Week #104 The Last Official E-Mail home....

 I can't believe that this is the last weekly email I will be writing. I remember the last thing Wesley said to me before I left the door to go to the MTC was "don't wish it by". At the beginning of my mission two years seemed forever away and I wanted it to go by faster. But I have grown to love this work and my mission so much and I now understand why he said that. Well these past two years haven't been easy, they haven't been perfect, but I have loved it so much and I am so grateful to have been given this opportunity to serve the Lord.

   I want to share about 3 of the greatest things that I learned on my mission and how these things have blessed me.

   1. God truly does have a specific plan for me.

There have definitely been times on my mission where I have wondered why I was called here. There are times when I felt that I had been in an area and made no large effect in anyone's life. But I always made it a habit of mine to pray every time I got a new companion or went to a new area and ask God why it is that he wanted me in this certain place with this certain companion. I asked him to bless me with experiences that would allow me to know why. Most of the experiences that I had were very small. But I know for sure that I was called here by a prophet of God, and I know that God has placed me where he has needed me to be. I have been blessed with many great companions and other missionaries around me that have taught me so much and have helped me become a better missionary and person. I never thought that a lot of my best friends would be people that I met on the mission. I have also been blessed to be placed in the path of many members, investigators, and others that have truly changed my life for the better. And hopefully I was able to have a positive effect in their lives as well. 

   2. The Lord can make more of us than we can ever make of ourselves.

One of my favorite quotes is by C.S. Lewis when he says The Lord says to us "Give me all. I don't want so much of your time, so much of your talents and money, and so much of your work: I want You. All of you. I have not come to torment or frustrate the natural man. But to kill it. No half-measures will do. I don't want to only prune a branch here and another there; rather, I want the whole tree out. Hand it all over to me, give yourself to me and I will make of you a new self in my image. Give me yourself and in exchange I will give you Myself. My will, shall become your will. My heart, shall become your heart." Once I started on the mission I didn't really like talking to people very much. A lot of the things that were involved in doing missionary work took me much further out of my comfort zone than I wanted to be. President Nelson once said "While we know of our mortal problems and pain, He knows of our immortal progress and potential." Although it wasn't easy, I know that as I have done my best to serve everyday with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength; the Lord has blessed me tremendously and changed me into a completely different person. I have faced many trials on my mission, but I know that all of these trials have been part of the Lord's plan in helping me become the type of person that he wants me to be. I know I wouldn't be the person I am today if I hadn't served a mission, or if the mission didn't include some necessary trials. I think Matthew 10:39 says it perfectly "39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." As I have lost myself in the Lord's work, I have been able to find myself and find out who the Lord wants me to become. I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how it has allowed me to completely change.

   3. I know the Gospel is true!

Growing up in the church, I have always believed that it was true. And I truly believe that my testimony wasn't just borrowed from my parents. I had read the Book of Mormon and prayed about it, and I felt that it was true. But on the other hand I felt like my testimony wasn't backed up with too many experiences. Also although I knew it was true, my actions didn't match my testimony. For example I wish I would have spent a lot more time studying the scriptures, or said more sincere prayers, or prepared myself better for the sacrament every week. Coming on a mission has strengthened my testimony more than anything else could have. I have been able to see how the gospel can change lives, and I have seen how my own life has changed as I have grown closer to my Savior. I think coming out of the little bubble of Provo, Utah has really helped me to see the difference in the lives of people with and without the Gospel. As I have studied the Book of Mormon deeper than ever before, and truly communicated with my Heavenly Father, I have been able to gain not only a true testimony, but a firm one. I know the Book of Mormon is true and that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I know that this church is true and that the Gospel ofJesus Christ is the only thing that will being us true happiness in this life and allow us to live with our families for eternity. I have grown to love the Book of Mormon so much and I never want to go another day without reading it. I am so grateful to have been a missionary. It is such a blessing to be able to say that because of my mission experience that I know without a fiber of doubt that the gospel is true!

   Thank you for all of your prayers and support these past two years! Love you all! 

