Wei Zhang Lao

Letter # 81 - Final Letter and Testimony

2010-11-22T16:55:00.000-08:00

Well this is my last letter.

I can't really explain the feeling that are going in my head right now. I feel that at moments that nothing is wrong and that everything is just normal, and then I am suddenly reminded that my mission is just about to be over and I am going to be home in a day. Thoughts of nervousness, anxiety, and obvious excitement all at the same time is quite the emotional roller coaster.

The first thing I should talk about is the report from this week. This week went well for us. It was a weird thought thinking that it was my last week but I was constantly just trying to do my best not to think about it but while at the same time needing to face reality. This last week I had decided in my heart that I was going to endure to the end no matter what, that I was really going to try my best and treat it as if it was just another missionary week. I feel like I did well and because of that decision we were still able to be productive.

In Taiwan, the members love to feed the missionaries, especially ones that are heading home. We had lots of people feed us and take us out. One were the parents of a new member we taught and was baptized in my second area. Her parents are not members and it was a cool missionary opportunity, especially for a couple that knows absolutely nothing about the Church, or Christianity in general. With all the people wanting to take us out it could have been incredibly easy to slack off and take it easy my last week but my companion and I, like I said, made a very conscience effort not to waste time and to do what we could with the time we had left together. I believe that we were blessed greatly for it. I believe it also taught me a lot about the principle of enduring to the end with all things, not just referring to Commandments and Covenants.

The Baptisms yesterday were great. The 4 people baptized were just so prepared. Their testimonies were so powerful and I was so happy to be a part of their progression on their way home. Does everyone remember the Sisters I told you about last week? Their testimonies were amazing. I have never seen people that were so repentant and truly fulfilling the baptismal requirement of a "broken heart and contrite spirit."

One of the other women that we baptized this weekend. Her name is Sister Yang or "Carrie". That is her English name. She is in English teacher so at least half the time we were speaking to her in English. I am not sure if I have told everyone this story yet. But basically this women was contacted a year ago by a missionary and after that the missionaries had lost contact with her. Then exactly a year later the same missionary contacted her on a bus and she said she would be willing to meet with the missionaries. She lived in our area so the missionary gave me her number. It took me about a month to get her to set up with us. But we kept calling her and eventually she was able to find a time to sit down with us. I remember the first time we met with her very specifically. She told us that she didn't really care if God existed or not, and that if she believed in God he was probably a mean God who punished people for not doing what he wanted. As we kept meeting with her, her entire countenance began to change. As weeks would go on she would start to express the changed feelings in her mind towards God and the world. A week before she was baptized we had a powerful lesson with her about the Atonement and she expressed these different feelings that she was having, and especially her view towards happiness. She expressed that her happiness now did not derive from short-lived spurts of Joy, such as Candy, or being able to sneak a seat on a crowded bus. She went on to explain to us that she is starting to understand what that true happiness that we were always talking to her about really meant. In other words she was explaining how she is being converted and she didn't even know it. Her testimony at her baptism was great. She sat down after she gave her testimony and I told her that she did an awesome job with it and she looked at me and said that it was God that helped her with it. This is coming from a person who said about a month and a half ago that she did not care if God existed or not.

I truly testify from the bottom of my heart that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true, and it has the same effects on every human heart, and why does it have that effect? Because we are all the Children of a loving Heavenly Father who wants us to be like him! I know the Church is true. I love it so, so much. I especially love the leaders of the Church and their inspired teachings. I could go on all day about what my mission has done for me. But I just want to say that it has saved my life and I am in so much debt to my Heavenly Father. A lifetime of service is the only thing that I can think will suffice for the most precious blessings he has given me. I love this Gospel and it is true. My mission has been the hardest thing that I have ever done. I mean incredibly difficult. But it's much like what Mom would always tell me "You get what you pay for." I tried to pay a lot and I got so much out of it.

I can stand before the entire Family and say that I worked. I worked hard on my mission, and I tried to serve my best. I really tried. I was not perfect. But I tried to change every time I knew I needed to. So I believe that I stand accountable to my Heavenly Father for the work that I have put it in. I believe he is proud of what I have tried to do. I love my Family so much that there are not words to express. I truly love you all so much. I have that I have grown so close to my family while I have been here, especially my parents. I love you both more than you know. I truly realized the blessing that I have been given and I am truly grateful.

Moroni 10:32

Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

Thank you all so much for your support and your love. I will see you all soon

Elder Weinberger

Letter # 80

2010-11-17T10:39:00.000-08:00

Okay this week had a turn of events, and it was all for the positive.

Some great things have happened to us, and we have truly seen the powers of heaven. To anyone that might doubt that there is a God and that He does not work by miracles and by the prayer of faith, I say that I know with all my heart that He does. I have seen it on too many accounts and this one just strengthens more than ever.

Well, as I have told the family, we have been teaching these two sisters for the last 2 months and they have been so prepared to be baptized the whole time. In my last week email I believe I told everyone how we had a set a goal with these two sisters so that they could be baptized on the 20th of November. We set this goal about a month ago and we were going to pray every single day for the mother's heart to be softened. (because as of that time the answer was absolutely NO!). The Mother was not going to let them both be baptized. But about a week and a half ago, after praying for a long time, we had decided that it was time that the girls talk to their parents about allowing them be baptized. They decided that it was also time, and so they decided to be very forward and tell their Mother why they wanted to be baptized and what it meant to them.

After they had the talk with the Mom the conclusion was that the older sister was permitted to be baptized and the little sister still could not. The Parents thought that she was too young and that she did not know what she was doing. At that time we only had one week to get the parent's permission for the younger girl because she needed to get the signature from them before the 13th. Last Sunday we asked many people to help pray for these girls, including multiple missionary companionship's. The girls also fasted with us last Sunday. My companion and I were really filled with faith at this point. I felt excited because I knew that faith was truly being expressed by so many, and there was absolutely going to be a result.

On the next Monday (the day after they fasted), we called them to see if there was anything new with the situation. The older sister went on to tell me that the little sister had talked to both of her parents the night before and they both gave up on trying to stop them from being baptized and signed the permission slip. I don't know the details of those conversations that resulted into what happened. But I know that God was present helping those girls. The girls passed their interviews two days ago and are now planning on being baptized this coming Saturday on the 20th of November.

I believe with all my heart that this miracle occurred because of the faith of those girls. They set a goal and they were willing to pray for it. We also did our best to pray every single night for them to be baptized on their scheduled date. Miracles really do occur. I know they do. It is all based on faith. This miracle has set a great foundation for me personally for the future. Heavenly Father is a God of Miracles, and I am never going to forget it.

Besides those two passing their interviews, we also had another two investigators pass their interviews this last week. So we are planning on having four baptisms on the 20th. It is also my last weekend in Taiwan. I feel extremely blessed. The feeling of leaving is getting more weird as time goes on. It doesn't feel like I am leaving at all, and I am a little torn about it. I love this place with all my heart. Of course I am excited about coming home and seeing my family, but the feelings I have for this place are not going to be easy to leave. I have seen so many miracles in the last few months of my mission including much spiritual growth and love for missionary work. It is not going to be easy to leave. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is real. It is true because I can stand as a personal witness that it changes hearts. I love my Savior and his Atonement. There is so much I have to learn, and I do not have a perfect knowledge, but my testimony is strong enough to keep me on this path that will lead me back to my Heavenly Father. I know its true because I feel it everyday. For anyone who doesn't know if its true or denies it, it is because they have not "Experimented upon the word." In other words they have not FULLY tried, and they will continue not knowing until they put it to the test.

The Scripture that I want to share this week is Alma 32. The whole Chapter.
I love you all so so much.

Elder Wei

Letter # 79

2010-11-08T13:01:00.000-08:00

Sister Guo

Brother Guo

Okay Family,
Well things are really starting to feel weird. I know that my time is so short and it is with honesty making me a little sick. I think one reason is because I know that there is still so much I desire to do, and the other being the fact that I feel like I am just getting to my prime, and it hurts knowing that right as your the most focused, obedient, spiritual, and just overall prepared, the next step is the plane ride home. I remember what my trainer told me on one of my first days here. He told me that it takes about 2 years to figure out missionary work and by the time you do, it's time to go home. Ya well it's true. President Grimley told me that it is that way with every calling I will have in the Church. I guess it's just the learning process that Heavenly Father is constantly putting us all through.

Well this week was extremely trialsome. I feel like Heavenly Father is putting my companion and me in a very deep trial right now. He and I have been struggling to find new investigators for almost a month now. We still have the blessing of a few great investigators that are really progressing. But the thing that is hard is that we are spending so much time and effort outside trying to find them and it just seems that every single person we set up to meet with us, at the last second will not show up for the lesson. That is incredibly irritating. But because of this I have never been so fired up to go outside and contact everyone. This trial is starting to push me into competing with it. In a way, I guess in a that is a great thing. It could be possibly keeping me from turning into an old missionary that many Elders fall into. I believe that this will end and that great blessings are in store. That again is solely predicated on our obedience and our work. We believe we have that. Now its time to wait it out and endure.

Other than these things, there already is great blessings that we received this week. As far as right now we have 4 scheduled baptismal interviews for this Saturday, which means that the following week (My Last Weekend here) we would have 4 baptisms, which would be great and the most I have ever been able to see at one time. We are praying earnestly for those people and I sill give their names so that everyone can start praying for them too.

1. Wen Hong Lin
2. Hong Jia Yang
3. Zi Wen Lin
4. Zi Chen Lin

The bottom two are these two sisters that are amazing. One is 20 and the other 16. They have so much faith and I think they have more desire to be baptized than any other investigator I have ever worked with before. Their one problem right now is that they are getting a lot of opposition from the family for wanting to be baptized. For more than two months now their Mother had put her foot down and said absolutely NO. She told them they had to be mature and married before they were baptized. The Mother believes that the Church has brainwashed the two girls and that they had no idea what they are doing. The Mother originally gave permission saying that they were allowed to go to church. But they just could not be baptized. The girls have continued to meet with us and they have progressed so much. They have so much Faith. So about a month ago we set a goal with them saying that we wanted them to be baptized on the 20th of November and that we were going to pray every single night for this goal and we told them that if they were willing to put in the faith necessary that God would step in and soften the Mother's heart. As of right now we have seen that miracle starting to come to pass. As of two nights ago their Mom just gave permission for the older sister to be baptized. Saying that she had decided that they she was old enough to make her own decision. Right now we are just waiting on approval for the younger sister. Right now there is so many people praying for them and we really do need everyone's prayers. We believe its going to happen.

Well one of the other things that happened this week was my final Zone Conference. That was a very weird feeling especially when they have all the departing missionaries get up and bear their testimonies. That was not easy for me. The two things that I really talked about in my testimony was my love for the Gospel and my testimony in the change that comes from it, especially the Atonement. My Testimony is something that I hold on to so strongly.

I can solemnly testify that the Gospel of Jesus Christ changes hearts. That I know because I have felt it first hand. This gospel has shown me what is really important in this life and the things that just really are not. I am so thankful for my family. Every time I think of any one of them my heart swells, and it does that because I know what the purpose of families are and how sacred they truly are. I love this Church and there is nothing in this world that can bring such goodness into a persons life than this Church. That I can say because I know it. It is true!

This next week is going to be a big one for us, and we need everyone's prayers. I love you all.

The Scripture I want to share this week is one of my favorites if not my favorite and I have probably shared it many times. Moroni 7:33

And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.

Letter # 78

2010-11-08T12:43:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,
This week was filled with many blessings. I know that last week I expressed the blessings that I felt we had received with the baptism of the Zhou family and the others. But I don't think that blessing really hit me until yesterday at Sacrament meeting. We had 5 of our investigators get confirmed and receive the Holy Ghost yesterday. Sister Zhou was crying the entire time. After that they all got up and bore there testimonies. It practically took the entire meeting. But it was so powerful. Every single one of their testimonies were powerful and everyone knew by the things spoken that they were new members planning to stay and truly endure to the end.

My companion and I were talking about it yesterday, and we had decided that the people that were baptized in October, were truly a special group, and that the Lord had special things for them to do in the Ward. One thing I thought that was particularly cool was that in the confirmation of the 15 year old that we baptized, the person giving the blessing kept talking about his mission, and how he needed to prepare himself for his mission. After the blessing I talked to him and asked him if he was listening to the blessing. He said yes. I asked if he was going on a mission then? We both kind of laughed. He said that he had a while before he goes and then he went on to asking me questions about what he had to do so that he could go. Basically the whole experience at church yesterday was great.

The Ward is completely thrilled, especially the Leadership. Another great miracle that happened on top of that was the Guo family. I have talked a lot about them. The mother of the family is one of our new members. She was baptized about one month ago and her 9 year old son followed her two weeks later. But because he was getting confirmed this week and had to say a quick testimony at church, the husband of the family was willing to go. It was amazing, because the night before I had a feeling that it was something that I wanted to pray about. Then the next morning at Church we were standing in the door waiting for everyone to walk into church and there they were. The whole family walking together. Everyone was in their Sunday clothes and the Father was in his suit. We were both shocked. Just another tender answer to my prayers that the Lord allowed me to experience. Tonight we are taking the whole Guo family over to the Bishops house to have a Family home evening and dinner. We are praying that the Dad will be able to make it.

One of the other really cool things we saw this last week was when we went over to the Zhou family house. When they were baptized the ward gave them a big picture of the Washington D.C. temple. "I don't know why that one?", but it's still big and pretty. Anyway we got there and we saw the big picture of the Temple right in front of the main room on top of the mantel. It looked like a Mormon family home when we walked in. It made me laugh and made me so happy to see how fast they were progressing.

This week, our finding efforts did not go as well as we would have hoped. We had huge goals and we worked really hard but we still were not able to see as many new investigators as we would have hoped for.

Oh, here is some new for everyone. In case you were wondering? The country of Taiwan has Halloween. Probably about 1% of the population actually knows or does anything about it. This week we were asked by the Taipei city government to go to this Halloween fair that they were holding for families and be volunteers there and work at some of the booths and basically just play around with the kids. It was right in Central Taipei so President asked my companion and I to be the ones translating and maintaining everyone, making sure that everyone was doing what they were supposed to. It was fun but a little exhausting. One of the activities we had to do was tell scary stories to all the kids. Elder Clavel, Elder Acorda and I got up and tried to tell this scary story about how Halloween got started. Elder Clavel was the narrator. I was the designated "witch" or the person that did all the actions, and Elder Acorda was the sound effects. It was a disaster. There was no real story line and not enough time to prepare and the in the middle of the story we were interrupted by a homeless man who walked through our performance and said some things that kids probably shouldn't hear. It was so funny all the Missionaries were just busting up laughing at us 3 up there trying to tell this story. The week was overall good. We are excited for this next week. My time is short but I am trying to leave it all out here. I try not to think about it. But it seems to be a haunting thought in the back of my head constantly letting me know that it is almost up. I have grown to love this work so much and I am so so grateful that I am still a "full-time" part of it. I love this Gospel and all that it brings. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has the sweetness that everyone needs in this life. I love it with all my heart.

The Scripture this week is one my companion picked. 2 Nephi 9:28-29.

O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.

But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God.

Letter # 77

2010-10-18T08:33:00.000-07:00

This was a ground breaking week!

The Zhou family passed their Baptismal interviews and we are pretty ecstatic over here! This will be the first time that I have seen a full Family get baptized on my mission. What more could a missionary ask for? It is the biggest blessing from the Lord. I am so happy that I get to see them baptized and most importantly, see them PROGRESSING. They are really starting to get it and its wonderful.

The Mother of the family is a little scared. She has many friends in the Catholic Church and has been in contact with it for some time. Last week in our lesson she was being a little quiet and a little hesitant to say much about her Book of Mormon reading or anything. For some reason I felt like I should ask her a question. I looked at her and asked " Are you scared this is all true?". She then replied by saying "ya I think so". We all kind of laughed but I knew that she really was scared and was worried about joining the church. The only thing I think she is really worried about is facing all of her Catholic co-workers. But I think she is going to be fine. She has a great husband and he is just glowing right now. He is progressing so fast. He is really starting
to get it. He will help her progress. I'm sure of it. Well their baptism is scheduled for the 23th of October.

We also have another person being baptized on that day. He is a member of the Guo family (That's the Mom we baptized 2 weeks ago). He is 9 years old. He and his little brother are hilarious. Before she got baptized they used to get mad at her if she drank tea or forgot that a drink had tea in it and drank it. They'll be great missionaries. The mom will speak at the baptism. I am excited to hear her. Her testimony is already so strong.

There was a huge miracle that she saw in her life this last week that strengthened her testimony even more. Two weeks ago when we were all at General Conference a member came up to us and told us that Sister Guo needed a blessing. We went up to her and asked what was wrong. At first she didn't know what we were talking about. But the member that suggested we give her a blessing was with us and told her that her hands had an allergy and needed a blessing. At that time I guess that I had noticed that her hands had band aids on them ever since we started meeting with her, but I never took much thought to it. The Member was pretty persistent and insisted that we give her a blessing. She explained to us that her hands have this rare allergy where they break out in open wounds if she is exposed to certain types of climate. I guess her hands have needed bandaging for over a year now. We explained what a blessing was and then took her upstairs to give the blessing before the next session of conference started. Four days later we met with her and she told us that her hands were better and that she didn't have any wounds on them and that she didn't need band aids anymore.

My first reaction was "Gen de ma?". Which means "really?" with a very surprised/doubtful feeling behind it. She said "really" and then let us look at her hands. I was amazed. She then went on to thanking us. I pointed my finger up to the sky and said "Thank Him". I immediately felt a little bad and probably a little like how Thomas felt in the New Testament. I doubted, and I allowed myself to be surprised about it. I felt bad and it reminded me that I needed to repent. I feel like this was a very important lesson for me, that being "not putting any boundaries on the Lord". This is something that a missionary told me just a few days ago while we were on exchanges and it hit me really hard when he said it. So I have decided to make that the motto for the rest
of my mission. "Do not put any boundaries on the Lord".

As of right now I have decided to exercise the most faith possible and cast all the fear and doubt out of me, and I expect by doing so that there will be many miracles following. That's about it for this week. I wish there was more time because there is more I want to say. But something I thought was funny was that I think that I am starting to turn more and more into my Dad. My companion has been on this thing lately where he enjoys making fun of the little idiosyncrasies I have and imitating me, which immediately reminded me of all the family dinners where we would laugh at the things Dad does. Ahhh yes.... the thing I feared most is beginning to happen. ha ha its okay. It was going to happen eventually. I am turning into my Dad.
[Editorial from Dad - "Poor Chris!!]

The scripture this week. Mormon 9:19-21

And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.

Much love,

Elder WEI

Letter # 76

2010-10-11T16:29:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. This week was again another good week for us.

Conference was fantastic. Being a missionary and watching it is the greatest blessing. Whether it's just spiritual growth or the fact that as a missionary you are completely desperate for advice and words from the prophets, it is a very spiritual experience every single time I listen to one of their talks. I am so utterly convinced that if a person actually watches General Conference and listens to their words, they will come out of the Conference session a better being, and their hearts will be changed. This General Conference was very particularly special for me. I got more out of it then I could ever imagine. It was filled with so many spiritual moments for me. It was great. My favorite session I think was Priesthood. I really like the talk from President Ucthdorf, and then from President Monson. One of my favorite comments made was by President Monson when he was quoting "Alice and Wonderland." He talked about how Alice came to one point in her journey where she confronted the Chester Cat and two paths she could take. Alice goes on to ask the Cat which path she should take and the Cat replied by saying; "That completely depends on where you want to go." Then the Cat says "But if you don't know where you want to go, it doesn't really matter which path you should take." It was interesting how Conference seemed to focus on Agency and the importance of the choices we make.God has already told us everything we have to do to be happy in this life. The next step is our choice. Are we going to follow, or not?

Well this week for still okay as far as teaching investigators. It was so nice to see the two people baptized last week at conference yesterday. That made me so touched to see them walking into the church. What a blessing it has been for me on my mission to see the wonderful change that this Gospel has made in other peoples lives. There is no greater gift as a missionary.

The Zhou family has moved their baptismal interview to this coming Saturday. So everyone, please continue to pray for them. The mother of the family probably has the largest concern out of the both of them. She is struggling with the answer of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. She believes in God and Jesus Christ, but she comes form a very Catholic background. I think it scares her a lot of the time knowing that it all in fact could be very well be true. I think for that reason she is a little hesitant in actually reading and praying about the Book of Mormon the way her husband does.

The other investigators are actually doing incredibly well. My companion and I have truly been blessed so much this last transfer, and with the start of a new one (Today) we have lots of plans and goals for this next month and a half. We have multiple people getting prepared for baptism. One of them is interesting. He is a 15 year old kid that I met on the street. His name is Wu. The way we met him is cool. One night we were on our way to a lesson and we had to stop because my companion started to contact someone. Just then three middle school aged kids walked up just in front of me and started debating with each other who I was and what I was doing. At that time I am pretty sure they had no idea that I could understand what they were talking about because when I rode up to them and started talking to them, he and the two girls he was with started laughing and looked pretty startled. I told them that I was a missionary, and because of time I kind of just got to the point and asked if any one of them wanted to come to church? The two girls kind of shook their heads, but Wu said that he would be willing to go. He asked for the address and the next day he showed up for Church. He has been meeting with us ever since, and I asked him last week why he likes coming to meet with us. He told me "I don't know, just a feeling I guess." To me that is amazing. The Holy Ghost is working in him and he is feeling it.

Well this week the scripture that I want to share is Mosiah 3:13.

And the Lord God hath sent his holy prophets among all the children of men, to declare these things to every kindred, nation, and tongue, that thereby whosoever should believe that Christ should come, the same might receive bremission of their sins, and rejoice with exceedingly great joy, even as though he had already come among them.

I love the Prophet that we have guiding us today. He is the Prophet of God. I know it because I could never possibly doubt the feeling I get when he speaks. The Spirit confirms it every single time.

I love you all

Elder Wei

Letter # 75

2010-10-05T15:51:00.000-07:00

Wow, What a great week that was filled with so many spiritual experiences.

Sister Guo was baptized and so was Brother Lin. The baptism was one of the best that I have attended on my mission. The spirit was so strong. Another great part about it was that we had multiple investigators attending the baptism, including the Zhou family. All the investigators thought that it was a great experience, especially the Dad of the Zhou family. The most spiritual part for me personally was when, after they were baptized, they both shared their testimonies and shared with everyone their reasons for joining the Church.

It was so powerful, especially Sister Guo's testimony. She shared her testimony of how God helped her to be baptized and the miracles she saw before the baptism. I will share a couple of those miracles later in this letter. She also explained that the reason why she joined was for her family and that she wanted her two boys to grow up and be just like the missionaries. Obviously I was touched down to the core, and inspired to become even more Christ like to live up to the impression that we had given her. She also started to get a little teary when she talked about how religion had split her family before and, in other words, destroyed some relationships within the family and how she new that this was the right place for her family and the path she wanted for her children. It was a great testimony from an individual who has been completely prepared to receive the fullness of what God has to offer her.

This last weekend was overall a very uplifting and spiritual experience for me personally. In Sacrament meeting yesterday one of the members performed "Love at Home" on the piano and I just remember it hitting me so hard then that this gospel truly is the "ONLY" way to happiness, "REAL" happiness. That I can really testify of with all my heart. The Church is true. It takes any person regardless of circumstances and molds them and refines them into a person who is prepared for eternity. That is happiness! Wouldn't it make sense that Heavenly Father's way is the happiest. After all he did create happiness in itself. So the plan that he has given us, if followed, is guaranteed to work 100% of the time in spite of some temporary trials. Ah it's awesome! and there is nothing like it.

Well, so about the miracles that led up to Sister Guo's baptism. The first one is really cool. This was last Monday and we were still unsure if she was going to be able to be baptized because, like I said last week, she had not told her husband about her desire to be baptized. She told me on the phone that her original plan was just to just be baptized with her son and not let anyone know about it. When she told me that I told her that was not the right thing to do. I told her that we are not just teaching her for baptism but that it was for her and her family to be able to be together forever. She agreed and decided that she was willing to fast before she talked to her husband about it. That night I called her and she told me everything that had happened. She went on to tell me that her husband said that it was okay as long as she could still attend some of the traditional Taoist ceremonies, mainly because if she didn't the Mother-in-law would not be happy and the family situation would get even worse. The members of our church in Taiwan have been given permission by the first presidency to be able to be in some of those religious ceremonies, as long as they obviously know that the ceremonies to worship those other Gods have no relevance. She was so thrilled on the phone when she talked to me. I know that it was because of prayer and fasting that the husband said it was okay. She had told me previously that she was certain that her husband would say no.

The next miracle was the day of her baptism. She wanted her husband to attend, but in all honesty he wanted nothing to do with it. She told us that she said a prayer and asked that the whole family would be able to make it to the baptism. She went on to say that when she tried to talk to him about it again he was willing this time and said that he would go with her. When we saw the whole family at the baptism together my companion and I were ecstatic. The baptism, like I said, was great and the Dad actually said that he liked it. I am certain that the seed has been well planted in his heart and he is being prepared. Now it is only a matter of time in my opinion. He will have the spirit that his wife carries with her now around him all of the time. Elder Clavel and I will be doing our best to include him in everything we can.

