Well, let’s get started. There is an idiom that can explain the principle I have learned recently, “you catch more flies with honey then with vinegar.” In Taiwan, everybody lives in huge buildings, and at the bottom of every building there are guards that patrol as the people come in and out. These guards don't like missionaries for three reasons. 1) We are white, Christian, 19-year-olds who want to disturb everyone. 2) They are men in uniform who love to exercise power and authority in unjust ways. 3) Lousy missionaries in the past couldn't control their tempers, haha, who knows. All I know is sometimes it’s really difficult to get into a housing complex no matter how good your reason. It was a lot worse in Taibei, but yesterday we ran into a mean one while we were trying to pick up 3 kids between ages of 10 and 14 to take them to church. Anyway, we realized that the guard wasn't being honest. He said he would call them down to meet us. It was clear that the phone call he made to them was fake because we heard the dial tone the whole time, so my bold companion decided to rip into him a little. That didn't do anything, so minutes later after thinking about what we should do, my sincere companion decided to apologize to the guard for his behavior, and even though the guard never buckled a knee of mercy, the kids, without even receiving the phone call, came down to meet us....a tender mercy. This was in preparation for what happened later in the day....
Jeff’s dad is not a good dad. He gambles for money, he cheats on his wife, he has been to jail, and he hates the idea of anything non traditional with the standards he sets but, he, himself doesn't live. Jeff’s mom isn't much better. We have met her once and to our face she was the nicest lady ever, but behind our backs she is anti-Christian, anti- missionary and not willing to give her kids agency. She controls what Jeff’s sister does during her 2 hour break off from work. They take 90% of the money she makes, pocket it and they leave her with 10%. Although Leah, their daughter and Jeff’s older sister has a huge desire to be baptized, she says she doesn't because she is afraid of her mother and father. Jeff is not allowed to encourage his sister to "fall away" from the family and come to church. Jeff’s dad used to yell at him because he didn't go out with friends enough and all he would do is stay inside and play computer, and now after Jeff has joined the church, and made a lot of new friends, and spends a lot of time with us, his dad is thinking of disowning him as a child because he doesn't spend enough time at home, even though nobody is there. All Jeff’s parents ever do is YELL at him, that’s how a lot of the conversations go between family members in Taiwan, by the way, but Jeff’s parents are particularly awful. Jeff honestly hasn't done a single thing wrong. He is completely honest with his parents but he can't respond when they yell at him because they take whatever he says and throw it to the side. So anyway, Jeff called us last night really upset because his dad had really ripped into him for being at church so long. He said his dad wants to meet with us so that is on the list of things to do.
We called Jeff’s dad and asked when we could meet and he said tomorrow at 6:00 and we said, alright at our church. :) He agreed! As it turned out, he called back this morning and cancelled because he was scared. I don't know why, we were just going to use honey anyway...
SUSAN was baptized and I got to speak!!!!! It was Grrrreat!!!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Awesome Jeff is baptised!
Well this week sure has been dandy, it is week 6 ALREADY!!!!! Moving calls are on Friday!! I keep telling my companion that he's in the hot seat for president’s assistant, and they will need all of his help as the new mission president moves in. My companion is Amazing. He has mastered the balance in missionary work. We have a lot of fun, but we are focused on the purpose the whole time. I hope he doesn't leave yet. I'm learning a lot from Elder Dickson and he is really good for this area.
Out on the east coast it is really easy to get discouraged because there are a lot less people on the street to talk to and things seem a little more slow paced some times, especially in the hot afternoons. But, my companion makes every situation fun and effective!
Yesterday we took a 3 hour train ride to Taidong to teach their district meeting and also to go on exchanges with the district leader, Elder Slade. The work in Taidong in the past has been pretty mediocre, but its improved a lot recently. We shared from Alma talking about Pahoran, Ammon, Helaman, and Moroni. We discussed all their roles in the war chapters and the work that God gave them. We talked to the district about how God gives us talents and molds us into the types of missionaries He wants us to become, according to our willingness to obey. We tied it all into district unity and working with each other. It went really good and it was the 1st district meeting I have ever lead. We taught in Chinese because half the district are Taiwanese missionaries. It was great.
