Crazy how fast, senior companion, fish eye, halfway mark, so happy, ab ripper X, back of the truck

Goodbye to my trainer, Sister Biancardi

20 July 2015
Dakeng, Taiwan


Crazy how fast

Bye Liu Jiemei!

Well, it's the end of another transfer. Crazy how fast that happens! 

Move calls were exciting as always. We all sat by the phone waiting for it to ring to find out if we were moving, if we were where we'd be going, and who our new companions would be. 

Found out that I'll be staying in Da Keng, but Sister Liu is moving. It's a bummer we could only be together for 6 weeks because we had so much fun. But I'm excited for all that lies ahead. 

Sister Liu: laughing and love
I loved being Sister Liu's companion because we were always laughing. I loved her example of humility and how open and willing she was to express her feelings and love. 

Every night after saying prayers as we'd be falling asleep, we'd say "I love you" to each other and "sweet dreams." This small habit she had really blessed our companionship! 

It was especially cute because she would say it with an accent in English, and she would try to mimic how our voice gets higher at the end of the sentence. I will miss her! 

Senior companion with Sister Eo
But I'm excited for my new companion, Sister Eo. She's from Korea and just finished training this week, which means I'm officially going Senior Companion! And I'll also be her "breaker", which is your first companion right out of training. We're both pretty young still, so it will be a fun adventure. And Sister Graham has a new companion too, so there will be 2 new sisters in our 4 man. Lots of change! All very exciting.

Fish eye
Today was also a big day, because lots of missionaries are going home. I think 22 to be exact - one of which is my trainer, another my breaker, and my current district leader. I will miss them all! I'm grateful for all that I've learned from them and I'm so proud of them! I even ate a fish eye last night to celebrate! And I only gagged twice, so I'm counting that as a success!

Highlights of the week:

Halfway Mark

On Wednesday, July 15th, I officially hit my halfway mark. Hard to believe! In fact I wouldn't have even known, but President told me during interviews. It's hard to believe I've been out for 9 months because I've only been in Taiwan for 4.

So happy

I'm so happy for all my missionary experiences so far! I can honestly say every day has been a happy one and that I've already seen so many blessings. There really is no more important work than this one. It's such a privilege to be even a small part of it. 

Truly precious

Everyone's mission is different, but I know everyone's mission is for them--it's exactly what they need. I'm grateful for the gift of missions that Heavenly Father has given us to be able to help us immature 18 and 19-year-old kids change and figure out what's most important in life and to be able to bring others unto this Gospel while converting ourselves along the way! It's truly precious to see how the Gospel changes people, and I think the biggest miracle is watching how it has changed myself, and changed things I didn't even know needed changing.

Trio life

 
Ab ripper X

On Wednesday, we also had our English party. I had a really fun time planning it and it was a success! We had an exercise party which was really cool. We played some silly games first, then split into 3 rooms and people did ab ripper x, Jillian Michaels, and T-25. It was so fun watching everyone work out -- Grandpas included -- and then we had TONS of fruit together afterwards. Over 80 people came! 

Back of the truck

Back to the trio life once again. Heavenly Father must knows  how much I love being in trios, because it keeps happening to me! Because Sister Carlson's companion is training, she stayed with us for the weekend. We had a really fun time the 3 of us and had fun staying up and talking. 

After dinner last night, Su Baba was super nice and drove us home so we wouldn't have to bike. He loaded our bikes into his HUGE fruit truck and we sat in the back with them for a super bumpy ride. It was so fun being able to look out the back of the truck and watch Taiwan as we rode by with the after-rain breeze on our faces. 

Riding in the back of Su Baba's truck -- watching Taiwan as we rode by with the after-rain breeze on our faces

Hope everyone has a wonderful Pioneer Day! 

All my love,
Sister Hancock

Mochi and red bean, 83, salsa chicken, duan chuan, a perfect moment

Sister Liu and me - having fun :)

13 July 2015

Dakeng, Taiwan

Hi everyone!

Here are highlights from my week: 

Mango bing

Mochi & Red Bean

Went back one more time to that all you can eat pizza place we enjoyed so much last time! We went with the Beitun sisters we live with, and 2 investigators. Unlimited pizza and ice cream! So yummy. 

