Team Jesus

Finding people's addresses is like a maze Emma said.  A fun maze:)

Whoo! Hello from Taiwan! Another crazy week full of miracles:) first we got to start off with Last monday! It was a good p-day, we got together with the Elders to play some killer basketball, we didn't have quite enough people to play a big game so we rounded up some guys who were smoking with their ladies on the side court, I asked them if they wanted to play and it took them a bit to finally agree. But we got em!! There was only 3 of them and 5 of us...so..I volunteered to be on asian team. Team Hoodlum vs. Team Jesus! Oh man, it was intense!! They were pretty good for a bunch of guys smoking on the side! We kicked trash! After we were done we shared the gospel with them:) Missions are full of adventures:)

Our investigators are absolutely amazing, we met with 3 new ones this week and it's just incredible to see how much this gospel can impact peoples lives:) We met with Zhuang dx. this week and it was fabulous:) He is the cutest guy ever. We shared with him the Plan of Salvation and he just ate it up. Oh man...but guess what? During the lesson, my companion was sharing the part about Our Life on Earth and all of a sudden a massive cockroach peeked his head out from under the table...but only I could see it...cause it was right in front of me...and the spirit was too strong that I was terrified to scream....or even squeak....Let's just say from that point to the end of the lesson I had to try REALLY hard to focus...he just kept coming in and out to say hello to me! Oh my gosh it was the worst. But at least Zhuang dx. is still awesome and excited to be baptized:) I shared with him a promised blessing and said that the Plan of Salvation would help him strengthen relationships with his family. He smiled and laughed a little and said to me in chinese, "no way. that's impossible." hahhahahhaaha his family is a little crazy and he has some grudges to let go of:) maybe this week we will share about forgiveness. He is so dang awesome:)

Transfers are this week! Which means I am half way done with training.....YES!!! I am so excited. I love training, but it will be great to not be the baby;)

We made the greatest new friend this week! His name is Husain and he is from pakistan. He wants to learn more about the church so him and his friend from Indonesia came to meet with us and the Elders. They are both Muslim and were really curious about Mormons. They are here for school, and I think they were also just excited to see foreigners;) But wow. We talked with them, shared the first lesson and the spirit was so strong. Amazing! But they are devote muslim and don't think they could every change! Jed! I need your help on how to work with Muslims! 

Our ward is so amazing. I just have to say it every week! WE are so blessed to have so many people that are willing to come with us to lessons and feed us dinner every once in a while! So so so great. Member Missionaries! Oh my gosh, our ward mission leader did the nicest thing this week, on sunday he comes up to me with a violin case in his hand, AND GIVES IT TO ME. What?! Peter?! He said that i can play it till I leave Zhongli. Wow. He is the best. I literally have no time to play it...but  did for a few minutes before bed the other night and it made my heart sing. He's a cool guy. 

Beautiful Taiwan.

Now for the biggest miracle of the week! Last night. We met the most prepared family. In the World. And they all set baptismal dates!!!! it was amazing the love that just radiated from their home. We are so excited to keep sharing with them:) Heavenly Father puts the prepared in our path!

Making the most relish bowl of noodles.

Emma said they found the best noodle shop!!  Add whatever you want.  Looks delish!

ok. now for something else cool. So I've never been able to ride my bike with no hands. I just don't have the balance. This week I had a dream that i could do it like a pro. The next day I tried it.. AND I CAN DO IT!!!!! LIKE REALLY GOOD!!!! I was stoked, everyone follow your dreams, cause apparently you can learn life skills in your sleep.\

Love you so much!!

xoxox

emma

Crying Over Cookies In Taiwan

Sister Clawson in front of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial

Whoo! What a killer week. Time is so weird. I feel like it was just pday, but then when I really think about it, pday was literally a year ago...man..missions.