Elder Clavel and I broke our record again for church attendance. We were able to have 13 investigators at Church this last week. He and I are really happy about it. If anything it gets us to want to work harder and see even more next week. So we are really looking forward to everything coming up. Please pray for our investigators. They all need everyone's prayers, especially the Zhou family right now. They are supposed to be getting their interviews this coming Saturday. Okay, the scripture I want to share this week is in Alma 41:10.

Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness.

Wo ai nimen

Wei Zhang Lao

Letter # 74

2010-09-28T11:06:00.000-07:00

Well Family, I am sorry that I didn't really have the opportunity to write last week. There really wasn't enough time and Preparation day was coming to an end.

I don't know if anyone heard but a typhoon hit Taiwan two Sundays ago. We had to stay inside and Church was canceled. It was kinda cool. I was able to get a lot of reading in but my companion was about to go a little crazy by the time it started to get dark. We are really not used to staying inside and sitting in the same place for long periods of time. I had a huge headache. Fortunately, the typhoon was only here for one day.

This last week went great for us. We have a person getting baptized this coming Saturday. His name is Bing Fu Lin. How we met him is a great story. His Father was contacted by a missionary in south Taiwan and they sent us the information to call him. When I called his Father set up a time with us to meet in a park. But when we went to go meet, his father had sent his son in his place, probably because he didn't want to be rude or something. We met with the son, taught him a first lesson, and invited him to be baptized. We gave him the date of October 2nd, and he accepted. Ever since then he has met with us and progressed. He is just a guy that is full of faith, and truly believes in God. He believes that by being baptized God is going to strengthen his testimony which is great.

The Guo mom and her son are getting baptized this week as well. They were planning on getting their interviews yesterday but they called us last minute and told us that they were not able to make it. We later found out that she has not told her husband much about her desire to be baptized because she feels like if she did that her husband might not let her and the kids go to church at all. I think I told everyone their story. But the husband is not a big fan of religion. He likes our church but just does not trust religion. I told her that she needs to talk to her husband because this is for her whole family, not just for her. I told her that we are helping her prepare for eternity not just for baptism. She agreed and said that she would talk to him tonight. So please pray for her.

The other great story of the week is one of our great Investigators. Jia Ping Chen. She is someone I think I told everyone about a few weeks ago. Maybe two weeks ago. But she is the Mother that is raising the two daughters on her own. One is 9 and the other 8. She is the most prepared investigator that I have seen in my almost two years here. She is unbelievable. She told us last week when we met with her that for a long time she has been wanting to come unto the Lord, but she hasn't really known where to start searching for him. She told us that her friends have invited her to church many times but she just never felt the big drive to go. So when we contacted into her she was more than willing to set up a time. We have met with her now 3 times and everything we teach her she just soaks in like a sponge. She believes in what we say and most importantly feels it. Why? Because it's not from us, it's all from God. She also was willing to set a baptismal date for the 30th of October.

Last week we gave her a Liahona and asked her to read it. The next morning she called me and told me that she wanted to be baptized earlier. She said that she could really relate to what it said. When I got off the phone with her I about had a heart attack. The next time we went to visit her she told us about all the things she had read and she even quoted scripture on us. My companion and I were laughing pretty hard. My testimony about prepared people has gone up so much. She is great and completely ready to accept the fullness of the gospel. Everyone please pray for her and her safety.

This last week like I said was great. I have never had the success before that I am seeing now on my mission. It truly is such a blessing. I also have never been so busy in my entire time as a missionary. I love that too. I only get one chance to do it. So I am trying hard to be as busy as I can and get the most I can done. The month of October will be great for us. My companion and I have set the goal of 8 baptisms for the month. That is the most I have ever set in my mission. But I believe that if we keep doing what were doing and rely on the arm of God to help us, it's going to get done. I love you all very much I really am so thankful for my Family.

Okay the scripture this week is one of my favorites. Moroni 7:33

And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do
whatsoever thing is expedient in me.

Letter # 73

2010-09-13T09:50:00.001-07:00

WOW! What a great week....

This was one of the most successful weeks on my entire mission. I broke my own personal record for investigators at Church. Our three main families we are teaching right now were all able to come, and a lot of the single people we are teaching came through and were able to make it. Counting kids the grand total was 17 investigators at Church. Yay my companion and I were loving life yesterday. We knew that Saturday night there were going to be a lot of people at Church so we prayed a lot for it all to go very smoothly; and it did! The Ward did a great job at fellowship and talking to everyone and made great impressions for the Church. My companion are quite happy you could say.

One of the great successes was with the Guo family. The Mother and son are still planning on being baptized the 2nd of October and the Father of the family came this week to church just to inspect and see if it was okay for his family to join. We feel that it did not just make a good impression on him but in fact sparked interest that he never had before. I am excited to follow up with Sister Guo about it and find out what her husband really feels. But I sat by him all throughout Sacrament meeting and I saw that he was quite frequently looking at the Pamphlet I gave him and listening fairly intently to the speaker. It went well overall.

The Zhou family still as great as usual. They are really starting to get into Church and learning about it. I think most of all, is that they just enjoy the atmosphere of Church. The Kids run around like its McDonalds, and that is one of the reasons they like to go. The environment is good for the kids. But hey, whatever gets them to Church. This last week my companion and I gave them a Family Proclamation to the World and asked them to read it together. They said they would, but I still haven't had the opportunity to see what they thought of it.

Well this week overall has been incredibly busy. We are constantly on the move from one place to the next and it's hard for us to be on time anywhere. But I wouldn't have it any other way. It feels good being this busy. Its less time to think about my own worries and anxieties, and that is a great thing. The most joyful thing right now in my mission for me is the fact that I know that my companion and I are working extremely hard. We are trying to do what's right; and we are seeing countless blessings for it. Even though we are so far from perfect, the Lord really looks on the heart and know that we want to do what is right and so he steps and makes up for what we can't do. It is such a wonderful blessing to see investigators progressing in the gospel. That has to be my favorite thing from my mission, to truly be able to see the change that the Gospel has on people. "This Gospel, is a Gospel of transformation."

Oh I don't know if I told everyone about Brother Gao from my previous area Shipai? I actually found this out a while ago, and maybe just forgot to tell anyone. But anyway I think most of you should still remember the Gao family right? Well he is now the Ward's gospel doctrine teacher and he hasn't even been a member for six months. Crazy right? He is progressing so fast!

Okay well the story that I want to share from this week is a cool missionary finding story. So we had just finished a lesson with the Sister Guo and we were really hurried to get some dinner so we walked quickly over to where we had parked our bikes and as we were about to take off I realized that I had a quick call that I had to make before we left. Right as I got on the phone I looked right in front of me and there was this Mom and her two daughters sitting in this little restaurant right in front of us. I then looked at my companion told him that there was that mom in front of us. He immediately went over and started talking to her. After I got off the phone I went over and we all started talking. We found out that she was raising this 9 and 7 year old girls all on her own and that basically she had interest in involving God in her Family. She obviously was dealing with a lot of trials right now.
Long story short she said that we could go visit her and we set up a time for later that week. When we got to her house to my shock they lived in a house or room that was smaller than my room in High School, and everything that they owned was jam packed into this little room. So we just barely had enough room to sit on the floor. I was so humbled when I walked into the room and the thought popped into my head like it has many times in my mission before "How could I ever have complained about anything in my life".
The lesson that we had with her was quick because we did not have much time. But we taught her about family prayer and she said that she was willing to pray every night with her girls. She also told us that she has a desire to go to Church but that every time she thinks about going into a church a guilty feeling fills her heart and she feels unworthy. My companion and I just kind of looked at each other and thought "Wow", perfect!

This is why we have the Gospel. We are meeting with her again this week and we are going to invite her to be baptized. Please pray for her and her little girls. The Mothers name is Jia Yin Chen.

Okay well that is it for this week. The Scripture is Alma 32:13-14

And now, because ye are compelled to be humble blessed are ye; for a man sometimes, if he is compelled to be humble, seeketh repentance; and now surely, whosoever repenteth shall find mercy; and he that findeth mercy
and endureth to the end the same shall be saved.

And now, as I said unto you, that because ye were compelled to be humble ye were blessed, do ye not suppose that they are more blessed who truly humble themselves because of the word?

Love

Elder Wei

Letter # 72

2010-09-07T07:54:00.000-07:00

My first week with Elder Clavel was good. Average but a little bit of stress involved. We had so many people set up to meet with us for the first time. But almost all of the lessons did not show up. Fortunately we are teaching a lot of people right now so we were still able to see the progress of the Families and other progressing investigators. Which is sweeeeeet!

The Zhou family is doing awesome we feel. They came to a Fireside last night and we think they really enjoyed it. The dad was listening really intensely to the speakers. This Fireside is great. Its our Mission President that puts it on, and its especially for new members and investigators. So the people they invite to speak are all new members. Usually the talks are so good to hear and are powerful. I love hearing why people joined the church. It always invites the spirit, every time, without fail.

Well the Guo family is good. She wants her and her son to be baptized. But she is so scared that her Mother-in-law will lose her mind if she finds out that she joined a church. Her Mother-in-law is a Buddhist Monk and I guess is very high up in the Buddhist sect that she is in. So its a serious problem that we have on our hands. Obviously we could try to just meet the family but it could cause more problems. Sister Guo's husband doesn't really care either way from what we understand. The problem is just the Mother-in-Law. This "Family Opposing" is actually a really common problem in Taiwan. I am sure that I have told everyone before. Its the hardest concern to fix as well because as missionaries there is only so much we can do. The rest is left to prayer, and faith. This family needs big prayers right now. The Mother of this Family is
amazing. She wants the best for her kids. She is hands down one of the most diligent and committed investigators that I have had. After she puts the kids down for bed every night she grabs the Book of Mormon herself and starts reading it. and she is doing it all for her Family. Ya that's awesome. Please pray for her.

So one of the best things that happened this week was news that I heard from other missionaries, and it was news that came from the last two areas I served in. Basically I found out that a person who I had contacted at a stoplight in my last area (Xin Zhu) and started meeting with my companion and I, was just baptized two weeks ago. As a missionary that is one of the best things you can possibly hear. It makes all the hard days so worth it. The joy that you feel when you know that because you tried to do what the Lord expected of you and do your best to talk to everyone a person was able to come closer to their Heavenly Father. There is nothing sweeter than that. I also know that if I wouldn't have contacted him that day the Lord would have just found another opportunity for him to meet the missionaries. But I am so grateful that I was able to be a part of it. A huge blessing from the Lord!

Also, even bigger news..... the Swedish investigator we had when I was in Shipai just got baptized this last Saturday. I was asked to speak at his baptism. It was one of the best experiences from my mission. This man's story is amazing. His name is Sam Wallberg. He came to Taiwan because his wife is Taiwanese. Its kind of a confusing story but basically he met this Taiwanese lady and moved to Taiwan and got married to her. Sam's life has been so difficult. He has been involved in two divorces and he has kids that he doesn't even talk to, or really even know. How we met him is the best.... He self contacted me. Its a funny story. One night last January my companion and I were trying to find the address of this less active member and right as I turned the corner at this stoplight a big hand slapped me right in the back. I slammed on my breaks and looked back and there was a 6 ft 8 huge white guy standing there and in his thick Swedish accent said "why Hello." I kind of just paused obviously being surprised, and then said Hi. He went on to tell me that he had a Swedish restaurant in the area and he gave me one of the menus. I told him I would go the next day for lunch. After that its a really long story but we started to become really good friends with him, and after months and about 50 plates of meatballs and mash potatoes he was willing to sit down and listen to us tell him about the Plan of Salvation. We ordered a Swedish Book of Mormon for him and by the time he started really meeting with the missionaries I was already transferred down to Xinzhu. But I remember during that whole process with him and biking by his shop and talking to him just about every single day. I remember thinking how badly he needed the gospel in his life. Well I when I got called back up to Taipei. I found out from my old companion Elder Duff that Sam had a date to be baptized. Well he was baptized last Saturday and the Baptismal service went really well.

Also another great thing is that the English ward in Taipei meets in the same building as our ward so I get to see him every Sunday. Oh ya! I forgot to tell you that the Elders that met with Sam after I left found out that his wife was actually a member of the church who was baptized 20 years ago, and now she is coming to church with Sam. It's amazing how the Lord is able to work it all out right.

Okay well the scripture this week is Alma 26:11

But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.

Love you all

Elder Wei

Letter # 71

2010-08-30T09:54:00.000-07:00

Well.... New transfer, and New companion.

Its going to be awesome. My new companion's name is Elder Clavel. He is from Chino, California. He is half Chilean and half Mexican, and his Spanish is just about as good as his English. So I am going to be doing some brushing up on my rusted non existent Spanish. I took two years in high school and remember 3 words. One of them is "bathroom".

I know I am a total embarrassment of the Public School system in Utah. But its okay, and I will repent of that ....eventually. If I decide to take Spanish in college I promise to work hard. Also I have the "Mandarin excuse". Because learning Chinese pretty much destroys anything that I learned before. It occupies your mind and then deep fries anything that has to do with another language. (English included).

Anyway he is a great missionary and really young. He is the youngest Zone Leader in the mission which means that he has possibilities of doing great things in the mission. He was one of the District leaders in our Zone Last transfer so I have already been on exchanges with him once before. He is cool, and we will get along just dandy. I really think that I have been blessed on my mission with my companions. I have always had fun companions. Well... for the most part. I think there is only one that was a little hard to get along with. But the rest have always been my good friends. I am so thankful for that.

Well it was weird for Elder Moreno to leave. he gets on a plane tomorrow, and that was a weird reality for me to face, knowing that my time is not far either. I didn't really get a chance to say goodbye to him or anything. He had to run into his final interview with president, and we had to get home. But I had a great last transfer. One of the best on my mission. I think the relationship I had with Elder Moreno was one of the best that I have had with a companion. We never even really had one disagreement, and we pretty much saw eye to eye on the way to do missionary work. This last transfer was also one of the most successful I have had. Like I said in my last emails. We have been contacting pretty much every Family we see, and it has really paid off.

Yesterday we had two families at church and it went great they all loved it. We were able to meet with one of the families last night for Elder Moreno's last lesson on his mission. We watched the Restoration movie with them and invited them to be baptized and they accepted. This Family is set to be baptized on the 9th of October. It is the Zhou family. I don't know if I have said anything about them in earlier blogs but this family is great. They are one of our best investigators right now. I actually contacted the Mom originally right outside of their apartment. She set up with us originally mostly because she is just nice and she had been involved with the Catholic Church before so she knew a little bit about Jesus Christ. The Husband of the family was the one that has really surprised us with his interest. He really is curious about our church and after last night he expressed his desire to know if it really is true or not. There are so many blessing in our area right now. I am pretty excited about next transfer and what is going to happen but I imagine for me personally it will be the busiest transfer of my whole mission, which is exhausting yet so satisfying. So everyone please pray for the Zhou family and especially for their prayers to receive answers.

As far as the news last week. It was really HOT obviously. But no big rain. Well there was actually rain but it wasn't the rain that got us. We happened to be doing our Weekly Planning Session in our apartment the one time it rained last week. Ha ha, tender mercies of the Lord. Also because it was elder Moreno's last week we had lots of members taking us to dinner and lunch. That was sweet.

This last week was really stressful for us as well. We were pretty stacked with things we had to be doing. I was pretty tired all week. A lot of it is attributed to bad sleep. I don't know what it was about this last week but there was a couple nights where I kept waking myself up because I was contacting or teaching a lesson in my sleep.Elder Moreno kept saying that I constantly would sit up and start acting like I was teaching someone in the middle of the night and wake him up. I thought it was hilarious.

Well the scripture this week is in honor of my companion. Its Alma 26:12.

Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

Love you all so so so much.

Elder Wei

Letter # 70

2010-08-25T09:37:00.001-07:00

WOW! I am in week six in my 13th transfer, and my companion is going home next Tuesday. Things are starting to get a little weird here. But Elder Moreno and I were able to avoid a lot of the conversations about home. a.k.a...(Trunky Discussions). When I first got to this area Elder Moreno told me that because it was his last transfer he had a goal to try to not talk about the.....When I.... Before I..... get home conversations. He really wanted to stay focused and he and I both feel that we have done a good job with it. Usually we don't like talking about it, mainly because it freaks us both out.

Now when people in the mission ask the question "Hey Elder! What transfer is this for you?" or my favorite "How much longer do you have?" This sudden cringe come over me reminding me that my time is short, and I HATE answering back. I think mostly because there is so much more I desire to do here. I feel like there are so many precious things that I am learning now that I would literally kill to have that knowledge and the attitude that comes with that knowledge as a younger missionary. It makes me sad and it hurts. But the truth of the matter, is that I think it is this way for almost every missionary. We all deal with the same things, and all we can do is just endure to the end and do your best. I am going to love and hate coming home at the same time.

Well the last week I thought was good. Basically this whole transfer has just been good. Our focus has been completely on Families this transfer. I don't think we even really meant to do that either. It was just kind of the way things worked out. I think mostly because Elder Moreno and I contact every single Mother we saw. But we are teaching so many families and its great.

One family in Particular is doing well. That is the Kuo family consisting of a Mother and her two kids. We have had great follow ups with her on the phone this last week. She told us that her kids had all these questions about the Book of Mormon and she didn't know how to answer, so she asked me if she could borrow some movies to watch to help her better understand so she could teach the kids. I was ecstatic when I heard that. She is an Investigator that is actually trying to do her best in keeping commitments; and because she is trying and "experimenting upon the word", she is starting to feel the difference in her life.

That's the trick really for everyone. Just do it, and you will see why. I think back at the best investigators that I had in my mission, and they got it because all they did was just simply DO what we invited them to do. It's impossible for a person who lives the gospel and obeys the commandments to NOT taste the fruit from it. I am so happy for this Mother.

* * PLEASE PRAY FOR HER EVERYONE!
Also there is another person that I hope everyone can pray for. It is a another Mother. Her name is Yu.

Yu has two daughters. We took them on a little bit of a temple tour yesterday and had a good lesson with her in the chapel. She has such a strong desire to go to church and have a better family, but her husband is very against Christians, so chances are he will not allow her to meet with us again. Please pray for them and especially her husband.

Well the week before was also my Birthday. My companion and I met with other Elders and went to the Outback Steakhouse in Taipei. I know ...not very frugal right? But I hadn't had a real American steak since I got to Taiwan so I was a little malnourished. It was divine! The Birthday was fun. It also happened to be on a preparation day so it was the double bonus birthday.

Last thing I want to share from last week is about someone that I think I have already told everyone about a few weeks ago. Sister Mo? She is the older lady in our ward that was the refugee from China when she was a little girl. She wrote this song/poem and sang it for us one night at dinner. It is a song about Jesus Christ and the greatest blessing God has for us which is him. This song she wrote has the old Asian sound to it and the way she sings it is awesome. It was such a cool experience for me personally because when she was singing the song chills just came over me and a special thought came to me. It was a thought that told me that God loves all of his children everywhere. That he is truly mindful of all. I will try to hold the feelings I had that night close to me, because they were strong.

Okay the scripture I want to share this week I might have already shared already but I want to share it again. It's Alma 26:37.

Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.

Love everyone so so much.

Elder Wei

Letter # 69

2010-08-16T08:35:00.000-07:00

Hello Fam/Everyone.

Well this week went pretty well. We didn't do so well on numbers this week. It seems like our whole zone is struggling with the same problem. Everyone is working hard, including our own companionship. But It seems really hard to get the amount of lessons we need to be getting. One "Zone's" biggest struggle is bringing people to Church. I think I have talked about this a little before with everyone. But it is hard here.

Elder Moreno and I are working hard with the Families we are teaching but I realized last night, when I was thinking about the week that there was so much more we need to be doing, I realized that we have not been involving them or really getting them into the Book of Mormon the way we should. That is going to be one of my main focuses this week with our investigators. I am going to try to make it a big effort to follow up on their reading, and make sure that they are actually reading the assignments we give them.

The Book of Mormon is so crucial for the conversion of people, my own Testimony included. It's an enormous part of my testimony. The Book has so much power. It does bring change in peoples lives. It brings a new spirit and changes the way you think about everything. Most importantly, it testifies of the Savior.

I am doing this kind of personal study with the Book of Mormon right now. I took a new copy and started from the beginning and starting marking every time I see the name of Jesus, or any name referring to him in the color red. For example (Lord, Savior, Messiah). Then I mark every time it is Him speaking with yellow. Then I mark every time it talks about his attributes in blue, and then I mark every time it talks about the Atonement in orange. Doing this has done so much for me personally.

Something that is cool about the Book of Mormon is that I have passed 200 pages of it and there has only been three pages that haven't made reference to Jesus Christ. Pretty sweet huh? The Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know because I have never read anything that has changed my heart the way that book has. Every time I read about the Savior in the book I can feel in my heart that what it is saying is true. I can't deny that feeling.

In no way is it to displace or discredit the Bible. The Bible along with the Book of Mormon has truly helped me to understand personally much of Christ's life and his ministry. The Bible and the Book of Mormon enhance each other and should be studied together. I love the scriptures, and I regret so much that I did not read them the way I should of when I was younger. But I have made a lot of big commitments with myself on how I am going to study when I get back.

Well one of the big things that happened this week was when my companion and I went on exchanges with the assistants. It was great because I was able to go with Elder McLaws. He is the Senior assistant and I had a lot to learn from him. A lot of it was his humility. But one of the things he told me was that because it is my current companion's last transfer and that I would be getting a new companion next transfer that there was a lot I had to do to prepare for the coming transfer. He basically advised me that my focus is going to have to be completely on the needs of the zone. In other words, we was telling me that thinking about myself is not really one of the options. This is something that I have actually thought a lot about the last week. I have looked back on my mission and realized that I have not been the best at this. I have certainly tried hard, but now is an opportunity to do it completely.

Well the Investigators are doing well we feel. I feel a little concerned about a few, mostly about the Deng Family. I hope they are going to make it. They are all going out of town this week and will be back next week. A couple of the Investigators are falling out right now and told us that they didn't really have time to go to church right now and that finding time to meet with us would be hard for them. One example is a Mom we we are teaching. Her name is Lo Li,and the other is Sheng Xiu Huang. He is a Father who just recently had a new baby with his wife.

* * * So please pray for them and their time to open up and their desire to grow.

The Scripture I want to share is one of my favorites. Mosiah 26:30

Yea, and aas often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me.

Love you all

Elder Wei

Letter # 68

2010-08-10T07:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, we had some great things happen this week. Things are getting a lot of momentum in our area. We are finding so many new people, and the best part is that they are all families. I have never taught so many families before in my mission. One of the biggest blessings is that they are actually doing it. They are all progressing, coming to Church and preparing to be baptized. The two main Families we are working with right now are the Teng family and the Kuo family. The Teng family consists of the Mom, Dad, 15 yr old son anda 2 year old daughter. They have come to church the last two weeks and they seem to be enjoying it. I think most importantly is that they enjoy the feeling when they are there. As for doctrine and the understanding of the gospel, their knowledge is very limited but if they keep following their feelings everything will be fine.

Its actually kind of an interesting story why the husband was so willing to hear the gospel. He told us two weeks ago that he had seen the movie The Passions of Christ a long time ago and that he cried through the whole thing. He said from that time on he always had interest in learning about Jesus Christ. He has told us that is just feels right, and that the Taoist and Buddhist religions are something he doesn't agree with.

The mother is investigating the gospel mainly just for the kids. She is scared that her 15 year old son is going to get himself into trouble. What Mom doesn't?.... The Son actually has warmed up to us a lot. At first He didn't really like us but after a couple visits and joking around with him a little bit he realized that we were normal people and so he actually started paying attention to what it is that we had to say. I love this family.

* * * Please pray for them.* * *

Unfortunately the Kuo Family was not able to make it to church yesterday. It was Fathers Day yesterday here in Taiwan. But they promised next week that they would make it.

That being said, one of the biggest miracles this week for us was the turn out to church. We had so many investigators that came to Church. One of the most successful Sundays on my mission. The Ward was really excited about it. It seems that the Wards here base a lot of a missionaries' success on the people they bring to sacrament meeting, which can make that difficult. Bringing people to Church on Sunday seems to be one of the harder things to do here. People in Taiwan are usually busy or really just like to relax on Sundays, which I guess does not sound that much different from the States.

One of the miracles I want to share from this week is awesome. (One of the best in my mission.)
So the story starts on a rainy night in Taipei (Go Figure). It was last Saturday night. My companion and I were heading back from the other side of the city. We had to Bike over there to give a baptismal interview.
As we pulled up to our apartment we parked our bikes and started heading to the elevator. We both kind of looked at our watches to see what time it was and we realized that we still had 5 minutes before we had to be in. We decided that we were going to say a quick prayer and try to get a quick set up with someone. As we walked outside and were getting ready to say a prayer we both spotted a family across the street. We quickly said a prayer and asked for help and hurried and biked over there. We knew we only had a few minutes at this point, But we were able to use our missionary tactics to corner them - Moreno came from the side and I flanked them from the front, so they didn't have a choice but to listen to us introduce ourselves.
Haha.

As we introduced ourselves they knew who we were. They said they had seen missionaries before. At this point we only had a minute to share something with them. We shared a quick message about families and asked if we could come over. The mom was more interested in learning English, but the dad invited us over for the next day.

