Letter # 38

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!

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!

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

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)

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

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

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!