We had a wonderful lesson with Su Bao Yu the other day. Her longtime friend, Sister Gao came to her lesson and we taught her the first part of lesson four–obedience, pray and study the scriptures daily, and the law of the Sabbath. Su Bao Yu is such an eager student. She’s a delight to work with, and I love her. She trusts Sister Gao so much. She told us that whenever she has a problem, she asks Sister Gao what to do. Sister Gao has been preparing her for the last two to three years to meet with us. She promised so many blessings and bore frequent and powerful testimony throughout the lesson.

She kept telling Sister Su that she had to keep all of her Sundays clear from now on. She pointed at the calander that was hanging on the wall and said, “Mark off all the Sundays. Don’t schedule anything. You need to come to church.” And then she proceeded to tell her exactly why she needed to come to church and how it would help her.

Sister Su still feels like she has a lot to learn because of her lifetime of exposure to Buddhist and Daoist practices, but she has felt Heavenly Father’s power in her life and is anxious to learn more about Him. In her prayer, she humbly asked that she could quickly “jinru zhuangkuang” which means something like “get into the situation”–or in other words make the gospel her life. She also prayed that Sister Gao would be able to continue to lead her and teach her.

We’ve been able to see some good progress with several of our investigators this week, as well as the less active members. We saw several of them come back to church last week, which was wonderful. They received warm welcomes from the members, which was also wonderful.

I hope you have a wonderful week. I know I will. I love you.

Love,
Sister Burton

Sister Zheng and I have been working hard to strengthen the ward and to strengthen the relationships between members and investigators in preparation for what is coming. We’ve seen a lot of good things come from our efforts both with the investigators and the members.

We’re working with Su Bao Yu, who was referred to us by Sister Gao. She’s a delight–spirited but humble. She’s about 58 years old. She has felt clearly that her prayers have been answered. She told us last time that her life has been so peaceful since she met us and that her big problems have turned into little problems and her little problems have turned into nothing. She has a lot of desire to learn about the gospel and her relationship with Heavenly Father. I love to teach her. I love, too, that her friend and neighbor, Sister Gao, continues to encourage her and help her come to church and to share her testimony and example. How much easier it is when the members are active participants in missionary work. It really is just like Elder Perry said–We’re just the search and rescue team. What we need is the shepherd.

I love you.

Bao Jiemei

We met a new investigator named Lin Xue Yun last week who is really special. We’re excited to be working with her. She knows she needs something in her life. She’s been facing trials in all aspects of her life and wants to feel love and direction. I know the message that we bring can provide those things for her. She’s already met with us a couple of times and is willing to do the things we invite her to do. She truly is one of the humble and willing in heart.

We were also able to go to the home of the mother of Zhang Shi Min, who is currently serving in the Taizhong mission. We were able to help her understand a lot about why we serve missions and what blessings we receive from doing so. She is willing to let us start teaching her the missionary lessons. We’re really excited to be able to help her.

We’re working with a Filipino couple right now. They’ve been great to work with and love to learn about the gospel. Jovie has been in Taiwan for 18 years and is working to help support her family in the Philippines. She has a Christian background, and in recent years her mother has joined the Jehovah’s Witnesses. She has a lot of questions, but is very willing to listen to our testimonies, read the scriptures, and pray about the answers.

I hope you’re having as much fun as we are. Have a good week. I love you.
Sister Bao

Yes, the New Year is finally here. Despite what you say about it having come and gone on January 1st, if you come to Taiwan you’ll know that January 1st was not the real thing. The real New Year’s holiday is now. The holiday spirit is in the air, the children all wore new clothes to church on Sunday, and everyone’s taking a few days off of work. As for us? We are being fed more meals than we know how to eat. Various members are feeding us lunch and dinner for a week. These are big holiday meals, too. I don’t think any of us have been too interested in breakfast the for the past two days.

Nearly all of our investigators are out of town for the next few days, so we’re keeping in contact with them by phone and doing a lot of member work for the time being. On Sunday three families from out of town attended church and wanted to refer us to their families who live in the area. We went to meet one family yesterday, and are going to meet the others today and tomorrow.

The New Years holiday has been a great opportunity to build member relations, both the the active and the less-active members, as well as a great time to get referrals. We’ve been seeing a lot of blessings come from it. I hope you are having as much fun as I am. Being a missionary is wonderful! Just ask Ammon (see Alma 27:17).

I love you!

The Chen family is still doing well. They’ve made some good friends in the ward. There is a Huang family in the ward with a similar situation. The mom is Vietnamese and the dad is Taiwanese and they have four children. Sister Huang has been really proactive in looking out for Sister Chen and has been a good support for her.

We’ve been working with a Filipino couple lately as well. Sister Jovie is loving the lessons and is finding a strength and comfort from the teachings of the Savior. She and Rudolpho have a lot of faith and a desire to do what is right–even when that means change.

