Pictures from Anna

The first one is me and the Chen family. Their mom is the one that was baptized in the hospital. They live in Miaoli which is really close to Zhunan so they come up a lot to see me. In fact, they are coming up today! Woot wo!

The one of the three sisters is at the temple. Those are the two sisters I came
on my mission with and will be going home with. So Sister Smith in front, Sister
Stenquist and me in the back!


The next one is Sister Price and I... aren't we cute.


The next one... Sister Price, me, Vincent, and Amy at their baptismal service!


Nothing better than hearing the running water of the font and people dressed in
white!

Typhoon day... stuck inside... we weren't sure what to do with ourselves.
Calling dead stack for three hours needed a little break.

September 30--Good, good good!

Hello family!


Wow! This last week has been good. I am not sure why we are being so blessed or 
why I have been so lucky as to be so busy! It is making time go way too fast, 
but it is, also, not giving me a chance to get distracted. So it is bitter sweet. 

We had Zone conference last week. I did my death speech. It went ok. I made it 
through without crying, but then bawled through the closing song. We sing Army 
of Helaman every single time. And they have gotten permission to change a couple 
of words so it focuses on TAIWAN and NOW! So that hit me pretty strong. Gave me 
the last little push I needed. It is only going to be now for a little while longer. 

Amy and her son got baptized! And it was a good baptism. The only problem was on 
Sunday there was a typhoon so we did not have church. So they had no way of 
getting confirmed. So my companion and I got to thinking and were determined to 
find a way for her and her son to get confirmed because well, Satan is real and 
we didn't want him to have a weeks worth of tempting time. The Branch president 
drives a car so he said it would be no problem to drive him their himself. But 
he said we as missionaries would have to ride our bikes because their was no 
room in his car. So Sister Price and I hoped on our bikes and began our trek. It 
usually takes us about 30 minutes to ride from Zhunan to Toufen, but we decided 
to give ourselves an hour and used every second of it! It was intense. We were 
pedalling as hard as we could and were not moving. My SHOE got blown off of my 
foot and flew across the intersection. It was fun. Well, we got the confirmation 
done and then decided to head out to the church and just make calls inside 
because well it seemed dangerous. So off we headed to the church. 

We made it right to the Elder's intersection when I looked across the street and 
saw people literally being blown right off their scooters. I didn't take this 
into consideration before but that intersection is right off of the ocean so the 
wind was moving. My companion and I quickly were hit by the wind and bailed from 
our bicycles. We ended up just throwing our bikes on a hill and tried helping a 
few people get their scooters stable. I could barely stand up the wind was so 
strong. We ended up getting to the other side of the road and tucked into a 
little flod on one of the buildings and decided to just wait it out there. We 
saw a bumper get ripped off of a car when it turned and caught the wind. Well, 
little to our knowledge the Elders were still in their apartment. So when they 
came outside they only saw our bikes thrown up on the hill with all of our stuff 
in it. And they started to flip out. We heard them yelling. And as they walked 
towards us we realized it was not safe at all. It might have been the fact that 
our zone leader couldn't stop and slammed into a pole. Or the fact that you 
could lean forward and not fall over because the wind was so strong. So needless 
to say we got on the phone with President Hoer and he told us to ge thome as 
soon as possible. So the Elders ended up walking us home so we didn't fly away.

So this was our second typhoon in the last couple weeks. And you will never ever 
believe this they say there is another one on the way! 

We are going to go play with one of my new members today. She wants to take us 
hiking. So I am pretty excited! So I am going to send another e-mail with some 
pictures. And then I will talk to you later! 

I love you all! I miss you!

Sister Shaver 

September 24 Letter--Mom and Dad!

Wow, have fun at the Gator game. That sounds like so much fun! Fun that Steve 
and Kate will come. Those two are funny. Sister Price spent time in Chennai, 
India doing a creative writing program. They study the cultural and women and 
then did writing assignments. I thought Steve and Kate would think that was 
cool. You can tell them.

I hope you two are up for Taco Bell at 9:10 pm. Because I can tell you that we 
are stopping on the way home from the airport! I WANT MEXICAN FOOD! I WANT SOUR 
CREAM! I haven't had sour cream in 1 1/2 years! And I don't know why, but I 
really am craving sour cream and Mexican food. I know how much you two love 
Mexican food... he he. You should probably have ice cream and hot fudge waiting 
too. Oh enough about food. I have been really good about not getting trunky. The 
only thing that gets me trunky is food. I guess I am a Shaver through and 
through. Can focus everything elsew, but my taste buds!

