This isn't the end ....

Well. On Saturday I passed my two years mark which means I am officially 加班ing haha. That just means extra blessings! This time has gone by too quick. 

This week was super fun! We got to go on exchanges with the second ward elders and I had the privilege to go with the legend himself, Elder Zeyer!!!! He is one of the best missionaries I have ever served around and he is only in his third transfer. He has so much faith and knows how to rely on the Lord. We had a great time together and were able to meet with Brother Shen. We talked to him about his smoking problem and he said that he has been smoking less. It's only about two packs a week. So we talked about how Christ can change us and how if he asks in faith, then Christ will help him overcome these cravings to smoke. He reset a baptismal goal for the end of the month and I am excited to see what happens with him!

This week we have been visiting a lot of members and teaching them about the Book of Mormon. By that I mean, we read President Monson's talk about the Power of the Book of Mormon and then we give them a new copy of it, invite them to write their testimony in the front, and then pray about who they can share it with. They have all been very excited to do it! Also we started this new thing that every Sunday morning before church, we have a 'How to share the gospel' class. Right now we are working with the youth and are teaching them simple ways to share the gospel with their friends. It has been so fun! Working with the members is the best! It's something that I wish I would have done since the beginning of my mission. So to all of those who are on a mission that are reading this, WORK WITH THE WARD RIGHT NOW!!! I love this ward and the people I have met in Taiwan so much!! It will be so hard to leave them and I just don't want to do it.

We also had an opportunity to have interview with President this week. What a man. I love him! I think the coolest thing he said to me was when we were just talking about our missions and he said, "I didn't baptize a lot, but I sure had fun!" This is a seventy! I was blown away hearing a member of the seventy saying he didn't baptize a lot! I always imagine them being baptizing machines!! Just goes to show, you don't need to baptize a lot to have a fun and successful mission. 

Well, these two years have meant the world to me. I would do it all over again if I could. I have learned so much and have my testimony has grown so much! I know that this is the Lord's true church and that He has restored His priesthood through the Prophet Joseph Smith. In these two years, one of the biggest things I have learned is the importance of daily scripture study. It is something that I did not do before my mission. It is so vital in keeping our faith and testimony burning bright! I know that as we study the scriptures daily, that we will have the spirit with us in greater abundance! 

Lastly to share a great scripture, Ether 12:41 "41 And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever. Amen."

Seek after Christ. He calls us all to follow Him. He wants us all to follow Him. I know that when we make the decision to follow Him that our lives will change. I have seen it in my life and in the lives of those that I have taught.

I can't wait to continue to share the gospel throughout my whole life. This is what has brought me pure joy in life.

Love

Elder 孫

Well this is it

I thought I should take a picture of all the things that have meant the most to me on my mission and have been there for me day after day. 1) Elder Storey (representing all my companions). All of my companions are some of my best friends. I love them all so much and have learned so much from every single one of them! 2) The Book of Mormon. Reading it everyday has brought my life so much joy and is the foundation of my testimony. 3) Jesus Christ. This is His work. I know it. He has been by our side since day one. If it wasn't for Him, none of us would have the chance to serve a mission and no one would have any hope. and lastly 4) what is a missionary without his trusty steed! RANDY!!! I love my bike Randy. He's been through it all with me. It's gonna be hard to part with him

​

Elder 孫

Typhoon, temple, two weeks, Tehnan (alliteration.. Mrs. Simmons would be proud)

Wow what a week!! 

This week I had the chance to be reunited with my trainee Elder Nelson! We were able to go on exchanges with them. What an experience. It was so fun to be with him again and see the growth in him. We met some super cool people! One of them was we were biking down this side road by the church on our way to a park and we passed this guy and I said hi and he said hi back and sounded super exited to see us! So we flipped around and started talking to him. When we met him he only had interest in English so we added him for English class. After class we came back to the church to find him and the first thing he asks me is, "what is the difference between the Book of Mormon and the Bible?" :) So we grabbed a member and sat down with him. He told us in that first meet that while he was living in Michigan he went to a lot of churches trying to find truth. He just never has felt like he has received and answer. He literally told us that he wants to join the church and get baptized, but he just needs an answer. He is soooooo cooooool! Also, he played professional baseball here in Taiwan!!! So cool so cool. He is in Shanghai for the next three weeks so I won't be able to meet with him again, but he is gonna get baptized!

The other highlight of the week was we were able to go up to Taibei and go to the temple with one of my recent converts named Hubert. He was baptized over a year ago and we went to do his endowments. Going to the temple is just so awesome. As soon as we stepped inside I felt the spirit very strong. The temple literally is the house of God. I was so happy to see Hubert make this step in his life. I just can't even describe it! Doing a session in Chinese was very neat too. I learned a lot. Also I ran into my former companion Elder 許 and a member from my first area and a bunch of confused Taibei missionaries (they had no idea who we were). It was awesome.

