Things sure are different! Let me start off with a brief run down of what went on last week. Most of the excitement happened on Sunday at church. We had 8 investigators come and the Sisters had 12! It was insane, the pews were filled with investigators, and the important names to notice are Jeff’s SISTER! Three months ago she didn't believe in God and now wants to be baptized because she loves to read the Book of Mormon and pray. The second name to notice is the Lin family! Two sons, their cousin, and Sister Lin all came and attended Sacrament meeting. They really enjoyed it and they were fellowshipped by a lot of members.:) We had gone to their house the night before and shared the Plan of Salvation.:) They ate it up. This is the family!!! I love them. They are already like family!! We meet with them every week, and they are good. They’ve been praying, too. The last name to notice is the Wu family. We'll have to give them to the Sisters soon, but they have shown a lot of potential. And on the Sisters’ side, they had a million investigators come that we found on the street and in English class, so it was good to see a lot of new faces. I think a lot of it had to do with Elder Dickson...moving.
Yes, my companion is gone now, ha-ha, I really loved Elder Dickson. He is a great missionary, that’s why he is becoming the TRAVELING ASSISTANT! He was so sad to leave Hualien, but his new assignment is awesome and his new companion will be my favorite missionary companion of all time, Elder Larson, the one from San Chong. He “dies” this transfer, though. Their responsibility is really cool and difficult. They will be on their bikes a lot, spending every night in a new area with a different companionship, and sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor! Ha-ha, their purpose is to teach missionaries how to be better missionaries. They go on blitz exchanges for a day, and then switch areas. They try to hit EVERY companionship in the mission!!! Crazy huh, so he will see the WHOLE mission, and he will go to old areas and visit his old members and EVERYTHING!!! That will be exciting for him, and he deserves it...he was an excellent missionary. :)
So, the reins have been left to me here in Hualien, and they sent me AN AWESOME companion named Elder McNair. We served on the same district in Tu Cheng, back then Elder Zeng was his companion. He just leaned over and told me that I've changed a lot since then, that I’m more “chill,” (relaxed), ha-ha. I think it’s a good thing. I told him "Hualien changes people.” :)
I explained if there is anything I've learned in Hualien, it’s how to rely on the Lord’s time, and, number 2, the importance of the Book of Mormon. If I have ANY request for anyone I ever teach, it’s that they read the Book of Mormon. If they first do that, they will want to come to Church, and they will want to start to pray, etc. That book has power!!!
I'm really excited to work with Elder McNair. He is a genius and he came on with Elder Gong (my son) who just hit his year mark on the island. Crazy! Elder McNair is from Rexburg, Idaho. He is amazing on the piano and everything he touches, even the BAG PIPES! He is a very passionate missionary as well. He lit up the last area he was in, so we're going to try and use his passion to help Hualien to keep being so successful.
I love this area! There are so many seeds that have been sown and I think this and next transfer we will be able to have some reaping time. Well, we've got someone in the teaching pool who has a Word of Wisdom problem, but he likes to read the BOM so he'll be good. Then there is Dirk who just needs to come to church. Keep them in your prayers. Just so you know, Jeff is amazing. I have never seen a more converted 17 year-old kid and now his sister is coming along. Life is good.
I see a lot of progress happening this next transfer; I feel I will be here for the next as well. Well, I think that’s good for today, we got some stuff to get done. I love you. Read the Book of Mormon! That’s all! Elder Daniels
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
A fun P-day
Today is the last preparation day of the transfer and it’s two missionary’s birthdays, so we had the Taidong missionaries take a 2 hour train ride up to visit and play games. We plan to play football and water balloon volleyball. Due to the lack of a cake, we plan to stick candles in a watermelon that we bought last night and sing “Happy Birthday!” Ha-ha. Taidong just arrived and we are all emailing together. My companion and I have to leave earlier to go and pick up the sandwiches we had ordered. Fun times!
This week was great!! One of the highlights is we have another investigator in the pool.
We’re working with a Lin family! They are awesome because they come to activities on their own, unlike other investigators who need a lot of fellowshipping and phone calls; we've met with them twice. They have two sons who are awesome, their names are Kerry and Larry. They are all geniuses and the dad is loaded. He owns 4 different houses which are like model homes because that is his business! It’s so awesome. :) They couldn't come to church last week, number one, because he had to give a speech at a college graduation ceremony, and number 2, there was a typhoon, ha-ha, but it’s okay, they are still really good. We’re really excited about them...
We had a surprise. Last Saturday while we were playing basketball with our investigators at the church, Elder Dickson and I ran into our MTC teachers, Sister Fang for me and Brother Kirk for him! They are here for different reasons but they both attended church on Sunday. How CRAZY, the people that taught us how to be missionaries were here. It was so good to see them and we joked as if it was an evaluation process that every missionary goes through. :) Brother Kirk went home but Sister Fang is visiting family and will be here through next week.