The Chinese New Year is fast approaching, landing right on Valentine’s Day this year. The members are feeding us lunch and dinner every day for a week. They say that Taibei empties during this time of year as most people return to visit their families in the south, and by hearing how many of the members are leaving, I believe it. Nevertheless, it’s a great time to meet with those who are actually from Taibei and to find some new families to teach. At the New Year families will be home and will be together.

Enjoy the holiday (whichever one you decide to celebrate on the 14th.)

Love,
Sister Burton

We’ve seen a lot of great things happen in the area in the last couple of weeks. I’m sorry that last week’s update didn’t make it through. The member relations have been improving in leaps and bounds, and the investigator pool has exploded with people. We’re going to be so joyfully, joyfully busy.

We’ve had more and more investigators at church each week, and we’ve had three members bring friends or relatives to church in the last couple of weeks. We’re excited to be working with a Su Bao Yu, a wonderful bubbly woman in her mid-fifties. She was brought to church by her neighbor and just loves the feeling of church and the message we bring to her. She’s already seen and recognized the answers to her prayers.

We’re also working with a Vietnamese mom and her two children. They love, love, love church. They’re our miracle family. Sister Mac Isaac handed them a tract at a stoplight earlier in the week, and after exchanging just a few words with them, they left. We didn’t think anything of it, but they showed up at church the next week all on their own.

And miracle of miracles, Cynthia came to church. We’ve been trying for as long as I’ve been in Sanchong to get her to church. If she wasn’t so diligent at keeping all of her other commitments, and if she didn’t have such a desire to learn, we probably would have stopped teaching her some time ago, but I just couldn’t do it.

She and her husband go to his parents’s house for the weekend, but they live quite close to our area. She has a hard time getting away for a variety of reasons, mostly centered on her husband’s disapproval of her attending church. Last Sunday, though, her little son woke up early, so she decided to try to come. She asked her husband if she could take their son to church, and he told her no. She said, “I didn’t know what to do, so I said a prayer in my heart, and then he said yes.” She couldn’t believe it, but she went to get ready to go. Her husband said he was going to stay home and wait for his mother to return. Cynthia and little Rui Shen started walking to the bus stop. As soon as they arrived, Cynthia’s husband called her and said that his mom had gotten home and that he was coming. He met them at the bus stop, and they all took a taxi into church.

They missed a lot of the meetings, including all of sacrament meeting, but we were so excited that they came. Cynthia was greeted by a lot of members and they were both befriended. They took their son to nursery and the dad helped him with his art project. They seemed to have a really good time. I was so astounded to see her, and especially to see her husband and son in tow. It was a great day.

We have many other good investigators. It’s going to be a great move call.

I love you.

Bao Jiemei

President Monson once said something along the lines of, “I know of nothing sweeter in life than to follow the promptings of the Spirit and then later find out that you were the answer to someone’s prayer or need.”

This week we found just such joy in serving a certain Sister Zhang in our ward. She’s an active member in the Church, and has a daughter on a mission in Taizhong. I know that Heavenly Father is truly mindful of her, as He is of each of us. She’s been facing a lot of intense trials lately. I know her daughter must plead with Heavenly Father on her behalf every day.

She’s very willing to help us and has quite a bit of time to do so. We called on her often for a while, but every time we invited her to accompany us at a lesson, the investigator failed to come. We invited her to come to meet with our most reliable investigators–ones who had never failed to come in the past, but they didn’t show up either. Each time this happened, we would sit down and share a brief message with her, and each time she’d share a little more of her feelings and her challenges with us. We finally realized that Heavenly Father was trying to tell us something–this member needed us more urgently on each of those occasions than the investigators did. The investigators could reschedule so that we could help to comfort and strengthen Sister Zhang.

We hadn’t seen her in a little while, so last week we went to see if she was home. I wasn’t actually sure that it was the Holy Ghost, but I felt worried about her. No one answered, so I wrote a quick note and left it on her mailbox. Yesterday, we felt again like it might be a good idea to visit her. We were close to her house and had a little time left that evening. We changed our plans and went. She let us in and looked so happy to have us there.

She kept asking us how we would have thought of her on that day that we left a note. She told us with some emotion of how upset and discouraged and low she had been feeling that day. She said that we wrote exactly what she needed. Through our card, she felt the love of God and knew He had heard her prayers. I don’t even remember what I wrote. I wrote it pretty fast and tacked one of my favorite scriptures on at the end. Heavenly Father knew what she needed, and knew how to get it through my pen onto that tiny page. She told us that because of that small, simple act, she knew that Heavenly Father had been hearing and answering her prayers all along–that she had just been too upset to hear Him some of the time.

I was astonished to hear her testimony and gratitude. I hadn’t thought twice about what we had done. I had hoped that the note would help her to know we had thought of her–jiu zheme danchun. I hadn’t thought much past that. But Heavenly Father did. I loved hearing Sister Parkin teach us to “never supress a generous thought” when she came to BYU a few years ago. So many times we get a gentle nudge from the Spirit, or a simple idea enters our minds. We don’t think too much about where it comes from, but if we follow it, we find that miracles happen. I’ve seen it over and over and over again. Don’t doubt the impression–just give it a try. After all, what could it hurt? It could just be the thing that makes the difference someone needs.

