Merry Christmas to all!

                                                                                     

Family-- It was so good to skype with you today! I already want to do it again... But alas, we shall not speak face to face again until I come home. Oh well. (:

I love you all so much and I really am so glad we got to talk. Sorry I didn't speak more Chinese to you. It's okay though because my Chinese is really bad.

Oh did you write a family Christmas letter? I want to read it!!!

Thank you for all of my gifts. I especially loved the pictures! Sister Bang and I got a good laugh out of them. LOVE IT!!!

There isn't much to say about the last week and a half. It's been raining. And very very very cold. But we're still alive and that's all that matters sometimes.

This past Sunday in relief society we had a lesson about hastening the Lord's game plan. They talked about how members ought to know all the missionaries names and pray for the missionaries in their ward by name and for their investigators as well. I was really touched by that. I know that if everyone here did that for my investigators, there would be a lot more miracles and the members would learn to love our investigators. That being said-- I will tell you this. On Sunday-- go to the missionaries in their ward. Ask them the names of which investigators you could help pray for. Then pray for them. People need prayers. And I know that prayers make a big difference.

While we were skyping today, Liz asked what I was going to change about next year. I don't think I had much time to answer that. By way of missionary work-- I want to be obedient and end strong. It is very typical of missionaries to end their missions on a slump, just wanting to be home. I don't want to be that missionary. I hope that my last three transfers in Taiwan are my most successful by way of how hard I work. I finally feel like I have a good enough grasp on they way missionary work goes that I should be able to just always do better and better. I also want to be more charitable and love people more and better.

Okay lastly I want to talk about tender mercies. My personal opinion is that a tender mercy is one of those moments when you know that God loves you and is watching out for you. I was thinking recently about eternity. It is a long time. Honestly some of the mysteries of God really overwhelm me sometimes and it stresses me out. But it's tender mercies of God that keep me going. I want to share about an experience I had just recently. I've been feeling recently that I haven't had any amazingly spiritual experiences. I can feel the Holy Ghost working in my life. I can feel His direction, and I can feel God's hand in the work, but I haven't really had any big memorable experiences. I understand that God usually doesn't work through big experiences to tell us He loves us, but sometimes those experiences are nice to have. Most days, honestly, are just normal days. We do the right thing and we live according to the principles of the gospel, but we don't feel any different. God doesn't need to send a choir of angels to applaud us every time we do something good. We do good things because we know they are good and we know they are right and that we should do them. However, because God loves us, He will give us experiences that remind us of His love, and those experiences have the ability to change us and recharge us with an energy and hope that only comes from a Father in Heaven who loves us. Yesterday in particular, I had reached a point where I felt like I hadn't felt God's love for me in a while. I wondered why I desired a reassurance that He cares. We had a talent show at the missionary special Christmas activity in which three missionaries got up to sing "A Child's Prayer." They invited everyone to join in on singing for the third verse. When that time came, a choir of angels (in the form of missionaries) began to sing the words to the song. From all corners of the room, I could hear the words "Heavenly Father are you really there?" and "Pray. He is there. Speak. He is listening." The warmth of the spirit started from deep inside my heart and spread outwards filling all the holes in my soul created by doubt and fear. I couldn't keep myself from crying. It's as if Heavenly Father himself whispered in my ear, "Micaela. Just Breath. I love you and everything will be fine." That was His tender mercy that He sent to me. I know with out any doubt that God loves me. Despite my imperfections, He loves me. And as long as I do my best and follow His son, things really will be okay.

Well, family. That's it. I love you all more that I can express. I love the Savior. I love Heavenly Father. I love the Holy Ghost. I love Taiwan. I love everyone that I have been able to teach the gospel too. I love my companions. I love my mission. I love Christmas. I love being an eternal family. May we all strive to do a little better and be a little better and follow all promptings of the spirit.

