Black Eye Monday

Well everyone hello!!! Thank you all for so many letters this week it was a bit overwhelming to read and reply to 31 emails!! But so great keep it up!! Alright so heres how my week went this week,

 

I had an unexpected miracle of getting to see everyone who came to Taiwan with me in a follow up meeting we all had that my companion and I did not know about until 3 days before but really it was so great to see them all it was like coming home and seeing part of my family. I am so lucky that the mission so far really has felt just like that- meeting all my family members I didnt know I had but cant believe that I am just now meeting them. I cant believe how much my heart is growing here. Also my Mission President and Wife came and directed our district meeting this week which was SO great! They really are the best and I am so grateful for them and their guidence. They are very wise in how to guide us. While compasionate they are so realistic and help us remember that yeah its going to be hard so work harder. SO great!!!! And I am definately starting to feel more loved and needed here in Taiwan.

 

This saturday we were supposed to have two baptisms both which did not happen becuase one wasnt keeping commitments and the others parents rejected. It is not easy to see things such as this happen becuase we want so badly for them to realize the blessings that will come. And so I learned to learn that really this is not my work. Its not my companions work its not President Days work or even the Prophets work, its God's and he alone can make this happen. And so I have rededicated my reasons for being here inviting others to come to Christ to do really that. Invite them to come to Christ and allow Him to get them to follow him and have a desire for baptism. But miracles do not cease!!! This week we spent a lot of time trying to locate LA's and try to help remind them of the covenants they have made and remember the desire to follow Christ. And... it did not seem very productive. And for my first time we had no new investigators. I was discouraged and a little sad as we walked to church feeling like no real improvement had been made. But as we were supprised by a golden investigators presence welcoming here into sacrament meeting I saw the Lord do his work. As two less actives walked into sacrament another investigator came and a recent convert was fellowshipped by three ward members. I cannot even describe the joy that I felt in that moment when I was reminded that God will do his work. And my efforts are not wasted. It was a beautiful and wonderful feeling to sit with my family in the meeting that day and remember truly why I am here in Taiwan.

 

Also may I testify of the power of prayer and that I know with all my heart and being that God hears them and answers them. Pray!!! All the time just do it you will never regret that you said a prayer. This morning in personal study I had asked a question in my prayer of how to create a good atmosphere when teaching and then set it aside to be answered later as I studied specifically for that when all of the sudden the answer popped out of the verse I was reading. Really. Pray. You will get answers.

 

So no really exciting or crazy things happened this week other than today waking up with a swollen eye which although is annoying and a little painful is more of a blessing than a hinderance. You all know I have dark eyes its just part of who I am. Well here its really weird for the Taiwanese and they comment all the time how I should get more sleep, well today I will only have one eye they can say that about as the other is so red and puffy now that theres no black even around it!!! So great!! HAhA

 

You all are awesome and I love you all The mission is amazing and the Lords work is going forth!

 

-Sister Thornley

Hurricanes a comin'

So I had my second typhoon here! It was SOO cool!! Haha I have never seen it rain so hard before which was pretty much the coolest ever! My companion and I were ridding to an LA's house and it was like k I cant even explain it but we got REALLY wet!! Anyways, my companion did not think the rain was as cool as I did and her being the senior companion decided that we would retreat to safety in a 7-11 (they are HUGE here!) and I was a little sad cause well the rain was so sweet and it wasnt hot at all! But we went into the 7 to start doing some follow up calls and wait out the rain. Again I learned that God provides opportunities in odd ways and I am ever grateful to my companions wisdom and ability to follow the spirit. As we finished calling we saw two young girls sitting there alone and so we began to talk with the one who would talk back to us and we were able to teach the first lesson give a book of mormon and SET A BAPTISMAL DATE! I see miracles such as this almost everyday and I am always humbled and taught that we need to follow the spirit and allow him to take us where we need to go.

 

