Oh man, Thank you so much for the pictures of the kids!!! Oh man, they are so cute and getting so big! Matthew was so handsome in that baptism picture! Those pictures are great, keep them coming!
Things are still coming along well over here on the other side of the world!!! A couple of our families have fallen out, but we've thrown a couple back in. Isn't it so awesome how Heavenly Father gives us blessings if we simply have faith. He wants to give us all these blessings but he always says, “I just want you to trust me first.” And then it happens. I've learned a lot about giving people the right to use their agency lately. There are so many missionaries who think that these people need to be pressured the whole way into the baptismal font, and then they put it into the ward’s hands. I find it a lot easier to give them agency, bring the spirit into the
lesson and simply answer their questions. Eventually through patience, they will realize that the questions they are asking are really questions of the soul and it’s not the missionaries answering them. It’s the Holy Ghost helping them remember who they are personally.
Have you ever wondered why we testify of Christ? It is because everyone has the light of Christ. At one point in everyone’s existence they have known Christ, during this life, or their life before. They have felt Christ’s love, maybe not in this life, but they sure felt it before. That’s why they are here in the first place. So, the reason we testify of Christ is to help people remember that love, and help them remember who they are.
That’s something I've really learned lately, and that’s why I've learned how important it is to give people their agency to choose, and not be pressured.
I had the opportunity to go on an exchange with a very new missionary like me, a little older though, and we had they opportunity to teach a 78 year old man about Christ and the restoration. He loved everything we told him and he can't wait to be baptized. He said that he felt that everything we taught him was true and that we were an answer to his prayers. I thought about that for a second. Am I really an answer to this man’s prayers?? How is that possible? Oh man, I've never really thought about that before, but then I started thinking about what it says in Abraham and the D&C about being prepared before this life. Heavenly Father was preparing his missionaries before this life to teach to specific people. He prepared us to know what we needed to do to find these people on earth and what we needed to do to help them accept Christ’s true gospel. Right now, through the spiritual preparation and prayer for the Holy Ghost, we can receive the revelation that we need to know to teach the people that Heavenly Father has prepared for us! Isn't that so insane!!!!!
Heavenly Father is so smart. I'm so grateful to be a missionary. My mission means everything to me. Recently, I've been thinking about honesty and sincerity, and why are they important in missionary work. I was thinking about it one day in personal study. (You can think of it like baby sitting), when you hire a babysitter, who do you want to hire? Somebody honest and trustworthy. Somebody who is going to be diligent and take care of your children, someone who will love your kids. Heavenly Father is the same way with his children. He loves them and wants worthy missionaries who are diligent and obedient and loving to take care of his children. Man, honesty and sincerity are so important. It’s so important for us to remember that salvation isn't cheap, and it comes through a lot of trials, testifying that Christ will always ease those burdens. I've learned so much about faith and how key it is to our salvation, and that’s why it would be the first principle of the gospel. You can always have more faith, it’s nothing to be content with.
Hahaha. I'm sorry this letter sounds like a talk. It’s just a couple things that have been going all over my mind lately, among many other things, hahaha. I'm so lost all the time, there are so many things we don't understand. Thank goodness we have a Father in heaven who can help us out when we're most confused, hahaha.
I love it here so, so, so much. "My mission means everything to me."
Yeah, I stole that quote from Elder Holland.... because he is the man. Taiwan is so cool...... and it is PACKED with families. Well, I gotta write the president’s letter, love you, Elder Daniels
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Mother's day phone call!
Mom says:
Jonathan found us in Gilbert, AZ, where we were this weekend for his nephew's baptism. We talked on the cell phone, so our recording of the call has a noise factor to it, but it was wonderful hearing his voice again. He is happy and committed to working hard. Because of the phone call, he didn't write a letter yesterday.
Transfers came this week and he and Elder Barton are still together. Elder B. will "die" in this area, since he will be finishing his mission in 6 weeks. They get along well and Jonathan has learned a lot of good things from him.
A lot of their contacting is done at street lights. When the light turns red, the "million or so" scooters stop, and the missionaries talk to them. They actually do get referrals this way.
Jonathan loves the little children in Taiwan and says they are beautiful and well mannered. They are in school all day until early evening and then are happy to do homework afterward.
It was great listening to his stories about the people they are teaching and learning to serve and love. We are very proud of our missionary. We pray for him and love him a lot.
We look forward to his letters each week. The next phone call will be at Christmas, which will be almost his halfway point. The time will fly...
Jonathan found us in Gilbert, AZ, where we were this weekend for his nephew's baptism. We talked on the cell phone, so our recording of the call has a noise factor to it, but it was wonderful hearing his voice again. He is happy and committed to working hard. Because of the phone call, he didn't write a letter yesterday.
Transfers came this week and he and Elder Barton are still together. Elder B. will "die" in this area, since he will be finishing his mission in 6 weeks. They get along well and Jonathan has learned a lot of good things from him.
A lot of their contacting is done at street lights. When the light turns red, the "million or so" scooters stop, and the missionaries talk to them. They actually do get referrals this way.
Jonathan loves the little children in Taiwan and says they are beautiful and well mannered. They are in school all day until early evening and then are happy to do homework afterward.
It was great listening to his stories about the people they are teaching and learning to serve and love. We are very proud of our missionary. We pray for him and love him a lot.
We look forward to his letters each week. The next phone call will be at Christmas, which will be almost his halfway point. The time will fly...
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Prayers work...
I'll write this right now so I won't forget. I'll be calling at 6:30 or 7:00 AM here in Taiwan, the day after Mother’s day for us, which will be Sunday, about 3:00 pm on Mother’s day Arizona time, for you. Something like that, but now you know what to look for. (We will be at Adam and Jeanette’s for Matthew’s baptism.)
