CALLED TO SERVE: June 2016

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Lightning and Zone Conference

6/26/16

The storms here have been getting gnarly. As we enter the middle of the rainy season and the beginning of the typhoon season in Taiwan, the storms just get more wild. The other day, we were biking through pouring rain, and about 20 yards later the road was dry. Completely dry. Because we are in between the coast and the mountains, the rain clouds just don't move ... they just come straight down. Also, lightning storms have been wild. I'm talking about strokes every 5-6 seconds. Hidden by thick sheets of rain, all you see is the whole sky light up and then a resounding boom of thunder. It might be a few weeks, but I can't wait for the first typhoon to hit.

The cicadas are going full bore as well here. The days are filled with the sound of cicadas, periodically swinging from a buzz to a roar and back again. Earthquakes are common occurrences and geckos are all over the place. Nature is incredible in Hualien.

Yesterday we found out that our recent convert named 蔡亞之 Cai Ya Zhi had an abortion and didn't tell us about it before her baptism and also sometimes feels like she is Satan. Apparently her grandmother was a witch, so she got caught up in some really weird stuff. We are trying to help her through it, though she could probably use a few prayers her way. We also found out that 張安夫 Zhang An Fu (a 70 year-old former investigator from two years ago that we started meeting with again) used to do illegal drugs, got baptized into another church about a year ago and is still involved in their church, and has lots of Jehovah's Witness pamphlets in his house. Interesting week for investigators.

We had Zone Conference this week, and we learned a lot about pride, fighting back negative thoughts, and trials. I've been studying a little more in depth about those three topics, and I found some interesting insights about trials. There are three sources of trials: those caused by our pride and disobedience, those in consequence of living an earthly life, and those incurred by the mistakes and harmful words and actions of others. The way we overcome these three trials is through repentance/obedience, trust in God, and forgiveness. I found it interesting that the faster and better we do these three things, the quicker we reach peace of mind and happiness. We most likely still have the trial, but the quicker we do those three things, the faster we can just sit back and enjoy our challenges because we know it is helping us become who God wants us to be. I hope we can all--and me especially--be a little quicker to repent, a little faster to trust in God, and a little more ready to forgive others. I love you all and I hope you have great weeks!

his place is called Shui Yuan Di,

really fun cliff-jumping that we got to watch the whole way up....

So close with the English, but no cigar

Yes, we may have found roller blades in this old persons yard and they let us take them and fix them up. Yes there is a Christmas tree with lights in our area still set up in almost July

hua lian is so beautiful

Stories: Tall and Short

6/19/16

Tall Tale of the Week: this isn't my tall tale but rather one of a guy we met on the street the other day. We were talking/walking with one of our investigators down the road when we noticed someone on the side of the street watching us. Because we are missionaries, anyone that looks at us for more than a few seconds gets contacted. We finished our conversation and went back and he just started complimenting us on what awesome people we were. It was a pretty normal conversation until Elder Jensen asked about this huge dent in the corner of the man's head. To our surprise, he told us that he was a police officer and that it was from a man that had taken a bat to his head and then shot him in the chest (at which point he lifted his shirt way up and showed us the scar). But he said it was ok because he 把他殺死了, or, "grab-him-kill-death-ed". He invited us in and then after a short while we determined the man had hit him a little to hard in the head, which was confirmed when the sister drove up and told us those were scars from surgery because of some 'head problems'.

Investigators: Kay Jia Yi is totally awesome and accepted all the commandments like cake which means she will probably be baptized in two-ish weeks. Wang Ya Hui is remembering more and more (bad car accident a year ago) each time we teach the first and second lessons but still hasn't talked to her dad about coming to church.

Short Stories: I was reading a talk last week by Elder Claudio R.M. Costa from last year's October conference entitled: "That They Do Always Remember Him." I loved it. In it, he talks about fulfilling our baptismal covenant and 'always remembering' Christ. One specific way he mentioned we could do so was by telling the stories of Jesus and remembering important events in the life of Christ. The stories of Christ truly are incredible, and during the week when I would visualize one, I got this awesome feeling and I really did feel closer to Christ. I know that as we learn more about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we have more of a desire to draw closer to Christ through repentance. As we understand the Atonement better, we feel just how possible it is for us to change. We have a hope that we can recognize more of our potential as children of God. The easier it feels, the more likely we are to do it. I hope you all can take some time this week to ponder on the stories of Jesus as well as His infinite Atonement. I love you all, have a great week!

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I asked Elder Jensen to study your question Mom, and he had a few awesome tips I'll share: 1-count your blessings and see what good it's brought you, 2-think of the consequences of not living the Gospel or having it in your life, 3-look at what you lack and work to achieve it, 4-study and serve always looking to apply new principles, 5-do missionary work/magnify your calling/think of why you are doing it, 6-talk about it more with family, friends, and through sincere prayer to Heavenly Father. Pretty good tips for finding motivation to live the Gospel more fully. I also thought about it a lot, and I mostly came up with the spiritual share that I put in the email to everyone, but also another thing. Having gospel discussions. I know I always have more motivation to learn and grow when I simply just talk about gospel doctrines with family or friends and stuff. Having gospel discussions helps us focus on the significance it has in our lives and stuff like that. Also, some homework if you get the time: "It Works Wonderfully" Uchtdorf October 2015, Bonnie L. Oscarson from this April, and True to the Faith on conversion. Good reads. Ok, sorry, I really got to go, but I hope those are pretty cool. I will send more next week.