Li Jia Guang was baptized amidst much rejoicing. It was one of the best baptisms I’ve attended. The presence of the Holy Ghost was felt by all in attendance.

I love you all

You Mei Han has reset her baptismal goal for February  and in the mean time is still working to get permission to be baptized from her dad. We taught her about fasting and she was excited to try it. We’re fasting with her today, and the elders volunteered to join us as well. She’s going to make it.

We have been really excited to see Lin Jia Jing turn over a new leaf and start wearing a skirt to church after her baptism. You Mei Han loves the gospel and wants so much to be baptized. Her father told her that was wonderful if that was what she wanted, and that he’d support her in that decision, but she needed to wait until she turned 18.

We’re trying to help Li Jia Guang, the ten year-old son of a new member get ready for baptism. He loves the feeling of coming to church. He knows all the the Book of Mormon stories and the Old Testament as well better than any primary child I know. (He hasn’t gotten to the New Testament yet–we’ll have to get him a copy of that one.) We used the gospel art book in our last lesson to review about prophets and the Restoration with him, and we were amazed. With every new picture we turned to, he’d rattle off the story with detailed accuracy. He really wants to be baptized so that he can be on the “right path” back to Heavenly Father. He prays and reads the scriptures every day. He is such a good little boy. It would be so good for his mom to have another member in the family, and especially a priesthood holder in a couple of years. He’s ready for it, too.

We’ve been involved in a lot of ward activities lately. We’re also developing relations with the ward, as evidenced by all the meals we’ve been fed lately. It’s been great working with Sister Mac Isaac. Her conversion story is not so different from many of the stories of the Taiwanese members and investigators. They are surprised to find someone who can understand them so well. Her testimony comes from deep within and always brings the Spirit in a remarkable way.

It’s wonderful how Heavenly Father prepares us to be able to help each other that we may all be one in the body of Christ, as Paul says. He truly does prepare us to help those in our path through our unique set of qualities and experiences, and for others to help us the same way. The most wonderful feeling in the world must be the feeling of knowing that you are on the Lord’s errand–to be able to see how you are the answer to a person’s prayer or need or wish. To see that they need you and that Heavenly Father saw fit to send you is a blessed gift.

We are not meant to walk through this world alone, but to learn to love and to give of ourselves as well as to learn how to depend on others. I really believe that learning how to lean on those that Heavenly Father sends to help us is an important part of our journey here. It’s all part of His plan for us that we should love and be love, help and be helped, and learn to recognize that all of these things are gifts from Him, for He loves us most of all.

I love you,

Sister Bao

I was able to meet Professor Lynette Zhou today. It was quite the experience. We were treated to a fancy eight course meal with Chinese cuisine from various regions. It included bitter melon, shark fins, pork ribs, dumplings, coconut milk, and other delights. She and her family are very kind, and we look forward to the chance to sharing more with them about the gospel that means so much to me. There were a couple of students from New York there as well, who were very interested in what we are doing. I was happy to answer their questions, but had to concentrate really hard to do it in English. Hen nan, hen nan.

We are working with a fourteen year-old girl who loves the gospel. She wants so much to be baptized. She lives the life of a busy Taiwanese student, but makes time to meet with us and to attend church every week. We are preparing her for baptism and working on completing the lessons with her. She is seeking permission from her father to be baptized. She has a lot of faith in prayer, and I have faith that she’ll be able to obtain permission, but a few extra prayers for You Mei Han wouldn’t hurt.

I love teaching her because anytime we talk about the gospel, her eyes light up. I think we could turn the lights off and still see to read the Book of Mormon by the light that is in her eyes. When we ask her how this principle or that commandment has helped her, she bears a sweet and powerful testimony. Her younger siblings have noticed a huge change in her. I wonder how many fourteen year-olds who are born into the Church or how many of the rest of us feel as much gratitude for the gospel or seek to learn its truths with as much humility.

We have some other wonderful investigators of varying ages who really are “honest seekers of truth.” They are each facing different kinds of life challenges, but each one can be blessed by the gospel. As they exercise the faith to put the gospel to the test–to “experiment upon the word”–the change becomes clear. Miracles happen every day. Each one can qualify for miracles.

Xu Yan Ru is facing divorce and abandonment by her husband. She has been struggling to know what to do and has been struggling to find work. She went home and sincerely prayed, expressing her feelings and her challenges. Next thing we knew, she was calling us to tell us that she found an accounting position and would need to change her meeting time.

Heavenly Father’s hand is in all of our lives. His love is ever present. Sometimes, we just need to ask.

I love you. May the joy of the season refill and renew your hearts.

Love,
Sister Burton