At the last zone conference, President Teh changed our mission standard from seven new investigators a week to one new investigator a day. Some of you might ask, Isn't that the same? Yes, in reality it is. BUT it's all in the attitude my young padawans. It took this daunting task of 7 a week to merely one a day. It has changed a lot. It has helped everyone's faith to find increase. This past week was awesome! We found six new investigators and dropped in two knew goals. I'll talk about them some other time... maybe. Just know that they are super cool investigators.

This week there was supposed to be a big typhoon. Two to be exact. I guess I shouldn't say 'supposed to be' because they actually did come. They just didn't hit Tainan. So the area presidency cancelled church. It was so weird to not go to church. At the end of the day I was thinking about it. I realized that it was a lot harder to focus on the sabbath day and on Christ without going to church! Going to church every Sunday is so important!! It is what helps us keep the Sabbath Day holy! I hope I never have to miss going to church again. To be honest, I don't think I would have ever felt this way before my mission. I would have hoped church got cancelled so I could sleep more! Interesting how things can change in such a short amount of time.

The church is true! Christ lives and the Book of Mormon is the word of God! I love reading the Book of Mormon. It gives me so much power to go throughout my day. I hope you all are reading your scriptures daily. It changes you. Trust me.

Love

Elder Anderson 

My Reflection

Well remember how I said we give a final testimony/reflection at zone conference, here is mine.

"Why?" The question why is something that has gone through my head countless times throughout my mission. I'm sure it is a question that you all have asked as well. I distinctly remember the first time I asked "Why?" was when I opened my call. My family and I were in was knowing that I would be serving in the same mission that two of my sisters had previously served in. I don't know why the Lord called us here, but He did. I served in a few of the same areas as my sisters thinking that I would meet, teach, and baptize someone that my sisters had met. Maybe I did, I don't know. But the Lord knows. He knows why, and that's good enough for me.

When I finished training Elder Nelson in the promised land of Nanzi, I was called to serve in the wonderful city of Yuanlin to be with Elder Zhang. I was there for two weeks and already havinging great time! Then on Christmas Eve I got a call from the assistants telling me that Iwas moving!! As you can imagine, I was very shocked. I asked them where I was going and they said back to Nanzi. After two short and great weeks in Yuanlin I was called to return to Nanzi to be with my favorite trainee of all time. We finished the transfer together and in four short weeks the Lord helped us find, teach, and baptize on of His lost sheep. When the end of the transfer came around, we both emailed President Teh asking if we could stay together for another transfer. We thought we would for sure! but when the transfers came around, I was moving again. Honestly, I was mad. That night I knelt in prayer wanting to express my anger and frustration but all that came to my mind was, "This is the Lord's will." I just didn't understand why. President told me in an email that he seriously considered letting us stay together, but the answer was clear. After ad transfer full of hard work and lots of fun with Elder Jones, I felt I finally understood why. WE were able to help each other grow and improve. There was a lot of learning in that transfer. Through all this time I was very confused, but I know the Lord knew what He was doing... and that was good enough for me.

The next experience is more recent. Serving in this current area, I have never worked with more golden investigators in my entire mission. But sadly, none of them have been baptized. We know that they have received answers to prayers, felt the Holy Ghost, and increased their faith in Christ, but they haven't been willing to make the commitment to baptism. I just don't understand why. One day as I was pondering the fact that they know it's true but they won't accept it, a very clear thought came into my head saying, "Now you know how the Savior felt." He performed miracles, taught multitudes, and served others but yet they still rejected Him. In a talk given by Elder Holland on the topic of missionary work he says, "Why would we believe? Why would we think that it would be easy for us when it was never easy for Him?" On that day, I questioned why. On that day I learned how the Savior must have felt. And on that day, I built my faith in Him.

Isaiah 55:8-9 reads, "For as my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Through these experiences I have come to know that God has a plan for each and everyone of us. His thoughts are higher than ours.There will be times on your mission as there was in mine, in which you will ask "why?" "Why does he or she have to be my companion?" "why do we have to follow these rules?" "Why can't we find new investigators?" or even sometimes, "Why am I here?" I promise you that if you trust the Lord, you will understand. Maybe not immediately, but down the road you will. Don't doubt Him or your leaders. Be as the apostles of old that when Christ calls saying, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." that you can respond as they did, "And they straightway left their nets, and followed Him."

This is His work and He knows what He is doing. He is at the helm of this, 'The Old Ship Zion.' Learn to love Him, learn to trust Him, learn to be like Him and all will be well.

In closing, my mission has meant the world to me!! These two years have helped me find and strengthen my testimony of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and their restored church. Through this I have been able to find pure happiness. When I first started my mission I always heard people say that this is the happiest time in their life. I didn't believe that! I felt my senior year of high school was the happiest I could have even been! But I quickly learned that as I do what the Lord wants me to do, I will find pure joy.

The time goes too fast. Don't was a second of it, for there is no time to be wasted. Make the most of the time you have! Love your companions, the people, the language, other missionaries, yourself, and the Lord.

I know He lives. This is His work. Be ambitious for Christ!!!

