Week One Hundred and One: 7/28/2015 to 8/2/2015--Short and Sweet

Hello everyone!

I'm just going to jump right into it.

Roger's run into some more challenges now in that his mom says he can't get baptized for another 2 years due to some custom regarding the death of his grandfather. She really likes the church's principles and believes the members are good, but says he can't be baptized right now. But we're not giving up. We fasted with him yesterday and he said it was a really cool experience and we're hoping for miracles to come out of it. Pray for him!! 

Jason is doing great, but he slept in again yesterday. Cursed LOL! We'll have to be more straight laced with him in the future. But he really is doing awesome and his mom doesn't oppose him being baptized! That's a first! 

Doug is looking pretty solid to be baptized next week. He gave some really good answers in gospel principles class yesterday and it seems like his sincerity and his testimony is growing consistently. Also, we found out yesterday that he's read the New Testament before all the way through and he's now reading it again along with the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon. That's super impressive considering he's a busy aerospace engineer and works every day except Sunday from 7/8am to 8pm. Good guy.

We had some fun contacting this week. Tuesday and Wednesday, we didn't have a lot of appointments set up and thus spent a lot of time finding. My nose got pretty sunburned. But anyways, on Wednesday, we were contacting and everyone was rejecting us and we were getting a little bummed, but Elder Chen, being the determined, optimistic guy he is said out of no where, "Alright, I want to tell someone about Joseph Smith." So, at the next light, we stopped next to a young man and Elder Chen said, "Hey! We want to share a story about a boy named Joseph Smith with you. Can we pull over to the side of the road and tell you about it." And he pulled over! And he listened to the whole thing, left his number and said the missionaries in his area could teach him. Then, 2 more times in a row, we thought of a topic like our family picture or the word of wisdom and met 2 awesome kids, one who came to basketball last Saturday, and one who met with us and expressed a lot of interest in the church. It really strengthened my testimony that as we open our mouths and share our testimonies instead of just shooting the breeze and hoping for an opportunity to share the gospel, people really respond. I'm so grateful for Elder Chen. 

We also had Zone Conference this week, where we learned how to really discern whether or not someone is ready for baptism and how we can focus our efforts in order to help them prepare. I also gave my reflection. It didn't feel like it though. It just felt like a normal testimony. I feel like everyone understands I'm going home soon but me. 

I'm so grateful to be a missionary. These last few weeks have been incredible and I feel confident that I'll be able to carry that momentum throughout the last two weeks as well. The Lord is with me. I'm confident that I'll see miracles before I leave. 

Love you guys! See you in a few.

-Elder Smith

Today's song is one I heard in sacrament meeting yesterday that I've never sung before, but enjoyed quite a bit. I only did one take this morning, so my voice cracks a couple times, but just ignore that and enjoy the words and the melody:)

Week One Hundred and Two: 8/4/2015 to 8/10/2015--A Family and a Typhoon!

Dear Family and Friends,

So I don't know if the typhoon that hit Taiwan was broadcast at all, but it was pretty intense. Friday night, the wind woke us up almost every hour and at some point in the middle of the night, our power went out(which includes our AC unit), so we started waking up because it was so hot. Then, Saturday evening, we had to return to the apartment early so we didn't get literally blown away. Psych, it wasn't that bad, but it was bad enough that we had to go home. Below is Elder Chen doing the plan by candle light. Poor us. 

But no one got hurt and that's the important thing. Here's our church parking lot where 2 trees got blown over and another one completely snapped in half. Pretty beastly winds.

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But again, people wise, everything was ok. 

As far as the work goes, Doug is getting baptized this week along with the 8 year old son of a member in the ward. It should be a good service:). Roger is still struggling with things. His house incurred some damage from the storm(he made a point to mention that his Book of Mormon is still fine haha), so he wasn't able to come to church yesterday. Jiazhang is rockin' and rollin'. He's still looking really good to be baptized on the 29th. The biggest challenge right now is that his dad wants to teach him how to drive Sunday mornings, so the past two weeks, he's only been able to come to the first hour of church. I think it's something he'll be able to work around, though. 

We also found some new investigators including a FAMILY! They are the Liao family. The mom came to our English class with her daughter this last Wednesday and she was planning on bringing her husband with them to church on Sunday, but then she slept in -__-. We were able to meet them that afternoon, though, and they were SUPER golden! The mom has a really strong Christian background, but hasn't gone to any church in a long time. The dad has a very traditional Buddhist/Taoist background, but he loved all the things we shared with them. At the end of the lesson, he said the prayer. We invited them to pray daily as a family and set up a time this next week to meet and talk about the Book of Mormon. I really think the gospel is what they're looking for:). Pray for them! 

