New Mission President !

FAMILY & FRIENDS!!!

Sorry, this is an email from last week that didn't send for some reason!


Here in the Taiwan Taipei Mission we welcome our new Mission President and his very loving family! I am so grateful for the encourage and faith that they have to takeover the wonderful work here in Taipei!
They just recently updated our mission's website! CHECK IT OUT!!! (see if you can find me ;)
www.taiwantaipeimission.com

This pasted week we all got to meet the Jergensen Family! They are from Logan, UT and have 6 kids! We just met three that arrived here with them! They are a blasted and have so much energy!!

There was too much that we did this week! It's way too hard to sum it all up!!

I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be missionary when your not a missionary! The ward I'm currently serving is very loving but have not yet understood what it means to be disciples of Christ. Being a disciple of Christ is being anxiously engaged in preaching the gospel that He has so willingly given to us! If you feel like God has blessed your life and have the opportunity to share what He has given you - I hope you do so!
Our Heavenly Father has entrusted us with the knowledge that most of the world doesn't have.  Trust me I know! Being in Taiwan not many people understand God or Christ and who they really are. Yesterday, we visited a member whose family members are not apart of our religion. They are baibai (bubbist).  They have a huge shrine in the middle of their home - in that moment I was glad that I had the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that God entrusted me with such a blessing! I'm thankful to be serving a mission and magnifying my calling as a child of God and preaching His Gospel!!!

D&C 58:26-29 I encourage you all to be anxiously engaged in sharing this special message about Christ and our Heavenly Father!

And here are random pictures that I've taken these past two weeks!
Here is a picture of the Jergensen Family in Taibei! Took it from the new website.
Here is a pic of Sister Oviatt and I! We went to the zoo last P-Day (ate ice cream b/c it was sooo hot!) and we ate dinner because it was here 9 month mark!! Lol, we have a blast with each other!!
Also, here are pictures of the food I got when we also went to Costco!!! Costco is heaven on earth for an American! It brought back so many memories of home!!
It's MANGO SEASON!!!! The mango's here are to die for!!!! They are amazing! I can't get enough of them! Was taught how to properly cut a mango!
Bought SPAM at COSTCO! Best decision I've ever made! It's 600 NT here but in US it's about $20 for 6 cans!! :D
Love you all!! I pray for you all!!!

Sincerely, Sister Komatsu

Lift Where You Stand !

Dear Family & Friends,

This week's email is pretty short!

There was a a lot of rain these past few days! There was a ton of thunder and lightening and there was also hail yesterday. Who knew it could hail in Taiwan?! So cool. Sorry I wish I had a picture.

Recently, I've been learning a lot about progressing to become better person and ultimately having a changed nature. Recently I read a talk by President Dieter F. Utchdorf called 'Lift where you stand' (A talk I suggest everyone to read!)
It is about many different people who have shown this example of "lift where you stand". This "lift where your stand" concept came from a situation President Utchdorf encountered while trying to get a grand piano from one room to another. The task was difficult and there were many there to help none could figure out a way to accomplish this task. Standing around this piano for awhile a brethren called out and said, "now brethren just lift where you stand", and that's what they did. Suddenly the piano seemed to have lifted itself and began to move into the room they had set out to do. This concept seems too simple but it is very true.

Being a missionary here in the middle of Taipei sometimes seems impossible to get everyone to hear about God and His Son Jesus Christ. I've been learning a lot about team work and what it means to stand where you are, weakness and shortcomings in all, and then to lift what you have set out to accomplish. I've seen many blessings as I continue to learn a very difficult language and continue to be a disciple of the Lord- I've had many great people that have blessed me here in Taiwan that have made it easier to lift the work.

