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