We found a new family last week over in San Xia while we were visiting our Hu family! They are great! Our Hu family is doing well too. They are willing to keep all the commandments, we just need to share tithing and we're done. The only hard one for them is to keep the Sabbath day holy. The husband has a bad leg and it’s hard for him to go anywhere. Maybe this is a blessing Heavenly Father has given them to help them increase their faith before baptism, to give them a long enduring conversion. They love the scriptures, they love prayer, and they believe the church is true. They'll be really good members as they see how going to church will bless them as a family. The husband is more "manmanlai"(he needs time), he still has a word of wisdom problem, but the mother and kids are "lihai"(AWESOME)!!! Such a blessing.
We had a sweet miracle the last day of the transfer, my companion and I wanted to get 7 setups in a day. We tried all transfer long, stayed diligent, having faith, hoping that if it be God's will, He would let us see it. On the last day of the transfer, Heavenly Father allowed us to see 7 people get setup, (and 3 families)! Things are good and the church is true.
That is kind of a brief summary of what’s been going on. I love our new area and apartment. We are still the missionaries in charge of San Xia, so we go there often. It’s about a ten mile difference and my legs are getting HUGE. It’s pretty sweet, but all in all I've gotten a lot skinnier, I think. I haven't been drinking as much milk. I talked to Elder Wyatt from my MTC district the other day and he refers to me as the elder from Ethiopia, hahaha, I'm not that skinny. But, I have lost about 11 pounds, and everyone is Taiwan is skinny.
I crave rice now. I have to have rice. Seriously, whenever I am hungry, rice and cabbage and weird Taiwanese foods are the first things that come to mind. This is just "write random things day,” by the way.
I am still with Elder Gong and I’m glad. We are great friends after 6 weeks together and we both like to work hard.
Other things happened this week. My companion had his identity stolen in Germany. Other elders had their bags stolen, a total of $1000 worth of stuff inside: electric dictionaries, cameras, other dictionaries, priceless pictures, and scriptures. My bag never leaves my side and my electronic dictionary stays at home now.
Wow, my time is short today. We have to go to Taipei with Elder Smith’s new companion and grab some stuff. The clock is ticking...37 seconds…I love you.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
My mission is going way too fast!
It is week 6 and this transfer FLEW by. President Monson’s talk about taking advantage of the time we are given is coming to pass. Time is so little, change is so long, but it comes before we can notice it. Wow, my mission is going way too fast. I wish I could put it on pause, go back and fix all of the flaws. There are so many, but that is not possible.
I have learned so much this transfer. Training is a very humbling process. I'm thinking that I have learned just as much from my companion as he might have learned from me. Wow. We both found a lot of places to improve in our missionary work. I could not have made it through this transfer if it weren't for the help of the Holy Ghost. I learned the importance of companionship unity this transfer, and being in unity with the Holy Ghost. It started with us being able to trust each other. I know you might think, "shoot that’s easy", but sometimes things happen that give you the decision to act on that trust or not and sometimes it is a subconscious decision not to, "the natural man.” However, as we trusted each other and applied Christlike attributes, the Lord showed us how to humble ourselves and allow us to have His spirit, which helped us know how to look inward before we look outward. It puts us in harmony with one purpose, and that is to get God’s work done. I am lucky to have a trainee with fire in his eyes, who is willing to work hard and tear things up. I love that. He has learned a lot about patience, humility, and working with a very young missionary, me, who may not know everything, but he knows a little. It was a great process, and work got done through it.
The Hu family is an example of the miracles we have seen. We just need to teach them tithing and they are all set to go. The husband is ready to stop drinking and smoking. Their faith is becoming stronger and their desire to know Christ is vastly improving. Such a blessing.
We've been working hard this week. We moved to Tu Cheng and our new apartment is AWESOME and I love it. We are working hard finding new investigators so we are whitewashing again, except this time we have inactive and recent converts to visit. Wow, before we had none, so now we can get a full schedule every day, it is beautiful! Missionary work is starting to be like it is supposed to be.
The other day we got a new investigator, a lady who sells shrimp and crab. We go by everyday and she gives us endless shrimp and crab, and we're talking REAL SHRIMP AND REAL CRAB! She says she'll come to church, but she is progressing slowly at the moment. She has prayed but not read anything yet. I'm afraid we're going to have to miss out on the free food if she doesn't keep progressing!
The fishing last week went great! I loved seeing the Su family. Man, I missed them. They all gave Jonathan “gege” a big old hug. I told them NO HUGS, but they did it anyway! We didn't catch any fish but it was a great time.
Chinese is really, really hard, but it’s still coming. I'm on page 400 in the Book of Mormon.
