Miracles

Here is Sister Fernley's message from Dec. 7, 2014:

Hello my dear family! 

This week was incredible! The funny thing is though that it doesn't really effect me like it did before. Maybe that's a bad thing, I don't know! I guess when I first came out I was amazed when someone wanted to set up with us or when they accepted a baptismal goal etc. But now it seems so natural. Why wouldn't they want to talk to us? Why wouldn't they want to hear this message? It is the most important message being shared on the Earth today. Of course they'd want to listen.

This week I learned so much and grew so much personally, as a companionship, and in our area. We saw so many miracles that I am so grateful for. I think it all started on Tuesday when we went on exchanges. Since I just got to this area I went to Gaoxiong with Sister Wilkins and Sister Bi stayed here with Sister Lin. I was a little disappointed because Sister Lin just finished training in Nantou. I was hoping to talk to her about the area and the people there. It's funny how you don't really love an area as much until you leave it. 

Anyway we went on exchanges and it just felt off. The whole first half of the exchange we didn't feel unified. I didn't feel like I was being inspired to change or feeling much of the Spirit. Then at the very end we had a lesson that just clicked. We ended up teaching a completely different lesson then planned, but it felt right. It was what the investigator needed. 

I think having that experience of a not so unified exchange made me realize what Sister Bi and I were lacking. I have been really lucky and never had a problem before with companionship unity, so I think I was a little proud and didn't want to talk about it. I kept thinking that it was a personal problem that I could change and everything would become better, but sometimes, well most of the time you can't fix problems on your own. Especially in a companionship. I could try my hardest to strengthen our companionship unity and better myself, but it will never have the same effect as a companionship working together and individually to better ourselves and our companionship.

So as soon as our exchange was over and we sat down on the train I looked at Sister Bi and talked to her about our companionship unity. We didn't necessarily have anything wrong or any disputes, but there was obviously something missing. So we sat down and made goals to improve that and how to make a companionship more of a 50/50 relationship, and how to develop more love for each other.

The results were incredible! Within the next day or two the feeling of something missing was gone. I wasn't as stressed and Sister Bi wasn't as nervous. We've also seen so many miracles that I believe are a result of our efforts in striving to be unified, diligent and obedient.

By the end of the week we had found eight new investigators! Sister Bi tracted into a family and had a miracle contact while on exchanges, then the other four were lessons we had set up the week before. Because of these new investigators we had considerably more lessons than last week, and consequently a lot more faith and hope in the area. 

I said last week that the "promised land" didn't feel very promising. Dad also talked about having the same feeling on his mission. But I realized this week (and dad also talked about the same idea in his email) that an area is only "golden" if you make it golden. Your attitude, your efforts, your diligence are what make an area golden. It all starts with you.

I guess that idea can be applied to almost any situation in life. Whether it be on a mission in a new area, a new companion, in a new job, in an old job, school, family relationships etc. Our situation and our experiences are only as 'golden' as we make them. So let's stand up and make them golden!

I was reading this morning in Alma about the story of Ammon. One thing that really struck me this time through was the immediacy with which Ammon went and acted. I'm sure he felt pretty uncomfortable with the Lamanites. I bet he was probably scared out of his mind, wondering if he was going to live to see the next day. I'm pretty positive he had no idea how he was going to help those people believe and listen to the message he had to share. BUT when he was provided an opportunity to show for the power of God he took it without delay. He didn't sit and cry with the Lamanites and fear for his life. He just went and acted. 

This is a huge sidetrack, but the Christmas party was this week! We ended up going to Fo Guang Shan. I was a little disappointed, since I've been there before, and honestly Buddhist things don't really interest me much anymore. So I ended up with a few of the sisters just walking around and taking pictures. Sister Bi ended up with the other Taiwanese sisters, so we went on splits for the day and I spent most of the time with Sister Grigg! It was fun to see her again and talk about the last year. 

One thing that I notice every time we have big mission gatherings is just how precious the friendships we make here. President mentioned that he always struggles with the decision of having a Christmas activity, but seeing the joy we have of being together and seeing old friends makes it worth it every time. I have met some of my closest friends here. As we were getting ready to leave I hugged my old companions and couldn't keep from crying. Sister Anderson is actually going home in a week, so that was the last time we would see each other on our missions. We both started crying and didn't want to leave. It was a little embarrassing hugging Sister Blickenstaff and shaking President's hand with tears running down my face. I love these people! I love my companions! There definitely is a special bond that comes when you serve the Lord together. No one else can understand completely what it's like.

