So many times on my mission have I thought "Wow, have a got some stories to tell my family.  they will never believe this!" .... buckle up. haha

So this week Sister Smith and I got a call and they told us neither of us were moving.  we screamed, hugged.. you know girly stuff.  so we were so happy.  On the day of transfers we were just studying like good little missionaries and I got a call from President Day... Sister Smith answered and her eyes welled up with tears and said "ok when do I need to go?".  I guess one of the new new missionaries decided they didn't want to be here and at 4:30 that morning ran away!! Crazy.  and so we had an emergency transfer.  Sister Smith went to be over an area in taoyuan and had only an hour to pack up everything and leave.  My heart was broken.  I was so so sad.  I love Sister Smith so much.  I feel so blessed to have had her as a trainer.  As for me!  President day asked if he could speak to me and he explained how my training will be cut short with Sister Smith, I will be over my own area and companions with the solo sister training leader who will be over the other area... I almost threw up.  The past couple days could very easily have been the hardest most exhausting days of my entire life.  I am over everything for my area, my investigators, and my ward.  I have a phone and she has a phone and we are constantly on it.  A lot of the time we are companions with members of our ward so we can get all the work done.  Yesterday at church I was so overwhelmed with all my investigators, the mm leader, explaining about Sister Smith, the Bishop and rs president asking me questions and having no one to turn to when I don't understand.  I barely speak this language... this is so hard.  BUT (because God loves us, there is always a but)  I have grown so much in the past couple days.  It's really incredible.  I feel like the moment I am in dire need to understand or to explain something, God steps in and helps me.  Earlier this week I was studying hope.  It was going soo well!! I learned that hope is trusting that God will always step in and fulfill his promises to us.  I was so happy.  Like happier than I have ever been.  Sister SMith and I were having so much success and so much fun and it was the first time that I completely trusted God while being out here... and then all of that was put to the test. haha.  Even though its been hard, hope is really how I have made it through this week.  Sister Pieper (my new comp) said yesterday how grateful she is that we have a God that doesn't allow us to stand still.  I couldn't agree more.  I am so grateful that We have a God who loves us enough that he will push us.  He will give us trials, challenges, and we will allow the boat to rock in order to help us grow.  (Ether 12:27)  God LOVES me SO MUCH that he will allow me to do things like this.  My mission has not been smooth... like at all.  hah.  but I know that, that is because God loves me.  

And in the middle of all this craziness I see so many mircales and have SO MUCH FUN!

#1... most epic story of my entire life.  

Ok so Sister Smith and I are knocking doors and this little old woman answers.  we ask if we can sing to her, she lets us into her house.  As I am walking in, I see this MASSIVE this run across the wall.  Like whatever you are imagining, its ten times bigger than that.  I have never been so afraid to sit down in my life.  It was a spider the size of my scriptures.  NO JOKE.  I hit sister smith and we both just stared... the old woman had literally no idea.  hah so we told her and she was like "Oh my goodness! pray that it will come down!" by the way this lady is like every religion, she has buddha, crosses, and even our churches pamphlet up in her china closet. hah.  So Sister Smith is like.. uhhhh ok? so we pray (with our eyes open so it doesn't come eat us).  we give a short lesson, give her a book of mormon and then sing.  And sister smith looks at me and says "She will literally die if that bites her.  you have to kill it." .............. So craziness begins, Sister Smith has chopsticks in her hand and I have a cup and we attempted to catch it.  Until the little old lady pulls out bug spray.  haha so all three of us are screaming and I soaked her whole wall.  It was running everywhere and I am chasing it with the spray, the old lady is yelling at my telling me not to get the bug spray in her tea and that I shouldnt be doing that, and sister smith was just screaming.  haha.  No one will ever be able to understand what happened. haha I am crying laughing thinking about it.  So finally its dead ok... the old woman starts coughing because of the bug spray fumes and so I take her out side to help her catch her breath and she is still yelling at me.  In chinese I tell her that I saved her life and she should just be happy I killed that massive bug.  she yells at me to stop laughing.  It took her like ten minutes to calm down and understand that the spider is dead.  Sister smith is just laughing and taking pictures of everything.  Once everything calmed down, we asked if we could pray.. (because that is the missionary thing to do) so the old woman prays and says "Dear God, thank you for sending these two women to save my life and kill this wild evil creature." Sister smith and I were dying laughing... It sounds funnier in chinese.  hahahaha. in Taiwan I am saving souls and old women.

 

Also this week we had our Thanksgiving party with our English class and it was sooo fun!! we played games and made indian feather hats.  everyone loved it! I had so much fun too! I am finally getting to the point where I can really communicate and make relationships.  And let me tell you.. nothing is cuter than a chinese little kid.  they are all my best friends:)

At the end we watched "He is the gift" from mormon.org and talked about christ.  The spirit was so strong and beautiful as people heard about their savior for the first time.  We then sang christmas hymns together.  I was leading the music so I got to see everyones faces as we sang about our savior.. It was incrdible.  I think the best part of a mission is being able to feel gods love for other people.  Even though it didnt sound all that great because no one had sang these songs before, It was beautiful and filled my heart.  I am SO HAPPY and excited I get to spend christmas here with these people and share every day about christ.  on the street we ask people to watch that video withh us on their phone.  the spirit comes almost instantly.  I love my savior jeuss Christ.  Because of him we can have true and lasting happiness.  Eternal happiness.  He has overcome death, sin, and all our pain.  This means all we have left is happiness:) Because of him I can be happy every single day.  And I am learnning to do that.  I get to share that message everyday, 100 times a day, and everytimes it means more and more.  I love my savior.

I am so grateful to be a missionary and to have this experience here.  I get off of my knees every night to climb into bed, completely exhausted but so happy.  

I love Taiwan and I love the Taiwanese people.  

I Also love you all SO SO SO much!!!

Geng Jie Mei!