April 28, 2013

     Well, I don't know where to start!! It's been a real busy week! Last Monday, we went to the beach with one of our investigators. Super awesome! I got to take my shoes off and walk on the sand for a little while as I longed to jump right in and body surf for a while! ha it reminded me of our trip to Monterey when Jessi, Brian, Cody, Uncle Dan and I all went swimming that night... super fun! After that we all went to a delicious shaved ice shop and had some mango shaved ice... let me tell you a little bit about their shaved ice here... they don't use artificial flavoring!! When you get mango shaved ice, they literally put chunks of fresh mango on some smooth ice with sweetened condensed milk on it!! Even better than Matsumoto! It was incredible! I'll send you all some pictures.

     The week was spent in the chapel! Seriously, everyday we had lessons almost every hour! It was super busy, and I loved every minute of it! It was also really nice to be in an air conditioned building... VERY HOT OUTSIDE.

 

   I think the highlight of my week, was definitely Saturday night. It had been kind of sprinkling all day, and we had a couple hours to contact people outside, so we were a little bit damp but not too bad really. We then went to the chapel so that Elder D could do a baptismal interview for the sisters investigator. The interview was going a little longer than normal, and we were going to be late to a baptismal service... I was super worried we would miss his baptism!

                                                                             ......

  I can't believe I haven't told you this story yet!! So, my first week here, we met this 20 year old kid who was interested in learning about Christ and Christian churches so we started meeting with him... He was SO cool! Very willing to keep commitments and before we knew it, he had a baptismal goal for April 27th. The problem happened when I went on an exchange with my Zone Leaders... I was calling through their list of investigators to see when they could meet and I saw our investigator listed on there!!! I asked Elder M who he was, and he says: "Oh yeah, you guys referred him to us a few weeks ago... he's getting baptized on April 27th!" ???? I was so confused! In the end, we found out that this guy was embarrassed to tell us that he lived over in the zone leaders area and he was going to get baptized there! hahaha!

     Well, his baptism was on Saturday night and we were going to be late! We booked it to the subway and went to the zone leaders area... when we found out that it wasn't just sprinkling anymore... it was raining. We had to walk about a mile to the chapel and we were already 20 minutes late! It took us a while to get there, and I was sad because I thought I missed the baptism, and also we were absolutely soaked to the skin. We get to the chapel and I can hear people singing, so I thought we missed it for sure! But apparently they had forgotten to fill the font with water!!!! God works in mysterious ways, and He postponed the service so that we could see our friend be baptized! It was so great to see! We had worked with him for so long, and he still comes to our family night activities! I definitely count him as one of my baptisms, no doubt! That was by far, the best part of the week.

 

     The Spiritual highlight of the week is about Families. What does it mean to have an Eternal Family? I remember going to the Manti Temple when I was about 8 years old and being sealed for time and eternity to my family... the most I remember of that experience is waiting in the little kid room for 2 hours with my little brother crying the whole time, but I can also remember little blips of the ceremony. The beautiful walls of the temple, the nice workers, the incredibly beautiful room with the most Sacred atmosphere, and my whole family dressed in white. I don't remember what was said, I don't even remember exiting the Temple, but I know, because of that Sealing Ordinance, my farmhilly is furheavier. :) Whenever my family goes to the beach (which is actually pretty often considering we live in Utah...) we HAVE to pick up as many shells as possible. It's been a tradition we've done ever since I was little, and it doesn't matter that I'm almost 20 years old now, I still can't go to the beach without being fixated with the pearly white shells lying on the sand... So this week when I went to the beach, I picked up some shells! I was later looking at them, thinking about my Eternal family, and thought about how families can be compared to these sea-shells! There are a few different categories of shells. Beautiful and whole, funky looking and whole, beautiful and broken and funky looking and broken. Those broken shells are the families with broken relationships. They may have been beautiful or funky looking, but now they are broken and (unless put back together) will remain imperfect. I don't think this represents divorce, or a family death, but I'm talking about the ACTUAL relationship. If we don't have a WHOLE relationship with all members of our family, there is a defect in our family shell. Those whole shells, are much nicer. Even if they are funky looking, they're still worth it to pick them up and put in our pocket. But what's the difference? I was looking at two shells and decided the difference lies in Eternity. The funky looking shells need some work still! They need to be polished and kept after, and only then can they become beautiful! Those shells with have been "beautified" of course, still need some work, but the process is well on it's way. I know that my family is working towards becoming a perfect shell, we're far from it, but we are a beautiful shell and I'm so grateful for that! I hope that all of us can aim for a Beautiful, whole shelled family! It's worth the effort!

 

Love you all! Jiayou!

