The words I will use to describe Elder Bednar’s visit are as follows. “It was a mind wrenching, heart rapturing, 3 hours of ultimate edification!" He truly is an apostle called by God.
He gave a fireside Sunday night that we were unable to attend because we were on the train up from Hualian. However, we were able to attend the mission conference held Monday morning from 9:00 to 12:00. It was just him and us 160 missionaries in a chapel with three hours permitted just to questions and answers. It was very unique because he, being an apostle of God and a communications major, used some very interesting teaching methods that invited everyone to have the ability to be edified, although one question was asked. I don't know how to explain it fully yet, however, I took a lot away from it. He taught us how to help our investigators and our future children progress in the gospel, not by their mouths, but by their actions. He was opposed to Lists, “Four things to do, yadda yadda yadda.” Instead he supports the art of asking them what procedures they will take in order to maintain certain promised blessings. We were taught the proper way to help a person understand with their mind and their heart, a gospel principle. Sheesh. It was mind boggling and SO, SO, SO powerful. The Spirit was the teacher.
He shared a lot of AMAZING stories. One involved a sick man in the hospital who was asking for a blessing to be healed. Elder Bednar asked him, “Do you have the faith not to be healed?" After a week he decided "yes,” however, Elder Bednar didn't tell us the end of the story. He did this several times. He would teach the principle, and not share the conclusion. Why, because the will of the Father was done and that’s all that matters. The principle was taught. I personally learned a lot through this teaching method.
He resolved all the questions that I did and didn't ask that day, and he accounted it all to my preparation. Oh boy, it was good to have him come...
Afterwards, we took a big picture an Elder Bednar left to catch his flight to go to the 19th meeting he'd be holding in 3 days time. We then ate lunch as a mission. It was good to see all the missionaries and all the friends that I have made on the mission. :) It was good to see Elder Gong, Elder Teshima and Elder Santa Cruz from the Philippines. (He is my Grandson!) I won't see most of my friends for quite sometime because we “east coast missionaries” rarely come up to Taibei. Most of the friends I've made on my mission are going home pretty soon, and probably before my time is up in Hualian. I'm becoming an old missionary, but not really, I still have a bit of time.
Sorry I forgot to mention last email about being called to be zone leader. Time ran out. That phone call caught me pretty off guard, and I still feel unprepared, but it’s a blessing. I’d felt like some sort of calling was coming, so yeah, it’s exciting. It will be different though, because I never went through the role of district leader. Anyway, I'll actually be headed up to Taibei tomorrow morning again for Zone leader council. We call it “Jedi council,” which happens once a transfer. That should be fun.
Moving on, the church (building) here is HUGE! It’s as big as the church in Taibei. There is a full size basketball court on the third floor! I'm really excited for that. There are two branches that meet here, each has about 50 members, and I've already gotten to meet most of them. I'm still working on everyone’s full name, that used to be hard a couple months ago, but Chinese names are starting to become easier to remember now.
We've got three in our teaching pool now. One WILL FOR SURE be baptized, his name is Jeff and he and I are best friends. He's seventeen, but has one obstacle and that is his parents who do not want him to be baptized. The Lord will provide a way and He is warming their hearts slowly. The other is a FAMILY, but they didn't come to church last week. Pray for them. W gave one named Suzanne to the other elders. She is a nurse at a hospital and so nice! She wants to be baptized with her kid, and she has received an answer to her prayers. She is the type of mom who gives a lot of stuff to the missionaries...hahaha, the fridge is full. We teach English to nurses every Friday and it’s SO, SO funny!!! I have pictures.
So yeah, pray for them and especially Jeff who's fasted twice, once with us and once on his own free will. :) We played water balloon volleyball with the youth last week, it was great!