Also this week I was given some very sweet tendermercies. Yesterday at church I was a little overwhelmed because in relief society I still cant understand the lessons and feel really silly when they ask me for my opinion and I need the help of a lot of broken english to help me understand and then I try in my mandarin to answer which I am sure is about as hard for them to understand my answer as it is for me to understand the question. So I was thinking about how much I missed the relief socitey presidents I had first in Thatcher and how much I wished they were here to help me. Also I was really irritated becuase my legs have become covered in scars and bumps from the misqutos here and they were really bothering me that day. Well among my murmmering I was reminded how much I am loved. As my legs were burning from the irritation i felt a sweet gentle touch on my leg and as I looked down Dong jiemei was gently rubbing an oil over my bites to ease the irritation. I was really touched as she performed such a sweet and caring act for me a foreigner who cannot understand when she tells me about her family or the trials she is going through she served me. And I am so ever grateful for her love and friendship to me. Also at the FHE that we atteneded another miracle for me occured. My companion sometimes forgets that I need help understanding and she sometimes leaves me in the dark not sure what is going on or why and another instance occured as they were explaining the quick game we would finish with. I was really confused as I felt an arm wrap around my shoulders. One of the members who has tried to reach out to me in talking to me started to slowly speak the chinese to help me understand what I was to do and then helped me do so. Truly God is protecting me in more ways than I could know. One last quick tender mercy. we went to teach and investigator and her grandma opened the door to let us in. Now most of the older people here do not speak mandarin but taiyu so I couldnt understand her but as I passed and acknowledged her in the way we are to here she reached out and grabbed my arm and began to compliment me in the cutest taiyu ever and though I could not understand I was sincerly touched by the amount of love pouring from her. I later found out what she was telling me was that I was so beautiful and young and that she wanted to be my mother.

 

So mom dont get jealous but know that I am loved and cared for here. So everyone!! Taiwan is awesome and I love it. We are having some difficulties right now with our investigators who have baptismal dates for september and we have needed to really concentrate on helping them understand the spirit to know that this is indeed the path the Lord would have them follow and encouraging them to talk with their families and resolve the concerns that were brought up. But the work is moving forward and we are all a part of it. Please do your part and get refferals to the missionaries! Finding on our own efforts is not nearly as effective as refferals so please please step up and do the calling we all have been extended to be a missionary. I love you all!

 

-Sister THornley

TAIWAN!!!

Hello Everyone!!! I hope you are all well and are happy! May I share something I have learned from here- happiness is truly a physical choice we must make for ourselves each day. Challenges will come and we will have to face them for that is life and we are commanded to endure but may I suggest that we choose to endure in happiness. We can choose in which way we endure and let us all remember that the plans name that has send us here is of happiness. So I invite you all each day to arise and choose to be happy and I promise you you will fill more fully of God's love. 

This week went by so fast and I am so grateful for that. On Friday we had our very first outdoor zone conference!!! It was so much fun as my zone and some others all traveled to some part in my area of beautiful mountains and hiked and learned of the Lord and his plan for us on the mission. It was so nice to spend a day out in nature among my friends and other missionaries. I loved being able to talk with friends from the MTC and really just remembering God truly does have a plan for us all and you can see it in all we have here in the world. There was a part of the hike that showed a sign saying that there were 120 stone steps to go to arrive at the top. LIE such a lie as we climbed over 220 more steps. I want to say that we can find relation in all things to relate it to Christ and his gospel and the plan for us here. Sometimes in life we may be told we have only 120 more steps to go until we arrive at the destination and we may become completely discouraged as we approach the 120th step and see there are still many more to go but you just keep going. Keep putting one foot down pushing with your strength for the top. It is worth it. Believe it is worth it and that God will reward you for going further than you thought you would need to. 

This week I also got to do my very first exchange of companions!! I served in Taipei city for one day and man am I grateful to be in YiLan where it is slow and beautiful. But I learned so much about love. And also that I am called to Taiwan Taipei and that means I can teach the gospel to all the Taiwanese not just those in YiLan. I began to talk with a girl in the MRT station and I was not expecting much to come of it other than giving her a small pamphlet we give here but she brought up the gospel and was curious as to what my purpose was to be here in Taiwan. And I was able to get a new investigator for the Sister I was on exchange with! So cool! As I am honest to my commitment to talk with everyone miracles are happening. Oh also everyone know that God really does protect his missionaries. As Sister Brown and I were teaching that girl I talked above about three security guards came up to us and were not very happy we had been speaking with her informing us we can not proselyte there. Which we were not and tried to explain they had come up to us but it was heard on a  deaf ear. I was terrified because I do not yet have my ARC card allowing me to be here in Taiwan and I would have been in a lot of trouble if they had asked for it but the Lord protected us and I am safe and sound back in YiLan! 

Well thats pretty much it for this week I love you all and am starting to really love this work! You are all great!

Sister Thornley

Taiwan

 Dragonfruit (so delicious)

 Dinner... Well good thing it's looking right into my soul!

 My Bike

 It says The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

and No success can compensate for failure in the home

 The Hike

 The Size of spiders here. This is not my hand its an elders whose hand is freakishly big so...yeah

 My Area

 The view from my exchange

 FHE Taiwanese are too cute

 The coolest swimming pool EVER! Which is right across the street from me!

 My cute companion on the Hike of over 220

Food... I think 

 Cool drinks in Taiwan 

Second Week

Hey Everyone!!!

