Hey, hey, hey! woooowwwweeeeee. I'm really, really sorry about the $300 surprise, ha, ha. No, it wasn't because my bike was stolen, but you’re going to laugh at me. When I moved here to Tu Cheng, I noticed all the missionaries had "electric dictionaries" and that struck an anxiety bone. The others talked me into it so I decided to buy an electric dictionary. However, the reason I got it isn't just to have way good Chinese, but it’s for the Taiwanese people. Really though, and I can use it for the rest of my life. I plan to study Chinese when I get back home. It put a big whole in my wallet, but I'm telling you that it’s worth it. It’s better than 300 pairs of brand new shoes!
Seriously, my reading in the Book of Mormon has exploded ever since I got it. Before, when I came across a character that I didn't recognize while I was reading, it would take about one minute to look it up using the good old dictionary. Now with this bad boy electric dictionary, all I have to do is write it and I can find it in 2 seconds. It’s amazing. So now I'm flying through the Book of Mormon which I plan to finish within the next 40 days. President encourages us to finish it by our year mark on the island, but I'm gonna get it done as fast as possible. It’s so nice now during lessons because I can actually teach out of the Book of Mormon. I CAN FINALLY READ!!!! I'm not illiterate anymore, but there is still ALOT more to learn. My English has gotten terrible, by the way.
That’s how it’s going with the Chinese language right now. Heavenly Father’s countless blessings have really been a great help. It is so fun to think that it’s one year ago that I got my call, and I barely knew where Taiwan was on the globe! It all goes back to the “intentions.” That’s what I've been recently sharing with my companion, prayers of faith, intentions, etc., Heavenly Father wants a loving babysitter to watch over his kids and teach them the gospel. If our intentions are one with His and His work and His glory, He will bless us. My companion is so awesome, he is a scripture memorizing machine! It’s great! He's going to be a great missionary. He's diligent and has a great work ethic. He's smart. We've learned a lot from each other. He's starting to develop some great charity for these people. I love working with him. He also has blue handlebars on his bike, it’s a Barton/Daniels tradition. Elder Barton is doing well and he's written a couple times. He is so awesome, he contacts his investigators EVERY DAY!!! (Elder Barton was Jonathan’s trainer when he first arrived in Taiwan and has completed his mission)
Okay, enough cheap talk, let’s get to the business. The work is GOOD here in San Xia. President is considering not moving us, because the work is going so well, and it’s all because of my companion’s faith. We go out and we look for families, and that’s what we've found, and in that process, the singles have been coming. Last week we met with a Hu family that we had met the first week that we got here. They were especially excited to meet with us! They have a seven-year-old meimei and a 14 year-old didi and then the mom and dad. I love them and they love us. When we first met with them, the Spirit was just screaming at me, “Invite, invite, invite, invite, invite, baptism, baptism, invite, invite...so we did...and they accepted!!! It was a miracle! So we have a family who will be baptized at the end of this month. They loved the message and they believe it all to be true!! Hooray! Right after that appointment, we had one with a 19 year-old kid at McDonalds. We gave him an English name, Spike. My companion wasn't sure if he would show or not, because he seemed pretty flakey at first, but he did and he brought three friends! They all set up to meet with us again after church. Most of our lessons are at McDonalds because the church is way too far away, 45 minutes. Church ended up being cancelled because of the typhoon. (typhoons three weekends in a row!) so they had no chance of coming, but they are coming the next week. (according to the Taiepei Times, there could be a 4th typhoon this weekend!) We had 12 new investigators last week, it was insane! That’s the most I've ever had. A companion’s faith is awesome.
We have two other really strong investigators as well and they are awesome. We have been focusing on how we can show the restoration on the street rather than be teaching it straight up, and we've had some great opportunities. We have been teaching the Su kid, (a different Su). We taught him a first discussion on a bus and he loved it. He LOVES reading the Book of Mormon and thinks it is so awesome. He is 17 years old and wanted to see how we missionaries do things. That night he came with us to a church activity and had a great time. He loved the feeling of the church and had a special feeling as he met some of the members. Later that night, he went with us to a lesson with Ayi, the homeless lady. He was excited to see how this gospel helps people, so when we met with Ayi, I was expecting some miracles, ha,ha,ha.
"And it came to pass, Ayi's prayer had been answered. She found a job, however because of the hardness of her heart, she was unwilling to skip work on Sundays so she could come to church, to worship the God who blessed her." But then, BOB, the Su kid, stepped in and helped her see the miracle she wasn't seeing. He started to believe for himself that the message was true. He asked her, “Miss, how long have you been looking for work?” “Four months." "Wow, and you've only known these missionaries for a week, they helped you pray to find work, and you've found it, but you don't believe it was because God answered your prayer? I think you should reconsider." J
Heavenly Father sure gave us a chance to SHOW the restoration that night. The Su kid is now going to skip class to come to church for an hour and then go back, which is AWESOME! The kids in Taiwan have to go to school a lot so they can test well into a good college. He's sacrificing to come to church. Awesome
I think we are still going to be moving because our apartment is so far away from the church, but we can still come back and visit our investigators. It’s just difficult because half of our area is 45 minutes away. President might leave us in San Xia, because it’s been so hot lately. Initially, he wanted to have us move to Tu Cheng and build up that area some more and then move a branch to San Xia sometime. We're not sure what will happen right now, but tomorrow are interviews, so we'll probably find out more then, fun stuff.
I love it here. I love being a missionary. We help change people’s lives every day!!! It’s awesome! Gotta go, I LOVE YOU. ELDER DANIELS
GO COUGARS........ ROOOOAAAAAAAAR #8 WOOOOOAAAAAH!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
"Power Week"
Family! How is it going? It’s great to hear from you! There are so many things that have been going on I don't know where to start. Elder Gong and I have been going crazy over here in San Xia/Tu Cheng. Things are kinda confusing at the moment because the mission is remarking the boundaries of our area and they are going to have us move closer to the city. President wants us to first build up the people of Tu Cheng and then we'll spread out over to the people in San Xia.
