"Miracles happen once in a while"‏

Thank Raven-Simone (I think...) for the subject title. Look up the song if you don't know it, I think it is in Princess Diaries.

 

Anyway, I've changed a lot on my mission. Now instead of eating meat every meal, I go with my (vegetarian) companion to little vegan places and eat the same cowfood that they eat in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. But I actually think it's ok. It's not bad. Maybe the Chinese just know how to cook their food.

 

And also, if a doctor were to look at my lungs now, they'd say they look like the equivalent of a 20 year smoker. Courtesy of all the people this week who bai-baied their ancestors (burned fake paper money so their ancestors can use it in the afterlife). But on the plus side, because people have been out burning stuff, there have been people on the street for us to talk to even though it rained ALL week because of the typhoon. Yes, there was a typhoon here. And it was SO fun for the first 2 days. Riding our bikes in the rain and being soaking wet all day, and people are like, poor missionaries, come in our house and dry off using our hair drier so you will sweat more and instead of being soaked by rain water, you can be soaked by sweat. But I loved it.

 

One night we went to visit a new convert who just got baptized and she wouldn't answer the phone, didn't answer the door, and didn't come to church the week after her baptism so we were really worried, since she wouldn't answer the door. My comp wrote her a note while I sang Singing in the Rain, Raindrops keep falling on my head, and other such rain songs at the top of my lungs in the pouring rain while jumping in puddles. And the person we came to visit came out and invited us in! Miracle! And as we walked home from visiting her there was this man we talked to who was smoking and when we pulled out a Book of Mormon he just said, "I've been waiting for one of my friends to give me this book for a long time! Thank you so much!" Another miracle!

 

After a few days of the rain I was done. As much fun as it was to play in the rain, I think I was getting sick. Luckily the sun came out and all was ok.

 

We went to a special training about stress and adjusting to missionary life for new missionaries and their trainers, everyone else really needed it and said how hard it's been, I feel so blessed because I haven't had trouble adjusting. I love it! (Granted, Taiwan is kind of my home, so it makes sense.) But when we went to Taibei for the training we were on the subway and my companion all of a sudden said, "Why do you have those?!" I was like what? And she pointed to my biceps with her mouth open. So funny.

 

Also, we watched a fantastic 80s or 90s movie called Hui Jia de Lu (or the way back home) about a family whose lives change when they're 9 year old daughter dies and how through the gospel and knowing their family can be together forever helps their family become closer, and it ends with their baptism. We watched it with a Less Active and her Investigator husband and the 3 year old girl didn't watch any of it. She was just playing with me the whole 30 minutes until the end when they got baptized. Then she made us go back and watch it again! Such a miracle because she is only 3 but she can recognize the truth and beauty behind baptism. So great.

 

This week we also got a job offer. A woman on the street thought it was too hot for us to be out and riding our bikes, so she took a couple tracts and gave us her number and the number of her friend's son who is a Christian so we can talk. And then she offered us a job to sell little light bulbs that have little colors inside that kind of look like Christmas lights. In my mind I thought, As much as I'd like to have such a promising career in my future...I'm a missionary. haha. But she bought us delicious fruit slushies and it was worth it.

 

We also have visited this old woman who we think has alzheimer's or dementia twice. And she remembered us! Miracle! We visited her and talked about the gospel and her family told us we were wasting time because she can't remember. But she remembered us. And also, her one daughter was there last time and she was touched that we were spending time to visit her mom. Hopefully her daughter can start to meet with us soon and then she can do the work for her 80-90 year old parents after they pass away.

 

I love you all and pray for you every day!

Love,

Sister Perkins (aka Lizard).

 

PS. This is a new segment I am including in emails: Bad English of the Week.

Found on the shirt of someone we visited: You r my best fiend.

Monopoly!

Hey all,

 

So, this week was great, had some tummy troubz for a few days but luckily it was just during study time in our apartment so I pretty much just studied in the bathroom for a few hours, but as soon as we went out God helped me not have to go (seriously, on a bike in a skirt far from home with not many sanitary bathrooms except for mcdonalds, I was so happy).

 

This week my companion saw my legs for the first time. And by saw I mean she noticed them (because let's be real, I wear skirts all the time and shorts every morning for exercize); and so funny. She goes, "WOW! You have luo bo tui!" I was like, what? She didn't know how to say it in English so I looked it up and it means radish legs. She said my calf muscles were big and defined (in broken English) and that I have radish legs. So I said, "I'll take that as a compliment." And she says, "Some people feel that's a compliment, but most don't." Hahahah I love my comp, so funny. And then she asked what we called arm fat and I said Relief Society Arms, then she said in Asia they call it Butterfly Wings. Which I think is a much more beautiful name, if a child asks why their grandma has so much skin there, they can just say, I have butterfly wings. So much prettier.

 

We were knocking doors and going down this street when we went around this small corner and it suddenly got dark, super sketchy, and scary. My companion said in Chinese, I'm scared. And I felt the spirit prompt us to leave (although common sense probably would have too). I know the Holy Ghost can warn and protect us in all we do, and I am so grateful for the power of the spirit in my life.