Don't look forward to this day.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Zone Conference

Well this week was my very last Zone Conference. It was super sad. But the meeting itself was really good! We talked a lot about finding and the skills of finding and then President Teh talked about a lot of stuff and all in all it was great. I had to give my reflection and I think it went well. I didn't cry so that is successful! It was really weird to go and sit down afterwards. As soon as I sat down it felt like the whole world collapsed onto me. I think it finally started to sink in... To close the conference we sang the mission song, We'll Bring the World His Truth. I will admit, that is when I lost it 糟糕

This week went well though. We were able to get 4 investigators to church and one of the people that showed up was some random guy that we contacted that didn't have any interest. But he showed up! The ward members did a really good job at helping the investigators that came and it made me super happy. 

This week we met with Brother Shen and had a super super good lesson with him! He has been investigating the church for a while now and it has been super hard for him to quit smoking. As we were doing follow ups he told us that the other day he had a thought come to his head saying, "Why don't I just get baptized quicker?" Then after thinking that he has really been pondering baptism and feels he needs to be baptized. We talked about smoking and came up with some plans to help him. We then talked about priesthood blessings and his buddy that is a member gave him one. It was super powerful and Brother Shen said during the blessing he had a glimpse of his baptism. So cool! So he set a date for August 12th. He needs to come to church more and quit smoking!

Well, that is about it for this week. I am tired of typing emails.

I love you 

Love

Elder Anderson

1776

Shout out to America for being the greatest country. Sure do love it.

Well, this week was super busy!! With getting tons of new missionaries into the zone we have been pretty much spending every night just calling people to get to know them and welcome them to Tainan. Also we met with the Stake President this week so we had to ask the missionaries lots of questions for that! We have been super busy this week, but being busy is the best!

It has also been super super hot and humid. It feels good. Reminds me how much I love this country. 

This week we did a lot of contacting and we met this guy name Mr Wang. He is super cool and hopefully very golden! He was really interested in church and he came to sacrament meeting yesterday! The ward members did a super good job at welcoming him to church and he said he is going to come every week! We are meeting with him this week and hopefully we can drop in a baptismal goal! 

We have been making a huge push to work with the members. Honestly the biggest regret of my mission is that I didn't start working with members earlier. Elder Grisenti and I just could never think of any ideas but I feel the ideas are starting to flow! The stake president talked to us about that as well and we are super excited to see the results. It's definitely the slowest way to see baptisms, but it is the most secure way. I have already grown a greater love for the ward and doing the work just feels different now! I love it!

We have zone conference this week and I have to give my reflection. Which is just a testimony about your mission. Hopefully it goes well and makes Elder Jones cry haha. 

Lastly, I was reading in my scriptures last night and I read in Jacob. I was thinking about how back in the old days the Lord would destroy those that didn't repent and I thought about how that doesn't happen now (probably because the whole world would be destroyed) but as I talked about it with Elder Storey we decided that maybe it is a personal destruction. That when you don't repent, your spirit is slowly getting destroyed. Kind of morbid but it's true. Daily repentance is so important! Also helping others repent is very very important! Share the gospel with people!!! wooo!!!!!

Love

Elder Anderson

Also huge shout out to my investigator from Fengyuan!! 廖弟兄 got baptized!!! He was so golden!!! I love him!

I just love America. We went to Macdo to celebrate the 4th. Elder Storey ordered the 1955 thingy but what they meant to name it is the 1776

​

Busy Week

Well what another busy week here. It took us forever to move out the old apartment and it was just not fun to deal with the landlord haha. But it was a good way to serve the mission. 

Fun thing from the week, I ran into a family from Kaysville this week and one of them asked me if Marissa is my sister. It doesn't matter where I go, where they are from, or what language they are speaking.... EVERYONE knows my sister. 

This week we had interviews with good old President Teh! I sure love him so much. We sat down and he did a temple recommend interview for me and then we talked about some stuff and I asked him how I can improve. He thought about it for a second and then gave me an answer that I never thought he would say. He said, "I got it! Be more excited about playing the piano!" I am sure my jaw dropped all the way to the ground. He talked about how Heavenly Father gives us talents and that we need to use them. He said how he envys that I can play the piano and he can't. So that night I went home and asked Heavenly Father in prayer to give me chances to use my talents to help others. Just two days later in sacrament meeting, a member of the bishopric asked if one of us could play the piano. Normally I wouldn't have said anything, but I volunteered and was really grateful for the opportunity to share my talents. Not the miracle I was quite expecting this week but it was a good one. 

Sad news is the Luo family dropped us this week. It was pretty heartbreaking because they were so prepared to receive the gospel but they haven't yet. They were too fond of their other church and were not ready to give it up...... so sad... To be a little harsh, it made me think of the Savior when He tells us to beware of wolves in sheeps clothing. Hmmmm.... yeah. 

I think the highlight of the week was on Saturday there were two little kids that got baptized in the ward! They were both from all member families but one of them was very special because there family was less active just a few months ago, but the ward invited us to go and visit them and help them out. They became active and their son got baptized! Their family is super great and I love them so much! The mom is from Vietnam and she gave a small talk in sacrament meeting that really touched us. She talked about how her mother in law got in a super bad accident a while ago and had to get surgery on her leg. The doctors said she wouldn't be able to walk for about 3 months. They invited us to go over and give her a priesthood blessing. After one month she was up and about walking all over the place. Priesthood blessings can accomplish miracles. 

