Week 14

Perfect Timing

This last week has been especially nice. Last Tuesday we were able to pick up a new companion, his name is Elder Kim and he is from South Korea, so Nate you will probably appreciate that. He has been out for "awhile" (which means he's leaving within a couple transfers) and he is a really great missionary. He started his mission out in the Seattle mission, and he was in the Korean branch. So when we contact on Lea Hill (an Asian area in our area) we can almost talk with everybody on the streets! All we need now is for Elder Nelson to learn Japanese, and we would be covered. 

I met with Yao and Wenting again this week. It was kind of disappointing, because they said they don't really want to be Christian. They said most people from China were either Christian or Buddhists, and they believe that both God and Buddha exist, but they don't really want a religion. However, they said I could keep coming back in order to practice my Chinese, and when they have time they would read the Book of Mormon, so what else do I need!

I didn't meet with too many other Chinese people last week. I really need to though, because I need to practice listening. When I am in my lessons with Yao and Wenting, I will talk and they will understand everything I say, but then they talk... And I have to try so hard to understand them. I try to contact Chinese people on the streets using Mandarin, so I can practice my Mandarin street contacting (it's actually pretty funny, we will go up to someone who speaks Mandarin, and they will say they aren't very interested, and then I will just speak Mandarin to them, and they are like "Wha, you speak Mandarin?!), but every time I speak to someone in Chinese, they will just speak English back to me. But I actually think my Mandarin may be improving, even though I haven't practiced very much in the last few weeks. 

On the English side of my mission, we found three new investigators last week. One with Tasha, Terry, and Kim. We met both Tasha and Terry while contacting, both were really interested. Terry told us she already believes our message is true, but she just has to pray a little more to found out for sure, then she will get baptized! And Tasha agreed to work towards a baptismal date! So that's awesome. Then Kim was an even cooler experience. We were walking to a potential investigator, when we were passing Kim's house. We had met her before, but when we tried to go back a few weeks ago she was never home, but I had a feeling we should stop to see. She answered and said we could teach a lesson on the front porch. She was really nice but basically started the conversation with, "I used to be a strict Jehovah's Witness, I still believe, and I will never become Mormon", but we taught her anyway. The lesson actually went really well, and to say something she was in tears by the time we were done! She invited us back and we are planning to teach the Plan of Salvation (something she really needs) tomorrow! So I will let you know how that goes!

That's awesome about the mission fast! Thanks to all of you who fasted with my Taiwan mission for us visa waiters! I think there are still 3 groups of missionaries that need to go to Taiwan. I believe they changed the missionary application system, so we will all be going about the same time.. But I am not sure. I imagine they need more missionaries, because they are losing a lot without getting any in return. I hope we are able to get to Taiwan this month, but the days are counting down till the 31st. 

And lastly,I was able to go to the Seattle temple today! It was really nice to get to go to the temple before I leave to Taiwan, because Taichung's annual temple trip has already happened! So I was afraid I wouldn't get to go to the temple till next year. It was a really nice experience, I took a lot of pictures, but I just don't have time right now to import them. 

So overall, it was a really great week! The weather was so nice and the sun was out a lot. I don't know when I will go to Taiwan, but I think it's soon! 

Love you all,

Elder Quist

Week 13

Second Washington Transfer

So the transfer ended in Washington yesterday. It was Elder Grant's last transfer, so he went home, and we are getting a new trainer today. I am coming up on 5 weeks here, and next week is transfers for the Taiwan mission. I am hoping they fit us in on that transfer, even though I still don't know when I will be leaving to Taiwan. But I may not email again till I am in Taiwan. Who knows.

This last week was good. It was an especially cold and rainy week, but I got through it. 

I got 5 new Mandarin investigators who scheduled an appointment with me! Yao and Wenting, the Chinese students I mentioned last week, hit a little road bump. They told me that they believe in God and Jesus Christ, but they just don't realize how that has anything to do with them. They say they think that God is just on a higher plane than they are. I told them to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, but we will see how that goes. 

