Sister Hailey Jane Armstrong: 2017-01-22

Hi friends & family! <3

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!! This past week has had that feeling of excitement that you get when you feel Christmas coming. New Year is the most important holiday to the Taiwanese and it has been soo much fun getting to be involved in such a rich culture during this holiday! So what happens during 過年 is that everyone gets together with their family. Most people return to their grandparent's home and it's a big happy gathering of aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters...everyone!! And what do they do together? Well if you haven't noticed, the Taiwanese know how to EAT. So it is a huge celebration with a GINORMOUS meal and happiness. (ok weird it almost sounds exactly like Thanksgiving from that description but just trust me it's worlds different hehe)

The people here are so family-centered and it is amazing to see how much they love and respect family. You can talk to anyone on the street about family and it will easily turn into a 30 minute conversation about the importance of family/family stories/family goals/etc. I have learned a lot from the Taiwanese and have been reflecting on how much they have helped me grow. They are so excited to hear the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ because so many people here truly want to do better for themselves and their families. These people are so Christ-like! I feel like so many of my prayers are answered through people on the street and in the ways that Heavenly Father has prepared them to hear His message.

One of the coolest miracles of someone being prepared by the Lord happened yesterday! The last hour of church was just starting and we got a call from the elders attending the 11 o'clock ward. They said our investigator Tina/ 張藝 was there, sitting in the front!! Okay this is HUGE because 1) she told us she would be out of town the past weekend and 2) she hasn't been keeping commitments superrr well. A bit of background: we met with her last Thursday and we had a whole lesson planned out. But the Spirit definitely directed that lesson because we ended up focusing solely on the Sabbath day and how crucial it is to developing faith. She never told us she was coming to church, she just showed up!!!!! AH! And when we asked her why she was there she said, "I didn't go on the trip because I wanted to come to church." Wowowowwow this is a huge step of progress and act of faith and I can't describe how happy or proud we are of her! Please keep praying for her! We love TINA! (also we are teaching her in English now because she actually grew up in Canada and she said she understands a lot better in English so it's been really different but really cool to teach the gospel in our native language!)

I have been super inspired by Tina this week because she taught me how important it is to sacrifice and put in the effort to act on our faith. We are taught in scriptures that faith without works is dead so what is "works"? Before my mission I definitely didn't understand all the effort that God requires of us but at the same time the beautiful simplicity of Jesus Christ's teachings. We have to continually study and ponder and pray and if we do that every day, we will be continually growing closer and closer to Him! I never really thought I could find so much joy in my life or in my relationship with God and I know I still have so much work to do. There's a funny quote I remembered finding on Pinterest a while back that I have been thinking about lately. It has to do with health/fitness (you know those "health/fitness" pinterest boards that every girl has next to the "baking" board lol u know) but I'm gonna relate it to our spiritual growth and development in a very vague manner so bear with me a sec haha. The quote says something like, "no one really knows how good our bodies were designed to feel" implying that we have all this potential to get healthier and feel much better/more energy. And as I have been thinking about the changes that a closer relationship with God and Jesus Christ has brought to my life, I have been thinking about how we don't even know how much happiness the Lord has waiting for us! Maybe we go to church every Sunday and read the scriptures and pray because it's just something we have always done. But I know for sure that we are unaware of all the joy that Heavenly Father has designed for us to have in this life, simply because we aren't putting in the effort and intent He requires of us. He is just waiting for us to act in faith so that He can bless us! The God of the Universe has a plan for each one of our lives but we gotta put a bit of effort forward because unless we make things happen, truly trying to align ourselves with His will, our lives will come and pass and we will have never come close the potential or the happiness that was achievable if we'd only used more faith and acted.

I'm so pumped by the fact that we never have to be stagnant in this life! There is so much potential in this world and Jesus Christ and His gospel help us reach goals and mold our lives in ways we can never do on our own. I love you and here's your weekly encouragement from me that you can do it! You have a loving God and Jesus Christ waiting to help you (and also me if you need me hehe). GO GO GO--->

神祝福你們

加油加油！

我超愛你們

love always,

莫姊妹

p.s. I got a nickname this week: 莫豆豆！it's my surname "mo" and then the two other characters are "dou" which means bean. So I am "mo dou dou" or mo bean bean (#laurawhereyouat)

p.p.s. Taiwan culture tip of the week: it's more expensive to buy nuts (almonds, walnuts, etc), than it is to get an MRI at the hospital in Taiwan. just let that sink in

To prepare for guonian we cut out a bunch of "chun" character's from traditional red paper (chun means spring and is a symmetrical character!). It's the equivalent of cutting out snowflakes. We are planning to deliver them to all our church members this week!