Christmas is coming! (12.8.13)

FIRST I JUST HAVE TO SAY THAT WE FOUND A TIME TO CALL HOME! GET EXCITED FOR THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVE IN WASHINGTON THAT YOU'VE EVER HAD! Sorry it'll be a late evening, but be ready to skype on Christmas eve at 9:30pm. Let me just tell you. Sister Bang and I were super nervous about how this was going to work. If we can't find a way to skype then we can call from the home phone-- which would also be fine and dandy... IF WE EVEN HAD A HOME PHONE. Which we don't. It got down to crunch time. Yesterday at church we realized that we had to find someone to let us skype at their home or we would have to figure things out really last minute-- which would be tough. So had to just be brave and ask someone (which I felt terrible about). Anyway-- we went to ask this lady and it was SO AWKWARD and she was really confused about what we were talking about and I felt like I offended her big time... So then I was even more stressed until dinner that night a member referred a family to ask. We called last night when we got home and she was super willing to let us come over. SUCH A MIRACLE. I thought I would cry. SO GET READY!! TIME IS ALMOST HERE WHERE I GET TO SEE YOUR BEAUTIFUL FACES ONCE MORE AND YOU CAN SEE MY NOT SO BEAUTIFUL VERY SLEEPY FACE. And you will love it. And I will love it. And the church is true. And I AM SO EXCITED I COULD SCREAM!

The moral of the story is that God loves His missionaries. And He loves His missionaries families. I just know it.

Also cool experience where talking to an American wasn't a scary thing--- Last night when we got home, a man from North Carolina approached me while I was locking my bike up and asked where I was from and stuff. He's been in Taiwan for 15 years because his wife is Taiwanese. He was SUPER nice. And he just told me that he respects us a lot for what we're doing. He said he works for a couple different bike companies and he knows that missionaries clock a lot of time on our bikes. It was really nice of him and it was also the first time on my mission that I've talked to an American and not felt like I want to run away because it's super uncomfortable. Moral of the story: When I'm back in the states I'm totally gonna be that super awkward missionary who doesn't know how to speak proper English or talk to people who do speak proper English. EEEEK!

I only have a few things to write about this week. On Wednesday all the sisters went to Taipei for a temple tour training. Every transfer we spend a day doing Temple Grounds Tours so we have to get trained on it. It was super fun to see all those girls. (Also since my companion moved up here from Hualian she has never done temple tours-- so it was a new experience for her.) Anyway one of the best parts of Wednesday was seeing the two sisters that I trained (Sister B.  and Sister H.). I honestly love those girls to death! They both seem to be doing well-- I guess I didn't ruin them! It's cool because you can become best friends with your companions. And I have been blessed. All 6 of my companions that I've had since I entered the MTC have become some of my best friends. MISSIONS ARE THE BEST! The rest of the temple training was good too. And getting home was an adventure. Sister Bang and I are still working on how to get home in the movst effective manner. It's hard and we have traveled to and from Taipei in a different way everytime we've gone up there. It's fun.

This past Thursday we clocked some serious time on our bikes. We went to go visit this girl that the other sisters set up for us to visit. It takes just over an hour to get to her house... And thus-- just over an hour to get home. This will be something we do weekly to meet with this girl. Moral of the story: my legs are all muscle and hardly any fat. We bike A TON.

On Thursday night we had an AWESOME planning session for the next day-- probably the most effective planning session I've ever had. We planned out Friday's schedule in a lot of detail. So then we were looking forward to everything we had going on Friday. Then things started cancelling. EEEK. The two hours we had planned to do became abou five hours. So we went to the area that we intended to find in and met a lot of really unfriendly, unprepared people. But let's not focus on that-- rather let me tell you about the tender mercies that are all around us. Sister G. (another missionary in our ward.. love her) was making calls that day and called me and told me about two lessons she had scheduled for us that day. Between what we had planned and what she helped us with-- we were BUSY BUSY from 4:00pm until we went to bed that night. It was such a blessing. That day we met with 3 less active members and found 2 new investigators. I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK. The Lord blesses people who plan.

On Saturday morning we headed out early again to go to Taipei to listen to Elder Allan Packer (son of the apostle Elder Packer) speak to us. He talked to us about family history in missionary work and how we can help people feel the spirit of Elijah while finding. It was really cool and a great meeting. We look forward to applying some of the things we learned. And I'm going to do the first thing I learned and ask all of you (and all of my friends and family who read this). Think about a lesson you learned from a family member-- whether someone living or an anscestor you have. Okay now send it to me. I want to read it! Yay! I LOVE FAMILIES (:

Then Saturday evening we had a stake christmas music fireside that we sang at with the ward choir. The best part though was that I got to see J. Ya'll don't know her-- but let me just say SHE IS THE GREATEST GIRL IN THE ENTIRE WORLD AND I LOVE HER SO MUCH! And ya'll will too when you meet her someday.