All You Can Eat Place

All You Can Eat Place

All You Can Eat Place

Steak Burger

Week #103

 Well President Teh is officially gone and President Card and his family are in. We are going to a meeting tomorrow to get to know him and his family! I won't get to know them for too long but I'm excited. 

   

Mushroom finally got baptized this week! She got stuck in traffic so she showed up a little late, and then it took a while for the member baptizing her to get in the correct position. But overall it was a great service and the Spirit was really strong! It has been so great to be a part of helping her make this covenant with the Lord. She has made so much progress since I first met her and I have seen her testimony grow as she has relied on the Lord to overcome old habits and start keeping the commandments. It truly does make all of the hard times on a mission worth it! 

   

Sometimes it seems as If time doesn't really exist anymore and I have so many mixed emotions about going home soon. But I'm just extremely grateful for my mission and the experiences that I have had. And I know that the Lord has prepared me for a lifetime of service. 

  

Sorry this is pretty short. But next week will probably be my last email and it will be much better. Love you all!

English Class

Eating at The Harbour

A very large and tasty hamburger made by some aborigine

Mushroom's baptism

Mushroom's baptism

The Harbour

Week #102

This past week was good. We had our final zone conference so that was probably the last time I will see President and Sister Teh here in taiwan. Also we had to give our final reflections. I will send you what I wrote as my last email in a couple of weeks. 

Mushroom is going to get baptized on Friday so we are excited for that. She has been ready for a while now. 

Our other main investigators were out of town this past week so we didn't get to meet with them. 

Some news we have is a girl named Asa, we tracted into her last Sunday and then she said she would take her sister to church this Sunday, well she ended up coming to church with her sister and staying all 3 hours!

Last week we also tracted into this 17 year old kid named Eason. this week we were able to give him a church tour and then he came to the first hour of church. Also turns out one of his classmates is in our stake!

We taught Bonnie and her kids cookie and Leo, the Ong family had them go to their house for dinner and they fed us Mexican food, after we were able to share the plan of salvation with them! Cookie who is 8 was really focused. 

Another is Aaron. We have taught him the 1st lesson. He is a very smart man, he studied at the best college here in taiwan. He has a huge desire to learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ. He came to church with us on Sunday and stayed for all 3 hours, the bad news he dropped on us is that he is moving to Taipei next week so we will pass him over to the missionaries up there. After sacrament meeting he leaned over to Elder Griffin and asked in English "What were you thinking about during the sacrament?" he told him he was recommiting myself to serve the Lord, then he asked him what he was thinking about and he said "I was thinking about Jesus and about how he gave the sacrament to his apostles." He is great!

Dinner With Edison. He works at a restaurant that we like to go to and he always gives us free stuff 

Giant Apple

It rained a tooooooooooon this week!

lunch with one of Elder Griffins old investigators

We now make Mexican food for Sunday dinner

Zone Conference

Week #101

 This week was a pretty good one! One of the highlights was I got a Taiwanese bible. There are some Christian churches in Taiwan that have church in Taiwanese instead of Mandarin. And so there bible is in a romanized form of Taiwanese (cause there is no real written form). I asked a member where I could buy one, and then she just went and bought me one. I can't read it (neither can most Taiwanese people), but it is still super cool. 

   

We met with Mushroom twice this week and it went well. She is looking good for her baptism on the 29th. When we met with her we talked about how the devil will try to tempt her a lot before her baptism. And it went well, but then she didn't come to church on Sunday like she said she would. And we won't be able to meet with her for a while because she is going to Japan for a week, so we are a tiny bit worried but everything should work out. 

   

We met with Ruby twice this week also. The first time we finished teaching gospel of Jesus Christ and she was asking a lot about baptism. She was basically just asking to be invited to be baptized, but then one of the members that was with us wouldn't stop talking and we had another lesson to get to so we didn't get to the invite.  Then we set up later that week to have a lesson over video call, but then she could only talk on the phone instead.  But we were still able to set a baptismal goal with her for July 7th! Her faith in Jesus Christ has increased so much since I first met her. She went from not even knowing who he is to wanting to be baptized in just a couple of weeks. The gospel is so amazing! 