Last week was a long, hard and powerful week. “Power week” means half hour meals and we go out every night until 9:30. It’s kinda hard to set up with people in San Xia because it’s a 45 minute bus ride to the church. Everyone we talk to just says, "Hey, I think we’ll just go over to the Christian church which is right next to my house because it’s more convenient." We say "NO! Don't do that!" Ha, ha. It’s kind of a good way to teach the apostasy on the street.
Our apartment, at the moment, is still in the city, everything is city, but it’s forever away from where we need to be, so we're going to move. Here, we don't have clean water, a dryer, warm water, and or a stove, so that adds to the reason to move. It’s been a blast though and I've gotten used to cold showers. It’s kinda pleasant due to the heat and humidity.
Anyway, Power Week was awesome. I don't know why, but it seems that during Power week, setups never ever come during the day time. They all come at night between 9:00 and 9:30 pm. Nine of our 15 setups, which is a pretty good amount, came between those hours last week. All the people that we set up between those hours are quite decent investigators. This is the week that we get to meet with all of them. :) Right now we have two really good investigators and a family! One of the investigators is actually a homeless lady named Aiyi. Usually homeless people aren’t top investigators, but anyway, she's a little different. She's really smart, but the reason she is homeless is because she can't find a job because of her diabetes. It’s kinda sad. She is quite a self deprecating lady, who has a lot of pain in her life right now, but we've been able to help her. She cries after our lessons because she feels the spirit really powerfully, but she is still not willing to say her own prayer. She feels no hope, so we get to share what hope this gospel brings, etc. She's progressing and reads the Book of Mormon a lot. We with meet with her and teach her on a bridge. :)
We found a lot of great people last week, and a lot of families, but I feel really confident about this one family we found. Their name is Zeng and they have one small mei mei. I love the little kids. We were on our way home from Taipei the other day, and a little bit lost, but they were willing to give us a ride home. Then they set US up to meet with THEM someday! It was AWESOME!!!! Holy smokes, I have a really good feeling about them and I think they are the family Elder Gong and I have been looking for. They were so beautiful that it was almost scary to give them any invites, but we were able to give them a pamphlet to read and ask them to think about the importance of families. I'm excited to meet with them.
Wow, there really has been a lot going on. My companion is so awesome! He is working way hard on the language and he likes to speak Chinese with me. We set some really good goals for him and he has progressed a lot. He can already understand a lot the language, but the hardest part is speaking it so others can understand. Chinese is really hard, but Heavenly Father helps those who have the right intentions and motives to learn the language faster so that He can use us to teach His children. I've learned that I may never master the language while I'm here, there is simply too much. There is still a lot that I don't understand when people talk to me and a lot that I don't know how to respond back, but it’s part of the learning process. It comes and Heavenly Father is going to prepare the way for those who have the desire and are in tune with the spirit. I love learning the language though, and so does my companion. He is such a stud. He is beginning to love the small kids, too, especially the mei mei's. It’s funny to see your son (trainee) pick up some of the same traits that you yourself treasure. He is my best friend. I'm starting to let him lead and press him more, so he doesn't get content to the point of robbing himself of his true potential. That’s how I see a lot of the people Heavenly Father allows me to teach these days.
It’s awesome. I love these people so much. I think about the Su family, every second of the day. I've learned that as we teach this gospel, we ourselves change. It’s true, so, so true. I have learned so much from Elder Gong, it is insane! We were just discussing some finer points of the gospel that I was able to learn from teaching the Su family and it was cool. I'm doing my best to cherish every moment. Elder Barton (last companion) has written me a couple letters and he’s motivated me quite a bit. I'm sorry, but I don't want to come home at all, hahaha. I do miss you though. Wow! Gotta go. Love you!
Last week was a long, hard and powerful week. “Power week” means half hour meals and we go out every night until 9:30. It’s kinda hard to set up with people in San Xia because it’s a 45 minute bus ride to the church. Everyone we talk to just says, "Hey, I think we’ll just go over to the Christian church which is right next to my house because it’s more convenient." We say "NO! Don't do that!" Ha, ha. It’s kind of a good way to teach the apostasy on the street.
Our apartment, at the moment, is still in the city, everything is city, but it’s forever away from where we need to be, so we're going to move. Here, we don't have clean water, a dryer, warm water, and or a stove, so that adds to the reason to move. It’s been a blast though and I've gotten used to cold showers. It’s kinda pleasant due to the heat and humidity.
Anyway, Power Week was awesome. I don't know why, but it seems that during Power week, setups never ever come during the day time. They all come at night between 9:00 and 9:30 pm. Nine of our 15 setups, which is a pretty good amount, came between those hours last week. All the people that we set up between those hours are quite decent investigators. This is the week that we get to meet with all of them. :) Right now we have two really good investigators and a family! One of the investigators is actually a homeless lady named Aiyi. Usually homeless people aren’t top investigators, but anyway, she's a little different. She's really smart, but the reason she is homeless is because she can't find a job because of her diabetes. It’s kinda sad. She is quite a self deprecating lady, who has a lot of pain in her life right now, but we've been able to help her. She cries after our lessons because she feels the spirit really powerfully, but she is still not willing to say her own prayer. She feels no hope, so we get to share what hope this gospel brings, etc. She's progressing and reads the Book of Mormon a lot. We with meet with her and teach her on a bridge. :)
We found a lot of great people last week, and a lot of families, but I feel really confident about this one family we found. Their name is Zeng and they have one small mei mei. I love the little kids. We were on our way home from Taipei the other day, and a little bit lost, but they were willing to give us a ride home. Then they set US up to meet with THEM someday! It was AWESOME!!!! Holy smokes, I have a really good feeling about them and I think they are the family Elder Gong and I have been looking for. They were so beautiful that it was almost scary to give them any invites, but we were able to give them a pamphlet to read and ask them to think about the importance of families. I'm excited to meet with them.
