Liginalihuobo! That is Taiwanese for, “Hello how is your day?” Haha, Taiwanese is crazy. I'm glad I'm not required to learn that language, Mandarin is hard enough. It gets harder and easier every single day, but don't worry about it, it’s hard to explain.
I LOVE TAIWAN. I LOVE THE TAIWANESE PEOPLE AND I LOVE MY NEW CALLING TO BE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT...HAHAHA!!
Just kidding! I would rather dig trenches for a living than spend so many precious mission hours in an office! My prayer was answered! I didn't move! I'm still serving in the San Xia/Tucheng and some of Shulin area. I love it here and I'm so happy because Elder Nathan Victor Read from Cedar City, Utah is still going to be my companion. He is quite different from Elder Daniels and Elder Daniels has been learning ALOT about patience this transfer. Elder Daniels desires to learn some of the wonderful attributes that his companion carries about him in his countenance. Elder Read is SO AWESOME, and I'm starting to realize why Heavenly Father has given me this wonderful opportunity to work with him. And it is to see miracles. The biggest miracles come after the trial of your faith and for a lot of missionaries, the trial of your faith lies in your Christlike attributes. If you are submissive and willing to meekly search after them, Heavenly Father will allow you to see miracles in accordance with the faith that we show Him. I'm learning a lot and it’s become exciting rather then painful to see the places I need to improve thanks, to ”Preach My Gospel.”
We've got a lot in store for this next transfer, only to add on to the miracles that we have already seen. Heavenly Father allowed us to see Ryan BATIZED last week! It was amazing. I cannot begin to describe the feelings I had at that baptism. Ryan is a rather shy person but when he bore his simple testimony, it was so power thanks to the Spirit that was there. Oh man, it was kind of rough at the start because the member that was supposed to baptize Ryan, called us 15 minutes before the meeting and said he couldn't come. We had to ride home, grab some white clothes and get back before the meeting started. It went well, and the best part was that 4 of our other investigators came to his service. Now they all want to set baptismal dates! Heavenly Father has been blessing us so much.
Well, time is a little bit short for today. I love this work. I've been learning a lot recently. Ryan is such a miracle. He will be my best friend/ pen pal for the rest of my life. And I know there are more to come…families with little mei meis and dei deis.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
A Baptism and a Lesson on Virtue
Hello! Well, the end of transfer 7 is coming to an end with training calls will coming out tomorrow night and moving calls the next. It will be very interesting to see what fate brings within the next couple of days. It’s uncertain whether or not I will stay because this will be my 4th one in the same area. At the same time, Elder Reed has only been in this area for three weeks and still isn't quite familiar with all of the investigators and things like that. Who knows what will happen, the important thing isn't judged by who is in the area, but what goes on in the area which is most important.
This week we have a baptism!!!!!!! CHEN XU REN (RYAN) passed his baptismal interview. We found out after a couple of really wonderfully spiritually led lessons that he still had a whole bunch of concerns that needed resolving.We meet with him 4 times a week and call him every night. It’s amazing how much time he has, especially for a Taiwanese. In the process, he has gone from an almost dropped investigator to a ready to be baptized investigator! Yesterday we met with him and the 1st counselor in the bishopric attended the lesson. The presence of the spirit was magnificent as our investigator listened to us teach the basic principles of the gospel, according to the 5th lesson. We were supported with great Chinese and wonderful knowledge and teaching skills as Brother Liang, from the bishopric, supported our testimonies of priesthood, missionary work, eternal marriage, temples and family history, service, and enduring to the end. It also lead to a great reference of "Christian Courage" as we referred to Abinadi's suffering (overcoming persecution). The lesson we had previously shared was about Peter walking on the water, concerning faith. Ryan was scared for a couple different reasons, but after casually resolving all of his concerns, the spirit allowed us to invite him to keep his eyes on Christ and take that step of faith. Anyway, he is set for baptism, Saturday night at 7:00! (Mountain time would make it Sat. the 17th at 4:00 AM.)
What a miracle...sigh.*
As for the other people in the pool, "they" are called Sister Yan.. We had an AWESOME couple lessons with her. We have had two way awesome members attending the lessons, too. They help us speak Taiwanese with her because her Mandarin isn't very good. She is a taxi driver with a busy schedule, so we invited a member who is also a taxi driver with a busy school, who was willing to come to church to help us teach “The Sabbath” to her and it went so amazing. They hit it right off and the member did an awesome job of bearing testimony to her. She will come to church now. She is what we call a “slow progresser.” She is old, and she doesn't understand much but she likes it all and wants her family to come.
Speaking of not understanding, I'm starting to realize again that the Taiwanese people are completely oblivious to the need of a Restoration of a fullness of times. They just don't understand the philosophies of truth and the role that it plays in mortal existence. They say, "I believe in Buddha. You need to find those like you who believe in your God. I don't have time.” The one that gets me the most is this when they say, “Do good things, and it’s all good.” Happiness, peace, hurray! (SLAM)!!!!
Ha, ha, this is the typical Taiwanese philosophy. They need to be taught so simply, LIKE A CHILD, otherwise you will never find success as a missionary and they won’t comprehend a thing you are saying.
We have a new investigator who is as sharp as they come. He loves church. We tried to set a baptismal date with him, and after what we thought was a simple and easy lesson to understand, it was refuted with the question, “Why? I don't understand.” We had a member with us, too, to interpret if there were any miscommunication problems, and he still just didn't have any idea in the world why we need a Prophet. (We had just spent 2 lessons and a Sunday telling him why.) He just didn't get it. He didn't get our question when we asked if he had the desire through prayer to know if Joseph Smith’s experiences were true or not. He was so confused. It was almost frustrating, after what we thought was a clear and simple lesson, and to still to have this kind of problem. It ended up humbling Elder Daniels, a lot...again.
