Transfer 16 - Week 5

Well family and friends this will be my last rally before I head back home to the freezing depths of a Utah Winter. I hope what I write will sufficiently express all that I want to concerning the past two years. It is also my hope that perhaps this email will makeup for all of my previous emails, which were usually written in haste and without much thought. 

Yesterday was one of the best days of my mission. Coming towards the end of my mission, I was starting to think of all of the people I've taught and served with for the past two years and if I had really helped them or not, if I had actually touched them or not. It may be safe to assume that all missionaries have similar thoughts. Or maybe it's just me! In any case, these were the thoughts in my head as I was biking to church for the last time. Upon arriving, Wang Jian Xing was there as always and his wife came too! They kept telling me how grateful they are and how much they want to come to the Salt Lake Temple with me in a few years but I kept reminding Sister Wang that she needs to get baptized first. We chatted for a while and then my uncle and grandma came! They gave me some gifts and things to take back to family, in particular was a calligraphy scroll that my uncle himself wrote of the scripture John 16:33, one of my favorite scriptures. It's an incredible piece of art. He told me he spent three solid months practicing this style of calligraphy to perfect it, and then, in one sitting, used all of his focus to write it out. He then dyed the scroll using tea leaves to give it a ancient, archaic, almost tattered look and I assure you, it's amazing. I visited the National Palace Museum a few weeks back and the calligraphy scrolls they had in there look exactly like the one my uncle made for me. It's wonderful. 

Another great thing about yesterday is that one of my old friends from when I was serving in Bade came! Brother Fu, his wife and their adopted daughter from Singapore. He had no idea that I was leaving so soon but told me he felt like he should come up and visit me in Neihu! We had a good little reunion and they also told me they want to visit the States in a couple years. I told them when they come they can definitely look me up and I'll cook them up some fried rice at Green Panda! Oh ya!

One other little cool particle was that I received a letter from one of my recent converts while I was in Daxi, Chen Hui Jin. In it she wrote that she was grateful that I taught her the Gospel and that since then she had shared the Gospel with one of her friends and she had since been baptized as well. She included a picture of the baptism and at the bottom wrote,"Thank you Elder Hagedorn!" It was a sweet moment to know that the Gospel had truly started to change her life, not to mention my own. 

I gave my last testimony in church and a nice thing about it is that the bishopric started a new little theme for the month of December which is "Worshiping Christ through Music" so a large portion of the meeting was just listening to musical numbers and it was awesome. Music is fantastic. Perhaps my best church meeting ever.

Regarding the past two years, my English has probably regressed to the point of no return but if it so irretrievable, so be it. I don't think there is any other thing I've done before that has been more fulfilling or gratifying. Yet the main feeling I get now is not one of pride or accomplishment, but of gratitude and realization of a never ending duty. I'm incredibly thankful that I've been counted worthy to serve a mission and blessed enough to be in a situation that I could have this opportunity. There is so much good to be done in the world and serving a mission has helped me realize that these deeds need to be done by all of us, that we all have ample opportunity to do good, and much of it. I've gained a testimony of God and I know he lives. He knows what is best for us and as long as we trust in him, we will gain the happiness and confidence that cannot come by any other way. As his children, we our filled with potential that can only be unlocked through faith in his son, Jesus Christ. Through study and experience, I have felt the reality of the mission of the Savior and it is my hope that I will forever be counted one of his disciples, despite my many imperfections and mistakes. I've learned how to love people simply because they are people; I've realized that the light of Christ is within every single person and there is much to learn; And I've seen that through Christ, we really can, as he has, "overcome the world." 

Oh, and I can speak a little Chinese now, too. 

I love you all. 

Love,

Elder Hagedorn

Wang Jian Xing and his wife! 

Thanksgiving. Costco Pizza. 

​Yep. End of mission. 

Transfer 16 - Week 4

Well first off, our investigator Chen Xin Hua quit coffee and tea cold! We taught her the Word of Wisdom, knowing she drinks tea and coffee, and when we committed her to follow it she just said,"Ya I can do that. I just need to find some drinks to replace them." So we suggested hot chocolate and fruit tea. She said she'll do it! She's a boss. She's probably not going to get baptized until after I leave, however. But it's ok! It's pretty crazy, a lot of members and investigators and stuff are starting to want to take us out to eat, I've actually been full recently! As of late, Elder Kennedy and I have been working on Chinese a good amount. I realized the other day that I've been here for 2 years and my Chinese isn't too shabby, so I told Elder Kennedy that I'm going to start helping his out and that might mean I'll be correcting him a lot, but he said it'd be good so we've started to read the Book of Mormon out loud together every morning and any time he says something wrong, I correct it. Luckily he's so humble! I feel I wouldn't take correction very well... He's also going to pass off Phase 1 next week! So things are going well and we're just trying to work hard and find those prepared! 

Transfer 16 - Week 3

Good news! Sister Wang came back from Zhong Shan so stay with her husband Wang Jian Xing! So we went to visit them a few days ago and we taught her the Plan of Salvation. 

Turns out her son, a returned missionary, would try and teach her many years ago and she still remembers most of it so when we taught her she could grasp the concepts and it essentially wasn't new material to her, but this gave us opportunity to answer some of her questions she's had while reading the scriptures. Overall it was a very good lesson, though slightly rushed, due to the fact that the two of them love to talk, not to mention the occasional bicker that old couples seem so prone to falling into, keeping us from sharing everything regarding baptism so we decided to wait on the invite. She's looking very good though and she will be baptized for sure. We're still working with a few other investigators and they're all doing very well too. Chen Xin Hua has gotten to the commandments and we're meeting with her in a few days to teach her about the Sabbath as well as the Word of Wisdom, cross your fingers! I get the feeling that she's a tea drinker. But so is everyone. Anyway, we've got some big lessons coming up and we're excited to get these people going! We're also going to a Pizza Hut buffet too so be excited for me. 

