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| "Our large and spacious blue cave" |
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| Double Happiness symbol on River path |
Dear Family and
Friends!
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| Six Week Follow up |
Greetings from our "large and blue spacious building! Ha Ha! Right now they are totally remodeling our building and we live in a blue cave (all windows boarded up now for four months) and I am confident this experience is helping to remodel our spirits on the inside too! These last months have been stretching and exhilarating--But God is giving us the ability to do this! We feel like we are on a speeding train where we just hop off to speak at a stake conference, a ward, hop on to go to a fireside, speak there, continuously prep to train missionaries at six week follow up, zone conferences and MLC and to welcome and love our new missionaries and say farewell and thank those who are going home! I wake up sometimes and think I don't know how I'm going to have the energy for all that is ahead, but once I pray and exercise my faith by going and doing like our young missionaries need to do each day, I discover FAITH IS in the DOING! and I/we can all DO all things through Christ which strengtheneth me/us! |
| Our first gondola ride with Sisters MacCabe, Lee and Cajilig |
To increase our
missionaries' faith in Christ, we have invited our missionaries to study the
attributes of the Savior. The
Christ-like quality of HOPE was one I saw demonstrated and given the other day
as I rode in a gondola with two returning sister missionaries. Since we couldn’t take the missionaries going
home to the temple which is our typical departing activity with them and since
we wanted to give them an "ELEVATING" (haha) experience, we decided
to take them on a gondola ride which overlooks the beauty of Taipei. So we all
rode out to a beautiful Buddhist temple and explored it's expansive halls and
vistas. As we rode the gondola back to
where we would catch our bus, to remember our missionary purpose, President
(Mike) invited us all to try to share the gospel in the gondola cars we were
in. I was with Sister Kirie Smith and
Therese MacCabe. Sitting directly across
from us was a college age young man and
his mother. He had his earphones in and
was looking down and he looked very
unlikely to engage in conversation. His
mother seemed really nervous and was also trying to avoid eye contact by
looking out the window. But here we
were--three sisters with missionary tags with hope smiling brightly before them
and there was no where to go! I felt I needed to say something to break the
ice so I started with my small Chinese and asked “Nimen shuo Engwen ma? The man
said yes— they were from HK and he spoke a bit of English along with Cantonese
and Mandarin. His name was Jimmi and this was his first time to Taiwan, he and
his mom were there on a vacation. I asked him how things were going in HK with
all the unrest and wow he then opened up and told us how hard it is there and
how difficult it is to have hope that there will be a resolution. He told of
friends he has on the mainland and how scared they are that the police watch
everything they do. He told how upset he was that the police shot a young
protestor point blank just the day prior in Hong Kong. He was really distraught about the whole
situation. I was thinking, what
scripture could I share about hope? Then, before I could open up to it, Sis.
Smith pulled out her phone with the Book of Mormon on the Gospel App. She told him that they were praying for HK
and that they knew God would hear his prayers too. He was very touched by that. She asked if he prayed and he said sometimes
I think. She told him that if he would
pray God would hear his prayers. Then
she told him that we were representatives of Jesus Christ and that we had a
book called the Book of Mormon that would help him feel close to God. She showed him “Ether 12:4 on her phone and asked if he would like to read and he agreed:
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| Beautiful Miao (temple) at top of the Gondola ride |
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| View from Gondola |
“Wherefore, whoso
believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place
at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the
souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in
good works, being led to glorify God….."
Then Jimmi asked
if he could read more and of course we said yes...he read on... “faith is
things which are hoped for and not seen, wherefore dispute not because ye see
not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.”
Then Sis MacCabe
pulled a B of M out of her backpack and said I want to give you a copy of the
Book you just read from –the Book of Mormon (this happened to be her last own personal
copy). But she testified to him that as
he read it and prayed He would find HOPE, he would find PEACE through Jesus
Christ and that is who we represent and why they were in Taiwan. Jimmi was so
touched and said he would read and pray. I testified that as a mother, the Book
of Mormon had been such a guide to all our challenges as we raised our family
and that I knew that as he read it he would find peace, answers to his
questions and feel closer to God. I gave him a tract that I had that tells about
what the Book of Mormon is and we used it to mark the page in the Book of
Mormon that he had just read. We invited
him to listen to the missionaries and asked him if he'd ever seen the male
version of us (haha) and he said Yes! He sees missionaries by his apartment
often in HK. He said he would talk to
them upon his return! And then our ride
was over!