We went over the next day and had a great lesson with them. They are the Chang Family. They have two kids, a thirteen year old girl and a five year old boy. The Five year old reminded me so much of Zeke and Grant it was hilarious. He kept coming over and sitting by me during the lesson while he was playing his Nintendo DS.

The lesson went well. We taught them about prayer and the relationship that God has with us. They agreed to meet with us again next Sunday. I'm so excited about this Family.

* * * Also please pray for them. * * *

Okay, I am a little out of time but the scripture this week is Alma 16:16.

And there was no inequality among them; the Lord did pour out his Spirit on all the face of the land to prepare the minds of the children of men, or to prepare their hearts to receive the word which should be taught among them at the time of his coming

I think this scripture is very appropriate for what is going on in our area. My companion and I are seeing so many miracles. I really believe with all my heart that there are so many being prepared in our area.

Have a great week everyone.

Love, Elder Wei

FAMILIES TO PRAY FOR:

Teng family

Kuo family

Chang family

Letter # 67

2010-08-03T10:05:00.000-07:00

* * SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT * *

Elder Chris Weinberger will be officially returning home on November 23, 2010!

His latest update:

Okay so I do not have a lot of time to write this letter.

For the most part went well this week. We worked incredibly hard. Even when it was the hardest to do it. It seriously gets so hot at times. I will still come out of my apartment in the morning and start the day and think, how can it be THIS HOT already. But it makes it more fun at times (That whole "I am going to conquer it" mind set).

Oh yes, a little info for the family. I am loosing weight. Yes, I am getting skinnier. So quick send me some cookies and sweets.

Well this week like the last was a little trialsome personally. I was being a little too hard on myself about some of my imperfections. But as I spoke with President Grimley about some of the things that were bothering me I had a very large spiritual impression last night about the Atonement. I felt so much peace last night when I thought of my Savior and his ability to cleanse us of our sins and help us with our imperfections. I was filled with so much gratitude for him and my Heavenly Father for providing me a way to overcome my mistakes. I feel in a way that my heart has been softened just a little bit more, even from just last night. There aren't words to express my thanks for him. Even though trials can be so painful, especially when your right in the "fire" of it, the growth afterwards makes it so worth it. I feel that even from last night I was filled with more desire to share this message.

Well the baptism went great this week. Really smoothly. My Companion was the one that ended up baptizing him. Also we were able to have 2 investigator families at church this week, which was huge for us. I think that is probably the first time that has ever happened in my mission.

Well I really don't have a lot of time this week to write but things are going well. Thank you for your prayers.

Elder Wei

Letter # 66

2010-07-26T10:05:00.000-07:00

Longshan Temple. The oldest Taoist Temple in Taiwan.

Things are great in Taipei. We had a rough week as far as numbers go, but like every week we were still able to see some great things and some miracles certainly occurred.

My companion and I are doing great. Elder Moreno is a really good missionary. I have already learned so much from him. He is one of those just "good old Mormon boys". He gives me a good example pretty much all the time. I have seen growth in myself because of his example in just a week. I truly believe it was an inspired call for me to get moved up here with him. It's awesome, we are working hard. But like I said ...a bit rough. It was kind of a trial some week for us. We got stood up on a lot of lessons. I think I have told everyone before, that getting stood up is the one thing that really stresses me out. I really don't like the feeling of putting so much effort into people to get them to set up and them just not show up for a lesson. Obviously there is a good side about it, like the fact of seeds being planted for later missionaries. I think that is the only thing that is comforting when that happens.
In the meantime this week we were still able to run into a family that was willing to meet with us. A mother and her two kids. Amazingly this family is related to one of the other investigators we have right now. Ya that was a big miracle. Oh and the little girl of the family is the 1 ranked ice skater for her age in Taiwan. Sweet huh? The family's name is Lin. So please pray for their success.

Oh and on topics of miracles. An investigator that we have just passed his baptismal interview and is getting baptized next Sunday. His name is Xing Ming Hu. He is a 20 year old kid and he is so great, and incredibly humble. I have only been here for a week so I haven't really had the chance to really get to know him. But he is awesome.

Well I will tell everyone about the area I am in. My companion and I cover two main area right in the center of Taipei. These two areas are called Tatung and Wanhua. It is one of the oldest places in Taiwan. It is right where the first explorers settled when they came to Taiwan. I will go ahead and formally invite my Father to look up the information and I am sure he can inform everyone at the next family dinner all about it. (That joke was intended for family members). But the area is really cool and like I said has lots of history. We see all the really old buildings all the time and the oldest Taoist temple in Taiwan is actually in our area too.

Well the story of this week goes to one of the new members in our ward. She is a 75 year old widow in our ward and wow does this lady have a story. She is one of the refuges from China when Mao ZeDong was taking the country over in the communist movement and the so called (cultural revolution). After seeing some of the men killed in her family her mother and some of her other siblings starting running south to make it to Hong Kong. She eventually made it there after days of running, and at 9 years old was completely separated from her family and was on her way to Taiwan by herself. Imagine being a 9 year old in a new country after seeing all that and then on top of it having no one to take care of you.

She then was taken into a military orphanage and raised there. After a life time of working incredibly hard work she was able to make a living and eventually was married. The next time she saw her mother was over 50 years later when she went back to China to visit her. She then was informed that all the men in her family had been killed years earlier (along with approximately 70 million others). This Lady told us this story last night as she fed us dinner and I just remember thinking in my head " How dare that I, ever complained about anything." Ya and me at 9 years old complaining about the school shoes I got and how I wanted a different color.

This women in our ward is the sweetest lady in the world .She invites the missionaries over every single week and feeds them. Mostly because she is lonely and has no one to really talk to, and she is always asking and making sure on the next time we come. She is so sweet. She loves feeding us. She stuffs us full of so much food and she won’t ever let us stop eating. I have eaten there twice now and I thought I was going to die both times. Every time I try to sit back in my chair she quickly reminds me on how I have to finish the whole bowl and how she has more coming. My companion and I are always just laughing about it.

The scripture I want to share this week Mosiah 23:22. It’s all about putting trust in the Lord.

Nevertheless—whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day. Yea, and thus it was with this people.

I am a little out of time but I love everyone so much thank you for your prayers.

Elder Wei

Letter # 65

2010-07-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

Well some crazy and unexpected things have happened.
I HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED!!!!

Ya it was the weirdest thing. I was only in Hsinchu for 1 transfer, which is bizarre because usually when someone becomes zone leader for the first time they are in that area for a good amount of time. But I guess the Lord has something else planned for me.

I was moved up to Central Taipei to be one of the zone leaders. I was so shocked when the call came out. But so excited at the same time. I love Taipei. It has always been my favorite place to be on the island. But I have never served in the center of the city before so it is going to be a big change!

This morning I got off the train and walked out of Taipei Main Station and truly realized how big the city of Taipei was. My new companion is Elder Moreno. He is from Alpine, Utah. This is his last transfer on his mission. He was in my zone when I was in Shipai. He is an awesome missionary! Seriously, I have so much to
learn from him. When the call first came that I was going to be with him I knew that it was an answer to my prayers on a lot of things. So I'm really excited about this transfer.

Taipei is an amazing city, and our area is right in the heart of it. It will be cool to be in on a lot of the action. From what I have heard we are in touch with President a lot because we are so close to the mission office. Exciting yah!

Well my last week in Hsinchu was a crazy one. It was unlike any other in my whole mission. One of the elders has been sick and in the Hospital. He has been having some problems with his kidneys. But he has been there for the last four days. He has been sick for the last two weeks but it started to get serious so he went to the best hospital in the area which happened to be in our area. President and the assistants told my companion and I that because we were the zone leaders we were the ones that had to arrange everything. Basically
what would happen is my companion Elder Yeh would stay most of the time in the hospital with the sick Elder, just because of the communication issue. It is obviously a lot easier to communicate with a doctor about medical things if you're a native right. In the meantime I would take the other Elder out. So Elder Yeh stayed a few nights there with him while I would take out the other Elder.

The trick was, that through all this we still had things we had to do, like Baptismal interviews, and arranging members to pick us up and take us places we needed to go. Also we were dealing with transfer weekend so we were also running around trying to get some Elders that were leaving all packed and ready, while still taking turns/shifts staying with the sick Elder that was in the hospital. It was a week of stress that's for sure, and everyone was exhausted. But through it all, in my opinion, we still got so much done. We still had lots of lessons and the Woo family was able to make it to church this week.

That was sad having to leave them. I was way excited to see them baptized. But its all good. I really am so excited about where I am, and I think most importantly I think that I learned what it is that the Lord wanted me to learn there. Plus it just feels right. Well because of time right now I can't write too much but I will share something that I thought was funny. The Mother of the Woo family thinks mom looks like Martha Stewart.. I was cracking up when she said that. I guess I can see it to. ????

Well the Scripture for this week is Elder Moreno's favorite scripture. (Alma 22:18).

O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day. And now when the king had said these words, he was struck as if he were dead.

Okay much love

Elder Wei

Letter # 63 JULY 4th

2010-07-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

We had a good week. I know I say that just about every week. But this week went well. The Work is really progressing where we are. We have been setting so many people up with appointments out on the street. Of course with setting lots of people up come lots of appointments ...that don't show up. Ya, that happened a bit this week but we are finding New Investigators every single week and the feeling is so much different here than when I first got here. I feel that as I have really started to realize the reality of how fast I will be home, there has been such an urgency to do all that I can whenever I can; and sometimes that hurts.

Especially when I'm tired and its hotter than any weather I have ever been in before. By the way, I know I said this last week and everything but it really is getting hot. It was way hotter this last week than the one before. But I will openly admit that I like it in some twisted way. I think the challenge makes me want to do it even more.

Well Happy Birthday America! The 4th of July is one of my favoirte Holidays and being in Taiwan I guess I can say that the Patriotic American feel was not the easiest to maintain this year. I had completely forgotten that is was the 4th of July until I was on the phone with another missionary and he reminded me to sing the Star Spangled Banner before I went to bed. Well I tried to force my companion to sing it with me and he refused. I don't blame him. I wouldn't do it either if I was Taiwanese. But of course I persisted and told him that he had to do it! He told me that if he sang the song with me he would not go out for Preperation day and that he would stay inside all day and sleep. I guess it didn't take me very long to decide ...So I tried to sing it as proudly as I could by myself. Yah. GO AMERICA!

Well the Investigators are all doing well. The Woo Family is really coming along. It looks like they are going to make there date for the end of July. I don't think I have really told you all about them yet. But they consist of a single mom and her 14 year old son. Basically her son is a little Hoodlem and was getting himself in a lot trouble with friends and school etc. She had no idea how to help him or what she needed to do. But she had a member friend that offered for the missionaries to come over and teach her about the Gospel. Luckily the misisonaries that got the call were us. So for the last 3 weeks we have been meeting with them and the 14 year old (Ji Qing) has changed so much. We can just feel it when we are around him. He loves when we come over and we have gotten to be really close with him so its really good when we need to give advice because he will actually listen.

Its amazing what the influence of the gospel really has on families. Even just talking about the Savior brings light and will influence them positively. Elder Anderson talked about it in the Last General Conference. Which kinda leaves me with what I especially want to talk about this week. "The Family." I am so proud that every time I bare my testimony on the streets to someone about how this gospel blesses the family, that I really know without a doubt that I have experienced it and I have one of my own. I am so thankful that I have faithful parents that have stuck so close to the gospel and have guided their children in that direction our whole
lives. It has made an influence and I can promise with all that I have that it has because I have seen so many unbelievably broken families on my mission. Most of them were torn by inner pride, and a pure lack of love for the members within.

The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ alows us to know who we are and God's "TRUE" purpose for the family. That is us being together forever. Through the Gospel he has also given us a way to better our relationships in this life. That is purely through Jesus Christ and his example. I truly know with all my heart that this is the answer for all families.

Two weeks ago we were in a lesson with a family that turned into something that I have never seen on my mission. The mother of the family started crying and got out the divorce papers for her husband to sign right in front of us and the kids. It was terrible. But it made me so grateful for the family I have at home. No, my Family is not perfect. But we have the gospel of Jesus Christ which can make us perfect. I love my family so much and I am so thankful for all of them. I am always going to try to remember that this life is such a short time. But we are not just developing relationships for right now. They are for eternity.

The scipture I want to give this week is actually (The Family Proclamation to the World.) I hope everyone gets a chance to read it. Much love!

We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.

The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.

We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.

Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.

We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.

We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.

Elder Wei

Letter # 64

2010-07-12T12:42:00.001-07:00

Well This week went faster than any other this transfer. Some big things happened in our mission this week. One of them being a visit from a member of the First Presidency. Ya I didn't really tell anyone. I kinda kept forgetting to put it in my email, but President Uchtdorf came to Taiwan. His two twin grandsons were in the two missions here. The Taichung and Taipei missions. He came to pick them up and have a week with them here. Ya it was awesome. We first got to have a mission conference with him and then we got to attend the conference he put on for the members in Taiwan. It seriously was amazing.

The things he said were exactly what the people needed to hear here. He talked a lot about putting importance on the things that are actually important and he talked a lot about the blessings of keeping the commandments. He promised everyone so many blessings for doing it too. Ya, I love President Uchtdorf. I have always really liked him. I don't know what it is about him but it seems the principles that he expresses in his testimony are the ones that really are the foundation of my own. I feel the Spirit so strongly every time he gives a talk. He always seems to talk about something that really hits me so deeply. That is the "Sweetness of the Gospel." I had no Idea what that meant until I started getting a little older as a missionary. I still don't think that I can properly express my feelings of that sentence. I think I can express it is just by explaining that it is a feeling of the heart that overtakes your life and transforms you into a true son or daughter of God. I love this Gospel with all my heart. It has truly changed my life and has given me everything. I can't imagine life without it. Life would be so pointless.

President Uchtdorf's wife (Harriet) also gave a great talk at our mission conference. She is Hilarious. I was laughing so hard at some of the things she was saying with her thick German accent. She is a Fireball. She shared her conversion story and how the thing that really touched her family was the Plan of Salvation. She said the missionaries had knocked on the door not to long after her Father had died, and that the Restored Gospel gave her mother the answers and the comfort that no other message could give her at that time. It was awesome. I am pretty sure that this is the last visitor we will get of that level before I leave.

Well Investigators....... We are in the same state we were in last week. People are doing well but there is not that many progressing investigators. We are finding a lot of people but lately it seems so hard to get them to come to Church and just make the next step. The Woo family is doing great. The mom and the son didn't make it to church last week but they are still doing well and accept everything that is being taught.

The weather is still as hot as ever. I'm just getting used to it now. I'm kind of now to the "Whatever" point of my feelings toward the weather. . Which means I don't really care how hot it is any more. I'm used to it.

My companion and I are doing well. I think a lot of this transfer he and I have really struggled with unity. It feels that way anyway. It's not that there has been any huge arguments or anything like that. It's just that we were missing something in our companionship. We talked about it this last week and it seems like things have been getting better since. I hope so at least.

Well that's about it from this week. The scripture I want to share is 2 Nephi 5:10-11, and verse 27. I think it goes well with the meaning of the "Sweetness of the Gospel"

And we did observe to keep the judgments, and the statutes, and the commandments of the Lord in all things, according to the law of Moses.

And the Lord was with us; and we did prosper exceedingly; for we did sow seed, and we did reap again in abundance. And we began to raise flocks, and herds,
and animals of every kind.

And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness.

I love you all.

Elder Wei

Letter # 62

2010-06-30T12:08:00.000-07:00

Hello Family.

This week flew by really fast. It just seems to go faster and faster as the mission goes. But I have some great Miracles that happened this last week.

The first is a story from last Monday. So it was coming to the close of our Preparation day and we were hurrying to the store to buy a few things before it hit 6:00. Because technically by 6:00 we should be completely finished and should be out on the streets by that time. So as were biking we literally had 3 or 4 minutes to make it. At that time all I had in my mind was just get to the store as fast as possible. But as we were biking down this alley we passed a man and I don't really know how to explain it. But it was almost this clear as ever feeling or thought you could say that came to my head. The thought was a very distinct "Stop, and Talk to Him." At that time I slowed my bike down and looked at my companion, he knowing exactly what I was doing, and as I groaned a little bit inside because of the time, I decided I had to turn back and that I couldn't let it go. I rode up to the man very quickly and told him who I was. I introduced myself as a missionary and started asking him a few questions. He was incredibly attentive the entire time, which in all honestly did surprise me to a point. I told him that we didn't have much time but that I would like to set a time with him and try to share more about our message. He agreed and gave me his number. A few days later I called him and he was very willing to set a time up with us.

We met with him for the first time yesterday afternoon. As we sat down with him we asked him why he was willing to meet with us and he said that one of the questions I had asked him was a question that he has had for a long time that has remained unanswered to him. The question was "What is the purpose of this life?" He went on to tell us that when I had asked him that question he thought back to the curiosity he had always had towards this unanswered problem. As we met with him yesterday we testified of the fact that there is a God, and he has a very specific plan for all of us. We taught him the full Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he seemed more than willing to set another time with us for next week. Next week we are going to share with him the Plan of Salvation which will give him all the answers to the questions he has right now. It really was a miracle that we experienced.

I really know with my heart that God has been preparing this person for a very long time. His name Jun Wei Huang. He is 27. Everyone please pray for him.

Well the next miracle is also a story but I will be shorter about it.Last night we had about a half an hour before we had to be in and we were biking our way back from the Church and contacting people on the way. While my companion was talking to someone I was biking up and down the road looking for someone to talk to and then I spotted this man getting ready to walk into his Apartment building. I kind of rode over to the curve and yelled out "Ni Hao, Wan an" Which is like hello, good evening. He stopped and looked at me, and after realizing I was a missionary, immediately turned away and started walking into the building. I then told him I just wanted to give him a pamphlet and he still didn't really want it. But I eventually was able to get my bike over to him to give this guy one of our tracts. As I gave him one of the tracts I shook his hand and asked his name and asked if he had seen missionaries before. A little reluctantly he said yes as he smiled. I then just tried to just kinda cut to it because I knew this guy did not have a lot of interest.

I then just asked him "are you happy" I then asked again and said "Can you honestly say that you are happy with your life?" He paused for a few seconds and then said to me "Hi Hao" which means ok/not really. After that we had a really good conversation and I told him a little bit about what it is that we were sharing. At the end of the conversation, he was willing to set up a time with us for next week. That was a huge miracle for me and strengthened my faith so much. I cannot even begin to explain how happy I was after the contact with that guy.

Well as far as investigators go right now.... We are teaching this mother and her son. They are doing so Awesome right now! They are the Woo Family. They are planning on getting baptized at the end of July. They both came to church for the first time yesterday and it went really well. So also please pray for them. The rest of the week was okay. In the midst of all the wonderful things there are always trials. That has kept me on my toes these last couple days. Also this last week I have been going on more exchanges with missionaries in our zone. I love doing that but sometimes it gets really stressful always going from apartment to apartment. Other than that all things were about the same this week.

So the scripture I want to share is in Mormon 9:19-21.
Its all about Miracles.

And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust.

Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth.

I love you all. Thank you so much for the support.
I love my family so much,
and I am so thankful for everyone.

Elder Wei

Letter # 61

2010-06-21T08:12:00.000-07:00

Well, Hello my Family/everyone else. Good week here.

I know I talked a few weeks ago about it being hot. Well ya it really is getting that hot. These last couple days have been so brutally humid. One night we went on exchanges with another companionship in our mission and I went and spent the night in their apartment. Wow did I learn a lot about counting my blessings. First off they had no AC, and that does not fly here in the summer. They also had a mold infestation in there apartment and some elders from the past have gotten sick from it, and when I wanted to cook my noodles at night I had to cook with a flashlight lodged in between my shoulder and my neck because the lights were broken. Ya conditions not being the best for those two elders. The next morning I called the office and told them about the situation. They said they were going to try to get them out as soon as possible. So again everyone back home, count your blessings. Don't take little things like that for granted.

Well this last week like I said went well. I had the opportunity to go on two exchanges this last week. Every Transfer we have to go on exchanges with all the district leaders in the zone. Both of the times I wasn't the one that exchanged with the district leader. I went with the junior companions, and it was a huge learning experience. During both of the exchanges I learned that both the younger missionaries were an example to me in multiple aspects. I realized that as I have gotten older I have forgotten a lot of the little things that younger missionaries still hold on to them from the MTC. It was awesome. One of those things being, humility. For the Most part younger missionaries are always so willing to learn just because most of the time, they don't know any better. I learned that I should always be seeking to learn how to improve myself as a missionary. No matter what transfer I am on.

The other big thing I learned was not having "seasoned missionary pride." A lot of missionaries including myself get caught in the rut of thinking that they "know how to do it," which means sometimes we forget the important basics and standards on how to do things. For example, missionaries are expected to be good planners. It was funny because when I was making the plan with this other elder and I thought we were finished. He quickly asked me if we should make a back up plan for a certain lesson that we were having that day. Me being prideful said no, and that the person was for sure going to be there and we didn't need to. We then decided to make one just in case if the person could not meet with us. Lo and behold, the next morning I get a call from that person telling me that he couldn't meet us and had to reschedule. It was a good learning experience to remember to stay humble and to keep learning.

Well not much news on the investigators this week other than we found a new Family of five which was awesome. Well all is good. Thank you so much for all of your prayers. I love you all.

The scripture this week is my companion Elder Yeh's favorite scripture
Helaman 5:11.

And he hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath sent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls.

Elder Wei

Letter # 60

2010-06-15T14:14:00.000-07:00

Hello Family.

Greetings from the new area. Xinzhu or (Hsinchu). You can spell it two different ways, but if you want to look it up on the Internet or anything you have to use the second spelling. So I have successfully made through my first week here. It was a very difficult week I might add. I don't really know how to explain it, but I will do my best. When I first got here I had no idea what to expect. By the second day I was completely feeling more and more incapable of doing this. There was so much I realized that I didn't know.

My companion on the other hand has been a zone leader for a very long time so he seemed so relaxed about everything coming our way. For me I didn't really know what to do. It was a weird feeling this last week. It was almost as if I had transformed into the missionary that stepped off the plane in Taiwan for the first time. I guess more humbling was needed.

Last night I had a talk with my companion and we discussed all the things that were troubling me. My companion gave me the advice that this is a time when I need to learn how to really listen and to follow. I completely agreed. When I was saying my prayers last night I had realized that the entire week that I had just been whining in my prayers. I then realized that the Lord is probably sick of my whining about how hard it is, or constantly asking him what do I do? Or how to do it? I really believe last night that I might have learned a very important principle in the Gospel. That being, "quit being a baby and just do it." So last night in my prayer I committed to just do all that I could on my part and expect for Him to make up the rest and teach me how.

This was something I had heard in the MTC a thousand or more times but never really understanding how to just do it. I woke up this morning with a lot better feeling knowing that I had said the right things in the prayer and that the decision I had made was right. I am looking forward to what this next week has for us. Actually despite the feeling last week, we were still able to find 6 new investigators, which is really good for our area. It needed it big time. So we had interviews with President this last week and he told me that they are putting lots of good missionaries in our zone lately because in the past this whole zone had a very large problem between the ward members and the missionaries here. I guess there was a lot of trust issues in the past.

They are really trying to build this zone from what President said. So this next transfer my companion and I will be having meetings and will be in really good contact with the Stake leaders. Partly I am excited because I have not been exposed to this on my mission. Most of my mission has been made up of just going outside and finding!

Oh, fun fact! The city of Hsinchu is the largest in Taiwan for producing electronics. So all those computer chips and all the cell phone parts that say made in Taiwan are most likely from our area. So open up your cell phone and check.

Well the scripture I want to share with everyone is 1 Nephi 4:6. Its good.........Its about Nephi........ and goes along with what I was just talking about.

And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.

Okay love you everyone!
Love and Peace from the East

Elder Wei

Letter # 59

2010-06-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

Okay so big things have happened. I received a call last Friday night from President. He called me to be a Zone leader. He then told me that I was moving down to this city called Xinzhu. Then he asked if I was willing? I paused and then told him that I would do my best. I went over and told my companion that I got the call and that I was leaving. Originally I thought if I were to get the call I would have been really stoked. But I wasn't. I was actually really worried. By the time Sunday came around I started to get really excited about it though. The one thing that made me nervous was that I had just completely convinced myself that there was no way I could do it. But I had a lot of prayers about it this last weekend and I just came to the conclusion that I was right. I have lots of shortcomings and am probably not ready to do it. But this is probably the best opportunity I have ever had in my life to completely rely on God for something. I am going to need so much help.

Well I am back in the south. Xinzhu is close to central Taiwan but is still actually a fairly big city. It took me a about an hour and a half on a train to get here this morning and I am so exhausted. I didn't sleep well at all last night. We have the biggest zone in the mission and from what I was told, this zone had the most baptisms in the mission last transfer. So that is sweet.

I have another native as a companion. His name is Elder Yeh. I actually have already served once with him before. He was in my first district when I got here to Taiwan. So there is no award first couple days or anything. Leaving Shipai was not as hard as I thought it would be. Saying goodbye to the Gao family made me sad. Sister Gao is still really coming along. We took the whole family to a Fireside the mission was putting on last night. It was really good. They talked about the purpose of life. The Spirit was incredibly strong, and it was again a very confirming feeling knowing that this is truly the place where happiness is felt.

