CHRISTMASSY GREETING FROM TAIWAN- December 17, 2012

dajia hao!


well once again i find myself at the end of p-day with about 30 minutes to write to you and to my mission president! yaaaaaaaay! today was really crazy cause a bunch of missionaries were going home so we went to see them at the mission office and then just partied it up downtown shopping at the market and running around like chickens with our heads cut off! did i ever tell you about all the dead poultry i see around here? it's kind of horrible because there are stands with turkeys and chickens and stuff...all plucked and ready to go just lying on their backs and their little legs stick straight up into the air! this and so much more are the decorations that create the precious and unique atmosphere of this island that is too big to fit inside my heart but at the same time is becoming my whole heart. that doesn't really make sense but i just have to try to explain it as best i can....i love this island. i love these people. they are my whole world and thinking about a life beyond this is terrifying and very unsettling so it was very surreal to see all these missionaries leaving especially my trainer!! oh man. thank GOODNESS i still have like 11+months to soak it all up.


this week was a little bit hectic. my companion and i both got sick....i was throwing up all night on tuesday and then my mission president saw me at the chapel the next day and told me to go home. i'm trying to be a really obedient missionary so i did what he said and we passed out for about 4 hours. it was glorious. some elders in my district gave me a totally sweet blessing that made me cry (they always do) because they talked about how heavenly father is so grateful for and mindful of my service and sacrifices i am making on behalf of his son and i just needed to hear that.....sometimes i feel like missionary work is way too big for me. i try so hard to do good and to be good and to change and help others that most the time i feel like i am barely scratching the surface, barely making a dent or a difference. but then i read mosiah 2 this week and i was flooded with the spirit. i also realized that even if i am just doing a lot of little things, i am doing good things and ultimately being a constant source for good my entire life will have a tremendously more positive impact than if i was being a bad person. right? right.

 so anyway back to mosiah.....i was totally undone by verses 20-22, 25, and 41. i love in verse 21 that it says "I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants." but not to worry because in verse 22: "and behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper." and later it talks about how when we obey we are immediately blessed. these words were very comforting to me as this year of 2012 draws to a close and i have been reflecting on my service as a missionary. there are still times...lots of times in the day when i am blown away by the fact that i am here right now....doing what i never thought i could do and struggling so hard in the spirit just like enos as i try to be more than i ever dreamed i could be. it's so beautiful. i never want it to end!!!!


this morning i read a talk by president monson from the last general conference....it was in german so i don't remember what the english title is but it was pretty much all about how if we are willing to act immediately, god will trust us to use us to help other people and make their
lives better. god is so mindful of all the details of our lives and he loves us so much and wants to bless us. i have decided that i want to be that person that god trusts and who is naturally service minded. it's gonna be a long road but i'm workin hard to get there yessirree!!! oh man. i never know how to adequately express all the things i'm feeling. let's move on.


sister t. and i had the really cool opportunity this week to participate in the "dan jones" activity with all the new missionaries. when we first get on island we go to a night market, stand on wooden stools with a book of mormon in hand and hold it up in the air as we shout our testimonies out to the masses in CHINESE!!!!! and then we partner up with an experienced missionary and go contacting for like an hour. it was so bizarre to think that in august that is what i was doing and i had no idea what i was doing or which way was up. i got to be like the host missionary for a taiwanese sister. it was a really beautiful experience just me and sister jiang hittin the streets and talking to everyone. i felt like the chinese was flowing off my tongue, i was bold and confident and even a bit brassy at times! i felt so good.....like i was doing missionary work and being me and using the talents and characteristics god gave me to spread this message and i just loved that feeling. i crave it. no one was super interested but we had some really cool interactions.


NOOOOOOOOOOO i am so out of time. i promise next week i will share some cool stories and write back to james and cajin. i love you all sooo so much. have a very merry christmas and remember the reason for the season :) just think of how different the world is because of jesus christ. there;'s a quote i love from sister elaine s. dalton she said "if you want to make a difference in the world you have to be different from the world." it's so true. being different is hard sometimes but we already know how the story ends and god has promised us so much more than we could ever fathom. god loved us so he sent his son. oh remember remember him. his arms are stretched out still. i know it is true because they are the only things holding me up...they are the reason i am here.

i love you.
sister coco