The message of
the gospel literally had made his face light up. After he walked away, we felt so excited and
happy we literally jumped for joy that we had the opportunity to give HOPE to
this man. We found a quiet place and offered a prayer of gratitude. I know
without a doubt that we were put in Jimmi's path. My joy was compounded because
I could have such a sweet experience of teaching and testifying with these two
sisters I love so much--and on our last day together. I was so touched by this HOPE they
unhesitatingly shared with Jimmi. They
had the hope to find someone and then the hope to share with him!
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| Returning group of missionaries at the Miao during gondola ride |
Later as I went
home, I read in PMG this quote by Neal A. Maxwell which said: “Being blessed
with hope, let us, as disciples, reach out to all who, for whatever reason,
have moved away from the hope of the gospel.
Let us reach to lift hands which hang hopelessly down." Pres. James E Faust taught: “Hope is
believing and expecting that something will occur. Hope helps you conquer discouragement. Hope is the anchor of our souls…the unfailing
source of our hope is that we are sons and daughters of God and that His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, saved us from death.”
I was so grateful
these sisters possessed this quality of HOPE that this hopeless man desperately
needed in order to find it. I was so grateful
for the Book of Mormon which gives us Hope in Christ and helps us know Jesus
Christ.
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| "Do as I'm doing" w Gram |
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| Following Christ as a Child |
A few weeks ago
as I was on my way out the door, our daughter Lauren called me. And when they
called and I was in the process of brushing my teeth. But I wouldn't pass up the chance to say
hello to our little buddy--one year old Graham.
He saw me and studied me, watching with great interest as his Grandma
was brushing her teeth. Then he ran out
of the room. He came running back in
with his own toothbrush and immediately started brushing his teeth too! I was
so touched that he wanted to do what I was doing. He was not just content to study me, but to
follow me! I was preparing to speak to our missionaries about following the
Savior and I felt Graham was teaching me by his eager example as a child the
sweet humility of an eager follower.
I've been
thinking a lot about what it means to be an eager follower or disciple of
Christ especially since this last General Conference. The word "disciple" was used 59
times times throughout the sessions. So
many of our leaders talked about helping us become true disciples of Jesus
Christ. Our focus needs to be on HIM—He
is why we are here and this is HIS work!
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| ZC Doctrine of Christ diagram |
Our mission has
been studying the Doctrine of Christ and
PMG Chapter 6 which reminds us that we can become as HE is by developing
Christ-like Attributes.
I love these
reminders in PMG that “Just as vital as what you do, is WHO you are and WHO you
are becoming. " “The restored
gospel enables you to become like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The Savior has shown the way He has set the
perfect example, and He commands us to become as He is.."
When President Nelson
addressed all the outgoing Mission presidents and wives this past summer, he
pronounced a blessing on them. "I
bless you to feast upon the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ and apply it in
your daily lives." General Conference was such a feast about the Doctrine
of Christ. I testify that as we practice living His doctrine of faith in His
atonement, repentance, renew our baptismal covenants weekly to receive the Holy
Ghost and endure to the end by repeating this process weekly, we can become
more and more like our Savior, even His disciples with His light and hope!
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| Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life in the Book of Mormon |
I love our
prophet and leaders and loved all their encouraging words in GC about never quitting--remembering God
knows we aren't perfect but to keep striving.