We've been spending a lot of time...you guessed it, FINDING! And it’s brought a lot of really fun experiences. I ate chicken feet for the first time and it was actually alright! I always feared it before, and the same day we also ate pig’s feet, again.
I'm discovering that it’s difficult to explain Taiwan through email. There is so much that you have to experience here in order to understand.
I had the opportunity to lead my very first district meeting. I was a little nervous at first, but I prepared and studied a little and I was EXCITED to share because the topic was the Atonement. The Spirit was so powerful and we were all emotional. Elder Huss made an awesome comment that I want to share with the Su family when I get the chance: "The debt will be paid.” We will be free, with gratitude, the end.
This week was great!! One of the highlights is we have another investigator in the pool.
We’re working with a Lin family! They are awesome because they come to activities on their own, unlike other investigators who need a lot of fellowshipping and phone calls; we've met with them twice. They have two sons who are awesome, their names are Kerry and Larry. They are all geniuses and the dad is loaded. He owns 4 different houses which are like model homes because that is his business! It’s so awesome. :) They couldn't come to church last week, number one, because he had to give a speech at a college graduation ceremony, and number 2, there was a typhoon, ha-ha, but it’s okay, they are still really good. We’re really excited about them...
We had a surprise. Last Saturday while we were playing basketball with our investigators at the church, Elder Dickson and I ran into our MTC teachers, Sister Fang for me and Brother Kirk for him! They are here for different reasons but they both attended church on Sunday. How CRAZY, the people that taught us how to be missionaries were here. It was so good to see them and we joked as if it was an evaluation process that every missionary goes through. :) Brother Kirk went home but Sister Fang is visiting family and will be here through next week.
We've been spending a lot of time...you guessed it, FINDING! And it’s brought a lot of really fun experiences. I ate chicken feet for the first time and it was actually alright! I always feared it before, and the same day we also ate pig’s feet, again.
I'm discovering that it’s difficult to explain Taiwan through email. There is so much that you have to experience here in order to understand.
I had the opportunity to lead my very first district meeting. I was a little nervous at first, but I prepared and studied a little and I was EXCITED to share because the topic was the Atonement. The Spirit was so powerful and we were all emotional. Elder Huss made an awesome comment that I want to share with the Su family when I get the chance: "The debt will be paid.” We will be free, with gratitude, the end.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
An investigator nicknamed "Fruitcake"
Today our whole district went up in the mountains to the water curtain caves!! It was awesome and we got soaking wet, we got to walk in water. :) That’s as close as we missionaries get to swimming, besides baptism, haha. I’m getting a serious farmer’s tan.
This past week was fantastic, mostly the second half. I don't know what happened, but the first half of the week I was in a weird sort of funk, I don't know how to explain beyond that basically I couldn't speak Chinese, but it all ended up being really good in the end. President and his wife came back down from Taipei to have their last fireside in Hualien before they go back. President loves Hualien because he spent 15 months of his mission here. The fireside was really good and I got to sit down with the Nielsons personally and ask questions and have my last interview with President. It was a really special experience. The Nielsons are really kind people, they gave me a million sincere compliments that made me feel really good. They talked about charity for the longest time and it really helped me grasp a better understanding of it being the key to bring us closer to Christ’s atonement, etc. When they go back they will be living in the very south east part of Utah. I forgot the name, oh man. But every year at conference they will have a reunion! That will be fun to go to some day. I sure will miss the Nielsons a lot, President reminded me 10 times in our interview together that I need to give full support to President Grimley.
So yeah, the work goes on, President is back in Taipei now, the transfer ends next week and we'll have a new mission president. Crazy stuff!!!
As for the work, recently it’s been FUN!!!! As always, haha, we've been finding, finding and finding, but we teach when we find, so it’s been good. Yesterday was probably the best day I've ever had on the mission. We had 4 lessons at night, and one in the morning, and one big juicy block of time in the afternoon of proselyting. Afternoon proselyting can be difficult, however, we worked hard and Heavenly Father blessed us to set up 10 people!!!! And only 7 of them were for the Sisters, so we got three for ourselves, hahaha. It was awesome! That night we taught some really good lessons. Elder Dickson and I teach well together. It’s nice to work with another missionary who has a lot of experience. The last lesson of the night was best. There was an old family of 8, and they all had different circumstances, opinions and religious backgrounds. They all, ironically, live out of our area and were only visiting from Taipei. However, they were legit, and they were really touched by the Joseph Smith story. They loved the idea of their family being able to come together and agree on religion, so they all decided to reset up even though they all live in different areas, we're hooking missionaries up all across the world, from Florida, to Germany, to Taipei. Cool stuff, huh.