Something else that I have thought about a lot this week is teaching. Remember how I've changed my major in college about a million times? Well I won't change it again. I'm really excited to be a teacher. The more I think about it, the more excited I get. I hope to work in a bilingual program in Chinese and English. But mostly I'm just super excited to teach. I want to be that teacher who is always improving the way I teach and helps children find the joy in learning new things and learn how to learn. I want to be the teacher that people look back and remember the year they were in my class and have a greater desire to do good and improve themselves. I hope that I can do my small part to make a difference in someone's life. That's what I'm trying to do out here and what I want to do for my whole life. People are special. Everyone you look at is a child of God. I feel so lucky to be in the presence of children of God everyday. Next time you look at someone-- try to see them how God sees them. You will learn to appreciate them more and have a more sincere desire to love and serve them.

Another thing that I've learned this week was from reading General Conference talks. Something that President Uchtdorf said really touched me. "Our destiny is not determined by the number of times we stumble, but rather by the number of times we get up, dust off, and move forward." This life is full of stumbles and mistakes (some big and some small). Let us not look at our mistakes except to learn from them. It much better to look forward. It's much better to look up. I am a firm believer that the past is the past. It is not something to be dwelt in, but rather to learn from. I know that God loves all of His children. I think this is perfect for the Christmas season. What is Christmas all about? Christ came to this earth to atone for us so that we wouldn't have to look back at our lives and feel regret. He died for us so that we can get up, dust off, and move forward. We all have things that we aren't proud of-- now is the time to fully accept the Savior and His atonement in our lives and change. Is there a better time to change then right now? No. There isn't. So I want to sincerely invite everyone-- look at yourself. Be honest with yourself. Find the things you want to change and don't wait any longer. You can do it. God loves you. Jesus Christ loves you.

I apologize that my emails since the beginning of my mission have changed from describing funny experiences to a vague/brief explanation of my week and a long description of my feelings on life. (: But also I'm not sorry. These things are important. I love you all so much. If you knew how much I loved you-- you probably would think I was crazy! I hope all of my family and friends knows with complete assurity-- I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know He lives. I know He loves us. I know God is our Heavenly Father. I know He lives. I know He loves us. I know that this life is not easy. They never said it would be easy-- but it is worth it. I know that someday we will all completely overcome any and all temptations. But until that day-- we must do all we can to repent of our mistakes and not make anymore. I know that all people can change.

Okay I'm just going on an on now. Everyone reading this do me a favor--- find someone that I know and give them a hug for me. Tell them I love them and that God loves them.

I love you all. I miss you all. Never stop reading the Book of Mormon. Never stop praying. Never stop sharing this glad message with other people. Fear not.

Lastly-- my altime favorite scripture: Doctrine and Covenants 123:16-17.

I just wanna dance!

Please note: I am craving a dance party. I hope that next summer will be full of them. DANCE PARTY EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT! Holla!!!

Something that I learned this week. Taoyuan (that's where I live.. ish) means peach garden. I'm very happy here in the peach garden. Mmmm (:

Okay now for the good stuff. This week has been good. We've done a lot of finding (or looking rather, for investigators). We're hoping to find a lot of people to share the gospel with. It's tough sometimes-- but it's working. We found 5 new investigators this week. Wanna know how? We talk to people on the street and hope they will listen. Sometimes it's super hard because you just stop people when they are rushing here and there. But it's okay sometimes. We also have people come to our English class and then want to meet with us. Things are moving here.

Cool experience: We were contacting people on this one street for a long time and not really getting anywhere. So we sat down for a minute and this lady came up and contacted us. She asked what we were doing. We talked to her for a minute and she invited us to come to her house two days later to share the gospel with her. She is super great and has two really adorable daughters. LOVE THAT FAMILY ALREADY!

The other day we biked wicked far away. About an hour away. We wanted to see other parts of our area... well there was nothing out there. So knocked a few houses and found a new investigator for the Elders and a family that lives in a different area that we referred to some other missionaries. It was a successful day. The best part: we found investigators for other people so we really don't have to go out that far again!

Last Monday was awesome. My companion and I went to Costco with a member and got BAGELS!!!! I love bagels. It's been a long time since I've eaten anything remotely American. I LOVE AMERICA AND AMERICAN FOOD. And I also love Taiwan. After our time at Costco we cleaned up our apartment and set up our Christmas tree. We've finally turned our icky apartment into a cute home. I love it so much! Sister Bang and I are obsessed with our home and Christmas. We listen to Christmas music everyday and I wear Christmas socks during studies and WE DRINK HOT CHOCOLATE! Mmmm (: AND WE ATE KRAFT MACARONI AND CHEESE FOR LUNCH YESTERDAY!