Wow, there really has been a lot going on. My companion is so awesome! He is working way hard on the language and he likes to speak Chinese with me. We set some really good goals for him and he has progressed a lot. He can already understand a lot the language, but the hardest part is speaking it so others can understand. Chinese is really hard, but Heavenly Father helps those who have the right intentions and motives to learn the language faster so that He can use us to teach His children. I've learned that I may never master the language while I'm here, there is simply too much. There is still a lot that I don't understand when people talk to me and a lot that I don't know how to respond back, but it’s part of the learning process. It comes and Heavenly Father is going to prepare the way for those who have the desire and are in tune with the spirit. I love learning the language though, and so does my companion. He is such a stud. He is beginning to love the small kids, too, especially the mei mei's. It’s funny to see your son (trainee) pick up some of the same traits that you yourself treasure. He is my best friend. I'm starting to let him lead and press him more, so he doesn't get content to the point of robbing himself of his true potential. That’s how I see a lot of the people Heavenly Father allows me to teach these days.
It’s awesome. I love these people so much. I think about the Su family, every second of the day. I've learned that as we teach this gospel, we ourselves change. It’s true, so, so true. I have learned so much from Elder Gong, it is insane! We were just discussing some finer points of the gospel that I was able to learn from teaching the Su family and it was cool. I'm doing my best to cherish every moment. Elder Barton (last companion) has written me a couple letters and he’s motivated me quite a bit. I'm sorry, but I don't want to come home at all, hahaha. I do miss you though. Wow! Gotta go. Love you!
Monday, September 15, 2008
I've been transferred!
Changes, changes, changes. As predicted, I am moved out of San Chong and I’m living in a place called Tu Cheng, which is beautiful. I couldn't sleep much last night ‘cause I missed the Su family too much. Oh man, it was rough, but my prayers helped. I love that family so much and it was an emotional time saying goodbye to them last night. We had to get special permission to go there because we are in the middle of a huge typhoon and it’s completely not okay to leave the house. But, President Nielson said it was alright to go and have a family night with the Su family one last time. Elder Taylor will take care of them. She is so stuck in her church right now and it’s making things slow, but, she is still going to be baptized, someday. There is no way she can go to her church anymore and not have doubts in her mind. Here is something that made me so sad when I found out about it. Church was cancelled because of the typhoon, but Joyce didn't know that. She had gone to our church to surprise me because it was my last day in San Chong,… but no one was there. So, she just went back to her church, dangit. I know she'll be baptized, but wow, it’s hard to keep my mind focused on my new area sometimes, because I miss the Su family so much.
As for other changes, here’s the story, hahaha, it’s crazy! Thursday night my companion Elder Taylor received a phone call. (Thursday night is the night that they call all the new people that will be "training"). Oh man, it was 10:30 at night and because we are so young on the island, we were all relaxed and getting ready for bed because the last thing we were expecting was a phone call. Missionaries like Elder Larson (district leader) who have been here for a year get called to train. Well, at precisely 10:30, the phone rang and the first thing that left my mouth were the words "HAHAHAHA, I'm going to be a momma,” because I was sure that Elder Taylor was “becoming a father”, (going to train). I was right, they called him to be a trainer...and then, the next words I heard from my companion’s mouth while he was talking on the phone were, "Oh, you want to talk to my companion too?" ……… I was called to be a trainer.
Wow. I thought it was way early for my companion to become trainer and he was in his 6th transfer. I am only in my 4th . Holy smokes, I wasn't expecting that at all. I felt quite inadequate to say the least. I had a mixture of fear, dread, excitement, happiness, yet sorrowful, mixed with “uh-oh,” running through my body at the same time. I prayed a lot and I felt 100 times better
It was way exciting as they don’t usually call two trainers from the same companionship. It was nuts and we went crazy. We were BOTH going to be Moms and Dads!!!! The next morning, we went to Taipei to pick up the new missionaries and meet our new companions. We went through the whole process I went through when I first arrived, only from the other side. We sang "Called to Serve" as the 13 new missionaries came marching into the room. They all looked so fresh, and excited! I was called to be with Elder Gong! He is from New Hampshire, his grandparents on his dad’s side are Chinese but he is completely American. He is cool. Elder Taylor and I took our companions out that night and they went crazy! They have so much faith and they talked to everyone. They are study animals, seriously. After that night we were stuck inside for two days because of the typhoon, and my companion studied Chinese and read scripture the entire time. I told him that he is allowed to take a nap, and he said, "That’s alright." He's gonna kill me this transfer! I'm excited to learn from him though, and I think I will learn more from him, than he will learn from me. His Chinese is SICK!!!! He knows so much vocabulary from the MTC, you learn a lot of vocab there. You gradually forget it as you go through your mission, as it gradually builds back up again. Strange. I've been encouraging him to memorize scripture, because that’s what helped me most, and he does. He is a great guy. I feel bad when he asks me questions and I don't know how to answer them, dangit. I'm going to be praying quite a lot this transfer since I'm gonna need some help. We're also "whitewashing" a new area and it’s going to be way interesting because this is just my second area, so it’s going to be WAY exciting!!! Faith. We just got him a new bike and we are all set.
It’s going to be new experience for a while, new companion, new area, bad Chinese, no Su family. We live 45 minutes from the church and the other elders. It may seem rough at times, but it’s gonna be AWESOME. I'm so excited to get to work! :)
As for other changes, here’s the story, hahaha, it’s crazy! Thursday night my companion Elder Taylor received a phone call. (Thursday night is the night that they call all the new people that will be "training"). Oh man, it was 10:30 at night and because we are so young on the island, we were all relaxed and getting ready for bed because the last thing we were expecting was a phone call. Missionaries like Elder Larson (district leader) who have been here for a year get called to train. Well, at precisely 10:30, the phone rang and the first thing that left my mouth were the words "HAHAHAHA, I'm going to be a momma,” because I was sure that Elder Taylor was “becoming a father”, (going to train). I was right, they called him to be a trainer...and then, the next words I heard from my companion’s mouth while he was talking on the phone were, "Oh, you want to talk to my companion too?" ……… I was called to be a trainer.
