Week 62

Blessings of Christmas

This last week was a very important week in my mission. I wouldn't say it was the easiest week, but it was a week full of blessings. We had a lot of things happen, like lessons not going through and companions being bit by dogs (yeah not good), but I learned a lot.

I learned a lot due to our branch Christmas party. Since there is a lack of active members down here, a lot of planning and preparation fell on us missionaries. We worked hard to get an activity together that would allow our investigators, less actives, and members to mingle together. However, when the time came, the people who came were very few. There were a couple of investigators, a few active members, and some less actives. It seemed unfair at first that we had worked so hard for this and the results seemed so little. However, as I was reflecting on Christmas, I realized that Jesus came to earth and He worked harder than anyone ever has, yet He was rejected. He went out everyday with perfect faith and perfect obedience, yet His true followers were few. He did all He could do, but He was still crucified by His own people. But was it in vain? No. Because of what He did, we can all return to live with our Heavenly Father again. Sometimes our influence seems small, but we can remember that the Lord will sanctify our efforts and by "small things" the Lord can do great miracles.

We had a lot of hidden blessings too. Our investigator, Xiu Zhong, has started to progress so well! He is reading and praying everyday and he is starting to really enjoy the gospel! He is supposed to leave for military service on January 7th, but it isn't certain he will go then. He took a test about a month ago to make sure he was ready for military service and he hasn't got his results back. Today for pday we are going out with him and Sister Huang. She is going to take all of us around Heng Chun, which should be fun.

Then we also have our investigator named Larry.  We weren't able to meet with him last week, but we are going to meet with him today, so we will get him going again.

Sister Lin is going to get baptized! She is finally ready! We are setting up a baptismal interview for her this week and she is actually really excited for it.

Also Monica is doing really well lately. She is coming to all three hours of church now! We have been so blessed lately.

The Wang brothers are a trial right now. They still want to get baptized, but last time we went to visit them their dog bit my companion.  Dogs really hate my companion for some reason. So I don't really want to make my companion go back if he doesn't want to. We will have to find out to help them progress.

This last week was a mountain, but it helped me progress so much! I love this work. Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! 

Elder Quist

Week 61

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This is such a great time of year!  I firmly believe there is a special spirit during the Christmas season. People are happier and more willing to be Christlike, regardless of their religious background. People are also so much more willing to listen to the gospel!

Don't get me wrong, Christmas isn't a huge thing in Taiwan. People don't really celebrate it here. They still work on Christmas, even though everyone does know it is Christmas. However, it seems that people begin to be more curious during Christmas time in Taiwan. This Friday we have a branch Christmas party, and there are a lot of people who previously had no interest, that now want to come see what a Christian Christmas party is like.

I love Christmas because this is also a time that you can share with others. This last weekend I have been working hard to prepare Christmas cards for recent converts, investigators, members and other people on the island of Taiwan.

This last week was a great week. We have been able to help our investigators prepare for baptism. One of these investigators, Xiu Zhong, has been progressing lately. His baptism goal was set for a couple of weeks from now. However, he has recently experienced opposition from his family. However, as we visited him yesterday, he told us that he still desires to get baptized. I have a firm belief that the Lord will provide a way for him to get baptized. Maybe not in a couple of weeks, but He eventually will. 

Also Sister Lin, an investigator who has been pushing off baptism for some time now, is now progressing towards a date. We hope she can hit her date of a couple of weeks from now!

Then Monica, the RC Tiffany's mom, is also working towards a baptismal date! She is so excited and ready for baptism. 

And we have the two brothers who I have talked about before. They have the crazy dog that acts like it wants to eat us every time we try to visit them. This last week they told us they want to prepare to get baptized! It was a blessing, since they have been against baptism for so long!

And finally there is Larry. Although he is sometimes hard to get a hold of, right now he is getting ready for a baptism date next month. This last week he read and prayed every day!

We are seeing a lot of blessing here!!! I am so glad I have the opportunity to serve here. 

My new companion is Elder Hanna. He is from Oregon (just like Elder Dalmer). He is a great guy and he has been on his mission for about 6 months but his Chinese is already really great! He is a fun guy and I am sure we will have a lot of fun together.

Merry Christmas! Happy Birthday, Taylor!  And congrats on graduation to Taylor and Jason!  Hope you all a appreciate the greatest gift this Christmas, the gift of the Savior!

Love, 

Elder Quist

Week 60

This last week has been quite the adventure. At the first of the week we were able to eat lunch with Larry and celebrate his birthday. We went to an american restaurant in our area that was delicious! It was a great time.

Also this last week we had the opportunity to extend a baptism invite to the mother of our RC (recent convert). Her name is Monica and she is a great lady; however, previously she had rejected baptism dates because of her religious background. But, as Elder Dalmer and I began to teach her this week, something changed in her heart. The spirit touched her and she accepted her baptismal goal gladly! It is exciting that we can help this entire family progress towards eternal life!

Then we also had our Christmas activity this week. Our whole mission went up to Sun Moon Lake, which is a big lake in the middle of the island. It is super beautiful up there. The best part is that we were able to see everyone from the mission, including people like Elder Millet, Elder McDougal, Elder Weatherford and a bunch of other people I have met throughout my mission. Then we went as an entire mission to a buffet and ate a bunch of steaks. At the end of the night we got together and had a Christmas devotional. It was all a great time! However, it did not end until about 9 o clock at night and the Sun moon lake is about 5 or 6 hours away from Heng Chun, so we had to stay with other missionaries that night (and even then we didn't get home until about 1). 