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| RMs went to the temple together upon their return |
I felt as if they
were like Father Lehi, beckoning us from the Tree of Life to Come to the tree
and partake of the fruit--to come unto Christ--to stay on the covenant path and
to beware of deceptions and mists of
darkness. I heard the message that we
need to be INTENTIONAL and CAREFUL not CASUAL in keeping our Covenants and be
as the wise virgins who put oil in their lamps daily. I felt the same desire to reach out to my children and grandchildren and I pray for them and for our missionary sons and
daughters to heed our dear prophet's and leaders loving counsel to keep us
safely gathered in! I loved Sister Michelle Craig's talk about "Spiritual
Capacity" and the word
"intentional" --making intentional time with the Lord each day to
study His word and hear His voice. We
need to be as the wise virgins who intentionally put oil in their lamps each
day! As we now have over a hundred
returned missionaries we see how important this is in order for them to stay on
the covenant path. We continue to try to
hold onto them with our prayers and encourage them to do their
"REPPS" each day--Read/study the scriptures, exercise, plan, pray and
serve to stay in tune and facing the tree!
It is such a jungle out there and we know the only WAY through is
through Christ. He IS the WAY!
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| Love and pray for these people every day! (Family picture at Anne's wedding --minus our NC grands) |
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| The Spirit |
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| Elders Yang & Gray explain "ling" |
I love learning the story behind the Chinese characters for certain words. I'm convinced they were aware of the gospel
at some point because of all the spiritual symbols woven through so many
characters. For instance, the character
for the word "boat" shows a
vessel, with 8 people and a flood! Today
our Bishop who heads the language program at AIT explained in his testimony
that the Chinese character for "repentance" is huigui which shows
"change heart every day" That's exactly what repentance is! I hope my
heart is changing every day! I recently also learned the character for
"righteousness" --pronounced "E shows a "scapegoat" or
sacrificed lamb over a person showing that if you put God/ the lamb (scapegoat)
over self you are made righteous or perfect. Elder Gray and
Elder Yang explained to me The Chinese character for Spirit (pronounced
"ling") broken down it shows that like the rain will come down the
words from 3 mouths which will be shared through the work of 2 people. So from a gospel interpretation this means
The word of God the father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost (3 mouths) will be
spread by the work of 2 people (missionaries proclaiming the gospel). Amazing!
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| Symbol for Righteousness |
Speaking of
opportunities to learn Chinese, in September we had the thrill of performing in
the -Lamb of God! And all in Chinese!
Mike was asked to sing the part of Thomas and so I asked if I could be in the
choir since he would be going to rehearsals as his schedule would permit. It
was so glorious to sing this sacred music in Chinese after we had grown to love
it so much in California with Oakland temple hill choir. It is so powerful to sing it in Chinese and
hear their interpretation of the same words.
I wept hearing and seeing Mike get to do this. Missionaries brought friends and many wanted
to learn more about the gospel and Jesus Christ. It was a powerful missionary
opportunity and powerful spiritually opportunity for us personally to share our
testimonies through music. One of our
sister missionaries brought a man
investigating who had been struggling about his commitment, who decided after
seeing the performance to be baptized!
What a blessing to be here and take part in that special event unique to
Taiwan and one that so personally we love and are strengthened by. The message
Thomas teaches us in his song especially touched our hearts--He like we, go
through times where we doubt or like the man who asked the Savior "help
thou mine unbelief"! This inspired
song reassures us and I too know that we
may not now understand our trials but HE does and will make us whole! I love Thomas' very real and human testimony
to us: |
| Some of our missionaries who performed in L of God |
It may not be
when we demand,
We'll read the
meaning of our tears,
And there,
sometime, we'll understand
Why what we long
for most of all
Eludes our
open,pleading hand;
Why ever silence
meets our call,
Somewhere,
sometime, we'll understand.
So trust in God
through all thy days;
Fear not, for He
doth hold thy hand;
Though dark thy
way, still sing and praise,
Sometime,
sometime we'll understand
Sometime we'll
fall on bended knee,
And feel there,
graven on His hand
Sometime with
tearless eyes we'll see
What, here, we
could not understand.
So trust in God
through all they days;
Fear not, for He
doth hold thy hand;
Though dark thy
way, still sing and praise,
Sometime, sometime
we'll understand!"
