Zhu nimen shengdan jie quaile!

1 opening presents

2: the tree.

3 Miniature toilet in the hospital late one night

4 Me Sister Holm and my favorite little old special ward member in Xinzhu. I loved this guy and his dog. They were so nice.

5 Sister Holm and I and an investigator Jane

5 Sister Holm and I christmasin out

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This week was very interesting. I'm pretty sure my entire mission I've never had a schedule with quite so much of nothing in it. We had a total of 3 lessons this week. The sister I replaced mid transfer was going home so the past few weeks have been much preparation for her and as such there were no lessons scheduled with our investigators, of which there are like 5...so...I haven't really met any of them yet...and what does a missionary do when there are no people to teach? We go find people to teach! We were outside all week finding. We did a lot of bike riding and walking and a ton of talking. I've never gotten so many phone numbers in a day before.

We had sister Oler's first lesson on a doorstep with two college jocks. We knocked on their door and when it opened much to our surprisings there were no pants. The door quickly closed on us only after they found out that we were missionaries and we heard frantic scrambling and then almost as equally surprising they really did open the door again. They were almost uncertainly engaging in some very questionable activity...but we taught them about the power of prayer and about who heavenly father is and they gave us their number and said that they would try meeting with the elders. The next day we interrupted a funeral and then went caroling. The next day I let sister Oler lead in contacting and starting the conversations with people. She did pretty well. I assured her that I would be right behind her if she didn't understand something or needed me to jump in, but we were in a park and so every time she initiated conversation somehow a crazy/homeless person would start talking to me...but she did just fine on her own really.

Its a strange thing to suddenly be the one so adept with the language here. I lucked out with getting a 'step-trainee' that is already pretty advanced for a trainee. She ting-de-dongs (understands) most of what she hears already so its like I don't even have to translate most of the time. Its pretty sweet. She will doubtless advance quickly. We get along wonderfully, and I don't fore see much problem wise this transfer. But I do fore see a lot of long hours on the streets. We are going to put our all in resurrecting the area here. Its really tough because its also a high income area and the people are proud and well off most of the time. I came from the area that Sister Holm and I had worked into a boom with 20 something investigators working towards baptism and constant lessons now to a slow creep of the work here. God does not want me to get lazy at the end. This might be my hardest working area. Good on the end.

Christmas day we only had 2 hours of church since this area only has 2 wards. We got up, made french toast, went to church and I gave my by now routine introductory talks. Most of the wards for some reason or another thought I was a new missionary or something and unable to speak Chinese so I had a lot of people afterward come up to me and tell me that my Chinese was really good in surprised tones. that was mildly amusing. We went home and had our little Christmas party around our tiny tree and then Sister Oler called her family. We finished the night at the house of an American family living a few streets down from us we were lucky to be chosen out of the missionaries in the area to share Christmas with them because they invite the missionaries over every year. It topped off the night in a lovely way.

That is all I've got to report on this week, I hope you are all wonderful. And have kaixin de xinnian! Happy New Year! I love you all! Don't forget those resolutions and drink some bubbled cider for me too.

Love you all,

Sister Thiessen

http://melissathiessen.blogspot.com/

melissa.thiessen@myldsmail.net

Taiwan, Taipei Mission
Sister Melissa Thiessen
F4, No.24, Lane 183, Chin Hua St.
106-42 Taipei, TAIWAN

The Holiday Surprise

So it is the second week of the transfer and last Thursday just as our studies were ending we get a surprise call from the Assistants in which they inform me that they can now tell me of the secret plan. Its as I had expected, an emergency move call to take the place of the sisters leaving. I was informed that I would be moving back up to Taipei, a city called Shilin, to take over the second half of training for a sister Oler. It threw every plan we had for the weekend into a spin of disarray as we struggled to get everything in order to move. I was moving, my companion Sister Holm was taking over as a new senior companion, and there was a new sister moving in. I had to pack all of my stuff, get the area in order, and say my goodbyes.

Goodbyes, what a hard thing this time around. I can honestly say that I thought I would be ending my mission in the little metropolis of Xinzhu, and I had invested quite a bit of love into that little place. I have to say that it was my favorite area as far as the place, the investigators and the members. I will miss it much-ly. The members were also quite loving as I was leaving and all very concerned and surprised. It was a touching display of affection.

When I came into the area of Xinzhu it was much like white washing, starting completely over because the area was floundering with no active investigators and no finding happening. When I left we had 20+ investigators and we were doing very well. I saw a great deal of success and miracles in that area and it will always have a peace of my heart and it will always be a place I love. And I will also miss Sister Holm. It was the strangest feeling as we started out with different companions from the mission home. Sister Holm is and will be my longest companion on the mission and it was like parting with family when I left her. It was something that I hadn't quite experienced before, because usually I'm not so invested in my companions. I will really miss her. And I will miss spending Christmas with her as well.

I am now in Shilin and I don't know much about the place yet. I have been here once before, long long ago in my second transfer on exchanges. But I have high hopes for the place. It seems like a good area. We will see how it unfolds. My new companion/trainee is Sister Oler from Houston TX. From my Aunt Stacie's ward actually. Funny story, when she got her mission call and my aunt found out she gave sister Oler my email. Sister Oler emailed me and asked questions about Taiwan. When I replied I said that by the time she got here I would be an old missionary and maybe I would train her. I was actually surprised the transfer she first got here and I didn't. But then...I did. And that's how the Lord works. She seems like a pretty cool girl so far, I don't know much about her yet except that she is very outspoken and spunky. I think we will get along :) Well see how well the 'training' part goes. Though it is a godsend to be able to have a full hour of language study again.

So Christmas is coming in only a week...and I am not feeling it. Its not even cold here in Shilin (though it sure was in xinzhu!). I've gotta do something to invite the Christmas spirit. This is my second Christmas in Taiwan and I as still missing the family. But that's ok, because my whole family is in 5 different continents for Christmas anyway so at least we are all missing each other together with unity! Ha. I'll be home for the next one.

I hope you all have a very merry Christmas, and do remember why it is that we have a Christmas in the first place. Its not just about the pretty tree and the shiny paper. I love you all. And I love my Savior. Say happy birthday to Christ with some good deeds this year my friends.

Sister Melissa Thiessen

hen jiu bu jian.

So there have been some interesting things recently occurring here in xinzhu Taiwan, particularly in the life of this sister missionary. Last last week were move calls, and nothing really exciting happened (even though I was really hoping that I could train) Sister Holm and I stayed together and not much else happened. Except I have passed through probably the most trying and low point in my mission at least thus far but considering the time I have left it might more fully count in a whole kind of sense. ( I guess that should offer me some great comfort because its all smooth sailing from here then right? Hah. Probably not. :) ) I won't go into details because that would take too long, but suffice it to know that it was not a happy time. And it really dashed my faith against the rocks. But I learned a great deal from it. I learned about optimism, I learned about taking action in faith and I learned that sometimes the plan the Lord has in mind for us doesn't always line up with the way we see it. God's ways really are not out own, and it is left to us to learn humility and accept that especially when it hurts so we can see the happiness waiting on us if we pull through the storm clouds.