 

Last week I learned the importance and power of praying a lot. By saying prayers in faith we were led to multiple houses and people who were very interested in our church or God or just needed help with something. Since learning that I can't do anything by myself, I need the power of God and His spirit to guide me in order for me to do anything or convert anyone to a belief in God, I have been praying all the time. In fact, I have been praying so much that I have started to get arm zits. Really gross, but when you're so sweaty all the time and you fold your arms to pray and sweaty arm goes on sweaty arm, zits are inevitable. I think I'll just hold my hands together when I pray now...haha but I really do know that God listens to and answers our prayers as we ask in sincerity!

 

To address this week's subject matter. Monopoly. Yamaha has a monopoly here in Taiwan. They have a corner on both the Scooter/moped markets as well as the electric piano market. Those are the two things that every Taiwanese needs the most. A scooter to get around and a piano so they can become musical geniuses (no joke, they are all so talented!).

 

Another funny thing this week, we went to visit someone who was baptized a long time ago but hasn't been back to church in a while (a less active) so we go to her house and this boy answers and with the glass door closed, tries to talk to us but we can't really hear each other. So he goes to the back of the house to a small group of people and talks to them. They all come to the door and my companion says, "Does Ms. Dai live here?" The mom says, "No, no one here is named Dai." At the same time a little girl says, "You la!" (Yes there is!) And then a little boy goes, "Wait, aren't you Dai Ying Xie?" And the woman kept insisting that that person had moved. So funny.

 

This week our mission president asked us to focus on giving out copies of the Book of Mormon, my companion and I gave out 10 (instead of the usual 3 we give out) and I realized that as we focus on the Book of Mormon and the simple power and comfort that can come from reading it, others can feel the spirit and are inspired to continue meeting with us. We have gotten most of our new investigators through giving out the Book of Mormon. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that if anyone takes the invitation to "read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the bessage it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost." I also know that it "tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come." (Introduction to the Book of Mormon.) It's a great book and has helped me feel love and peace through some of the hardest times in my life.

 

If anyone thought I would come back more humble from my mission, they were definitely wrong. How could I come back more humble when everyday on the street people are complimenting me? (Granted, usually I get complimented because I'm white...) But this old woman who I'm pretty sure has alzheimers told me like 15 times in the 20 minutes we talked to her and walked her back to her house, that her skin is so wrinkly but mine is so beautiful and white. And a few other ladies told me how beautiful I am and how good my Chinese is, and how skinny I am and I'm like, wow, I'm pretty awesome. Haha. But I know that humility is placing our trust in God and giving Him the credit for our success and that all we do on a mission is only made possible through God's power.

 

I love all of you and I am praying for you everyday! Thank you so much for your prayers and support. I know that God will bless you for every good thought, word, and act you do. He's a nice guy.

 

Love,

Sister Perkins

Happy BaBa Day!

This week was Ba Ba day! 8/8 (Father's Day). My companion asked if we have father's day in America after she explained to me what it was -__- yes, we have father's day hahaha. But it was fun. So dad, I love you and I appreciate you and I'm praying for you!

 

Something happened this week that only I thought was funny, but since I have the sense of humor of a 4 year old boy (literally) I decided to share it. We were visiting a member and having a really great lesson with her and her 4 year old son with a fever of 103F was running around and jumping up and down and yelling in Chinese, "POOP! MY FOOT! POOP POOP MY FOOT MY LEG POOP!" I was cracking up but the mom and my companion were stony cold, so I tried to stifle my laughter.

 

And it is BLAZING! Oh my. When it get's down to 35 degrees Celsius I think it's cool. This past week it's been over 100F and it's so humid you never stop sweating and our Mission President said a couple missionaries had heat stroke this week...eek. But I prefer heat to cold so that's ok. I just never stop sweating, even when I take the coldest shower our apartment can handle.

 

This week I also saw a reincarnation of The Karate Kid (no, not Jaden Smith). We were at a meeting and this super annoying mosquito kept flying around until one of the missionaries here, Elder Chen, picked up a rubber band and shot the bug as soon as it landed on the table! It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen!

 

Don't worry, I'm eating more than enough haha. Luckily we work out every morning and then ride our bikes a lot, otherwise I would be chunky already. I'm really hoping I don't gain too much weight here (unless it's muscle, that would be ok). And we get ice cream and/or amazing fruit slushie things or ice with fresh mango and some kind of sweet milk, so delicious. We were eating these cookie things the other day and the slogan was, "Digging into boring pie, getting out of boring time." Not sure if calling your snack a boring pie is good marketing but, I'm just an English major, what do I know?

 

This week I decided that BO smell is greater than mildew smell. Stuff mildews here SO fast and it smells HORRIBLE. If my choice was between a recently washed mildewed shirt and a stinky shirt that I wore yesterday, I think I would choose the latter. (my comp can't tell the difference between latter, later, and letter. I guess they all sound the same?)

 

This week I also noticed my tan lines. I now, for the first time in my life, have a watch tan line. I also have a tan line from my shoes (which are all flats), and my everpresent knee tan from soccer and rugby is gone! NOOOOO!!! I'll work on it when I get home. But when we went to an investigators house for the second time she goes, "ARE YOU OK?? You turned black!" I didn't know if I should feel complimented or not...

