Week Twenty: Our Second Baptism and Some Disappointment

Dear Family and Friends!

 

This week has been full of learning experiences. I feel like I've grown a lot.

  

First, we had a baptism!! It was Zheng Baba's son. It was awesome to see that happen. His dad refused to baptize him saying, "you know what? He's getting baptized and that's good enough for me." He(the son) shared a really great testimony and he was so excited. It was awesome. I'm excited to hear about his missionary stories. Also Zheng Baba has a goal to get the higher priesthood, so we are all super stoked for that.

  

Aside from them, I feel like all of our other investigators are kind of in limbo at the moment. Chen Dixiong is still really busy with work. We were playing phone tag yesterday to set up a time for today and never ended up making contact. I think Andy got kind of freaked out by all the "Mormon rules" and so we haven't been able to get in contact with him either. John's phone was off all day Saturday until the night when he said he was busy and couldn't meet that day, but he'd come to church. He didn't because he was sick, and now we have to wait for finals to be over until we can get back in contact with him(the end of this week). We did meet with a new guy named Lai on Saturday, though. He was super cool. He's a 3rd year college student and he loves sports. We taught him the first lesson and he liked it all. We asked him if he had any questions before he left and he said "yeah, when can I come again?". Super solid. So I have high hopes for him! We also met with a former of 10 years. Our chapel wasn't even built yet when he was an investigator before. We found his apartment and sat with him downstairs on a bench and taught him a first lesson. He also accepted it. However, he works the night shift at his factory so we're not sure if he'll have a lot of time. That was also his problem with the other missionaries. He was a super deep thinker though. And I think he really liked what we had to share with him. I hope we have the chance to meet with him again soon.

Brendan participating in a Q & A session in front of members of a local theological seminary in Tainan.  The mission president, his wife and other local LDS leaders were asked to speak to the seminary's Freshman class, and afterwards, they included the missionaries in a panel, where they were asked questions such as: how they were called, how they were adjusting to Taiwanese culture, what they planned to do after their missions, etc.  

  This week, I finished the "First 12 Weeks" program that they put you through when you first enter the field. Basically, we get an extra hour of companionship study where we focus on different skills and doctrines. This week, like the first week, we talked about the Doctrine of Christ. The most basic and important facet of our church. The part that especially stood out to me was when we talked about the importance of love in missionary work. Not just the passive "oh, love ya man" kind of love, but the love that God has for each of us. The ability to see us all as His children with the great potential to become as He is. I don't know if you all have ever met someone that you haven't clicked with before, but sometimes it's nigh on impossible to love someone to that extent. To love them to the point where you really desire their eternal well-being. You see their potential, and you want to do everything in your power to help them achieve that. I have only had those feelings for a person once on my mission that I can remember. I remember we were doing "English proselyting" where we basically go to an intersection and hand out fliers for our free English class that we do. I remember I went up to this guy on his scooter and said "Hey! We're letting people know about our free English class..." and he cut me off and said the Chinese equivalent of "no thanks." I paused for a second and just asked him how he was doing. I chatted with him for about 30 seconds, then went back to the side of the road. Before the light turned green, he looked over at us and he looked so vulnerable. At that moment, I desired his salvation so much. I wanted him to be happy. And then he rode off and I've never seen him since. I know that he is a child of God just like we all are. I know God wants that guy and all of us to be happy. And because of that, I was able to feel God's love for him. It was a really profound experience for me. I don't know if I did a good job describing it, because I'm sure my words can't impress upon you all the depth of what I felt at that moment. Anyway, the main point is: Strive to love others as God loves them. Maybe you don't like their choices. Maybe they aren't your best friend, but I know that as you all strive to see people for what they can become and not what they have become, you can feel a sense of peace and compassion that is our Father in Heaven telling you that those people are His children and they are precious. Alright I'm going to get off my soapbox now. 

 

As always, I love you all. I appreciate you. Please, if it is your faith, keep praying for me and for Elder Sumsion, and for our investigators that we can all be given opportunities to come closer to our savior and redeemer, Jesus Christ. If it is not your faith, send some good vibes our way, I guess, and if the missionaries talk to you, picture that it's me and give them a chance. Their message can truly bless you more than anything. I know that to be true. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

-Elder Smith 

Week Nineteen: Happy New Year!

