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!

Week #96

We got a short letter this week but that's OK because we got to Skype with him!
He said that it was great to see everyone and Mushroom has gone awhile without drinking tea and she came to church so she should be getting baptized on the 27th!
He sends his love and Happy Mothers Day to everyone!

(LtoR) Cushing, Petersen, Perkins, Griffin, Bosco, Sano

ChiMei museum with Elder Griffin

Mango and Watermelon Ice

This guy playing pokeman with 5 phones

TGIFridays

Youth Activity

His testimony

Week #95

 Another really solid week her in the 定. We had a couple of investigators drop off this week, which is always sad. Brother Cai said he just wanted to start going to a Christian church by his house to start learning about Jesus. Also Jesse and Sally just didn't really have interest and weren't really wanting to keep commitments. Also Alex has recently just kind of disappeared. But we were also able to find a couple of new really cool investigators this week!
   The first one is Ruby. She kind of self contacted us at a stop light last Monday. She used to go to English class and learned how to pray there, but she tried praying for a week and didn't really feel any difference so she felt that God might not exist. But we met with her and talked more about Heavenly Father and prayer. She is very willing to give it another shot. 
   Then there is Clarkson. He is from the Philippines, and was referred to us by a member of another ward in our stake. One day he saw some weird YouTube video about how Eve wasn't Adams real first wife or something like that, and because he knew that this one member went to church he asked her about it. She helped him understand and then told him to meet with us. He is just really confused sometimes about all of the different doctrine. When we met with him we shared about the Book of Mormon and he was super excited to read it and learn more. He has already been reading it and asking us questions!
   The last one is Phil. Elder Bethers and I contacted him a couple of weeks ago. He owns an art studio in our area. His wife is Christian but he doesn't really have any specific beliefs. As we were meeting with him he stated that he had lots of questions and things that confused him, and a lot of what he said can easily be answered through the Restoration and Plan of Salvation. Phil has a desire to know truth, and has lots of potential. But there are also some things that I'm afraid will hold him back. One is that his wife isn't the biggest fan of us and our church. Another is he hasn't had great experiences with other Christian churches. 
    We decided to move Mushroom's baptism goal back to the 26th to give her a little more time to prepare. She told us that this week she has really been trying to find different things she can drink to replace tea. She also said that sometimes her desire to be baptized is really high, but other times it is really low. We shared with her about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and promised her that as she begins to feel the power of His Atonement, her desire will truly begin to grow. 
    We also set a baptism goal with Linda for the 26th! She was a little hesitant because she has just started meeting with us and still does not understand a lot. But she has great faith. We started a scripture study group with her, her brother, and a couple of other youth in the ward. We shared the Restoration with her and she told us that she believes in Joseph Smith's first Vision. I'm really excited to keep teaching her! 
    One thing that I have really been working on this week is Charity. It is really easy just because I am serving here to say things like "I love Taiwan" or "I love the Taiwanese people", but honestly sometimes it can be really hard to feel that way. Especially when people reject you multiple times a day with the same lame excuses. It can be really easy to have feelings of resentment and anger. But one thing I have been working really hard on is making a conscious effort to not make negative comments towards others no matter what they do or say to me. I have realized that as I have made this effort, not only have my words began to change, but also my thoughts and feelings. I honestly have felt so much more love for the people this week and it makes missionary work so much happier. I know that I am going to miss this place in a couple of months and I am really cherishing the time that I have left here. Love you all!

lunch with Phil

The people that own the soup dumpling place

soup dumplings

Tainan Zone

Taichung Mission