TZ 54 - 56 Hello !!!

July 1, 2019

Things has been hard. Mainly in the companionship. 

But things are getting alright. We're learning. 

Being in a tri companionship is pretty hard. People are even more scared to talk to us because there are three of us. 

This week was basically going out and finding people to teach. Sadly we found no one. I'm going crazy of this 6 hours of finding in our planners. So tiring. 

So basically I'm hitting a rough path right now but thankfully we got Prophets today. We are blessed with the gospel library app. The church has spent a lot of time and money into the app. (I'm having deja vu right now. I might have said these in previous emails haha) We can easily go to the app and read talks from the Prophets and apostles. You can also look at the topics section and usually the talks can help you improve and help you go through the challenges you are facing. 

Have a great week. I love you all ️

TZ 53 Tainan 53

Hello everyone!

I got a new companion! Named Elder Nelson. Coolest fact about him is he's got 14 siblings. Yes 14! 🤯

Last week went alright. We visited quite a lot of members. One of the biggest blessings as a missionary is being able to know a lot of people and their family background. So many cool backgrounds. 

Another cool thing is that I have 5 more transfers left! How time flies. At the same time, I'm scared haha 

We visited a friend who is a doctor and he's around his 70's. Such a wonderful experience to see him and his wife interested in the gospel and church. They accepted to even start praying everyday. I can't wait to see how they are this week. 

I was able to study the recent general conference talk about our prayers. I've finally experienced a prayer being answered but not the way I think I thought would happen. Heavenly Father knows better than we. And he knows how to bless us. Bless us even more. Sometimes we may not like the way but it blesses us a ton.

Have a read. It's pretty good 

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2019/04/13hales?lang=eng

     That's about my week here in Tainan. I'm staying for another 

TZ 52 Tainan .

Good day everyone!

It's getting hotter and hotter here in Tainan. But it's alright. 

We've been getting 請'd by a lot of strangers lately. So we're getting blessed by them too. 

There's a person we've been teaching quite a while now. She was able to read a chapter in 1 Nephi 8. Then as we expounded together about that scripture, the room was filled with the spirit. There was a warm feeling in the heart. She enjoyed it. 

So as we expound scriptures and share our thoughts together, the spirit is bound to be there. And the best setting for the spirit to dwell in is at our homes. Try to turn distractions off for a moment and read and expound the scriptures with you the family. 

Miracles happen each day! I invite everyone to have a note in your phone specifically just for miracles. Record them every time you feel like a miracle has happened.

At the end of the day, you'll see a long list of small miracles. You can then give thanks to Heavenly Father during your nightly prayers. 

Have a great week! 

Sights and Sounds :

TZ 50 General Conference Rebroadcast !

Hello again everyone!

What a week. First off, our District is so trunky haha (missing home) Because Elder Huang is leaving after this transfer 我們被影響了哈！

It was a hard week. Again I couldn't have an effective personal study. I was thinking about home. It was so hard to refocus. And also after evaluating myself. I felt I am no good. I felt that I wasn't doing anything to help the work.

剛好 Last Saturday and Sunday we were able to watch General Conference at the chapel. I love this quote from Sister Sharon Eubank

 "The Lord knows how hard you are trying. You are making progress. Keep going. He sees all your hidden sacrifices and counts them to your good and the good of those you love. Your work is not in vain. You are not alone"

Christ: The Light That Shines in Darkness

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2019/04/42eubank

After hearing those words, I felt that Heavenly Father was talking to me. I felt that he wants me to continue to pedal the bike and He will do the rest. I invite you to read those precious words from Sister Eubanks again. I know what she said is coming from Heavenly Father. He loves us.

Last week we were able to visit some members and share the ward mission plan. After sharing the plan to this family, we immediately received a referral from them. She referred someone who had been coming to church for so long but isn't baptized yet. She suggested that we should meet with her. So the sisters serving in our ward met with her and immediately set up'd a date to be baptized. So cool! 

That's about our week here in Tainan! The week started super depressing but it ended really great! I'm ready for another week! 

TZ 48 Be Bold !

Good day everyone!

Our week went pretty well. We did our best finding people and trying to set up with members. We've been praying for opportunities to teach people in our area. So we hope that as we continue to work we may slowly see the blessings.

Another great thing is that the goals we've set are now becoming more clearer. We have a new ward mission plan and we want to share this plan to every member. Be able to work with them in doing Heavenly Fathers work. It's so cool to see Heavenly Father helping us. I remember thinking in my first week here in Tainan 4th ward on how we can work with the members and having no idea on what to do. We're excited to continue working the members here.

In my personal study, I've been trying to practice how to be bold in inviting members to help us do missionary work. Elder Uchtdorf last Saturday gave us a very great example on how to magnify our calling. He's been called to the missionary department and in his talk, he boldly invited every member to challenge their self to help do missionary work. So I've set a goal in every fast and testimony Sunday that I'd get up and share experiences in doing missionary work and inviting them to help Heavenly Fathers work. 

Have a great week everyone! 

TZ 47 Tainan 4th Ward.

Hello everyone! I am now serving in Tainan 4th ward. Which I think is at 北區。

First things first. I miss the Dakeng apartment. It was small, simple and cleaned! Haha! Apparently this apartment wasn't cleaned well enough. It took me days to get used to the apartment.

My new companion is named Elder Merriman. Straight out from the factory. This is his third transfer which means he just got out from training. 

So last week, we were doing language and companionship study at a Family Mart. I've always thought it would be cool if Heavenly Father would send someone to sit beside us and be interested in learning about Jesus Christ or the message we share. Yes, you guessed it! Someone actually sat right next to me! And so we had a conversation about his religious beliefs and ours as well. We ended up teaching him the Plan of Happiness. It was a cool experience. 

Another cool experience happened yesterday. After the Sunday school class ended. I decided that I would talk to the stake president and get to know him more. We ended up talking about his mission in Taipei. We talked him being able to see one of his Recent Converts get baptized, receive the priesthood, receiving his endowment, and then being sealed with his family. All within the two years of his mission! So after talking about that, I thought if he was able to meet my parents while he was serving in Taipei. Decided that I'd show our family picture outside the temple after being sealed. 他說他好像有看過你們(sorry I don't know how to translate that to English 😂) 剛好 Brother Tregaskis (my parents 福音長老） that week, sent an email to me with some photos from his mission. I zoomed into Brother Tregaskis face asking if he recognizes him. He immediately drags the photo to the right side and pointed at the person in the middle of the photo and said "That's me!" 

Wow... Such a small world. We went home after that conversation and I sat down and had a feeling of gratitude. I'm so thankful that we have the gospel in our lives. Indeed the gospel truly blesses families. 

TZ 46 Transfers !

Hey everyone! I'm now serving in Tainan!

Yesterday was the day where everything just sunked in. I realized that I'm leaving Dakeng already. I miss the people, members and the people we were teaching. I love them so much. I just want to cry all day 😭

Seems to me that Dakeng was my training grounds. Everything that I've learned/thought that could further the work must be applied to my new area. I'm so excited to meet new people and then eventually leave again 😂 That's so sad! There will be another peice taken away! 

I love you all! I'll see you next week!