Elder Noll

 

April 21, 2013

     Well, it's sooo good to hear from everyone this week! I'm glad to know that you're all doing so well! I'm loving life right now here in Lingya! We recently baptized a very steadfast guy about 23 years old, and he's doing great! We're now preparing him to receive the Priesthood! So incredible!! We also have a few other people scheduled to be baptized... soon. We've had to push some dates back because of scheduling conflicts and such... you wouldn't believe some of the things that come up on the week of a baptism!! Let's just say that the adversary works really hard to turn people away from the path of righteousness! We've also met some really incredible new investigators this week! Just yesterday, we met this great, little family! We talked about the Restoration and how it pertains to Eternal Families and they're pretty excited to keep learning! So Great!!

     I've got to say, some of the highlights of my week were English class, and a Single Adult activity that we took our Recent Converts to. In English, we had a chance to watch part of the Joseph Smith movie, the one that they play in the Joseph Smith Memorial building at Temple Square!! Elder P (my old companion) has the movie, and he let us borrow it so I could show my English class!! If you guys want to get that version, it's probably online... you have to make sure it's called "Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration" and that it's the version they show at Temple Square... wow. I've forgotten how incredible it is!! BUT, on top of that, the single adult activity was watching the Emma Smith movie! Just as good, if not better!! These two movies have set me on a Joseph Smith kick for the whole week! I'm literally in awe at the acts of those early saints and the sacrifices they made to allow us to be what we are today! Very awesome!

     Before I go into my Spiritual thought of the week, I want to introduce you to Taiwanese summers! Very crazy! It's probably about 80-85 degrees, not too hot, right? Wrong. It's about 100% humidity outside!! Elder S told me that he once heard a quote by President Hinkley (apparently President Hinkley once visited Gaoxiong) and it goes like this: "Gaoxiong reminds me a little of H..." I don't know if I'd trust Elder S or not though... ha, Gaoxiong is incredible, but it's also hot. The major plus of that, is the fruit!! SO GOOD!! Also, people are a little more willing to talk to us... I don't know if it's because they see the sweat and feel bad for us, but it sure is nice to talk to more people!

     So I'm doing great this week! Everything is flying by, so I feel like I don't have a whole lot to write down! It feels like I was sitting at this same computer just yesterday! I want to talk about a scripture in Revelations 1:16 today. "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ..." A simple statement, no? It's a very easy thing to say, but how do we act when we are "not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ?" I once had a Seminary teacher talk to us about standing up to opposition and showing the whole world that we are not ashamed of Christ! One of the greatest examples that I've ever seen is in the Joseph Smith movie. Joseph is chained on the floor with various other Church leaders and they are listening as the vile guards describe the disgusting actions they performed as they drove the saints out of Illinois. Joseph stands up and rebukes them with a voice later described as a lion roaring with royal dignity. I invite you all to go back and watch this particular section of the movie, it leaves me chilled and with goosebumps each time I see it. There are times in our everyday lives when we have a chance to stand up and tell people what we believe. What holds us back? Fear. I'm not saying that I'm above it, I'm far from being above fear!! But all of us can overcome it for a small moment to stand up for what we believe in! That's my invitation this week. Stand up, and "Be thou an example of the Believers!" I promise that you will be "lifted up on Eagles Wings" as you do this and you'll see the love of the Savior even more clearly as you stand up to defend His Gospel.

 

     Love you all! I'm grateful for all of the support and I continue to pray for each of you every day! Talk to you Next week!!

Love, Elder Noll

 

 

April 14, 2013

Answers to your questions:

     1. The grave sweeping:

     Nothing too crazy!! It's just like we do in America, garden work around the graves... the only difference is that there isn't a cemetery gardener taking care of them all year, so there's a little more work to do!

     2. My companion! Which one? just kidding!

     Actually, Elder D and I are very sad about that right now, we just dropped Elder P off at the Train Station! After just 2 weeks!! So sad! He's going to my old district in Tainan, kinda funny, right? We had a LOT of crazy experiences in these 2 weeks, and I'll fill you in on those in just a bit! He's a Taiwanese missionary from Taipei, he's already graduated from college and fulfilled his mandatory military service, and he's only 25 years old! Ultra stud!

     Well, like the subject, this has been one heck of a week!! Crazy people, General Conference, a Baptism, Lessons, Lessons, and more Lessons!!! We've been SOOO busy!! The week has literally flown by! Each and every day has been packed full of things to do!! I'll start from the beginning...

