It's a brave new world

And by brave new world I mean I have eaten a lot of strange things:

Kung Pao Frog (surprisingly good other than the lots of small bones).

Octopus tentacle pizza (not good even after taking off the tentacles).

Oyster (that was actually super delicious and a little bit spicy).

And I don't have a ton more time here but that's ok. I love you all.

Also like a kajillion people have asked us if our church has polygamy because of some kind of dumb news or dumb person (who is also a beloved child of God) who says they are Mormon but has 5 wives -________- But we've straightened them out. Then they're even more surprised when my 1 mom gave birth to 6 kids haha.

This week we've met a ton of college students who want to know the meaning of life and are reading the Book of Mormon to find out. 

We were knocking doors on Sunday night and went into this small alleyway that had junk everywhere (hello Hoarders episode) and smelled bad and there was one door that had no doorbell and no door, just a longer room/entranceway that had more junk and led to other doorways and a dog in a basket hung up in midair. We stood there for about 20 seconds when the dad and the kids came out. The dad said he used to be Christian but stopped going to church for a long time. He said he was busy and walked away to fix a computer. But the 3 kids who were standing with him stayed and talked to us. They were really interested in the free English class we teach and the free math class our member teaches (I think because they looked like they didn't have money to pay for buxiban/tutors). We stayed and taught them a little and we prayed, they prayed, and talked about their older brother who died when he was a baby and they all dream about him, and they all wanted their own tracts and pictures of Jesus, and we are going back next Saturday. The 9 year old girl said she was going to "Xia ci wo hui qing ni men chi tang guo." "Next time I'm going to treat you to candy!" I know that God loves us and loves them and I hope that their mom and dad will also be interested in learning more!

I love you all and I know God loves you and is watching over you and I know you have trials and hard times but I know God cries with you and laughs with you. If you get to know Him you will feel His helping hand in the hardest times.

Love,
Sister Perkins

Awkward English

Monday - Got laughed at by a man (who told us that he doesn't believe in God, there must not be very many people who accept us because everyone is Buddhist and baibai's) because we told him that not only do people agree to meet with us and learn more and come to church, but people agree to quit drinking, smoking, come to church every Sunday, and read the Book of Mormon and then agree to be baptized. He laughed so hard and said, "Does ANYONE join your church?" We told him yes, he sobered up and took a Book of Mormon and agreed to go to church on Sunday near where he lived. Haha, joke's on him:)

Tuesday - got fang'd (our investigator didn't show up). So we went knocking some doors instead, asking people to listen about Jesus Christ and telling them about what a boss he is. We got probably about 50 doors slammed in our face when one of the last doors a 14 year old boy came out. (Let me just mention, it was also pouring rain and freezing cold and I had a raincoat on, an umbrella, and these cool plastic things that you put over your shoes so they don't get wet and me and my companion looked like the 'monster' at the volcano in the Mary Kate and Ashley Twin Detective Agency. If you don't know what that is, look it up.) We shared about God, how He loves us and is the best "Dad" in the universe. We shared about how He can come to know God through the Book of Mormon and build their relationship through prayer. He didn't say much but he agreed to pray. We asked how he felt and he felt good. Reached into the plastic bag surrounding my bag, whipped out a baptismal planner and out there in the rain under our umbrellas, we set a baptismal date - if he comes to know this is true through reading and praying and attending church, then he will be baptized on that date. We met with him again on Friday night to bring him a copy of the Book of Mormon and share about Joseph Smith. After we shared Joseph Smith's experience, we asked him how he felt about it and he said he believes it could've happened! Such a miracle! We're meeting again with him tonight.

Wednesday - We had a little crazy less active member (doesn't come to church anymore) talk to us about psychics, roses blooming and perfume, Jesus Christ going to China, and aliens with big heads and small bodies. So that was fun. And we had English class, now we teach middle level, so much more fun! We had 22 students and everyone was involved and did the activities and our spiritual thought at the end was about directions (that is what we learned in class) and about how God can help us find direction in our lives. And some students after class came up and wanted to learn more about God and wanted their own copies of the Book of Mormon, so cool!