 

Do you believe in miracles? Because you should they are so real! This week I saw many many miracles that have strengthened my faith in this gospel!! My teacher at the MTC Chen laoshi taught us a very applicable lesson- when you feel discouraged and frustrated get ready cause you are about to meet someone awesome! SO SO true!!! Each time I felt frustrated or too confused to do any good someone amazing would come into our path! We now have 2 new baptismal dates already set and a new family to teach!! So crazy!

 

Monday night we were going to start knocking on doors and I was a little worried that this was going to go bad so we offered a prayer and I felt frustrated cause my companion prayes so fast in Chinese that I have no idea what was even said but the first door we knocked on let us in and we now have a new family to teach which we will be teaching tonight at 6! I am so excited! Second- I was frustrated cause I didnt understand the plan for the day cause again it was in Chinese and I interpreted it wrong and my companion walked up to a man smoking and who was not giving us the time of the day. I was annoyed we stayed becuase I couldnt understand what he was saying and knew they were getting into a bible bash sort of conflict. So.. I prayed in my heart that we could leave... we did not and its a good thing too- a new investigator that has accepted the baptismal invitation! We were running a little late to an appointment because an investigator talked way too long but when we got to the place to meet to teach I took out my Book of Mormon and set it on my bike and a random lady came up and started asking about it we placed a Book of Mormon and have a new investigator. We were in planning session and again i was confused with the speed of Chinese and was so lost but we prayed and I felt we needed to teach the Holy Ghost and a blessing it is. We taught according to that and another Baptismal invitation was recieved. Brothers and Sisters, when discouragement comes in smile- Satan knows something awesome is going to happen. Take a moment pray for strength and you will see miracles.

 Also volunteer to be peikes!!! (member present in a mission lesson) Because they are so helpful!!!! we had two peikes this week that were total rockstars!!! Dong jie mei first- we invited an investigator to say the closing prayer to which she refused and Dong jiemei ( a older woman that reminds me so so much of Grandpa its scary) looked at her and said, Wang jiemei- those girls are the Lords representatives. They are here in behalf of the Lord and if they ask you to say a prayer you say the prayer. HAHAHA I was trying so so hard not to die of laughter it was so cool!! Needless to say she said the prayer though I am not sure if she will meet with us again soon... :) Second Qin dixion- he taught the entire lesson for us! Which was actually really nice cause he connected with the investigator so well and he accepted the gospel completely and the invitation to be baptised. So please help teh missionaries. If you really believe we have a prophet of God on earth today you have to. They have told us every member a missionary and so you are commanded to be a missionary.

 

Thank you all for your prayers and love. You are all incredible and in my prayers daily. I love ya all and you all need to one day come to Taiwan cause its so cute :)

-Sister Thornley

HEY EVERYONE!!!

So I am now in TAIWAN! My area is YiLan which is sort of on the EAST COAST my companion is a Bendiren (native!) And I have found that all the taiwanese are confused and totally not speaking Mandarin... or the MTC just taught me very wrong. HAHA :)

Okay so the plane ride- not too shabby! I actually liked it a lot and had a fun time on it I was seated in between two other missionaries so we were all pretty boring and dispite my efforts to stay awake the entire 14 hours so that jet lag wouldnt hit me I konked out for 6 hours... whoops. But flying over Taiwan was AMAZING! IT is the the cutest island ever! The airport experieces were fun too and my companion and I started up two conversations and got address from both of them- sadly I am not in the area of either of them but I am pretty sure sister Nicholas is :) So I hope those turn out well for her!! We got there really late and had some problems with some of the missionaries visas so it was even later than expected but we all made it safely and yep I love it!

The mission president and wife are AMAZING not like what I was expecting but I love them to death! I woke up in the morning and walked out of my little room and BAM the temple was right there! So pretty! I am so excited to be able to go in someday! The first day was pretty much a blur and I dont remember much but we contacted that night- I saw miracles. So we were all paired with a random trainer and then we set some goals I dream big and decided in 2 hours we were going to have 32 lessons. Which... I was then told to lower so I changed to 15 :) hehe :) Go big or gome home right? Anyway within the first 3 minutes of being outside contacting we had a lesson. He wasnt interested further but it was still awesome. Also he was a little bugged that we are given chinese names when we arent chinese. But then when I spelled my name to him I got joy out of his wrong pronunciation and told him american names are odd so thats why- to make it easier for them :) Which sounds rude now but I promise it wasnt and I said it in love. Anyway... yep That night I placed a book of mormon taught 4 lessons and found a former investigator and invited him to baptism on Oct 9 and to start meeting with the missionaries so he can prepare- to which he said yes!!! This work is true. I know it.