This week found us with an unexpected surprise. Wednesday we were heading to the city next to ours to meet with the district there to practice a musical number for an activity that we were going to do. As we were riding the phone started to ring so we pulled over on this little scenic bike path thing and I looked at the phone. It was the assistants. It was a little bit of a shocking thing, because the assistants don't call for whatever reason. Usually its just about official business,.. So I answer the phone and the assistant Elder Young tells me that he has a message for me straight from president and I'm all thinking great what did I do, and then he says that I am part of a secret plan. He said that I needed to swiftly acquire the trainer handbook and start studying that as fast as possible, especially some certain parts. He sounded like it was pretty important that I get on this and quick, but he said he couldn't tell me why. So Sister Holm and I were all abuzz and curious and such. But we didn't really know why, it had to be that I was training or something because they would have no other reason to secretly give me the hand book, which they give to people to prepare to train.

So the next day we have Elder Young fax us some pages because I couldn't get them from the mission home for a couple of days, and when I saw the parts he wanted me to start studying first it all clicked in my head and I think I have it all figured out. Trainers must train for two transfers now. And the church provides a very scheduled and regulated like syllabus thing that you have to follow for studies and training, and its organized by what you have to study and do every week for 12 weeks. He wanted me to study weeks 9-12. So there is also another situation in the mission right now with sisters. All the sisters in the transfer just older than me (4 sisters) are going home a just over half a transfer early so they can start school. So the mission is trying to find out how to cover for them spontaneously leaving. Two of those sisters are in the middle of training and when they leave it will be the 9th week. Which matches up with the part they wanted me to study. So I think that all along president had it planned for me to take over for one of them when they leave, which is why he didn't have me train last move call. Gods plans sometimes are really unexpected, but He sure has got them. So chances are that I will be moving on emergency move calls up to Taipei next Monday. It will probably be me because if I stay here and the trainee comes down here Sister Holm would have to go white wash (start over) with the area up there that the sisters would be leaving, because no one would know the investigators or anything. And that is pretty tough, and they will probably have to put Sister Holm with a duanchuan (short term replacement missionary that is a volunteer from a ward in our mission). It could happen that she moves. but it will probably me me moving. Again. Hah. Of course this is just how I think it will go down so its not for sure cause I really don't know anything...but that's how I think it will go down.

I would really be sad to leave XinZhu so close to Christmas. Sis Holm and I were really excited to spend Christmas together. It was going to be good, and now I might be leaving the week before, so I would get to a new place just before and not know anyone. Sad day. But its all good. I could handle it, I'm a moving pro. I will really miss it here if that is my destiny though. I love the members and the investigators and the missionaries down in this little far corner area. I had been hoping to spend my last couple of transfers in one area. But as I have recently learned so well, my plan doesn't necessarily mean that its Gods plan. And his is usually so much better.

Well that is that. And I love you all. have a good week! I get to call home this week to talk to my dad and my brother before they rocket off to other sides of the globe again, so mine will be good :)
Love
Sister Melissa Thiessen

Birthday Week!

L R



Left to Right-
1 & 2- Missionary thanksgiving
3 Halloween Box from Mom
4 Our investigator
5 Asian Thanksgiving
6 My Birthday Lunch
7 Party Girls - Halloween
8 Another Loooong Day
9 Taiwan Fruit Stand
10 Skit planning
11 Decorations for Halloween




This week went by really fast, but also very well. Sister Holm and I were blessing with a lot of success this week. We had a lot of very good lessons and found some promising new investigators. This week we also had a zone conference, it was good to see other missionaries that I know and love and be able to take a rest for a moment and just enjoy the training. Thanksgiving was also this week though it passed much without fanfare until Saturday when the three wards that we are in charge of had their thanksgiving parties. Three of them on the same day, which meant that we got to attend three different feasts. Its a strange thing to be in Taiwan celebrating a holiday that is completely to do with American history but the food was still good all the same...if not a little Asian. Ok, well a lot Asian. Asian and western food have many very large and very obvious differences. Ha. The best part was the pumpkin pie, a REAL pumpkin pie. Pie is not something that is found in Taiwan, and so we were blessed to have members go to Costco and buy real American pie and rolls.

We had 3 parties to attend, needless to say we ate a lot. We (all the missionaries) also ended up doing a small skit about the origin of thanksgiving. The Pilgrim and Indian story. out of the 8 or us we had 3 pilgrims (me included), 3 Indians, an evil king, and a narrator because we didn't speak at all on the stage. Sister Holm and I made props and costumes out of paper and card bord and I had a lot of fun making pilgrim hats and Indian feathers and the mayflower to us to sail across the stage. It was pretty amusing, I'm going to be honest. I'm going to try to attach a picture but due to technical difficulties and a full memory card we only got half of the skit. We will have to get the rest from a member to recorded it too.

We have been watching one of our LAs (Less actives), a Gao jiemei come back to church this transfer. Actually she probably counts as an NA (absolutely not active). She was baptized 30 years ago and then after a short period of time fell away because she got married to a non member and he didn't exactly support her Christianity. We found her again at the end of last transfer when she ran into one of our elders on the road one day. Then she started meeting with us and retaking the lessons. She didn't remember anything after 20 something years. She has come to church every Sunday since then, even though she's been sick a couple of times and busted up her arm another time. She did an un-Taiwanese thing and came to church in a sling and on pain drugs. She is a solid one. She was afraid to begin with that she didn't know anyone, but it has been amazing to see the ward leap into action. The relief society has been all over the situation, we had a few peikes and suddenly she is in with all the leaders of the ward. They enveloped her in a big blanket of warm welcome-ness. Yesterday at church she brought her 20 year old son, not a member. She has a lot of bravery, and her testimony is coming back in full force. I have little doubt her family will come along slowly and she will get the temple marriage she longs for someday. It has been a miracle to watch in her life as she has started to change herself once more, with the determination of the righteous.

Its my birthday today! I'm a whole 23! A year older and so much the wiser...Well at least older. I left the planning up to my companion and the elders in my district today and they chose to leave me out of the loop in a surprise-itory spirit so we'll see how it plays out.

I love you all! Be sure to infect everyone you can with a cheerful holiday spirit. The holidays are now officially on!
Sister Melissa Thiessen

Thankful, Turkeys and Baptisms

Another week trundling by, and it brings us to the beginning of the holiday season already. Thanksgiving is only days away. My zone had a lovely thanksgiving meal last p-day in preparation. We and some of the more considerate elders spent most of the morning and day in the kitchen preparing our feast. It was actually pretty legit. We (sister Holm and I) went with the zone leaders to Costco (the home of American foods in Taiwan) two weeks ago to buy food in preparation. It was an amusing bustle of energy as we all bounced around the kitchen in the muddled blunder of children trying to figure out how mom does it. Most directing was done by either Sister Holm or I and the Zone leaders. One of the zone leaders, Elder Harr (the tallest Elder in the mission, he is 6'8") grew up the oldest in a family of 10, so he had some skills, and he was the main organizer. We blundered our way through making roast chicken (turkey was too expensive for our poor missionary wallets) with carrots and onions, home made gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, Costco rolls, corn, Sister Holm and I managed to make some pretty good stuffing from scratch, candied carrots, and to top it all off at the end we had real pumpkin pie! It was a great turn out. The Elders were even all gentlemen and let S. Holm and I get food first.