Last Monday we went to Chiang Kai Shek! It was so beautiful!!! So much history and tons of fun to head to Taipei with our elders. We spent most of the day there and then headed back to zhongli because we had a dinner appointment and then an FHE (Family Home Evening) at our ward mission leaders house after that. We hustled our buns back and jumped on our bikes with the elders to find the resturant we were eating at with Cai JM. WE got SO lost! Finally we found it after searching forever! It was called Rebel burger. WE didn't have tons of time since we had to get to our FHE activity so we inhaled our burgers. I remember it was good, but I ate it too fast, I don't even remember what it had on it...then we took for the crazy streets of Taiwan again! 

WE had to bike to Neili, which is like 20 min away on our bikes....HOLY CRAP. WE biked so fast!!!! The sickest bike gang you've ever seen in your entire life!! Elder Zhou, Elder Magness, Sister Komatsu, and Sister Clawson UNITE!! Oh man, we were zipping in and out of allys, dodging scooters, drafting to get there faster, MAN! It was the greatest thing in the world. Like so much fun. I will never forget the bike gang to Neili. 

Family Home Evening

Rebel Burger.  Those burgers are HUGE! And then she busted out on her bike!  I think she worked off the burger:)

FHE was so much fun! We had just eaten the burgers with the member and when we showed up for fhe, peters mom had SO MUCH FOOD. and she said in chinese, " If you eat it, it will make me happy!" oh my gosh..so much food, we all wanted to barf on the bike ride back. Gotta love the Taiwanese. :) 

Tuesday we had zone meeting in Taoyuan!! It was so fun to meet so many new people and to see familiar faces from the MTC. Sister Apsley is in my zone and is doing fantastic!! she is so great. We learned new mission strategies and basically just how to be an awesome person. It was the best:) Taipei has got some killer missionaries.

 

Zone Conference and lots of new friends!

WE also got interviews with President!!!!! YES!! IT was so great to talk with him and make goals and what not. He asked me to make a goal for how many baptisms I want to have my whole mission....holy crap. I've been doing some serious praying the past few days. But I've gotten my answer! so..everyone...wish me luck..;)

The bus.

The train station.

Sister Jergensen was there too to chat with us while our comps were in interviews! I love her so much. She pulled out homemade  chocolate chip cookies and I literally cried.. Like she gave me the cookie. I looked at it. smelled it. and then the tears came. 

Missions do weird things to you.

They just don't have that kind of food here! It was just so homie and wonderful:) 

Yes. I am a baby. I'm almost 20 and I cried over a chocolate chip cookie.

deal with it.

We had a sad experience this week:( Our beloved investigator Lynn that was scheduled for baptism this weekend sent us a text tuesday that said that she needed some time to think and to cancel her baptism. We haven't heard from her since. EVERYONE. SATAN IS SO REAL. Don't let him get into your head! WE love her so much and hope we will see her again someday.

We've been so blessed to have found so many new investigators this week and have so many baptismal dates. The power of the spirit is amazing and changes lives. Always be Captained by Christ!! Through him we can literally do ALL THINGS. 

 

We meet so many people every week... so many of them are absolutely insane...;) I love it:) haha.

This picture was for Jane.  Her two favorite people!  Emma and ANNA!

General Conference!!! wow. TAlk about Life changing! First time I've listened to a full on 4 sessions of conference without sleeping..for real. The power of God is impressive. We are so blessed to have a living prophet on the earth that guides and directs us and gives us the strength that we all so desperately need! 

ONe last story..

last night, we traveled with one of our favorite RC's (recent convert) ruby to the middle of nowhere to meet an investigator...it was pitch black, all of us on bikes, in the jungle, with Ruby's phone guiding us to who knows where! Luckily we made it, and our investigator was adorable and set up for baptism. The spirit was so strong and she has the strongest little testimony! Cute 15 year old girl. She was worth the scary ride in the dark:)

Taiwan. Stay crazy. Stay awesome.

I love you so so so much fam and friends!

xoxoxoox

emma

Taiwan I Love You So Much!

