Letter # 57

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

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

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

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

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

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

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