   

We also met with Clarkson twice and he came to church on Sunday. He has been smoking less and his desire to be baptized just continued to grow all the time. 

  

Linda also came to church this week and we have almost finished teaching her all of the lessons! She is doing great!

   

We found a new investigator Named Aaron. He is a college student and super awesome! He had already been reading the Book of Mormon quite a bit. And really wants to come to church, so we are excited to keep meeting with him.

   Love you all!

2 years later

all you can eat BBQ- again!

basketball for pday

Mango Ice

Taiwanese Bible

Teaching English

Tracting in the rain

Week #100 !!!

I'm sorry but from now on my weekly emails will probably be really short. Because 1. I have no desire to write long ones 2. Elder Griffin and I need to maximize our Pdays 3. I'll be seeing you in 5 weeks!

   

But this week was great! Elder Griffin are just having a great time. Our investigators are doing good and we found an awesome family!

  

 Mushroom has a new baptismal goal for the 29th. She is sooooo close to to having enough courage to talk to her parents. She is planning on doing it today so we will see. But she came to church yesterday and is doing great! 

  

 Linda also came to church.  She is doing great! Her aunt basically said that she needs to finish all of the lessons and then decide whether or not she wants to be baptized. But we started the commandments this week and she is doing good. She probably won't have an official baptismal goal, but she will probably get baptized. 

   

Ruby also came to church. Because of her busy work schedule it is hard to Read the Book of Mormon every day. But her desire to read has improved so much. And she really loves the principal of repentance and forgiveness. We are hoping to give her a baptismal goal this week. 

   

We were able to meet with Clarkson twice this week. He is doing really great! He is really looking forward to his baptism and committed to live the world of Wisdom!

   

Also this week we contacted a mom and her daughter and then the next day met with them and her other son. Her name is Bonnie and she is Christian. She was interested in the differences between our churches.  She is really interested in the Book of Mormon. They are coming to English and we will meet with them next week!

   

This week at church a recent convert gave a talk for the first time. And she gave it on recycling and plastic. "If you can't reuse it, refuse it". She at least read from D&C 89.

   

That's about it for the week! Love you all! 

A member gave us a bunch of mangoes

All you can eat place

Getting our bikes fixed

Exchanges with Elder Councill

The youth in our ward

Week #99

 Can you believe that it's already the beginning of my last transfer! Where has all the time gone?!? 

I will be staying here in AnDing, and you will never believe who my new companion is... It's Elder Griffin! (For those of you that don't know, Elder Griffin started his mission the same time as me and we have been super great friends Since the MTC). 
Since we were going into our last transfer we figured we had nothing to lose so we asked President Teh if we could be companions for the last transfer. He told us that he would bring it up with the Lord. We had hope but we didn't really expect it to happen. We were super surprised when we got the call, but it must mean that the Lord truly does have a work here for us to do together. We are going to make this the best transfer yet. It's going to be so much fun!

  

 This mission said goodbye to lots of great missionaries this transfer. Two of my college roommates Elder Huang and Elder Daines. And also one of my best friends Elder Hansen (the one I was trained with) They will be missed. It is honestly just blowing my mind that's it's already been 2 years. 

  

 There isn't too much to update about investigators this week. Right now a lot of them are having a hard time consistently keeping commitments. For the second Sunday in a row we had at least 4 investigators say they were going to come to church and then nobody showed up. 

  

 When we met with Mushroom this week she said she wanted to talk to her parents first before she decides what to do with her boyfriend. Because of she just moves out with her boyfriend then her parents will be curious and so she just wants to talk to them first. But then at the same time she won't go and do it. 

   

We met with Clarkson and again and he is still doing well. Sometimes it is hard to meet with him because Filipinos work schedules are also super hard. But literally every time he prays with us he just instantly feels the Spirit. It's pretty amazing.  

  

Hopefully we can help everyone keep their commitments. Love you all!