The week itself passed just as swiftly as it ever does. We had exchanges and a special training meeting this week which helped it to speed by. I got to have a really good experience on Saturday. The day started off not so good. It was dumping both Saturday and Friday. I don't know if you have ever ridden a bike in the pouring rain in a skirt in Taiwan traffic before, but it is not my favorite thing to do in the world. It is really quite miserable actually. We had a full day of lessons all set up and ready to go, and new investigators waiting to be met with. Then every single lesson we had that day, even the regular investigators, either canceled or stood us up. It was kind of miserable, and I was sort of having a really bummer day, but there were a couple of instances that brought the sunshine out in my personal gloom. My companion wanted to go eat pasta, our special happy food here in Taiwan, and I didn't really have the money for it. Expenses are tight this month, and I was very hesitant but she really wanted to go. So we went, and when we were getting ready to leave after some excellent pumpkin pasta (it was so good) she had already paid for me. Then there was a baptism that night but since it was in the neighboring city of Zhubei we couldn't go unless we found an investigator to go with us. Sister Holm was a trooper and called every single investigator and potential in our phone while I was doing paper work. It looked like no one was going to go until that night we suddenly got a call from one of our most luke-warm investigators saying that she could go. So we went.

Now this baptism was important because it was the baptism of someone I personally contacted and started teaching when I was serving in Zhubei. Sister Choi and I were in a park one night contacting and it was a really bad situation because there was a concert going on in the amphitheater in the park and it was really noisy and loud. We rounded a corner around a wall and I saw two girls getting on scooters, and I immediately got the feeling that I should go talk to them, so I did, and pretty much right off the start we got into prayer and they agreed to come to church the next day and start meeting with us. They were sisters, the little sister got too busy to keep meeting, but the older sister Peng Lanxuan got baptized on Saturday night. It was a really really good baptism and she was totally prepared. She was glowing with happiness and I was so very happy to go. She was happy to see me, I wasn't sure if I'd made much of an impression on her but in her testimony after baptism (which was beautiful) she used an example that I had used with her the very first night that I met her. I'd told her that we are all seeking happiness in this life, but the happiness the world could give us was like eating an ice cream cone. You eat it and its delicious, creamy and good, but then its all gone and so is your happiness. I told her that this gospel would give her a happiness that the world couldn't take away. She said that I was right and that she'd indeed found it, and looking at her face you knew that it was true. She was so happy. After the baptism I was reflecting on the experience. Maybe its a more regular thing for a missionary to see the people they personally contact get baptized but I've never had it happen before, due to my transfer by transfer moving trend. But even though I moved this time too, I was so grateful to be able to attend. To think that she made this change in her life that will have eternal consequences because I followed a simple prompting is an awesome and overwhelming thing. She is only 20 years old. She has her whole life ahead of her. Because she talked to me that night she will start a life in the gospel, maybe serve a mission (that would not be out of the question in taiwan really) have a chance to marry a worthy priesthood holder in the temple, raise children in the church, and have them grow up through young mens/womens and maybe serve missions of their own and get married for time and all eternity. This has changed her whole future and brought it to a completely different and eternal track course from that which it would have taken.

I'm grateful that I got the chance to watch that. It was very inspiring. In light of thanksgiving let me just say that there are a lot of things that I have to be thankful for. The more I see in Taiwan with the broken families, the stress and the constant social and economical pressures I realize exactly how very much I am blessed to be from where I am from, in the family that I belong so happily too and privileged with so many things and experiences. I am truly humbled and grateful that my heavenly father has watched over me so closely and given me the opportunity to better appreciate what I have. Take a look around you this week my friends and see everything that you have, from the carpet on your floor to the car that you drive and the people that love you. And be thankful for it dang it. Cause I can tell you from experience, life just ain't the same or as sweet without that carpet.

Have a good week my friends. Next week is my birthday! I will be 23. I'm so old! >.<
Sister Melissa Thiessen

Holland, Hits, and the Missionary Experience,

 Hello everyone,
how was your week? Good? I hope so. Things in xinzhu are thriving, if
not very interesting this week. We had a longish week, Sister Holm had a
migraine for much of it, so it was pretty easy going as far as
missionary weeks go. We spent a lot of time resting her head. But she
was a trooper, she rode her bike around back and forth in the dumping
rain to get to and from some more important lessons. Or we stayed at the
church and she hibernated on the pews in the chapel while I did what I
could. She still has a headache from it, but its functional now. towards
the end of the week I also started to get sick, that pre-sick
blah-gross feeling was like a little personal raincloud. It hung over me
with rude stubbornness and made it hard to get work done.


Saturday was probably one of the more interesting days I've had on
my mission. The morning was fairly normal, with lessons and meetings.
Then we went to buy some food for Sunday at the local RT mart (the
Taiwanese Walmart, only not as good) and we ran into one of our ward's
young men's leaders. He was standing by the toiletries section, looking a
little terrified. He was staring at something so adamantly that he
didn't notice us at first. When he did his face passed from horrified to
see someone he knew to relieved when he realized who we were. Women.
You see he had a problem. Hi mother had sent him to buy her some
feminine products, with very specific qualifications. But he had no idea
how to find them and he was too embarrassed to even near the center of
the isle mountain (literally, it was huge) of pads with tons of people
milling around in their ant-ish way. So we took pity on him and helped
him out. Then once they were located he was horrified at the thought of
checking out with them, a single man. So we helped him buy them while he
waited in obscurity outside the store. When I gave them to him he hid
them under his coat and then looked around suspiciously as if we were
being watched before he hurried away with his secret. He was so grateful
he brought us cake on Sunday haha.