     Last Sunday, we got a phone call while we were planning. It was the office, telling us they had a "Golden" referral for us! This guy (apparently) had been beaten by his father and was now living in the hospital, but he saw us missionaries before and decided he wanted to learn about our church and go on a mission himself! Sounds pretty great, right?? I thought so! We get to the hospital on Monday night and tell the receptionist who we want to visit, she tells us he lives in the Jinshengbing ward... Neither Elder D or I had any idea what that meant, but our native companion got this really weird look on his face and asked her to double check the list... she confirms, and then we go on our way. Elder P explains that it's in the Psychiatric Ward... yes, the Crazy House! What do we do? Well, we're missionaries!! We go in to teach the crazies! haha, the three of us were a little nervous until we got to the building... then we got A LOT nervous! This place was absolutely empty. Not a soul in sight. There was a little boxed off room with a staircase inside and an intercom on the outside. We hit the intercom and a lady lets us in... the door just opened automatically, scaring the crap out of the three of us! We enter the creepy little room and there's a creepy, soft voiced recording welcoming us into the crazy house. We cautiously go up the staircase and see two people, a security guard and a nurse. They start asking us why we're there, and then decide to let us in... until she looks at me and then freaks out!! She starts screaming at me and telling me I need to take my cigarettes and lighter and give them to her... ???? What??!! I don't smoke lady!! Ha, she was on that rant for a while until I showed her my backpack and Church flyers, and then she calmed down and let us in. It was the creepiest place I've ever been in, I'm telling you! This place was creepier than the haunted forest in American Fork, creepier than that big balloon, the Beast, at Thanksgiving Point, creepier than any place I've ever been to before!! There was a small group of people that started heading towards us, murmuring and trying to talk to us. Quick side note, every crazy person here (there are a LOT) can speak English!! I don't know what it is, but their English is really pretty good! This guy starts hugging Elder P and trying to steal his pen... Elder P gives him a Church flyer and we start to go into our investigator's room. We were all seriously freaked out now, so we slammed the room door shut, and our little friend watched us from the window for about 5 minutes... haha looking back on it now, it's hilarious!! But at the time it was SO NOT FUNNY! Our "investigator" was totally nuts... some "golden" referral. He wanted to move in with us and be a missionary, but he refused to read out of the Book of Mormon or even consider baptism... we prayed with him and got up. We were so ready to leave this nut house!! We open the door and start looking for the exit... We couldn't find it!! Our first friend rounds the corner and starts running towards us saying, "Wait! I'm Christian!" That was the last straw. We found the exit but it was locked, so we pound on the door until it opens and sprint down the stairs and out the building! hahaha I make it sound a little worse than it really was, but that's how it felt at the time! We've had a good laugh about that for the past couple weeks and my journal has a nice detailed version of the whole story.

     The rest of the week was taken up with lessons, lessons and more lessons! We had multiple investigators we're trying to prepare for baptism, one of them was just baptized this last Saturday! The other has extended until May, but he's still willing to meet and still wants to be baptized! We're working with a 3rd to be baptized on the 27th, but he's just been so busy this week that we might have to extend his date too. We met a new guy this week who is working to be baptized on the 4th of May! So as you can see, it's been a busy (successful) week!... and that was only the first 5 days!! This weekend was like the Superbowl for us! GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! It was so incredible this year! We (the 5 missionaries in my area) got the high council room all to ourselves and watched it in English, and I got so much out of it! I'll share more about that in my Weekly Spiritual Thought. Saturday ended with the most wonderful, happy event you could imagine. That's right, WE BAPTIZED! One of our investigators that we've been meeting with got in the water on Saturday night, and made a covenant with the Father of all the Heavens and Earth. It's the most miraculous thing - to witness something like that.

     The Conference this time seemed to be focused on uplifting the members and showing us how to make the Lord, our Redeemer, "the rock of our salvation" and warning us to let Christ, the Lord, be in every aspect of our lives! I loved it! Some of my favorites:

     President Boyd K. Packer: "We need to protect our Nests." We need to live our lives in such a way that the Adversary cannot steal into our homes.

     Elder Dean M. Davies: "Build upon a SURE foundation!" "Anchor our lives to the Atonement of Christ."

     Elder Richard G. Scott: "make the center of your home the Savior."

     Elder Quentin L. Cook: "Let the peace of Christ fill our lives and blot out our hates."

     Elder Robert D. Hales: The Armour of God! "Stand with the Savior!"

     President Dieter F. Uchtdorf: "Take courage, find our faith, and keep trying." (later talk) "God's light is real!... Do not dwell in darkness."