 

Miracles. This week an investigator got baptized!! My first day in the mission we talked about the investigators and my companion went through all of them discussing their needs and how to help and this investigator passed her first baptismal date and wasn't progressing. But as we talked I kept going back to her and knew that I was sent to XinZhu to help her accept this gospel. She has come so far and when she was baptized she said she felt reborn and that when she got the Holy Ghost she could feel happy and pingjing. I was and am so happy for her. And the relief society president, a recent convert, and another Single Adult sister all did a great job fellowshipping her/getting to know her and I know that the Lord will bless her for her decision to join this church.

 

Another miracle, the bruises on my butt went away sooner than expected! When I asked the other sisters about when the bruises would go away, they said 3 months. It's been 3 or 4 weeks and the bruises are gone! Now my butt hurts only like once a day instead of every time I get on a bike! As they say in Stick It, "I put tough skin on tough skin."

 

We went street contacting in this place we felt inspired to go even though the person we were going to visit ended up not being there. As we walked we would try and listen to the promptings of the spirit tell us where to go and said a lot of prayers to help. We both felt like we should go this one way even though there was no one there to contact. And we passed a lot of empty apartments, but felt like we should stop at The first one was someone who had come to our English class the night before with her children, but said she didn't want to learn about the gospel, just attend English class. The next door we stopped at, a yeye (old grandpa) invited us in, we asked if there was anyone else in the house and he just kept telling us to come in, but we waited at the door for 2 or 3 minutes and then his wife came out of their bedroom and we started talking to them. Neither of them were really interested and right as we were about to go, their two granddaughters (who are living with them) came in. Both of them stopped at the door, so confused, because why would 2 random people (especially a white person) be in the living room? So they were hesitant at first, but we had a good lesson with them about God and prayer, and we are visiting them again tonight and they said they will attend English class too! They are new investigators and though one seems more interested in meeting with waiguoren, one seems very golden! I know through prayer and listening to the spirit, we were brought to that door, and that we waited for a few minutes outside the door so that we could meet these sisters.

 

In my studies I found some amazing quotes that have changed my missionary work. "I promise you, as you pray to know with whom to speak, names and faces will come into your mind. Words to speak will be given in the very moment you need them. Opportunities will open to you. Faith will overcome doubt, and the Lord will bless you with your very own miracles." -Elder Neil L. Anderson. I didn't realize we were entitled to this kind of revelation through prayer and faith and listening for an answer to our prayers. So I did it and it happened! That revelation came! I saw a face and we saw her that afternoon and even though she lives not in our area, I know we were supposed to meet her, and we gave her a Book of Mormon and had a 30 minute lesson with her on the street.

 

I also took another Sister around XinZhu during exchanges! Heavenly Father really helped us to not get lost more than the 1 or 2 times that we did. There were a few times when I wasn't sure where we were/where we needed to go, but I prayed and Heavenly Father helped us get there quickly and safely. Only got honked at/yelled at once!

 

I know this is the Lord's work. I love being in Taiwan. And I know this is where I'm supposed to be. I'm praying for everyone who reads this blog post and I love you all and I thank you for supporting me as I devote my time and energy to God's work.

 

Love,

Sister Perkins

Hot Rod

When I ride my bike here sometimes I feel like Joseph Gordon-Levitt from Premium Rush, sometimes I feel like Hot Rod, and all the time I feel like Buddy the Elf, "The yellow ones don't stop!" But I'm getting a lot better at riding my bike and can now do bike signals without feeling like I'm going to die.

 

My sole reason for coming to Taiwan (other than saving souls) was to find out the wonders of Taro bread. Oh my, so delicious. A day without eating at least one Taro filled bread bun is a day wasted. I love the food here (but I still haven't tried Stinky Tofu, so I'm not quite sure).

 

Also, people used to make fun of me for drinking hot chocolate during the summertime in Utah even though our house had AC and I was cold in the morning. Here, it's so hot all the time and not much cooler in our apartment and we still have hot chocolate for breakfast. You know it's bad when it gets to 34 degrees celsius at 7pm and you think it is so cool that it is way too hot.

 

I went to my first psych ward here to visit a less active whose sister is in the hospital. I wrote part of a card in Chinese for her and my companion wrote the rest. And the woman in the psych ward said, How old is the person who wrote this first part? -____- wow. I guess my handwriting is worse than I thought. But she has a lot of faith and loves to pray and read the Book of Mormon so it was really good to visit her.

 

The hardest rule for me to follow here is shaving my legs. Why do I have to shave my legs? I mean I know I represent the Lord and I wear a skirt. But we have like no time to shower and also it's so mafan/annoying. But I had a dream the other night that the only place I had to shave on my legs was in my knee pit because there was a huge bulge of hair and it was so big I had to cut it with scissors first. Pretty gross, guess that's a sign that I should shave.

 

We had a miracle this week where we have an investigator who stopped progressing. And my comp decided to have one of our members come to a lesson with her, so we went to ask that member (because they both have 4 year old kids) and they are already best friends! And during that lesson her son was sick with a 41 degree C fever but he was running around and yelling DA BIAN and WO DE JIAO (which mean poop and my foot). I think I was the only one laughing, because I am about as mature as a 4 year old boy. But they are going to invite that investigator to come to church so that is super good.

