Week 43 - 四十三週 - July 28, 2025 - 八德 - Bade

 大家好！！

Highlights:

     -Freshly installed a new water bottle holder for my bike (I only opened that part don't worry) 

     -Saw an angel/one of the three Nephites (we were finding and a stranger tapped me on the shoulder, gave me and my companion ice cold water bottles, and left) (I have no idea who he was)

     -Exchanges! It rained harder than I've ever seen in my life. Neither of us had an umbrella it was awesome

     -Helped a lady find her bus and now she is coming to church next week!!!

     -Went to 大溪 to find

     -Watched Shaun Parry kill it as Zeezrom in the Book of Mormon videos

     -Found a cool frog

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I have been studying about the 2 great commandments recently. Here are some of my thoughts:

One of the things I have been striving for this transfer is for love of God and neighbor to motivate my actions. I want to treat people as Jesus would treat them. 

This is a great idea, but while re-reading Matthew 25, these verses stood out to me: 

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Instead of, 'How would Jesus treat this person', I've been thinking 'How would I treat this person if they were Jesus?'

This really reframed my thinking. We all know that "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God" (Mosiah 2:17). How would we treat God? 

We should treat others in that same way. 

I hope this new mindset will truly us change in the ways that the Savior wishes for me and for you.

Prayer list:

☆ Rima --> that she will respond to us

☆ Kurt --> that He will learn to reject gifts of tea

☆ 楊誠原 --> that his CPR will enlighten his mind

☆ 劉兆忍 --> that she will not worship other Gods

☆ Ronald --> that he will recover from his illness

再見!

Sister 吳ardle

Pictures: Western Zone Sisters!!!, The frog 🩷, Exchanges, Post almost Typhoon sky

Week 42 - 四十二週 - July 22, 2025 - 八德 - Bade

 大家好！

Highlights:

     -We finally got to the batcave

     -Finally put our friend Kurt on Baptismal date (He bought all new clothes just to come to church every week)

     -Zone Conference!!!

     -Biked back home from Zone Conference!!

     -Took a language test that humbled me! (People butter me up too much here)

     -God set a new record for people who came to church in 八德 (Bade) this week

     -A FAMILY came to church I was so 開心 (Kaixin - Happy)

     -Went to the temple :)

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There was one day this week where we had 6 lessons lined up in a row which = no time for dinner, but one of our members who came to 陪課 (Pei Ke - Member Lesson) was so kind and brought a whole home cooked meal to church for us! 

We felt so bad because we had no idea how we were going to find time to eat it with all our lessons, but then one of our lessons cancelled and we were able to eat with the member at the church!

3 Nephi 13: 

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 

32 For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

I love when I get to live the scriptures. They are true! 

When we embark in the service of the Lord, He will show us the truth of all things!

Prayer list:

-Rima --> That she will not give up on being baptized

-Kurt --> That he will not let the Word of Wisdom stop him from being baptized

再見！

Sister 吳ardle

Pictures: The one and only batcave, View, A cool truck we found by a burrito stand, Said burritos, The way home from the batcave, This is just on our way to church!, My comp, West Zone best Zone, 聖殿 (Temple), 跟王家庭的請客 (Dinner with the Wang Family)

Week 41 - 四十一週 - July 14, 2025 - 八德 - Bade

 大家好！

Highlights 

     -Bike got impaled by a spike

     -Costco!!!

     -Infinite companionship 默契 (Moqi - innate understanding) (We got separated on the road but both went to the same place. It was a miracle)

     -So many members 請客s!! (Member meals)  Having a native companion is the secret

     -Had a wonderful Sabbath (little brother gave his farewell talk, one of my best friends from home got BAPTIZED and we put one of our friends here on Baptismal date!)

Bike Miracle:

     We were on our way to a members house when the back tire of my bike got impaled by a spike (photo below). We only had one yoyo card, so we couldn't both use the free public bikes to get around. Our only option was to walk to the bike shop. So to the bike shop we walked! It was a nice hour of finding. 