新年好 (Happy New Year!)

Hello Beloved Family and Friends!

 

It's the first letter of 2014! Woah!

 

New Year here didn't have too much effect besides the fact that everybody had school/work off and went to some sort of party Wednesday night instead of English class so I only had 3 students there. Bummer. Anyways, I'm excited to see what Chinese New Year is like. I heard there's lots of fireworks and parades and no one has any time to meet with you. We'll see, though.

Main things that happened this week:

 

1. Liao received the Aaronic priesthood! wooooo. He's still going strong. He's got finals coming up so I'm sure he'd appreciate your prayers.

 

2. Zheng Baba's son wants to be baptized next week! We met with him this last Friday and taught him Lesson 3, the Gospel of Jesus Christ and asked him why he wants to wait until Summer Holiday. He said he didn't really know. We told him we were having a baptism on the 18th and asked him if he wanted to be baptized that day instead. He was still kind of iffy about it. That's when we pulled out the big guns. Promised blessing! Promised blessing! But the thing that really did it for him was when Elder Sumsion said he might be moving on the 20th and he wants to see him baptized. Now, you may think this isn't really a great way of doing that for eternal conversion, but this kid is so ready. He's been coming to church since April. He knows everything. He lives according to the commandments of God. He just needed a push. He didn't agree right away so we said we'd give him a week to think about it. The next morning was a baptismal service for an 8-year-old in our ward. He and his dad attended and before the service, his dad called us over and said after we left on Saturday, his son said he wanted to be baptized next week! So we taught him all the commandments(he practically taught them to us), had a baptismal interview that day, and announced it in church yesterday. So we've got a baptism next week! Woohoo! Pray that it'll go smoothly!

 

3. John's baptismal date is now on the 7th of February since he has some potential problems with smoking and drinking and he's been semi-flaky thus far. He's mostly just really busy though. He took 23 CREDIT HOURS this semester. That's insane! The max you can take here is 25. Plus he works at a factory. I'm surprised he's taking time to meet with us but he must like what we're teaching(of course he does!). I'm excited to see how he progresses.

 

4. Chen(the golden guy) is still extremely busy and probably isn't going to be able to come to church this next sunday so we'll have to change his baptismal goal again. However, Elder Sumsion and I fasted for him yesterday and we've been praying that he'll be able to come to church so he can receive of those blessings. I hope that it works. If not, I know Heavenly Father has a plan for him so I shouldn't worry.

 

Miracle story! So while we were sitting in the chapel for the baptism, a ward member came in and said there was a guy out in the hall and that he was an English student. I went out there and Elder Sumsion joined me shortly after that. I guess he has a plan to go to America and wants to learn English. However, he seemed to have no idea that the church had an English class or that we(American missionaries in Taiwan) even existed. When we asked him why he came here, he said "I don't know, I just had a feeling. I felt like learning English through church would be the best way." We read the Book of Mormon with him out of our language study edition(it has English, romanized Chinese, and Chinese characters) and he said he thought it was pretty cool. I don't know what's going to come of it, but I like to believe it was divine intervention. His name was Joe, so look for him in future emails.

As for me, I'm doing well! This week was very great. It was tiring and rewarding as always, and I've grown even closer to the Savior this week as I've studied about Him and served Him. I love this work. I know it blesses the lives of so many people in indescribable ways and it is so so worth it! I know that God is preparing people at this moment to hear this gospel and he will help us find them if we rely on Him and pray for those opportunities. In my personal study this week I read a scripture in 3 Nephi 21:28-29, talking about the gospel being preached in the latter-days. "Yea, and then shall the work commence, with the Father among all nations in preparing the way whereby his people may be gathered home to the land of their inheritance. And they shall go out from all nations; and they shall not go out in haste, nor go by flight, for I will go before them, saith the Father, and I will be their rearward." I testify that this is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 

Love to all!

 

  -Elder Smith

Week Eighteen: Christmas wishes from Taiwan--叻油!

