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！