Wow. I thought it was way early for my companion to become trainer and he was in his 6th transfer. I am only in my 4th . Holy smokes, I wasn't expecting that at all. I felt quite inadequate to say the least. I had a mixture of fear, dread, excitement, happiness, yet sorrowful, mixed with “uh-oh,” running through my body at the same time. I prayed a lot and I felt 100 times better
It was way exciting as they don’t usually call two trainers from the same companionship. It was nuts and we went crazy. We were BOTH going to be Moms and Dads!!!! The next morning, we went to Taipei to pick up the new missionaries and meet our new companions. We went through the whole process I went through when I first arrived, only from the other side. We sang "Called to Serve" as the 13 new missionaries came marching into the room. They all looked so fresh, and excited! I was called to be with Elder Gong! He is from New Hampshire, his grandparents on his dad’s side are Chinese but he is completely American. He is cool. Elder Taylor and I took our companions out that night and they went crazy! They have so much faith and they talked to everyone. They are study animals, seriously. After that night we were stuck inside for two days because of the typhoon, and my companion studied Chinese and read scripture the entire time. I told him that he is allowed to take a nap, and he said, "That’s alright." He's gonna kill me this transfer! I'm excited to learn from him though, and I think I will learn more from him, than he will learn from me. His Chinese is SICK!!!! He knows so much vocabulary from the MTC, you learn a lot of vocab there. You gradually forget it as you go through your mission, as it gradually builds back up again. Strange. I've been encouraging him to memorize scripture, because that’s what helped me most, and he does. He is a great guy. I feel bad when he asks me questions and I don't know how to answer them, dangit. I'm going to be praying quite a lot this transfer since I'm gonna need some help. We're also "whitewashing" a new area and it’s going to be way interesting because this is just my second area, so it’s going to be WAY exciting!!! Faith. We just got him a new bike and we are all set.
It’s going to be new experience for a while, new companion, new area, bad Chinese, no Su family. We live 45 minutes from the church and the other elders. It may seem rough at times, but it’s gonna be AWESOME. I'm so excited to get to work! :)
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Companions
Man, things sound way exciting back at home, with football season getting started, and all that excitement. I can feel that football atmosphere all the way over here in Taiwan. It’s not treated quite the same here, though. You won't find a football game on anyone’s television over here. They are all about baseball. My companion loves football though, and was really good. He played for Davis High School, so it’s fun to exchange stories and talk about football every now and then. It’s especially interesting when we get on the topic of BYU and UTAH, because he is a die hard Utah fan and I don't have a red drop of blood in my body! It’s interesting, one of our investigators gave us these way cool hats and one ended up being blue and the other red, so every night when we do our daily planning session, we pop them out. It’s fun to hear about how both teams are doing and it’s nice having a companion who also loves that football atmosphere. It brings back a little bit of home and it’s fun, even if he does bleed red.
With so many new missionaries coming on, there will be a lot of things changes going on, with a lot of younger missionaries who will be taking on new leadership roles earlier than usual. We have a very young mission over here in Taiwan at the moment, it's awesome! It’s great to see young boys become men out on their missions. It happens all the time. A mission is a crazy thing. Sometimes it’s a scary thing to have a new burden on your shoulders, but the missionaries here in Taiwan are awesome because they have faith and they welcome the changes with open arms. Just like Ammon with the robbers and the king’s sheep. I'm still a young boy, however, my face might just be able to hold a beard now. I don't know if that’s true or not, because I'm not allowed to grow one. We'll see what happens in 1 ½ years!
The Su family is doing well. We shared Moroni 9:25 with her, and she said, “I feel this is true. You guys are weighing me down to death.” I said, “It’s because what we teach is undeniable truth.” Then I told her to read the next sentence, “but may Christ lift thee up.” She's been pondering that for a while. I have realized that it’s not a matter of "if", but a matter of "when" for the Su family. She cannot deny it anymore because the message is true and it’s killing her! She'll make it someday. Yesterday we "heart attacked” their door. Holy smokes, it is so much easier to doorbell ditch and leave stuff in America than it is in Taiwan because everyone lives in huge buildings, "5" stacks. The only way to get into those buildings is by ringing an intercom on the bottom floor outside of the building, haha. It makes things WAY fun, good story, good times.
Well, apparently my time is gone and I have to go. I love you so much.
With so many new missionaries coming on, there will be a lot of things changes going on, with a lot of younger missionaries who will be taking on new leadership roles earlier than usual. We have a very young mission over here in Taiwan at the moment, it's awesome! It’s great to see young boys become men out on their missions. It happens all the time. A mission is a crazy thing. Sometimes it’s a scary thing to have a new burden on your shoulders, but the missionaries here in Taiwan are awesome because they have faith and they welcome the changes with open arms. Just like Ammon with the robbers and the king’s sheep. I'm still a young boy, however, my face might just be able to hold a beard now. I don't know if that’s true or not, because I'm not allowed to grow one. We'll see what happens in 1 ½ years!
The Su family is doing well. We shared Moroni 9:25 with her, and she said, “I feel this is true. You guys are weighing me down to death.” I said, “It’s because what we teach is undeniable truth.” Then I told her to read the next sentence, “but may Christ lift thee up.” She's been pondering that for a while. I have realized that it’s not a matter of "if", but a matter of "when" for the Su family. She cannot deny it anymore because the message is true and it’s killing her! She'll make it someday. Yesterday we "heart attacked” their door. Holy smokes, it is so much easier to doorbell ditch and leave stuff in America than it is in Taiwan because everyone lives in huge buildings, "5" stacks. The only way to get into those buildings is by ringing an intercom on the bottom floor outside of the building, haha. It makes things WAY fun, good story, good times.
