Week Eighty-Three: 3/23/2015 to 3/29/2015--A Good Hop and a Stride Better

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: 

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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"

Week Eighty-Two: 3/16/2015 to 3/22/2015--There's good stuff coming. I know it!

Hello friends and family!

We still haven't seen a ton of success this week, but we're hopeful for the future. We met a lot of really cool people this week who I think have a lot of potential. We met with a guy yesterday named George. He was especially interesting. He's like, 80 years old, but unlike most old Taiwanese men, he's really open to our message. He was really willing to pray when we invited him and he said he'd read the pamphlet we left "no problem"(he said that in English). I have high hopes for him. 

In other news, I got to go to the temple this week!!! That was a much needed boost. It felt like going home. It's so great the blessings that we can receive from being worthy and living our lives as God intended. 

So here's a picture of me and my super asian companion on the temple grounds.

I don't know. Not much else happened this week. However, this next week looks like it's going to be super full of miracles so I'm sure I'll have much more to write next week. Love you all!

This week's song: Sweet Hour Of Prayer

-Elder Smith

P.S. I don't know if I've talked about this cultural point of Taiwan yet, but besides missionaries, most of the other foreigners that come and live in Taiwan are English teachers. And they look like this guy...

Week Eighty-One: 3/9/2015 to 3/15/2015--Week Two in Mingjian: The Climb

Hello Everyone!

First of all, I've been getting some questions about what kind of crazy wildlife there is here in Mingjian. I think the scariest things I've seen so far have been banana spiders and wild ducks. Banana spiders are scary because they are huge, have yellow racing stripes, and if you get bit by one, you're sent home because the antidote only works once. The ducks are scary because, well...just look at them:

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Some other fun things about Mingjian. We cover a ginormous area! And it's not like other areas where there's one central area where everybody flocks to get food and things and then everywhere else is super barren. There are about 5-6 cities of equal size spread out over our entire area so we're biking A LOT. The area farthest from us is about 2 hours by bike. The closest is about 40 minutes by bike. Luckily, the rides are BEAUTIFUL. So many green, misty mountains:) 

We've met with a lot of people in the last week, but it seems like no one really wants to do anything about the message we share with them. It's just been one of those weeks. But I have hope that this week will be different! Also, I don't know if I've said this before, but missionary work is EXHAUSTING with a capital E. 

Among that bleakness, there were a few streaks of success and lots of adventures. One cool thing was meeting Anne. She's Taiwanese, but she spent 8 years in no other place but~~Seattle, WA!! That was pretty awesome. She went to Seattle University where she learned a lot about the Catholic church. She was reciting historical facts throughout most of the lesson we had with her which was both distracting and relieving. It was nice teaching someone with a Christian background. She says she really wants to read the Book of Mormon.

Even though this last week wasn't all that I hoped it would be, I'm still so glad to be a missionary and I'm glad to be where I am. The members here are so quirky but they're awesome and my companion is a ray of sunshine as long as his blood sugar isn't out of whack. Love you all! The church is true!!

-Elder Smith

Today's song was recorded early in the morning so my voice cracks quite a bit. Forgive me :( 

We met a google maps guy. He didn't have a whole lot of interest(he had just hiked up a mountain), but he talked with us a for a bit. So yeah, look at the street view at Shou Tiangong temple in Mingjian in a couple years and you may just see me! ​Always an adventure in Mingjian!

Adventures in Taizhong on P-Day.

Week Eighty: 3/2/2015 to 3/8/2015--Week 1 in Mingjian: Biking and biking and biking and biking

Hello Everyone!

This week has been awesome! I love Mingjian! I love Elder Gathright! And I love being a missionary! So, let me tell you about it. First, Elder Gathright. He is 20 years old. He's from Japan. I think the quickest way to describe who he is is to tell you to go watch the movie Elf. Yep. He's just supper happy-go-lucky and goofy, but at the same time, he's super focused on his purpose as a missionary, he has a super strong testimony, and he's willing to work hard! I don't think I could ask for anything else. This past week, we've worked really hard. We did something called power week this last week. Basically, we'd leave the door early every day and give 110% all day. Each day also had a challenge incorporated into it. We didn't accomplish any of the challenges, which I was pretty bummed about, BUT, we still worked hard and got lots of good stuff done! 