Two years of missionary work is similar to today’s allotted amount of email time...it FLIES! I can't believe its June 17th! I still don't know if I'm going to extend or not, luckily I don't need to make the decision yet, but it will have to be made next transfer along with my plans for life, hahaha, I should figure those out as well.
By the way, our one REAL progressing investigator, who we have nicknamed "Fruitcake" ha, he has shown a lot of progression. We're still unclear on his situation or whether or not he is a liar, but next Monday night we will find out if he really has triplets and a wife. We thought we met his mom who supposedly died a couple weeks ago, so that is why we are unsure.
Well the time is gone I LOVE YOU!!!!! I lost my wallet and then found it!!!
Church is true! ELDER DANIELS
This past week was fantastic, mostly the second half. I don't know what happened, but the first half of the week I was in a weird sort of funk, I don't know how to explain beyond that basically I couldn't speak Chinese, but it all ended up being really good in the end. President and his wife came back down from Taipei to have their last fireside in Hualien before they go back. President loves Hualien because he spent 15 months of his mission here. The fireside was really good and I got to sit down with the Nielsons personally and ask questions and have my last interview with President. It was a really special experience. The Nielsons are really kind people, they gave me a million sincere compliments that made me feel really good. They talked about charity for the longest time and it really helped me grasp a better understanding of it being the key to bring us closer to Christ’s atonement, etc. When they go back they will be living in the very south east part of Utah. I forgot the name, oh man. But every year at conference they will have a reunion! That will be fun to go to some day. I sure will miss the Nielsons a lot, President reminded me 10 times in our interview together that I need to give full support to President Grimley.
So yeah, the work goes on, President is back in Taipei now, the transfer ends next week and we'll have a new mission president. Crazy stuff!!!
As for the work, recently it’s been FUN!!!! As always, haha, we've been finding, finding and finding, but we teach when we find, so it’s been good. Yesterday was probably the best day I've ever had on the mission. We had 4 lessons at night, and one in the morning, and one big juicy block of time in the afternoon of proselyting. Afternoon proselyting can be difficult, however, we worked hard and Heavenly Father blessed us to set up 10 people!!!! And only 7 of them were for the Sisters, so we got three for ourselves, hahaha. It was awesome! That night we taught some really good lessons. Elder Dickson and I teach well together. It’s nice to work with another missionary who has a lot of experience. The last lesson of the night was best. There was an old family of 8, and they all had different circumstances, opinions and religious backgrounds. They all, ironically, live out of our area and were only visiting from Taipei. However, they were legit, and they were really touched by the Joseph Smith story. They loved the idea of their family being able to come together and agree on religion, so they all decided to reset up even though they all live in different areas, we're hooking missionaries up all across the world, from Florida, to Germany, to Taipei. Cool stuff, huh.
Two years of missionary work is similar to today’s allotted amount of email time...it FLIES! I can't believe its June 17th! I still don't know if I'm going to extend or not, luckily I don't need to make the decision yet, but it will have to be made next transfer along with my plans for life, hahaha, I should figure those out as well.
By the way, our one REAL progressing investigator, who we have nicknamed "Fruitcake" ha, he has shown a lot of progression. We're still unclear on his situation or whether or not he is a liar, but next Monday night we will find out if he really has triplets and a wife. We thought we met his mom who supposedly died a couple weeks ago, so that is why we are unsure.
Well the time is gone I LOVE YOU!!!!! I lost my wallet and then found it!!!
Church is true! ELDER DANIELS
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Zone Conference and Exchanges
Well, here we are already week 3 of the 5 week transfer. A lot went on this past week, involving 2 sets of exchanges and zone conference, as well as a lot of (you called it) finding!!!! :)
First of all it’s a blast working with Elder Dickson because he understands the balance between having fun as a missionary and also working very hard!!! Last week was zone conference so President, his wife and the AP's came down once again. So yeah, when they come down most of the preparation for food and everything relies on me and my companion. However, this time we made a big mistake, or was it? All I have to say is, it’s the best mistake my companion has ever made, because of his mistake of ordering 11 extra pizzas, his companion’s stomach has never been so happy. Yes, we've eating nothing but pizza for the PAST WEEK! Good stuff. And, on top of that, it seems like everyone in the Branch gave us food this week. It’s good to be a Hualien missionary.
The only bad news to report is that after we returned from our Taidong exchanges, when entering into our apartment, we noticed a light had been on, that light being the light from Elder Daniels's fridge! Oh no, the pizza! The bacon! The mayonnaise...gone! It’s okay though, come what may and love it, we got a really good laugh.
