Week #16

This week has been pretty hard. It was probably the most tired that I have been on the mission, and we weren't having any luck contacting this week. But I am starting to pick up a little bit more of what is going on language wise.

But one great thing about Taiwan is ba fang. It is a restaurant and you can get like 15 potstickers for $2. So thats always something I can count on.

This week when we were teaching English we taught two classes because one of the sisters that teaches the other class was in the hospital (don't worry she is ok). There was a ton of people there and it was really fun. After English we always have a spiritual share and in this one we talked about our spirit and what affects our spirit. We had 4 of our investigators there and when we were talking about what affects our spirit, they were saying like tea and coffee and stuff so that was cool. We also had a lady there who self contacted us about my second week here, then she would never set up to meet with us. She does not live in our area, but she is meeting with us soon and will hopefully meet with the elders in her area.

One day we were at a 7 doing some calls and language study, and we saw one of our investigators there. all she had with her was her Book of Mormon, study journal, and some pamphlets we gave her. She has been really studying the Book of Mormon. At first she read it because she wanted to learn the history, but now I really think it is affecting her in more of a spiritual way.

 We did some district finding so me and Elder Hansen (the other trainee in my district) contacted together. That was definitely a Gift of Tongues experience. I was able to understand most of what people were saying, and I was actually able to have a conversation with them. Which, in case you are wondering, is not the case in most situations. It was something that I didn't really notice, but as I thought about it after I realized how amazing the Gift of Tongues is.

 We got a new Bishop this week, and About 5 families are moving (which is quite a chunk of our ward) so we will see what happens there.

 A really good scripture from this week that I read was in Jacob 7:4-5 Although Sherem was perfectly learned in the language, Alma had the Spirit with him, so he was more powerful of a teacher. Something that I have learned is that it does not matter how much of the language I know if I do not have the Spirit with me. The Spirit is able to testify to the people that I teach regardless of my language ability. So I am always striving to have the Spirit with me, because that is the only way to be a successful missionary. -
Thank you for all of your prayers and support.
Love, Elder Bosco

 Smokey Joes Restaurant

 Me and Charles

 Some old guy feeding these massive fish 

 Ba Fang 

Week #15

   This week we had mission tour, and president Funk (Asia are president) came and talked to us. The majority of the meeting was focused on the Book of Mormon. A lot of the time when we talk to people they tell us about how they think every religion is the same and that they are all good. The Book of Mormon is powerful evidence that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Christ's true church on the earth today. It is amazing to me that there is something that we can hold with our own hands, and read, that can tell us how we can obtain eternal life and live in God's presence again. And we have a loving Heavenly Father that through prayer allows us to find out for ourselves if this book is true or not. If you have not yet prayed to know if the Book of Mormon is true, I would invite you to do that. If you have already done that then I would invite you to do it again! Our testimony of the Book of Mormon can never be too strong. The Book of Mormon can have personal applicability to our lives everyday!

   

  We were sitting in a 7 one day and some guy right outside the window was trying to steal the light off of my bike, until he realized we were just watching him and he acted like he hadn't done anything, then he just continued to ask everyone that walked by him for a cigarette. 

  

 I ate dou hua (soy bean stuff) again, and this time it was a lot better, still pretty bad, but a lot better. I am definitely still not used to some of the food here, but there is a lot of good good food. 

   

Something that I have definitely learned is that missionary work is a lot more than just going around and talking to people. And it goes so much smoother when members are involved. I would invite all of you to think of someone that could use the Gospel (which is everyone) and invite them to meet with you and the missionaries. I know that it is hard and a little awkward, it is still that way for me and it is something that I have been called to do. But the work is progressing faster than it ever has, and it is going to take both members and missionaries to keep up with it!

   

We were able to set 2 baptismal goals this week. One was with an 11 year old whose mom is a member, but her dad is less active. And another goal with a guy we met on the street, me with him once, and then he cam to church and said that he wanted to be baptized. We still need to teach him a lot and he needs to do some things, but he is super willing and I am very excited for him.

  

 My last word of wisdom for this letter is that Chinese is hard. 

Love you all!

  Elder Bosco                                                                                             

​ Views from Mei Shu Guan

 New Christmas Lebron Jersey

​ Mexican food in Taiwan 

Elder Heath and our ward member Kirby

​ 85 floor building (they are building one with 120 floors)

Week #14

This week I officially hit my month mark in Taiwan. Time is flying by pretty fast, but I still got a lot more work to do.

This week I had the opportunity to go on 2 different exchanges. The first was with one of the zone leaders, Elder Frye, and the second was with Elder Graves. Both were very good opportunities to learn from other missionaries.

 This week was super awesome because ZHANG GOT BAPTIZED!! He was really happy and smiling the whole time. It was really awesome because all of his friends (who are investigators) were there, and there was a very special spirit in the room. He also received the Gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday, and after they gave the blessing and confirmation, he just kept smiling. We probably won't see him for a little bit because he is going into the army, but I know that as he continues to pray that the Lord will be with him to help and guide him.

 A lot of this week was generally the same. We have a lot of investigators, but we are just having trouble getting them to meet with us often. And a lot of people never have questions at the end of our message, but they also don't act on our invites and it is really hard sometimes to know if they are interested, or if they are just listening to be nice.

 This week I read a really good talk called The Fourth Missionary. I encourage everyone to go and read this talk, because it applies to everyone and not just missionaries. It talks about how if we are doing things that the Lord asks us to do, but doing it grudgingly, then others can benefit from it, but we won't. If we are doing things that the Lord asks because we want to, and because it is the only logical things to do, then we along with others will reap the benefits. I hope you all get the chance to read this talk.