Then this weekend we had transfers. Since there are many missionaries going home, there were a lot of missionaries who moved this last transfer, including my companion, Elder Dalmer. I now have a new companion named Elder Hanna.  I haven't met him yet. Right now I am in Gaoxiong waiting for him to come down from the north. So I don't know what he is like yet, but I'm sure he will be a nice guy.

Change is my least favorite part about being a missionary, but it always turns out for the better. I love Heng Chun and I am so glad I could have this opportunity to serve here!

I love you all! 

Elder Quist

Week 59

What a great week! We had so many blessings! However, it is beginning to get colder here! It isn't really too cold, but the wind is so strong and cold that sometimes it gets quite chilly.

This last week we had some great things happen. One of them was the progression of our investigators- Jim (XiuZhong). He is a nice kid who works at Sister Huang's restaurant. He is preparing to become a soldier and he is a great example to me. He is the kind of person who is always happy! He always thinks of other people too. This week we invited him to come to church and he came! He was wearing his white shirt and tie. Even though he could only stay for the first hour, I talked to him as he left, and there was a light in him that was different than I had ever seen in him. He seemed so happy. 

Then there was another investigator of this last week, Larry. I think I have told you about Larry before. He is an investigator we met one night outside a 7-11 and he is also awesome. He has great English and he shared with us some experiences he had in the past and you can just see the hand of the Lord in his life. However, he is so hard to get a hold of. He works from 3 in the afternoon to 12 or 1 at night and he usually sleeps in to about 1 or 2 o clock in the afternoon. So, this last week we kept trying to get a hold of him and it just wasn't going well. At one point, it had been about 5 days since the last time we had talked to him or texted him. I will be honest, I get really anxious and worried over these people.  I am not the most patient person ever. I was praying in personal study one day and I decided to turn to the scriptures for comfort. The scripture I read that day was about Sariah. Her sons had been away for a long time and she was afraid that they had perished in the wilderness, so she began to mummer at her husband, Lehi. Lehi then tells her that the Lord will protect them in the wilderness. It helped me realize that this work, missionary work, is infinitely more important to the Savior than it is to us. He atoned and suffered for every single person on this earth. He wants this work to succeed and He helps it to succeed too. He is in this work and His hand is in the life of every single person. Even if our investigators drop off and we lose contact with them, we can feel confident in knowing the Savior will never be far away from them and He won't let them get away too fast. 

Thankfully, Larry didn't drop off. He is just really busy lately, but we have scheduled to meet with him tonight.  Our investigators have their own agency, but I know if they ever decide to turn back to the Savior, the Savior will be by their side waiting for them.

This week is the mission Christmas activity. Since it is at a lake right below Taizhong, we will lose a lot of proselyting time to travel... But it is okay, because the Lord will still be in HengChun watching over these people.

Love you all,

Elder Quist

Week 58

Happy Thanksgiving! It was a good time down here in HengChun! We had an activity on Monday where a member in our ward cooked 2 turkeys! We had a lot of investigators and also less actives come and attend, so it was an exciting activity.

I also want to share an experience that happened a couple weeks ago. We had finished a lesson and while we were biking away, I realized that I had left my water bottle back at their house, so I decided I would have to go and buy a new one. The biggest problem with that, though, is that my drink holder on my bike is just a little too small, so if I bike with a full drink it sometimes will fly off. But I bought one anyway. So we are on our way biking down the street when my water flies off! I have to slam on my brakes and go and grab it. However, right after we stopped, Elder Dalmer turned to the house we stopped by and told me a less active lived there. Elder Dalmer told me that they had met with him before at english, but he had almost no desire to come back and would never answer his cell phone. So I decided we would go in and try to see if he was home. He was! We met him, invited him to church and left.  Since then he has come to the Thanksgiving activity and church! The Lord works in mysterious ways!

Then this last week we also had the chance to go up to the mission home and listen to Elder Stevenson talk. I loved it! He talked about getting through our inadequacies and also how to testify with the spirit. He shared an experience how when he was a mission president he had the assignment to go and talk with a man who wouldn't allow his daughters to be baptized. He said that this man was one of the coldest Japanese men he had ever seen. However, because he was able to testify and promise blessings through the power of the spirit, he was not only able to get permission from this Japanese man, but also commit him to baptism! It showed us the power of a testimony and promising blessings.

Things are going great down here. Our investigators are doing well. We have a new investigator with a baptism date for January 2! He is named Larry and he has really good english. He is 19 years old and he is working down here for a year. 

We also have some changes happening down here in Hengchun. There are currently two stakes in Gaoxiong and soon there will be 3! This means we don't have to travel so far from ZTM and also we will get new zone leaders. It is truly an exciting time to serve in Taiwan.

I love you all,

Elder Quist

Week 57

New Apostle

This week was a great week! 

Last Tuesday was a miraculous day. The first miracle was a new investigator. There is a lady in our branch that owns a famous seafood restaurant and has many employees. She also is an awesome member missionary, so we often have her come to our lessons or fellowship less-actives. Anyway, she has one employee that is a less active, so on Tuesday we were planning on going and visiting both of them. However, she texted us and told us that the less active wasn't going to work that day, so we would have to cancel. However, when she cancelled, we remembered a employee at her restaurant who was always really nice to us, so we decided to ask her if he had any interest in meeting with us. She told us we could come visit her restaurant that day, and she would ask if he wanted to sit with us. As it turns out, he was interested in meeting us! We spent that afternoon sitting and talking with him about the church, and he said he would be willing to learn more. He is 18 and he is a really nice kid. The best part is the member, Sister Huang 黃姐妹, keeps fellowshipping him and encouraging him. 