Anyway that's some of what I learned this week. I don't have a lot to write about investigators yet, they are all just getting started. So hopefully next week I will have more to write about them. I got my stocking this week! Thank you! I haven't gotten the other yet, but I'm sure it's in route. I'm super excited! It sure doesn't feel like Christmas around here. I got the music too! It will be nice. I make us sing a Christmas song when it's my turn to choose our hymn for companionship study, but Sister Bi doesn't seem to have much of the Christmas spirit because she never picks Christmas songs. :(

Well I don't know what else to report. Our area is on the rise! Hopefully there will be a lot more to report next week. I love you all! Thanks for your emails, letters etc. It means a lot and keeps me going. I can't believe how fast time is going. I just hope I can treasure every minute I have left.

I love you all! Have a great week! Remember that its the small things that bring miracles, and its our decisions that effect our fate.

And Remember to stay happy! And sing tons of Christmas songs for me!

With all my love,

Sister Fernley

(Yes, that sign says Pig Knuckle Street, which I'm sure is why Sister Fernley took the picture. :) )

Keeping the Faith

Here is Sister Fernley's message from November 30:

Hello everyone,

Its funny, I really don't have a lot to say, but I still don't even know where to start. I guess first I'll answer your questions.

Sister Bi and I are getting along pretty well (Bi is really how you pronounce her name, but when they translate it to english they write Pi, I don't know why, it doesn't make sense. So I figured I'd just write it how it really sounds.) It's always a little different being with a Taiwanese companion. The culture is just so different. I don't like to criticize or anything, but it sounds like with her trainer they weren't exactly obedient, so we've been working on that. She is really great though and is so humble and willing to change. It does feel a little bit like training again though. I guess that is why we call it breaker, you break a new missionary out of the 'new missionary' mode and help them stand even more firm on their feet. I think it is different with every missionary though. Some pick up faster than others, and everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. Sister Bi has been so patient with me and I can feel that she trusts me, which helps a lot. She is trying her hardest and has grown so much already within the last week.

The package hasn't gotten to me yet, but it might be in Taiwan. We have Zone Training Meeting tomorrow so maybe we will get it then, and if not then our Christmas Activity is this week so there is another possibility getting it then. I'll keep you posted. I'm super excited! (Don't know if I will be able to translate the puns into Chinese though. One of the elders pulled the "Guess what, Chicken butt" joke on me the other day and Sister Bi asked about it. I tried to explain it and just got a blank stare, haha. That's okay, I don't understand Chinese humor sometimes either.)

Sister Grigg is training! She will be a great trainer. I haven't really seen her much actually. I saw her at the last Christmas activity and we were in the same zone my first transfer in Qishan so we got to see each other at meetings. Then I saw her last week because we had mission tour, but that's about it. We were really hoping we could be companions again, but I don't think that is going to happen. Oh well, we will be flying home together so that will be fun. 

As far as the area goes not much has changed. Everyone was calling it the promised land, but it sure doesn't feel like it right now. We are trying our hardest though. This week we spent every hour of every day finding. We are calling former investigators, dead stack (old contact cards), old english students, tracting, contacting, calling referrals etc. And actually we were getting lessons set up and I think I got more numbers in one day than I ever have before; however, every lesson but one canceled or didn't show up and every phone number hung up when we called. We did end up having one lesson, but they were devout Presbyterians and kept talking about their church and their leaders. They were really nice and listened really respectfully, but they don't have any interest...or so it seems. We will try to call and set up again, but I don't have very high hopes. 

Pretty much that was our week in a nutshell. We had mission tour on Tuesday and Elder Gong of the Seventy and his wife came and talked to us. They talked about having faith, energy and focus. We were also provided a Thanksgiving meal by the the senior missionaries serving down south. It was just like home, only not as much. I asked Sister Bi if she had ever eaten a meal like that and she said that that was her first time! It is crazy how different cultures are. I spent a lot of the time talking to Sister Grigg about training and some of the struggles, joys, inspiration, change, knowledge etc. serving a mission has brought already. It was so good to see her and talk to her again. She is really nervous to train, so I hope what I shared with her from my experience helped. It is so weird to think that we are 'old' missionaries now. Time really flies!

Sorry I don't really have a lot to say this week! I loved seeing all the pictures of Temple Square! I'm actually a little sad there isn't much snow. I never thought I would, but I really do miss snow. The mouse idea is super cute! The picture of Jemma looking at it from outside is hilarious! Her facial expression is priceless!

