The Best Is Yet to Come

Christmas week just came and went but I enjoyed every second of it. Skyping my family was the best! So happy to see them! What a special opportunity to preach His gospel on Christmas!!!

I want to share a Christmas Eve miracle! After coming back from the Christmas Zone Conference on Christmas Eve, we had plans to go English/He is the Gift Boarding at the train station. We didn't really have much success to be honest. But then I see this American swiftly walking past us and out of no where I say "Merry Christmas!" She automatically goes, "Merry Christmas!!" while turning around. After a few seconds of looking at us, her face just lights up and it's as if she recognizes us. Her name is Sandra and she's actually lived all over the world. One of the many places include Utah, where she's met with missionaries and worked for many LDS families. She hasn't been baptized but she really should be! She told us that she had just come from a Catholic Christmas service and explained that she needed to worship and thank God somehow so she decided to attend their service. She further explained that when she was planning to come here to Taiwan, many people have told her that she can easily find a church here, which never happened. She just kept saying that it was a miracle that she found us there! We told her that if she wanted, we could meet her at the exact same place on Sunday and walk with her to church. She excitedly agreed. Because she didn't have a phone, we acted solely on faith that she would be there. And what do you know? We went to the train station yesterday and there she was standing in the rain in a dress with her winter jacket on waiting for us. She stayed all three hours for church and I know that she loves God. She just needs that testimony of the Restoration for herself. She is looking forward to coming again when she has a day off.

2014 came and went. But 2015 is on its way. What are your New Years resolutions for this new year?

Our Mission has a saying, "Faith is the power. Obedience is the price. Love is the motive. The Spirit is the key. Christ is the reason." Whatever your goals are this new year, I invite everyone to center their lives more on Christ and the strive everyday to make Christ our reason for everything we do. We can have the spirit of CHRISTmas all year round. I'm excited to continue to be more like Him this new year.

Love,

Sister Sagisi

Shout out to the Garcia Family for the Santa Hats! I'm sorry, Sis. Roy's name tag fell off her hat!

Our Senior Missionaries singing "You are My Sunshine" for us! Love them!

Merry Christmas, love the Zhongli/Pingzhen Sisters!!! Sister Akita, Bowman, Smith, and Sagisi!

Flashing our best Christmas tools.

Merry Christmas! Love #teamSakita

A rainy, cold...night. All smiles nonetheless :)

Merry Christmas from Taiwan!

Merry merry Christmas!!!

I get to spend Christmas with my baby, Sister Akita!!! She's here! She got here on Thursday and we picked her up on Friday from the Mission Office. We were sooo pampered and spoiled. So because she and Sister Bowman are the only ones that came to Taiwan, we didn't have a Transfer Meeting. But we did have a Trainer/Trainee meeting in the comfort of President Day's home with the Assistants and Temple Sisters. After lunch, Pres. Day drove us back to our area in the Mission Van. Us, four sisters and Pres. Day. It was like a road trip!! But before we headed for Zhongli, we stopped by the Grand Hotel, which is what Pres. Day does with all missionaries that get on island. We all go to the lower steps of the Grand Hotel and read the re-dedicatory prayer of the Taiwan Taipei mission. It's a spiritual experience for everyone. Then he allows us to find a quiet place to offer our own dedicatory prayer unto the Lord. But in my case, I said my re-dedicatory prayer. Who gets to do that twice? It was seriously a tender mercy from the Lord to allow me to re-dedicate everything to Him and remember why I'm here on my mission. Afterwards, President allowed us to take a look inside the Grand Hotel! It was magical and beautiful!

Sister Akita was born in Hawaii but she moved to St. George, Utah for high school. She went to SOAR in 2013 and we know like the same people. It was meant to be!!! Haha. 

Yesterday at church, I heard one of the most touching talks (at least now I can understand them! Yay!) But this sister recalled some things that she learned while she was on her mission and she gave me so many insights that just brought tears to my eyes.

-When I look at my name badge, there are two names on it, my name and Jesus Christ's name. I only have this special privilege to have my name next to Jesus Christ's name for these few 18 months. What a privilege! When I talk to people, they automatically look at my name badge and they don't even say my name. They say, "Oh, Jidutu..." (which means Christian) and you know how happy that makes me? I am a representative of Jesus Christ. This is a sacred opportunity for such a short while.