*Some people don't progress as fast as we want, so that’s when the Lord teaches us patience and humility.
Anyway, things are going really good around here and we have been blessed so much. I hope that this time I can give all the glory to the Lord so he can continue to allow me to see some awesome miracles happen here in the mission.
I learned the step on HOW to give the glory to the Lord and to do it His way. It’s by obtaining the Spirit, and the way that is best to obtain the Spirit with you, to help you do the Lord’s work, is through virtue. It’s by garnishing your thoughts unceasingly, so that through every hour of the day, you are worthy of seeing the blessings that Heavenly Father wants you to see.
I know I've been taught this a million times in my life, but not until now do I truly understand the importance of this principle. According to not only our actions, but also our thoughts can Heavenly Father unlock the deepest desires of our heart, which should be a desire to accomplish His work. (Finding the elect people). I know that as I keep applying this principle, Heavenly Father will pour families upon my head as a blessing! I challenge everyone at home to go and read the virtue section of Christlike attributes and be honest with yourself as you apply it to your life. Tell me if you do or do not have room to progress. Actually, you can do this with every attribute. Virtue is actually one I have never really thought I needed to focus on, until the half way point on my mission! And, I feel right now that through virtue, we receive the okay to develop any other attributes. Also as long as we are truly virtuous, we can put the work in the Lord’s hands and not rely on ourselves. THAT is HOW to give the glory to the Lord! Don't let any of the attributes become forgotten, you will find that the attributes you put to the side and you feel you are successful with end up being the place you need to do the most work!
Well family, I'm sure it’s been a long and boring email, hahaha but THESE ARE MY ACCOUNTS! I know I haven't gone through the painful process of engraving them onto plates, but these are things by which I rejoice and that of which I labor diligently to write...
Dong yu jun zhang lao ELDER DANIELS
This week we have a baptism!!!!!!! CHEN XU REN (RYAN) passed his baptismal interview. We found out after a couple of really wonderfully spiritually led lessons that he still had a whole bunch of concerns that needed resolving.We meet with him 4 times a week and call him every night. It’s amazing how much time he has, especially for a Taiwanese. In the process, he has gone from an almost dropped investigator to a ready to be baptized investigator! Yesterday we met with him and the 1st counselor in the bishopric attended the lesson. The presence of the spirit was magnificent as our investigator listened to us teach the basic principles of the gospel, according to the 5th lesson. We were supported with great Chinese and wonderful knowledge and teaching skills as Brother Liang, from the bishopric, supported our testimonies of priesthood, missionary work, eternal marriage, temples and family history, service, and enduring to the end. It also lead to a great reference of "Christian Courage" as we referred to Abinadi's suffering (overcoming persecution). The lesson we had previously shared was about Peter walking on the water, concerning faith. Ryan was scared for a couple different reasons, but after casually resolving all of his concerns, the spirit allowed us to invite him to keep his eyes on Christ and take that step of faith. Anyway, he is set for baptism, Saturday night at 7:00! (Mountain time would make it Sat. the 17th at 4:00 AM.)
What a miracle...sigh.*
As for the other people in the pool, "they" are called Sister Yan.. We had an AWESOME couple lessons with her. We have had two way awesome members attending the lessons, too. They help us speak Taiwanese with her because her Mandarin isn't very good. She is a taxi driver with a busy schedule, so we invited a member who is also a taxi driver with a busy school, who was willing to come to church to help us teach “The Sabbath” to her and it went so amazing. They hit it right off and the member did an awesome job of bearing testimony to her. She will come to church now. She is what we call a “slow progresser.” She is old, and she doesn't understand much but she likes it all and wants her family to come.
Speaking of not understanding, I'm starting to realize again that the Taiwanese people are completely oblivious to the need of a Restoration of a fullness of times. They just don't understand the philosophies of truth and the role that it plays in mortal existence. They say, "I believe in Buddha. You need to find those like you who believe in your God. I don't have time.” The one that gets me the most is this when they say, “Do good things, and it’s all good.” Happiness, peace, hurray! (SLAM)!!!!
Ha, ha, this is the typical Taiwanese philosophy. They need to be taught so simply, LIKE A CHILD, otherwise you will never find success as a missionary and they won’t comprehend a thing you are saying.
We have a new investigator who is as sharp as they come. He loves church. We tried to set a baptismal date with him, and after what we thought was a simple and easy lesson to understand, it was refuted with the question, “Why? I don't understand.” We had a member with us, too, to interpret if there were any miscommunication problems, and he still just didn't have any idea in the world why we need a Prophet. (We had just spent 2 lessons and a Sunday telling him why.) He just didn't get it. He didn't get our question when we asked if he had the desire through prayer to know if Joseph Smith’s experiences were true or not. He was so confused. It was almost frustrating, after what we thought was a clear and simple lesson, and to still to have this kind of problem. It ended up humbling Elder Daniels, a lot...again.
*Some people don't progress as fast as we want, so that’s when the Lord teaches us patience and humility.
Anyway, things are going really good around here and we have been blessed so much. I hope that this time I can give all the glory to the Lord so he can continue to allow me to see some awesome miracles happen here in the mission.
I learned the step on HOW to give the glory to the Lord and to do it His way. It’s by obtaining the Spirit, and the way that is best to obtain the Spirit with you, to help you do the Lord’s work, is through virtue. It’s by garnishing your thoughts unceasingly, so that through every hour of the day, you are worthy of seeing the blessings that Heavenly Father wants you to see.
