their own thing even when members would go over and try to friendship them, but I think they had a good time. At the end when we were all asked to share blessings we have been given because of the church Huang Jiemei even said that she has learned we are all children of God and that He loves each one of us, then closed in the name of Jesus Christ. It was so touching! When I went over and talked to her about it she was worried it was too simple. But really isn't simple the best? 

Shao Jie this week has come across the start of many trials in the gospel. She for the past week or so has been talking non-stop about going and doing baptisms at the temple when the ward goes next. Her dad and uncle both gave her permission, but her grandparents don't want her to go (and here the grandparents are the presiding authorities). Her grandparents mean well. They are afraid of Shao Jie being and inconvenience (because of her handicap). Shao Jie said she cried and cried because she was so devastated she couldn't go. We keep telling her to continue to have faith and God will someday provide a way. Her new favorite saying is "You xinxin, you banfa!" which means if you have faith there will be a way (its our mission theme). I guess I said it once and she picked it up. I love visiting with her because her faith really is so strong. She is an incredible example to me and I have been truly blessed to know her. She has only been baptized for just over a month and has already read to Alma 58. 

That is most of what happened this week. We did have an elder who served in Qishan a little less than a year ago come back with his new wife this weekend. He is a legend here! Most of our RCs are from when he was here. While he was training they helped eight people get baptized. So He and his wife came to church and attended the FHE activity. I was able to help out and translated for his wife in Relief Society and for part of the FHE activity. She's also a recent return missionary so it was really fun to talk to her and get to know her. Sister Anderson and I did comment after that we both felt really awkward seeing them interact together though. We're going to have a hard time going back to college and singles wards :).

Other than that we biked a lot, prayed a lot, laughed a lot, compared ever increasing tan lines, calf muscles and and level of sweatiness, and as always continued to find those people who are prepared to receive the gospel in this corner of the wilderness in Taiwan. 

By the way I'm getting an incredible watch tan line, and some good ones on my feet. Before it wasn't super noticeable, but now my arms are a completely different color than the rest of me. It looks like they could be from a different person. Also dad was really concerned about me drinking water. I'm drinking water, I promise! Actually though ever since I have come on my mission I haven't had any problems with dehydration like I did before. And honestly I don't think I'm drinking much more than I would back home. I heard of a sister in our mission who had celiac before and it has completely disappeared on her mission. I feel like I have a similar blessing. I'm still being really careful though, I'll be fine, the roads here aren't that busy anyway :). We do make frequent stops to go inside and get ice-cream or take a water break to get out of the heat for a few minutes. 

Also I was super excited to hear about the trip to Alaska! I thought if you all did it it would probably be while I was gone.

I love you all and love hearing about your weeks. My time is about up, but please know that I love you all with all my heart. The knowledge that I have a family that loves me keeps me going every day. I know families are forever and love sharing that message with these people. Many don't accept, but at least we are giving them a chance. Like Sister Hill used to say, "you prepared them one step more to accepting the gospel." I love my companion! She is so much fun and we are becoming best friends. Qishan would be a lot harder without her. 

Well until next week, remember there's always another miracle just around the corner. God loves us and will always give us tender mercies.

Love you with all my heart! Give Jemma a giant hug for me and tell her shes the best sister I could ever ask for!

Sister Fernley

Almost Halfway...

Here is Sister Fernley's latest message:

My Wonderful Family,

Sorry I don't have any pictures this week. Last week we got everything we needed to done as fast as we could so we could go home and sleep. That seems to be are activity of choice recently on preparation days.

Today is actually move call! I will remain here in Qishan for another move call with Sister Anderson! This whole week we've been talking about it and came to the conclusion that neither of us moving would be the best solution. Thankfully we were blessed enough to get it. We figured if anyone was going to move it would probably be me, but I didn't feel ready to move. I don't feel like I have done all that I could do here yet. So I am really grateful for the next six weeks (hopefully I don't get moved on a mini move call) I have to serve here in Qishan. I'm not going to lie, it would be really nice to get moved to an area that isn't as tiring, but at least I have Sister Anderson still. Being with her will make everything a little more bearable. We'll just continue to laugh our way through the move call, and hopefully we get to see more miracles as well. 

I feel like when I first came to Qishan we saw the area and our work as missionaries improve like crazy, but this last move call all that improvement kind of puttered out and we were stuck. Hopefully this next move call we can see the area improve again and find those people that are prepared, but ever evading us. 

This last week we were able to go back to Cai Jiemei's house and got to teach their whole family the first lesson once we were able to get them all to finally sit down. We were there for almost three hours, I know way too long, but we were determined to get the first lesson in. They were actually pretty accepting of the message. We gave them a Book of Mormon and they said they are willing to read it. They even asked a little bit about baptism! It didn't feel right to go in that more in dept then, but when we go back hopefully we will get the chance. Their son is actually the same age as me and was also pretty intent on the lesson. We think his parents mostly just want him to go on a mission because they don't want him to always play computer games. They keep asking if he can go out and preach with us. But I guess it doesn't matter how people get in contact with the church, what really matters is what they do when they actually hear our message. They tell us to go over to their house whenever we have time, which is the best thing to hear as a missionary. :)

Huang Jiemei didn't come to church again this week. We went over to her house last night and no one was home, so I think they might have gone out of town. I hope we can still get in contact with them though and continue to teach them. They are so prepared to listen and their family just feels right. 