But the best of all are still their dessert pizzas: apple & cinnamon, banana & marshmallow, peaches & blueberries, and mochi & red bean.

83!

Had another record for people at English class! 83! 

It keeps getting bigger every week. I love teaching English class. I always look forward to Wednesday nights. it's such a great way to find people who are interested.

Salsa Chicken

Salsa chicken. That's right, chicken. 

Salsa chicken

I've gradually been becoming less and less vegetarian, but I think last week was the biggest turning point so far. On p-day, I voluntarily bought my own chicken and this week I tried mimicking one of my mom's recipes that I had never made before. It turned out pretty yummy!

It felt weird cooking chicken because I didn't really know how at first. I still refuse to touch it so I had my companion help me cut it up, but it was exciting!

Duan Chuan

We had a duan chuan with us this entire week, which was so much fun! 

A duan chuan is someone who is in high school and thinking about going on a mission. So they serve with missionaries for a week to see what it's like.

So she lived with us and did everything with us this week as if she was a real, full-time missionary. We had a ton of fun together and had a lot of really hard laughs. 

She's really sweet and I admire her desire to serve. I'm going to miss her a lot!

Sister Liu and me with our duan chuan (short-term missionary)

A Perfect Moment

A few weeks ago, while English proselyting, I was standing on the street giving flyers to people who walked by, inviting them to come to our free English class. A lot of people say "no thanks" and a lot take the flyer and smile and leave. 

But I remember one girl in particular: I handed her a flyer and she took it and walked away. I watched her walk away, but after a minute she stopped. She looked down for a few seconds, then turned around and walked all the way back to me and said in perfect English, "I will be there." 

A few weeks went by and I never found her. I thought maybe I didn't recognize her because I only saw her for a few seconds. But it turns out she had been going to the advanced class, so I never had a chance to find her. But I didn't forget that moment and really wanted to find this girl!

My view

Finally she came to our FHE activity with the Beitun sisters and she recognized me immediately and told me everything that had happened. It was actually really fun because after she told me what had happened, apparently I said "yay!!". And that's when she knew it was for sure me because she recognized my "yay." 

We met with her for the first time this week and she is so awesome! It was also really special because I was able to teach her in English which was a relief. I could really get to know her and understand her needs.

She's so excited to be baptized and she's so happy to have found our church! 

While talking with her outside in her backyard, there was a nice breeze and we were swinging in a chair.

It just felt like a perfect moment. We were both so happy and felt like we needed to meet each other for a reason!

Love you all!
Sister Hancock

30 seconds, wisdom, hot pot, shark, HTBT, way too fast

Hot pot!  

5 July 2015
Dakeng, Taiwan

Happy 4th of July! It was an awesome week! 

30 seconds

Started off by having Zone Training Meeting (ZTM), where our whole zone (about 25 missionaries) meets together and receives training from our Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders. It's always fun to be able to see other missionaries and the Zone Leaders are always funny and try super hard to keep the 2.5 hour meeting entertaining. 

Happy July 4th!

The focus of this ZTM was on contacting and how to have better contacts. We contact all the time and something unique to serving in Taiwan is they are really short, which makes it a fun challenge. Because we bike everywhere, often we have 30 seconds at a red light to try and talk to someone and pique their interest in meeting with us at a later time or coming to see the church. It's tough to use those 30 seconds really effectively, but it can be done and the ZLs did some hilarious demonstrations that helped me want to improve my contacting skills.

So much wisdom

We also had interviews this week which is always something to look forward to! Every mission president does these differently, but I remember my first interviews here I thought it was hilarious. There is a timer on President Blickenstaff's desk that beeps after your 10 minutes is up. No pressure. But the time really flies by! I feel like he has so much wisdom and I could just sit all day and soak it all up. 

iPads, hot pot, shark

We had a fun time celebrating the 4th of July! A really sweet member treated us and 6 other missionaries to lunch. We met at this really nice hot pot place and she paid and ordered everything for us and then left. She didn't even stay to eat with us! And apparently she does this for missionaries here about once every month. 