I love the Gospel. The Plan of Salvation means more and more to me every time its taught. I don't have much time to write this week but I will try to do my best to get it all to you next week. I love you all so much.

The homework this week is 2 Nephi 2.
Its all about the Plan of Salvation.

Elder Wei

Letter # 58

2010-06-02T09:53:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, well as much as I talked about the heat last week, it cooled off a lot. It rained for a few days (go figure) and then it just wasn't as hot as it should be. But we will see how this goes next week.

So this is the last week of this transfer, and I am coming on six months in this area. My companion and I are pretty convinced that I will probably not be here next transfer. But in all honesty, I don't really care. As a missionary it's hard not to think of the possibility of what could happen to you when you are in the last week of a transfer, especially when you have been in an area for a while. But I really am okay with anything. Obviously there is that little excitement about going to a new area but I try not to think about it too much. Whatever happens, happens.

Today for preparation day we are going to the temple. I am really excited. I haven't been since February. Its so nice to actually be able to just sit and relax just for a little bit especially in the city of Taipei. Don't get me wrong I think I like the city more than I like the country most of the time, but silence is not a privilege that is really given here in the city of Taipei. So I am looking forward to it.

So the investigators are doing well. The Gao family is also well. We met with them again for Family Home Evening on Monday. The plan my companion and I decided to take with their lesson this time was to use the Baptismal interview questions to locate the problem his wife was having. It worked great because we were able to find the root problem on the first question. That being "Do you believe that God is your Eternal Father?" She responded with saying that she believed in God, but was unsure about the Father part.
From then we took the lesson another way and told her all about God and the love that he had for her and her family. I talked to her about the example of the love that she had for her 2 year old son, and how that love is indescribable. She agreed and went on to say that God's love is much more than that. A love that we can't even understand in our minds. We gave her the assignment of getting on her knees and asking God if he really loved her. She said that she was willing. From what brother Gao told us, he said that his two year old son will remind the parents of saying their prayers nightly. That cracked me up. Kids learn FAST!

The other investigators are good. We have lots that we are working with and in contact with. But getting them to the next level is the trick we are still really struggling with. We can do all that we can to one point. But in the end they have to make the decision to move, or not.

One is particularly moving well. I think I have told everyone about him. His name is Jun Min Yeh. His baptismal goal is for the 26th of this month. We taught him the Word of Wisdom last night and he had no problem at all committing to it. He came to church for the first time last week and liked it from what he said. He did say that the Bishop didn't look very happy up on the stand. It kinda made me laugh a little but I explained that some bishops are just not as outspoken as others.

Well on funny news my companion and I are under attack. Literally. These 8 year old twins that live in the neighborhood where we are and they have attacked me 3 times now to the point where they are grabbing my shirt and wont let go and then holding on to our bikes when we try to escape. Then when we manage to struggle free and get on our bikes they chase us down the street. Crazy right! The first time there was like a whole pack of them. Lately it has just been the two twins. Pray for us that these attacks will cease. I might have to buy some candy or something to negotiate with them on a cease fire or a treaty of peace of some sort.

Anyway all is well I miss you all so much. Things are great. This last week I have spent so much time in the New Testament and I love it. I love when Jesus throws down on the Pharisees and the hypocrites ha ha.

Well the assignment this week is to read Mathew 5.
Much love.
Love peace and chicken grease!

Elder Wei

Letter # 57

2010-05-24T09:05:00.000-07:00

Okay hello family.

Well the time has again come on my mission.... a time when strong Elders turn to little boys, a time where sweat literally becomes the sixth sense of a human being, a time where wet towels can turn to instant mold (armpits included),..... Its Summer time in Taiwan! Ya its here and its hot! My companion had one afternoon this last week that was rough! We got a little bit of heat stroke by the time we had hit 4:00 and we both were pretty wasted. That afternoon we did not have any lessons so we were outside on our bikes all day. Luckily after that day it started raining and it has been that way to the last two days. Other than the weather report, things have been good.

This last week as far as investigators go has been good. Set two new baptismal dates with people which was really exciting. One of the people is this guy named Jun Min Yeh. He has met with us for almost two months now and is progressing well. He was baptized into another Church before, but is extremely curious with the message of the restoration. He will be coming to church for the first time this coming week.

In other news the Gao family has run into some adversity and a bit of a faith trial. From what Brother Gao told me, he had been on the Internet looking up things about the Church and he ran across a lot of anti-lds stuff and came across some chat room where people openly talk about their religious views. Ya....trouble! So basically these last few weeks he has been hearing a lot of stuff and is starting to have some doubting thoughts. We are going over to their home tonight to have family home evening with them. So please pray for them. They need everyone to pray that they will be able to recognize what is true in the midst of the confusion that face. One of the members of the Bishopric will come with us to visit them and help answer some of those questions.

Well yesterday we had a big stake conference. It was all of the Taipei East Stake. It went really well. Elder Watson spoke. The members in Taiwan love this man. He has been a Mission President here multiple times and now he is in the area Presidency over Asia. His Chinese is really good too. At the stake conference I was really touched in one particular instance when I heard everyone singing the hymns. I don't really know what caused it for me but I just remember looking at their faces thinking how much I loved these people. I don't think it was any real specific reason either. I just remember feeling so much for them. I don't know if it's because I have been here for a while or what but I just felt like going out everyday and serving here has made me feel so much for the people. I know that with all my heart that I have stayed diligent here and it has been a blessing because it seems that as the mission goes on and the more and more I learn about the work, the more
and more I love about the people.

I do love it here, even though it gets almost too hard to handle at times. I love Taiwan with all my heart. I feel at times that this place is where I truly learned about myself. Obviously that would come anywhere with the mission but this place really is a special place for me.

...Well on other great news, mango's are finally here! Ya that's right all you people in the states with your Cafe Rio and what not. We have fresh mango slushees over here. The Taiwanese really pride themselves on their mango's. But they can brag all they want because they really are that good. So ha!

I finished the Book of Mormon again this week, and as I finished it I really tried to pay attention to the promise that Moroni gives in the end. He gives very specific conditions on how to receive the answer of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. that is the scripture I want everyone to read.

Moroni 10:3-5.

Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

The part that really stuck out to me this time when asking was "having faith in Christ." What I want everyone to do is to read the promise and again ask in your personal prayers if it is true?

I gotta run. Love Ya'll

Elder WEI

Letter # 56

2010-05-17T10:58:00.000-07:00

Hello my dear sweet Family.

Yes, we had another good week here. We found four new investigators. 2 of them are younger guys. One 27 and the other 18. The 27 year old was kind of a cool story. Yesterday we were outside doing a lot of finding, and I ran into this guy. It started out as a pretty good contact but he didn't really believe in God so the conversation really wasn't getting anywhere. But I asked if he would be willing to meet with us in an hour and he said yes. When we sat down with him we had a really good first lesson and he said he was willing to come to church with us the next week. He also said his first prayer. Its amazing the curiosity the spirit can bring to someone. The same went with the 18 year old we met with. He was just someone I met on the side of the train station. At that time the only reason why he was willing to meet with us was just in the mere fact that he had nothing to do. From the lesson his curiosity grew to the point that he was willing to take a Book of Mormon and pray to God. Awesome!!!

Well I forgot to tell everyone, that the week before we had Elder D. Todd Christofferson come visit the mission. He spent a couple hours with us and gave an awesome Testimony. He also gave us about a half an hour to ask questions if we wanted to. I actually had a question that I had been thinking about for a long time on my mission and I decided to stand up and just ask it. I was kinda sweating bullets when it was my turn and he pointed at me. The question I asked him was "What is God's influence in other religions?" I stated it more clearly when I explained to him that we had multiple investigators with different religious testimonies. All the way from Buddhism, Islam, and then to a basic Christian sect. I explained to him that our investigators were all so sure of the divinity of the religion that they were joined to, and this has been something that I had thought much about before but never been able to truly get a good answer for it.

In a way he didn't answer it the way I thought or kind of hoped he would. But he did answer. He explained to us that there are laws in heaven and if any one of God's children abide to those laws, they are blessed whether they realize the laws they are keeping or not. He then went on to explain that only we have the Priesthood, and that only through the Priesthood we can receive all the blessings from heaven. The sealing power of families especially. Pretty cool. I am so thankful that I grew up in a family where the principles of the Priesthood are taught and lived. What a blessing that has been in my life, and it took me this long to get it.

Well my companion and I are still doing great! We are having a really good time. He and I lately have kind of been on this so called (vigilante movement) I like to call it. So lately every time we see a group of kids smoking we immediately ride up to them on our bikes and take the cigarettes from them and throw them on the floor. That is my companions favorite part. Then we have this nice little 5 minute disciplining session on how stupid it is to smoke, and really NOT cool it is. It's great, some of these kids faces when we are doing it too. It makes me crack up every time. Sometimes my companion enjoys the disciplining part a little too much. In the end we know that they are probably not going to stop smoking because we told them to. But it will have an influence on them in the future. Most of the kids end up just saying thanks and smiling in the end. Even though they are probably still scared out of their minds. Its hilarious.

Well this week the scripture I am sharing is in Doctrine and Covenants Section 18:2

Behold, I have manifested unto you, by my Spirit in many instances, that the things which you have written are true; wherefore you know that they are true.

I really like it because it reminds me and makes me think back at all the times I have received a witness of the truth. Its good especially when you run into those hard days and doubt starts to take over.

Alright love you all

Elder WEI

Letter # 55

2010-05-10T16:01:00.000-07:00

Well its a little weird writing this email about twenty minutes after I got off the phone with everyone. There are so many things that are going on in my head. But once again I have discovered how wonderful my family really is. I vividly remember the first two times I called home.......It was always a very difficult experience, especially when it came to the part where you say goodbye and then you hear a "click". This time was so much different. I wasn't hard. It in fact gave me more desire to give all I have. So that I am being (EXACTLY) what my family expects of me. I know with all my heart that I have represented well what it is that I claim to be......(Missionary)! But this morning was another pleasant reminder, that I indeed can and will give more. There will always be more!

Well other than that, the family seems to be doing well. It sounds like the kids are more out of control than ever, and me not being the parent/guardian of those hooligans just makes me happily think "That's the way it should be!" I am sure the stories of all the kids right now are just absolutely hilarious. Oh.... Madeline and Hannah; well done! You two really are Awesome!

Okay well this week went well. It was a fairly average week as far as missionary work goes. But we are seeing many miracles every single day. We have run into a bit of a stump with a lot of our investigators. They are having a problem making it from the level of an investigator that is willing to sit down and learn to the level of an investigator that is truly progressing. We are really trying to get out of this stumbling block. But it seems to me that I have had this problem my entire mission. The ones that have really progressed in my mission have been the investigators that we are constantly in contact with and there progression truly gets influenced so much faster. But the kicker to all of that is the action. For example when they feel the light they need to act on it or walk towards it. Not stop and wait for the light to get closer. The ones that really make the effort to "TRY" are the ones that truly feel the sweetness of the gospel. The mother of the Gao family is still doing well. We are going on a Taipei Temple Square tour with the whole family this Friday and we are centering the entire visit around the principle of Eternal Families. I am positive she will feel it, because she has felt it before and she knows what it's like.

Right now we have one investigator with a baptismal date set. It is for the 29th of this month. His name is Jun Qi Wang. Pray for him please. His story is a little interesting. The day we contacted into him he did not have that much interest in what we had to say. But he had a lot of interest in the Free English class we were teaching in the area. So he set up with us to meet right before the English class started. When he got to the appointment he went on to tell us that the day after he ran into us, he found work, and he had been trying to grind work for a while now. He felt that maybe it was some sort of sign for him and maybe he should look into what it is that we were saying. So from then on he has been a willing investigator that has been like I said "TRYING". I feels the difference already. I really believe that. So please pray for him.

One quick story.... We ran into this young 17 year old Irish kid. What is amazing about this is that I had run into his sister about 2 months ago. This Irish family has quite the story. The Parents of this family were sent on a mission by the Pope to better establish the Catholic church in this area. They have been here for almost 18 years. Anyway we ran into one of the younger sons of this family and taught him the entire Restoration story on the street. Or in other words the first lesson. He really felt it. He did. I know he did because I could see
it on his face. He took a Book of Mormon with him and said he would pray about it. It really is a miracle when you put into account the background of this family. So he gave us his number and said we could call him.

Well that's it for this week. Love you all so so much.

The scripture this week is to read Joseph Smith history. I think I have done that before. But do it again! ha ha

love all of you so much

Elder Wei

Letter # 54

2010-05-04T09:22:00.000-07:00

Okay we had a great week this week, filled with so many Miracles. Seriously we saw sooo much. We have a lot of great set ups for next week too. So we could see a lot of New Investigators rolling through. The trick to it all was work. We worked really hard this last week and it paid off. It's amazing having a companion that will work. Elder Duff works really hard and we get along really well. Things are going to go really well this Transfer.

Another upside is that the other Elders in our district are willing to get things done too. Our district is made up of 4 Elders. The Beitou Elders and the Shipai Elders. Elder Duff and I are in Shipai. The senior companion in Beitou is actually my old companion Elder Yo. I don't know if anyone remembers. He was with me almost exactly a year ago. Crazy huh? Anyway that area got "White washed" this transfer. What that means is that the two elders that were there originally, both got the call to leave the area, and they called in two new Elders who do not know anything about the area to fill the spot. Basically this only happens when the Elders in an area are not really getting much done and they need two brand new Elders to bring fire to the area.

So last transfer was not easy trying to be a district leader over the area. But this transfer we have a whole district of Elders that are willing to do exactly what they are supposed to. I have seriously learned so much about the importance of Agency. Unfortunately one of the downsides of agency is that you can't force anyone to do anything, which is too bad sometimes. hehehaha. Basically this transfer is going to be awesome.

The Ward yesterday really stepped it up. They usually are awesome, but yesterday we had a few new people come to church and they just jumped on the investigators and smothered them in love! (metaphorically speaking) We had a mother come. I think I have already told everyone about her (Sister Yu). Her two kids loved Primary and it did wonders. The Primary in Taiwan ROCKS! We are meeting with that family this coming Friday. I'm excited.

This week one of our new investigators was this guy from Africa. His name is Bai Cham. He is a very devote Muslim. He and I had a very interesting conversation. He walked away with a Book of Mormon and was willing to meet with us again. We are going to have to put together a seriously good lesson for him next time, because the guy knows his stuff, especially his history when it comes to the Bible, and honestly I don't know much about the Koran.

Well my companion and I are having a good time. I will give some good stories next week and some pictures to explain.Okay the scripture this week is 2 Kings 2:23-25. I thought this story was hilarious.

And he went up from thence unto Beth-el: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.

And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.

The moral of the story is don't make fun of the Prophet!

Okay love you all.

Elder WEI

Letter # 53

2010-04-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

家庭你好，我還活著 Hey Fam! Im alive and I made it.

So we are at the start of a new transfer. I barely made it our of the last one. Saying it was hard is an understatement. There were times that I had to just hit my knees and plead for help because I had no where else to go. But it is over. I think this last transfer I really learned a lot about myself. I feel like I was being tested in some ways and the Lord really wanted me to get some things out of it. I feel like in the midst of the trial, for the most part, I made the right decisions and did what God would have me do. Well my new companion is Elder DUFF! He's awesome. It's actually a really funny story that I am with him. He is still a younger missionary. This is only his 5th transfer but when he came on a few people thought that I would be the one that was going to train him. I didn't get the call to train him but even after that a bunch of elders have been telling us that we would be put together for sure. It was a pretty big joke, because every time we would see each other at mission conferences or whatever we would always look at each other and say "I will see you next transfer right?" But when I actually got the call on Friday night telling me I was with him it was hilarious! So this transfer is going to be SWEET! Anyway he is from Idaho. This is my third companion from Idaho. I don't really know why I keep getting put with people from Idaho. He graduated in '06 and plays football for West Point. So the guy is a complete Stud. He is a convert to the church. He joined when he was 18. Oh and he is a Red head. But like not just a little red. Its like a full on Crimson color. So for people in Taiwan that is insane! Most people here have never even seen red hair. He was telling me in his last area everyone would stare at him and the kids would come up to him and just want to touch his hair! I think its hilarious. He is so sick of it though, I'm sure.

Well yesterday Brother Gao got baptized! It was amazing. His testimony was awesome. He told everyone that he had known about the Church when he was 27 but decided that he didn't want to accept it. But it took him until he had a family of his own to start to realize how bad he needed answers and what to do for his son. He bore his Testimony about the feeling he had at church and that he knew that the teachings here were exactly what his family needed. It was a really spiritual experience for me. I sat next to his wife the whole time. She seemed to really enjoy it as well. She told me after the baptism that she believed everything. I personally know she has felt it because I have seen it on her face. She just needs a little bit of time. All the other investigators are doing really well. I will give more details on that next week.

But I love you all so much.
The scripture for this week is Alma 7: 11-12.
It's the one Elder Duff chose.

And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

Bye,

Elder Wei

Letter # 52

2010-04-19T10:38:00.001-07:00

我親愛的家聽，我很開心可以再對你們報告
(My beloved Family, I am so happy to get to get to report to you all again)

Well we had a great week as far as Missionary work goes. It was a miracle. I have been in Taiwan for more than a year now and I have never had more new investigators in one week than we had this last week. It was truly unbelievable. I don't think I have had a teaching pool like this before. Also this week we have a new family to teach. She is a mother that we contacted about a week ago and she said that we could come to her house and teach her family. She had two kids by her side at the time and I was just hoping with all my heart that the lesson was going to go through. The night before the lesson we called her and she sounded excited on the phone and told us that her husband was going to be there as well to sit down with us. They are the YU family. It was amazing. We sat down and she told us that she wanted to be a better mother and learn more patience with her kids. She told us that the reason why she set up with us was because when we met her we bore our testimonies about families and showed her our tract that says 家庭是永恆的. (Families are forever) She was touched with what we said.

What is most amazing is this lady's background is completely Buddhist. Which means she has no real sound understanding of God! In the lesson she went on to ask us how this could help her. I explained to her that we look at Jesus Christ as our example and use the principles of faith and repentance to help us, and that through that our natures can be changed. I explained to her a little bit about the Atonement. The Atonement will take a while for her to understand. Overall the lesson went well and they set another time next Saturday for us to come back. I am so stoked! I can't explain the need this country has for this gospel, especially regarding the families here. They need so much help. The Chinese have such a large emphasis on families to begin with. So all the members here have a great testimony of what the gospel can do for their families and what more it gives them.

As far as all the new investigators from last week... It is going to take a lot of good planning to take care of everything. Well other than that of missionary work..... still and even more stress than last week. My companion is still really having a hard time adjusting. He just really doesn't like the way things go. Its so hard because I feel like I truly have done everything I can do to fix the problem. I have tried to speak him many times and help him out. But he is not willing to talk and fix the feeling and attitude. My personal opinion is that his happiness can all be changed in a matter of minutes. It really comes down to choice. Like I said last week, I am not going to get into details or anything but things are not easy between my companion and me right now. This is the first time I have ever experienced anything like this in my mission and I don't really know what to do?

I don't think I have ever been so tired in my life. I really am exhausted.... Well I was talking to the Zone leaders and we came to the conclusion that what I needed to do was to play it off, and treat my companion as if there was no problem at all. So today I just starting acting like there was never a problem to begin with. I really do think it could work. Most of all I think it might be able to make him happy. Because if he gets the feeling that I am not being natural talking to him, it will immediately remind him that something is wrong and then he might get in a bad mood again. I think by just acting natural his mind will get off of what's wrong and then things will start getting positive.

Anyway this is the last week of the transfer, and I know there is a very good chance that I will leave but in all honesty I don't want to. Mainly because I will feel like I left a problem with my companion unsolved. That I really refuse to do. I feel like we are together for a very specific reason and the result of it is NOT supposed to be negative. Things will be okay with my companion I really have faith.

Well the Gao family is still doing well. We are just waiting for the interview this week and the baptism should be this Saturday. I can't wait!

Okay I really got to go! Love you all ssssssssoooooooooooo much!!!!!
Thank you for the Prayers.

Elder Wei

Letter # 51

2010-04-12T09:10:00.000-07:00

Okay! This last week.............. Not easy.

Just as hard as it has ever been. I am not going to get very detailed on what I say. But my companion had a little bit of a breakdown one of the nights last week and it was pretty rough. He basically is really down on himself about a lot of things. He feels like he has not been very successful as a missionary and it really tore him down. I did all I could to talk to him about it but in the end we decided that it would be best if he talked to President about how he feels. Things got a little better after he talked to President. Then a few days after that he wasn't happy again. On top of that last week we also lost another one of our investigators with a baptismal date. We called him and asked when we were going to meet with him next and he told us that he didn't have interest and that we didn't need to come over. One of the things that will turn everything around in my opinion is just attitude. I know that sounds so easy and everyone says that for
advice, but it's true!

Right now I am trying to do my best to just make my companion happy. Because when he is happy he really is an incredible missionary! It's just about maintaining that good feeling
is the thing that is so hard. When I first got with him I just thought that running him with hard work would build his fire, but have realized that is not what he needed at the time. He needed to be built personally and his confidence needed to be built. I think the work ethic will come . Even though last week was one of the harder weeks of my mission, I really feel a comforting feeling about this next week.

______

Last night was awesome. I don't really know what changed it. But the feeling was just different. I think a lot of it was that we started laughing about something and it just changed the whole feeling around. We set 4 people up for appointments next week. My companion all the sudden had all this fire with him, and it was all from attitude.

This next week is a big week for the Gao Family. The husband's baptismal interview is this next Saturday. Please pray for them. This next week also will be big in the fact that we are meeting with a lot of new people that could become really good new investigators. Getting to know people and seeing them become new investigators is easily one of my favorite parts of missionary work. My companion has made mention that he wants to start working with the ward more. In my mission I feel like that has not really been my strongest point. So we came up with a plan. Because our ward is smaller than most. We decided to invent this newsletter that we are going to send out to the ward once a week. In this newsletter we want to give a spiritual
thought, a scripture, and information about the investigators we are working with. We really think that it will connect us with the ward and they will get to know the missionaries a lot better without us having to spend so much time in their homes. There are many elders that like spending a lot of time with members. I personally have never really liked that. I feel that takes too much time. Our Ward really needs a push though, so I feel good about it.

General conference was AMAZING! It was my favorite one that I have ever seen. It is a ridiculously large blessing that I never even came close to grasping before my mission. I took it all for granted. But this year I really realized the power of the words spoken. There has
never been a meeting or anything that I have ever attended in my life that has effected me more than the General conference this last weekend. I cant even really describe the uplifting effect it had on me. I feel like I was taught so many principles that I have heard from childhood. But since I am truly living them every day, so many doctrines have become more clear now. The Family focus this General conference was evident. I don't see how any parent or future parent could not have not been inspired to do a better job in their everyday family life from watching ANY one of the talks.

I don't know if I really had a favorite talk. But the one at the end from Elder Neil Anderson really was amazing. He invited all of us to just talk more about the Savior. He promised just bringing up his name anywhere would bring more protection. That I can really testify of. Just thinking about the Savior brings more protection. But I believe by having full family conversations about him the impact can be so much greater. My testimony in the Savior and his healing power really grew from conference. I really know that the Atonement is real and changes hearts. I have felt that change.

The scripture this week is Helaman 5:12

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

Love you

Elder Wei

Letter # 50

2010-04-05T16:43:00.000-07:00

Dear Family:

Ended another week! Again not the most easy thing in the world. I don't really know where to start. I guess I can start by talking about the investigators.

One of the people with the baptismal date fell out. The last time we were supposed to meet with him we waited outside at the place and he never showed up. We have called several times and he won't pick up the phone. I think that is the one thing about missionary work that makes me the most upset. When people get so close and then at the last moment they can't make it. Its so hard to think about how much work was spent. I always have the hope in my mind that we really did make a difference with those type of investigators, and that later on they will accept it. After all two of the baptisms in my mission have been that exact same case. They met with missionaries for a long time and it just didn't work out. But years later they were ready for it!

Well the Gao family is doing great. We met with them on Saturday night and they both are progressing so fast. The husband is still preparing for the 24th. No problems there. The wife is still waiting to set a date. It will be very soon I believe. Their two year old son actually participated in our last lesson. The last few times we went over there he kept peaking his head out of the room and watching us, and this time he decided he wanted to sit in his high chair and play with his toys while we taught the lesson. He is going on a mission! I always think that whenever I go over there. That would seriously be the most joyful thing to me. But we got a good while before that happens. Please keep praying for this family. They are so close and they are doing so great. The spirit gets stronger every time we go over there.

So we are teaching this new investigator starting from last week and he is awesome. He is this 70 year old guy. It was someone that we met on a bench in a park a few weeks ago. His name is Brother Tsun. Anyway we started talking to him and he started telling us about how he knew about Joseph Smith and the Gold Plates, and all this stuff. When he started talking about it I couldn't help but laugh. I thought it was ridiculous how he knew so much. He told us that many years ago he had met a member that told him all about the Religion. When we met with him and had a chance to teach him we found out that he has read the Bible 3 times from cover to cover, and that he had already read to Alma in the Book of Mormon. He is just this really smart old guy. I am so excited to see where it goes. The rest of the investigators are all doing well. We had a person who has been meeting with us for a little bit come with us to Church for the first time. He liked it. His name is Brother Tsai he is 27 years old. For him its just a big change from his traditional Buddhism. The spirit is strong when we meet with him. He has felt it. Please keep praying for them.