Well, this is my last week. I'm going to be working hard until the very end, even though it feels like I'm staring straight into the pit of my everlasting demise sometimes. 哎呀. Well, here goes. Woooooooooo!

-Elder Smith 

Week One Hundred: 7/20/2015 to 7/27/2015--Lots of Miracles!

Hello everyone,

May I first just say that I love working with Elder Chen. He's super diligent, he's mature, and he can connect with people in a way that I never could. I'm very grateful to have him around. And it's nice because he's from Taiwan, so even if I wanted to, I couldn't have a very interesting conversation about home. It's like a firewall against trunkiness. Super nice!

We also saw a lot of success this week. Roger's still looking really good. His mom sounds like she also might have interest. She took his pamphlets and Book of Mormon to investigate them (she gave them back), and it turns out she's already ahead of Roger in the Book of Mormon. We haven't been able to meet her yet, but Roger says we'll be able to find a time this week. He doesn't have a set date right now, but I think he'll be baptized pretty soon. Maybe next week or the week after. He just needs to get into a good habit of coming to church. He came yesterday for 2 hours, but had to leave for the last part. 

We also inherited an investigator named Doug. He has accepted the lessons, as he says, "because I don't have any evidence to prove that it's false." It's a start, but I hope as he keeps coming to church and praying, he can get an affirmative and not just neutral answer. He's a good guy, though and he's an aerospace engineer so that's pretty cool. 

Another inherited investigator, Kent, accepted a baptismal goal for the 28th of August. He's a dad with a wife and one daughter. He's pretty quiet, but willing to share his thoughts and very humble and wants to learn. He hadn't made time to come to church for the longest time, but this last week, we let him know that if he wants to be prepared for baptism, he needs to come and that helped be a little more serious about it. I'm hoping he comes next week (he took his family out hiking this last weekend).

There's also a high school student named Jiazhang. We'll call him Jason so he'll be a little easier to remember. He's pretty cool. He likes to write raps and play basketball. And he loves the gospel. He came to church for the first time yesterday for all 3 hours. Afterwards, we sat down with him and he accepted a baptismal goal for the 28th of August. He said his mom is fine with him coming to church so hopefully she won't oppose him getting baptized.

We have a few more investigators, but those 4 are the ones that are making the most progress right now. Something else cool that happened was that there was this really old member who we visited this past week (quite an ordeal, by the way. the security guard didn't trust us at all) who came to church! When we met with him and invited him to come, his answer was pretty vague ("if I have time and I'm feeling ok, I'll go." But he was so old, we didn't blame him). But then a few minutes into sacrament meeting, he came trotting right in, practically dragging his son and daughter along with him. It was one of the happiest moments of my mission, seeing him so happy to come and worship in his old age. 

Anyway, there were lots of good things that happened this week, but there's a little sample. 

I started writing my mission reflection this week so I can give it in zone conference next week and it's a really odd feeling.

-Elder Smith    

This week's song: I Believe in Christ. Forgive me for my poor english accent ;)

Also, some friends from Tainan came up this last week and showed me a picture of a guy they saw on the bus who looks like the asian version of me. Let me know if you agree. I think it's a little eerie how close it is...

Week Ninety-Nine: 7/14/2015 to 7/20/2015--New Companion and the Start of the End

Hello everyone!

This last week was honestly a bit slow as it often is close to the transfer. First for the bad news. Roger had to work SUPER late last Saturday night and wasn't able to make it to church Sunday so he will no longer be getting baptized next Saturday, but he will still be getting baptized soon. He called us today to explain more about it and still seems like he has a strong desire to figure out a way to make it work. His mom is making him work at her factory Friday and Saturday night from 12-6am and church is at 9am, so that's going to be rough for sure. We said we'd meet with him tomorrow to talk about it. Pray for him! 

But good news, Elder Anderson is HOME!! Just kidding that's not good news. But the real good news is I have a native Taiwanese companion. His name is Elder Chen. He's from Taipei and he's already graduated from college. I just met him this afternoon, but he seems really easy-going and willing to work. I've heard lots of good things about him from other missionaries as well, so I'm pretty excited to spend my last 4 weeks with him. 

Also good and bad news. The other set of elders in our district got shut down because of a lack of missionaries so we get to teach their investigators. They are all really cool. One has a baptismal goal for three weeks from now. His name is Doug and he's an aerospace engineer. How cool is that! He loves reading the Book of Mormon and he's been coming to church every week. 

Man, I'll be honest. This last week was really not too hot, but the coming weeks look so exciting, I'm just going to forget about it and march onward, ever onward! I'll let you know how it goes next week. 

Love you all! 

Also, this is me with my son at the train station for the last time before he comes home. He was in my zone, but just got transferred to Gaoxiong(Kaohsiung).