Love you all! 

Transfer 16 - Week 2

I'll start with the bad news first. The Brother Zhu, who I mentioned last week with the baptismal date you remember? He's long gone. His phone number is non-existent as of a few days ago.

But, Wang Jian Xing's wife is coming back this Wednesday so we'll be able to meet with her!! We were talking to Wang Jian Xing about it at church and many of the members were excited about it too and we're saying, "Oh, I'll help you teach her, just give me a call!". We're pretty excited to teach her, needless to say. The weather was not ideal this week, coming down in sheets of rain, but it was nice to almost feel cold. We met with many less actives this week, them springing up out of nowhere and wanting to come back to church. Two of them came to church this week! More should be coming back next week, as we continue to work with the members in fellowshipping them. 

Looking forward to another good week! 

Transfer 16 - Week 1

It was a good week! Just yesterday we found a new investigator and met with him, teaching him the Restoration and inviting him to baptism. The awesome thing is that he accepted our invite and said he is willing to start praying and reading the Book of Mormon to prepare for baptism! We gave him the date of November 29, the last Saturday of November and what will also be the last Saturday of my mission. I really really hope that we can help him progress and that he will be able to make his date. It would be a miracle! His name is Zhu Dixiong and he said he ran into missionaries about a year ago and they talked to him a little bit but because he was busy with work he wasn't able to meet with him. Now, he has more free time and we perfectly happened to call him a few days ago from an old sheet of phone numbers. We met with him yesterday after church and he's awesome! 

We're also still working with a good amount of less actives too. One of them, Wang Wei Han came to church yesterday! The main thing with these less actives is not so much teaching them about the Gospel, because they all understand it pretty well, it's more trying to find them friends in the ward and integrate them into the ward smoothly. It's a working progress.

Last night we went to Taipei for the monthly new member fireside and I ran into some old investigators from my second area, Xinzhuang, whom I didn't remember. Worth mentioning is their names: Sam and Gimley. They remembered me so they came up to me and started chatting but I couldn't remember who they were. After we talked a minute I started to remember, after all, who could forget those names? Turns out a few months ago they got baptized! I also ran into some other old members from the same ward and it was great to talk to them. It's definitely a humbling blessing to be able to look back and know that you left a good impression. Love you all! 

Transfer 15 - Week 6

Alright so this is going to be quick because today has been a bit rushed due to travel to the temple but this last week and beginning of this week were good! We're still working with those less actives and they are still doing really well. 

Brother Chen shared the full story about his experience about coming back to church. He was diagnosed with cancer and after fighting it for years and being hospitalized, he was feeling a bit reflective about life in general. Right as he walked out his front door to go for a walk, us missionaries biked by and he knew he had to come back to church. This happened about a month ago. We have been struggling with investigators but we have been able to find one good one. Her name is Chen Xin Hua and she's a super funny lady with a lot of faith in God. The only thing is she has faith in all gods. So this week we hope to be able to focus her faith in gods to faith in Heavenly Father. Again, this email is going to be short but we're excited for this coming week and I'll make sure to get a better email off next week! 

Transfer 15 - Week 5

Well this week we saw a couple little miracles with less active members! The first is a college student who was actually baptized when she was 10 and remained active for a few years but when the rest of her family she also did. Now, about ten years later she's in college and has started to feel that she needs to go back to her childhood church because she misses the good feelings she used to have. She tells us that she's been feeling like she doesn't have direction and wants to come back to church. 

Another man is in a similar situation. He showed up at church yesterday so we started talking to him and he told us that about a month ago he saw us missionaries riding on our bikes and felt that maybe he should go to church. A couple weeks after that, he saw us again and had the same feeling. Yesterday he woke up and resolved that he needed to come to church and that's when we saw him Sunday morning! We're excited to start working with them and see them become active! We're still working with Wang Jian Xing's wife but it's been slower because she went out of town this week to see a doctor in another city. We're praying that she'll come back soon because she tends to stay with family for at least a few weeks when she goes to the city. Meanwhile we've just been keeping in touch over the phone but we're definitely looking forward to when she gets back so we can start to really help her progress. 

Love you all! 

Transfer 15 - Week 4

It was a great week! It rained pretty much the whole week, apparently there was a small typhoon so that was enjoyable. "And the rains came down, and the floods descended..." 

I also have a new companion! His name is Elder Kennedy and he's from Riverton, Utah. Just up the way from us Provo dwellers. He will probably be my last companion. He also just got out of training so it'll be fun to "break" him. Conference was great! I particularly liked Christofferson, Callister and Klebingat's talks. The message I got from them is that I can't have any excuses, I must do my best and be diligent and to trust in the gospel and the Lord. This week was a little difficult with the new companion and the rain but we definitely saw some miracles. 

We're working with our RC's, Wang Jian Xing's, wife and she is great! She came to church yesterday for conference and she loved it! When we taught her a few days before about prophets and that we would have the opportunity to hear him on Sunday she said, " Oh, it's probably very important to this guy!" Also as part of the general conference Sunday, the ward had a little lunch in between sessions so it was a perfect opportunity for her to get to know some of the members and mingle with them. We hope she will get baptized in the middle of next month! On Saturday night we knocked into a middle age lady and invited her to church. Sunday morning came along and she was there! We're going to see her tonight so that was a cool little miracle. I'll let you know the outcome next week. Besides Sister Wang, our other investigators are kind of wallowing about so we'll try and set them straight but our real hopes are more towards new investigators. On Sunday night, with about 20 minutes left on the night, we were contacting in the rain and started talking to a graduate student. We taught him about God and prayer and he set up a time to meet with us this week! I also feel my companion and I are starting to get a little more comfortable with each other, not to say we weren't before, but now we're starting to get some good unity! Exciting stuff. Looking forward to another great week! 

