Week Sixty-Nine: 12/16/2014 to 12/22/2014--Merry Christmas! 耶誕節快樂！

Hello, Everyone!

First of all, Merry Christmas. This year, especially, as I've thought about the birth of Jesus Christ and all that it entails, I've been thinking especially hard about what it means to me specifically. It's really easy to spit out those Sunday school answers: "Because He atoned for us!", "Because it showed God's love for us!", etc. However, it's a lot harder to say those things, and then think of specific experiences in your own life that illustrate those points to you. I think what really helped start my thinking off on the right foot was watching this video: http://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=HPFR112814529 

Especially when the typewriter types "For God so loved the world..." and then it says "and so loved you." That brought such a personal aspect to Christmas, knowing that while Jesus Christ's atonement was made for all of us collectively, it was also made for all of us individually. I know that God loves each one of us as individuals. He knows us perfectly and he knows what we need. He'll be able to help us if we'll just ask Him and obey Him. 

This week was pretty good. We said good-bye to Sister Funk. She's home. Woah. New to the district is Elder Rock and Sister Fernley. Elder Rock is actually Native American, which is really hard to explain to Taiwanese people because they're so used to seeing Americans as white people. He's really cool. Sister Fernley was with me in the MTC and I haven't really talked to her since I got to Taiwan, so it's been fun to see the difference that a year and a few months can make, the most obvious one being Chinese speaking ability. 

Brother Su is looking great to be baptized this Saturday. He passed his interview with flying colors and he looks really strong. We just need to make sure he has church clothes, because I'm not sure if he does. It's been such a blessing to teach him and help him come to this point. We're also hoping to introduce him to a few more families in the ward in the upcoming week or 2. Keep praying for him! 

Sister Fernandez is also doing well, though yesterday's lesson wasn't super organized. There were way too many people there(4 missionaries, a member and his son, Brother and Sister Ramos, and another one of our Filipino investigators named Fourth), and some doctrines were brought up that were a little too deep for her. Hopefully it didn't throw her off too much. Our other investigators are progressing a little more slowly, but we're still working with them. 

I love you all!  I really hope you all have a relaxing, not financially-destructive Christmas filled with thoughts of our Savior and all He's done for us. 

-Elder Smith

P.S. This week's song: Silent Night, because it gets me in the right Christmas mindset every time.

Week Sixty-Eight: 12/09/2014 to 12/15/2014--Miracles Happen

Hello Everyone,

This week was another week full of amazing goings-on. Brother Su is still going strong. He brought his daughter to church yesterday and he's being interviewed for baptism this Friday. We're so excited! Keep praying for him.

We also got the news that Elder Brady(the other missionary assigned to our ward who was put with the companionship in the other ward for the past 3 weeks) is being transferred and there's no one coming to take his place so there are a few investigators that will be transferred over to us. They're all great! One is Sister Lan. I remember when she first got a Book of Mormon, she put a protective cover on it and made her own tabs. Everyone thinks she's a member already, but she's super scared to tell her parents that she wants to join the church. She's hoping to be baptized in March. Another is Brother Dai. He's a working man who supports his wife, father, and two adorable little girls. He's such a good dad and from what I understand, he has a lot of interest in the gospel. The last one is named Dhylyn. She's from the Philippines. We met with her yesterday and she and her boyfriend Baolo are super prepared. I'm so grateful that I have the privilege to teach them. We taught them at a Filipino member's house so we also got to try some Filipino food. Two glorious words. Chicken. Adobo. They said it was just garlic, ginger, and soy sauce, on chicken but it was oh, so much more. It definitely has a lot more flavor than most Taiwanese food. 

That's about all. I love you. Every one of you. I know that God watches over us and miracles happen according do our faith and our expressions of that faith. 

-Elder Smith

Today's song is one of my favorite Christmas songs! If you want a better version, look up the one by Sufjan Stevens. Iss Good. 

Here's a picture of my district, so you all know who I'm able to interact with on a regular basis. Get a good long look, because this Friday 3 of them with be gone:

left to right: me, Sister Funk, Elder Stevens, Sister Chang, Elder Brady, Elder Galura, and Elder Page 

Also, on the way up to that lesson yesterday, Elder Page's pedal came off so we had to push him. That's what I call District unity right there. 

 Me at the bow, Elder Brady at the stern.

​Elder Brady at the bow, me at the stern.

