October 7th, 2013

I feel like every email home is either the end of the month or the beginning of the next month. time just flies by too fast and i can't even believe it's october. this week has been one of so many miracles and tender mercies. i have really come to SEE that the Lord knows me AND each of His children so personally. He is so constantly aware of us. 

we still haven't watched conference- that's this upcoming weekend. and it seriously feels like Christmas. i can't believe it's already that time of the year again. when octoberstarted, the weather all of a sudden decided to cool down. i'ts not really that cold but i have been spoiled with taiwanese heat for so long that it feels COLD. we left the chapel the other night and we were both freezing! 

there was a wonderful baptism this past saturday. Wu JM got baptized. i think i talked about her story a little in previous emails. her two older sisters are both solid members and one of the sisters spoke at the baptism. it was so tender. there is so much love and joy in this family. all three sisters are preparing to serve missions in the upcoming years. they call themselves the 'san ge chuan jiao shi jiemei' they are so great. i'll attach photos. i just always feel so blessed to meet these people and be a part of their lives. i was thinking about all the people i've worked with on my mission and i just had an overwhelming gratitude come over me. i love these people so much and i have been blessed by their friendship more than i could ever have imagined. being a missionary is such a blessing.

last week, we were waiting at a mcdonalds for a new investigator from english class. she is really special- her eyes just glow and she's so willing to strive to follow the spirit. herenglish name is sylvia. as we were standing outside, a woman nearby looked at us and started speaking to us in perfect english. she said that she had been baptized in our church when she was in australia. just 2 months ago!! and she had just gotten back to taiwan 5 days ago. she didn't know where the church was or who to get in contact with. Heavenly Father knew that we were going to be there and He arraigned for us to meet her. He knows that she needs support right now. we were just so amazed to bump into her! she really great and we're excited to keep helping her. she ended up helping us share about prayer with sylvia and teach with us about God. we're meeting with sylvia again this tuesday and i'm really excited. she is amazing

second really cool story. we had plans to go visit an investigator last night. when we got there and called her she had totally forgotten about our appointment. SO, we went and looked up a former's address. i felt a little lost at this point and was just really praying that Heavenly Father would guide us and help us use our time effectively. when we knocked on the former's door, her husband answered and said she was sleeping. as we left, we said a prayer and suddenly heard this violin music from one of the houses nearby. it was playing a really cute song. as we kept listening, the violin player started playing the tune "nearer my God to thee" we looked at each other dropped everything and went and tracted the door. a man came to the door and as we started talking, he told us that before he had been to our church. i assumed he had just visited or come to englishclass. as we kept talking, he started using words like 'branch' and 'bishop' turns out, him and his wife are both members!! they haven't come in a long time because their kids are busy with school. he asked us who the current bishop is and knows him!! it was amazing. we invited them to conference and we're going to start working with the bishop to see what we can do to help this family. Heavenly Father knows this man, Ye DX and sent us there that night to help him feel God's love. 

i am so grateful for all of your letters and support and love. i have felt God's love for me so clearly this past week. there have been some hard things but i have really felt His peace. i know that He loves His children. I can't think of a better feeling than being on the Lord's errand. Its been a really amzing week. i love you all so much and i'm so grateful for your love and prayers. i know that your prayers are blessing the lives of those we're interacting with. 

love

sister Newman