Sadan de Kiddi Round 2

I don't remember if I told you all about Sadan de Kiddi (between Chinese and Pohnpeian, it means Satan's dog). We had our second encounter with him yesterday though.

Sister Jenkins and I are almost out of our allotted miles for the month, so we decided to walk all day (minus church) yesterday. We were walking down the road by our apartment. In front of us were two teenagers that just finished playing basketball (there's a court across from our apartment. We play basketball there some mornings ^^) Anyway, so they passed Sadan de Kiddi's house and he came out, looked at them, then looked towards us, who were still fairly far away. Immediately he started bouncing and barking and growling. Then he took of running, tore up the ground, coming at us so fast. I was closer to him, so he started running towards me. Sister Jenkins was like, "We gotta go!!!" She didn't have to tell me twice. I turned and ran. She wasn't sure if she should run or not. She was like "You've got to be kidding me!" (reminded me of that story you told us, Dad, about the lady in the parking lot). Then she was like, "Help!" talking to the two boys, who were just standing there watching us, probably not sure what to do. I was just running, thinking I was about to get eaten alive by this vicious dog that for some reason hated us. Something made Sadan de Kiddi stop and turn around, but he kept barking and acting like he wanted to keep chasing us. Our adreneline was spiked so high. Luckily there was another way around, so we went the long way. We were able to laugh minutes after, but at the time it was so scary. Pretty sure we had Guardian Angels watching out for us. So sketch.

Church was super good this week. We had 7 investigators there! Our Chinese class was really good, too. Isaac got called to be the new Chinese class teacher (just got reactivated yesterday, yay!!) I love our ward. The members are really great, and willing to help us out, despite the fact that we are Chinese speaking Sisters teaching Chinese people, haha. 

Oh, don't know if I mentioned it, but last week was transfer call. Nothing changed for me and Sister Jenkins (no surprise there.... Chances are we will be companions our whole missions, haha). Elder Joseph and Elder Mesa are still companions. Elder Slack is now the District Leader and companions with Elder William, and Elder Ieru is the new Zone Leader with Elder Palmer. 

Not too much else going on. Just keeping on with the Lord's work. Oh. This week I worked on Patience, this coming week I will focus on Diligence. Patience is sooo important. It is being happy and cheerful, full of hope and faith, even in the midst of trials. It takes diligence to do so. If you aren't diligent, Satan weeds his way in and makes you lazy, angry, frustrated, selfish, all the bad stuff. 

Love you all! I hope you all are doing well and enjoying the warm weather back home!

Sister Springer

Better things to come

Missions are hard. Found this scripture this week.

Hebrews 11:40 (JST) "God having provided some better things for them through their sufferings, for without sufferings they could not be made perfect.God having provided some better things for them through their sufferings, for without sufferings they could not be made perfect." 

I LOVE my mission. Yes missions are hard, but there is no place I would rather be right now. I love it here. Saipan is beautiful. Chinese is sooo hard, but also beautiful. I love the Chinese people. They are the hardest working, most giving people I have ever met. I love those I have come in contact with. They all have their flaws: we all do. But, through our sufferings, our trials, our weaknesses, God makes us stronger and stronger until we are perfected. I love that. If we trust God enough, even on the hard days, we will always be stronger for it. He is mindful of us, every second of our lives (see Alma 26). 

This week was another great week! Learning more Chinese every day. I can say "Wo shi zui hao", which you would think would mean "I am best". But zui also means sin. So, maybe I am saying "I sin best". Nobody knows! Haha just kidding. Chinese is rough, but we are learning it as fast as we can. Language study is great, because Sister Jenkins and I really can only guess if we are saying things right. But our investigators correct us haha. I've never been more grateful for little notebooks in my life! I take so many notes in that thing, then transfer it to flash cards later.

 

Miss you all, and love you!!

Sister Springer

PS if you have a chance, read "The war goes on" by Elder Lawrence in the April 2017 Liahona. Super good talk about how Satan works against us. 

Ni hao!!!

Ni hao!!! 

All is pretty good here on Saipan. Got to call home for Mother's day (the time was sooo short!! Miss you all lots!!!) It was really good to see my family though =) Sorry I missed you Maddy!! 

Sister Jenkins and I made pancakes this morning in honor of Mother's day =)

This week learned a cool trick: If you blow dry your food, it cools down faster so you can scarf it down and get out the door on time. True story!

This week I focused on virtue. Basically, push all negative, selfish thoughts out of your mind, and you will have virtue. Lots of good scriptures on it, but I left my stuff at home.... Sorry. This coming week going to focus on Faith.

Let's see... this week we had to move Tianbo's baptism back another week because he didn't make it to church =/ That's ok though. He'll be really prepared, hopefully =)

Found a bunch of new families to teach =) Gseng and his family, Gseng really wants to learn about Jesus Christ. Same with Manny and Ambi: they are a cute couple who own a dive shop. So Manny is pretty busy, and Ambi has to take care of their 15 month old daughter, Helen, but they are a good family. 