Lastly, this week I read my favorite verses in all the standard works. It is in Matthew 4:18-22

18 ¶ And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

21 And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.

22 And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.

These are my favorite because the Savior calls us to follow Him. I love it how they 'straightway left their nets.' They put everything aside to follow the Savior. Especially as a missionary, I have reflected on these verses many times. Every time I read them I ask myself, "What haven't I let behind that is keeping me from following the Savior?" "What is distracting me from His work?" I know that as we ask ourselves these type of questions that we will see how we can more diligent in being ambitious for Him and doing as He commands.

Love

Elder Anderson

Anderson's from Kaysville visit

Rain rain rain rain

Yes this week rained so much! Just about every single day it poured. I love it.

Imma just talk about some cool miracles from this week.

The first was Monday night we sat down to eat dinner. Then a group of college guys walk in and sit down. I immediately recognized one as an investigator from Nanzi. His story is super long, so long story short. I have come across this young man so many times in so many weird ways that I know it is the Lord's will. THIS KID HAS TO GET BAPTIZED! There is no way that we just keep running into each other on accident. We set up a time to meet with him but then he cancelled so hopefully this week. 

I think a cool miracle from this week was I went on exchanges with the one and only Elder Zeyer. He was telling me about how they had an investigator that her family opposes her getting baptized and they don't know how to help her. I told him that my sister told me that whenever that happened, she would bring the family a pineapple and somehow it just solved the problem. So we decided to change our plan to go and do that. We had to go really quick because we had a lesson coming up. But on the way I felt that we should still try to talk to everyone even though the time was really short. We came across this kid right by the fruit stand and he had so much interest. We talked about how God hears and answers prayers and he was fascinated! He asked how to pray. We told him. Then I asked if we could say a prayer, and he said, 'ok I will say it!' so cool. He didn't live in either of our areas but I know that was God's plan for us to meet him. We actually didn't even have time to get the pineapple haha, but because we were on the Lord's errand He put prepared people in our path.

Last one, I just got an email from Elder Henderson telling me that my old investigator Brother Liao from Fengyuan is getting baptized soon. He just passed his interview and he has read the entire Book of Mormon! If you don't remember him, he is the one that was in the military that was super golden. You probably still don't remember him, but the point is, he is getting baptized!! This made me soooo happy!! Elder Henderson said he kept asking about me and that made me feel good. I sure love that man. 

Also I got to do my first and second baptismal interviews this week for the Guiren Elders. It's so exciting to see these investigators have a desire to get baptized. I was really scared at first, but prayer sure does help.

Lastly, I finished reading the beast of the Old Testament this week! It took me almost a year! But here is a gem that I found this week. Amos 5:8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name:

I think this scripture is super interesting. Just think about it. 

Seek after the Lord.

Love

Elder Anderson

Short email

Alright this is probably gonna be pretty short, but I'll send it anyways!

This week was pretty good in Tehnan!!! The weather has been super super hot and humid and it makes you feel like a million bucks. We sweat all day, every day and it never stops. Love it. On Tuesday we went up to Taizhong for another meeting and it was pretty good. Everyone sure loved our poster that we put together! President said, "You two elders really outdid yourselves this time!" Good old President Teh. But during the meeting President talked a lot about Captain Moroni and how great he was. Wow, he was just an incredible person. I know I have talked about him before so I won't go into much detail. But go back and read about him. It was a great meeting and a long train ride.

We went on exchanges with Elder Wang and Elder Zhang this week. I went with Elder Wang and it was a fabulous exchange! We found a lot of cool people too! We went tracting and there was this teenager chilling in his garage waiting for the garbage truck to come and we started talking to him. He is atheist and didn't really want to listen to us at first. But after a little bit of time he started to show some interest! We talked about the Book of Mormon and gave him a copy teaching him about prayer and told him that he can know of it's truthfulness through prayer. He then set up to meet with us a few days later! His name is Brother Wei, 魏 such a cool name. We met with him on Saturday and taught him the whole restoration. He seems like a pretty solid kid!

 A cool miracle from this week was last Monday my bike got a flat tire right as preparation day was about to end. We got it fixed and had to bike back to the church really quick to make it to a lesson on time. As we were biking, we were coming up to this guy sitting on his scooter on the side of the road. As soon as we came close to him I felt that I needed to talk to him, but our time was pretty tight. We biked passed him and as soon as I passed him I felt probably the strongest prompting of my mission to go and talk to him. So we did! And he seemed very interested and set up to meet with us. I don't know what will happen with him, but I am grateful that we followed the spirit and talked to him.

We met with and investigator named Brother Li! He is a member referral and is awesome! He is super golden but his only problem is he is doing his military service right now up in Taibei so we only see him every once in a while. But he really wants to be baptized and he set a date for baptism... for my last week in Taiwan. Wow. Super excited for him!

