And a Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone! 

This week I had an experience that I've never had before as a missionary: Sister Wu and I crashed a wedding! The bride and groom live in Beitun, a nearby town, and we'd met the groom for about 5 minutes a few weeks ago when he and his family came to check out our chapel and see if they could hold the wedding there. Then, the night before we got a text from the Beitun missionaries saying they couldn't go, and their bishop wanted to know if we could attend instead. After some discussion, Sister Wu and I made the decision that no, we would not be able to attend a wedding of two people we'd never met. We called to tell the bishop our decision, but the picture he painted was incredibly tempting. He said that the bride and groom were recent converts, so there would be very few members and a ton of nonmembers who'd never heard of the gospel before, and had nowhere to run from us because they were expected to attend the wedding. After more discussion and messaging the bride to make sure she was cool with two missionaries she'd never met crashing her wedding to share the gospel, Sister Wu and I decided to attend. 

We arrived at the church all fired up to fulfill our missionary purpose and share the gospel with everyone there. When we got there however, we discovered that there was assigned seating. After some deliberation, the ushers put us at a table with a big group of church members from Japan. Who all had lovely English. So instead of sharing the gospel we just straight up attended the wedding and chatted with the Japanese members for an hour and a half.

 

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In the end though, it turned out that our special missionary services were needed, because we were the only ones at the church with keys, so we got to stay until everyone left so we could lock up. Thankfully it was a pretty lowkey reception, so we made it home by 10 pm. The bride stopped to take a picture with us on the way out the door: 

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Since we attended the entire wedding, we got to learn a lot about the Bride and Groom's story, which is adorable. They'd been dating for a while when they both met the missionaries. They took the lessons and got baptized together. Now, a year later, they were able to be sealed in the Taibei temple for time and all eternity. One of the sisters who taught them came back for the wedding. It was so cool to see the fruits of the work we're doing. Missionary work isn't just about baptisms. It's about helping people enjoy the wonderful blessings of eternity that Heavenly Father offers us. 

And now it's the new year! Last night Sister Wu and I went to bed at 10:30 as usual, but we woke up again at 11:50 to celebrate the new year. We went up to the roof of our apartment building to look at the city lights, and were surprised with about 20 different firework shows going off at 12 am. Our apartment building's the tallest thing in our area, so we had a wonderful view.  

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This morning when we woke up we went back to the roof to watch the first sunrise of the year. The sun had technically already risen, but there was a large, low hanging bank of clouds in the way, so we were able to watch it as it actually became visible. It was a gorgeous way to start the new year!

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I hope you all have a wonderful week this week! Happy New Year!

Lots of Love,

Sister Hull

Merry Christmas!

Hi Everyone!

It's Christmas! Wow. It feels like it came way to fast. I'm not quite ready for December to be over yet. It's been a wonderful month, and a great chance to focus even more on the center of our message: Jesus Christ. 

Yesterday I achieved an important goal: I finished Jesus the Christ. Jesus the Christ is an amazing book that uses the Bible, Book of Mormon, and modern revelation to go through the life of Christ, from the preexistence, through his earthly ministry, and into prophecies about his Second Coming. It's also 800 pages. I started it in my first month or two in Taiwan, and have made slow, steady progress ever since. It's been an incredible experience to read in such depth about our Savior, especially this month as we've been preparing for Christmas.

 As I've read, and then gone out to attempt to serve as He served, I've gained so much love for Christ. As I've been training Sister Wu, I've been slapped in the face with my imperfections again and again. I've had to learn to really pray, and to rely on the Lord. Christ has become my example, my guide, and my teacher. Studying his life has given me an even greater appreciation for how truly amazing he is, and how central to our lives, whether or not we recognize it.

Toward the end of Jesus the Christ, the author, Talmage, quotes D&C 76:22-24: And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!
23 For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—
24 That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.

I love this exuberant and certain testimony of Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful for this chance to celebrate His birth and life this Christmas. I hope you all have an amazing Christmas! Love you!