It was a really cool restaurant! They had iPads and you just tap on whatever veggies/drinks/meat you want, and they bring it right out. If you want more, you just tap on the screen and it'll keep coming out. And they had endless Haagen Daaz ice cream which was amazing! But the most exciting of all:  we tried shark and I finally tried blood which I've heard about for so long. It was pretty tasty! Then of course to celebrate, we bought some mango bing for dinner and called it a successful 4th of July. 

Mango bing to celebrate the 4th of July

love Taiwan and America

I really love America and I'm so grateful for the freedoms we enjoy. I am always most aware of them whenever I travel and am out of the country. So I'm grateful for this special experience that I can fall in love with Taiwan. And at at the same time, also increase my love for America each and every day.

HTBT

Lately during companionship study, we've been practicing what we call How to Begin Teaching (HTBT). This is a section in Preach My Gospel, under chapter 10 - Teaching Skills. It's one of my favorite parts of Preach My Gospel. I'm grateful that President & Sister Mullen, my first mission president and his wife in America, really loved this section too and helped us master it. 

Preach My Gospel

The background of this section is also really interesting. When the apostles first decided to write Preach My Gospel, a guide for missionaries, each apostle was assigned a chapter. 

Elder Packer was assigned chapter 10 and one day after looking at a picture of Jesus before bed, he fell asleep, but during the middle of the night, he received the revelation that became the HTBT section. 

He wrote down the words exactly as he received them, but when submitted to the editors, they changed his words around, trying to make it sound more clear. He told them they couldn't do that, that it was like changing scripture, so this section appears exactly as he received it, the only section in PMG that is exactly how it was first written. 

This section addresses how important our first meeting is with investigators, and how important it is to establish expectations. We need to begin our first visit in a "warm, respectful, genuine manner." Then we go through a series of points explaining that our message cannot be learned all at once, that we are not perfect teachers, that they should feel free to ask questions, that we know this message will improve the quality of their lives no matter what their individual trials are, etc. 

I really love each one of these bullet points and it is the perfect way to begin the first meeting! I've learned that when we, as missionaries, really take the time to go through these points in the first meeting, the entire teaching process goes so much more smoothly. 

We understand their expectations and they understand ours. Many misunderstandings can be avoided. They understand our purpose as missionaries and that we're personal, and truly want to help them according to their needs, and that they can trust us. 

The promise in PMG is true, that "as you share spiritual experiences together in the first meeting, they will recognize you as servants of the Lord." 

Lately we've been meeting with a lot of people for the first time and it's so obvious which lessons went well and which could have gone better. And I really believe a lot of that difference is due to how well we did HTBT. I love meeting with investigators for the first time and it's so exciting when we can sit down with them and get to know them! 

Way too fast

I love being a missionary and the time is going by way, way, way too fast, but I'm savoring every moment! 

Love you all!

Sister Hancock

Is Sunday too soon? What if we hadn't talked to her? emulating Christ, humility

June visit to attend the Taipei, Taiwan Temple

June 29, 2015
Dakeng, Taiwan

Awesome week! The work is moving along again. Found 3 new investigators this week.  I'll tell you about one of them.

Our Dakeng District with our mission President and Sister Blickenstaff

Is Sunday too soon?

Amber- really nice girl in her 20s or 30s. Her boss is a member of the church and has influenced her life a lot. She has been really touched by his example. 

There was a period of time where she was stressed out with work and wasn't very happy. He shared little bits about our church that really helped her. 

She's super prepared and anxious to keep meeting! She brought up baptism herself. When we were scheduling our second visit with her, she asked "Is Sunday too soon?" (Only 3 days later) This never happens! 

Everyone usually comes up with lots of excuses and tells us how busy they are and we really have to work with them to find a time.  But she basically invited herself to church :) 

What if we hadn't talked to her?

Another highlight was exchanges. On Tuesday I went to Fengyuan to work with the Sister Training Leader there in her area. Exchanges are always fun. There's something about them that gives you an extra ounce of motivation and energy. As a result, there's always a fun story or miracle that comes from those short 24 hours together. 

For us, we were able to find a new investigator and quickly sit down with her and teach her how to pray. She was a really sweet 14-year-old girl.  She was super interested to keep meeting with missionaries and learn more. 

