Earthquake!!!

Okay, before anybody freaks out (Dad) it was just a tiny baby one, you know like 20 seconds. Some people on ground floor said they didn't even feel it, but we live on the 4th floor so we could feel it a little more; it was cool.

This week we had our English Party (every week we have free English class and every 6 weeks we have a party, cause you know...we're Mormon; we like parties). We did Minute to Win it Games; super fun. Rolling coins into forks, Oreos on our face, moving M&Ms with chopsticks (which is obviously easier for Taiwan people, so they had to use their left hand, haha). It was great.

Yesterday we went to the most expensive, elaborate wedding I've ever seen. Apparently Taiwan is big on weddings. But also it was just crazy; apparently her dad is some big person or something. There were 1000 people there and we had a 10 course meal including shark fin, lobster, and crab. So yeah. Shark fin; check that off the list.

We also had a music fireside/talent show last night. It was great! The missionaries (4 of us) sang "Be Thou My Vision." One Elder is CRAZY at the piano and played a song he wrote. One of our old lady friends from running at the track (we have a lot of those) played her erhu (an instrument with 2 strings). A little 2 year old sang "Love One Another". And most people sang hymns, but Xu DiXiong sang "Let it Go" in TaiYu (Taiwanese), it was so funny. He's our ward mission leader.

We see so many miracles here!! But this week we saw the power of fasting, prayer, and the Book of Mormon with our investigator ChenYueWen. When all three are used in faith, it's powerful. You should try it; think of something you need guidance or help with, tell God, read your scriptures, and fast for it. He will help you!

Love you all!! Have a good week!

-Sister Biancardi

A misplaced key, a broken chain, and broken brakes. Oh my!

Sister Burr and I

Last Monday for my Birthday we went to this Italian restaurant! Well Taiwanese-Italian. It's funny seeing Taiwanese version of foods. But it was really good! And I even tried a snail. Are snails Italian...? I don't even know, but they were baked in tomato sauce and cheese so that makes it Italian right?

One day Sister Blickenstaff (the President's wife) was in the area so she called us up and took us to lunch. That was fun. And random. (Our life: fun and random)

Also! We had our first exchange this week; I went up to Tainan for a day. It was pretty great, so crazy though. And when I got home to Jia Yi, it just got crazier. Got back to find a scooter had fallen on my bike, picked it up, realized I left my little bag with my bike key on the train, found a guy who knew a lock smith, got the lock smith, one problem down. About to leave, realized the scooter had broken my bike. A nice crossing guard came over and fixed it. Then the chain was off, he fixed that. Then we went straight to a baptismal service (30 minutes late, haha). Thankfully they had snacks after, haha. And on the way realized my back brakes didn't work (but don't worry I carefully used my front ones.) Oh also at one point we had weird tiny bugs crawling on us and we don't know where they came from. It was an adventurous evening to say the least. But it was great!

Local park and housing

Taiwan!

1) People wears masks, like over their mouth/nose (I forget if I said that before...)

2) They have super cute fun tape; all sorts of designs

3) There's a 7-11 on like every corner (or a Family Mart; like the same thing)

4) Everyone is so nice and just gives you fruit or food or things all the time

Just having fun

Every week we have a little activity, a family home evening. So Sister Burr and I taught this week and it actually went pretty well. We started off with a game/analogy, then talked about examples in our lives, then about Christ and showed that short "Because of Him" video. It was super cool. I'm definitely getting closer to Christ out here in the mission field and better realizing His role and relationship with me.

I know Heavenly Father wants to help us on this journey we're on. Let Him help. You don't have to do anything alone.

Have an awesome week everyone!

-Sister Biancardi

Birthday Dinner and a Movie

This week was great! Last week for P-day we visited a miao (Buddhist temple) and it was pretty cool to see that. Then we just got mango milk and walked in nature for a while (a baseball field surrounded by trees). And then this morning I got to Skype my family!!!!! All 9 of us were there. It was crazy fun. (And Joseph, Jessica's baby, is still just so cute!!!!).

Making Potstickers

So one day this white guy comes up to me and my companion and is like "Sisters! I want to buy you lunch" It was the funnest thing ever. But turns out he served a mission here like 20 years ago and came back to visit and is going around trying to serve all the missionaries. So he took us and 4 elders out to dinner that night. It was so nice of him! And cool to hear his stories.

Birthday Box from Home

This Sunday was Mother's Day!! And my Birthday, that too. (I'm officially not a teenager :O) It was great; we handed out flowers to the moms and a member surprised me with a birthday cake after church. Then we had dinner at a member's house and it was super fancy. And they made me/let me eat a shrimp the size of mouse. It was frightening looking. Then for a mother's day activity we watched the Emma Smith Movie. It's super good! Great way to end the day.

Birthday Celebration glasses

This week we saw lots of miracles, but one we learned was the miracle of obedience. We both realized we were both just so tired everyday from mission life and we realized we never really went to bed at 10:30 like we're supposed to. It was always 10:40, 10:50, some days even 11:00. We knew it was only a matter of 20 minutes of sleep but decided to try and be exactly obedient, even if it meant changing our nightly routine. The very next day after we decided to start that, we had a new energy and I was less sleepy. The mission was still hard and the Chinese hard to understand, but I know the Lord gave us strength to push forward. Obedience brings blessings! It's true!