But the more interesting story is what happened Saturday night.
After RT mart we rushed back to the chapel in the nick of time to meet
with one of our favorite investigators, Yasmine. She was going to have a
lesson with us and then take us to dinner. The lesson was very good, it
went well. So we all piled in her little Taiwanese commuter car and she
took us to this very nice curry restaurant. But there wasn't any space
outside the restaurant as parking in non-existent in Taiwan. So she let
us out outside the restaurant and went to go find parking. We waited
outside for 10 minutes or so for her. There was a table on a balcony
outside with a bunch of white people eating a drinking, this Taiwanese
man was standing next to the railing talking to them when he noticed us
standing there, and starts talking to us in pretty good English. He was a
little drunk, and lightly started hitting on us, so we moved inside and
they found us a table. There were a lot of white people in there. More
than I have seen in a very long time. I was an odd out-of-place feeling.
Then I realized it wasn't just because there were so many white people,
it was because the restaurant was more or less a bar. Yasmine still
wasn't to be found so we stood about and waited for her. We made friends
with some nice exchange students from Holland, and then 30 minutes
later tried to call Yasmine and found out our phone was locked and we
didn't have the code to unlock it. Great. So we could only wait. A drunk
man gave us a special invitation to stay at the bar after hours because
they had it specially reserved for the patrons that knew about this
party. We got hit on some more. The party got pretty rowdy. An hour
later Yasmine still wasn't there. What could have happened? We used the
bar phone to call her and she said she'd be there in a minute, she
sounded a little frazzled on the phone but wouldn't say what was up. So
we could only wait. We got offered Beer, and other alcohol. A lot. My
companion called a few drinkers to repentance. We got hit on some more.
We found out it was a wedding party we had stumbled in on. And it hit me
that I was very happy to be part of a religion where our celebrations
don't merely exist on drinking yourself stupid for our amusement. It was
a weird feeling to be back into this part of worldly culture,
especially so westernized as it was. It was something that I hadn't seen
in a very long time, and I had a detached kind of fascination as I
watched these people smoke and drink and flirt, and I knew what very
well would come later. It was sad to watch. An hour and a half went by,
she still wasn't there. We talked to a lot of the party goers. They were
mostly drunk, our Holland friends joined the revelries, and we were
offered more alcohol. We had one guy accuse us of wanting to go home
with him. 2 hours later She still wasn't there. We ordered food and ate
per her request. And we waited. We couldn't leave, we had no way to get
anywhere. She finally arrived and explained in a very anxious and
embarrassed manner that she'd accidentally hit another parked car and
they'd called the police on her and wouldn't let her run back here and
tell us or anything of the manner. She was very distraught and sorry
that she had wasted our time. She is such a sweet and very innocent
woman, I felt sorry for her, she'd planned a good dinner with friends
and it had gone so very wrong. We left the party, and said good night to
all of our new friends and went home pondering the weirdness that had
just happened. It was a very strange experience for a missionary. It
really did feel like I was segregated from the world in that situation,
like there was a very clear line and division. And they knew it too.
People there even commented on it.


Anyway, This Wednesday is a big day. It is my year mark on island. I
will have been in Taiwan for a whole year. That is a little bit of a
crazy thought. I only have 3 and a half months remaining. My dear friend
Sister Amber Westover, who decided with me that we would serve missions
(she got called to Boise ID) only has one transfer left and as I read
her email today it was a big impact of how short the time is. That is
almost me. Then its back to real life and all the complications. Not
that I think that will be a bad thing, but hard for me to envision right
now. Its like a time warp is swirling around me and I've taken the
safety glasses off.


Well that's that for this week. I love you all. Remember where your
priorities lie people, and have a good week!
Love Melissa Thiessen

melissa.thiessen@myldsmail.net

Taiwan, Taipei Mission
Sister Melissa Thiessen
F4, No.24, Lane 183, Chin Hua St.
106-42 Taipei, TAIWAN

Week...66?

Week...66?

I think that's the number of weeks that I've been out...don't quote me on that I guess...I have 16 weeks left at this point though and time is getting a little ridiculous. It seems like the weeks are rushing by me because of everything we are doing here. We have so many meetings in this area. With three wards it seems like we have a coordination meeting every day, and if not that its a district meeting or an English class or another special training meeting. I guess that's ok, they break up the time a little bit.

Mission life is going well. We are still plugging along here. We have had a lot of investigators die off this week, which lessens our numbers and allows us more time for finding new people I guess. We haven't had too much time to find recently. But we have had some really good lessons with our investigators this last week. We had a couple where we found out some issues that were important in their progression. And we got 5 people to church! Which is a very good thing if they can continue to come. Getting people to church makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes. People are far to busy in their lives for God. If God was too busy for all of us, or even a few of us, I think the globe would stop spinning.

This week we had our temple day. First off let me say I love the temple. It makes everything look brighter. We had a good day up in Taipei. And I also love Taipei. Its got an energy all of its own, like a life-beat that you feel growing as your train moves closer to the central focus of the top of the island. But I am glad that I don't serve there, I like serving in the less intensely populated slightly less pressured 'south west' of our mission. It is still the city, there is no escaping that on this island, but it is less than the mega-metropolis of Taipei. On Thursday and Friday we had companion exchanges with the Zhubei sisters, Sister Choi and Sister Wang. They have it hard as a companionship but I think that their relationship is improving. Sister Holm and I have our share of issues, as all companionships do, but we are pretty lucky as far as that goes, it makes me grateful for her being my companion.

Taiwan is still hot. The weather here feels like summer still. Hot and sometimes very muggy. But they tell me that they can tell the winter is coming on because the wind is getting pretty ferocious. Here in Xinzhu the winter wind is pretty fearsome I hear. I am starting to get a taste for that. Its a little hazardous as a sister wearing a skirt...It must be minded on a bike, on the street, and especially while talking to people. We will get over it somehow.

Well I guess that is all the exciting news I have for this week. My birthday is fast approaching and I can't believe that I will be 23 already. Where has my life gone? It seems like its been here in Taiwan for years. I have trouble sometimes remembering my pre-mission life in great detail. Its a little pathetic, but now I understand all the silly missionary talk that I always heard before. I guess it something that you have to experience before you really get it. I love you all. Remember that missionaries love letters! And we also pray for all of you.

Sister Melissa Thiessen

Halloween

Halloween!

We had a long week this week because of the moving of our P-day. But that'k ok because we get the temple! Yay. So this blog will have to be really short. Sorry friends.

We got to have a legit Halloween this year. one of our wards has a member that used to Live in the Us and she knows what is what. She is a great lady. She is also the primary president, so she threw the best Halloween party that Taiwan has ever seen. There were tons of children in attendance. there were even games like trunk or treat, pin the nose on the pumpkin, bobbing for apples and doughnuts on a string. There was also a ton of delicious American food and desserts. Mmm. My waistline feels it. It was a great turn out. We spent most of Saturday helping her set up. I was reveling in the Hallo-weeny feeling. That's ok, next Halloween I will celebrate in double for all of it that I missed here.

Besides that little party not too much happened, which is good because I gotta go! Our taxi is here to take us to the train station! I love you all tons and tons! you are in my prayers!
Sister Thiessen

Transfer 9, xinzhu. Again.

So transfers came, and we waited breathless, but I am still here. And so is my dear companion Sister Holm, for the 4th transfer in her first area. Thats a little unusual, but thats ok. I like her a good bit so I'm glad that she could stay. Anyway...So these transfers were bitter sweet, because some of my favorite elders, district and zone members moved to the other side of the island, but I got to stay with my dear investigators and this place that I am learning quickly to love. I really have a feeling that I will die here in xinzhu, but no one believes me when I tell them because the rest of my mission has been moves

This week we had another Baptism. Saturday a long time investigator, Chen Ya Rou got baptized. She was a long time coming, and a member of a part-member family. Her mother and step-father are members but she wasn't baptized because they became inactive. Through her investigation of the church her family became reactivated, but she has a very bad relationship with her mother so she started pushing the church away again. A long road later she realized that she wanted baptism. She is a moody 17 year old though, and so it was also a difficult process. But now that she has finally taken the action I think she will be good. We will be making great efforts to ensure she remains enveloped in the love of the ward.