Oh dad also asked if this area is hilly like Nantou. No it's not. I haven't been to the whole area though. I told Sister Bi we should find a day to go out to one of our secondary areas to go find some people there. The elders say there is a mountain somewhere that they biked up, so maybe someday I'll find it. 

Well I love you all! Sorry if this email is a little boring, we really don't have much to report. It's really hard, and sometimes it's hard not to think that it's because I'm doing something wrong; however, I know that we are doing everything we possibly can. I'm doing all that I know how to do, which isn't much, but it is enough. I know that we can see miracles! I also know that I need to be patient. The Lord has His time and I know He will provide. 

Keep the faith! Look for miracles! I love you all!

Sister Fernley

Way Down South

Here is Sister Fernley's message from Nov. 23 with lots of pictures from her last days in Taizhong:

Dear Family,

Well I finally moved! I'm now serving way down south in ChaoZhou. It's the farthest south you can possibly go as a sister, so it is still hot! It is almost December and I don't even have to worry about a jacket. I'm serving with Sister Bi who just got done with training so I am her breaker. I'm actually really excited to have a Taiwanese companion again. The difference from last time is huge! I don't have a dictionary out on my desk all the time, and I feel like I can express myself adequately. It feels good.

I remember my first interview with President Blickenstaff and expressing how nervous I was about speaking the language (I'm sure every single first interview he has includes something about being nervous about Chinese). Then in my last interview with him he asked me if I felt like I could express myself in Chinese and how it felt. It was really nice to finally feel the fruits of the past year of language study. It may not be the best it could, but the difference between a year ago and now is drastic.

Anyway I'm so excited to serve with Bi Jiemei. I feel like it is a little bit like training still, because there are still some things she still hasn't learned, or isn't very strong in yet, but who is right out of training? I'm excited to learn with her and to see miracles!

As far as last week goes we actually had a pretty good week. Even though Monday randomly ended up not being P-day we were still able to accomplish a lot! That night we met with a few new people who were referrals from other missionaries and members. They are both willing to keep learning about the gospel and meeting with the missionaries! 

Wednesday we were delegated to teach the children's english class because the elder's couldn't handle them last week. Before it was the other set of sisters (from Dakeng) who taught the kids, but that area was closed for sisters a couple of weeks ago. Originally they were going to have us do it, but I protested and told them it was their turn because sisters always have to teach the kids. Thankfully Elder Ward volunteered, but apparently he can't handle them. So we taught the kids and I remembered why I hated teaching english class so much in Qishan. The kids were so bad and the adults in there weren't much better. I finally fought my way through the hour and a half english class (with a shocked Sister Murdock sitting off to the side) and dismissed everyone to go home. A few minutes later we realized that our phone was gone. We spent the next half hour looking for our phone. One of our members and her husband helped us by calling the phone hoping we would be able to hear it. While they were calling it would be on one minute then off the next. So we decided that our phone was stolen and ended up having to pick up one of the old phones from the office the next day. It was extremely stressful and couldn't have happened at a worse time (right when I was moving), but we got it all worked out and Beiqu has a phone again.

We also got to take new missionaries out to do Dan Jones! Sister Murdock and I were asked to help out since we live in the area. I was really nervous because I knew how nervous I was doing Dan Jones and had also heard some bad experiences about taking new missionaries around. Thankfully it went really well! I was nervous at first because the sister they had me take was really shy and really nervous, but we talked to a lot of people and were able to give out two copies of the Book of Mormon! I felt like I redeemed myself a little bit from my first time, because I didn't get to give out anything or get any numbers. It was a fun experience, and I'm glad I got to do it right before I moved out.

The rest of the week felt like it was spent making last visits to investigators and members before I left Beiqu. I feel like leaving always makes you realize just how much you love the people and the area. I realized just how many great friends I have made there and how much I loved working in the area. It was really hard, but I learned a lot about how to trust God and put everything in His hands. And now the area looks like it is on the rise and is seeing a lot of miracles.

Then Friday I said my last goodbyes and left Sister Murdock to lead the area on her own. I am so grateful for the last three months and for her companionship. I couldn't have done it with anyone else. She is an incredible missionary and is hitting the ground running. I trust her completely and know that she will take good care of our investigators. Her new companion is actually Sister Hicken who happens to be following me around the island. She took my place in Qishan and just took my place in BeiQu. Unfortunately I moved to the farthest place away from Beiqu, so I won't be able to attend any baptisms that happen in the next couple weeks, but we will just keep praying that they happen!