I just remembered some bad news, but it’s funny when you look at it now. Five days ago I found out that I missed being deported from Taiwan by 12 days!!!! I didn't renew my visa, and it was a blessing that I moved to Hualian to be with Elder Dickson so he could remind me. The office never gave me a phone call, so I had to pay a $120 fine.... I’M SO SORRY! I have that on my list to work off after the mission. If I had waited 12 more days, I would have been sent home, oh boy. God lives and He sends angels to help us out. Thanks, Elder Dickson
Speaking of Elder Dickson, he is AWESOME. He actually has ties with Elder Bednar, so I got to say hello instantly. Elder Dickson is from Austin, TX. I learn so much from him and it’s great to have an older companion for once. Hahaha. He shows me the ways around here in Hualian. We get along VERY, VERY, VERY well and we see miracles because of his faith. We have 3 others who will be adding to the pool shortly.
I think my English would get better if I wrote more letters to friends. I haven't written anyone for 3 transfers. I sent small bound copies of “Preach My Gospel” to TJ and Dustin but had no reply and that was a long time ago. If you have any news on their missions let me know. :)
I've been “Dear John'd,” my mission is now complete! I am about to laminate the letter. It’s from Ashley and unfortunately it says the words, "Elder Daniels" on it and not "Dear Jon," hahaha. I'm happy for her. I told her to bring her family to my homecoming anyway.
I heard a funny story by President Boone in the MTC about an elder who was dear john'd. He said the girl writing the elder asked for her picture back, so he decided he would get pictures of girlfriends from all the other elders and send them back to her together saying, "I forgot which one was you. Take yours and send the rest back."
Don’t worry, I’m good.
Elder Barton is doing very well. I got a letter from him, he is a Marine fighter pilot now. (He is at the Naval Academy in Annapolis). He can't get married quite yet, but he's got some prospects. He's had a lot of impact on me in my mission. He is very enthusiastic about life and still contacts his new members on a weekly basis. He tries to discourage me from joining the "boy scouts," referring to the Air Force. He says he wants me to join the Navy where there is more air craft and more opportunity to fly. haha. I still haven't decided what I'm going to do completely though, whatever the Lords wants. Maybe I'll be a “trench digger in Alabama," hahaha, love you Dad. I hope to keep up my language abilities and have Chinese as an asset. Who knows, wherever the wind takes me.
I love missionary work. I've started to learn how to be myself and a missionary at the same time. Elder Dickson has been a great contribution to the help. :) The Lord is really molding me, and the change isn't just in my head, it’s in my heart. I love this gospel
I hope things are going well back home. I love you all so much, and I can feel your prayers. Thanks for all of the support. :) I love talk about the faith of my parents to my investigators and my friends. I know you knew, that’s all that matters. That’s my goal for my kids. They don't need to memorize the scriptures, they just need to know that I know it’s true! Thanks for your example. I love you.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
A Transfer!
I am in the "Celestial Kingdom of Taiwan!" Hualien! The place that missionaries joke about being called to with other missionaries on moving, call Friday, because it’s everyone’s dream. The place where the mangos are the most sweet, the place where ocean and mountains are the surrounding scenery. The world renowned hot tourist spot. The place where I will take my wife and kids to visit. A place of abundance, milk and honey, "the Promised land." There are rice paddies, old Taiwanese people working in the fields with big hats. FRESH AIR with a fresh ocean breeze. It’s a completely different world, that’s all I have to say. I am on the most beautiful and famous part of the East Coast, and it took a 3 hour train ride to get here!!! I left at 5:58 in the morning and arrived at 8:55 am.
I think this is my reward for being one of those "forgotten missionaries," the kind of missionary that stays in one or two places for an abnormal amount of time, and by the looks of things, I might just be here for quite some time. I LOVE IT HERE...