Week Sixty-Seven: 12//2/2014 to 12/8/2014--Save the Date!

Hello Everyone,

Can I just say how excited I am to tell you the news? So we've been meeting with Brother Su for a while now. It was actually really cool how we found him. I went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders a couple months ago and one of the things we did on the exchange was we called former investigators(people the missionaries met with before but stopped meeting with for whatever reason). I called him and he said to call him that night because he was busy at the time. Also, he had moved into the area that my companionship covers since the missionaries had stopped meeting with him, so I brought his record back to our apartment and called him that night. He set up an appointment for the next day and he was super cool. He has really strong faith in Christ and he shared with us at that meeting that he wanted his family to be united in this church. 

Since then, it was hard to meet with him consistently. Either he wouldn't answer his phone or we'd have mix-ups so for a while we would only meet with him every other week or so. These past few weeks, he's come to church twice in a row and he also came to our scripture study class. I've seen his faith growing. It seems like every time I saw him, his face was brighter and brighter. Then, yesterday after church ended, we sat down with him and I asked him how he felt about baptism. He'd expressed concerns before about his wife opposing and commitments at the other church he was attending. He said "Of course, I want to. Actually, I wanted to ask you when the next baptismal service is going to be held." We invited him to be baptized on the 27th of December and he accepted. I barely got the invitation out before he cut me off and said "Yes! Yes! I would love to!" 

That was a miracle. Nothing more. Nothing less. I had been praying fervently for the past two weeks for one of our investigators to accept the invitation to be baptized. Yesterday, I also fasted for it. I feel like all my energy has been focused towards helping the people we're meeting with prepare to be baptized and make that sacred covenant with God. I know that Brother Su's decision to be baptized was a direct result or his own desire to follow Christ as well as the countless prayers by myself and my companion and all of the other people who tell me they pray for me and my investigators. When that many people are working for a worthy goal, God's hand will be there and He will manifest His power. I know that to be true. Please continue to pray for Brother Su as he prepares for baptism on the 27th. And Merry Christmas!

This week's song is "With Wondering Awe".

-Elder Smith

Also, about the pictures: we had a Mission-wide Christmas activity this past week where we went to Fo Guang Shan which means Buddha Light Mountain. I don't know what it's really called in English. To the best of my knowledge, it's the home of the biggest Buddha statue in the world(check me on that stat). That was super fun to see everyone and learn more about Buddhism!

Week Sixty-Six: 11/25/2014 to 12/1/2014--The First Full Week as a Trainer

Hello Everyone,

May I first just say that responsibility is exhausting, but you learn so much it's totally worth it. This week has been pretty happening. I was so tired every day that if I sat down for too long and wasn't doing anything with my brain, I'd start nodding off. It just started to subside a little bit yesterday and I think I'm back to full-function at the present. But maybe I just got used to being exhausted all the time. Either way, I feel normal now which is always a good feeling!

On the investigator front, we've been working hard, but have seen some minor set-backs. Junwei, the 17-year-old who plays rugby, had to drop his baptismal goal because his parents want him to think it over some more, probably a year. I can tell his parents really care about him and they just want him to do what's right which is nice, but I'm hoping we can cut that time down a little as we get to know them better and as they see the change in their son. Brother Lu also backed out on his goal to be baptized the 6th of December. He has been really consumed with work lately and just hasn't thought about this stuff very much. Our meeting with him this week went really well, however and we can tell he really wants to find answers. I don't know what it is, but it seems like all the people we're meeting with right now are interested, but they legitimately don't have time to meet with us more than once a week so we're struggling to help them feel the constant influence of the Spirit and progress.

I have seen significant personal growth this week. Like I said, this new calling has been taking a lot of my effort and has made me feel like I have a really big weight on my shoulders. Almost as though God has given me too much to manage and I'm stretching myself too thin. 

I was actually reading in the scriptures this week about a man who felt similarly. His name is Helaman. He was the captain of a large body of men who had just acquired many lands at the hand of the Lord, but didn't have enough men to defend them from being recaptured. He writes a letter to the chief captain Moroni, wondering why they don't send more men to strengthen them. He says, "But behold, our armies are small to maintain so great a number of cities and so great possessions. But behold, we trust in our God who has given us victory over those lands, insomuch that we have obtained those cities and those lands, which were our own." 