And, of course, one of my favorites: Elder Jeffrey R. Holland: "Hold the ground you have already won, even if it is limited... Be true to the faith that you DO have...FAN THE FLAME OF YOUR FAITH." And towards the end: "Be not afraid, only believe." - Jesus Christ

     My dear family, friends and anyone else who may come across this, these words are precious treasures. Let them effect your lives, hearken unto them and make them become a part of your very beings! My key point in sharing all these quotes? Christ is our center and foundation. He is the Redeemer and Savior of the world, and if we build our relationships, homes and very lives upon His rock, we CANNOT fall! How many people are trying to tear us down? How many tried to tear down the Savior, as he marched to His death with a cross on His back? Let me answer for you, a lot. Every day there are people trying to tear us down from the mount we have worked so hard to climb. Those evil people who rose their own Savior up on the cross didn't understand that NOTHING CAN TEAR US DOWN, SO LONG AS WE ARE CENTERED ON THE LORD AND HIS TEACHINGS. Christ's entire life was given in submissiveness to the Father, of course nothing could keep him down! Don't you know?? After just THREE days, He rose once more, and took up ALL of His Glory!! Brothers and Sisters, I testify to you, because He rose, we will too. Because He has atoned for us, nothing can tear us down. Nothing. I give you this promise, with the authority of one being called by the Lord Jesus Christ, In His Holy name I promise you this, even Jesus Christ, Amen.

Family!

 I'm making the most out of my time here, every time I feel nervous to talk to someone, I just think about how I'll regret it later if I don't do it, so then I just get up and go do it. Speaking of which, I had some delicious food this week! You ready for this? Pig intestine, with rice stuffed inside, and a smaller pig intestine stuffed inside of all that, with some sausage ground up and stuffed inside the smaller intestine... sound healthy? It was really delicious!! I love you all to the moon and back! Have a great week!

P.S. I got a guitar!! for Free!!! Not really mine, I'm just borrowing it until I leave this ward... but it made me SOO excited!! Love you guys! Jiayou!
Elder Noll

Saying goodbye to Elder P at the train station

Elder Noll copying the Buddah

Elder Noll at "Monkey Mountain"

 

AHHHH....Oh my!!

The boys killed this in their apartment -YUCK!

April 7, 2013

 Contacting people in the rain is an absolute blast! But I'll talk about that a little more later...

     How is everyone?? I'm pretty jealous that you've all watched conference already! I have to wait until this weekend to see it! From the e-mails I've gotten, it sounds like it was another incredible conference! 

     Well, this week has been great! So awesome... We're working as a threesome companionship right now, and it's so much fun. The success has gone up too! We talk to SO many people, (300+ this week!) and we've solidified some great baptismal goals. We've got an incredible guy scheduled to be baptized this Saturday, right after we watch the Priesthood session of Conference!! I'm so excited for him! He's been working towards this goal since long before I got here, and I've had the opportunity of helping him reach it - So great! I'm now the new advanced English class teacher... such a relief to be back teaching! I was the English Leader for the last few weeks and I've decided I like teaching the class a lot more! We had a great lesson this last week, it ended with a nice Spiritual thought on the Plan of Salvation. I hope I was able to help them understand a little more why we're all here, I know I felt like the Spirit was there.

     We also had an awesome opportunity to do some service this week! Thursday, we went to do "grave sweeping." Sounds a little creepy, right? It was. We saw skulls (yes, human skulls) all over the ground and stuff! Basically, here in Taiwan, respecting your Ancestors is one of the most important things you should do, so they have a special holiday (kind of like their own Easter) where the WHOLE family goes to their ancestor's grave sites and they completely clean them. Us missionaries, since our ancestors didn't exactly die over here, take care of the no name graves. It's considered very rude if you clean off a grave with someone else's name on it, because you're taking away the blessing of cleaning that grave... a little odd, but really interesting! We spent a few hours clearing out a jungle... I mean pulling weeds. But really, we were chopping down trees and raking around graves and stuff! So cool. Elder P even found one of his ancestor's graves!

     The rain! So, this week, I found out that Gaoxiong rains... often... and hard. There were 2 or 3 days this week where I was soaked throughout the whole day. (whether it was rain, or sweat because of my rain gear, it doesn't make a difference) As hard as it might be to believe, I enjoyed it! Mostly because of the reaction of the people as we contacted them! People here are very afraid of the rain, so when we contact them, it's humorous to watch their reactions! Not a lot of success during the rain storms, but quite a few laughs.