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-Elder Smith

P.S. The song this week is Adam Ondi-Ahman. Treading into some deep waters now...but I really do just like this hymn. The melody is really interesting(though difficult to sing at 8 in the morning) and the words too. Enjoy

Week Ninety-Eight: 7/7/2015 to 7/13/2015--Two Big Miracles and a Dying Elder Anderson

Hello everyone,

This week, we gained a lot of faith and confidence and we're pretty stoked about what the future holds. Also, there was supposed to be two typhoons that hit Taiwan at the same time and rock us, but they ended up changing directions so all we got were some mild winds and sprinkling. Not too shabby. Typhoons always slow us down. But they're super fun at the same time. It feels like a crazy adventure riding out there through the wind and rain:).

The first miracle happened while I was on exchanges with Elder Moore in Donghai. He's a super good guy and gave me lots of compliments on my guitar-playing/song-writing skills. I'll try not to let those go to my head:). But at night, just before we were about to go home, I saw a guy walking up ahead and I didn't realize he was white until I rode up next to him. I said hi and he was friendly(phew! Some white people in Taiwan are less than friendly to us. Elder Anderson even got a death threat once). His name is Louis and he's from Paris. He's a super cool guy and the craziest thing about this is that I met him last year--THE SAME GUY--when I was in Penghu. I can't believe that's coincidence. That's definitely divine intervention. Anyway, I got his facebook and his email so I'm hoping we can start teaching him and maybe I can even send Salmon a referral when he goes back to Paris in September.   

The second miracle was on Sunday. We had met with Roger on Saturday to teach him the Word of Wisdom(which he accepted), and he said he could come to church, but then when we called him on Sunday morning he said he had to go to baseball practice. We were so bummed because that would mean we'd have to push back his baptismal goal. But then, he showed up in the middle of sacrament meeting and said "I told them I'd be a little late. I wanted to see what sacrament meeting is like." MIRACLES!! He left right afterward to go to practice, but luckily, it rained, so he came back and attended a YSA activity at 1:30, then met with us at 3 to discuss the law of tithing and fasting. He accepted those as well and set up a baptismal interview for Wednesday. He's going to make it! And then in his closing prayer, he said "Before, I felt kind of skeptical, but now I'm filled with faith and I hope I can pass my interview on Wednesday and accomplish my plan to get baptized." When he said that I did a little mental fist pump. He's awesome and I'm excited for his baptism! I'm just said Elder Anderson won't get to see it. Hopefully he'll have time to skype in from bear lake. 

Besides that, there wasn't much else of note. I love all of you! Pray that Elder Anderson and I will have a super solid, uplifting week together as he finished his time here in Taiwan. And get ready to meet my new and probably last companion next week. 

-Elder Smith

P.S. I'll send the song a little bit later. It's going to be the star spangled banner, so get ready for some patriotism. 

The Star Spangled Banner

Week Ninety-Seven--6/30/2015 to 7/6/2015--ZTM, Interviews, and Patriotism

Dear Everyone,

I hope everyone had a good 4th. We had a fun activity where we had kind of a chapel open house, then ate American burgers with Taiwanese fruit(best combo ever. sorry America, but your fruit is just not the same). A lot of non-members came and the 1st councilor in our bishopric said he met a family who lives in the other ward that has a lot of potential. So we're pretty excited about that! 

Me and Elder Anderson eating burgers. Sorry we kind of look like punks. The guy to the right of Elder Anderson is Steven. He's a convert of about 2 years and helps us out a lot. He's planning on going on a mission, then studying at BYU Hawaii: 

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Other than that, Tuesday we had ZTM which is hectic and rewarding as always. We talked about finding, especially street contacting. We hope our zone can get pumped about finding new people! Sister Kwan made pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting again. It was divine...again. We're all going to miss her when she leaves in a couple weeks. On Wednesday, we had interviews with President Blickenstaff. As Zone Leaders, we got there at 9:30, and stayed there until 5pm helping the assistants do planner and area book checks. It was a good chance we had to interact with the members of our zone and pass on some of our wisdom hehe. My interview with President was the least stressful interview I've ever had. We just talked about what I've been thinking about lately and how I can help Elder Anderson have a good last few weeks in the field. I love President Blickenstaff. 

With all the activities we had this week, we weren't able to focus as much on our area, but this next week, we're excited to get things going again. Roger is still looking ok to be baptized on the 25th. He said his dad's fine with him getting baptized, but his mom wants to do some more research so she took his Book of Mormon and all his pamphlets and is reviewing them. Who knows, maybe she'll want to get baptized too! Pray for him! 

It's looking kind of bleak for the families we're working with. But I hope as we're persistent, they can be willing to make the changes that they need to do to feel the blessings of the gospel in their lives. Why is it so hard to work with families??