Well, apparently my time is gone and I have to go. I love you so much.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Prayer
Thank you so much for sending the pictures of all the family. My investigators loved seeing them. They all think the blonde hair and blue eyes on all the kids is very cute. They loved the pictures of all my handsome brothers. I just told them all, that looking like my brothers is my destiny, ha. Maybe I'll be handsome someday. :)
Holy smokes, the work has been coming along well. We have a Li family and a Huang family in the baptismal pool! And, they will be baptized, probably one week after transfer calls. I might not be here to see it, but that’s okay, as long as it goes through. I have no doubt in my mind, they are both so, so, so good. It was a miracle how we found them. We had set a goal one night to find a Li family and a Huang family while on exchanges, and we found them both. I think I introduced them to you a little last week, but it wasn't until this week when all the action happened.
We are also working with a young boy named Andy, age14 years, and his mother. We plan to add Andy, to the baptismal pool tomorrow night, and we plan to add another Lee family on Friday night. That makes a grand total of 3 mei mei's, 2 of which are eligible for baptism, and 4 didi's, all of which are eligible for baptism. Wow, things are going pretty well.
The Li family has had a little problem with opposition from the husband, which happens a lot in Taiwan and it’s really frustrating. For example, last transfer, our district had a Sister Yang who was baptized and she has been an AWESOME member, with a cute mei mei named Alys. Anyway, she can't come to church because her husband won't allow it. We think he probably beats her, too, which makes me really sad. Then he goes to mainland China and works for 2 months straight, then he comes home for 8 days to be with his family. He says “no”, because his family is Buddhist. It happens more than you know, but yeah anyway, the two families both love church and have really powerful testimonies, it’s great.
Last week we had quite an experience with the Huang family. We went with them to her old church to see their daughter, Angel, perform. It was crazy, weird and wow! We showed up to their church (it’s a zhenjidujiao). I don't know what church that is in English, probably "Christ’s True Church". So, we started off sitting and waiting for it to begin. The people there were very interested in talking to us because we were missionaries from another church and we are white. It went really well, we happily answered all of their questions about the Book of Mormon and the Holy Ghost, and it was good. Then, the meeting started. It ended up being their Church Service that we were attending. Wow, okay, and then they started the worship, with a bell and a short moment of silence, followed by introductions, all the announcements and the program for the evening. After that, their lady minister said that it was "prayer time." Every body got out their kneepads and started kneeling, so I whispered to my companion, "Remember who you are praying to.” We heard a bell, then the lady yelled the words “zhu jesu,” meaning “Lord Jesus,” and everyone began to pray.
Now, their understanding of prayer is a lot different than my personal understanding of prayer and from how Christ taught us to pray. A lot different! Then the prayer began as 150 people started screaming , twittering, yelling, making sounds and noises at the tops of their lungs. I cannot even begin to describe to you how loud it was and painful on the ears, and it went on for 4 minutes. I felt terrible during that whole prayer. I almost started crying as this “praying” was going on. I was praying to Heavenly Father to let it stop. I didn't know why they were doing it. SO much went through my mind and all I wanted to do was leave. Luckily, Angel was the first act performed and then we bolted out of there. I found out later that they pray that way because that is their understanding of how the Holy Ghost works with the gift of tongues. They feel that when they pray under the spirit, they make insane noises and that is the gift of tongues. No one else is supposed to understand your prayer, because you are talking to God. I didn't like it. It was an interesting experience, though.
Afterward, Sister Huang said, "Our understanding of the Spirit is different than theirs.” When she said "our," she was referring to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints! :) She said, “I like ours A LOT better.” Man, this experience gave me new motivation. I don't have much time to explain, but you're just going to have to trust me that it did. I've never felt so much like Alma 29:1 in my life. Sheesh!
We were talking to Joyce about making decisions. We told her how decisions are easy to make, but we make it hard on ourselves, such as, when asking a girl to go to a dance. We get scared to do it, but in the end it’s easy. We ended up talking about some of the questions she has asked us and we let her answer them. Then we briefly shared the experience of prayer at the church we had visited, and she said, “All of the Christian churches are similar, but that’s okay if they make the focus on Christ.” Oh man, I took that apart, ha, ha. It was great. I don't know how she sleeps at night anymore, not being part of this gospel. It can't be comfortable, ha, ha. Is there a difference between “similar” and “perfect???” Yeah, there is. Jesus says, “Be perfect, just like Father in heaven is perfect.” Joyce is still coming along. Well, I gotta send this before my time runs out.
Wow, the mission brings a lot of blessings, I LOVE IT, and then it humbles you a lot. It truly is the Lord’s work. My goal lately is to focus a little more on less actives. Most of them get overlooked by missionaries, but all of them are somebody else’s SU family, so take care of them. I love you!
Holy smokes, the work has been coming along well. We have a Li family and a Huang family in the baptismal pool! And, they will be baptized, probably one week after transfer calls. I might not be here to see it, but that’s okay, as long as it goes through. I have no doubt in my mind, they are both so, so, so good. It was a miracle how we found them. We had set a goal one night to find a Li family and a Huang family while on exchanges, and we found them both. I think I introduced them to you a little last week, but it wasn't until this week when all the action happened.
We are also working with a young boy named Andy, age14 years, and his mother. We plan to add Andy, to the baptismal pool tomorrow night, and we plan to add another Lee family on Friday night. That makes a grand total of 3 mei mei's, 2 of which are eligible for baptism, and 4 didi's, all of which are eligible for baptism. Wow, things are going pretty well.
The Li family has had a little problem with opposition from the husband, which happens a lot in Taiwan and it’s really frustrating. For example, last transfer, our district had a Sister Yang who was baptized and she has been an AWESOME member, with a cute mei mei named Alys. Anyway, she can't come to church because her husband won't allow it. We think he probably beats her, too, which makes me really sad. Then he goes to mainland China and works for 2 months straight, then he comes home for 8 days to be with his family. He says “no”, because his family is Buddhist. It happens more than you know, but yeah anyway, the two families both love church and have really powerful testimonies, it’s great.