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| I got to sing in the choir with these beautiful sisters |
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| Lamb of God cast and orchestra |
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| Jungle beauty at Xiangshan |
Taiwan is unique!
We are apparently in a jungle island! I love interviews when I can talk to the
missionaries and find out how they're really doing and what it's really like
out there on the streets and in the rice fields and jungle areas. Elder Griswold told President that he and
Elder Yang went to do personal study out by the waterfall in Fengling and
looked up to see they were surrounded by a family of monkeys who were coming to
join them-or find out what food they might have in their packs! Mike and I got
to see monkeys on our hike at Toroko gorge in August as well and bats in the
caves we hiked through. I admit I did better upon seeing the monkeys than the
bats!!
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| Elder Peterson & Elder Chao w/ Huntsman spider |
Elder Jackson
Peterson--one of our missionaries-- told me about a myriad of critters and
creepy crawlers he saw in that same area of Fengling that Elder Griswold is in
now--and was protected from! He showed
me a picture of a giant Huntsman spider he found in his apartment and trapped
and that as they cleaned up all the cockroaches and extra dongxi in their
apartment they went to put stuff in the attic.
Above the attic door it had something written in Chinese--beware of
bats! Sure enough when they opened the
door of the attic they saw 20 plus medium sized bats nested in the ceiling!
They deposited their things and closed the door fast! And we are definitely
trying to find a new apartment there!
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| Ferret Badger |
As the area is
very rural there he said he saw an animal that he didn't recognize. He had been asking me if any animals in
Taiwan carried rabies and I had actually done research on that because of
another Elder who had been bitten by a black squirrel last year. The only animal that they've found carries
rabies here is the ferret badger. I looked it up on my phone and showed him and
he said Whoah! that's the animal I've seen alot of here and didn't know the
name! I said "interesting you'd ask so now you can know to stay clear of
them!"
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| Many banded Krait--venomous spider in Taiwan |
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| Bats in cave in Taiwan |
He told me
several members have warned them about poisonous snakes that come out at
night. He told me that one night he and
his companion rode their bikes out on a rural trail to visit a member and it
was dark when they headed back. He
thought he better turn on his light and stop because he didn't hear or see his
companion. When he turned on the light
he saw a black and white snake crawling across his path. It was a "many banded krait"
--highly venomous. Thankfully he saw it
so he could avoid it and also thankfully Elder Peterson is a Marine! He said he
was curious if that was the real poisonous one the locals had told him about.
He has told me some of his war stories in Iraq and I already have such huge
respect for him but I feel he deserves a
badge of valor for serving in Fengling after his bravery in dealing with armies of cockroaches, huge
spiders, bats, ferret badgers and venomous snakes! Once again he is earning his stripes.
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| Sister Griffin and Sister Dalton--Taitung interviews |
During interviews
I always ask to see pictures--including pics of their families, and I love to
hear the miracles they're experiencing.
And I share mine and ask them for tips on how to street contact and how
to work with our investigator pengyous as well. This week I learned how to ask
some new phrases and I'm excited to try.
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| Eldere Duncan |
One of the
miracles I was so touched by was that one of our missionaries--Elder
Duncan, who felt he didn't see much
success in a hard area. Months later after being transferred to a new area, he
got a phone call from the ZL's in his old area. They had been tracting on the
streets and had met a young man. When
they began to tell him about the Book of Mormon the young man said, "Do
you mean THIS book? and he then pulled out his own copy from his backpack. He had apparently been reading it and was
half way through! The ZL's were shocked.
They asked him where he got it and he said:" from an Elder
Duncan" on the street a few months ago. When the ZL's called Elder Duncan
to let him know his efforts had paid off with this young man, he didn't even
recall giving it to him. It was a very quick contact, but it had been life
changing for the young man. Elder Duncan wept for joy as he wrote about what
this meant to him. That young man
(Peng2chen2yao4--haha I only know how to write the pinyin) was taught by the
ZL's and is now a recent convert--was baptized this past week! We never know when sharing the Book of Mormon
with a friend or a total stranger and our testimony of it will change their
life like it did for this man.