That is cool that I will get to talk at the same time that an Elder is going 
out. That is a neat experience. We can make it all about MISSIONARY WORK! And 
get everyone excited and going. 

Well, hope you two are good! I love you. And can't believe how fast time is 
going. A month and couple days! How is that possible? I know what you mean about 
being sad and happy... it is such mixed emotions. Tears and tears. 

Wo ai nimen!

Sister Shaver 

September 24 Letter--Labor Day

Hello!

Wow! This week has been amazing! This is probably my best move-call yet. At the 
beginning of the move-call, I told Sister Price (I love her!) that I wanted to 
make this my best move-call yet and it has turned into that and it is only the 
middle of week 2! 

There is an investigator here named Amy. She is an amazing woman. She comes to 
church every week and brings her son. But she was in a really bad relationship 
and came out of the marriage hating men. She has been coming to church for about 
6 months. We met with her this week and had her son bear testimony to her about 
how much he needed this church. After his testimony we told her we would be 
referring her son to the Elders so he could get baptized before her because 
well, he needed to get baptized.  She said no. She hates men and likes women. We 
said yes or her option was to have an interview with President Liu and be 
baptized with Vincent. She did the interview and committed to everything. She is 
willing to change everything. But she would not commit to baptize. We went over 
to her house on Monday night and hit her pretty strong with scriptures! And told 
her would we call tomorrow to see what time was better 7 or 7:30 for her 
baptism. Well, Tuesday comes and I call her and she says no I am not going to be 
baptized on Saturday.And then she goes on to say when is the earliest you can do 
it? Well, because we had the temple trip today and tomorrow is zone conference 
she and her son will be baptized on Friday night. So  it should be a good 
weekend. Friday night baptize and Sunday after church another baptism! I am so 
thankful.

I know that Heavenly Father is blessing me so much. My health hasn't been 
better, my faith has been better, and I have never seen more miracles than this 
move-call. Heavenly Father is really helping me achieve my goal of going out 
running. Just wish I had a few more move-calls of this pace left! I'll just have 
work really really hard! And not waste the blessings that Heavenly Father has in 
store.

Mom, today was our temple trip and I think that would be so good of you to offer 
babysitting. I will babysit when I get home for them, but it won't be for 
awhile. The temple today was an amazing experience. It gave me so much peace and 
comfort. I am not going to lie I am terrified of coming home and it just gave me 
the peace of mind that I needed. Before the mission, any serious choice I was 
faced with I pretty much said, oh that doesn't matter I am going on a mission. 
Now I am going to go home and not be able to have that little scape route. I am 
going to have to be serious. Ha ha! No more playing except every other day. Baby 
steps, right?

Funny story: my companion just dyed my hair and we decided we would come e-mail 
while we are waiting for the dye to do its job. So we came into the e-mail store 
and a girl was helping us. She casually said oh you are dying her hair. And then 
the teenage boy standing next to her BURST OUT INTO HYSTERICAL LAUGHTER! He 
thought that it was the funniest thing ever. So now I am sitting here in the 
little cap e-mailing you all. And they all think it is so entertaining. So I 
guess I haven't changed much! Still giving everyone a good laugh!

Tomorrow is zone conference and I am doing my death talk. I am not excited. 
Every missionary that goes home gets to share a five minute talk at zone 
conference. I have no idea what I am going to say! That isn't my idea of fun. I 
will probably just bear my testimony. And call that good. Don't know if my 
testimony will last five minutes though... probably a little shorter. My goal is 
not to get handed the time card. So I will just have to talk extra fast and pray 
for the translators! Translating is so so hard!

Well, we had another typhoon this week. It wasn't too bad. But funny story... 
Sister Price and I were attempting to ride our bikes. We were being blown off 
and barely moving forward. A man on a scooter passed us and yelled "HELLL-YO" at 
us which is normal so we didn't think much of it. We kept pedalling and were 
slowly making progress. We made it about five more houses and the scooter man 
was standing out in the road with juice boxes. One in each hand with his arms 
out. So as we rode by he yelled keep going and handed off these juice boxes to 
us. So we got these free juice boxes! It probably was pretty entertaining to 
watch! This Chinese man standing in the road with both arms out and these two 
white girls ride by and grab juice boxes out of his hands... haha. I love the 
Taiwanese people!

