Returning letter of instruction

Dear Missionaries (and Families/Stake Presidents): We are very excited as we anticipate your upcoming return to the Taiwan Taipei Mission. This is an opportunity that we have worked hard to facilitate and have all been praying for since you left in early April. However, with this opportunity comes a GREAT RESPONSIBILITY to be obedient to the Taiwan government rules. We apologize for the length of this email, but there are a lot of important points we need you to be aware of to ensure a smooth, safe return. So please read carefully. As part of returning, you will undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine period. You MUST be willing to follow the rules as outlined by the Taiwan CDC upon arrival. Part of the quarantine requirement is taking your temperature daily and reporting that information. There will also be someone who will check in with you via Line, as well as potentially doing inspections. IMPORTANT: Failure to comply with the quarantine rules will result in a fine to you of up to $150,000 NTD – approximately $5,000 USD. Not only would this fine be costly to you from a monetary standpoint, but it also does not set a good example for our church/missionaries and could jeopardize future missionary arrivals. We cannot stress enough HOW IMPORTANT it will be to obey these rules for everyone’s health and safety as well as our ability to continue sharing the gospel here in Taiwan. In preparing to come to Taiwan, we would suggest the following: • Please DO NOT COME if you are sick! If you are sick, please let us know so we can reschedule travel until you are recovered. If a missionary arrives sick, they will be taken by the government and placed in isolation at a hospital. Isolation at the hospital could be longer than 2 weeks and will be far less enjoyable. Also, the news that missionaries have the virus will scare the members and hurt missionary work for as long as Covid-19 is still worried about. • We would encourage you to social distance as much as possible before leaving, to protect your health. Avoid being in large groups. If you do go out, then please, wear a mask and ensure that you frequently and thoroughly wash your hands. • Buy and bring a good thermometer – as mentioned above, the Taiwan CDC will require daily temperature checks. And you cannot share one with your companion. • For travel you MUST wear a mask. We recommend an N95 mask on the plane, in the airport and on the way to your apartment. Also disinfecting wipes, hand sanitizer and tissue would be beneficial. • You must bring your current ARC Card, passport, Taiwan health care Card, and Missionary Debit Card. Please have these items easy to access upon arrival. NOTE: If you do not have your Taiwan health care card, please let Sister Bement know and we can apply for another one. • A Samsung cell phone with your Line account enabled and Maas360 installed. When you arrive in Taiwan: President and I will greet you at the airport. We won’t be able to hug, shake hands, or even handle your luggage. But, we will give you a huge welcome back, our love and a SIM Car for your phone. Each missionary will have their own SIM Card. This will allow the CDC to monitor your movement and location and to call you and check in daily (see below). After arrival we will shuttle you to one of the apartments that we have set up according to the government quarantine rules (see below). Living in Quarantine: When you arrive at the apartment, there will be a supply of food that will last you during your quarantine period along with instructions for preparation on those things that require it. Upon entering the apartment, you will need to go to your own SEPARATE bedrooms. You will also each be expected to use your own separate bathroom. Each apartment has two separate bathrooms and two bedrooms, each with a made-up bed. One of the bedrooms will have a connected bathroom and a small fridge in it. That bedroom is for the person who will NOT have access to the kitchen. The smaller fridge can be used to keep personal food, leftovers, drink, etc. so that the missionary does not need to rely 100% on their companion for food. The living arrangements will be something you will need to decide between your quarantine apartment companion. One of you will need to stay in the bedroom with the connected bedroom and small fridge (for snacks and other small food items) and will not come out during the quarantine period. The other missionary will prepare food and put it at the bedroom door for you to retrieve. Missionaries should not be crossing paths or sharing the same space at any time. The other companion will stay in the other bedroom, without a fridge, but will have access to the kitchen and the living room area. Only one person will be able to have access to the kitchen. The companion who has access to the kitchen and living area will become the cook for both missionaries and the person who will need to answer the door, if and when necessary. You two will need to plan your meals as desired and work together. We will check in with you regularly via phone or video calls. We will also bring you items if necessary. We have already had two missionaries go through this quarantine and so rest assured that all will work. Additional Information via Line: At the airport we will send you a Line message with the following important information: 1. Your individual cell phone number (see above) 2. The name of your travel/quarantine apartment companion (See list below) 3. The address of the apartment where you will both stay during quarantine 4. President Peterson’s Cell number 5. The companionship names you will be working with through video calls. This will NOT be correlated to where your quarantine apartment is located. You will also be asked for some information, such as the status of your church bank card (MSF). So please monitor your Line account and provide prompt replies when needed. Missionary Proselyting Assignment While in Quarantine: Your apartment companion will not be your companion. Each quarantined missionary will be assigned to work in a Trio with a companionship that is in the field. For many of you, that will also become your assigned area after quarantine. Some of you will “whitewash” with one of your Trio companions or with a new companion into one of the 20 new areas we are opening up for your arrival! You will bring so much excitement to so many wards and to the whole mission. With your assigned companionship you will be expected each day to rise, exercise, shower, have a meaningful hour of personal study focusing on those you are teaching, and then participate via video with your companions during the day in the following activities: - Daily Planning, - Companionship Study, - Teaching appointments (you will help teach), - Member visits (you will participate and be part of the spiritual share), - Daily ministering, - End of day follow-up (DL/STL, Companionship), - Weekly Planning, and - District Councils As you can see, you will be very engaged in missionary work and your days should be busy. Your time, when not involved in video calls with your companions, should be used for eating meals, learning and preparing lessons, personal study, language study, and cleaning your areas. On the last day you will have the morning to clean the apartment, wash the sheets and make the bed (the first quarantine group). When that is completed, we will arrange for you to go to your new, or in some cases, a few week transitional area until the transfer. This will be a truly amazing time and experience. Expect miracles to occur! Below is a list of each missionary and who your quarantine companion will be and in which apartment you will be quarantined. We love you and are so excited for your return and having you once again serving the people of Taiwan. Thank you and bless you for your sacrifices. Taiwan is a truly blessed place on earth, even more evident by the stable COVID-19 situation. Let’s continue to do all that we can to keep it that way. We know that you have been prepared and called for such a time as this and so, as Joseph Smith said to the early saints, “Shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, (Elders and Sisters); and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad!” We will be exceedingly glad to see you soon and our hearts rejoice over each of you. With great love, President & Sister Peterson Taiwan Taipei Mission