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| Sister Li and Sister Wang in Miaoli |
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| Elders Henderson & Weber drenched from rain |
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| Elders VanderLinden & Dalton in Xinchu |
I am so inspired
and touched and love these missionaries so much. I see their sweat stained shirts, their worn
shoes and belts and bikes and know what a privilege I have to see them on the
streets doing this work! I imagine their parents if they could see them, what
they would feel in the joy of seeing their son or daughter so willing to work
so hard to find and teach God's children here.
Biking around Taiwan is not easy and they do it day in and day out for
about 10 to 11 hours a day. I honestly
know there is no way they should be able to do it physically, but God sustains
them and not only that, they do it joyfully--most of the time! I am still in
awe of these incredible warriors for truth! Sister Wang is even having the joy of teaching her own father how to pray over their weekly skype calls. It brings us so much joy to see her joy over this incredible mission blessing she's receiving as the only member in her family. We learn so much from each missionary and their faith and service. This week we bid farewell to our
former assistant, Elder Weber who is going home a few months early for medical
procedure /health reasons. As I think about all he has given, I can't imagine
he could have given more. We are deeply
touched. These missionaries may leave
Taiwan but they will never leave our hearts!
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| Three of our Returned Missionaries are at US Naval Academy |
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| Sister Lyman and Sister Zhang |
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| Farewell to our amazing AP Elder Trent Weber |
Doctrine &
Covenants 138:56 states: “Even before
they were born, they, with many others, received their first lessons in the
world of spirits and were prepared to come forth in the due time of the Lord to
labor in his vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men.” How blessed we
feel to be here with these prepared servants laboring in the Lord’s vineyard in
Taiwan!
I keep hearing
this Primary song in my head when I'm with them...
We believe in the
Savior, Jesus Christ.
We’ll honor his
name.
We’ll do what is
right;
We’ll follow his
light.
His truth we will
proclaim!
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| Seniors hike up Xiangshan Mt |
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| Uncle Kelly Crabb |
A week
ago we lost my Uncle Kelly Crabb to cancer.
He was only 72. He was always so
kind to me. He was a well-known successful Hollywood attorney--represented many
famous people, but he was also a loving devoted servant of the Lord and father,
husband, uncle and brother. He served
his mission in Japan when we were young children. He brought us girls--his
nieces-- special gifts all the way from Japan that I have kept since, including
a kimono and a little music box. The love he brought and shared with me from
Japan made my heart turn toward the Asian culture and people, built upon later
when Mike and my parents served missions in Asia. Kelly was so musically talented as well and
wrote a favorite Christmas song that has given me great food for thought about
our Savior and Mary His mother. In the
chorus it says: Mary told Jesus, the FIRST Christmas story--how angels had sung
on that night filled with glory! How shepherds and angels were there at the
start, and Mary kept all of these things in her heart." I love thinking
about Mary "speaking softly, as if in a prayer", telling Jesus from
the time he was a toddler about his glorious birth and the heavenly and humble
and wise visitors alike all coming with bended knee to worship their King. I'm so grateful for my uncle's testimony of
the Savior that has had such an impact on my life and my children's as we have
sung this song each Christmas and pondered on His glorious birth.Our missionaries
are learning Christmas music to share at a fireside in December and each time
we sing these songs my heart fills with the joy of His birth and a testimony
that He lives and came for US. That is the message we share now to the world,
through our humble missionaries, and all of our humble testimonies.
At this time of
Thanksgiving, I am so grateful for Christ.
I can testify His merciful arms are outstretched to each of us! They are
open and waiting no matter what we have done or how many times we have had to
repent and restart. This loving phrase
"arms of mercy" is in the scriptures 47 times! He invites us over and
over. May we always be grateful and come
unto Him!
GRATEfully yours!
Ai nimen,
Ping Jie
Mei/Sister Peterson/ Shelley/Gma/ Momma
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| We are so THANKFULL for all our Cute Lil Pumpkins In Utah.... |
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| North Carolina .....and |
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| ...New York City ! |
