Transfers and 100%

7/18/16

Transfer Week! Wednesday morning Elder Jensen got on the train for Taipei and then flew out for the States on Friday, so now I am with my new companion Elder Stevenson!! The whole group coming down to Hualien and Taidong missed their train Wednesday afternoon, so we had 12 Elders arrive at our apartment at 1:30 in the morning Thursday. After feeling a little bit like Bilbo Baggins while feeding them french toast and getting them out the door, I got to go out and go to work with my new companion. You may or may not recognize the name Stevenson, but yes, he is the nephew of the new member of the Twelve. He is super awesome and I am really excited for another transfer in Hualien with a great companion.

     Today in studies I was reading in Alma 53 about the 2000 Stripling Warriors, but more specifically verse 9. Our mission told us to study this chapter with pride in mind, so I kind of took this verse apart and found some really interesting things. Footnote 9a takes you to Joshua, where we read of a similar experience where the someone takes of the 'accursed thing' and they lose a big battle because of it. I think it is also interesting to note that in Joshua they only send a part of their army up to battle. So I take word 'iniquity' in verse 9 to be both disobedience to the Lord's commandments, and an incomplete integrity of heart. Looking up dissension and intrigue in the dictionary, I found these definitions: dissension-difference of opinion, intrigue-secret plans or machinations. 

     Isn't that interesting? It maybe wasn't the actions of the Nephites that caused them to lose at all, but rather the condition of their heart. Maybe they were obedient in their actions but not their hearts. Maybe they did what they were supposed to but had their own ideas that were 'better'. Maybe they were all publicly supportive of their leaders but behind their backs talked them down. All of these things are sure signs of pride, and their pride put them in the "most dangerous circumstances". I will definitely work on being more genuine and supportive of those I work with. I love you all and I hope you have a great week next week!!

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Family: 

transfers happened! This next week is only a five week transfer, so I could be training next transfer. Almost 60 missionaries are coming into the mission in the next few transfers, so most missionaries will be training. This transfer I was also assigned to be a district leader which will be really fun. The funny part is that I am only district leader over the zone leaders and the sister training leaders, so my companion is the only one without a leadership position. Kinda funny, he is super awesome though. He really likes to have fun, and he describes himself as the band nerd in high school. Bad news though, he just found out today that his grandmother died of a stroke. Really sad and very sudden. He took it hard. As for Elder Jensen though, he taught me so much. He especially taught me about the importance of personal revelation, having the Spirit with you 100% of the time, and performing simple acts of service. I've tried to pick up a lot of his habits like ironing my companion and the zone leaders shirts, making my bed in the morning, asking people what their favorite part of the day is, and a few other things like that. Granted, he stole a lot of our people's contact information which has made things hard, but I learned a lot. So I have another question: lately I have been feeling pretty stressed. The problem is that if I don't do so well during a week (like last week) with key indicators, I get stressed. Then I get stressed about having to follow-up with mission leaders about it. Then I get stressed about being stressed because you aren't supposed to be stressed about those things. It just feels like this big cycle. I'm constantly stressed about being this awesome missionary, doing everything right, following up with all my investigators, being a good district leader, the new Fenglin branch and English Class, and being a good companion as well. Like, I just get pretty stressed sometimes and it seems like when I try to relax either myself or someone else corrects me for being lazy and not an efficient missionary. Do you know of any way to just relax and just sort of enjoy the journey without having a 'anything goes' and 'I don't really care' attitude?

super cool waterfall

 an amazing place we went to call Shi Ti Ping (sounds like 'sleeping')

recent convert named Arvin

 all the beds prepared for the elders arriving at 1:30 AM

huge spider we found

a candle ceremony Elder Stevenson and I stopped quickly and watched on the way home. At the ceremony, they lit candles inside of these little plastic lotus cups and then placed them in the river. They only made it about 20 yds before being extinguished, but it was super fun to watch

I think you can guess what happened in this picture set

Letter 57 (7/10/16)

TYPHOON & TEMPLE

 Typhoon Repartak has come and gone, but not much really happened. Correct me if I'm wrong (I have no way to double check), but the typhoon was originally predicted to bend north of Taiwan and eventually curved straight into Hualien. Right before land, however, it curved even further south and slammed into Taidong on the lower part of the island. Result: Taidong getting flipped upside down and Hualien getting nothing. Throughout the day in Hualien, it would rain very heavy for 30 minutes and then just stop for another 30 minutes. No wind though. Compare that with Taidong, where cars were flipped over and one of the Elders apartment's roof caved in. Even so, weather forecasts put a 70%  chance of the typhoon curving back up the island and hitting Hualien, so we were in our apartments all day long. We made a ton of phone calls, designed a fortress out of 8 mattresses, and went and watched the rivers flood their banks like crazy.