I loved how bold Sister Thao was with her. Even though we were in a public place, she wasn't worried at all about what people would think or if it would be awkward. It's from that boldness and dedication that the miracles come, from tiny little decisions like that. What if we hadn't talked to her? 

Emulating Christ's Attributes

In my personal study lately, I've been reading the New Testament, a few chapters everyday, really trying to understand Christ's nature and how I can try to emulate His attributes. 

Mosiah 4:13 says 

"For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?" 

I'm grateful that I have this opportunity to dedicate all of my time to serving the Master. I know that only through this way can we understand Christ's nature and become more like Him. 

Humility

One attribute that particularly struck me this week was humility, while I was reading the Atonement section in Matthew 27. Over and over again, people accused Christ or denied who He was, asking "Art thou the King of the Jews?" or "If thou be the Son of God..." It would be very easy for Him to unkindly yell back or to defend Himself. But instead "he answered nothing." He didn't feel the need to prove Himself. 

He knew who He was and His purpose, and was comfortable with that. He was humble even though those around Him did not understand who He really was. 

Sometimes as a missionary, especially with a huge language barrier, I don't feel like people truly understand me or my full personality because the thoughts and feelings that I wish I could express are often very limited by vocabulary. 

I appreciate Christ's example that we need to always be humble no matter what the circumstances--because He went through the hardest circumstances of all--and to always be kind regardless of how others treat us. 

My favorite missionaries

I've found that my favorite missionaries to work with are those that are humble and don't have that feeling that they need to prove themselves to me as their companion, or to those around them, but are meek and always simply try their best, open to feedback.

Have a happy week!

Love,

Sister Hancock

Father's Day, why God gave us families, knee pads, watermelon milk, power tracting

Ice skating with some new converts

I'm grateful for my father

June 22, 2015
Da Keng, Taiwan,

Hi loved ones!

Happy, happy Father's Day!

Sadly we didn't celebrate here because they celebrate in August in Taiwan, but I was still able to celebrate in my heart! 

I love my family

I've noticed that the longer I'm out on my mission, the more I love my family. It sounds a little ironic, because I haven't seen my family for a while now and I'm not able to talk to them very frequently. But it's mostly my attitude that has changed. Little tiny things that might have used to bug me seem so trivial now that I'm understanding how important families really are; they truly are the center of God's plan.

Why God gave us families

Preach My Gospel says it best: 

"Because families are ordained of God, they are the most important social unit in time and in eternity. God has established families to bring happiness to His children, allow them to learn correct principles in a loving atmosphere, and prepare them for eternal life. The home is the best place to teach, learn, and apply principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ." 

I know that's true. God gave us families so we can be happy and so we can learn correct principles in a safe atmosphere. I know they're the most important social unit and that we can be with our loved ones even after death. 

On this Father's Day, I'm grateful for my father who taught me the gospel of Jesus Christ: I've learned from him unconditional love, gratitude, hard work, patience, obedience, and sacrifice. 

I'm so happy to be a missionary and to try everyday to share these concepts with families in Taiwan!

Highlights from the week:

Covered in knee pads and elbow pads!

Knee pads

Last p-day was really fun! Went iceskating with a few of our recent converts!

So hilarious they take it very seriously here and cover you in knee pads and elbow pads!

"Normal" American burgers

Afterwards we went and got burgers. Maybe I've been in Taiwan for too long, but they tasted pretty "normal" American to me!

Watermelon milk

I don't know why I've waited so long, but this week I finally tried watermelon milk and it was delicious! So we got more! And we'll definitely be having lots this week too!

Power tracting

Decided to go tracting with the sisters who we live with. So we blocked out 3 hours of the day and went the 4 of us together. It was a lot of tracting! But it was fun being able to decide on a street together and divide up and go until we covered the whole street. 

Sister Liu and I like to wrestle!

We met some cool people! And also got rejected a lot! And got really sweaty!

This week is looking really good.

It's the busiest things have been here in Da Keng in a while. After calling tons of people, we got 5 people to set up appointments with us for this week. And we have some other people who said they would also schedule to meet with us. So I'm really excited that hopefully they'll become new investigators and we'll be able to start teaching! 

Happy Fathers Day! LOVE YOU ALL!