Last little bit, I have been reading in 1 Nephi this past week. As I have read, I have thought a lot about Laman and Lemuel and why they act the way they act. It amazes me that they saw so many miracles, saw an angel, it mentions how they repented a few times, but yet they still are not righteous. Their hearts are so hard! I realized it is probably because they were never sincere in anything that they did (except complaining). If they were to sincerely repent and try to be better, I'm sure the story would have been a lot different. This made me think how often is my heart to hard? How often do I put off the Lord for the want of worldly possessions? What about you? This week pray and ask God what you can do better to be more sincere about the gospel, more sincere about following Christ. He will answer. But will you act?

The church is true!

Love

Elder Anderson

Beautiful Taiwan

Eating sushi on exchanges with Elders

Zone Conference Poster

Poster made up using President Teh's image :)

Rain

Well it's almost as if the weather could feel the way Elder Grisenti and I feel. This week was honestly super frustrating and heartbreaking. Because of time, I'm not going to go into all the details. But it has been rough because lots of our investigators are super golden, but they just aren't there yet. Marvin has promised us that he would come to church like 4 weeks in a row but hasn't showed up.. Sister Luo said she isn't sure if the Book of Mormon is true because it's easier to read and understand it compared to the Old Testament so she feels like it's not God's word because apparently God has to speak in ways that we don't understand.....? and Daniel is just being Daniel. 

Plus it has been raining.... A LOT. haha. 

It has been tough because we love these people so much and it's hard not to see them make these important and vital steps towards eternal happiness and joy. They'll come around though.

Let's move on to happy things.

We had Zone Conference this week and it was fantastic! We had to do a training about follow ups and it went pretty well! After the meeting President told us he liked it a lot about 4 different times. Plus we used protein shakes and exercising as a metaphor. So great!

I think one of the coolest things that happened this week was I was able to finish reading the Book of Mormon in chinese. I had been reading it for a while and it was very inconsistent so I decided to buckled down and finish it. As I read the last verses in Moroni I felt the Spirit confirm to me many truths. One being the Book of Mormon is true. 1000% true. The other is that God exists and loves and helps us. I felt this because I know that it was only through the power of God that I could have read that book. I remember that when my oldest sister came home from her mission, she was asked what the biggest miracle she saw was. She replied in the fact that she can speak Chinese. I agree with her statement!

Lastly I read this scripture this week: Moroni 9:6

6 And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God.

Remember that we all have a work to do on the earth. We are here to become like God and defeat our enemy. Through every single action, choice, and thought we can either move closer to our goal or move farther away. Strive to defeat the enemy in all that we do so that we can rest in the Kingdom of God!

Love

Elder Anderson

Dragon Boat Festival

Ok. Today is the Dragon Boat Festival! We are going out to Anping to go and watch them race! Hopefully they will be racing when we get there haha!

This week was pretty good! We got to meet with the Luo family again and they are super solid! Their only problem is they haven't been to church yet. They went camping yesterday and next week they will be in Korea! But they promised to come the week after that! Sister Luo has a bunch of Christian friends that have been trying get her to stop coming to meet with us but she is very determined to find the truth! She told one of her friends all the stuff she has been learning and her friend said, "Hmmm I think you should keep going there to learn." SO COOL. Also her and her daughter had a hard time understanding some of the stuff in the Book of Mormon and she kinda wanted to stop reading but her daughter told her that she feels they should keep reading because the more she reads, the stronger her desire is to understand it. SO COOL. Really hoping they can get baptized here soon. They are so prepared! 

Daniel told us he feels he still hasn't received an answer but I was glad he came to church yesterday because it seemed like every talk and every lesson was directed to lots of his concerns. He's so close! 

Our other investigator Marvin is doing pretty well. His biggest concern is coming to church. He has been pretty busy and yesterday he had to go to the doctor so he couldn't come. Once he comes to church he will get baptized!

These past few weeks have been pretty tough for finding. We have met some super cool people on the street but they never set up with us. We have been working really hard to find through members and find on our own. But we know that the Lord is with us and helping us along the way. The lessons and contacts we do have been very powerful and I feel the spirit a lot. I just love that feeling! The gift of the Holy Ghost truly is one of the greatest gifts that Heavenly Father has given us #phase1 I have thought about it a lot and this has given me the drive to always be living the way that I need to be living in order to feel the spirit. I feel like lots of times we take it for granted (not granite:)) and drive the spirit away by the music we listen to, or the words we say, or the things we do. So I hope you all can make a strong effort to never let the Holy Ghost leave your side!

Lastly, I was reading in Jesus the Christ this week and I came across this gem. "If the festive assembly at Matthew’s house really did comprize a number of sinners, was not the occasion one of rare opportunity for the ministrations of the Physician of Souls? The righteous need no call to repentance; but are the sinners to be left in sin, because those who profess to be spiritual teachers will not condescend to extend a helping hand?"