Things are going so well. I get in bed at about 10:25 every night, say my prayers, and fall asleep instantly. Hahaha, it’s tiring work, but I love every single minute of it. The work has really been progressing and seriously, words cannot describe how much I've been learning.
It’s all been about faith. Heavenly Father loves to test our faith before He gives us blessings. I know we hear that all the time, but IT’S TRUE! Seriously, whether it’s because we have investigators who are not keeping their commitments, or people not receiving answers to prayers, or a companion crucifying confidence in the mission language, etc. These all have to do with Heavenly Father reminding you whose work it is and that through faith and CHEERFUL PATIENCE, Heavenly Father allows us to see miracles happen.
I learned how to say a true pray of faith the other day. Now, what is a true prayer of faith? My companion helped me with this question. He reminded me of Moroni's promise and the type of things that go into a prayer of faith. I remembered the brother of Jared’s prayer of faith.
1. Admit your weakness to the Lord.
2. Tell Him your desires.
3. Tell Him what you are willing to do to receive those blessings.
4. Ask for those blessings.
So many times when we pray, we get right to the asking part. We forget to humble ourselves before the Lord and go to Him with faith (no doubts). If we admit our weaknesses, (Ether 12:27), and are willing to humble ourselves and confess them unto Him after He has shown them to us, through our humility and faith, He will make our weaknesses become strong. It’s so much easier when you have a trial to be like Nephi when he breaks his bow or like Alma with Amulon. Instead of murmuring, asking, “Why has this happened to me? Why aren't these people keeping commitments? Why can't I speak Chinese? Why can't I teach?” It’s so much easier to ask what lesson is the Lord trying to teach me. Tell him your concern, tell him what you are willing to do to overcome your concern, and then ask and he will help you. Oh, man, Heavenly Father loves us so much. He gives us all these challenges just because he wants us to show our faith and come unto Him. Like Peter walking on water, when we start to fear from the waves splashing us and trials hitting us, that fear makes us fall because we take our eyes of Christ. Man, faith is so important.
There are so many things I have been learning and it’s impossible for me to write them all. I'm sorry if this letter doesn’t make sense, but, because of our faith and willingness to not be discouraged, Huang Dixiong was willing to let us come back to his house and apologize. Heavenly Father softened his heart and helped him to realize that we are his best friends. He still wants us to come over and help him work towards baptism. This was after he drank beer in our faces and told us to get out of his house and never come back, using words that I don't understand yet in Chinese because they wouldn't dare teach us them in the MTC.... hahaha. Because we didn't get discouraged and we didn't lose hope, Heavenly Father saw fit to give us another chance to help Huang Dixiong and his family. He is also going to help Sister Wang find an answer to her prayer. She finished reading the Book of Mormon in 2 weeks. I have faith that Heavenly Father answers everyone's prayers who reads the Book of Mormon and humbles themselves like a child and says a simple, heartfelt prayer. I don't know why we lack faith sometimes. It’s so easy to get discouraged, but if we choose to look at these opportunities to prove our faith and have cheerful patience, faith in Heavenly Father’s work won't be a problem, because this is His work.......
I love you so much, thank you so much for your prayers. I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers.... and He loves you. Elder Daniels
Things are going so well. I get in bed at about 10:25 every night, say my prayers, and fall asleep instantly. Hahaha, it’s tiring work, but I love every single minute of it. The work has really been progressing and seriously, words cannot describe how much I've been learning.
It’s all been about faith. Heavenly Father loves to test our faith before He gives us blessings. I know we hear that all the time, but IT’S TRUE! Seriously, whether it’s because we have investigators who are not keeping their commitments, or people not receiving answers to prayers, or a companion crucifying confidence in the mission language, etc. These all have to do with Heavenly Father reminding you whose work it is and that through faith and CHEERFUL PATIENCE, Heavenly Father allows us to see miracles happen.
I learned how to say a true pray of faith the other day. Now, what is a true prayer of faith? My companion helped me with this question. He reminded me of Moroni's promise and the type of things that go into a prayer of faith. I remembered the brother of Jared’s prayer of faith.
1. Admit your weakness to the Lord.
2. Tell Him your desires.
3. Tell Him what you are willing to do to receive those blessings.
4. Ask for those blessings.
So many times when we pray, we get right to the asking part. We forget to humble ourselves before the Lord and go to Him with faith (no doubts). If we admit our weaknesses, (Ether 12:27), and are willing to humble ourselves and confess them unto Him after He has shown them to us, through our humility and faith, He will make our weaknesses become strong. It’s so much easier when you have a trial to be like Nephi when he breaks his bow or like Alma with Amulon. Instead of murmuring, asking, “Why has this happened to me? Why aren't these people keeping commitments? Why can't I speak Chinese? Why can't I teach?” It’s so much easier to ask what lesson is the Lord trying to teach me. Tell him your concern, tell him what you are willing to do to overcome your concern, and then ask and he will help you. Oh, man, Heavenly Father loves us so much. He gives us all these challenges just because he wants us to show our faith and come unto Him. Like Peter walking on water, when we start to fear from the waves splashing us and trials hitting us, that fear makes us fall because we take our eyes of Christ. Man, faith is so important.