Something funny happened this week. I got in a little bit of a Bike accident. Well we were riding our bikes on our way home for lunch, and on the side of the road I saw someone and thought that we should stop and talk to him. So as I hit the breaks to turn on the sidewalk. I got hit in the back by another bike. We both kind of tumble over, and when I looked back I realized that it wasn't my companion that hit me. It was some teenage kid. I started laughing and the kid seemed really embarrassed, I guess he didn't think it was funny at all. My companion rode over and we helped this kid up. Luckily no one got hurt. No scratches or anything. The funny part is that I actually got his number and he said we could call him and set up a time. I don't really know how much interest he has but it was funny I thought.

The hard part about this week was definitely with my companion. Things are not getting much easier. He is really struggling with some mood problems. Basically he is just not happy. I have tried to talk about it multiple times but he just doesn't want to talk about it. I don't think I need to talk about details but I will say it is so hard right now. I know that thinking about myself and what bothers me about the situation is not what I should do. I know that! But I am really exhausted from it all. I have thought of so many ways to get him going and to get him happy. But everything seems to irritate him. I really do not know what to do? The feeling I have is that this is going to turn into a very big learning experience for the both of us. Throughout this I have been learning about more of my own shortcomings, and that hurts. Just keep enduring. I really believe things will get better. I think if there are a few things I have learned already with my new companion is Patience and Humility. I keep learning more and more about my inner pride every day, and how much pride brings down the progression of a person. Humility is so important, and it seems to be one of the hardest attributes to obtain.

The scripture this week is D&C 112:10.

Also last thing, I don't know if I have told you all before but President Uchtdorf's Grandson is in my mission. He is hilarious. He always comes up to me and says my name in this thick German accent. I talked to him last night and we both prophesied we would be put together next transfer. Anyway, he told me that his Grandpa gave him some hints on what he was going to talk about. So it should be good. I am so stoked for General Conference. It is something I completely took for granted before my mission. It's like the Super Bowl for us missionaries!!! ha

Okay love you!

Wei Zhang Lao

Letter # 49

2010-03-29T13:52:00.001-07:00

Okay Family/Everyone.
We had another good week here in Shipai. Our area is almost stronger than it has ever been since I have been here. This last week we brought six investigators with us to church. We also have six scheduled baptismal dates coming up. This week we set so many appointments up too. My companion is getting better everyday. I think he is getting really excited from the success and it is re-sparking the fire that he had earlier in his mission.

What also helped us this week was a couple of exchanges I went on. As a district leader I get the chance to go on exchanges with the Zone leaders. The Zone Leaders are awesome. You learn so much from older missionaries. This last exchange I was with Elder Day. He is from St. George. He and I have gotten really close, because he has been my Zone leader for 3 Transfers now. Anyway he came into Shipai with me and we saw a lot of miracles. We also set up a couple of Families with appointments. It was sweet.

Also later in the week the Traveling Assistants came into our area. The Traveling Assistants are two missionaries that the President assigns to go around and go on splits with missionaries all around the mission. To me that is the sweetest job you could get. But they were going through our zone and they stopped in our area this last Friday and spent the night with us and then split with my companion and me to go out in our area. So basically you get twice the amount of work done in your area. It was amazing. Luckily I knew both of the traveling assistants and was already good friends with them. We went out and it was a blast. We also saw so many miracles. The feeling of going out with some of the best leaders in the mission for a full day at a time is awesome. It's kinda like that feeling of the little boy waiting to grow up and become a missionary. It was a week filled with so many learning experiences.

A cool miracle happened. About a couple months ago I ran into this Vietnamese lady on the side of the rode and I told her that I wanted to give her a book. So we set a time with her and gave her the Book of Mormon. She said that when she would have time she would read it. I can't really remember but we called her about a week later and she said that she had not had the chance to read it and that she would. We didn't hear from her again until this last week when I ran into her again on the street. We started to talk and she said that she had read a little. After talking to her for a little longer my companion realized that we had a Vietnamese lady in our ward, something that never even popped in my head. So we told her and she got unbelievably excited and was all the sudden really interested in meeting with us. It was really funny. She set a time this next week to meet. I am way excited to see what happens.

All of the investigators are all doing really well. The prayers are helping. Especially with the Gao Family. The last time we met we had a really spiritual lesson with them. We shared with them about Enos and the Faith God wants us to have in order for us to receive an answer. At the end of the lesson Sister Gao looked at us and asked "How Long?" I didn't really know what she meant at first but than she said "How long until I can get my answer?" I told her that If she really wants the answer she will get it. I told her that the Lord knows all of us and what we are willing to do. It really made me so happy because they are both showing a lot of Faith, and I know they have felt it, especially the wife. Ever since we have talked about Eternal families, she has been asking so many questions and really thinking about whether the message is true or not. The Husband is really on board. He does not have any real concerns right now. He believes it and is getting ready for his baptism on the 24th of April.

Today for Preparation day one of our good friends took us to Costco to get food. I went a little crazy there. I felt like I was home in Utah again. But I finally got some real cheese. Yes real cheese and I am so excited to eat it. They have Cheese in the normal grocery stores here but in no way should it be allowed to say cheese on the front of the package. Because it is not cheese! AHHH what you people take for granted in the states. I give you all a Challenge! Eat Chinese Take out for one week straight and tell me how you feel! I dare you.......

Anyway I am so thankful for where I'm at on my mission. Things are going well. Not easy, But it is all worth it. I am really feeling my testimony growing day by day, something I had a problem noticing when I first came on my mission. Its all true and I have made the choice to cast out the doubt and just believe.

This last week in my studies I have been in the War Chapters in Alma. I just want to say that........... Captain Moroni is the MAN! The scripture today is Alma 48:17. (Keep the commandments of God)

Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.

Love you!

Elder Wei

Letter # 48

2010-03-22T09:55:00.000-07:00

Wow what a long week. I am exhausted. Every night I hit the pillow I am dead! My companion and I are now having some issues. The last area he was in was A LOT different. I had interviews with President Grimley this last Friday and he told me some reasons why my companion was put with me. Basically my companion is not very happy with me. I think a lot of it is that he is just not used to it yet. Like I said his last area was A LOT different. From what I have heard him and his last companion were a little more relaxed. I'm kind of in a position where I don't really know what to do. I keep trying to be as patient as I can talking to him and figuring out what is bothering him so much, but we never seem to come to a conclusion. I am pretty sure any missionary will tell you that the worst thing is not getting along with one of your companions. It is like the hardest thing in the world to do missionary work when you and your companion are not on the same page. I think all I can do is just try to do my best. I think we just need to have a really long talk about it.

Besides all that things are going great. The Gao family is really doing awesome. For the first time the wife sat down with us and listened to the plan of salvation. The husband has a baptismal date right now. They really liked the part about the Celestial kingdom and families being together forever. It made complete sense to them. I think that was the thing that really turned the wife around and got her thinking about it. They have a son that is about a year and a half old. It's hilarious because his dad has a fairly big head and the son looks exactly the same. I crack up every time I see them together! Please pray for the Gao family.

As far as the other investigators, we are teaching a few people now that are in there 20's and also a 16 year old high school student. They are all doing really well. I don't know if I have told everyone but we have this Swedish friend that my last companion and I met about a month ago. He is like 6 foot 6 and he is hilarious. He opened his own Swedish restaurant right around the corner of our house. I was able to use some of my manipulating skills to work out a good deal with him for Meatballs and Mash potatoes (Ha-ha). Yes ...there are Meatballs and Mash potatoes in Taiwan (Believe it or not). Sorry Mom, but some of the candy you send me is going to compensate for the deal we made. He also gives us some Swedish Candy in return. His name is Sam Whalberg. We ordered a Book of Mormon in Swedish and are still waiting to get it. He is really anti Church and religion so we are trying to take it from a small approach.

I am getting a little skinnier. I eat these special Taiwanese sweet potatoes every morning. They are kinda like yams. But I think its paying off. In other news, Elder Woo (My Last native companion) is getting married in just a couple weeks. I am going to see if I can go to his sealing in Taipei.

Oh, something funny about my companion: We were contacting someone yesterday and the lady we were contacting stops dead sentence and looks at my companion and says "Your Mandarin is weird" "Where are you from?" I started busting out laughing we both thought it was hilarious. Its actually kind of a big joke in our mission. All the Natives when they go home have these accents because they are put with us foreigners and they have to listen to us 24/7 and it starts to wear off. It cracks me up.

This weeks spiritual message is going to be about something I think I talked about a few weeks ago. Its WORK! Something my brother John told me right before I left. It has been something that has not left my mind my entire mission. I believe something the Lord really wanted to teach me on my mission was that of work. I feel as time goes on I am beginning to understand what it truly means to be diligent and what the Lord really expects out of his servants. I have spent this last week evaluating a lot of the things I need to do to become a better missionary. I have realized that it truly is a process. I think back at when I first got to Taiwan and blows my mind thinking of the things I didn't know and understand. It is truly line upon line how we learn. That is Heavenly Fathers way of teaching us. I feel like the true trick to it is the word DILIGENCE. I think that is one of the most crucial things we can learn in this life. We have to learn to be diligent in everything we do. Otherwise there is no progression. and if there is no progression there is no point in this life. For that is the very reason we were sent to earth. ...so that we could continue on in progression and become what god wants us to be.

The Scripture I want to share is Alma 34:32-33.

For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God;
yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to
perform their labors.

And now, as I said unto you before,
as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore,
I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate
the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life,
which is given us to prepare for eternity,
behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life,
then cometh the night of darkness
wherein there can be no labor performed.

I love you all so so so so so so much.
Thank you for everything.

Elder Wei

Letter # 47

2010-03-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

Sweet!!!!!!!!
I am so stoked for Steve and Lori. A new Nephew when I get back! I was so excited when I read the email, especially the Chinese Steve put in there. How do you do that anyway? You must have like some translating program or something. But I was stoked cause I could read it.

Anyway, some seriously big things have happened in my mission this last week. But I will start by reporting a little bit on the Investigators and stuff. Well this last Saturday we set 3 new baptismal dates with people, one of them being the Father of that new family. His name is Da Yu Gao. He is set for the 24th of April. He is really progressing and has been to Church the last 3 weeks in a row. He loves the Book of Mormon. He is really smart with history and stuff so the Book of Mormon is even more interesting to him. The other two were the older lady Mei Yu Chen, we reset her date because she wasn't able to make the first, and a new guy we started teaching. He speaks German and prefers to be called Jakkob. I actually don't know his full Chinese name. He is really good and completely willing to read and pray.

We still have lots of other investigators that we are working with. I am so thankful for all the people we are teaching right now. It feels good not having an empty planner wondering what we should do that day! Like John said right before I left. The Secret to missionary work....... is work! I know that if we are willing to put in the work ourselves and do all that we can on our part, the Lord will the make up the rest. This is an eternal principle. We are feeling the blessings from hard work. The more and more my mission goes the more and more I realize how much the Lord expects from me as an individual. When much is given much is required!

Well the real big news this week came in a phone call from the Mission Leaders. Move calls were this weekend and my companion Elder Shumway got moved down to Xin Zhu, which is close to the center of the Island. I was called to stay here and be the District Leader over the Beitou area. It was everything that I thought would not happen! I also found out later that nigh that my new companion was another native and that every single person in the District was native Taiwanese except for me. I am obviously excited but the last few days have been filled with thoughts of doubt and discouragement and feelings of unworthiness. I will honestly say that I am very scared. I think the stress is going to double now. I have been on my knees a lot asking for help these last couple of days. I think that is one of the Lord's ways of telling me that I need to rely on him more. This Transfer is going to be very interesting.

My new companions name is Elder Du. He is from Taichung (center of the Island). His older brother served a mission and like me he is a second generation member. I don't know anything about him but he seems really cool. He has a slightly laid back, but cool attitude.

Well today I really do not have time to tell a lot. We have to go pick up the other missionary in our district right now. So I gotta go. But I love everyone so much and I am so Thankful for my Family.

The scripture this week is Ether 12:27

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

Letter # 46

2010-03-08T10:22:00.000-08:00

Hello Family!

Things still going great! Loving it more and more as it goes. Well this weeks special shoutout goes to my nephew Adam (Elder Vuinovic) who is leaving for the MTC this week. I am so proud of you my brotha! It's the best thing you will ever do. That I promise. Adam, I will send you a letter to the MTC within these next few weeks.

This week we found new investigators, making it just about as busy as the last week! We set a baptismal goal with a 25 yr old guy named brother Tsai. We are excited about that. The issue we might run into with him is the fact that he comes from a family that is extremely loyal to their current religion. The name of the religion is called Yiguandao. The basis of their belief is that all religions are true, and that it is our job to find which "God" or "Heaven" you would like to end up in. In essence..... if you want to be Buddhist you can continue through reincarnation. But if you believe in Jesus you will end up in Heaven. Anyone hearing this obviously understands there is a bit of a large conflict here, but that is the way their religion was explained to me. It is going to be difficult for the first stages of meeting with him to overcome this barrier. That being said, he did set the baptismal date and told us that if he received an answer to his prayers that he would join the Church. Luckily one of his good friends is a person in the ward right next to us. So that will help a lot.

A few amazing things happened this week. I will start by explaining that in Taiwan there are a lot of part or single member families. For example this one Lady in our ward, she and her children were baptized but her husband was not. They are the Lin Family. Well this last week we got a call from him. Which is a miracle in and of itself. But really long story short he called us a few times within two days and told us that he wanted to meet with us and would like us to come over. We don't understand all the details but basically he called a few members of the ward and told them that he and his wife were dealing with a few things and he wanted to know what he should do. So he called us and told us that he wanted to meet and talk. We went over to his house and he explained to us that he was worried that he was not being the man he thought he should be, especially the Father figure in his house. He told us that he wanted his wife to know that she could completely rely on him. He looked completely broken and contrite. He was becoming or being forced to be humble like the Zoramites in Alma 32. When we got done he said the most amazing prayer and told God that he was willing to follow the direction of the missionaries to come closer to God. He then hugged us. It was the hardest and most heart felt hug I have ever received from a Taiwanese. His name is Lao Zhi Lin. I hope everyone can pray for him and his wife's relationship.

This week I had a very interesting experience in sacrament meeting. It was unlike any other Sacrament meeting I have ever been a part of. I know that I grew up in the Church and I have been taking the sacrament since out of the womb. But this was the first time where I felt like I was understanding just a piece of the importance of partaking the Sacrament. As I was partaking the sacrament the thought occurred to me and I pondered what it meant to "Always remember him". I obviously cannot explain the entire experience and the details of it. But I remember thinking of his suffering on the cross and what that meant for me personally. It was a good self evaluation of my relationship with the savior. It was an amazing reminder to me of why we even go to Church and what it is all for. I know that might sound fairly basic and to most members of the church they might have the thought of "duh"... "of course" ...But it wasn't like that. This was much more deep and clear. I have decided that from now on I will try every Sunday to have an experience like that, and always "Remember Him".

The Scripture this week is 3 Nephi 18:7-15
I love you all so much! Talk to you next week!

Elder Wei

Letter # 45

2010-03-03T11:29:00.001-08:00

我非常愛親愛的家庭 (My beloved family which I love so much)

I emailed a couple days late today because today is our Temple Day. So this week preparation day changed to Wednesday. But next week will be regular schedule. First thing I want to say is to give a shout out to my niece Madeline who is AWESOME!!!! Getting into BYU on Scholarship for acting! I am way proud of her. Its crazy to think that next year at this time we will both be going to the same school. WEIRD...... I hope that the plays and Lacrosse games don't have any conflict of schedule! If they do Madeline will just have to tell them that the show has got to wait. HA ...I am really excited about it though.

About this last week, I think exhausted is probably the right word to describe the way I feel. It was the busiest week I have had in this area. We saw so much success too. Including the 2 baptisms last Sunday! That went really well, and the Ward is really happy about it. I feel like the Bishop really trusts us. He sees that we are really working and trying to do our best. So he and his family have been really willing to help.

Well a little about the investigators. The Zhang Family is still really struggling to make the transition from hearing and understanding to the doing and the action of it all. It seems like the husband knows it and feels it. But the wife is holding back so much and is really scared of making commitments. The first time we asked them if they were willing to set a date to be baptized the Husband was completely willing but the wife did not feel comfortable with it. I personally feel that she needs to get into the Book of Mormon. The biggest change that I have seen in Investigators on my mission has always been through the Book of Mormon. That book has so much power. I have seen it change hearts without the person even knowing it.

I don't know if anyone remembers the 18 yr old from Longtan. His name is Ren Bing Zhong. He was the one I met at a stoplight and he was baptized a few months later. He has an amazing story about his testimony of the Book of Mormon. Anyway he got up and bore his testimony in a Sacrament meeting and he told everyone about his testimony of the Book of Mormon. (I am not sure whether I have already told you this story or not). In his testimony he told a story of something that happened to him a week or so prior. He said that one night his friend called him to go out with them and his friends. He said that they invited him to a place that was well we can say "full of temptation". His friends told him that there was going to be all this beer and stuff, and his old girlfriend was going to be there too. Basically for any 18 yr old here or anywhere, the answer would probably be what time? and where? But he went on to say that at first he obviously wanted to go but then he became really troubled with what he should do. He said that he picked up the Book of Mormon and opened it. He said that he came to a scripture in Alma chapter 13 verse 27. It was Alma inviting us to cast off our sins and to not Procrastinate the day of repentance. He immediately called back his friend and told him he couldn't go. He said that his friend started giving a him a hard time about it but he just told his friend sorry and that he couldn't. When he told me this story I was filled with so much joy for him because he really got it. I knew the Holy Ghost had spoken to him.

I testify that something like that DOES NOT happen unless the Book of Mormon was the Word of God. I know its the word of god, and that story has become a great source of my testimony of the divinity of that book.

Well the funny story for this week was last night when we were sitting in a park for a lesson and I looked over and low & behold I saw a bunch of Chinese grandmas line dancing to Brooks and Dunn! I was dying laughing. Mom, you would have lost it for sure.

Well I am kinda out of time right now. But the scripture this week is Alma 13:27.
Everyone..... I love you and I pray for you!

Elder Wei

Letter # 44

2010-02-22T10:24:00.000-08:00

你好我的家庭，我經過過年；還活著
Hello Family I made it through Chinese New Years, Alive!

This week was hard on my stomach! Real hard! We were fed just about everyday! A lot of the time is was just pizza or something! Because the members were scared to feed us anything too weird so they just bought us something from America! (In Taiwan that means McDonalds, Pizza Hut, or Burger King) Personally I thought the Chinese restaurants they took us to were way better. Surprisingly I don't think I gained that much weight over this week. My belt is just as tight! The weirdest thing I ate...........are you ready............. Chicken Testicle!!! It actually wasn't to bad but it was kinda just the thought of what I was chewing while it was squishing around in my mouth that made it so bad! Worth it?...... I'm still undecided! Overall Chinese New years was awesome! I am sick of the fireworks though. I will be riding my bike down the street and random explosions are constantly going off. It can get startling ha ha!

Like everyone said this last week was a little bit slower. We still saw amazing things. One of our investigators is a 50 year old women. Her name is Mei Yu Chan. She decided this last week to go to the church she was going to and tell them that she is going to start coming to our church now. She feels like our Church is the one that is going to help her and her husbands relationship. It was kinda a scary thing for all of us waiting on the outcome. But she called us and told us that it went really well and it was really easy to tell them. She is scheduled to be baptized on the 13th of March. As far as the two getting baptized this next weekend. They both passed their interview and everything is looking great. I am way excited.

The Zhang Family is progressing right now, but slowly. They said they would see us at Church this Sunday but they never showed up. We are going to wait a couple days to call them and find out what might of happened. My companion and I this week are really focusing on New Investigators. We feel that we should be teaching a lot more than we are. So please pray for us to find those in need!

As far as weather here... It has been Rainy and Cold for the entire past week! But its getting a little better now. In Three days I will have officially been on this Island for one year.

This week in sacrament meeting the family that was originally supposed to speak got sick and couldn't come. So Saturday we get the call from a member of the Bishopric who asked us to fill their spots and give talks. My companion and I coordinated with each other and gave talks on how the Gospel blesses families. My companion gave this amazing story about his ancestor (Christian Hanz Monson) in Norway that gave up everything for the church. The story is awesome. His ancestor worked in Norway as a prison guard and the missionaries were being held in the jail there. It was around 1840. But basically Christian was assigned to be the one to beat the missionaries and just make life difficult for them. But eventually he started listening to the lessons and one night he snuck them out of the Jail and they went to a river and he was baptized secretly. Then he walked them back up to the Jail and locked them back in. The whole story is incredible but I got up after him and told the ward about my Family story. About both my parents being converts and what that meant to me. Also talking about how 7 missionaries had come out of a decision that my parents had made. I also told the story of Paul and Noelle! The ward thought that was funny.

Well for the scripture this week is 2 Nephi 28:3-5
I have been thinking a lot about the Apostasy lately and the truth about it. In Talmage's book Jesus the Christ it lays it down really clearly what happened in the fall of Christ's Church. When you look at the history of the Apostasy it will amaze you what really happened. It helps me realize more and more the need of the restoration! I hope everyone gets the chance to study on it.

Okay gotta go 我愛你們
I love you all.

Elder 魏

Letter # 43 - CHINESE NEW YEARS

2010-02-16T08:59:00.000-08:00

GONGXI GONGXI! HAPPY CHINESE YEARS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!
Yes it is finally here. MY first Chinese New Years in Taiwan, and it is absolutetly out of Control. There has been Fireworks going off like crazy. On Saturday night I kept waking up cause the fireworks were so loud. Everyone knows the big Fireworks that are illegal in for citizens in America. They only go off at like baseball games and like the fourth of July and stuff. Ya those are not illegal here. Anyone can by them and shoot them off whenever you want. You can only imagine what its like.

Missionary work here during this time is SO HARD! We are lucky if we find any time to meet with our investigators. It's kinda hard finding something super productive. Contacting doesn't really work because basically everyone is inside and almost every store is closed. Knocking doors is even more difficult. Because fom what we were told its really rude to knock on peoples doors during New Years. One thing that we try to push at this time is visiting less active members. Trying to get a meal time with them is ideal. Basically everyone in the ward right now just feeds the missionaries. Pretty much the meals for this whole week are set up to meet with people who want to give us food. And when I say give us food, I am talking like a Thanksgiving size meal every single time. We have only had two days so far and I feel so trampled. I am seriously walking around with my hands on my lower back trying to support my stomach. I have a little taste of what it might feel like to be pregnant. I am seriously in pain! I know poor me right. I still got 5 days to go!

This last week we saw so many miracles I wish I had the time to share them all. But one was really amazing. It was difinitely one of the great mission experiences for me. Well it started when we were waiting for a lesson and it didn't show up. We decided to go to the train station and find some people there to talk to. Right as we got there we ran into this guy. All we said was hello to him and then he started talking to us in perfect English. He told us he was from the states But his parents were both Taiwanese and that in fact he didn't speak any chinese at all . It was really weird. As we continued to talk to him we found out that he was Christian and had alot of Faith but never joined a Church. We started talking to him a little bit about our church but I was really struggling talking and teaching in English. But as we continued I noticed it was getting easier and that I was being helped. I really believed that. I told him about Joseph Smith and bore my testimony about God's relationship with us and how the Restoration ties into it all. After we both bore our testimonys He was just completely quiet.

He waited for a few seconds and told us that he was so touched and he knew that everything we were saying was true. He said he was so thankful that he ran into us. He told us that he know god sent us. Unfortunately he lives in central Taiwan but amazingly the city that he lives in has an English speaking ward there. We asked if he was willing to meet with the missionaries and he told us that he was more than happy to meet with them. It was an amazing miracle that I saw first hand. Again strengthening my testimony in the divinity of this work. Its True! I have so many other stories I want to tell but I really dont have time.

As far as the Investigators go. This week went great. The baptism went well also. We are all excited for the 27th. Ming Long Lee and Bang ying Leo are both getting baptized and are really going strong. With Ming Long Lee we did something fun with him the last time we met with him. We let him be the missionary and teach us. We asked him questions and stuff, it was way cool! He is praying to know if he should go on a mission or not. Family please pray for him.

Well the Scripture this week is Alma 22:15. I love this scripture. I have felt this power and Joy in my own life. That is something that I could never deny!

Love you all,

Elder Wei!

Letter # 42

2010-02-09T09:42:00.000-08:00

你好我的家庭
Hey Fam!

I emailed a little later than usual this week because this morning we had an Investigator take us to lunch today. He actually took us all the way up to the very north coast of Taiwan to this city called Danshui. Its like this port town with a huge river running through it and is surrounded by green mountains....... Yah, it's beautiful. Anyway he took us to this way nice restaurant right on the coast. We spent the rest of the day walking on the pier eating ice cream in 80 degree weather ...So how is Utah? :)

Anyway, it was a good "preparation day" without to big annoying overdone plans. Plus it was good to spend some time with our Investigator. He is getting baptized on the 27th of this month. He name is Bang Ying Leo. He is like 40 and unmarried but we are pretty sure he will just find someone in the Church. ( We are hoping so anyway).