So I hope everything is good in the States. Everything is good in Taiwan. I am 
excited to be a missionary! YEP!

I love you all!
Miss you!

Sister Shaver

Here She Comes...

We got this email regarding Anna's return home this week:

Dear Parents:

It is our pleasure, at the request of the mission president, to send the flight itinerary for your returning missionary. Tickets will be issued about five weeks prior to travel and sent to the mission office. If you have any questions regarding this schedule, please call us as soon as possible at (801)or toll free at 1-800-.

Please note the booking reference to www.checkmytrip.com near the top of the itinerary. Using your missionary’s last name and the six character reservation confirmation number given on the itinerary(example: NKD4J5) you will be able to view the current schedule on the internet. Please use this website to review your missionary’s travel plans at any time.

Thank you,

LDS Church Travel Office

Anna will be arriving in Boise, ID at 9:10 p.m. on October 28th!

September 15 Letter--The Last Sprint!

Hello Family!



Ready... set... go! I am back in Zhunan with a new companion. Her name is Sister
Price. She is from Utah and she seems really nice. She has two younger sisters.
One is getting married in December. I think she is up for working hard and she
seems really sweet. I am excited. And ready to get things going. This last week
has been slow with my new short term and the typhoon... it just made a bad
combination. There were lots of tears on my short terms part. She didn't really
understand that the work doesn't stop for anything... not even a typhoon. So it
was just hard to keep her going. And it is hard when you yourself are struggling
and soaking wet and you just kinda need someone there who gets it and knows this
may not be fun, but it is what we do! So I am just excited for this next move
call and hope to make it the best one yet! So pray for me!


Wow, Ali's birthday party looks like fun. I cannot believe she is 8! That is
crazy! She is going to be getting baptized. How fun is that. And Amos is almost
one... man oh man! Time has gone by so fast. Thanks for all the pictures. Amos
eating apples was pretty cute. And weird to see Carrie so big and brave jumping
off the diving board all by herself! Not quite the same little girl. She is
getting old. Aren't we all though?


I think I am getting to be the oldest. I am almost a returned sister missionary.
I remember thinking they were so OLD! And now I am almost one... blah! Ha ha...
maybe I can just be a sister missionary forever. I don't think President Hoer
will let me stay...


Zhunan is good. I love my new members here. They really make everything all
worth it to me. We didn't have church on Sunday because of the typhoon. A couple
new members called and made sure we were ok. You would think it would be the
opposite way around... but nope! They really help me a lot. Seeing their change
and lights turning on is such an amazing experience. Everytime I begin to wonder
why am I riding my bike in the pouring rain with the wind blowing me backwards
or such I just think of a new member and it gives me that extra burst I need.
There really is a joy in missionary work that is hard to explain. Really being
able to see people making such big changes for the better is a humbling
experience. And really makes me want to change more. Sometimes I feel like I am
not keeping up with them, but then I remember everyone's time and change is
different. And that gives me comfort. I've learned to not get discouraged and
focus on myself more and then the changes can come.


I am really working on being nicer. I have been working on it my whole entire
mission and I think I am finally beginning to make some progress. Heavenly
Father's patience with me is amazing. I feel like I keep making the same
mistakes and He keeps forgiving me and keeps helping me. It is neat to see how
much He wants me to change. I have felt His love for me and really felt His
desire for me to be better. So pretty much, I hope you all can have the same
experience and can keep progressing and becoming better and better... just don't
get to far ahead of me... I am a little bit slower. And well we have a rule on
the mission we have to be in hearing/seeing distance. So make sure I am still
there. The other day I was talking to a member and she was telling me that
people who need to change the most go on missions because on a mission we learn
and change in a year and a half what it would take us to change 10 years in
life. So I guess she was trying to tell me I need to keep going! He he!