Taiwan: ..... I can't think of any; I'm becoming Taiwanese!! I'll get some for next week. Sorry!

Be safe, have fun, remember exact obedience brings blessings!

-Sister Biancardi

PS - I saw this video this week. It was amazing. I think you'll like it.
https://www.lds.org/youth/video/because-of-him?lang=eng

I'm An Aunt!!!

Ok, first thing's first. MY SISTER HAD HER BABY AND HE IS THE CUTEST THING IN THE WORLD AND NOW I'M OFFICIALLY AN AUNT! Alright. Cool. Now I can tell about my week. (But really I'm so excited!!!!)

This week one day our plans were crazy and long story short we ended up going on splits with members and I taught our Mongolian investigator. It was an unplanned lesson so that was crazy, but at least it was in English! So that was an exciting spontaneous day.

Also I forgot a very important historic thing that happened last week. I tried stinky tofu. It's this stuff in Taiwan that's pretty much fermented fried tofu, so it smells awful; you can tell riding down the street when we pass a stinky tofu stand. But my companion and Taiwan people love it. So...I gave it a go. We accidentally got the super spicy one, so with that and the fact that it was fermented tofu...let's just say I didn't finish it. Haha. It wasn't the nastiest thing I've ever eaten, but I wouldn't chose to eat it again. Haha. Also! Last night we happened to have a chance to try intestines. So.... of course I did. It was...chewy, and I couldn't think about it too hard but I got that one bite down. It was actually barbecued super good so it wasn't too bad. But man... Also my first week here I ate this egg thing. They call it 100 year old egg. But it's not. But it kind of looks/smells like it. Almost gagged, but didn't. Haha. But really! Taiwan food is so good!! And that's not the norm, haha. But it's fun to try it out.

I am so so excited for one of our investigators; Chen Jiemei. She's the one with the adorable kids that we crazy that one night. She is just soaking up the gospel and loves learning about Christ. She started reading the Book of Mormon on her own about a week and a half ago and is already past Jacob! (Over 100 pages I think). She's amazing and a great example to me.

Weekly Taiwan list:

1) You know those triangle asian hats? Little amas (grandmas) actually wear them here, it's great.

2) You know when you were little and you'd put your jacket on backwards to be funny (or if you're me, like last year). People wear them like that here all the time especially riding their mopeds, I don't know why.

3) They think beans belong in sweets... I'm still weirded out by that but I might get used to it at some point.

4) They have super small cups like at restaurants and stuff. I don't know... I just noticed that.

So that's Taiwan! I'm still here! And now I'm an aunt!!! I was reading a talk the other day, I think it was Dieter F Utchdorf, and he said "Often the answer to our prayer does not come while we're on our knees but while we're on our feet serving the Lord and serving those around us." I love that and know it's true. He will guide our life and help us as we first get up and serve. So go serve someone today!! 

Have an amazing week!

-Sister Biancardi

The Storm is Raging

Made in Taiwan - cute!

Great week! Last P-day we went shopping and discovered that even in Taiwan, I can't shop to save my life. But neither can Sister Burr. So it was good fun, but we were so tired afterwards! Haha. 

Street shopping

Our mission President came this week for interviews, that was exciting and I actually saw an Elder from my MTC district in passing; guess he's in my zone! I also had my first Language assessment pass-off this week. That was...fun. But it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be.

So this one day we were teaching a lesson and the lady had her 2 kids with her (a 3 year old and 1 year old). It started out okay, but as it went on we had crayons everywhere, toys out, diaper changing breaks... We finally walked with her and she rocked her baby and we taught her outside. But this lady was just so sweet and wanting to learn; we tried everything we could to teach and have it be a good experience. It was for sure the most exciting lesson we had this week.

Typical Taiwan house

Oh so you're probably wondering about the title. No, we haven't had a typhoon yet. That's our district motto. Haha, we call ourselves "the Storm." I don't know where it started but I like it. We have a super awesome district!

Our lunch - a typical meal

Some more things about Taiwan (I just forgot; I think it's normal already).

1) There are dogs everywhere; some stray some with owners.

2) Everyone is super nice, except on the road.

3) We take off our shoes when we go into houses and most people have these little sandals we put on, kind of cute.

4) We have to put our food waste in the a bag in the freezer so we don't get fruit flies.

5) They like to set off fireworks; any day, any time of the day.

riding a bike - our daily mode of transportation

So yep... Life's good. We're happy. I read this scripture and thought it should apply to everyone. But I'll let you know that it definitely applies to me and Sister Burr :D - 2 Nephi 5:27.

Have a great week!! Make someone smile!!

-Sister Biancardi

Summer is Quickly Approaching

Companionship LOVE! And we're both wearing purple!

Taiwan! It's amazing. This week was great; so many lessons, so many miracles, so much fun!