When I read that, it gave me the drive to have the same faith Helaman had. And I've found that as I keep moving forward doing the best that I can and as I kneel down each night and pray fervently for the energy and strength to accomplish the task at hand, my capacity is increased, I receive strength and in the end, I learn and grow much more than I would have if my situation and responsibilities had stayed the same. God has a plan. I know that to be true and I'm excited for the chance to keep learning and keep growing. 

And last of all, just to clarify, this extra weight on my shoulders is not because Elder Stevens is a goon or anything. On the contrary, he is awesome! We get along super well and I'm super glad for the opportunity I have to train him. Speaking of us and our unbeatable unity, we sang a song for you all, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." Merry Christmas:)

-Elder Smith

Meet.................Elder Stevens/文長老！

Hello Everyone!

For the first part of this week, not much happened because Elder Efros had tons of people who wanted to say good bye to him. Instead of just having a big bye-bye/picture-taking session Sunday night, we had one on Wednesday after English class and on Thursday after Book of Mormon class as well. That was a hoot:) Elder Efros and I split ways early Friday morning when I took the 6:51 train up to Taizhong to meet my next companion. Elder Efros went up to Yuanlin which is a little south of Taizhong. He and his companion are white-washing which will be fun for them and his companion goes home in a month so he has to learn the area pretty fast. That'll be a good challenge for him! 

So about my new companion, Elder Stevens. That's him on my right. To my left, we have Elder Dawson and his trainee whose name slips my mind at the moment. We'll be in the same zone for the next few months. That'll be fun! He was in the MTC with me and we got to be pretty good friends.


So as you can see, he's super tall and 帥. He's from Ohio. So I've only had 2 companions from Utah so far! Wooo. I think that's a record. He's pretty well rounded. He's smart, talented in music as well as athletics, he loves Celtic music(shout-out to the late Elder Gish), and he's just a pleasure to be around. He's already got some field-experience under his belt because his Visa was delayed. He spent 2 months in Layton, UT. Much different from Taiwan, but it's made it easier for him to just kind of jump into things here. Also, last but not least, his Chinese is off the wall good! He's really modest and self-critical about it, but it's way better than mine was when I got here. His tones are surprisingly accurate. He can't understand what people are saying very well yet, but that comes with time. He keeps getting down on himself and I just have to remind him he's only been here for 2 and a half days. On Saturday, he also took the lead in committing one of our investigators to baptism. It's Brother Wu. He's 17 and plays rugby. He's super cool. Unlike most Taiwanese kids, he's really good at analyzing literature and applying it to his life so hearing him talk about his experiences in the Book of Mormon is always super inspiring. He accepted a goal for the 25th of December, but then said his parents want him to wait a little longer until he's thought it over clearly. I respect their decision. I'm hoping we can find a time this week to talk to them about it. He really is a super awesome kid! All the Young men love him. I can see him becoming a really solid member. 
   We also really hopeful for Phoebe, Brother Su, and Brother Lu to make some good progress in the next few weeks and maybe even see someone be baptized in December. That's what we're going for:)
   Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Our ward is having a feast this Saturday, so maybe I'll get some real turkey this year and not just the bowl of turkey rice I had last year! Below is our turkey we drew for the ward FHE activity covered in gratitude hand feathers. So lush! Look at all that gratitude!  

-Elder Smith

P.S. This week's song is "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief." Despite what I say in the intro, it actually ended up sounding real good if I do say so myself. Enjoy. And because I didn't sing all the verses and the lyrics are so fantastic, here are the lyrics:

1. A poor, wayfaring Man of grief
Hath often crossed me on my way,
Who sued so humbly for relief
That I could never answer nay.
I had not pow'r to ask his name,
Whereto he went, or whence he came;
Yet there was something in his eye
That won my love; I knew not why.

2. Once, when my scanty meal was spread,
He entered; not a word he spake,
Just perishing for want of bread.
I gave him all; he blessed it, brake,
And ate, but gave me part again.
Mine was an angel's portion then,
For while I fed with eager haste,
The crust was manna to my taste.

3. I spied him where a fountain burst
Clear from the rock; his strength was gone.
The heedless water mocked his thirst;
He heard it, saw it hurrying on.
I ran and raised the suff'rer up;
Thrice from the stream he drained my cup,
Dipped and returned it running o'er;
I drank and never thirsted more.