 Last thing. Do not take your family for granted. If there is one thing I have realized here in Taiwan, is that family is so so so so important. Try to spend as much time with your families as you can and tell them you love them as much as possible. Always be kind to one another and never take them for granted. I love you all and I know this this is truly Jesus Christ's church!
 Elder Bosco

Week #13

Rain. Rain. Rain. and Conference!

Here are some pictures of me and my boy Chen didi

These are the bikes they ride. Ready for them when they got there!

This week was crazy! No typhoon, but it basically rained all day every day. But on the bright side, our apartment got a new washer and a new dryer, so that was pretty awesome.

Also we were able to watch conference this week in English. One of my favorite quotes (Not a direct quote but something like this) "How you see people, is how you will treat them, and how you treat them is how they will become" I am so grateful for all of you who have treated me in such a way that has helped me become the type of person that I am today.

 We had Zone training this week, and we were focusing a lot on the enabling power of the Atonement. One thing that was said that stuck out to me, was they talked about how when we are doubting ourselves (chinese or missionary skills) we are doubting the Lord and his ability to make our weaknesses become strengths. No matter what we are doing in life, the Lord is able to help us to do things that we could never do on our own. Just remember that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us all, and they know each of us personally. Having that knowledge can help us overcome all things.

 One day (full of miracles type of day) we were in the park making calls and this lady came up and started talking to us. she said that she learned English for a long time but that she has nobody to speak it with, so she always takes the opportunity to talk to foreigners. I asked her how many kids she had, and that led to her talking about how she had a son who died from cancer. We talked to her about eternal families and about the resurrection. She said (like most people here) that because she was Buddhist she couldn't change her religion, but she said she had a friend that was in America right now that might be interested so hopefully something good will come out of that.

Later we contacted a referral. They are also Buddhist but they agreed to meet with us, and they are good friends with members in our ward. That same day right before we were about to go home, we decided to knock this row of 4 houses. On the 4th house a man came to the door and said that he was baptized 12 years ago. He now has a wife and 2 kids but we are meeting with them again tonight. I am hoping everything turns out, but definitely an awesome day full of miracles.

 Our investigator zhang should be having his baptism this week, which is really exciting! He still has a little problem with the Word of Wisdom, but he is really trying, and he has a desire to be baptized so I have faith that everything will be ok.

 Saturday and Sunday were just full of General Conference awesomeness.

I truly know that Thomas S. Monson is God's prophet on the earth today. My personal favorite talk was by Russell M. Nelson about Joy. Almost every day on the mission has some sort of different trial or challenge. But I have noticed that as I try and endure those challenges with joy, that I can feel the love and support of my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that he is always there for each and every one of us.
 Elder Bosco

Week #12

    On P-day after I sent out the email we went to a different Island that is right next to where we are. Before we went and had the Mango shaved ice stuff that they have here... SO GOOD! I could just eat it all day.

After we went to the Island to some historical sight thing, and we went up the the top part so we had a super cool view of the city and the ocean. We were walking down this little market thing and the streets were just lined with people all playing pokemon go. Everyone here plays pokemon go all of the time.

         On Tuesday we had a Typhoon. It was crazy how much wind and rain there was. We were just in our apartment all day, so we had time to organize the area book and call a bunch of people. And on Wednesday we went to the church because we had a lesson, and the primary room was wrecked. The typhoon had broken the ceiling. But its all fixed now so everything is good, and the typhoon didn't cause any serious damage.

 We had zone conference this week. President Teh taught us a lot about working with members and finding new investigators. They upped the new investigators standard to 7 a week, so hopefully we can keep up with it. The work of the Lord will keep moving forward no matter what so we just need to keep up with it. Its crazy how much better the work progresses when members are involved. If they already know a little about the church and they already have a friend there, everything just works out better.

 We had some really cool opportunities to meet with people this week. We met with a Less active and his wife who is a part of a different Christian church. They were definitely prepared by the Lord. They committed to read the Book of Mormon, and to pray, and to attend General Conference. Its insane how many little miracles happen everyday, and you don't even realize that they are miracles until you truly think about it later.

 We also met with Zhang again. We talked to him about the Word of Wisdom, and he committed to give up smoking, tea, and coffee. He has a firm testimony of the Book of Mormon, and it really helps him to know that the rest of the commandments come from God. He also brought 4 of his friends to our English class, and they agreed to meet with us, so we met with them on Sunday after church (only 3 cause 1 had work) and they all accepted baptismal dates! It was awesome, and we had a recent convert there who bore testimony to them.

 Sunday was Elder Hansen's Birthday so on Saturday Brother Ye (the one that does everything for us) his mom took us out to dinner at that Hamburger place. She is not a member so we were able to share a message with her about prayer and how it has helped our lives.

 Sunday was my first fast Sunday in Taiwan! We had 7 investigators at church! 2 of them sadly don't live in our area. The testimonies that were born were super good (even though I didn't really understand them, my companion later translated them).

 I still have no idea what anyone is ever saying to me. During lessons I either have no idea what is going on, or my companion just kind of translates for me as they go. But I love this place, and I know that the Lord's work is moving forward here. I have seen the Lord bless me in so many ways (and I know I haven't even seen most of the ways). The people here are the best, and I am so grateful that I can spend these next 2 years serving them. One of my favorite scriptures talks about how we can serve the Lord all of the days of our lives and we will still be indebted to him. It reminds me that even though I should be out here just based on the fact that it is a tiny tiny repayment of what the Lord has given me, but that he still loves me enough to help me, and to know the things that I am going through and to help me overcome those things.
Thank you all for your prayers and support!
 Elder Bosco