I described my Friday night phone call to people like this. I am half happy, half sad. Half happy because it’s Hualien and the Lord desires me to serve here, and half sad because I have to leave all the member and investigator friends that I have made in Sanxia and Tucheng in the past 8 months. It was very difficult actually. I love those people. A lot of them have been added to my angel list in the back of my journal. The Liang family came to church, (an investigator family that destiny brought me to love.) They want to start taking the lessons more willfully now. I said goodbye to Brother Fan, Leo, Liu, the Lan family, Sister Yan, Ma, Lu, Cai, Rusty, and everyone else!!!! Oh man, they had a surprise party for me at Rusty’s house. Rusty is a single and is addicted to service! He is the most active member I have ever met. I will deeply miss them.
I was rather touched during conference. (The missionaries saw Conference a week later). There are so many talks that touched me so deeply. Those men truly have the keys of the holy priesthood. I was also touched by the gesture of a little boy whose family we found that ended up being baptized. He gave me a hug and a game of Chinese chess, because we used to play with him and his dad who is slower with accepting the church and isn't baptized yet.
Wow, my time is almost GONE???? I WILL DEEPLY miss Elder Teshima, the most righteous and pure man of all time. I am VERY, VERY excited to work with Elder Dickson. He has been in Taiwan for almost two years now and it looks like he's holding things down really well over here. I have heard a lot about him. He is a Powerhouse of Faith. TIME!!! I love you.
I think this is my reward for being one of those "forgotten missionaries," the kind of missionary that stays in one or two places for an abnormal amount of time, and by the looks of things, I might just be here for quite some time. I LOVE IT HERE...
I described my Friday night phone call to people like this. I am half happy, half sad. Half happy because it’s Hualien and the Lord desires me to serve here, and half sad because I have to leave all the member and investigator friends that I have made in Sanxia and Tucheng in the past 8 months. It was very difficult actually. I love those people. A lot of them have been added to my angel list in the back of my journal. The Liang family came to church, (an investigator family that destiny brought me to love.) They want to start taking the lessons more willfully now. I said goodbye to Brother Fan, Leo, Liu, the Lan family, Sister Yan, Ma, Lu, Cai, Rusty, and everyone else!!!! Oh man, they had a surprise party for me at Rusty’s house. Rusty is a single and is addicted to service! He is the most active member I have ever met. I will deeply miss them.
I was rather touched during conference. (The missionaries saw Conference a week later). There are so many talks that touched me so deeply. Those men truly have the keys of the holy priesthood. I was also touched by the gesture of a little boy whose family we found that ended up being baptized. He gave me a hug and a game of Chinese chess, because we used to play with him and his dad who is slower with accepting the church and isn't baptized yet.
Wow, my time is almost GONE???? I WILL DEEPLY miss Elder Teshima, the most righteous and pure man of all time. I am VERY, VERY excited to work with Elder Dickson. He has been in Taiwan for almost two years now and it looks like he's holding things down really well over here. I have heard a lot about him. He is a Powerhouse of Faith. TIME!!! I love you.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Things are going great!
Things are amazing! I love missionary work! I am so pumped for conference and Elder Holland’s talk on the garden of Gethsemane. Brother Fan was baptized! It was the best and most spiritual baptismal service ever! His testimony afterwards was like thunder!!! He was a little nervous, but he spent the whole time talking about how much closer he has come to GOD!! He is awesome:) and he was so happy!! I bore my testimony in Sacrament meeting about happiness being one of the greatest fruits of this gospel, and we get it through the guidance of "a living Christ." Last Sunday we got up at 5:30 am and rode our bikes to the Island that we love to run to every morning. We sang hymns as we watched the sun rise! A good "rest of the day" followed afterward. :).
Continuing, I thought you might find it interesting to see something new in my letters for once so I thought today I would include my letter to president. Besides, it can help me report on some of the weeks past events that I haven't introduced to you yet. My letters usually start out the same.