4. 'Twas night; the floods were out; it blew
A winter hurricane aloof.
I heard his voice abroad and flew
To bid him welcome to my roof.
I warmed and clothed and cheered my guest
And laid him on my couch to rest,
Then made the earth my bed and seemed
In Eden's garden while I dreamed.

5. Stript, wounded, beaten nigh to death,
I found him by the highway side.
I roused his pulse, brought back his breath,
Revived his spirit, and supplied
Wine, oil, refreshment—he was healed.
I had myself a wound concealed,
But from that hour forgot the smart,
And peace bound up my broken heart.

6. In pris'n I saw him next, condemned
To meet a traitor's doom at morn.
The tide of lying tongues I stemmed,
And honored him 'mid shame and scorn.
My friendship's utmost zeal to try,
He asked if I for him would die.
The flesh was weak; my blood ran chill,
But my free spirit cried, "I will!"

7. Then in a moment to my view
The stranger started from disguise.
The tokens in his hands I knew;
The Savior stood before mine eyes.
He spake, and my poor name he named,
"Of me thou hast not been ashamed.
These deeds shall thy memorial be;
Fear not, thou didst them unto me."

Remember the Savior. We have so much to thank him for. Let's pass it forward!

Week Sixty-Four: 11/11/2014 to 11/17/2014--I'm Going to Have a Son! An Heir! A Wee Laddie!

Dear Everyone,

Elder Smith here. The one in the Taiwan Taichung mission. This week was great! Elder Efros and I have been working pretty well together as of late and we saw lots of success this week as a result. 

Brother Lu is working towards his 12/6 baptismal goal. I hope he hits it! That would make his family so happy. We also met with Brother Li(the guy who came up and contacted us in Jiali). He's awesome. He wants to be baptized, but he has to go to military training for 2 months, so we'll have to put that on hold for now. The good news is I'll be here to see him come back:). Phoebe prayed with us for the first time. That was pretty awesome. I love meeting with her because she really thinks about things and makes sure she understands them before we move on. That's such a relief as a teacher because that way you know you aren't just wasting words while your student is falling hopelessly behind. She also came to church yesterday. 

So, the big news. I went to a leadership meeting this last week for people who just recently became a senior companion or will become one within the next few months and we found out there that 21 new missionaries will be coming on island this Friday! We then got a call that Saturday saying that Elder Efros will be moving, but they didn't tell us why or where he was going yet. That was a little weird. We weren't sure why. Then, President Blickenstaff called on Sunday and told me he wants me to train one of those new missionaries. We then knew why Elder Efros was moving. And I also got super excited! I've wanted to train for a long time. I know it's going to be stressful and possibly a little tiring, but from what other people have said, it's also going to be SUPER fun and a chance for me to learn a ton. I'll be picking up my boy on Friday. So yeah, a profile on him will have to wait until next week because I have no idea who he is yet. I don't even know if it's an elder or a sister(psych). But yeah, I'm really stoked for that! Missionary friends, any and all advice would be welcomed with open arms!

Love you all! 

-Elder Smith

P.S. This week's song: God of Our Fathers, We Come Unto Thee

also, a picture of a really cool motorcycle/scooter I saw:

Week Sixty-Three: 11/3/2014 to 11/9/2014--Halloween and Missionary Work

Hello everyone! 

This week, none of the people we're meeting with made much progress:(. Everyone was pretty busy or just didn't show up. I'm hoping next week will be better. One person who did make some progress was Brother Lu. On Tuesday, my companion and I had to split up with members so we could visit him and attend a meeting. Elder Efros went to teach him and I stayed to attend the meeting. He did awesome! They taught Brother Lu about baptism which is something he's been concerned about for a while and helped him set a date for when he wants to be baptized. The goal we set was December 6, 2014. Pray for him! I don't know if I've said it before(probably a million times), but their family is super awesome and I really want them to be happy not just for this life, but forever.

We had a super rip-roarin' Halloween party at English class on Wednesday which was fun. I borrowed Elder Efros' jacket and became a swashbuckling missionary pirate. My beard is pretty epic. Check it out:

​

The lady standing in front is Vicky. We taught her a couple times, then the sister missionaries started teaching her. Elder Page(our district leader) is on the right.I have no idea who the little girl is...

Also, Danny, a good friend of mine here, had a dinner on Saturday night just because. Here he is sitting in his place of honor:

The Chinese I wrote on the board says "the spot reserved for Danny".​ If you can't tell, there's also bugles coming out the side and a halo on top. 