-When people reject me, it's not because they don't like me personally. They reject Jesus Christ because that's who I represent. And Christ was rejected so many times in His lifetime.

-These 18 months is really just like the Missionary Training Center. The real mission ends when I go back to God's presence.

Merry Christmas everyone! Don't forget to look at christmas.mormon.org and Share The Gift!!! I love sharing The Gift with everyone! I can't wait to Skype my family in a few days!

Love,

Sister Sagisi

Me and my baby on her first Sunday at Church

For P-Day last week, I took apart this bunk bed with this screwdriver. Tough work...

Me and Sister Smith! We were only companions for a short 2 weeks but it was like summer all the time with her. 

This is how we do...cramped in the back of the train while on our way to pick up our baby.

Our first picture! #teamSakita

Everyone needs a temple picture with their baby.

In the mission van...I cut President Day off...

On the lower steps of the Grand Hotel.

She's so cute. That's the grand hotel in the back.

#teamSakita

So cool!

Merry Christmas from inside the Grand Hotel!

Our ward party. So much food!!! Love you all!

On Her Way!

She's coming! She's coming! My baby/trainee is coming! Her name is Sister Akita. I'll email more about her in my upcoming email. I think I owe you all pictures due to last week. So I'll focus on those pictures in this week's email.

Here's a part of my letter to President Day:

I am so happy and I am so excited for Sister Akita to come!!! As time goes on and on, it just keeps feeling more and more right that this was supposed to happen. I was talking to Sister Smith Saturday night about how this is all the Lord's timing. He truly is the Master Planner. So I just told her about how when the September missionaries hadn't come yet, why hadn't she just gone with Sister Smith in Wanda and I come here to Zhongli with Sis. Zippro since she and the other Sister Smith would have been training anyway and I would have just stayed here anyway. But as we've talked about our experience that we've had when we had those three weeks waiting for the September missionaries, it was all in the Lord's plan all along! I LOVE being able to look back on how the Lord really has His hand in all things! I know that in the moment, we don't know His reasons, but if we are patient and we just take what we've been given and make the best of it, we slowly realize His meaning behind all things. I think that's one of the best things in life. And I can't wait for the Millennium (which was Gospel Principles topic yesterday) because all truths will be revealed to us.

I haven't yet talked about how we've been using The Gift in our missionary efforts. But it's been so great here in Zhongli. We've had a wonderful idea of going "He is The Gift" Boarding!!! We have so many cards and we have a goal of sharing them all with everyone. There are so many people who are willing to watch the video with us. One miracle happened yesterday. It was a rough day of contacting, when finally we run into this guy named James. At first, he was just ready to reject us because he was a Buddhist but after a little nudge, we got him to watch "He is the Gift" with us. He told us after that he was very touched. After sharing our testimony, we invited him to learn about The Gift, Jesus Christ. His response just gave me an overwhelming feeling of the Spirit. He said, "I will. I will learn about The Gift." What a miracle!!!

Another miracle came shortly after this. While biking home, we had a lesson with He DX. I passed him first because he looked a little "strange." But then I had an urge to turn back around, however, I didn't listen to it. Then I look back and see Sis. Smith pass him too, however, she turned around and called after him. I am so grateful for companions because I would not be able to do This Work alone! Well, he was such a humble man. He has a Christian background and kept telling us about how his pastor says not to read the Book of Mormon. However, we showed him the picture of Christ in the Book of Mormon and shared 2 Nephi 25:26. It changed everything!

I am learning so much right now. I love it! There are so many things that I need to start implementing and so many things that I want to start trying. Many times this week, we've found our success just when we were about to give up. But if we just hold through and just really follow the tiny tiny promptings of the Spirit, we'll be lead to where we need to go. Often times, our miracles have come through deciding to go somewhere. Then when we go there, we take another step into the dark and fall again. But eventually, at the very very end, we find our reason of why we were brought there.

Love you all!!!
Love,
Sister Sagisi

The Zhongli District :) We went out for ice cream.

In Taibei with Sister Smith. It's SOO COLD!

Merry Christmas :)

Lunch with Sis. Li and Sis. Huang

Liu JM was baptized!!!!

I ate this koala chocolate that our bishop's children made for us!