Last Monday evening we went to the night market here in nankan (which is super fun) and we handed out English flyers (which ultimately led to a woman and her son coming to English class and becoming new investigators). It was fun. Also all the girls we squealing about Elder Seneca. It was hilarious. One lady even bought food and gave it to him. People love him here. My companion  decided that E. Seneca should invite girls to English class, I should invite boys, and she should invite the children. Lol.

English class on Wednesday was good. Except for the creepy man from the advanced class who comes to our class because he wants to learn english from Blonde American females. NASTY. Next week we're gonna tell him to switch classes. I've told him already and he's refused. If he refuses again then we'll probably tell him not to come back..? He makes other students feel uncomfortable. Ewwwww.

Honestly there isn't much to write about. Things are just moving here. We talk to everyone and we obey the rules. That's the key to missionary work. I love my companion a lot. I love the people we are teaching the gospel to. I love it when people realize that the Book of Mormon is true.

I know these things are true. I love the scripture Ether 12:41. I invite everyone to do the same. Learn of Christ. Listen to the words of the prophets-- they are true.

I'm sorry I didn't have much to say today about my week. I guess I can share with ya'll my thoughts on life. I think that everyone we meet and every experience we have in life can change and teach us something if we are just willing to let it. I know that the same God who placed the trees in the forest, the fish in the see, and the stars in the sky loves me and placed me where I am to learn and grow. He allows us to run into the things in life that will teach us-- whether good or a little bit difficult to overcome. And that same God-- who loves us very very much-- sent His son Jesus Christ to earth to show us the way to learn and grow and return to live with Him again. I have learned a lot on my mission. I have learned a lot about myself and who I am and who I want to be. And I have learned that we must love everyone and be tolerant and respectful of everyone regardless of their actions and situations. Please note: the future of Micaela Anderson is bright and full of love, happiness, and opportunities to learn and grow. I look forward to that. I look forward for every growing experience Heavenly Father has in store for me.

My companion and I were talking last night about this: There are only two kinds of people in this world-- the ones you love, and the ones you just don't know yet. I believe that everyone in this world has worth and if we take the time to learn about them and see things from their perspective we can learn to love then despite any differences. We are all children of God. We all have temptations and we all have weaknesses. And we all have the Savior. So before you judge someone just because they are different then you-- look at how God sees them.

It's interesting-- I had a conversation with a member recently and she was telling me about this really rich family. She told me that their life must be so good because they have money and they don't need to work-- they can just go play all day everyday. She made their life sound perfect. Well she's wrong. Everyone has problems-- we just don't always see them. So before we covet the lives of other peoples-- we must realize that if we switched positions with them we would not just get their blessings, but inherit their problems as well. I don't think anyone would want that. Rather we ought to just follow the example of the Savior and deal with our things and be grateful for our blessings. 

Maybe I'm just rambling and none of this means anything to anyone or makes sense. It's hard to sum up everything I've learned in just a few paragraphs. Moral of the story: My outlook on life has grown and changed a lot on my mission. I just hope that everyone can know-- you are a child of God. He loves you. You are special.

Cold, Very Cold

First things first: TAIWAN IS THE COLDEST PLACE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD AND I AM FREEZING! Not even kidding the hardest part about this week has been that I am frozen. I'm like a little ice cube running around. And our apartment is on the 23rd floor-- aka freezing point. We finally caved and bought a heater on Thursday and that makes things a little better... but I still wear a lot of clothes to bed at night and I walk around our apartment with a blanket. Now I really need to buy gloves... But I'm alive and my body functions and so the missionary work has pressed on. This week has been full of miracles!

 

***Please note: In the computer cafe I am sitting in there is a large fat man sitting across from me... and he is snoring SO LOUDLY. It's distracting.... But he is also a child of God so I need to quit judging him...***

 

This week was full of miracles and a few good stories.

 

First we didn't get desks to study with until two days ago-- so we had to go home and put them all together.. However we also don't have a screwdriver--- so we used a fork that we found in the apartment. Yes-- my companion and I don't need tools to be successful. A fork will do. Hooray for being innovative!