Love,

Sister Hull

Pic: We went to a Carrefour's (Sort of like Fred Meyer's) in Fengjia this week to sing carols. We were told everything had been set up and they were expecting us, but when we got there they had no idea who we were or what we were doing. Finally they just kinda stuck us in the basement and let us sing. We had fun though! This Carrefour employee lady took pictures of us the whole time, so when we finished we asked if she could send them to us. I don't know why they're so blurry.

This is not the Lego movie

Hi Everyone!

I saw this sticker at a 7-11 the other day, and it made me laugh:

Taiwan puts really funny English sayings on random things. My favorite so far: there was an adorable dress in a children's clothes shop with two words- Cheese Penguin.

​Life has been pretty good this week! We've been busy with Light the World and getting ready for Christmas. Monday we set up with the Du family. They planned the activity, and we just showed up. The activity turned out to be a fulfillment of my fondest dreams: we made green onion pancakes and gave them to their neighbors. So now I officially have a real, true taiwanese recipe. Green Onion pancakes are just about my favorite food in the world, so it's even more exciting. Ask me if you want the recipe.

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On Wednesday, we went and picked up trash with our investigator, Zou Jiemei, and her adorable daughter 

​Finally, on Saturday we went with the ward to carol at a nursing home near our church. It was really fun to spend time serving with several members in our ward. Most of the people in the nursing home only spoke Taiwanese, so I wasn't able to do much more than shake hands and smile, but it was still a really special experience. 

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Today is transfers (that happened way too fast!), and after 4 months of serving together, we said goodbye to Elder Councill. Our new Zone Leader is our previous District Leader, Elder Johnson. In our district, we're the only companionship that hasn't changed. It'll be fun to meet more missionaries and learn together this upcoming transfer!

Love you all!

Sister Hull

Taiwan might actually be in the arctic

Hi everyone!

Ok so this week it got actually cold for the first time. The last few weeks it's been chilly in the evenings, but this week it was truly, legitimately cold. Actually, it was only in the 50s, but Taiwan is extremely humid, and it was raining, so it felt like it was getting close to absolute zero. Thankfully, our wonderful Relief Society President has given us two massive boxes of Swiss Miss, so we're all set for the winter. Life is good.

The most exciting news of the week: Our mission got smart phones! Those of you who know me know that I'm not the biggest fan of technology, so this is the first smart phone I've had, ever. Needless to say, it's an adjustment. It's also an amazing blessing. We've only had the phones for about 3 days, but we're already learning so many more ways to connect with investigators and ward members. I love how our church is constantly looking for new ways to improve and progress Heavenly Father's work. We don't just stick with what we've done before; we're always trying to make things better. 

Ok buckle down, because the rest of this email is going to be Light the World pictures. It's been a jam-packed week!

Monday invited us to meet our neighbors. We introduced one of our members who lives near us, Tina, to our absolutely favorite neighbors, the Lin family. The Lin family is absolutely amazing. They live on a corner near our apartment and always wave at us when we leave in the morning. Sometimes they even give us food. They told us they know we probably miss our families, so they want to take care of us so we're not too homesick.

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Wednesday we went to the community center again and taught all the old people the Chicken Dance and played Bingo with them. They all really love to dance! After the part of the activity that we led, we joined them in more dancing. Please enjoy the video at the bottom of the Elders

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Sunday was jam-packed. The theme was sharing scriptures, so we invited a family in our ward to share their favorite scripture on Social media: 

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We also shared a lot of scriptures with our semi-investigator, Maybe Later. Maybe Later is a former investigator from around June. He's not ready to start taking the lessons again, but he's been reading the scriptures and praying almost every day since June, so he likes to meet every now and then to discuss what he's been reading and ask questions. Our friend Jenalyn helped answer his questions. This made for a very interesting lesson, as Jenalyn doesn't speak Chinese, Sister Wu doesn't speak English, Maybe Later only kind of speaks English, and I only kind of speak Chinese. The Spirit was definitely there in the meeting though, because we miraculously managed to all understand each other. The gift of tongues is real!

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I could keep going, but I think that's enough for this week. Hope you all have a wonderful week this week! Go Light the World!