Our district in Hualien is doing amazing right now. I've never worked in a district with better unity!Today we ate McDonalds on our rooftop and read mail together (no Dear Johns this time, hahaha.) However I did get a my first letter from TJ (best friend serving in Boston) and that was GREAT!! “Stanleh” wrote as well! (Family nickname for Shantel who knows we call her that and likes it! I saw her at Maceys last week and she looks great). They are both awesome and I'm still waiting on Dustin at the moment (other best friend serving in Germany/Austria).
Me and my companion decided that we are the luckiest elders in the mission because we are in the most coveted spot…zone leaders in Hualien have it good because we see the whole east coast and enjoy the celestial weather! We see a lot of miracles, too!!! We're getting about 25 lessons a week and I don't know where they are coming from, but it’s awesome!!!
The greatest blessing so far is JEFF!!!!! I could spend an hour talking about him. His baptismal service was the greatest EVER!!!! I was blessed with the opportunity to give a talk and introduce Jeff a little bit, and I was also blessed to sing a duet with Sister Lin, a song called “Pre Earthlife,” about two friends who met in the pre-existence and received their calls to earth, one called to a gospel family on the American continent and the other called to live in a poverty country with no gospel whatsoever. The other friend promises to become a missionary and find his buddy. It was amazing!!! I don't mean to sound haughty, but it sounded GOOD, and everybody was emotional. It was a successful service, and then Jeff’s testimony!!! I'm not just saying this because he's our investigator but he shared the best testimony I have ever heard, not just by a new member, in general! He will be a great missionary. He spent 5 minutes talking about Heavenly Father, his personal growth and the influence of the BOM!!! It was awesome. There was only one problem that happened during the service and that was me in my talk, slipping in my Chinese, meaning to say, "Because of Jeff's faith, he will have no problem enduring to the end," however instead I accidently said, "Because of Jeff’s faith, he will never endure to the end!" Blast!
Oh yeah, and his sister came through and said the prayer! She is slowly showing more and more and more interest into the church. Jeff’s parents didn't come because they are really mediocre, just like my bike.
My bike is dying. Last Wednesday we went to the ocean where we decided to play, although we weren't allowed to swim and we didn't dare touch the water (amidst 30-40 kids on the beach playing in the waves on a hot summer’s day). We decided it would be okay to wash our bikes as long as we didn't get wet, so we did. Afterward I realized there is salt in the ocean water, and salt is good for steaks but bad for bikes, so Kathi 2 is riding an uneasy line for the last 8 months of this whole mission thing. Haha.
The investigators are all doing well, most of them are in the Sister’s hands at the moment but we are still involved in a lot of their lessons. SUSAN will be baptized this weekend and she wants me to sing, but I think we're doing a district piece and my companion, whose singing is his only weakness, will be the director. :) I teach Elder Dickson how to sing at nights. We are on page 256 in the hymn book and we've sung every hymn up to there now. It’s been an interesting game every night before daily planning session, especially when we both don't know the song. We sing in English.
I love the work out here. Love you, Elder Daniels
Out on the east coast it is really easy to get discouraged because there are a lot less people on the street to talk to and things seem a little more slow paced some times, especially in the hot afternoons. But, my companion makes every situation fun and effective!
Yesterday we took a 3 hour train ride to Taidong to teach their district meeting and also to go on exchanges with the district leader, Elder Slade. The work in Taidong in the past has been pretty mediocre, but its improved a lot recently. We shared from Alma talking about Pahoran, Ammon, Helaman, and Moroni. We discussed all their roles in the war chapters and the work that God gave them. We talked to the district about how God gives us talents and molds us into the types of missionaries He wants us to become, according to our willingness to obey. We tied it all into district unity and working with each other. It went really good and it was the 1st district meeting I have ever lead. We taught in Chinese because half the district are Taiwanese missionaries. It was great.
Our district in Hualien is doing amazing right now. I've never worked in a district with better unity!Today we ate McDonalds on our rooftop and read mail together (no Dear Johns this time, hahaha.) However I did get a my first letter from TJ (best friend serving in Boston) and that was GREAT!! “Stanleh” wrote as well! (Family nickname for Shantel who knows we call her that and likes it! I saw her at Maceys last week and she looks great). They are both awesome and I'm still waiting on Dustin at the moment (other best friend serving in Germany/Austria).