To President Nielsen. "I love missionary work!!! Heavenly Father has blessed us with investigators who have lots of concerns to resolve, so we get a lot of opportunity to discuss their needs. We added LEO to the baptismal pool yesterday, the man is AWESOME!!!! He is a counselor/teacher aid for a whole bunch of schools in Taibei. He is really smart and VERY interested in the gospel. :) He and I have the same dream in life...to have and support our own family someday. He is 30 years old however. Family is #1 in his life. Yesterday’s pei ke did very good in helping us resolve his concerns about our church's opinion towards Buddhist traditions. He has a huge desire to know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. We told him that’s all he needs to know, and then Heavenly Father will take away all concerns. We've met with him 3 times now, and he's been to the missionary fireside once. His friend is a member in Taoyuan, and he is willing to skip the yoga class that he loves going to on Sunday morning to come to church! I really like LEO, he's gonna make it!
“The other two in our pool are acting kinda fishy at the moment, but it’s in the Lord’s hands. One of them is going to Gaoxiong for a little while, we need to find a way to get in touch with the Elders down there and let them know he has a date and reading.
“So, things are spectacular over here. I sure love this work. We're still praying really hard to find a family. We're really pumped for Elder Bednar to come to town. My mom wants to know if there will be an opportunity to get pictures with him... haha.
“My mom also said Elder Holland’s talk is really good, on the Savior in Gethsemane. I CAN"T WAIT, haha. Love you president, thanks for all you do....
Elder Daniels."
Look Mom, you made it in my letter to president. :) Haha, president is a busy guy, usually my letters are a little bit shorter. Anyway, in that letter I talked about LEO, he is AWESOME and a huge blessing to be able to teach him. :)
My companion got in his 3rd bike crash in 5 weeks which matches my mission total.... hahahaha, poor guy. I told him that he is gonna be blessed to be one of those missionaries that has everything bad happen to him so that after his mission his faith is going to be insane and he will also have a whole bunch of stories to tell.
He really enjoyed last night’s activity which we had done before in the past but not in a long time. We and the Shulin elders went to the train station and sang hymns in the rain. Some of us also did "Dan Jones," which involves standing on a box, holding the Book of Mormon in the air and letting everyone know on that street corner how you feel about Christ and the restored gospel... haha. I love doing that!!!!!! I don't think I would be brave enough to do it in America sometimes, but for me, it’s not even out of the norm to do it with these Taiwanese people! I think we touched a lot of hearts last night, and I'm expecting some families to come to church on Sunday. Elder Barton met his Lin family through Dan Jones!
The unity in the District is back!!!! It was Sister White’s birthday yesterday and we all did a lot of things to show our love and respect for her as a missionary and person. There is still room for growth on both sides, but the seeds of trust have been planted.
I love how I have been in Tucheng for so long. Sunday was a true blessing. I was blessed to see 4 new members go up and bear their testimonies during fast and testimony meeting. These 4 members are all very special to me. They are all people that Heavenly Father allowed me to find on the street. It was very, very moving for me to see these for souls go up and bear testimony of how the Gospel has brought light into their lives. One who is 16 and really has no family and nobody who loves her and has moved from house to house her whole life, mentioned that she loved prayer because when she prays she feels like Heavenly Father is hugging her.
I love this work, it truly is the greatest work. Pres. Nielson said, "I see my responsibility in the needs of others.”
I heard an analogy recently. Missionaries are compared to a little kid helping their parents making a cake:
We add too much flour, the eggshells fall into the mix.
We add too much butter, the sugar is not enough.
The batter seems off color, we honestly tried our best.
We put it into the oven, we tell everyone to come.
We say to brother and sister, "it will be ready in 20 minutes."
Mom comes into the kitchen and she slips the cake aside.
She opens up the cupboard and pulls out another cake.
She puts the cake on the table. We wash our hands
We eat the cake and the cake is delicious!
Everyone is happy. We clean the dishes. We go off to rest.
This is similar to missionary work. I am 20 years old, but "I'm not learned," hahaha, I haven't been to college really. I am bound to mess things up, but our Father in Heaven loves us. He respects the effort, and He's got a cake prepared so we all can enjoy it and rest.
I love you family. We are going to the Lin family house to visit and then go to the temple! I love you.