Zone Conference was AWESOME... I got the opportunity to conduct :) so, my companion thinks he's officially going to get the boot this transfer. This Zone conference was special. I was rather nervous at first because we were given a solid 1 hour chunk of time to do a zone breakout. I'm still new at the whole teaching meetings thing, I never got the chance to practice since I never was a district leader, but, it went AWESOME! Our goal was to rejuvenate the missionaries and get everyone excited to go and work hard. It was really good. We shared a lot, we talked about how we need to avoid the “police officer” stereotypes and not "BREAK," no lunch break. That way we can still find those people out there. It was great, focus was on contacting 10 extra people a day outside of proselyting hours. Everyone was willing. As for the other messages, I particularly enjoyed President’s message on repentance.
As for exchanges with the AP's: They were great!!!! I was with Elder Evans, the most optimistic, meek, missionary of all time...so humble! Similar to Elder Tuveson and I learned a lot from him. He shared a miracle that we saw in zone conference. After we taught one AWESOME lesson with a new member named Zhou Chang about 3 nephi 13, and the gospel of Jesus Christ, and him deciding to come back to church again even though he had been inactive recently. We then went to the Oh Yang part member family.
We got lost on the way, something that never happens when going to their house unless the Lord is controlling the time, haha. When we got there, the family wasn't home, just her husband and we got to share with him the gospel. Before he had no desire, and after the end of the lesson he was different. He wants to meet God. We never had the opportunity to sit down with him before. At the end of the lesson, the family got home, and we asked her to prepare a referral for Friday we would be back in their home and she said that she had a friend!!! She gave us her number and we're all set up for Friday night. They hit referrals really big in zone conference, so it was really cool that the Lord gave us this experience!!!
Exchanges in Taidong were good. We also taught their district meeting and shared about Jonah and the whale. We talked about how Jonah had no vision as he went to Nineveh to preach the gospel and that’s why he obtained no satisfaction, even though the people were saved. We related it to not having a vision and also the question, why do “bad” missionaries see so many families baptized and how come so many obedient missionaries don't get the opportunity. It was really good and then we talked about talents by teaching David and Goliath’s story.
First of all it’s a blast working with Elder Dickson because he understands the balance between having fun as a missionary and also working very hard!!! Last week was zone conference so President, his wife and the AP's came down once again. So yeah, when they come down most of the preparation for food and everything relies on me and my companion. However, this time we made a big mistake, or was it? All I have to say is, it’s the best mistake my companion has ever made, because of his mistake of ordering 11 extra pizzas, his companion’s stomach has never been so happy. Yes, we've eating nothing but pizza for the PAST WEEK! Good stuff. And, on top of that, it seems like everyone in the Branch gave us food this week. It’s good to be a Hualien missionary.
The only bad news to report is that after we returned from our Taidong exchanges, when entering into our apartment, we noticed a light had been on, that light being the light from Elder Daniels's fridge! Oh no, the pizza! The bacon! The mayonnaise...gone! It’s okay though, come what may and love it, we got a really good laugh.
Zone Conference was AWESOME... I got the opportunity to conduct :) so, my companion thinks he's officially going to get the boot this transfer. This Zone conference was special. I was rather nervous at first because we were given a solid 1 hour chunk of time to do a zone breakout. I'm still new at the whole teaching meetings thing, I never got the chance to practice since I never was a district leader, but, it went AWESOME! Our goal was to rejuvenate the missionaries and get everyone excited to go and work hard. It was really good. We shared a lot, we talked about how we need to avoid the “police officer” stereotypes and not "BREAK," no lunch break. That way we can still find those people out there. It was great, focus was on contacting 10 extra people a day outside of proselyting hours. Everyone was willing. As for the other messages, I particularly enjoyed President’s message on repentance.
As for exchanges with the AP's: They were great!!!! I was with Elder Evans, the most optimistic, meek, missionary of all time...so humble! Similar to Elder Tuveson and I learned a lot from him. He shared a miracle that we saw in zone conference. After we taught one AWESOME lesson with a new member named Zhou Chang about 3 nephi 13, and the gospel of Jesus Christ, and him deciding to come back to church again even though he had been inactive recently. We then went to the Oh Yang part member family.
We got lost on the way, something that never happens when going to their house unless the Lord is controlling the time, haha. When we got there, the family wasn't home, just her husband and we got to share with him the gospel. Before he had no desire, and after the end of the lesson he was different. He wants to meet God. We never had the opportunity to sit down with him before. At the end of the lesson, the family got home, and we asked her to prepare a referral for Friday we would be back in their home and she said that she had a friend!!! She gave us her number and we're all set up for Friday night. They hit referrals really big in zone conference, so it was really cool that the Lord gave us this experience!!!