I know I've been taught this a million times in my life, but not until now do I truly understand the importance of this principle. According to not only our actions, but also our thoughts can Heavenly Father unlock the deepest desires of our heart, which should be a desire to accomplish His work. (Finding the elect people). I know that as I keep applying this principle, Heavenly Father will pour families upon my head as a blessing! I challenge everyone at home to go and read the virtue section of Christlike attributes and be honest with yourself as you apply it to your life. Tell me if you do or do not have room to progress. Actually, you can do this with every attribute. Virtue is actually one I have never really thought I needed to focus on, until the half way point on my mission! And, I feel right now that through virtue, we receive the okay to develop any other attributes. Also as long as we are truly virtuous, we can put the work in the Lord’s hands and not rely on ourselves. THAT is HOW to give the glory to the Lord! Don't let any of the attributes become forgotten, you will find that the attributes you put to the side and you feel you are successful with end up being the place you need to do the most work!
Well family, I'm sure it’s been a long and boring email, hahaha but THESE ARE MY ACCOUNTS! I know I haven't gone through the painful process of engraving them onto plates, but these are things by which I rejoice and that of which I labor diligently to write...
Dong yu jun zhang lao ELDER DANIELS
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
One year into the mission!
The new year is really big over here, especially around the end of January. We are already having members call us to set up meal appointments to feed us, 3 weeks in advance! It will be interesting because they eat some pretty crazy foods at that time.
Let’s get to the chase…this week was great!! Elder Reid and I are getting along great. He has been on the island approximately 3 months less then me, he is from Cedar City, Utah, he is the oldest of 5 kids, he is taller then me, has more hair, has an "outstanding English vernacular," and he loves missionary work. As for his reasons for being a vegetarian, I wish I had an explanation for you, but it’s quite confusing. Oh well, all I know is that when lunch time or dinner time rolls around, we try some special things, hahaha.
Elder Reid is already helping me change quite a lot. I've learned to be more sophisticated and careful, especially in my eating habits, haha, kind of. Anyway, he's gotten me to eat his daily morning breakfast which consists of 7 different grains, red beans, and real soy milk. I'm not gonna lie, after I added peanut butter to it, it was pretty dang good, haha. The most interesting thing of all is that the other day, he talked me into having us buying a bonsai tree for our apartment. We did it and luckily, we were able to talk the man selling the trees down to half price, which made buying the “hormone free” bonsai tree more bearable.
Elder Reid is awesome and I'm learning a lot from him. He was home schooled, his gospel knowledge is huge. He's also spent 4 months in China teaching English to little kids, so he fits right in with me teaching the Primary class. He didn't study much Chinese before his mission though.
Yesterday was one of the best days of the past week. There were news reporters at our free car wash again, and they interviewed several of us, in English and Chinese. Surprisingly, the interview was harder for me in English than it was in Chinese. I don't know why, the interviewer was from America with perfect English, but I have a problem. If somebody looks Chinese and starts talking to me, it doesn't matter how good they speak, it’s hard for me. My English comes out all funny and I got weird looks from the news reporter, hahaha, dangit. Sometimes it gets confusing and hard to explain things, because English and Chinese grammar are completely different, like enemy languages, so as one gets good the other gets worse. Usually when you learn a new language, it helps your mother tongue, not when you speak English and you are learning Chinese, apparently.
Yesterday we met with Ryan. Last week we realized he still has quite a few big concerns that need resolving: doubt, fear, and some big questions from the second lesson. We shared with him yesterday and focused on Christ, and it was the BEST LESSON I have ever taught in my life! It went so smooth. MY TIME IS SHORT! He is so ready for baptism now and he has testimony.
Let’s get to the chase…this week was great!! Elder Reid and I are getting along great. He has been on the island approximately 3 months less then me, he is from Cedar City, Utah, he is the oldest of 5 kids, he is taller then me, has more hair, has an "outstanding English vernacular," and he loves missionary work. As for his reasons for being a vegetarian, I wish I had an explanation for you, but it’s quite confusing. Oh well, all I know is that when lunch time or dinner time rolls around, we try some special things, hahaha.
Elder Reid is already helping me change quite a lot. I've learned to be more sophisticated and careful, especially in my eating habits, haha, kind of. Anyway, he's gotten me to eat his daily morning breakfast which consists of 7 different grains, red beans, and real soy milk. I'm not gonna lie, after I added peanut butter to it, it was pretty dang good, haha. The most interesting thing of all is that the other day, he talked me into having us buying a bonsai tree for our apartment. We did it and luckily, we were able to talk the man selling the trees down to half price, which made buying the “hormone free” bonsai tree more bearable.
Elder Reid is awesome and I'm learning a lot from him. He was home schooled, his gospel knowledge is huge. He's also spent 4 months in China teaching English to little kids, so he fits right in with me teaching the Primary class. He didn't study much Chinese before his mission though.
Yesterday was one of the best days of the past week. There were news reporters at our free car wash again, and they interviewed several of us, in English and Chinese. Surprisingly, the interview was harder for me in English than it was in Chinese. I don't know why, the interviewer was from America with perfect English, but I have a problem. If somebody looks Chinese and starts talking to me, it doesn't matter how good they speak, it’s hard for me. My English comes out all funny and I got weird looks from the news reporter, hahaha, dangit. Sometimes it gets confusing and hard to explain things, because English and Chinese grammar are completely different, like enemy languages, so as one gets good the other gets worse. Usually when you learn a new language, it helps your mother tongue, not when you speak English and you are learning Chinese, apparently.
