Last few days in the MTC-- Sister Shum

- Sister Shum, from Taiwan! (Her parents went to BYU-Hawaii, she was born in Hawaii).  She is the niece of Elaine Chan (next door neighbor back home).  Small world indeed.

- Much Love for the Elders in my District

- Ricky, from home! (He danced night show at the  Polynesian Cultural Center) 

Last few days in the MTC--Sister YEE

-Sister Yee, from Hawaii, serving in Taiwan with me!

Last few days in the MTC--Warm Enough

 It is warm enough to study outside now!

Sister Miller and Sister Brinkerhoff

Pollister Choro!

I drank a V8 for the first time....it was nasty.

I wanted to start off this email by sharing a couple of scriptures.

Proverbs 22:15 - "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive him far from it."

Proverbs 23:13 - "Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die." 

The scriptures are true because I am not dead! haha jk jk, LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD!! :)

And with that said, here are some highlights from my week.

- In Taiwan, if you are angry at someone you can tell them that you want to kill them and they consider it to be a joke.

I just thought the clouds looked cool. But look on the ground, no more snow!

Utah is warming up. The snow is melting away. It is still about 40 degrees but it is warm enough that my companions and I are able to sit outside and study.

- WE WILL PREACH THE GOSPEL IN MANDARIN AND ESTABLISH THE CHURCH IN CHINA!! I kid you not, we will convert China. We are all just hoping that they open up China while we are in Taiwan and transfer us there. 

- This week was just joyfilled! This week was amazing! I am at a loss for words trying to describe how happy I have been here! Sometimes, I can't even stand it. 

- Our District was given the opportunity to be ushers for Tuesday and Sunday evening devotional. We got front row seats!

- Tuesday evening Devotional we heard from Susan Easton Black.Sunday Evening Devotional we heard from Rosemary Wixom, Primary General President. Both events were wonderful, as all devotionals are in the MTC. 

- Memorized Doctrine and Covenants Section 4, The Missionary Purpose, and Joseph Smith's First Vision in english and in Mandarin.

-Had Taco Bell for Dinner on monday night and orange chicken and RICE on friday.

- Another Skype TRC appointment. We skyped with a lady in Taiwan. She was really sweet. She is actually a part-time missionary. She is serving in the Taipei temple. 

- LOTS AND LOTS OF LANGUAGE STUDY!!

- GOT OUR COOL CHINESE NAME TAGS!!

- My District is my family here. I have 6 new brothers. They are really weird. But we look out for each other. 

- I was given some instruction by a teacher here who also teaches a dating and courtship class at BYU- PROVO. His instruction was, "When choosing your eternal companion, DON'T YOU DARE SETTLE!"

- One question a lot of us have while on a mission is, "How do I know if it is the Holy Ghost of just me?" Elder Bednar answers this by saying, "QUIT WORRYING ABOUT IT. Press forward, dont sit around. When you are moving you will be guided."

- Why is it hard? To be like him? To live a life as he did so that we can return to our Father in Heaven? Why is it hard? It is hard because Salvation isn't a cheap experience. Why should it be easy for us but not easy for Him? 

- You mission is real life. You don't give away two years or eighteen months and then pick up where you left off in your old life. Return missionaries who revert back to their old ways, and those who fall away,  just didn't get it. 

That is all I have to say this week. Next Wednesday will be my last P-Day in the MTC. I will be heading out the following Tuesday. I will be getting those travel plans on Friday! XD 

#AWEEKANDAHALFTOTAIWAN!!

Love, 

Sister Goo

ELDER SOREN ALISA

This is Elder Soren Alisa serving in Alaska, Samoan speaking.

He is not from Laie but is related to the Alisas from home.

See his hand gesture....LAIE BOYS.

P-DAYS

If any of you are wondering what P-day's in the MTC look like....this is our laundry room, where majority of a missionary's time is spent.