Exchanges in Taidong were good. We also taught their district meeting and shared about Jonah and the whale. We talked about how Jonah had no vision as he went to Nineveh to preach the gospel and that’s why he obtained no satisfaction, even though the people were saved. We related it to not having a vision and also the question, why do “bad” missionaries see so many families baptized and how come so many obedient missionaries don't get the opportunity. It was really good and then we talked about talents by teaching David and Goliath’s story.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
The Key to missionary work is...WORK!
Hey family!
This week has been going especially well because I finished the Book of Mormon again and I've been reading the New Testament which has been awesome!!! Currently we are in week 2 of the new transfer already (this being only a five week transfer because president will be dying really soon). I'll be really sad to say goodbye to him, I really love President Nielsen and his wife. There are a lot of reasons to explain why but it all comes back to the same spectrum. They are nice, righteous people who love everybody! This past zone leader council they taught us about authority and how we need to have faith and trust the leaders that Heavenly Father has called to lead us. No matter what they change, don't be rebellious and just do it. It was a good Jedi council. I can't say it was as good as the first one. I think next time I will get a little more involved with sharing my comments. I just don't want to get over involved and attract the attention from the Spirit. I think that happens when you share opinions rather then inspirations in large meetings like that.
Last week we had close to no investigators…they all died. We found out that one has been lying to us drom the beginning. He said he was 37, married with triplets, but last week we ran into his mom and she cleared things up for us quite a bit. The other main one we had is busy with school and has no time to meet because he is preparing to be a cop and he's got to pass this crazy hard test. They don't specify when the test will come out, so he's just go to be constantly preparing.
Anyway, we've been "experimenting upon the word" and we've invited other specific companionships in our zone to do the same. We've been taking on some of the challenges that President gave us, such as contacting 10 extra people a day. "Maybe during meal time, exercises, preparation day," the times we usually don’t contact. And we've been seeing some of the promises President has given us be fulfilled. Our focus on the work has changed and matured, and we've been "on the prowl." From some of the calls we've made at lunch, we've been finding successful setups. The other night when we were contacting, we ran into a guy getting out of his car with his wife and kid. We talked for about 3 minutes and asked if he was willing to meet. He said, "I think your missionaries are coming over this Thursday at 6:30.” The first thought that came to my mind was, oh man, the J-dubs got ‘em :( but then we looked at our schedule and realized that it was US they were scheduled with!!! We had called them two days ago from some old lists in the area book. We had said a prayer about 2 minutes previous to finding this family, asking Heavenly father to help us find a family:). It was cool.
We've also been blessed with some serious referrals recently, about 6 from Susan and 6 from Jeff! One of the ones from Jeff came in a very “unpreach my gospel” like manner, yet very successful. Ha, ha. One out on exchanges with Elder Waters, we ate dinner with Jeff and taught a new member lesson. Afterwards he didn't want to go home, so he asked "can I go proselyte with you?” We said, “Sure! Take us to meet your friends!” So we went, however, Jeff told us, “When I take you to their house I can't go with you, I'm going to hide.” I guess he couldn’t handle the awkward situation that might have raised, taking us to his friends house without first asking permission and all. So he took us to two friends’ houses. At one, the mom at home was really nice but not willing to let us in, so we said a prayer that his next friend, if it be Heavenly Father’s will, might be home and be more willing to listen. So we went. The kid’s father answered the door and I saw his son in the background. We introduced ourselves and asked "Can we come in?” They said “Yes!!!!” We sat down and shared a 15 minute lesson about the Restoration. They loved it and were willing to reset up!!! Only afterwards did I establish the connection by telling him that we were Jeff’s friends, and the kid got more excited. He said, “Jeff is my classmate!!! We see each other all the time.” So I told him Jeff will come next time we meet and then we invited him to play basketball with us, which he ended up coming to play. So we will be headed over there tomorrow night :) and Jeff will go with us. Jeff told us recently that his friend is very interested in the church. So we'll see how that goes.
JEFFS SISTER SET A DATE! She still hasn't come to church because her parents will not let her come; however, she turns 20 in a couple months and has made the decision to be baptized then. Twenty is the age in Taiwan where you don't need a permission slip signed. We realized that is best if her parents support her, but sometimes that is a really long process and shouldn't have to be the thing keeping their kids from making covenants with God. They have faith that their parents can change. It’s difficult however. We have seen so many miracles come because of Jeff and his faith, his 15 year old niece is on the road to baptism along with 2 more of his classmates. They are all the sisters investigators, but luckily the district here is awesome and we are able to fellowship the other companionships investigators without any problems :).