One thing I know has changed on my mission is my testimony. I want you all to
know that I KNOW Jesus is the Christ. I know He knows us. He knows what were are
going through and He knows how to help us the best that anyone could. I feel so
humbled to have felt Him by my side more than once on my mission telling me to
keep going and not to give up. He wants us to succeed more than anything. But He
knows for the success to be the most it can be there will still need to be
trials and hardships. And I know that these trials and hardships can be overcome
because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. If we rely on the Lord and let Him
lead us He will! One of my favorite words in Chinese is yi ding (definitely) and
one of my least favorite words is bu yi ding (uncertain.) I want you to know
Jesus Christ yi ding knows who you are and knows what you need. We just need to
get on the same page. It isn't a matter of Him turning to our page as it is a
matter of us turning to His page. So start turning... =>! I love this Gospel. I
know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. That he literally saw God the Father
and His son, Jesus Christ. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. And can
give us all the answers we need in life. One of my favorite footnotes I have
come across on my mission is 2 Nephi 32:3 footnote d. It is talking about the
words of Christ can tell us all things what we should do. The footnote for tell
is problem solving. So right there in the scriptures we learn when ever there is
problem solving to be done we need to turn to the words of Christ (the
scriptures.) So once again start turning... =>!


Well, I am sorry this e-mail has been so here and there and everywhere. I hope
whoever needed whatever got it out of this e-mail!


I love you all and miss you! Keep going hard!

I love the church!

Sister Shaver

September 9th Letter--Hello!

Hello everybody!

First things first, e-mail is on Monday next week because it is move-call
already. I still feel like I just moved to Zhunan. And it has been five weeks
already.

Well, my favorite companion in the whole entire world went home on Monday. She,
Sister He, was short term for a week. She has only been baptized for a month
plus, but she was amazing. We just got along really well and had a lot of things
in common. It was kind of weird to see how much we had in common with our
backgrounds being totally different. She has decided to go on a full time
mission. She is going to work the next while and prepare for it. She still has
awhile until she can go, but I think it will be good for her to have time to
prepare. It was really neat to see her catch the vision of missionary work. She
probably has been the hardest working companion I have had. She gave everything
into every single one of her contacts. It was pretty inspiring for me. I needed
to see that excitement again. I might be getting old... and a little worn down.
So it was good to get some fire back!

We had a baptism on Saturday and it was pretty amazing. Her name is Suzy Xu. She
is about 45. She was so prepared to be baptized. She had met the church before
when she was a teenager, but had not been baptized. About a month ago, she had
been driving down the side of the road and saw the Elders. She quick asked them
where the church was and they told her. They asked her to write down her name
and number so we could call her and she said no and that she would see them at
church on Sunday. So the Elders didn't mention it to me, because, well, we hear
that a lot. She came to church on the Sunday and hasn't missed church or an
activity since. She loves the scriptures. She is the investigator that calls the
Book of Mormon the dictionary of love. She has really inspired me in my
scripture study! In her after baptism testimony, she talked about how she had
been challenged to be baptized and that night went home and opened up her
scriptures to 2 Nephi 31 where it is talking about Jesus's baptism and that
because of that experience she knew she needed to baptized. Pretty solid new
member. It is cool too because her son turns 8 on the 26 so he will be getting
baptized then too. And it counts as a ward baptism which is really good for the
ward! Exciting to be able to sit here and see the wards being built up!

Two weeks ago we had a baptism of three. One of them was a little girl. I am not
a big fan of baptizing children without their parents, but this little girl is
amazing. She comes to every activity and really has a strong testimony. She is
always talking about how when she goes on a mission. She rides her little bike
to church every week and it is not a quick little ride. After the baptism this
week, she was turning out of the church parking lot and got bumped by a scooter.
She is fine, but her bike broke. The handle bars snapped right off. She started
to cry right away and we were a little scared she was hurt. So we asked her how
she was and she was just shaking her head looking at me. And then buried her
little face in my Buddha belly. In between the sobs, she said how am I going to
get to church? (Sidenote: the ward/missionary relationships are not very good
here. And I have been working really hard on it, but hadn't seen much change.)
Then one of the members stepped in and said we will take your bike to get it
fixed and this week one of the members can pick you up. I could not believe.
This was the first time a member had helped us or one of our investigators! So
it is all because this little girl's dilligence in riding her little bike to
church and finding a place in the hearts of the members. So I am hoping that the
relationship just gets better and better from here on out. So Sister He and I
call it the miracle of the broken handle bars!