 

Another miracle is there was this less active sister with a 3 year old daughter and 10 month old son and a couple months ago she started being really active again. We visited their family with the elders and her non-member husband became an investigator and he whispered to his three year old daughter when we were watching the Restoration that she would grow up in this church and that they would be an eternal family! Such a miracle and such a golden investigator and wonderful family.

And one of our investigators passed her baptismal interview and is getting baptized this Saturday! I can't believe how much her life has changed and how much happier she is. I know this is the Lord's work and that He prepares people for us to teach and change their lives.

 

I love all of you so much and I pray for you everyday!

Love,

Sister Perkins

 

ps. sorry this email is all over the place, I had to poop in a squat pot at this internet cafe so I had less time to email than usual.

The Windy City

So living in the windiest city in Taiwan has its ups and downs. On the plus side, it's not AS hot/humid/stifling and so I sweat less/don't notice as much (like my shirt is only soaked through the armpits, not all down the front and backs) because the wind whisks (wisks?) it away. On the downside, I flash people like 24/7. I'm starting to understand how to ride a bike in a skirt though. It's not too bad. But everytime I get on my bike I have to wait a couple minutes before my butt stops hurting and turns numb. Once it's numb I have no problem! I asked my older roommates if the bruises ever go away, they said to wait about 4 months. Can't wait! (Literally though, can't wait.) But riding a bike is easier than I thought and this week I managed to avoid getting hit by a car and by a few scooters, so success! Although I did have my first "crash" into my companion's bike. It was ok though. An old shirtless man got the chain back on in no time and his grandkids were laughing at me while my companion talked to him. It's ok. I'm white. They can laugh at me, also they were cute so it was ok.

 

This week I saw Sister Bywater! We had a training meeting and so our companionships did the activities together. Our Mission President started telling a story about being prepared and asked if everyone knew who Jimmy Carter was. Sister Bywater said, I don't. I turned around and said you don't know Jimmy Carter?? She said no, and I said he was a US President, to which she replied, "Wait, how do you know that?? You didn't listen in American Heritage." -___- Haha. Another funny thing at that meeting, we were talking about our companionships and I said that I get along great with my companion because she always laughs at my jokes. I said, "Sister Chen thinks I'm funny! Or laughs out of politeness." My comp didn't say anything, just stared. We busted up laughing because she clearly doesn't think I'm funny at all. That's ok, I can live with that/laugh at myself.

 

In my journal this week I found a quote that my sis Jenni wrote that says, "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." (Albert Einstein). I guess that guy is pretty smart. And I choose to live my life as though everything is a miracle because it truly is. The fact that I can come to Taiwan again, that I can understand almost everything people say after 1 week here (even though I haven't spoken Chinese for over a year and a half), and that I haven't died on my bike/eating fish. It's all a miracle. Everyday I have at least 3 miracles to write down in my journal. One miracle this week was that I didn't fall asleep while writing in my journal for the first time since I got here!

 

Another miracle was we saw this old grandma in a wheelchair by herself on this really busy street which was also the on-ramp to the freeway. We stopped and talked to her and asked if she needed help or if we could visit her at her house sometime and bring her something. And we just chatted when all of a sudden she said, "What time is your church at tomorrow. I want to come." Wow! So cool! I love all the old people here. Granted, I can only understand half of them (since the old men are all impossible to understand).

 

I love it here and love seeing this other side of Taiwan. I love sweating and working hard. I love riding my bike and I love my companion and I love my mission president and all the other missionaries. I love preaching this gospel and helping change others' lives for the better. I love seeing the happiness that this gospel can bring and I really have a strong desire to help people everywhere come to know that they have a God who loves them and that they can live with their families forever.

 

Love,

Sister Perkins

 

ps. We have a baptismal date scheduled and the investigator just resolved her issues with prophets and with Joseph Smith and said that she has no more questions and is eager to be baptized!!

Dui Mian de Nu Hai‏

For all who haven't heard of the above song (Dui Mian de Nu Hai, or The Girl Across the Way), I would strongly recommend listening to it. I'm in a Taiwanese internet cafe which is hard to describe because it is so Asian. It has ads for tons of Chinese computer games with people with swords, tons of giant Dr. Dre Beats like headphones (most likely very similar to the fake ones I bought in Turkey a couple months ago), Chinese music and dubstep mixed in with a couple of T-Swizzle songs (like 22). I thought I knew how to read characters, but when I sat down at the computer to email I was like, uhhhh, what on earth does any of this mean and how can I email? Thank goodness my companion is native.