Hey Everyone,

Thanks to all who sent me Christmas messages. They were much appreciated and lifted my spirits immensely! Also, just a note for the future, if you are sending a message of particular importance, etc., if you could also send it in a word file, that would be awesome. That way I can print it out and read it later:) I only get 2 hours on the computer, but I have time on P-day and at night that I can crack letters open and remember all those at home supporting me. So yeah! If you send a word file along with your email, that saves you postage, but it still allows me to savor all of your great messages. Thanks!

Alright with that business out of the way, this week was pretty tiring and would have been a little discouraging, to be honest, if it weren't for Christmas and a few other bright spots along the way. We had a lot of lessons cancel and I was just feeling kind of tired. We did have a few successes, however.

Liao Junxuan(our recent convert) got a calling. He's the president of gospel principles, so that basically just means he announces who prays and hands out the textbooks each week. But it's awesome! He has a responsibility and next week, he's going to receive the Aaronic Priesthood so he can start participating in the sacrament. I'm super excited for him. He goes home for a month on the 20th though, so he's only got a couple more Sundays here for now. We're going to try to get a hold of the church in Hong Kong, though so he can attend there while he's away. 

Chen Xuanzhen wasn't able to make it to church this week because he had to help a trainee at his work. He said he'll try to come on the 12th though so he can still be baptized on the 18th. I'm so sad his work is so busy because I'm highly convinced he'll do great things in the church if he can just sort out his work problems. He has so much faith and we're both really hoping he can exercise that faith in order to overcome this set-back. 

Andy came to church yesterday and seems to have enjoyed it. We're meeting with him some other time this week as well hopefully. I'll get back to you guys on him.

Hongxuan(the 10-year-old) is still doing awesome. His dad is set to receive the Aaronic priesthood as well next week, I believe so that's super exciting! 

John(his Chinese name is Huang Yuhao) is the guy we met with last Sunday who set up a baptismal goal right there. He's doing awesome. We met with him today and he'd already read through the pamphlet we gave him last time and he seemed really stoked to learn more. He didn't come to church yesterday because he had to work at his factory all night. He also seems like he might have a word of wisdom problem because he talked about drinking with buddies and he smelled faintly of smoke. If he has desire to change, though, he'll be able to overcome that though so I'm excited about his future! 

The work moves forward everyone! God really does have a plan for each of His children and even though not every one of them is ready at this point to accept the fullness of His gospel, I'm highly convinced that there are people out there who are. Please pray that I and the other 80,000 some-odd missionaries out there will be able to find them! I love you guys. Until next week!

叻油! (sounds like jah yo) which literally means "add oil" but is kind of like saying "good luck" or "keep it up." 

-Elder Smith 

Week Seventeen: More Rain and a Mission Christmas Activity

Dearest Family and Friends,

CHRISTMAS IS ALMOST HERE! AAAHHHH!

My Christmas card photo.  Like the cheesy effect?

  

Alright, I'm cool. Anyway, this last week has been pretty solid. We went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders this last Tuesday/Wednesday. I went with Elder Edwards. He's probably one of the most energetic, driven missionaries I've seen. He's a football player red-shirting for BYU. He's got a scholarship to be their kicker when he gets back. Apparently he's a pretty big deal back home. I don't know if you guys have heard of him...Corey Edwards? Anyway, he's an awesome missionary and I learned a lot. He gave me a lot of compliments that I don't think I deserved, and didn't really give me anything specific I could improve on, but he did challenge me to contact someone at every red light. In Taiwan, almost everybody's on scooters and you're on your bike so when you pull up to a red light there's usually someone there you can talk to. Sometimes there isn't though and he challenged me in those situations to go find someone. I've been really trying to do that, bus sometimes there's literally no one around, especially if it's more outside the city, so I'm doing my best.

Me at Sun Moon Lake.