Sister Sinclaire Hancock

Huang Jiemei from Qishan

City life, temple, cheese, weaknesses, cooking, change, odd sensation

Hello from Sister Liu and me!

Monday, 15 June 2015
First week in Dakeng, Taiwan

City Life
It was a good first week! I'm adjusted to the area and learning my way around now. I'm enjoying the city life-- tons of motorcycles everywhere and busy streets! The four man is a blast. I never want to leave this area! 

The work however, is slow, but it goes on. For the first time on my mission, we literally have 0 investigators, which means our entire day is spent trying to find people to teach. This essentially means lots of tracting and calling whoever we can - formers from the Area Book, and lots and lots of contact cards trying to set up with people who missionaries met in the past. 

Highlights:

Temple

Temple in Taipei

Got to go to the temple! It had been a while since I was there, and I love the new things I'm able to learn each time I go. It was special seeing how everything was the exact same, even though I was in a completely different place in the world, that the church really is the same everywhere

Cheese

A member took us and a few sets of missionaries to an all-you-can-eat pizza place! It's always fun to have pizza in Taiwan because cheese is so rare. It's definitely different, but still good!

You sit at a table and waiters walk around with all sorts of different pizzas and if you want a piece, you just raise your hand and they give you one. It was also all you can eat ice cream too which was delicious!

My favorite pizza was one of their sweet ones. I had never had anything like it before: crust, cheese, apple slices, and cinnamon. It sounds odd but it was super yummy! And it was a really fun night.

Weaknesses

This week I studied a lot about weaknesses. One of my favorite verses has always been Ether 12:27, and I enjoyed trying to better understand it this week. Often I think we put sin and weakness in the same category, things that are both bad and distance us from God and things that we need to overcome. 

I enjoyed studying an article from the Liahona talking about the differences between sin and weakness. Satan encourages us to sin to distance us from God, while God actually gives us our weakness so that we can turn to Him and come closer to Him. Satan tries to use our weaknesses to entice us to sin, while Heavenly Father will use our weaknesses to teach us, humble us, and strengthen us. 

Weakness itself does not make us unclean. Our purpose here on earth is not merely to be innocent and stay clean and return to Heavenly Father's presence, though cleanliness is certainly necessary to dwell in His presence. If this was our purpose, we would all "be better off lying snugly in our cribs for the rest of our lives."

But we come to earth to gain experience, to be able to learn good from evil, to grow in wisdom and skill, and to acquire godly characteristics-- "progress we cannot make from the safe confines of a bassinet."

"We cannot grow spiritually unless we reject sin, but we also do not grow spiritually unless we accept our state of human weakness, respond to it with humility and faith, and learn through our weakness to trust in God." 

In response to Moroni's worry about his weakness of writing comes the famous verse (Ether 12:27) in which Heavenly Father does not tell Moroni to repent, but He offers him grace. Grace is the appropriate remedy for our weaknesses, not forgiveness. 

Often our strengths and weaknesses are related too, and sometimes the real problem is finding balance. For example, I tend to be observant which I view as a strength. But sometimes when taken to the extremes, my personality could become too perfectionistic.

We can also learn a lot from Ether 12:28:8

"Because thou hast seen thy weakness thou shalt be made strong"

God does not offer to necessarily remove the weakness, but to change us so that we can overcome it. Oftentimes this happens through helping us learn to work around it, or gaining a sense of humor or different perspective, so that we can improve gradually overtime. 

I'm grateful for the weaknesses that each of us has so that we can remember to turn to God and learn humility. I'm grateful for the weaknesses that I have so I can also learn to be patient with others and their individual challenges. 

I know that the promise in Ether is true that as we work with God to tackle our weaknesses that we truly can change and become more like Him.

Cooking!

This week I've actually been eating my own cooking! .... Taiwanese food is practically all carbs - white rice and noodles. So while I feel full at first, after biking, I quickly lose energy. So because of this, for one, I'm officially not a vegetarian anymore (but will probably go veggie again once I return home) and two, I really started praying that I'd be able to find healthy alternatives.... 

I believe that Heavenly Father answers prayers and indeed blessed me with an opportunity for me to take control of my health.

