You learn a lot on a mission

Ok, fine, I'll write, haha. (To our dismay, we figure our letters didn’t arrive in time) :( Well, this week has been a week to remember. A lot happened and a lot was learned.

I was touched by the Prophet’s last conference talk and thinking about how I can change my mission to have to have even more of an impact on my life. I realized I can judge my progress by how much I feel I have served has impacted the lives of the people around me and not just myself. There is so little time on the mission, there is so little time on this earth, why waste a second of it doing only for yourself. The things you do for yourself die with you, but the things you do for others leaves a legacy.

I’ve been on a spiritual high ever since the baptism last week, where I’ve been singing hymns peacefully, thinking of the purpose of life, etc. The spirit continued through the weekend, through district meeting, which was amazing thanks to a Filipino sister’s testimony that made everyone cry. It continued through exchanges with Elder Smith, all the way to last night when sharing with Elder Gong about looking for families and through our discussion about "progression" and "potential" as servants of the Lord, and the potential for all of God’s children. I learned about Jesus Christ’s gospel this week. It was wonderful.

We had a lot of time this week. We worked hard and we “attacked” the big tall buildings. One night we knocked on 65 doors between dinner and going home. The very last door at 8:59 let us in, hahahaha, and we shared a wonderful lesson with a family. They are very into Buddhism, so their time may not be ready just yet, but I saw the message hitting them, especially the father. He said come back someday. :)

We have been fishing for new investigators at the moment because we are trying to the find the ones that are willing and have the desire to progress. We've been keeping our line in the water, and we're excited for the next fish to bite...

Yesterday we went on exchanges and a lot was learned by Elder Daniels! I went out with Elder Smith who is the type of guy that is impossible not to like. He is insanely good with people and I learned a lot from him. It’s fun to go on exchanges with another elder who has been on the Island for a while and has had experience teaching lessons and who has been doing missionary work for a while. We taught very, very well together. It helped me remember how missionary work was supposed to be done, it was like being jr. companion again. I tried to take advantage of that time, since it was a learning experience. While together, we taught 5 lessons and added one kid to the pool that they have been working with for quite sometime. It was wonderful.

Towards the end of the exchange, we received a phone call from the other companionship. Elder Gong was with Elder Reid in our area, Tu Cheng. Elder Gong had authority to act as senior companion, hahaha. He was so excited to lead and be out with a young missionary. He did awesome too. Elder Gong is the man! I think he felt a little discouraged towards the end of the exchange because the Hu family had called. Because he didn't quite understand what they were saying, the Hu’s had a friend who speaks English call and talk to him. I'm still not to clear on the situation, but apparently the Hu family grandma
opposes the whole Hu family having any affiliation with our church, so they asked us not to come back anymore. It killed me when I heard this news but I knew it had hurt my companion more, because it was his first family. "Our Hu family." They were so close. Their interviews for baptism were next week, so hopefully we can get this situation settled some time soon. In the mean time, Elder Gong have had a lot to talk about. It’s his first time seeing a family fall out of the teaching pool. Heavenly Father helped me a lot so I could know what to say to strengthen my companion’s faith. I was kind of waiting for this type of experience to happen. I remember when it happened to me with the Jin family and it killed me. I learned a lot from it. Heavenly Father likes to test our faith and He gives us trials to make us strong.

I know that families are on the way. Oh man, when I was on exchanges with Elder Smith, we visited a new member family who have the cutest mei mei in the world. They are such a happy, Mormon family, that applies gospel principles. They love each other and the feeling in their home was so warm and tender. That was a taste, a reminder of the things that we are hoping for as missionaries. I see all these Taiwanese families who need the gospel, so they can have that same loving and tender feelings in their home. Just like the family we visited.

The spirit, the warmth in that family's home was so strong. Their mei mei had been living with the grandma down south for the first 3 years of her life and the mother and father only saw her once every two weeks. Since they have been members, the mei mei has come back to their home to live. It was such a wonderful blessing to be there and witness the power of a Mormon family. I took 45 pictures of that cute, little mei mei.
That is what I want to see more of. I am here for families and I think Elder Gong understands the picture of it all now. He is going to be a family finding machine!

I'm tired of missionaries looking for singles. You get the families converted and the singles will come. I haven't had a family baptized yet. They are harder, but when they are baptized, you get families like the one Elder Smith and I visited.

Well I gotta go. We're going to the zoo today with the Lin family today! :) I love you, Elder Daniels