Ups and downs but still incredible

Sister Fernley's message from Jan. 25, 2015:

Dear Family,

This week was pretty incredible. Of course it was still a week of ups and downs, but that's how it is every week. We did see a ton of miracles though! Hopefully I can remember them all. I always feel a little bad because there never seems to be time to write in my journal! I don't want to forget all the precious experiences. 

Lately we've been calling a lot of phones trying to find more people to teach. We went through all of our recent converts that we have now and determined how most of the converts were found here. Come to find out most of them are from formers and english class. So like I said we've been calling a lot of formers, and it's been working!

We ended up setting up so many lessons! We are praying and hoping that they all show up and work out. We've already met with a few people who have a lot of potential.

One was a girl named Sally. I think she ended up just getting busy when the sisters were meeting with her before, but she is really great! She has had a really hard life, but trusts in God and is willing to seek out truth. She showed up half and hour late for our lesson and when she walked up to the church she was smoking. Sister Chang and I were a little apprehensive about what was going to happen, but she was really sweet and was surprisingly open with us.

She told us about how her parents were divorced so she used to live with her dad. While she was there her dad beat her, so she moved in with her mom. While she was living with her mom her mom also beat her, so with some encouragement from her teachers she applied to live on her own. So now she is living near our church, working two jobs and trying to get schooling in when she can. She said she is Christian and feels that God has saved her and helped her so much, but that recently feels that her relationship with Him is getting more and more distant. She is incredibly talented, is super sweet and really willing to learn more. I hope she progresses and feels the joy that the gospel can bring. She needs more happiness and comfort in her life. 

Later that same day we had a miracle lesson! Because our lesson with Sally ended up being later than we expected we didn't have much time before we had to go back home, so we decided to call some more phones and confirm the lessons we had set up for later on in the week. I had had some people that I called the day before that said to call back later so I started going through the list. Usually when I have lists like this most of the people really aren't interested, but feel too embarrassed to say anything so they just tell you to call back. Most of the time they don't really expect you to call back.

Anyway I called one of the numbers and the lady who answered asked me if we were at home or at the church. I told her we were at the church, and asked if we could find a time to come visit her. She then replied, "come over right now." I was a little shocked and didn't really know what to do because it almost time to go home, but I decided to take the miracle that Heavenly Father was providing. I asked if that was convenient for her, and she replied, "very convenient!" So we went.

She ended up being an investigator that has met a lot of missionaries, but was never willing to keep any commitments. Her husband is actually a less active and is the sweetest man. We walked into the house and sat down with his wife, then about a minute later he shuffled down the stairs (on account of a lame leg) and was so excited to see us. He then proceeded to proudly show us this birthday card that the ward had sent him a few days before. He and his wife are pretty much polar opposites. For most of the time we were sitting with them she kept getting up and doing other things and trying to be as loud as possible while doing it. Sister Chang and I both had the feeling that she was doing it on purpose and was trying to stop us from sharing. 

We kept talking though and had the blessing of listening to her husband talk to us, in his quite and shy voice, about how his son and daughter are both members of the church, how he loves praying and the missionaries that taught him the gospel. 

We did end up getting his wife (Chen Jiemei) to sit still and quite down for a little bit. We had probably been there for about half an hour when we invited them to pray together as a family. She kind of scoffed about the idea and talked about how the missionaries always tried to get her to pray and how she thought we had all these rules about how many times you had to pray and then you would get all these blessings. After she said this Sister Chang and I both stopped for a second, looked at each other, then started talking about how it wasn't how many times we prayed, but the sincerity and desire behind our prayers. I then told her my experience about how I received my answer that the Book of Mormon was true and she got completely quite. That was probably the most intently she was listening to us for the whole lesson, but you could see the wheels turning, and the spirit was definitely there.

I think she just feels frustrated that she hasn't received and answer yet. Everyone keeps telling her she will and she doesn't feel like she has received one, so doesn't want to keep trying. We invited her to start trying again. She said she would try, but wasn't making any promises. If she's home tonight we are going to try and go back over. We'll she if she is willing to work for an answer this time.

We also met with a Cai Jiemei who is also a former that we called earlier in the week. She actually called us the day of our appointment with her and told us that she had already heard what the missionaries are sharing before and that she doesn't feel like it is what she needs so she didn't want to waste our time in meeting with us. (I hate phone calls like that.) We assured her it wasn't a waste of our time and that we would be happy to meet with her. She ended up being really cool. She was baptized into another Christian church a few years ago and had incredibly strong faith. She is willing to do whatever God guides her to do and said she would be willing to read the Book of Mormon and ask if it is true. I hope we can keep working with her. Last time she only met with the sisters a few times and then disappeared. So pray that she stays with us this time!

