August 24, 2014

How is everyone?? I'm more than stoked to be back out, and my excitement is multiplied an hundred fold to be back in Daya! I still remember the first time I emailed you from the Daya internet cafe... That was over a year ago! I feel completely rejuvenated to be back in this area with these wonderful members. I've been here less than a week and already I've had multiple people come up to me and say something to the effect of: "Oh, Elder Noll! I was buying groceries today and decided to talk to the cashier about the plan of salvation! He/She has so much interest, and you need to go visit them soon! Here's their name and number, go contact them!" The members here are just so full of fire. They're honestly just burning with a love for the Gospel. The thing I love most about their excitement, is that they don't just "preach the gospel..." but they truly SHARE the gospel with all they come in contact with, whether it be put together in words or just illuminated in their radiance. It's so wonderful to come back and to see that the chapel feels a little smaller than before, because of the recent conversions and the increase in people. This is an experience that I will not take for granted. Having this opportunity to come back to this area is appreciated immensely and I will not waste it. 

My new companion is Elder P, from South Jordan. He's hilarious! President putting us together was pure genius, because we get along great! We've only been together for a week, but we've already got some pretty great stories to tell from it! It's gonna be a great 6 weeks! 

This week was absolutely great! I had a chance to meet almost all of our investigators and teach them as well. I realized that I remember the roads in Daya almost like it was yesterday. I feel like the time that elapsed since I've passed was more like an overnight dream than anything else... Elder P and I have set some pretty high goals for this next month. There are 3 or 4 people who are going to be baptized in the month of September, so they could REALLY use some prayers to help them endure and make it into those waters! 

We exchanged with some Elders in Shalu this week, as well as the other Daya Elders. I had the chance to work with 2 awesome Elders! One is new to Taiwan, and the other is training another brand new missionary! Elder S has been in Taiwan for just over 2 months now, and he's an incredible missionary! Although he's still worried about his Chinese, I think it's great, he's still absolutely focused on his purpose as a messenger of Christ and he's 100% dedicated to the work. I learned a lot from him while we were on exchanges! With Elder P, I learned even more. Elder P is a hard worker. Always. We rode our bikes all over town, up and down hills, in and out of alley ways and such, always looking for prepared souls who would accept our message. I decided that from now on, I will more dedicated to talking with EVERYONE that I see on the roads, no matter what! 

On Saturday night, the Daya Elders along with the Beitun Elders and Sisters had a chance to participate in a pretty big musical production! I met this really cool kid when I was here a year ago, and he just so happened to call us the other day saying that he and his middle school classmates wanted to put together a huge show on Saturday. The advertising had already been done, it was totally free, and there was supposed to be a crowd of about 300 people coming! This guy was pretty much the leader of the group. They all went to the same middle school and their major was in musical performance... so they're a pretty good group of kids who can play the heck out of a bunch of cool lookin' Taiwanese instruments! They invited the missionaries to close the show with a couple of songs! I'll have to send you the video... you'll get a good laugh out of it! We had about 2 hours to choose what songs we were to perform and then perfect it into performance mode! It actually turned out pretty good! We did an acappella version of Lead Kindly Light, and then an acoustic version of "We'll Bring the World His Truth" with me on the guitar and my old investigator playing a box drum. It was a lot of fun, and we also had a chance to get together with some former investigators, so it was actually pretty productive as well! I'll send you the pics and videos when I get a hold of them.

The share of the week... I'm not quite sure I can beat out the share that Jessi, I mean Elder Noll Jr., shared over his email this week, but I sure can testify that what he shared is true. I always figured loving, cherishing and crying was for girls. In fact, it is! But who ever said that being a girl was a bad thing?? One of my buddies, former Elder E, once shared a story with me. He had a football coach tell him, "E! Don't you get soft out there on your mission!" Elder E then looked at me and said, "How would it be possible NOT to get soft out here?" The tender mercies of the Lord are not meant for rough, hardened men who are all but immune to the soft voice of the Spirit, but the Lord gives us the tender experiences in order to soften our hearts. The Priesthood can only be used under these circumstances. Once our hearts are soft enough and our whole being is willing to give in to the Lord, only then are we able to share in His power. Only then will we be able to do those things which He has appointed us to do. I'm grateful to have such a smart little brother out there to teach me these things! If you haven't had a chance to read his letter yet, go ask my mom where to find it and take a look! You'll get a few laughs! 

Love you guys! You all make the rockin' world go round! 

Love, Elder Noll

Apparently the Elders saw this slide outside their apartment one morning and said that if it was still there when they got back that night they would put it in the apartment...