So this week was a tad bit slower than the last weeks. The closer we get to Chinese New year the harder it gets to meet with people. But still going strong with the two people that are getting baptized on the 27th. We actually are having a baptism this next Sunday and its an amazing story. This 21 year old girl, her name is Hui Ru Xie; is someone we met about a month and a half ago. It was one of my first days in this area. But my companion and I were just biking past this convenience store one day and this girl was just kinda smiling and waving at us. YA......WIERD! But nevertheless we stopped and started talking to her. She had a lot of interest in our English class but unsure about the gospel. She said she was willing to set up a time though. We ended up letting the sisters take over. But ever since then she has been to church every single week and has completely changed her life. She passed her Baptismal interview last Saturday and it was decided that I was going to be the one to baptize her. I am way excited. Its amazing how some people come. But I am so thankful that my companion and I stopped to talk to her. I know that God prepares people. I don't know by any means how he does it but I believe he has his own specific way for every person. She was well ready when we talked to her.

We had another unbelievable miracle happen this last week. It was with the family we are teaching. The Zhang Family. Anyway the last time we met with them it was a great lesson. We watched the Joseph Smith Restoration video with him and the dad had a great feeling about it. But after the video he mentioned his worry about the smoking thing and quitting. We tried our best to explain to him that the Lord would help him. We saw him a few days later on the street and he had this really bad cough and was going to see the doctor about it. But the miracle is, that a few days before that the dad got involved in a little scooter accident and hit his chest on the front of his scooter pretty hard. So he had this cough that was getting worse. This last Saturday we called him to remind him about Church in the morning and he told us that he was in the hospital and had to get surgery. We rode over there really quickly. When we got there we found out that he had these bubbles that were in his Lungs because of the accident. He told us that the doctor told him that he could never smoke again because it was to dangerous. When my companion and I heard that I kinda just put my head down and tried not to laugh. We both knew that the Lord stepped in and was helping us out. What was interesting was that we both felt that if there was one thing that was going to hold him back, it would have been the cigarettes for sure. It was really an amazing miracle. We went over to the hospital yesterday with one of the members of the bishopric and gave him a blessing. We are going to call him tonight and see how he is doing.

This week I also received a big answer to my prayers as well. There was one day that we had that was just filled with trials and it kinda seemed like the day was just getting worse and worse. Every missionary knows exactly what that feels like. The day ended and it was a relief. I made it to 10:30 and got on my knees. I was filled with a lot of distress and doubt. In my prayer I kept asking how I could be better and what I could do to become better. The morning rolled around and a call came on our home phone, and basically there are only two people who ever call on that phone. The District Leader or this kinda "special person" named Kevin. I only know him by his English name. He has known the missionaries for years and somehow knows all of our phone numbers. But it was 6:40 and I was in the middle of my morning prayer and the phone was just constantly ringing and it would not stop. I knew it was him and I was just hoping that he would give up and stop calling. But he didn't. The phone just kept ringing. I was already annoyed as it was but I kinda just gave up the prayer and went over to the phone, not really the best of moods and answered. It was him and he called me just wanting to chat and see if I was going to church and stuff. He kinda asks the same questions every day. But I got really annoyed this time and was really short with him and immediately told him that I had to go. Right as I hung up I had a very guilty felling and I realized that my prayers were answered. The Lord let me know exactly where it was that I needed to be better. He told it to me as straight is it comes. I need to be filled with love all the time. Not just some of the time, or when I feel like it. But all the time in all circumstances. That experience strengthened my Testimony so much in the power of prayer and the importance of having love always in my heart.

The scripture I want to share this week is Alma 5:38. The whole Chapter is really good and talks a lot about repentance. Everyone read it.

Love you gotta go!

Elder Wei

Letter # 41

2010-02-03T10:04:00.000-08:00

我親愛的家庭 (My beloved family)

Well this weeks filled with many ups and downs. For the most part it went well. Transfers were this last weekend and I am still with my same companion Elder Shumway. We together make the Shumburger (It's delicious). We actually work amazing together and he is a really good missionary. I am way happy am still together with him. For multiple, multiple reasons. He is younger than I am but he is one of those Elders that knows exactly why he came on a mission. He will be a good leader.

We have really been working hard in our area, and we are seeing blessings from it. We are have two baptisms on the 27th. One is an older guy who has had friends in the Church for years and is finally really progressing. The other is the 18 year old kid. He is doing well right now. This last week we went on a Taipei Temple square tour with one of the investigators. She and her daughter loved it. Her daughter is 9 years old and is completely hilarious. She wanted to know if God was really in the Temple and she started getting frustrated because she couldn't see him. She will make a great Sister missionary when she is older. I sent a picture for everyone. But overall I think they really liked it. Taipei is such a crazy city. On the street where the temple is there is peace that cannot be felt anywhere else in the city. Its crazy because you can take one step on the street and you know that the feeling is just different there.

Something a little stressful happened. We went to go visit one of the new members last week, Sister Lee kind of an older lady; and when we got to the house her husband was outside. I have only been here a little while so I don't know the full story but her husband absolutely hates the missionaries. He was super rude to us and lied to us and told us she wasn't home and stuff. When we left he ended up yelling at her really bad. She ended up calling us telling us that she can't really come to church anymore. Well at least for the time being. We didn't even really know what to say. But she is really strong willed and will be back. That I am sure of. It's funny cause she will still find an excuse to call us every single day to tell us something new. She is funny. She is exactly like Grandma June. Not kidding. She has Grandma June's gun powder, just put into a Mormon. Sometimes inviting her to teach lessons with us can be a little crazy but she has an amazing testimony.

This morning was a little crazy for us. We had to get up really early in the morning to take one of the elders in our district to the airport. He is flying to Taidong. It's a little city at the bottom east corner of the Island. The monkeys over populated the people. But at the airport I had a weird flashback of the day I got to Taiwan and the scary realization that I only have ten months left until I am getting on that plane to come back. THAT WAS FREAKY! I stopped at the mission home on the way back and ran into my first District Leader, Elder Scott from Australia. He is heading home tomorrow and that was really weird for me to see. Basically this morning was rough. But gave me even more fuel to push me harder for the time I have left. I refuse to turn into an old lazy missionary. I HATE THAT! I made a commitment that I am going to get on that plane knowing that I pushed to the end.

Well the scripture for this week is in Alma. Its the story of Ammon and King Lamoni. Alma chapters 18-19. The point that I want everyone to pay attention to is the choice that King Lamoni and the queen made. There choice was to believe, and what the Lord is able to do with those that choose to believe. There were others that received the same witness of miracles. But the choice to believe is what it came down to. All progression is built around faith. Its our choice to believe or not to believe. If we choose to harden our hearts and not believe the Lord cant mold us. That is true because I witness it everyday.

Okay 我非常愛你們. ( I love you all so much )

Elder Wei 魏長老

Letter # 40

2010-01-25T15:01:00.000-08:00

Hey Family!

Well another good week but had some irritating parts none the less. Mel the 18 year old investigator was not able to make it to church. He didn't wake up to his alarm. We are probably going to have to change his baptismal date. But he is progressing.

That young couple that we are teaching are doing great. The husband came to church this Sunday and really like it. He was listening so intently to everyone talking trying to get the most out of it. We meet with them again tomorrow night.

We also set a new baptismal goal with an older women this last week. She has pretty much investigated every religion on the face of this Earth. Teaching her is no easy task! We have really been pushing the importance of the Restoration with her. Her name is Mei yu Chen. The last lesson we had with her we printed off a talk from the November Ensign, the Conference edition. The talk is called Joseph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration by Elder Tad R. Callister. We read it along with her and it really put things into perspective for her. For me as well. It helped me realize very crucial doctrines that we as members of the Church might sometimes take for granted. For example, the type of being that God really is, what relationship he has with his son Jesus Christ, where we come from, why we are here, and where we are going. In essence... The Plan of Salvation. Without this, imagine what our lives would or could possibly be like without these useful doctrines. What comes to my head is LOST! we would be lost, and would be relying on other means to satisfy the great questions of the human soul. I cannot express how thankful I am to know this doctrine and its divinity that comes with it. What a blessing we have.

In the same lesson I was able to share the story of my older brother whom I have never met. Michael. He passed away as a toddler. To those who are not familiar with the Plan of Salvation I can't begin to imagine the grief that would cause any parents. I expressed to this investigator the blessing of knowing that through the book of Mormon a lost and crucial doctrine was restored. In Moroni 8 it talks of little Children being alive in Christ. It speaks of their innocence. With this we know that those children are not lost but in fact have already received their salvation automatically and are living in the presence of God. What a blessing we have for knowing this. I was called to share a quick message with the ward on Sunday at Sacrament meeting and shared the same story. I was touched with what I was taught spiritually. It was a great experience to realize the big picture of the Restoration and what comes along with it.

Good story from this weekend. The Elders in the area right next to us had a baptism. We came to the baptism. But right before the baptism we were getting ready and making some calls and stuff, when the other elders busted in the room and told us that we had a serious situation on our hands. I got a little scared and jumped up from the desk wondering what was going on. I thought something really bad had happened. But the Elders led me into this room, and there was this huge spider! Like Huge! Soon enough all these kids from the ward found us in this room chasing this spider around. I elected to kill it! I don't think spiders should be allowed to be on this earth! But the other Elders wanted to catch it. So they gave me this plastic container and I cornered him in and got him. We ended up just letting him go outside. Which I am still furious about. But it was way funny.

This week I also had the chance to go on exchanges with an Elder that I served with in my last area. He actually played lacrosse at UVU the same time I was at the Y. We played each other twice that year. I still keep up the smack talk with him now though. Like pretending like I don't know what the name of his school is called or asking him if he remembers the scores of the games when we played. (ha ha ...brings me back to high school) I have been in his district twice and he is an Elder that I really look up to because of his pure humility. He is seriously the nicest person and never shows an ounce of pride towards anything. He serves hard, loves these people and always speaks with love in his voice. I have never heard him say one bad thing about anyone or anything. This week I realized I needed to become more like that. I was really thankful for that exchange.

Well the scripture for this week is the talk I mentioned. Its on Lds.org. Its really powerful I hope everyone has the chance to read it.

Okay love you all so so so much.

Wei Zhang lao

Letter # 39

2010-01-19T11:03:00.000-08:00

Family, Family.

Well things still going fantastic. We set up two more baptismal dates last night and we are really excited about it. We also found a FAMILY this last week. They are the Zhang Family. They are a younger couple with a one year old son. We met them outside contacting. He said that he wanted to know how to raise his son the right way. Prepared?... ya. Our first lesson with them was just a couple days ago. We had it at the home of one of the members of the Bishopric, and it all went great. They set up another time to meet with us next week and we are really looking forward to that. Pray for them please.

One of the people we set a baptismal goal with last night is this 17 year old kid in High school. His situation is very interesting. He is a Christian, had met with missionaries before and has also been to church. We met him outside a couple weeks ago. Anyway this kid is so unbelievably smart. He is the top of his class in High School. Here that is big! The students here work really hard on the books. Most are incredible students. But he just retains everything we teach him its crazy. He understood the great Apostasy before we taught it. He is very interested in truth. He believes in Jesus Christ but like a lot of people confused about which Church to go to. Last night we met with him for the second time. When we first sat down with him I asked him if he had prayed about Joseph Smith. I was surprised when he told us that he had.

He then right away told us that he believed it. I of course asked him why? He went on to tell us that the night he prayed about it he had a dream about Joseph Smith and him translating the plates of the Book of Mormon. He said that when he woke up he had a happy feeling. He said this and I kind of sat there like "really"? I then didn't even know what to say. We had a whole lesson planned to teach him. But after he said that the lesson almost had no relevancy for him at all. We then talked a little about what this kind of answer means for his life. Lastly I asked him if he continues on this path and continues to feel the truth from it, Would he be willing to be baptized. He said of course. We set the date for the 13th of March. It really was an amazing miracle but we will see how it plays out.

The ward is also getting really excited with the progress of missionary work in the ward. They are supporting us completely right now. That is such a blessing to have the ward completely behind you in Missionary work. Our Relief society is amazing. The president and her counselors take down the numbers of all the female investigators we have and are constantly staying in contact with them and making good friends with them. That is so crucial for an investigator, and its been a blessing for us lately.

For me personally this last week I have been thinking a lot about developing a pure testimony. One with a root and foundation like the Savior talks about in the parable of the Sower, Gospel of Mark. I have been thinking and evaluating my own testimony lately, and it has been just another one of those humbling experiences that let you know that you've got a long way to go.

The Scripture for this week is Mark Chapter 4.
I hope everyone gets a chance to read it.

Love you all!
Thank you for your prayers.

Wei Zhang Lao!

Letter # 38

2010-01-11T12:29:00.001-08:00

ELLO! Everyone.

Our area is on fire right now! I'm loving it! It was a miracle filled week this week! Well I guess I can start on a funny note! There is old grandma that lives in the apartment across the street from us. We come in and leave the house every morning and night, she is sitting in her front room. So I like to joke around with her a little bit.. he he! So in Taiwan all the older people speak this dialect of Chinese. It's called Taiyu or Taiwanese. Basically when any foreigner speaks it they think its like the craziest thing. But I will always joke around with her in this language. Like tell her, her hair is pretty or something. She thinks its the funniest thing. This old lady is like 150 years old or something I swear. But one night as we were walking in the door I starting joking around with her again, and she started getting a little frustrated with me. But the next morning as we woke up we saw an ambulance picking her up in the morning. I kept thinking "Did I kill her?" I was worried that my joking to a toll on the ancient person. But just to make sure we went and asked the family and they told us she would be back in a couple days. When we saw her the next time we asked her what happened. She screamed "IM TOO OLD!" and then she started laughing hysterically with this little cynical laugh! It was Hilarious. Good thing she is back! I learned my lesson!

Well things are really going well in our area! We had 5 investigators come with us to church this Sunday and 5 new investigators from this week alone! My companion and I are really trying to do our best right now and we are seeing the blessings from it. Ming long Lee (the 18 year old kid) Came with us to church for the first time and is still working towards his baptismal date on the 30th. I think last week I told everyone that we were teaching a few middle aged women and they are all doing really well as well. One of them, Yi You Chan, has so much faith. She has been reading the Book of Mormon and has been praying non stop for her answer. This is the women that has been to many different Christian churches and is looking for her answer desperately. Please pray for her!

Anyway one of the miracles we saw was unbelievable, really! I think it should be in the Ensign or something. So two Sundays ago we met with this guy! His English name is Jeff. He is this 26 year old single guy. But it was someone that we had met on the street and said we could come visit him sometime at his house but he didn't want to hear anything about the gospel! I think that's the first rule if you don't want to hear anything about church. Don't invite the Mormon missionaries over to your home! We of course had a lesson with him. The lesson was one of the best lessons I have ever been a part of on my mission. It really was incredible. We taught him about the Restoration, and I know he felt it. But after we were done he said that he couldn't set up another time with us. I was really blown away. He said that he might come to church. But anyway two days after that we ran into him on the street and he kinda just walked by us not really saying anything. Two days after that we ran into him again on the street, and tried to set a time with him. He still said he couldn't do it. Then the next day on our way home lone behold there he was again walking right to us. This time was special Because I looked at him and said, Jeff you have ran into us three times in one week after we have met with you and you have only run into missionaries once before in your life. I asked him jokingly if he wanted any more signs from God? He said okay guys, If I run into you a 4th time I will meet with you. Ha ha ha I wasn't too worried about it, I know this is God's work. Last night on our way to a lesson I saw him walking right towards us. I got my companions attention and said "look who it is" My companion and I were just like "Jeff, get over here!" He came over to us laughing and put his hands up and said alright you got it. When can you guys meet? So we are meeting with him to tonight!

Yes the Lord does prepare people and that does not just happen! I was so happy last night, my companion and I were just cracking up about the whole situation. Another miracle also happened. But it was with myself. Last week I went on an exchange with a Native elder. Elder Huang. He is an 18 year old kid that has only been a member for three years and probably comes from one of the most humble backgrounds. He told me his family has no money and completely opposed him joining the Church let alone going on a mission. He told me one of his conversion and story. He told me that one time when he was an investigator he was reading the book of Mormon and then knelt down to pray about it. He said that he just started crying and he didn't know why. He said that he was just filled with joy and peace. A feeling that he had never had before. When he told me this story I felt so happy for him. I know its true! My testimony grew so much from just hearing one persons testimony.

The Taiwanese members are amazing. They sacrifice so much for this. They convert to something so different and so opposite from anything of the Chinese tradition. It leaves me completely amazed thinking about it. The Church is true.

The scripture for this Week is Helaman 5:30. ( I have felt this!) Okay gotta go have a good week everyone.

Love you

Elder Wei

Letter # 37 - New Years!

2010-01-05T13:38:00.000-08:00

親愛的家庭，新年快樂
Translation- Happy New year! My beloved family!

Well New years for me in Taiwan as a missionary is not really what you call an average New years! But rewarding none the less! Being in Taipei has been a huge reward but was just crazy during new years. The subway station is just unbelievably packed! Everyone going into the main city to see the fireworks. Pure Mayhem! But from what I heard the Chinese new year (the lunar calendar one) Is just complete chaos! Basically the whole country just shuts down and everyone just parties and eats food for 5 days! It's still a few weeks away but people are already talking about setting us up for appointments to eat at a members homes every meal, everyday of the celebration. A lot of the older elders have told me that missionary work almost dies during that week because none of the investigators are able to meet with you and everyone is just inside eating so there is no one to contact outside. I imagine a lot of knocking on doors. I heard this is when us foreigners get to eat the .....real......weird stuff! They bring out these dishes that only get eaten once a year! It should be interesting! ;) Which leads me to my next topic.

"What weird stuff I ate this week"....... We went to this investigators house and she brought out some duck dish that only gets eaten during the winter time. I will leave all the details out of it but I basically I ate some Duck intestine and Duck bladder! ......The texture was the nastiest part! The rest of it was not that bad.

Okay so on to investigators...... AWESOME!!!! the area is going well We had 3 investigators at church with us yesterday and the ward members jumped right on them. Taken them to every class becoming really good friends with them. The members are doing really well. The Relief Society rocks here! But some one in particular is this 18yr old kid named Ming Long Lee. He started meeting with us just a week and a half ago and he has a baptismal date scheduled for the 30th of January! He is progressing really fast. I asked him last time we met with him why he was willing to meet with us and want to get baptized. He was unable to answer. But he told me that he feels like something is leading him to do it. He said he didn't know why but he said that he feels like he will know after its all done! He has a lot of Faith to trust two Americans in white shirts speaking what we think might be Chinese to him, and then actually be willing to commit to what we ask him to do! The Spirit you might ask..........? Ya I think so...

The other investigators. All Christian! One is Catholic, the other Baptist, and the third was studying with the Jehovah's witnesses. All I have to say is I salute all the missionaries that go state side! You guys are awesome! and I thought Buddhism was a task. The Christians here can be very difficult to teach. But I do love it because the some of the strongest members I have met in Taiwan, all went to previous Christian churches! The Lord does prepare his people! in many, many different ways. The opposition is still the same here though! The Christians here know all the so called crazy rumors about "Those Mormons"! and I love the fight! I don't mean in terms of arguing or what you call Bible bashing. I just love preserving what I know is right. I have come to the realization that I will never be ashamed of the message I share...Why? cause its true and its worth fighting for! I do believe that with all my heart! I remember in high school following the crowd was for the most part the fun/cool thing to do! But right now.. I would rather be in the Minority.

This is the "cool thing to do"! I love this Church and this Gospel!

The scripture I want to share this week is Romans 1:16.
GO READ IT!

Love you all have a great week!

Letter # 36 - The Christmas Call!

2010-01-04T09:01:00.000-08:00

Translation( Hello my most loved people in the entire world).
Well that was awesome having the chance to talk to everyone on Christmas. I felt like I was in some dream or something and then as soon as I hung up I got slapped back into reality. Ya ...weird feeling, but I loved talking to everyone none the less. It sounds like everyone is doing amazing! I will admit it was a little hard for two days after I hung up, but I hit my knees, had some tears and picked up and kept going. I think it should be that way anyway! I think if I didn't cry about it that would be the bigger problem! Yes I miss my family with all my heart and I am so thankful for everything (especially allowing me to stay alive through all my demonic years as a child). I'm surprised I wasn't cast out to outer darkness or something. Thank you. I truly love my family and anyone who dealt with me in some form during my dark years! (my own little apostasy).

Well I will talk a little bit about what we did for Christmas. My companion and I had some extra pancake mix...Yes I know pancake mix in Taiwan!.... But we tried to make breakfast as elegant as we could. It didn't really work out but we tried. Then we opened presents talked to the family! We tried the whole caroling thing to find investigators. Like we went and knocked doors and before they could say no we just started singing Christmas carols........ It didn't really work. Caroling in Taiwan I guess doesn't bring the warm fuzzy welcoming like it does in the states. It was kinda funny though. We had a couple lessons one being with a Jehova's Witness. All I am going to say about the lesson is that MY PATIENCE WAS TESTED :) !

For Dinner my companion and I just went out to a restaurant. We spent a lot of time outside 'contacting'. On the way we were able to set up to more people for appointments. One of them being a Family! Then the night ended with us teaching a community english class. It wasn't what you call a "Traditional Christmas". But I liked it knowing that I was doing the absolute right thing! Ya its hard thinking what your family is doing half way around the world but I shouldn't have been anywhere else. My Christmas miracle happened with myself.

But it wasn't until the day after when I got the gift I was looking and praying for. Growing up in the church I hear every Christmas about the Birth of a Savior, a Messiah, One that will come to redeem the World, The Prince of Peace, one that brings tidings of great joy, and so forth. After all my years I NEVER GOT IT! It never occurred to me what that actually meant. ...Until I was sitting at my desk in the morning finishing studies or something and I remember just looking at this little Nativity we have in our house (Thanks Mom for sending that by the way). I was just struck with a feeling of amazement and aah! As I looked at the baby Jesus I got it. I finally realized it! Because of this one birth, the mistakes, griefs, pains, sins, illnesses and sorrows of every soul that has and would forever walk the Earth would be redeemed and paid for by and from this noble birth. That is the gift of Christmas. In no way am I saying that I gained a full understanding of the importance of Jesus Christ's birth. I am saying that I was given a foundation of the eternal perspective of the baby born in a manger. That was my greatest Christmas gift ever given to me.

When I got to my NEW AREA I was told that there was not much going on here. The only investigators were a 13 and 11 year old boy. Basically we spent a week straight outside talking, talking and talking. It was exhausting! But this week we now have 4 new investigators and lots of new lessons with potential family investigators. I am way excited! The hardest task this transfer will be building the ward. The ward has so many inactive members and the Priesthood numbers are not very strong. We are going to do our best. The number one focus I have right now is finding more investigators because from what I have seen in the past, if the Ward sees a lot of new faces always coming to church they all get super anxious and excited about missionary work. I think that will be the spark that gets the ward rolling!

My companion. Elder Shumway! Really hard working, obedient young missionary! Perfect! Humble kid from Idaho falls. He is an amazing example to me. I knew it from the first day I was with him why we were put together (Well at least one of the reasons). I feel like he is going to be a really big key in my spiritual growth. He is really a good kid. I am looking forward to this transfer.

Well the Scripture this week is actually from the Hymn book. "Joy to the World". Homework- everyone go read the lyrics!

Okay love you all!

Letter # 35

2009-12-21T18:20:00.000-08:00

你好我親愛的家庭我要對每個人說聖誕節快樂!
Translation: (Hello my beloved family, I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas)

Well my time came to leave Longtan 龍潭. I was a little disappointed to be honest. We were actually in a meeting when the assistants to the president called me and gave me the assignment to go to the city of Shipai 石牌. So I actually just got here a couple of hours ago and I am pooped! I didn't get to bed until 12:30 and had to wake up at 5:00 to get up here!

So the city I am in now is in Taipei county, and again like my first area is nothing but buildings. I am going to miss the rice patties and all the farmers in their funny hats. It actually was really hard leaving my last area. Longtan has a really special place in my heart, partly because of the learning experiences. The biggest part was obviously the people. That was the area that I fell in love with the Chinese people! I also know that one of the reasons why I was called to Taiwan was to meet a couple of the people there specifically.

Yesterday I stood up in front of the ward and bore my testimony on how much I knew that we were all brothers and sisters of our Heavenly Father. I remember just looking at them and feeling that is was true, That they were family. Anyway when a missionary leaves an area the ward there pretty much goes ballistic! They love the missionaries here. Food, pictures, gifts, food! They treat visitors way too well here! But it is totally their culture to just give to others, especially if your a Foreigner! All the Members kept offering a place to stay for my parents and food and all that stuff! So the Weinberger family has it made here.

Well this last Saturday we had a huge ward Christmas Party. A lot of the community showed up. About half of the people there were not members. So we were running around like crazy trying to talk to people and having members help us talk to investigators and all that stuff. It was pure mayhem! But it was a really successful night. A lot of investigators showed up and they all loved it! We actually had one of our investigators perform and sing a couple Christmas songs for everyone! That was another thing that was so hard about leaving. There were so many people we were teaching and they were all doing amazing. Especially the Lin Family. I think I told their story a couple weeks ago in an email. But they came to Church for the first time yesterday and they loved it. They said they were so touched! It was perfect because this week was the Primary Christmas program. Then a member of the bishopric got up afterward and started bearing his testimony of the example of children. It was really powerful.