There are so many things I have been learning and it’s impossible for me to write them all. I'm sorry if this letter doesn’t make sense, but, because of our faith and willingness to not be discouraged, Huang Dixiong was willing to let us come back to his house and apologize. Heavenly Father softened his heart and helped him to realize that we are his best friends. He still wants us to come over and help him work towards baptism. This was after he drank beer in our faces and told us to get out of his house and never come back, using words that I don't understand yet in Chinese because they wouldn't dare teach us them in the MTC.... hahaha. Because we didn't get discouraged and we didn't lose hope, Heavenly Father saw fit to give us another chance to help Huang Dixiong and his family. He is also going to help Sister Wang find an answer to her prayer. She finished reading the Book of Mormon in 2 weeks. I have faith that Heavenly Father answers everyone's prayers who reads the Book of Mormon and humbles themselves like a child and says a simple, heartfelt prayer. I don't know why we lack faith sometimes. It’s so easy to get discouraged, but if we choose to look at these opportunities to prove our faith and have cheerful patience, faith in Heavenly Father’s work won't be a problem, because this is His work.......
I love you so much, thank you so much for your prayers. I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers.... and He loves you. Elder Daniels
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Tough times and good times
Hello!! It’s great reading your letters. I love how I'm still thought of at home, even if the reason is that I am being blamed for leaving stuff out or making a mess, ha.
Oh boy. Things are getting a little more difficult here. Heavenly Father is really testing our faith. We lost the Huang family. He had his baptismal interview and didn't quite pass because he feels he is still not ready to keep the Word of Wisdom. We talked to him about it and he started doing better, but then bad news happened. He has a niece in the ward and she has been trying to get us to meet with her mother who opposes the church. She finally got an appointment for us, but we went on exchanges that night, everything got really mixed up and we forgot to go to the appointment. Her mother got angry because she bought pizza for us and nobody showed up. So the mother told her daughter, Huang’s niece, that she can’t go to church anymore. The niece’s husband (our m/m leader) told the mom it was because we were visiting Brother Huang, her own brother and they don’t get along. The m/m leader was confused. We were actually on exchanges and we were with the Wang family. Anyway, it ended up with the mother calling her brother, Huang brother, and told him a lot of mean things. I don't really understand the whole situation, but basically, Huang brother decided that last night when we visited him, he would chug a whole bottle of beer in front of us, just to make us angry. Then he told us to never come back. Sorry if that whole story isn’t clear. Computers are difficult.
So we lost Huang brother who was in doing so well, who had stopped drinking for three weeks. Heavenly Father has given him so many chances, but he just can't listen. We can’t contact his two children who have grown really fond of the missionaries coming over, but Huang brother also forced them against us as well. Man, you can see what Satan is trying to do, he's trying to get us discouraged right now because so many things are going wrong. That same night all of our appointments were cancelled for some reason. It's rough, especially when I think about those two little kids that are trapped with their lost father, but we've refused to lose faith. We're still going to baptize this transfer, so yeah, things have been difficult lately, but we haven't lost faith....
We just found two families who are awesome, especially the Zhu family. They love rock climbing, hiking and all types of awesome family stuff. They have a mei mei who is 9 years old and she is so cute with the biggest pigtails you could imagine. They are progressing and the mom is awesome. All of our investigators are keeping their commitments right now to read and pray.
The other day we had a wonderful family night with the Wang family, the mom who is Presbyterian. It WENT SO WELL! I love their family. They are so awesome and the little kids just sit there and study and read books about reptiles. Elder Barton and I both decided that we needed to go on a picnic with this family, so that is the plan for today. The kids love us and they have a good mom She has so much faith in her Savior. We've continued the quest to help her get a testimony of the Book of Mormon. SHE IS SO CLOSE!!!!! She knows its true, she is just a afraid to admit it. Yesterday we asked her if she knew the Book of Mormon was the word of God, and we just waited for an answer. She didn't say anything for 5 minutes. She is still searching, she said. We told her we were going to ask her again today. Man, SO MANY miracles have happened with this lady as we've been teaching her. I wish I could write them all. As soon as she gets a testimony of the Book of Mormon, then BAM! We're gonna have Taiwan's next Relief Society president because she has been searching so hard and as soon as she opens her heart, her testimony well be Insane!!!!! The Spirit told me to teach her that the Book of Mormon answers questions of the soul that nobody else can answer. The Book of Mormon has SO MUCH power. I promised her that if she starts her reading with a question that is burning inside of her, she will find the answer to that question through her reading and the Holy Ghost will bear witness to it of her.
She has shown more interest in church. We told her all about the meetings. We taught her about temple and showed her a movie about temples. It really opened her heart a little. Man, there is so much power in this gospel. I'm so glad it’s Heavenly Father’s work and not mine. I've learned to just give it to Him and not get discouraged, just to let Him decide the path for these people he's let us meet.
I can't even begin to tell you how true this church is. I've learned through experience that just a simple heartfelt testimony is enough to unlock the gate to people's hearts and let the Spirit enter in. I love this work so much
There is so much to write but I have to write my letter to the President now. I'm sorry if these letters don't make much sense all the time. I kinda just write... hahaha. I love you so much. Prayers are the key to an eternal family. Thank you for teaching me that. I love you.
Oh boy. Things are getting a little more difficult here. Heavenly Father is really testing our faith. We lost the Huang family. He had his baptismal interview and didn't quite pass because he feels he is still not ready to keep the Word of Wisdom. We talked to him about it and he started doing better, but then bad news happened. He has a niece in the ward and she has been trying to get us to meet with her mother who opposes the church. She finally got an appointment for us, but we went on exchanges that night, everything got really mixed up and we forgot to go to the appointment. Her mother got angry because she bought pizza for us and nobody showed up. So the mother told her daughter, Huang’s niece, that she can’t go to church anymore. The niece’s husband (our m/m leader) told the mom it was because we were visiting Brother Huang, her own brother and they don’t get along. The m/m leader was confused. We were actually on exchanges and we were with the Wang family. Anyway, it ended up with the mother calling her brother, Huang brother, and told him a lot of mean things. I don't really understand the whole situation, but basically, Huang brother decided that last night when we visited him, he would chug a whole bottle of beer in front of us, just to make us angry. Then he told us to never come back. Sorry if that whole story isn’t clear. Computers are difficult.