Oh man, there is so much to talk about. So many miracles and there is just not enough time. We had one that seems to stick out to me more than the others though. We had planned some contacting time and had planned to go Book of Mormon contacting and this intersection on the way to the train station. We started contacting for a little while and it seemed like people were even more rude than usual. I started getting pretty let down and started to say a prayer. I think Sister Chang noticed so we decided to say another companionship prayer. We prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help us, that we were having a hard time and that we would love to have at least one person who would be willing to take a Book of Mormon and set up a time with us to learn more. The very first person Sister Chang contacted after that prayer pulled over! The person I was talking to didn't have any interest so I gave her a tract and ran over to talk to the lady who had just pulled over with Sister Chang. She ended up taking a book, setting up a time and saying it was destiny that we met on the road that day. After she drove off Sister Chang and I were stunned! I turned to her and said in chinese, "prayer works!" We said another prayer and asked for another person to pull over, but that one didn't happen. I guess Heavenly Father was waiting for when our faith was low to show forth His hand and tell us that this is His work. It really is incredible!

I talked about Mei Lin last week. We were able to meet with her and she has been praying! We taught her about the restoration and will hopefully meet with her again today. She is really great and seems really sincere in her desire to learn.

As far as Mery goes she has been stuck in the hospital taking care of the person she watches over so we haven't been able to meet with her. She should be able to get out after this week, so we are hoping we can meet with her again.

Well I love you all so much! Thanks for not making me go through a dry spell! Although it was pretty close this week, haha. Have a great week and remember to see the miracles! I hope Jemma gets better too! Love you!

Sister Fernley

Corners :)

Sister Fernley's message from Jan. 18, 2015:

My Dear Family,

It was so good to hear from you, as always. Even when it is the day-to-day things. It is so nice to hear from home. It gives us the strength and the motivation to keep going for another week. We had interviews earlier this week and while we were waiting for our turn with President one of the elders was talking about how he was going through a "dry spell." He talked about how he has had about a month where he hasn't had any word from home. 

I was listening to him talk with the other elders about this and was so grateful that I've never had to go through that. So thank you! It really means a lot!

It sounds like you are all staying busy, and I hope happy! I loved seeing Jemma at gymnastics! It is so great that she loves it so much. I hope everything goes well this week and that you get everything done that needs to get done! Time is crazy and seems to slip away from you no matter how hard you try to hold on to it.

This week was crazy and was a roller coaster as usual. Things change so quickly and without notice. Investigators, emotions, weather you name it it changes. I've always said that the only thing you can really control on a mission is your food, and sometimes that's not even that reliable. 

After going to the beach last week we met with a return missionary from the Tainan 4th ward. We are only over the 3rd, but the elders over the 4th ward are in our district so we do a lot of activities with the 4th ward members and investigators. It was really enlightening talking to her. She has only been home a few months. I loved hearing about what she struggled with and what she learned from her mission. 

After meeting with her we had set up to go with one of our members (Ya Lan) to go visit one of our recent converts; however the RC ended up canceling. We were just going to go tract, but we decided to sit down with our member for a little bit. We've felt that she has been struggling with something lately so we tried to talk to her about it. She didn't really want to, but eventually she was able to open up to us and I think we were able to help her. It took up more time than we expected, but I was really grateful for the opportunity to help her. She does so much for the missionaries! She deserves to be helped by others as well.

Then on Tuesday we went on exchanges with the Gangshan sisters! Sister Grigg is serving there right now and is training one of the new sisters that came on a few months ago. I ended up staying in Gangshan with Sister Cardon. She is extremely dedicated and is an incredible missionary already. It was interesting talking to her, because she reminds me a lot of myself when I first came on my mission. It made me think about who I was when I left and who I am now. I still feel like myself, but I know I have changed a lot and have grown so much closer to my Savior and have learned to trust in Him more than ever before. I am so grateful for the opportunities I have had to grow and improve! The sisters teach me so much and never cease to amaze me. They are all so focused and want to hasten this work so much. Their faith is inspiring!