Don't know if I've mentioned it but in Garapan, the main tourist village here, they are building the Best Sunshine Casino and hotel. it's HUGE. We call it the great and spacious building. But construction got put on pause for a bit because of all kinds of corruption and stuff.... All the Chinese workers went on strike cuz they hadn't been paid in 3 months, the working conditions were awful, and the company took their passports away, and they had to pay to come work here in the first place... all illegal stuff. So anyway, that's been crazy.

Sister Jenkins and I are becoming kind of famous apparently. So we've been teaching English, and one of our investigators took a picture of the Chinese class and put it on some kind of Chinese wall, to let people know about this free English class. We keep talking to other investigators, and they are like, hey, we saw you in a picture here!! Kinda fun. Hopefully that will give us more people to teach too. 

Working hard at the language. Some days are better than others, but we always have fun. The language is coming along really well, we think, considering how we are learning one of the hardest languages in the world. We can say lots of phrases, and are constantly trying to increase our vocab. We can teach a simple lesson in almost all Chinese, even if it is a little broken. We're trying to focus on understanding Chinese too, but they all speak so fast it's hard sometimes haha. But we are getting to the point where we can get the gist of it.

Explanation of the pics: Made a sand Temple of Saipan last P day, that was fun =) Pretty sunset from our apartment (pictures don't do it justice, but whatever), What our church building looks like... there's a giant mango tree in the courtyard. Super delicious Mangos, just ripening now. 

That's it for this week. Happy Mother's day to all the moms out there!!! Special shout out to my Mom!! Thank you for all your love and support through all the years! Thank you for teaching me the Gospel, and being willing to let me leave home for 1.5 years to share the joy with others!

Lots of love from Saipan-Chinese speaking missionary, 

Sister Springer

Hey fam!

Hey my Family!!! Thank you for the package, I loved it!! Couple of things:

I haven't been able to send pictures for awhile because my SD card won't read on comps for some reason. I bought a new one for now. Can you send me my camera cord so I can plug my camera into the comp?  It should be in the bottom drawer of my desk file, at the back, in the camera box. 

Sis, thanks for the music!! Lots of good songs, and I am excited to add some to the music I have. Unfortunately, I guess I wasn't specific enough/I forgot to tell you the rules as I found them out..... So, I cannot listen to EFY music at all, and I think that includes young womens too. I also cannot listen to stuff that's a little more... Well, not your mother's LDS music haha. So yeah... To sum it up, if it's MOTAB, no matter what, I can listen to it. Also, Classical (no thanks), and any hymns. Hymns, as it has been explained to me, is any song that you could have in Sacrament Meeting, whether it's in the hymn book or not. One of my favorite artists right now is Fernando Ortega, and his music is a good thing to base it off, I think. I'd take a flash drive of some music, if you can. Hilary Weeks is ok, long as it's not EFY =)

Thank you for the chocolate too! And the Pens. Those pens are my new favorite. I think I should be good for awhile now =) The banner is my FAVORITE!! Sister Jenkins has been studying the characters in free time, and she says they look super good. I love it sooo much. I hung it above my bed. It was a great idea =) Kalli's hand is adorable. I can practically hold it ^^

Mom: Sister Fehoko leaves in two weeks.... could you send her a package ASAP? If you haven't already. It doesn't have to be anything big... But I know she would really love it. Talked to her a bit at MLC. She's really excited to get something haha. Again, nothin fancy. 

Sooo excited to talk to ya'll next week!!!! Can't wait to see you!!!

Sister Springer

"When you are cast out..."

This week Sister Jenkins and I decided to call "cast out week" It's been a little rough....

To sum it up:

Sadan de Kiddi (a mix of Pohnpeian and Chinese, means Satan's dog) tried to chew us up. That's the closest I've ever been to getting bit by a dog. It was funny though, I grabbed Sister Jenkins' shoulder strap, yanked her back, and yelled, "Get back, get back!!!" We bolted to the car and climbed in so fast....

We were teaching one of our investigators, Tianbo (who is AWESOME, by the way) who lives at another investigators apartment complex. Her husband got real mad at us, yelled and screamed, dropped some F bombs, and told us that this was our last night, then we could never come back. Later he told the Elder's investigators that live there, if anyone listens to the missionaries, he will kick them out. That was fun... not. We are going back Tuesday to talk to him though, try to work stuff out. 

Of course the usual, shut the door in the face when we knock.

We went to follow up on someone we left a pamphlet with, walked into the apartment compound, said "Ni hao!" real loud, only to see a guy doing this prayer ceremony... we were shushed pretty quick. Bowed and said, "Bu hao yizi, bu hao yizi!" Then we walked over to her door, knocked, and this guy yelled at us, "What are you doing here?! This is private property!" "We just came to see our friend." *comes out, sticks his head in her house, calls her name once, doesn't wait, "She's not here." 

Had to put 5 investigators on the shelf (meaning stop teaching them for a bit) because they aren't progressing. 