That night the Lin family invited us over for dinner so I could eat with them one last time. It was really sad. I gave the closing prayer after the lesson and the mother wanted to say another prayer. But this time she wanted to offer it. As she started to pray she started to sob. She was crying the whole time! I didn't know what to say. But It just made me so happy that I had a chance to see the true process of finding God and the true Gospel unfold in a person right before my eyes! I am 100% sure that they will be baptized within the next couple months. I am going to beg with the mission president to let me go down there to see them baptized!

Oh ya my new companion. His name is Elder Shumway he is from Idaho Falls. He seems like an awesome guy! I have only been with him for 3 hours so we will see what unfolds. He didn't really get along with his last companion from what he told me. I told him it was going to be a sweet next few transfers or however long we are together. I am actually really excited to be with him. He is a young missionary and works hard from what I have heard. Also there are not a lot of investigators in our area right now. But that gets me so pumped! That might sound weird but the challenge gets me way fired!

Okay well the scripture I chose for today is something I read in my personal study this morning. It is 2 Nephi 9:41-42. I had a really strong feeling when I read it this morning. When you read it try to think of what the Savior expects of you?

Okay I love you all MERRY CHRISTMAS from 台灣 (Taiwan).
Talk to you on Christmas!

魏長老 (Elder Wei)

Letter # 34 (HUMP DAY, Dec. 10, 2009)

2009-12-17T10:35:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! ...WOW

I have been on my mission for one whole year! Its such a crazy feeling to think about what I was doing a year ago! What's weird is that two days ago I looked at my watch and realized that I was already past my year mark! That was not a normal feeling you could say. My companion and I are going up to our roof to burn one of my shirts! I don't know (Supposedly) it's some missionary year mark Tradition. I don't really want to burn one of my shirts but my companion insists. Again, I don't really care cause I love burning stuff! The part that freaks me out the most is realizing how fast time flies! Well this week went well again. I'm Lovin' it :)

My companion and I have been finding a lot of new people this week. Last night we went over to this old Investigators house. We saw his teaching record and his address and we were curious why he stopped meeting with missionaries. We got there and were welcomed right in by an amazing family with 5 kids. They set up an appointment next Monday with us and they want to feed us. I am way excited. But unfortunately My companion and I both think that I am going to be transferred this next week. Its a huge bummer for me because we are teaching now 4 families and a lot of other people with great potential. We actually set a baptismal date with someone yesterday! (For the 23rd of January).

Oh on Bad news the baptism this Friday fell through. Her name is Zi Ji Zhu. It's actually a really complicated story but basically she had members from a Church down the road telling her all these things about our church. We were luckily able to meet with her one last time. We committed her to pray about it and ask God what she should do. Couple days later she called us and told us that she had gotten an answer. She said that her answer was very clear that the message we were sharing was in fact true. But she told us that she just can't join the Church. I am still very confused about the whole thing. Supposedly from what she explained is that she was in some debt a while back and some of the people at this other Church lent her some money. So in other words she has to pretty much do what they say. It is really a sad situation. I personally think there is a deeper problem that we don't know anything about. But we will continue to keep praying for her.

We have a New investigator right now that is doing awesome. She is actually another one of my English class students. She is about 36, and miraculously is best friends with that Lin family that I told you all about last week. Ya really interesting. But she is progressing really fast. Especially for someone 2 weeks ago who wasn't even sure that they even believed in God. Its amazing to see those miracles. I love teaching the Plan of Salvation. Every time I teach about it, it seems to just get more and more clear.

The scripture for this week was Moses Chapter 1. I want everyone to pay attention to the part where Moses talks about him being a son of god. I read it last night and it was really powerful. It helped me realize the power and promises that we have given of God, just because we are his Children.

As usual I don't have much time to email today. I love you all and I hope that everything is going well. And next time I email it will be the new transfer. Excited to see what happens!!!!!!!
Your in my prayers

Wei Zhang Lao!

Letter # 33

2009-12-10T16:23:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone!

Okay so surprisingly enough the Christmas spirit is strong here in Taiwan. Well at least in my and my companion's apartment. I got the little tree you sent Mom. My companion and I Loved it. My companion's parents sent a bunch of Christmas music. We have been going crazy with that the last couple days. I think a white Christmas might be a little to much to ask for right now, especially when it feels like May in Utah here. Surprisingly they love the Christmas advertisements here. They have green and red and Santa's everywhere. But obviously it has nothing to do with why we even have Christmas......Still fun though.

Well a little about the Investigators.... We still have Sister Zhu getting baptized on the 18th. She loves church and loves coming to all the Gospel classes and stuff. She actually attended a lot of different churches before she met the missionaries. She is gaining a testimony fast and its awesome to see. The 18 year old kid we were teaching is still struggling with his family going against the church and they told him that he couldn't be baptized. We are really praying for him and we had a huge lesson with him on Faith a couple days ago. He said that he would continue to pray for his parents hearts to soften. Oh his name is Kun Ting Lee. Please pray for him!

We also are still teaching the two Chan Families. They are still progressing but they are still praying for an answer to know if what we are teaching is actually true. They need prayers as well. One of the biggest Miracles I have ever seen actually happened last night. Well this story actually starts back about two months ago.

One night...... We were going to visit this member family and give them a card because it was the Mom's Birthday. When we got there the mother was not there but as we were about to leave we had a feeling that we shouldn't leave the area. I looked down the road and I thought maybe we can just knock these doors. As we started knocking these doors just a few doors down from the members house we knocked on this one door. The women came to the door. Actually excited to see us. She came out the door and just said, "come in, come in,". I looked at my companion in disbelief, both of us just kinda had our mouths open thinking that something had to be wrong. As we sat down with her for a while we found out that her daughter is actually a member. Her daughter is away at college. She said that she had been to our Church multiple times but she was actually a member of another Christian church. We also found out that the member, her next door neighbor, they are actually best friends, and grew up together. Their Family name is Lin. As we continued to talk to her we found out that the reason why she never joined the Church is because she could not except that Joseph Smith was a real prophet and really restored God's Church. From then until now we have met with her a few times and continued to teach her the doctrine of knowing through prayer the truth. It all changed when last night when she invited us over for dinner and then for a lesson.

The difference this time is that her husband for the first time was going to join us. We had a great dinner with them I ate my first "Thousand year old EGG" In case you haven't heard of that I guess the easiest way I can explain it is by saying its a black egg. A very black egg. From what they told me back in the olden days the way they made these eggs was by putting the eggs in horse urine and then burying them in the ground for a very long time. After they told me this I obviously wanted to know how they are made now?..........They didn't know.... That of course was very reassuring for me. If you wanted to know how it tasted. Just imagine gagging a rotten egg down your throat. Other than that I guess it wasn't too bad....

Okay, well like I said dinner went great and we met the husband and he really like my companion and me. During dinner we got talking on health and good food and stuff. We took that opportunity to teach them about the revelation Joseph Smith received called the Word of Wisdom. They thought is was amazing that the Church knew about this Law of Health way before anyone knew about that stuff. They were both very curious from that point. As we sat down with them we new going into it that we were going to be teaching the Plan of Salvation. From the beginning we both had a feeling that we needed to teach the Plan of Salvation out of the Bible and compare it to the Book of Mormon.

As we were in the process of showing them all these scriptures they both were just blown away about the doctrine. Doctrine that was clearly in the Bible but nothing that they had ever heard before, or had been taught in their Church. The husband was amazed and he told us how excited he was about this. As we finished he told us that this is so clear, and that is why he had so many problems with religion in the past is because there were so many unclear doctrines. He kept writing down notes and kept pointing and saying "Look, its in there" It was amazing because It all tied back to the importance of Joseph Smith and the need of the Restoration. They believed and they knew it was true. It all helped my testimony so much. They both kept saying how thankful they were. Especially the husband. He kept saying how confused he was in the past, and how he understands now. As we said a prayer to finish the appointment we asked the Sister Lin (the Wife) to say the prayer for us. As she was saying the prayer she just kept asking Heavenly Father to give them the truth. To let them know if Joseph Smith was really a prophet. It was unbelievably touching.

My companion and I left the house with a feeling that I don't think I have ever had in my life. With my email I don't think I could ever explain the spirit and clarity of the lesson taught that night. But it was unbelievable. As I was teaching I felt like I learned about it just as much as they did. Even though I have taught the lesson a thousand times. Also I found out this week that a girl in a Family I started teaching in my old area is getting baptized this Saturday. That made me really excited to hear as well.

So the scripture this week is special. I want everyone to read Joseph Smith history in the back of the Book of Mormon and ponder on why the need for a restoration was necessary. As you do this prayerfully things will become even more clear then they were before.

Okay I gotta go. We have to catch a train up to Taipei.
Love you family!

Wei Zhang Lao

Letter # 32

2009-12-03T09:58:00.000-08:00

Nimen Hao Ma? Hello my Fam!

This week went great!
Well I guess except for my Thanksgiving meal. It was my first Chinese Thanksgiving experience. I guess. I had a self made tuna fish sandwich for lunch and a zhuabing for dinner. Its kinda like a Chinese crepe. I guess you can just say the Asian Taco. Street vendors everywhere have them. My companion and I couldn't help but think about what our families were eating. Oh ya know the basics:

Big steaming pile of Turkey
Bucket of mashed potatoes
butter and creamed corn
perfectly steamed and moist stuffing
cranberry sauce
Homemade rolls
corned bread
Honey baked ham
Green beans in gravy
Oh and not to forget a piece of perfect pumpkin or pecan pie, slapped with whipped cream!

If I was able to get that all out of my head I was able to somehow swallow down the zhuabing. It kinda made us laugh a little bit about what it is that we were doing. But hey sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven right? It would seem that way for my companion and I right now. We are still seeing a lot success. Setting up new people every day, still teaching those families, and teaching people who are still praying for the answers. It's great!

Funny story:
We were outside and I ran into this guy outside a bank. He told us he was waiting for his wife. I saw she was at the counter paying bills. Well I asked him if she was paying bills. Now the right way to say paying bills is (JIAO FEI) But instead my head came up with (JIAN FEI) which means going on a diet to loose weight. So in other words I asked if his wife was trying to loose weight? Right after I said that I realized exactly what I had said. He then looked at me and then looked at her through the window. Then turning back to me says "Your right huh! She is kinda fat!" My companion was about to loose his mind he thought it was the funniest thing. I, of course at that time was sweating bullets and I don't think I have ever apologized to someone so much in my life. I think I set a record for the number of times saying the word "sorry" in a minute. I felt like such a MORON! Anyway, funny story, hope everyone gets a good laugh out of it.

I also had an amazing experience with an Investigator this last week. This investigator is Brother Lee. He has some sort of disease in his legs and hasn't left his bed in years. Last time we met with him he started coming up with all these concerns and he was scared about joining the church and also saying that he was unable for many reasons. One of them being because he felt like some things he did in the past made him incapable of joining, especially in the handicap state he was in now. When I heard that I remembered a quote by Elder Worthlin the Apostle. He said "We see ourselves as yesterday and today, but our heavenly father sees as the eternal beings we are capable of becoming" As I translated that to him I remember becoming so choked over by the truth of that profound statement. It was a testimony to me that when correct doctrines are taught with love the spirit is so evident. A feeling I could never deny. Again also testifying to me of the truth of God being mindful of ALL HIS CHILDREN! Its true.

God loves all of us and does see us as the beings we are capable of becoming! I know that is true.
The scripture this week is Mosiah 4:9-12.

I love you all so so much!

Letter # 31

2009-11-25T08:02:00.000-08:00

Hey family!

Well my eyes are black and I am exhausted. These last two weeks have been so exhausting. My comp (Elder Constantino) and I are doing awesome. We are loving the area we are in and the investigators are going well. We actually are teaching three families right now and it is going great. Everyone is progressing. But I am afraid I will not be in Longtan next transfer so that will be sad. I'll just pray real HARD!

Well two of the new members are Sister Lin and Brother Zhong. They were baptized last transfer and they're doing awesome. Zhong was an 18 yr old kid that I met at a stoplight about 2 months ago. Now he is doing amazing. He comes and teaches with us in our lessons. He said something in one of our lessons that made Missionary work just that much more worth it. He told the person that we were teaching that he wouldn't be here if it wasn't true. He told her he would not waste his time on Sunday coming to church if it wasn't true. He bore his testimony strongly and he has only been a member for a few weeks. He is also talking to us about plans to go on a mission. To me that is one of the most rewarding things of a mission, to be able to see the people you teach progress.

Also Sister Lin is amazing. She comes and teaches with us all the time. Her testimony is so powerful. It blows me away. She sounds like she has been a member all her life. Anyway she got accepted to go to New York for college in a few months. Her English is really good so she will just go to a normal ward in New York. She also is really excited to see all the Church history sites. Well my companion and I went on a couple adventures this last week. We were riding our bikes in this super rural kind of jungle going to an investigators house, and we saw this small road to the side that was blocked off so cars couldn't get in..........we of course jumped our bikes to see where it led. As we road a minute in this Jungle we came to this big tent. I was so freaked out. As we peaked our head in we saw a bunch of boxes. I first thought they were Drugs for sure (ha ha ha). But anyway me being my curious self I opened one of them and there was a huge vase in it. Again being curious I opened the lid ..........................and behold ASHES! yah, human remains in the vases. We found all these urns deep in the jungle. I felt like Elder Indiana Jones. (haha) I was freaking out. My companion wasn't real happy but it was funny! We ended up biking out of there as fast as we could.

Well this week has been another great week as far as investigators and more personal growth. I have noticed that as my Chinese has gotten better and communication isn't becoming the biggest problem. I have really started to grow such a love for them. I remember when I first came to Taiwan. I thought the Culture was so weird and in all honesty I thought the people were a little weird as well. But as I started being able to listen to what they say I realized that I was wrong. I have realized one firm fact that I can never begin to deny. That is that we are ALL children of our Heavenly Father. It has become so apparent to me. It has strengthened my testimony so much to understand the most simple principle of the church. It ironically been the thing that has changed me the most and taught me how to love others. I love it here! I can't think of anywhere else I would want to be.

Well I don't have a lot of time as usual but the scripture is Alma 26:37 I know God is mindful of all his children.

Love you all so so so so so much.

WEI Zhang Lao

Letter # 30

2009-11-09T10:50:00.000-08:00

Hey family.

Well Transfers came around again, and I got a new companion. His name is Elder Constantino. He is from Italy and his dad is in the Mafia! Just kidding he is from Kaysville. He is an awesome guy. I was friends with him before so the awkward first couple weeks with someone you don't know has been completely avoided. Its just weird not being with a Native. I have been with Natives for about the last 5 months. It also helped me realize how bad my English is. My grammar is terrible. Its just weird being in the house not speaking Chinese and constantly having to ask "what, say that again?" But I am totally stoked about having an American Comp.

So the baptism went really well last Saturday. She asked me to baptize her. It was sister Lin. I am pretty sure I have already told everyone about her. She is someone we invited to English class about a month and a half ago. We were able to start meeting with her and a month later she was baptized. She is one of those people for me that makes me feel like there was no doubt that I was supposed to be called to Taiwan. She actually is exactly like Lauren. But she is a High school Music teacher. In Taiwan a teacher is a pretty respected job! But she wrote her own song on the piano and played it at her baptism. It was unreal! All the members were blown away.

So saying goodbye to Elder Woo.... That was hard! I learned too much from him. I changed more from him then any other person on my mission by far. Most of the time it was never anything he said. It was all his actions that stood out as the example! Well he goes home to south Taiwan tomorrow. So this last weekend we were taken out to eat every night by the members. We went to these places called Hot Pots where you boil all the food in front of you. Its so good! But ya I have been stuffed for the last few days. Sometimes with things I didn't wont to put in my mouth!...... On Sunday night we went to the bishops house for dinner and is wife made this Beef noodle soup for us. It was good but as I started eating I started to notice this weird looking meat and it was chewy and hard to eat. I asked what it was........ Big mistake! I was eating a bowl full of Cow STOMACH!

I wouldn't dare not eat it. One its the bishop two because that stuff is expensive here. But as I was able to muscle past the gag reflex I was able to eat the whole bowl. An hour later I wanted to die! I had a stomach full of stomach. It was NASTY!

Besides my nasty food stories all is going really well here. We just gave two more people baptismal dates for the first week in December. I am way excited about it!

Well I gotta go, But in honor of my new companion I am giving you one of his favorite scriptures. Alma 41:14-15. It talks the blessings of Righteous actions.

Thank you all for your prayers. Your in mine!
Love you

Wei Zhang Lao!

Letter # 29

2009-11-03T08:01:00.000-08:00

Hey Family!

Well good news. The two baptisms last Saturday went really smoothly. Well for the most part. One of them had to be baptized 2 times over because we kept seeing that his foot was coming up at the last second. It was kinda funny because when he finished the second time he left already and was on his way to the bathroom to dry off and stuff. My companion and I were debating whether his foot had actually come up or not. To be safe we had him come back and do it again. It was kinda awkward at the time, but their testimonies at the meeting were really touching.

They both are really young. One 18 and one 21. The 18 year old, his name is Zhong. He talked about before he ran into the missionaries God to him was just a Buddhist statue, or something you go bow in front of. He said that now he feels that when he prays he feels good knowing that he has a God or heavenly father he can communicate with. He said that he knew God was listening to him! It was awesome. He is actually someone I rode up to at a stop light and asked him to pull his scooter over about two months ago. He has met with us ever since. What a miracle!

This coming Saturday we have another Baptism. I will tell the story about that investigator next week. She is even more of a Miracle!

Well anyway tomorrow we have this huge conference with the mission. One of the Quorum of the Seventy is coming to talk with us. He is also interviewing missionaries. I was one of the lucky ones to be chosen to be interviewed by him. Yah ...I am a little nervous, but of course excited at the same time. It will be a sweet experience. I am praying hard for some inspired questions I can ask him. So this Friday I find out who my new companion is. That will be weird!

I feel like I have been with Elder Woo forever! I really have such a testimony I was put with him for a reason. One because we are complete polar opposites. A complete Humbling Experience! Something everyone knew I needed. But from him I have learned some lessons that will effect me for probably as long as I am alive. I have been with him 3 months, but learned more in those three months than my entire mission before I was with him, times 2. I am really so grateful for the positions I have been put in. Even though at the time of those trials I wondered how I could ever keep going! But I did, and the Lord knows what he is doing. That I know with all my heart!

Well this week I had no time to email so I will give more news next week and some funny stories, and of course the news on who my new companion is. Well the Scripture this week is something I have been sharing on the street a lot lately. It is 2Nephi 2:25, Men are that they might have joy! Joseph Smith said that "happiness, is what God desires for all his Children"! All of them! I know that's true. Sometimes I think we as people forget that our Heavenly Fathers desire for us is to have Joy, nothing less. That is what all trials and all heartaches lead up to. Joy and happiness that only the Savior can bring.

Love you all!

Wei Zhang Lao

Letter # 28

2009-10-29T12:36:00.000-07:00

Hello my Family!

How is everyone? Things are picking up in Taiwan I think in every single part of the Work. Especially In Longtan! Our 2 investigators passed the Baptismal interview for this coming Saturday and we will be having two more interviews for next Saturday. I am so excited about all the success. It is the most I have seen on my whole mission!

I also saw a huge miracle this last week. It was in the morning and we were biking to drop off some mail. While we were biking I wasn't really thinking or I guess day dreaming If you will. As we pulled up to the post office I had this big feeling that came over me. The feeling
was like "Why aren't you looking for someone?" It was kinda like a "PAY ATTENTION DUMMY" kind of a feeling. I Immediately looked forward and saw one person. It was an older lady on a scooter. I pulled up to her and she wasn't terribly excited to talk to me. (Big Surprise) Anyway as we started to talk she told me that her son is going to our church. After a few questions we found out that her son was Yang peng yuan - Who is getting baptized on November 7th.

We invited her to come to church but she said there was no way because she already went to another Christian church. Surprisingly we were meeting with him that night. As he showed up for the lesson his mom came with him to even more of our surprise. We took her around the church and was able to sit down with her and teach her a full lesson. We shared the Restoration with her and taught her about the Book of Mormon. It was a very basic first lesson. As she read the Book of Mormon she said it was so clear. Long story short.... She said that she would be willing to be baptized and set a Baptismal date for two weeks after her son, She told us that she was for sure coming to Church with her son this Sunday. It was an unbelievable miracle.

But of course with such good comes such opposition. We called her the next day and she told us that she couldn't come to church with us. We assumed that she had spoken to one of her friends from her other church. I guess they gave her some advice and she decided she wasn't sure yet what she should do. Her son is still praying for her and so are we. We really hope that she can remember the feelings she had when she first met with us.
Everyone please pray for her.

Well this week I gotten bitten twice! Once from a Pig and once from my companion. The pig I can explain well. I was taking pictures with its piglets and it bit me on the leg. Luckily it couldn't grab on or break skin or anything. My companion...... well I don't remember what happened but We were making lunch and then all the sudden we started wrestling and as I got him in a good hold. HE BIT ME!

Oh something else funny that happened. My Companion got attacked by a Grandpa in a wheelchair. We were contacting the person who was pushing him along the street, and we were able to stop her and start talking to her. As we started talking this 300 yr old guy in the wheelchair, Started freaking out. I swear this was the oldest person I have ever seen in my life. But he still had the fight in him! He didn't have teeth and I couldn't understand a word he was saying but he starting pushing and hitting my companions bike and staring me down. I was dying laughing. My companion didn't think it was that funny!

So I received an Email from Bishop Bunnell and in the email was an attachment. The attachment Is called (Lifting burdens : The Atonement of Jesus Christ "Mormon Messages") It can be found on Youtube.com. I hope everyone can look at that. It is so filled with truth and I was truly filled with love and hope when I watched it. It is the most simple doctrine of this gospel. Yet the centerpiece to how we are able to obtain anything of worth in this life. The fact that we have a Savior that is with us and loves us brings so much peace to my heart. Its true! ITS TRUE! I know because like Alma says in Chapter 32. I can feel the swelling motions in my heart. I know that the seed is growing! ITS TRUE! I cannot deny what has been confessed to me by my feelings. This is the way!

The Scripture I chose today was something I actually read this morning. Mosiah 23:27. Read the whole chapter and focus on why Alma is so certain that they need no reason to fear.

Okay gotta run! Love all of you so so so much!

Wei Zhang Lao

Letter # 27

2009-10-21T08:49:00.000-07:00

Well Hello everyone.

This week went well for the most part. I can start by saying that It has truly been a refining process for me the last few weeks. Realizing the personal weaknesses that I have has been a painful process,of course, but a slight sigh of relief knowing that I have a good amount of time to become what I am supposed to be.

My companion and I got into a bit of an argument. Basically the argument was about how much different we are from each other. It progressed to the point when I did not have much desire to go out and work with him. I ended up asking him "What it is that we can do?" We ended up kneeling down in prayer and as he started giving the prayer he started to cry and apologize to God for what had happened. As he gave the prayer I realized how quickly the argument was my fault and how low my personal pride had brought us. After the prayer was over Elder Woo stood up and being a little embarrassed to ask me; if he could give me a hug. For their culture I will tell you that is not the easiest thing to do for them. In other words "they don't do that". I felt so ashamed and embarrassed. Mostly because I knew better. As a missionary who has been out as long as I have I realized how much more growing up I need to do. A lot of growing up.

This last week I have really reflected on why is it that I am doing the things I am doing. As I reflected I realized how much praise I still seek from man and not so much the Lord. And How much every decision relates back to my own personal selfishness. Most importantly, the true Love and Charity that I feel I lack so much in my heart. Like I said, this past week or so has been a refining period of much prayer.

Other than that the work is going fantastic. We now have added even another person with a Baptismal goal! It is a 28 year old women who is in my English class. After class, two weeks ago, she came up to me and said "so are you guys like priests or pastors or something" I told her that we could set up a time and answer that question! (Ha ha TRICKY TRICKY). She is now into the Book of Mormon and praying every day. I am really excited about her because she is unbelievably smart. She seems to understand what is taught! Awesome!

Oh, on a funny note one of our Investigators is a Chinese Doctor. What I mean by that is that he not a normal doctor. He does the Chinese medicine stuff. It’s called (Zhong-Yao). He does the Acupuncture and all that weird stuff. People pay him a good amount of money to do it too. Personally I think it’s all a load of junk. Some of the treatments are so weird. They stick needles in their head to help them sleep better. Ya I would pass out too if someone stuck a bunch of needles in my head. Well ...He drinks his own urine. Yes, drinks his own pee! ...everyday. He is convinced it’s good for you. But he told us this when we were teaching him the word of wisdom. It was so funny!

Well my companion is going home in three weeks. He does not talk much or ever about it. For me, if I was going home in three weeks it would be a little difficult to not think about it. But he is not really going back to much. For those who don't know...He is from south Taiwan 27 yrs old and went on a mission after being a member for only a year. He is going back to a lot of debt because he bought his family a house when he had money. Then invested the money and now it’s all gone. He has sacrificed more than any other person I have met in my whole life. Lately I have been messing with him about finding a wife. President told him in an interview to find a wife as soon as possible. So I have been teasing him and pointing out old women for him... HA ha. He hates it. It’s funny because the President's wife even mentioned someone for him to come back and date. Some girl from Taipei that just got back from Temple Square serving a mission. I had fun with that one too!