Yesterday we met with Ryan. Last week we realized he still has quite a few big concerns that need resolving: doubt, fear, and some big questions from the second lesson. We shared with him yesterday and focused on Christ, and it was the BEST LESSON I have ever taught in my life! It went so smooth. MY TIME IS SHORT! He is so ready for baptism now and he has testimony.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
A surprise transfer
Hey family, wow!
It sure was great to talk to you! By the sound of your voices, it seems like not much has changed back home. Babies are still cute, Marianne is still clever, Melanie is still bossing, David is still silly, Joel is still Joel, Dad is still shoveling snow and finding good deals, Mom is still sweet and loving. It was good to talk to everyone!
Changes, changes, 3 week exchanges. The night of your phone call a special thing happened. It was 10:00 p.m., the time when we can't call investigators anymore, when my phone went off and the letters “A and P” were on the back of the cell phone screen. I answered the phone with concern and heard Elder Rice's bright and shiny voice say the words, “Elder Daniels, how are you?” Me, “Good.” Elder Rice,“Excellent. Your new companion is Elder READ!!!!!" Me, “Whoa, hahaha, really?” Elder Rice, “Yes. Can I talk to your companion?”
So, today I am sitting here with Elder Read and my son Elder Gong is in the land of Beitou. Oh boy, that was out of the blue. I guess sometimes they do random companion transfers. Anyway, Elder Read is the man, the same elder read that I have gone on exchanges with twice before. The same Elder Read with all the bicycle problems, the same Elder Read that doesn't eat meat, the same Elder Read that enjoys the simple things in life, the same Elder Read whose English makes Elder Daniels cry in his sleep, the same Elder Read that has been in Elder Daniels district for the past 3 months. Hahaha. Elder Read is the man.
I miss Elder Gong a lot, however. He was such a Lehi (outstanding) junior companion and I loved working together with him. Before he left, we traveled to San Xia to attend a singles family night where we taught the lesson and had two investigators attend. The spirit was so powerful, with 25 people in that little house. That was an awesome group. The closing prayer was offered in Taiwanese, which was amazing because I've never heard a prayer in Taiwanese before. It was a pretty moving experience because the lady that offered the Taiwanese prayer was 80 years old.
Elder Read and I got off to a quick start as he moved over to the San Xia apartment from the Tu Cheng apartment. He hasn't even finished unpacking his things because there has been no time. Yesterday we had a very long lesson with Ryan and miracles were in the midst. We started off teaching from the Bible, John 15 and 14, focusing in depth on the commandments, the Holy Ghost, and the role of prophets. We taught it through the parable of the vine and it was a very powerful lesson, it was awesome. During the lesson, we, through the Spirit, were able to help Ryan find his testimony of the Church, Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon. He believes that they are all from God. We asked him why he believed, and he said, "logic.” Then we focused on knowing the truth of these things through the Spirit (which is best). At the end of the lesson, after we had taken him out to eat dinner with us, we helped him realize and acknowledge his testimony of the Church comes through the Holy Ghost. It’s hard to recognize sometimes, before confirmation. He was excited when we said we could see that he believed and he is set to pass a baptismal interview now. He is so great and asked us so many questions yesterday and the Spirit answered every last one of them. It was such a special feeling being with him yesterday. I will never forget that feeling. I know I've “met” Ryan before I came to Taiwan.
We just need to help him get better support from his parents who don't oppose, but they also don't support. It’s in the Lord’s hands. He's going bowling with our district today, so that should be fun!
Well, it’s time to go. I love you all so much! Happy New Year!!! PS: we also had a golden investigator come to church and we'll be meeting with him tomorrow! Hooray! One step closer to that family!
It sure was great to talk to you! By the sound of your voices, it seems like not much has changed back home. Babies are still cute, Marianne is still clever, Melanie is still bossing, David is still silly, Joel is still Joel, Dad is still shoveling snow and finding good deals, Mom is still sweet and loving. It was good to talk to everyone!
Changes, changes, 3 week exchanges. The night of your phone call a special thing happened. It was 10:00 p.m., the time when we can't call investigators anymore, when my phone went off and the letters “A and P” were on the back of the cell phone screen. I answered the phone with concern and heard Elder Rice's bright and shiny voice say the words, “Elder Daniels, how are you?” Me, “Good.” Elder Rice,“Excellent. Your new companion is Elder READ!!!!!" Me, “Whoa, hahaha, really?” Elder Rice, “Yes. Can I talk to your companion?”
So, today I am sitting here with Elder Read and my son Elder Gong is in the land of Beitou. Oh boy, that was out of the blue. I guess sometimes they do random companion transfers. Anyway, Elder Read is the man, the same elder read that I have gone on exchanges with twice before. The same Elder Read with all the bicycle problems, the same Elder Read that doesn't eat meat, the same Elder Read that enjoys the simple things in life, the same Elder Read whose English makes Elder Daniels cry in his sleep, the same Elder Read that has been in Elder Daniels district for the past 3 months. Hahaha. Elder Read is the man.
I miss Elder Gong a lot, however. He was such a Lehi (outstanding) junior companion and I loved working together with him. Before he left, we traveled to San Xia to attend a singles family night where we taught the lesson and had two investigators attend. The spirit was so powerful, with 25 people in that little house. That was an awesome group. The closing prayer was offered in Taiwanese, which was amazing because I've never heard a prayer in Taiwanese before. It was a pretty moving experience because the lady that offered the Taiwanese prayer was 80 years old.