Then that night we had a great lesson with the two new investigators from last week. They are the son of the less active, about 12 and 13 years old. They were supposed to get baptized a long time ago, but things came up. Now they haven't been to church in years. We had a lesson with them and they are such cool kids. The dad even was encouraging them to get baptized. The only problem is they have a dog they don't keep on a chain, and it just barks the whole time. It also acts like it wants to eat you, but never actually touches you.

Late that same night, we were going to visit our investigator, sister Lin. I don't know how much I have told you about her, she has been coming to church for quite some time. She has always resisted baptism because she is afraid of conflicts in her family. However, we have been meeting with her lately, and encouraging her and her daughter to get baptized. So we went to visit her on Tuesday night, and on the way there we saw Sister Huang (she is the Relief Society president) leaving the house of a less active and she offered to go with us to be in our lesson. So we went and had a powerful lesson about baptism. Sister Lin is now praying about when she should get baptized. 

Friday we went up to Gaoxiong to have a specialized training for missionaries who are recently senior companions, or who are about to become senior companions. There we learned that Elder Stevenson (the new apostle) is coming to visit our mission this week! On Friday we have a huge meeting at the mission home where he is going to meet with us!

Then on Saturday we had Family Home Evening. We have really strived to encourage the young people of this branch, as a lot of them are less active. So we have started doing a family home evening each week and we invite all our investigators and less actives. We had 5 people come (all of which were less active, recent converts, or investigators) and it seemed like a really slow start. However, the next day all of the people who attended family home evening came to church, including 2 less actives who have not been to church since I've been here. It was a blessing from the Lord!

I love this church and I love these people! Happy Thanksgiving! We are having a party for Thanksgiving this week with two turkeys!

Love, 

Elder Quist

Week 56

This week was awesome! It started off a little lame, because I went to the aquarium and I forgot my SD card for my camera, so I couldn't take any pictures... But it's okay, Elder Dalmer took some good pictures and will share them with me.

On Monday night we had a new investigator. His name is Larry.  He grew up in Malaysia, so his English is super good.  He has no religion but he is super willing to meet with us and try it out. However, he said he is pretty busy, so we had to schedule for the next Monday for the next meeting. But last night while we were riding, we happened to see him on the side of the road. He told us he couldn't meet with us tomorrow, because he had to work, so we had to wait till next Monday. Then I was just like, can we meet with you in the mornings or afternoons (because he works from 3-12) and he was like... Oh yeah, I can do that. So now we can start meeting with him more!

Then a few other people we met last week... We were eating at this restaurant and sometimes when we go to restaurants I will stare at people who are sitting alone until they look at me and then I will wave at them and tell them they can eat with us. It usually doesn't do anything, but last week there was a guy who came and sat next to us! His name is Josh and he has a cousin who went on a mission. We talked with him for a while, and he told us he was taoist, and he doesn't know if he wants to change religion, but he would be willing to meet and see what it's like.

Another person we met this week was a tract person. Tracting here is not super effective, but on Friday we met this cool guy while tracting. He let us in and told us we could chat with him. He was on the computer for a lot of the time, but the longer we were there the more he paid attention to what we were saying. And the best part was that his mom came in when we were talking to him and sometimes parents will really be anti, because everyone has to worship their ancestors and parents here, but she was super nice and told him he has to go to our free english class. She also told him that she needs to buy a bike for him so he would leave the house and go out and proselyte with us. She was pretty funny.

Then a huge miracle on Saturday... We decided to go visit two young men. They have been investigating for a really long time, but still haven't been baptized. Their father is a less-active, and they were almost baptized, but for some reason they stopped right before the interview. We visited them and invited them to church on Sunday. The first miracle was that they actually came the next day to church! They walked from their house all the way to the church! Then the next miracle was while they were at church they saw a picture of our most recent RC. Although she wasn't there that day, one of the boys recognized her and told us that he had met her before! He actually is in the same class as her, and apparently they are good friends. We then went and talked to the RC after church and she told us she would love to start inviting him to church and other activities and also member present for some lessons! It helped me to see the Lord's hand in the work. The time has come for these young boys to get baptized!

It was a good week! Next week are transfers, so we will see what happens...

Love you!

Elder Quist

Week 55

Mission Tour

We had the great experience this week of going up to Gaoxiong and listening to a member of the Seventy, Elder Wong. We had to leave on Thursday night and we drove up to the zone leaders' apartment. We stayed with them for the night and then first thing in the morning we headed off for Mission Tour. I was inspired through the whole thing. Elder Wong shared about how we can become more edified and how we can learn to strengthen and edify others. We then went through and translated edify into many different languages to learn the true meaning behind the word. It was a cool experience and I really learned a lot from it!

We also got to learn how to work better with ward members. Living in a smaller area like I do, it is a hard thing to effectively use the branch. In a branch where there is no ward mission leader, let alone ward missionaries, using the branch sometimes seems unreasonable. However, the counsel I received while at Mission Tour was that no matter the size of your branch, with the Lord's help and with a heart filled with charity, you can effectively use branch members to strengthen the area in which you serve.

Before I came on my mission, I never realized the importance of member missionary work. Sometimes, while living in Utah, it's hard to see the need for member missionary work. However, a lot of time it is the members who need strengthening. I learned from the conference that we can be a member missionary by doing our home teaching or just being a friend. We are all laid on the foundation of Christ and we all have the responsibility to support and lift each other up.

This week we have been able to help the investigators we are working with now continue to progress and improve. Although people in this area have a very slow and easy going mind set, I know the Lord is preparing them to hear and participate in this wonderful gospel!

Today we are going to the aquarium. There is an aquarium in this area that is apparently really famous in Taiwan and in the world. I will make sure to take some pictures and send to you guys! We are also meeting with some new people this week. Last night we met with an awesome new family who are willing to come and to try. Also, we have a new investigator we are meeting with, his name is Ray, and he is an awesome guy who works at the McDonalds behind our house.