Susan gave me and my companion new shoes. She is the sweetest lady on earth, hahaha, she believes that the gospel is going to help her with her co workers. She works at a high class Buddhist hospital. She really is a very sweet person. I sure will miss those other shoes however, so I still haven't given them up yet completely, they still haven't seen their last days. But yeah, they are pretty trashed.
We've spent a million hours contacting and tracting recently but rather then degrading our faith as it’s been so possible in the past under such situations, it’s only increased our faith 10 fold, and it’s brought me closer to the Savior’s atonement. We really do get rejected a lot it seems, but that’s nothing compared to the Savior in his ministry. A lot of time spent contacting gives you the chance to focus on the different kinds of affirmations we receive, influenced by the spirit. Dad, I like your piece on the different kinds of affirmations: self, others, God, etc. It comes in handy when you start doubting your abilities to see success. Thanks. (I realized its going to be sweet living at home again some day because you can use your parents for the wisdom and years to find the answers to questions an immature mind can't figure out) hahaha. All I have to say is, enlightenment from the spirit is KEY when you are alone or with someone else who doesn't know how to resolve various concerns. God lives and loves us. I feel bad for those people who learn to find solace from worldly substances that won't be their to support them in the next realm.
Onward. Taiwanese style exercise deserves its own textbook. The only problem would be all that wasted paper to support a quill that writes nothing but nonsense, haha. I remember in San Chong, we would walk around a big track at night where loads of families and old people would go to get outside and exercise. On the sides of the track were slides, playgrounds different sorts of workout machines and also stages for people to do aerobic dancing or chat. Every once in a while you would come across a person exercising in such a way that might make one want to turn his head and look twice to be certain that what he/she saw at first glance was or wasn't actually happening. We saw people who would hula-hoop with HUGE RINGS, people would beat their thighs, slap their backs and their forearms with a special cadence continuously for 1 or 2 hours. One of my favorites are the people that stand in the corner of the park and clap their hands loudly, standing at the ready to tackle somebody position for about an hour, never moving a step, only clapping those hands. They all have some really lunatic reasons why they do it to, but in the end they don't know why they do it, it’s just a tradition. It’s funny, I like it. The best I have ever seen and the reason I bring this up is because yesterday right after morning studies we looked out the window below us at the track and we saw a man with a Taiwanese garden hat laying to his right, a wet towel around his head and pants around his ankles standing with his feet one and a half feet apart doing arm risings with no weights. It was one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen so we video taped it. I split a rib it was so funny.
My companion and I get along extremely well and we are best friends. He is a very confident person and he is proud of it, haha. He loves to be in control. He is a great leader because he encourages everyone to work hard and they do. He himself works hard and he also maintains a very awesome relationship with everybody. He's got really good people skills, so I'm blessed to be learning a lot from him. They don't send bad leaders to Hualien because the missionary work is a lot different over here and can be really difficult, but I've never had so much fun on my mission and I'm learning a lot. We’re trying to strengthen the Taidong district as they are struggling and it’s hard to help them all the time because they live a 2 hour train ride away. Everything relies on the leaders in the east coast. I've been blessed to see a lot of miracles in this calling Heavenly Father has given me. He supports us as we look to Him. We've been trying to help Taidong with their desire to do the work. I feel sometimes when dealing with them like I am asking the youth to invite their friends to come to church. We encourage them to work inside and out, to first develop their own testimony of Christ’s atonement and if they have a testimony of Christ, it teaches us in Moroni 7:48, that they must have charity, or in other words, a desire to do the work. A desire more then "because missionary work is what they are supposed to do" but rather what they want to do. To help others meet Christ.
“There is no key to missionary work, the only key to missionary work is WORK.” That’s a quote from an authority that I think is true.
Everything relies on the Lord’s timetable, he sends missionaries to places to meet the people he has prepared for them to teach, and the Lord molds us through our experiences and diligence for his investigators and their needs.
He’s asking us all to put forth a little more effort at the moment because there are some big blessings he's promised those who do the work his way. He tells us his methods and promises through President Nielsen, and we are experimenting upon the word in preparation to relay it unto the east coast zone. We will report on our experiences and efforts to talk to 10 more people a day in zone conference on Friday when President, his wife and the assistants come down and our whole zone comes together. We will invite every one to plant the seed of faith and strive to see the miracles and blessings we've been promised. It seems like a small invite, but we've been trying it and me and my companion will both agree that the work has progressed and our desire to do it has increased, and we've seen the promises coming to pass... by small and simple things are great things brought to pass!!! I'm excited to see the change :).
Last thing.... I just looked at my planner and noticed the things I want to mention in email section. I love you; you are the greatest parents and family in the world. Adam, you are a Nephi- like example to me, keep it up. I love my family.
I like to compare our family to the Wang family in our ward. They are a family of 6 living in the same house and they are all crazy. Yet SO, SO, So happy! Why? They Are Members of Christ’s Church :)!