FIVE rows of washers and dryers. A wall of laundry soap and dryer sheet dispensers. Racks and carts for clothes. Vending Machines. A lost and found. Rows of computers on top of tables. and if you head up the stairs, the cafe is just right there.

CHINESE NAME TAGS

We got our Chinese name tags!

Can you spot Sis. Goo's  tag?

We also get another set or two in the field that has both our english name and chinese name.

BEAUTIFUL DAY

Today is a beautiful day!

In your 

MORNING

PRAYER

each new day, ask

HEAVENLY FATHER

to guide you

to RECOGNIZE an

OPPORTUNITY to 

SERVE one of 

His precious 

CHILDREN.

-M. Russell Ballard

Favorite Cantonese District

I found Santeco!

Sister Brinkerhoff, Me, Elder Santeco, and Elder Hunt.

One last picture with my favorite Cantonese District. They are leaving to Hong Kong on Monday.

Elder Hyrum Kim

One last picture before Elder Hyrum Kim (Brother Foley's Grandson) leaves for Portugal.

awesome comps!

Sister Miller and Sister Brinkerhoff

..with the Cantonese District sisters

Provo Temple

Notes of Encouragement

Small notes of encouragement to each other...

GOD WILL NEVER GIVE YOU SOMETHING YOU......

(MISSIONARY MAMA CAN'T FIGURE THIS ONE OUT.)

YOU CAN DO IT WITH THE LORD'S HELP!

SO FOLLOW HIS EXAMPLE.

The elders are kind of special...

ELDER_____________.   Keep it up!  I know you have the spirit with you.

"I know missionary work is HARD but be like this rock...steadfast, unbreakable and FOCUS!  If you do so you will be as happy as this rock. :)

:)

MORE TRASH

Trash is our favorite job on service Fridays! 

MORE TRASH

They are extending the MTC campus. It should be opened in about two years.

Service Fridays

Trash is our favorite job on service fridays!

With my TONGBANS!

Sister Miller and Me on a pile of garbage.

WEEKLY UPDATE--I feel like the most stressful part of my mission is emailing.....

This week was definitely a strange one..

Thursday February 11, 2016

- I awoke in the morning to a strange sight. During our walk to get breakfast, a peculiar fog had rolled in and settled in mid air. It was but an eerie thing to see. It was as if we were underwater in a swimming pool at night. The streetlights rays visibly penetrating through the thick blur. The fog so dense, one could barely make out a figure ten feet in front of them. Everything was quiet. Much too quiet. Everything, still. The air so thin , i struggled a bit to breathe. We got our sack breakfasts and headed back to our room to eat.

- It seems as if everything and everyone had decided to move extremely slow today. 

- Had study, classes, practiced lots of grammar, vocabulary, listening, reading, and writing. 

- Practiced teaching the Word of Wisdom lesson in Mandarin using visual aids! It actually went really well. 

- Had more study, classes, practiced lots of grammar, vocabulary, listening, reading, and writing.

- They served cream puffs and custard pie at dinner!

- More study time

Friday February 12, 2016

- So the girls bathroom on our floor had had empty soap dispensers for about 2 weeks now. The girls were just using their shampoo or body wash as soap. SO, because I woke up earlier than I usually do, I walked to the cleaning closet, grabbed the soap, filled up the dispensers, used the bathroom, washed my hands (WITH SOAP!) and then went back to my room. They might as well hire me while I am there in the MTC. 

- Another foggy morning, just like the last.

- During morning study, no one could focus today. 

- Friday is service day! Did the trash and the recycling again! This is probably my favorite job on the entire MTC campus. We took out ALL the trash in the entire building in record time! 30 minutes!!

- Lots and Lots and lots of study today.

- Learned that In Taiwan, If you have diarrhea and you need to use the bathroom, it is polite to tell people that you have diarrhea and you have to use the bathroom. Just so that they know why you are taking so long in the bathroom. ("Lah dootz zuh" is how you say diarrhea)

- Read Leviticus 11:30,

- A good way to teach new investigators about this gospel is to revert and think about how you would teach primary children. Very simply. 