On Wednesday we had English class and me and Sister Burr taught the little kid class. So that was fun; head shoulders knees and toes, alphabet, coloring... Also, lots of people have English names here, but some people have really weird English names. Like Deace, Mary (boy), and sisters named Sunny and Rainy. But I guess my name (Bian) is kinda weird and uncommon so... I always get the response of "hen tebei = very special" in a range from pleasant surprise to weirded out.

We had the first rain! It was pretty exciting. It hasn't rained at all except one day on our way back from someone's house (like a 25 minute ride :D). But I'm sure the rain will come back for longer. Summer's the rainy season. And it's already so hot and it's only April...we'll see how July goes...

So because I'm a new missionary, I just have to embarrass myself all the time, right? It's like a rule or something... So one day we went to meet someone for breakfast and then realized I didn't have my missionary tag! I was so sad and embarrassed. We couldn't go back, but we found one of Sister Burr's that she left in someone's car. So we were both Sister Burr for a day, haha. Then the next day at lunch I splattered soy sauce up my shirt (still learning with chopsticks; but getting the hang of it) and wore that all day. Then just yesterday I totally tripped over a door ledge and almost face planted in front of some members (but I'm fine; hurt my pride more than anything). So! Hopefully all my newbie flaws are out. But probably not. I'll let you know how next week goes.

So one more funny thing about Taiwan is that the garbage trucks play music so that people know it's coming and run out to throw their garbage in it. But it sounds just like an ice cream truck. My first couple times I heard it I was confused.

The gecko wanted a sleepover last night, so we let him!

We've counted so many miracles out here! God loves and helps everyone, and we get to see it happen. I've learned that as we make plans, and back-up plans, and rely on the Lord, we see miracles and get so much done. So don't forget to plan; there's power in planning, and power in praying. I haven't counted yet how many times a day we pray, but it's A LOT. And God helps us, and He can help you too.

Have an amazing week! Lots of love from Taiwan!

-Sister Biancardi

TAIWAN!!

Just arrived!

Ok. Big week. Weird to think a week ago I was back at the MTC. But I was! And we said our goodbyes which was kind of sad. But I'll see them all again at reunions and stuff so it's ok! My companion, Sister Larson, went to England. So it was weird/sad to be without her for the first time in 9 weeks. But I'll write her and see her in a year and a half at BYU. There was 12 of us all traveling to Taiwan together; it was a blast. The longest day of my life; I think I didn't sleep for like 30 hours (besides like 30 minutes of plane sleep; doesn't really count). But it was so worth it!

The bus from airport to mission home

When we got to Taipei it was about midnight; didn't get to bed until 2-ish, 2:30. Then up again at 6:30. Woo-hoo! But it was all so exciting, that it was okay we were sleep-deprived. We had an amazing Taiwanize breakfast, had some training meetings, went out to lunch, more training, dinner (and I missed my chance to eat fish eye, I kind of regret that) then we went out on the streets. We did what is called the Dan Jones challenge. Dan Jones was a missionary who stood on a milk carton and preached/testified. So...we stood on a milk carton and preached and testified :D It was great because there were other missionaries there cheering us on. It felt like an initiation. Haha. 

Welcome banquet with Mission President and his wife

Anyway, the next day we got our trainer and moved to our area. They called us up one by one, gave us a red envelope, and did a drum role as we opened it up. The trainers and the newbies didn't know who was with who until they opened it, it was kind of fun. So! Dndndndndn My companion is Sister Burr and I'm in Jia Yi!! 

The loving and patient Sister Burr

Sister Burr is amazing and the best example of love and patience with me. Jia Yi is also amazing. It's south of Taizhong, still a pretty good sized city though. So pretty much, I love it!

Ok so sometimes I'm like "Oh I'm not really across the world this is just another part of America" and then sometimes I see things and am like "Oh yeah." Here are some differences.

1) There are mopeds EVERYWHERE. It's pretty surprising at first, but now I'm kind of used to it. But I do mean everywhere; people walk on the street because they park their mopeds on the sidewalk.

2) Their napkins are pretty much tissues. I really don't know why, but they don't have napkins like we do.

3) They have AMAZING fruit. Guava, wax apples, mango, the best pineapple I've ever eaten ever, and so much more!

4) Their money is like 30 kuai = 1 US$ so, things are like 300 "dollars" and I'm like "what? Oh..." But things are actually pretty cheap here, it's nice.

5) They (well not everyone, but some) just can't even handle a white person speaking Chinese; they think it's so cool.

6) The traffic lights are sideways (or ours are sideways; one of the two). This just gives you a little taste of Taiwan. I wish I could just write forever and remember everything I want to write. But I love it here so much! And the people really are so amazing. You see little amah's (grandma's) riding their bikes or walking their dogs; they're so cute!

Well, know that God is real; I've seen so many miracles in my life (for one, I'm speaking Chinese!) and He has blessed me in so many ways. He has blessed you, and can bless you more if you let him. Tell Him about you life, about your goals, ask Him for help and for strength in your trials. He will be there for you and send angels to comfort and bless you.

Selfie from our balconey

Take care! Lots of love from Taiwan!

-Sister Biancardi