I don't know why I make that comparison, I think it’s because I'm proud of my family for always being happy, supportive, optimistic, a little crazy yet down to earth, good parents. I love you. Elder Daniels
This week has been going especially well because I finished the Book of Mormon again and I've been reading the New Testament which has been awesome!!! Currently we are in week 2 of the new transfer already (this being only a five week transfer because president will be dying really soon). I'll be really sad to say goodbye to him, I really love President Nielsen and his wife. There are a lot of reasons to explain why but it all comes back to the same spectrum. They are nice, righteous people who love everybody! This past zone leader council they taught us about authority and how we need to have faith and trust the leaders that Heavenly Father has called to lead us. No matter what they change, don't be rebellious and just do it. It was a good Jedi council. I can't say it was as good as the first one. I think next time I will get a little more involved with sharing my comments. I just don't want to get over involved and attract the attention from the Spirit. I think that happens when you share opinions rather then inspirations in large meetings like that.
Last week we had close to no investigators…they all died. We found out that one has been lying to us drom the beginning. He said he was 37, married with triplets, but last week we ran into his mom and she cleared things up for us quite a bit. The other main one we had is busy with school and has no time to meet because he is preparing to be a cop and he's got to pass this crazy hard test. They don't specify when the test will come out, so he's just go to be constantly preparing.
Anyway, we've been "experimenting upon the word" and we've invited other specific companionships in our zone to do the same. We've been taking on some of the challenges that President gave us, such as contacting 10 extra people a day. "Maybe during meal time, exercises, preparation day," the times we usually don’t contact. And we've been seeing some of the promises President has given us be fulfilled. Our focus on the work has changed and matured, and we've been "on the prowl." From some of the calls we've made at lunch, we've been finding successful setups. The other night when we were contacting, we ran into a guy getting out of his car with his wife and kid. We talked for about 3 minutes and asked if he was willing to meet. He said, "I think your missionaries are coming over this Thursday at 6:30.” The first thought that came to my mind was, oh man, the J-dubs got ‘em :( but then we looked at our schedule and realized that it was US they were scheduled with!!! We had called them two days ago from some old lists in the area book. We had said a prayer about 2 minutes previous to finding this family, asking Heavenly father to help us find a family:). It was cool.
We've also been blessed with some serious referrals recently, about 6 from Susan and 6 from Jeff! One of the ones from Jeff came in a very “unpreach my gospel” like manner, yet very successful. Ha, ha. One out on exchanges with Elder Waters, we ate dinner with Jeff and taught a new member lesson. Afterwards he didn't want to go home, so he asked "can I go proselyte with you?” We said, “Sure! Take us to meet your friends!” So we went, however, Jeff told us, “When I take you to their house I can't go with you, I'm going to hide.” I guess he couldn’t handle the awkward situation that might have raised, taking us to his friends house without first asking permission and all. So he took us to two friends’ houses. At one, the mom at home was really nice but not willing to let us in, so we said a prayer that his next friend, if it be Heavenly Father’s will, might be home and be more willing to listen. So we went. The kid’s father answered the door and I saw his son in the background. We introduced ourselves and asked "Can we come in?” They said “Yes!!!!” We sat down and shared a 15 minute lesson about the Restoration. They loved it and were willing to reset up!!! Only afterwards did I establish the connection by telling him that we were Jeff’s friends, and the kid got more excited. He said, “Jeff is my classmate!!! We see each other all the time.” So I told him Jeff will come next time we meet and then we invited him to play basketball with us, which he ended up coming to play. So we will be headed over there tomorrow night :) and Jeff will go with us. Jeff told us recently that his friend is very interested in the church. So we'll see how that goes.
JEFFS SISTER SET A DATE! She still hasn't come to church because her parents will not let her come; however, she turns 20 in a couple months and has made the decision to be baptized then. Twenty is the age in Taiwan where you don't need a permission slip signed. We realized that is best if her parents support her, but sometimes that is a really long process and shouldn't have to be the thing keeping their kids from making covenants with God. They have faith that their parents can change. It’s difficult however. We have seen so many miracles come because of Jeff and his faith, his 15 year old niece is on the road to baptism along with 2 more of his classmates. They are all the sisters investigators, but luckily the district here is awesome and we are able to fellowship the other companionships investigators without any problems :).
Susan gave me and my companion new shoes. She is the sweetest lady on earth, hahaha, she believes that the gospel is going to help her with her co workers. She works at a high class Buddhist hospital. She really is a very sweet person. I sure will miss those other shoes however, so I still haven't given them up yet completely, they still haven't seen their last days. But yeah, they are pretty trashed.