While on exchanges I was actually able to contact this lady (at first I thought she was a man) who pulled over and talked to us a little more. I told her about how we were sharing how to help our families and have a happier life, then asked if we could share more with her. I don't think she heard very well, because she asked what message we wanted to share with her. I repeated it and she replied, "of course! When you have time you can come over to my shop!" We got her number and she said to call her and she would help the sisters find her shop when they wanted to come over. It was awesome! I hope she really has interest and that the sisters can help her progress in the gospel. If not, we planted a seed.

When I got back from exchanges we ate dinner and got ready to teach English. (Sister Chang and I get to teach the advanced class! It is a lot of fun and is showing me how bad my English is! Many of our students speak more advanced than I ever have.) Anyway before class was going to start one of the elders brought this lady to us and told us that she wanted to learn about Jesus Christ. Sister Chang talked to her while I continued to get things set up, but apparently she took and English flier from us while we were English proselyting and came just so she could learn about Christ!

We ended up meeting with Mei Lin (this English student) on Friday and it sounds like she is going through some family trials, but she is hoping coming to know God and Christ can help her through it. She is incredible and is so willing to learn! We're meeting with her again this next Wednesday. Hopefully everything keeps working out. It seems like we keep finding people and as soon as we find them they disappear a few days later. We've been praying really hard for investigators that will progress, so maybe she is an answer to our prayers!

We also met with the sassy LA I talked about last week. We had an investigator cancel on us so we asked if our member would like to go with us to find this LA. When we went to her house she had just barely got home and had a little bit of time before she had to go to the hospital for a check up. We were able to sit down with her for a little bit. She keeps telling us that she doesn't have a testimony and doesn't feel the spirit, but she is still reading. I think she is doing more than she lets on. She said she was going to come to church, but she ended up having a family member pass away so couldn't make it. Hopefully we can see her again next week. 

Saturday was our day of miracles! We traveled to one of the farther parts of our areas to visit a former, Mery, who we had tried to meet with a week ago. She ended up being home this time and let us in. She is from Indonesia and doesn't speak a lot of english or Chinese. We will just say that communicating was a little rough. I found myself thinking back to our lessons at the MTC and tried to teach similar to that. It seemed to work and we think she got a little bit of it. She still reads some of the Book of Mormon and pulled it out as soon as she saw us. We are going to have to see if we can find someone to translate for us, but I think she has a lot of potential. 

After visiting with Mery we went to find one of our RCs house. Neither of us have met her and she has been in the hospital a lot because of her cancer. We were originally going to just leave a note, but we ended up calling her and she said she was at a park nearby. It took us forever to find the park and by the time we got there I think we were all a little frustrated. She was really cute though and was really excited to see us, but it was obvious she wasn't very comfortable.

We talked with her for a few minutes, and she seemed to get more and more uncomfortable. She asked us to pray for her so we offered a prayer. We continued to talk to her a little bit and then offered to share a scripture. At this request she replied, "no, it will make me too tired." I was a little annoyed because I figured sharing a scripture was pretty much the same as talking to her so we continued to insist. She gave in and said, "okay well I guess I can have patience with you for a few minutes." Sister Chang and I both looked at each other a little annoyed, but Sister Chang shared a beautiful scripture and testified to her that God knew what she was going through and that He and Jesus Christ would be her light and guide her through her trial. 

Sister Chang then asked her," when have you felt the love of God?" The RC looked up at us (she had crouched down in front of where we were sitting because she was in pain), and with teary eyes told us, "right now! I can feel it right now!" 

She then proceeded to tell us how she was in so much pain she felt like crying, but after we shared the scripture with her it immediately felt a lot better. She continued to marvel at how incredible it was and how she now felt well enough to walk and could get back home. We testified to her that it was God showing His power and love for her. It was incredible to see. The scriptures really do have great power and God and Christ truly love us so much! I was so grateful to be able to witness the healing power of the word of God not only for spiritual and emotional needs, but for physical needs as well. Sometimes we take it too much for granted.

Well I'm just about out of time, but i'm so grateful for this week and for the slow progress that we are seeing. There are great things happening in Tainan! I know we will continue to see many miracles and that God will look after us as we do our part.

Have a great week! I love you all! Don't forget to see the miracles! They're out there!

With all my love, 

Sister Fernley

Just a quick message today...

Sister Fernley's message from Jan. 12, 2015:

Dear Family,

I'm going to apologize right now for the short email. We ended up not having as much time to email today because we did a ton for P-day! Sorry about that. I'll make up for it next week!