-There are some Elders and Sisters here that I feel like are not ready to be here just yet. The elders in the other mandarin district were having a somewhat heated argument about what the worst swear word in the English language is. I know I shouldn't think like this but I really just wanted to knock them upside the head and tell them to cut it out and focus. 

- My district now has a district handshake. I'll have to record it and share it with you all sometime. 

Saturday February 13, 2016

- Again, a foggy day. 

- Had morning TRC today. Taught a lady from Hong Kong and a young man from Taiwan. 

- STUDY, STUDY, STUDY!

- Learned about "Le" the completed particle,

- Lots of character writing and reading.

- Ate a burger

- Our teacher prepared an "Amazing Race" type of thing for our district around the MTC campus. Each companionship found clues and translated them. wrote in chinese, read in chinese, spoke to people in chinese, did all things chinese. It was really fun. 

- Set up for devotional! :)

- Role played with Elder Turner and Elder Welch. They were our investigators. 

- Did more service! :)

Sunday February 14, 2016

- HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

- Today's recurring topic was obedience.

- I do not obey because I have to. I do not obey because I want to receive blessings. I am obedient because I Love the Lord. 

- MORE AND MORE STUDY!! WOOT!

- Played the piano in sacrament

- It actually RAINED during our temple walk! Utah rain is strange...

- Ate fruitcake fish for dinner.

- Had Choir practice

- Sang a musical number, O Lord, My Redeemer, with some elders. 

- Sunday Evening Devotional with Elder Heaton, our MTC director. He talked about Baptism and how baptism should not be a missionaries main focus. Our end goal is getting our investigators to the temple. 

- Elder Decosta (also from Hawaii) and Sister Galaxy (from Utah) shared their conversion stories. 

- Watched Elder Holland's "Missions are Forever" talk. If you have not seen it, WATCH IT!

Monday February 15, 2016

- Once again, the fog rolls in.

- Morning studies :) 

- Monday's are always weird. We have forty minutes of Study time and then exercise time and then more study time. 

- An Elder popped out his elbow playing volleyball. I have no idea how that happened, but it did. 

- More reading and writing! Yeah!

- Ran around our classroom and practiced our grammar out loud. 

- Today's recurring topic was also Obedience. 

- Chik-fil-a for dinner O.O

- Had Skype TRC today. Skype TRC is where we teach investigators over Skype. it was really neat. Although, it is a tad bit difficult to fit three girls into the same frame while still trying to be as close to the built-in microphone as possible. We kind of had to speak up. If you were to walk past the computer lab while we were Skyping, you would probably have seen three sister missionaries yelling a whole lot of mandarin at a computer screen...

-More study time.

Tuesday February 16, 2016

- It cleared up today. I actually saw the sun! 

- Tuesdays are district Volleyball days. My district loves to do things together.

- Personal study and language study was, FEICHANG HAO!!

- took part in a development focus group. They are trying to test out and implement Ipads in some missions. We tested out some of the language apps and answered their questions about online searches and website layouts.

-  My district laughed A LOT today. I mean we laugh a lot every day, but today was just ridiculous.

Man, we are awesome. 

- My district calls my li hing mui candy my "drug" candy because they can not distinguish what exactly is on the candy but it just tastes so good, they cant stop eating it!

- Studiously Studied.

- Went to choir practice. Sang, "Nearer my God to Thee"

- Had Devotional with Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the twelve. If you have not read his talk titled, "The Divine Call of a  Missionary" I would highly encourage you all to do so. He talked to us about this talk. It was a wonderful devotional. I KNOW I was called to Taiwan because that is where I am supposed to be.

-Did service! :)

Wednesday February 17, 2016

-Woke up to a very beautiful cotton candy sky! It is actually kind of warm today. 

-Stuck a load in the laundry

- Went to a 7:40am endowment session in the Provo Temple. 

- Got lunch. 

-Hopped on a computer

- Ate some cookies.

- Ran out of things to say so trying to figure out a way to end this email.

