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!

Week 42

Weathered The Storm

This week there was an unexpected typhoon. We started off the week not knowing at all that there would be a typhoon, but then people started to tell us that a pretty serious one was going to hit Taiwan. So we just went on doing our normal business because people are always telling us that there are going to be typhoons coming and it's no big deal. But, the weekend came and the winds started to blow. It was not too bad at first, just some strong wind and rain. Then we went to bed on Friday night and the wind blew all night. The rain was really heavy too. It even kept me up at times. We left the house that day and we saw a lot of trees had been split and there was a lot of trash everywhere, but the main part of the storm seemed to be over. However, that was just the eye of the storm. At about 3 o clock that day the storm started to pick up again. The wind got really strong and we had to stay inside. Most places were closed, but we found a local restaurant we could eat at. It was pretty crazy though, because while we were in the restaurant the wind was blowing like crazy outside and tables were flying around. We had to tie our bikes down to some fences so they wouldn't blow away. We then got told we were to return to our houses for the night.

However, the sisters had a baptism that night. It just so happened to be the lady me and Elder McDougal had taught all the lessons to, 柯姐妹, and then later found out she moved to the sisters' area, so they finished meeting with her. But I was supposed to be the one to baptize her, so we still had the baptismal service that night. It was incredible!  Even though there was a typhoon raging outside, all the people who were supposed to come to the baptism came, and it was so peaceful inside the church despite what was happening outside. It turned out to be a good day all in all. 

Then yesterday, on Sunday, we had a miracle new investigator show up to church. We have an investigator named 林 , who counts as an unbaptized child, and he brings his friend to church with him.  However, this week the friend also brought his little brother, so all three of them were at church. I now know why the Lord wanted me to be a primary teacher before I came and served on my mission. I have to sit and make these three 13 year old boys behave in sacrament meeting!  It is a real struggle! I never thought I would teach so many kids on my mission (I am also teaching 3 other kids right now, part of a different part member family). 

Well, I am alive and safe. This next week we have 11 missionaries going home for school, so we will have a "mini" transfer, although I don't think it will be very mini, since President is going to be moving stuff around in preparation for all the new training missionaries who are coming in a few weeks.  I don't think I will move, but I guess we will see next week.

Love you all!

Elder Quist

Week 41

LiPao Land!
Sorry for the late email, but we just got back from an amusement park, so we have been a little busy today! We have an amusement park in our area and our president has authorized us to go to it! So we left early this morning and took a train up to a city called 后里. It is technically in the other Elders' area, but we went with them, so it's okay. The amusement park is called Li Pao Land.  Apparently, many years ago Disney wanted to build Disneyland in Taiwan, but then Taiwan decided they didn't want it.   Instead, they built LiPao Land, which is definitely not Disneyland, but... it had like 2 or 3 good roller coasters. I got some good pictures, which I will try to send to you but I can't figure out how to do it with the computers we are using. 

This last week I had a cool experience. It was after weekly planning, we were biking to lunch when a man rode up next to me on his scooter and asked me if I spoke Chinese. I said yes and we pulled over to the side of the road. We then started talking about the Plan of Salvation, because he had recently had a friend pass away. He said he had come to our free English class 3 or 4 years ago, and when he lost his friend he thought of us, and decided to come looking for us. But he forgot where our chapel was, so he prayed that he would be able to find us, then began to drive around Fengyuan. That's when he found me. We then went over to the chapel together and me and Elder McDougal taught about the Plan of Salvation and taught him how to pray. It would be really cool to teach him, but we learned he lives in the other Elders' area, but it's okay. I learned a few things from this experience. One thing- even if you meet someone and they don't accept the gospel, it doesn't mean they never will. This man, who had felt the spirit over 3 years ago at our chapel, came looking for us because of a seed that was planted years ago. Another thing- the Lord is all powerful and all knowing. He can orchestrate our lives. Like the man we met on the side of the road, the Lord might be guiding you to someone who needs your help. 

We also met Willy! Willy is a really great. (He is super good at ping pong and baseball!) However, right when we contacted him he immediately told us he could never get baptized, because he is Buddhist, and he is the only son in the family, so he has the responsibility to worship his ancestors after his parents die. However, we invited him to play ping pong with us at the church sometime. So we played with him, and he is really good. We also showed him the video "Because of Him" and although he really likes Christianity (his girlfriend is a Christian), he told us he didn't think he could ever do it because of the family issues. We decided we could still invite him to English and other activities, and maybe one day he will feel a spirit he can't deny. When I am around him all I can think about is, this guy is meant to be a member of this church! I will continue to pray for him. 

That's about it! 

Thank you all and love you,

Elder Quist