So we lost Huang brother who was in doing so well, who had stopped drinking for three weeks. Heavenly Father has given him so many chances, but he just can't listen. We can’t contact his two children who have grown really fond of the missionaries coming over, but Huang brother also forced them against us as well. Man, you can see what Satan is trying to do, he's trying to get us discouraged right now because so many things are going wrong. That same night all of our appointments were cancelled for some reason. It's rough, especially when I think about those two little kids that are trapped with their lost father, but we've refused to lose faith. We're still going to baptize this transfer, so yeah, things have been difficult lately, but we haven't lost faith....
We just found two families who are awesome, especially the Zhu family. They love rock climbing, hiking and all types of awesome family stuff. They have a mei mei who is 9 years old and she is so cute with the biggest pigtails you could imagine. They are progressing and the mom is awesome. All of our investigators are keeping their commitments right now to read and pray.
The other day we had a wonderful family night with the Wang family, the mom who is Presbyterian. It WENT SO WELL! I love their family. They are so awesome and the little kids just sit there and study and read books about reptiles. Elder Barton and I both decided that we needed to go on a picnic with this family, so that is the plan for today. The kids love us and they have a good mom She has so much faith in her Savior. We've continued the quest to help her get a testimony of the Book of Mormon. SHE IS SO CLOSE!!!!! She knows its true, she is just a afraid to admit it. Yesterday we asked her if she knew the Book of Mormon was the word of God, and we just waited for an answer. She didn't say anything for 5 minutes. She is still searching, she said. We told her we were going to ask her again today. Man, SO MANY miracles have happened with this lady as we've been teaching her. I wish I could write them all. As soon as she gets a testimony of the Book of Mormon, then BAM! We're gonna have Taiwan's next Relief Society president because she has been searching so hard and as soon as she opens her heart, her testimony well be Insane!!!!! The Spirit told me to teach her that the Book of Mormon answers questions of the soul that nobody else can answer. The Book of Mormon has SO MUCH power. I promised her that if she starts her reading with a question that is burning inside of her, she will find the answer to that question through her reading and the Holy Ghost will bear witness to it of her.
She has shown more interest in church. We told her all about the meetings. We taught her about temple and showed her a movie about temples. It really opened her heart a little. Man, there is so much power in this gospel. I'm so glad it’s Heavenly Father’s work and not mine. I've learned to just give it to Him and not get discouraged, just to let Him decide the path for these people he's let us meet.
I can't even begin to tell you how true this church is. I've learned through experience that just a simple heartfelt testimony is enough to unlock the gate to people's hearts and let the Spirit enter in. I love this work so much
There is so much to write but I have to write my letter to the President now. I'm sorry if these letters don't make much sense all the time. I kinda just write... hahaha. I love you so much. Prayers are the key to an eternal family. Thank you for teaching me that. I love you.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The language is coming along...
OH man, wow! I LOVE MY MISSION!!!!! My trainer keeps telling me, I think you have seen everything, my friend. We got Huang Dixiong to commit to stop drinking beer. He's been worried about how we're going to baptize him though, because he has a messed up right leg that will snap if he puts any weight on it, without his big old brace that he wears under his pants. We told him that we can have three elders in the font to help him, and he can sit on a chair. All he has to do is lean forward. President couldn't find any doctrine that went against that, but, as of right now, all this kind of doesn't matter. You see, we've spent all this time getting him to stop drinking beer, and we never really told him that he can't drink tea, either. We had the bishop come over with us last night to talk to him because it’s a rule that you must have a member visit to talk about the word of wisdom. But man, this guy is tough. He will give up beer but not tea. That is a huge problem in Taiwan. We had to move him back a couple weeks in the baptismal pool because he's not quite ready. He's pretty stubborn, especially with his kids, but Heavenly Father has a plan for him, and whatever it is, I trust Him. The kids are doing great though. They play with us all the time and they should be baptized next week.
As for Sister Wang, she is afraid to talk about anything after this life for some reason and has closed her mind. We gave her a challenge and we're doing the challenge with her, to read the whole Book of Mormon in the next two weeks. My companion will read it in Chinese. It's going to be xinku (hard core), but we'll manage. We only get an hour a day to study the Book of Mormon, so yeah, hahaha. I know that it will help her, and we committed her to sincere prayer.
We also gave this challenge to two other investigators. One is the Lin family who my companion has been working with for 4 months. She's going to be baptized next week. The other guy is Mr. Li!!!!!! I haven't told you about him yet. He came up to me the other day as I was unlocking my bike and asked if I was German. “No sir, but I am a missionary.” He was chewing beanlang chich, this gross green sprout thing that turns your mouth red and people spit on the ground so there are a lot of red marks everywhere. It ruins teeth. Anyway, we set up a time with him, and he said, “Your church is the best. Wife! We're gonna be Mormons!” Wow. We told him to settle down for a second, that he needs to get a testimony. We committed him to read the Book of Mormon in two weeks with us. This guy is so smart and just so humble, and he loves his kids so much. They are SO CUTE. They have a 3-year-old girl and a 9-year-old girl who draw pictures for us. He is a good father.