Last week we had quite an experience with the Huang family. We went with them to her old church to see their daughter, Angel, perform. It was crazy, weird and wow! We showed up to their church (it’s a zhenjidujiao). I don't know what church that is in English, probably "Christ’s True Church". So, we started off sitting and waiting for it to begin. The people there were very interested in talking to us because we were missionaries from another church and we are white. It went really well, we happily answered all of their questions about the Book of Mormon and the Holy Ghost, and it was good. Then, the meeting started. It ended up being their Church Service that we were attending. Wow, okay, and then they started the worship, with a bell and a short moment of silence, followed by introductions, all the announcements and the program for the evening. After that, their lady minister said that it was "prayer time." Every body got out their kneepads and started kneeling, so I whispered to my companion, "Remember who you are praying to.” We heard a bell, then the lady yelled the words “zhu jesu,” meaning “Lord Jesus,” and everyone began to pray.
Now, their understanding of prayer is a lot different than my personal understanding of prayer and from how Christ taught us to pray. A lot different! Then the prayer began as 150 people started screaming , twittering, yelling, making sounds and noises at the tops of their lungs. I cannot even begin to describe to you how loud it was and painful on the ears, and it went on for 4 minutes. I felt terrible during that whole prayer. I almost started crying as this “praying” was going on. I was praying to Heavenly Father to let it stop. I didn't know why they were doing it. SO much went through my mind and all I wanted to do was leave. Luckily, Angel was the first act performed and then we bolted out of there. I found out later that they pray that way because that is their understanding of how the Holy Ghost works with the gift of tongues. They feel that when they pray under the spirit, they make insane noises and that is the gift of tongues. No one else is supposed to understand your prayer, because you are talking to God. I didn't like it. It was an interesting experience, though.
Afterward, Sister Huang said, "Our understanding of the Spirit is different than theirs.” When she said "our," she was referring to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints! :) She said, “I like ours A LOT better.” Man, this experience gave me new motivation. I don't have much time to explain, but you're just going to have to trust me that it did. I've never felt so much like Alma 29:1 in my life. Sheesh!
We were talking to Joyce about making decisions. We told her how decisions are easy to make, but we make it hard on ourselves, such as, when asking a girl to go to a dance. We get scared to do it, but in the end it’s easy. We ended up talking about some of the questions she has asked us and we let her answer them. Then we briefly shared the experience of prayer at the church we had visited, and she said, “All of the Christian churches are similar, but that’s okay if they make the focus on Christ.” Oh man, I took that apart, ha, ha. It was great. I don't know how she sleeps at night anymore, not being part of this gospel. It can't be comfortable, ha, ha. Is there a difference between “similar” and “perfect???” Yeah, there is. Jesus says, “Be perfect, just like Father in heaven is perfect.” Joyce is still coming along. Well, I gotta send this before my time runs out.
Wow, the mission brings a lot of blessings, I LOVE IT, and then it humbles you a lot. It truly is the Lord’s work. My goal lately is to focus a little more on less actives. Most of them get overlooked by missionaries, but all of them are somebody else’s SU family, so take care of them. I love you!
Friday, August 29, 2008
12 Investigators with the same last name...Li
Oh man, I'm a terrible person, ha! I'm sorry I didn't get a letter out last week and I can explain. We write our letters at an internet café. We have to pay 30 kuai, about one dollar, to use it for an hour. I used every bit of that hour last week trying to send my beloved family a big, fat juicy email. It came down to the last ten seconds and as I moved my hand towards the mouse to press "send", the computer shut off and I lost my email forever. After that we had a really busy schedule and I didn't have any time to write. It was ridiculous. Well, the work goes on and the scriptures say you have to forgive me...so it’s all good. :)
Okay, to review the recent activity of the building up a Zion in Taiwan. It’s been really good, but also really "xin ku,” (rough), but Elder Taylor and I are enjoying every moment of it.
Last week, there were some crazy episodes at church involving an investigator who’s been hiding with her kids from her husband because of an argument and money problems. He is a “male supremacist.” Anyway, the man has really no affiliation with the church, only through his wife who has a powerful testimony and a baptismal goal. He works in mainland China for 2 months at a time and comes home for ten days, and then he is terrible towards his family. So, he showed up to church and started yelling at his wife and kids to come home. There was a big confrontation in the church. I've never seen something like that before, (besides Elders basketball). It was a sad thing to see, but the 2nd counselor in the bishopric took care of things. He has dealt problems like theirs in the past, so it worked out really well. They were taught how the gospel blesses families and we sang. They ended up going home together, but the parents are still on bad terms.
We also saw a fight on the street the other day. There 3 guys going to town on this one guy. It was kind of frustrating, because missionaries are strictly forbidden from getting involved in anything like a beating. There’s been a couple times I've seen things here in Taiwan, where I've really wanted to get in there and establish some sort of peace, but, that kind of thing is strictly forbidden. We had to leave as these three guys were beating on this one man, but I think other people took care of things and the police were called. It was nuts. As we were riding by, I saw one guy uppercut the man, right in the stomach. His face was pretty messed up, too.
We are working with 12 investigators right now, and "Li" is the last name of six of the families, ha. I think that is kind of funny. They are all pretty good, and we plan to add most of them to the pool this next week.
We are working with a blessing right now, the Huang family. They were a street contact with a mei mei who I thought was extremely cute, so we approached them and started talking. The mei mei is 8 years old and when I spoke to her, she lowered her mouth cover ( the surgical mask that all the Taiwanese wear because of pollution) and I realized she had no front teeth, which made her even cuter!!! Her name is Angel. Anyway, they set up and we taught them the restoration. The mom already believes it and she is wonderful. Her favorite was the part about the Holy Ghost and what we understand it to be. She has investigated other Christian churches, but she knows ours to be true, yeah! She wants to be baptized and her family, too. The one problem is her husband. He is very devout Buddhist, and he might oppose the whole thing, which happens a lot here, sad to say.
Things are going pretty well. We are blessed with a lot of great investigators. It’s fun because Elder Taylor and I love to go out and have FUN doing the work! It’s awesome! I love, love, love missionary work. Elder Taylor always kids me and says that I will be training next transfer, because you "love missionary work and you love to contact families.” He's funny. Training next transfer is out of the question. I've been thinking about that lately though, for when I do get to train, about 5 transfers from now, hahaha. What types of things will a do for my trainee? Will I be really bold with him, like Elder Barton was with me or will I let him make his own decisions the whole time? We'll see some day.