I am so grateful for this chance to serve! Thanks for all your support! 

Love,

Elder Quist

Week 54

PARADISE

Another good week in paradise. Down here in the "Hawaii of Taiwan" can be pretty peaceful, but it is even better when it is filled with people who are coming unto Christ. This week we met a lot of cool people and we also saw the Lord's hand in our work. 

We had a lot of service opportunities this week. The first was with Lin Baba, an older man in our branch. He had us go to his place and move some plants around. It was a good time... but he is older and sometimes he is a little.. stern. Apparently, the first time the Elders went over to help they were about 5 minutes late. He then spent the next 10 minutes after that explaining to them why you should NEVER be late to Lin Baba's house. He is hilarious. I love the people here. But don't get me wrong... we weren't late to his house.

We also had a new investigator this week.  His name is Ray. He works at McDonalds and after we met with him we realized how much he needs this gospel. Then, to confirm our beliefs, we met with a member that night who actually had met Ray and was thinking to refer him to us. I love meeting new people and the longer I am on my mission, the more I love  the people of Taiwan. 

We had a lot of other cool experiences this last week, including having to chase chickens around a member's yard and going to a national park on pday full of ancient trees and monkeys! It was the first time in my life I had seen wild monkeys! Basically everyday down here is an adventure. Today we are also going out around Kending to the most beautiful places on the island, including the place where the Life of Pi was filmed. 

This next week is mission tour. It starts next Friday at 9:30 for all the district leaders. That means we have to leave here around 6 to get there in time... Basically, it is an all day trip. But it's worth it, because we are having a general authority come speak to us! I am not sure who it is, but I am excited.

Everything is good over here in Taiwan. We are trying to help these people down here. The city is small and the branch is even smaller, but we are praying everyday that we can make a difference in this beautiful city. I love Taiwan and the people of Taiwan! I love this mission! 

Love,

Elder Quist

Week 53

The Lord's Hand In Our Lives

Despite the rain, this last week was a great week for me and Elder Dalmer. It rained a lot because there was supposed to be a typhoon, but at the last minute the typhoon broke up and just became a lot of rain. However, we were still able to meet with a lot of people and also meet a lot of cool new people.

Last Monday, me and Elder Dalmer biked over to KenDing, which is about a 30 minute bike ride from our house. KenDing is full of beaches and ocean. There we ate at a really good food place and celebrated me being out on my mission for a year!

Then after Monday the rain started. It seemed to rain all day for 3 days straight, which makes missionary work hard, because then nobody wants to go outside or meet with you. However, because most of the people we are working with live close to the church, we were able to just go visit a lot of our investigators.

On Thursday the weather was a little better, so we biked over to ManZhou, which is our secondary area. Basically is it filled with mountains and farms. We have an investigator out there right now, who is a farmer. His name is 郭Guo. He is a really nice christian man, who always gives us something to eat from his field. I always love meeting with him, because he just lives out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by farming fields and mountains and he always goes on about the wildlife in the area.  He actually reminds me a lot of Dad. 

This last Sunday was a particularly awesome Sunday. As we did studies in the afternoon (after church) I read a talk by Elder Bednar all about the tender mercies of the Lord. He talks about how the Lord shows his hand in our lives from time to time and these little tender mercies are like anchors that can carry us through our lives. He talks about how the tender mercies come according to our faith and our obedience.  After reading this talk, Elder Dalmer and I discussed it together during companionship study. We talked about how we can be more appreciative and even more receptive to the tender mercies of the Lord. We decided that we would be actively looking for the Lord's hand in our work that night. 

Later that night, we had finished dinner early, and we decided that we would just start proselyting a little earlier than usual. Right as we left our house, we were self contacted by a person who used to go to a christian church and was really willing to start going again! That was the first time we saw the Lord's tender mercy that night. Then later we decided that we would call a member in our ward and see if we could visit her. She told us we could, so we went over to her house and had a great discussion about 1 Nephi 21(a scripture me and Elder Dalmer spontaneously decided to share with her) which talks about the Lord "engraving us upon the palms of his hand" and never forgetting us. After sharing that, she told us that before we called her that night, she had looked up in the sky and asked God if He had forgotten her. Right after she asked that, she said she got a call from us missionaries. It really struck me how the Lord is full of tender mercies and if we are willing to receive them, He is willing to show His hand in our lives. That is probably my favorite part about serving a mission. I think ever since starting my mission, I have been able to more easily see the hand of the Lord in my life and in the lives of others. I can't wait to meet more people who I will have the chance to help see the hand of the Lord in their lives! 

Love, 

Elder Quist

Week 52

NEW LIFE

Missionary work is so different down here. I am serving in one of the biggest tourist spots in Taiwan, so we meet a lot of tourists here. Contacting is hard, but I am pretty good at telling the locals apart from the tourists. 

I had a really good first week here!  The wind is so strong where I am serving, but it is so beautiful. Our apartment is about 5 minutes from the beach.  We are going to a restaurant on the beach today for lunch.  There are 2 people here who are like eternal investigators who take the missionaries out to the most beautiful areas on pdays, but we can't today because it is raining.  We are going to see the waterfalls and the fairy caves next week, though.

The branch here is really small.  There are only 15 active members, 5 of those are male members. There is a lady in the branch who owns a really nice restaurant so she bought our meals on Thursday at her restaurant. It's all seafood.  (That was my one-year mark!  That's about all I did to celebrate it.)

