Friday, June 19, 2015

ALWAYS DRENCHED IN SWEAT OR RAIN OR BOTH


Transfer 11 - Week 4

"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught , abounding therein with thanksgiving." Colossians 2: 6-7

Our beautiful Taiwan Temple
Hot and lots of rain
Always drenched in sweat or rain or both
FHE

 I've reflected a lot this week about how much I've changed on my mission. I am super grateful that God has helped me change courses in my life. I am so much happier now then I ever have been before. I remember about 4 years ago the missionaries came over to our house and one said, "I am more tired than I've ever been but somehow I'm the most happy I've ever been." That's exactly how I feel. 


Hello,

Wow another crazy week here in Taiwan! All is well. All is well. 

On Monday we were able to go back to Xin1 Zhu2 which was first area here in Taiwan. I love Xin Zhu and especially the people there. To get to Xin1 Zhu2 Elder Stewart and I took the high speed rail. 

Elder Stewart and Elder Willes on the high speed rail

In Xin Zhu I went on exchanges with Elder Nelson, one of my previous companions, and it was a blast! Elder Nelson and I went out finding all night long and saw some sweet miracles. We contacted this college student who was walking his dog but his dog was being super hyper and running around. I was worried the dog would be a big distraction but we asked this dude if we could sit down with him and show him a video. We all sat down and his dog sat on his lap and instantly switched into a well behaved dog. So cool. We showed this college student the "Because He Lives" video and had a great lesson with him. A little tender mercy from the Lord. At the end of our lesson he said like a 10 minute prayer and the spirit was so strong. Such a cool lesson and it was good to be reunited with Elder Nelson as he is finishing up his mission in 2 weeks. On Tuesday we finished up in Xin Zhu with Zone Conferences all day.

Elder Nelson and Elder Willes with the college student they taught on the street

The very next day, Wednesday, we continued on for Zone Conference in the Central Taipei Zone and then drove to Hualian. The East Coast of Taiwan is super pretty. We ended up staying the night with Elder Dexter in Hualian and that was awesome.  Elder Dexter and I were companions in the MTC. We had Zone Conferences both in Hualian and Taidong.  I thought these conferences went super well and were super spiritual. 

In Taidong, as part of our training, Elder Stewart and I gave everyone 5 minutes to do a role play on "asking inspired questions." It was awesome because everyone had really spiritual experiences to share and it was overall such a spiritual Zone Conference! Taidong and Hualian are really pretty! Sorry I was so busy and don't have pictures of these beautiful places. 





Zone Leaders one from Fiji and one from Australia

One cool thing about traveling Taiwan is to be up close with President Day. So cool just to see his love for the missionaries and love for the Savior. He truly has been called of God to serve us here and has done a great job! And now in his 2nd to last week, this upcoming weekend, the Taidong and Hualian Zones are merging into a Stake. The creation of a Stake is a big deal. We have enough members and we have enough priesthood. We are excited! So we will be going down again to the East Coast this weekend to help out with the establishing of this new Stake. Will be busy but so cool. 

Sister and President Day during their role play

I wanted to share a few scriptures with you that struck me this week. The first is, "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught , abounding therein with thanksgiving." Colossians 2: 6-7  I love this scripture because that's what we all need to do is to walk and follow the footsteps of our Savior Jesus Christ. Super cool. 

I have also been studying Ether 12:27 and I love that scripture.  "And if men come unto me I will show them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."  As I read that scripture I learned that God has given me tests and trials to prove myself and through Christ I can change and become better and overcome my weaknesses. I've reflected a lot this week about how much I've changed on my mission. I am super grateful that God has helped me change courses in my life. I am so much happier now then I ever have been before. I remember about 4 years ago the missionaries came over to our house and one said, "I am more tired than I've ever been but somehow I'm the most happy I've ever been." That's exactly how I feel.  
(2 Nephi 5:27 - "And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness.")
 
Lastly, our investigator Wang2 JM is progressing really well. Still has lots of questions but reads the Book of Mormon, is starting to recognize the spirit, and hopefully she will have her baptismal interview next week! Our other investigator Lu2 JM is slowly progressing as well! She also came to church. We also took the sacrament for the 3rd straight week in a row to Brother Li3 who is sick. Such a great guy. We sang hymns for him and it was really special. Then for the 2nd week in a row the EXACT same thing happened. Started pouring rain. Dumping buckets! Haha crazy. But super fun. The parking lot in the basement of the chapel was flooding so when we got back we swept all the water out! 

Brother Li, Elder Stewart and Elder Willes








Thanks for all the prayers and examples of love back home! Love and miss you all! Have a great week!
Elder Willes
We found a great investigator on the street and referred him to the missionaries in his area.  Such a cool guy!

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