It took about four hours, but I finally got to ChaoZhou and met up with my new companion, and got my first view of ChaoZhou. I am back in the country! And it feels like home. I don't know why, but my first night here I couldn't stop smiling. Sister Bi must have thought I was crazy because they really don't have any investigators here (we've been spending all of our time trying to find formers, calling phones and tracting), but I'm just so excited for a new area and a new challenge. It is going to be really hard. We're starting from almost nothing, but I know that if we are diligent and faithful we will be able to see miracles.

The ward here is already incredible! Sister Bi was with a member when she came and picked me up. When I told this member that I only had about four months left on my mission and that I was most likely ending my mission in ChaoZhou she started telling me how sad she was and how much they were going to miss me. Then on Sunday the Bishop and his wife invited us over to their house for lunch. This is the first time the Bishop in my ward has made an effort to reach out to the missionaries. I really like them! They are very kind and really humble people who have strong faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

When I heard I was coming down to ChaoZhou every missionary started telling me how great this place was. Everyone calls it the "promised land." There has been a history for a while of a lot of baptisms coming from this area. As of right now Sister Bi and I don't have any investigators, but I'm excited for the chance we have to work hard and to see miracles just like the missionaries before us. 

Well, I honestly don't know what else to write. I'm glad you are all healthy and hopefully happy. I was so excited to see the snow! I hope there is still plenty when I get home. I miss the snow! 

Have a great week! Remember to look for the miracles given to us everyday! Sometimes they are hard to see, but they are always there.

With all my love,

Sister Fernley

Grateful for Corners

Here is Sister Fernley's message from last Sunday, November 16:

Hello everybody!

Hope this week was good. Jemma looks like she is having a blast with friends and in her gymnastics class. I loved those pictures, so cool! She always did love jumping around on things and hanging from bars. Do you think you are going to sign her up for classes after the trial?

Dad mentioned that it finally started getting cold! Is it me or did winter come late this year? It came later here as well, it is finally starting to get a little chilly. I pulled out the heater this morning during Personal study because my feet were cold. The floors everywhere here are tile. I discovered that's why they wear slippers inside all of the time; the floor is always cold which makes your feet cold. I also don't ever trust floors besides our own, I've seen how unsanitary people are here I trust their floors to be much better. 

So...I'm leaving! And as usual we were the last to find out. We had stake conference yesterday so we biked over to Taiping and ended up talking to some of the other sisters after we walked in. They looked at me and said, "you're moving!" I had no idea what they were talking about and told them, yea I probably was moving. Then they proceeded to tell us that apparently the zone leaders had sent out a text the night before that told everyone who was moving so that we could bear our testimonies in church. The sisters forwarded the text (that we didn't get) to us and sure enough my name was on it. We were told that everyone who is moving will be moving on Friday, so our P-day has been changed to Friday. Thankfully they still gave us our email time today. I was really grateful we talked to the sisters, because we were getting ready for P-day and would have gone on as normal. Then I would have really felt guilty. 

Anyway I'll be moving on Friday. We don't know where to yet, but I'm sure we will find out in the next couple of days. I'm excited, sad, nervous...all of the above. But where ever I go and whoever I'm with I'm sure I will learn a lot and see a ton of miracles. Sister Murdock is nervous to lead the area, but I know she will do great. I've been making her lead for the past three weeks and she's been doing just fine. I am completely fine with leaving this area in her hands. She has grown and improved so much in the past few months it's been incredible! Almost everyone who finds out she just finished training doesn't believe it because she seems like she has been here longer than that. She's great and I've learned so much from her. She has been an incredible friend and has supported me so much these past couple of months. She will be an incredible missionary!

This week I am so grateful for corners. For my whole mission I've been saying that "there's another miracles just around the corner." It always helped me keep going and have patience, but it never had so much meaning as it does after my time here in BeiQu. I have never gotten so close to wanting to give up and coming home. Its been hard with so many people around us everyday you would think the investigators would roll in, but they haven't. You would think because the elders who work in the office and only get a few hours a day to proselyte could baptize we could to, but we haven't. You would think that since I've been here for a good chunk of time I would know what I was doing, but honestly...I don't. These have been thoughts that have been running through my head the past three months almost everyday. And honestly if you would have talked to me a week and a half ago I would have told you I was ready to leave BeiQu and wouldn't want to come back.

But thankfully God is merciful and helps us get on the right track. I don't know what the change was this week, but the depression, sadness and lack of confidence slowly faded away this week. I feel like I'm myself again. I feel ready to face the world and could stay here for the rest of my mission if called to do so. This week after three months of not much progress we have seen miracles!

