Wo hai zai paobu (I'm still running)‏

Dear everyone, 

I almost got deported, just now! We were sitting doing our emails and some policemen came in and asked to see my Resident Visa Card.... Thank goodness I had it on me! They scanned it and asked Sun Jiemei, "Is she your friend?" and seemed really surprised when I answered them in Chinese. Then they left. Wow, this what it must be like to be Hillary! 

One of my favorite missionary friends said to me once that a mission is a lot like running. You know it is good for you and the strength and energy you find in yourself gives you a high, but is is a lot of effort. Sometimes you crave that "after the run" feeling, but your time isn't yet. I feel like that describes pretty well how I feel about life. But at the same time, I tell myself every day that if I can learn to be happy on my mission, I can learn to be happy in every other situation in my life. So I try to every day focus on the people around me, focus on God, focus on the beauty of old apartment buildings with bird-cage windows and tastes of the food I'll never find in America. And gosh, really, even though there are the moments where my lungs are bursting and I want to stop and catch my breath,  I am very happy with life here. 

The most "high" moments for me come when I find I am really able to help people, really able to be a tool for good. This week we had a Zhang Jiemei get baptized. She is a chubby woman about Mom's age who has a pleasant round face, short black hair, and is always quietly bubbling with nice things to say about people.  

I used to think it was cheesy when other missionaries would talk about baptismal services being their happiest moments, but gosh--the love I felt for her and from her was really overwhelming. I couldn't stop smiling, the whole time. She told a story during her testimony that I wanted to tell. Apparently last Tuesday she was with her Dad, who is very traditional Taiwanese and doesn't really respect her decision to be baptized. He was trying to get her to drink a glass of beer and kept pressuring her until she felt so guilty, not wanting to cause conflict with him. Then I called her to see how she was doing. As she was talking on the phone to me, her Dad got bored, but the beer in the fridge, went to take a shower, and completely forgot about the incident. She said she was so thankful that Heavenly Father answered her prayer, and sent me to save her from the situation. 

My favorite part about this is that when I called her, I was just doing my normal routine calls to follow up with investigators  It didn't feel like anything special. I was probably feeling pressed for time, and didn't know if I really had to call her because she typically is doing really well. But I decided to anyway. So never diminish the importance of all the normal, every day things you do for the people you care about! You never know how it might influence them! And just live by faith that you are helping people in your daily efforts, even if sometimes you can't see the results. I think the most noble things done every day are contained in stories that are never told. The most important being the atonement. We try so hard to talk about and understand Jesus Christ and the enormity of his love and sacrifice for us, but none of us has a clue. I gain so much strength and insight into my own life by remembering that simple point, and hope you can, too. 

Jeffrey, hope your first week in the MTC is going smoothly! Garrett, congrats on graduating from BYU! The lei made out of origami cranes sounds really beautiful. Does anyone have a picture of it? Sparrow, I hope your PR really can cover up the couch incident for you. 

Here are a couple of pictures! This week I have an extra companion working with me Sister Sun and I--Sister Wang. She was called to serve in Australia but has been working in our mission until her visa comes. I love hanging out with her and Sun Jiemei. We love to cook disgusting things together out of all the leftovers in our fridge--(last night was hashbrowns, expired soy milk, egg, and green onions chopped up, mixed together, and fried like pancakes, with an expired mushroom tomato sauce on top.) I love that I can hang out with Taiwanese people and be able to communicate well enough with them to really be friends. (Every once in a while Sun Jiemei and I will have a night when we lay in bad until late just talking, telling stories, and laughing together.) 

I speak pretty much 99% in Chinese these days, which may explain some of my awkward grammar when writing, but which I am really proud of.  It's so strange how different life can be than how it always has been, but how we get used to it, and can come to love it, if we want to. I never want to be afraid of change or having new experiences!

So one of these pictures is of me, Sun Jiemei, and Wang Jiemei. The other is a picture of our baptism this week. This is Zhang Jie Mei with us, her two sons, and her sons potential girlfriend. Yay! 

I love you all so much! 

Diana