A turkey pinata for English Class activity was the best decision ever!

I baby sat Sis. Jensen :)

The trainers...Sister Thornley, I have no idea what she's doing.

Merry Christmas all!

Shopping ;)

Gelato!

I Do Not Doubt

I just want to say, happy P-day!!! As I thought about what has happened these few days, one scripture comes to mind: Alma 56:48 "[I] do not doubt [my mission president] knew it." I am so humbled to know that the Lord knows me personally and He knows my needs. I can testify of this truth with so much more power now as I bear testimony that God is our loving Heavenly Father on the streets. So something happened this week to my trainee and I'm not training right now. But Pres. Day said that perhaps in 1-2 weeks when the new missionaries come. I knew that even though I'm not training right now, I was supposed to be at the trainer meeting. I knew that I needed to hear everything that was shared/said at the training meeting on Thursday. I also know that in retrospect, I am in the PERFECT situation right now. I need Sister Smith's help and I am so happy. Happy in every aspect of the work. I know that when she leaves, I'll be so much more ready for what lies ahead.

Sister Smith is helping me so much to get this area in order. As we were having WPS, I realized that so many things need work here and I wouldn't have been able to figure it out without her help. I am learning SO MUCH from her!  I think that the only time I had to rest was during the Sacrament but other than that, we were just busy bees. But it was a wonderful Sunday!

Liu Mei Ling JM made it to the waters of baptism on Tuesday. She has such great faith and she is such a strong woman. Both of her children have mental disabilities and she brought both of them to her baptismal service. But it was the smoothest baptismal service that I've ever been to. If it weren't for the ward members and leadership, it would've been crazy. But we had ward members helping her with her children that she was able to just focus on the Spirit. When she bore her testimony, everyone could just feel her happiness. She expressed how since she was a young girl, she never had the opportunity to look into other religions. And now she was the opportunity and she is so happy that she could find a religion that she believes in.

Saturday was a day of hai hao (okay) finding. We didn't really find any solid investigators until of course, the last hour of the day. We had gone to the chapel because we were supposed to have our weekly Scripture Reading Class. But because there was no sister there and it was only RCLA brethren, we were on our way to our backup plan street. Well, we grabbed our bikes and were ready to bike. But then this man comes up to us and tells us that he's been wanting to go to our church for a really long time but he just doesn't know when or how he can go. He also says that he always sees missionaries in the chapel but he's never talked to them. We find out that his name is Zhong DX and he was a Buddhist before but this year he converted to Christianity and was baptized by sprinkling water. We told him about church and talked to him about baptism and about Priesthood Authority. We set a baptismal date with him and Sis. Smith and I felt prompted to set it for 12/20! We told him that we'd wait at the doors of the chapel for him the next day. He told us that he's really coming and that he was serious about it. We also told him about how God planned this for him because we were leaving the chapel only because our class got cancelled. And then he told us that he wasn't planning on walking past our chapel. He was actually planning on turning around the corner. But he had a feeling to keep walking and then he ended up talking to us. He seriously was a miracle!

Yesterday we met with him after church and shared the Restoration and he confessed that he smokes. He said that he tried quitting before but it was really hard. But he's such a humble man and he asked a lot of great questions. We shared "He is the Gift" using our peikes phone and he expressed that now he understands the meaning of Christmas! He thought it was just a western thing all this time. We have another set up with him this Tuesday. I have never met an investigator like this! I'm so excited to see his progression.

Sister Zippro went home! Sister Lin moved to Zhubei. Now it's just me and Sister Smith!

Love you all!
Love Sister Sagisi!!!

(sorry pictures next week!)

Sister, It's Cold Outside

Last week was so hot and humid. It felt like summer all over again. Today, it feels like one of those days in Utah where you knew it would start snowing. Overcast sky, bitter wind, and just cold. But here in Taiwan, of course it wouldn't snow. Haha.

