October 20, 2013

Macy:

1.Does it get cold?

     I think so, but Elder C is still sweating like a dog... poor guy, I guess I"m just used to it by now!

2. How many baptisms?

     We just helped someone get baptized last week and that makes number 8!

3. Biggest religion in Taiwan?

     Buddhism, for sure.

4.What do they believe?

     They believe in many Gods, and they "worship" almost all of them for different occasions... they also will worship their ancestors and pay their respects through certain actions and such... super interesting! 

Well, we had one heck of a week!!... again... I think I must write that every week in my emails... whatever, every week is "one heck of a week" here in Taiwan!!! (in a good way) This week, we had a BAPTISM!! I'll talk about that a little more later though...

On Monday, we went to a "beach" ... NOT a beach. Someone told us that it was a beautiful place with waves and animals and lots of fun stuff... turns out, it was a dead, barren wasteland with crabs, mud, and overpriced shaved ice. Not going back. It really wasn't that bad, but it was nothing compared to some of the other places that I've been here! 

Wednesday, we had an awesome time teaching English class! Elder C and I are the intermediate class teachers, and our students absolutely love us!... it probably has something to do with how cute Elder C is, cause we've got a class full of girls about the same age as Macy! We're working with a couple of specific students right now, trying to get them to meet with us and start learning the gospel, and it's going super well! We've found two really awesome investigators out of our English class! LOVE IT!

Thursday was Elder C's birthday and yes, I woke up early to make him some delicious AMERICAN style breakfast! We had a really fun day proselyting and celebrating his birthday... we ended the day by buying him a mango pie and hiding in the farthest corner of the chapel to sing and eat it! It was pretty fun! We were interrupted by a single adult in the ward asking me if I could give her a blessing. The four of us then helped her do a simple blessing and it was such a special experience as we did so! The power of the priesthood is so quietly powerful, and it's manifest through faith and hope. The next day she called us to tell us that the blessing had calmed her and given her the strength to pass her interview. 

Friday... Very long day. We went to Mission HQ to have a big specialized training meeting... All about dealing with stress. so fun! haha it was actually a great meeting! I love President and Sister Blickenstaff! They're actually hilarious and INCREDIBLY spiritual at the same time! I don't know how they do it! The meeting lasted for about 4 hours, and then we had to wait for 2 hours for a bus to take back to Daya! The Lord works in mysterious ways! We got on to an absolutely FULL bus. You don't know what PACKED means until you ride a bus at 6:30 at night in Taichung city. It cleared out little by little until we could breathe normally again, and then we just went to work! One by one, the four of us missionaries left to talk to someone. In less than 10 minutes, the four of us were each teaching lessons to different people throughout the bus. I was able to talk to 2 really great families on the bus and gave their information to the Sisters. 

Saturday, BAPTISM!! We've been working with a 21 year old kid for the past 3 weeks and he just got baptized on Saturday!!! He was sharing his testimony last night and honestly almost brought me to tears as he talked about his heart changing when he came up out of the water. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!! 

My spiritual message this week is a little shorter, and it's much more of an invitation. We watched a short broadcast for part of our Stake Conference yesterday, and it was specifically done for the Asia area. Elder Holland mentioned a point about missionary work. All of our teaching and thoughts should be about the Savior. He is the center of this Gospel and the key to our salvation! Take some time each day to really think about Him and what He has done for us!

Love you guys! Have a great week! 

Elder Noll