Hey everyone!

 ​YanZiJuan's Baptism!

​Yan Zi Juan and her baby! Her baptism was so beautiful :)

I learned so much this week, and I know it's because it didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped it would. Getting an area running is a lot harder than I had anticipated. Lot's of our new investigators lived in other areas, stopped answering calls, etc. So we're just starting fresh again! It's been really difficult for us to find new investigators and a lot of our leaders have been following up with us and giving advice and what not, and I've just been so confused as to why we can't find new people to teach and why are the new investigators we are meeting gone so soon?

This week I was talking with my companion and realized there's a lot she's still trying to figure out how to do. She expressed the concern of not knowing how to get people to talk to her on the street because she feels like the Taiwanese don't care about Taiwanese. They only stop to talk to other missionaries because they're from America. She also said it's really hard for her to know what to say and how to listen to the Spirit in contacts, etc. She said all she wants is to have a happy mission, but all she feels when we go out to talk to people is super tired and doesn't feel like it's fulfilling in any way. So I was pondering and praying about it throughout the day and then when we finished our dinner one night, we had a full night of finding planned. Literally my theme for this transfer has been to pray for the guidance of the spirit in everything I do and say to positively influence my companion. So when we went out to find I felt impressed to first talk with her. I told her that tonight was going to be a night that we would never forget, and I suggested that during our finding time, we wouldn't focus on key indicators or what we needed to say or what time it was or anything. We were only going to focus on looking at people through God's eyes and see them as our brothers and sisters. It was one of the most spiritual experiences I've had on the street as a missionary. I can't explain it, but people just stopped and talked to us. Very few people rejected us that night. And while we were talking to people, the Spirit was present. My companion didn't seem nervous or anxious or anything, we just talked to them with love.

By the end of the night my companion told me she felt like she actually made a difference tonight. She said it's so easy to forget the purpose of why we're here and what we're doing when we're so focused on all the little things we have to do. But when we remember that we are a family of God and we are all brothers and sisters, then there's nothing happier than being a missionary! 

It's been a wonderful week. And not because we got a thousand new investigators or anything, but because we loved the people and shared the message of the Savior with them.

Sister Hendricks

 Congratulations to my best friend getting married this week!!

I love Taiwan!

"耶穌愛你" (YeSuAiNi) Jesus loves you :)

Celebrating my 18 month mark with pasta!

I love my companion!

Family and Friends,

Man so much happened this week! First of all - it stopped raining! It's been raining every single day this transfer until a few days ago. I didn't realize how warm it was on the East Coast until I came back to Taipei. But it's warming up again, and there's nothing that makes me more naturally energetic and happy than sunlight after weeks of rain. And not only in the weather, but we saw some really cool miracles this week in our area. We went from literally no one, to 5 progressing investigators! One of them is actually getting baptized this Saturday! Her name is Yan Zi Juan. She is in the 新浦XinPu ward, and we are in the 新板XinBan ward. But there are no sisters serving in the XinPu ward, and Yan's husband won't let her meet with elders, so we are helping her finish the lessons! She is so sweet. Sister Kitchens (my roommate from HuaLien) was actually the one who started teaching her. I'm so excited to tell her she'll be baptized! Then we have some really amazing member referrals, and new investigators from English Class! It's been really cool to see things pick up again. And It's made me so happy to see Sister Lee expect miracles every day :)

This transfer has been exactly what I have needed. I can just see so clearly how well every experience I've had on my mission and in my life has lead up to being here. Being in HuaLien really helped me learn faith, patience, and diligence in picking an area back up, and I'm doing my best to apply those principles here in 板橋BanQiao. I also feel like Heavenly Father is giving me another chance at being more understanding and putting myself in my companion's shoes. I think that's the biggest thing this transfer is testing me on. Obviously Sister Lee and I are in two very different situations, her being a bit older and a native is a lot different than what I'm experiencing, not to mention she's only been on her mission for about 3-4 months. I've had to remind myself that we need to be open and understanding to each other. It's been really amazing for me to learn how to communicate in love and patience and offer good advice rather than being condescending. For example, helping her understand that we have to keep dinner appointments to only an hour, or when we are contacting on the street we have to be a little more bold and personal, or helping her understand how to plan well for lessons, etc. I've learned that as I use compassion and love when approaching those kinds of situations, rather than assuming the worst in her decisions or actions, it always works. 