No worries Grandma G!  This was a service day and they were helping paint someones home:)

TAIWAN I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

Ok this is a disclaimer...I forgot to bring my journal with me to the internet cafe that has all my weekly things I have to email in it!!! So I'll try to remember everything the best I can:)

Early every morning the Sister's meet up with the Elder's for a little basketball for their exercise.

Monday we went on a day trip to Yinge! It's this little town chuck full of little stores full of asian dongxi. :) 

Headed to an appt. in Zhongli.

The Lord has blessed us so much this week!! so many miracles. One of our great progressing investigators, Jia dx, has been too scared to set a baptismal date with us, and then out of the blue in our lesson this week he said he wants to be baptised April 23rd...WHAT?! He is so awesome, I know Heavenly Father will personally testify truth to us if we just ask:)

Streets of Zhongli.

Next our other investigator Zhuang dx also set his baptismal date! He is the biggest sweetheart, He just needs to stop baibaiing..hahaha This is when people worship their ancestors. But the best thing ever...he wanted to show us his shrine he has for his mom when he baibai's. Right next he made a shrine for us..ummm ya... it is made out of all of our pamphlets we have given him..:) Oh boy. I'll try to snatch a pic next time;) He's so golden, just gotta straighten out some stuff and he'll be great:)

A happy lunch for Sister Clawson!!  Sushi!

We also have a fantastic new investigator!!! her name is Lynn:) and we have known her for a while..cause she was the elders investigator...but they never asked her where she lived...this week we found out that she actually lives in our area....YES!!!!! We love her so much andshe gets baptized in 2 weeks:) these people truly are amazing.

No idea what the story is behind these pics, but I think she's cute!

WE had the chance to go on splits this week with the STLS and it was awesome! I Learned so much and love them to death. we've got so many prepared people, and the Lord is helping us find even more. sorry No time this week!!!! AGGGHHHHH. I love you all so much:)

I love taiwan. I love taiwanese people.

Heavenly Father loves us!

xoxox

emma

Taiwan BABE!

 Wahoo! What a week!!!!!! Taiwan is a wonderful place to be. The people are all amazing. They sometimes don't understand what I'm saying but just smile and laugh...cause I'm white. There seriously are no white people here..none. I've seen 2.. wowzers. so many asians! I love them:)

 This week we were lucky enough to be visited by our wonderful AP's! They joined us for district meeting and then went english boarding with us after! So fun. I love Elder Roe and Elder Johnson! That night we went with them and visited one of our LA's. His name is Chou DX  and has a ravenous dog that was going nuts when we walked in. Dad's wise words came into my head from when we would go biking in the mornings, "Em, if there's a dog chasing after you, just think in your head, IM GONNA KILL YOU. They won't touch you." So I did it. I growled at the dog and thought in my head, "I'm gonna kill you!" ya..he was silent after that. I'm the TAiwan dog whisperer.:)

 Wednesday we had a qingke! (this is a meal appointment) YES!!! It was with one of our killer members:) Her name is Chen Mama:) She is like 80 years old and blind. She lives in a place called Neili that's about a 20 minute bike ride from our house. WE jumped on our trusty bikes and headed out.. IN the pouring rain..like waterfall status... It was so fun:) I've never been so wet in my life! I didn't shower that day. No need. So much rain this week!

 

The Sister missionaries new screen shot for their phone courtesy of the local elders:)

That night we had our english class, and only 2 xiao pengyou came because Taiwanren HATE coming out into the rain if they don't have to. But we had a nice one on one lesson and they were absolutely adorable:)

 We also got 2 new investigators from english class this week! One is named Sopie Su:) She is amazing, she recently had some massive challenges in her life and she came to the realization she needs religion in her life. She's wonderful! WE are excited to teach here! she has a baptismal date.

Ok. Now I'm gonna take a sec to tell you how awesome our ward is.
 
THEY ARE SO AMAZING I CANT EVEN HANDLE IT.


 We are so blessed to have so many members who are willing to help us peike and feed us food! We met with 3 families this week for dinner and it was great. Such good food! When we go to families homes for dinner it's always pretty similar food. A bowl of rice and then tons and tons of different veggies and toppings to put on it. So YUM. Squid is delicious.