Elder Read and I got off to a quick start as he moved over to the San Xia apartment from the Tu Cheng apartment. He hasn't even finished unpacking his things because there has been no time. Yesterday we had a very long lesson with Ryan and miracles were in the midst. We started off teaching from the Bible, John 15 and 14, focusing in depth on the commandments, the Holy Ghost, and the role of prophets. We taught it through the parable of the vine and it was a very powerful lesson, it was awesome. During the lesson, we, through the Spirit, were able to help Ryan find his testimony of the Church, Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon. He believes that they are all from God. We asked him why he believed, and he said, "logic.” Then we focused on knowing the truth of these things through the Spirit (which is best). At the end of the lesson, after we had taken him out to eat dinner with us, we helped him realize and acknowledge his testimony of the Church comes through the Holy Ghost. It’s hard to recognize sometimes, before confirmation. He was excited when we said we could see that he believed and he is set to pass a baptismal interview now. He is so great and asked us so many questions yesterday and the Spirit answered every last one of them. It was such a special feeling being with him yesterday. I will never forget that feeling. I know I've “met” Ryan before I came to Taiwan.
We just need to help him get better support from his parents who don't oppose, but they also don't support. It’s in the Lord’s hands. He's going bowling with our district today, so that should be fun!
Well, it’s time to go. I love you all so much! Happy New Year!!! PS: we also had a golden investigator come to church and we'll be meeting with him tomorrow! Hooray! One step closer to that family!
Friday, December 19, 2008
The language of faith
My birthday was good. It seems like forever ago now. Heavenly Father allowed a lot of wonderful things to happen. It started of in the morning. I actually had woken up and forgotten it was my birthday, but my companion helped me remember by giving me a peanut butter castle on a toasted piece of bread. The peanut butter is glorious in Taiwan. Afterward my companion, being lead by the spirit, figured out what was wrong with the water system. We switched gas tanks and I was able to shower with warm water on my birthday!!! Hooray!!! The weather has been cold lately and we live in a tile house. The Su family came over and gave us a lot of stuff and to see them was my favorite part of the day. Then we went over to the church were the district had surprised me with a cake and a new Book of Mormon. What a wonderful gift! That night, my companion hid a new bike lock under my pillow that I didn't notice until the middle of the night! We had to saw off my other bike lock because we lost my keys in my companion’s pocket. It was a great birthday. By the way, the day before my birthday, we went out with the Lin family for our preparation day activity. They are the miracle family that Elder Barton had baptized when I first got on the island. They took us to a beautiful dining place to eat on the side of a huge river. It was so awesome and the food was amazing, plus I got to play with Jia Li, the world’s cutest mei mei. Good stuff.
We met with a lot of people last week and we worked really hard. We reached our goal of 20 lessons! Heavenly Father blessed us so much. In the past, twenty lessons a week has been a goal rather hard to achieve but we applied "the language of faith" and Heavenly Father answered our prayer.
Here is an example of the language of faith: Take out the “maybe's” and the “would it be alright?” and simply use commands. Such as, “Hello, I am Elder Daniels. Would it be alright if we come in and share a message with you?” Or, this, “Hello, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and we want to teach you how to achieve your ultimate potential and obtain eternal life. Where do we take off our shoes?”
It works a lot better, as long as you remember we are here to invite and never force, then you are alright. However, when you have the language of faith burning in your mind, Heavenly Father allows you to command them to come unto Him and then they will do it willingly, humbly and most important, meekly. Have faith that the message you are bringing is what they need to hear. It is the path to eternal life. It is God’s eternal plan, not just a church that makes you happy.
This past zone conference was amazing, again. It was all about humility and meekness, the exact thing that Heavenly Father has been teaching me the past couple transfers. It doesn't matter how good a person is, if they aren't meek or teachable, they cannot enter into the kingdom of God. You must accept God's teachings in order to find that ultimate potential that each and every one of us has inside of us. You can't be prideful, you can’t pick your own path, we follow Jesus Christ’s perfect example of submissiveness, and then we don't miss a single blessing. We receive all of the knowledge. Alma 12:9-10 is awesome! I got to share it at zone conference.
We shared all of this with Ryan. Our lessons go so smoothly with him. We prepare spiritually before hand and then Heavenly Father allows us to be Preach My Gospel teachers when we meet with him. He is so dang close. He almost believes, he just wants to see the affect immediately. We’re working on his faith. He will be a good missionary. We need to help him with his parent’s opposition of the church as well.
It’s in the Lord’s hands.
We've also met two other young singles looking for answers, named Tony and Wendy. And then two more, named Sandy and Jake. They are awesome. We shared a first with them finally, and they loved it. They had a warm feeling. They are both very smart and the message gives them that warm feeling, they said.
We're always looking for the families and we've been blessed with a lot of singles. However, one family we've been blessed to work with is the Zhuang family. The dad is a member but insanely inactive. He never had a testimony of the Book of Mormon and he never had an understanding. His family is the hardest family to teach of all time and it’s kind of awkward, because they don't say ANYTHING. They don't look you in the eyes ever, but Heavenly Father sent them to us. We were bold with them last night and said, "Hello, I'm paying money to teach you a message of happiness that you aren't willing to listen to! Listen to what I am saying. Listen to my experience and it will bless your life." Then we boldly taught them the gospel of Jesus Christ and it went well. The dad felt pressure, which I think is good actually, because all we did was invite. He wants his kids to come to church.