     After we arrived however, we discovered that it was not open! The door was closed shut. We had no idea what to do--without my bike we had no way to get to the church besides walking, and if you know 八德 (Bade) you know that walking somewhere takes quite a long time. I said a prayer in my heart that I would be comforted and know that whatever happened would be Gods will.

One minute later, the door to the bike shop started miraculously opening!

Matthew 7

7 ¶ Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 

The door literally opened. God answers prayers!

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Studying Christ's Atonement daily has changed how doing missionary work feels. Here are 3 insights I gained this week:

#1 The knowledge that we have of the doctrine of Christ's Atonement comes from the Book of Mormon:

The word 'Atonement' only appears in the New Testament one time. (See Romans 5:11)

On the other hand, the word 'atonement' appears 35 times in the Book of Mormon. How interesting is that.

#2 Christ's Atonement is the foundation of Christianity :

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/thomas-b-griffith/root-christian-doctrine/

In 3 Nephi 11, Jesus Christ personally comes to minister among the people of ancient America. When they saw Him the first time, "the whole multitude fell to the earth" (v. 12). 

Jesus then invites the crowd to "come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel" (v. 14)

"And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves...they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him" (v. 16-17)

The first time they fell, it was possibly fear or awe, but the second time it was worshipful. This only happened after these people witnessed for themselves Christ's role as their Savior. 

Therefore, every meeting, conversation and lesson in the church should be centered on Jesus Christs role as our Savior. If it is not this way, the things we talk about are meaningless.

#3 The Atonement Fulfills the purpose of the Creation:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1996/10/the-atonement?lang=eng

God created the earth so we could receive immortality and eternal life! (See Moses 1:39) In other words, God created this world so we would be able to live with our families forever in eternal glory. The Atonement makes this possible!!! How incredible is that!!!!

If families don't get sealed together in temples, then the purpose of the Creation comes to naught. This insight really put some vim and vigor into the work this week. 

再見!

Sister 吳ardle

Pictures: 翁姐妹 (Sister Weng), Impaled!, The 台灣 (Taiwan) Costco menu

Week 40 - 四十週 - July 7, 2025 - 八德 - Bade

 大家好！！

Highlights:

     -We did not make it to the batcave BUT I am still in 八德 (Bade) so we will make it there don't worry

     -Transfers! Sister Ingram is now my STL (everyone needs to learn from her) and I am training a baby again!!! Welcome 翁姐妹 (Wen JieMei)！！！！She is from 台中 :) (TaiZhong)

     -Spent the whole day with the trainees without knowing who our companion was until the end--the suspense was crazy

     -Found a not active member at a park and it was the biggest miracle ever!!

     -Got invited to a barbecue by an American man on the street

     -Started a 40 day fast! Here is my list of things I am fasting from:

1. Makeup and Jewelry

2. Singing/playing non church songs

3. Judgmental Remarks

4. Slang

5. Quizlet match

6. Interrupting people

7. Fake 聽得懂ing (Ting de dao - pretending to understand what people say)

Keep me accountable!

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Here is something that stood out to me in  personal study this week:

Jacob 6:5 "cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you"

I've been thinking about what 'cleave' means in this context.

Genesis 2

24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

What does it mean to be one flesh with God? 

I think one of the best ways to achieve this oneness is by partaking of the sacrament. Through the sacrament, we partake of the broken body of Christ. I say this in the most reverent way possible, but the sharing of ones body with another person is one of the most sacred and divine acts of love we get to experience in mortality. We get to partake of this most sacred love during the sacrament and literally receive the enabling power of Jesus Christ. I can't think of a better way to cleave unto God :)

Personal preparation for the sacrament is very important. I invite all to take a moment this Saturday and ponder what the sacrament means to you! If you let it, the sacrament will become a most divine catalyst for change in yourself. 

再見

Sister 吳ardle

Pictures: Guess who my companion is!, Trainer Meeting, Elder Clegg is dead (that means he has gone home), This is our final boss - we kill him be making friends (this was not my idea)