Pictures 9-22-2019

1. Pday with our Sisters!

2. Knocking in the dark

3. Sister Griffin and I were matching!

4&5. Exchanges with Sister Concardas

6. Hualien Zone Sisters!

7. The Hualien Zone

8. One of our trainings: I had to try listening to Sister Dalton tell a spiritual experience while some of the Elders tried distracting me so I couldn't listen/pay attention to what she was saying

9. President Peterson's training

10. English class!

11. The picture that explains perfectly the difference between my companion and I

12. My adorable companion and me

Zone Conference & MTC 同伴😊

Hello Everyone!

This week has been crazy busy and also absolutely AMAZING!

We met a new friend this week who was actually a member referral. Her name is 林/黃姐妹, we shared the Restoration with her and gave her a Book of Mormon. She was pretty quiet through out us sharing and I was little worried of what she was thinking. But then our member and her friend started beating her testimony of the Book of Mormon, and how it had changed her life. There was this amazing spiritual feeling that became stronger and we could tell our new friend was recognizing that what her friend was saying is true!
Sunday our friend 潘姐妹 came to church with us! We were a little worried when we had 2 minutes until it started and she still wasn't there. We called to ask where she was and simply told us she could see us and walked through the door  Our members welcomed her with open arms and really sought to get to know her.
I'm so grateful for all of these AMAZING members, there strong testimonies and great love for everyone!

Thursday we had Zone Conference which was absolutely AMAZING! We focused on becoming better teachers, especially using the Book of Mormon. Zone Conference is one of my favorite things because you get to see everyone in your zone and then also get to hear from President & Sister Peterson and other missionaries! I always walk away from it so happy, just because I can feel the spirit so strongly!

After Zone Conference my companion and I headed down to 台東 (TaiDong) with the missionaries assigned there so we could go on exchanges with the amazing Sisters Horton and Concardas! I had the opportunity to go on an exchange with my AMAZING MTC companion! Its amazing to see how much we have both grown and changed in just a year. Both being able to understand and communicate in Chinese and having a better understanding of the gospel. I'm beyond grateful I got to spend a day being her companion once again!

One last thing that is absolutely AMAZING is the Book of Mormon! I love the Book of Mormon! Everyday I Study from the Book of Mormon and I learn or take something new away everytime! And now on top of all this amazingness we now have the new Book of Mormon Videos coming out! If you have not had the chance to watch it yet, I highly encourage you to watch it. It helps all the stories come to life and better understand what those people felt.

I love this gospel. I love my Savior and Heavenly Father. I love my mission. I love Taiwan. I love the people in Taiwan. I love the Book of Mormon. I love all of my companions. And I love all of you!

I hope you all have an AMAZING week!

Love, 包姐妹

A Love for the People ❤

大家早安!

This week was AMAZING! I'm pretty sure I start every email that way but it's so true!
No matter what happens it always results in being an AMAZING week!

Started off GREAT because we for pday we played Sand Volleyball & Frisbee in the morning. And then in the afternoon we made cookies! Some of my favorite things in one day, Volleyball & cookies!

To make it even better then next day I went on exchanges with Sister Gastelum (who is my roommate)! It was so much fun, we talked to everyone we could and went to visit some less active members. We visited a cute mom and her daughter, we talked about building our family on Christ and his doctrine and played with Jenga blocks! You can always tell when it's been a good visit when everyone walks away smiling.

Wednesday we ate lunch with a YSA who is preparing to go on her mission, I LOVE HER! She is hilarious and so amazing! She told us about how she has invited her friend to learn about the gospel, and even though her friend declined she is still praying for her. Later that night we met with our friend 潘姐妹, she was adorable! We talked about the Book of Mormon with her. When we handed it to her and told her she could write/high light in it she was so happy! She kept hugging and telling us how excited she was to have her own Book of Mormon!

Thursday morning was a little rough, as you all know that a mission is not perfect and there are moments that are hard. All of our plans for Thursday got squashed and we had no idea to what to do, so we went the church to call potentials hoping to find someone who would set up with us for that night. After an hour it didn't happen, so we left the church and was trying to be positive. We see all these buses come next to church and people started to get off, we joked about asking if we could give them a chapel tour. BUT THEN they all started walking into the church. We were so confused! We found it was a YSA activity for all of Taiwan. We got to see people from all of our previous areas and missionaries who had gone home! It was the most exciting thing ever! We both walked away after 10 minutes with the biggest smiles on our faces! Then on Saturday we had another ward BBQ, where one of our YSA invited their friend to come who is also one of my favorite members from 宜蘭! When I saw she ran and gave me a hug and I about cried! SO HAPPY!

I have absolutely loved my mission! It is the best thing ever! But do you know why it is the best? Because of the people! It always comes back to the people and was reminded of that this week, no matter what happens in this life if you have people you love with you then everything will be good. 

