Tuesday, November 10, 2015

MORE SWEET THAN BITTER

"Guess what? I moved! This past week in the office we were preparing for transfers all week and in the process President Jergensen told me he wanted me to go to Yilan and be a District Leader. It was bitter-sweet. But to be honest, more sweet than bitter. I am so pumped to be here to Yilan and get to work!

We had 2 lessons on the street this week when in the middle of the lesson members drove by and saw us and stopped. Stopped to help us by bearing their testimonies and sharing why they were baptized. It was so powerful. That kind of stuff just doesn't happen very often. It was incredible.



Elder Huntsman and Elder Willes

Hello from beautiful Yilan, Taiwan! Such a unique place here. Yilan is on the Northeastern coast of the island so we are "going to the beach" next p-day so that should be exciting. 

Guess what? I moved! This past week in the office we were preparing for transfers all week and in the process President Jergensen told me he wanted me to go to Yilan and be a District Leader. It was bitter sweet. But to be honest, more sweet than bitter. I am so pumped to be here in Yilan and get to work! 

[Mom note about Yilan: Yilan is well-known as a historical center for some of the many aboriginal peoples whose diversity has come to be synonymous with Taiwan. Geographically, Yilan County is characterized by rolling mountains, rocky seaside and heavy, relentless rain.]

Our district is pretty big. We have 4 companionships in the district and 2 of those companionships are training new missionaries. My companion is Elder Seamons from Draper, Utah. He knows Sarah so that is cool. He graduated in 2014, did a year at BYU, and then came out on his mission. Elder Seamons is on his 3rd transfer here in Taiwan. He is great! His Chinese is good and he is an exceptional missionary! I got here to Yilan on Friday and we hit the pavement hard and fast. Lots of finding, teaching, visiting recent converts and less active members, and it has been incredible. We have seen so many cool miracles on the street these last couple of days. 

Elder Seamons and Elder Willes - teaching

On Saturday we were finding and we knocked into a family that Elder Seamons had talked to before and they let us in to teach a lesson. This family has a 10 year old son, Barry. We shared a lesson very simply on Jesus Christ and how the Gospel blesses families. They are a pretty firm in their traditional Buddhist beliefs but the spirit touched their hearts and they committed to come to church the next day! BOOM. Sunday rolls around and this family of 3 shows up at church. That was so exciting! Wow so cool. When we actually believe miracles can happen God really will help us and we will see these  miracles every day. It was really special!

We also have a really great investigator, Brother Zhang1! Really cool guy. He is really tall for Taiwan, probably like 6'3". He is progressing really well and had his baptismal interview this week and is getting baptized this coming Saturday. We are so excited for him.  Brother Zhang1 has a big desire to be baptized. 

We had 2 lessons on the street this week when in the middle of the lesson members drove by and saw us and stopped. Stopped to help us by bearing their testimonies and sharing why they were baptized. It was so powerful. That kind of stuff just doesn't happen very often. It was incredible. 

In the past 3 days, Elder Seamons and I have taught 17 lessons. That also doesn't happen very often. The reason I share this is because when we believe, and work our tails off, then God will bless us. We need to go the extra mile every day to become instruments in His hands. 



Last night was probably the biggest miracle of the week for me. Yesterday (Sunday) I woke up not feeling well at all. Very sore throat, groggy, headache, stuffy nose, etc. I knew it was going be a long day especially when I was not feeling well at all, but I was gonna fight through it the best I could! It indeed was a longer day but church was incredible. The ward here is awesome and the stake here in East Taipei is splitting in early December! After our very full day on Sunday, we were out finding that night and I just felt like I had pulled an all-nighter. There was literally no energy in me. After about 2 hours of  finding with very little success, we sat down to take a little breather, and we said a prayer. As I was praying on this little bench I remembered when Brigham Young went out for one of his missions he literally was so sick he couldn't stand but he still gave every ounce of his energy to shout hosanna and preach the gospel. Many of the early church leaders were like him. After my prayer I felt just a little ounce of energy and got up to work. The very next lady we talked to, in a little alley, we were able to teach her a very powerful lesson. Wang2 JM believes in God, has had a very hard life, and her 2 kids are pretty unstable. She knew that the Lord had sent us to meet her. We will be visiting her again this next week. A really special experience. 

Sometimes we think we are giving every thing we have but if we go just a little bit further to serve the Lord with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength, then God will bless us. Wow! Being a missionary is just the best. I have learned so much and I am so pumped to keep working my hardest and giving my all with Elder Seamons. I miss you all and love you all! Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Willes 

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