     As busy as the week was, it went by so fast. I can't believe it's already P-day! I have to apologize, I forgot to send a Spiritual thought last week!! This weeks thought is all about "taking upon us the name of Christ." What does that mean? I think it'd be a little weird to legally change your last name to "Christ," but that's just me! I think back to when I was about 12 or so. Jessi, my little brother, was about 8 or 9 and he decided to help his primary chair "take upon itself the name of "Jessi Noll." He carved his name into the seat of his Church chair! I remember coming home from church and seeing one of the chapel's chairs sitting in our living room, and then laughing when I saw the engraving. Our plan was to paint over it, or something... I might be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure we still have that chair! But that's besides the point. My dad has used this story many a time to explain what it means to take upon us a name. He's told us since we were very young that we are "Nolls" and we should act mature and uphold that name. He's explained that bad actions don't just reflect on ourselves, but they reflect on the name that we bare. I think back to those lectures quite a bit now, and I think about what it means to bear Christ's name on my chest. Whether we know it or not, as members of the Church, we bear Christ's name. When people learn of our religion, they will make a judgement. It could be a good one or a bad one, that's up to you. If we bear Christ's name with the honor It deserves, we will become the best missionaries. We have a duty to "be an example of the believers." We have a calling to present ourselves in a way that will bring others unto Christ. I promise you, as you do this, you will see a difference in your own personal life. You will find that as you attempt to bring others unto Christ, you yourself will make leaps and bounds towards our beloved Savior. I testify that these things are true, and I exhort all who bear His Holy name to do as He would.

Love you all tons! You're all great!

Love, Elder Ryan Noll

P.S. I'm going to hike "Monkey Mountain" today, pretty stoked! I'll send pictures home next week! Thanks so much for all the love and support I get from you each week, it means so much! Jiayou!

March 31, 2013

      Hey guys! Sorry if my e-mail sounded a little homesick last week, all week I was reminded of how good I've got it at home! I promise all is well and I'm still 加ing the 油! No worries! 

      I didn't even notice the earth quake!! I was actually on exchanges with our zone leaders and didn't even feel a thing! There are so many earthquakes here that it's just normal after a while... actually, I totally forgot to tell you guys!! The week I left Tainan, there was a pretty big one! We were up on our 5th story apartment and all of a sudden everything started swaying back and forth!! Elder S just froze and went into what he calls "earthquake mode." ha it was pretty fun!

     As for Mission growth, to give you an idea, my companionship has been changed into a tri-companionship! I'm sitting with Elder P right now as we type e-mails, he's way cool and he's from Taiwan! So I'm hoping my Chinese will improve a lot in the next few weeks! Easter was pretty normal around here, not a lot of people really understand what it even is... fun fact though, Easter in Chinese is Fuhuojie... Resurrection in Chinese is Fuhuo... a little more special, don't you think? I thought that was kind of cool that it's a little more focused on the religious aspect here. We're watching Conference not this weekend, but next. I'm pretty positive it will be in English, but no promises! And the Missionaries usually watch it all together... not totally sure where yet! Elder B is coming out this week... I don't know, should I tell you where he's going? I don't think he even knows yet!! He's serving in the VERY bottom of Taiwan!! Pingdong, it's the hottest, and possibly most beautiful place in Taiwan! I'm pretty jealous! He'll be right next to the ocean! He's probably almost out here by now, so no big deal.

     So this week has been crazy busy!! We've had so many lessons, exchanges, tons of finding, and now we've got an extra companion! One of the highlights of the week (sorry, this isn't exactly a spiritual note) is that I now have a barbell and some plates!! It's not a full size barbell, it weighs about 15-20 pounds and it's only about 4-5 ft long, but it's got some plates with it and now I can start building muscle again!! The funniest part was trying to get it all across the city of Gaoxiong! I had about 60 pounds in the back of my bike and I was carrying a 5 foot metal rod in one hand while steering with the other! Yeah, I got some weird looks! The real highlights of the week, we have 3 investigators with baptismal dates, and they're all getting baptized in consecutive weeks! So cool, right?? I'm pretty stoked for them! We also found some new investigators this week and had a lot of great lessons with them! Also, tonight we are planning on setting a 4th baptismal goal with our investigator... maybe a 5th too!! The work is going so great here!

     Some more worldly highlights, along with the weights ;), I had my first Mango in Taiwan! Oh my goodness. I can't even explain to you how incredibly delicious this was!!! We were getting some fruit on Thursday night at one of the many fruit stands, when I looked up and saw a pile of red and green lumps... my heart jumped and I tapped Elder D's shoulder... he says: "Yes!! Mangoes!" and we went over and each bought one. We brought it back to the Church and cut them up. I took a bite and entered heaven!! I kid you not, this was the most delicious thing I've ever tasted in my life. Well, next to your Potato/ Cheese Bread bowl soup mom... But it's right up there with it!! And then Elder D says: "Yeah, it's good... but they only get bigger and better." I'm in love!