This week I had a strange rash of dizzy. I would be sitting there in a lesson, or contacting or especially not my favorite riding my bike, and suddenly the world would get all wonky. I called the mission nurse finally about it, and told him that I have this strange l'il bump under my ear in the joint of my jaw and he said I needed to go see a doctor, right away, not on p-day. Then that night I was teaching a lesson and suddenly my companion looks at me and says "are you feeling ok?" and I was like "yeah, why?" then she looked a little horrified as she said "Because your face is really really white." And just like magic the world started to spin and I almost passed out. I had to grab the table before I fell out of my chair. So our ward mission leader Thomas Chen (who is a really awesome guy) came in and gave me my first blessing in Chinese. Then he took us to the hospital the next day. May I here say that I am very not fond of socialized medicine? That done, the doctor was very brief. She gave me some antibiotics and said that if that little bump there doesn't go away they might want to surgically remove it...I don't think antibiotics are going to make it go away, I've had it for a while, it just hurts sometimes now...

On that happy note...

There were a lot of missionaries I knew dying this transfer, and next. Its not too long now, next transfer, and I will be one of the oldest sisters on the island...that's a weird feeling. It gives me all kinds of power and authority! Right? Not really. Its really amusing, I was talking to one of the sisters in the transfer above me and she and I laughed about it. So many of the new missionaries look at us and say, wow, you are so old! You must no how to do all these things! (follows a list of very cool and very advanced things) and we think, what are you talking about! I don't know much more than you do kid! Its pretty amusing how that works.

Anyway, that's about all I have this week, I love you all. Have a happy Halloween! And celebrate it for me!! Thanks!

Love,

Sister Melissa Thiessen

Time warps and Translations pass off yet another transfer:

This week went by as fast as it ever does. It was packed with lessons and meetings and not too much time for finding. That's what happens when you get too many wards and too many investigators haha. But there should always be time to find new and prepared souls so we are going to focus on that a bit more this next week. I will highlight some of the bigger events of the week though.

Tuesday morning, funny thing happened: we go outside for our 30 minutes of exercise time and low and behold its raining. So instead of going back up to the apartment I suggest we run stairs. My companion surprised me by actually agreeing, so we wandered into the stairwell and ran 21 flights of stairs to the top of our building. It was great but we were then hot and sweaty so we went outside onto the roof and wandered around a bit looking at the view. When the time came we went back to the stairwell and then took the elevator from the 21 floor to the 3rd, where we live. When the doors opened I noticed that there was a really funky smell in the hallway that hadn't been there when we'd left. So we went over to our door and I had this really weird feeling, but I put the key in the lock and turned it. But it wouldn't turn. I pushed it in and pulled it out a little and jiggled it around and it just wouldn't turn. We were locked out of our own apartment?! No way. This was our key, no way. Suddenly my companion Sister Holm asks "Why does it say 16? it usually says 12" pointing up to the address plate above the door. What? What was going on here, did we get off on the wrong door, we thought? We checked, no, this was the third floor. We stood around in confusion. Then I noticed that that door across from us looked different than I remembered it. What? There was only one 3rd floor in our building right? Where the heck were we, we wondered. It was like while we were coming down in the elevator the time continuum had snapped and shuffled us to another dimension while we weren't looking. We were utterly confused for about 5 minutes before sister Holm, realized that we must be in the other side of our building. I didn't even know the building had two sides. We took the elevator down and walked around outside and sure enough, it was our lobby and our elevator and our third floor on the other side. We must have gotten turned about and taken the wrong door and stairs on the roof. We laughed about our trip to another reality for a while afterwards.

Wednesday we had presidential interviews and I was given the beginning of the death discussions. It is called "dying" when a missionary returns home out here. I talked with President and finalized my leave date and talked about what needed to happen between now and then for things such as school. Then Thursday I got my "Death Letter" the official letter that states you are a dying missionary and the end is near It helps you get everything organized and has information to send to your stake president at home and such. It was a weird feeling, I feel like I have just started this. It wasn't too long ago I was in TaiDong watching my companion there, Sister Collyer, receive her death letter and thinking some day in the very distant future I will be getting one of those. And then it was here, in my hands. A trippy moment to be sure, the time has all just been sucked away.

Sunday I had my first experience with translating: we were sitting in Sunday school when the Elders bring in a white guy, much to our surprise. Somehow, while sitting there talking to him, it was decided that I was going to be the one to help him translate for the class. So I sat beside him whispering English in his ear the whole class period while trying to listen to the discussion going on around us. It was a little bit of a challenge just to flip the words and the grammar and such around in my brain then spit it out in a different language fast enough to keep up with the conversation, but it was also pretty amusing. I think I did pretty ok. Then we went to sacrament meeting and I sat with this man, Karl, and another Elder, Elder Vandenbugh in the back. Elder Vandenburgh wanted to translate for him so I sat back intending to relax and just listen to sacrament meeting, and to step in if they needed help. So sitting back and relaxing worked well, until about three minutes into the first speaker when Elder Vandenbugh leaned across Karl and said "What is she even talking about??" And I had to take it from there. Sacrament meeting was much harder than Sunday school, we were sitting as far from the speaker as possible of course, and in the midst of squalling babies...It was hard to catch everything above the noise and then keep up with the speed that the speakers were moving along. The first lady I did pretty ok. But the guy after her moved about 20 times faster because he was very nervous and he used some pretty big wordage and I had no way to keep up. The lady after that shared a lot of stories which were pretty ok to translate, but I have a whole new understanding and sympathy for translators. Wow. That's a pretty intense gig. It was my first experience doing real translating for anyone, more than just a couple of sentences here or there. It is definitely a humbling experience and let me become very much uncomfortably aware of where the gaping holes are in my Chinese. But it was also something I'm glad I did. It really helped Karl (a fore mentioned white man). He expressed thanks after and also wonderment at our ability to even understand the complexities of Chinese. He said "I thought Spanish was hard enough on my mission. You guys really have the Lord with you!" haha. He wants to take us out to dinner tonight. Who are we to refuse?

Yesterday night we had a baptismal interview for a young woman. She is in a part member family but it has been a rocky road for her to baptism. Her mom and brother are both inactive members and she started coming to church without them. But then that reactivated her mom, whom she has some serious issues with, and so she stopped coming and stopped meeting with us. Of course this happened about a week before her baptismal service last time, so she stood up her own baptism. This is her second round at it, and we are pretty sure she is going to come this time :) she really wants my companion to see her get baptized and since this is the last week of the transfer and the chances are that Sister Holm will be the one moving it has to happen this week. She is ready for it. Its just a matter of it happening or not. We are doing our best to help her into the water.

Well, this winds down yet another transfer. Transfer 8 on island. Its crazy to think that next week will open up number 9. That means there are only three left. Just over 4 months. Its an odd feeling to be looking back and finding out that now the time has shifted so the bulk of my mission is already behind me and I'm beginning the end. I remember looking forward and seeing an eternity before me. I guess eternity doesn't last very long huh? Mind your time people. Mind your time. It slips by so silently, and then it lurks behind you and gloats. I've got so many goals to accomplish in the time I have left out here. I'm gonna have to kick it up a notch.

Well that's all for now. I will write y'all from the side of another transfer!
Love Sister Melissa Thiessen

Come and Listen to a prophets voice!