Love,

Sister Hull

Taiwan might actually be in the arctic

Hi everyone!

Ok so this week it got actually cold for the first time. The last few weeks it's been chilly in the evenings, but this week it was truly, legitimately cold. Actually, it was only in the 50s, but Taiwan is extremely humid, and it was raining, so it felt like it was getting close to absolute zero. Thankfully, our wonderful Relief Society President has given us two massive boxes of Swiss Miss, so we're all set for the winter. Life is good.

The most exciting news of the week: Our mission got smart phones! Those of you who know me know that I'm not the biggest fan of technology, so this is the first smart phone I've had, ever. Needless to say, it's an adjustment. It's also an amazing blessing. We've only had the phones for about 3 days, but we're already learning so many more ways to connect with investigators and ward members. I love how our church is constantly looking for new ways to improve and progress Heavenly Father's work. We don't just stick with what we've done before; we're always trying to make things better. 

Ok buckle down, because the rest of this email is going to be Light the World pictures. It's been a jam-packed week!

Monday invited us to meet our neighbors. We introduced one of our members who lives near us, Tina, to our absolutely favorite neighbors, the Lin family. The Lin family is absolutely amazing. They live on a corner near our apartment and always wave at us when we leave in the morning. Sometimes they even give us food. They told us they know we probably miss our families, so they want to take care of us so we're not too homesick.

​

Wednesday we went to the community center again and taught all the old people the Chicken Dance and played Bingo with them. They all really love to dance! After the part of the activity that we led, we joined them in more dancing. Please enjoy the video at the bottom of the Elders

​

Sunday was jam-packed. The theme was sharing scriptures, so we invited a family in our ward to share their favorite scripture on Social media: 

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We also shared a lot of scriptures with our semi-investigator, Maybe Later. Maybe Later is a former investigator from around June. He's not ready to start taking the lessons again, but he's been reading the scriptures and praying almost every day since June, so he likes to meet every now and then to discuss what he's been reading and ask questions. Our friend Jenalyn helped answer his questions. This made for a very interesting lesson, as Jenalyn doesn't speak Chinese, Sister Wu doesn't speak English, Maybe Later only kind of speaks English, and I only kind of speak Chinese. The Spirit was definitely there in the meeting though, because we miraculously managed to all understand each other. The gift of tongues is real!

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I could keep going, but I think that's enough for this week. Hope you all have a wonderful week this week! Go Light the World!

Love,

Sister Hull

News video & article - female missionaries pick up dead kitten

This is the text from the website, translated using Google Translate.

https://tw.appledaily.com/new/realtime/20171126/1247929/#

Kitten was killed by no one 

female missionary pick up the corpse

[video]

At about 6 pm on the 24th, there was a traffic accident on the streets of the Taoyuan district, where a cat was killed by a car. The traffic between the car and the vehicle was either darkened or blown away, until a woman riding a motorcycle and two female missionaries riding a bicycle After three people disregard the danger of vehicle traffic, they crouched down the road and took the cat corpses. When the people saw the process and took the film, they provided the "Apple" with the film and said: "Super caring." 

In the movie, on the Xing Road in Daya District, two Chinese and foreign female missionaries crouched on the road to deal with the body of a cat despite the danger of getting in the car. One of them stood by and commanded the vehicle to avoid accidents. Finally, one female missionary , Straight cloth with the cat wrapped up, then put on the bicycle bag to take away. Lin said: "They are not touched by passers-by and they are quite compassionate and very touching. 