What a week!!! Our miracle "one" made it to baptism on the last day of the month, November 30!!! She truly was a miracle. Sis. Edlyn Laulita from Pangasinan, Philippines. She was the one who the Lord answered would be our November "one." I shared a little bit about her in previous emails but here is another review of what really happened with her. She's been coming to church every single week for the past two months and she met the church back in 2007. It was also two months ago that she and her boyfriend Bro. Romeo Callejo (a Filipino who is an RM) approached us and said that she wanted to be baptized. But because of her crazy work schedule from 7pm to 7am we haven't been able to meet with her. Also, because of her address, she would have to be confirmed in the ward that she usually can't attended unless it's her Sunday day off work. It wasn't until 2 weeks ago where she finally got her work schedule for the rest of the year. She found that her next Sunday day off was November 30. So, we worked really hard in having lessons over the phone and when she did have her one day off in the week, we had the opportunity to meet with her twice. Then she was baptized on Sunday! It was seriously through the efforts of both the missionaries and the members. We held her baptism between the morning ward and the afternoon ward and she was confirmed in the afternoon ward. What a miracle! When I talked to her after she was baptized, she just kept saying how happy she felt and how good she felt. Then when the bishopric handed her all the church books after her baptismal service, she exclaimed that she was so excited. Using her words she said, "I love it!" She was just glowing yesterday and I am so grateful to be a part of helping her into the waters of baptism. When she shared her testimony, I just had tears in my eyes because I could feel her joy of making the covenant of baptism with God. I know that she's one of the reasons I was called to serve here in Taiwan!

I got "the call" this past Saturday. We were just leaving the chapel after Scripture Reading Group (I can't directly translate what we call it in Chinese to English but that's the best I can think of at the moment.) And the Elders were just talking about how training calls were tonight. They asked me if I was excited... Few minutes later, Sis. Lin hands the phone over to me. It was Elder Weech, one of the Assistants to the President. He said that Pres. Day needs me to be in Taibei at 1pm. Why? He's called me to train. I am soo nervous! But I am so excited! This is a special group of missionaries. They were supposed to come last October but because of their VISAs, they were reassigned to another mission in America. So aside from the 9 weeks in the MTC, they spend a transfer (6 weeks) in America. I am praying soooo hard to know how to help my new trainee.

One of my companions, Sis. Zippro will be finishing her mission this week! She's going back to Utah. She is an amazing missionary and it was an honor to be one of her last companions. I learned so much from her and I know she's influence so many people through her service here. Because she's leaving soon, so many members want to feed us before she goes. I hope that I don't start looking too chunky...

I know that God knows His children. All of us. We are each so precious to Him and I testify that He is sad when He sees us sad. He also smiles when He sees us smiling. I know that He hasn't left us to be sad in this world. He's given us His Son, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost to be our constant companion. They can bring us happiness and peace through everything we go through in mortality. I know that through prayer, we can ALWAYS communicate with our Father in Heaven.

I love you all!
Love,
Sister Sagisi
夏姐妹

Me, Sister Edlyn, Sister Zippro, Sister Lin. :) 

Wei JM! She is a professional chef. And every time we visit her, she feeds us until we can't breathe. Literally. She's been an investigator for over 4 years now. She can't get baptized because her husband won't allow her but she still faithfully comes to church. Love her!

Thanksgiving in Taiwan

My highlight of the week was seeing my Recent Convert, Ye JM (Yoyo), at Taoyuan Stake Conference. We both just cried when we saw each other. The best part was being able to sit with her at conference. It brought back memories of sitting with her at church when she was just an investigator. She later told me that she got her Patriarchal Blessing! I am so proud of her! Nothing warms your heart more than seeing someone you helped bring unto Christ taking their own steps on their path towards eternal life. Oh, how I love her so much!

This week was Thanksgiving Day in America. That doesn't mean we can't celebrate it in Taiwan! We were actually able to have another Thanksgiving meal this week, this time with the Li Family. For our Spiritual Thought we went around the room and explained what we were thankful for this year. Among the many many things I'm thankful for, I shared how I was so thankful for the four months that I was able to spend at home with my family while I waited to report to the MTC. For the past three years since I've started college, I've only really seen my family about every 6 months, spending at most a month with them. But being home with them for Christmas and my birthday was just such a special time to strengthen our relationship before I left them for 18 months. I love them so so much. I am also so grateful to even be on a mission. My joy is so full, and so is my tummy.