Working with new investigators has always been the fun part about being a missionary. You get to see people change and change for the better. It's the greatest blessings. At the end of our english class we always have a spiritual share about the Gospel. Last week we talked about the Book of Mormon and read some verses out of it. After class a new student, named Jocelyn (english name), walked up to us and said that she wanted to learn more about this book and if there were any people in our church that could help her. Sister Oviatt and I smiled at each other and said yes and that we were the people that could help her. That very Saturday we met with her and taught her the Restoration of the Gospel. It was very spiritual and she was very willing to listen to us. This same night we were having a ward dinner at the church and a random baptism was happening for 2 little girls from a different district from ours (which we did not know about till after our lesson). Our investigator stayed with us and ate the dinner that our ward members had provided. I then asked if she was going to go home soon and immediately said that she wanted to stay to watch the baptism! I smiled and turned to my companion immediately. The joy in my companions eyes made me smile and laugh!! It truly was the best night ever!!

I love missionary work and the small ways that the Lord goes about in His work!!

Sorry family and friends but no pictures this week. I've been slacking in taking pictures :( But please enjoy this wonderful picture that I deeply love! I also love this story of the resurrected Christ walking with two men on the road to Emmaus. (Luke 24)


Till next week I love and miss you all!! Thank you for your prays and emails!!

Sincerely, Sister Komatsu 小松姐妹
Serving in the Taipei Taiwan Mission

Happy July !

Dear Family & Friends!!

HAPPY JULY!!!!!!

It's a very very hot July here in the City of Taibei!! WOW! I've honestly learned to make the best out of the heat - I think I prefer sweating and biking in Taibei city then freezing and walking through snow storms in Boston! I've learned that water and sunscreen are very important things to have as a missionary in Taiwan. It's been so great to sweat and be active and just be a missionary!!

This week was a wild week! Just helping my comp get to know the area  while she is helping me understand chinese and how to be an effective missionary! Its been great! I've literally had 3 trainers so far since being on the mission - I had one in Boston, one here, and this last week I finished my training with my new comp Sister Oviatt!! Heavenly Father knows me really well. I needed 3 trainers to get it right. 

I'm still in Shuang He - the lovely New Taipei City where people aren't afraid to run you over with their scooters- LOL I love it here and I love how fast pace it is though!

Wei, Chin Chin is our investigator that we've been working hard with to help her come closer unto Christ! She has a coffee problem that she is trying to kick! So, your prayers would be most appreciated! 

We've been doing a lot of member visits at their homes: helping them strengthen their families and working hard to center their homes around Christ!

So many different things are happening here in Taibei that there isn't enough time or space to tell you everything but I can tell you that we are working hard and doing the best we can to find those that are willing to about God's wonderful plan!

In other news I heard about Gay marriage being legalized in America! I still can't believe it. Is it true? Someone email me back! A good member of ours came up to us last week and told us what happened then said in her broken english that, "Christ is coming soon." I couldn't help but laugh at her - she's just too cute! It is interesting though to hear the world around me changing and the different things that are happening - As a missionary we dont hear a lot about what's going on in the world - we focus all our efforts on the work where we are! I know in my heart though that God has His own time and time table. Last week my companion and I taught our english class about Time and we shared this scripture from Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, a time to heal, a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; ...A time to rend, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace... He hath made very thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that now man can find our the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end."

I'm glad for the time that I live in and for the many things that God has given me the chance to experience. I pray for all you that are experiencing times of trials and heartache. I know that God is mindful of us all! Please continue in faith and love!!!

I love and pray for you all!!

PS sorry there are no pictures this week - left my camera at home  SORRY!!

Sincerely yours, Sister Komatsu 小松姐妹

Summer In Taiwan !

Dear Family & Friends,

Summer in Taipei has been ruff but the people in Taiwan have been very very kind which makes the temperate a little cooler!

Another transfer has come and gone and I am still currently serving in the Shuang He Area in New Taipei City! This area is amazing and I'm excited to serve here with a new companion!!

My new companion is Sister Oviatt! We were in the MTC together, which makes it even more fun! She is a sweetheart full of love and patience. She might need some patience if I'm her companion :) She is from Texas and she has been on her mission just a transfer or generation ahead of me! So we are both young missionaries :) In our area we have Shuang He 1 & 2. We serve in the 2nd ward. Our goal in our two wards right now is to help make a Shuang He 3! We are prepping to work hard this transfer to help make this goal happen within the year!! Actual Work is just music to my ears!!!