Anyways, that's my week in a nutshell. This week, I'll be able to spend more time proselyting because there are no meetings we have to prepare for or anything. Woohoo! Love you guys! Have a good week. 

-Elder Smith

P.S. 3 weeks worth of songs coming in hot!! Please forgive me!

How Firm a Foundation (Chinese)

The Time is Far Spent

Come O, Thou King of Kings (Chinese)

Week Ninety-Six: 6/23/2015 to 6/29/2015--All in all, an excellent week!

Hello everyone,

So today we went to an amusement park in the morning so that's why I'm emailing so late today. So just to warn you, I'm using a members iPhone and I don't really trust the autocorrect so there may be some spelling errors. Highlights from this last week include going to the temple, mission leadership council, Roger accepting another baptismal goal AND coming to church, meeting a ward missionary's brother who just got out of jail and is super excited about repenting, and all the little miracles in between. Being a missionary is an amazing thing. Though I can't use words and especially not typed out messages on a computer screen to express the depth of it, I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and His atonement. We need Him. Coming on a mission has made me realize that being a "Christian" doesn't just mean you go to church on Sunday and celebrate Christmas. It also includes being rooted in and changed by Christ. It means having a personal testimony that He lives and it means following in His footsteps. It's tough but worth it. Love you guys! I know this letter's shorter, but I hope that rather than just see what I did this last week, you can see what I learned and how I changed. That's what a missions all about right? 

-Elder Smith

P.s. Songs are coming soon:) 

Week Ninety-Five: 6/16/2015 to 6/22/2015--Pinky Promises and Lots of Miracles

Dear Everyone,

This week my zone is going to the temple on Wednesday, so even though we get to email today for an hour, our actual p day is on Wednesday. What I'm trying to say is...you'll have to wait until Wednesday for the song. :'(

This week was pretty good, though. On Monday, the Jiang family pinky promised that their kids would be baptized next month(July). So now it's time to redouble our efforts to help them come to church. Pray for them! We did exchanges with the assistants on Tuesday where we saw lots of miracles and found some really cool people who I'm excited to work with. One was a former investigator family. The mom is Vietnamese and works really hard making tennis balls to support her family. She also has a SUPER smart daughter who wants to be a lawyer when she grows up and has really strong faith in God already. AND, they rest on Sundays. It's like they were made for the gospel or something. We had a return appointment for this last Saturday, but there were some scheduling conflicts and we ended up not being able to go by. We rescheduled for next Saturday though! 

We invited Daniel to be baptized this week and he was pretty willing, but when he asked his mom, he said she got this really upset look on her face and said he could go to church and meet with us and everything, but he couldn't be baptized. That made us sad, but if he's willing to keep progressing and living the gospel, I think she'll come around when she sees how he changes. 

We finally got in contact with the wanabe rock-star guy. That was an awesome lesson. He was talking about how he struggles with being lazy and he doesn't see any way of getting over it. We testified of the enabling power of the atonement and he looked like he felt something, but then he didn't come to church:(. Next time...

On Friday, we went over to the Fang family's house and taught the parents the plan of salvation. The mom especially seemed really touched and gave a closing prayer. I really think there's hope for that family! Keep praying for them:) Also, we found out that their surname is really rare which made them even more cool! Most Fang's are this character: 方, but they're this character: 枋. 

We met a guy named Louis on exchanges with Elder Pihl and he's one of the most golden kids I've ever met. He's just one of those kids who actually thinks about religion and takes it seriously. He had some really deep questions like what the purpose of life is and how he can get closer to God. But he's pretty busy, so we weren't able to set a return appointment with him.

On Friday there was a BAPTISM! It's Travis and Tracy. I don't know if I've written about them a lot, but we eat at their family's breakfast shop at least twice a week. They've been investigating for almost 2 years and they're still struggling a bit with coming to church(their parents make them work Sundays), but they decided it's time to get baptized. We worked with them a bit, but they live in the other ward so they ended up getting baptized there. Here they are:

Travis likes joking around so that's why he's not smiling, but everyone else looks good, so whatever:)

And these are all the missionaries that have worked with them that are still in the area. Lots of love at that baptismal service:) Elder Hill(to my left) is tickling me so that's why my face is so scary. Sorry.

Roger wasn't able to come to church again(he has insomnia and didn't get to bed at all Saturday night) so he dropped his baptismal goal, but we're meeting with him tomorrow and he's still been reading the Book of Mormon. I told him he could pray and ask God to help him with his insomnia. He sounded pretty excited about that. 

Yesterday, we met with an investigator who's great uncle had just died and had left behind a bunch of stuff, so he let us go in and take whatever we wanted. There was some pretty cool stuff in there. I got a little door hanger thingy and one of those pictures that they sew. I'll just have to send some pictures.

This was my favorite thing there. It's probably super illegal though...