At Stake Conference, we heard from many speakers. Among them were Pres. and Sister Day and Elder Sam Wong of the Seventy. He recently spoke at General Conference this past October. He emphasized how missionary work is to be done with both missionaries and members. He emphasized Pres. Monson's call to everyone that "Now is the time for the members and missionaries to work together to labor in the Lord's vineyard and bring souls to Christ." He also shared things that pertain only to this area of the world. I know that he is a man called of God. He is called to preside over this area, under the First Presidency and ultimately under the Lord Jesus Christ.

He shared with us a few stories and I'd like to share one of them and the things that he taught us. This is the story of the Rich Young Man in Mark 10 of the New Testament. This rich man must have been a very active member because he 'ran' to Christ to know about eternal life. He even knew about eternal life, so he knew doctrine. His parents taught him well in the gospel so he also must have been a 2nd or 3rd generation member. But he was not willing to sell his possessions. The word "possession" is very interesting. Our possessions, all we have is what can really "possess" us. The rich young man was not willing to give all he had to follow the Savior. Can we ask ourselves the same? Are we willing to do all we can to build the Kingdom of God? Are we doing our Home Teaching, Visiting Teaching? Magnifying our calling? Compare this with the story of the Widow in 1 Kings who gives her food to feed the prophet Elijah.

Love you all!
Have a wonderful week!
Sister Sagisi
夏姊妹

Thanksgiving Dinner with the Li Family :)

A taco bar!!!! It was soooo good. I was so happy :)

Chen JM treated us to lunch. She is so amazing. Everything she does is for her baby boy. She wants him to have the best education and to have a wonderful life. Even though she doesn't have fancy material things, she sacrifices so much for him and his future.

Lunch with the Li family. :)

We all look Taiwanese...Well, everyone else in the picture but me is Taiwanese. Haha.

My dear Yoyo and I at Stake Conference! Soooo happy I finally got to see her!!!! :D

Acid Rain?

No one told me it was acid rain!

Coming from Hawaii, I'm used to the beautiful rain, especially when it just drizzles a little. But here in Taiwan, especially in my zone, Taoyuan, it's pretty much acid rain. Because of all the factories in my area, it's pretty dangerous... But it's OK, we're still alive. One of the main concerns that all the elders (and sisters) have is that they'll go bald. Well, after hearing that, I'm forever using my hood and placing a piece of paper in my helmet to avoid from going bald. Haha.

Our short-term missionary, Sis. Christensen went home to Taibei! (I spelled her name wrong last week, sorry!) But before she went home Pres. Day wanted her to have an opportunity to go on exchanges with me and Sis. Zippro. So I had the opportunity to be senior companion for a day. On Tuesday, Sis. Christensen came with me to my area while Sis. Zippro went with Sis. Lin to her area. I'm not too sure if I mentioned that we lived in a four person apartment, so that's really convenient as well. At first, I was kind of nervous because Sis. Christensen doesn't know very much Chinese gospel terms but it ended up being one of the best days! We went English Boarding (where go and hand out English flyers telling everyone about our English class that we offer). We met some people interested in English class and even in church! I loved being able to cheer Sis. Christensen on and help her. She is so great and she has the light of a missionary. At the end of English Boarding, I told Sis. Christensen that we had to go because it was dinner time. She responded with, "No, what?! Do we have to?" She was enjoying herself so much and she loved talking to people. We found a new investigator as well! For dinner, we treated ourselves to Filipino food :) Seeing her spark just fueled my fire and I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to go on exchanges with her. And yesterday, one of the sisters we met while English Boarding came to church!!! As she introduced herself in Sunday School, she mentioned how she met me at the train station and desired to come to church. What a blessing!!!

Here's a miracle, the Jewish investigator, Eliyo set a baptismal date!!! I didn't realize how monumental it was until Sis. Zippro told me. Because she served in Colorado for a transfer and a half while she waited for her Taiwan VISA, she knew how immense that was. Yes, Eliyo set a date and he even came to church yesterday! He really has a desire to know God's plan for him. He was so humbled by the faith that we have in him to set a baptismal date. He's worried that he doesn't have the same faith for himself. But I know that God loves him. I know that it's no coincidence that Eliyo came to Taiwan. Maybe of all the places in the world, he needed to meet missionaries here.

I also want to say happy birthday to my little brother, Jerrico! He's turning 11. Love you baby bro!!!