We've spent a million hours contacting and tracting recently but rather then degrading our faith as it’s been so possible in the past under such situations, it’s only increased our faith 10 fold, and it’s brought me closer to the Savior’s atonement. We really do get rejected a lot it seems, but that’s nothing compared to the Savior in his ministry. A lot of time spent contacting gives you the chance to focus on the different kinds of affirmations we receive, influenced by the spirit. Dad, I like your piece on the different kinds of affirmations: self, others, God, etc. It comes in handy when you start doubting your abilities to see success. Thanks. (I realized its going to be sweet living at home again some day because you can use your parents for the wisdom and years to find the answers to questions an immature mind can't figure out) hahaha. All I have to say is, enlightenment from the spirit is KEY when you are alone or with someone else who doesn't know how to resolve various concerns. God lives and loves us. I feel bad for those people who learn to find solace from worldly substances that won't be their to support them in the next realm.
Onward. Taiwanese style exercise deserves its own textbook. The only problem would be all that wasted paper to support a quill that writes nothing but nonsense, haha. I remember in San Chong, we would walk around a big track at night where loads of families and old people would go to get outside and exercise. On the sides of the track were slides, playgrounds different sorts of workout machines and also stages for people to do aerobic dancing or chat. Every once in a while you would come across a person exercising in such a way that might make one want to turn his head and look twice to be certain that what he/she saw at first glance was or wasn't actually happening. We saw people who would hula-hoop with HUGE RINGS, people would beat their thighs, slap their backs and their forearms with a special cadence continuously for 1 or 2 hours. One of my favorites are the people that stand in the corner of the park and clap their hands loudly, standing at the ready to tackle somebody position for about an hour, never moving a step, only clapping those hands. They all have some really lunatic reasons why they do it to, but in the end they don't know why they do it, it’s just a tradition. It’s funny, I like it. The best I have ever seen and the reason I bring this up is because yesterday right after morning studies we looked out the window below us at the track and we saw a man with a Taiwanese garden hat laying to his right, a wet towel around his head and pants around his ankles standing with his feet one and a half feet apart doing arm risings with no weights. It was one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen so we video taped it. I split a rib it was so funny.
My companion and I get along extremely well and we are best friends. He is a very confident person and he is proud of it, haha. He loves to be in control. He is a great leader because he encourages everyone to work hard and they do. He himself works hard and he also maintains a very awesome relationship with everybody. He's got really good people skills, so I'm blessed to be learning a lot from him. They don't send bad leaders to Hualien because the missionary work is a lot different over here and can be really difficult, but I've never had so much fun on my mission and I'm learning a lot. We’re trying to strengthen the Taidong district as they are struggling and it’s hard to help them all the time because they live a 2 hour train ride away. Everything relies on the leaders in the east coast. I've been blessed to see a lot of miracles in this calling Heavenly Father has given me. He supports us as we look to Him. We've been trying to help Taidong with their desire to do the work. I feel sometimes when dealing with them like I am asking the youth to invite their friends to come to church. We encourage them to work inside and out, to first develop their own testimony of Christ’s atonement and if they have a testimony of Christ, it teaches us in Moroni 7:48, that they must have charity, or in other words, a desire to do the work. A desire more then "because missionary work is what they are supposed to do" but rather what they want to do. To help others meet Christ.
“There is no key to missionary work, the only key to missionary work is WORK.” That’s a quote from an authority that I think is true.
Everything relies on the Lord’s timetable, he sends missionaries to places to meet the people he has prepared for them to teach, and the Lord molds us through our experiences and diligence for his investigators and their needs.
He’s asking us all to put forth a little more effort at the moment because there are some big blessings he's promised those who do the work his way. He tells us his methods and promises through President Nielsen, and we are experimenting upon the word in preparation to relay it unto the east coast zone. We will report on our experiences and efforts to talk to 10 more people a day in zone conference on Friday when President, his wife and the assistants come down and our whole zone comes together. We will invite every one to plant the seed of faith and strive to see the miracles and blessings we've been promised. It seems like a small invite, but we've been trying it and me and my companion will both agree that the work has progressed and our desire to do it has increased, and we've seen the promises coming to pass... by small and simple things are great things brought to pass!!! I'm excited to see the change :).
Last thing.... I just looked at my planner and noticed the things I want to mention in email section. I love you; you are the greatest parents and family in the world. Adam, you are a Nephi- like example to me, keep it up. I love my family.
I like to compare our family to the Wang family in our ward. They are a family of 6 living in the same house and they are all crazy. Yet SO, SO, So happy! Why? They Are Members of Christ’s Church :)!
I don't know why I make that comparison, I think it’s because I'm proud of my family for always being happy, supportive, optimistic, a little crazy yet down to earth, good parents. I love you. Elder Daniels
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