December 8, 2013

Well, things have changed pretty drastically in just the past week! I'm sitting next to Elder R (my new companion) in an internet cafe in the mountains of Nantou! 

The week started out with yet another buffet visit for Elder M's very last P-day! I cant believe that hes going home!! It feels like it was just yesterday that I was with him in Gaoxiong! He was one of the first missionaries I interacted with when I first came on island. I met him my first night in Tainan, and he's been following me around ever since! It actually makes me a little sad to see him go! Hes a great guy, and definitely a friend that ill be hanging out with after this is all over! 

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I had my last exchange with Elder M and we got a LOT done! The biggest miracle that we saw, was as we worked with one of my investigators over dinner. This kid has been meeting with us for a few weeks now and he hasn't made a whole lot of progression. He continues to pray and read, but he never felt anything that made him believe anything we were telling him. When we talked to him on Tuesday night, we asked him how things were going, and he said he was starting to feel something! We talked to him for another few minutes about it and then invited him to be baptized on the 20th of December... he looked at us and said: Can I be baptized this Saturday? We were shocked! I wish he could've been baptized on Saturday, but he hadn't learned about everything yet, so we want to help him prepare as well as possible and then baptize him on the 20th of December! Were so excited for him!! 

We had an awesome English party on Wednesday night where Elder M and I did a super bad rendition of Tenacious D: Tribute. It actually turned out really funny and everyone got a huge kick out of it... especially the American missionaries! Later, the four of us (Elder T, Elder M, Elder C and I... AKA THE DUFFERS) did an acapella version of Stand By Me, and then switched to blowing on our name tags (they can turn into Kazoos!!!) and then killed the lights and had a glow stick dance off. It was definitely the hit of the entire night. Everyone L O V E D it and we had an absolute blast putting the whole thing together! And Yes, we did use the glow stick glasses that you gave me last month! 

The weekend was pretty uneventful... unless you count the fact that President Blickenstaff called me on Saturday night telling me that I'd be moving to Nantou to be the new Zone Leader... B L E W my mind. Honestly, I'm super sad to be leaving Daya and Elder C. I haven't been in one place for over 4 months in a LONG time. Daya really became my home, and those members really became my family. I will forever hold a special place in my heart for those memories and for all the wonderful things which we accomplished there. I had a chance to give a talk on Sunday and I almost lost it as I was thanking the ward for their service and love. What can I say, I'm a softy!~ I super excited to be in Nantou now though! Elder R is a super cool guy and I'm stoked to be working with him! I will admit, I'm a little nervous to be in charge of over 30 different missionaries, but I'm super grateful for the challenge and I'm ready to do my absolute best to fulfill my work!

I don't have any specific principle I'd like to focus on today, but I just want to share a short testimony of the Savior. I know He lives. Although I've said that same sentence COUNTLESS times in my life, I truly know that those words are true. Their value has not dimmed over time, and it never will! He lives and He will love us to the end. I know these things, and I know that we can lean on His loving arm whenever we don't have the strength to go on.

I love you guys! jiayou!

Elder Noll

 

Here are a few pictures of Nantou - (Ryan's new area) that I found online...