There's so much I want to say but so little time. I will end with my testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel. I know that the Good News that we have to offer to the world is the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. Through Him, we can all return to our Father in Heaven. God's plan for us is to be happy in this life. Through all the trials that mortality brings, He wants us to be happy and to have eternal happiness with Him in His kingdom. Happiness in this life and forever is all possible through Jesus Christ.

I love you all!
Love,
Sister Sagisi
夏姐妹

Our Thanksgiving Dinner with the Liu Family! Mashed potatoes, Swedish meatballs, donuts...I was so happy!!!

Filipino Food!!!

This made me so happy!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! :D

"True Christianity is Love in Action"

Dear Mommy,

Time just seems to go by so fast! I can't believe that I'm emailing you again. I thought I just emailed you. Haha. A lot of things have already happened since I last wrote.

This past week we were in a tri-companionship again. So Sister Lin had a short term missionary (mini missionary) the week before but she was only here for a week. So starting last week again we became a trio and was over two areas. We also went on exchanges. Sister Lin and I went to Nankan with one of the Sister Training Leaders, Sister Miller. Then on Saturday we went to Taipei to do Temple Square Tours at the Temple. And while we were there we ran into the Assistants to the Mission President and they told us that another short-term missionary will be joining us this week! So since Saturday, we've been back to a regular companionship.

So exchanges are usually when crazy and miraculous things happen. One of our lessons cancelled a few minutes before it was supposed to start. We prayed about what to do next. Sis. Miller told us that one option was that we could visit a family who lived nearby. She and Sis. Thornley tried to visit them before but only the children were home so they couldn't go in. Well this time they were home! All 4 children and the parents. They let us in and we sang a hymn then talked about temples. I really just felt the Spirit in that lesson. The cutest thing was that when we asked them to read 3 Nephi 18:21, they all read it together in unison (no one has ever done that before!) We also taught in harmony, even though it was the first time the 3 of us have ever taught, it just flowed so well. Nankan ended up getting 5 new investigators that night! That family is golden!

Yesterday, I taught a lesson in English! It was so weird!!! So after exchanges outside of the train station, we met a Jewish man named Eliyo. He was born in Israel and grew up in America on the east coast. Though it seemed like all he wanted to do was debate, he was willing to give it a shot and to listen to what we had to say. So we set up a time to meet. Yesterday, we met with him. One challenge prior to meeting with him was finding members who could accompany our lesson (peike). Luckily, one of the wards at our chapel is English-friendly/foreigner friendly. They have English translators because some of the members do not speak any Chinese. Well, one of the English members was Brother Bell from London. Our other peike was Sis. Shen, who helps us out all the time. So I used my quad scriptures in a lesson for the first time!!! It was awesome. Well, the lesson went really well. We got halfway through the message of the Restoration but we have another meeting scheduled for this Wednesday. Eliyo is very willing to accept our invitations and commitments. He believes in God but his concern is that he doesn't know what it's like to know God's answers and how to discern what God tells him. I'm excited to share the rest of our message with him! We gave him a Book of Mormon and he says that he'll be more than happy to read it.

Also, at church we had the ward's primary presentation! I forgot how much I missed those. Being in a Young Single Adult ward for so long made me forget how cute they are! The children make me smile so much, especially when they sing. It's reminded me of the meekness and humility that children have and how we must be as little children.

During studies, I ran into this quote from Preach My Gospel.
"True Christianity is love in action. There is no better way to manifest love for God than to show an unselfish love for your fellow men. This is the spirit of missionary work." -Pres. David O. Mckay
It's so true! In order to do missionary work or actually to just claim yourself as a "Christian" we have to love everyone! It's the only way that Christ would have us live.

Love,
Sister Sagisi
夏姐妹

Fresh coconuts never tasted so good. Especially when they're $1 (american dollar).

We taught Xuting, a recent convert. She was baptized a few months ago. :) I remember teaching her when I first got here. My Chinese has improved so much, haha.

I'm sorry it's so blurry! But Sis. Christiansen is our new duanchuan (short term missionary.)