Me and my companion decided that we are the luckiest elders in the mission because we are in the most coveted spot…zone leaders in Hualien have it good because we see the whole east coast and enjoy the celestial weather! We see a lot of miracles, too!!! We're getting about 25 lessons a week and I don't know where they are coming from, but it’s awesome!!!
The greatest blessing so far is JEFF!!!!! I could spend an hour talking about him. His baptismal service was the greatest EVER!!!! I was blessed with the opportunity to give a talk and introduce Jeff a little bit, and I was also blessed to sing a duet with Sister Lin, a song called “Pre Earthlife,” about two friends who met in the pre-existence and received their calls to earth, one called to a gospel family on the American continent and the other called to live in a poverty country with no gospel whatsoever. The other friend promises to become a missionary and find his buddy. It was amazing!!! I don't mean to sound haughty, but it sounded GOOD, and everybody was emotional. It was a successful service, and then Jeff’s testimony!!! I'm not just saying this because he's our investigator but he shared the best testimony I have ever heard, not just by a new member, in general! He will be a great missionary. He spent 5 minutes talking about Heavenly Father, his personal growth and the influence of the BOM!!! It was awesome. There was only one problem that happened during the service and that was me in my talk, slipping in my Chinese, meaning to say, "Because of Jeff's faith, he will have no problem enduring to the end," however instead I accidently said, "Because of Jeff’s faith, he will never endure to the end!" Blast!
Oh yeah, and his sister came through and said the prayer! She is slowly showing more and more and more interest into the church. Jeff’s parents didn't come because they are really mediocre, just like my bike.
My bike is dying. Last Wednesday we went to the ocean where we decided to play, although we weren't allowed to swim and we didn't dare touch the water (amidst 30-40 kids on the beach playing in the waves on a hot summer’s day). We decided it would be okay to wash our bikes as long as we didn't get wet, so we did. Afterward I realized there is salt in the ocean water, and salt is good for steaks but bad for bikes, so Kathi 2 is riding an uneasy line for the last 8 months of this whole mission thing. Haha.
The investigators are all doing well, most of them are in the Sister’s hands at the moment but we are still involved in a lot of their lessons. SUSAN will be baptized this weekend and she wants me to sing, but I think we're doing a district piece and my companion, whose singing is his only weakness, will be the director. :) I teach Elder Dickson how to sing at nights. We are on page 256 in the hymn book and we've sung every hymn up to there now. It’s been an interesting game every night before daily planning session, especially when we both don't know the song. We sing in English.
I love the work out here. Love you, Elder Daniels
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Lots of scheduled baptisms!
Well it sure was good to hear from everybody during the phone call! Later in district meeting, taught by Elder Huss, a title was given to the day that we make phone calls home, known as "National Trunky Day." We took a good 30 minutes of district meeting to discuss what we talked about with our families! It was Fun.
Wow, time isn't long today. The ladies who cut our hair like to take an extra long time, and we are also going to play volleyball today at the beach in about 30 minutes as a district...wahoo!
News. The Oh Yang family. Eight kids, 4 mothers and a grandma living in the same house with one more daughter living in Taibei, they ARE AWESOME! There is a total of 5 mei mei's, yet NO husbands, so we are working together with the Sisters on them. They are awesome and they will all have baptismal dates on FRIDAY!!!!
The Li family, SAME STORY! I kid you not. Four sisters who meet with us in one family, their husbands are either dead, divorced or never had. There are 5 daughters between them, between the ages of 6 and 14, so yeah, we are working with the Sisters on this family, too, and they will also have dates this week!!! They all want to become members!!!
Next is Susan and her chunky son, Peter...they are AMAZING!!!! Even though they also count as the Sisters’ investigators, they still meet with us regularly because she feeds us EVERYDAY! When I first moved here I asked Elder Dickson "Does this area have a lady who is obsessed with giving stuff to missionaries?" "Not yet," he said, and verily, verily I say unto thee, "Now we do! It is Susan!” Every area in Taiwan has that special lady who is obsessed with giving nice things to missionaries and we found her, hahaha, and she has a chunky son. The Sisters practiced the baptismal questions with Susan and found out she has a problem with number 4, which means she needs to have an interview with a member of the mission presidency because number 4 involves some "serious sins." Although it was a long, long time ago, she still had to feel sincere repentance for the sin, so the sisters had us help them teach her what that meant to help better prepare her for baptism. Yesterday she called us and she feels like the backpack has been lifted from her shoulders and she feels ready to be baptized, so all she needs to do is pass her real interview and she is all set to go. She wants me to baptize her! :) Her son will need a little more time, he needs to understand the repentance process and give up milk tea, even though he is just 8 years old. :)
SO FAR SO GOOD RIGHT!!!!!!