Oh Mom, I almost got killed. I was riding my bike "reasonably fast" trying to make it through a green light. With a bus on my left not realizing the bus had a blinker sign to turn right at the light. I will just leave it at....I was fairly lucky! Don't worry I'll make it off the Island alive.

The scripture for this week is Mosiah 13:1-7. It’s about the Prophet Abinadi. I read this in my personal study a couple days ago. It’s awesome!

Love you all.

Love Peace and Chicken Grease!

Letter # 26

2009-10-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

Hey Family, 你好魏家庭大家, (Hello Wei Family, Everyone)

Yes the Chinese name for Weinberger is "WEI" it is pronounced like the restaurant (PEI WEI), or (by the "WAY") I am pretty sure I am the only person with the last name Weinberger to go to Taiwan or have a Chinese name for that matter. So I hereby forever pronounced
("WEI" 魏) to be the Chinese name of all Weinbergers, everywhere. I put the character for the name in the last sentence. That's how I have to write my name.

Well first I want to say. Conference was AWESOME! It was really refining. It taught a lot of basic principles in the Church such as Love and the most basic doctrine of God being a loving heavenly father. I think sometimes as members we almost forget the small simple doctrines like that sometimes. But when properly learned brings about great change. For me, I always new that love was a good thing. Everyone knows that. But it wasn't until about a few months ago when I started to really understand what true love meant. It was through the scriptures and something a member said when we were in a meeting to spark my interest to think what love really was. What it really meant to love those around you. Obviously coming from the love of Jesus Christ. Then confirmed by President Uchtdorf I realized what I had learned prior about love was in fact true. Such a basic doctrine. Probably the most basic. Was the one that changed me the most. This conference made me reflect on my kindness towards others, and how that I might better learn to love. My favorite talk without a doubt was Elder Holland's. My mouth was pretty much dropped the whole time he was speaking. It was Amazing. I don't know how anyone could openly listen to that talk and not be convinced of the truth of what he was saying.
Personally I don't feel like my testimony of the Book of Mormon has ever been that strong. But that talk strengthened it so much! I think that everyone should get online to watch the talk called "Safety for the Soul" again. Maybe it might be a little different as a missionary but I was completely blown away.

Well miracle story from this week is from a new investigator that we have. Well long story short he is a 40 year old guy who is divorced and doesn't have any relationship with his two kids. A long time ago he was almost baptized into another christian church. His name is Brother Woo. So anyway the first time we met with him was at his store and it wasn't really a special feeling type of lesson or anything. But the second time, a few days later. He came to the church and we had a great lesson. We taught about the holy ghost and the blessings of baptism. He said that the things we were saying to him made sense. He told us that the thing that makes sense to him is making an agreement with god. We gave him a baptismal goal right then and he accepted. After we asked him to kneel with us in prayer and asked if he would give the prayer for us. As we started we all bowed our heads and were waiting for him to say a prayer, But he didn't say anything. My companion and I just looked up at each other wondering what we should do. But he just kept with his head down praying. After a few minutes he lifted his head up and tears filled his eyes. He picked up the Book of Mormon and was just looking at it with tears still running sown his cheeks. It was obvious that there is pain from his past. But it was a miracle and an awesome experience. He is reading and praying everyday. Also yesterday started on his route to quite smoking by his baptismal date.

Our area is blowing up. We are so blessed right now. In all honesty I think it is because of my companion. He has sacrificed more than any person I have ever met and it his last transfer. The Lord is blessing him. Right now we have 4 people getting baptized this transfer. That is more than this area has ever seen. My last area in Banqiao, I was there for almost 6 months and saw 2 baptisms. I have only been here in Longtan for 2 months and have seen a baptism and then 4 more coming quickly next month. Its also not normal for the area I am in. In the past this area was one of the least baptizing in the mission. So I am so grateful for the success we are seeing its amazing.

Well I gotta go. Today we are going up to this reservoir in the mountains. It should be awesome. All the missionaries say it is beautiful.

Well the scripture this week is going along with the conference theme, Service and Love. It is Mosiah 2:17. Also the commitment to everyone this week is to pray every day for a chance to help or serve someone who is in need. I am excited to hear what happens.

Okay love you all so much

Wei Zhang Lao

Letter # 25

2009-10-07T09:12:00.001-07:00

Hello my beloved family, everyone!

Well I did it! I made it through my first Taiwanese summer! The gallons of sweat is only half of it. I got one more summer to go. So speaking of the weather. We got really lucky and avoided a huge Typhoon that pretty much destroyed the Philippines. It pretty much just broke off right before it got to us! So the good thing is that the wind didn't get us..... but the rain did! I have been soaked the last couple of days. My companion and I have got the system down now for drying our shoes in front of the fan while we sleep! Other than that it has cooled down a lot!

On a funny note I caught my Chinese companion trying to throw some of the turkey jerky mom sent me in his crazy invented Chinese soup! It was funny I caught him right in the act! I was like What Are You Doing? He just kept saying how good it was going to be!........I tried it....no, it wasn't good. He actually has taught me how to cook this stir fry and stuff! ...Yes mom and dad I am buying, cooking, and eating my own veggies. I know, who would've thought!

Investigators are going great! we have two that are really progressing right now, and are both planning to get baptized on the 31st. One of them is an amazing story. My companion and I were riding our bikes contacting and stuff and we passed by this guy he looked like he might of been in college or something. We both waved at him as we were riding our bikes by him. He just kind of looked at us and didn't give us any mind. As we kept biking. I had a feeling that came to me, it said..... (don't give up that easy!) I gave into that feeling and immediately turned around. As we
started talking to him we found out that he had met with missionary's a year or so ago. He immediately set an appointment with us and has been progressing ever since! It is a miracle. Like I said earlier his Baptismal date is scheduled for the 31st of this month.

Oh ya, transfers came around again and I am still with Elder Woo in Longtan. This is his last transfer of his mission. I have so much respect for him! I have never met anyone that has sacrificed more than him. Although we are complete polar opposites I have learned and progressed more form him than any of my other companions. Sometimes it gets a little boring when we are together so I have to find my own way of having fun with him.
For example:

Making him say Jackie Chan lines from movies/Any American slang!
Slamming my breaks when I am riding my bike in front him.
Turning off all the lights in the apartment and hiding, waiting for him to get up to find the switch and then popping out and scaring him.
Wrestling with him, ha ha he hates it and refuses to fight back!

...ha ha he is too nice. But that's about as crazy as it gets with the two of us. He is a really simple guy who likes the simple laid back life. Last week I got some of the best advice of my life. It of course came from my all wisdom Chinese companion. Usually when I am struggling and I need advice I just go to the American elders and ask them questions and advice. But this time it was at night and we were home, and I was just feeling down. I told my companion that I was struggling and worried that I was not becoming the person and missionary I am supposed to be. He told me something that I will never forget. "Before a pretty butterfly becomes itself, Its just a little worm in a cocoon, The worm has to work its hardest to get its way out, that's not easy work. But eventually he gets out and sees what he has become". Now everyone imagine a Chinese person saying that to you in as many English words as he could use! It was such a basic principle of life and especially the gospel and It was given to me in a way that made sense. It was an awesome experience.

Well I gotta go. but the scripture this week is Moroni 8:26.

Everyone really ponder this scripture. What the gift of the holy ghost means, and how do we keep it with us. This scripture really touched me this week.

Okay I love you all! thanks for the family letters I will get back to all of you!
You're in my prayers

Wei Zhang Lao

Letter # 24

2009-09-29T13:35:00.000-07:00

I have not been transferred. I am still with Elder Woo and we are still in Longtan. This is his last transfer of his mission.

Today we are going up to Taipei. I am visiting my old area of Banqiao and visiting my old companions and some friends. We are going to my favorite restaurant where it is unlimited food, steak and other stuff. You cook it all yourself (I will be sending pictures next week). This place is only 9 American dollars a person for unlimited food. This food is really pricey too! If this was in America it would at least be $25-30 a person. So all the missionaries love it!

The baptism went well. I got to baptize him. Other then that there isn't anything crazy new this week.

Paul, I loved your letters. I was laughing so hard! I have the best family in the world!

Wei Zhang Lao

Letter # 23

2009-09-23T12:25:00.000-07:00

(Hey everyone, its Elder Wei)

Things went pretty well this week. We have contacted into a lot of great potential investigators. So we have a lot of hopes for the next couple weeks. Brother Shi is getting baptized on Friday. He asked me to baptize him. That will be cool. I am excited about that. We are still working pretty hard with the member work. The members here are seriously awesome. Surprisingly I think I like the ward better here then in my last area. The picture I sent is of this 12 year old kid that is in my English class. I have gotten to be good friends with him. He loves hanging out with us because he so set on going on a mission.

Well this week My companion made me my favorite food in Taiwan for lunch. IT was AMAZING! Its this curry rice plate! and then this drink that they make over here! Its called dong gua! I guess the only way I can describe it... its kinda complicated. Its like those buttered popcorn jelly belly's flavor and carmel made into a drink. Ya terrible description I know But all the American missionaries over here love it! So I got some pictures from the Family..... Noelle I am so mad at you! Sending me a picture of a perfectly assembled American burger! It made my rice for lunch taste even worse.

Well not a bunch of crazy new news for this week. Just a pretty normal missionary week. I have been thinking about what I want to say in this letter and I feel that I should let the family know that in all these letters I feel like I have left a false impression about me and how the missionary work actually is. What I mean is that I feel like by my letters it seems that life over here is just great and things are going really smoothly. Anyone who has served a mission knows that it is rarely a time when things are going exactly how you want them. I will admit that things have been hard lately ...really hard. The thoughts of self doubt, personal trials, thoughts of a lack of testimony, and constant rejection eventually take their toll.

So this week the scripture I chose was Ether 3. It is based purely on Faith. I know that everyone has their own personal trials every single day. I promise that if you read this scripture and try to apply it to yourself you can see where you all can show faith to overcome our trials.

I love you all. Thank you for all the prayers I can feel their help. My companion said something that really touched me. He told me that I was so blessed to be born in the family that I have. He said "Your family prays for you a lot" This is coming from someone that doesn't have very much. I started to cry a little bit and realized how blessed I really was!

I love you all so much thank you for everything.

Wei Zhang Lao

Letter # 22

2009-09-09T07:56:00.000-07:00

Translation: (My beloved family, Hello everyone)

I know that Last week I did not give much information to everyone, and I am sure there are some people that might wonder what it is exactly like out here. So I thought of a good idea. I want everyone to email me the questions that you might have about Taiwan. The food, the People, anything. Next email I will do my best to answer everyone's questions.

Things are still going great in Longtan. We have been really praying for a family. So we have really big hopes for that. It was a lot easier to find people in my last area so it has kind of been a challenge there. For example yesterday we didn't have any lessons so we were out looking all day. For the most part we were out in the country stopping by farm homes and stuff. Basically the only people home were old Chinese grandmas. Most of them don't even speak Mandarin. They speak this Taiwanese dialect which is like Alien talk I swear. But luckily I have a Native companion who speaks it. He has actually been teaching me some of it which has been cool. The people love it out here if an American can speak the Taiwanese dialect. I just have to say one thing in Taiwanese and It will get people to stop and talk to us without fail every time. There blown away "whoa you speak Taiwanese" Then I have to tell them no Mandarin is hard enough. Most of the time I can get a few laughs but then they loose interest quickly.

Oh ya I don't think I told anyone what I did for my birthday here. Well basically nothing. Honestly It was a normal missionary day. It didn't feel like my birthday at all. I wouldn't of known any different, but I kept reminding myself. I bought a cake and ate it with the district of missionaries I was with, and some members gave me a couple gifts. Ya I'm not a teenager anymore. I know everyone is thinking how did I survive until 20? But I did ...barely.

Well we have an investigator who is getting baptized in a few weeks. He is a miracle story. He met missionaries 30 years ago. Some of his family actually joined the church. But he decided about a month ago that he was going to accept the gospel. He came to church on his own and basically self contacted us. Really humble guy and wants to change and learn as much as he can. We love him.

As far as the weather here... NO RAIN! it is blowing my mind. It hasn't rained since I got to my new area. Its so weird. But its been nice not being soaking wet all the time. We eat inside most days which is a change from where I was before. But it saves money. My companion cooks some mean noodles. If anyone is still wondering. Yes I eat Rice, Noodles and Postickers about every day...and Yes it gets old. I cant tell you the amount of money that I would pay for a Cafe Rio Burrito.

Well other than all that, All is well. We are doing things right and we are seeing a lot blessing with us personally. This week I have learned so much about sacrifice. Especially from my companion. He doesn't know that I know this but another elder told me that my companion is in debt thousands of dollars. He is from south Taiwan and he comes from a poor family. Basically he bought his family a place to live and now he literally has like no money. He was a convert for 1 year until he decided that he needed to go serve. His family was really against it but he went anyway. He literally has sacrificed everything. We are completely different from each other but I have an unbelievable amount of respect for him. I think I know why the Lord put me with him. This last week I have been really trying to follow his example and learn to sacrifice, and have seen the blessings already from it.

This week the scripture is Mathew 10:39. I really want everyone to read it and ponder what Christ is telling us. "Those who loose their lives for my sake will find it"

Love you all. Write me and let me know how you all are doing.

Wei Zhang Lao

Letter # 21 ...First Pics of Longtan!

2009-08-26T10:24:00.001-07:00

Hey Family,
Okay well there is a lot of big changes for me this last week so I will do my best to share them all. I was transferred to the "town" of Longtan. (has over 100,000 people but here that's a town) Its so cool to get a glimpse of the countryside. It's beautiful out here. I'm glad to be out of the city. I can actually breathe! So I found out that Longtan was voted one of the best places to live in the country so that's nice to know.

The people are more humble out here it seems. There is also a huge population of the original ethnic group from Taiwan. In English we just call them aborigines but here they are called yen ju min. They are a super humble people and they speak this crazy dialect but they are most of the time really willing to talk to us.

Well as far as the work goes. We saw so many miracles this last week. The week before I got here there was only 1 investigator at church. But my companion and I worked our tails off on the streets trying to talk to everyone. This last week we had 7 investigators at church. It was amazing. A couple of people came to church on their own they wanted to learn about the gospel and the church. One guy had met missionaries 30 years ago and his family is baptized and he decided that he wanted to better his life and learn about the gospel. He now has a baptismal date for next month. We are truly seeing a lot blessings. Most of our investigators are actually moms. Ya, its a little weird teaching girls all the time. In our last area we had sister missionaries.

My companion just turned 28 and we went out to some seafood noodle place for his birthday. INTERESTING..... But the food is pretty good actually. I would have never touched that before my mission ...but things change. Especially when you don't really have a choice at what your going to eat. He is a great Elder ...Super obedient and almost a little too mature. Sometimes a little too serious but he has softened up a little bit. Its fun to make him say things in English. He sounds exactly like Jackie Chan. I make him say lines from movies. It seriously is the funniest thing. Well, other than that things are going well and progressing. It seems that the Lord has placed me in places and situations I am completely not used to so that I can learn. It has all been a real humbling experience.

Okay so the scripture this week is D&C 5:24
I have been trying to read in D&C a lot lately and I love this scripture. It talks about the blessing and gifts of truly humbling yourself before the Lord.

Well love you all...
LOVE, PEACE, and CHICKEN GREASE - I'm out.

Wei Zhang Lao.

Letter # 20

2009-08-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

Well Big News!
Transfers came around and I am Finally out of the big city. For anyone who doesn't know I was in the city of Banqiao and I didn't know that until yesterday that it is one of the most dense cities in the world. Its unbelievable that so many people can live in one area. I'm not sure on the population of the city. But its a lot! Anyway I was moved to the city of Longtan which means "Dragon Lake" Pretty cool huh? Its pretty far from Taipei. Its close to the west coast. But it is pretty small.... Well compared to a typical Taiwanese city. It will take some time to get used to it.

From what I heard this city is going pretty slow in the work and has not seen a lot of success lately. But I will be honest. That makes me more excited. I love the challenge!!!!!!! I also got a new companion. He is another native. He is a 27 year old elder who joined the church about 3 years ago. Its a miracle story. Anyway he is really quite and will be heading home in a few months. His name is Elder Woo. He seems really nice. I will admit I am already a little bit lonely. Because I don't think we have anything in common. But I am sure it will turn out okay. It will just take some time. One great thing is that I am with another native Chinese companion who does not speak English. SO my Chinese will boost really fast like it did last transfer.

Well this last Friday we had to cancel the baptism with that one investigator. His Dad said that he wanted him to learn more about the church and really study it before he joins. He didn't want issues with the family so he agreed. But he will be baptized later. I am going to talk to the mission president about being able to go back to that area and baptizing him. I am pretty sure he will let me. Anyway I don't have much time to write today. We have to go get groceries and get some sleep. I didn't sleep much last night (up all night packing and stuff).

Oh ya, I found out something cool. A few months ago I was on companion exchanges with another elder in his area and I contacted into a family who is now getting baptized. The Mom and the Son. That made me feel really thankful that I opened my mouth and shared it with them. Well all is well love you all so so much.

The scripture this week is 2 Nephi 9. ...Great Eternal Perspective.

Letter # 19 (new pics)

2009-08-12T09:06:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,
Things are going really well and this last week even better. In one of my earlier letters I told a story about how I was at a stoplight and I contacted a person and how he is getting baptized and confirmed on my birthday. Well he had his baptismal interview and he did great. He is still getting baptized and I am so excited. He also asked me to baptize him. That made me so happy. Anyway he is a 21 year old college student. His name is Mong Ke Lee. But we just call him Miles. Thats the English name we gave him. All Investigators are doing really well.
So on other news. I survived my first official Typhoon. I am sure most of you have heard about the big typhoon that hit Taiwan. Luckily I am in the northern part of Taiwan because the south got hit really hard. We still had to stay inside all day though. That was fun because I was on exchanges with our District leader and I am way good friends with him so it was cool. I was hoping to get something productive done in a whole day inside. But us not being very smart joked around all day and played board games. We of course are allowed to play games on those kind of days but I feel like we wasted so much time. Yah, that came out of my mouth. Who would of thought. I felt TERRIBLE! It was still fun though.

This last couple weeks I have been trying to focus my thoughts a lot on what it is that I am really doing and trying to get a grasp of what it is that I am really supposed to be doing. I feel like I have been answered many times through prayer. That being pointed to the Savior's love and his Atonement. For much of these past weeks in prayer I have been asking to understand the savior better and ultimately getting closer to him. I feel like I had an experience that help me understand. So we were leaving this lesson form this huge apartment building and right as we got outside this man ran up to me and my companion. We could tell immedietly that he was a little slower. Anyway, he just kept asking if we could help him find work. Obviously as missionaries that is against the rules and we cant personally help him find work. I was a little discouraged at what to tell him. But he kept persisting at us and asking for us to help him. He kept trying to give me his government information card. The guy was totally crazy. But eventually we just told him sorry and that there was no way we could help him. After we told him that, he ran back up into that apartment building we came out of. So as we starting heading towards our bikes I just add this uneasy feeling that just kept scratching me telling me that there was something we had to do.

Trying to figure what we could possibly do I told my companion that we had to do something. Even though we both know that we couldn't do anything. A thought occured to me that I will never forget. That helped me grab the purpose of what it is that we are really doing. The thought was that would Jesus Christ say that he couldn't do anything about it. I know that sounds like the basic saying "what would Jesus do?" But it was so much bigger than that. It hit me really hard. As missionaries we are always told that we are to represent Jesus Christ. For the first time I really realized what that meant. Although the person was handicap and there was no way we could help him, I was not going to give up because Jesus Christ would not give up. So we both decided to go find him. When we walked in the opening of the apartment building I realized how big it was and I knew that there was no way I was going to find him. Sitting on the stairs I was trying to think of what we could do. I then looked to my right and it was the first door I saw. I was thinking why not, we don't really have anything to lose. I went up and knocked on the door. An old lady answered. When she saw me she started to close the door but then that guy came running out of the back room telling the old lady (who I assumed was him Mom) to open the door. I was blown away with that miracle. I couldn't believe that we actually found him. Long story short we gave him a Book of Mormon and told him that we might not be able to help him but that we knew God could. He said that he would read the book and his Mom thanked us for being kind to him. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget. This guy even being handicap was still a person who needed help. I felt like my prayer was answered and I understood that being a missionary is much more than just teaching lessons and baptizing. It is representing Jesus Christ in every way.

Most important is the road to being like him. I am so thankful for that experience.
I love you all so so so much.

The scripture for this week is Moroni 7. Read it!!!! :)

Wei Zhang Lao

Letter # 18

2009-08-05T14:07:00.000-07:00

Hey Fam,
The weeks keep flying by and things are going great!
I LOVE Taiwan. This place is already so dear to my heart and I absolutely love the people here. Work is gong great. I am so disappointed about one thing. The Lin family. The Father and daughter are both getting baptized but they cant do it right now. The Father is waiting back to hear on a court case. He might be having to pay a fine of some sort. But it is no big deal. The only problem is the baptism will probably not be until next month and I think I will be leaving Banqiao because I have been here forever. I will be so disappointed if I don't get to see the family baptized. I don't think I have ever seen so much change in a person than the Lin Father.

In other news. I have been super tired lately and it was getting progressively worse to the point where this last week there were a few times I almost blacked out and I was constantly dizzy. I went to the Hospital and got blood drawn and the doctors could not tell me what was wrong. I got a little worried but things got surprisingly better almost overnight. So right now things are going a lot better. My companion is doing great. I love him even though sometimes the Chinese humor and way of life is a little different. But we get along really well. I'm still undecided whether he likes me very much. He probably thinks I'm just an obnoxious American ha ha kidding. But ya he is awesome.

Things right now as far as weather goes has been weird. It hasn't been raining much which is preposterous for Taiwan. So that has been a nice break not riding my bike completely soaked to every teaching appointment. Learning Chinese is still going really well. I have decided to push in to overdrive with the studying. I have already started studying Chinese characters. The whole reading and writing system. For anyone who doesn't know what I am talking about it is the little Chinese drawings that look all the same. Ya and its how we have to read over hear. But I love it and I love studying it. I feel like I have picked it up fairly quickly and am getting blessed with it. But lately I am been trying to wake up a little earlier to get more studying in. Also of course asking my Chinese companion every question I possible can. I think he gets pretty annoyed with it sometimes.

Last week I said in my letter that we were focusing on the love of Jesus Christ in our teaching. It has completely changed my mission. Even when we are outside just at a stoplight or something I try my best to feel just a little of the love that our father in heaven and Christ have for us. It has changed my aspect on so many things.

Many missionaries including myself have made the mistake sometimes of treating a lesson as just a lesson. Sometimes the people without really meaning to turn into just numbers. That is terrible and I have done a lot of self evaluation on the way I treat lessons. But I will say that the one thing that has changed everything was the love. What I mean is by understanding the love or at least trying to understand the infinite love that Jesus Christ has for us. This has changed the way that I look at just a basic contact on the street to a lesson in a members home. Striving for the Love of Jesus Christ is the true key to everyone's conversion. We must feel the love the savior has for us. I am no where close by any means of understanding this fully but this is the route and direction I have chosen to take on my mission. I know that so much success will come for the investigators and certainly me personally as well.

The scripture for this week I love. It is Ether 12:27. It talks about weakness and what the Lord can do with our weaknesses.
EVERYONE READ IT!

Love you all - Peace from the East!

Wei Zhang Lao

Letter # 17

2009-07-30T14:56:00.000-07:00

Hey Family,
I am trying to get a Quick message out. I don't have much time this week But things have been going great. My Native companion and I are doing good now. The first little while we weren't really seeing eye to eye in everything but we both realized it was just an issue of pride. We are doing really good now and seeing a lot of success.

Anyway, sweet miracle happened. I am not sure if I already told this but about 3 weeks ago my companion and I were at a stop light in the morning on the way to the chapel. It was super early so we were both way tired. Anyway this kid pulled up on a scooter about 20 feet away from us. I didn't think much of it. But I had this urgent feeling to go talk to him. I just kept feeling in my head I am way to tired I just want to get to church that is all. But this urgent feeling kept bugging me to go up to him and talk to him. Anyway long story short I told Satan to zip it and I rode up to this guy and asked if he would pull over so we could talk to him. He has met with us constantly for the last three weeks and is getting baptized on my Birthday. I am so stoked! I love this gospel. One of the things I discovered this past week has completely changed my mission, and yet it is one of the most simple doctrine's of the church.

The Love of Jesus Christ.

We were in a meeting discussing why we had so many less active members. Our leader said something that I will never forget. "Because they have not met Jesus Christ" It completely changed my outlook on this work and how to truly find the success we are looking for. It all lies
in the love of Jesus Christ. I have made it a point in my mission, no matter what lesson or principle I am teaching I must always testify of the love of Jesus Christ. That is where the true conversion comes, especially in myself. I am so thankful for the opportunity to do this. Most the time I do not think I deserve this opportunity to be out here. I am just way thankful for everything. Especially my family. Thanks so much for always standing by me, even in my rough patches of being a complete idiot. Ha ha. I love you all so so much.

Scripture this week is one of my favorites:
1 Nephi 19:9.

Wei Zhang Lao