Another Interesting Week

Ni Hao!!!

 

Another interesting week. 

 

Chinatown is definitely a different world.  Once or twice a week, we leave Chinatown for something.  The rest of New York City is so different.  I feel like I am in two different cities.  Chinatown feels like China/Taiwan.  Not many people speak English, and if they do, it is broken English. 

 

My shower is fixed.  Yea for warm showers!  I took a cool shower yesterday though, because I was so hot.  Hehe!

 

Chinese is still a struggle.  I have a testimony of SYL (Speak Your (Mission) Language).  I was talking to a member in my branch, and he said that as long as my Chinese is better than last week, I am doing fine.  It is.  :o)  I finally got my Chinese language materials. 

 

My mission president got word of some problems I had a few years ago.  It caused him some concern and Church Headquarters got contacted.  There was a scare for a few days that I could possibly get sent home.  They don't normally send people with a history of ED on missions.  It is very risky, given how high the recidivism rate is.  The thing is though, that was then and I am doing great now.  My history doesn't define me.  Church Headquarters said that they are worried that it could turn into a huge problem, given the stressful nature of a mission.  I understand that, and where they are coming from.  But I am doing great.  My Mission President is pushing to keep me in the field.  I am grateful to have an advocate.  If it weren't for him, I would be on my way home.  President Smith said that there has got to be a reason why I am here, and a reason that I did make it to the field.  I know that God wanted me to serve a mission, and at this time in my life.  I know that there is a purpose for me to be here, on a mission, and in New York, Chinatown.  I am really excited to slowly figure it out and see the miracles unravel with the people here coming unto Christ. 

 

Sister Chen and I had more success this week.  We have two new investigators!  Our first two investigators!  I am pretty stoked.  Our first one, is a student from our English class.  Her name is Ping.  She is from China, and has been in America for 9 years, working at a spa.  We had two English classes on Monday, and after the first class she decided to stay and wait two hours at the church til the next class started.  I decided to chat with her.  And when Sister Chen came over, we taught her most of the principles from the first lesson.  I don't know if she has much interest, but she said that everything sounds so lovely and beautiful.  We have a followup appointment with her on Friday.  I have high hopes for her. 

 

The other one, Sister Chen met while contacting on Sunday evening.  We contact a lot in Chinatown.  Sometimes we bring a table with pamphlets, DVDs and Mo'ermonjing.  We have a huge poster inviting people to learn English, and another one with a picture of Jesus Christ inviting people to learn about our Church.  A man came by and started asking Sister Chen about our Church.  Then he said that his nephew would probably be interested and called him up.  His nephew came by and seemed interested.  (We set up appointments with both of them.  We haven't met with the uncle yet.)  His nephew's name is Zheng Hui.  He asked us if our church has a test to be baptized.  He tried to get baptized in another church and failed the test so he couldn't.  We told him that we have an interview, and if he met with us to learn and commited to live the commandments, he could be baptized.  He seemed pretty happy.  We met with him on Monday.  It was a great lesson, and interactive.  He asked us a lot of questions and seemed very interested.  He was pretty golden.  We set up another appointment for tomorrow.  Sad thing though, he texted us last night and said that he just got a job in Minnesota and is leaving.  Goodbye Golden Boy.  Sister Chen told me that that happens a lot and not to feel discouraged.  She said he will probably be back everyonce in a while. 

 

I can see the Lord's blessings flowing.  I am so grateful that I can be a missionary.  You xinxin, you banfa.  (If you have faith, there will be a way.)  If we work hard, the Lord will bless us with people to teach. 

 

I hope everyone is doing well.  I love you all so much!

 

Yan Jiemei

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Chinatown!

Hey Family and Friends!

 

Wow, this has been a long week.  And probably the most frustrating one in my mission so far.  It is surreal thinking that I live in Chinatown.  Weird!  I am like the only Caucasian person.  I stick out for sure.  I live on the sixth floor of a building and our apartment is tiny, but perfect (I think.)  I like the wood floors and tile in the bathroom.  I am not yet used to having cold showers.  We are still waiting for dressers or hangers.  We have been living out of our suitcases.  We just got our desks/tables a couple of days ago. 

 

I can't believe how expensive everything is here.  It is hard for me to get used to new faces and a new environment.  I miss familiarity.  I am grateful that Elder Vatcher is here, because at least he is a familiar face. 

 

Sister Chen and I are "white-washing" (we are both new to our area) and so we have no investigators.  We had a few appointments with potential investigators this week, but they all fell through.  Man man lai.  We spend a lot of time contacting.  I can easily contact over a 100 people a day.  That is what the Chinatown missionaries do most. Apparently the best way to do it here is to invite people to come to our free English classes.  We will see the same faces over and over again and they learn to trust us because we teach them English, and then we invite them to listen to our messages.  After we have established a relationship with them, they will be more likely to receive our message well.  We teach English 5 days of the week, and the turn out is usually pretty good.  Yesterday we had close to 30 people come to learn English. 