As far as investigators go that's about what we have right now. Zhong Jiemei has dropped because she keeps standing us up for lessons and completely lost all desire to change when Yeh Jiemei left. Oh well, she was prepared one step further and maybe someday she will make the commitment to change.

This week was a little hard, and not as successful as we would like, but the Lord gives us so many tender mercies to make up for the disappointments.

I can't remember what day it was, but we had just left our apartment for the day and we riding past the fire station in Qishan when we saw Lu Jiemei's husband (not a member) just outside. He works there and called us in. We went in and he gave us the giant slices of watermelon they had just bought off of a produce truck on the side of the street. So we spent the next ten minutes sitting with the whole fire and EMT department eating slices of watermelon. It was so much fun! I even felt a little nice to back in that element again. (But where I am now is better :p)

Then we had another day we were calling some phones at a seven and one of the Elder's LAs walks in and greets us with a loud, "Sisters!" We seem to run into him at sevens a lot. He's a little bit crazy, and off his rocker sometimes, but he is one of the nicest people I have ever met. He always buys us drinks or food despite all our protests. The past couple of times he has bought us strawberry milk (they have all kinds of fruit milks here), but he always buys the brand with tea in it. This week he did the same and even bought us the microwaveable dinners they have there. It wasn't very good, and we were a little disappointed about not going to the restaurant we were going to go to, but it was an incredibly nice gesture.

We also had one morning where no one was home that we wanted to go visit so we decided to go contact on Lao Jie, or Qishan Old Street (the biggest street and a historical site in Qishan, look it up on google). By now I've talked to pretty much every street vendor that sets up shop on that street, and most of them are still really nice to us. This week we stopped and talked to this old lady selling flowers similar to the Bird of Paradise flowers. We talked to her for a minute and as we were getting ready to leave she grabbed this giant bunch and insisted we take them. We tried to protest, but the vendor next to her (who we are good friends with) also came over and kept insisting she was giving us flowers for Ye Su (Jesus). We couldn't really object so we reluctantly took them, then walked around the block to go give them to Shao Jie (our RC) because we didn't know what to do with them. 

Then last night we were tracting in Meinong and tracted into this extremely nice couple, Brother and Sister Huang. Sister Huang insisted we come inside to eat some fruit. So we went in and were treated to two giant plates of fruit. We ate and talked to them about missionary work. They knew a lot about us and have been tracted several times by missionaries in other areas. (They move around every six months.) Every time they let them in and treat them to fruit. It was a welcome that was definitely needed after the rejection of the week. They told us if we were ever in the area to stop by to rest because they are like our aunt and uncle. It was so cute and I was so grateful for their hospitality. They aren't prepared yet (they kept saying all religions are the same), but someday they will be.

I'm trying to think of what else happened this week, but I can't think of anything else. We biked a lot, tracted a lot, contacted a lot, ate a lot, and tried to continue on and do all that we can to find those prepared to teach. 

So that's about it. It has gotten super HOT here the last week. Lately there have been two choices of weather. It's either raining, or blazing hot. I can't decide which is better. I still don't have any really good rain gear, so I've been wearing the cheap ones you can buy at the sevens, which are basically just a plastic bag with sleeves and a hood. I hate them. You don't get quite as wet, but eventually the rain soaks through enough that your skin is wet and then the plastic sticks uncomfortably to you, or its raining and its still hot so the plastic holds in the heat and steams up because of the humidity. But at least I'm staying relatively dry and hopefully sometime soon I can find some decent rain gear. 

I played my violin the other day at our english class party for the Spiritual share. It felt good to play again, but boy and I rusty. I also can't wait to get some sheet music. Composing is not one of my talents. 

I loved seeing what Jemma has been up to. I honestly think it's hilarious that she likes to sit and watch out the door. It's simple things like that I'm starting to miss. It's also one thing I love about Taiwanese culture. During the day all of the elderly that are friends on a street just get together and sit by their houses or on the side of the street and just talk. It always looks so relaxing and peaceful every time we ride by. 

It also looks like she had so much fun with Olivia and Reagan. That is so cute! What a fun idea! I'm glad she got to go. I loved her email that she sent me this week. It made me laugh! And I can't wait to play Trouble with her when I get home (I'm glad the games are rousing). 

Well, my times about up, but I loved hearing about all that's going on at home. The humming bird pictures were amazing! The classes sound hard, but I hope they are fun and rewarding. The missionaries are awesome! (It actually made me super happy they came and visited you. I know as we work together this work will move forward faster than it ever has before. The Lord works through small and simple ways.) 

I love you all! Have an incredible week! I will try to do likewise. You are always in my prayers and I thank Heavenly Father every day for the wonderful family I have been blessed with. 

Remember...there's always another miracle just around the corner.

With all my love,

Sister Fernley

Also, I hit my half way mark in the next week. Can you believe it? So crazy! Time goes by way too fast!