- Want to thank everyone for all the letters and packages I have received. 

- Want to thank everyone for all their LOVE!!

TWO WEEKS TO TAIWAN!!!!

-LOOOOVVEEEEE YOU ALL!!!

Sister GOO :)

My Funny Valentine

The things I get in the mail.....

"Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me laddie?"

"hey, there.  You like what you see?"

"I can show you my onion love"

-Lake

From my 13 year and 11month old younger brother.

Through the Eyes of Another

"My mission
belongs to the Lord.
With all my heart
I give my energy and my time
 to the Master
because I love Him.
Therefore, I'm going to
 look at every day
 not as mine,
 but as His.
And I will treat each minute
of His time with respect and focus
and the dedication that it deserves."

Elder M. Russell Ballard

Laker Smith

So this is one of my elders in my district going to Taiwan as well. His name is Laker Smith. As you could probably tell from his name that he LOVE the Lakers and he gets really salty when we talk about how poopy they are. Anyway, this is him, dressed up looking like Joseph Smith. The resemblance is Uncanny, isnt it??

Friends from Home!

Friends from Home! 

-Mom, this is Elder Jean, Sister Jean's Son! He's serving in Missouri.  He leaves next week Tuesday!

Self Portrait

This is my self-portrait.  Dont ask me why I have a treble cleff for a nose.

Emotions

The many emotions of a MISSIONARY.....

Lots of Love for Valentine's Day

I am loved!

from the Valentines

from home

from the Ramos family

from Sister Miller's mom

Got a Mandarin Bible!

Got a Mandarin Bible!

Xinnian Kuaile!

got some more Valentines

Thumbody Loves Me!

Thanks for the Hearts!

The Measure of Our Hearts by Marvin J. Ashton;  October 1988

What manner of men ought ye to be?

Yea, even as i am...


I know I say this A LOT, but I truly feel as if time is going by incredibly fast. In just 3 and a half weeks I will be out in the field! My nervousness about speaking the language and trying to be the best missionary I can be has been replaced with a desire to seek out those that are prepared to listen to our message and a whole lot of Love for the people of Taiwan. I am soooo excited!!

Some highlights from this past week;

- My companions and I went to a 6:00 am yoga class. It was very relaxing and much needed. It has been a while since I last stretched myself like that..

- For service this week we got to take out the trash and recycling! We also set up and took down chairs, bleachers, stages, and mats for Devotional. I LOVE service!

- Had Papa John's Pizza, Subway, AND Chik-Fil-A sandwhiches for dinner in the SAME WEEK! I dont understand why people here like Chik-Fil-A...

-Xinnian Kuaile! Saturday was Chinese New Year! We learned A WHOLE LOT of mandarin this week (as we always do, every week) and Wu Lao Shi gave us all a little gift for Chinese New Year.

- I slept on the floor in my residence room because the floor is just so much comfortable than the bed.

- We buried our weapons! We wrote down things that we realize we do that does not fulfill our missionary purpose on "bio-degradeable paper" and we took a trip outside and buried our weapons.

- Sunday Evening Devotional this week was AWESOME!! (I mean, they all are, but this one was FANTASTIC!) Jenny Oaks Baker, Elder Dallin H. Oaks daughter, and her family of 4 children led the devotional. Jenny Oaks is a successful violinist and If you ever have a chance to listen to any of her music, I would highly recommend it!

- Our neighbor district left to Taiwan a couple of days ago. My district is now the Oldest Mandarin District in the MTC.

So much to say and not a whole lot of time. There are a couple of things that I learned this week about being on a mission that I did not quite realize were as important as they are.

1. EXACT obedience
2. FORGET yourself
3. LOVE everyone
4. Be HUMBLE, it is okay not to know everything

I know that I still have a lot to learn and I know that this mission will only last a short time in my life but I am so very grateful for this opportunity.

I love you, too!

I got your package today.

 Elder Kaimi Drumright!  He is from Utah but went to school at BYUH.  He is serving in Florida.