Heavenly Father has been blessing us so much lately with our investigators. Mr. Li took us to a neighborhood party, and oh man, it was crazy. It was in a Buddhist temple thing and there were so many people. Then, when two Americans showed up, they went crazy!!!!! Everyone started shoving all sorts of food in my face. Pig’s feet, chicken feet, fish eyes, oh man. I kept asking my companion what everything was and he said "I don't know, just eat it!" Hahaha, I obeyed... oh boy... that was a crazy night, but we came out with a couple investigators. One couple wants to come to English class that we teach every Wednesday night.
I feel like I have really progressed in the language. When I first arrived, I could say just about anything I wanted. My companion’s Chinese is AMAZING and he's helped me realize that I couldn't say anything I wanted at all! He took me all the way back to really influence the tones in my speech and it has helped me so much. At first I was a little prideful. I liked to study my own thing. He always told me to memorize scripture in Chinese, and I always wondered how will that help me? That was my pride. I didn't trust him and I didn't make it my main focus. I ended up not being satisfied with my progress with the language. I was progressing, but not fast enough to be where I wanted to be. So, I tried it out, and man, now we're seeing some intense progress. I've passed up where I wanted to be at right now and I'm passing off the lessons, well on my way to starting characters. It might be a little while before that, but because I did what he told me to do, I've found success. I can talk to pretty much anyone with no problem, and they can understand me much better because the memorizing scripture has helped my tones become crisp. I realized I've got just about all the vocab I need to get along. I just need to focus on making it clear. Clarity is big, but because I trusted him, communicating isn't even a barrier anymore. Ha, sometimes I will slip, though. At church, this lady gave me M&M's and I said, “Ni tai bangle”, which means “you are so awesome”, but I guess what I said was a lot different from what other people heard. She and my companion thought I said, “Ni tai pangle,” which means, “you are too chubby.” hahahahahahhaahahahhaahah. OH MAN!!!~!!!!!! When I realized what came out, I felt terrible. Oh, well
I love it here, I learned early on that it’s best not to get stressed about anything. Just SMILE and love learning, and don't be afraid to mess up. Just trust your leaders, have fun, scatter sunshine, and trust that Heavenly Father will help, and He sure has. I love my mission. I am so glad Heavenly Father let me be a part of this work.
Love you, Elder Daniels
As for Sister Wang, she is afraid to talk about anything after this life for some reason and has closed her mind. We gave her a challenge and we're doing the challenge with her, to read the whole Book of Mormon in the next two weeks. My companion will read it in Chinese. It's going to be xinku (hard core), but we'll manage. We only get an hour a day to study the Book of Mormon, so yeah, hahaha. I know that it will help her, and we committed her to sincere prayer.
We also gave this challenge to two other investigators. One is the Lin family who my companion has been working with for 4 months. She's going to be baptized next week. The other guy is Mr. Li!!!!!! I haven't told you about him yet. He came up to me the other day as I was unlocking my bike and asked if I was German. “No sir, but I am a missionary.” He was chewing beanlang chich, this gross green sprout thing that turns your mouth red and people spit on the ground so there are a lot of red marks everywhere. It ruins teeth. Anyway, we set up a time with him, and he said, “Your church is the best. Wife! We're gonna be Mormons!” Wow. We told him to settle down for a second, that he needs to get a testimony. We committed him to read the Book of Mormon in two weeks with us. This guy is so smart and just so humble, and he loves his kids so much. They are SO CUTE. They have a 3-year-old girl and a 9-year-old girl who draw pictures for us. He is a good father.
Heavenly Father has been blessing us so much lately with our investigators. Mr. Li took us to a neighborhood party, and oh man, it was crazy. It was in a Buddhist temple thing and there were so many people. Then, when two Americans showed up, they went crazy!!!!! Everyone started shoving all sorts of food in my face. Pig’s feet, chicken feet, fish eyes, oh man. I kept asking my companion what everything was and he said "I don't know, just eat it!" Hahaha, I obeyed... oh boy... that was a crazy night, but we came out with a couple investigators. One couple wants to come to English class that we teach every Wednesday night.
I feel like I have really progressed in the language. When I first arrived, I could say just about anything I wanted. My companion’s Chinese is AMAZING and he's helped me realize that I couldn't say anything I wanted at all! He took me all the way back to really influence the tones in my speech and it has helped me so much. At first I was a little prideful. I liked to study my own thing. He always told me to memorize scripture in Chinese, and I always wondered how will that help me? That was my pride. I didn't trust him and I didn't make it my main focus. I ended up not being satisfied with my progress with the language. I was progressing, but not fast enough to be where I wanted to be. So, I tried it out, and man, now we're seeing some intense progress. I've passed up where I wanted to be at right now and I'm passing off the lessons, well on my way to starting characters. It might be a little while before that, but because I did what he told me to do, I've found success. I can talk to pretty much anyone with no problem, and they can understand me much better because the memorizing scripture has helped my tones become crisp. I realized I've got just about all the vocab I need to get along. I just need to focus on making it clear. Clarity is big, but because I trusted him, communicating isn't even a barrier anymore. Ha, sometimes I will slip, though. At church, this lady gave me M&M's and I said, “Ni tai bangle”, which means “you are so awesome”, but I guess what I said was a lot different from what other people heard. She and my companion thought I said, “Ni tai pangle,” which means, “you are too chubby.” hahahahahahhaahahahhaahah. OH MAN!!!~!!!!!! When I realized what came out, I felt terrible. Oh, well
I love it here, I learned early on that it’s best not to get stressed about anything. Just SMILE and love learning, and don't be afraid to mess up. Just trust your leaders, have fun, scatter sunshine, and trust that Heavenly Father will help, and He sure has. I love my mission. I am so glad Heavenly Father let me be a part of this work.