Love you all! 

Transfer 15 - Week 3

Well this last week was good! We've started to work with our recent convert, Wang Jian Xing 王 建興's wife and she's really good! Just last night they both attended Taipei's monthly new convert fireside and they really enjoyed it. A missionary sang "I know that My Redeemer Lives" and Sister Wang said she was very touched. 

Our other investigators, Brother Guan and Sister Gao are kind of floating around. We met with them but Brother Guan is very busy and goes out of town every weekend so his progression is slow and Sister Gao won't pray because she had a supernatural experience a few years ago and is afraid to pray. Still working with them though! We're definitely very excited to be working with 王 建興's wife. My companion Elder Chalmers is moving tomorrow! So I'll be getting what will probably be my last companion. We're recently been trying to talk to people on the street about families and family history but we haven't had much success. It's hard to convince people that ancestors are important! We also met a couple that wasn't too bad. A Michael and Sister Zou. Boyfriend and girlfriend. The boyfriend, whom we contacted a few nights before, had no interest but he brought his girlfriend to our appointment and she said she would be baptized if she felt it was true! When she said she would be baptized, the look on her boyfriend's face was priceless. The only problem is that we only have the boyfriend's number so when we've called he just rejects it. Hopefully we can get in touch with her! Looking forward to this new week and a new companion! 

Love you all! 

Transfer 15 - Week 2

It was a good week! We went on a big outdoor conference Friday together with the East and West Zones. We hiked partway up a mountain and along the way read scriptures, talked about missionary stuff, sang hymns, etc. It was very nice. I also got the chance to bear my testimony to all the missionaries there because I'm going home soon so that was strange. 

We're currently working with 2 good investigators. The first is Brother Guan. He's getting a new job right now so he's been very busy finishing up his last job as well as organizing his new job. We've been able to meet with him only once but he's been reading the Book of Mormon everyday and we keep in touch daily by phone. We should be able to meet with him this week and we're really hoping we'll be able to take advantage of the opportunity by inviting the Spirit so he can feel the difference. The second investigator is Sister Gao. She is a very eccentric, funny lady. She questions all things questionable and it's fun to answer questions and then watch her go, "Ohhhh... That makes sense!" We had a member help us teach her and they got along really well so our member has started to text her scriptures, invite her to church, etc and it's really good. We feel we'll see a lot of progress with them this week and they'll become progressing investigators. 

The weather has started to cool down and it's super nice to be able to contact people without sweat dripping down all over my face like some sort of monster that just emerged from a swamp. I think people are more willing to talk to us at least. Yep so we're having a good time and really just trying to find those prepared people. I must apologize this email is terribly organized but things are going well. 

Love you all! 

Transfer 15 - Week 1

Well, I'm 21. On the day of my birthday we were contacting on the street and came across an older woman. Not hiding her negative feelings for us, she said she could never believe our book and that us, with the rest of the Mormons, are going to Hell. I wasn't very disturbed, perhaps more amused, so we wished her a good night and went on to the next person to contact. The next woman told us that we had the countenance of Christ upon us and was very moved at our sincerity. She was a devout Buddhist, however. But what a contrast! 

Elder Chalmers would later call it a tender mercy. The first lady's remarks remind me of something the prophet Joseph Smith once said,"The difference between us and the other Christian churches is that they believe we are going to Hell and we believe that they can be saved." Something like that anyway. I think the world just needs a bit more understanding, tolerance and love. I think that lady will be ok. 

We found 1 new investigator! Not an incredibly impressive number but he's awesome! We invited him to baptism and he very sincerely said he is willing to be baptized. His name is Brother Guan and he says he's been wondering about the existence of a God. We told him he can know through prayer, as well as following God's Son, Jesus Christ. He was actually a referral. We have been working very hard, talking to many people, wasting no time, yet we didn't actually have any success through our own efforts. Towards the end of the week, we were praying very hard, and got a referral through our phone of this Brother Guan. We feel very blessed to be able to have an opportunity to teach someone as him. 

There was a typhoon last night but it wasn't too severe so we continued to knock some doors. As we would knock on people's doors, they would all say to us,"Sorry! There's a typhoon!" I would be tempted to say,"We're the ones standing outside! We know!" But it was still a good time. Looking forward to this coming week! Love you all!

Transfer 14 -Week 6

It was a good week! I think I always say that. This one was terrific. Missionary work was a bit slower from Monday to Friday and we didn't see much happening: Nobody was picking up their phone, people on the street were ignoring us and no one had time to meet with us. But we kept working hard, prayed harder, set some goals to focus more and on Saturday we were allowed some leeway. We met a "Terry" and he when we met with him he poured out all his life problems and wanted to know how to deal with it all. We taught him about Christ, His Gospel and how following His teachings relieves us of the burdens we all have. He said he's willing to try it out and trusts what we say. We also called this referral a while back and invited him to church. Sunday morning came around and he came! He said he felt very touched that us strangers would reach out and try to bless him with our church. He also said he wants to learn more. The only thing is that the latter doesn't live in our area, he lives in the district over. 

We've set some goals to only speak Chinese to each other and not talk about anything relating to home or "trunky" things. So far so good! We've been really trying hard to focus on the work and do as much as we can in every aspect. Of course, whatever we do isn't much but it's our hope that the Lord will recognize our efforts and give us the opportunity to see miracles. Looking forward to another good week! 

Love you all! 