Something amazing happened on Sunday when we showed up to the church at 7:30. A member was standing with a broken key, the other half being in the gate lock. He had called the bishop who supposedly was coming with a lock cutter, but he never came. People started showing up but we couldn't call a locksmith, it was too early. A priesthood man said, “Let’s use our priesthood power brethren. God will provide a path. He blessed the lock and nothing happened. Nobody was strong enough to break it, but after five minutes, the ma’s faith and prayer was answered. An idea was thrown out to "lift where you stand" and the huge gate was removed off of it’s hinges. Church could proceed. It was a miracle. Nobody knew that such a huge gate could be simply lifted off its hinges like that. The prayer was answered. What an awesome experience
I have learned so much recently. Elder Gong has gone from son to brother, he is the man, and I love working with him. The things I've learned with him will have a huge influence on my entire life. We will call you on our Christmas morning at about 7:00 am which will be Christmas Eve for you folks. I love you so much. (10:00 pm for us…can’t wait!)
We met with a lot of people last week and we worked really hard. We reached our goal of 20 lessons! Heavenly Father blessed us so much. In the past, twenty lessons a week has been a goal rather hard to achieve but we applied "the language of faith" and Heavenly Father answered our prayer.
Here is an example of the language of faith: Take out the “maybe's” and the “would it be alright?” and simply use commands. Such as, “Hello, I am Elder Daniels. Would it be alright if we come in and share a message with you?” Or, this, “Hello, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and we want to teach you how to achieve your ultimate potential and obtain eternal life. Where do we take off our shoes?”
It works a lot better, as long as you remember we are here to invite and never force, then you are alright. However, when you have the language of faith burning in your mind, Heavenly Father allows you to command them to come unto Him and then they will do it willingly, humbly and most important, meekly. Have faith that the message you are bringing is what they need to hear. It is the path to eternal life. It is God’s eternal plan, not just a church that makes you happy.
This past zone conference was amazing, again. It was all about humility and meekness, the exact thing that Heavenly Father has been teaching me the past couple transfers. It doesn't matter how good a person is, if they aren't meek or teachable, they cannot enter into the kingdom of God. You must accept God's teachings in order to find that ultimate potential that each and every one of us has inside of us. You can't be prideful, you can’t pick your own path, we follow Jesus Christ’s perfect example of submissiveness, and then we don't miss a single blessing. We receive all of the knowledge. Alma 12:9-10 is awesome! I got to share it at zone conference.
We shared all of this with Ryan. Our lessons go so smoothly with him. We prepare spiritually before hand and then Heavenly Father allows us to be Preach My Gospel teachers when we meet with him. He is so dang close. He almost believes, he just wants to see the affect immediately. We’re working on his faith. He will be a good missionary. We need to help him with his parent’s opposition of the church as well.
It’s in the Lord’s hands.
We've also met two other young singles looking for answers, named Tony and Wendy. And then two more, named Sandy and Jake. They are awesome. We shared a first with them finally, and they loved it. They had a warm feeling. They are both very smart and the message gives them that warm feeling, they said.
We're always looking for the families and we've been blessed with a lot of singles. However, one family we've been blessed to work with is the Zhuang family. The dad is a member but insanely inactive. He never had a testimony of the Book of Mormon and he never had an understanding. His family is the hardest family to teach of all time and it’s kind of awkward, because they don't say ANYTHING. They don't look you in the eyes ever, but Heavenly Father sent them to us. We were bold with them last night and said, "Hello, I'm paying money to teach you a message of happiness that you aren't willing to listen to! Listen to what I am saying. Listen to my experience and it will bless your life." Then we boldly taught them the gospel of Jesus Christ and it went well. The dad felt pressure, which I think is good actually, because all we did was invite. He wants his kids to come to church.
Something amazing happened on Sunday when we showed up to the church at 7:30. A member was standing with a broken key, the other half being in the gate lock. He had called the bishop who supposedly was coming with a lock cutter, but he never came. People started showing up but we couldn't call a locksmith, it was too early. A priesthood man said, “Let’s use our priesthood power brethren. God will provide a path. He blessed the lock and nothing happened. Nobody was strong enough to break it, but after five minutes, the ma’s faith and prayer was answered. An idea was thrown out to "lift where you stand" and the huge gate was removed off of it’s hinges. Church could proceed. It was a miracle. Nobody knew that such a huge gate could be simply lifted off its hinges like that. The prayer was answered. What an awesome experience
I have learned so much recently. Elder Gong has gone from son to brother, he is the man, and I love working with him. The things I've learned with him will have a huge influence on my entire life. We will call you on our Christmas morning at about 7:00 am which will be Christmas Eve for you folks. I love you so much. (10:00 pm for us…can’t wait!)
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Six investigators came to church! Miracles!
HO HO HO MERRRRRRYYYY CHRISTMAAAAAAAS!!!!!!!!
Wow, there is so, so, so, so, so much that happened and I think most of it happened this weekend. I'll talk about Sunday. Sunday was awesome, we got up and had missionaries and members meeting at 7:30 with the mission leader, then we had church at 9:00. Heavenly Father blessed us to see 6 investigators come to church!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woooohooooo, week 6 miracle! These are the people who came to church: #1 RYAN, a stud and almost ready for baptism. #2 is an inactive who brought a nonmember family member. #3, a mom we met on the street who brought her 5 and 8 year-old mei meis, THEY WERE SO CUTE. #4, a mom we met on the street who came by herself and we gave her to the sisters. #5, a mom from English class who brought two di di's, who are really cute, too. They are really chubby and hilarious. I'll have to send you the video of them singing the ABC’s. It’s SO funny!!! I love chubby kids! #6, the Huang mom that brought a didi and came to church last week, was also added to the baptismal pool this week. It was a miracle. We are giving her to the sisters, because she is a young mom. She is so happy to have found this gospel. She already has a testimony, and she needs it. She has one kid, and the kid has a dad who has a girlfriend that isn't the kid’s mom. It’s sad, anyway. This happens a lot to Elder Daniels. Heavenly Father allows him to find awesome families who need the gospel, and then gives them up to the sisters to teach for convenience, hahaha. Oh well, it’s in the Lord’s hands, as long as they get baptized. It’s such a blessing to have run into them. So Heavenly Father blessed us to see a lot of people come to church.