This last week I was able to have a baptism! It was a person who was taught by Elder Dalmer and Elder Ward (the last missionary here), but I got to meet her and she is a really cool person. Her name is Tiffany and she is 15 years old. The baptism was a pretty interesting experience. We had to go to the back of the church and in the backyard they have a "font" that was just filled with dirt and mud, so we spent about an hour just cleaning that out. Then we started to fill it up. However, what we didn't realize (until 45 minutes before the baptism) was that there was a valve we forgot to turn, so the water wasn't filling up! It was supposed to take about 2 hours to fill the whole thing, so we prayed and starting doing all we could to fill it up faster. In the end it was all okay, even though they had to squat a little further down to get all the way under. 

We also had some cool experiences here this week. In this area, every Friday afternoon we go to an old retirement home and sing songs to the old ladies there. I had to do a bunch of solos, but it wasn't so bad, because they are all old and they can't hear what we are saying anyway. 

This area is so interesting!  Apparently it used to be an ancient fortress city, so there are 4 giant brick gates in the city, one is north gate, one is south and east and west. The city really has a beach city feel to it and I am so excited to serve here!

My new companion is Elder Dalmer! He is from Oregon and he is a great guy. He came on his mission only 3 months after me, so we aren't too different in the language or in missionary skills. He is an awesome missionary.  He loves obedience. I can't wait to see what I learn from him. 

I also saw a cool miracle this week. Yesterday I decided to fast for this new area. After I fasted, however, I remembered that I didn't have that much food to break my fast. So I decided to pray. After praying I went into the kitchen, opened the cupboard, and found a box of mac and cheese! I asked Elder Dalmer about it and apparently he didn't know it was in there. It helped me realize that the Lord takes care of us through all of our needs. 

I am excited to work more with this new area and I will keep you updated on investigators.  

Thank you all so much for you support!

Oh, and there is a typhoon coming straight for us. It is supposed to be a pretty big one, so I hope it doesn't mess up our missionary work too much. I hate the rain, because no one will come out and meet with us when it rains... 

I love you all! 

Elder Quist 

Our most recent baptism, Tiffany

We have beautiful sunsets here!

Week 51

Island Jumping

I really loved this last week. The winter is coming and even though Taiwan doesn't have a real winter, it is getting cooler and cooler everyday. Last week had a very fall feel about it and I loved it. However, I need to forget all about the fall weather, because I am moving! I am moving from Fengyuan, the mission's most northern area, down to HengChun, the mission's most southern area (literally the tip of the island). Apparently it can get pretty hot here, but we are just lucky we are here in the winter and not in the summer. This area is well known for it's beautiful landscape. It is surrounded by the ocean, and apparently very beautiful. I will send some more pictures next week. Apparently, we are the only area in the mission that actually touches the east coast.

My new companion is Elder Dalmer. He has been on island just for a little less than me. He is an awesome missionary and I look forward to working with him. I also am working with a branch again, the HengChun (which means Eternal Spring) branch. I am excited that I can work with the people down here. 

This last week we saw a lot of good things. We were able to find 7 new investigators. They came from miraculous means, like English students setting up, or part member families coming to church. We also found a lot of people from our contacting efforts. I am so glad that I have had the opportunity to serve in Fengyuan! I am so sad that I had to leave, but I know I will love this new area just as much.  It will just take a little time. 

I got to see the entire island today! I road from the north all the way to the bottom. I was surprised how different Taiwan was the further we went south. You will have to pray for me, because apparently this area is pretty rural. There are a lot of stray dogs and everyone speaks Taiwanese, which is the native language of Taiwan. Although most people also speak Chinese, their Chinese is really influenced by their Taiwanese. Also, apparently there is also a lot of biking down here. Since we don't have much of a chapel, we spend a lot of our time biking and looking for investigators. I guess we will also see a lot of foreigners down here, because there is a big world renowned resort in our area called KenDing.

Lastly, we also got to watch General Conference yesterday!  We were delayed because we had to wait for the translation into Chinese (although we still watch it in English). I was so inspired!  I felt this was an especially good session of conference. I really liked the talk by Elder Holland about mothers, although it made me feel guilty for not treating my mom better. 

I hope you are all doing well in America. Congrats to Nate on passing the bar exam and congrats to Zac on getting some cool internship offers and congrats to Josh on a new job!

These move weeks, adjusting to a new area and companion, are always the hardest weeks, so please pray for me.

Love you guys,

Elder Quist

The family from our English class that came to FHE

English Party

My RC's (recent convert's) son and me

Passing through Gaoxiong on the way to my new area

Week 50

Miracles in a Different Way

This last week was a little different from the week before... we still had some miracles, but they were a different kind. We had a lot of trials, as most of our lessons cancelled or stood us up, but we kept the faith and worked as hard as we could! 

Last Saturday we had 8 lessons scheduled, but all 8 cancelled. However, since the Lord is merciful, we saw a miracle of 3 lessons on Saturday that came out of nowhere, including a lesson at a 7-11! We had just been stood up for the 4th time that day, and we decided we should go to the 7-11 to make some calls. Right when we started making calls, two guys came into the 7.  They both looked like high school students. Anyway, one of them just stopped a little ways from us and was just staring at me. So I started talking to him, and he told me they were on a 2 hour break from work. So I sat down with them and we watched "Because He Lives" together, and then we talked about God and prayer. They were really cool kids who actually pray a lot on their own (When I asked why, they just said they do. Prepared souls). So I invited them to church, but they said the weekends are the busiest time for them. Then two of their friends also came into the 7, and also said that they wanted to meet with us sometime. So we met 4 really cool people that day!

I also had the chance to have interviews with President on Wednesday. I love the opportunity to just sit with President and have some personal time to just talk. It was a good time and he gave me some great counsel. 

On Monday we had a typhoon, so President advised that we just walk and stay close to the apartment. So we just made some good calls that night. I heard though that some missionaries got blown over. (I don't know what that means, but it sounds serious!)