Transfer 14 - Week 5

Well this last week was a bit slow, to be honest. Our one really gold investigator, Kristin, turned out to have slight infatuations for yours truly so we gave her to the sister missionaries to be taught but she still seems to have interest in the Gospel so that's good. Still waiting on Zheng family to be done with camping and stuff, another 2 1/2 weeks about. We had a new English class student, Sherry who is really good as well. She was asking us questions about how to pray and God and Christ and stuff after English class last week so she's our new investigator and we're pretty excited about her. She left on the weekend for Moon Festival but she comes back tomorrow so we'll be able to meet with her this week. 

This morning when we left the apartment to go out to run as we usually do, we forgot to bring the keys so when we got back we weren't able to get in. We sat outside for a few minutes wondering what to do. We didn't have a phone to use to call anybody and we rang all the doorbells of the apartment complex to get someone to open the door but nobody answered. They were all gone for Moon Festival. We sat down on the steps and thought. I started to pray but didn't want to ask right away because I figured being thankful first is best. I had said a few lines of being grateful when we heard the door behind us open! I guess someone opened the door! We went up to our door, which was also locked, but we found this pipe type of thing that we were able to use to slide behind the first metal barred door, the locked one, and latch it on to the sliding lock thing and open it! Definitely said a prayer of thankfulness afterwards too! Pray and it shall be opened!

So our investigator pool has kind of gone down again, besides a couple people, but our plan this week is simple: Pray! Pray! And Pray more! 

Transfer 14 - Week 4

It was a wonderful week! First, on Thursday we held a mission-wide memorial service for the two Elders that passed away and it was a very nice, spiritual meeting. An MTC buddy, Elder Gibson and I translated for it so it was kind of cool to see each other after all this time because he's been in the southern parts of Taiwan most of his mission. The parents of one of the missionaries sent a letter to the Mission President to read to all of us, it said something like,"Take a few minutes to mourn, to cry and then to smile, for you know that they live on. Now go and continue to preach the Gospel, for you know that they preach on." The meeting gave my companion and I renewed energy and motivation to work hard and we saw many miracles and blessings. We found 7 investigators! 

We've been working with a really really good investigator named Chen Zi Jun. She's an English class student and we've been teaching her for a few weeks now. The other day she was looking at a picture of Jesus (the one where he is holding a lamb) and said,"I don't know why but I really like looking at this picture. I can't stop looking at it." She has a baptismal date on the 27th and she is well on her way to make it. Whoo! Next up is a super awesome family that we found this week, the Zheng family. Just a Dad, Mom and 4 year old daughter. I teach the little kid English class and their daughter has been coming the past couple weeks, brought by her grandma but this past week their parents came too so we chatted with them and they liked us so we visited them a few days later and they are so awesome! You can really feel the love they have for their daughter and they were both very receptive to our first lesson about Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. When we asked if the Dad could pray the daughter said, "I don't want to pray!" And then both the parents both said ,"不行！需要做祷告！“ ("Hey! None of that!") Then we all knelt and said a prayer and it was great! The only thing is that they're literally going camping for the next four weekends and so it will be really hard to find time to meet with them. But they said we can call them and share scriptures and stuff so it shouldn't be too bad. 


We also found this lady who just moved from China a few weeks and we met with her last night. It was a little strange teaching her because she said she's always been taught there is no God and that you can't talk about this sort of stuff in China. So we taught her very simply and in the end she said a prayer of her own! It was really cool to see her pray. It was a very good week and we're pretty excited for this upcoming week. 

Transfer 14 - Week 3

This week was a good one! At the beginning we didn't have any investigators with a baptismal date but now at the end of the week we have 2 and they're both really good. Well, one is really good and the other is on his way to being really good. 

There was some sad news this week, however. There were two missionaries serving in Sanchong who passed away due to carbon monoxide leaking from their water heater. Some old apartments put the gas heaters inside the apartment instead of outside so there is a risk of leakage. Our apartment's is on the outside so it is safe. Upon hearing this news, I was not confused as to why they passed away, where they are or anything like that but more concerned with these missionaries' families. Knowing the Plan of Salvation, I know that they are in God's hands now, as they always have been. They are alright and what we might deem to be unfair is simply because we don't understand it. I have faith in God, that He is ever watchful of us and of hope that we will do our best and overcome difficulties and trials through faith in Jesus Christ. At it says in John, "Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." Christ has surpassed all things  and so can we through Him. Elder Xiong and Elder Thredgold are okay. It is my prayer that their families will not fall apart because of this, but rise together and feel hope in Christ.

This week we hope to be able to help these investigators we are working with better understand the Gospel and continue to develop faith.

Oh ya

Transfer 14 - Week 2

Hello good people! Neihu is still great and what's more, the membership of the ward has increased by 1! Brother Wang Jian Xing got baptized! And double what's more, his son came up from Gaoxiong (the southern part of Taiwan, a good distance from Neihu) to baptize his father! They both shared their testimonies as part of the service and it was awesome! Before the baptism however, we had a special little treat. The Morphis family, a family from Montreal, Canada that has recently been touring Asia doing musical performances in many of the churches. It just so happened that they have a friend in Neihu and spur of the moment, decided to come to our ward for a special performance on the night of Brother Wang's baptism. It all went very smoothly. They performed at 6:30 and I also translated for their performance which was pretty insane! Then we had the baptism at 8:00 and it was very nice. Although it was incredibly hot, wearing a wool suit and running around making sure everything was in place for the performance and the baptism, by the time the night was through, Brother Wang's words,"I believe I will stay in this church forever." made it all worth it. He is one of the most humble people I've ever met, a friend to everyone. The Bishop wants to give him a calling in the next couple weeks to which Brother Wang said, " Whatever it is, I will do my best.". He's such a boss! So other than the baptism and performance, it was a rather ordinary week, truthfully. 

