I TAUGHT HIM HOW TO BRO HUG --- A NIGHT OF MIRACLES IN THE RAIN --- PRESIDENT DAY HAS RAN TO THE FINISH LINE!

Hello,

I hope your summer is going well! Here in Taiwan it's either pouring rain or super, super hot. 

We saw some awesome miracles this week!

On Monday I went on exchanges with Elder Varney a Zone Leader here in Taipei and we went contacting on the street the whole night.  It was so fun! We met this 50 year old lady on the street, Rose. She is a DJ so we called her DJ Rose! We had a great lesson with her and taught her how to pray and gave her a Book of Mormon. It was a really really cool night! 

The next day we went on exchanges again with a companionship that has been really struggling. I was praying all day I would have enough energy and we would be able to see miracles and that this missionary might be helped in some way. I went out with this Elder and man did we see miracles. It was dumping buckets of rain on us but it was still such a successful night. The first two people we met we had lessons with. Not common. We really like showing the "Because He Lives" video and we showed it to this guy and girl. The 23 year-old kid we met was a cool college student. I taught him how to "bro hug" and it was super funny because when we tried to bro hug his umbrella poked me in the eye.  Haha super funny. But basically it was a night of miracles in the rain. One big thing I've been reminded of lately is how important our attitude is. Attitude is a reflection of our trust and faith in God. I love Elder Uchtdorf's quote, "Living in the Attitude of Gratitude." The Lord has blessed me so much as I have been working on that! 

This week has been full of preparations for President Jergensen and his family. I pick he and his family up at the airport  tomorrow morning at 4:30 a.m. We said goodbye to a lot of good missionaries but tomorrow is a fresh start and should be super sweet. I'm really motivated to finish out my mission super strong and still have A LOT to learn.

We had our last transfer meeting with President and Sister Day.  President Day, I know, has ran to the finish line. He has worked SO SO hard. He is such an incredible example of patience, love, and diligence. Will miss him a lot. It is really such a privilege to work with him. At transfer meeting President and Sister Day bore their final testimonies.  President Day sang us a song he wrote about God. It was really cool and touching! When he finished 180+ missionaries stood up and gave he and Sister Day a round of applause. The time and effort put in by mission presidents are so so much. I will forever be grateful for their example. 

President Day

On Saturday I had the opportunity to return to Ban3 Qiao2 to see our investigator Xu2 JM get baptized! Elder Tan baptized her. The service was so neat. If you don't remember her story about 3 months ago Elder Tan and I met her on the street and she was so GOLDEN. So prepared for the gospel. She had been to Utah the month prior (for General Conference with her sister who is a member).  Xu2 JM had been to see the Salt Lake and Bountiful Temples and at General Conference she felt the spirit so strongly that when she came back to Taiwan she wanted to get baptized. She really didn't want to convert through her sister so one day coming home from work she prayed and said, "God if I run into the Mormon missionaries today, I will be baptized. Please let me run into the Mormon Missionaries." And then we ran into her that day!! She's been to church every week since and is so so great :) One of the greatest feelings in the world is just knowing that Heavenly Father used YOU to be an instrument in His hands. So sick!

Also our Bishop gave a talk in sacrament meeting. He listed all the people who had been baptized in the past 2 years and encouraged every member to strengthen new converts! It was really powerful. 

This week's scripture comes from Romans 1:16-17.  The dog tag I used to wear has this scripture reference. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; ... For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith."  That scripture has always had an impact on me. We need not be offended by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We ought to be proud of being His disciple! How great is all of our callings. We shouldn't let small things people say, do, or rejection hurt us. We should be filled with love towards everyone. I have a lot to work on but I know God is helping me grow every single day! The church is true! Love you all and have a great week!!

Welcome home to my cousin Lundy this week.