We've had interviews recently. President likes us to prepare questions for interviews, so I prepared a lot about, "what to do for the Su family?" But, we talked about to Joyce’s main problem, which is her wanting to be alone forever. And another problem that we have discovered recently is that she doesn't love Heavenly Father, she only loves Jesus. So, yeah, things are different. President invited us to invite her to pray with all her heart, to find love for the father and her family, and through that we can promise her that she will come closer unto Jesus Christ. So, we did, and we will see how that goes......
President also talked to me a little bit about next transfer. He still doesn't know whether I'll be moving or not, but either way, it’s gonna be fun doing the Lord’s work. I love doing the Lord’s work, I love being in Taiwan, and whatever happens next transfer, so be it. 1 Nephi 3:7, baby!
Well anyway, this is my letter. Today we are going to Danshui and visit with the Su family and we’re going to hike a mountain! :) I'm excited and I'm finally going to see the ocean. By the way, I found out that the city I live in, is for sure the most populated city in Taiwan. I don't doubt it, this place in packed with people and I love it.
I love you very much! Elder Daniels
PS: A new record in the 100 meters? That’s nuts!
Okay, to review the recent activity of the building up a Zion in Taiwan. It’s been really good, but also really "xin ku,” (rough), but Elder Taylor and I are enjoying every moment of it.
Last week, there were some crazy episodes at church involving an investigator who’s been hiding with her kids from her husband because of an argument and money problems. He is a “male supremacist.” Anyway, the man has really no affiliation with the church, only through his wife who has a powerful testimony and a baptismal goal. He works in mainland China for 2 months at a time and comes home for ten days, and then he is terrible towards his family. So, he showed up to church and started yelling at his wife and kids to come home. There was a big confrontation in the church. I've never seen something like that before, (besides Elders basketball). It was a sad thing to see, but the 2nd counselor in the bishopric took care of things. He has dealt problems like theirs in the past, so it worked out really well. They were taught how the gospel blesses families and we sang. They ended up going home together, but the parents are still on bad terms.
We also saw a fight on the street the other day. There 3 guys going to town on this one guy. It was kind of frustrating, because missionaries are strictly forbidden from getting involved in anything like a beating. There’s been a couple times I've seen things here in Taiwan, where I've really wanted to get in there and establish some sort of peace, but, that kind of thing is strictly forbidden. We had to leave as these three guys were beating on this one man, but I think other people took care of things and the police were called. It was nuts. As we were riding by, I saw one guy uppercut the man, right in the stomach. His face was pretty messed up, too.
We are working with 12 investigators right now, and "Li" is the last name of six of the families, ha. I think that is kind of funny. They are all pretty good, and we plan to add most of them to the pool this next week.
We are working with a blessing right now, the Huang family. They were a street contact with a mei mei who I thought was extremely cute, so we approached them and started talking. The mei mei is 8 years old and when I spoke to her, she lowered her mouth cover ( the surgical mask that all the Taiwanese wear because of pollution) and I realized she had no front teeth, which made her even cuter!!! Her name is Angel. Anyway, they set up and we taught them the restoration. The mom already believes it and she is wonderful. Her favorite was the part about the Holy Ghost and what we understand it to be. She has investigated other Christian churches, but she knows ours to be true, yeah! She wants to be baptized and her family, too. The one problem is her husband. He is very devout Buddhist, and he might oppose the whole thing, which happens a lot here, sad to say.
Things are going pretty well. We are blessed with a lot of great investigators. It’s fun because Elder Taylor and I love to go out and have FUN doing the work! It’s awesome! I love, love, love missionary work. Elder Taylor always kids me and says that I will be training next transfer, because you "love missionary work and you love to contact families.” He's funny. Training next transfer is out of the question. I've been thinking about that lately though, for when I do get to train, about 5 transfers from now, hahaha. What types of things will a do for my trainee? Will I be really bold with him, like Elder Barton was with me or will I let him make his own decisions the whole time? We'll see some day.
We've had interviews recently. President likes us to prepare questions for interviews, so I prepared a lot about, "what to do for the Su family?" But, we talked about to Joyce’s main problem, which is her wanting to be alone forever. And another problem that we have discovered recently is that she doesn't love Heavenly Father, she only loves Jesus. So, yeah, things are different. President invited us to invite her to pray with all her heart, to find love for the father and her family, and through that we can promise her that she will come closer unto Jesus Christ. So, we did, and we will see how that goes......
President also talked to me a little bit about next transfer. He still doesn't know whether I'll be moving or not, but either way, it’s gonna be fun doing the Lord’s work. I love doing the Lord’s work, I love being in Taiwan, and whatever happens next transfer, so be it. 1 Nephi 3:7, baby!
Well anyway, this is my letter. Today we are going to Danshui and visit with the Su family and we’re going to hike a mountain! :) I'm excited and I'm finally going to see the ocean. By the way, I found out that the city I live in, is for sure the most populated city in Taiwan. I don't doubt it, this place in packed with people and I love it.
I love you very much! Elder Daniels
PS: A new record in the 100 meters? That’s nuts!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
If a sign says, "Don't wash your face"...believe it to be true
Well, things have been going really good!! Everything, except a mistake that I made the other day, hahaha, dangit. We were at a basketball court playing ball with about 4 investigators and 10 possible investigators. It was down by a river bank, away from the city and it was really, really hot outside. We decided to use this water pump to wash our faces, but when we got to the pump, it said on the side of it "bukeyixilian,” which means, “Don't wash your face." I figured if it were important they would have written in English too, so I decided to go ahead and continue washing my face. That was a bad idea. I washed my face with what ended up being acid water and ever since then my face has been extremely itchy and I've broken out pretty bad. Yeah, the water is pretty bad over here in Taiwan. We ended up going to see a dermatologist, who gave me some cream and pills and stuff to take care of it. But, yeah, the work goes on......