Actually, on second thought, we ran into about 3 less actives on the street, completely out of the blue. We had just talked about a certain less active, Brother Liu Jia Xin, in a missionary counsel meeting and his name was in the back of our minds. Neither I or Elder Chalmers had met him before. We went contacting at night in a part of the city less visited and came across a college-age looking kid and started talking to him. He said his name is Liu. We had the exact same thought and ask him,"Liu Jia Xin?". Of course, it was him. He ended up coming to the performance and baptism the following night and we're in the process of finding him some friends and getting him to feel the good word. We had similar experiences with two other less actives. Investigator pool, parched. Though as I sit in this internet cafe looking out the window, it's raining, so maybe that's a good sign. Should be a good week. 

​Ya it was a little hot and we are all a little antsy to go next door to the A/C... 

Transfer 13 - Week 4

The missionary work has started to pick up here! We finally got a real investigator to church! That is burdensome business in Linkou, I'll have you know. We also met a couple others last week whom's first words were basically I would like to get baptized because I believe in Christ. Those moments always allow an opportunity for one to marvel at the power of the Spirit and of Christ, and of God. It's hardly anything us missionaries do, in fact, because in both cases, both of these men contacted us on the street themselves. It is humbling, to go about for God and his purposes and to see these miracles displayed, simply because these people allowed the Spirit to touch their hearts. 

The first is Wang Jun Kai, I think I mentioned him in another email, a couple weeks back. The second is Hong Zheng Hua and we just ran into him last week. They both say they want to be baptized and both have dates for  August 9th. We're going to try and get them there! This transfer has gone by incredibly fast! We're on the 5th week already but I feel these 2 investigators are the start of many more good things to come. It is my hope that Elder Clark and I will be able to get another transfer together but we'll see how things go! Sorry, I don't have any pictures again this week... It's hard to take pictures! Love you all!! 

我愛你們噢！ 

Transfer 13 - Week 3

Well this last week we had our temple day on Wednesday as you might recall so it was a shorter week but still very good! First story, we were contacting an old, really nice man and had a good conversation going about Christianity and our church. Then, out of nowhere, in broken but understandable English says to me,"You are a very elegant man." I definitely let loose some giggles. 

Random stuff like this actually happens all the time but I realized none of you are aware of these classic moments so I thought I would share. Second Story. This was actually a couple weeks ago in our Gospel Principles class at church but it's worth mentioning. We were at the beginning of the class, introducing the investigators, newcomers, etc. and one man in the back, was a bit shy and couldn't be heard. A member, Sister Chen Wei, a very outgoing woman, yells,"That's Brother Lin! I've taught him with the missionaries before! I know why he's not baptized yet! It's TITHING!!" After everyone had gotten control of themselves and stopped laughing, I was still trying to keep it in but it was all priceless. 

Ok so now on to missionary work.We had finished lunch and I noticed this guy who had just pulled up with his scooter outside and I took notice of him (he looked kind of like a punk and was looking at me through the window) but didn't think much of it. A minute later we came out of the cafe during lunch when this cool guy, Eric (his English name) came up and started talking to us about church. We were just on our way to another appointment so we told him we couldn't talk long but we could meet him in two hours at the church and give him a tour. He said sure! So we met with him and gave him a tour and at the end invited him to baptism and he said yes! The only sad thing is that this was during exchanges so he's not actually my investigator... But team Jesus right! I think he'll get baptized about a month from now and will keep you updated. 

In our area, we found a really cool investigator. Equally as cool, just not as cool of a story. We were walking down the street, he seemed nice, we talked to him, has interest, exchanged information, set up a later time to meet, high fived goodbye and thanked God that we found a new investigator. Anyway, this email is a bit lengthy, because I don't have any pictures to send... Sorry! Oh and three Philippino less actives came to church! Apparently they've been living in Linkou for some time but haven't known where a church is because they don't speak any Chinese. So that was cool! 

Alright, love all of you! 

Transfer 13 - Week 2

Hello everyone! First off, I apologize for not saying last week that this week would be Temple Day and that I wouldn't be emailing on the usual Monday. 

But by now, you are all probably used to me not saying anything about it so no worries. Today we went to Taipei for the temple and it was great! Complete with brownies afterwards in the mission office. Yesterday we went to Bade (my last area) for zone conference and some specialized training from the Mission President. While there, I learned that one of my old investigators I found and taught got baptized a week ago! Pan Qi Wen! He's a beast!

Let's see, so this last week was actually a little difficult. The weather has started to get very hot and our investigator pool is still rather shallow so must of our time is out on the streets talking to people. We have managed to find a few good investigators who have real interest in the Gospel, the only problem is that they can only meet once a week and they work on Sundays so getting them to church is a challenge. We're currently working with a Brother Wen and another Brother Feng. The first, a cancer researcher and the second, a profession pistol shooter. They are both doing very well and slowly progressing, reading the Book of Mormon on their own and praying as well. They're great! Working on getting them to church somehow. We're really hoping and praying that this week we will be able to find some more good and new investigators. Since our area is new, we don't have any RC's to work with or anything like that so we really need to just build it up from the bottom. Oh get this. I officially have holes in the bottoms of my shoes! I'm official now. Nothing to worry about though, it actually makes me feel more hardcore and I see it as an advantage. 

So yep that is the update with Elder Hagedorn and Linkou. 

Love you all! Stay hungry, stay foolish.

Transfer 13 - Week 1

So this was my new companion and I's first week together and it was good! 

I was actually a little sick, and was blowing my nose like I've never blown before, I was actually a bit impressed by the amount of tissues I went through. I'm doing better now though! My throat is officially well and yes, singing in the shower has been sorely missed. A few days ago we were contacting down a sidewalk and this guy came up and contacted us! He asked if we were missionaries and told us that he had been a missionary before for another Christian church so we talked to him and he really wants to come to church and talk to us about our church! It was super cool! We'll be meeting with him this week and we're pretty excited about him. 