Continuing, I thought you might find it interesting to see something new in my letters for once so I thought today I would include my letter to president. Besides, it can help me report on some of the weeks past events that I haven't introduced to you yet. My letters usually start out the same.
To President Nielsen. "I love missionary work!!! Heavenly Father has blessed us with investigators who have lots of concerns to resolve, so we get a lot of opportunity to discuss their needs. We added LEO to the baptismal pool yesterday, the man is AWESOME!!!! He is a counselor/teacher aid for a whole bunch of schools in Taibei. He is really smart and VERY interested in the gospel. :) He and I have the same dream in life...to have and support our own family someday. He is 30 years old however. Family is #1 in his life. Yesterday’s pei ke did very good in helping us resolve his concerns about our church's opinion towards Buddhist traditions. He has a huge desire to know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. We told him that’s all he needs to know, and then Heavenly Father will take away all concerns. We've met with him 3 times now, and he's been to the missionary fireside once. His friend is a member in Taoyuan, and he is willing to skip the yoga class that he loves going to on Sunday morning to come to church! I really like LEO, he's gonna make it!
“The other two in our pool are acting kinda fishy at the moment, but it’s in the Lord’s hands. One of them is going to Gaoxiong for a little while, we need to find a way to get in touch with the Elders down there and let them know he has a date and reading.
“So, things are spectacular over here. I sure love this work. We're still praying really hard to find a family. We're really pumped for Elder Bednar to come to town. My mom wants to know if there will be an opportunity to get pictures with him... haha.
“My mom also said Elder Holland’s talk is really good, on the Savior in Gethsemane. I CAN"T WAIT, haha. Love you president, thanks for all you do....
Elder Daniels."
Look Mom, you made it in my letter to president. :) Haha, president is a busy guy, usually my letters are a little bit shorter. Anyway, in that letter I talked about LEO, he is AWESOME and a huge blessing to be able to teach him. :)
My companion got in his 3rd bike crash in 5 weeks which matches my mission total.... hahahaha, poor guy. I told him that he is gonna be blessed to be one of those missionaries that has everything bad happen to him so that after his mission his faith is going to be insane and he will also have a whole bunch of stories to tell.
He really enjoyed last night’s activity which we had done before in the past but not in a long time. We and the Shulin elders went to the train station and sang hymns in the rain. Some of us also did "Dan Jones," which involves standing on a box, holding the Book of Mormon in the air and letting everyone know on that street corner how you feel about Christ and the restored gospel... haha. I love doing that!!!!!! I don't think I would be brave enough to do it in America sometimes, but for me, it’s not even out of the norm to do it with these Taiwanese people! I think we touched a lot of hearts last night, and I'm expecting some families to come to church on Sunday. Elder Barton met his Lin family through Dan Jones!
The unity in the District is back!!!! It was Sister White’s birthday yesterday and we all did a lot of things to show our love and respect for her as a missionary and person. There is still room for growth on both sides, but the seeds of trust have been planted.
I love how I have been in Tucheng for so long. Sunday was a true blessing. I was blessed to see 4 new members go up and bear their testimonies during fast and testimony meeting. These 4 members are all very special to me. They are all people that Heavenly Father allowed me to find on the street. It was very, very moving for me to see these for souls go up and bear testimony of how the Gospel has brought light into their lives. One who is 16 and really has no family and nobody who loves her and has moved from house to house her whole life, mentioned that she loved prayer because when she prays she feels like Heavenly Father is hugging her.
I love this work, it truly is the greatest work. Pres. Nielson said, "I see my responsibility in the needs of others.”
I heard an analogy recently. Missionaries are compared to a little kid helping their parents making a cake:
We add too much flour, the eggshells fall into the mix.
We add too much butter, the sugar is not enough.
The batter seems off color, we honestly tried our best.
We put it into the oven, we tell everyone to come.
We say to brother and sister, "it will be ready in 20 minutes."