Alright, about Mingjian. The branch is pretty tiny, but SUPER spread out. It takes about an hour by bike to get from town to town and there are members in all of them. This past Sunday, there were 20+ people at church, but almost half were guest speakers from the stake and their families. As far as people who actually live in Mingjian, there were only about 12-13. But, all those members are SUPER strong! The people I've met and got to know so far are our RCs, the Lin family, and Brother Liao. We have 3 RCs. One is Sister Lin. She's originally from Indonesia, but she came to Taiwan and married a Taiwanese man, so now she lives here. She does the night shift and her boss is pretty strict, so she isn't always able to come to church, but she came yesterday which was good! Another is Sister Li. She works at the train station. She's nice. The last one is Sister Zhang. She is originally from mainland China so she has a super awesome accent that I love trying to mimic:). She's super solid and really wants to help her husband join the church. He's pretty agnostic right now, but we're hoping his heart will be softened with time. The Lin family is fantastic! They just got baptized a year and a half ago and were sealed in the temple just a couple months ago. They have 2 kids who are hilarious. The dad's a school teacher who also has a feux-hawk and does kung fu. The mom makes really good food. I'm not super sure what she does for work. They're awesome though! Brother Liao was the first baptized member in Mingjian and he's super willing to drive us around and sit in on our lessons. He likes driving fast and sometimes it freaks me out, but he was a long-distance bus driver for 30+ years, so he must know what he's doing...right? haha. 

Anyways, I love it here! We've found some pretty cool people. We don't have anyone with a baptismal date yet, but we're working on it and there are a few people who are definitely ready for it. I'm really excited to see success here! Pray for us:) Love you guys! Have a good week. Also, I didn't record a song. I'm sorry:( I'll have one next week. 

-Elder Smith     

Week Seventy-Nine: 2/23/2015 to 3/1/2015--Good Bye Elder Stevens and Tainan. Hello Elder Gathright and Mingjian!

Good afternoon, my friends. 

Yep, I'm gone! After 6 and a half months of the wonderful land of Tainan with bustling city streets and a strong ward, I've been sent to the mountainous landscapes of Mingjian. I haven't seen it with my own eyes yet, so I'll have to give you a personal witness next week, but from what other people tell me, it's very different from Tainan city. A lot more mountains and a lot less people, so I hope I'm able to adjust ok. 

Before I left Tainan, however, some pretty awesome stuff happened. First of all, Fourth was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! That was a grand moment. Even though the baptismal service was in Chinese and he had to listen to translation, he still felt the spirit and as he bore his testimony, I could feel that it meant a lot to him. I had the privilege of baptizing him. I love the feeling of using the priesthood. 

The other awesome thing that happened was one of our investigators, Vicky, asked us to give her a blessing of healing last night at the suggestion of her boyfriend who's a member. She was just pretty sick. Elder Stevens anointed and I sealed the anointing. As I spoke, the blessing came out more like a blessing of comfort and counsel than a blessing of healing. After the blessing, she was crying. Her boyfriend asked her if there was anything wrong. She said that as I gave her the blessing, I talked about some things that she hadn't really told anyone about and it shocked her as I spoke of those things and gave her encouragement in the blessing. She told me that because of that experience, she found God. She came to know that He is real. That was such a touching moment to know that as I strove to be faithful and serve others, God could perform those kinds of miracles through me. I know that priesthood power is real. It literally is God's power given to men to act in His name. I feel so blessed to be a holder of it. 

I have so many people and things that I'll miss in Tainan, but I'm excited to take on a new, if daunting, challenge. Keep me and those I meet in your prayers. I love you all so much! Do great things:)

-Elder Smith

P.S. My camera is having issues so that's why pictures have been so few and far-between lately, but when I get it all figured out, I'll send them!

Today's song: Do What Is Right

Week Seventy-Eight: 2/16/2015 to 2/22/2015--Not a Bad Week...

Hello Everyone!