 

So since I last emailed (I think I was doing laundry at the time?) I packed, slept, wrote letters (the first ones since I entered the MTC! So I was pretty proud of myself. Unfortunately I only have addresses from people who send me stuff, so if you didn't get something and you wanted to, I'm sorry! I still love you.), and rode on that abominably long plane ride. Actually the planes weren't too bad. We got to the airport and all the missionaries were lined up slowly trying to figure out the self check-in when this cute old man came over and got me, took me somewhere else, got me 2 aisle seats, and one economy plus middle seat (no one sat next to me so I had two seats to myself!). Then he let my bag be 2 pounds overweight without charging me! (Granted, my other bag still had like 15 pounds until it was full, so I could have switched stuff, but still, what a nice old man.) I got to talk to my family at the airport on the payphone which made me sound like I was Morgan Freeman/God in Bruce Almighty (with a powerful, reverberating voice), and made my family sound like the mice in Cinderella. But I got to talk to them all and to little Caleb!

 

Two highlights of the Salt Lake City airport experience were:

We were walking through the airport to try and find our terminal and this mom and her daughter walk up to us, the mom says, "Wow, we had to come talk to you sister missionaries. My daughter just loves missionaries and she can't wait until she is old enough to serve." Her daughter stood quietly beside her, and when we asked her age she said she was 18 and that she has gone on exchanges with missionaries and was so glad for the age change. The Lord is preparing the youth to serve missions and to help bless peoples' lives. The second experience was in the security line and there was a mom with her two little girls and one of the little girls (6 years old) said, "Are those real sister missionaries?" And the way she was looking at us with awe made me determined to be the best real sister missionary I could be.

 

On the flights I passed out for the majority. Luckily it's a talent I have to sleep anywhere, anytime. So jetlag hasn't really been a problem for me, I'm just exhausted all the time from the hard missionary work (/missionary fun?). I talked to this family in Chinese and they were really interested why so many white people were dressed nicely and headed to Taiwan, so I taught her part of the first lesson and that we believe God is our Heavenly Father and that he loves us and wants to bless her family. I didn't have any Chinese materials or handouts to give her, but I gave her a mormon.org flier and told her that it is also in Chinese and she said she would go look! On the flights I thought we weren't allowed to watch movies so I slept a lot, now that I'm here, we can watch all animated disney movies, most animated dreamworks, and I was like -____- "That would have been nice to know...YESTERDAY!"

 

In Taiwan I have loved all the sights, sounds, tastes (well mostly, other than this hair-like meat we had in a breakfast sandwich), and have hated the feels. Like the feel of the bike seat slowly crushing my tailbones into dust. Just kidding, I haven't hated it. But have you ever thought how impossibly hard riding a bike in a skirt is? It is a miracle I didn't crash the first day. First of all, people kind of don't follow traffic rules here (mostly scooters) and second, I'm in XinZhu which is the windiest city in Taiwan (apparently) so skirts have been flying everywhere, and one of the bikes broke the first day. But a nice man happened to be leaving and went back into his work to get a tool to fix the bike! People here are the nicest and I remember how much I love Taiwan and Taiwanese people. People here are the best.

 

At church I got the chance to bear my testimony and when I said this was my first Sunday in Taiwan everyone oohed and aahhed reallly loudly, I had to try my best not to burst out laughing. After I bore my testimony people came up to me and said, "If I had my eyes closed and didn't know you were a foreigner, I would think from your pronunciation that you were native!" Heavenly Father is really helping me with the language and I am so grateful for it. I am able to understand more than half of what people say. Once we were talking to this mainlander in a park who was a really old man, and I could understand 2 words he said. I was so freaked out that I couldn't speak the language, but my native companion said she could hardly understand too. Missionaries who come here without being able to speak Chinese really have so much faith!

 

Another small miracle. Sister Bywater is in my zone so I get to see her this Friday for specialized training. I love it here and am so grateful to be back in Taiwan. I love the people, the food, the city, and I love being a missionary here. It's hard to believe that I lived here for 3 years and missed so much of real life in Taiwan. I'm grateful I get to be here and experience a totally different side of Taiwan!

 

Love,

Sister Perkins

"And Babylon Wins the House Cup!"‏

Hey all,

 

So, this week was pretty busy, I transferred into a Chinese district (which I now love) and have, in three days, relearned how to speak Chinese.

At the MTC people pass out a lot. And by people I mean my companion. And by pass out I mean she says, "I unconsciously must have put it somewhere." Who knew that our unconsciences (is that a word) were that strong?

In class we were talking about a conjunction ("junction, what's your function?" -School House Rock) that has a connotation of not meeting expectations or letting someone down. One elder meant to say in Chinese, "My cat killed my dog but I still love my cat." But he used the wrong tone and it became, "My body hair killed the dog but I still love my body hair." Tone problems are the best.

I have a study goal to learn 10 new vocabulary words a day, but I have a horrible memory. So to help me learn the words I take songs and translate them into Chinese. I had to learn how to say honest and sincere, so of course I chose Bye Bye Birdie's Honestly Sincere. So now when I try to say, you have to pray sincerely I sing, "You gotta be zhen cheng. Cheng shi de zhen cheng." Pretty much my Chinese is great.

Coming on a mission truly has blessed my life. This week I accomplished one of my life goals. My goal to pee in a urinal. Yes, I have now joined the super cool exclusive club that half the world has been inducted into. Don't worry, it was in a women's bathroom. Now that there are so many sister missionaries here, they had to change some of the men's bathrooms into women's. Yes, some other sisters have adopted my life goal and shared with me their life goals of 1) kissing a llama, and 2) shearing a sheep. Luckily they are going to Mongolia, so the shearing sheep will become a reality.

