Already?!

We received this message from Tasha's mission president on Feb. 11, 2015:

Dear Brother and Sister Fernley:

It has been my privilege to serve as Sister Tasha Jacqulynn Fernley’s Mission President.   Sister Fernley will be released from the Taiwan Taichung Mission on March 18, 2015.  I am grateful for her service and the contribution she has made to the people of Taiwan.

Sister Fernley has made a significant contribution to this mission and the work of the Lord.  She has had the opportunity to work with a variety of companions and assignments.  She has also set an excellent example for other missionaries in her service.            

We commend Sister Fernley for her dedication, diligence, and humble service to the Lord.  Sister Blickenstaff  and I express our love, appreciation and well wishes as she makes the adjustment from being a full-time missionary to being a member missionary.  

Sincerely,

President Kurt L Blickenstaff                                                  Enclosures: Flight Itinerary

Taiwan Taichung Mission                                                                             Tuberculosis Skin Testing

                                                                                                                          

Week Accomplished!

Sister Fernley's message from Feb. 8, 2015:

Dear Family,

Well we did it. We got through the week. It was a miracle, but we did it! Honestly the three areas isn't working out very well. They have so much going on in the Tainan 1st and 2nd wards that my area was getting somewhat neglected. I ended up having to cancel several lessons and the lessons we did have ended up having to change times, but because we had to be in the other area we couldn't accommodate to their schedule. The first few nights I had a hard time sleeping because I was worrying about my area and our investigators. I tried to call them everyday, but there's only so much you can do over the phone. For a little while it was feeling like all the hard work Sister Chang and I had put in the move-call before was getting swept away and I couldn't do anything about it.

BUT we miraculously ended up running into the assistants at our chapel this week. They were on exchanges with the elders. As we walked past we asked if we could find part time missionaries to help us out. They gave us permission and said if we could find members to help us to go for it. We were a little nervous because coming up in the next week is Chinese New Year and most people go out of town to be with family. 

We ended up asking our single adults after our Book of Mormon class if they knew anyone who could help us out. (None of them could do it because of work or lack of funds.) About an hour later one of them sent me a text saying they had found someone who could help who was from the Tainan 2nd ward. 

She called us later telling us that earlier in the week she had a strong feeling that she needed to go on a mission. She talked with her mom about it, but her parents didn't agree (I don't think they are members). She said they gave her permission to serve a part time mission, but wouldn't agree to full time. However, the mission hadn't publicized a need for part time missionaries, so she was worried that she wouldn't get the chance. A few days later we started looking for part time missionaries to help us out. 

Heavenly Father truly answers our prayers, especially when our desires are to do His work. I'm excited to meet and start working with my new companion!

I may be getting a new companion this week, but I've been so grateful for this last week and for the opportunity I've had to work with Sister Jiang. This was my first time working with her, and she is an amazing missionary. She is so willing to serve everyone and so willing to learn. She is on her fourth move-call, so she's still in her first area, but is handling everything just fine. We had a good week, didn't die of exhaustion, and saw some incredible miracles!

First one was our miracles part time missionaries!

Second: When I got put over the Tainan 1st and 2nd wards I also got put as their English leader. An English leader basically just sets up when we go English proselyting (for our English class) and leads the meeting we hold right before English class to plan the party etc. So Wednesday night we had to be in that area. Anyway we were eating dinner before we had to head over and start our meeting when the elders called and said someone was waiting at the church for us. We went over immediately and met Abby. She said she remembered we had a church there and wondered if we could help her with some trials that she was going through. We talked to her for a minute, exchanged numbers and talked about a time to meet. She wasn't too sure about her schedule, so said she would call us and let us know. The next day she texted us and asked if we could meet the next day.

We ended up meeting and she told us about some of the trials she was going through and how she hoped she could find some direction through our church. She's having a hard time accepting that she can have faith despite the influences around her, but she is definitely willing to try.

Third: Our other big miracle for the week happened while we were tracting. We had some extra time so we found a street nearby and began to tract. We had been tracting for a couple of minutes when we ran into a man who was hauling some old appliances that needed to be recycled from the houses nearby to his truck. We said hello, but he kept going about his work. I remember thinking that maybe while he was hauling things back and forth he would hear what we were sharing with everyone and have interest in our message. I had decided that next time we saw him we'd go contact him. 