     That's basically the whole week!!... Oh, I forgot! Sunday I had my first taste of a Taiwan summer. I woke up sweating (like every morning) and looked outside expecting the sun to be shining in, and it was pouring rain... dang. We had to leave the house at like 6:30 to go get our friend ready for church and we were soaked the second we were out the door. I was wearing my rain stuff, but I was sweating inside of it so I don't think it really made a difference that I had anything on!! haha It was so fun. BTW, cultural fact: Taiwanese people are terrified of rain! The streets were absolutely EMPTY!! So crazy!!

     I love you guys tons! Don't worry, of course I get homesick sometimes, but I'm still focused on the work I'm supposed to do! Everything is going by much too fast! Can you believe I've had my call for almost a whole year?? I can't believe it! Love ya tons! Jiayou!

Love ya!

     Elder Noll

Elder Noll - Rockin' some bowling shoes!

 

March 24, 2013

Hey guys! Sounds like it's been a pretty busy week!! I feel like these e-mails are always a little hard to write at first, there's so much that happens on a daily basis but the weeks go by so fast that I can barely remember half of them! Don't worry though, it might surprise you- but my journal writing has been pretty good since I've gotten on island... maybe I should just start bringing it with me to the internet cafe! To answer the question this week, yes... I can see the pictures if you attach them.

     I got your letter this week! The one with the quote and the pictures of Jessi's ridiculous shirt and Alec's birthday stuff, and Macy being weird! haha Those pictures make my week guys, you have no idea! I love them so much and each new picture usually ends up in my picture book and it goes around with me everyday. I love showing you guys off to my investigators and ward members, and they enjoy listening to the crazy stories about all of you... well, I enjoy telling them. I'm not really sure how much they like listening to the broken Chinese and me cracking up at my own story at the end... oh well! :)

     I'm sorry if this E-mail is a little shorter this week, I've got A LOT of stuff to do today! Well, the majority of this week was spent doing one specific thing. Helping out a man who literally isn't able to do anything himself... It's one of the saddest cases I've ever seen in my life. He is about 50 years old with a 13 year old son. The son is in charge of taking care of him. I don't want to try to paint this picture for you, because it's pretty graphic, but let's just say my eyes well up with tears whenever I see this family. We went to visit him on Saturday because Elder D just felt like we should. I followed, just because I was being a good junior companion haha, and when we got there I was shocked. We've visited him before and his situation has always been pretty bad, but this day was so much worse. The entire hall of his apartment complex smelled horrible, and when we got to his room he could only weakly lift his head to see it was us. He started trying to talk to us, but his throat was so parched that he couldn't say anything. We gave him some water to drink and he finally told us that his son hadn't been home in 2 days... that means that he hadn't drank or eaten anything for about 2 days. We were shocked! We stayed and helped him drink more, gave him his medicine and then ran to get him some lunch. We let him eat while we talked with him and promised that we would come back to get him some dinner... this poor guy. He literally can't move more than a couple of feet on a bed by himself... he can't move more than his forearms and even then they're not very controlled. My heart just broke as he smiled at us and told us how much he loved us and about how he was praying that someone could help him. Often when we visit him, we sing to him. So that day we decided to sing his favorite song, "Lead Kindly, Light." What a beautiful song! One of the verses highlights a very real truth that many of us face at times... "the night is dark and I am on my own. Lead thou me on." Wow. That line of the song lets me feel the role of the Savior so powerfully. Here on earth, here in Taiwan, I've had some nights that I thought were pretty dark. I can't say that they were anywhere near as dark as some other people may have experienced, but they were lonely and hard for me to get through... the only way I did get through them was by following the Savior's Kindly Light. The Savior is always leading us, we just need to look for Him.

     I love you all more than I could ever express in this simple e-mail! This week I've missed you all more than usual! I'm not lying when I tell you how often I look at your pictures! Every night! I think about the examples each of you have been in my life. Whether it's the love I feel from Auntie Sue when we're talking, the dinners and holidays with Grandma and Grandpa Noll, Aunt Sherri, Uncle Gary, Aunt Francie, or the times at Grandma Sue and Grandpa Doug's house. The visits from Stephanie, Brian and Trent, the advice from Stephen, and the constant flow of love from each of you... I appreciate it all and hold those experiences so close to my heart now more than ever before. I love you, and I always will. I look forward to a whole lot more experiences when I get back!! (Which means Stephen and Feff, you guys better be keeping a list of the good movies to see!!) Love ya guys! Jiayou!!

Love Elder Noll

 

 

 PS  I hope you're all loving the snow back home... haha, I'm dying of heat here right now... I love it!! The only time to rival how much I've been sweating lately was wrestling practice. It's pretty great!