That's about it folks! I hope you have a great week. I'm thinking there are some baptisms right around the corner:)

-Elder Smith 

Week Ninety-Four: 6/9/2015 to 6/15/2015--Use Boldness, But Not Overbearing

Dear Everyone,

This week was pretty good. Roger accepted a baptismal goal for the 11th of July. He said it's kind of fast but in his words, "If I can receive a testimony, baptism will be pretty great." He was pretty set on going to church yesterday and he was going to wear his suit too, but then his dad took him to work. That was a bummer. I hope family opposition won't be a problem. Elder Anderson and I were also able to work in more unity. Especially yesterday, we've been able to teach much more effectively. 

Vincent met with us twice, but couldn't come to church, and still has some reservations about religion in general because of what happened with his mom. He says he's thought a lot about Jesus Christ and His atonement and he's pretty much accepted it, but he's still not sure about prayer or God. It's hard for Taiwanese people sometimes because all the gods they worship have a steadfast image associated with them that you worship, but Heavenly Father seems a bit more unclear. So we hope he can have some good experiences as he prays and feels the Spirit. 

We went to visit the Fang family this week, but the dad wasn't home and the son is sill kind of lukewarm toward us, so we set up a return appointment for this Friday.  

Last night we found an awesome family tracting. They are the Li family. The dad answered the door. He's Taoist, but his wife and kids are all pretty active in a different Christian church. He'd been to church before, but hadn't ever really been interested in actually learning or joining. We shared the Restoration with him and his oldest daughter and he not only understood the significance, but was pretty impressed that our church has living prophets with priesthood authority to guide us. They have to go back to Taipei to visit family next weekend, so it doesn't look like we'll be able to meet with them again soon, but we'll keep in touch, and we're going to try to go over tonight before they leave and drop off a Book of Mormon. 

Man, I'm so exhausted, but it was a good week, so I guess it's worth it:). I've found that's how I know if I've had a successful week is if by 10:30 Sunday night, I feel like I have nothing left, but I'm still happy. It's a good feeling to crash that night knowing that you did your best and you have a few hours the next day to recuperate for the next week. I love being a missionary!!

Love you all!

-Elder Smith

Today's Song: Come Unto Jesus.

Week Ninety-Three: 6/2/2015 to 6/8/2015--Pray for and Expect Miracles

Dear Everyone,

This week has been pretty eventful and awesome. We're still working with the Jiang family. We've talked to the ward and hopefully, we'll be going over with a member of the new Bishopric sometime soon. ZTM on tuesday took up our morning and half of our afternoon, but I think it went over well and one of the sisters in our zone made pumpkin cake and chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting. I had the pumpkin one. It was divine. Needless to say, we're glad to have her in the zone. On Wednesday, it was my birthday. We spent some time that day preparing for the English party that night. Our district found out it was my birthday that day and thought it would be fun to do an "Unbirthday Party" and show everyone some games we play at american/brittish birthday parties. My companion and I manned the pass the parcel game.

We also had musical chairs, root beer floats, a balloon popping game, and something else I forgot. Then, for the spiritual share, we put on a really awesome campy play about a kid's birthday party where he realizes the Jesus is the best gift of all. I was playing background music on the piano/narrating the whole thing. It ended up being really awesome and helped me realize how much of a difference music can really make in the mood. It was probably one of the best plays I've ever co-written and done the music for. 

On Thursday, we had a MIRACLE! Do you remember the man we contacted a few weeks ago after zone conference who was sad because his grandfather? Well he called us Thursday afternoon and asked if we could go meet him at the chapel. He brought us kiwi juice because, as he said, he'd "done his homework" and knew we didn't drink things with caffeine in them. Not completely accurate, but cool nonetheless. He seemed really interested, but doesn't want to go too fast. His mother ran away to be a Buddhist monk when he was 18 so I think he might be a little afraid of doing the same thing. So when we talked about baptism, he got a little shifty. He came to church that sunday for all three hours, though and then sat with us afterward to talk about some questions he had. We taught him the rest of the message of the Restoration and he committed to read the Book of Mormon. We have a lot of hope for him!

Also on Thursday, I got to exchange with my son, Elder Stevens. I brought him over to Daya. It was awesome. He's gained so much confidence since we served together. His expectations for the exchange were to expect miracles and teach to people's needs. That's my boy:). So, on the exchange, we prayed for and expected miracles and we saw quite a few. One was Thursday evening when we met with a family we're working with. The dad was home with one of his friends. His friend left halfway through the lesson. We shared about Joseph Smith and prayer after his friend left and Mr. Fang was pretty intrigued with prayer and how it differed from ancestor worship. He sounded pretty excited that you could pray at any time, anywhere. I think that family may go somewhere. We said we'd bring a member with us next Thursday. I'm excited for that family. They might just be the one that gets baptized! 