This week went by faster than I could comprehend almost. It just flew. On Thursday we had weekly planning like we do every week and I looked at Sister Holm and said, "didn't we just do this?" Well we sort of did, a week earlier, I just didn't know where the time went. The days are just so filled here that they go by without much time to think about it. Probably because we have to balance so many wards that we always are having meetings. It seems like we have a ward correlation meeting every night. That is ok though. It means that we don't get bored with our area, because we have three in one! Ha.

We saw several miracles this week. We had a lot of new investigators. Several of these people just walked into the church this weekend and we sat down with them. It goes to show that the lord is mindful of his people. When I got to xinxhu it was sort of in a hole, it was not doing well. Sister Holm says she hasn't seen numbers like these in a while. We are just doing what we can here. We definitely have a lot to improve on, and any success we have is all the work of the Lord. But we are seeing the slow revival of this place. We hope to have another Baptism this month.

Yang Jia Ru, the one that was scheduled for baptism but then didn't get baptized is sort of flat lining a little. She came to general conference this week but she didn't seem too impressed. We are trying our best to figure out how to help her. Maybe time is just the thing she needs more of.

This week had a beautiful culmination. Conference. We get to watch it a week later with the rest of Taiwan. The delay is due to the translation that must go on. We gathered in the kitchen of our chapel with some members looking to polish up their English skills and were grateful to listen to the word of God in English. It was a good conference. As a missionary we really are blessed to be able to wring out every last drop of goodness from these talks. I remember before my mission falling asleep during conference, or just not really getting the point. Now I listen to these enlightened men speak and scramble to scribble down every word and inspiration. I don't know where the 2 hours of each session go before they abruptly just end. When the Sunday afternoon session ended with finality I was a little disappointed. I wished they could go on a bit longer. But that's ok, the Lord said what he wanted said. We just gotta wait on his time. It was interesting that this conference not too much at all was directed at marriage or the family. It seemed like so much was directed at the Book of Mormon and Missionary work. Maybe that's just me though.

I had sort of an interesting experience after conference on Saturday, the Elders and the Men were all gathered for priesthood and we were waiting for a lesson. I stood outside of the chapel and listened to a part of Elder Holland's talk and then realized that it was dubbed in Chinese and I was understanding it. It was a startling moment of clarity on the miracle the Lord has wrought on my tongue. My ability with the language is not perfect, and it may never be perfect, but it is getting better and better. I find that I have seen changes in the fluency of the lessons that I am called to direct and such now as well. I am to the point where it is not a struggle to carry a conversation, even so far as almost natural to speak to someone in this foreign and difficult language. I can also read and write a fair amount of characters, though I'm not by any means amazing. I will no doubt be focusing on the written part of Chinese much more post mission. There just isn't time to study it as in depth as I would like to now.

In other news, well, there really isn't too much for other news besides that. Time is going swiftly. I'm down to 20 weeks left out. Time to push harder than ever.

I hope you all are well, and happy. I pray for you all. Study those conference talks when they come out in the ensign people. They are your guidance and direction from God for the next 6 months! And don't forget to remember your missionaries out here! :)

Love,

Sister Melissa Thiessen

The Wind and the Rain , Typhoon Season is here.

Pictures- 1)Blanket that Melissa Loves. 2) Melissa knocking on a Taiwanese door. Notice the height of the roof. 3) Clean up the World Day-work crew. 4) Homeless man writing on Melissa's leg. 5)Halloween in a Bakery.

Well its starting to cool off in Taiwan. Fall is getting here, slowly. Mostly that just means that its going to be raining. And that typhoon season has arrived. Currently the weather outside is dismal, and a tad chilly, but that might just be because of the storms a brewin' off the coast. It doesn't usually get cold here until November. But here in my area of xinzhu it sure does get windy! Its a little hazardous to ride our bikes. We'll be battling the wind beating at us from the front, pushing hard, then a sudden side gust will come and sweep us across 2 lanes of traffic...Oh the adventures of being a missionary. Its all fun.

This week we were leaving the chapel to head home when our ward mission leader comes out and tells us that one of the Elders in the district, Elder Zhong, had just lost his mother to cancer. She'd passed that night. None of us even knew that she'd been sick, Thomas (our WM leader) had just told us earlier that day that he'd found out she had cancer then only a few hours later President was calling. Elder Thatcher (E. Zhong's companion) answered the phone because they were on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. E. Thatcher told Thomas who told us. But we were not allowed to tell anyone else. Poor Elder Zhong took it as well as he could. He could have gone home for the funeral because he is from Taiwan, but he chose to stay out here against some of his families wishes. He didn't talk about it with anyone, but Thomas. Thomas is from his home ward, so they know each other. They had a couple of private meetings about it. My heart went out to poor elder Zhong. He looked such a mess for a while. He seems to be coping ok now, but its a scary thing. It really highlights how very fragile our little human existence really is.

We had a baptism this week! But only one when we were hoping for two. Xu WeiJun was baptized, it had taken her a while and she had failed one Baptismal interview in the past. But she was so ready. I didn't know her very very well, because I'm newer to the area but I know she is a great woman. She was pretty touched by her service. All the missionaries sang a song for her and such. She told me later that she was really touched when she went into the water, it was very emotional for her. Our other investigator, Yang JiaRu, the one who had had an abortion did not get baptized. She had an interview with the mission presidents counselor (when you have an abortion or a serious crime you have to have two interviews) but she canceled it on us. She said she just didn't have the desire for baptism anymore. She loves church, and she loves the scriptures and all of our activities, but she said on Sunday, in Sunday school, that she needs a lot more time. She doesn't feel she has received an answer yet. She is such a good woman, I know she will get baptized, and I hope that I am here to see it. We are raking our brains trying to figure out how to help her.

Oh, we were also molested by two homeless people this week. We stopped to talk to one at the train stations and he was unable to speak mostly so he was signing to us. Of course Chinese signs are as obscure to me as the Chinese spoken language can be so we had no idea what he said. He took one of my pens, one of our pamphlets, and my knee then started writing. I could read some of it but it was very nonsensical. But my companion took the opportunity to take a picture, which I will include. It was very amusing. The other homeless man was more handsy. He was talking to the Elders when we came up to do a finding activity with them. He was all over us, handsy. He kept trying to pull us over to somewhere, telling us he was going to buy us drinks. Finally after he wouldn't leave I got up in his face and told him, hands off. We were working. Then he left. Haha.

We also go to Dan Jones for the first time this week. We were taking the youth of the stake out to be missionaries for a day and we went to a bridge with a lot of people, got up on the curb and started preaching. I got to be the first one to break in the crowd, shouting at the top of my lungs to the nearby shoppers, waving about my moermenjing (book of Mormon). It was fun.

Its already week four of the transfer. I don't know where the time is going. I think there is a leak somewhere in the time-space-continue-um. Someone should look into that.

Well I love you all, I hope you have a good week and that you are all healthy and happy. Its only 5 months I have left here in the mission field. So quick. But I'm still praying for all of you, and I'm still appreciative for the love that you all send me. Until next Monday, you have my love.