Sister Murdock and I have made a goal to try and make daily contact with our investigators. I had never done that before because I was too afraid of annoying them and being a 'weird' missionary. But the past couple of weeks we have been trying. Most days they don't answer their phones, but we do what we can. Yesterday as we sat down to follow-up with everyone we found out that a lot of our investigators are actually reading and praying! (It's funny how happy such a simple thing can make you.) 

We also got to talk to Sun Yu Hui. She was the referral that we met with last week who really wanted to know for herself if what we were telling her was true. We finally got a hold of her and she said she has been reading and praying. She said she feels like she has and answer and has found what she wants to believe! I will move out before we get to meet with her again, but we are really excited. She even lives in our area!

We set another baptismal goal with Yi Jun this week. We set it for Christmas, hoping that will give her enough time and maybe help her mom be more willing to let her get baptized (Christmas present?). She is a little nervous, but she just needs to take a leap of faith. She is still working on Personal Progress and is loving it. I love riding up to her stand and seeing her face light up when she sees us. It makes everything worth it. She had promised to try and come to church on Sunday to see me off, but unfortunately I will be gone before then. Hopefully she still comes anyway.

We met with Shi Yue again yesterday. We took Alexis with us and invited her to share her experience with feeling the Holy Ghost and receiving an answer. It was perfect. She talked about how she has felt the Holy Ghost so much more after she has been baptized, she also talked about how seeking an answer isn't just a one time thing. God wants us to be patient. Shi Yue started talking about how she believed that was true and that after baptism she would be able to feel more and have more strength to come closer to God. She understands things so well it's incredible. 

Then last night as we were finishing up planning the office elders called us and said, "we just moved your baptismal goal to a week B!" (For those who don't speak missionary that means her goal was moved from Christmas to two weeks away.) The elders are teaching her husband since his schedule is so different than Shi Yue's. Elder Flint is going home next month and has really wanted them to get baptized before he goes home. Apparently they talked about it with them last night and they agreed and set their own date for two weeks away! Sister Murdock and I were both shocked. I'm not sure if they can hit it, but we are going to have faith and pray a lot. It would be great if they did, it will help them so much.

I almost forgot! While we were sitting down with Shi Yue yesterday afternoon Sister Murdock heard some music coming from the other room. She recognized it as one of her favorite mormon messages (Because of Him, it's so good). We called her husband, Wang Dixiong, out and he had downloaded the gospel library onto his i-phone and was looking at the mormon messages. We watched a few together and as we were leaving he had gone onto the hymns section and was playing hymns from his phone. It was pretty great. (By the way the pictures of the lady with the baby was Shi Yue.)

Well that's about it for this week. We broke up with a less active this week. She hasn't progressed at all and we finally got brave enough to tell her we couldn't come back unless she decided to act. I felt just like the prophets in the scriptures calling someone to repentance. It's sad that we have to do it, but sometimes that's what it takes. Hopefully she comes around some day.

As far as a release date, thankfully I haven't received anything. I think they try to keep things pretty low key so we stay focused. It's so crazy that we are already talking about these kinds of things. It makes me excited and sad too. 

I am still planning on going back to BYU-I for the fall, so if you could start that that would be great. Let me know if I need to do anything. It is so crazy that everyone is coming home. It seems like we just left.

Well I'm just about out of time, and am running out of things to say. I hope you all have a good week! Work hard and stay strong. I will try to do the same. By this time next week I will be writing you from somewhere else!

Love you all!

Sister Fernley

Still in the city…for now

We received Sister Fernley's most recent message on Sunday night, and then today (Friday) we received a message from her mission president with her release date--already! March 18 is the big day!!! Time sure seems to have flown. In addition to her release date we were given this advice, which we thought we'd share with anyone else who might be writing to her:

"The last few months of a mission are the most productive time for missionaries. They have the maturity, language ability and teaching skills to be most effective in doing missionary work. However, sometimes missionaries can become distracted and lose focus as they contemplate returning home. Accordingly, I would like to suggest that your correspondence during the last few months of Sister Fernley's mission center on making the most of her remaining time as a missionary rather than on homecoming plans. Please address only the necessary issues of her return, then focus on encouraging her to finish strong in her missionary work. These last few months are very valuable and we thank you for your assistance in helping your missionary leave her vineyard of service without regret."

And here is her message from Nov. 9:

Dear Family,

Guess what!? I'm not moving! Well at least not today anyway. Today was supposed to be our move-call day, but the only people it is affecting are the missionaries that are going home this week. The embassies in the States decided about three months ago that they were only going to process ten visas total to Taiwan a month. So that includes the Taibei missionaries as well. To keep the story short we haven't gotten any new missionaries from America for the past three months, and with our missionaries ending their service and going home our missionary numbers are declining. 

