I just realized two seconds ago today is my seventh month mark... Gosh I'm so old and wise.  Quick, someone take counsel from me. 

Just kidding. Guess what!  I’m moving again today!  Again, so that makes... 9 companions,  4 areas, and all in 7 months (not including the MTC). Hmm. I am a nomad (sounds kinda poetic doesnt it?).  CLEARLY Heavenly Father knows I need to learn from a lot of different people lol.  I'm starting to think I'd feel itchy being with one person too long in one place. I've never had a companion longer than 9 weeks. It's sorta kinda fun. So many friends. 

So here's the deal: New missionaries come in this week, so the whole mission is being reorganized. There are about 15 sisters?  We barely have that many to train so some American companions will have native companions and all kinds of things. Its going to be fun. Then in a couple weeks we get more.  Crazy.  So everyone is moving this week or next.  I was told I'm going to Tanzi for a week with a sister who is going home soon, and then will go back to my old original area with a new companion.   A new mystery companion.  Ooooo thrilling no? My mission life is a soap opera.  Tune in next week on "the blog" to see who it is. 

So about that plane crash in Taiwan a couple weeks ago: apparently the Taibei mission president, his wife, the assistants, and two other companionships were all booked on that flight, and changed it last minute. .. yup. Crazy. God watches out. 

SO CHINESE NEW YEARS

1. They blow up fireworks all night. Yup.  I'm really well rested. 
2. They make you drink vinegar to help with "digestion". But its really a plot because I never see them drink it themselves, lol. 
3. It’s socially unacceptable to refuse anything they give you. Vinegar and all. 
4. You may not leave the table until you eat every.   single.   dish.  Those straight butter rolls included.  Yup. 
5. Its mostly delicious. 

THINGS I LEARNED FROM THESE COMPANIONS

1. The bread here has lard in it to make it soft. LARD.  What kind of sick joke is that?  Who does that?  Sick. 
2. Zhao and Zao.  Shi, Si, Zi.  They are all the same sound with a Taiwanese accent.  Good luck learning this language.  lol
3. Sometimes bugs fly into your eyes while your riding your bike and get stuck.  But you have to keep riding. 
4. Everyone who says they understand 100% of the language is a fake and cannot be trusted (accept Sister Henderson, who we went on exchanges again with. Because she's fabulous).  Also, Faking it is about 70% of getting this language down.  Fake fake fake nod nod nod smile smile smile- they will say something if you keep them talking and you'll start to get what they are saying. Genius. 
5. Not even the Taiwanese understand Chinese. So we don't need to feel bad when they don't understand what we are saying. 
6. Also, Sister Sears has been teaching me how to box. Way fun.  Doing that when I get home. 

FUNNY EXPERIENCES FROM THESE COMPANIONS

• My companion told me she wanted to learn to harmonize to hymns so I told her, "great, but first you wax my bike.  We start tomorrow."  Now every time she does well with harmonizing I whisper, "wax on, wax off." 
• Sister Sears and I have the same shoes (because we are two stylish peas in a pod).  Our Taiwanese companion was like so... Did the MTC give you those shoes?  Because I think they forgot mine."  We laughed so hard trying to tell her that the church didn’t jip her of shoes.
• While we were at Seven Eleven I was like, "Hey Sister Sears, look, Seven Eleven has cameras for thieves... like you."  Haha I don't know how funny she thought it was [see last week's story if you don't get it]. 
• We were at a lesson last night and my companion asked a woman what her job was- she said to guess- and Sister Sears guessed Math teacher.  The woman looked startled and asked how Sister Sears immediately knew.  Sister Sears told her it was the gift of the Holy Ghost.  I leaned over and said, "awww the force is strong with this one" and we both started laughing. Then, all of the Asians started laughing. But, we knew there was no way they understood, so we started laughing at their fake laughter, which made them laughed hard, which made us laugh harder. Awww Chinese saving face is the best. 
• We went to a lesson after a HUGE lunch, and we had to be at another dinner in an hour.  So, we walk into this lesson and this woman just has food out.  Food out everywhere.  And butter rolls (omgsh the calories).  And Sister Sears is like, no I'm not doing it.  I cant"  So she points to some origami things and is like, "hey can you teach me how to make that while we talk?" Well we do, but it turns out we are actually learning to fold things to burn at ancestor worship... So here we are teaching about the restored gospel and making things to be burned to idols... not a position I saw myself in when I got up that morning. lol

SOMETIMES I really want to write more about investigators and the miracles we are seeing in their lives, but a lot of that is confidential.  So- when one gets baptized hopefully in the next couples weeks I will be able to tell you all a lot more!!! 

Spiritual Share: 

This week I had a friend write me saying, "I dont have enough energy to move my life forward and spend my energy on the past at the same time. " I also had an old roommate write me and tell me about Elder Hollands talk when he said, "Don't take counsel from your fears." Wow are those both things I can better apply to my life. I was reading a few months ago ine the Bible Dictionary and it says. “Fear is not something worthy of a child of God.”  Wow... did that slap me in the face.  Not that we shouldnt fear, but that it was living so far below our privledges?  Literally everything we could worry about can be fixed or solved in the eternal scheme of things.  Everything we want is in the future, ahead of us, and not the past.  The more we study fear, the more we'll find that God condemns it.  He has matchless power.  And he's already got all your problems all worked out. In fact, he's just asked that you keep the commandments and stay for the ride so He can grow you into what He needs you to be.  It is practically the best deal ever. 

And I know He really does already plan and work everything out for us. He knows what we need far before we pray and ask for it. He loves you. You and the Lord are the majority. 

Remember: Attitude is half the battle. 

Love you all