I have learned so much this transfer. Training is a very humbling process. I'm thinking that I have learned just as much from my companion as he might have learned from me. Wow. We both found a lot of places to improve in our missionary work. I could not have made it through this transfer if it weren't for the help of the Holy Ghost. I learned the importance of companionship unity this transfer, and being in unity with the Holy Ghost. It started with us being able to trust each other. I know you might think, "shoot that’s easy", but sometimes things happen that give you the decision to act on that trust or not and sometimes it is a subconscious decision not to, "the natural man.” However, as we trusted each other and applied Christlike attributes, the Lord showed us how to humble ourselves and allow us to have His spirit, which helped us know how to look inward before we look outward. It puts us in harmony with one purpose, and that is to get God’s work done. I am lucky to have a trainee with fire in his eyes, who is willing to work hard and tear things up. I love that. He has learned a lot about patience, humility, and working with a very young missionary, me, who may not know everything, but he knows a little. It was a great process, and work got done through it.
The Hu family is an example of the miracles we have seen. We just need to teach them tithing and they are all set to go. The husband is ready to stop drinking and smoking. Their faith is becoming stronger and their desire to know Christ is vastly improving. Such a blessing.
We've been working hard this week. We moved to Tu Cheng and our new apartment is AWESOME and I love it. We are working hard finding new investigators so we are whitewashing again, except this time we have inactive and recent converts to visit. Wow, before we had none, so now we can get a full schedule every day, it is beautiful! Missionary work is starting to be like it is supposed to be.
The other day we got a new investigator, a lady who sells shrimp and crab. We go by everyday and she gives us endless shrimp and crab, and we're talking REAL SHRIMP AND REAL CRAB! She says she'll come to church, but she is progressing slowly at the moment. She has prayed but not read anything yet. I'm afraid we're going to have to miss out on the free food if she doesn't keep progressing!
The fishing last week went great! I loved seeing the Su family. Man, I missed them. They all gave Jonathan “gege” a big old hug. I told them NO HUGS, but they did it anyway! We didn't catch any fish but it was a great time.
Chinese is really, really hard, but it’s still coming. I'm on page 400 in the Book of Mormon.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
"And it came to pass"
Wow, it’s neat to hear all the cool things that are going on back home. I’m looking forward to General Conference like it’s the Superbowl. I'm so excited and I'm gonna make sure the Su family from San Chong gets a chance to see it too. We have to wait so long to watch it because they have to translate everything into Chinese, oh well.
Let’s get to the business. First of all, last week the Su family came to Tu Cheng and dropped off three boxes full of food, and left a note on top begging us to go back to San Chong and play with the kids. They miss us a lot. It kinda pricked my heart a little. Joyce says the kids ask her every day, "When is Jonathan gege coming back?" Gege means “big brother.” Man I love them.
My companion and I have had a lot of humbling experiences lately that have been really helpful. We get along really well, but we have both learned the true meaning of the words, "and it came to pass," ha, ha, especially my companion. He's learned a lot recently, about how he can trust his trainer and everything like that, ha, ha. The experience came as we were teaching a lesson to a lady in McDonalds. We taught her in English because she was fluent. My companion was way excited to teach the lesson and he did an awesome job, but wasn't quite in line with his companion. The lesson still went really well but the spirit wasn't as strong as it could've been. We talked about it afterward, and it was a learning experience for both of us. You learn early on your mission that you can trust the people above you. I learned that from Elder Barton and it was a humbling process. I shared all of these experiences with my trainee, and then the same thing happened to him, and “things started coming to pass. We make mistakes and we learn from them. We learn not to rely on ourselves, but on the Lord or the people who serve Him. We don't realize it when we mess up sometimes, but then when we become humbled, as when “things come to pass.”
Recently I have learned a little bit about the word "meekness". In the topical guide, meekness is referenced to "teachable". This process occurs more and more on my mission, and “it came to pass.” Elder Barton was right, ha, ha, ha. Elder Gong has learned that too, and he's learned to trust me a lot more and is helped him improve SO fast because he has become "teachable". He memorizes scripture like crazy now and his Chinese has gotten SO GOOD. We teach in Unity now and the message of the restoration is so much more powerful. I love Elder Gong. I learn so much from him.
Okay, now the Hu family. We went to their house again to have dinner with them and it went really, really well. Then Sister Hu said the words, "By the way, we won't be able to join your church." OH NO!!! We played it cool and she explained, “We want to learn more about your church before we join because we heard Mormons are bad, from other people.” We explained and it went very well. We ended up putting them back on the baptismal pool. They came to church, and they LOVED IT! It was great. They love the Book of Mormon. They said, "It’s so clear and easy to understand." Mmmmmm, yup!