Environmental Protection Agency EPA environmental inspection team is Wenlong Luo said that the public found the body of animals on the road, you can immediately call the 1999 public green case report, the staff on duty will be invited to the cleaning team to deal with the area, if the public have to clean up, you can also report a clean The team arrived at the scene to take away the remains of animals. (Reported by Chen Shuihe / Taichung)

Foreign female missionaries step by step the body of the cat wrapped in a bicycle bag to leave. Readers provide

Three women cleaned the dead kitten in the street. Readers provide

This is the text of the original website:

https://tw.appledaily.com/new/realtime/20171126/1247929/#

小貓遭路殺沒人理　女傳教士徒手撿屍

[video]

24日晚間6時許，大雅區車水馬龍馬路上，有一隻遭車輛撞斃小貓陳屍街頭，往來車輛不是沒看見就是閃避通過，直到1名騎機車女子，及2名騎腳踏車外國女傳教士經過，3人不顧車輛往來危險，蹲在路上將貓屍包裹帶走，路過民眾看見把過程拍下後，將影片提供《蘋果》爆料大讚說：「超有愛心。」

影片中大雅區建興路上，本國女子與外國女傳教士，2人不顧車來車往危險蹲在馬路中處理小貓屍體，1人站在一旁指揮車輛避免意外發生，最後其中1名女傳教士，直用布將貓屍包裹起來，接著放在腳踏車包包內帶走。林姓民眾說：「她們讓貓死後不被用路人碾壓，相當有愛心也讓人非常感動。」

環保局環境稽查大隊技正羅文龍說，民眾發現路中有動物屍體，可立刻撥打1999市民專線報案，值班人員受理後會請該區清潔隊前往處理，民眾如已先行清理，也可以報案請清潔隊到場收走動物遺體。（陳世河／台中報導）

外國女傳教士用步將貓屍體包裹放進腳踏車上包包後離去。讀者提供

三名女子在馬路中清理遭撞斃的小貓屍體。讀者提供

We're famous

Hi everyone!

Ok so funny story, remember the cat incident from last week? We got a call from the Tanzi sisters earlier in the week asking if we'd helped a cat recently. Turns out that someone filmed us, and we were on the news. Here's the link:

https://tw.appledaily.com/new/realtime/20171126/1247929/#

So yeah, we're pretty much famous now in Taiwan. 

In other news, the big event this week has been the start of the Light the World campaign. Happy December! Light the World is a worldwide Christmas event for our church that goes from December 1 to Christmas. Each day there's a small video, and a scripture. The goal is to use the scripture to think of a small act of service we can do that day. Here's the link to the webpage: www.mormon.org/

Sister Wu and I decided to invite members of our ward to pick one day to do the service with us. So far it's been really fun! We've been inviting everyone we can think of- ward members, investigators, random people we meet on the street. It turns out everyone's interested in spending an hour or so to do a little act of service. So far we've given out oranges and water bottles, and we've visited the home of a very adorable ama who lives near us. 

That last one was an accident. We were knocking on doors last night trying to share the gospel, and the first door we knocked on was this ama. She opened the door and invited us right in before we even got a chance to say who we were. She explained that she was Buddhist and didn't really have interest, then proceeded to talk for the next half hour about her life, kids, and youth. She spoke mainly Taiwanese, so I couldn't really understand, but she really connected with Sister Wu. Despite the fact that we didn't get to share the gospel very much with her, she seemed really happy to see us, so it felt good to lift her and share our time with her.

One final event of the week- yesterday our ward's single Filipina member, Jenalyn decided she wanted to bear her testimony during fast and testimony meeting. She was talking about it with one of our members, Bella, whose English and Chinese are both quite good, so I assumed Bella would help her translate. When Jenalyn got up though, she got up alone, walked to the stand, and started bearing her testimony in English. The first counselor in the bishopric pointed at me, and motioned for me to come translate. So I did. It was absolutely terrifying. She gave a very beautiful testimony, and then I tried to at least communicate the main ideas. At the very least, I think my translation was comprehensible. The gift of tongues is so real.

Hope you all have a wonderful week! Go light the world!

Love,

Sister Hull

Pics:

1: The Light the World day 1 scripture was 'freely ye have recieved, freely give'. Recently people have given us a ridiculous amount of oranges, so we gave them all away to a bunch of kids at a cram school. Sister Lin came with us.

2: Day 2 was 'I was thirsty and ye gave me drink', so we passed out water bottles at Daya park. Sister Huang came with us, and brought her adorable 2 year old grandson.

3: The adorable 2 year old grandson. 

 


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