I feel so much hope and faith in her and in this area! I know things will only go up from here!

Sister Hendricks

Sister Lee and I went ice skating last Pday :)

Shi JiaTing!

Sister Lee and I :)

​Guo JiaTing! We get fed a lot in this ward haha

Guo JiaTing again

Lin JiaTing!

This is the street we live on.

Beautiful day in ZhongHe! We had exchanges the other day and we went finding at this beautiful park with so many cute families and little kids. It was a day of miracles.

"任何成功都不能彌補家庭的失敗"

"No success can compensate for failure in the home."

These stickers are on almost every member's mailboxes.

Such a happy surprise! Yang Ming Fang, Lai 
JieMei, and Sister Haupt!

Another happy moment shared with my favorite family from
 MuZha!! The Lin Family :) 

Hello everyone!

I just love missionary work! It's been another great week of teachin and preachin and just doing our best. I've gotta say it's not the easiest thing in the world starting from rock bottom, but I think it's really inspired that I've been blessed to whitewash an area twice in a row because I've seen how the diligence and patience really pays off. Right now we're in the phase of no one to teach, so our days are filled with finding activities! Here's a great idea for every member of the church: introduce your friends to the missionaries! It's the most effective way for us to find people with interest, and it will bring you and your friend so much joy.

It's been really, really humbling being in this situation and realizing that the things we do as missionaries is just crazy without God's help. Really, how else could anything get done if the only thing trying to make a difference was two little missionaries trying to talk to a bunch of people that are busy in a country with not a lot of Christians and most people work or go to school every single day and claim to not have 20 minutes of time to meet, and then when they say they do, they don't show up. It sounds ridiculous and I can't think of a single person that would want to do something like this voluntarily if there wasn't a God of miracles that will work through us to change peoples' lives. So the cool thing is, it'll only go up from here! In every phase of my mission, whenever I've been in an area that is struggling, it ALWAYS picks up after a lot of patience, faith and diligence. So right now, we're just doing our best to do the things we love to do and be happy while we do it. The rest is up to God and His plan for the people in this area.

Also, we had the greatest experience doing Temple Tours last Saturday. I loved my last area so much, but I didn't want to spend this whole transfer thinking about those people and that ward, so I've been praying to be where I am now and experience this amazing new area with my companion. And when we went to do temple tours, it just happened to be Temple Day for the HuaLien ward, and guess who came to the temple for the first time? Yang Ming Fang!!! I was so happy to see her. Sister Haupt and her new companion went with her and we were able to give them a temple tour! It was such a tender mercy. Just another reminder that God loves us and knows the desires of our hearts.

Sister Hendricks

Look who I saw!

​This moment was just extremely happy. I am so grateful for the amazing life-long friendships I've developed here. I love Sister Stevens! She's in Taiwan visiting with her family. What a coincidence that I was able to see her!

My new companion, Sister Lee!

Our apartment from the outside

Welcome to my 6th area!

 Hello~

Welcome to my 6th area! Yep, I've moved again! I'm back to the very center of Taipei in a place called 板橋 (BanQiao) It's been a bit of a culture shock since I've been far far away from the city for about 5 months. I kinda forgot how many people are in Taiwan. My new companion is Sister Lee! She's about 31yrs old from Taiwan GaoXiong, and just finished training. I'm excited for this transfer!

Yang Ming Fang!

For a while, I was just praying that I wouldn't leave HuaLien. Everything about that area was just perfect, and I feel I grew so attached to the members, the missionaries, our investigators, my companion, even the mountains and beach! There was nothing within me that felt comfortable with leaving this perfect area on my last transfer, especially with all the times I've had to say goodbye on my mission already. But the night before we got moving calls, I was saying my prayers and the thought came to me that there's a lot more to life than just being comfortable, and I felt impressed to ask God for what I needed rather than what I wanted. I wanted to see if I could handle whatever challenge lays ahead with all the things that my mission has taught me. The next day during District Meeting, we received the text saying that we would move and I just had a pit in my stomach. I don't think I've ever experienced such anxiety on my mission. It was probably the hardest thing saying goodbye to those members and to Yang Ming Fang and Li Chong Wei. My heart was just broken. But I didn't want to go into this new area with this anxiety. So I decided to go in with faith. I knew it was where I was supposed to go. It's been the biggest blessing seeing that God has helped me learn how to deal with difficult situations. I really believe this is where I'm supposed to be. 

Li Chong Wei!