Love you, Elder Daniels
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Second new bike named Kathy 2
Hey, hey, hey!
First, to answer the questions: I painted my bike (Kathy II) and it is ugly! Don't think anyone will be stealing it any time soon. It’s not very hot here just yet, but its still pretty dang hot and windy. It’s not too bad though, I've gotten used to the sweating and humidity. At least I don't sweat as much as some of the other elders around here. They could ring out their clothes and fill a glass at the end of the day, ha.
Let’s see, there are street vendors everywhere, and scooters, and families on scooters, and families and dogs on scooters, and families and dogs and stores on scooters, ha, it’s crazy. It is very smoggy. We're right in the thick of the city. It is city EVERYwhere though. I'm in Elder Bahr's old area. (Elder Bahr is our stake president’s son who is now home from his mission). Apparently, he was a very “Lehai” missionary, that translates to mean EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY AWESOME. They say he was a legend in this mission and yes, when you right letters, just send them to the mission office and then they will bring them to us. We can only read letters on Preparation days.
General Conference was amazing. We watched it in English and I definitely got more out of it then I have ever from any other conference. I was thinking when Elder Oaks gave his talk, “WHY do I know that Christ lives, why do I KNOW that we have a prophet today.” It is because, when he speaks to us, the Lord speaks through him, to each one of us individually. Everyone in the world can have that feeling that the prophet is speaking directly to them about their own thoughts, feelings and behaviors. That’s why "I know we have a prophet today,” because nobody else on the earth has the power to speak to each of us individually like that. I talked to some missionaries afterward and we all got different things out of his talk, things that apply to us as individuals. So, "I KNOW we have a modern day prophet and he testifies of Christ", so that’s how "I KNOW" we have a Savior. If you have a testimony of one thing in this church, you have a testimony of everything else.
I'm learning from an investigator that you have to have an open mind and you have to have questions in order gain a testimony that these things are true. We recently have been meeting with Sister Wang and her family of 5 kids!!!!!!!! So beautiful, they are so perfect. They study together at the table at night. My favorite one is the little mei mei, her English name is Sabrina. She loves to draw. Sister Wang is a zhanglaojiao member..... Presbyterian. She has faith in Jesus Christ and she has faith that if she trusts in Him, she will be okay, that He will take care of anything. This lady lives a perfect life, she is so humble. The thing is, her minister tells her about the Mormons and how our book is evil. The first time we met with her, she was worrying about the eternity of our souls and if we would be cast into the eternal fire or not. She has closed her mind. She doesn't think about where she came from, what her purpose is or what is after this life. She doesn't care that she could live with her family forever, she just knows that if she trusts in Jesus Christ, she will be saved. BUT, as we have been teaching her, (she is too nice to not tell us to come back) and the Spirit has been opening her mind. She's starting to have so many questions, and she thinks everything we tell her makes sense. I asked her, “So, DO you think that if your minister had never told you anything about our church, would you be willing to be baptized?” She said she thinks so, ha. She feels like the Bible is good enough, even after all these scriptures we've read that show differently. The main thing is that she's reading. We bear testimony to her often, and we brought a member to come visit her. I'm glad she's reading, because I know that anyone who reads that book will have their mind opened, and she will see the light that this church brings. When we first gave her Moroni's promise to pray about, she prayed that Heavenly Father would save our souls, and then she asked if these things were true. She said she didn't receive an answer, that she had doubt in her mind the whole time, and she even admitted it, (sorry if this story isn't making any sense), but anyway, her mind is being opened by the Spirit. I feel after our visits she is denying our word less and she is starting to have more interest. I know that if she can open her mind and heart, she will have her prayers answered. She already has faith in Christ. These type of investigators make the best members down the road because they change so much, and then the light of the gospel SHINES through them.
Alright, the Huang family. This guy has changed so, so, so, so much. He has so many problems in his life right now. He was telling us the other day about how he has friends with the Taiwanese mafia and has plans to hire them to "take care of his wife who cheated on him", but after a lot of reasoning, we got him to cool down. It’s hard for him to stop drinking, he also lost his job, and we're going to help him move this week. Poor guy, his life is so messed up, he can't read the Chinese Book of Mormon very well, but he tries! He started having his little kids help him!!!! Every day he goes across the street to a park by his house and prays vocally that Heavenly Father will help him. The Spirit has changed him so much. We got him to come to conference with his kids and he's been so much better. He's starting to treat his kids better and his kids are starting to open up. I played ball with the 8-year-old didi (little boy) yesterday and man oh man, did this kid come out of his shell. We're still working with the mei mei, (little girl) who is 10 and so, so, so shy, but she is starting to come out, too. She prays by herself every night!!!! Oh man.... I love this work, and I love that Heavenly Father allows me to be a part of it, and I love how it changes peoples lives. I know that the way to the Taiwanese people’s hearts is though their kids.......
My hour is up... I love you.
First, to answer the questions: I painted my bike (Kathy II) and it is ugly! Don't think anyone will be stealing it any time soon. It’s not very hot here just yet, but its still pretty dang hot and windy. It’s not too bad though, I've gotten used to the sweating and humidity. At least I don't sweat as much as some of the other elders around here. They could ring out their clothes and fill a glass at the end of the day, ha.
Let’s see, there are street vendors everywhere, and scooters, and families on scooters, and families and dogs on scooters, and families and dogs and stores on scooters, ha, it’s crazy. It is very smoggy. We're right in the thick of the city. It is city EVERYwhere though. I'm in Elder Bahr's old area. (Elder Bahr is our stake president’s son who is now home from his mission). Apparently, he was a very “Lehai” missionary, that translates to mean EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY AWESOME. They say he was a legend in this mission and yes, when you right letters, just send them to the mission office and then they will bring them to us. We can only read letters on Preparation days.