Lately, we have found many investigators, but yet no one seems to stick. We have been working with grandmas as well but they also have become "busy", meaning their interest is waning. We do, however, have high hopes for this missionary man. His name is Wang Jun Kai. We also found another investigator named Wen Wen Hong and we'll actually be seeing him tonight at the one and only KFC! Who wouldn't accept the Gospel over fried chicken? I've also recently been studying Chinese pretty hardcore lately, for the sake of being hardcore, and can definitely feel the effects of a good study session. 

The same thing goes for my personal study. I've been studying humility lately, always need to review, and came across some great scriptures that have changed my heart. I will just list a few, the first is Proverbs 27:2. It says in essence, do not seek to your boast over yourself but be humble and other people will boast of you. That was a terrible paraphrasing so I would suggest looking it up for yourself but it's well said. My favorite right now is Luke 14:10. It says to sit in the lowest seat and then they will find that you are worthy to sit in the higher seat and the glory will be yours. I feel that none of us can judge ourselves, we are all beggars before God and Christ. Mosiah 4:19. I cannot say smoothly so just look up the scriptures and know that they have affected me quite powerfully. Especially the one in Luke. 

I hope you all have a terrific week!

Transfer 12 - Week 6

Well my last companion, Elder Deal is now home back in Alabama! I just got a new companion, Elder Clark, and he is actually from Orem so we make a pretty exciting companionship. Provo and Orem, Utah! Whoo! 

So we were contacting the other night and ran into a really cool lady. She's been to Switzerland, Germany, France, China, Sweden, California, New York and all over the place. She's pretty much a boss. She's also loaded. Haha but that's besides the point. We taught her a little bit about our church on the side of the road and she's willing to meet with us and come to church! She actually talked about how having so much money doesn't really make her happy and she told us she wants to maybe go to America and become a Catholic Nun! Pretty awesome right? We just hope we can bring her into our church! 

Elder Clark is a really cool and smart guy. He does Rubix Cube so you know he's smart! We have some pretty high hopes for this transfer and right now our best investigators are probably are 2 grandmas. The one we met the other night and the other one, whom we met a few weeks ago. They're a bit slower accepting the Gospel, but they slowly open up to what we teach and we're excited about them! I wish you could meet these ladies, they're super funny! Sorry this week will be a bit shorter because I don't have much time left on my computer but I've got some pictures so it makes up for it! 

Love you all!!!　

Elder Deal, Elder Leo and I at the transfer meeting! Elder Deal doesn't know what to think about going home

Our water heater leaks, so Elder Clark took a straw, taped it to the tubes by the water leaker and positioned it right under the water drop. The water then goes through the straw, traveling at about a 45 degree angle, it goes through a little card tunnel, which stops the water, letting it slide down into the bucket below. Ingenious if I say so myself, though it was Elder Clark's contraption. Before I had just had a sponge right underneath the drop and would squeeze it out every morning and night.

Transfer 12 - Week 5

I can't believe this transfer is almost over! They are just getting faster and faster. My companion, Elder Deal goes home this Saturday and I will be getting a new companion on Friday at Transfer Meeting. Pretty insane. This past week was pretty cool because we were able to get two less actives to church! It's always hard to get people to come to church because it's so far away from where they actually live so you know when someone comes to church they actually have some real interest and are willing to meet with us, read the Book of Mormon, etc. Random Weather Update: The weather is actually fairly cool up here in Linkou and I'm so happy that I'm here for the summer! Every once in a while, for meetings and church we go down to Taoyuan and it so hot and crowded down there! I don't know how I ever was able to do that! So yes, all is well in Linkou ;) This week we were able to fun into a few high school students and teach them a bit about God. To be brutally honest, I'm still not sure if they are interested in God or just two cool foreigners who speak some mean Chinese but regardless, we're going to meet with them again and lay down the law! If they're not interested, it's still ok because at least we gave them some good impressions, not to mention their killer instagram photo with foreigners that I noticed one was posting after snapping a photo with us. (happens a lot actually.)

We just got back from lunch with our wonderful Ward Mission Leader who treated us to some delicious hot pot! Brother Lu is a boss. This week I'll be sending off my companion, he officially having bled out by that time. I always wanted to "kill" someone.

Happy Father's Day to my Dad!! So thankful that my Dad has always been there for me and I'm so excited for when I get home so him and I can eat a steak together while watching the game and reminiscing about our Taiwan missions. Love you Dad!

Transfer 12 - Week 4

Overall, it was a good week! We had two investigators come to church! It's been really cool to see people actually coming to church! Because our area is new and on top of a mountain, 30 minutes away from church, not a lot of people have come! I think we're slowly getting this area going and still just trying to find those people that are ready for the Gospel. I've been reading in the Old Testament, in Chronicles area, and it's tough! The other parts of the Old Testament seem a bit more colored and have a lot of meaning behind the text but I'm having a hard time reading this section. 

However, I guess this is just reinforcing the principle of "Add oil" as the Taiwanese here love to say. So I'm plowing through it and very excited to get to Proverbs, Isaiah and those guys. Today we're actually going to an Adventure Time exhibition in Taipei and I'm so excited!! Adventure Time is an awesome, ridiculous cartoon show and yes, I like it a lot. The other day while we were contacting, we could not seem to be able to talk to anyone! (It was raining too) So we stopped for a second and thought. We decided on an ice cream from Mickey D's to get the flames going and what do you know, we ran into a really nice couple! I think it was the ice cream, giving us an innocent, harmless look. Their name is Kang and they were super curious as to what we're doing, how we can speak Chinese, etc. We chatted with them and lightly turned it towards the spiritual (always takes that inevitable turn) and they were actually sincerely interested so we taught a little bit about God and Christ and they set up to meet with us again! We'll see them in a few days and we're pretty excited about them! I myself am doing well and Sean actually emailed me saying that I have less than 6 months now! Pretty insane. 