In my new area, there are real grocery stores, similar to how things are in America, and more options, so I can buy healthier things. In addition, the sisters I'm living with all cook their own meals everyday, so we no longer eat outside during the day. I've really enjoyed this because I can eat enough vegetables and cut out a lot of oil! 

Change

Our senses can actually change. I've found this to be a really interesting fact during my time in Taiwan. I remember when I first arrived how humid it felt - I thought it was miserable. I remember how sticky I felt that first day when the Blickenstaffs timed our mile, and this was in Taizhong, at 6 in the morning, the coolest possible circumstances. We were all completely covered in sweat. 

Fast forward a couple months to Qishan, the hottest area of our mission, running at 6 in the morning when it was a hotter part of the year and some days I would come home hardly sweating. 

And I remember how stuffy our apartment felt when I first arrived, but only a few weeks later, I found myself putting a sweatshirt on to do morning studies. I'm not sure the science behind it, but it seems as if my pores have really changed! ...

Odd Sensation

I also remember the overwhelming sounds of an unfamiliar language, hearing people make sounds I wasn't used to that I thought sounded funny. 

But yesterday I found myself during Sacrament Meeting listening to a couple from Singapore who are about to go home from serving in the Taipei temple. They were giving talks in English and a Taiwanese person translated.  I understood 100% of each part. It was an odd sensation! 

I would hear the sentence in English, then in Chinese. But sometimes I would forget which one is which because I could understand both of them. I would have to try to remember which one was supposed to be the "more comfortable" language, because both of them made sense to me! 

Senses are really extraordinary, and it's even more fascinating to me how things that once seemed hard or unfamiliar, can become comfortable as we keep working on them little by little :)

All my love,

Sister Hancock

Got my wish, left Qishan with a bang, English is no longer an option, leave this area better, so excited

Super excited to be serving in Taizhong!

Qishan English students at our last party

June 8, 2015
Taizhong

Hello loved ones,

Got my wish
Turned out I got my wish: I moved up north! 

I'm super excited to be serving in Taizhong [sometimes spelled Taichung]. It's a really fun change. 

Miss Qishan

It means that I'll no longer get to bike past the scenic rice fields and mountains of Qishan. 

I will miss so many people in Qishan.  We had our last English party.  Made delicious smoothies and had a 3-legged race.  I will miss my English students!!!

Goodbye Sister Price!

Left Qishan with a bang

True to our plan, Sister Price and I indeed had a bing-filled week.  I will miss Sister Price! Ate tons and left Qishan with a bang! 

And do you remember Lin Yu Jun?  She was the one who introduced us to Lin and Xie Jiemei, our cafe investigators.  Well, Lin Yu Jun chose to become a new investigator. Really exciting!

Lin Yu Jin, our newest investigator in Qishan

City Life

Now that I'm in Taizhong, I get to enjoy city life.  I already love it!

It's definitely not the countryside -- I practically feel like I'm in America again! It really messed with my mind when I first arrived. It's really different here! 

Next to the mission office

The area is no longer gigantic, and I'm right next to the mission office! So I'll get to see President & Sister Blickenstaff frequently and will get to work with lots of missionaries. 

We were in a rural area in  Qishan.  We had a little district [of 4 total missionaries].  Traveling to any meetings would require a full day.  

But here I'll get to know lots of missionaries and have a bigger district.

4-man

I'm now living in a 4-man. It was ridiculously messy when I walked in. Like scary messy! But it will be super cool to have 4 sisters all in one apartment! 

English is no longer an option

More exciting news, my companion is a Taiwan native! So English is no longer an option :) 

I'm going to have her work me over hard. I'm excited for the ways it'll help my Chinese progress even faster. 

Sister Liu--my new companion!

Her name is Sister Liu and she's from Taipei and she is tiny! Tiny. I thought I was short. But she's super cute! 

Leave this area better

We were working with a lot of investigators in Qishan.  Sister Liu told me there are literally 0 here. Which means lots of finding time. 

I'm excited for the challenge. I'm ready to get to work and try to leave this area better than I found it!

I'm excited for this week!  I'll give you more details about my new area and companion next P-day.  

Love you!

Sister Hancock

P.S. I get to go to the temple this week.  Wooo hooo!  So excited.

Being a missionary is TOO fun.