For Sunday night movie we got to watch the Testaments dubbed over in Chinese. So great. There was this one guy with a really raspy voice who (other than this super high-pitched fast-speaking Chinese lady with a tinkly laugh) was the best part of the movie. He was talking so fast in court trying to defend his friends and no one could understand anything he was saying. Then he suddenly stopped and said in slow motion, "Mei you Mi Sai Ya." Everyone busted up laughing because it was the only thing they understood. Our first day in class, the four of us advanced students introduced ourselves and one elder said he loves taking long walks on the beach. The four of us busted up laughing but in their 6 weeks here they haven't learned how to say beach (why would they?) so they all awkwardly smiled and said a couple ha's. So great.

The other day in class there was this horrible smell and I looked over at the laughing elders and one mouthed, "it wasn't me." So I opened the door and another sister said to me, "Did you fart?" I said no, but someone did. The elders laughed so hard and our teacher was so confused and we found out later that one elder had opened a bag of beef jerky and that that was the smell but he thought no one could smell it.

In our new district everyone is really focused. People study the scriptures and study the language really hard. It helps me be inspired to work hard. To keep them focused they have Babylon points, and they keep track of how often they talk about unrelated things or take away from study time by being distracting. And we try to stay below the previous week's Babylon point record. One day we talked about Babylon so much, about our homes and families and soccer and movies, so we knelt down to pray and to talk about what we could do better and someone goes, "10 points to Babylon!" And someone else says, "And Babylon wins the House Cup!" Hahaha I love how much Harry Potter can relate to every aspect of life and how widespread it is.

But in all seriousness. I love this gospel. I have learned so much this week and I am so excited to be heading out to Taiwan tomorrow. I know this is the Lord's work and I know that the true gospel of Jesus Christ can bless families and can bring the most happiness this world has to offer. I feel blessed and honored that the Lord has seen me as worthy to preach His gospel and I know that there is someone waiting for me in Taiwan to learn how to have an eternal family and return to live with God again.

Love,
Sister Perkins

Ping Jie Mei

Wah wah wah. I got my Chinese nametag two days ago and it says Ping Jie Mei. Needless to say, I was very disappointed and/or sad. So I asked my teacher who told me to ask a Chinese teacher who told me to ask the other teacher if I could change it. He said buhao yisi, but since I'm white and don't have Chinese ancestry I can't change it at the MTC. They are programming the names now or something and that maybe if I'm lucky, my mission president will allow me to change it. But I still introduce myself as Pan Jie Mei because that would be like me introducing myself as Sister Parker, it's not my name. And dad, I was wondering if there might maybe be a way for you to help me get a nametag with our guixing on it?

 

This week in the last few days with my English speaking district/class our teacher told us a story from when she was in Taizhong. She said they got this referral and called and the mom was like, "Yes! Come over!" And in Chinese, plurals aren't very clear. So the lady was saying, "You can help my daughter, she loves her cat, she only likes her cat, she only spends time with her cat." And the missionaries were like ok, weird. But they went over and said as they went into the apartment this overwhelming cat smell overpowered them. The mom showed them to the daughters room. They opened the door and all over the room were cages full of cats. They looked at the bed and the daughter was on the bed shaving the fur off of one of the cats. Woah. They ended up baptizing the mom, but they couldn't help the daughter...haha. Hopefully that is one experience that I'll miss out on.

 

Last week I was forced to overcome my fear of singing in public when people can actually hear me. We started singing a hymn in a council meeting and everyone sang their own tune to the words. It was so bad I had to stop singing. Then the Branch President stopped us and was like, "Does anyone actually know this song?" Only one other sister and I raised our hands, so he said, "Ok, you two will sing it for us and then we'll join in on the second or third verse. WHAT?? But there was no arguing. Luckily the other sister sang soprano so I didn't have to. It went pretty well. I only blushed a little. And that was step 1 of 1 to overcome that fear. Won't be doing any more of that in the near future.

 

Also, something really nice that I heard twice this week, one from a less active investigator and one from another sister missionary. The investigator said that we had a brightness about us. That we looked like we had bright, happy countenances. And the other sister said that I have love in my eyes. That she could tell I cared about the people here and I cared about the gospel. That was really nice and made me want to keep following the rules and choosing the right so that I can keep having that brightness, hope, and love in my eyes; because I represent Jesus Christ. His name is on my nametag. And I want to act as he would.

 

This past week I had to wake up two nights in a row at 3am and 4am to take my roommates to the bus to the airport. My eyebags were so big that my companion told me I had twins growing. -____- (yes the whale face is necessary.)

 

Another thing I learned this week, stalking has been taken to a whole new level here at the MTC with our limited social media opportunities. With no facebook, google, or myspace (do people still use that these days? The MTC is like a time warp) to stalk people, missionaries have been turning tomormon.org. Every missionary has to create a profile before they serve, and that is one website we have access to. So missionaries look up their companion's boyfriend or girlfriend on mormon.org so they can see a picture.