The best news is, JEFF PASSED HIS INTERVIEW AND WILL BE BAPTIZED THIS WEEKEND! We also committed his sister who is really shy and is just starting to meet with missionaries, to say the closing prayer at his service. At first she denied and she kept denying the invite until we went to her work and ate (because she is a waitress) and we gave her a "FAITH" drink. Ha, we wrote the words “FAITH DRINK” on a card and put it on a bottle of orange juice and gave it to her telling her that if she drinks it, she'll have enough courage to pray at her brother’s baptism, and she COMMITTED!!!! His baptism is going to be awesome!!!!! We're going all out on it because he deserves it. He role played with us several times to get some ideas of how he could talk to his father and mother and have the ability to persuade them into allowing him to be baptized. It WORKED!!!! They signed his permission paper a week ago and now that he's passed his interview, he is all set. JEFF has brought 4 people into the church because of his faith, he himself hasn't been able to baptized yet, only do to the opposition of his parents, but this week is IT!!!! He's an AWESOME STORY!!!
Next, we have two more people in the pool, one is a former Presbyterian, like the Su family, :( but now he wants to be LDS and he loves the Book of Mormon! And there is other person we aren't sure what to think of because we think he is lying to us about things in his life, however, he does come to church every week. I'm way uneasy about letting him be baptized because he just doesn't seem like he's ready, we'll see. I just don't like looking through the area book and seeing missionaries "new members" listed under the inactive list. I fear that. Thankfully, I think most of the people Heavenly Father has blessed us to work with are pretty legit.
Lately I've been learning a lot about what it means to be "MOLDED" as a missionary, by Jesus Christ, and it involves being loyal to Him. I've also been studying "divine discontent" because sometimes I feel like things progress slowly. My answer to this question was introduced as I was partaking of the Sacrament last week. I felt the Spirit SO STRONG, whispering to me, "Enjoy the journey, come what may and love it.” That was a testimony building experience. There is a lot behind those words, enjoy the journey, but my time isn't long enough to explain.
I've learned a lot about the importance of being positive. Man, it’s really hard to reflect and write down all the things that have happened in the past 3 weeks in a matter of thirty minutes, haha.
Funny story real quick. There is a Jiang family who take care of the church. They are very, very dedicated and very bold people. One day while practicing a solo for Jeff’s baptism, I decided to “beatbox” and sing a little crazy into the microphone in the chapel on the third floor. I didn’t know the microphone speakers were linked all the way to the floor downstairs where Jiang Baba was. The elders down with him ran up to warn me, and tell me that Jiang Baba was frustrated and ready to “skin the person beatboxing!!!!” We had to sneak down the secret escape and hide in the Primary room where we called potential investigators until our investigator came to meet with us. It was funny.
Wow, time isn't long today. The ladies who cut our hair like to take an extra long time, and we are also going to play volleyball today at the beach in about 30 minutes as a district...wahoo!
News. The Oh Yang family. Eight kids, 4 mothers and a grandma living in the same house with one more daughter living in Taibei, they ARE AWESOME! There is a total of 5 mei mei's, yet NO husbands, so we are working together with the Sisters on them. They are awesome and they will all have baptismal dates on FRIDAY!!!!
The Li family, SAME STORY! I kid you not. Four sisters who meet with us in one family, their husbands are either dead, divorced or never had. There are 5 daughters between them, between the ages of 6 and 14, so yeah, we are working with the Sisters on this family, too, and they will also have dates this week!!! They all want to become members!!!