     Saturday we were able to go to the temple with our recent convert Xu Yang Kai. Usually Hualien Elders can't get permission to do so, but for some reason (probably Elder Jensen going home this week), President let us go. After we got permission to take our recent convert there, I realized I could call my recent convert named Joe from XinFeng (who hadn't gone yet) to see if he could come as well. I called him on Wednesday, and to my surprise they were already set up to go to the temple on the exact same day at the exact same time. Not only that, but they were bringing my other recent convert Emma, a less active that Elder Humphries and I reactivated, and two members that I had gotten to know pretty well. It was so amazing and such a big miracle. How grateful I am that we have temples in our lives and that in Utah they are so convenient. I love you all, have a great week!!

waterfalls formed after the heavy rain from the typhoon

Gecko with Repartak in the background. Originally he was hanging out by a strip of tape that was put over the window to avoid shattering during typhoons, so I scared him a little away from it so I could get the photo. Pretty funny. Geckos are everywhere lately.

typhoon fort! 

an awesome Buddhist temple

Okay, so the Gecko photo and the cloud photo with the temple in the foreground are rad. Seriously. Great pics. (This is Dad.) 

 a ladder into the clouds

me driving to church on the laps of the other three Elders (I know)

Taipei temple

Time and Typhoons

7/3/16

I have heard rumors from members about a typhoon hitting Taiwan in the next 3 or 4 days! I'm super excited! Still not 100% guaranteed it will hit us, but I certainly hope it will. Typhoon=3 days of nice cool weather before it hits, service opportunities, crazy mission stories, and a week or so without 小黑蚊('little black mosquito')!!! More info on the little black mosquitos: they are actually a type of larva that, like mosquitoes, suck blood and inject a chemical that makes you itch like crazy. The difference between 小黑蚊 and regular mosquitoes is that 小黑蚊 are about the size of small moles on your arm and their itch lasts a lot longer. They are horrible because you don't notice them until after they have burrowed into your skin and left their deadly itch inside of you. Anyways, it turns out that typhoons kill off the little buggers for a few weeks and leaves the world a whole lot happier.

     

Yesterday was a pretty big bummer. No investigators at church. 張安夫 Zhang An Fu (the old guy) didn't show up, 陳佳宜 Chen Jia Yi (awesome investigator) hasn't answered the phone in a while, 張寶心 Zhang Bao Xin (other awesome investigator) set a baptismal date this last week (yes!!) but wasn't able to come to church. We had a lot of awesome service opportunities this week like helping a member walk her electric wheelchair back to her house because it was out of battery and cleaning up two bags of recycling that fell off a truck on a main road.

     

During studies the last week I was feeling a little guilty about asking members to be at our lessons so often. As I thought about it, something hit me--the more time we spend involved in the Gospel, the deeper our conversion becomes. Take serving a mission for an example. We spend 100% of our time doing the work. It takes all our thoughts, all our heart, and all our energy. Missions are an incredible investment of time in the gospel, but the results are equally if not more incredible. I'm convinced that the more we make Christ the center of our lives like the clay on the potter's wheel from last year's general conference, the deeper our conversion will be. I love all of you, and wish you a happy Fourth of July!

Great photos! (You're getting better.) Typhoon is Nepartak. Just a tropical storm now. Should be strong (Cat 3) by the time it approaches Taiwan, though most warning tracks have it bending north and just glancing Taiwan. Hopefully enough to kill the LBBs (Little Black B_stards) and cool things down. In Japan, the cool air usually followed Typhoons, which kind of sucked all the humidity out of the air. --Dad

Across the street to the right is a low ridge with the beach on the other side. Pretty cool

I went to Taroko Gorge last week. Absolutely stunning. Very much a must-see of Taiwan. Look up some pictures on google and you will know what I am talking about. 

curtain falls! Freezing water pours through these cracks in the walls. It was super fun to run through

banana spider

ant nest in a tree

sweet lizard on a bamboo fence

More incredible scenery

I didn't get on the top of the tunnel don't worry

this is the house of Zhang An Fu, cement floors and all. Smells bad with not good lighting. At least there is that really cool mural on the wall of his neighbors house.

