Get the Tofu Turkey in the Oven

Well I am half way done with training! Time really flew by on this last transfer and I can't believe that November is almost over! Where does all the time go!!

So this week we went out and did some tracting and there was this lady walking down the road and she was holding her baby while walking. So obviously I thought "Hey you could share about families!" And I feel like I had a prompting to go talk to her. But we kept going and eventually stopped. I told my companion we should go back and talk to her. So we did, but turns out she had no interest. Dang... That really hit me hard. I felt for sure that I had a prompting from the Holy Ghost to go and share a message with her but she had no interest. Why? Me and my companion had a real long talk about it. Sometimes God gives us promptings just to see if we will follow him. He wants to know whether we will obey him. And lots of times the prompting don't work out. I feel like God just wants to know how faithful we really are, ya know? And then the same thing happened later on in the week as my companion felt really strong that we should go out and tract again. We didn't really have any success, but I guess from both of these experiences I learned that we just gotta plant that seed! Follow the promptings from the spirit even if they don't turn out the way we want them too.

As of this week, we practically have no progressing investigators. We have the one with the baptismal goal, but he did not answer his phone at all this week so we have not been able to meet with him and he didn't come to church. We have another one that we have invited to be baptized but he says his family will fan dui (reject?). That has been really hard. But on Saturday we did get him to come to a baptismal service and then we talked about agency and how it our choice whether we want to be baptized or not. So hopefully that will help, but he still hasn't come to church yet. And then we have our other investigator that has come to church 3 times!! woo!! But we have only met with him once... We were about to meet with him after church yesterday, but one of the members said to not meet with him so he can think about church... that was a little strange. then he told the guy he can go home (because the investigator thought he was gonna meet with us). 

However! this week we met a potential that is super golden! the only problem is he doesn't have very much time to meet. We met with him the first time this week and as we walked upstairs in MacDo, he was reading the Book of Mormon! We couldn't even introduce ourselves before he started asking questions about Jacob 5! Haha. He is such a sweet guy. He really wants to be baptized and he just loves our church. He said he sees the missionaries out riding their bikes so he decided that he wants to ride his bike more because the missionaries do! So if you all have time, please pray that he will have time to meet with us. It has been really hard to set up with him.

This week, we got to go down to Jia yi for a trainer follow up meeting. It was super fun to see my MTC companion! We have become really good friends so that is super exciting. President and Sister Blickenstaff actually drove us down there so that was sweet! We got to drive through Nan tou. Oh man, it was so pretty!!! Taiwan is such a pretty place. I love it here so much!!

Well this week is Thanksgiving and I'm sure you will hear it from everyone, but I'd invite you all to really focus on the things that God has given you and thank Him for it. We would have nothing if it wasn't for Him. But don't just thank Him because it's Thanksgiving. Do it because you truly are grateful and do it all throughout the year. Since coming out on my mission I have seen so many blessings in my life that I have never even noticed. Look for the small things. It has brought me so much happiness and it will do the same for you!

I love you all so much!!! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Love Elder Anderson

Hot Dog and Mustard Pizza

Yeah so we were meeting with this potential investigator for the first time and we were talking about prayer. We asked him if there was anything that he would ask God and stuff like that and he said he would ask him for his girlfriend back! So we told him how God wants to help us and he wants us to be happy and that he hears our prayers and answers them. We invited him to say the closing prayer and literally right after we all said amen, his girlfriend called him!! Whoa crazy right?! They got back together! BUT later we tried to set up a time to meet again but he said he has no time and he doesn't want to meet anymore... super lame. But it gets better. So he was a referral from a member and one day the member called us to come over and talk with him. He said that our potential investigators girlfriend broke up with him and now he wanted to commit suicide. We didn't really know what to think haha. He was overreacting of course.. She broke up with him like literally a week after they got back together. So here's a friendly reminder and invite for everyone! When God gives you a miracle or a blessing, be grateful! And then proceed to be a better person, read your scriptures, pray, go to church, *cough cough* meet with the missionaries again. Oh man, that guy is missing out on so much happiness!