Last week we got news that some of the missionaries would be able to come in next week, but that has been delayed another week. SO President just lengthened our current transfer and we are all on standby until the new missionaries come in. So I could be transferred out (it will most likely be me who is transferred because Sister Murdock just finished training! Usually trainers get moved out) next week, the week after, or somewhere in between. I got lucky and get a few more weeks in BeiQu. 

We've made some breakthroughs with Shi Yue and Yi Jun so I was a little sad to be leaving. It has to happen someday, but at least I got a little more time. 

This week we set another baptismal goal with Shi Yue! She accepted it and has been more willing and excited to accept a baptismal goal than I have ever before seen. We set it for Christmas, but are hoping she can get baptized earlier. She felt really good about that goal though and was pretty excited. She even started talking about how she really wanted this and how she wants her husband to get baptized with her. She has seen our examples and the kindness of our members and really wants that in her life. I almost cried there in the middle of our lesson. I've never worked so hard and had to overcome so many challenges with an investigator before. We've been though a lot with her, and we still have a while to go, but I hope it keeps going downhill from here.

We went back several days later and she told us later that night she told her husband that she wanted to get baptized. Their conversation went something like this:

Shi Yue: "Hey I want to get baptized. Do you want to get baptized with me?"

Husband: "Sure...wait... if we go and get baptized who is going to watch the baby?"

Taiwanese don't usually have a very good sense of humor, but its nice when you find someone who does. 

Anyway they even came to church yesterday. Shi Yue wore a dress and everything! And our ward was great and everyone took such good care of her. We didn't even really get to talk to her that much. 

Yi Jun is also doing great! I think I mentioned before that we've started going over to her work, helping her set up, then sharing a message with her. She is still reading, praying and obeying the commandments but still can't come to church. So we decided to get her started on Personal Progress to give her something to work towards and to help her progress in faith and in testimony. She's really excited and has already started.

Then on Saturday we stopped by, but she wasn't at their stand. We thought maybe they had taken that day off, so I started writing her a note that we could leave for her. While I was writing she showed up on the corner! To keep a long story short her mom was conveniently there as well so she ran into the shop and asked her mom if she could go out to dinner with us. Her mom gave her permission so we went out to eat. Then when we got back she gifted us some fruit that we ate with Yi Jun outside their stand. It wasn't much, but I think we might be making improvement with her mom. Hopefully we can keep having a good impression on her. 

AND...while we were out eating dinner I got attacked by this guy. Okay, well not exactly attacked, but I was very uncomfortable. We were unlocking out bikes and getting ready to go back to Yi Jun's shop when this heavy, super tan, really dirty, and a little bit crazy man saw us and pulled up to us on his bike. He asked if we were American. We were all a little weary, so I told him yes we were, and started getting ready to get on my bike. Then he grabbed my hands and started petting my skin, all while he was intently starting at me and mumbling about pretty Americans. I was legitimately freaked out and glanced over at Sister Murdock and Yi Jun who were moving to help intervene. The only thing I could think of, and maybe this is a bad thought process, was to pull out a tract and invite him to learn about the gospel. Most people seem to leave us alone when we do that (haha). So I was able to pull my hands out of his grasp and grabbed the scariest tract I could think of...the baptism one. 

It worked, he left pretty quickly. 

Yi Jun was super freaked out. I don't think she's ever seen anyone act like that before. We were pretty grossed out and I felt pretty violated, but I'm super grateful for baptism tracts.

On to more happy things. We got a member referral from one of the young men in our ward last Sunday and got to meet with her this weekend. She is about 16 or 17 and was really cool. She kept asking us questions about if we really believed and how we believed in the Gospel and that the Book of Mormon was true. She asked us how it has helped us and we were able to bear our testimonies to her about how we came to know this Gospel was true. When we talked about the Book of Mormon and about praying about it she stopped and asked, "can I try that? Can I read and pray about it too? Because I really want to know if what you are saying is true." 

I've never had anyone say that to me one my mission. It was incredible! So pray for her, pray that nothing happens and that she can recognize the answer that God has promised she can receive. We are excited to meet with her again this week. 

What else happened this week? Well...

-Sister Murdock finished Phase 1, so now we have to go out to Korean food (I promised her when she finished we could go at the beginning of the move-call)

-We are officially done with training

-I went to Taiping on exchanges and loved talking to Sister Parkinson, who has had a mission very similar to mine. It was good to talk to someone who really understands.