that crazy guy I told you about in the big email ("what big email jordan?")

me holding our recent converts bird named 'Peace'. It flew away the other day....

what mornings usually look like in Hualien

I know, creepy shadow on my face, so sorry.

what happens when Elders cut hair...

toured this awesome bat cave

the beach clear down in a place called Fengbin

Church and Fenglin

6/5/16

Transfers happen pretty fast in our mission. I found out Wednesday morning that I was moving, and the next evening I was teaching a lesson clear across the island. Yep, I moved to 花蓮(Hualien)! Hualien is known for being one of the most beautiful places on the island (I definitely believe it) and for having some of the best areas. Not only that, but I have one of the best missionaries as my companion: Elder Jensen. Funny enough, he is my trainer's trainer (or my grandpa in missionary terms) and he is on his last transfer. He really is known throughout the whole mission as being on of the most loving and successful missionaries. I believe it. He asks everyone what their favorite part of the day was at night and picks up trash as we walk down the streets finding. Not only that, but I get to be in a 4-man apartment with the Zone Leaders Elder Humphries (my previous companion!) and Elder Miner. Basically I am just extremely excited for this next transfer.

Probably the best part of the week was attending the first meeting of a branch in 豐林(Fenglin)! It was so cool. We had about 14 people meet in the bishops house out in the middle of nowhere, and had a sacrament meeting and then shared our testimonies. Apparently starting this branch has been a big goal of Elder Jensen's, and it was a big step towards working to split the HuaLien stake. Though it was small, the Spirit was there. It made me think of how when Joseph Smith held the first sacrament meeting. No one in that small room could have imagined the many chapels dotting the entire world in our day. It was just a great reminder to me of how the Lord works through small and simple means to bring to pass His eternal and great purposes. Hope you all have a great week! Love you!

there is a branch in Yuli to our south with a few missionaries, and then a zone in Taidong, but yep that is pretty much it. I am definitely east coast

I have so many stinking more pictures, but I think I sent enough to get a taste of what it is like. It is so much more beautiful in person. The slopes are so dramatic and always covered in mist and fog. It is so incredible. Oh! Fun weather phenomenon for Dad, in Hualien it rains every night. The clouds build off of the ocean and then are blown inland. Then they run into the huge mountains right along the coast and continue to build and build until they just dump all their water and move over the mountains. You can literally watch the clouds build up throughout the day and get darker until it starts pouring. It doesn't matter too much though, because by the end of the day we are already soaked in sweat. It is so hot here. Our pants have these white lines all over them from guess what? Salt from sweat. crazy.

the underwater camera works!!!!

just so many things to take pictures of in Hualien!

moquito bites (I have gotten more since then), my new zone, a place called guangrong

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Devil Mosquitoes and Baptism

6/12/16

Baptism! We had our investigator named 蔡亞芝 (Cai Ya Zhi) be baptized and confirmed this last weekend! She is so awesome. She has such a sweet heart and is so humble. She changed a lot before her baptism. Before the missionaries met with her, she said she believed in Satan's church and was having gender problems. She said everything was just kind of dark and she felt confused. Now, she feels like she knows God and Jesus a lot better and she just feels happy. It is so amazing as a missionary to be able to witness the change that someone goes through when they really take the Gospel and apply it in their lives.

Other Investigators: Kay is a sort of 'hip' girl that has been super willing to meet with us missionaries. She accepted the Word of Wisdom like a piece of cake, and is totally willing to read and pray every day. Wang Jia Ting is this funny family that goes to several different churches, so they won't come to our church but love to meet with us. We are still working on that one.

Devil Mosquitoes: There is a special type of mosquito here in Hualien called a 小黑蚊 (xiao hei wen or "little-black-mosquito"). I think 'little-devil-mosquito' is a more apt description though. I hate them. My whole arms and legs are itching right now. The bites don't go away. My arms are literally covered in red dots that have a sort of constant, burning itch until you scratch it (accidentally or not) and it becomes extremely painful. All insects here are crazy, but the mosquitoes are the worst.

Studies: my studies this last week have been focused a lot on prayer. Both the Bible Dictionary and True to the Faith have awesome insights about prayer. Focusing on our relationship with Heavenly Father is key. The Bible Dictionary says that 'most so-called problems with prayer' come from forgetting the fact that we are sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father and that prayer is a communication with Him. A few other tips I found for prayer include specifically offering a kneeling prayer several times a day, making a special effort to vocalize prayer when possible, and leaving some time at the end of your prayer to hear any impressions or answers to questions from Heavenly Father. I love prayer, and I hope you all know you are in my prayers. I love you all!

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Sorry, you aren't sending the usual picture captions to everyone right? The big email and the big email only are meant for everyone else. The little captions and other stuff are all just meant for you guys. I will try to be better about sending more information and 'letting my hair down' (mom you do realize I'm almost a 20 yr old boy right? ;) I don't have much hair and the hair I do have won't go into a bun even if I tried) in another email.

You can see the ocean from our apartment, and on the other side you can see incredibly tall mountains. The mountains on the coast of Hualian are extremely dramatic. Look up some pictures of Turtle Island, the coastline, and Taroko Gorge to see a little bit of what I get to see every day down here. Absolutely beautiful. The train ride down was epic--dipping into deep mountain tunnels and then emerging along the rocky coastline covered in fog or into sharp valleys of the most lush greens. Incredible. There is also a baseball diamond behind our house.