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