       I hope you guys are still loving the Book of Mormon! Are Grandma and Grandpa and Auntie Sue doing it? I just finished mine this last week and it's pretty awesome! Maybe I'll send it to you in my next package... I just want you to know I love you! I've read your parting letters a lot over the past couple weeks, and they give me so much strength! I don't think a minute goes by when I don't think of you, and I'm serious when I say I tell family stories at least once every lesson! My companion must be pretty sick of it by now! I love ya guys! Until next week!
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(go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxvimHtghHE for a version of Lead Kindly, Light)

    

March 17, 2013

Well, another week gone by and I'm left to scramble through the week, attempting to describe some pretty incredible events that I never seem to do justice!... Oh well, in two years (actually, more like a year and a half!! Isn't that CRAZY??) I'll be able to tell you all a lot more!

     First things first, your questions!

1 - How's the new area?

     It's pretty incredible!! It's in the very deep south of Taiwan, so it's not only incredible, but incredibly hot!! Which is good and a little hard at the same time, because it means the fruit is honestly the most "prime" (as Jessi would say) fruit in all of Taiwan!! The people are also so nice. I don't know why, but they'll almost always listen as you talk to them! Most of the time people just drive off on their mopeds, but here they at least listen! I'll explain a little more later on...

2- You said you're now in Gaoxiong... Is that the same as "Xiaogang?"... Is it near the coast or inland?

    Gaoxiong is HUGE! Xaiogang is a place inside of Gaoxiong, and I'm in the west part of Gaoxiong... a little place called 苓雅 Lingya! It's actually where my teacher, Brother V, served for a while. We also share the Chapel with Elder S's favorite area in the world... side note, he may actually be coming back here to Gaoxiong because he's been begging President B. for a year now. So there's a good chance that we'll be in the same district again! It's near the coast, in fact we may be going to the beach next week! I'm gonna get my surf on... I wish! haha

 

4- How's the new companion?

     My new companion is Elder D., although I'm willing to bet mom (with all her crazy super mom powers... and the internet chat rooms) already knew that! He's a pretty awesome guy, and he actually served with Elder H. right after Elder H finished training too! Kind of funny, right? He's a really hard worker, and right now we've got some great investigators that we're working with and hoping to baptize by the end of April! The only catch is that we might only be together for like, 2 more weeks. The missions of all over the world are trying to sync up the move-calls so that they're all on the same time frame, so this move-call is only 3 weeks long! He's been here in Lingya for 4 move-calls now, so it's pretty likely that he'll move... but you never know!!

     Yeah! SO, I'm working in the best place ever I guess! Ever since I've come to Taiwan, I've only ever heard how incredible Gaoxiong is, and not just Gaoxiong, but the area that I'm in right here! We had a sister in my District in Tainan, Siste L, who was freaking out when she found out that I was coming here! She was so happy for me! haha and now I know why everyone loves it here so much! The weather, the people, the ward, and just the general atmosphere! Our apartment is also right next to the Cultural Center so we get to see all the cool stuff going on over there every night! They usually have parades there and festivals and dancers and weird rituals and stuff, haha so it's a great place to contact people! I won't lie to you, I miss Tainan SO, SO, SO, MUCH!! I miss Elder S, I miss our old apartment, I miss my old district, and most of all I miss the investigators and ward members! There is just something special about your first area that you can never really forget!! But this place is still so awesome! My first couple days felt like weeks... not because of the heat, not because of my companion, not because of anything except for.... the bike. Oh I've never hated something as much as I hated this bike. I had to wait a couple days for my bike to be sent from Tainan down to my apartment here in Gaoxiong, and I had to use an old missionary bike while I waited. This bike had about 8 gears... but I couldn't change gears myself, the bike decided to do that for me... at the most inconvenient times!! I'd be going up a big hill in 8th gear, or riding on flat ground in 1st!! And then, when I'd start pedaling after waiting at a stoplight, the gear would jump into 8th again and I'd end up almost racking myself with the bar between my legs as the gear jumped! Elder D. got a kick out of it, and my journal must have been pretty sick of me complaining about it! Haha, seriously guys, there is no way to explain to you how much I did not like that bike, but there's also no way to explain how happy I was to get on MY bike when it finally came!! I had the biggest smile on all day when it came! haha, and now that I've wasted a couple of minutes of your time with that story, on to the week! The first couple days here were spent meeting people in the ward, the recent converts, less actives, and a few of the investigators we're meeting with right now. They're all doing really good, and we're making some good progress! We've also met 2-3 new people in the last week who are now progressing investigators! Way awesome right?? I'll have to tell you more about them next week because I don't know a ton about them myself yet!