Don't we all profess to be spiritual teachers? Don't we all testify of Christ? So why don't we got out and help our friends and family find the peace and joy that Christ can give us. Help them find relief from their sins and from the world. I hope y'all find a way to reach out to someone this week and teach them about Christ. It will give you and them joy.

Love

Elder Anderson

Confucius Say ...

Family Home Evening

Grisinti with Bike Problems

Daniel

This week was just like every other week... Awesome! On Monday we rode out to the beach with a bunch of Elders from our zone and played football on the billion degree sand. Super fun!

Daniel had his baptismal interview this week and he passed! BUT he tells us that he still feels like he isn't ready. It was super heartbreaking to hear that, but it was good because now we know what his concerns are. We taught him last night and focused on his questions. The spirit was very strong and hopefully it helped him out! The Elder that did the interview with him promised him that if he keeps the commandments this week and reads and prays every day, then he will receive his answer by Thursday. Hopefully he does! He is so ready to get baptized!!! 

Also our other investigator Marvin called us this week and asked us when the next baptism is. We told him that it's only when people are ready to get baptized. Now he originally had a goal for 6/3 and he is already super golden. (we taught him most of the commandments last week and he was already obeying them) But then he told us, "Well I am ready. I feel ready to get baptized" We are super pumped about him! He just needs to come to church a few more times and then he can get baptized!

This week we have been working really hard to work with the ward. We have been writing a bunch of cards to the members and then giving it to them. As we have been doing this we have grown a greater love for the members in this ward. I sure do love serving in Tainan!

Well I don't have much time but I will leave with this last thought. Last night we met with our investigator Brother shen. He has two friends that are members so they came to the lesson as well. We went over the first three baptismal interview questions with him. and wow, he is super good. He just needs to start reading and praying every day then I am positive that he will get baptized. Anyways we talked about Christ being our Savior and we asked one of the members why she feels like Christ is her Savior. She said that knows that Christ came to know her a long time ago and that she feels His love for her. I know that what she said is true! A long time ago Christ came to know us. He felt all of our joys, sorrows, pains, and frustrations. In the Garden of Gethsemane He came to know us. I know that through Christ we can find light and happiness!

Love

Elder Anderson

Happy Mothers Day

Well first off, happy Mother's Day to my mom and two of my sistes (Marissa isn't a mom yet ;)) and to every other mom out there! Y'all are my idols and heros.

This week was a super fun week! We started off the week with going on exchanges. I was able to go with the legend himself, Elder Christensen! He is such a beast of a missionary! We met with Daniel while on the exchange and it was a super good lesson. We talked about the word of wisdom and how we must obey it in order to feel the spirit. He said he drinks tea once a week and that's it.... yeah we told him if that is all that he drinks then he can give it up and he was like "yeah........." so hopefully he does! Then we talked about a baptismal interview and he has one set up for this week and hopefully it helps him realize that he knows it's all true. He came to church yesterday too and he just loved it!

We also met with Sister Luo and her daughter but it was a pretty short lesson. We were going toshare the Plan of Salvation but they didn't read the Book of Mormon in between lessons so we just read with them. She also brought one of her Christian friends to meet us. After reading the Book of Mormon they said that it is so much easier to read and a lot more applicable to our lives. SO TRUE! I am so grateful that we have to the Book of Mormon to help us in our lives. It truly brings us closer to Christ. So hopefully they will read this time. But they are still doing well :)

Yesterday in church we had to speak about our mothers. I was soooo nervous. We are out on the streets talking to everyone all day and I don't get nervous. But there is something about that pulpit that makes my knees quiver. We were supposed to speak for 10 minutes... I guess I went for 16... I didn't even notice until I sat down.

Life is good here! We played baseball on Saturday morning and it was a blast! We did a little bit of in and out and then a little bit of BP. We were just in heaven haha.

This week I finished reading the book of Alma. Every time I read the end of Alma I am just amazed at how awesome Moroni, Helaman, and Lehi are. They are just so faithful in the Lord and are just so so so righteous. Every time I read about them, I want to be more like them. But in reality, I want to become more like our Savior.These men knew who they want to be more like and that is Jesus Christ. I know that as we strive to become more like our Savior, that we will do just that. So may we all do something everyday that would bring us closer to Jesus Christ.

Love

Elder Anderson

This Week

Welp to start off we went up to Taizhong two times this week, one for a meeting and the other for exchanges. Then we went to Yongkang to attend a district meeting so we literally spent more time outside our area than in our area this week. That's never good haha. 

But nonetheless this week was super good. 

Remember the lady that we taught an 8 minute lesson to and how I thought she was super golden? No you probably don't... but we met with her and her daughter on Saturday and they are just so golden. Holy cow. 神聖地牛 or (的, 姐姐幫我一下）反正. they are just so cool.. I think the highlight of the week was meeting with a mom and daughter this past Saturday. We met the mom on the street a few weeks ago when I was on exchanges with Elder Huntsman and she was super interested right from the start. The first time we met with her she only had 8 minutes to meet with us... but this time she had more time!! These two women really want to find truth. I was so very touched when she told us the story of meeting us. She said that she was baptized in some church a few years ago but she left that church because she didn't like how the people talk about how they need to repent but they don't strive to change their actions. But she always wanted to find Christ's true church. She had been to a few churches and then the day or two before we met her she had a friend invite her to her church. She didn't know if that was the church she should go to so she said a prayer asking Heavenly Father which road she needs to take. Then the next day she met us! And she felt like it was an answer to her prayers! Her and her daughter had heard bad things about our church but they wanted to know if they were true (they weren't of course). They both accepted baptismal dates and we are super excited about them! It just reminds me the importance of talking to everyone because you never know who has been praying for the Lord's help. 