This area is basically being whitewashed. We have about 2 investigators. But the best part is it can only get better from here :)

Also! Li Chong Wei got baptized :) Even though I wasn't there to see it, I'm still so happy for him!

Have a great week!

Sister Hendricks

I will never ever forget this district!!

Our TaiQi Class! (Guess who that is in the back? Sister Griffin! She came to visit and helped us peike!)

I will miss our roommates!

Our whole zone woke up at like 5 in the morning to go to the beach on our last day together

Best place on earth!

I'll never forget our ultimate frisbee games!

Buffy!

This is my leaving smile

Helloooooo

I LOVED this week. I don't even know where to start. We had two zone meetings and two exchanges, so time just flew by. Sitting here emailing feels pretty weird. It feels like it's been 2 days since I last came to this internet cafe. But here I am!

Speaking of which, time is just going way too fast for me. This is the last time I have to anxiously wait for "the moving call". It has randomly stressed me out a couple times this week, but one day I sat down to talk with my companion about how I was feeling and as we talked, I received a clear impression that I just needed to work hard and enjoy every minute. So simple, right? Almost too simple. But it works! There's a million things I can't control, but I can control my happiness. We exchanged with our roommates the other day and Sister Tinsley and I got fang'd (they didn't show up), cancelled and dropped the entire day, but it was probably the funnest day of the week and we actually had a lot of success the rest of the day! And I realized it was because my focus was more on talking to people and "finding" because I love them and I believe in them. There's nothing happier than just talking to as many people as you can and relating their concerns to the gospel and helping them feel the spirit. It's so much more simple than I sometimes make it out to be in my head. 

Li Chong Wei after his interview! So so so happy

The best part of the week was Li Chong Wei passing his baptismal interview! He hasn't smoked in 5 days, and he feels like he's completely done. We had him over at a member's home, Lai JiaTing, and they just love him so much. They are such a big support to him. He voiced a concern that a lot of his friends are questioning him for coming to church and preparing to be baptized, quitting smoking and drinking tea etc, and he said that's the hardest part for him. But after talking about it, he felt like his true friends will support him in the positive decisions he's making. A lot of them came to visit him this weekend and we were a little nervous that he'd smoke again with them but he was just beaming when he came to church on Sunday and told us that his friends and family support him, and he hasn't smoked again! We are so happy for him! He's getting baptized on March 12th!

I just hope I don't leave this place. It's funny, in Chinese the word Zion is 錫安 (Xi'An) and the place we live in HuaLien is called 吉安(Ji'An), which sounds pretty similar. So we always refer to this place as Zion! It's just been the most incredible experience seeing such a difference in this area - especially in our ward. I feel like we started from nothing and we've come so far and I have grown so close to the people here. I've never put so much effort into building up an area, and the results have just been so fulfilling and joyful. I'm so humbled by the power of God and how much He loves His children. I know that God places us where we need to be...but please pray that I stay!

Sister Hendricks

Elder Crawford gave him his interview.

Let me tell you a story. Our zone consists of 2 sets of sisters and 6 sets of elders. The choice of where we go to eat for zone lunches is almost never in the sisters' power. So, this is me documenting my first McDonald's meal in Taiwan. Yes, it's just as terrible as it is in America.

​We have this really cute Philippino investigator that bought us cake haha 

We will all fail! :)

The classic temple photo every MLC. I will 

never get sick of this view.

I love the Beach!!

Hey family and friends,

We got to go up to Taipei again for MLC this week. I learn so much every time. President Jergensen is so inspired and I really believe his faith has made a deep difference in our mission, and to each missionary individually. It's crazy seeing the change in the last couple months with how many people have been baptized. It would be so hard to understand how it all works without faith. MLC was what I needed this week. President Jergensen shared a story from 1 Nephi 3-4 and talked about how simple faith is. Sometimes we think too hard about whether or not we have enough faith, or when someone doesn't listen to us, maybe I didn't focus hard enough on believing in them, or whatever it is - he said having faith is simply believing, being obedient and action. When God commanded Nephi to get the plates, he did it. And he failed - twice actually. But he believed that God would provide a way, and he worked hard to try again instead of giving up. When he failed, he acted by coming up with a new plan. 

