Friday, April 3, 2015

IT'S WEIRD TO THINK I'VE BEEN ON THIS ISLAND FOR ONE YEAR



TRANSFER 9 - WEEK 5

"I'd be lying if I said it was easy. My mission is easily the hardest thing I've ever done. Every day brings new challenges, setbacks, tests of patience and love, but I've learned the real motivation is Christ. He's the reason for everything. I can feel Him lifting me up and strengthening me. He's there with open arms ready to receive anyone Helaman 3:27-29.  I always tell people on the street about all the things that make me happy: 
family, music, sports, friends, traveling, etc., but the one thing that brings true happiness is the gospel of Jesus Christ. As cliche as that sounds it's true :) Love being a missionary!"


Wu2 Zheng4 Rui4, an 8 year old in our ward was baptized.  We were able  to share all the lessons with him.
He is a super cool kid and comes from a great family!

We found this guy along side the road who had made these crazy things with balloons.
I've never seen anything like it.  Wait until you see the Bumblebee from Transformers (below).  Amazing!
Dear friends and family, 

This week was a great one. Gotta give a big S/O to my companion Elder Tan.  He was pretty sick this week. I think the food finally got to him. It definitely takes some adjusting when you first get on island. He was a saint though. We went out and worked hard every day! We get along great. I feel blessed because in my mission I have gotten along with all of my companions. It's super cool. I love them all. Elder Tan is a great Elder! He's working really hard, his Chinese is improving, and he's doing great!

This week was kind-of a blur. I'm pumped to send you all some really cool and interesting pictures this week. We had a cool zone training up in Taipei and that went great! District meeting also went really smoothly. I loved the Bible videos you sent and we watched one on the sacrament. I was pondering a lot this week about church and what the difference is between going to church and keeping the Sabbath Day holy? I think a lot of times when church is over we spike the football and call the game over but when we make each Sunday a day filled with spiritual nourishment and activities our Sabbath Day will be that much more rewarding and helpful. Super cool! I also think at church we develop an attribute that's harder to develop in other places. LOVE. We learn how to serve, love, grow, strengthen, and most importantly learn to Love God and Jesus Christ and learn about how much they love us individually. It was a super cool little insight this week for me! I know that if you all make each Sunday a more sacred day, sacrifice more things to get away from the world and come closer to our Savior, the Holy Ghost will then be able to help you strengthen your family, fulfill your calling, or whatever need you may have. I invite everyone to make their Sabbath day more of a spiritual day! :)

Not a lot of our investigators were able to make it to church but we met with Ding1 DX. He's still struggling with smoking. We are trying to help him. Also, Lin2 JM is doing good! Wei Wei is also progressing. We are just helping them develop more faith to overcome their trials. Xiao1 JM is doing so great. One of the bravest ladies I've ever met. Comes to church every week and even has seizures at church. I feel so bad for her. I know Christ loves her though. She will get baptized! Hopefully in April! 

Xiao1 JM standing between Elder Tan and Elder Willes

Lin2 Li3 Jun4 with Elder Willes


It's weird to think I've been on this island for 1 year. On my year mark I took the Elders in our apartment to my favorite Thai restaurant for dinner and we ate some goooood food. They have these shrimp pancake things that are so delicious. Yummm. 

The coolest thing about this week was Cai4 JM and Meng4 JM.  I interviewed both of these women for baptism last week and both were baptized this week.  Both of their interviews were so spiritual. I can't even really describe them over email. But they actually both wanted me to baptized them so I had the privilege of baptizing both. It was really cool! Just think it's so special to be able to exercise God's priesthood and to see people you care about so much make the most correct decision of their lives.  It is so so so priceless. Honestly it's too hard to describe over email but it's just the most rewarding feeling as a missionary. It's really special. I leaned over to Cai4 JM during the baptism and asked, "May I ask why you chose me to baptized you?  I'm curious."  She said, "It wasn't me that chose, it was Heavenly Father. I prayed about it." It was such a tender moment for me. Meng4 JM said similar. I love the Taiwanese People!!

Cai4 JM's baptism

Meng4 JM's baptism

I know this church is true! I know I'm really positive in these emails but I'd be lying if I said it was easy. It's easily the hardest thing I've ever done. Every day brings new challenges, setbacks, tests of patience and love, but I've learned the real motivation is Christ. He's the reason for everything. I can feel Him lifting me up and strengthening me. He's there with open arms ready to receive anyone Helaman 3:27-29. I always tell people on the street about all the things that make me happy: family, music, sports, friends, traveling, etc., but the one thing that brings true happiness is the gospel of Jesus Christ. As cliche as that sounds it's true :) Love being a missionary! Love you all! Hope everyone has a great spring break! 

Exchanges and qing3 ke4's

Go check out the #BecauseHeLives video on Mormon.org!

Enjoy some pictures from the streets of Taiwan.  What an amazing place.  I love the people here.


We biked so fast to the internet cafe today so we could email the fam.  I am sweating so much!








Love,

Elder Willes

2 comments:

Pat said...

Great pics of a great missionary!

Unknown said...

Hi Willes Family,

I do not know Elder Willes, but I served in Taipei from 2009-2011. As I was looking up information on the mission, I stumbled upon his blog--it turned out to be a tender mercy.

One of the families I taught in Taiwan was the Wu Family (pictured with Elder Willes at their son's baptism). The process that Brother Wu (dad) went through to get baptized was tough. His decision to ultimately join the church was a great blessing of my mission. Unfortunately, the last time I communicated with them, Brother Wu said that Sister Wu was very sick and they were no longer active in the church. Seeing Brother Wu baptize his son with Elder Willes made my DAY! Thank you for your hard work and service, Elder Willes! You're blessing people on both sides of the world!

Best,
Westin Leavitt