This may just be the last week I am in Fengyuan. I am a little sad about it as I love all the people here. I love the branch and I love the people at all the little shops. (I have a list of people who work at the local stores that I try to contact as much as possible.) I love this area!  But it's the Lord's work, and whatever He wants with me is okay. If He wants me to stay another transfer that would be great, and if He wants me to move across the island down to Gaoxiong, that would be good too.

I love Taiwan! I love the people here! I want a Taiwanese companion soon, but I guess we will see what happens with that! 

Thank you for all your support! I love you guys!

Elder Quist 

Week 49

My new favorite holiday... Mid-autumn Festival!

This last week I had my first Mid-autumn Festival in Taiwan and it was a really awesome time! During the Mid-autumn Festival, Taiwanese people basically get together and barbecue and eat moon cakes. So there were a lot of people outside and a lot of great things that happened! On Friday (the beginning of the festival), we had some contacting planned. As we contacted that night, it was amazing how many people were outside. We met so many people who were willing to meet with missionaries. 

Then on Saturday, I had one of my best days on my mission so far!  We started the day with a ward basketball activity. Do you remember Roland? He came to the basketball activity and he is still doing really well. We are hoping that he can keep progressing. Then we had English proselyting later that day. English proselyting basically includes us passing out fliers and inviting people to attend our free English Class. While we were proselyting, I met a kid who was super willing to meet with us and learn more about our church! His name is Stanley and he said he would come to church next week!

Then as the day went on, we went to a big park in our area. We have been there before and it has been pretty unsuccessful. But since it was the Mid-autumn Festival, there were a lot of people who were at the park. While there, we met a guy playing basketball. I decided I would talk to him. He invited me to play basketball, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to teach him more about the gospel! We just went back and forth shooting hoops, while I talked to him about our church and about Jesus. Apparently his mom is christian, so he was really willing to learn. It turned out that I talked to him for about an hour, just shooting hoops and teaching him a first lesson!  (And any of you who know how good I am at basketball know that he wasn't playing with me because he was impressed with my white man skills.) We set up with him again next week, gave him a Book of Mormon, and invited him to pray. His name is Sam, or 莊祐勝. 

And to end a good Mid-autumn Festival Saturday, we had a ward activity at the church. There I had some of the best food I have had since I got to Taiwan and we played a really fun game show with the whole ward. It was a good day!

In other news, we got a golden new investigator! His name is Jeff and he came into a chapel in Taizhong and told the missionaries there he wanted to learn about the Book of Mormon and Jesus. We met with him and he accepted a baptism goal and came to church yesterday. He has three kids (who actually have come to our English class a lot). It was a great week!

We are being blessed here. Sister Lin has a new baptism goal and she is going to hit it. Our investigators are all doing well and I am doing well.  Oh and pray for me. A super typhoon is coming.

Elder Quist

Week 48

Mountains to Climb

This last week was a really exciting week! It was different from most weeks and was packed with lots of things, including some miracles and some answers to prayers.

We got to go to the temple on Wednesday. It was a really great experience for me. The Taipei temple is a beautiful temple, with the Asian culture laced throughout. One of the traditions at the Taipei temple is that there are no shoes allowed in the temple. You leave them by the door before you walk in, no matter what ordinance you are doing. It is amazing to see the influence of God and Christ along with ancient Asian traditions and culture.

Then we had a really cool experience Wednesday night in English class. English class is a great opportunity to find people who are willing to meet with missionaries. We had a meeting with an investigator set up for after class this week; however, since he wasn't in my English class, I didn't know what he looked like. I knew he was in the intermediate class, so I walked into that class before 7, and asked Bill (the guy we had scheduled to meet with) if he could still meet after class. He said he would be able to. So afterwards we met with him and we had a really good lesson in which we learned that he has his own Book of Mormon and he is really interested in learning more about it. As we set up for a return appointment, I was surprised when he looked at me told me that I could call him "Sam." After asking a few questions, we learned that this guy wasn't Bill at all! It turns out I had asked the wrong guy in the intermediate class if he could meet and Bill had never even showed up to class. Sam, on the other hand, had, in the past, rejected the invitation to meet with missionaries, so we as a district had him marked as "not interested."  However, over time his heart was changed, and now he is meeting with missionaries (not us because he doesn't live in our area, but that's okay).

Then we had another miracle with Sam the next day. We were supposed to meet with him at McDonalds at 6 that night. We soon realized that we didn't have his number, we only had the number of the other English student, Bill. So, as the time came to meet with him, we realized there were about 5 McDonalds in our area and we had no idea which one he wanted to meet at. So we decided to go to the church and wait for him. At the church we prayed together that the Lord would help him know he needed to go to the church to meet with us. We waited for about 20 minutes and realized he wasn't coming. So as we were walking out of the church, we got a call from the sisters in the other area. They told us they had been contacting by McDonalds when they came across a student from our English class. He told them that he was about to meet with us, so they called us and we were able to get in contact with Sam! It was a miracle!  There are thousands of people in our area and the odds that the sisters ran into Sam at the time he was supposed to meet with us was a direct answer to our prayer!  I could see that the Lord really is involved in missionary work.  It is amazing how many miracles you see out in the mission field!

I got the chance to go on exchanges with the zone leaders last week. It was a really great time.  I got to learn how Elder Stevenson (the son of the Presiding Bishop!) does missionary work. He is a really cool missionary and he is going home soon. 