As we taught them the first lesson they were so into it. The mom said she is super willing to read and pray to find the truth and the daughter was too. They accepted baptismal dates for June 24th so hopefully they can hit it and their friends won't have a bad influence on them!

Other than that not much happened. Plus I don't want to type anymore.... 

This week we get to spend the whole week in our area so we are excited to work! We are meeting with Daniel and Marvin tomorrow and we are pumped to help them get baptized.

Here is a cool scripture I found this week. this is from Lamentations 3 

22 ¶ It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

Remember that the Lord loves us all. The blessings that he gives us differ every single day. Count your many blessings. Never forget all that the Lord has done for you!

Love

Elder Anderson 

Exchanges with Elder Guo!!

apparently this drink is made with bird vomit. super good​

We had to wait for the assistants so we decided to sit in their thrones for a while

What a Week!

What a week! It started off pretty sad to be honest haha. We went over to Yongkang to play basketball with a bunch of Elders from our zone and when we got there we received a text from Sister Huang. She was the investigator that was found two weeks ago and she set a baptismal date. She told us that her and her son are too busy to spend time to read the Book of Mormon and meet with us. We were so heartbroken and it made the rest of the day super rough. When we got back to contacting that night, it seemed like every single person on the streets was ignoring us. So frustrating! Luckily we got over it pretty quick and the next day went really well. 

We met with Daniel again this week and we talked about why he hasn't received and answer yet. We asked him how he was asking God. He said he asks God if he should get baptized. We talked about how maybe he is asking the wrong question. Mainly because God probably knows that Daniel knows that he should get baptized. So we told him to switch the question to something like "I want to get baptized. Is that what You want?" so far he hasn't gotten an answer. BUT last night Elder Grisenti and I were talking and we realized that Daniel hasn't entirely been keeping the word of wisdom. He still drinks tea every once in a while. So we decided we need to focus on keeping the commandments in order to feel the spirit. So hopefully that works for this week! We'll see. But keep good old Daniel in your prayers!

We were able to meet with a really golden investigator that has been out of town for a while. His name is Marvin. He is super golden. We followed up on his reading and he said that he has read to Alma! We were so shocked! He felt like it wasn't that much. He told us that he just reads a little bit every day and we almost fell out of our chairs ha! He is super cool and he has a date for early June. He just needs to come to church a few times and then he will get baptized!

On Wednesday we had Zone Conference and that is always a wonderful experience. We had our conference up in 嘉義。 We focused on using the Book of Mormon to help people become converted. So we are really hoping that as we teach our investigators how to apply the scriptures to themselves that they will have a desire to get baptized. It was a super good zone conference!

Oh this week I went on exchanges with my former companion Elder Jones!!! It was super fun to be out proselyting with him again. He is a beast!! As we were making our expectations for the exchange he said that he wants to follow a spiritual prompting during the exchange. We were out looking for a side street to tract on and we both looked at this one street with really nice houses and I thought we should go there and so did Elder Jones. So we flipped around and tracted there. We had a goal to get a referral during this time too! So we got to work. Nothing. but then as we were about to head back home we went to one more house and this guy answered the door. We told him we were missionaries and then he called to his wife and went inside. She came out and talked to us. Turns out she is Christian and really has interest in Christ. We talked to her for a while and taught about the restored gospel. She seemed super interested so hopefully we can set up a time this week to meet with her! It will be hard because we have to go up to Taizhong two times this week... but it was such a cool miracle to follow the spirit and ask everyone for a referral. Even though she doesn't really count as one, that guy totally could have slammed the door in our face, but instead he called his wife to talk to us. Such a great part of the week

Well that's about it

Love

Elder Anderson 

Ballin' it up with the Tainan zone in Yongkang!!​

on our way to ball. gotta snap a picture

God is Good

What an awesome week for Elder Grisenti and I here in the land of miracles. Things here  are just going so well! We went on a few exchanges this week and that was super fun to be with those elders! We were able to teach a lot of lessons and find a lot of investigators!

One funny thing, literally everyone here that has seen my family picture asks me if my mom is from Asia. Also lots of people ask me where I am from because they can't tell if I am Taiwanese. They ask and then say they are just making sure because they couldn't tell. Love it.