The next day, the miracles continued. We went tracting on a street our bishop's wife had recommended. The first area we tracted was less than welcoming, but we still had a little time so we went to another group of houses down the road a little ways and prayed that we'd see a miracle. The 6th house down the line had a younger guy who was home who let us in and we were able to share the Restoration with him. He's pretty busy, but said he'd be interested in hearing more. 

Then at church we had two investigators. Vincent(the miracle man from Thursday) came, as well as Daniel, a student from English class. They both stayed all 3 hours and really liked it. We did a training in the third hour on how no effort is wasted in missionary work. There was a really good response from the members there. I'm excited to be able to work more closely with them. 

This is Elder Anderson's last transfer and it's my last full transfer, so we're just going to give it our all. Good things are coming. We can feel it:)

-Elder Smith

This week's song is "Did You Think to Pray."

Week Ninety-Two: 5/25/2015 to 6/1/2015--Time is just a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff

Hello Everyone!

So here's the deal. As I'm drawing in on the end of my mission, it feels like I'm blowing through each new week on one of those Japanese high-speed trains. I only see everything for a split second and by the time it's passed, it's all just a blur in my head. But I'll try to make some sense out of the past week.

Some of our investigators are turning out to be not quite as "golden" as we thought they were. We had a good discussion last Friday during our planning session, though, and I think we figured out some good ways we can move things forward in the coming week. We called Junhao and he's been praying. He said he's been seeing the benefits. We'll be meeting with him again this Sunday. We had a REALLY quick lesson with Rodger, someone we met with a couple weeks ago, on Saturday. It was literally 10 minutes long because he came late and had to leave pretty quick for a competition somewhere else. But darn it, we used those 10 minutes to the fullest. We introduced the Book of Mormon and gave him a copy. He said even though he's super busy, he'll be able to find some time to read it every day. He's an awesome guy. We went over to the rockstar guy's house and found out he's in pretty bad shape financially. It was a little heartbreaking to see however that rather than doing those things that would make him truly independent and happy, he wanted to mooch, for lack of a better word. One of the saddest things I see is when people have all the resources that could improve their life at their fingertips, but because they require more immediate effort than temporary solutions, they won't just reach out and use them. 

Travis is pretty bummed because the time of church is changing to the morning and his family makes him work during that time on Sunday. It's especially said because he had finally set a solid baptismal goal the week before the times changed. The way it is now, he could technically get baptized, but unless his work situation changes, he won't be able to come to church or keep the Sabbath day holy. We're going to the beach with him today, though, so hopefully we can strengthen him and help him see that by facing this set-back with faith, he can strengthen himself and grow in the process. Please pray for him and us that we can have faith strong enough to overcome this challenge!     

The Jiang family. I don't know if I've talked about them. There are 11 people in the Jiang family which is absolutely UNHEARD of in Taiwan. They used to be super active members, but one Sunday they were offended by another family in the ward, so they started going to the other ward, and slowly just stopped coming. However, we're at a point where we really think we can help them come back. The Bishopric just changed, they really like us missionaries(they have us over for dinner and a spiritual share every Monday), and one of the daughters wants to go on a mission so there's lots of reactivation potential. I'll keep y'all updated on their situation:). 

This week was MLC. As always, it was super inspiring. President has an awesome vision for the mission and I feel really privileged to be a leader in the mission. He shared about the vision, goals, and plans the mission has. It helped me lift my vision above my own companionship and zone and see what our efforts add to the whole. He really wants to unify the mission. The Assistants showed us the clip from Finding Nemo where the fish have to work together to break free from the net and had us talk about how it related to us working together as a mission to achieve mission standards and help every companionship baptize. It was surprisingly inspiring and made a big impact on us. 

 

Well, that's about it. I love you all and I hope you have a great week. 

-Elder Smith

This week's song, at a request from my Grandma is both introduced and sung in Chinese. It's "We Thank Thee, O God For a Prophet"

Week Ninety-One: 5/18/2015 to 5/24/2015--Smells Like Seattle

Hello Everyone!

But seriously, with all the rain and rice paddies, it's just had that fresh, green, Seattle smell this whole past week. And I'm still not trunky. Take that, Satan!

This week wasn't quite as fantastic as last week. Two of our investigators accepted goals this past week. One was Brother Liao. He's super interesting. Up until last Saturday, I thought he was too mixed up in his philosophical nonsense thoughts to accept the gospel, but when we met with him that day, I just decided to love him. I decided to not try to debate with him, even if I knew what I said to be true, but rather to just bear testimony. I actually don't know if that was a decision or if it just turned out that way, but I distinctly remember deciding to have a more open mind towards him. And then a miracle happened. He accepted a goal to be baptized on June 6. But then he didn't come to church yesterday:(. I really hope he can make it. He's been investigating for a few months now and comes to church every week(yesterday was the first time I haven't seen him come). 