The ward was divided last week, but you wouldn't know it because 21 investigators came to church last week. It was insane! Six of them came all the way from San Xia, woo hoo! I love the Hu family. They are so awesome and the two kids are so cool. They aren't shy at all and they love to play with us. One is 14 and one is 7. The mom is awesome and she is a big time jokester. I love it here in San Xia. I love the people.
We rode up into the mountains yesterday and met with a couple Vietnamese people who speak terrible Chinese. They are poor. Their families live in Vietnam and they work here at a steel mill to earn money. We shared the lesson with them as much as we could. They didn't understand much but they are coming to church where we'll give them Vietnamese books of Mormon. Book of Mormons. Copies of the Book of Mormon? :) Ha,ha.
A cool thing happened two days ago, that was an expensive sacrifice for a great investigator. My tire exploded. As we were walking to the bike store, this man self contacted us. This was the nicest man I ever met. He took us to the store, helped us bargain the people down to 1300 dollars (about $43). I fixed the other things on my bike while I was at it, broken brakes, broken lights, etc. Then he took us around town to show us all the good places to buy food cheap. He set himself up with us for tomorrow afternoon. He also ran into the other elders in Tu Cheng and sat in on one of their lessons. Crazy huh? The other elders said he was nice to them too. He's like a mystery miracle man.
Yeah, there has been a lot going on. We've been working way hard and I've been getting up at 5:30 in the morning. I plan to do that until I get the Book of Mormon finished. I cracked out 21 pages yesterday! We have seen so many miracles. I love being with Elder Gong. He's a lot about having a sense of urgency in the work, which I love. He is going to be so lehi! Lehi in Chinese means EXTRAORDINARILY AWESOME!!!
Now for the icing on the cake. We had president’s interviews last week. Interviews are a big thing on your mission because you get a lot of insight in such a short amount of time. This interview went completely different than it has in the past. President was asking me questions this time. He asked me what needed to be done in San Xia. Then he invited me to pray about it and let him know. He wanted me to help him and the zone leaders pick the new area, it was crazy. President is amazing. He actually cares about the opinions that his missionaries give him. He is such a spiritually lead man and it’s so cool because I learn so much from him.
Now for the craziest part. When we were talking about me and my companion’s relationship, I started talking about some things that I learned from Elder Barton and how I have applied some of things that he has taught me on my mission. Out of nowhere, President asked me, “Elder Daniels, have you ever thought about what you might do after your mission?” As a missionary in my 5th transfer, to be honest I haven't thought much of it at all, so this question caught me quite off guard. But, I listened with open ears because I felt like some huge insight was well on it’s way. Him being my mission president after all, and practically a prophet, so I suspected president must have some important reason for asking this type of question, especially for him to be asking me about this so early in my mission. He then went on to ask me if I have ever thought about going into the military or going to a military school. I replied "yes." In fact, once when I was attending the temple while at the MTC, I had a random feeling come over me as someone was saying a prayer. In that prayer they blessed the armed forces and the rest of that day I pondered it, because of that feeling that came over me. It was reconfirmed in this interview with my mission president. It caught me so off guard, but it felt so right at the time we were talking about it. President and I talked about it for a little while. He invited me to pray about it and he told me to tell you to check and see what it would take to get me into the ROTC program at BYU or into the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. I've prayed about it, and that is what I want to do. I'm joining the Air Force when I get home, (as of right now). But I don't think this decision will change, so will you check that out for me? Whew. I hope President tells me what to study in the next interview...
Well, I love you so much. I pray for you all the time and I can feel your prayers for me. I love you and miss you. Keep the BYU news coming, I need details. I love you. :)
Let’s get to the business. First of all, last week the Su family came to Tu Cheng and dropped off three boxes full of food, and left a note on top begging us to go back to San Chong and play with the kids. They miss us a lot. It kinda pricked my heart a little. Joyce says the kids ask her every day, "When is Jonathan gege coming back?" Gege means “big brother.” Man I love them.
My companion and I have had a lot of humbling experiences lately that have been really helpful. We get along really well, but we have both learned the true meaning of the words, "and it came to pass," ha, ha, especially my companion. He's learned a lot recently, about how he can trust his trainer and everything like that, ha, ha. The experience came as we were teaching a lesson to a lady in McDonalds. We taught her in English because she was fluent. My companion was way excited to teach the lesson and he did an awesome job, but wasn't quite in line with his companion. The lesson still went really well but the spirit wasn't as strong as it could've been. We talked about it afterward, and it was a learning experience for both of us. You learn early on your mission that you can trust the people above you. I learned that from Elder Barton and it was a humbling process. I shared all of these experiences with my trainee, and then the same thing happened to him, and “things started coming to pass. We make mistakes and we learn from them. We learn not to rely on ourselves, but on the Lord or the people who serve Him. We don't realize it when we mess up sometimes, but then when we become humbled, as when “things come to pass.”
