Thanksgiving in Taiwan

Thanksgiving was great.  There were a ton of Thanksgiving festivities this year.  Last year my companion and I treated ourselves to a dinner of turkey rice and a McDonald’s apple pie, which we thought was quite clever.  The ward also had a Thanksgiving party that Sunday, so it was festive but not a huge deal.  This year on Wednesday after English they had a Thanksgiving dinner.  Our ward correlator who is from the U.S. on Saturday treated us/investigators/recent converts/ward missionaries to a catered thanksgiving dinner.  He is like an ambassador to Taiwan and lives in a huge apartment where he regularly hosts government parties.  It was super nice.  We went home with leftovers, so Thanksgiving has spanned many days.  On Thursday my companion and I had turkey rice to stick to tradition.  This next Saturday our other ward has this huge Thanksgiving party that we are actually in charge of, so we will be making a ton of Thanksgiving food for it.  Thanksgiving just keeps continuing.  It has been fun.  

We actually had a baptism this week.  She is a really sweet sister named Ma Jiemie.  Sister Busath told me she was a little nervous about her getting baptized because she hadn't been to church a ton, but the baptism was already planned, and she met all of the requirements.   After meeting with her I felt much more confident about it.  She really does have a strong testimony.  I think everything will be fine with the ward too because she is getting to know more people, and the ward leaders hearing about the conversion process inspired more confidence in her.  She is a really sweet, sweet girl.  I love her so much even though I have just met her.  Sister Liang and Sister Jarvis got permission to come down for the baptism, and it was great to see them.  

 So a couple of weeks ago sister Jarvis and I had to come home to finish up some of our studies because we had had to leave earlier than normal because of a lesson.  While there we noticed a huge cockroach in our room.  This is the 2nd huge cockroach we have found in our room.  The last one was in my bed so this one wasn't as bad, but it was still huge - about 3 x 1 inches.  We didn't want to deal with it then so we just figured we would kill it when we got home.   

That night we decided to tackle the project and our roommates, Sister Bryce and Sister Walbrecht agreed to help.  Oh I wish we had it on tape.  Imagine 4 grown women completely freaking out as this cockroach runs back and forth.  It kept running under our beds making it super hard to get at it.  Finally we scared it out and Sister Bryce who had some kitchen cleaner (our cockroach killer spray bottle wouldn't spray anything out) starts spraying it continuously but to no avail.  It then runs in between Sister Jarvis's legs as she jumps up and down screaming hysterically.  After this I was like, "sister's we have got to calm down, or our neighbors are going to think that one of us is dying."   

We all tried to calm down and finally caught it in a corner.  I was armed with the dustpan and Sister Bryce with the broom as we successfully smashed it.  These cockroaches are super hard to kill.  One hit doesn't do it; it takes multiple hits.  It was pretty funny.   

I love my new companion Sister Busath.  She is so dedicated and funny.  We have just been loving diving into the work together.  We have been working on ward relations as they were a little in need of help before.  Maybe it is just in my head, but I think things are improving.  We met with both of the Relief Society presidents, and I called both of the Bishops and wrote out really detailed progress records to give them and talked with them both after church.  We just want them to feel confident in our abilities to get things done, and we want to actually get things done at the same time.   

Anti-Smoking Puppet Shows and Hospital Floors

Last week we also participated in a puppet show about smoking.  This is something the stake had asked us to do about a month ago for a blood drive.  Sadly, the zone leaders forgot to tell us about it until the week of and put my roommate Sister Bryce in charge.  It actually turned out ok.  Our puppet show stage consisted of a bed sheet held up by the two tallest elders in our zone while the rest of us stood behind it.  I was "addiction" and attacked the "lung" until it died.  These were actually pretty morbid play. We did not write or have to do voices for the plays.  They were already prerecorded, and we just had to move the puppets’ mouths.   

So Saturday roles around and Sister Jarvis and I are eating lunch with someone after her baptism.  She jokingly said, "Well Sister Gibson, I got baptized so you can go back to America now."  Literally 5 minutes later I get a call from President Bishop telling me that for my last 4 weeks I am being transferred to another area. Sister Jarvis started crying.  The person who just got baptized actually took it quite well.  I am not moving that far away, and she said she will just come visit me.  So yeah, I am in Gaoxiong and Lingya/Shizhong – back to two wards. I am not sure how I am feeling about this.  I was super sad to leave.  I was just so happy and excited where I was and everything was going so well.  I was so excited to finish my mission out strong, and I was so motivated to help some of the really cool people we are working with get baptized.  But I did pray the other day for Heavenly Father to chasten me and to help me learn as much as I can for the rest of my mission.  I guess this is one way of doing that. I am trying to have a good attitude, but I am a little sad.  However, I am also excited to get to work and to have a new challenge.

Sister Jarvis and McKenzie who got their hair done at a salon on a P-day

Sister Jarvis and I went to visit someone at the hospital on Wednesday.  Little did I know that Sister Jarvis is known to get very woozy in hospitals.  We arrive and meet this woman who we have never met before.  All of a sudden Sister Jarvis grabs a chair, which is not that weird, but then she sits on the ground.  I asked her if she was ok, and she said she was.  We started to sing a hymn and all of a sudden she starts to eat a granola bar and lies down completely flat on the floor of the hospital room.  Again, I asked her if she was ok.  She said, yes, just to keep singing.  I finished singing the song after which we quickly prayed and shared a short spiritual thought all while my companion is laying on the ground.  Don’t worry, she didn't actually pass out; she was just on the verge of it.  It was pretty funny after the fact.   

Sister Jarvis and McKenzie at lunch on a P-day

We had some wonderful progression with the Wen family this week.  Sadly, the mom still isn't super interested, but we are trying not to give up on her.  The dad brought his sons to English class.  When he learned that as missionaries we don't receive a salary and pay for our missions out of our own pockets, he was so touched.  He said he really feels how this message is so focused on the family.  The mom just feels like she already knows it all.  She knows a little bit about Christianity and feels like she doesn't needed to study it.  She was excited about her husband having something that he and their sons were studying as a way to have son and father bonding time together.  Plus, it allowed her some time at home to be alone.   

We taught the plan of salvation to them on Friday and tried to help her see how this is about an eternal blessing for the family and that it can unify their family relationships as a whole.  She seemed to understand but then still seemed really skeptical.  We really feel like their whole family can be baptized, so we are not giving up hope on the mom.