Elder Hot

2/26/17

    I've forgotten if I have mentioned this before or not, but because it has come up again several times this past week I'll mention it again. For whatever reason, Taiwanese people can't pronounce my last name. The ones with an English background can usually get it after a few tries, but most just struggle. Elder Hax? Hot? (Yep, yep, that one!) Harks? Hawkeese? Ohhhh, Hawkes! I honestly feel bad for them, my name is one of the easier ones among missionaries: Elder Reintjes, Elder Jorgenson, Sister Hickenlooper....

    Investigators:

-  王俊賢 Brother Wang: getting baptized next Saturday!! He is super awesome. Before he met missionaries he always felt so much stress, didn't sleep well, and had bad friends. Since then we have invited him to exercise more, fix his sleep schedule, keep the word of wisdom and the other commandments. He tells us how he feels the gospel has really shaped his life up and set him on a good path. Reads the Book of Mormon daily. Does online business from home selling kitchen knives (the expensive kind). Teaches knife sharpening on the side.

-  樊書豪＆樊書偉（飯糰）Fan Twins: two brothers, 19 years old, super cool. Shu Hao is a little more shy and when he speaks it isn't anything more that a whisper. Has some sort of mental incapability, but super cool personality and comes to church more than his brother. Shu Wei loves magic and is going to an International Magic Convention next Sunday instead of church(...). Actually really good at it. We have to reschedule their date, but they are getting close to baptism!

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     This last week, I went through my old journal to look for some experiences that I could write down in my lesson plan binder to share with investigators in lessons. I honestly was pretty amazed at all the cool experiences I found that I had completely forgotten. It made me extremely grateful for my pre-mission journal writing. As I looked back, I came across an experience that has become a big part of my testimony. One night in High School, I had prayed to ask Heavenly Father if He was really there, and if He loved me. The response was a feeling that I cannot describe, but neither can I forget. He was there, He loved me. He is there, and He loves me. Reading back, however, lead me to understand that that incredible experience was in response to something I had forgotten about: repentance. That experience had come in response to an attempt to repent, or draw closer to Him.

     A few weeks ago I heard of a quote from Elder Bednar that runs something like this: "Revelation is related to proximity, the closer you are to someone the easier it is to receive revelation for them." I think that is true for our Heavenly Father too. The closer we are to Him, the more likely we are to receive revelation. In other words, waiting for a response from our Father in Heaven until we act may not always be the best solution. When we first take the step closer to God, He is just waiting there to receive us. I love you guys! Have a happy, awesome week!

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 I am now a zone leader. TuCheng is in the West of Taipei, and has quite a few people. We live right by a MRT station, so it is really convienent to get around places. It is super cool because the minute we walk out our door we can just start finding! Goals getting down to the end of my mission.... well..... it's a good question. I'm not sure I have any specific goals yet, but I have established a vision that I am constantly working towards. I have set three 'visions' I hope to say at the end of my mission: I have been born again through the Atonement of Christ, I have the image of Christ in my countenance, and I live and love life in the moment. In line with those three visions I usually set weekly goals and plans, but lately I haven't done the best at setting new goals every week. The mission has tried to change the focus of our studies to be focused on investigators and now our studies are all throughout the day and at different locations, so I am still adjusting and finding time to stay organized with all my goals and tasks and stuff. I have another MLC this week, which is where all the zone leaders and sister training leaders and the mission president and his wife and the assistants all have a meeting and discuss the needs of the mission. It is a pretty cool meeting, and I'm super excited. This will be my second. Also, sorry I am so bad at responding to the letters and emails you guys send me every week. I read them religiously and absolutely love them, but time is just short on the computer and so I just try to throw out a few funny stories, pictures, and spiritual thoughts from the week and then that is pretty much it. If you would like me to respond specifically more often, I love having just the questions in an email like this that I can just look at the questions and type the answers at the same time. It's probably the best way to get a response from me. Otherwise, I absolutely love reading your letters, so just keep sending them and know that I read them!