General Conference was amazing. We watched it in English and I definitely got more out of it then I have ever from any other conference. I was thinking when Elder Oaks gave his talk, “WHY do I know that Christ lives, why do I KNOW that we have a prophet today.” It is because, when he speaks to us, the Lord speaks through him, to each one of us individually. Everyone in the world can have that feeling that the prophet is speaking directly to them about their own thoughts, feelings and behaviors. That’s why "I know we have a prophet today,” because nobody else on the earth has the power to speak to each of us individually like that. I talked to some missionaries afterward and we all got different things out of his talk, things that apply to us as individuals. So, "I KNOW we have a modern day prophet and he testifies of Christ", so that’s how "I KNOW" we have a Savior. If you have a testimony of one thing in this church, you have a testimony of everything else.
I'm learning from an investigator that you have to have an open mind and you have to have questions in order gain a testimony that these things are true. We recently have been meeting with Sister Wang and her family of 5 kids!!!!!!!! So beautiful, they are so perfect. They study together at the table at night. My favorite one is the little mei mei, her English name is Sabrina. She loves to draw. Sister Wang is a zhanglaojiao member..... Presbyterian. She has faith in Jesus Christ and she has faith that if she trusts in Him, she will be okay, that He will take care of anything. This lady lives a perfect life, she is so humble. The thing is, her minister tells her about the Mormons and how our book is evil. The first time we met with her, she was worrying about the eternity of our souls and if we would be cast into the eternal fire or not. She has closed her mind. She doesn't think about where she came from, what her purpose is or what is after this life. She doesn't care that she could live with her family forever, she just knows that if she trusts in Jesus Christ, she will be saved. BUT, as we have been teaching her, (she is too nice to not tell us to come back) and the Spirit has been opening her mind. She's starting to have so many questions, and she thinks everything we tell her makes sense. I asked her, “So, DO you think that if your minister had never told you anything about our church, would you be willing to be baptized?” She said she thinks so, ha. She feels like the Bible is good enough, even after all these scriptures we've read that show differently. The main thing is that she's reading. We bear testimony to her often, and we brought a member to come visit her. I'm glad she's reading, because I know that anyone who reads that book will have their mind opened, and she will see the light that this church brings. When we first gave her Moroni's promise to pray about, she prayed that Heavenly Father would save our souls, and then she asked if these things were true. She said she didn't receive an answer, that she had doubt in her mind the whole time, and she even admitted it, (sorry if this story isn't making any sense), but anyway, her mind is being opened by the Spirit. I feel after our visits she is denying our word less and she is starting to have more interest. I know that if she can open her mind and heart, she will have her prayers answered. She already has faith in Christ. These type of investigators make the best members down the road because they change so much, and then the light of the gospel SHINES through them.
Alright, the Huang family. This guy has changed so, so, so, so much. He has so many problems in his life right now. He was telling us the other day about how he has friends with the Taiwanese mafia and has plans to hire them to "take care of his wife who cheated on him", but after a lot of reasoning, we got him to cool down. It’s hard for him to stop drinking, he also lost his job, and we're going to help him move this week. Poor guy, his life is so messed up, he can't read the Chinese Book of Mormon very well, but he tries! He started having his little kids help him!!!! Every day he goes across the street to a park by his house and prays vocally that Heavenly Father will help him. The Spirit has changed him so much. We got him to come to conference with his kids and he's been so much better. He's starting to treat his kids better and his kids are starting to open up. I played ball with the 8-year-old didi (little boy) yesterday and man oh man, did this kid come out of his shell. We're still working with the mei mei, (little girl) who is 10 and so, so, so shy, but she is starting to come out, too. She prays by herself every night!!!! Oh man.... I love this work, and I love that Heavenly Father allows me to be a part of it, and I love how it changes peoples lives. I know that the way to the Taiwanese people’s hearts is though their kids.......
My hour is up... I love you.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Scooters and traffic and people, oh my!
Holy cow! I have no idea how to start this letter there is simply too much to say. I guess I'll start by answering some of those questions. I live on floor 11 and we have to have a special key to get into the building. It’s hard to contact sometimes, because in order to get into most buildings, you have to be good friends with the security guard or you have to persuade people over an intercom to open the doors. It’s fun.
Our apartment was messed up when we came, but we painted it and fixed it up all nice. It’s pretty homey now. We accidentally used lead based paint, so it still smells really crazy. We have a microwave that we really only use on Sundays when we have to cook for ourselves. We have air conditioning but it turns off all the time so sometimes I wake up all sweaty in the night, but its good now. I am ALWAYS thirsty but a lot of our investigators are good about giving us juice or donggua cha which is a type of tea that we are allowed to drink.
We live in one of the busiest cities ever. It’s a little bit poorer so everything is really cheap. We eat out for every meal, usually just rice with different meats and stuff to go on it and cabbage. There are all different kinds of foods here and it is all so good. Food is great, if we have time to eat. Sometimes we end up skipping meals because we have so many appointments. By all accounts I should be pretty hungry all the time, but I'm not. Heavenly Father blesses us every day.
The city is massive and our area is massive. I can't explain how crazy the traffic is here. There are SO MANY scooters, and SO MANY families We contact people at EVERY streetlight, and it’s surprisingly successful We've gotten so many appointments that way. All contacting here is done on the street.