Sister Melissa Thiessen

This week was pretty normal. It went by really fast. I'm slipping right into the role of the senior companion I think. I can see my teaching skills and my lesson leading skills improving. Sister Holm really helps a lot too. She is only on her 3rd transfer and already her Chinese is really very good. She is a bold girl, and doesn't hesitate to tell anyone what is what. Its both a strength and a weakness. But I appreciate it most of the time. We have had some pretty good lessons this week.

We have a baptism this week, someone that I've only met once but Sister Holm is very excited to see baptized. I'm glad. We were going to have another one of our investigators get baptized on the same day but she was very very hesitant, she didn't want the interview. When I called her the night before however she agreed to it. She came and had the interview but she did not pass. Elder Yu, our district leader told me that she was great with everything, except that she has had an abortion, and she doesn't feel worthy to be baptized. We met with her yesterday to talk about it after church. She was very edgy, trying to hide behind jokes and laughter. But I was lead by the spirit and I think I asked exactly the right question. She hid her face in her hands and sobbed as we talked to her about repentance and forgiveness. She said that she feels that she has changed, she knows her past mistakes are wrong, and she would never do them again. But she cannot forgive herself for them. We talked to her about the atonement and how it makes us clean. Then we invited her to discuss with her father in heaven the matter and to ask him to help her forgive herself. When we told her she would need another interview with a different leader she said she wanted to take it slowly. We told her that we thought that she was ready, and that baptism was the way she could become completely clean and then asked her if she could have the interview on Thursday she said ok. It was a miracle. The spirit was very strong in the lesson. We hope that she can receive her answer.

Besides that not a too whole lot is happening here. Well besides the slow revival of XinZhu before our eyes. We are getting small miracles here, but those are what count. We are working on bringing this place back to life.

That's my report for this week. I hope you all are happy, healthy and successful. Remember you are loved all the way from Taiwan. I hope the week is great for every single one of you.
Love
Sister Melissa Thiessen

melissa.thiessen@myldsmail.net

Taiwan, Taipei Mission
Sister Melissa Thiessen
F4, No.24, Lane 183, Chin Hua St.
106-42 Taipei, TAIWAN

BBQs & Clean up the World Day!

Mid Autumn, Barbeques, and moon cake.

This past week was a good one, and it went by so fast. Tuesday my companion had a training meeting in Taibei, which is two hours away by train, so I got to head over to the neighboring area, Xinzhu with my dear Sister Wyder and her companion (my Mission little sister, we have the same trainer) Sister Holm. It was a fun day. We got to meet a very interesting family, the mother is Taiwanese, but when she was little her family moved to Brazil and she married there and had three kinds (two of which are grown) before they all moved back to Taiwan and opened a Brazilian pizza place. Because only the mom speaks Chinese though it is hard for them to remain active since they completely have no way to communicate at church. Only the mother speaks Chinese, and the father is learning, the oldest son speaks some English but besides that they only speak Portuguese. Where are you when I need you Jacob? We got to know them a bit and it was really cool. I enjoyed a day with Sister Wynder and Holm.

Since it was the last week of the transfer we had move call madness in district meeting, that's where we all guess where everyone is going to move. Everyone wrote me down as staying, my companion sister Choi had been in Zhubei for 5 transfers, a really long time. She only has 2 transfers left. They all had me down for staying and going da (senior). There were 22 new missionaries coming to the mission here this transfer and so a lot of areas were opening and there was a lot of growth.

This weekend is a huge holiday in Taiwan, its called the Mid Autumn Festival, or the Moon Festival. It is basically a big day for everyone to get together as a family and bbq, and eat these little moon cakes (like a round pastry stuffed with all sorts of things). So there was a lot of qingke (or people inviting us to their house to eat) going on this weekend. We had one on Friday night and all of us missionaries went. We had a lovely time and ate lots of delicious foods. I ate a whole squid among other things. I got to talk to the elders in my district a bit and we swapped conversion stories. It was a very good night. Saturday we went to the beach for a service project "Clean up the world day". The second ward in my area picked up trash all afternoon then we got to play in the sand a bit. When we left we were all filthy. It was pretty windy and it just picked up all the sand and nicely coated all of us. It was wonderful fun, and we got to be all gritty the rest of the night for our lessons. Sunday we had two more qingke's. One was at our Ward Mission Leader's house, and he has a lovely home, very nice for Taiwan. Unfortunately it is on top of a mountain. Fortunately this time we had a ride because we didn't have bikes. Brother Li is also a professional chef, and so the food was of course delicious. That night we had another qingke with one of my favorite Sisters. Sister Ni is a wonderfully giving and kind woman with a towering testimony harder than stone. She is awesome. She has two sons, 17 year old twins who are absolutely amazing. They are both future stake presidents in the making. They actually really remind me of my little brother. Their house is also very very beautiful, and also on top of a mountain...hah. We had stake, Costco rolls, and the most delicious and beautiful meal. It was followed by a miracle. Real Apple Pie. I haven't had apple pie, or any kind of pie, in a year. Oh good heavens it was amazing. Also brownies, another treasure, and Costco ice cream. Wonderful.

Today. Move day, but lets back up. Thursday is the day all the trainers get their calls. I was wondering if Sister Choi was going to train seeing as she has very little time left on the island. But no call came for her. This started me thinking, and worrying. I was worried that move calls would find us in the same situation, me still junior companion and with Sister Choi. I have grown to love that little Korean. She is a good person and in the end very forgiving. But I was so ready for a change. I was so ready to spread out and try to wobble along as senior. Because last transfer's shocking disappointment I was afraid that it would not come this transfer. So on Friday night when we were traveling home late and I heard the phone ring on sister Choi's bike I about screamed. When we stopped and saw that it was the assistants I let out a whoop of joy that was so loud it startled the poor old lady in the house next to us. Move calls, Sister Choi was remarkably staying, again, in Zhubei. And I was remarkably moving...again...to XinZhu. I was kicking Sister Wynder out because she was taking my dream job of the temple sister. She will do great there. I am new door to ZhuBei now in XinZhu with my little sister Sister Holm.

We will pretty much be whitewashing, or starting from scratch here. Most of the investigators they had died off last transfer and its pretty dead. The area is HUGE though and we cover three wards. There is a lot of space, and a lot to do and start in this area, my first time as Da Tongban (senior companion). I'm excited to start, and a little overwhelmed. I have to take over in the wake of the Amazing Sister Wynder, Everyone's favorite sister. They are pretty huge shoes to fill up. I am going to need to stretch myself pretty far to take over after her. But I have high hopes...now if only I knew what I was doing...

Well that's all I've got for now. I hope you all are well and keeping steady. Remember that there is someone in Taiwan that loves you! (and is waiting for your mail... :) )

Sister Thiessen

melissa.thiessen@myldsmail.net

Taiwan, Taipei Mission
Sister Melissa Thiessen
F4, No.24, Lane 183, Chin Hua St.
106-42 Taipei, TAIWAN

365 Days!

365 Days.

Well I guess its been 369 now.