Mom comes into the kitchen and she slips the cake aside.
She opens up the cupboard and pulls out another cake.
She puts the cake on the table. We wash our hands
We eat the cake and the cake is delicious!
Everyone is happy. We clean the dishes. We go off to rest.
This is similar to missionary work. I am 20 years old, but "I'm not learned," hahaha, I haven't been to college really. I am bound to mess things up, but our Father in Heaven loves us. He respects the effort, and He's got a cake prepared so we all can enjoy it and rest.
I love you family. We are going to the Lin family house to visit and then go to the temple! I love you.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Baptisms!
Elder Daniels’ English is suffering!
Dear Family
This is son 5, child 7, reporting. You may more formally know me as "Favorite." I am here to report upon the events of the past week.
My companion thought that it was very funny as a lady pushing a cart stole the trash he had been carrying to put in the garbage truck, ha ha. The garbage trucks are special here by the way. They are very similar to those ice cream trucks back in America because of the music that they play as they roll through the neighborhood. Someday I will take a video of how the trash is collected here in Taiwan and I will send it home to you, because I feel like words can not do the art of the act justice.
Big miracle #1 Brother Fan passed his baptismal interview! As a side note, his faith is so strong that he has been able to overcome those negative, uncertain, regretful feelings that Satan likes to give us before baptism. He shared this past week has been hard to feel the Spirit so profoundly as it has been in the past. The lessons we shared about baptism by water and by fire brought comfort back into his life. He is special. He is truly converted to the gospel, and he is converted through the witness given to him from Heavenly Father. He is genuine. That is SOME PIG! (Charlotte’s Web reference.) The Spirit told me to give him a phone call yesterday, and conveniently, it was at a good time that I could resolve a couple of concerns he had. At the end of the phone call he felt prompted to watch "Finding Faith in Christ" - a movie we had given him and he said afterward, that all his concerns are resolved and he could really feel the influence of the Spirit. Briefly, I told him that after he is confirmed he has that ability to have that comforter with him at all time and in all places. He was ecstatic!
We've been blessed recently with a lot of special investigators, the kinds that love to learn and have real concerns. The type of lessons that missionaries LOVE TO TEACH....for example, a concern that Elder Daniels loves to address is: "I feel like the Book of Mormon doesn't have much influence on me." In response to this particular concern I went right to the beef of the Book of Mormon and shared 3 Nephi 11:3 when it talks about Christ’s voice. The Spirit entered and we all were edified and the inactive member committed to come back to church. I LIVE FOR THAT!!! wohoooo!
We've been blessed with investigators who actually have a DESIRE TO LEARN, so we actually get to focus on the power of the Book of Mormon as we teach. its great. It help us find a lot of new investigators this past week and also helped us commit one inactive family and 3 singles to come back to church. The Book of Mormon answers questions of the soul!
Big Miracle #2 The Lan family set a baptismal date. Our last lesson we got to use 1st Nephi to show her how the gospel blesses "broken families" (the beginning of the Book of .Mormon is about a broken family) She loved 1 Nephi 1:1, and also 1 Nephi 8. Sister Lan loves the church and she wants her family to be in it. She knows it will help her autistic child to progress a lot. They set a date to be baptized April 25th!!! They have a really good fellowshipping family that brings her and her son to church every week.
Big Miracle #3 We met with a brand new investigator named Liu, he is Christian, but not an active one. He is also a fireman. We found him on the street and he set a date to be baptized too, the first time we met with him! The lesson was a "perfect lesson." He is a good investigator because he has desire, and Elder Daniels loves resolving his concerns with the Spirit and Book of Mormon as his weapons!!!
Missionaries have so many weapons that Heavenly Father gives them, if only we would use them all the time. Example: Preach my gospel, the BOM, the Holy Ghost, the ward, Jesus, etc. A tool that I am also just recently discovering is family.
