Sister Museus, June 20th, 2011

Li He Jiaren (Hello Family), It was so good to open up my email account and see that many of you had written me this week; thanks! We had great miracles over the weekend with three of our investigators receiving baptism!!! What a fun and spiritual experience it was to watch them get baptized. Sister Xiang, Sister Li, and Sister Chen all received baptism. Sister Xiang is the 14-yr-old that we had been working with for a while and we finally came up with a schedule for her of how to get her to church. I'm so glad that our Father in Heaven gave me the inspiration to give her one more shot even when some of the members told us not to. I finally sat her down (being bold and loving) and told her she either needed to come to church or we couldn't meet with her anymore. Sister Xiang loved her going to see her mother in Zhanghua over the weekends since she lives with her Aunt for school. However, we had wonderful members about her age sit down with her and bore their testimonies on the importance of church and such. So how things worked out with her coming to church last weekend and then this weekend getting baptized and then confirmed on Sunday. Sister Huang (a great member who acts like a missionary) gave a powerful testimony at the baptism expressing her gratitude for me and Sister Page and for the patience and love that we have. It was so sweet to hear say such nice things when I feel like she is the one that carries such great qualities (she is one of the best members I've seen and helps missionaries whenever she can). Sister Huang was one of those that asked us not waste our precious time with Sister Xiang after the many tricks she pulled on us to get our of church. For example, Sister Huang took her and her daughter to the movies and spent time with them so Sister Xiang would stay in Taiping over the weekend, but afterwards she snuck over to Zhanghua on the bus and then never came to church. However, Sister Xiang is amazing and continues to change for the better. It has been so neat to watch her grow, especially the light inside her. She is already a great new member and had a very hard time saying goodbye to me. Sister Li is just as great and has never really had a problem that we needed to help her fix. She use to have work in the way, but right now she quit her job in order to help her father who is really sick right now. Sister Li has always been willing to keep the commandments and the commitments we have extended out to her. She is one of the most humble people I know. I don't know if I told you the funny story about her and the eternal family lesson we had with her. However, I guess the lesson made her slightly feel guilty since she had a divorce that in the closing prayer she was asking Heavenly Father to forgive her for it. What made it even more awkward was the fact that I had to get more information about her divorce since baptismal records are so detailed. However, we had a great member present who also had a divorce and helped us smooth things over. Nevertheless, Sister Li is amazing and is the oldest investigator that I helped get baptized. She is 56-yrs-old. Watching her change her ways and life around helped me realize that it is never too late to start your life over and take that leap of faith and get baptized into the only true church. I was thinking about this and John came to my mind. John, I will be working with you when I return home because I do want you to taste the fulness of this gospel and the many eternal blessings that await you. Sister Chen was the third person who got baptized who is only 8-yrs-old. She is a miracle story since her parents have been less-active for several years, but the great ward has been working with them and they are finally coming back. We were hoping they would put off her baptism so her dad could get worthy and baptize her, but I guess he talked to the bishop and didn't want his daugther to wait. I really wanted him to baptize and confirm her since it is such a special experience, but he does have a smoking problem and it might take him some time to get over it (unless you are Sister Lin, our recent convert who quite within one week). Sister Chen actually can't count as one of our investigators since she is 8-yrs-old and both her parents are members, but I still count her since back in October I taught her on several occasions since Sister Liu (old companion) and I were trying to help her and her family come back to church. How wonderful this last move-call was to watch 5 amazing people get baptized within a 6-week period. Sister Page and I were truly blessed! It was neat to see so many miracles and watch the Lord and the amazing Taiping ward help us so much. It was especially neat to watch three investigators get baptized together and then get confirmed and receive the Holy Ghost on Father's Day! What a great gift I thought I could give to Dad. I know that we all miss him so much, but I believe He is doing the same work that I am doing. Right now I am in my new area clear in Gaoxiong (or Kaohsiung) called Daliao. The area is pretty small (a little bigger than Huwei), but Sister Lew (who just left this area) left it really well with many progressing investigators and many who will get baptized real soon. It will definitely be a new adventure being in a small town and not adding a lot of people and such, but I think it will be fun since my new companion has such a great/happy attitude. My new companion is Sister Lee who grew up in Utah and is very sweet. She is only on her second move-call so it will be different since I know