We also played a really intense game of ninja at FHE on Sunday with a lot of people. My legs are so sore. The spiritual share was also really good. I don't know if you all remember Elder Uchtdorf's talk "Lord, Is It I?" If you need a refresher, see here: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/lord-is-it-i?lang=eng Elder Galura shared some pretty good thoughts. I think as humans, we always have the tendency to think we're better than other people and not really take criticism no matter how much it may apply to us. The struggle is trying to change that, to actually seek for, and respond well to criticism. That's something I think Elder Washburn(my 2nd companion out in Magong) and I really did well as a companionship. We were really open with each other. When we gave criticism, we could have confidence that our intentions were good and we helped each other a lot. 

Love you guys! This week's song is Amazing Grace because everyone needs more of that:)

-Elder Smith

Week Sixty-Two: 10/28/2015 to 11/2/2015--Forming a New View

Hello Everyone,

Elder Smith here. This week has been pretty rad, not going to lie. It started out pretty normal but then, like, things just started happening and before you knew it, it was awesome! Let's take a look at these things.

First, let's talk about people. Phoebe is progressing slowly but surely. She's been reading in the Book of Mormon and she loved 1 Nephi 11:25 which says: "And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God." She came to the scripture study class where we talked about the tree of life and she really liked it so it was cool for her to read in the scriptures what all the symbols meant. It's awesome to see her reading through and really trying to understand what's in there.

Bro. Cai(the guy who had a baptismal date) is also progressing slowly, but surely. We shared the God's plan for us with him yesterday and he really liked it.

Vicky is awesome! She's kind of become a joint investigator with the sisters because her boyfriend attends their ward but she lives in our area. They shared about Joseph Smith and she took it really well:) I don't know if y'all remember Brother Su or not, but we met with him again this week and he brought 2 of his kids! They were sweet and it was awesome getting a vision for how the gospel could help them grow closer and improve both individually and collectively. It's a beautiful thing:)

Brother Lu is getting really close to baptism. I can feel it! His wife is encouraging him a lot. We're meeting with him on Tuesday and I'm really hoping we can help him to make that commitment that will bless the lives of him and his family members. He's awesome. And they will be fantastic!

Now for activities. We did the Plan of Salvation chalk activity at the train station this week! For the 20 minutes before we got told to clean it up, it was super successful! There were tons of people coming up and checking it out and asking us questions. 



Here it is. We didn't finish it before the train station official told us to clean it up:( We'll get a permit for it and come back next week, though). That'll be sweet! 

I also think it would be fun to go busking and play church songs. Like put the case out with fliers inside of it for people to come grab. I was just blown away at how much success came from it and I'm super excited to do some more creative activities like that. Let me know if you have any ideas! What would make you think "yeah, I want to talk to those suspicious white people who wear shirts and ties, ride bikes, and walk up to strangers talking about religion"? Let me know!

Alright, last thing. I set a goal this week to read from Chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel this week. For those unfamiliar with PMG, that chapter is all about Christlike attributes. I read about humility and came across this scripture in D&C 67:10. It reads, "And again, verily I say unto you that it is your privilege, and a promise I give unto you that have been ordained unto this ministry, that inasmuch as you strip yourselves from jealousies and fears, and humble yourselves before me, for ye are not sufficiently humble, the veil shall be rent and you shall see me and know that I am not with the carnal neither natural mind, but with the spiritual."

That's an awesome promise! As we strive to be humble--to strip ourselves of jealousies and fears--we will be able to know God. The veil will be RENT! Powerful imagery right there. I hope we can all get to that point.

Love,


Elder Smith

P.S. This week's song. It'll blow your mind maybe. Sorry, I kind of goofed at one part. Forgive me! But enjoy! "Come, Follow Me."

Week Sixty-One: 10/21/2014 to 10/27/2014--Interviews and the Best Church Meeting I've Ever Seen!

Hello everyone,

This week was filled with challenges, but there were a few miracles too. What I've found on the mission is that the number of failures or disappointments needs to be super high before it can bring down the great fuzzy feeling that comes from a miracle. Like 300000000:1 or something. Miracles are awesome!