 

Yesterday when we were contacting, we I got my first phone number from a street contact.  I really hope that we can set up an appointment with her. 

 

Ah!!!!!!!!!!  I can't wait until I can speak Chinese!  I am trying to be patient with myself.  My companion, Sister Chen, has a thick Chinese accent, and it is hard for me to understand, sometimes.  I am slowly getting used to the way she speaks Chinese.  I am also still waiting for my Chinese study materials. It I sent them from the MTC because they weighed too much.   Someone told me that usually it takes about 3 months for the missionaries to feel comfortable and be able to communicate well in Chinese.  It definitely is the Lord's blessing.

 

My roommates had a baptism on Sunday and it was so special.  I can't wait to have a progressive investigators.  If we work hard, the Lord will bless us. 

 

I learned a lesson a couple of days ago about heeding to the promptings of the Spirit.  Sister Chen and I were talking to a man on the street, and I didn't really know what they were talking about.  But out of nowhere, I started to tear up, and I felt like I should tell him that we have a Father in Heaven who loves him, and that he has a plan for him that can help him feel more happy.  But I didn't say anything, because I am insecure in my Chinese.  I have regret.  I won't do that again.  My goal is to never ignore the promptings of the Spirit.  Most Chinese are impressed that I am even trying to speak their language. 

 

Anyway, I am so glad that I can be on this mission.  It is super hard, but I know that this is where i am supposed to be. 

 

I love you all!

 

Yan Jiemei

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Sister Yancey's Videos!

Picture time!

Taiwan

NY NY!

For Mom.

April Fools!

Famous quotes by Sister Yancey in companions journal.

Provo Temple- Angel Moroni

Hurt feet.

Haircut time!

Wo zai Niu Yue! (Wednesday is my new p-day)

Qin'ai wode jiaren he pengyou!

 

Wo hen gaoxing.  Wo zai Niu Yue.  Wo zuotian lai.  I am finally in New York and I am so excited to be here!  The last week at the MTC went by so ... slowly.  I was aching to leave too, like my other companions.  I was made a "solo" which meant that I didn't have a specific companionship that i was assigned to.  I could even be with a couple of elders if I wanted to.  It was kind of nice having a small class.  It was just me, Elder Vatcher and a teacher.  We had the same teachers that I had in my pilot district.  That was nice because I didn't have to get used to a new teaching style.  I had awesome teachers at the MTC.  It was a little weird being with Elder Vatcher so much, just because sometimes we role played together as companions.  Even at the TRC, we taught a Taiwanese man together.  Kind of weird.  It didn't feel weird though.  I feel like we became much better friends.  My last day at the MTC, I received a full Chinese name.  It is Yan(2) Pei(4) Qi(3).  Peifu (admire) de Pei.  The qi is like beautiful, fine, silk.  I haven't found that one in the dictionary yet.  Apparently it's a nice girl name in Chinese, according to my laoshi.

 

Tuesday morning at 4:00am, I left for the airport.  Out of 34 missionaries, I was the only sister missionary.  20 going to my mission.  I stuck out like a sore thumb.  I was put with a couple elders for the travel day.  The flight was okay.  We went from SLC to Detroit, then to Westchester Airport.  It was so great to talk to my family on the phone.  Since then, I keep feeling like I can call them whenever, but I can't.  We got to New York at around 4:00pm.  Then all of us we over to our mission home.  My mission president and his wife (President and Sister Smith) seem really nice.  They gave us instructions, which now I can't remember.  I was so tired.  Hehe!  Then fed us.  Real food!!!  I started to hate the MTC food by the end.  They were renovating the mtc kitchen, so there was only one meal choice, usually something fried.  Sister smith cooks really well. :)  We were all interviewed by the mission president.  While we were waiting our turn, we chatted.  I mostly talked with Elder Vatcher.  It was nice having him here.  We are the only new missionaries speaking Chinese, and we know each other.  It feels better going to a new place with someone you know. 