After church we had a lesson @ 2:00 with a 17 year-old kid who was so nice. He had extremely good manners, to the point of shyness, but the lesson with him went really well. We had a member with us, too, to help us bear testimony. It went so well and during the lesson we found out his problem. Elder Gong asked him, "If you could ask a prophet anything, what would it be?” A wonderful question, hahaha, that’s my son. Anyway, we found out why he had that mannerful shyness feeling, his best friend died 2 days ago.
We answered his question, and the spirit was so powerful. We invited for baptism, he wants it, but he needs to talk to his parents. He so badly wants to know if the things we shared with him are true. (miracle)
Then Sunday night, 3 investigators went with us to "temple square" for a big Christmas missionary fireside. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!! The place was packed and the spirit was so strong. Each said that they were all moved, especially Ryan, our baptismal goal kid. He had been fasting for his answer to his prayers, and I think he really felt the power last night. There were musical numbers and amazing talks. My favorite musical number was a quartet singing, "Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains,” my favorite Christmas song. It was AMESOME and sounds so good in Chinese. Ryan made friends with our two other investigators his age, it was wonderful. Everything was in the Lord’s hands.
Now, last but not least before I have to go. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!! I'm trying to focus on being extra thankful for everything this Christmas, because the general authorities told me too! Hahahah, so here is one thing that I am ultra thankful for, besides my family, yadda, yadda, yadda. ELDER GONG AND I ARE STAYING TOGETHER FOR 3!!!! This never happens. I'm never met a missionary who has been with one companion for three transfers except the current AP's. The AP's just called us and said that we were competing for the mission record, at the time being, besides the AP's, Elder Gong and I have been together the longest in the mission. Right now the AP's are winning. They will be together for their third in a row now, but they were also MTC companions, so that makes 5 transfers, WOAH! So Elder Gong and I still have some shoes to fill. But I feel like after what will be 4 1/2 months with another human being, staying within 15 feet of each other 24/7. Elder Gong is the man and I'm so happy to be with him again, even though his Chinese is already getting better than mine. He is ready to wear the big shoes now, going from diapers to pull-ups! We are so excited to keep working together, that this is a very special experience, and we are prepared to see a lot of miracles this transfer. Heavenly Father left us together for a reason, and we're getting’ us some families!
The Church is true....I love you. Merry Christmas....Elder Daniels
Wow, there is so, so, so, so, so much that happened and I think most of it happened this weekend. I'll talk about Sunday. Sunday was awesome, we got up and had missionaries and members meeting at 7:30 with the mission leader, then we had church at 9:00. Heavenly Father blessed us to see 6 investigators come to church!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woooohooooo, week 6 miracle! These are the people who came to church: #1 RYAN, a stud and almost ready for baptism. #2 is an inactive who brought a nonmember family member. #3, a mom we met on the street who brought her 5 and 8 year-old mei meis, THEY WERE SO CUTE. #4, a mom we met on the street who came by herself and we gave her to the sisters. #5, a mom from English class who brought two di di's, who are really cute, too. They are really chubby and hilarious. I'll have to send you the video of them singing the ABC’s. It’s SO funny!!! I love chubby kids! #6, the Huang mom that brought a didi and came to church last week, was also added to the baptismal pool this week. It was a miracle. We are giving her to the sisters, because she is a young mom. She is so happy to have found this gospel. She already has a testimony, and she needs it. She has one kid, and the kid has a dad who has a girlfriend that isn't the kid’s mom. It’s sad, anyway. This happens a lot to Elder Daniels. Heavenly Father allows him to find awesome families who need the gospel, and then gives them up to the sisters to teach for convenience, hahaha. Oh well, it’s in the Lord’s hands, as long as they get baptized. It’s such a blessing to have run into them. So Heavenly Father blessed us to see a lot of people come to church.
After church we had a lesson @ 2:00 with a 17 year-old kid who was so nice. He had extremely good manners, to the point of shyness, but the lesson with him went really well. We had a member with us, too, to help us bear testimony. It went so well and during the lesson we found out his problem. Elder Gong asked him, "If you could ask a prophet anything, what would it be?” A wonderful question, hahaha, that’s my son. Anyway, we found out why he had that mannerful shyness feeling, his best friend died 2 days ago.
We answered his question, and the spirit was so powerful. We invited for baptism, he wants it, but he needs to talk to his parents. He so badly wants to know if the things we shared with him are true. (miracle)
Then Sunday night, 3 investigators went with us to "temple square" for a big Christmas missionary fireside. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!! The place was packed and the spirit was so strong. Each said that they were all moved, especially Ryan, our baptismal goal kid. He had been fasting for his answer to his prayers, and I think he really felt the power last night. There were musical numbers and amazing talks. My favorite musical number was a quartet singing, "Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains,” my favorite Christmas song. It was AMESOME and sounds so good in Chinese. Ryan made friends with our two other investigators his age, it was wonderful. Everything was in the Lord’s hands.