Time has really flown by and it's just gotten faster and faster the longer I've been out but I think it'll be a good last sprint! Love you all!

Transfer 12 - Week 3

Hello everyone! This past week has gone by pretty well! First, our sink broke, but that isn't really anything new for me anymore so we got that fixed and now all that's left is a strange smell by the sink and that we're still waiting for to dissipate. Second, we don't teach English Class anymore! I guess they decided that we are too far away from the nearest chapel for it to be an effectice use of time and we also have a good amount of missionaries in Taoyuan so there are plenty of missionaries able to teach. Third, we found a cool new investigator! 

His name is Brother Chen and we contacted him the other day on the street. (I still marvel that somehow missionaries can just talk to random people on the street and can teach them and bring them to church. Miracle in itself.) We taught him a basic first and it seemed to really click with him, enough that he set up with us this week anyway! We want to go over the Book of Mormon this next time and really are hoping that something can click again with him and he can start to read and understand its content and importance. Today for P-Day we traveled down to Longtan (translation: Dragon Pool. 

Coolest city name ever.) to see some Dragon Boat Festival stuff going on. We watched a few dragon boat races in the lake in the middle of the city (hence the name of the place) and then ate some little treats and ice cream at stands scattered throughout on the paths by the lake. It was pretty fun! This week should be pretty good though! We'll be meeting with Brother Chen and the awesome G-ma we met the other week too! Those are the notables of the week! Love you all! Happy Dragon Boat Festival! 

Transfer 12 - Week 2

Hello everyone, this last week was really good! As I wrote last week, my companion Elder Deal got pretty sick last Sunday so he was out for a good few days. 

For some reason, I've been getting a lot of sick companions but he's better now so it's all good! We were contacting the other day and we met a really cool old lady, Zeng Ama (Grandma Zeng) and she was probably the coolest old lady I've ever met. She's like 70 but she looks about 50 and she was wearing some groovy pants covered all over with a flower pattern. So we started talking to her and she was really interested in our free English class so we talked to her about that for a minute and then told her we are actually teaching about Jesus Christ too and asked if we could meet with her another time (she was in a hurry) and talk about it to which she said, "Sure, how about tomorrow in my apartment's lobby?" So we met with her the next day and at first, she didn't seem too interested, but we just kept teaching and once we started teaching the "1st lesson" (Joseph Smith and the Restoration) she really liked it, had many questions and said at the end that it made it all clear for her. She didn't accept a baptismal date but she still wants to meet with us this week and we're going to teach her about the Book of Mormon. I'll have to get a picture with her, she's the coolest G-ma ever! 

So ya highlight of the week was talking to this super cool lady. Oh and we're also going to start setting up some service at the hospital over here this week so that'll be cool to start volunteering at the hospital. It'll be a good week! And shout out to my sister Heather! Happy Birthday! Oh I guess I should say Heather, M.D. Congratulations! 

Transfer 12 - Week 1

First week in the new area and it was good! This Saturday we actually went back to Bade so I could baptize my old investigator Sister Chen Hui Jin! Whoo! After 3 years she's finally made it into the water! It was definitely nice to go back there, do the deed and then even grab some pizza with her and some members afterwards! Here in Linkou we've been able to find a few less actives to meet with that were very happy to get our call! So we ate some Subway and talked about the Gospel over sandwiches. Man that sandwich tasted like America. Turns out one of the guys also has a girlfriend whom is also a member so we're hoping we can maybe meet with both of them this week or the next. 

Apparently she also cuts hair and the guy, Brother Wang, said she could hook us up and cut our hair! Cha Ching! We were also able to find a couple investigators and one of them actually went to church! Except we weren't there because my companion and I were in the hospital... His tonsils haven't been in the best shape recently. He has tonsilitis and because his tonsils have been dripping some sort of fluid/phlegm stuff down his throat, he also has bronchitis and an upper respiratory infection (basically the same thing I guess) so Sunday morning we went over to the hospital across the street and spent about 4 hours waiting in lines at the emergency room. A little ironic. He's doing fine now that he has antibiotics so after a little rest he should be up and running! Looking forward to a good week! 

Transfer 11 - Week 6

Well, I moved! I've got a new companion, Elder Deal, he's from Alabama and we get along really well! It's been really nice to be able to speak English, so my English will probably be a bit more bearable. Actually, looking back, that was probably why my emails in Daxi were so short! Anything English was just weird haha. Before I left my last area, however, I was able to say goodbye to Zhang Da Quan, the Mariah Carey loving investigator who was really cool and interested in the Book of Mormon, so hopefully I can stay updated with him! So right now I'm in Linkou!!! 

If you remember, while I was in Xinzhuang, we'd bike up the "Linkou Hill" to come up here and do some missionary work. Well now we just opened a new area here! So this is the second time opening up for me but I'm happy to say that our apartment already has a washer! It's pretty cool to come back because I always thought it would be cool to come and be the "Linkou Elders". It was funny, it was actually my first day in the area last Friday so we went out contacting and walking down the street, I saw someone that looked familiar so I went up and started talking to him saying that I had seen him before. And he was like ya! You talked to me a year ago, you were that one missionary! So that was pretty crazy to run into this guy randomly, though he still wasn't really interested in anything with the Gospel. I told him if I run into him one more time, for the third time, he would have to come to church to which he said he would haha. So this area is actually pretty similar to my last area, Daxi, in that it is on top of a mountain, we have like 1 active member in the area, and it's about half an hour to the nearest church. So it's going to be tough just like Daxi was but it should be good! 