The other was a new guy the sisters tracted into named Junhao. He's a really cool guy and is the middle school classmate of the member we asked to meet him with us so that was cool! However, our next appointment with him isn't until next Sunday(in two weeks). 

We also got to meet with 2 families this week. They aren't that golden, but they are super nice and I really think they have potential. They have such good family values. I really want to be able to help a family be baptized together before I go home! So pray for the Chen family and the Fang family. They're worth it!!

In general, the area still isn't roaring and people aren't flocking to the baptismal font yet, but we're in the process:). I love you guys! I hope you're all doing well. Talk to you next week.

Elder Smith

P.S. This is one of my favorite videos the church has put out so far. Service truly does heal the soul. Lift: http://bcove.me/2qes5f5b

P.P.S. Here is this week's hymn: Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd

Week Eighty-Eight: 4/27/2015 to 5/3/2015--First Week All Over Again

Dear Everyone,

I love this work! This week felt like my first week on island all over again. It felt super slow, but it was jam-packed with stuff. I love my companion, Elder Anderson. I would send a picture, but my camera is a little bit broken at the mo. He's super fun and just easy to get along with. I think we're going to see a lot of success together and we'll be able to help each other out a lot. 

We have some really cool investigators, a few of which have goals to be baptized this month. The ward is pretty cool as well. Lots of awesome members pretty enthused about the work. I'm hoping we can work well with them. It's way bigger than Mingjian which has good and bad. I loved how in Mingjian, everyone in the branch was really close to each other and to the missionaries because it was so small. In bigger wards, it's easier to split off in groups and whatnot. It's too bad. But there are also a lot more really established members who can assist in teaching and fellowshipping investigators. 

Pretty much our entire zone is in training at the current time which is super exciting. We're hoping that will bring tons of faith and miracles! 

More thoughts next week. For now, know that I love you all! Happy early mother's day! 

-Elder Smith

P.S. So due to my added responsibilities, the time I have to do much of anything personal is pretty limited. So until I get better at time management, there may not be as many songs coming your way. I will do my very best, but Monday mornings is when we follow-up with the Assistants and this week we also had to plan for Zone Training Meeting. Cross your fingers that there'll be a song next week! Love you!!

Week Ninety: 5/11/2015 to 5/17/2015--That's More Like it :)

Friends and Family,

This week was just miles better than last week. We found 5 new investigators and they're all pretty solid. I'm super excited to see them keep progressing. One of my favorite experiences we had this week occurred right after we got back from a very inspiring Zone Conference on Tuesday.

We ate dinner then went over to the Family Mart to make calls on the payphone, but when we got there, I realized I forgot the sheet with the numbers of all our contacts at home. Nightmare. We rushed back to our house to get it, then when we got back, the other elders were at the family mart making calls, so we kept going to get to a 7-11 a little ways past the family mart. We stopped at the light and I rode up to the only guy who was contactable. I just said "Ni hao ma?" and he proceeded to tell me his grandfather had just died the previous night and that he wasn't feeling too good. We went with him to the side of the road and had a good conversation. He said he was really grateful that we'd taken the time to talk to him and said he'd be interested in hearing about our beliefs after he had taken care of all the funeral stuff. It was just such a testimony to me that God really knows where we need to be at what time. I was kind of stressed out that we had gotten out of Zone Conference late and then we had to go home and get the calling sheet and then that the other elders had unintentionally taken our place, but God had a plan. 

There have been many other similar experiences this week. Our main investigators at the moment are Zixuan and Travis. Zixuan wants to be a rock star. He's got the look down. He walked in the first time we met him in skinny black pants covered in chains and straps and half of his hair dyed pink. He's not super confident. He's still trying to build his faith in Christ, but he's struggling with putting forth much effort. He really likes to talk when he's with us and he came to church on Sunday, but has yet to do much on his own. I really hope he starts reading the scriptures. He's been struggling with that. 

Travis' family owns a burger shop we eat at quite a bit. He's awesome. Super nice, super funny. He acts like an active member, reading conference on his iphone and whatnot. He's been investigating over a year and finally decided he wants to get baptized in June, so we're helping him get prepped for that. His sister will be baptized shortly following so we're SUPER pumped! 

I hope everything's going well in all the places you all are. Wish you a fantastic week! More adventures and miracles to come! 

-Elder Smith

This week's hymn: Count Your Blessings

Week Eighty-Nine: 5/4/2015 to 5/10/2015--A Humbling Week, Indeed

Hey everyone!