Thursday I passed my year mark out on the mission. Its been a whole year since I watched Jamison and my Mom drive off and I was left to walk into the MTC. That's a scary thought, its been a long time since I've seen all of you. But I know its a worthy sacrifice. It was really cool how the anniversary played out. I got to be on exchanges with my good friend Sister Esther Wynder that day. When I found out at the beginning of this transfer that I was going to get to go on exchanges with her I started praying that we would be exchanged together on the year mark. See, the Lord does hear and answer every child's prayer. We had a wonderful time, it was like being companions again haha. We went to an all you can eat steak house for diner to celebrate. Then we may have stayed up all night talking... We had a good evaluation of how far we have come in this year's time.

Its really funny the wisdom that ends up hitting you in the face out here. I guess living a purely religious life for 18 months will do that to anyone eventually though. Its funny, before my mission I would here other people say that their mission will have changed their whole life. It will affect them, and their marriage and their children and their family, and I thought how is that possible? I didn't get it. Its starting to become clear. Melissa Wallentine, my moms friend that lives in Utah and teaches at BYU, she told me before my mission that she couldn't imagine being a mother or a wife without serving a mission. I know what she means now! Its not just about the gospel either, its about people, dealing with people and about relationships. I've learned how to be a better friend and companion. I've learned how to talk to people and relate to them better. I've learned how to be more confident in myself and my abilities. I've learned about what I want in a marriage, in a family, and in life. I have learned what it is like to have a clear view of the future as I would like to build it. But also of course I understand the gospel better too. I get it, like I really just get it. I get how this all works and the important that the gospel has or should have in our lives. I guess before my mission I thought of our church largely as a Sunday thing, I mean there are a lot of commandments or rules that I kept the rest of the week, and once I went to BYU there were more reminders, but it was still as if my life and my religion had a division. But true religion is a lifestyle. Its an everyday application that brings the world into perspective. This gospel is so important! And it should be woven into the way we live our lives in unity, no lines or divisions. When that happens, we find happiness. We find our relationship with our Heavenly Father and we find the really important things in life. I get it now. I understand not only that the gospel of Jesus Christ can change people, but how it does, and I understand better what we have to do to let it.

I think about why I was supposed to come out on this mission. My decision was a really quick one, really spontaneous. The more I think about it the more I think that maybe it was really just about me. Ok, I am not getting self-centered here. I think that the Lord needed me to come on this mission to be able to have the growth and the realizations that I've pulled out of it. I hope that I also have helped people, and I still have time to do so, but I also am very grateful for what I've learned. It has given me a desire to go back and start a life. Before my mission I was just fine with moseying along, I didn't really want to get married or start my own family really. I knew it was going to happen...someday... but I wasn't really wanting it right then. I wasn't ready for it. It was some distant big commitment I needed to make. Well this mission has given me a fire for the family, and there isn't a day that goes by where I don't have excitement for the time when I can start my own. It is one of the biggest desires that I have now. I am so ready for that. Its a redirected course from where I was headed before.

I still have 6 months, but its going to go by so quickly, as I know it will for all of you too. Time is funny that way. Its all down hill from here. Next week starts a new transfer, I don't know what will happen. Maybe I will move again. But I will only have 4 transfers left. I had better hurry up and suck all the rest of the knowledge out of this experience. Haha.

This week our investigator who was supposed to be baptized had a crisis. Her mother ended up telling her absolutely not. Her mother agreed before, but after having a talk with her aunts minister she completely changed her mind. Our investigator called a member Friday night in tears and very distraught saying that her mother had been yelling at her and said she could not get baptized. We mobilized the missionary damage control team and said member drove us all the way our to this investigators house (which is a goodly distance away) and we tried our best to comfort her and talk to her mother. Her mother would not hear sense, but we were able to give our invst. a blessing (the zone leaders came with us) and assure her that she could still get baptized some day, even if she had to wait. She will be going to college next week, and she can continue meeting with the missionaries and going to church down there. She is such a pure spirit, and this really affected her. I hope that her faith can endure this and that she will be able to press on at school. It was a very dramatic weekend.

Anyway, that's all I have time for. I love you all, write me and know that I appreciate every letter.

Sister Melissa Thiessen

melissa.thiessen@myldsmail.net

Taiwan, Taipei Mission
Sister Melissa Thiessen
F4, No.24, Lane 183, Chin Hua St.
106-42 Taipei, TAIWAN

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Typhoon

P day again, though this one took a more interesting turn of events. We have known for about the last week that there has been storms a-brewin' in the waters around this little island and we received word that it might hit Taiwan. Then it sounded like it was going to blow right past. Yesterday in church the president called, the typhoon had hit the island in the east and was blowing hard, we were to head home right after church and not leave the apartment. This is called a "typhoon day" and I was really excited to see one. But unfortunately it was hitting on a Sunday, the next day, today, is our P-day. That meant if a typhoon day landed on p-day, there was no going out to play. Which was really not ok. Last night it was looking as if we were going to have to stay in doors, and a great groan arose within the mission. This morning we prepared for a day of letter writing, and craziness within the walls of confinement. But a miracle occurred, about 10:30, just as studies were closing the phone rang. I answered and the Zone leader, Elder Xu, spoke the words of freedom. That was it and we were out emailing.

The typhoon is not gone, it is only in the east part of the island so far, and if it doesn't blow out then the typhoon day may be reinstated later tonight and we may have to go indoors for tomorrow too. But as of right now we (in the west of the island) and Taibei (in the north) are not really feeling too much of it, there has been some rain and some good winds, but nothing extreme. I told my companion Sister Choi that if we don't see more I will be utterly disappointing and have to say something to whomever arranges the weather here. She told me, "welcome to Zhubei" because this area because of its location never gets anything much more than strong winds. *sigh*

Anyway, nothing too exciting has happened since I last wrote, besides that we will have a baptism on Saturday! Yay! Zeng XinMei is getting baptized. We met her the first week I was here, she was a referral from an awesome new member in a neighboring city. She is a trooper, she has to drive her scooter 25 minutes to get here (ok, that is a lot for Taiwan alright. People here are all about convenience) and she meets with us twice a week. She took all the commandments with out a problem and she wants baptism so bad. She loves the church and she is very willing to commit and keep her commitments. (she saw the announcement about cleaning the church on Saturdays and then asked me how she could get involved haha) She is the first investigator I will have had were I could count as "their Missionary" Because of my frequent moving I haven't really been able to coach someone all the way through to baptism. I've always shown up at the end or left in the beginning. She is a special one. We are excited to get her in the water, though she will leave immediately the next week to the south of the island to go to college.

We also had a special meeting on Friday. We had the President of the Church Sunday School program come here and talk to us. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot about teaching. We also had about an hour before hand where they wanted us in the church to wait and we all got to hang around and talk. Its always a lot of fun when missionaries get to gather. I got to see a bunch of my friends from other areas because we had two Zones together. It was a good day. I also got a surprise bag of brownie mix (like precious gold) magically sent from my roommate Lexi. It was much appreciated Lexi! I unfortunately didn't get to see her :( But that's ok, I feel the love through chocolate goodness.

Well that's about all I have to report as of now. I love you all, and I appreciate your continued support. The first on Thursday marks my year mark. I will have been on a mission for a whole year already. Its been like a lifetime. But its also seemed to go by very fast. I only have 6 months left. Its all down hill from here...

Sister Melissa Thiessen