你們好!

things that have gone down:

1. got a new comp who was originally assigned Russian speaking to the Baltic states

2. got to know our coincidentally RUSSIAN neighbors...

3. met with some more Chinese speakers across the mission

4. said goodbye to our President who leaves on the 30th

5. got my flight plans for the 4th of July!

6. spoke in a New Zealand/austrailian accent 90% of the time

7. got a jar of canned salmon that's been haunting us for days

8. filmed a video

9. pressed some flowers

10. fell more in love with this beautiful Portland mission❤

Still a mad amount of hippies here, the DREAM. 

It's been a rollercoaster planning our return to Taiwan, but know it's not slowing down the work we do here! Quarantine life is starting to ease up around here and we are taking advantage of it to the fullest. 

quick but needed  scripture,

Mosiah 7:33  

 "But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage."

 

I think it's pretty straightforward:)

Life is good and we are happy! Stay safe and love you lots!

我愛你們!我為你們做祈禱!加油

蘇姐妹

I'VE GOT NEWS!

So fun fact, this sister is headed back to TAIWAN! Much quicker than I expected but it looks like I'll be going back somewhere around July 3rd! I think it goes without saying that I am STOKED to return to the people and the place. That being said, I've also fallen in love with Oregon and her people. This will not be an easy goodbye but I'm MAD thankful to have had this opportunity.

Okey dokey SO, with us having limited time here, we are gonna KICK it with our work! We've been meeting with a lot of native Chinese speakers from Taiwan and China over Zoom and it's been SO good. They live all over Portland and by meeting and getting to know each other, they'll have a support system that they haven't had before.  In meeting them and talking about their lives it didn't take long for us to realize just how awesome they are! We so look forward to getting to know them and to growing this beautiful community:)

Other than that we've been keeping busy trying to find more ways to help out. We've been able to drop off some birthday gifts and work some more with the salvation army which has been a BLAST and its helped our district come closer together too. Traveling around Portland has been SO fun and we get to see a lot of the beautiful places it has to offer (some pictures below). I straight up LOVE the people and the place and I'm so excited to see where these adventures take us next!

I'll end with one of my favorite scriptures:

2 Nephi 13:21 

 "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also"

We allow what guides our lives. I (in true missionary fashion) invite you to think about what your treasure is and make sure its something you want directing your life, whatever it may be. It's your choice:)

Thank you for all of the support, love you all!

 蘇姐妹

I will live and die at Trader Joe's

Time is still FLYING as it does in all these awesome places, and we are KICKING. I got to go to my beloved Trader Joe's and really it topped off another awesome week here.

   The things we did this week consisted mostly of making a RAD Chinese dinner with homemade pot stickers, bok choy, and egg drop soup. SOUPer yummy (I'm so sorry for that).

    ANYWAY it has been a BLAST and a half working with my awesome companion getting to know the Mandarin speaking community down here. We're working on building the bones right now, and for us that means helping them get to know each other (through group zooms bc thems the resources) and helping them become stronger as a community. Our hope is to help them to a point where they have enough unity and for the group to be self sustainable by the time we leave.

    We have been BUSY but it is the GOOD kind! The last few months have taught me that my plans are kind of the worst, and God's are just SO good. I wouldn't have chosen to leave Taiwan in the first place, but I feel beyond blessed to have been able to see my wonderful family for a bit and then head to beautiful Oregon. Here, I've met people who have changed my life for the better and who are gonna make this goodbye another hard one to go through.

   PLEASE REMEMBER: (and I'm still learning this too) you are a small but crucial piece to this MASSIVE life puzzle! We don't always know where we fit, and sometimes it's hard to be okay with that. God knows where that is, and if we let Him, He'll guide us to success.

  LOVE YOU ALL, be safe!

我愛你們，

蘇姐妹

(last pic: this is how asparagus grows?? WACK)