I have learned a lot from teaching the Su family, a whole lot. At zone conference yesterday, I had a chance to realize that, as Sister Nielson had asked me share my experiences with Joyce with the other missionaries. When we were talking about teaching families, one elder had asked, "What do you do when you are working with a devout Christian family?" I was able to share a lot of the things that I have learned since I have been on my mission.
I've realized that my entire mission thus far has been devoted to the Su family, coming unto Christ and God. I've learned a lot about the "true nature of God.” As we've been sharing with Joyce lately, it’s been this part of the message that has changed her the most. We've recently shared Matthew 7 with her, and I liked focusing on verse 21. She has been taught in her church that everyone who believes in Christ will be saved. "We are all in him," but verse 21 teaches us that we must give all of the glory to the Father, that crying Lord, Lord is not good enough. Joyce has said, “You focus too much on the Heavenly father.” Wow, it didn't feel good when she said that. Wasn't that the point of Christ’s ministry on the earth? It is a straight and narrow path to eternal life. Heavenly Father has given us tools from the beginning of the earth to protect his truths, the scriptures, prophets, and the Holy Ghost. Christ will establish his word in the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses. Obviously, it is important that in this life, to learn about God and Jesus Christ in their true form. That is what the restored gospel teaches us.
She is so close and is beginning to love the Book of Mormon. Mormon 9 was very "moving" to her. She says though, that she still gets more out of the Bible than she has the Book of Mormon. The Spirit was strong when she said that and told me to say to her, "Well, that’s because you have already accepted the Bible to be the word of God. Once you know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, you will definitely feel differently towards it. She said, “That’s not fair.” “Truth hurts.” She's also mentioned, "The Bible has always answered my questions.” Then the Spirit had me bring up the topic of infant baptisms, and yeah, she changed her feelings again, haha. Anyway, she is slowly, slowly coming unto the light.
But yeah, Sister Nielson had me share some of this at zone conference. Another cool thing happened at zone conference. Elder H. got up and shared his testimony! He has one now!!! It was about the importance of living prophets (the thing that we shared with Joyce when we were on exchanges together). He is such a soft-hearted and sincere elder. It was great to hear his testimony. He is now a very strong tool in the hands of the Lord now. His companion, Elder Larson, is a good man.
We've had some investigators pop up out of nowhere. A Li kid, and a Huang kid. Both of them are awesome and the Li kid has my exact same birthday! He is so cool. We're going to add both of these guys to the baptismal pool. And, also a Li family that we have been working with, the ones with the VERY cute mei mei's, the dad has been reading and praying.....
I bore my testimony in zone conference. I have learned so much from the Su family. My studies for her about our church "not focusing enough on Christ," has brought me so much closer to Christ, the true nature of God, and the power of the Book of Mormon. It’s been such a blessing working with them. They have been my mission....
I love my mission so, so, so much. There are so many INTERESTING things: spiritually, culturally, and “missionarally.” :) I love it. I love you, Elder Daniels
I have learned a lot from teaching the Su family, a whole lot. At zone conference yesterday, I had a chance to realize that, as Sister Nielson had asked me share my experiences with Joyce with the other missionaries. When we were talking about teaching families, one elder had asked, "What do you do when you are working with a devout Christian family?" I was able to share a lot of the things that I have learned since I have been on my mission.
I've realized that my entire mission thus far has been devoted to the Su family, coming unto Christ and God. I've learned a lot about the "true nature of God.” As we've been sharing with Joyce lately, it’s been this part of the message that has changed her the most. We've recently shared Matthew 7 with her, and I liked focusing on verse 21. She has been taught in her church that everyone who believes in Christ will be saved. "We are all in him," but verse 21 teaches us that we must give all of the glory to the Father, that crying Lord, Lord is not good enough. Joyce has said, “You focus too much on the Heavenly father.” Wow, it didn't feel good when she said that. Wasn't that the point of Christ’s ministry on the earth? It is a straight and narrow path to eternal life. Heavenly Father has given us tools from the beginning of the earth to protect his truths, the scriptures, prophets, and the Holy Ghost. Christ will establish his word in the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses. Obviously, it is important that in this life, to learn about God and Jesus Christ in their true form. That is what the restored gospel teaches us.
She is so close and is beginning to love the Book of Mormon. Mormon 9 was very "moving" to her. She says though, that she still gets more out of the Bible than she has the Book of Mormon. The Spirit was strong when she said that and told me to say to her, "Well, that’s because you have already accepted the Bible to be the word of God. Once you know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, you will definitely feel differently towards it. She said, “That’s not fair.” “Truth hurts.” She's also mentioned, "The Bible has always answered my questions.” Then the Spirit had me bring up the topic of infant baptisms, and yeah, she changed her feelings again, haha. Anyway, she is slowly, slowly coming unto the light.
But yeah, Sister Nielson had me share some of this at zone conference. Another cool thing happened at zone conference. Elder H. got up and shared his testimony! He has one now!!! It was about the importance of living prophets (the thing that we shared with Joyce when we were on exchanges together). He is such a soft-hearted and sincere elder. It was great to hear his testimony. He is now a very strong tool in the hands of the Lord now. His companion, Elder Larson, is a good man.
We've had some investigators pop up out of nowhere. A Li kid, and a Huang kid. Both of them are awesome and the Li kid has my exact same birthday! He is so cool. We're going to add both of these guys to the baptismal pool. And, also a Li family that we have been working with, the ones with the VERY cute mei mei's, the dad has been reading and praying.....
I bore my testimony in zone conference. I have learned so much from the Su family. My studies for her about our church "not focusing enough on Christ," has brought me so much closer to Christ, the true nature of God, and the power of the Book of Mormon. It’s been such a blessing working with them. They have been my mission....
I love my mission so, so, so much. There are so many INTERESTING things: spiritually, culturally, and “missionarally.” :) I love it. I love you, Elder Daniels
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