I have a question.... How do I help my district have more unity? We all love each other, but sometimes there is distrust between companionships. The main recent ruckus has been communication between elders and sisters
I have to admit, sisters are on a different playing field then elders because they are older, graduated from college, and girls. So my question is, how can I, as a 20 year old Elder, gain their trust? It’s not been a problem before, but the problem started when we had a district leader move in that hasn't gotten along with sister missionaries in the past, and he is now in the same district as a sister who "feels like she is in Taiwan to clean up the mess that elders make."
It’s never been a problem before, but something that has become a matter now is the fact that the sisters, because they are fewer in number cover ALL the areas in the district, and sometimes heads clash and schedules conflict when we have made appointments to meet with certain members and investigators in our designated areas.
This doesn't sound very orderly, and it’s not. I'm just trying to know what to do to resolve the matter because there is often moments of miscommunication that lead to friction.
My opinion is, it doesn't matter who teaches them as long as they get baptized, families are free game, men teach men and women teach women. If I feel like the most convenient thing to do is to give them to the sisters to teach, I will do it, even if it is a family.
I also support the quote, "It takes a DISTRICT to get a family baptized, more than one companionship." Maybe the mouths of members of our district will agree with this, but what do you do if their actions do not? Ha, communication, what a thing.
I have another question. How do you give somebody a suggestion or a recommendation? What are the steps, assuming there is legitimate reasoning to give the suggestion in the first place?
Moving on, we went to a funeral. That was different. We were aware of this funeral 2 months ago by the way, it was interesting to see how sad everyone was. It wasn't a funeral sponsored by our church, however she was a member and rather famous, judging by the amount of people that went. We carried the casket. Funerals are HUGE in Taiwan.
Elder Z. came up briefly to visit an old investigator and we went with him. It was good to see Elder Z. He is my best friend. He is on the top of the list in the back of my journal titled "Angels Heavenly Father has allowed me to meet on my mission." I love looking at that list. It reminds me of all the help Heavenly Father has been generous enough to give me on my mission through the angels He has sent.
I'm very happy to hear that things are rolling along so well back home. I hope that everyone is happy with the road that they have chosen and the plates they have in front of them. Just remember this bit of advice. Mosiah 3: 17 "And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given, nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent"
Follow Him. I love you so much, you are my family...I want to live with you forever!!! Love you, Elder Jonathan Daniels
Dear Family
This is son 5, child 7, reporting. You may more formally know me as "Favorite." I am here to report upon the events of the past week.
My companion thought that it was very funny as a lady pushing a cart stole the trash he had been carrying to put in the garbage truck, ha ha. The garbage trucks are special here by the way. They are very similar to those ice cream trucks back in America because of the music that they play as they roll through the neighborhood. Someday I will take a video of how the trash is collected here in Taiwan and I will send it home to you, because I feel like words can not do the art of the act justice.
Big miracle #1 Brother Fan passed his baptismal interview! As a side note, his faith is so strong that he has been able to overcome those negative, uncertain, regretful feelings that Satan likes to give us before baptism. He shared this past week has been hard to feel the Spirit so profoundly as it has been in the past. The lessons we shared about baptism by water and by fire brought comfort back into his life. He is special. He is truly converted to the gospel, and he is converted through the witness given to him from Heavenly Father. He is genuine. That is SOME PIG! (Charlotte’s Web reference.) The Spirit told me to give him a phone call yesterday, and conveniently, it was at a good time that I could resolve a couple of concerns he had. At the end of the phone call he felt prompted to watch "Finding Faith in Christ" - a movie we had given him and he said afterward, that all his concerns are resolved and he could really feel the influence of the Spirit. Briefly, I told him that after he is confirmed he has that ability to have that comforter with him at all time and in all places. He was ecstatic!
We've been blessed recently with a lot of special investigators, the kinds that love to learn and have real concerns. The type of lessons that missionaries LOVE TO TEACH....for example, a concern that Elder Daniels loves to address is: "I feel like the Book of Mormon doesn't have much influence on me." In response to this particular concern I went right to the beef of the Book of Mormon and shared 3 Nephi 11:3 when it talks about Christ’s voice. The Spirit entered and we all were edified and the inactive member committed to come back to church. I LIVE FOR THAT!!! wohoooo!