Unfortunately we didn't run into him again, and didn't know where he had gone. I actually forgot about him after a while until we went to go get our bikes. He waved and said goodbye to us as he was driving his truck out of the neighborhood. I went to go give him a tract, but was stuck between several bikes. Fortunately, Sister Jiang had the same thought and ran over and handed him a tract before he drove off. He took it and drove around the corner. We continued getting ready to leave when not even a minute later he came walking around the corner to give us his business card. He had driven around the corner, parked his truck, and came back to give us his contact information. 

We gave the information to the elders. Hopefully he agrees to meet. People are prepared everywhere. You never know when or where they are going to show up.

I could probably think of others, but those are the ones that stick out for the week. It was great working with Sister Jiang and meeting members from the other wards, but it is going to be really nice to be able to focus completely on AnPing. I know that we can see miracles and help this area grow even more. 

Dad asked about the new missionaries. They haven't come yet and we have no idea when they will get here. Elder Gong of the area seventy is going to meet with the Taiwanese consulate today to try and resolve the matter, so we are all praying that everything will go well and we can the missionaries that we desperately need to Taiwan. 

As far as the people we taught this week, honestly it was all kind of a blur. We did meet with this cute almost eight year old girl who is getting baptized this Saturday. Apparently she walked into the church on her own at the age of six and wanted to learn. She is incredibly strong and reads and understands the Book of Mormon on her own. She is really excited to get baptized on Saturday. She's been waiting for in since she learned about the church.

We also went to one of the hospitals for the elderly and disabled and met with one of our members. The sisters go over twice a week. She is really sweet and has a strong spirit. 

One thing that I love that they do in the Tainan 1st/2nd district is they go with one of their members and some of their youth and RCs and sing at the hospital or the old-folks home. It was so fun to see everyone so happy and see how happy the members were to share the gospel. I was so glad that I got to participate in their service activity for the week.

That's pretty much what went on this week. We met with a ton of their RCs, LAs and investigators, but didn't get much of a chance to meet with ours. I'm hoping that we can get back in contact with them this week and help them continue to progress.

I hope you all have a great week! I miss you and love you all so much! I know this gospel is true. I know that there is no greater message and no greater work on earth. I know that this life isn't the end. We will have opportunities to continue growing and continue learning to a greater extent than we could ever imagine.

look for the miracles!

Sister Fernley

We Won the Lottery!

Sister Fernley's message from Feb. 1, 2015:

Dearest Family,

I was so glad to hear about your week! It sounds like Jemma got into quite a raucous, but didn't surprise me too much, sounds a lot like something I did when I was about her age as well. I guess it runs in the family. 

This week was my last week with Sister Chang, and it was incredible! We saw so many miracles and were so blessed all week! I have been completely  blessed to have had her as my companion. I've learned how to accept that I have problems, that sometimes I'm not all put together, and I've learned that life is a lot easier when you confide in someone about it. This move-call has been probably my most open and honest move-call. Not necessarily in that we had a lot of issues or conflicts in our companionship, but more in that I've been honest with myself and honest with my companion about what I was struggling with. There were so many nights where companionship prayer was said and we were getting ready for bed and one of us would ask the other what was wrong then ending up spending the next hour or so half talking and half crying it out. I can honestly say that we never went to bed angry, sad, or stressed. I truly learned what it is like to be completely unified as a companionship in every aspect of the work, and especially in lifting one another up. It changed my life!

As for this week, my new companion is Sister Jiang, who was just companions with Sister Yeh (my old companion!) in the Tainan 1st and 2nd ward. Our mission is still struggling with getting new missionaries so for most people the transfer has been prolonged until they get here, but because our companions are going home the two of us were left without companions. I thought they were just going to move my companion in early, or that I would have to find a member to be my companion for a week, but they surprised me and decided to just put the two of us together. This means that for the next week or two we are going to be looking after three areas and three wards. We still need to figure some things out, but we will be staying in one area on day, sleeping there, then moving to the other area the next etc. We'll see how it goes. It'll be interesting and a little stressful, but Sister Jiang is incredible and I couldn't do it with anyone else!