Dad mentioned that you didn't really feel as connected with this area as my others. Honestly that's because we don't really have many investigators right now, and the ones we have aren't really progressing. So...we've been spending a lot of time on the streets and actually we've been getting a lot of numbers. I finally feel like I can contact and that getting an "add" ( getting someone's number and setting up a time with them on the street) isn't that hard of a thing to do. I remember at my farewell that my Uncle Jim (on my mom's side) told me not to get comfortable. He said that once you get comfortable it's time to go home. I'm starting to feel that.

Anyway we had some crazy miracles on Sunday! We have an LA that I've been calling frequently who is 73, won't let us come to her house, and is pretty darn sassy! Here's how my one of my conversations went down with her:

me: how are you doing today?

her: not good, my hand is hurt and isn't doing very good today. 

me: oh no! Have you been praying?

her: no

me: well I know if you will pray you can see miracles and Heavenly Father can help your hand.

her: really

me: really. You can see miracles every day!

her: well i'm not seeing miracles

me: well you're not praying!

her: oh

me: yea, you can't see miracles if you don't go and act first 

her: oh I see. That's how it is.

Yea, pretty much that's how it goes almost every time I call her. BUT she has been praying and was pretty excited to tell me about it. So there's progress. I don't know why but i feel like I clicked with this woman. She is super sassy and really annoying, but i'm just sassy back and our conversations usually make me happy for the rest of the day. I feel like i've been sent here partly to help her. 

So anyway she came to the activity! She walked in and walked straight up to me pointed at me and said, "Fan jiemei!" with this big grin on her face. It was so cute! I was so happy to see her there!

We also had a Japanese member bring a friend to the activity. She isn't allowed to invite her to church because of a work policy ( they work together), but could invite her to the activity. We actually ended up sitting with her and got out a really simple lesson on prayer (she doesn't speak english and only knows a little bit of Chinese). We invited her friend to say the prayer in Japanese and by the end the investigator and two of our members were crying. I felt a little out of the loop! It was incredible though and you could really feel the spirit.

This week we also went on exchanges with the Qishan sisters! We took the bus down there. Usually I sleep, but I was too excited to sleep very long. I was coming back to Tainan with Sister Turner (she was Sister Murdock's MTC companion) so I didn't get to stay there. I was a little sad, but I was so happy to be back for a little bit. I also got to help them figure out where some of my former investigators live (like huang jiemei) so they can go back and find them again. I gave them as many referrals as I could. I hope some of them work out. Maybe they are ready for the gospel this time. 

Well I'm almost out of time. Sorry! I love you all so much! I loved reading your emails. The college thing is in my bag and will be sent out tonight (I have no way to scan anything very conveniently, but I can look around). I love you all! Have a great week and keep looking for the miracles!

With all my love,

Sister Fernley

Shi Yue got baptized!

Sister Fernley's message from January 5, 2015:

My Dearest Family,

SHI YUE GOT BAPTIZED!!! 

And that's my email for the week. Haha just kidding, but honestly I could close this right now and be completely satisfied, but I won't. 

So to start from the beginning every month the mission has a Mission Leadership Conference, or as we call it MLC, in which all the zone leaders and sister training leaders go up to the mission home and talk about the training and changes in the mission that we want to relay to the missionaries in our zone training meetings...or ZTM. 

We had MLC on Friday and spent the whole day up in Taizhong. It was a little weird, but exciting to be back in my old area again. It was nice seeing the senior couples again. Sister Murdock just got moved out, so I didn't get a chance to see her there, oh well. Anyway after all of our meetings and training we stopped into the mission home to grab a few proselyting materials before heading back to Tainan. We were in there for about ten minutes when Elder Yang (one of the senior missionaries) said, "Well Sister Fernley you did all the work and we got to reap the fruits." I looked over at him confused and unsure what he was talking about when he said, "didn't you hear about the Wang family." I was still pretty confused, and i think he could tell so he clarified..."Shi Yue and her husband got baptized!"

Pretty much that was probably the loudest any of the office staff has ever heard me be. I was ecstatic! The last I had heard about them they didn't pass their baptismal interview because they had had alcohol that week and were a little out of the picture because Shi Yue had a test coming up.

So that's the story, and I am so happy for them! I feel like it was a huge tender mercy from the Lord. I know that we do so much that makes a difference in so many lives, but we don't get the opportunity to see it. I am so grateful for the Lord and how merciful He has been to me in allowing me see the fruits of my labors already. I'm extremely lucky. Honestly my time in BeiQu was one of the hardest times on my mission, but we always had Shi Yue. And honestly there were times I didn't know if they were going to make it, but they pressed through, they changed a lot and have started on a new path. It won't be easy, but I know it will be worth it! She is one of the most incredible person I have ever met. She understands the scriptures better than any investigator I've ever taught. I know that with the help of the ward and the sisters there now she will be in good hands and will see so many blessings down the road.

