THE STRESSES OF A MISSIONARY SWEEP AWAY WHEN I READ THE BOOK OF MORMON

Elder Willes and Elder Westover
"Elder Westover was pretty good for not having much golf experience."

Hello everyone! Another good week here in Xin1Zhu2. First off, congrats to Joni on her baptism last week :) Wish I could have been there! Awesome you got to meet Thomas and his wife. They are so great! Glad they could have a good time. Thanks for welcoming them!

Jake and Nate with Thomas and Mary Chen

Thomas and Mary Chen are members in Taiwan who are in the ward William is currently serving in.  They were recently sealed in the Taipei Temple.  Thomas is an enormous help to the missionaries.  Thomas brought us an amazing video of Elder Willes taken a few days before we met them.  Both are converts to the church and the only members in their families.  Thomas has been a member for 18 years and learned about the gospel for 1 year before being baptized.  Mary Chen was baptized 1 month after the missionaries found her at a stop light while she was on her scooter.  She said she had been waiting and waiting for someone to talk with her about Jesus Christ.  We feel so lucky to have made these new friends.  We are so very grateful!

Today, p-day we went golfing! A member took us to the driving range. Not gonna lie I still hit it pretty well. Haha the workers were trying to fix Elder Westover and my swings but we had no clue what they were saying so we were just like OK! It was so fun. The member (who took us) and I had multiple short game competitions (to the flags etc). Wu3 Ba1 Ba was a super good golfer. That is the member. He was really great at golfing and super consistent. Dad heard you shot a 49 this week! Way to be! Nate and Jake I hear you are improving too. But I will still take you on in a few summers :)

The golf driving range in Taiwan
"So fun." 

This week we had sort of a downer week with our investigators. A lot of our investigators just aren't progressing and Shi2 Di4 Xiong1 and Huang2 Di4 Xiong1 both didn't come to church. Shi2 DX has a new baptismal date in July. Also Huang2 Di4 Xiong1 we don't know if he is going to get baptized because he is still smoking and he enters the army in 3 weeks. We have a goal to find new and prepared investigators this week so please pray for us that the spirit may guide us in finding those prepared people.

 

This week we had 2 pretty cool (funny experiences). One was when I was on exchanges with Elder Illu. We saw a couple moving a bunch of things from one house to the other. We asked if we could help and they said we could. That is super rare here.  People don't let you serve them. But it was a cool experience. We carried a bunch of wood and stuff for like 15 minutes. We then talked a little bit about the gospel. They didn't really accept our message but we feel like we planted seeds for future missionaries! The other is super funny.  Elder Illu was on the phone so I just started talking to this random college kid and he said he was about to go to a choir/singing performance. I asked if I could hear his voice and he just started singing to me.  His voice was really good. It was just funny because he sang a full song to Elder Illu and I.  It was hilarious.

 

Anyway, probably the coolest thing that happened this week was with Zhou1 Chang2 En1. He came again early to church in his white shirt and tie. He was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood this week! So he passed the sacrament for the first time. It was really cool watching him do it and he says he really likes it. He is such a stud. A 13 year old kid who every week comes to church by himself? Unreal! He brought his 12 year old brother too! (Zhou1 Chang2 Ding3) He told us he wants to hear the missionary lessons like his brother so we are going to meet with him this week! We are super Excited. Chang2 En1 and his example is really having a strong influence on his family. Really cool to watch.

 

Habip is still doing super good. Coming to church and just being great! Love that man!

 

You remember the You2 Ba ba and You2 Jie3 Mei4 they sent a picture to you of me and Elder Senkins with them? They had their missionary farewell last night. It was a Sunday night testimony meeting and brunch kind of thing. I had duck and that was pretty good! Anyway they are going on their mission to Taipei at the temple! They are super excited. Such a spiritual meeting. Their testimonies are so strong. Such great examples. The people here are great. 

Just like Moroni 7:48 says when we are serving we can be filled with God's love. The BoM is so awesome! I'm in Ether now. I feel so peaceful when I read the BoM. The stresses of a missionary sweep away when I read. 

If you could pray for Sister Hammer. She is a sister in our zone (district) who got hit by a car while riding her bike. She broke her collarbone and had to go home. She is in Utah now. Just keep her in your thoughts and prayers.  Elder Westover and I got our packages and my big one came! Thanks so much. The food is super tasty. Loved the Ensigns! 

Anyway I hope you all have a great week! Love you all so much. Mom, you're the best. Love you :) Jake have fun at camp! Nate and Dad keep being studs.

 

83,000+ are hastening the work of salvation right now! Pretty cool thought!

 

Elder Willes