We met with Brother Lu this week again(I don't know if you remember him) and that was awesome. I'm always stunned--and I don't know why--by what a huge difference it makes when investigators are reading the scriptures and praying often. They just become so much more teachable and closer to God. We shared with him the talk "Windows of Heaven" by Elder Bednar from last October's general conference. It talks about tithing and the subtle, but significant blessings that come from it. It's super awesome. Everyone should check it out. We then invited him to take time every day to write down a subtle, but significant blessing the Lord gave him that day. It was awesome, because his wife(who's a super sold RC) was able to share an awesome example. I have hope for him. I really want to help them be sealed in the temple as a family. They're so awesome! Pray for him:)

We also started meeting with this 17-year-old kid who we'll name Jonny for our purposes here. He's sweet. His parents don't object to us meeting with him, he's super interested, and he plays rugby. So he's pretty great. But seriously, he payed more attention in church than most people up on the stand. I'm excited for him! 

Brother Cai(the guy who set the baptismal goal) kind of blew us off this week, so I'm not sure what's going on, but we'll keep trying and see how we can help him.

Brother Lee(the guy who pulled over to talk to us) is kind of odd. I'm not really sure at this point about whether or not he'll be a solid investigator. He's going to another church and it seems like they may have told him some things about us that weren't entirely true. He was asking us if we still use the Bible and things like that. We'll see.

Interviews were awesome this week. President Blickenstaff can see into my soul, I swear. He knows exactly what I need to hear. It's great! He's a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

So yeah, yesterday's church meetings were awesome. They were all about temple work, eternal families, and family history. Coincidentally, we had talked about those very things with a couple investigators and RCs that week. It was an answer to prayers. I think it was especially good for Brother Lu as he's considering whether or not he wants to establish an eternal family. Pray for him! 

Love you all!

-Elder Smith

P.S. This week's song is "Because I Have Been Given Much" enjoy!

Week Sixty: 10/14/2014 to 10/20/2014--I've been on this beautiful island for a year already??

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This Thursday marks my 1 year on island. That's super nuts. That's like a man's 50th birthday. I'm old :(. I might as well get measured for my coffin or something. Psych. I've still got 10+ months left but no time to waste! I need to make these months count so that when I get on the plane home I can look back without regrets. 

Also, attatched is a funny picture of me from Yongkang. Rod sent me a bunch. Sigh...

Anyway, lots happened this week. We have a few investigators who are making some good progress. One is Vicky. She seems super prepared and excited to learn and be baptized. We meet with her once a week and she came to sacrament meeting with her boyfriend this last Sunday. She also just has this super optimistic outlook on life already. Her work is pretty rough, but she told us "Your attitude is important. If you look at the lot you've been given and think of it as unfair or inconvenient, then your life will be terrible. But, if you look at these challenges as experience builders and hold out for better days in the future, you can be happy." Pretty profound. I was super impressed and I'm glad we're able to teach her. 

We also met with Brother Cai(the guy with the baptismal goal). He didn't pray this last week. I think he felt a little silly doing it and we didn't really follow up with him, so we took some time yesterday and taught him the role of prayer and the Book of Mormon. He committed to read and pray every day this week. I hope he does. He seems really sincere about learning these things and finding out if they're true for himself. 

We also had this sweet lesson/road trip/party up in one of our secondary areas on Friday. The Elders Quorum President took us up there with his home teaching companion to visit a couple less-active members we have been working with. We shared the message for this month which was about prayer and we also shared about fasting. While one of the members was talking about it, I thought about how when I'm fasting, the sacrament tastes way better. Just that feeling of not having eaten for a long time and getting a little morsel of bread is probably a feeling everyone has experienced. I also thought about the "Daily Bread" videos that Elder Christofferson did(if you haven't seen them, check them out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTlJUuFDlrE&index=2&list=PL7C7E87DF812F1A31 there's 3 of them. They're all GREAT!). So yeah, I was thinking about those videos and that concept that we're so reliant on The Lord for our daily spiritual sustenance. I'm just so impressed by all the symbols that God puts in our life. Maybe it's because I'm kind of an art junkie and I love looking for meaning in literature and art that may or may not actually be there, but I think that God made the world this way for a reason. He made our bodies this way for a reason. It's hard to explain the epiphany I had, but it was pretty rad in my mind. 

I'm so glad I'm a missionary. I'm so glad I can be engaged in this work and even though I feel like I'm thwarted so often by the uninformed or unwise decisions of others, I'm still able to find true joy in my personal relationship with Jesus Christ and through His words in the scriptures.