 We met with Yeh Jiating, Fang Jiating (there dad's not a member so we've been having lessons with him) and Liu Jiating! Liu Jiating remind me mom and dad a lot. Same age, you even look alike! Except they are asian...:)

 Most people can speak a little english, then every once in a while you meet those people who have killer english! It's so fun that two people who don't have the same native language and can't completely understand each other can still become such good friends:)

 One of our most beloved members, Wu DX is one of the coolest people I've ever met. He is Kejiaren. This is basically an indian taiwan native race. so he is SUPER dark. But holy crap is he cool. He has got the strongest testimony ever and has some killer scooter skills.

 WE are #blessed to have such a great ward!

 This week in sacrament meeting I was sitting next to one of our investigators. He is so great, he just needs to accept baptism dang it!! We are listening to the speakers and then he leans over to me and loudly whispers in his fantastic english, "I go to toilet!!" xie xie. :) hahahhahahahahahaha we were trying not to die laughing during the meeting:)

 

I'm not sure if this is Hairy Meat, or the sausage thing:)

Taiwan is beautiful and I love it!! I had 2 really amazing things this week. ONe was a burrito thing....it had something called hairy meet in it..I don't know if it's real hair..but it was delicious. The other thing was this sausage that they put in like a rice bun..it was so ghetto, but SO good!!!!  I love it here. The church is so true and Heavenly Father knows us all so personally and will never leave us hanging.
 xoxox
 emma

#shehasthebesthashtags

Wow! Another week in Taiwan!!!!

I'm sorry, I have so little time:( My stories will all have to be very brief this week!!! And super scattered! Don't hate me! I promise I am alive and well!

 

The night market has the best fruit and veggies!

Baptism this week.

This is the church in Zhongli.

WE were blessed with 5 new investigators this week and 1 baptism on saturday!! His name is Xie Hao Zhe. He almost didn't come to his confirmation at church yestereday...that was scary..but then he did so now he's a member!! Sheesh!

The bathrooms are sketchy as heck.

There is a beautiful park where we go hard with the Elders in basketball some mornings. SO FUN! 

It's rained every single day since I got here!!!

Emma's companion Sister K. from Hawaii.

The night market, and Em said the produce is awesome!

We had a dinner appointment with a non member. She was soooo cute! WE ate pig feet...and she wouldn't let us leave till WE ATE IT ALL!!! It was the worst!!!!!!! Bless her heart;) She also made us these beautiful little cake things. but sadly...they were probably the worst tasting thing I've ever had in my life. Taiwan really does have amzing food! Those were just really bad...hahah

English class is every wednesday! WE teach the kids and they are adorable:) super rowdy, but darling.

We found the cutest family and young girl on saturday night!!! WE are meeting with them later and I am so pumped. The Lord has truly blessed us and guides us everyday to the people who are looking for us too:)

Every Weds. night Emma and her companion teach English to these cute kids!

My bike finally came! It's the best thing ever. I missed biking so much:) It's pretty crazy though. There are basically no traffic rules and it's a battle for your life every time you hit the roads. It's a thrill and I love it;) 

WE went contacting last night and It was awesome! Got a new investigator:) We also had a guy ask us if we had boyfriends..then he told us we were beautiful...bless him. He needs Jesus. I was just super excited that I could understand what he said!! but yes we do meet some intersting people. 

Our dryer broke this week and I FIXED IT LIKE A BOSS!

#wifeme #postmish

 

This week was incredible and the Lord is watching over us.

I love you so much!!! 

xooxooxoox

emma

Oh Taiwan.....

This is the group Emma traveled to Taiwan with.  They are standing in front of the Grand Hotel in Taipei.

ok. ok. ok. Everyone calm down. I'm in TAIWAN!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow. I think I have died and gone to...kind of heaven... Ok it's not heaven, but I love it with all my heart!!!!!!