As the weeks have gone on, I have prayed very hard to be allowed to go to Taiwan as soon as possible, and as I look back on my experiences I realize how merciful the Lord is. He has given me 2 Chinese progressing investigators and 5 new Chinese potential investigators. I realize that maybe I can't leave to Taiwan quite yet, but I see that the Lord so badly wants to answer my prayer. He wants to allow me to go, but it just isn't quite His time yet. So He has given me as much as he could.  He has given me a little bit of Taiwan in Washington.  I know this is how the Lord is answering my prayer. 

We had a few trainings last week. We had zone training, where we learned how to have better finding skills. Then we also had a training with the Mission President. He taught us how to work better with members. We learned statistics, and we learned that investigators who are introduced by members are 8 times more likely to be baptized than investigators we find and teach from contacting. Member work is essential, and I don't know how it works in Utah, but we should all be anxiously engaged.

I am excited to get a new trainer today and I am glad I was able to stay in this area a little longer. This is a great area full of great people. Thank you all for your letters and emails, and I hope you all have a wonderful week! (I won't be emailing until next Tuesday again, because we have a temple trip.)

I love you all and pray for my visa,

Elder Quist

Week 12

THE SECRET OF WASHINGTON RAIN

Another week has passed and time seems to just be going faster and faster! I can't believe it is already 2015... that's just weird. This week was really good.  But I found something out about Washington winters - rain is good and sun is bad. That's because when it rains here, the clouds are out, and when the clouds are out the warm stays in. So on cloudy, rainy days, it feels a lot warmer outside. However, when the clouds go away, and the sun actually comes out, it is freezing outside! So I like the rain more than the sun here, at least in the winter.

This last week we got to meet with the Mission President. I thought it was pretty cool for me because apparently you only meet with him once every 12 weeks and my second week happened to be when we did. It was nice to get to know him better, and we talked about my visa. He actually asked me if I had any information, and then told me he had no idea what was going on in Salt Lake. He told me he would tell me as soon as he knew anything else. But I did get news from a different source! My old companion, Elder Millet, sent me an email telling me that his mom had received an email from the Taipei mission president. That email said they had a meeting with the Taiwan government about missionary visas, and apparently it went really well. On Christmas day the Taiwanese government talked to the mission, and told them exactly what they needed to do to get their missionaries to Taiwan, and how they could get them to Taiwan on time in the future! He then said this should solve the visa problem in Taiwan, and should get us over there before the next transfer starts. But remember I got that from my companion, who got it from his mom, who got it from the mission president, who got it from Taiwan... so I don't know how much we can trust that source. 

Anyway, back to Washington. This last week went really well. We met two new potential investigators, both of which promised to go to church on Sunday. However, one of them was a lady who has struggled with a lot of hardships in her life, so she was so ready to hear the gospel, but she might have been under some pain medications, and the other was drunk.. And neither of them showed up to church, or have met with us since... So, maybe not so potential. 

Teonie has still not met with us, but we have made some progress. We went to her house and scheduled an appointment for Saturday with some awesome members. She was willing to go, but 2 hours before the meeting she canceled, because she was "stuck in Seattle". Oh well, we will keep working on her, because  I know she felt the spirit. 

Then on Friday and Saturday I was able to go on splits with the Spanish missionaries. Because my trainer is a district leader, he has to go on splits with every elder in the district at least once a transfer, so that means me and Elder Nelson, as his companions, get to go on splits with every elder once every transfer. This week we went to the other area, the Spanish elders in our zone. We worked with Elder Li, who happens to be out in the field about 10 weeks, so he was the eldest companion. It was a struggle at some times, because most of the meetings we went to were with Spanish families who can't speak English.. it was an interesting experience. 

I get an hour to study Mandarin a day and I sometimes study with a recent convert in my ward who is from China. We just go back and forth speaking Mandarin and going through the lessons. It's great!

Everything is good here. Taiwan will come, but until then Washington is good! Thanks for all the letters and emails! Have a good week.

Love,

Elder Quist