Oh wait, the title to my email. The reason I put that as the title was because yesterday we biked up to our branch president's house. He lives on top of a mountain. We biked straight up a mountain for about 2 hours. It was exhausting!  I finally realized why we use "mountains to climb" when we talk about a hard task that we have to do. But I did it.  And I know that as I come across more mountains in my mission, whether literal or figurative, I will be able to cross them.  With the Lord's help, of course.

I love you all and welcome home Davin and good luck Nate! 

Elder Quist

Week 47

Things are going really well here in 豐原 and the rain seems to be gone, so I am happy about that! And I am going to the temple again this week! We are going on Wednesday, so today I'm just emailing for a couple hours and then it is a normal proselyting day. 

A cool story for you from this week... A couple of weeks ago we met a kid at a bus stop and we started talking to him and he seemed pretty nice. But before we could get anywhere, his bus came and he had to go, so we didn't have a chance to get his information or anything. However, on Tuesday we had a lesson, and after the lesson we had about 15 minutes to get home and I had promised my companion I would get him a really good drink before we went home. So, we were racing to a drink stand when we passed this guy on the side of the road and I just had an impression that I should stop and talk to him. I pulled over and introduced myself. He then told me we had already met, two weeks ago at the bus stop! So we got his number this time and we invited him to church. And even better, he actually came! His name is Allen and he seems like a really nice kid. 

A sad story for you from this week... Blackie texted us and told us since he is so stressed lately, he isn't able to meet with us. It was sad, but he told us he would get in contact with us in a few weeks. I am praying that he realizes how much this church can bless him!

As I've said before, this area is a really good one. We have great members, we get fed almost every Sunday lately, and the branch president is a really good guy. We have a lot of work to do from the branch, but it is okay because they help us out a lot too. We are getting this area better and better every week. 

Besides that, we are just working harder and harder to find more people to teach. We are working with some good less-actives right now, including a less-active named Yuan, who is a really cool guy and he has been coming back to church lately. 

I am excited about the work and excited I still have more than a year to get things done! 

Love you,

Elder Quist

Week 46

Rain Rain Go Away

As the rainy season is here in Taiwan, missionary work tends to slow down. These last few weeks we have seen an exceptional amount of rain, and we actually went about 2 weeks without seeing the sun the entire time. It's not so bad, but the problem with it is people in Taiwan do not like going outside when it rains, so sometimes getting people to meet with you is hard. However, things have seemed to be clearing up this last weekend, and I think the weather is supposed to get better as the week goes on. 

Besides the rain, things are going good here in 豐原. Our investigators are working towards baptism and I think we should definitely have a baptism coming up here shortly! The thing we really need to work on now is getting more new investigators. The problem with a lot of investigators right now, including Roland, is that school has just started and students in Taiwan are really overworked in schooling. They go to school anywhere from 9 to 12 hours a day, with most of them going to school on Saturday too for at least a couple of hours. Also, since there is no college in our area, all the college age students are moving out of our area to go to college somewhere else on the island. We work hard everyday to find and teach new investigators, and I know that as I exercise diligence, faith, and patience, I can do all things.

Last week we met a lot of really cool people though, and saw a lot of miracles in contacting. One of those miracles included us meeting a less-active walking home from work one night. He had come to church that previous week for the first time in a few years, and when we met him on the street he seemed really willing to keep coming to church. Then we also met someone on the street who had been to the Taipei temple the previous week. He had gone because his good friend was getting married in the temple! He told us he thought the temple had a special feel about it and that he was really willing to meet with us to learn more about the temple. However, he can't meet until this weekend, so I guess we will see what happens then!  We also met a lot of people who were really interested in learning more about Christians! I could see God's influence last week as He was putting people who would receive us into our path.

This next week is going to be another week of miracles. I am so glad I get to serve here in 豐原.  I have learned a lot here and expect to keep learning more and more as I serve in this great area!  I am also excited to meet new people this week. I think that is one of my biggest motivations as a missionary, the motivation to go out and meet the people who are prepared to hear the gospel. It is such an exciting feeling when you meet someone who wants to learn more and it is even better when you see that person changed from the gospel. I love missionary work!  Sometimes it is hard, but the joy is a joy that you can only find when doing this great work. 

Love you and hope you have a good week,

Elder Quist

Week 45

Well things are crazy over here in Taiwan lately... With 35 new missionaries, the mission seems to have been turned upside down. Since there are so many new missionaries and our mission is so young, there are a lot of things happening to missionaries that usually don't happen till later in their mission. For example, the missionaries just a transfer above me are all training, which is really crazy young. They were all junior companions last move call. Not to mention the fact that I am already going senior companion and I am the new district leader! I am really nervous! I have never even been a senior companion, let alone a district leader. But I can do it...

My new companion is Elder Weatherford. He is from Texas and he is super awesome. He finished training a move call ago I think, which was a little over a move call after I finished my training. However, he never was reassigned, so he is a little younger than I am. I am excited to get this new chance to be his companion and I'm excited to help the people of 豐原 develop their faith in Jesus Christ.

It has been a sad week for me this last week. A lot of our investigators are moving down to college, and 3 missionaries in our district are moving, including Elder McDougal. So I said a lot of goodbyes this week. 

It is kind of scary, because we are going into this movecall after losing some good investigators. However, we have also seen some miracles this last week. The first miracle was actually right after I finished emailing last week. We went to lunch and after lunch we were hanging out around our bikes when I saw a kid just staring at me. So I started to talk to him, and he asked me "你是後期聖徒嗎" which means: "Are you a latter-day saint?" As soon as he said that I knew he was golden, because no one knows what our church's real name is (if anyone greets us they always ask if we are mormons). Then he told me that he has been to our temple before in Taibei for an activity and he thought the temple was really beautiful. So we talked and I invited him to come to our English party Wednesday. And sure enough, Wednesday he was there! His name is Roland and he is really interested in learning more. We have another lesson with him on Saturday. 