A super cool miracle from this week was from exchanges with Elder Huntsman. We saw this lady walking her dog and I just love dogs so I had to stop to say hi and pet the dog haha. But of course we started to contact her and she told us that she is a Christian but hasn't been to church in a long time and she asked what was different about our church. It was a super cool contact because we pretty much taught the whole first lesson with her on the spot. Then when we were sharing about the Book of Mormon she asked how we have felt God speak to us. Elder Huntsman then pulled out his Book of Mormon and shared a scripture that really impacted his life and the spirit was very very strong! She set up but she texted us that day telling us that she would be pretty late and has to leave by 7. She got to the church at 6:52. Literally the shortest lesson in my entire mission. We sat down and introduced ourselves and since we had already talked about the Book of Mormon, we gave her one and went into more depth with it. She was very willing to read it and I think she seems pretty golden! She can't meet this week but we are meeting with her next week and we are very excited!!

Another cool miracle was on Wednesday, we didn't have to teach English because there wasn't enough students so we went over to the Cultural Center to contact. They have a big park there and there are lots of people. So we were walking and there was this lady sitting on a bench with her headphones in listening to music. I stopped to say hi and she didn't acknowledge me, super common in Taiwan. But I felt to try harder and not give up. So we got her attention and she was super excited to see us! She told us like right off the bat that her son has lots of interest in Jesus Christ! We sat down and talked to her for like 40 minutes or so and she set up to meet with us. She came to the church the next day with her son and we taught them the first lesson and they really liked it and set a baptismal goal! Super pumped! 

The guy in the Orioles shirt from last week told us he didn't want to meet with us. He called us and said that he realized that we were Mormons and that our beliefs are different and then hung up. We were pretty mad about that because he seemed super golden, but we didn't let it get us down and we went out and found more investigators. 

Our investigator Daniel still hasn't felt like he has found his answer, but he has been reading and praying every day. We feel like he has already received and answer but it isn't the answer that he wants. He wants a really powerful answer but we feel he has not noticed the small voice that the spirit speaks to us through. So we gotta help him with that. But he is super great and we just love him to death.

This week I read about Abinadi. I have been studying with the topic of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I found a really good example of enduring to the end.  "9 Now Abinadi said unto him: I say unto you, I will not recall the words which I have spoken unto you concerning this people, for they are true; and that ye may know of their surety I have suffered myself that I have fallen into your hands.10 Yea, and I will suffer even until death, and I will not recall my words, and they shall stand as a testimony against you." Abinadi knew that his time was coming to an end, but that didn't stop him from testifying and not recalling his testimony. Elder Grisenti and I talked about it and applied it to ourselves because our time out here is running out, but we will be as Abinadi and never stop testifying of Christ! We plan on being very ambitious for Him.

Lastly, we have been listening to a talk from back in 1975 given by Vaughn J. Featherstone. It's called "But Watchman, What of the Night?" I recommend every single one of you to look it up and listen to it because it is awesome. The part that we love the most is in the end when he bears his testimony. This is what he says, "The United States of America is the golden door. I bear my solemn and sacred witness that the United States of America is the greatest nation on the face of the earth. We ought to love it and we ought to talk about it." BOOM. USA USA USA 

差不多

Love

Elder Anderson

The cute 謝 family!!

Gotta see Elder Nelson on Monday! Shout out to him for taking me to lunch!

Exchanges with Elder 張！ my former companion!

雙醬咖哩！！！

Release date

Dear Bro. & Sis. Anderson,

In just a few short months, Elder Miles Anderson will be completing his service in the Taiwan Taichung Mission and returning home. Presently, Elder Anderson is scheduled to depart from Taiwan on 16 Aug 2017. You will be advised of his precise travel itinerary and arrival time as soon as this information becomes available. During his term as a missionary, he has had numerous experiences that he will undoubtedly be excited to share with you. His mission has been a time of growth and development. We trust that it has been a positive experience for you and your family as well. In anticipation of your son's return, we would like to ask your assistance with the following two items:

First: Further education is very important for your missionary. Most universities require that students submit entrance applications many months prior to the start of school; therefore, please make plans now to determine university entrance application deadlines and ensure you apply for your missionary to attend a university after his mission (if desired). The most effective application method is for you to apply on your missionary’s behalf so he will not be burdened with paperwork while still serving his mission.

Second: The last few months of a mission are the most productive time for missionaries. They have the maturity, language ability and teaching skills to be most effective in doing missionary work. However, sometimes missionaries can become distracted and lose focus as they contemplate returning home. Accordingly, I would like to suggest that your correspondence during the last few months of  Elder Anderson's mission center on making the most of his remaining time as a missionary rather than on homecoming plans. Please address only the necessary issues of his return, then focus on encouraging him to finish strong in his missionary work. These last few months are very valuable and we thank you for your assistance in helping your missionary leave his vineyard of service without regret.

As a reminder, the church does not encourage parents to pick up their respective missionary.

We are aware of the feelings of anticipation and excitement that parents have for returning missionaries. You can be proud of your son's accomplishments in the mission field. He has blessed the lives of many people here in Taiwan. Thank you for helping to make these last few months of his mission a productive, rewarding experience.

Sincerely, 

President Michael John U. Teh
Taiwan Taichung Mission

Atten:  Please let us know the closest major airport for your missionary to arrive