We've been blessed with investigators who actually have a DESIRE TO LEARN, so we actually get to focus on the power of the Book of Mormon as we teach. its great. It help us find a lot of new investigators this past week and also helped us commit one inactive family and 3 singles to come back to church. The Book of Mormon answers questions of the soul!
Big Miracle #2 The Lan family set a baptismal date. Our last lesson we got to use 1st Nephi to show her how the gospel blesses "broken families" (the beginning of the Book of .Mormon is about a broken family) She loved 1 Nephi 1:1, and also 1 Nephi 8. Sister Lan loves the church and she wants her family to be in it. She knows it will help her autistic child to progress a lot. They set a date to be baptized April 25th!!! They have a really good fellowshipping family that brings her and her son to church every week.
Big Miracle #3 We met with a brand new investigator named Liu, he is Christian, but not an active one. He is also a fireman. We found him on the street and he set a date to be baptized too, the first time we met with him! The lesson was a "perfect lesson." He is a good investigator because he has desire, and Elder Daniels loves resolving his concerns with the Spirit and Book of Mormon as his weapons!!!
Missionaries have so many weapons that Heavenly Father gives them, if only we would use them all the time. Example: Preach my gospel, the BOM, the Holy Ghost, the ward, Jesus, etc. A tool that I am also just recently discovering is family.
I have a question.... How do I help my district have more unity? We all love each other, but sometimes there is distrust between companionships. The main recent ruckus has been communication between elders and sisters
I have to admit, sisters are on a different playing field then elders because they are older, graduated from college, and girls. So my question is, how can I, as a 20 year old Elder, gain their trust? It’s not been a problem before, but the problem started when we had a district leader move in that hasn't gotten along with sister missionaries in the past, and he is now in the same district as a sister who "feels like she is in Taiwan to clean up the mess that elders make."
It’s never been a problem before, but something that has become a matter now is the fact that the sisters, because they are fewer in number cover ALL the areas in the district, and sometimes heads clash and schedules conflict when we have made appointments to meet with certain members and investigators in our designated areas.
This doesn't sound very orderly, and it’s not. I'm just trying to know what to do to resolve the matter because there is often moments of miscommunication that lead to friction.
My opinion is, it doesn't matter who teaches them as long as they get baptized, families are free game, men teach men and women teach women. If I feel like the most convenient thing to do is to give them to the sisters to teach, I will do it, even if it is a family.
I also support the quote, "It takes a DISTRICT to get a family baptized, more than one companionship." Maybe the mouths of members of our district will agree with this, but what do you do if their actions do not? Ha, communication, what a thing.
I have another question. How do you give somebody a suggestion or a recommendation? What are the steps, assuming there is legitimate reasoning to give the suggestion in the first place?
Moving on, we went to a funeral. That was different. We were aware of this funeral 2 months ago by the way, it was interesting to see how sad everyone was. It wasn't a funeral sponsored by our church, however she was a member and rather famous, judging by the amount of people that went. We carried the casket. Funerals are HUGE in Taiwan.
Elder Z. came up briefly to visit an old investigator and we went with him. It was good to see Elder Z. He is my best friend. He is on the top of the list in the back of my journal titled "Angels Heavenly Father has allowed me to meet on my mission." I love looking at that list. It reminds me of all the help Heavenly Father has been generous enough to give me on my mission through the angels He has sent.
I'm very happy to hear that things are rolling along so well back home. I hope that everyone is happy with the road that they have chosen and the plates they have in front of them. Just remember this bit of advice. Mosiah 3: 17 "And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given, nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent"
Follow Him. I love you so much, you are my family...I want to live with you forever!!! Love you, Elder Jonathan Daniels
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