We've already got a few set ups with less actives and some new investigators so it's been a good start! Want to give a shout out to my wonderful mother and for all she does for me! I love you Mom! Call you on Skype soon  :)

My new thing. Making mini Margherita pizzas on toast, delicious!

So my companion has this "eye massager" thingy so we tried it out. The part that rests on your eyes is a bit dirty so we used a shirt to cover our eyes and this was the result. The massage was nothing special. I can't see through that by the way

Transfer 11 - Week 5

Hello good chaps, you remember the homosexual oriented Mariah Carey loving investigator? Well, he's awesome! We met with him a few days ago and about 10 minutes before we're scheduled to meet, he calls us and asks if he can bring two friends to which we say of course! So we met with all three, basically re-teaching the first lesson and it went really well. One of the friends is atheist and the other is a Catholic, though both were very curious to our church and why it's different, etc. So it was a good lesson and by the end of it we gave them some BOM's and invited them to read it to which they said they would. Sunday night we put together a little Book of Mormon "Trailer" performance for our ward's viewing pleasure. Basically what we did is pick out some stories from the Book of Mormon and then acted them out one after another rapidly so it was a sort of "trailer". It was pretty fun! The kids especially liked it. 

This week is transfer meeting so this Wednesday night we'll figure out if anyone is moving so I'll let you know what happens next Monday, if I'm in the same place, if I have a new companion, etc. Also, one of my good missionary buddies in my district Elder Allred is going home this Saturday! Oh and I forgot to mention that my trainer, Elder Kaluhiokalani and my 2nd companion, Elder Beck, went home last transfer! And the Sisters that started their mission the same time as me are going home this Saturday as well. I'm getting a bit older in terms of missionary transfers but it's ok because being a sappy old missionary, I'm told, is a good thing.

Me wearing Elder Gao's polar bear tie on Daxi bridge.

Transfer 11 - Week 4

This week was good! We found our first progressing investigator in a long time! Take that opposition! And yes the homosexual guy and the progressing investigator are one and the same. He, however, is really good! We taught him the first lesson a few days ago and he had many questions about the Book of Mormon, what's in it, what's the doctrine, why different than the Bible, etc. At one point we had answered many questions and realized that we hadn't even shared an actual scripture from the book itself so I shared one of my favorites, Alma 18:32, and told him that this scripture, through one of the book's prophets, Ammon, helps us understand God's relationship with us and answers some of man's fundamental questions. He seemed to catch on to that well and told us he would start reading the book! We're set up to meet with him tomorrow night and I'm excited! It's been so long since I've had a real progressing and interested investigator! Another cool thing is that a member called us the other day and said his Less active uncle wants to treat us to dinner out of the blue! It seems things are starting to slowly pick up here in Daxi. 

My old companion/first-born son, Elder Morgan. This was in Taipei at a super nice buffet after the temple. (I still like buffets. Yep.) 

Transfer 11 - Week 3

Hey everyone sorry I forgot to say last week that I would be having Temple Day! So this morning we went to Taipei to go to the temple and had to wake up at 5:30AM 

to get there on time... Daxi is a little farther away. This last week was really good! We were contacting the other night in some back streets and ran into a really cool college kid! We started talking to him about the Bible and the Book of Mormon and our doctrine because he's actually Presbyterian and was curious as to what our church does differently, etc. We got talking more and he asked what our churches stance was on homosexuality somewhat out of the blue and that got me a little suspicious of his... sexual tendencies. A little further on in the conversation we were chatting about music and he told us how much he loves Mariah Carey. That pretty much confirmed it for me that he's gay but he's a really cool guy and he's definitely going to "stick". We also ran into some random white guys (very rare in Daxi) and they were genuinely interested in what we were doing so we started talking to them through their car window about our church and they were flabbergasted, particularly towards the don't drink coffee, tea and not have sexual relationships before marriage parts but they said we were pretty cool as well as crazy for following it and coming out to Taiwan to be a missionary. We happened to have an English Book of Mormon on us to we gave it to them and they were actually excitedly joking around that they would read a few chapters as a bedtime story. They actually live in Taoyuan but it was pretty cool to finally teach someone in English! I don't have much time to email because our English class literally starts in thirty minutes! 

Love you all! Happy Easter! 

One of my old investigators, Dess! She finally went back to the Philippines after 3 years of working in Taiwan! She's going back and getting baptized! 

Transfer 11 - Week 2

This week we were able to watch General Conference and it was great! For Saturday's conference, we spent the whole day in Taoyuan at the stake center watching it so the bus ride back we had about an hour or so. I talked to the guy I was sitting next to and after getting to know him a bit, turns out he's Christian! I chatted with him about church and slowly got to the Book of Mormon. By that time, an hour had already passed and I didn't even realize so right when I had given him the Book of Mormon we had arrived at our stop. I told him it could change his life and sped walk off the bus so the bus driver didn't keep going! I got his number and information and he actually asked for my Facebook so it was definitely a miracle! He says he lives up in the mountains of Daxi so he's our first investigator that lives there! 

Daxi has 4 parts. The main, small city (a few streets), a whole bunch of farmland with small houses here and there (a very big area) which surrounds the city, mountains on one side of the city that is very hard to bike up and is pretty far from the city (where he lives) and then another area super far away called Fuxing, which by bike, is practically inaccessible, requiring 2-3 hours of biking from what people have said. So we're pretty excited about this guy, Wu Bo En, or his English name is Samuel. Never been up in the mountains before so hopefully it will lead us to not only him but maybe a whole bunch of new people! 

Woke up this morning and Elder Gao's kidney stones were acting up again so hopefully it's just a temporary thing... Looking forward to the week! 

Love you all! 

First picture a little blurry but I'm sending it because it captured my shoes. Look at those beautiful bad boys! 

Elder Gao and I after Conference!