 We also had a Christmas activity with the ENTIRE MISSION. It was pretty nuts. My zone met together at the Tainan train station at 6 a.m. We had to get up at 4, get ready, and bike there because there were no trains at the Yongkang station that were early enough! So that was kind of a chore, but it was worth it! We all got in a bus and they took us up to a place called "Sun Moon Lake". It's apparently pretty beautiful, but it was pretty foggy when we went so we didn't get to see much of it. I'll send my mom some pictures so you can all see. After that, we went to this all-you-can-eat steak house(those are super popular in Taiwan, especially for missionaries) and it was sooooo good. I ate a lot. After that, we went to a chapel in Taiping for a devotional with the President. He shared some scriptures out of Isaiah that prophesied of Christ. It really inspired me the next time I get to those dreaded chapters in 2 Nephi to really put effort into studying them. President Blickenstaff read the verses and then explained the background so that they made sense. It made me realize Isaiah isn't that bad. You just need to read cross-references and read about the background. The best part about that meeting, though, was having the whole mission together, singing Christmas hymns. It was such a great feeling of unity and power to be in the same room as 200+ other missionaries singing "Silent Night" in praises to Christ of whom we are testifying every day. It was a really special moment for me and one that I won't likely forget soon.

A classic tropical Christmas picture.

As far as investigators go, we met a really golden guy at our ward's Christmas party on Saturday and sat with him last night. Aparently, the sisters just invited him earlier that day on the street and he came. He lives in Gaoxiong(about a 45-minute drive south), but he comes back to Yongkang every weekend. He has so much desire and he's such a cool guy. His English name is John and his last name is Huang. I'm not sure what his full Chinese name is yet. His girlfriend is Christian, so he's pretty acquainted with a lot of that stuff. He said the first time he went to a Christian church, he knew he wanted to be Christian because of the feeling he had when he was there. That was super cool to hear. He also expressed a desire to be baptized so we set a date for January 18th. I'll let you know how that goes! Our other investigators are all doing pretty well. Chen Xuanzhen cancelled a lot this last week but he had legitimate reasons for all of them, one of which being that his scooter broke down. Satan is working hard on that man. We're meeting with him tonight, though. Nothing to really report with everyone else. They're all moving along pretty well. 

A Daoist temple.  I haven't showed you guys one of these yet.  They are all over the place.

I hope you can all come closer to the Savior this Christmas season. I read a scripture this week in Mosiah 5:13 that says: "For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?" I'd submit that the best way to come closer to the Savior is to serve him. To keep his commandments and give freely to others. Also, to read about him and think about him. I know if we do this, that we will be able to feel the true Spirit of Christmas, even the Spirit of Christ. I love you guys and think about you often. 

-Elder Smith    

Week Seventeen: The First Rain

Hey Everyone!

This week wasn't quite as good as last week. Besides not having the uplift of a baptismal service, we also had quite a few people cancel on us or not show up when we thought they were pretty dependable appointments. But that's missionary work sometimes! Setting goals that are largely dependant on you using your agency and other people using their agency to choose to follow Christ is a risky business and doesn't always work out like you expect it to. However! I've learned from this week and I'm now I'm going to "Look ahead and believe" as Elder Edward Dube put it in the last general conference. But I'll tell you about it anyways, since you probably want to know the details as well as the take-away.

First of all, Chen Xuanzhen dropped his goal, which means he didn't come to church and so he can't be baptized until after he can come to church next. He took the night train like he planned, but then he was too tired to come to church in the morning so it didn't really have much use. I totally understand. He is super busy. He's probably exhausted all the time, but we were really hoping he'd be able to be baptized this next week. We're meeting with him on Friday to talk about prophets, baptism and sabbath day observance. We're really going to try to focus on sacrament meeting as not just your ticket to get baptized, but also a really important meeting for after you are baptized. We have an recent convert who has a really similar situation to Chen. He's a really nice guy and from his teaching record, it sounds like he was super solid, but now he never comes to church because he doesn't have time and he's stopped picking up the phone because I think we were starting to bug him. It's really sad. I don't want that to happen with Chen so hopefully we can figure out a long-term solution.

We've also been working with another investigator named Chen. He's 50 years old, is a professor at a university in Taiwan and is working on his doctorate degree in philosophy so he's a pretty deep thinker. He says he wants to hear about the gospel in order to gain more "devotion" as he put it. He seems really sincere. We've met with him a couple times and extended commitments, but he's been kind of flaky so we'll have to see what's up.