Well, we have a zone activity today. We are going to make pancakes and play
volleyball. I am not too excited, but it should be fine. One of those things
where once I get there it will be fun. It is just far away and I actually don't
know how to get there. So it should be interesting! After it, I am coming home
and SLEEPING! President Hoer has made a new rule that we can't take naps anymore
except for Preparation day. So today is my one day so got to make it worth it!
We used to take naps after planning session instead of eating lunch and then on
Sundays instead of eating lunch or dinner. It was like a mission thing, so this
is getting to be a new adjustment for all of us. Good for us... we can use that
time to eat and study now.

Well, I better get going! I love you all and miss you! Be good!

Sister Shaver

September 2nd Letter--Hello!

Hello family,

How are things going? Things are going well here. We had three precious souls
get baptized on Sunday! They were really good baptisms. The Spirit was so
strong. One was a mom of a new member. The new member is a 21 year old HUGE
Taiwanese man. I didn't think they existed until I met him. He has been a member
for a year. And has been sharing the Gospel with his mom the whole time. His mom
comes to church every week and everyone just assumed she was a member. So me
being naive and new in the area had no idea her situation--- at church two weeks
ago I asked when she had got baptized and she said oh I haven't. What!?!?! I
said well, when do you want to get baptized and she said next week. Well, we had
to set up baptismal interviews and so she had to wait one week. But she is
BAPTIZED NOW AND AMAZING! Her son gave her such a good example and she decided
to follow it. How exciting for their whole family. Happy day!

We have a another baptism service this weekend and I am really excited right
now. My new companion, Sister He, meet the missionaries 2 months ago and was
baptized a little less than a month ago. And it is amazing to see the miracles
we are seeing because of her new and fresh HUGE faith! I have to do most of the
teaching, but that is ok, because she relates so well to our investigators and
she can do the fellowshipping and really tell them she understands. I am a
little bummed because she goes home on Monday. Hopefully, my next companion will
be as cool and good. She reminds me a lot of someone... I haven't figured out
who yet. Maybe Meg.

Well, today one of my new members from Xinzhu is coming up to play with us
because well it is preparation day. I am excited. I am not sure what we are
going to do because well there is nothing in Zhunan. But I heard there is a
flower garden not too far away. So I think we will go over there. It should be
fun. I love seeing the members from Xinzhu. I am pretty sure the most part of my
heart is still there. So it is fun.

Wow, that is crazy how fast missionaries seem to come home and go out of your
ward mom and dad. Time seems to fly... ahh! We had a couple just get home from
their mission to China... it wasn't really a mission at all. They can't
proselyte and they couldn't even take their own copies of the Book of Mormon
with them. They just went, made friends, and then pretty much invited them to go
down to Hong Kong with them and then proselyted in Hong Kong. I can't even
imagine how hard that would be. Meeting a person and then telling them to go to
Hong Kong with you and not really telling them why. Those who did go must have
been so prepared and in tune with the Spirit to know to go with them. My mission
has been so blessed. It is has been hard, but not that hard. It has been hard in
different ways. But I wouldn't change it for anything. No nothing. I've learned
too much and learned so much more quickly. Quite the experience.

We had interviews with President Hoer on Monday after combined district meeting.
He stressed to me the importance of righteous goal and the greater importance of
having plans. And having the plans include what I am going to do and when I am
going to do it. He stressed the importance of having a specific time set. If
there is no time set it will never happen (for the most part.) So I am working
on better goal setting now. That is one thing that has hit me so hard on my
mission. I think I would have been able to do a lot more before the mission if I
had known the importance of goal setting. Glad I can have this chance to learn
and repent, so that I continue to set and achieve goals which leads to
progression! And can stopping wasting time. How much time I wasted before...
sometimes I think about before how lazy I was and wonder what I was doing...
Poor mom and dad. He didn't really say anything else in my interview. He did ask
how my English was coming... he he. Better jia you there! Not my Chinese, but my
English... I used to love to hear missionaries talk that just got home because
it was funny to listen to their English... ha ha. I think my last move call will
be an English speaker, so no need to worry.

Well, I love you all and miss you! Hope everything is going well. I love this
work. It is busy busy, but wouldn't want it any other way! I love this Gospel!

Wo ai nimen!

Sister Shaver