Sister Museus, September 12, 2010...More Faith in Little Huwei

Hey Everyone, I wish you all would email me more. It's times like this on my mission when I really need to hear from all of you. Thank you Mom for always writing me each week; it means the world to me and helps me get through each week. It really helped me to hear from you Mom and just barely Paige as well :) (I just received your email Paige while I was writing this email). My companion and I found out a few days ago that Sister Liao cannot get baptized until later since we found out she was living with her fiance. We failed at asking her this question when we went over the Law of Chastity and she didn't know that you cannot do this since it was never mentioned in the Gospel Principles book (that she read from cover to cover). Sister Liao desires to be baptized more than anything and wants to eventually get married in the temple with her fiance. However, she doesn't know where to live since both their parents live far away. Most likely we won't be able to see her get baptized since she doesn't plan on getting married until next year. Nevertheless, it has been a really neat experience to watch her change so much. I already mention to you why so wears less make-up and more decent clothes since she feels that the gospel is making her a beautiful person. In addition, she told us that she is starting to cook and clean more because Sister Liao knows that these two things are important to do in order to have a successful marriage and raise a great family. Throughout my own life I've seen what a difference it has made in our family. What a joy and blessing is has always been to have a clean house and a homemade dinner each day. I believe this skills continue to lack even more as time goes on and I feel so blessed by you, Mom, for always doing these things. Remember I can't wait to come home and cook with you again so we can spend some more time to together and I can learn some better cooking skills. We had Sister Exchanges on Tuesday where I was sent to Yongkang (which is next door to Tainan...where I spent my last two previous Sister Exchanges). I was companions for the day with Sister Dewyea. It's sad to say that many missionaries have warned me about her since she does things very strangely and is just an awkward person to be around. However, it wasn't too bad as I spent time with her and learned how she likes to do missionary work. She is a very sweet person, but she does need to learn to be more obedient and follow all of the mission rules. Nevertheless, it was neat to see how supportive her ward is in Yongkang and to be in such a nice church (since we meet in a building in Huwei). I almost felt like I was home as I spent time in the church teaching lessons with Sister Dewyea. I hadn't seen carpet for such a long time so it was neat to see it again. Nothing exciting happened this week. The weather hasn't been good so it's been really hard to try and contact, teach lessons, and add more investigators. However, yesterday we did have a family show up for church that we've been teaching for the past two months. It was really exciting to see them come since we've been trying to get them to come to church for quite some time. Things have been pretty rough since our investigators seem to progress and then not progress. Lately, I feel like it keeps going in a cycle with our investigators. This coming week is our last week to be able to add investigators and get them baptized during our move-call since they have to go to church at least 3 times before they get baptized. Sister Roper and I continue to have faith that Heavenly Father will help us pull through and find some great people who want to get baptized. It's been a struggle here since Huwei is one of the smallest areas that they send missionaries to, which makes it harder to find people who are ready to get baptized. Anyways, I'm glad you all went caterpillar hunting this year. I remember trying to do that last year and we had such a hard time finding them. Hopefully it was easier to find them this year. It was also good to hear that you spent some time with Papa Jun and Mama Norma on the dam. I loved hearing that each of you took you turn on the big Molecule. I can't believe that Boston wanted to go on it and wanted Papa Jun to drive faster! I wasn't suprised to hear that Carter was crying when Ash got on back of the Molecule. He gets too worried for his mama :). You better save me a spot on the Molecule when I get home; though I do regret getting on it every time I get on that thing, hehe. Thank you Mom for writing me and telling me what you've been doing each week. I'm surprised to hear that John is already getting a new truck, but I'm not suprised to hear that looks like his last truck. However, it will be nice not to squish in the back of it. By the time I get home you will probably have a new family car as well :). It was really good to hear from you Paige. I just received you email as I was writing this one :). I'm glad you and Charles had a fun time in California. It did sound like you did the same thing we did with mom and dad. However, I wouldn't mind taking that trip again since I was pretty young when I went. It sounded like you had a great time. I'm suprised you didn't stop by the the famous jail Alcatratz (oops, I don't know how to spell this one). That place did creep me out a bit, but it was interesting to learn about it. Maybe we'll have to go one this trip again when I get back. Thanks for telling me about Mama Norma. No one told me that she had another bad fall. I'm glad to hear that she is doing fine. It was also good to hear that you are starting school again. I know how stressful that is and I am very impressed that you can do it with going to work full time. Go Sista!!! I am always proud of you and the rest of the family for always caring so much about the business and still continuing your education all at the same time. Keep up the good work everyone! Alex, what happen to you writing me every other week? I loved getting your package in the mail last Monday. It has been really nice eating something that is familiar and really delicious. I already wore the cute necklace you sent me and will wear the scarf when it gets colder here in Taiwan. I loved getting pictures of what the boutique looks like. How is your business doing? Do have employees who work at the boutique? I sent you a letter with a little something to thank you for sending me such a great package (even though you should have never spent so much money on me). I love you Alex and I hope to hear from you more often. My year mark is today, which means I will be home within a year now. I apologize for confusing you Paige. The earliest I would come home is in the end of August and the latest is in the middle of September. I would love for you to wait for me for your wedding, but I understand if you cannot since I know you've been already waiting for so long. I love you all very much and I'm so grateful to hear that you are all spending so much time together. It makes me a bit sad thinking I'm missing out on these great memories with you, but I know this is where I need to be for the next year. It's great to hear that you are still roasting marshmallows and cooking hot dogs outside. I failed to mention that last night my companion and I had some roasted marshmallows last night. We decided to stop by at a former investigator's house and she kept feeding us so many roasted marshmallows since she knows it's a American thing to do. It was such a tender mercy for us since it was raining all day yesterday and then to stop by and have a friendly conversation with Shelly (who speaks really good English) and roast marshmallows was really nice. It actually reminded me all of you and the great times we spend together. Keep making memories with each other and remember that I will be home in no time. I love you all very much and can't wait to see you all again! Love All of You,Sister Museus p.s. It was cool to hear that Erika Ewing is going to serve in Chile for her mission. Tell her congrats from me. Today, I'm going to look for a little something for you Mom for your birthday that is coming up. By the way, I was able to figure out the pin number, thanks Mom for your help. I love and miss you all!!!