     I'll tell you about one of the coolest experiences we've had so far though! So, 2 days ago, we were calling some phones and I got a call from a member who lived up in Taizhong. She told me that her brother lived down here and he was in the hospital so she wanted us to go over there and give him a blessing. I told her we'd love to do it, and we went to meet her at the hospital that night. We got there and she talked to us about what had happened for a little bit. This guy had a work accident and was absolutely covered, head to toe, in burns. He was in really bad condition. So much pain, breathing through a tube, and unconscious. She went to let us in, and the hospital wouldn't let us because visiting hours were over. She introduced us to her sister who is not a member. She didn't totally understand why we were there, but she was willing to let us do whatever, and told us to come back with her sister on Sunday during visiting hours. I was a little nervous about having to give a blessing without any other member of the church there, but we agreed and then came back on Sunday. We got there, and more than 1/2 the family was there! Not a single one of them even knew what a priesthood blessing was, but you could just see the look of hope in their eyes, the hope that we (two 19 year old white kids) could do something to help their loved one. They took us around to a room that we could look through the window and see him... it looked pretty bad. We told the sister that we'd like to be inside to give him the blessing, and they told us it wasn't allowed to be in there because of the risk of infection. Very understandable, so we did the blessing outside without the oil... I'm sure God understands! Elder D. gave the blessing, and it was so great! Our Chinese is about the same, vocab and grammar-wise, so it wasn't beautiful and fluent Chinese or anything... but the power behind it was absolutely astounding. Every word had meaning in it. He had to pause a couple times, letting the Spirit direct, and then he would seal yet another incredibly powerful blessing upon the victim and his family members. It was about half way through the blessing when I noticed the sister, not a member, was sobbing. With the blessing finished, she tearfully thanked us over and over again, and then we wanted to give them some privacy, so we left... the entire family of 10-15 people staring at us with happy, a little awe-inspired, looks on their faces. It was so amazing.

     That's part of what my spiritual thought is on today. The priesthood, the Restoration. Such a basic principle, right? I've been learning about it since I was a tiny kid, it's taught to kids when they are old enough to talk, and it's continually expounded upon as we become more and more mature. I've learned more about the Restoration in the past 6 months than I've learned in 20 years. It's not just something you can study or read about, but it's something you MUST feel and experience in order to truly understand. I remember the starting point of my understanding in the Restoration. It started when my family took a trip to Palmyra, New York my senior year of high school. The feelings I felt in that Sacred Grove are only comparable to those in the Holy Temple of the Lord. There is no way to explain it, no way to capture the sacredness of it in a picture, but it's a feeling not of this world. It's the Peace of Christ (John 18) on earth. I won't go into detail about what I know about the Restoration other than this simple testimony. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ has been restored through Joseph Smith, that Joseph Smith truly saw God the Father and Jesus Christ and that he did, in all actuality, speak with them. I know that even today, we have a living prophet who leads the Church, not the way HE wants to, but the way that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, has commanded him to. If we rely on him, we will never go astray. Lastly, I know that the Book of Mormon is truly the word of God given to us to light our paths and show us the way to Eternal life. I promise with all the faculties of my soul that these things are true, and I invite those of you who are not yet baptized to come unto Christ and learn of these things. I promise you will feel the most precious joy you could possibly have. And, I mimic Elder Holland in inviting those who have fallen away to come back and partake of the joy of Eternal Salvation. I know that I'm just a 19 year old kid, I know that I haven't had a whole lot of worldly experience and my knowledge is nowhere near as deep as most of you, but I do know that this gospel is true and is the only way unto Christ and Eternal Happiness.

     I love all of you, and MISS all of you more that I could possibly explain! I have pictures on my wall of all of you that I look at every day before bed... and when I say all of you, I mean ALL OF YOU!! Extended family included!! I can't wait to be back in your presence and tell you more of how much I love you, but I've got work to do here right now. It's incredible to me to know that 6 months have already gone by! It only makes me want to work harder and give more effort! Everyone add some oil (sorry, that's a Chinese joke) and enjoy life!

Love Elder Noll

 

PS.

     Mom, I just need to tell you that I apologize for not cleaning as much as I should have at home. I'm now Elder Maria the Maid at this new apartment!! I don't think the Elders have swept the floor there in about a year and I'm pretty sure that they shave in the living room because there is hair EVERYWHERE!! Ha, but it's looking a lot better since I got here. I've done a deep sweep each night, I've mopped twice and I've organized 2 of the 4 rooms into a suitable living situation... Elder S has turned me a little OCD when it comes to cleanliness!! Does that surprise you? haha, just want to tell you I love you! I'm still going through all the quotes you gave me and loving each and every one! Hope all continues to go well back home! Love ya!