So many amazing things to take pictures of. Here is a hiking trail. All hiking trails in Taiwan consist of stairs that just go straight up the mountain. No need for switchbacks.

Some members and I

a view from MeiLunShan 美崙山 across Hualien and over the ocean

a picture after some service Elder Jensen and I did (pushing the electric wheelchair for almost two hours while street contacting on the way). The little kid is Christian's age, and he reminded me of Christian so much!! So stinking cute

Time and Typhoons

7/3/16

I have heard rumors from members about a typhoon hitting Taiwan in the next 3 or 4 days! I'm super excited! Still not 100% guaranteed it will hit us, but I certainly hope it will. Typhoon=3 days of nice cool weather before it hits, service opportunities, crazy mission stories, and a week or so without 小黑蚊('little black mosquito')!!! More info on the little black mosquitos: they are actually a type of larva that, like mosquitoes, suck blood and inject a chemical that makes you itch like crazy. The difference between 小黑蚊 and regular mosquitoes is that 小黑蚊 are about the size of small moles on your arm and their itch lasts a lot longer. They are horrible because you don't notice them until after they have burrowed into your skin and left their deadly itch inside of you. Anyways, it turns out that typhoons kill off the little buggers for a few weeks and leaves the world a whole lot happier.

     

Yesterday was a pretty big bummer. No investigators at church. 張安夫 Zhang An Fu (the old guy) didn't show up, 陳佳宜 Chen Jia Yi (awesome investigator) hasn't answered the phone in a while, 張寶心 Zhang Bao Xin (other awesome investigator) set a baptismal date this last week (yes!!) but wasn't able to come to church. We had a lot of awesome service opportunities this week like helping a member walk her electric wheelchair back to her house because it was out of battery and cleaning up two bags of recycling that fell off a truck on a main road.

     

During studies the last week I was feeling a little guilty about asking members to be at our lessons so often. As I thought about it, something hit me--the more time we spend involved in the Gospel, the deeper our conversion becomes. Take serving a mission for an example. We spend 100% of our time doing the work. It takes all our thoughts, all our heart, and all our energy. Missions are an incredible investment of time in the gospel, but the results are equally if not more incredible. I'm convinced that the more we make Christ the center of our lives like the clay on the potter's wheel from last year's general conference, the deeper our conversion will be. I love all of you, and wish you a happy Fourth of July!

Great photos! (You're getting better.) Typhoon is Nepartak. Just a tropical storm now. Should be strong (Cat 3) by the time it approaches Taiwan, though most warning tracks have it bending north and just glancing Taiwan. Hopefully enough to kill the LBBs (Little Black B_stards) and cool things down. In Japan, the cool air usually followed Typhoons, which kind of sucked all the humidity out of the air. --Dad

Lightening and Zone Conference

6/26/16

(Advice for a Teipei bound elder): Pretty small shoulder bag, anything big isn't very convenient. Also something waterproof to put it in if you can find something. Most times during the summer we just put everything in our shoulder bag that could get ruined and just go out. It is too hot to wear any sort of rain gear during the summer so we just soak in the rain. Keeping that in mind, everything waterproof is helpful. Two pairs of shoes is good so that you can let one pair dry out for a day while you get the other pair wet. Switch everyday to avoid bad stuff. Bring a sweater or two even though it will seem crazy when he first gets here. Prepare to sweat. Have good eating habits. Dont bring envelopes. Metal things rust easily. Be very careful of mold. Pretty much it!

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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!

Iain Letter 4

Dear  Wonderful Friend Elder Hawkes,

I have been remiss these past weeks in emailing you. "Life" and my "age" tending and caring for three little kids 24/7 has been quite a challenge- especially when their bi polar mother, our daughter, has been "crashing" again. Well, you don't need excuses because your contacts and investigators give you a steady stream of those!!!! Bottom line: Heavenly Father knows the beginning from the end. Mortality is a walk of faith and trust. I have to keep reminding myself of this. We simply have to do our best CONSTANTLY and CONTINUALLY and let the Lord do the worrying. It is HIs Church ! I shed some tears hearing about the challenges facing some of your converts and investigators, The destroying angels have been released and Satan in all powerful. But we can be happy and have a strong conviction- even knowledge- that these are all signs of the last days and have been prophesised. WE KNOW what the end will be.  We have a Maori saying in the Church in New Zealand. We quote it all the time:  Kia Kaha.  It means BE STRONG, in the Gospel and in life -doing those things we know to be true and good.

Hugs and love from our family .In our family prayers the girls pray for you all the time.

Iain