Next is Susan and her chunky son, Peter...they are AMAZING!!!! Even though they also count as the Sisters’ investigators, they still meet with us regularly because she feeds us EVERYDAY! When I first moved here I asked Elder Dickson "Does this area have a lady who is obsessed with giving stuff to missionaries?" "Not yet," he said, and verily, verily I say unto thee, "Now we do! It is Susan!” Every area in Taiwan has that special lady who is obsessed with giving nice things to missionaries and we found her, hahaha, and she has a chunky son. The Sisters practiced the baptismal questions with Susan and found out she has a problem with number 4, which means she needs to have an interview with a member of the mission presidency because number 4 involves some "serious sins." Although it was a long, long time ago, she still had to feel sincere repentance for the sin, so the sisters had us help them teach her what that meant to help better prepare her for baptism. Yesterday she called us and she feels like the backpack has been lifted from her shoulders and she feels ready to be baptized, so all she needs to do is pass her real interview and she is all set to go. She wants me to baptize her! :) Her son will need a little more time, he needs to understand the repentance process and give up milk tea, even though he is just 8 years old. :)
SO FAR SO GOOD RIGHT!!!!!!
The best news is, JEFF PASSED HIS INTERVIEW AND WILL BE BAPTIZED THIS WEEKEND! We also committed his sister who is really shy and is just starting to meet with missionaries, to say the closing prayer at his service. At first she denied and she kept denying the invite until we went to her work and ate (because she is a waitress) and we gave her a "FAITH" drink. Ha, we wrote the words “FAITH DRINK” on a card and put it on a bottle of orange juice and gave it to her telling her that if she drinks it, she'll have enough courage to pray at her brother’s baptism, and she COMMITTED!!!! His baptism is going to be awesome!!!!! We're going all out on it because he deserves it. He role played with us several times to get some ideas of how he could talk to his father and mother and have the ability to persuade them into allowing him to be baptized. It WORKED!!!! They signed his permission paper a week ago and now that he's passed his interview, he is all set. JEFF has brought 4 people into the church because of his faith, he himself hasn't been able to baptized yet, only do to the opposition of his parents, but this week is IT!!!! He's an AWESOME STORY!!!
Next, we have two more people in the pool, one is a former Presbyterian, like the Su family, :( but now he wants to be LDS and he loves the Book of Mormon! And there is other person we aren't sure what to think of because we think he is lying to us about things in his life, however, he does come to church every week. I'm way uneasy about letting him be baptized because he just doesn't seem like he's ready, we'll see. I just don't like looking through the area book and seeing missionaries "new members" listed under the inactive list. I fear that. Thankfully, I think most of the people Heavenly Father has blessed us to work with are pretty legit.
Lately I've been learning a lot about what it means to be "MOLDED" as a missionary, by Jesus Christ, and it involves being loyal to Him. I've also been studying "divine discontent" because sometimes I feel like things progress slowly. My answer to this question was introduced as I was partaking of the Sacrament last week. I felt the Spirit SO STRONG, whispering to me, "Enjoy the journey, come what may and love it.” That was a testimony building experience. There is a lot behind those words, enjoy the journey, but my time isn't long enough to explain.
I've learned a lot about the importance of being positive. Man, it’s really hard to reflect and write down all the things that have happened in the past 3 weeks in a matter of thirty minutes, haha.
Funny story real quick. There is a Jiang family who take care of the church. They are very, very dedicated and very bold people. One day while practicing a solo for Jeff’s baptism, I decided to “beatbox” and sing a little crazy into the microphone in the chapel on the third floor. I didn’t know the microphone speakers were linked all the way to the floor downstairs where Jiang Baba was. The elders down with him ran up to warn me, and tell me that Jiang Baba was frustrated and ready to “skin the person beatboxing!!!!” We had to sneak down the secret escape and hide in the Primary room where we called potential investigators until our investigator came to meet with us. It was funny.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Surprise phone call!
It’s Mom/Carol Anne writing…
We haven’t had a letter from Jonathan for two weeks and were watching the computer for one tonight when the phone rang with a surprise call from our missionary! What fun to hear Jonathan’s voice! It was a quick call to tell us he did receive our email letters, but was not able to send letters out because of a glitch in the lds missionary email system. He was given permission from the President to explain that problem and to arrange the time for the Mother’s Day phone call, which will be Sunday night at 6:30 our time, which is Monday morning for him. Yeah!