我愛你們

Love, Sister Porter 

Pictures 9-15-2019

1&2. Exchanges with Sister Gastelum!

3. Lunch with our cute member

4. 潘姐妹, isn't the happiest little person ever!

5. Ran into our Bishop in a Family Mart so he bought us ice cream

6. 郭姐妹 at the YSA activity 

7. CARLY my favorite member from 宜蘭

8. A member from Sister Valencia's previous ward, but i thought this picture was funny because she is so short 

9. Appreciation picture to my adorable companion

Pictures 9-8-2019

1&2. Our last pday we went to the ocean! (Perks of serving on the coast). And my companion and I being a ferocious lion

3. Meeting with our friend Jill (what a good name)

4. My companion and I waiting on a seesaw for our member visit (lol the eyes because "see" "saw")

5. 譚姐妹 from Yilan got baptized!!!!

6-9. Our ward's 烤肉! Haha and yes that is the 1st councilor of the Bishopric throwing water on me 

10. Calling potentials

中秋節! Mid-Autum Festival & Miracles

大家早安!

I hope you have had an amazing week! This week has been kind of crazy for us but also absolutely amazing!

Tuesday- we had our first District Council of the transfer, and it was really good! We talked about the importance of listening, and how if we listen it change someone's life.

Wednesday- SO AMAZING! We met with 2 of our friends that we weren't sure of their interest level. Both of them are moms with young kids, so we talked about how the gospel and our parent's examples have helped us make good decisions and shape us into who we are today. At the end of both lessons my companion and I turned and looked at each other and we knew they felt the spirit because we did too! Was truly amazing!

Thursday- WE FINALLY MOVED! We were supposed to move last week into our new apartment but wasn't able to, and we finally got it worked out to move Thursday night. Well right before we moved we were eating dinner with a member and about 10 minutes before we were going to leave it started to downpour. We biked home completely soaked! But did that stop us? NOPE! Luckily when we started to actually pack things into the truck the rain stopped. So grateful for our ward mission leader, the Bishop's family and the elders who helped us move!

This week and next we are celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival which means two things 1. 烤肉 (BBQ) 2. 月餅 (Moon Cakes). On Saturday our ward had a 烤肉, they told us it was up by this river in the mountains, the drive up was absolutely gorgeous! When we got there all the missionaries thought we would have the BBQ on the side of the river, but noooo we Carrie's everything through the river to a small rock pile in the middle of the river. It was so much fun! The food was delicious! The people are absolutely amazing (felt like a big family reunion)!

This last week I read a General Conference talk from April 2015 called 'Is It Still Wonderful To You?' By Bishop Gérald Causssé. It talks all about how we need to be looking for the everyday little miracles. He has this great quote I absolutely loved
"However, sometimes when we have them constantly before our eyes, we take them for granted. We look, but we don’t really see; we hear, but we don’t really listen."
It so true! There so many amazing miracles that we miss out on because we aren't truly looking for them. I know as we look for more of the smaller miracles our lives will change. Because we will be recognizing the Lord's hand more in our lives.

I know this gospel is true and that we have a Heavenly Father that loves us all very much. He is a God of miracles, big and small.

我愛你們!
-包姐妹

1 Year Marks, Baptisms, and High School Flashbacks

大家早安!

This week has been crazy and so much fun! 

- We had our first Zone Council which means I got to see Sisters Griffin and Concardas!!! Ah I love them! We had an amazing discussion about Listening with Love How important it is to really listen to people; our companions, our friends, members, people on the street. And it makes it such a difference! When we put in the effort to really listen to someone not only do you better understand their situation but you love them even more! 

- We hit our 1 year mark, Ahh! Time is going by so fast. I honestly can't believe it has already been a year, there are days I still feel like I just got here. It's been absolutely an amazing experience. I've learned so much and I would never trade this for anything. 

- JOHNNY GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!! This is our friend from Yilan and he got baptized this last Saturday. It has been a long time coming but the day finally came it was so happy! He has changed so much and his testimony has grown incredibly. It hasn't been easy for him, but because of the hard times his testimony has grown even stronger!

- We ate lunch with one of our friends, who is a senior in high school and she brought two of her friends with her. I was dying of laughter by the end of lunch. It brought back memories, and all 3 of them agreed to meet with us again next week to talk about the gospel! 

I absolutely adore my mission! It's been the most amazing experience! I have loved seeing how the gospel changes everyone, and it makes them all so much happier! 

我愛你們!

Love, Sister Porter 

Picture 9-1-2019

1. Hualien Zone!!!!

2. HAPPY ONE YEAR MARK MTC FAMILY!

3. English class

4. High School Flashback Lunch

5. JOHNNY WAS BAPTIZED!

6. We randomly visited this Less Active member and she let us in! We talked about the Book of Mormon and prayer, when agreed to let us come back again this week! 

7. My Beautiful Companion 

8&9. We went to play frisbee Saturday morning with some of our Elders. We played by the ocean!