Dear Everyone,
I wouldn't say this week was leaps and bounds better than last week, but it was a good hop and a stride better. I think we did a lot of good in working with less-active members, strengthening the active members, and finding prepared people to teach about the Gospel.
No matter what, I still love being a missionary and I love the people of Taiwan. I really hope, however, that we can help people here to be baptized! I know there are definitely people who are prepared as with every area. I want to find them so bad! But I'm sure there are also plenty of people right under our noses that we're missing. Why can't we be perfect, huh? Is that really too much to ask? Well, maybe it is. But it sure would be nice.
Anyway, I don't have much to say this week, but let me just give you a rundown on a couple people we've met.
Below is George(left) and his son(right). We met him a couple weeks ago and he was super happy. He's been trying to learn English his whole life, but doesn't have anyone to talk to. He took us out to dinner on Friday. He and his son aren't super willing to come to church at the moment, but George really loves prayer and I'm hoping we can introduce them to some members who can encourage them better than we can.
Below is Brother Liao. He lives in Shuili which is about an hour bike ride from our house. We usually just take the train though. He's awesome. He was one of the first baptized members in Mingjian about 5-6 years ago. He lives in a house that he built himself by the train tracks. Whenever we have lessons in Shuili, we usually go by and see if we can do anything to help. He's also just a really nice guy and has a super strong, simple testimony of the Gospel and of the church. For instance, we were waiting with him at the train station for an investigator to come. While we were waiting, this family walked by that he vaguely knew and they stopped to talk with us for a second. Brother Liao introduced us as missionaries and blurted out "Do you want to join our church or what? It's a super awesome church!" One of the girls left her number and said we could give it to the missionaries in Taipei where she lives. He said pretty much the same thing every time we contacted someone after that. It was awesome. He also dropped out of elementary school, but he knows chiropractics, does Kung Fu, trained with the Navy Seals, and just has a bunch of really random impressive skills. I feel like we discover a new one every time we go and meet with him or he comes with us to lessons. Anyways, that's Brother Liao. Even though I don't look super good in this picture, he looks pretty great, so I thought what the heck, I'll throw it up there:
I know this work is true and even though sometimes it requires inhuman levels of patience and diligence, it's all for a great cause and it's so worth it in the end! I hope to tell you tales of mad success in the coming weeks. For now, pray for us:) Love you all!
-Elder Smith
This weeks song is one I've wanted to sing for a long time, but haven't quite figured out the tune until this week. Enjoy. It's called "Beautiful Zion, Built Above"
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