He was able to tell us that their area is “on fire!” There are 6 elders and 2 sisters in the city. His companion said that a few months ago, things were really slow in Hualien but right now, the missionaries have many people to teach and the work it moving forward. Jonathan said he really enjoys the Zone Leader meetings back in Taipei because everyone comes ready to learn. He loves the work.
From their apartment on the 5th floor, they are able to see the ocean and the mountains. They have a p-day scheduled for beach volleyball. He says the area is very beautiful.
So, there you go. We really miss The Boy’s letters but we are happy we were able to actually talk together on the phone for about 5 minutes. We are looking forward to a longer call Sunday night. :)
Thanks for all your prayers for our missionary and for missionaries around the world. Love to you all, Carol Anne
We haven’t had a letter from Jonathan for two weeks and were watching the computer for one tonight when the phone rang with a surprise call from our missionary! What fun to hear Jonathan’s voice! It was a quick call to tell us he did receive our email letters, but was not able to send letters out because of a glitch in the lds missionary email system. He was given permission from the President to explain that problem and to arrange the time for the Mother’s Day phone call, which will be Sunday night at 6:30 our time, which is Monday morning for him. Yeah!
He was able to tell us that their area is “on fire!” There are 6 elders and 2 sisters in the city. His companion said that a few months ago, things were really slow in Hualien but right now, the missionaries have many people to teach and the work it moving forward. Jonathan said he really enjoys the Zone Leader meetings back in Taipei because everyone comes ready to learn. He loves the work.
From their apartment on the 5th floor, they are able to see the ocean and the mountains. They have a p-day scheduled for beach volleyball. He says the area is very beautiful.
So, there you go. We really miss The Boy’s letters but we are happy we were able to actually talk together on the phone for about 5 minutes. We are looking forward to a longer call Sunday night. :)
Thanks for all your prayers for our missionary and for missionaries around the world. Love to you all, Carol Anne
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Surprise phone call!
Dear Family,
It’s Mom/Carol Anne writing…
We haven’t had a letter from Jonathan for two weeks and were watching the computer for one tonight when the phone rang with a surprise call from our missionary! What fun to hear Jonathan’s voice! It was a quick call to tell us he did receive our email letters, but was not able to send letters out because of a glitch in the lds missionary email system. He was given permission from the President to explain that problem and to arrange the time for the Mother’s Day phone call, which will be Sunday night at 6:30 our time, which is Monday morning for him. Yeah!
He was able to tell us that their area is “on fire!” There are 6 elders and 2 sisters in the city. His companion said that a few months ago, things were really slow in Hualien but right now, the missionaries have many people to teach and the work is moving forward. Jonathan said he really enjoys the Zone Leader meetings back in Taipei because everyone comes ready to learn. He loves the work.
From their apartment on the 5th floor, they are able to see the ocean and the mountains. They have a p-day scheduled for beach volleyball. He says the area is very beautiful.
So, there you go. We really miss The Boy’s letters but we are happy we were able to actually talk together on the phone for about 5 minutes. We are looking forward to a longer call Sunday night. :)
Thanks for all your prayers for our missionary and for missionaries around the world. Love to you all, Carol Anne
It’s Mom/Carol Anne writing…
We haven’t had a letter from Jonathan for two weeks and were watching the computer for one tonight when the phone rang with a surprise call from our missionary! What fun to hear Jonathan’s voice! It was a quick call to tell us he did receive our email letters, but was not able to send letters out because of a glitch in the lds missionary email system. He was given permission from the President to explain that problem and to arrange the time for the Mother’s Day phone call, which will be Sunday night at 6:30 our time, which is Monday morning for him. Yeah!
He was able to tell us that their area is “on fire!” There are 6 elders and 2 sisters in the city. His companion said that a few months ago, things were really slow in Hualien but right now, the missionaries have many people to teach and the work is moving forward. Jonathan said he really enjoys the Zone Leader meetings back in Taipei because everyone comes ready to learn. He loves the work.
From their apartment on the 5th floor, they are able to see the ocean and the mountains. They have a p-day scheduled for beach volleyball. He says the area is very beautiful.
So, there you go. We really miss The Boy’s letters but we are happy we were able to actually talk together on the phone for about 5 minutes. We are looking forward to a longer call Sunday night. :)
Thanks for all your prayers for our missionary and for missionaries around the world. Love to you all, Carol Anne
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