Well it's Chinese New Year over here! Fortunately and unfortunately, today is the last day. I say fortunately because everyone will have time to meet with us again, but unfortunately because we won't have 2 or more meal appointments every day any more haha. But honestly, I'm pretty ready for that to end too. All the poor children in Africa will hate me for saying this, but eating is such a chore sometimes!

This last week was pretty awesome. First off, Fourth passed his baptismal interview with flying colors so he will be baptized this next Saturday(the 28th). He's so awesome! And he has a lot of support from the members. He's staying for sure:)

We also had a miracle. On Wednesday, we were supposed to eat lunch at a member's house, but she stood us up. We were pretty bummed about that, but then on Friday, the miracle came. We didn't have a dinner appointment that night, so we were riding out to find somewhere to eat when the member who had stood us up on Wednesday for lunch drove by and waved us over. She apologized and invited us over that night and said she had an investigator she wanted to introduce to us. We went over and met her 16-year-old niece named Joy. She's super cool! We met with her the next morning too and shared the Restoration. She committed to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. She also came to church the next day and liked it. It was just one of those things where we felt like God just dropped a big miracle bomb on us. She still needs to make sure her parents are ok with it, though so pray for that! 

We met with Sister Ding yesterday and taught her about the Plan of Salvation. She was pretty surprised it didn't include reincarnation, but she was ok with that. She had read the Book of Mormon that week and had some good insights. She was much more open with us yesterday too, so teaching her was a breeze. She's super cool! 

I was thinking this last week and came to realize that I have been so blessed on my mission. I've had the opportunity of teaching so many cool people and seeing them come unto Christ and be changed for the better in the process. It's not the easiest thing in the world, but being a missionary is so rewarding! It makes me so happy:) I've got a little over 6 months to go and I'm excited to put it all to good use! 

I love you all! Happy year of the sheep! 

-Elder Smith

This week's song: There Is a Green Hill Far Away

Week Seventy-Seven: 2/9/2015 to 2/15/2015--It's Almost the Year of the Sheep!

Hello Friends, Family, and Acquaintances,

I hope you're all doing peachy keen! This week was about the same as last week. Monday-Friday were kind of discouraging, but the weekend made up for it eleven-fold! 

First, the mission news. 12 missionaries have had their visas cleared and will be coming in on February the 25th! There are also 7 more who haven't received their visas yet. We hope they'll be able to come in on the 25th as well, though. So we will have a transfer on March 2, at which time I'll probably be swept off to other Taiwanese realms and start what could be my last adventure in this hemisphere of the globe.

In other news, Fourth is looking good to be baptized on the 28th. We shared the Word of Wisdom with him on Saturday and he said he was willing to keep it. He also finally got a Tagolog Book of Mormon so he's super pumped about that. Keep him in your prayers! 

We also met with a girl named Sister Ding on Sunday. She's the girlfriend of a member who hasn't been in a while, but has recently started coming to church more frequently. She's kind of quiet, but she seems very interested and sincere. She set a goal to be baptized on April 4th. Her boyfriend is also super funny. He came last week for the first time in a couple years. Let me paint this picture for you. Keep in mind, he's like, 17. I was on the church balcony looking down and I see this kid strutting up to the gates of the church. He's wearing pointy shiny black shoes, skinny jeans, a white shirt and tie with a slim-fit navy blazer to top it off. He's super funny. When I called him on Saturday to ask if he was coming to church again, he was--and I quote---"taking a stroll." Maybe that doesn't sound all that exciting, but you'd have to meet him. He's a hoot! Pray for them.

In scripture news, I read a really awesome scripture this morning. It's in 2 Nephi 22:2, but can also be found in Isaiah 12:2. It reads:
"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation." 


I love that verse! It's so simple, but such a powerful testimony of Christ and His role in our lives. A testimony to which I can say, "Amen" and feel it in my bones. If you want a testimony like Isaiah's then read the scriptures! They testify of Christ, they rejoice in Christ! They can make you whole. That's my share. 

I hope everyone has an awesome week! Love you all:)

-Elder Smith 

Today's song is "Truth Reflects Upon Our Senses"

Also, a picture of us and a member with his dog and his brother. Sorry for my face...