I actually called the Assistants the other day with some questions about how this whole situation is going to work and they informed me that they had actually forgotten that the other Tainan sisters were over two wards. They didn't think we were going to have to take care of three areas, but all has been said and done, so they're praying for us. I told them we'd need it.

Earlier this week we went on exchanges with these sisters. I was with Sister Yeh in my area and was asking her what she would recommend for my last move call. She told me to stay busy. So I guess I got what I asked for! As far as I know no companionship has been over three areas before. Hopefully the missionaries come soon, so we won't have to do this for very long. 

As far as the rest of the week it was pretty insane. We didn't get to meet with Sally again because she got sick and had to go to the hospital (she's 17 by the way and I don't know all her talents specifically, she gave us a whole list). But hopefully we can contact her this week and find a time that will work for while we are in the area. Chen Tai Tai is actually praying! Four times to be exact and we even have her husbands affirmation.

Meilin came to a few of our activities this week. She says she has been praying more and feels like its getting easier and is bringing her comfort. She still doesn't know how to develop her own faith, but is willing to trust God to help her. 

We had a pretty awesome Harry Potter english party. Elder Page went all out and did the candle decorations and even carved wands for everyone. We were in charge of the food, which was pretty crazy, but we got it done. I was supposed to be Hermionie and Sister Chang was...well...Chou Chang (Harry's girlfriend in one of the books). 

I went on exchanges with Sister Yeh! I felt bad, not much happened, but it was good to be back with an old companion. Especially being companions pretty early on in the mission. It's weird thinking how long ago that was. 

While on exchanges we met with a former (who actually ended up being a member referral we had gotten earlier as well). She came with her member friend and we had a good lesson with her. She feels like everything is very abstract, but is willing to try. We had a miracle peike (member present lesson) that day!

We met with several other people for the first time who are all pretty willing to read the Book of Mormon and ask God it its true. Hopefully I can still keep in contact with these people and see how it's going. 

I got to play my violin at a baptism the elders had on Saturday. It felt so good to play again (I haven't had time to practice in this area), but I'm definitely rusty. 

And that brings us to Sunday! I said before that Sundays are always miracle days and that is still holding true. About a week ago while we were heading home for the day I stopped to contact someone. We usually turn onto the sidewalk there, so we don't normally contact since we have to get up before the light turns green, but for some reason I wanted to contact her. I didn't really say much, but she was really nice and gave us her number. Sister Chang called her later on that week. She didn't have any time to meet, but said that she would come to church on Sunday. 

I'm a little ashamed to say that I didn't really believe she would come, especially because we've never met before. But Sunday morning while we were on our way to the church I got a call from this girl saying that she was at the church! We talked to her for a while before church and she told us that she's actually always wanted to go to church, but never knew when or how. So when we contacted her she was excited that she was given an opportunity to come. 

There are people who really are looking for the truth. Sometimes they show up at unexpected times and in unexpected places, but they are always there and its just up to us go find them. I'm grateful in this case that we found one.

We also had one of our recent converts come to church with her daughter this week! She is a single mom and is always working. Lately she has had to work every Sunday so they haven't been able to come, but this week her shift was later! She came with her daughter Akimi who just turned eight. We are going to start teaching her and hopefully she can get baptized as well.

I almost forgot! You're probably wondering why I titled my email the way I did. There is an older man who walks at the track that we go to. Every time we see him we talk to him for a little bit and say good morning. Last week as we started running we were talking about something and started laughing pretty hard. As we passed by Mr. Lee he asked, "why are you so happy? Did you win the lottery or something?"

I think I've won the lottery. I may not have had a ton of baptisms or things like that, but I have come to the best place on earth and have made some of the dearest friends. I have been called as a representative of Christ and get the chance to bear witness of Him everyday. I've come to know my Savior and have grown in the process. We've been given pearls of great price and miracles around every corner, which are better than any lottery prize. 

I love you all so much! Keep working hard and being happy! Please pray for me and Sister Jiang! We're going to need it!

With all my love,

Sister Fernley

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!