I have so much to say but so little time!!!!!!! 

Recap of the last week of the MTC. 

It was good. 

Felt the spirit.

Had a sweet roast with our district.

Cried.

Said goodbyes:( 

Then left to the airport!

Being picked up at he Taiwan Airport.  That must have been a sight!  They look so good!

We flew from SLC to SAN FRAN and then from there to TAIWAN! The flight overall took 15 hours.....it was a little long, but for some reason it felt like it just flew by. Classes at the MTC felt like they were longer than our flight to Taiwan..dang..hahah. 

Sister S, and Sister M from Emma's MTC District.

Elder Roe is a friend from Mountain Crest High School and that's the Taiwan Taipei Temple! The other handsome young  man is one of Pres. and Sister Jorgensen's twin sons living in Taiwan with them:) Cute boys!

Finding dinner the first night in Taiwan.

Dinner

We arrived in Taiwan and had to wait in customs for about an hour. It felt like we were in a zoo....we are a huge group of white teenagers surrounded by tons of short asian!!!! They all kept looking at us and saying, " hen piao liang!" Which means, beautiful or pretty. They are so stinking nice:) I've honestly never met such kind people in my life. Even when they are turning us down they are SO NICE. Agh:) anways, so we got through customs and met president!!! The first person I saw was my good pal Elder Porter Roe! (Emma went to school with Porter, and his is one of the AP's right now.)I died a little bit. We got all of our luggage and jumped on a bus to Taipei!

We unloaded all our luggage at the church by the temple and went out for some food:) My first taiwanese meal was....zhua bing and wintermelon tea!!!!! and. it. was. fantastic. I've never felt so free in my whole life:) It was an experience full of so many feelings that I can't even explain!

**(is a note for my aunt and uncles: Send me the food requests ASAP! xie xie nine) 

we stayed our first night in the mission home and then woke up at 5 the next morning to head to the Grand Hotel and Mission Dedication sight:) It was beautiful!!! We all dedicated our own personal mission with a prayer and then headed back to the Bu (office). We all gathered in Presidents home and ate breakfast together! They were egg sandwiches and then these interesting fruit ones..it was awesome:) After that we filled out some paperwork and had interviews! So much fun:)

Face masks everywhere!

Some of Emma's favorite gals!

The Grand Hotel.  And some elders:)

Later we went to the church by the temple for some training! We learned all sorts of traffic rules and basically how to survive in taiwan:) AFter that we met our new trainers, trained some more, ate lunch, and then we headed to our areas!!! It was a bit overwhelming....

My companion is Sister Komatsu!! She is the most wonderful adorable girl I've ever met. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful trainer:) Our area is called Zhongli! It's about 45 minutes south of Taipei. I love it. Completely different than anything I've ever experience!!! Oh taiwan...so many face masks, so many scooters, so much rain, so many smells, so many asians, so much awesome work to be done! I . LOVE. IT.

She ate it, and she loved it!

We don't have tons of investigators right now so we have been doing tons of street contacting. it the best. My chinese is crap but they just smile at me cause I'm white. :)

We had some luck the other night and met an awesome guy named Jiang Dixiong:) He is the coolest. At first when we started talking to him he wasn't to interested, but as we kept talking, and introduced the Book of Mormon it completely changed. He said, " I have interest! Everyone reads the bible. But I've never heard of the Book of Mormon!" So basically he's a hipster that wants to be different..:) Perfect:) We are meeting with him saturday! Get pumped!

We watched a baptism on saturday and that was awesome!! her name is Ruby and she is wonderful. :) We have another this week, and  next week, and the week after...Man:) I've got some big shoes to fill and help out with!

Outside Emma's apartment

Emma with her new companion Sister Komatsu.

Welcome to JungLi.  (or Zhongli as James and all my sibs say.)

Emma outside of "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints"

Sunday night dinner with the Bishop of the ward, and the other missionaries.  Thank you Bishop!!