-We had another meeting with Lerma up her staircase 

-We had our english party and Sister Murdock and I decided to be Mexicans...thanks for the mustaches!

-We won the "most original" prize for the costume contest

-ZTM- November is Faith and Diligence month for the mission, we have activities similar to Power Week that they want us to try and accomplish

-we met a mute girl on the street who was super nice and took a Book of Mormon

-Alexis is going to be a duanchuan (short term missionary) for two weeks with Sister Anderson until the new missionaries come in. She is going to have to wear a skirt which will be fun to see. (She doesn't even wear one to church.)

-I found your prize in the cereal box, thanks! I think I might know who picked that one out.

Also, I decided to stop lying to myself. I am going to admit that sometimes I don't want to get on my bike. I don't want to talk to people. I get annoyed when people don't even acknowledge that I'm talking to them. I hate it when people seem to run away from me like I have a disease. I get sick of Taiwanese food. And I don't like being stared at, laughed at, and pointed at like we are some sort of attraction.

BUT I will also be honest and say that this has been the best year of my life. I have grown more than I could have ever imagined. I love testifying of Christ. I have loved my companions and have made some of the best friends here. I'm so grateful I could come here and learn. I'm so grateful for the hard times and the humility building experiences, because I have become better because of them. 

This week I read a verse in Enos that I loved it reads," And I saw that I must soon go down to my grave, having been wrought upon by the power of God that I must preach and prophesy unto this people, and declare the word according to the truth which is in Christ. And I have declared it in all my days, and have rejoiced in it above that of the world."

I haven't gone to my grave, but I have gone on my mission, and I have rejoiced in it above that of the world.

I love you all! I've got to go. Can't wait to hear from you next week!

With all my love,

Sister Fernley

Remember to keep looking for the miracles!

Dan Jones!

Here is Sister Fernley's message from last night (she mentions taking pictures, but it looks like she didn't send them this time--I will add them to this post when she does send them).

Update: We got the pictures and as you can see, they have been added.


Hello again! 

I loved reading your emails and seeing all the fun that was had on Halloween! Jemma's costume turned out great! Really clever. I'm glad she liked it. I liked your pumpkins and Halloween 'decorations.' I always show my companions the things that you do and all I can say is, "yep, that's my family." Haha I love it though. At least we've got personality right? Who likes being normal anyway? ( Not that our family isn't normal, just a different normal from everybody else :) ) Sister Murdock thought it was hilarious though, she even forwarded the pictures to her family, because she knew they would appreciate it.

I did get the package you sent. Thank you so much! I didn't really expect that since you just sent one for my birthday, but it was really fun! I even took some pictures to show I got it. :)

Halloween wasn't anything super special over here. Honestly any American holiday in Taiwan is super boring. We did go get giant bowls of bing (shaved ice with added fruit, milk, and chocolate) for dinner with Alexis to celebrate though. So that was fun. You are always super full until about half an hour after when you have to go to the bathroom every ten minutes, then you aren't full anymore and need to eat something else. We did also get to go visit Lerma again that night. She has been really busy lately, so we haven't had much opportunity to see her. She couldn't leave the apartment, and her boss was gone, so she had us come up to their door and we sat outside the door on some stools. She told us that the mom (her boss) was probably going to get home soon so when she came we would just grab everything and head up the stairs to some of the upper floors so she wouldn't see us. It was probably the most nerve wracking hour of my life. Every time we heard the main door open my heart skipped a beat. There was once Lerma had to step back inside to help the old man she takes care of, so Sister Murdock and I were left sitting on the stairs wondering if her boss would walk in while Lerma was gone. I've never seen her boss and don't know what her motorcycle would sound like, so I looked at Sister Murdock and said, "if we hear the door open we're grabbing the stools and the scriptures and going up." 

Sure enough a few minutes later the door opened and we booked it up the stairs and stopped a few floors higher up. It actually ended up being a couple of college age boys, who passed us on their way up. I couldn't help but laugh. It must have been confusing and slightly comical to see two white, sister missionaries, one sitting on a stool in the corner and the other clutching a few sets of scriptures still open with papers falling out, in the dark. We all just kind of stared at each other for a second before they moved on and I started busting up. 

Lerma came out a few minutes later and called us back down. We left shortly after that and I wasn't back at ease until we had ridden our bikes well out of the neighborhood. It was enough Halloween excitement for me for one day, to say the least.