 So many new changes are happening this transfer! The biggest one is probably getting a new mission president! His name is President Jergensen - he's from Logan, Utah and he is bringing his wife, two twin sons who are 14 years old, one daughter whos 17, and even his father and mother-in-laws! I'm excited for President Jergensen and his willingness to serving along side us as missionaries. The Mission President with serve with his family for the next three years in Taiwan Taipei.

These last few weeks together we ate a lot with members and had a good time! We did all we could to make our last week count! Here is a picture of us with our Bishop's wife, Xie JieMei. They took us to a Thai restaurant. Then we ate lunch at a family members home. Heres a picture of their cute family! & another member made us a big pan of brownies!!! We also found chicken katsu in Taiwan~! It is was delicious!!!

Lastly, we saw our old "A Ma" (like a grandma but older and wiser) She is a old lady that sells "pig's blood" on a stick (everyone here loves it - i dont). She is always at the stop light going to our favorite contacting area. When we first met her we gave her a Christ picture because she said she believed in Christ. This last week we saw her setting up her little cart and saw the picture of Christ in here stuck on inside her cart! I had to take a picture of it. I love and adore her smile when we ride by. She always smiles and says we're pretty, which just makes our day.

Anyways, I love you all! I'm feeling much better and have a good time here in Taiwan. Trying to bless people's lives one day at a time!

Sincerely yours, Sister Komatsu

Happy Belated Father's Day !

Serving in Taiwan
With Sister Akita

Dear Family & Friends

Happy belated Father's Day to all the father's out there!

This week was an exhausting week! Feeling a little under the weather actually. It rained really hard yesterday and we were biking out all day long that I just took and shower and crashed immediately. We had Zone Conference which is a big training day for us as missionaries! It was our Mission President, President Day's, last time of training us. This coming week our new mission president is coming in and taking over! It's going to be so exciting! His name is President Jergensen. Everyone in the mission is a little worried or unsure about what's going to happen in our mission but I'm so excited and really to have a brand new and fresh Mission President. 

This friday is transfer meeting, which is a meeting for all new companionship to get together and move to their new areas they are assigned to. Transfer meeting is this really fun and a scary meeting that everyone loves to go to. The missionaries that are leaving that transfer get to share their testimonies and experiences they have. Then they pull up the big screen and everyone has their pictures on the screen - They show the areas and the companionship's in that area then your photos shows up in that new area with your new companion! It's scary but exciting!

I'm actually afraid to stay in my area because that means that my trainer is moving and I'm going to "take over the area" which just means that I know more than the new comp coming in so I plan everything. But I would be so excited to leave to another area and see Taiwan!!!

Here are photos! There were a lot of successes this week. We talked to a lot of people and visited our members. It was a hard working week! We are ready to blow off some steam and go ice skating today!! YAY!

Okay, love you all!!!

Sincerely, Sister Komatsu 小松姐妹

More...From Kelsie in Taiwan !

Dear Family & Friends!!

This weekend was an amazing weekend! Clare was Baptized and Confirmed!! YAY! We were so happy for her :)

This Saturday, Clare was able to be baptized by our District leader, Elder Casper. It was a special moment for both Sister Akita and I. I never thought it would be true - that I would assist someone in making the biggest decision of their eternal life! This girl has truly been a blessing in my time here in Taiwan. I will never forget what she taught me!

Her testimony is one of the sweetest and self-less testimony's I've have every heard. She is so charitable and loving towards others that she expressed that she is excited to bear another's burdens - to mourn with others and comfort others.

"...to be called His people, and are willing to bear one another's burdens, that they may be light; Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ue may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life." Mosiah 18:8-9

Then this Sunday she was blessed and given the Holy Spirit to be with her always. She just had a big smile on her face the whole sunday afternoon! She then said the closing prayer at the end of our Relief Society meeting- I had no idea what she said but I felt every word of it. She was praying with so much confidence and with a burning fire within her. I expressed to her that, thats what I was seeing in her and she replied that was the way she was feeling.