Speaking of English parties, on Wednesday we had our 6-week English party. It was...  good this time... maybe just not fantastic. We had a lot of mistakes happen, like things broke and it was pouring rain so not a lot of people came. But Roland came and also another family came that we have been trying to meet with lately. They are a family of 4, parents and their two small kids. We have invited them to meet with us once, and they told us maybe next week, but they told us they love the feeling of our church, and love bringing their kids here. Also, after the party, we saw them looking at the baptism photos! So we will see what happens with them. 

Also, last night I got to participate in the Dan Jones experience for the new missionaries. Like when I first got to Taiwan, the new missionaries had the chance to bare their testimony in the middle of a night market and then they went out with a different missionary and contacted people in the night market. I got to go and contact with a new missionary. His name was Elder Smith and he was super cool.

Well, things are crazy around here! Today we have a new missionary coming back to live in the 4 man with us and I am super excited to meet him! 

Please pray for me to have the ability to fulfill my new callings.  

Love you all,

Elder Quist

For our English party, we made socks that look like us!

Me and Roland at the English party

I'm sad to see Elder McDougal go. We had a lot of fun together.

Saying goodbye to Sister 劉

We all did our Dan Jones' experience together 6 months ago to the day, when we first arrived in Taiwan!

Week 44

Goodbye 豐原 Hello Gaoxiong! 

I Am Moving! Just kidding. I am staying here in 豐原. Since we have 35 new missionaries coming on island this week, we are having transfers on Friday (the day the trainees usually get put with their trainers). So since everyone is moving on Friday, we found out who would be moving on Saturday, so they could say goodbye to the ward. They told us Elder McDougal would be moving and I would be staying here! I am so glad I have at least one more transfer here, because we are seeing miracles here in 豐原.

This week was a great week. We are currently helping a man by the name of Blackie move towards baptism. Blackie is the owner of the only skateboard shop in 豐原, and he is has a small baby who is about 3 months old. We started meeting with him when I got here, and he is really cool. He was really interested in the gospel, but he would never read the Book of Mormon or come to church. So we visit him 2 times a week and encourage him to come to church and read the Book of Mormon. He has actually read up to 1 Nephi 10 now, and he actually can understand everything he is reading (even the tree of life part) so he is pretty awesome. But he has yet to come to church. He really wants to progress, but since his baby is so young, he has a hard time coming to church. We set a new baptism goal for him next month on the 26th, and he is determined to hit it, so he wants to start going to church. 

Also we met a golden investigator this week! There is a line in Preach My Gospel which says that we should "Ask Referrals From Everyone". However, that is easier said than done. That's because most of the time you will ask people if they have anyone who would be interested in the gospel, and they just say they don't know anyone. That is like 95% of the time, so it is hard to ask everyone for referrals, because you get sick of the same answer every time. However, while tracting the other day, we ran into a lady who, after asking if she knew anyone who might be interested, she told us there was a christian lady across the street who had recently moved from mainland China. So we walked out to that house and knocked and immediately a man answered. He quickly told us he had no interest and we were about to go, when I decided to ask him if there was a christian lady who lived at his house. He then went and brought out a lady named 南姊妹. She immediately invited us in and we began to talk about God. She loved everything we talked about! She agreed with many of the things we said, especially the part about there only being one true church on the earth (which is hard for most Taiwanese people to grasp). We then invited her to church and went on our way. The best part was that she actually came to church on Sunday! Everyone from mainland China is so golden!  We are going to go visit her and her family again tonight! I can just see the Lord is preparing the people of Taiwan lately, and I think it is because he is preparing them for the new missionaries coming on island this week! 

Everything is going good here. No typhoons happened last week, and I don't think there should be any next week, so we are good. I will let you know who my new companion is on FRIDAY of this week, since that is PDAY. So if you want to email me, email me before my Friday (your Thursday)!

Love, 

Elder Quist

Week 43

A Week of New Investigators

I don't know how well I have done keeping you up to date on our new investigator situation, but the last two weeks we have struggled to find many. Out of the last two weeks we have only had one new investigator. So this week we were really praying and seeking for more.

Our first miracle came early in the week. We went to visit Blackie, an investigator who owns a skateboard shop in Fengyuan city. While there, one of his friends stopped by, a younger guy, about 17 years old. We invited Blackie's friend to listen with us and he was really willing. He then added to meet with us again later in the week. 

Then we had a dry spot in the middle of week, where we weren't able to find any new investigators. It then got to Thursday and Thursday was a sad day because we didn't have any lessons and nobody seemed to want to listen to us. However, we continued to try and we got to the point that we prayed and asked to see a miracle that night. So we went out and we talked to everyone, asking everyone to hear the gospel.  But, we still could not find anyone who wanted to listen to us. There were only 2 people that day who were even willing to give us their numbers, and even they were really hesitant. Finally, it came to be 9 o' clock and it had been a long and exhausting day.  But, I decided to call a few people and try to get a few more lessons scheduled. I was able to get in contact with 4 people who set up for later in the week and all 4 of them met with us and turned into new investigators! So we were able to see 5 new investigators this last week! It was a great week!

We also got to see 劉姐妹get baptized! It was awesome! She is going to be such a great member. We really had a great week out here and we learned that none of us are moving for at least another 2 weeks, so I get to stay here in 豐原! I am so grateful for this awesome chance to serve here and to serve in the great country of Taiwan!

Wish me luck on rain protection for this next week. I hear there is a potential of 3 typhoons coming into Taiwan, but I guess we will have to see. 

Love you all, 

Elder Quist

Congratulations on the new baby Nate and Jan! William Quist, that's a good name!