From Lauren Barden in Taiwan - Sept. 15, 2013

Dearest Family!
 
    This week we attended Zone Conference in the mountains! I was SOO grateful to our mission president and the assistants for doing all the work necessary to plan activites and logistics so we could have this day out in the beautiful Taiwanese countryside. The green carpeted mountains rose into misty, mystical clouds as the deep blue ocean stretched out below our panoramic view. I desperately miss running outdoors so this experience truly seemed to soothe my soul. This island is truly spectacular. One of the best parts of Zone Conference was getting to talk to beloved Sister Edwards while we hiked! I LOVE HER! She is currently in the North Zone and I am thrilled I get to see her at all our Zone training meetings. We always discuss other Jerusalem friends, things we've learned since coming on island and especially profound miracles we've experienced in our repsective areas. I still can't believe God assigned us to be roommates in Jerusalem before sending us to the same mission. She's such a special friend. I love her light and her joy!!
 
   I also have some funny stories to share... Each Wed. we go to a nearby hospital to serve some of the children waiting for doctor appointments. While there, one of the workers wanted us to try a traditional moon cake in honor of the big holiday next week. She cut up two pieces and offered them to us. I took a bite and then proceeded to gather our things while Sister Tracy quickly scarfed the whole piece. The worker then told us that the moon cake was a GREEN TEA moon cake. Ha! I will never forget Sister Tracy's surprised face! We've been laughing about it all week.
 
    We experienced a big miracle this Friday. Navigating in Asia is.... interesting. Hen Hao wan. (This means a really good time!) Asian streets are very much a labyrinth. Many of them have very similar names and are not set on an angular grid. They twist and wind and....they are all marked by characters! (aka I do not understand them) I've taken to writing down the phonetic equivalent of the address I am told and then I ask as many people as I can how to get to "the phonetic name of the street". Most of the time, it works! However, this friday, we were not able to find the home of an LA the bishop asked us to visit. We were going in circles in the dark and asking many confused passerbys about the location of her street. I'd prayed really hard that morning asking God to help me to know where we needed to go that day but I was feeling lost and a little discouraged. We continued to search in the dark when an "angel" on a motorcycle stopped and asked what street we were looking for!  He told us he hadn't heard of the street but he would drive around on his motorcycle and help us look for it. Truly remarkable. 5-10 minutes later he returned and told us he had found the street. What a blessing! We visited this dear sister (who says she hasn't let sisters visit her in years) and will help her get a priesthood blessing from the Elders tonight. I am so grateful for angels.. especially those who are cool enough to ride motorcycles!
 
    As I work as hard as I can to take care of JiLong and compensate for all of my weaknesses as a new missionary, I'm continuing to ponder a quote taken from on of my favorite talks. Elder Christofferson referenced a beautiful statement by Thomas Carlyle. He quotes " All true work is sacred; in all true work, were it but true hand-labour, there is something of divineness. Labour, wide as the Earth, has its summit in heaven."
 
   Don't be afraid to work hard. Just as our long hike through the Taiwanese mountains allowed us to reach a jaw-droppingly stunning summit, when we give life everything we have we will reach that heavenly summit that we hope and yearn for with all our hearts.
 
   I love you all so much. Keep climbing!
 
Sister Barden