We saw a miracle this week with a less active man named Zheng Baba(Baba means dad, so basically just older guy). He was inactive, but in the last 5 or 6 months has been coming to church every week with his son. His son hasn't been baptized and he has never accepted the priesthood or a calling. However, the bishop came and visited him and he now has a goal to get the priesthood for January of next year so that's awesome! I'm super excited. We've also been meeting with him and his son and his son has a goal to be baptized as well. It's not until summer vacation, but hopefully as we continue meeting with him, he'll realize that he's ready now and I'll be able to see that great day when he can be baptized by his dad. That would be great. Please pray for them!

That's about it for this week! Oh also I had to wear my rain gear for the first time this week. Fun stuff. Hence the title of this week's email. Anyways, love you all. I appreciate you and hope you are all doing ok. And Merry Christmas!

-Elder Smith

Week Sixteen: A Baptism! and Other Adventures...

Hello Family and Friends!

Brendan, Lio Junxuan and Elder Sumsion before Lio Junxuan's baptism

This week we were blessed to witness our investigator, Liao Junxuan, that we met my first Sunday here receive baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and be confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was so great. When he got up and bore his testimony, he said--and I translate--"You know, when I first started investigating the church, a lot of people thought it was weird and asked me questions like 'why Mormonism?' or 'isn't that church weird?' and stuff like that. It got to the point where I figured if any church has this much opposition, there has to be something special about it." Him saying that just testified to me that the Lord prepares people. You know, most people wouldn't have had that way of thinking about it, but I really believe that Junxuan was prepared by the Lord so that when he did receive opposition, it only increased his faith and his desire to know the truth of the restored gospel. I feel so blessed to have been able to see his growth. We have to delay giving him the new member lessons for a bit because he has a few really big tests these next couple weeks, but we'll still see him at church and maybe at English class. I'll keep you guys updated!

And after.  :)

Chen Xuanzhen(the golden guy who wanted baptism really bad but had the meeting on Sunday) came to church yesterday! He also passed his baptismal interview so if all goes according to plan and he can come next Sunday for all 3 hours too, he's set to be baptized on the 20th of this month. SO EXCITED!! He met the missionaries in July so this has been a long process for him. He's grown a lot though. I haven't known him since July, but just from looking at his teaching record, I can tell that he wasn't always as awesome as he is now. It's taken a while, but he is almost ready to make that next step towards eternal salvation.

Last week's Pizza Hut chidaobao (all-you-can-eat).

Andy(the Japanese teacher) is doing well. We met with him yesterday and our ward mission leader was there as well. They talked to each other about a lot of stuff that didn't really lead to the Plan of Salvation like we were hoping, but it was good in the sense that now he has a really deep understanding of the Book of Mormon, it's purpose, and it's origins so that when he reads it, he will know how important it is. We were talking about our religion as opposed to other religions at some point and he brought up this idea that he said he had thought up based on his reading in the Bible. He said he thinks God has angels and people that work very closely with him and that Satan used to be one of them but he fell and some people came with him and now he controls the Earth with his people and that's where all the other religions come from. He said "Satan is so smart so he can lead people away from to truth to other things that look enticing." It was so nuts because it was all pretty much correct and we haven't even shared any of that with him yet. Another great example of how the Lord prepares people.

Other investigators are doing well, but those were the main stories I wanted to share. Please keep praying for them! And please, especially now during this Christmas season, study the Savior and His teachings, give to others, and don't hesitate to share or accept the Gospel. It will bless your life and the lives of others so much. Love you all!

-Elder Smith

Week Fifteen: Helping Others Through Faith

Hello Family and Friends!

My goodness. P days are coming faster and faster. I hope the speed at which time flies levels off at some point because otherwise I'm going to blink and it's going to be over. But let's not think about that. I've still got 2 years. Haha. That's kind of a joke when people ask missionaries who've been out here for a really long time how long they have to go and in order to not think about how little time they have left they say "Oh, I've still got 2 years." The best is when sisters say it because they never had 2 years in the first place.

  

Anyway.