 

The last thing I want to say about this week is that I have finally learned how to truly teach by the spirit of God. We were teaching a lesson to a less active member who has a son with a lot of physical and mental trials/challenges. Before we learned anything about her, she said, "I want you to teach what you feel prompted to." Oh no, I can't even ask good/inspired questions, how was I supposed to know what she needed to hear? But immediately the thought came into my head to teach the Plan of Salvation and how families can be together forever. I started talking about it, shared an experience and she said how similar it was to her son. Then my companion, in her broken English, shared an experience and the woman said she felt the exact same way. The spirit was so strong and she said she felt really inspired to start going to church again and that she felt strengthened, like she really could help her son. Having the spirit teach through me was amazing. Instead of using my own skills and intellect, I let the spirit teach through me and my experiences to fit her needs. The same thing happened as we taught a very strong Methodist nonmember. She really felt the spirit and even though she said she doesn't like mormons, she invited us back and asked why her Mormon son had never told her any of those things before.

 

I know the spirit can teach through me. I know I have been prepared to share the gospel to the people of Taiwan and I know that they have been prepared for this gospel. I know that Christ is my Savior and that through Him everyone in this world can return to live with God and that we can live with our families forever.

 

Love,

Sister Perkins

Pantalones

Happy Fourth of July!!

 

I had a great week this week. I learned a ton. Every day felt like a week (courtesy of 3 hour long classes and 11 hours in one classroom every day), and the week felt like a day. I feel like I have learned so much but that I still don't know anything! So...funny stories of this week:

 

July 4th I woke up and everyone was singing American songs and wearing red, white and blue. I haven't had many opportunities to celebrate the 4th of July (since I was often out of the country), but this year was so special! I got to spend 11 hours in an orientation class about leaving the MTC (yeah, I've been here 1 week and already had a meeting about leaving) and then we got to sing American songs, watch a movie (17 Miracles, you think the MTC could've sprung for a newer film), and stay up late! Till 11! Haha, just kidding, kind of. We did get to stay up late to watch some fireworks that looked like they were the worms from James and the Giant Peach, and we got Magnums!! I love America and was happy that we got to celebrate.

 

Another language miscommunication: I was talking to my companion about how I felt bad for another sister who has bad shoes and her feet bleed a lot. My companion said, "Oh, it's because she doesn't wear panties." Doing my best to keep a straight face and tell her that that wasn't what we called the little nylon sock things that you wear underneath flats but just couldn't do it. Now we laugh about that almost every day.

 

Another highlight is working with the TALL language program on the computer here. My favorite part is when I close the program and it sings, "tall, Tall, TAll, TALL" just in case I wasn't sure what I had been doing for the past hour and a half.

 

Oh, another thing. I never thought I would feel bad and have to repent for saying, "You guys." But I accidentally said it in front of our branch president twice...needless to say, I am working on not saying that anymore since the hammer was brought down (granted, it was more like one of the plastic blown up hammers, but still).

 

I can't remember what else was funny. Oh, we were in a meeting and someone gave a REALLY long prayer. Afterwards, the branch president said, "When you pray to open or close a meeting, you don't care about the homeless." I busted up laughing and then he said, "What I meant to say is that you just open or close the meeting, you don't need to give a really long summary of what everyone just listened to for an hour or anything else. Just say it short and sweet, and amen."

 

I'm out of time, but I know that this church is true. I love this gospel. I love America. I miss everyone but know that I am in the right place for me right now. I am learning loads and will write a longer email next week. Love you all!

 

Love,

Sister Perkins

 

ps. make sure grandma gets this. She sent me two packages and is a nice old lady. Also, does anyone happen to have her email address?

 

pps. good news, I have had no tummy troubs since being in the MTC!

Bad Hygiene: Check

No toothpaste: check.

No shower shoes/mandals: check.

Too tired to wash face: check.

Bad hygiene: check.

 

Haha, just kidding, kind of. I borrowed toothpaste, showered without shower shoes (the bathrooms were ok), washed my face in the morning, but I guess that still equals bad hygiene haha.

 

Hola! Como estas? Muy bien, y tu? Tres menos veinte.

^My new found (or re-found from 1 year of high school class) Spanish skills.

 

Hey!

Just a small update on looooogggistics (you know who I am):  I have Preparation Day every Friday. I am in an English speaking district for two weeks and then I will get switched to a district of missionaries going to Taiwan or maybe they're just Mandarin speaking, I actually don't really know a thing. But anyhow, it is fantastic; because even though I don't speak a lick of church Chinese (I did learn how to say a couple of things when we had to teach the first discussion in Chinese on the first day of class...talk about high expectations) I am in an ESL class. For those of you who don't know, that means English as a Second Language which also means that I have great stories from class when there are some mistranslations or problems with words.