Recently I have learned a little bit about the word "meekness". In the topical guide, meekness is referenced to "teachable". This process occurs more and more on my mission, and “it came to pass.” Elder Barton was right, ha, ha, ha. Elder Gong has learned that too, and he's learned to trust me a lot more and is helped him improve SO fast because he has become "teachable". He memorizes scripture like crazy now and his Chinese has gotten SO GOOD. We teach in Unity now and the message of the restoration is so much more powerful. I love Elder Gong. I learn so much from him.
Okay, now the Hu family. We went to their house again to have dinner with them and it went really, really well. Then Sister Hu said the words, "By the way, we won't be able to join your church." OH NO!!! We played it cool and she explained, “We want to learn more about your church before we join because we heard Mormons are bad, from other people.” We explained and it went very well. We ended up putting them back on the baptismal pool. They came to church, and they LOVED IT! It was great. They love the Book of Mormon. They said, "It’s so clear and easy to understand." Mmmmmm, yup!
The ward was divided last week, but you wouldn't know it because 21 investigators came to church last week. It was insane! Six of them came all the way from San Xia, woo hoo! I love the Hu family. They are so awesome and the two kids are so cool. They aren't shy at all and they love to play with us. One is 14 and one is 7. The mom is awesome and she is a big time jokester. I love it here in San Xia. I love the people.
We rode up into the mountains yesterday and met with a couple Vietnamese people who speak terrible Chinese. They are poor. Their families live in Vietnam and they work here at a steel mill to earn money. We shared the lesson with them as much as we could. They didn't understand much but they are coming to church where we'll give them Vietnamese books of Mormon. Book of Mormons. Copies of the Book of Mormon? :) Ha,ha.
A cool thing happened two days ago, that was an expensive sacrifice for a great investigator. My tire exploded. As we were walking to the bike store, this man self contacted us. This was the nicest man I ever met. He took us to the store, helped us bargain the people down to 1300 dollars (about $43). I fixed the other things on my bike while I was at it, broken brakes, broken lights, etc. Then he took us around town to show us all the good places to buy food cheap. He set himself up with us for tomorrow afternoon. He also ran into the other elders in Tu Cheng and sat in on one of their lessons. Crazy huh? The other elders said he was nice to them too. He's like a mystery miracle man.
Yeah, there has been a lot going on. We've been working way hard and I've been getting up at 5:30 in the morning. I plan to do that until I get the Book of Mormon finished. I cracked out 21 pages yesterday! We have seen so many miracles. I love being with Elder Gong. He's a lot about having a sense of urgency in the work, which I love. He is going to be so lehi! Lehi in Chinese means EXTRAORDINARILY AWESOME!!!
Now for the icing on the cake. We had president’s interviews last week. Interviews are a big thing on your mission because you get a lot of insight in such a short amount of time. This interview went completely different than it has in the past. President was asking me questions this time. He asked me what needed to be done in San Xia. Then he invited me to pray about it and let him know. He wanted me to help him and the zone leaders pick the new area, it was crazy. President is amazing. He actually cares about the opinions that his missionaries give him. He is such a spiritually lead man and it’s so cool because I learn so much from him.
Now for the craziest part. When we were talking about me and my companion’s relationship, I started talking about some things that I learned from Elder Barton and how I have applied some of things that he has taught me on my mission. Out of nowhere, President asked me, “Elder Daniels, have you ever thought about what you might do after your mission?” As a missionary in my 5th transfer, to be honest I haven't thought much of it at all, so this question caught me quite off guard. But, I listened with open ears because I felt like some huge insight was well on it’s way. Him being my mission president after all, and practically a prophet, so I suspected president must have some important reason for asking this type of question, especially for him to be asking me about this so early in my mission. He then went on to ask me if I have ever thought about going into the military or going to a military school. I replied "yes." In fact, once when I was attending the temple while at the MTC, I had a random feeling come over me as someone was saying a prayer. In that prayer they blessed the armed forces and the rest of that day I pondered it, because of that feeling that came over me. It was reconfirmed in this interview with my mission president. It caught me so off guard, but it felt so right at the time we were talking about it. President and I talked about it for a little while. He invited me to pray about it and he told me to tell you to check and see what it would take to get me into the ROTC program at BYU or into the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. I've prayed about it, and that is what I want to do. I'm joining the Air Force when I get home, (as of right now). But I don't think this decision will change, so will you check that out for me? Whew. I hope President tells me what to study in the next interview...
Well, I love you so much. I pray for you all the time and I can feel your prayers for me. I love you and miss you. Keep the BYU news coming, I need details. I love you. :)
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