"This is the hardest thing I've ever done, but the most rewarding!"
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| The LDS chapel in XinZhu and Elder Willes in his rain gear |
Great week here in Taiwan! :) This week was filled with miracles, spiritual experiences and fun things. Our last p-day (10 days ago) we went to the beach! 6 of us Elders rode our bikes 25 minutes to the beach and threw a football, frisbee, and just hung out. It was super nice and great to be able to get our minds off the mission stresses for a bit. Also, I will be sending lots of pictures this week so I'm super excited for that!
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| Elder Willes on the beach in Taiwan on p-day |
Today was very hectic. We were supposed to be to the temple at 7:50 a.m. and we live about an hour and a half away. Our alarm didn't go off so we woke up about 6:00 a.m. We hurried and threw clothes on and left for the temple. Then we left our cell phone on the bus in Taipei so we had to go to all these train stations to try and find it. Thankfully they found it and we are going to retrieve that tonight. We made it to the temple on time and were in there for about 4 hours doing just about everything. We were planning on going to Taipei 101 but we had no time so we just came back to XinZhu. The temple is such a great place.
We had a lesson with one of our less actives today and we watched this awesome movie on temples and set a goal for him this summer to go through the temple! He is going to talk to the Bishop this Sunday to start getting prepared! Awesome, spiritual experience! His name is Cai4 Di4Xiong1.
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| Elder Willes with Elder Senkans on an exchange |
On Monday, we went on splits with the zone leaders. Elder Senkans came with me in XinZhu and Elder Westover went to Zhudong with Elder Gibson. Elder Senkans is a great missionary. He is from Latvia and speaks Latvian, English, and Chinese. He said his home mission is Adam's mission so that is way cool! His dad met the missionaries and read the Book of Mormon and was converted and now his whole family are members and his dad actually translated the Book of Mormon into Latvian. A boss! He has been out about a year and a half and has great Chinese. The last two weeks we haven't found any new investigators but Elder Senkans and I found two new investigators! Ivy is one and the other lives in Taipei so we referred him to the Taipei Elders. So awesome. Also, Elder Westover found a new investigator yesterday so we are really seeing the blessings of patience. Patience, trust, and some more patience.
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| Elder Senkans and Elder Willes with Brother and Sister Yu who are expecting a mission call |
Last week all the trainees and trainers went to Taipei for training. I got to see Elder Dexter, Elder Dethloff, Elder Hughes, and Sister Smith all again. That was super exciting and they are all doing really great. :) If you haven't seen the videos about Taiwan on LDS.org they are on the front page so go check them out :)
Miracles: Zhou1 Chang2En1 is getting BAPTIZED! This Saturday! We met with him last Monday and he confirmed his testimony to us. Such a strong testimony for a 13 year old kid. He is super tall too haha almost my height! He had his baptismal interview this week and passed with flying colors so his baptismal service is this Saturday night. I am so blessed to have met him. Elder Westover has been teaching him for about 5 or 6 months and now he is finally getting baptized. This Saturday will be a special one for sure! Another miracle: Elder Senkans and I invited Habip to read a part of the Book of Mormon, ponder, and pray and ask God if what we have taught is true. The spirit was really strong. We woke up the next morning to a pleasant surprise. Habip had texted us at 3:00 a.m. saying he did what we asked of him. He thanked us for allowing him to have a spiritual experience and "feel Jesus Christ." We were super excited! :) He has some Word of Wisdom stuff that we are going to try and help him take care of and hopefully he will be getting baptized by the end of May. Another miracle: Elder Westover and I set a baptismal date with Shi2 Di4Xiong1 for the 24th of May! Such a blessing. We asked him and he said "Yes, I need to be baptized." Such a touching moment. Elder Westover and I were singing hymns all the way home. Sui2Jie3Mei4 continues to improve and is coming to church for the first time this week! Also, Lee Jie3 Mei4 and her son came to church again. They love coming to church! They are really busy so we haven't met with them again since our first visit but they always come to church. The other Lee Jia1 Ting2 has been busy and tough getting a hold of.
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| McDonald's in Taiwan |
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| Ice cream Taiwanese style. Tons of fruit and shaved ice. Delicious! |
Our ward members are great. They are always willing to drop anything to Pei2Ke4 (accompany) us to our lessons. They are amazing. I am so blessed to be a missionary. I love this experience with all my heart. It is what everyone says: It is the hardest thing I've ever done, but the most rewarding.
Mom, I got the birthday boxes. Sorry I couldn't wait to open them! There is awesome stuff in there. :) Love you!!! Also, I got some birthday cards this week. I haven't opened them yet but thank you all!
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| Elder Willes with a living turtle that was just "chillin' in our chapel." |
Much love,
Elder Willes
A few of the links Elder Willes references in his letter.
A few of the links Elder Willes references in his letter.
Elder Holland in Asia.
What working in Taiwan looks like.
Also, it is not too late to send off a quick birthday card to Elder Willes. Letters are like solid gold to missionaries!
1 comment:
Elder Willes is looking and sounding great. Nice letter!
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