Haha anyways, this week was pretty good for me and Elder Fleming! So we have one investigator with a date right now and it was originally scheduled for the 5 of December, but he told us he wanted to change it to the 19th. We asked why and he said it's because he wants to come to church at least 4 times before he gets baptized because he really wants to have a super strong testimony! We were a little bummed that he wanted to change it but once he told us his reason we were so happy! He is so awesome!! Granted he is also very confusing haha. This week he showed us these formulas and like drawings to like prove our church is true? Or that God exists? We aren't really entirely sure because we didn't understand him at all, but nonetheless he is awesome and I'm super excited to get him baptized!

Here's another funny story. So we have another potential investigator and met with us last week and he came to church twice before he ever met with us! He could be a really awesome investigator. The Plan of Salvation could help him so much and give him so much comfort and peace so hopefully he will still want to meet with us. But we were going to meet with him on Saturday at McDonalds (that's where we have half of our lessons, so convenient!). We were waiting for him and he hadn't shown up, so we called him! He said, "Oh sorry I can't make it! I'm out drinking with my friends and it's probably not a good idea for me to drive there!" Haha what a smart guy! At least we know we definitely need to teach him the Word of Wisdom! But then yesterday we called him to see if he could come to church, but he was totally hungover!!! He could barely talk on the phone haha. Oh well, we'll get him!

And then yesterday we met with a member with an interesting story. So this guy hasn't come to church in forever because he is a security guard at an apartment place, but the bishop considers him active! I guess he has permission to bless his own Sacrament and he does it every week! He also reads, prays, and when he has time he goes to the temple! Haha he is such a stud. It's super cool that even though he can't come to church, he is still trying really hard to draw closer to God. I could really tell that he is bummed that he can't come to church. He told us how sad it is and how he really wants to come. So maybe if you all have time, pray that he will get some time off on Sunday's so that he can come to church!

The mission life is still awesome. I love Taiwan so much! I wish that you all could come here because the people here are so nice and friendly and the food is awesome and it is just a great place to be. This week we have lots of first visits set up with potential investigators so pray that they will be willing to meet again and that they will want to learn about our church! 

I hope you all are doing well!! I love you all a ton!

Love Elder Anderson

Working hard!

Yes, this week we had a really hard time getting members to come to our lessons (we call them peikes). We usually get around 8,9, or 10 in a week but this week we only got 5.... It was rough. It's so nice having a peike because not only do they help us understand what the investigator is saying but it is so nice to have another testimony and witness that what we are teaching is true. A good peike makes all the difference in the lesson. This week one of our peikes was our bishop! He was awesome! He bore such a powerful testimony about the Plan of Salvation and the spirit was so strong. I loved it! Plus it was our first time meeting with this investigator and we figured out that the Plan of Salvation could really really help him out and have comfort. It was a super awesome lesson. And then he came to church yesterday!! wahoo!! It's actually his second time coming so that is amazing! I love it!

Also this week, we gave one of our investigators a baptismal goal and he accepted! It was my job to ask him if he will be baptized so that was super scary. It's a good thing we have companionship and language study to practice! I really hope he gets baptized. He is really awesome and seems to like what we have to say. But the only problem is he hasn't had time to come to church yet... He has had a ton of tests so he has been studying and such. If he wants to meet his goal for December 5th he has to come to church the next three weeks in a row, so please pray he will have time! 

We tried to give out another goal to another investigator but he wouldn't accept it. He believes that our church is true and all that but his family is Buddhist and he is scared they will oppose him being baptized. Especially his grandma and grandpa. He is old enough to get baptized without their consent, but I see where he is coming from. It would be hard to have your family oppose you. Hopefully they will have a change of heart and he will be baptized. 