 

Last night I stayed with a couple of sisters in Yonkers.  Today, we went back to the Mission home in Scarsdale and received more instruction.  Then we loaded up and went to a church building in the Bronx to the transfer meeting.  I met my new companion!!!!!!!!!!!!  She is awesome!!!!!  I started crying I was so excited to meet her!!  Haha!  Her name is Sister Chen and she is from Taoyuan, Taiwan.  She is great!  I love her already!  She was been in New York for about a year.  She hasn't served in Chinatown since her first couple of cycles.  I get to serve in Chinatown of course.  We are whitewashing Chinatown.  (Both new to the area together.)  There are 8 missionaries in the Chinatown area.  Four elders and four sisters.  I am the only American sister, and there are two American elders.  After the transfer meeting, we went to bring our stuff the apartment.  I got a metro card and we took the subway.  We got so many weird looks.  There were like 9 suitcases total.  I live in Chinatown now!  How cool is that!  Our apartment is super small, but cute.  I live with two other sisters, Sister Su and Sister Liu.  We will all sleep in the same tiny bedroom on bunkbeds.  Pictures and videos to come.  I am still trying to soak in everything.  This is going to be a great mission!  We were told it is coveted. 

 

Well, everything seems surreal, and a bit of a blur already.  I am so so so happy to finally be in New York!  I am so grateful I have the opportunity to serve a mission!  I hope everyone is still striving to attend the temple every month, and read the Book of Mormon everyday.  The Lord wants to bless us. 

 

I love you all so much!

 

Yan Jiemei

 

If you send Dearelders to the MTC, I won't receive them.  My new address is:  167 Mott Street Apt. 6D, New York, New York 10013.  Regular letters can come here, or you can send everything, especially packages, to the mission office in Scarsdale.  The Mission office address is: 700 White Plains Rd. Ste. 315, Scarsdale, NY 10583.

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Thank you so much for the letters.

Hey Family!

 

Thank you so much for the letters. 

 

This has been another interesting week, to say the least.  Last Wednesday, I got a new companionship assignment.  Yes, I know, again.  I stayed with Sister Lee, and then had Sister Danielle Smith (from Highland, UT) put in my trio.  It has kind of been a crazy week. 

 

Everyone in my district received a blessing this week.  It was so amazing to see how much the Elders in my district (Elder Thatcher and Elder Baker) have grown.  They were both scared to give blessings, but with their worthiness and willingness, they gave beautiful ones.  In my blessing I was told that the Lord called me on a mission because he knows that I can do it.  God is helping me to grow.  The things that I have been going through recently are hard, but with the Lord's help, I can overcome my anxieties and feel comfort.  The Lord loves me.  And the people in New York need me.  Some will accept my message.  The Lord will help me fulfill my purpose. 

 

The changes were short term, because all of my roommates left for the airport (to go to Taiwan) at 4:00am this morning.  I am really sad to see them go.  I am really going to miss my friends, but I am super excited for them to be in the field and to experience Taiwan.  I am kind of tired, because they were up preparing for departure until 1:00am last night, and we got up at 3:00am.  I saw them off and went back to sleep at around 5:00am till 6:00am.  Then we went to the Temple.  I am tired!  Hehe! 

 

Last week, with Sister Lee and Sister Smith, we had some great lessons.  Li, one of my investigators, I feel like we made a break through with. This companionship change is exactly what I think he needed.  He was really closed before, and it was really hard to determine his needs.  In our most recent lessons, he started to open up more, and yesterday, he accepted the invitation to be baptized!  Sister Lee and Sister Smith are both very bubbly people and I learned that sometimes investigators will mirror the energy in the room.  We had two lessons with him this week and they were both great!  We had another investigator commit to be baptized yesterday too!  This has been a great teaching week for us.

 

I have two new companions.  Sister McKelle Stirling from Pleasant Grove, UT and Sister Lindsey Johnson from Rexburg, ID.  They are both very cute girls in my zone, and seven weeks behind me in the MTC.  This is my last week at the MTC!!!!!!!!!!!!  I love it here, but I am so ready to go to New York.  It will have been 13 weeks here.  I leave Tuesday at 4:00am.  And I am so excited!  Elder Vatcher and I are the only ones left from our generation.  This week we are going to be apart of a new district, with my new companions and he has a new companion too, but we are going to be pulled out during class time for some private tutoring together.  I think it will be really great for my Chinese to have this extra week.  But, I am definitely counting down the days.  (I will send home my travel plans.  I won't be calling home on Mother's day, but I am allowed to call home from the airport.)

 

Here are some things I learned this week.  We were privileged to have Elder Dallin H. Oaks come for our devotional this week.  This is my favorite thing from his talk: "The fundamental principles of the gospel are embodied in our testimony of Jesus Christ; everything else is an appendage."  Other things I learned: The hardest trials precede the greatest blessings.  When we have trials, we mustn't get discouraged.  We should be grateful that we have been given the opportunity to learn.  You will see miracles as often as you ask for them.  Nothing is too hard, too big, too small, or too insignificant for the Lord to help you with.  It is never too late to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him. 

 

I love you all so much!  I encourage everyone to evaluate your lives, and find something that you can do to show the Lord that you are more converted to follow Him.

 

Love,
Yan Jiemei

 

(Sister Yancey)

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.