The people are so kind here. The Chinese people don't take compliments. If you compliment their kids they say, oh, he's not that smart, or he's terrible about math. It’s pretty sad. I love the little meimei's and didi's (little girls and little boys). They are so beautiful, I just love these people. They love trying to speak to us in English and they think it’s funny, ha, because we're white.
Every day we get up and do our studies. We have all different types of things during the day, but every night we do daily follow ups with all of our investigators. Right now we have 10 people in the teaching pool, we’re hoping to add more people this week. It’s great. We're focusing on four families right now, the Lai family, Lu family, Jin family and Huang family. All of them are so special and we've seen so many miracles in finding these families and teaching them.
I know that Heavenly Father has blessed us through our faith. Every day we have a new trial and that is just Heavenly Father testing our faith, but I know that when we look to Him, He will help us through these trials. He is always providing a way for us to meet the families He has been preparing.
We've been looking for a Li family, with three meimeis. The youngest is 8 with pink glasses, the middle one has really nice hair, and the oldest (13) will be very hard working. She will be wearing a school uniform. One of the daughters names is Jessica. Heavenly Father will help us find this family. Right now we are focusing on the Huang family. They have so many problems. They just recently divorced Because the wife ran off with some other guy. The father is a very, very heavy alcoholic. I didn't know that until after I met his two kids. They are such beautiful children. They are so humble, sleep on hard wooden bunk beds because they don't have mattresses. I met the kids first. Their teacher dropped them off from school (school ends at 8:30 pm in Taiwan) and their dad pulled up in a taxi, plastered. My heart broke. These kids didn't have a father. We went in their house and we told him that these children need a father. We poured his alcohol down the toilet. (This was last week.) Yesterday we met with this family again. We brought them mattresses. We gave the didi a power ranger set and the mei mei a stuffed doll. They loved it. We gave the dad some fruit. This man has stopped drinking. Last night we played the “I love you game.” The kids and father hugged. The abusive father told these kids he loved them. By the end of the lesson the father was helping his son say a closing prayer. This man just recently started praying. We taught him last week. This man has changed so much. This family is coming together. We're helping them move next week because he just lost his job.
There is so much else to say but I gotta go. I'm SO thankful Heavenly Father has let me be apart of this work, to help these families see the light this gospel brings.
Love you, Elder Daniels
Our apartment was messed up when we came, but we painted it and fixed it up all nice. It’s pretty homey now. We accidentally used lead based paint, so it still smells really crazy. We have a microwave that we really only use on Sundays when we have to cook for ourselves. We have air conditioning but it turns off all the time so sometimes I wake up all sweaty in the night, but its good now. I am ALWAYS thirsty but a lot of our investigators are good about giving us juice or donggua cha which is a type of tea that we are allowed to drink.
We live in one of the busiest cities ever. It’s a little bit poorer so everything is really cheap. We eat out for every meal, usually just rice with different meats and stuff to go on it and cabbage. There are all different kinds of foods here and it is all so good. Food is great, if we have time to eat. Sometimes we end up skipping meals because we have so many appointments. By all accounts I should be pretty hungry all the time, but I'm not. Heavenly Father blesses us every day.
The city is massive and our area is massive. I can't explain how crazy the traffic is here. There are SO MANY scooters, and SO MANY families We contact people at EVERY streetlight, and it’s surprisingly successful We've gotten so many appointments that way. All contacting here is done on the street.
The people are so kind here. The Chinese people don't take compliments. If you compliment their kids they say, oh, he's not that smart, or he's terrible about math. It’s pretty sad. I love the little meimei's and didi's (little girls and little boys). They are so beautiful, I just love these people. They love trying to speak to us in English and they think it’s funny, ha, because we're white.
Every day we get up and do our studies. We have all different types of things during the day, but every night we do daily follow ups with all of our investigators. Right now we have 10 people in the teaching pool, we’re hoping to add more people this week. It’s great. We're focusing on four families right now, the Lai family, Lu family, Jin family and Huang family. All of them are so special and we've seen so many miracles in finding these families and teaching them.
I know that Heavenly Father has blessed us through our faith. Every day we have a new trial and that is just Heavenly Father testing our faith, but I know that when we look to Him, He will help us through these trials. He is always providing a way for us to meet the families He has been preparing.
We've been looking for a Li family, with three meimeis. The youngest is 8 with pink glasses, the middle one has really nice hair, and the oldest (13) will be very hard working. She will be wearing a school uniform. One of the daughters names is Jessica. Heavenly Father will help us find this family. Right now we are focusing on the Huang family. They have so many problems. They just recently divorced Because the wife ran off with some other guy. The father is a very, very heavy alcoholic. I didn't know that until after I met his two kids. They are such beautiful children. They are so humble, sleep on hard wooden bunk beds because they don't have mattresses. I met the kids first. Their teacher dropped them off from school (school ends at 8:30 pm in Taiwan) and their dad pulled up in a taxi, plastered. My heart broke. These kids didn't have a father. We went in their house and we told him that these children need a father. We poured his alcohol down the toilet. (This was last week.) Yesterday we met with this family again. We brought them mattresses. We gave the didi a power ranger set and the mei mei a stuffed doll. They loved it. We gave the dad some fruit. This man has stopped drinking. Last night we played the “I love you game.” The kids and father hugged. The abusive father told these kids he loved them. By the end of the lesson the father was helping his son say a closing prayer. This man just recently started praying. We taught him last week. This man has changed so much. This family is coming together. We're helping them move next week because he just lost his job.
There is so much else to say but I gotta go. I'm SO thankful Heavenly Father has let me be apart of this work, to help these families see the light this gospel brings.
Love you, Elder Daniels
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