During the baptism I thought about how she was ours and how we helped her from the beginning to end - but then a humble thought came to my mind - she is her own, she did it all on her own. We were just there to give her the building blocks and from there she was able to build her own relationship with God, her own testimony, and her own future. She belongs and has always belonged to our Heavenly Father. This is His work and I'm just the humble servant doing as He directs me to do.

Being a servant of the Lord is much more than going to a different country and meeting new people - it's about having Heavenly Father open your eyes to the greatness and goodness in other's potential. She was already a good person when we met her but now I've been given the opportunity to see the change that Heavenly Father and His gospel has given her. I'm very very thankful to be apart of her story! 

This has been the first gratifying experience I've had while being on my mission! I know that I'm here to also bear another's burdens. This has been my goal for awhile since being here. My Chinese is horrible and I'm not a very good teacher but I am very willing to bear another's burdens and help them work through them. I'm grateful for this opportunity to help other's change their lives and I'm indebted to God for changing my own. 

This is my email this week! Thank you again for your love and support - even if it's just reading my email!

From Taiwan to you!

Sincerely, Sister Komatsu

 

Kelsie in the Rain !

Blue Sky in Taiwan

Hop Pot lunch ...This members kid fooling around ....

So windy in Taiwan is blew our bikes down 

My Book of Mormon Scrap Book

Dear Family & Friends,

Love and miss you all!

This week was a beautiful week! The sky in Taiwan was finally blue. Ever since I got here it has always been dark and cloudy but this week was gorgeous! 

I love it so much here in Taiwan! The people are the sweetest people ever! This little old grandma sees us and tells us that were so cute! I turn around and tell her that she's so pretty. She stops in her tracks and stomps her feet and says "Naa" (which means no in old people language). It was so funny that we just laughed. The people here are such beautiful people - not in appearance per say but in their hearts - they have the sweetest hearts and they are always looking out for you. 

There we're so many tender mercies from the Lord this week! It was such a fun week full of new faces, new streets, new door bells that were rung, and much more.

The most amazing one was having lunch with May and Rosy, who are sisters. A few weeks ago we were "contacting" (which means that we were walking through the park purposefully looking for people to teach the gospel to) That day we talked to so many people but none we're interested. Then I saw this girl working out and stopped to talk to her. She was so friendly and her english was haihao (okay) so we chatted for a while about the weather and even about religion. I ended up giving her a Book of Mormon and a Plan of Salvation pamphlet while she gave me her number and facebook name. I called her the next day and we set up a time to meet and have lunch. On saturday we went to the restaurant and there she was with her sister! It was the greatest lesson we've ever had - not just because we converted them or that they wanted to be baptized immediately but that they were very sincere people. We talked about our religion and they talked about their religion. It was a beautiful setting - they even took us to a Christian restaurant - It was called 5 loaves and 2 fishes (LOL) They we're so cute! The sister kept saying that we were very brave for coming on missions. It made me grateful for the opportunity that I had to serve something as worthy as serving others. It also seemed like she wished she could be us, serving people in an unfamiliar place. We talked a lot and they promised to meet us for dinner at another time. 

This mission has been so worth while. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Rosy had asked us what we learned so far while being on our missions. My companion talked about patience - patience in herself and patience in this work. I found myself talking about change. About how I've learned to keep progressing and changing myself for myself, for others, and for the Lord. I also talked about having a good attitude. People here say "xinku" which means "hard or sucky life". Yes, missionary work is a "xinku life" but I know that through a good attitude it doesn't have to be "xinku". It can bring about the greatest achievements you could ever achieve and it can completely change you're perspective on the "xinku" life that we all experience and turn it into the points in life we're we seen the light at the end of the tunnel.

These pictures are of our beautiful week - I hope it describes what I've just written! I love you all!

This is my email this week! I hope to hear from you all next week!

Sincerely, Sister Komatsu