 

Also we were trying a new way of contacting people. We bike to an intersection and stop at the red light and talk to the people on scooters around us.. then instead of going forward with them, when the light turns green we move onto the intersecting street and stop at that stoplight and contact the people there.. then we repeat and see who we can find who is interested in the gospel. We picked a bad interestion though with an impatient taxi driver. NOT EVEN KIDDING THE VERY SECOND THE LIGHT TURNED GREEN HE WANTED TO GO. As in he started honking his horn (which is the most annoying thing in the world)... AND THEN HE RAN INTO MY BIKE. Not hard-- just enough to express his incredible amount of impatience and the fact that he's probably the most immature child of God in the world. Okay I'm getting grumpy just thinking about him... so I'll move on. That way of contacting is entertaining-- and also super scary because talking to people on scooters is hard. If they don't want to listen they just pull forward-- or they put their hand up... and everyone sees them reject you. At the same time though it's necessary-- I've heard of a lot of people meeting missionaries the first time on their scooters at a stop light.

 

That man was a turd though.

 

So-- remember when I went to Bade and didn't know where I was going because it was the first time there were sisters there in a really long time? Well yes-- we got lost a lot. And of course we can expect a similar outcome here too. Sister Bang and I got wicked lost the other day. I had no idea where we were and I kept seeing signs for Bade. I could've made a run for it and headed to my old area and visited people there. But obviously I didn't. We did bike around aimlessly for over an hour though. I'm usually not too bad with finding my way around here-- but this was hard. We biked all over. Finally we stopped at a 7 (7-11) and I asked directions. (: (: We were super far out of our way-- but it was a simple fix. Hooray. We're alive still.

 

Anyway Thanksgiving was good too. The Z family invited us all over for dinner. Well back up. My companion and I treated ourselves to steak for lunch. We also bought a heater so we wouldn't freeze to death. Then we had our three hour weekly planning session. So it was business as usual. Then we biked to Z family home. They fed us super yummy thanksgiving dinner. Also-- something that I love about Taiwanese people is that if they are going for an American style dinner they always make pasta for a side dish. Dinner consisted of rolls, chicken, potatoes, broccoli (delicious), pumpkin soup... and two pasta dishes. A random, yet delicious addition. Then we had pumpkin cake for dessert. SO SO SO SO SO SO YUMMY! I  They are a good family and I appreciate their willingness to take care of us.

 

Also-- Christmastime I can skype home. It'll probably be Christmas morning for me so Christmas Eve evening for ya'll... It's not worked out yet though because I don't know where we'll skype. I'm hoping we can go to a members home to skype-- but they have to offer-- we can ask to impose on them. Otherwise we can't do it. And the internet cafe I don't think has the option of a web cam. So start praying for that to work out. I have no further details.

 

This past Friday we intended to bike way out to the beach and contact in that area because we had a whole day of free time, but then that morning we were told that the Bishops family would be setting up the Christmas tree at the church and wanted the missionaries there and then wanted to feed us after. So my companion and I decided to search for places to knock on doors. Not knowing where there would be doors to knock we just headed down this large road with our eye out. We biked for a while and realized we weren't getting anywhere and there was nothing around. So eventually we just decided to turn right onto another really long road. After biking for another few minutes we found 6 doors. Yes. We biked so far away just to find only 6 doors. And so we do what we intended. 6 doors isn't really anything-- unless someone is willing to let you in. We knocked on the first door and were rejected immediately. Then the next two weren't home. Then we saw the last door had a young child running around so we headed over to talk to whoever was taking care of her. It was her mom. The family is traditional buddhist-- but has some Christian friends and doesn't discriminate just because of religious beliefs. We started to share a little bit with the mom about families. Since it was freezing outside she invited us in to sit. We just introduced more about what we were sharing and how the gospel has blessed our lives and talked to her about prayer. We asked if we could say a pray with her and she was willing. My companion then prayed and blessed their family. When she was finished-- LJM was in tears. The spirit was really strong. She was really touched that we could come find her when it is so cold outside and that we want to bless her family. It was a crazy miracle and such a blessing. She became one of 5 new investigators that we found this week. IT'S BEEN A GREAT WEEK.

 

Opening a new area takes a lot of thought and you have to run a lot of errands. We've been really busy. I think the best thing that we did this week is that during our study time in the morning we practice teaching eachother and teaching together. My companion and I are doing really well at teaching in unity and it's been a huge blessing because we teach and find a lot.

Most important thing to remember is that THE CHURCH IS TRUE. I'm so happy out here and I love Taiwan.

Keep reading your scriptures.

Go to the temple often.