Dinner.  Lunch box. Yummm!!!!

So this week started out pretty slow. We only had the evenings for proselyting on Monday and Tuesday becauseMonday was P-day and Tuesday was a Mission Tour(I'll talk about that later). So, we didn't really have anything going on Monday or Tuesday and Wednesday also looked pretty bleak so we looked like we were in sad shape to hit our goals for the week. However, we went forward in faith, we relied on the Lord, and we went to work. We didn't hit all of our goals but we hit the mission standards(standards set by our mission president to tell us what we should shoot for and what we should focus on). Every one! 2 investigators at church, 2 investigators with a baptismal goal, 3 new investigators, 8 lessons with a member present, and 20 total lessons taught. It was a miracle! We felt so blessed this week. We felt the power of prayer. Our own, and those that I'm sure many of you offered.

  

So who were all these people we were helping by hitting these "mission standards"? First, we have a baptism on Saturday! Wooooo! It's Liao Dixiong(I don't know if I said this before, but if I put a 'dixiong' after someone's name, it just means 'brother'. So liao dixiong is brother liao). He passed his interview this last Saturday right after the baptismal service of an investigator in the other ward. So yeah this is super exciting. 

Christmastime.

Chen Dixiong also came to that baptism. He has wanted baptism for so long. He's been meeting with the missionaries for about 7 months because he's so busy with work. The other reason he hasn't been baptized yet is because he has to come to church twice for 3 hours in order to receive baptism and he has a company meeting ever sunday at 10 am that he leads. Our church starts at 9 and goes to 12 so he can only make it for the first 30 minutes. We talked with the mission president on Saturday night and tried to figure out a way he could attend an afternoon ward maybe, but president said--and I thought it was a really good point--that Chen Dixiong needed to exercise his faith and figure out a way to attend his own ward. We were a little discouraged because we new Chen would be disappointed at the news, but we decided we would fast and pray for him the next day. After dinner, we met with him and decided we'd give him a pump-up lesson. We read with him 1 Nephi 3:7 and Moroni 7:33 and basically just said "Alright, it's been promised that if you'll have faith, the Lord will provide a way. Let's figure out how we can get you to church twice for 3 hours so you can be baptized." We talked it out for a while and we finally worked it out so he could have his partner cover the meeting this Sunday and then next weekend, he'd take a train back from Taipei after his meeting let out so he could be in Yongkang Sunday morning--next Sunday as well. Then, he can get baptized on the 20th of December. It's a miracle. It's not a permanent solution to the problem because the meeting is still there, but I really think that he has faith and desire and as he comes to church twice in a row for the full 3 hours, he will want to make permanent arrangements so he can continue doing that. I'm so excited for him and I feel so blessed that I was able to see this great example of someone exercising their faith in order to do what the Lord asks of them. Everyone please pray for him! He needs it! 

  

We also met with a guy yesterday named Andy. He hasn't been able to meet with us for the past couple weeks because he was in Japan and then he had friends, but this week, he finally was able to meet with us again. He is so solid. His questions are so thoughtful and sincere and they invite the Spirit instead of distracting from it. One question he had yesterday was "Why didn't God share his gospel with people before the restoration?" and another was "What if people don't have a chance to hear that full Gospel? Will they just be lost?" Without going into huge detail, we were able to answer his questions and he's really progressing a lot. We just finished the 1st Lesson with him yesterday and it went really well. We have a goal for him, but because he meets with us so infrequently, I don't know if it'll happen. We'll see. He said he wants to believe that it's true though because he said he feels so comfortable here. It was really funny. He made the comment that "other churches are always telling people that other churches are bad and you need to come to our church, but you guys(meaning us missionaries/our church) are like 'hey, you can see what's out there. go for it. but we know that you will want to come back.'" and he likes that about us. He said that he doesn't like that a lot of churches focus so much people being converted to the denomination that they forget that they should become converted to God and Jesus Christ. He's just super awesome and prepared. I'm so excited to see him continue to grow and develop his faith. 

But yeah, that's about it for this week. So good. So many miracles and I'm hoping we can carry this into next week. Until then, my friends! Love you guys:)

-Elder Smith