Sunday was fantastic. Our ward is the best and they are all so nice!!! I have no idea what anyone is saying half the time, but they are so welcoming and loving and make me feel like a million bucks!! They seriously are amazing! We had dinner last night at Bishops house with his fam. I have no idea what it was we ate, but it was awesome. The End. I ate a whole shrimp. Like head, eyes, legs, the whole thing. SO good:) It POURED HARD last night when we were walking back. It's funny, we like box people in with our umbrellas when we are contacting..:) hahahaha we've got em cornered!! There are so many people here and they are all wonderful.

I have so much to say but no time!!! Taiwan is amazing. This Gospel is amazing. I'm so BLESSED.

xoxxoxo

sista clawson

Hark All Ye Nations

All the sister's!  (Except for Emma's favorites, Sister M and Sister S who were off being social!)

Hello my familia!!! This weeks email will probably not be to long because I've got all sorts of crap to get done...know why?....cause it's my last pday at the MTC!!!!!!!!

YAYAYAYAY! I never ever thought that this day would come:)

This week has been chuck full of lots of personal coaching time so we can get all the last minute things in that we need before we head out to Taiwan. My focus has mostly been on grammar and tones...so help me they are kicking my trash. 

All the girls by their room the night before Sister Money left for Canada.  

We did a practice teach with the other mandarin zone that is going to taiwan and that was a blast! i taught about the word of wisdom. The girl that taught me talked about the Law of Chastity. She did great;) 

I also went on teaching splits yesterday with a fast track Sister from Hawaii! Her name is Sister Yee. She lives with us in our room and is companions with me and sister apsley when we go to eat and bed and stuff;) She's awesome! It was cool to teach with her. We also ran a 5k this morning on our way to and from the temple because she forgot her recommend...bless her heart. hahahaha good times at the MTC. 

A candid Groupie in the hall between classes!  

Sunday was awesome! Because we got released from being sister training leaders!!!! YES. I was so pumped. It was such a fun calling, but we were more than ready to pass the reigns onto someone else;) That night we had an awesome devotional by Stephen B. Allen. We've heard him once before, but again he did a great job. Talked about being worthy to be on a mission... then he shared a story that made everyone feel really really awkward....it was great:) 

Sundays are the best!

These are the Elder's in Emma's district. She titled this picture #freshcuts.  (They all just got haircuts.) They will not be traveling with the girls to Taiwan.  They are headed all over the United States:)  They will be missed!

Me Sister Apsley and Sister Money had our last skype TRC on Monday night! It was amazing. The perfect one to end on. We taught a sister named Pearl who lives in Oregon and is from Taiwan. She was incredible and thought that we were all just hilarious and white. Cause we are, lets be honest. We shared about how we can receive revelation through The Book of Mormon and the spirit was so strong! She shared some killer experiences that were beautiful. :) I'm never going to work at the MTC but I would definitely volunteer to do TRC;)

Emma's two beautiful companions!!  Sister M left a few days ago for Canada, and it was a sad day.

Last night we had our last session of choir:( It was so good! we finished with the song, "Hark All Ye Nations." It was amazing!!!!!! Choir is how you survive the MTC. The devotional was by Brent Nielson of the 70. It was awesome. He shared so many stories that had been shared with him by the prophet and apostles that were so touching. We are so blessed to have a living prophet on the earth today! One of the many super duper awesome things about this gospel.

Just so you all know, I know I talk about the MTC usually in a very negative way. 

Not going to lie, the MTC has been the hardest thing for me and I haven't loved it all the time..BUT. Without the MTC my relationship with God would not be NEARLY as strong as it is now. I've been so blessed with amazing teachers, the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, and comfort from the Lord. I have learned so much and will only continue to keep learning when I'm in taiwan!! Hopefully I'll be able to speak chinese in a few months..:) the MTC truly is an amazing and sanctified place. I'm so grateful for the experiences I've had and the friendships I've made here. I love you so much!

Till next time! IN TAIWAN!!!!!!

XIE XIE NIMEN

oxoxoxoxo

sista clawson