Love you all!

-Elder Smith

P.S. This week, I did "Be Still, My Soul" at the request of my mother. I hope everyone enjoys it:) 

Week Fifty-Nine: 10/7/2014 to 10/13/2014: Subtle, But Significant Blessings

Dear Everyone,

Elder Smith here. First off, this week was WAAAAY better than last week. I saw lots of great things happen and I think it's because I stayed strong in the midst of my trials and kept moving forward in faith. We met a few new friends, had good experiences with people we've been meeting with already, and saw the work start to move forward. And, it was General Conference, so no matter what happened, last week had to be awesome! 

It started off Monday with Gorilla Ball. What is Gorilla Ball, you may ask? Basically, you play basket ball here:

and you hop around the whole time(this counts as dribbling). You also make monkey sounds, but that wasn't really a rule. it just kind of happened naturally. That was super fun. Here's the team picture:

from left to right: Elder Crook, me, Elder Page(the district leader), Elder Efros, Elder Galura, and Elder Brady(the redhead).

Then, we got to work. I honestly don't really remember what happened Monday-Thursday, but I'm pretty sure it consisted of a lot of finding and contacting. On Friday, we had our Stake's Sport Activity. There were lots of different events and stuff. It felt kind of like a track meet, but less organized and with weirder events. I also got a sweet shirt that says "Super 4 Ward". It's awesome. There's a picture on facebook somewhere, i'm sure. We got to meet a lot of ward members and i realized during the missionary relay race that I'm SUPER out of shape. It was a 4x200 and i was the anchor so I had to run my guts out...almost literally. 

That night, we went up in the boonies to visit an LA. He's planning on coming back to church next week or the week after that, so I hope that happens. We shared a talk Henry B. Eyring gave last conference. It was awesome. It totally addressed his concerns. I have lots of hope for him! 

On Saturday, we watched conference, ate costco pizza, watched conference, then met with this kid who had been pretty much forced by his aunt to meet with us. He had a little interest, but I felt bad for him because his aunt is kind of insane. The gospel could help him though. His main interests include playing video games and messing around on his phone. Unacceptable in my opinion! We'll help him out, hopefully. 

We also met with some other awesome people and one guy even set a date for baptism. 11/22/14. Remember the date! We also got self-contacted by this guy when we were up visiting that LA on Friday. It was the thing that every missionary dreams about and never gets! He was like "Hey, you're a missionary right? I met with you guys a while back but I haven't gone in a while. I keep meaning to go back. When can we meet? Do you have a phone number i could call you on?" Elder Efros thinks he's a creep, but I'm choosing to believe he's super golden! Updates on him next week. 

That's about it! I think my favorite talk was Elder Uchtdorf's from priesthood session. That question. "Lord, is it I?" is one everyone needs to ask themselves. I love how he said we need to avoid the tendancy to think "Oh yeah, Brother so-and-so is really bad at that" or "I'm glad he's here. He really needs this message." Rather than think of other people's faults, we need to ask "Lord, is it I?" and then be accepting of the answer we get. Only then can we help others. "...first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye" (Matthew 7:3,5).

I know that through Christ, we can make significant improvement to our lives. We cannot do that alone. We can try, with some success, but if we want to truly change our hearts and experience light and clarity, we need Christ. There's no other way. I invite all to pray about the messages they received this past conference and gain your own personal witness that those messages are inspiration from God to His prophets, apostles and representatives.

love you all!~

-Elder Smith

Week Fifty-Eight: 9/30/2014 to 10/6/2014

Hello Everyone,

So yeah, it's week 58ish. That's pretty wild. I'm almost at my year on island. This first week with Elder Efros hasn't been full of success. Brother Tang said he didn't want to meet with us anymore first thing Monday night, so that wasn't fun. I'd rather not talk about it too much. I just really hope that he'll act on his feelings in the future. We also had a lot of people set up appointments, confirm, and then have things come up last-minute so that they weren't able to meet with us. I mean, they didn't flat out stand us up and we'll be able to set up another time in the future, but that was still pretty sad. So, instead of teaching lessons, we biked a lot, contacted a lot of people, tried to visit a lot of Less-active members, and made lots of calls. In all honesty, it would seem that it wasn't a super productive week. However, I was able to get to know Elder Efros better, which is good.

