6 months

Wow. Tomorrow marks the day of being on a mission for six months. I've just barely passed the time where I've been in Taiwan longer than in the MTC. HOLLA!

Things are crazy out here. Chinese is ridiculous. Off the hook really. I cannot believe that I actually understand what goes on and I can communicate with these people. I've set new language goals for myself and that includes reading the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price in Chinese before the end of my mission. (I'll probably start that part in about 3 months which means I'll have nine months to accomplish this goal). Totally. I can do it! Really I'm just shocked that I speak another language. It's the craziest thing. The other day an English class a student (after hearing I've only been in Taiwan for 3 months) was shocked. He called me a genius. That is more than false. I told him that I was having success because this is what the Lord wants and I pray and study a lot. He said that maybe I'm doing well because the Lord will make my brain run faster so I can learn faster. I guess that's how the gift of tongues works. The Lord works with what we already have going for us and just speeds up the learning process. He is really amazing.

Training is going well. I think. The only reason I don't know for sure is because I really have little grasp on what I'm supposed to do. Missionary work is a day by day thing. Everyday you do a little and over time you get a lot done. That's what I'm doing and so that's what I'm teaching my trainee. I don't know if that makes sense. I just hope that I'm teaching well and I pray for that often.

We've seen some awesome miracles this week. One day we had a huge space of time that we needed to fill so in planning the night before we just decided to visit people. Of course we knew that most of them would not be home, but we picked a street that had about 7 families living on it and decided to go there to meet with them all. We wrote notes to leave if they weren't home. Then we headed out. After about 4 houses (and the rain) I knew we needed to keep going. I was worried that my companion would get discouraged because we spent a long time knocking on empty doors, but we made a plan and we stuck to it. After the 6th house we were getting our bikes unlocked and a girl walked by. My sweet companion did what she usually does and asked how her day was. The girl said it was bad. She stopped to talk for a minute and immediately recognized us. She said she was Mormon 10+ years ago. We asked her when she was baptized. She told us she hadn't been baptized yet, but she wants to. We had a lesson on the street with her about prayer and met with her two days later. She came to church with us on Sunday! She is so great! I'll admit, I was shocked when we first walked into her house and saw the HUGE shrine. Her mom is VERY Buddhist, but this girl is ready and willing to learn. She has a baptismal date next month.

Also last night we met with a less active family. Back story. A while ago on the MRT Sister Daye and I ran into a lady who lived by some members so she knew a little about the church. She told us their names. We decided to visit them hoping to have a chance to get in touch with this lady. We found and address that matched the area she said she lived in. When we stopped by they weren't home so we left a note and our phone number. They never called. Just the other day I was looking through a 3 year old member list trying to find some inspiration of who to talk to and I came across a family with "Less active" written by it in pencil. I made a plan to call them. The wife answered the phone and seemed more than willing to let us come over. She even called me the day before to make sure we still had plans to see them. We went over last night and when I got there I immediately recognized them as the family whose friend we ran into on the MRT. After some talking they told us they got the note and they really appreciated it. These are some seriously nice people. When I told the bishop that we were meeting with them he was so excited. After spending some time with them I can't even tell you how much I just love them so much. They are so so so sweet and I look forward to seeing them more. We shared with them from 3 Nephi 11: 8-15 It was a good scripture to share. We bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and that Christ is our Savior. They were excited to commit to reading that whole chapter on their own a pulling out their copies of the Book of Mormon to start reading again. Such sweet people. I look forward to spending more time with them.

At the last transfer meeting, President Daye gave us all a challenge to flood Taiwan with copies of the Book of Mormon. He challenged us each as a companionship to hand out an entire case of copies in one transfer. That's 36 copies. It'll take effort, but it's definitely manageable. My companion and I gave out seven this week.

Everyday I am learning so much. It's such a blessing to be here and to be on a mission. I can of course admit that I'M EXHUASTED. And that I miss the family, but when I focus on what my purpose is here, time flies and miracles happen. I can't believe it's been 6 months already. I can't believe I speak Chinese (especially on the phone with people). I can't understand why I am so blessed to be here.

I am so grateful for my life. (:

Love you all!

Cae

Sorry no pictures this week. I took some, but I forgot to bring my adapter. Whoopsies. Next time.