I got to talk to my family today which was awesome. I don't know why, but I don't do very well with real deep human connections. I'm not sure if it's because I moved so many times when I was a kid and just got used to leaving my old friends and picking up new ones or because I'm just a stony Smith, but I have a hard time forging friendships and relationships that sink into my heart and soul. It always seems like I'm holding something back. That being said, that is not how it is with my family. I know that I will immensely enjoy spending eternity with the people I talked with on Skype today. Family is the best! I love them so much. I know that family is ordained of God and that through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, any home can be a heaven on Earth.

This week, as the title suggests was a very humbling week, indeed. I feel like when you use the word humbling, it's a lot less negative than saying things like lame or cruddy, but it gets the same meaning across. We just got stood up so many times and our results at the end of the week weren't too pretty. As most of you know, we keep track of things we do as missionaries like how many lessons you had in a week, how many new investigators, how many people with a baptismal goal. While the purpose of counting these numbers isn't to give you pressure or make you think high numbers=super awesome missionary, it's sometimes easy to look at them that way since things like "following the Spirit" and "doing the right things for the right reasons" are pretty hard to measure. Especially as a leader, you feel pressure to set a good example for the missionaries you're leading so when you're not doing too hot, you feel like you've let down the missionaries you're serving. You just feel like a phony standing up and telling everyone else to work hard, to find and teach, when you yourself are struggling. However, Zone Conference is this week, so I'm expecting some inspiration for how we can become better missionaries and better leaders in the mission. I only have 3 months left and I need to make them count! 

So yeah, pray for us! We will be working hard all the while. I can find solace in the fact that the church is still true and the message I'm sharing is as well. So if people choose not to accept it, I don't have to get down on myself. Not everyone accepted Christ when he came either. Far from it. I have it much easier than He did, but there are still moments where our investigators choose the right and I feel I experience a fragment of the joy He must feel when I or any one of God's children follow Him.  

-Elder Smith

today's song: Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah. 

P.S. Happy Mother's Day!

Week Eighty-Seven: 4/20/2015 to 4/26/2015--A Light at the End of the Tunnel (and then a trap door...)

Hello Everyone!

First the light at the end of the tunnel. This week, we finally started to see all our efforts of the past month and a half pay off. Sister Miao accepted a baptismal goal for the 23rd of May. Then, Brother Jian accepted a date for the 6th of June. It also seemed like we started getting closer to the ward. 

Then, the trap-door. This last Saturday, we got the move-call, but right before it came, President called and asked me to serve as a zone leader in an area in North Taichung. I accepted, but that left us wondering what was going to happen to Elder Gathright, since he's already been in Mingjian for 6 months and President told him he was moving during interviews. When the move-call came, it turned out that both of us were moving out and two new Elders were moving in. Elder Gathright is going down to Tainan 4th ward actually! That was super exciting to hear. When I called Elder Anderson (the elder who replaced me there) to arrange some things for Elder Gathright, he also told me that Vicky and Sister Ding both got baptized. That made me SO HAPPY! Here are some pictures:

Sister Wei(Vicky)

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Anyway, though there was a trap door, I feel confident that The Lord can do His own work and things will work out in Mingjian despite the circumstances. This work is great! Sometimes it throws you curve balls, but that keeps you on your toes and engaged. I'm excited for my new added responsibility and I'm hoping to be able to be a blessing to those I serve. 

Love you guys! 

-Elder Smith

P.S. This week's song is Where Can I Turn For Peace? I didn't have much time to re-record, so the balance between the guitar and the voice is pretty imbalanced. Hope you can listen past that.

Week Eighty-Six: 4/13/2015 to 4/19/2015--Man, I Hate Thinking About Myself

Hello Everyone!

First, the title. As I'm having to think more about college and stuff, I'm starting to realize how tiring it is to have to think about what you want. It's way easier to think about what other people need, but when you have to think about what you need, it just seems way more taxing. Anyways, I hope I can figure these things out ok. 

Anyways, as far as this week's happenings, we had a really good lesson with Sister Miao, she came to Branch Conference with her son, and had all her questions answered by the Stake President's talk which was awesome. She's super cool! I'm hoping she will get baptized next month. We're going to invite her for a date(a baptismal date, that is!) at our appointment tomorrow night. 

We also met a really open older man last night when we were trying to find a former. His name is Brother Jian. I have high hopes for him. He just seemed really sincere. We're going back to teach him the Restoration tonight!

Johnny's doing well. He's starting to progress really well. He's read to 1 Nephi 11 and he's super excited to read chapter 12 and finally understand what Lehi's dream means. He has some activities the next couple weeks, but he said on May 2nd, he could probably come to church. That would be great! 

Chillin with the branch president​

My new captain america mug

P day with the zone leaders

Running in the morning with a less active young man and his grandma in the background

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Love you guys!

Elder Smith

Song: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing(solo version)