One of the coolest lessons I learned from this is that the most important thing is how we respond to the tasks God gives us, with failure and all. Whether it's to get the plates from Laban, or to find a new investigator in the next 30 minutes, or to serve a mission, or apply to college, or apply for a new job. We will all fail in this life. God wouldn't put us into a perfect world with no challenge or trial to face. How would we ever experience joy without them? How would we ever grow? I think it's easy to feel like my failures have outweighed my successes as a missionary when I'm focused so much on the things I've messed up on. But I'm learning how to respond in faith. I could just give up, and see myself as a failure and take the easy way out. Or, I can trust that God will provide a way, and keep trying.

It's been the perfect lesson to learn as we've experienced many cancelled appointments and investigators not showing up to lessons all week. It's pretty tough when we go out to work really hard every day and our hopes are high for the people who set up with us, and then they don't show up to the appointments we set. But I'm glad there's a better way out of it than getting resentful! You just keep going, and hope for the best and be happy with what you can do. Sister Haupt and I have decided that our biggest strength is companion and teaching unity. We're working hard to get even better at it, because there's nothing better than doing what you do well to get your hopes up!

And the good news is, Li Chong Wei is still preparing for baptism!! He's still working on quitting smoking, but he's doing so much to overcome it. He told all of his friends and co-workers that he's quitting so that they wouldn't offer him anymore cigarettes, and is even looking for a new job that has a better environment. We asked him what has been the biggest help for him to quit smoking and he said prayer has helped him more than anything. He said it's amazing feeling like there's another person there to love you and remind you when you're tempted and want to give in. I'm so happy for him! He can't get baptized this week since he smoked once last week, so we moved it back to the 12th to give him enough time to be free from smoking for a good amount of time. But he went to a baptismal service the other day with us and he said after going, he knows for sure this is what he wants. I hope I don't move next week, but either way, I am so happy that I've been blessed to see these changes he's made in his life.

Have a great week!

Sister Hendricks

Sometimes I forget that I live on an island until I take a second to look at all the
 palm trees. I'm so lucky to be here.

Beautiful day last Pday!

We had some fun last Pday. I love Sister Haupt!

Sister Haupt and I in front of a statue of MaZu媽祖, a sea goddess.

楊明芳 Yang Ming Fang was baptized!!!

Isn't she just glowing?

Yang Ming Fang was baptized!!! It was probably the happiest day of my life. This week, we met with her and she said she had the most amazing experience through prayer. She told us she invites her family to church every week but they never come, and she was really nervous to invite them to her baptism because she really wanted them to come, but didn't want them to say no. She didn't know what to do, so she said a prayer and then their family sat down for dinner and her husband asked her if they could attend her baptism. She was just glowing with joy as she told us this story. She said she really feels like God answered her prayers. 

Her baptism was so beautiful. As she stepped into the font, I wish I could just capture the moment. There's really nothing as special as watching someone make all these steps to return to God. I just felt so overwhelmed with joy and gratitude that I could see the gradual change in her life over the past month. 

The best part was her family came to church the next day to see her confirmation! And Li Chong Wei got back from Taipei so he came, too! It was the best Sunday ever. After sacrament meeting, Yang asked our Bishop (he gave her the confirmation) how he knew all of her struggles and weaknesses that he mentioned in the blessing, and he told her that the blessing wasn't from him, it was from God and God knows her perfectly. She was just so touched.

This is us with Yang Ming Fang and her family!

That night, we met with Li Chong Wei to go over the baptismal interview questions with him to see if there's anything we needed to review before he gets baptized. I was a little nervous because he's been gone for 2 weeks, so I wasn't sure if he still wanted to be or not. But it went so great. And guess which member accompanied us? Yang Ming Fang! It was the perfect lesson. We set a goal with him to quit smoking by this last Saturday so that he could have 2 weeks of no smoking before his baptism on March 5th. I was so happy when he said he was following it and didn't smoke at all on Saturday or Sunday! We went through all of the questions, and he didn't have any problems with any of them. He had some questions about other churches, and still didn't understand what other churches believe in comparison to ours, but he believes that Joseph Smith restored the priesthood authority to the earth and he can feel that the Book of Mormon is true. Everything that Yang said was what he needed to hear, too. She said that the Spirit will testify of truth. Watching her in this lesson was amazing. It's like she's known these things her whole life. By the end, he just stopped and he said "I just really feel that this church... it's true." The spirit was so strong. It was so cool watching Yang and Li share their testimonies with each other. It was just the best day of my life.

It was a great week! I'm so excited for more miracles to come :)

Sister Hendricks