So the second day- CRAZY! We got assigned to our new companion and trainer- I about died when they told me I was with chu jiemei. And rightly so, it was a hard first day. But she showed love to me in sincerely trying to speak english to me when discussing our investigators. It was very sweet. YiLan is a miracle. my trainer trained after 12 weeks in the field (which is the goal to be able to train immediately after being trained) and I am her second trainie so shes a double mom :) Another really cool thing is that she opened the area here for sisters with her first child. So thats really amazing and I can learn so much from her. I am so grateful for this challenge as my chinese has already skyrocketed it is still way hard but I recieve daily comfort and inspiration from the Book of Mormon. If you arent reading it everyday- start. You need it. I dont know how I lived without it. Life is so much better with it. Anyway, YiLan is amazing. We have 7 investiagators with baptismal dates and a ton more that we are working with. There was a baptism here saturday so my second day I saw two people get baptised. So cool. Its a little weird. The people here dont have a ton of money so dresses are... not common. So the service looked a bit different from home but the spririt was the same. The beauty of this gospel is that it is the same EVERYWHERE.

Our invstifators are so cool and I love them all to death! I am still struggling to understand them. Funny story- so we were meeting with one and there was another younger girl there and she introduced her as her friend then the next thing I understood was girlfriend... so I am sitting through the entire lesson trying to decide if she is really her girlfried and how awkward this is goin to be when we will eventually teach the law of chastity... then next thing I know is that she is describbing her process of having her son... yep super confused... anyway turns out the girl was a friend that her son had made at the park by telling her "You are beautiful will you be my girlfriend?!" So uh, yep :) Not a girls girlfriend.

Oh I forgot! I already kind of offended a member ;/ she had us over for dinner the first night here and I knew I had to eat all my rice in the bowel cause Chen laoshi taught us that was poliet. Well nothing else on the table looked edible so I started away at my rice and suddenly my companion is dishing up all the other non edible stuff into my bowel!!! And all I was thinkin was no no no please no. Once its in your bowel you have to eat it casue thats poliet... so I tried... and I really hope none of their family saw me gag hard and have to quickly cover my mouth to stop it from coming back out. I tried a few more bites and finally decided it would be better for me to insult them by saying I took too much food and was full than throwing up on their table. So I slowly stopped eating.. well then they noticed and the mom kept signalling me to get more food to which I politely kept saying no thanks I am full... didnt cut it. Then she stood up and went and made me some chicken nuggets like from Mcdonalds which taste nothing like mcdonalds but she had done them just for me so I forced myself to eat 4 of the 10 really at this time I was full and trying really hard to keep it down. Anyway my life savor came and she brought out fruit- now that I can eat! So I think I made it better by eating that when she told me too. Also I had my first hot pot experience last night- so gross. Luckily though I communicated to my companion before we arrived that if I didnt like It I was going ot give it to her so i wouldnt offend anyone- which i thought was working marvelously and I was eating bread and lettuce acting like it was the best thing I had ever tasted actually no- it was. I am so grateful for bread it is my life saver. Well anyway- didnt work they caught me and I know this cause at the end of the meal and lesson they came up and handed me the loaf of bread... so yep the members love me.

It is awesome here truly. I love it and am grateful to be here. I contact with everyone and my companion comes and saves me everytime when they actually start to answer back :0 Shes great.

Oh! Cool story I placed a book of mormon all by myself at the train station my second day!!! HAHA I dont know if they will really read but it was two college girls that said they were interested and took it and we got their numbers... so now I just need to figure out how to ask my companion if we have tried calling them again sense. But I pray for them and have full faith they will accept the gospel. I love it here :) As scary as it is and embarassing when I node my head and smile to have them laugh aafter cause they can tell I didnt understand I love it. It is beautiful and this is where God wants me. so i will serve with all my might.

Chen laoshi- I also want you to know I am doing as you asked. And have talked at every chance to contact. As hard as it is when my companion isnt contacting I am. And I want to thank you for challenging me to do so becuase otherwise I dont think I would- I would follow in suit of my companion and not talk to eveyone. So thank you.

You are all amazing and so special I love you all! So gratefuyl for my family and know that all the Taiwanese think you are beautful and that mom you are crazy for having so many :) Love ya all!!!

-Yao iemei

Funniest Photo Bomb Ever (look really close to the elder in the background walking away)

BYE BYE MTC ROOM;/;)

Airplane Ride

Taipei's Lights

Temple First Day... Terrified...

My bathroom and shower

My closet

My bed

My companion diligently studying at night time when I just want to go to bed