At MLC we listened to the zone leader's reports on how the mission is doing, discussed some new standards for language study, had some training, and talked about some excited changes in our mission! I know I've talked before about how we have some standards set for our mission on the amount of lessons we should teach etc. These numbers have given me a lot of stress on my mission, and since becoming a sister training leader I've realized that I'm not the only one. Sister Chang and i have been talking about how to help our sisters have joy in the work, and not focus so much on numbers and I think the changes President is making will help the moral of our mission a lot. They didn't lower them per-say, but some changes have been made to make them more of a standard that most people should be able to hit rather than just a select few. I'm excited to see the help this brings to the mission. 

As far as the rest of the week goes I went on my first exchange! I went to Yongkang with Sister Kwan who just started training and her companion came to Tainan with Sister Chang. The more and more experience I have as a Sister Training Leader the more and more I realize just how unqualified I am to be here. The sisters are so amazing and teach me so much. I'm just grateful I get the change to learn from them and see the strengths that each and every one of them bring to the mission. They really are my role models.

I sent some pictures of me and Sister Kwan. I got gifted the balloon animal while we were biking home for the night. I stopped at a red light and had this old man pull up to me with this giant box full of balloon animals wedged onto his motor-scooter. I started smiling and asked him if he had made them all. He immediately pulled one out and handed it to me. I have to say that is the first time I have ever been given a balloon animal while contacting. It kept me grinning the rest of the night.

We haven't really had much progress with any investigators yet, but we are still trying. When I was here on exchanges about a year ago the sisters had a ton of investigators and saw a lot of success, so I know we can see it as well. I know this area has great potential, we've just got to have faith and patience and trust in the lord's timing. 

I'm slowly getting to know the area. Sister Chang doesn't really know it either, so we are learning it together. And weather-wise it feels like June in utah here. The sun is out and it is just about perfect weather. It gets cold mornings and nights, but the rest of the day is pretty comfortable. It's so different from last year. I don't know if it's just the area, or if all of Taiwan is just warmer this year, but I am definitely not complaining.

Last Monday we had no idea what to do, so we called one of our members and she took us to the Kong Miao here in Tainan (Confucius temple). There wasn't a ton to see, but we had fun taking pictures together. The line of red boards each have the name of a different god on them. Apparently when you go to the temple you go and pick which god, or gods, you want to worship and take them into the main room of the temple and put the board on the alter and proceed with the rituals. It is such a foreign concept to me that still fascinates me.

Well I love you all! Sorry I don't have much to say this week. Honestly it feel like a lot of this past week is just a blur. Time is moving so fast!

Have a great week! Don't forget to see the miracles! Give Jemma a hug for me!

Sister Fernley

ps. I think for school I'm just going to plan on going back for the fall semester. I need some time to save up. I actually forgot about the paperwork, but i have it downloaded and will get it off as soon as possible!

Merry Christmas!

Sister Fernley's message from Dec. 28, 2014 (we received her return travel itinerary a few days after this—it seemed so soon!):

Hello everyone!

It was so good to see you all last week! You looked happy. It sounded like Jemma had a lot of fun too. I can't believe how big she has gotten! Thank you so much for being so supportive and not saying anything to make me trunky :) Sister Chang's mom was really bad and got both of us crying. So thanks!

I'm not sure what there is to tell you honestly, not a ton has happened and we talked about most of it earlier this week.

We did end up meeting with one of our contacts. We've been doing a lot of contacting lately. Sister Chang didn't feel like a lot of the investigators were all that interested so we decided to clean the slate. We have actually gotten a lot of numbers and talked to some really great people.

Anyway we were biking around Tainan talking to whoever we saw on the street when we got stopped at a red light. For a little while there was only one person there (who Sister Chang was already talking to). I had almost made up my mind to get off my bike and tract the few doors that were on the side of the road when this girl, probably around 23ish biked up behind me. I hesitated for a second, not knowing how to smoothly get myself and my bike to where she was. I waved and she waved back, then the light turned green and she biked off. I was a little disappointed and was kicking myself for hesitating. I waited for Sister Chang to finish her contact and we continued down the road. A minute down the road the only person we saw was this girl pulled up to one of the maps at a bus stop. She looked like she was studying the map pretty intently. 

