Letter # 78

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

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

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

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

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

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

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