Blurry picture Brendan took of a special ring I gave him before he left. I bought it when I was 18 at Seattle's Folklife festival and it's been special to me. I gave it to him with a sappy letter before he left. When he Skyped with us for Mother's Day, he showed me that he was wearing it and that it helps to remind him of his family when he's feeling discouraged. Love this kid.

The two investigators we were able to meet with were Phoebe and Brother Lu. Both of their lessons went well and they are making progress slowly but surely. Phoebe came to her first church activity last night. She didn't talk much, but she still came and brought a friend so that's good! Pray for them. 

The weather is getting nicer. It's nice an cool in the evening now. The day is still pretty hot, but it's not as bad as it was a few weeks ago. We also got an entirely different district this transfer. Every companionship had a change. I'll send a picture another week and talk about them maybe. They're all pretty fun...maybe too fun...but anyways, talk to you all next week! I'm running low on time. 

Love you all!

-Elder Smith

P.S. The song. enjoy. I put in a blank verse so you could all sing along;) "O My Father."

 

Week Fifty-Four: 9/23/2014 to 9/29/2014--Rock. Paper. Scissors.

Hello Everyone! 

The list of people I send these to is getting pretty long as I add all my missionary friends along the way. I hope no one is getting sick of them because I'm sure not! But seriously, this week was pretty nuts. Probably the most stressful week of my mission. I went on exchanges not once but twice, I told tall tales and translated until my voice sounded like John Lennon's on Twist and Shout, I said good-bye to Elder Zhao, I had a lot of funny things said to me, but most of all, I grew a ton and I'm stoked for this next movecall with Elder...(drum roll, please)....Efros!! He's a good guy. He's from California, but he lives in Arizona. It's complicated. Suffice it to say, he has a very interesting background and he's experienced many different cultures and ideas. I think it's going to be a big asset in our companionship. Here he is:

So first, the exchanges. Elder Nin(my district leader from New Zealand) took me over to his area on Tuesday so that was fun. I got to see what West Tainan is like. It was pretty much the same as North Tainan, but there were some things that spiced it up like cucumber ice cream, and lots of bridges, and an investigator with a camaro. What I really noticed about him is that he is in love with being a missionary. I like being a missionary a lot. It's one of my favorite things, but he inspires me to like it even more! Elder Surdu(the Zone leader I'm pretty tight with) came over to North Tainan with me and we had a blast. He gave me a lot of good advice and he's one of my favorite people. He served in Yongkang while I was there in the other ward. I can't really describe him. You'll just have to meet him someday. But he's hilarious. 

Second, the English party(which included tall tales). So basically, we did a Wild West theme. I don't know if anyone saw the picture I posted on Facebook. It was super fun. There were lots of games going on including a stick pull, Monopoly deal, spoons, rubber-band shooting range, and a donggua cha(wintermelon tea) bar. In the center of the room, however, we were just telling tall tales the whole time and they were HILARIOUS! At the end of it, we played "Come Thou Fount" together(recording attached) and shared the Joseph Smith story. It went really well and Elder Zhao discovered a cowboy accent he didn't even know he had. Great growth, indeed. :)

Speaking of Elder Zhao, he's gone. :( He's about an hour drive north of here in a place called Xinying. He'll do great! I'm grateful for the time I had with him and I learned a lot. This last transfer wasn't the most easy-going transfer I've ever had, but it was certainly the most fulfilling transfer of my mission. I've loved being Elder Zhao's companion! 

Last, two great things that people said to me. First, from an LA we're working with. He asked me, "If you faced God in rock, paper, scissors, do you think you could win?" to which I replied, "I don't think so. I mean, he knows everything." Then he said something that blew my mind. He said, "Yeah you could. Just pray and tell him you want to win." Think about that for a sec. I don't know. I thought it was really cool. His faith is so simple. He just needs to come to church:(. The other thing was said by the Bishop's daughter. She asked me, "Have you been lying to people?" to which I replied,"No way! I'm a missionary!" to which she said,"then why is your nose so long?" If you don't get it, please see your nearest Asian's nose, then see your nearest American's nose. Yep. I died laughing and it was in the middle of Sacrament meeting. Oops. 

All in all, I'm loving it out here! I'm developing close relationships with the members, and we're slowly but surely helping our brothers and sisters to come unto Christ. Pray for them, pray for me! Until next week...

-Elder Smith

P.S. In case you didn't see it: 

​Yes, that is a random bamboo stick we found in our apartment.