Sister Chang was in front of me and slowed down, moved to go contact her, then hesitated and moved as if she was going to continue on down the road. I started moving in the girl's direction when Sister Chang decided last minute to pull up to her. 

Anyway she was trying to figure out the roads in Tainan because she just moved out of her house and was trying to find work in Tainan. We set up with her and met with her on Friday. We took her on a tour around the church and taught her the first lesson (The Restoration). She was really willing to listen and even set a baptismal date for the 24th of January! Then, we set up with her for Saturday and invited her to attend the elder's baptismal service. She did and the members were really great and took good care of her. She couldn't come to church because she went back up to Taibei, We actually found out that she doesn't live in our ward, so we will have to hand her over to the elder's in our district, but I'm so grateful that Sister Chang contacted her. She was probably our biggest miracle this week. I know that Heavenly Father is preparing people for us to teach, and if we are faithful and worthy He will put us in their paths, or put them in ours.

Honestly that's most of what I've got this week as far as investigators goes. We met with a few other people, but not much has happened yet.

For Christmas we were invited over to one of the fourth ward families home for dinner(Sister Chang and I are serving in the third ward). The brother is American who married a Taiwanese member. They made a bunch of American food and invited all the missionaries over for Christmas dinner. He served in Hong Kong and she went to America for school so they both speak english and chinese. The food was really good and it was really kind of them to invite us over. I think the thing that went the fastest was the mashed potatoes. :)

I loved talking to you all and seeing your smiling faces! I was thinking about our skype session a few days later and realized a difference in myself. You commented about my pictures and that it looked like I was genuinely happy. I thought a lot about that and about seeing myself on the computer screen while we were talking and realized just how happy I am. I honestly wish I had come to this realization earlier on in my mission. 

I feel like I was happy before, but I always had the stress of numbers, baptisms and comparing myself with other missionaries in the back of my head. I know we aren't supposed to do that, but sometimes it's hard to stop. But as I was thinking back on our conversation I realized that that was gone and I was completely happy. I have an incredible companion, I'm serving in an amazing area and I've found a family here in Taiwan. I'm so grateful for my mission and for all I've learned and how much I've changed. I'm grateful that I was able to spend the year of 2014 in the service of my God. I've seen trials, felt heart-ache, cried tears of joy, and witnessed miracles. God truly has changed my heart and opened my eyes. 

(I actually told a less active on the phone to do just that. She refuses to meet with us, but I keep calling her to let her know we love her. She lives alone. I told her if she would start praying again she could see miracles. She told me she wasn't seeing them, so I told her to start praying and to open her eyes.)

I'm so thankful for the perspective and the joy that the gospel brings. We've been given the greatest gift of all. I can't believe how lucky I am.

I love you all so much! Have a great week and enjoy all the snow!

ps. thanks for sending me 'snow!' It was quite entertaining and I now have a bowl of snow sitting on my desk so I can see snow everyday.

Sister Fernley

I love Tainan!!

Sister Fernley's message from Dec. 21, 2014:

Merry Christmas!!!

I can't believe Christmas is only a few days away! It doesn't feel like it at all! Christmas is so boring in Taiwan. No one really does anything, but I guess it is okay. It makes it a little easier to focus on the work.

Well I have now spent a whole four days in my new area and I absolutely love it! I love my companion, I love the ward, I love the area. I really am so blessed! I'm now serving in the Tainan zone in the Tainan 3rd ward as a Sister Training Leader. Ever since I've gotten to Taiwan I've heard so much about Tainan and always wanted to serve here. My trainer was trained here and I've come here for exchanges a couple of times when I was in Qishan and absolutely loved it. I didn't think I was going to get the chance, but now I am here! 

My companion is Sister Jenny Chang and she is incredible! We trained at the same time and I always looked up to her. She is a really hard working missionary and is so loving and seems to be always happy. We were both really excited when we found out we would be companions. We've been getting along really well the past couple of days and I'm so excited for the next move call. She actually only moved to Tainan about a month ago, so when I moved to Chaozhou, so neither of us really knows this area. It will be quite the adventure, but I'm sure we will be fine. We have maps for a reason. Haha.

I'm really excited for the chance I have to learn from the sisters as I get to serve as a Sister Training Leader. An STL is pretty much the same as a zone leader. We are over a certain group of sisters and get to go on exchanges with them and help them in the work. We work with the zone leaders to make sure they are taken care of and to know how to best help them. It's a great opportunity to lift and encourage.