Thursday - Had the most delicious and also smallest serving of Mexican food ever. So I was hungry all night, but it was amazing. 

Friday - Met with an Atheist who agreed to read the Book of Mormon, prayed, and agreed to come to church and set a baptismal date! 

Saturday - Rained all day again. Found a mom who was willing to pray, read the Book of Mormon, and meet with us next week.

Sunday - The Atheist came to church! But we were already in classes and all the rooms had people and he didn't know where to go and there wasn't anyone in the hall to ask, so he left :( But he came! And he said he will for sure come next Sunday! 

So this week was a week chalk-full of miracles and my stomach was chalk-empty most of the time. But it was great:) Oh! And we had interviews with our mission president and that was super fun too. Also I taught my first lesson in English to a guy named Jeffrey. We started talking to him in Chinese, then he said, "Sorry, I grew up in Oklahoma, my Chinese isn't good." He invited us to come back another time because he felt sorry for us but didn't have any interest. After we shared how Christ helped us get through our hard times and how he can know for himself, he agreed to let us come back and set a date and it was so awkward and I realized that I can't speak English at all and that I'm awkward and I will probably only speak in Chinese for the rest of my life. That is all.

I love you!

Sister Perkins

Creepy McCreepsters

So this week was pretty creepy, not gonna lie. I didn't realize how crazy missionary work was until this week when it was the opposite of miracles that happened -__-. So missionaries go out to talk to random people, invite people to our church, set up times to meet with randoms, give our number out to strangers, and usually you only hear about the miracles that happen from those things, someone calls, said they prayed and now want to be baptized. This week we saw miracles too, but 2 really weird things happened. 

So do you remember when I wrote about that weird Pakistani guy who asked me to be his girlfriend/marry him, and another time found us and asked for our phone number and when could he meet with us, and another time disrupted our lesson about the Plan of Salvation? Well, we were at our English Class meeting on Wednesday when who shows up? Ali. He came in and sat down and I was like -____________- ^1000000. Then we went downstairs to teach our class and he followed us, there was no one down there so we promptly went back up the other staircase, then we found some of our elders and they caught him and were so smooth and made him go to their class. 

Situation 2: Sunday morning we got a text that said can you come out and meet in the morning? The text was sent at 4:50am. Then we called, asked who it was and said we had church and invited him. He said he met with missionaries in XinZhu before, like in June, so we set up a time to meet with him. Then he called back again and asked if Chen Jie Mei was here (she was my trainer) and I told him that she moved to Taipei. He asked if I was Taiwanese or American, I told him American and then he asked if my hair was blonde, I said no and he said good. Then he asked how old I was, was I also 20? Creeper alerts. Then he said 20 is good enough. So I hung up and we didn't answer our phone again. Then that night he texted and said, "Sorry, we're still in TaoYuan (about an hour away) eating, do you think you could come up here to this address and meet with us? Also, I like the night life and to listen to waves at the beach." Anyway. Creepy McCreepster. So that's that.

In other news. This week we found 6 new investigators! And one of our recent converts (recently got baptized) came out to do missionary work with us for 4 hours on Saturday! 

And we were knocking doors in this one area, and for about 2 hours no one let us in. We get to one of the last doors and knock and a 19 year old opens the door. We chatted with her, then her older sister (mistakenly thinking we were her customers) came out and started chatting with us. We asked if she believed in God, she said yes. (Not many people say that right off the bat.) We asked why and she replied, "I got home a month ago from living in America and I lived with a Mormon family in Idaho." WHAT?? So cool! So we said that we are Mormon asked her if she had prayed and she said she used to pray and read the Book of Mormon with them everyday and she believes. Before we could talk more, her customer came but she gave us her phone number, said she'd like her own copy of the Book of Mormon and gave us her address! So cool! God knows His lambs and as missionaries it is our job to find them and bring them back to His fold. 

I know God loves us. I know He knows us individually. I know I don't have to see him to know He's there. Just like I haven't seen the wind, I know wind is real because I feel it. I know God is real because I feel it. And it is the best feeling in the world. 

Love,

Sister Perkins