You know that talk, by Elder Holland? He basically says, When you are cast out, smitten, spit upon, rejected, just remember you weren't the first. Someone a lot greater, and a whole lot grander, walked this path before you. Missions are not easy, because Salvation was never easy. Super true. 

Sister Jenkins and I are still doing really well though. We are pushing forward, even with these set backs. And this week wasn't all bad.

Monday, we picked coconuts with Steve and William, some of our favorite people. (pictures to come if I can ever get them off my camera. Having issues with my SD card)

In English class we played hangman, and another time we had a obstacle course and the Chinese had to direct us in English with our eyes closed. 

Hope is given by the Holy Ghost. This week I will work on Charity. 

Sister Springer

Ni Hao Maing Koaros!

How's that mixed language for you? I said, Hello (Chinese) to all of you (respectful Pohnpei)

This week I have determined that I am coming home with the WEIRDEST accent. I hope ya'll are ready hahaha. Chinese/Pohnpeian/Utahn.

Li TianBo is our golden investigator. He asked us if he could be baptized on our first lesson. He reads the Book of Mormon a ton. He also asked us if he could come to church. Yesterday was his first day at church. Even though he doesn't speak hardly any English, he can read it ok (doesn't understand, but does read), so he was singing as best he could to all the hymns in Sacrament. It was really cool. We ordered some hymnals in Chinese, so that will help our investigators too, hopefully. TianBo also prayed in Sunday School (we have a Sunday School class for our Chinese investigators) and he asked God to help his landlord and her husband stop fighting. His landlord is another one of our investigators, and she needs all the help she can get. But that's another story.

Sister Jenkins and I are doing our best to prepare our investigators for church so they have a good experience. It's hard because they typically speak hardly any English, so they don't have a lot of motivation to come. We found some scriptures for the Sacrament prayers (Moroni 4:3, 5:2) and for an explanation of the Sacrament (I think it's 3 Nephi 18: 5-11) This week on Friday during weekly planning, we contacted ward leaders to find out the topics for Sunday. Then we found scriptures so our investigators would have an idea of what they were saying in Sacrament. We also used the pamphlets. In Relief Society, we watched the Women's Session of Conference, so we asked one ward member to download it in Chinese and we played the in the other room. In the ward council meeting, the Elders told bishop about our struggle to get investigators to church because they can't understand hardly anything. He said they would work with the only Chinese member to reactivate him, and call him as a teacher. Then as we get a small group of new members, he could call him to be a teacher. In all, working with the ward has been a blessing, even if it is a lot of work. And our investigators are enjoying and understanding church a little more!

Sister Jenkins is the best companion ever! We laugh every day, and always say ridiculous stuff that probably is only funny to Chinese speaking Sister missionaries... so I'll spare you. Or try too. One funny thing was

Sister Springer

Ni Hao!

Hey all!

This week, like all the others, has flown by!

Got a little sick this week.... Probably from the food we ate at a ward party. But I'm all better now. Elder Ieru gave me a blessing. Between that and sleep, my body was able to kick it pretty quick!
Which brings us to faith. Faith is sooo important. If you do not have faith, you will not have hope. Faith is the beginning of everything, and it has to endure throughout our conversion for us to continue on the path back home to our Heavenly Father.

This week I will work on Hope again. I'm going to try harder to incorporate these characters of Christ into my teaching, too.

Something cool Sister Jenkins and I started to do this week: We made a sort of game out of who can recognize a prompting to go talk to someone first. So if, for instance, I say "We should talk to that guy" Sister Jenkins has to be the one to initiate the conversation. This has helped us improve both our Chinese use, and our obedience to the Spirit. Plus it makes finding a whole lot more fun!!

Our investigators have noticed our improvement in the language, and many have commented on it this week. That made us both happy, but we also know we have a lot to learn, and improve on what we know now. One thing specifically we are working on is understanding them when they talk to us. We noticed as we were talking in Chinese to potential investigators, they listened more: apparently our Chinese was decent enough because they figured they could talk fast in reply.... We aren't quite there yet though, so we kept having to ask them to repeat what they said. But we noticed a lot less doors shut after 5 seconds as they realized we could speak at least a little Chinese.

Sad story: for some reason my SD card won't be read on any computers anymore.... I'll try to figure it out, but for now, I'll share pics from Sister Jenkins camera.

That's it for this week. Love you all! Stay strong, enjoy every minute of every day. You only have this time, right now, once! Live it to the fullest!! No regrets!

Sister Springer

PS forgot to mention...

Last night had a lesson with one of my FAVORITE families, Ji and Yingdi Shi. They have one son with them here and the other is still in China. Hardest working people I know. They both want to do what's right soooo much. Ji is the sweetest husband to Yingdi, always helping her with her sewing shop where she makes cushion covers and stuff for couches, even after working 12+ hours at the tire shop. So sweet. Family is super important to them. We taught them about praying as a family last night. Their son said he would teach his dad how to pray. It was cute ^^

Sister Springer