We actually haven't been able to meet with Zhu Jiemei this week, but she did come to part of church this Sunday. She seems like she is still doing pretty well, we will see her again this week. We did get to meet with Xu Jiemei and talked to her about working on her family history. Sister Murdock and I recently have been learning a lot about how to use family history lately in our proselyting for part of her training experience, so we decided to give it a try. I think it could help her a lot.

The main event this week was the missionary work fireside held by our ward this week. They got the whole ward together for an Asian style pot-luck and then had everyone go out and do Dan Jones! They split the ward into two groups and had each companionship take a group out. We took our group right up to the entrance to the church. They asked us to give a demonstration and go first. Sister Murdock's Dan Jones experience was still a little too fresh I think, so I got to stand back up on, well a chair this time, and shout out my testimony again. It felt a lot different than the last time I did it (almost exactly a year ago). It wasn't as strange or scary. My Chinese is a lot better and I'm not as afraid to shout out my testimony anymore.

Anyway, that's not the point. After I did the demonstration the members started getting up one by one and bearing their testimonies to their peers. It was an incredible experience to see how the members faces lit up as they watched their friends and family members bear testimony of the gospel. Pretty much every one of them are converts, so I can only imagine the memories it brought back to them of their conversion experiences. There really was a special spirit there and I was so proud of our members!

One of our members, Xie Jiemei (the sister who feeds us a lot), even pulled Sister Murdock out to go contact the people across the street. I was watching them and she wasn't afraid of anything. They actually even had a woman come up to them and ask for a tract. We ended up getting her number, and hopefully we can find a time to meet with her and share more. 

We were also able to get back in contact with Yi Jun this week! We decided to go stop by her work and see if we could find time to sit down with her. After stopping by a few times we figured out what time is best for us to stop by. So now we stop by around 3:30 and help her clean and set up their stand (its a food stand that just has a bunch of meat, noodles and vegetables spread out. You can go put everything you want in a basket, and then they boil it, put some spices and some broth in it and serve it to you. It's actually really good, and healthier than a lot of other things here.) and then after everything is set up we usually get about fifteen minutes to sit down and share a message with her. She is still doing great and has a really strong testimony. Her only problem now is time. We are just going to have to wait for her mom's permission and until they can officially move back to BeiQu.

Shi Yue is doing great as well! Her progress is a little slower, but the past couple of days she has seemed a lot better. She has been having trouble lately feeling like she isn't accomplishing anything. (She went from being a team leader at her work to staying at home with a baby, and I think it's started to get to her. ) So last time I felt like I should invite her to write down one thing everyday that she feels like she did well that day. Two days later we called her and she told us how much better she felt and how much she had gotten accomplished. I was so happy. I'm really glad it helped and I'm so glad we had the spirit helping us know how to best help her. She told us that she really, really wants to come to church, but she still has to rely on her husband. She's doing great though, and feels so much happier than before.

We also got to meet again with one of the referrals from our member who works at the hospital. We went out to lunch with her and her son and got to share a little bit. I don't know how far we will be able to get with her, because she just kept talking about her god and the god her son likes and the god her husband likes. She even gave us the cards with pictures of their gods they they like. I put them in my bag and this morning asked Sister Murdock if she wanted some of them. She had said earlier that she wanted to put some in her journal. About half an hour later she walked into our room to grab something before we walked out the door and realized that both of us had turned the cards over on our desks so we couldn't see them. We decided to just throw them away because they were too creepy.

That's about it for our investigators, not a lot yet, but we are working on it and hoping for a ton of miracles up ahead.

One last story:

This Sunday we ended up not having any investigators at church and our less active that came left after about forty minutes. So the two of us were left sitting by ourselves and wondering what we did wrong this week. I was feeling a little depressed when our new ward mission leader (recently returned missionary) got up and started bearing his testimony. He quoted a scriptures so I grabbed my set to look it up. I turned to where I though he said it was, but couldn't find it anywhere. I decided to start reading the section anyway. Here is what I read:

 32 Verily, verily, I say unto you, as I said unto my disciples, where two or three are gathered together in my name, as touchingone thing, behold, there will I be in the midst of them—even so am I in the midst of you. 33 Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward. 34 Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail.

To say the least, it was a huge comfort. I know that as long as we are doing what Christ would do that is enough. I know that as long as we are doing good, we will be rewarded good in our lives as well. It may be now, it may be later, but we can trust in God and know that He will fulfill every promise that He has given to us.

Well I have to go! I love you all and can't wait to hear from you next week. Have an incredible week! Remember to see the miracles, and remember that I love you!

Give Jemma a hug for me!

With all my love,

Sister Fernley