OH yeah! We had mission tour this week! That was super awesome! Elder Wang from the Asia Area Presidency came and spoke to us. He is super funny and super spiritual! Mission Tour gave me so much hope and confidence. I had been struggling with that for a while but it helped me out so much! It's crazy what a little bit of confidence can do. Even though I still can't understand a word the people are saying, I know that just by trying to talk to them the Lord will help me. Even if I just give them an english class flyer, He will help me.

Well I can't think of anything else special that happened this week... sorry. But I hope you are all doing well! Love you all a ton!

Love Elder Anderson

Justin Beiber

Oh man what a week. So last Monday one of this area's eternigators (he's been investigating for 20 years.....) knows that I love baseball soooo much so he took us out to the baseball stadium in Tanzi and we got to look at it and such! I'll send some pictures of it because it is sooo sweet! But that is just another reason why I love the people here so much. It was so nice of him to do that and me and him talk about baseball all the time and I love it. 

That was one of the good things that happened this week haha. It was rough for me and Elder Fleming. So on Monday we were going to head out to Da ya to play basketball with the Zone Leaders. We were too tired to ride our bikes so we decided to take the bus (it's like a 30 minute bike ride). Do you all remember that one Spongebob episode where he is trying to catch the bus but they all leave him? That is kind of what it was like. We park our bikes and get to the stop and the 123 bus just drove right on past us even though we tried to flag it down. So we waited and waited and waited then we turn around to look at the schedule and saw that a bus should be coming soon! We turn around and it just drove past us.... it was the worst. Sooo we didn't go play basketball after all. 

Oh man and we had tons of lessons and peikes fell through so that was rough and like two investigators dropped us :( One of them met with us and we asked him what was the one thing he wants God to give him. He said he wants his girlfriend back. We told him because God loves us he wants to help us and such. So we invited him to say the closing prayer and he prayed they would get back together and no joke right after we said amen she called him. They got back together! Aaaaaannd then he dropped us. Haha whoops. 

Anyways, I bet you are all wondering what the subject of my email means. So on Wednesday we were eating dinner and waiting for english class to start and one of the sister's RCs always comes early so she was sitting by us and a few members. Pretty quiet girl, she doesn't say much because she's like 14 and a little shy and such but out of no where she said "You look like Justin Beiber." then of course I was like heck no I don't. Then she was like, "Yeah! You look like a fat Justin Beiber!" Oh man, for the next 20 minutes she kept pulling up pictures of him and comparing him to me and the whole time the members and my companions are just laughing their heads off... it was the meanest compliment I have ever received haha. But there's that. Enjoy

But yeah, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! We celebrated Halloween with an exchange and a baptism!!! I got to go on an exchange with Elder Pennington out in Da Ya. He is super cool and we are pretty much the same person because we both love all of the same things. It was super fun. Plus he is really good at contacting so I was able to learn so much. We actually talked to this guy that lived in Denver for a few years and had like perfect english. We invited him to stake conference this weekend and he actually came! He only came for an hour because he got bored (but let's be honest, I'd probably say most of you would want to leave after an hour :)) then he said he would come back next week! so that was super cool! So on Halloween morning we helped out with a little party thing at the church. It was exhausting. Me and Elder Pennington were in charge of entertaining the little kids for like 4 hours or more! There was like 45 of them!! It was crazy!! They were super cute but crazy! We got to the church at 9:30 and didn't leave until 2:30. 5 hours of straight mayhem. We were so tired after that.

Then that night we had a baptism! He di xiong was able to come back from the military and be baptized! I actually had the opportunity to help him be baptized so that was really cool! And I didn't even mess up in the prayer once! Woo! Baptisms!!!! Loved it. 

Sorry I emailed so late today. One of our investigators took us into Taichung and we went around and looked at stuff. We were going to go to the batting cages but we didn't have time :( maybe some other week.

Anyways, I hope you are all doing well and I love you all so much! This church is true and never forget it!

Love Elder Anderson