Honestly I'm feeling super inadequate. Most of the sisters we are over are incredible! I'll be learning more from them than they will from me. We were recording their numbers this morning and it made me realize just how inadequate I am for this job. Almost every companionship is doing way better than I ever have in any of my areas. But hopefully I can learn what I'm supposed to and be able to encourage the sisters. I know we are given all of our callings in life for a reason. I just hope I can fulfill what I have been called here to do.

Honestly not much has happened this week. I spent pretty much the whole week eating at member's houses. I was in that area for the shortest amount of time, but got invited to eat more than any other time I moved. The members are great. I'm sad I didn't get to spend more time there, but I know I'm where I need to be.

The first few days in Tainan were interesting. My first full day here Sister Chang had a baptism she had permission to go to up in Taizhong. So we took the speed rail and attended the baptismal service. There were five people who got baptized! It was really inspirational. Then when we got back to Tainan we went to this Christmas nativity musical that the stake was putting on. They did a really good joy! I was impressed. Most of the time Taiwanese can't really sing, but they had some really talented people. All of the missionaries were required to attend both sessions of the performance, so that took up most of the day. 

Honestly that's pretty much what has happened so far. We had church yesterday and it was so fun to meet the ward. I actually met several of the YSA members the night I came to Tainan and was able to spend some time with them at the Christmas performances on Saturday. I already feel so welcomed and consider these people my family. They are so welcoming and are incredibly strong members. I'm excited to continue working with them and getting to know them. It feel so nice to really belong. I don't know why by in Chaozhou I didn't really feel that. No matter how hard we tried it always felt like we were a little distant from the ward, but my first day here I felt completely welcomed in. It's good to feel included.

Oh I almost forgot, we had our english party on Wednesday. Of course we had Christmas themed and did gingerbread houses and snowflakes. We were able to find crackers that would work (it was surprisingly hard) and made the icing on our own. Taiwanese don't really know how to bake. They are always amazed when you tell them you can bake cookies etc, so when I was making the icing Sister Bi was amazed. We used a ton of sugar, but it worked out, and I'm sure most of the english students will be on a sugar high if they eat their houses. 

That's about it for me. Not much has happened yet. I'll have more next week. I loved reading your emails. Everyone is getting married! I honestly feel like it was a conspiracy and the whole world decided to get married as soon as I left the country. Most of my roommates got married while I was in the MTC and now our whole family is getting married. Anyway it is super exciting and I'm really happy for everyone. I was really glad when Nicole said you were going up to help take pictures. I think that is really great and will mean a lot to them. Tell Mel I love her and that I wish them all the luck in the world! She looks happy.

It sounds like Christmas is going to be fun! I was surprised Jemma asked for a drum set. Where did that come from? 

I can't wait to talk to you all! To be honest time has crept up on me! It feels like this Christmas has come up really fast! This year flew by.

Well, I hope you all have an amazing Christmas! Enjoy the time with family and friends. It really is a precious time. I'm so grateful for the family I have been given. I'm grateful for all of you and for your support. Life is hard, but God gave us family to make it easier. I hope we can all remember what a great blessing it is and cherish the time we have together now. 

We should all remember that the first Christmas gift was the gift of our Savior. Our Father sent His Only Begotten Son because He loves us more than we can know. He set the perfect example for us in helping us remember what is truly important in this life. I've realized being out here that I love Christmas so much not because of all the wrappings and trimmings. Not because of the presents and the snow, but I love Christmas because of family. I love the smiles, the hugs and the companionship of loved ones. It really is the greatest gift we have been given!

So I hope this Christmas we can try a little harder, be a little better and bring our families closer. Because the building of those eternal relationships starts today.

Merry Christmas! Enjoy everything!

With all my love,

Sister Fernley

A New Sister Training Leader!

Wow! Exciting news! Sister Fernley has been made a Sister Training Leader (kind of like a district leader if compared to the elders). I have no doubt that she will be wonderful leader! Also she got our package--huzzah! And I am proud of her for lots of reasons, but I am happy about her little goal to take a picture every day—not because I'm a photographer, but because we love seeing what she is seeing!

Dear family,

First of all, Nicole is going to be so proud of me! I made a goal to take a picture every day for the rest of my mission, and I've been doing pretty well. Your package did come, so that gives me at least one picture a day for December. Thank you so much! It's a treat to come home every night and be able to sit down and figure out what that nights gift is with my companion. She thinks it is the cutest thing ever! It's fun to see her reactions. It's so strange to be in a culture that doesn't celebrate Christmas. It makes me so much more grateful for the chance we have each year to celebrate the birth of our Savior. The feeling of Christmas truly is a special one.