He has a Plan

Hi Mommy,

This is my letter to Pres. Day this week:
Don't you just love miracles that top off the week? These are the miracles that happen on Sunday, the very last day of the week. Yesterday, we had three Filipinos at church. I have such great respect for them because to Sis. Zippro and I, they aren't 'inactive.' They would be at church in a heartbeat if it weren't for their work schedule. They leave their families in the Philippines to work in Taiwan and to provide for their families. One of them, Bro. Romeo, an RM, brought his girlfriend for the third time to church and she wants to meet with missionaries. The other, Sis. Barila, comes whenever she can. After the lesson in Gospel Principles, she wants to start doing family history on familysearch.org. But in order to do that she needs an LDS account and she doesn't know her member record number to make one. We're going to work with the bishop and ward clerk to see how she can get it and also to see if her records and temporarily transfer here to Taiwan so that she can get her Patriarchal Blessing. I am slowly realizing my reason for being here in Taiwan and I know that it's no coincidence that the Lord called me to a place that has a lot of Filipinos!

This week, we've actually met a lot of Indonesians and Filipinos. It's so hard to communicate with the Indonesians because they are limited in their Chinese and English abilities. But I want to help them out so badly. I want them to feel the Spirit and know that we are representatives of Jesus Christ. I'm still learning how to do this despite the language barrier. Sometimes I feel like a failure because I can't communicate as well with the Filipinos even though I am full Filipino. I wish I had been fluent in the Tagalog language before. But I know that after my mission this is no doubt a pursuit of mine. I know that I'm called Mandarin speaking so that is what I'm focusing on now. I know that if the Lord needs me to communicate in another language, He will allow me to do so through ways that I already know how to do.

I don't know what happened this week! Either we can't find a sister peike, we get fang'd, or our investigator cancels. This has definitely been one of the most challenging weeks. But regardless, Sis. Zippro and I are able to see those tiny miracles in each day. Sometimes, though, it's hard to not think, "what did I do wrong? Why is this happening?" However, I can sense those times when I know it's nothing that I did but rather it's the agency of others or it's probably just a trial from the Lord.

One investigator, He JM, probably the most sassiest lady I have ever met invited us to her house only to drop us. She explained that having a God who gives us everything we have is just something that she can't fathom. We spent the last couple of lessons focusing on God is our loving Heavenly Father and on His Son, Jesus Christ. She said that it was just a personal problem for her to accept that. She knows we love her and she loves us too, but she just doesn't want to waste our time anymore. She didn't want us to be disappointed either. At the beginning of the lesson she wanted to give us back the Book of Mormon but at the end, she allowed us to leave it with her. Today during studies, I read the conference address by Elder Perry, "Obedience to Law is Liberty." I learned so much more about the gift of agency. I know that God gave us this gift because He loves us. And likewise, we let He JM go because we love her and she has her own agency. I know that God has a plan for her and maybe now isn't the time. But I have hope for her!

I'm not too sure if you remember, President, but I told you how learning Chinese was the last thing on my list. It was something that I never wanted to do or even imagined doing. Back in high school I told myself (and everyone else) that if for any reason I needed to learn Chinese, I said that I would hire a translator. I don't know why I didn't want to learn it. I think that it's because I knew it was the hardest language and I didn't want to put myself up to the challenge. But I am so grateful for the Lord's trust and Him allowing me to reach my full potential. Look at me now, I'm teaching in Chinese! It's a miracle! It's a blessing! It's only going to get better from here on out.

During personal study today I read this scripture in Abraham 4:21, emphasize added:
And the Gods prepared the waters that they might bring forth great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters were to bring forth abundantly after their kind; and every winged fowl after their kind. And the Gods saw that they would be obeyed, and that their plan was good.

God has a plan! In addition to the Plan of Happiness that He's given us, we know that from this scripture He is a planner! It's so important to always have a plan. In missionary work, if we don't have a lesson plan or a plan of what we want to accomplish this day, we won't be successful at all. I love planning! Granted, sometimes what we plan doesn't go through or new things come up. But if we have a plan and we put in our effort, the Lord will help us along the way.

Love you!!!
Sister Sagisi
夏姐妹

I don't know if I sent this picture the last time. This was the last Sunday with Sis. Smith, my last companion. We were matching and we wanted to take a 'Family Picture' in our apartment :) Love her!

Our crazy ward.

​This is a better picture! This is almost all of the district. We are missing another set of elders, though. To the left is Sis. Xie who was a short term missionary this past week. To the right is Sis. Lin who is the third member of our Trio now. And those are our Elders, Willes and Jensen.