I will have to take more charge in doing things (but, I felt like I did that a lot with Sister Page as well). It's still sad for me to leave such a great place full of such wonderful people and have to leave when I pretty much have one move-call left, but I guess I am needed here and this is where I will die (in missionary terms). (The last mission president never moved people when they had one move-call left, but President Bishop is the complete opposite and loves moving us around). Whit, it was so good to hear from you again. I'm glad you were able to spend some time with the Hammonds in Phx. I do love hanging out with them and miss them tons. I love hearing that you all are still hanging out with our great cousins. I bet you had a blast with them, especially since Deb and Mom are so alike. It was funny to hear that Deb still likes that Swaps as well. I just love this place because everyone always comes out with something neat that they bought at such a cheap price (I am all in for bargains). You would definitely be proud of me and my bargaining skills in Taiwan. They keep getting better since my Chinese is progressing. However, since I have been around for a while I have collected too much stuff (and a lot of it is for you the rest of the family). Luckily, the great elders helped me with the many bags I carried on and off the train as well as my new companion when I arrived. I have to admit that I probably have the most stuff out of any missionary I've seen, (I guess I get this bad habit from Mom...whoop), but just remember to bring an empty suitcase with you so you can help me carry so much of your stuff home :). Whit, I'm glad you liked the small drinking gourd that I bought you. Sister Page found this neat store and the owner hand-paints all of them. Most drinking gourds are a lot bigger and are used to put alcohol in them. However, they like using the small ones for decorations and festivals. I hope the whole family loved them, especially John and Alex since theirs were more special (because of Father's Day and Alex's graduation). Can't wait to see you soon Whit, love you lots! Ash, you are making such a great mother with your two boys. It sounds like Carter's summer is pretty busy with camp and swimming. I bet he is loving it and I can totally see little Bossy getting jealous, hehe. It sounds like their personalities are coming out more and more. It's funny to hear that everyone thinks they act like you and Paige when you two were growing up. I will definitely have to check this out when I return home. Your camping story to Zion really did sound like a lot of fun. I love hearing that you all are spending so much time together, even when Mom and John are gone. We will have to do so fun things when I return home. What a blessing it has been to see that you all are still getting along and getting closer as a family. It was funny to hear that you felt like you were out of shape and Alex was being your motivation coach. Hopefully I'm in good enough shape to go hiking with you all. The car ride did sound a bit difficult, but it must have been fun with all the sisters together and Charles (poor Chuck). It was really cute to hear that Bossy gave his first prayer and church and than mentioned how long Moms was at the Father's Day dinner. What a cute personality he must have. I am so pround of you Ash and for taking your kids to church. You will never regret this and the many righteous decisions that you are making. I also do hope to be like PJ and Norma when I get old as well. It was also good to hear that you were learning how to cook from the great chef. Mom is such an excellend cook. I will definitely take full advantage I have with her and learn her cooking skills (or at least try). Your IPad sounds real neat even though I scarcely know what they even are. I guess you will need to give me so updates on everything when I return home. Love you Ash and miss you! Mom, I also can't wait to see you soon as well! It was neat to see so many people get baptized last move-call. It's neat to hear that the bishop and Bownell are your home teachers. I'm glad to hear that they are doing their job and taking care of you and the family. It does sound like the ward is getting old with everyone getting married and serving missions. What a trooper and Saint you are for doing Alicia's baby shower. However, I bet it was fun seeing so many faces and old friends. But, I am so very proud of you Mom for always putting others first and taking care of so many people. You are too nice to give Cole such a great car. However, I'm glad to hear that I will have my car back when I return home. It's funny to hear that John Dattage has gained a lot of weight; I am also glad that I never married as well. I still don't know what I want to do when I return home. For now I want to work at the office and study for the GRE so I can try and get into a Masters program. I love you Mom and thanks for your sweet words about Dad and me giving a gift to him by being on a mission. Love you tons and can't wait to see you soon! Here is more information on our trip. BUt I need to know if you all want to see some more historical sites. I was thinking of taking Tainan out of the trip, but their is a lof historical Dutch sites there. If you don't think we should go there here is the schedule so Mom can get hotels. August 15-17: Kaohsiung (if you want to fit in Tainan we could go there on the 17th of August) You all decideAugust 18-19: TaichungAugust 20-21: Taipei Love you all tons and will give you more info about our trip next time! Love You Always,Sister Museus