 

Day 1:

There are 2 elders from Brazil going to New York speaking Portuguese. 2 sisters from Guatamala speaking English in North Carolina and California. 2 elders from Utah going to Taiwan with me. One Taiwanese/Hong Kongese raised in Provo sister going to Sydney, Australia Mandarin speaking. And me. So the two from Utah and I are the only ones who can speak perfect English (although perfect is relative). Oh, and there used to be one sister from Korea/Canada/Idaho/California who is going to Korea but she switched districts to be with some other Korean speakers. The first story has to do with her:

She was talking about how someone thought she looked Chinese and I told her no, you definitely don't look Chinese. Then she said that she doesn't look Korean, even Koreans tell her that she looks Vietnamese. She kind of does. Then she said, "I guess no one can tell the difference between Asians because we all have chinky eyes." Needless to say, I burst into uncontrollable laughter (and no, there is no spell check on this computer and I am starting to second guess myself) and felt slightly uncomfortable but she was laughing too so it was ok...I think. Then she apologized for taking that too far. Hahaha. No boundaries. Love it.

 

Day 2:

We were talking about how reciting Joseph Smith's account in his own words is so much more powerful than trying to summarize it. Then one of the Brazilian elders said, "It's like a shot of the spirit." The other Brazilian elder said, "A straight shot." Our teacher started laughing and explained that a shot meant alcohol and they started making gun motions and said, "We meant this kind of a shot!" Now that I've typed that one out it isn't nearly as funny as I remember it being in class, but regardless (a word my companion just learned today), I thought it was funny at the time and figured you wouldn't mind reading it.

 

Day 3: P-Day and Temple Day:

Today we had to change in and out of our church clothes 3 times because we didn't actually know when/where we could wear green pants with orange suns on them or if we had to wear a black skirt (and by we, I just mean me). But because of these Jerusalem pants I'm wearing, Sister Wagner and Elder Danielson (from BYU Jerusalem) both recognized me from afar and came to talk to me. The MTC doesn't really feel foreign because everywhere I go, I see someone I recognize or someone I'm good friends with. Since being here I've seen Elder Tyler Bell, Elder John Erikson, Elder Preston Danielson, Sister Carli Barlow, Sister Ashley Parker, Sister Anne Holyoak, Sister Kara Trammel, Sister Michelle Wagner, Sister Katie Downs, and I'm sure there are others but that is a lot already. So it's been like a little reunion and I feel bad for my companion who has to keep meeting these random people.

 

Also, today an Elder from our Zone was having a food eating competition with another Elder and when I joined the table I said that I would join. They laughed and didn't think about it. But when I went back for another burger, another cookie, more water, chocolate milk, and a pasta salad, he looked at me in awe and incredulously said, "You weren't joking were you?" So now I have found the future inscription/epitaph on my headstone:

Sister Perkins: Wowing the world with her appetite and food eating abilities since 1993.

 

I forgot to say that the reason I have these newfound Spanish skillzz (yes, 2 z's are necessary) is because my companion is Sister Monterroso from Guatamala. We wandered around the MTC for 2 days in a group of 4 because we weren't assigned a companion; but we kind of assumed that the two Guatamalan sisters speaking English would be together and that the two Mandarin speaking sisters would be together. We were wrong. And I love it. Sister Monterroso is great. She is quiet, hard-working but easygoing (like me. If that even makes sense). She has a great testimony. She is so humble (she is really good at speaking English but studies hard and thinks she isn't) (I guess one of us has to be haha). And last but not at all least, she gets my sense of humor. Even though my amazing puns don't always translate, she thinks the faces I make are funny and we both love laughing after someone makes a not funny joke and there are a couple pity laughs but it is mostly silent. Anyway, she is great and I love her.

 

We met our Branch President last night and wow, he is intimidating. And strict. We MUST have our White Bible (Missionary Handbook) and Preach My Gospel at ALL times. We MUST have companion inventory 3 times a day (not sure if that is overkill or genius. Right now I´m leaning towards the first). Elders MUST have suitcoats (even though it is summer and hot and the MTC said they don´t need to wear them. Also, I just figured out why all the ()"*' things were weird, this computer was set to Spanish. But our Branch Presidency seems great and we had a good meeting last night. Sister Monterroso is my senior companion, so she's the boss. I pray a lot. Haha, we both joke that the past 3 days at the MTC we have said more prayers than our entire lives combined. She actually does a good job making sure we pray about the same amount in our companion prayers. I was called to be a Sister Training Leader. No idea what that means. They handed me a folder and told me to read it (which I am doing in my study time later today). I think I gather the international sisters next week who get in on Tuesday and befriend them and let them follow me around and whatnot until the rest of their district arrives on Wednesday. But I have meetings all day on Sunday to train me for it.

 

All jokes aside, I love the Missionary Training Center. I love the temple. I love the Lord and I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to serve Him. This is His time and I'm trying not to waste it (I thought I would never be able to study for 3 hours a day, but I'm finding that - oh gosh, am I really saying this? - I want more time to study because I have so much to learn and I realized I don't actually speak Chinese haha).

 

Love,

Sister Perkins

 

PS. I took a Christlike attributes test to see how I was doing in each of the attributes. Can you guess my two lowest scores? Humility and Patience. Patience was my lowest scoring. I guess the whole not praying for patience thing worked, Mom! And I guess I don't have any haha. But when I chose two things to work on I chose Humility and Obedience...still avoiding the patience thing. Hahahah. And humility? Who would've guessed? I'm so humble someone could bake me into a humble pie (bad joke, but it proves a point haha). Anyway, I love you!!