Week of Challenges

Well this week has been both really slow, and really challenging. My companion and I have to work really hard to get along sometimes, which really can stress the unity that affects missionary work so much. Several times this week we have had confrontations, nothing really big, but still makes it hard to work together. In the more recent past few days we have been trying to talk it out a lot and I think the situation has improved. I know that the Lord is trying to teach me patience this transfer. But we are doing better as of the last couple of days.

This week we did however see some miracles, the Lord is providing for us in his small ways. We saw a few new investigators come through miraculously. Well everyone stopping to listen or giving out their number is miraculous after 3 hours of contacting or tracting.

Saturday was a very good day. We started the morning by heading to the house of an American family in our ward, the Larsons, from Austin TX. They have been in Taiwan for a year and are actually heading back home today, so it was like a last good bye party, for the young women. Their apartment complex is very swanky, and expensive (Bro Larson's company graciously funded their living quarters) and in the downstairs of the complex is a very big very nice theater room. We all watched Johnny Lingo together. The newer movie. It was really really good and I great experience. And it was one that I needed, just some good old fashion fun. Afterwords we went upstairs to their apartment and had Hawaiian hay stacks, and got to know the family a little better. There was even Costco ice cream for dessert!

We ended up getting back to the church at 3 and had some lessons then an investigator took us out to dinner at a very expensive sushi restaurant. We came back and met up with some other investigators to attend a very beautiful musical...concert...presentation? Activity. Jenny Phillips, a church musical artist, was touring Taiwan and doing concerts in a few locations. Our chapel (being one of the biggest in Taiwan) was one of those locations and all the missionaries in our zone brought people so they could come. There were probably over 600 people in attendance to see her. It was beautiful. She sang and sometimes was backed up the a choir composed of the youth of the stake. She even sang some parts of her songs in Chinese! It was moving. The themes ran along the lines of encouraging the youth and especially young women, also mother hood. There were some lovely movies that went along with the music and translations in Chinese subtitles. It was probably one of the most memorable days on my mission so far. I am so glad that I got the opportunity to attend.

Well my time is pretty much up. I didn't have much today, we are going to a theme park for P day today with the rest of our zone and its kinda far away.

I love you all! Write to me please!!

melissa.thiessen@myldsmail.net

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