Second, I'm moving! I'm not joking either. I move out on Friday to serve as a Sister Training Leader in Tainan for my last two move calls. On Friday I'll have been in this area for a month. I'm kind of sad to leave and not be able to see the building up of this area, but I hope that this past month has made an effect.

I'm not really sure that I was here for any investigator specifically, or to lift a certain member. It may be that we don't have many investigators, and the ones we do have are just starting, but I didn't really seem to click with anyone. In all my other areas that relationship came pretty fast, but here nothing seemed to happen. But I do feel like I was here for my companion. I have seen Sister Bi grow so much over the last month. She has been so stalwart and has been more willing to conquer her fears and improve her weaknesses than anyone I have ever met. I know that as she goes into this next move call she will be ready to face whatever the Lord has in store for her and will see so many miracles. I've only been here a month and have seen so many.

I think one in particular effected me the most this week. I was reminded of the importance of asking the direction of God in all that we do. I find that a lot of the time I pray at the specified times or before specific activities, such as planning, but forget to pray at the in-between times. For example, we pray before and after planning, but seldom do I stop and pray during planning. This is one thing that I've been trying to be better at and as we have been doing this as a companionship we have seen the guidance of our Heavenly Father in our work. 

On Thursday, just like every other day, we had a lot of finding time. We had planned to go drop off a card to an MIA recent convert and then tract around her neighborhood. We ended up riding around for a while and couldn't find the address. We both finally stopped riding and looked at each other not knowing what to do. We decided to tract where we were, prayed and biked off to find where we needed to go. I don't even remember where we ended up, and at the beginning it didn't feel like anything special. Everyone was pretty rude and obviously didn't want to listen. BUT as we were getting close to the time to leave we tracted a house that looked like no one was home. We knocked and called to see if anyone was there and surprisingly heard a voice in the dark. This lady probably in her forties came to the door. We talked to her for a minute, but she didn't seem like she had any interest. Then her daughter walked up behind her with the biggest smile and extreme curiosity written all over her face. Her mom walked off and left us to talk with her daughter who is about 19 years old. She said they were there visiting her mom's friend, but that she lived in Chaozhou and would be willing to meet with us some other time. 

Then a few hours later we had more tracting time planned in. This time we went to the street we had decided on the night before during planning (which of course we had prayed about). We started tracting and had a very similar experience as a few hours earlier. The last door we knocked on ended up being an already Christian family. I don't know why, but I get really nervous when I'm contacting Christians, so I spent the whole time stumbling over my words not knowing what to say. The mom we were talking to said something about the 12 apostles, so I mentioned that we had 12 apostles today as well and asked if she would like to learn more. To my surprise (I don't usually expect Christians to be willing to listen) she said we could come back and she would be willing to listen. Hopefully we will find time this week to share with her.

These stories and these miracles are really simple and honestly this happens quite frequently, but I was particularly aware this time of the blessings of God and the need that we have for His guidance. I'm grateful that He led us to the right places at the right times. As often happens in missionary work these people might not end up meeting with us. I hope they do with all my heart, but sometimes they don't. But at least we've given them a start and if we aren't able to see their progression hopefully missionaries down the road will. They are one step closer to finding the most precious message and gift on the Earth. 

We were also able to meet with a former investigator we had called earlier in the week before. I'm not sure why, but she lost contact with the missionaries before. She is incredibly prepared! She believes in God and is looking for somewhere that will bring her peace. We invited her to be baptized and she accepted. She even said the date we set was perfect. Unfortunately I don't think she lives in our area (just out of the border), but hopefully we can keep her progressing and working toward her goal.

The week was also the first time I have really cried over a less active. A few days ago Sister Bi and I were tracting (we had gotten lost again and decided to tract for a minute) and tracted into a less active. He said he knew who we were and that he was baptized eight years ago, but now goes to another church. It was heart-breaking to talk to him and see how he has denied his testimony. He doesn't even acknowledge what he felt before. All I could think of was how his missionaries would feel if they could see him. It made me think of my RC's, though they be few, and how heart-broken I would be if they left the church. I hope they never will, and I'm comforted to know that as of now they are still active and strong in the church.

Well, I'm just about out of time. I hope you all have a great week! Be safe and happy, and remember to look for the small miracles we are given every day!

I love you all!

Sister Fernley