Now, last but not least before I have to go. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!! I'm trying to focus on being extra thankful for everything this Christmas, because the general authorities told me too! Hahahah, so here is one thing that I am ultra thankful for, besides my family, yadda, yadda, yadda. ELDER GONG AND I ARE STAYING TOGETHER FOR 3!!!! This never happens. I'm never met a missionary who has been with one companion for three transfers except the current AP's. The AP's just called us and said that we were competing for the mission record, at the time being, besides the AP's, Elder Gong and I have been together the longest in the mission. Right now the AP's are winning. They will be together for their third in a row now, but they were also MTC companions, so that makes 5 transfers, WOAH! So Elder Gong and I still have some shoes to fill. But I feel like after what will be 4 1/2 months with another human being, staying within 15 feet of each other 24/7. Elder Gong is the man and I'm so happy to be with him again, even though his Chinese is already getting better than mine. He is ready to wear the big shoes now, going from diapers to pull-ups! We are so excited to keep working together, that this is a very special experience, and we are prepared to see a lot of miracles this transfer. Heavenly Father left us together for a reason, and we're getting’ us some families!
The Church is true....I love you. Merry Christmas....Elder Daniels
Friday, December 5, 2008
Missionaries Ride Bikes
Oh man, I think there is wrong with my watch. It says December 3 on it and if that’s were true, then that means in 7 days I will hit the ripe old age of 20, which is practically death. Not only does that mean that half my mission is over, but it also means the 1st quarter of my mortal life has also reached its end. Whoa. Time is a special thing
Speaking of mortal life almost reaching its end, it almost happened to me and Elder Gong yesterday. Last night at about 8:43 pm, we were riding the long road that ties the cities of San Xia and Tu Cheng together. We were discussing the blindness and hardness of hearts of the people we had just met, due to their Buddhist traditions, which by the way, they don't know why they believe in Buddha! They just know that their ancestors thousands of years ago knew why, ha, ha. Anyway, in this homeward journey my young, young son Elder Gong decided it was okay to ride extra close to me on a freeway road. Low and behold, while keeping a safe “Bible” distance from each other, my companion feels the presence of a cement truck ripping past us at high speeds. The Bible distance between us quickly diminished as our blue handle bars became pretzel-linked together, causing our bodies to fly forward onto the gravel friendly Taiwanese pavement! Elder Daniels had fallen. The 8 month reign of not falling off his bike had been broken with the helping hand of his dear son, Elder Gong, ha, ha. It was AWESOME!!!! Neither of us was scratched at all. In fact, “the two warriors pulled themselves from the motionless battleground into a standing position where they thrust their voices forward with their mighty battle cry of laughter,” then they took pictures! It was awesome! We flew so far and it could have been terrible but Heavenly Father helped me miss the parked dump truck by a couple feet. What a miracle, ha ha. Elder Gong was okay too, though he felt so bad at first, but quick laughter was able to lighten his manner of sorrow. It felt so good to fall down. I haven't fallen down in a long, long time. :)
Time is short today because we're going hiking in Wulai to see some huge waterfalls!!!! Hooray, but here is some things that happened this week. We decorated the church for Christmas. I became bag happy and bought a couple bags when I saw the extremely cheap price of 2 dollars American. I’m distributing them out to district members. Dad, you might appreciate that.
We met with Ryan twice and had two spiritual lessons to resolve his concerns. He had wondered why God allows evil and suffering to occur. We used questions of the soul in Preach my Gospel to answer. He wants an answer, he will get it. After a very powerful district meeting taught by the zone leaders, we went out and talked to 7 people, all of them accepting our invites and 6 of them willing to set up with us to hear the gospel. It was awesome. Gotta go, LOVE you.
Speaking of mortal life almost reaching its end, it almost happened to me and Elder Gong yesterday. Last night at about 8:43 pm, we were riding the long road that ties the cities of San Xia and Tu Cheng together. We were discussing the blindness and hardness of hearts of the people we had just met, due to their Buddhist traditions, which by the way, they don't know why they believe in Buddha! They just know that their ancestors thousands of years ago knew why, ha, ha. Anyway, in this homeward journey my young, young son Elder Gong decided it was okay to ride extra close to me on a freeway road. Low and behold, while keeping a safe “Bible” distance from each other, my companion feels the presence of a cement truck ripping past us at high speeds. The Bible distance between us quickly diminished as our blue handle bars became pretzel-linked together, causing our bodies to fly forward onto the gravel friendly Taiwanese pavement! Elder Daniels had fallen. The 8 month reign of not falling off his bike had been broken with the helping hand of his dear son, Elder Gong, ha, ha. It was AWESOME!!!! Neither of us was scratched at all. In fact, “the two warriors pulled themselves from the motionless battleground into a standing position where they thrust their voices forward with their mighty battle cry of laughter,” then they took pictures! It was awesome! We flew so far and it could have been terrible but Heavenly Father helped me miss the parked dump truck by a couple feet. What a miracle, ha ha. Elder Gong was okay too, though he felt so bad at first, but quick laughter was able to lighten his manner of sorrow. It felt so good to fall down. I haven't fallen down in a long, long time. :)
Time is short today because we're going hiking in Wulai to see some huge waterfalls!!!! Hooray, but here is some things that happened this week. We decorated the church for Christmas. I became bag happy and bought a couple bags when I saw the extremely cheap price of 2 dollars American. I’m distributing them out to district members. Dad, you might appreciate that.
We met with Ryan twice and had two spiritual lessons to resolve his concerns. He had wondered why God allows evil and suffering to occur. We used questions of the soul in Preach my Gospel to answer. He wants an answer, he will get it. After a very powerful district meeting taught by the zone leaders, we went out and talked to 7 people, all of them accepting our invites and 6 of them willing to set up with us to hear the gospel. It was awesome. Gotta go, LOVE you.
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