Curry

lunch with the Ong family and some people they served missions with

Our new investigator Kevin

Sis. Zhou, Bro and Sis. Lin, Bro. Zhou

This is what happens when I tract after working out...

Week #98

 Hello everybody! Long time no see. Mushroom did not end up getting baptized this week because on the weekends she lives with her boyfriend. She is having a hard time talking to him about it. They have talked about it but she won't like TALK to him about it. So we are hoping that she can find the faith and courage to do so. Also we were supposed to have 4 people at church this week and then 0 came to sacrament meeting (mushroom came to the first part). So that definitely wasn't the best part about this week. 

   

This week I had my final interview ever with President Teh. It has been such a great experience being able to receive counsel from him. He has taught me so much in these two years and has helped me change for the better. This interview we mostly talked about not getting trunky... don't worry I'm doing fine.

   

We tracted into 2 super cool people this week. The first one is Kevin. He and his wife wanted to join a Christian church but they just didn't have the time. We have already been talking to him over text about how God is our Heavenly Father and he is really excited to meet with us. The next one is Jeff. His wife is a Christian and he is pretty interested in learning. we were able to teach him on his doorstep and pray with him. We are meeting with the both of them next week.

  

 This week's Christlike attribute was hope. The greatest hope that Jesus Christ gives us is that we don't have to dwell in the past. Through His Atonement we can repent and look to the future with a brightness of hope. Love you all!

   

3 trunky missionaries

all you can eat BBQ

me in the middle of nowhere

my new favorite saying

our new mission leader Brother Zou

The Ruan Family

Week #97

a guy with a big unicycle

pizza made for us by members

taiwanese breakfast

This week was super great! We were only able to find one new investigator this week, but our other investigators are doing really well.
   We met with Mushroom twice this week. The first time we just went over the baptismal interview questions and everything went super well. Then the second time we met we talked a little more about the covenant of baptism. And she just felt like she wasn't prepared. I think for her part of it was just a little fear, but then there are some other areas that she felt she was really prepared. So we invited her to pray about it, and when she came to church yesterday she told us that she felt she was going to get an answer in the next couple of days. So she decided to do the baptismal interview on Tuesday and then depending on how that goes see whether or not she wants to get baptized on Saturday. So keep praying that she will be able to receive that confirmation from the Spirit.
   

We also met with Clarkson twice this week, and I had two of the coolest experiences that I have had on my entire mission. So last week when we met with him, we invited him to pray about the Book of Mormon. This week when we met he told us that the night he prayed about the Book of Mormon he had a super scary dream and he woke up with a lot of fear, and he wasn't really sure what it meant or what it had to do with anything. So we met with him and we talked about prayer, and the Spirit and different things. Then we invited him to say the closing prayer. After he got done saying the prayer, he started to kind of shake a little bit and he said he had goosebumps all over his body. He just couldn't really explain the feeling but it was so strong. Then he came to church on Sunday and we met with him afterwards. We talked about the experience and he shared that he still wasn't sure what it meant. He said he felt the same feelings as soon as he walked into the church, but the feelings kind of scared him a little bit because he had never felt anything like this before, let alone this strong. And he had been to different churches but never felt anything like this. So we talked again about the Holy Ghost and what his role is and stuff like that. Then at the end when we asked him to say the prayer, he couldn't even really speak because of how strong the Spirit was. And then when he finally started to say the prayer he just started crying. I have never seen anybody feel the Spirit so strongly before, especially an investigator. It was an amazing experience watching the Spirit touch his heart.
  

 剛剛好 there are 9 Christlike attributes in chapter 6 of PMG. And as of last I week had 9 weeks left on my mission. So I decided to do a deep study of one attribute each week and work really hard to apply that attribute. This week was faith in Jesus Christ. Something that I really like in PMG is when it says when you have faith in Christ "you accomplish what the Lord wants you to accomplish". A big part of having faith in Jesus Christ is making him the center of our lives and trying to align our will with his. When we do this, we will do the things that are pleasing unto the Lord, and those things in the end will make us happier! Love you all!