Elder Willes

6 STRAIGHT DAYS OF EXCHANGES

The new Hualian Stake is in a city called Ji An. When people sing Come to Zion, Come to Zion, they sing 

"Lai Dao Ji An, Lai Dao Ji An." Come to Ji An, Come to Ji an. That is just so cool. A marvelous work IS going forth among the people of Taiwan and throughout the world.  Taiwan is the BEST. 

Elder Gang1 of the Seventy with the Elders serving in the office and President and Sister Day

Hello everyone and Happy Father's Day DAD and Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there! The best kind of dad and example to me is someone who is an honorable and worthy M.P. holder.  I've been so blessed with so many examples of that kind of dad in my life. 

This week was another crazy week but a good one as well! For p-day we actually had a few free hours and spent about 4 hours cleaning our apartment and now it is SPOTLESS. So so clean. Lovin' life. This week we went on 4 straight exchanges and I also have one today and tomorrow so that will mean 6 straight days of exchanges. They are awesome and great learning experiences for me.  

Probably one of the biggest miracles of the week happened when we were calling less active members to set them up to meet. I noticed on our list that one on our members had a birthday that day! So I called her and wished her a happy birthday and told her how important she was to God. She was really touched and we set up to meet with her the next day! We went back to her house the next day and met with Sun1 JM. She had like 5 dogs and 8 birds. Haha one of the birds pooped on Elder Shelton. (We had the other Elders from our area come and pei2 ke4 (accompany us)). In spite of the setbacks, the lesson was super great and Sun1 JM is a really prepared less active who is ready to come back! We are hoping she will be able to come to church this coming Sunday. 

I'm sorry I'm really tired writing this email. 

Not much sleep this week!

I did read a scripture I really liked this week in Helaman 5:12. I read it and I substituted build with "trust" and foundation with "life". When we trust God in our everyday life things just go smoother and we are happier. Simple as that. I have really learned a lot on my mission by trusting in God in all things. God loves us all so much. When we show our trust in him by praying, action, reading scriptures, service, etc then that allows Him to SHOW His love for us by blessing us! 

Our investigator Wang2 JM is progressing well. We shared the Law of Chastity with her to help her see the need for modest clothes and she is changing! Wearing more modest clothing. So that is really good! We were only in our area 2 days this week so I don't have a lot to report on there. 

The biggest miracle of the week was the Hualian Stake was organized!! So cool! Elder Anderson said, "You can count the seeds in an apple, but not the apples in a seed." Lots of missionary efforts over the past few years have just been planting and planting seeds for this moment. Super cool. To celebrate this new Stake there was a cultural event Saturday night and all the missionaries sang Called to Serve and Hark all Ye Nations. It was such a special moment. I am really happy for President Day. That was his goal when he got to Taiwan was to create a Stake on the East Coast of Taiwan. 3 years later and on Father's Day this happened. :)

Right outside the Elder's apartment in Hualian there is a big, beautiful baseball field. 

Oh man, I am so TIRED!  On a 11:00 p.m. train ride back to Taipei from Hualian.  I am a little tired  but still alive.

I can't really describe through email how deeply I feel about the importance of missionary work. It was just the coolest thing ever to see hundreds of faithful Taiwan members come and celebrate and sustain the new Stake President Brother Cai4. The new Hualian Stake is in a city called Ji An. When people sing Come to Zion, Come to Zion, they sing "Lai Dao Ji An, Lai Dao Ji An." Come to Ji An, Come to Ji an. That is just so cool. A marvelous work IS going forth among the people of Taiwan and throughout the world.  Taiwan is the BEST. 

All of our exchanges this week were filled with finding miracles and the Lord has blessed me way more than I could imagine. I can feel our mission is growing every day and every missionary is working harder and harder. This is the last week of serving with President Day. He goes home next Tuesday. It has been a great month or so serving as his assistant. 

I just want to bear my testimony that I know God loves all of us. Christ is there for all of us. We just need to seek and knock and He will bless our lives. It doesn't matter who we are or what we've done. He will help us! 

Love you all!!

Elder Willes

I was able to attend a baptism Elder Dexter had.  Love Elder Dexter.

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!