Week 105

REFLECTING ON THE PAST TWO YEARS
These past two years have been the greatest of my life! I was thinking about what would be the most appropriate thing to send home to help you guys understand how I have felt while on my mission and I have just decided to send out my reflection. At the end of our mission, we have the opportunity to give our reflection, which is about a five minute little speech reflecting how our missions have gone. We usually give our reflection during some sort of zone training meeting. I gave my reflection two weeks ago. Here is what I shared...

About a year ago, I had an experience that changed my mission. I was serving in a more rural area of the mission and I had put a lot of heart in the area where I was serving. I loved the people of that area. There was one particular investigator that was really important to me. He was the investigator I knew needed the gospel so much and who seemed ready and willing to receive it. However one day as we left our apartment, I found a bag sitting on my bike. The bag was filled with a white shirt and tie, which was the same white shirt and tie we had given to this investigator. We found out that because of some experiences he had had in his life, he decided he did not believe in God and he wanted nothing to do with us. That was a hard day. I remember I was consumed by feelings of sorrow and disappointment. I got to the point where I didn't feel like going out and proselyting. I decided to ask my companion for a priesthood blessing and that blessing is what changed my mission. While giving me the blessing, my companion used the words "God is grateful for the work you have done here."

That changed my mission. I was lifted up into joy when I received that blessing. I began to see all the great things that the Lord had given me on my mission as I thought of all the great experiences I had had while serving here. As I was thinking what I wanted to focus on during my reflection, I decided to focus on how my mission has been a joy. That is the one word I would use to describe it; it has been a JOY.

 

This is truly the greatest experience I have ever had in my life. I have had experiences that have changed me forever. I have met people that have changed me forever. I have been places that I have never dreamed I would go to. This has definitely been the most joyful experience of my life. I am so grateful that God has given me this opportunity.

 

So, I want you elders and sisters to know that this mission is going to be the most joyful experience you have ever had. You new missionaries get ready for some of the greatest experiences you have ever had. Yes, it will be hard sometimes and there will be a lot of trials and challenges, but just know that the miracles and the blessings always outweigh the bad.

 

Now, I would like to quote my mother. During one of the most difficult times of my mission, actually during one of the most difficult times of my life, my mother told me that "everything God gives us is a blessing."  I know that this is true. This mission has been a blessing.

 

That experience a year ago could have discouraged me for the rest of my mission. I could have focused on all the hard parts or all the trials I was having during that time on my mission. But in the priesthood blessing my companion gave me, the Spirit taught me to focus on the blessings. The Lord is grateful for the efforts we have made. He is filled with joy because of our missionary work. Let us follow him and also be filled with the joy of missionary work. 

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 

I know that this is true! My mission has been the greatest! I am so sad that I have to leave this phase of my life. I have loved it.

 

Elder Quist

Week 104

TWO YEARS

Well, this last week was a big milestone in my mission, my two year mark! I can't believe I have now been out on my mission for over two years! It has definitely been the greatest adventure of my life. But, I will save that message for next week (the last time I will be sending an email home).

This last week was full of great experiences. We spent a good majority of the week contacting and tracting, because our investigator pool is pretty low.  But we had some fun times!  

Last week on Monday I was able to see Pony, Claire, and Kelly again! They are all from Zhanghua and they came up to eat lunch with me. It was nice to see them again and it was great to see how they are all progressing in the gospel.

Some miracles that happened last week:

We were biking from one of our cities to another city when we came to a red light. In Taiwan, we spend a lot of time talking to people at red lights in hopes of getting them to pull over and contact with us. So, I pulled up to this guy and began talking to him. Immediately, he asked me to pull over and after pulling over he told me how he had recently met missionaries. He told me he had seen missionaries about a month ago in Taichung talking to other people.  He told me he had quietly said a prayer hoping that the missionary would come talk to him. And the missionary did! They said a prayer together, the missionary wrote down his info, and then they separated. He then said he waited and waited for the missionary to contact him again, but the missionary never did. He told us how he wanted to learn more about our church. We learned he lived in our area and we got his info down. It was a testimony to me that there are people out there looking for the church!

Another cool miracle happened when we were heading to dinner. I was waiting at another red light when I heard a lady call out to me in the car behind me and ask for a tract. I turned around, handed her a tract (one I knew had our cellphone number on it) and the light turned green so she sped off. That night we got a call from her and she told us she really wanted to learn more about our church! I am loving all the miracles we have been seeing lately!

I will send you the best last email next week! 

Love you guys!

Elder Quist

Week 103

This last week I had one of the most spiritual experiences of my life. The Lord has blessed me a lot on my mission, but this last blessing was such a testimony to me of the mercy and love of the Lord. When I first got on the island, I served here in Shalu. About half way through my time here, I met an investigator by the name of Ke Jun Hong. He was very receptive to the gospel, however, he was already baptized in another christian church, so it was very hard for him to leave his old church. We taught him of the truths of the restoration, including the Book of Mormon and priesthood authority. I was very hopeful that I would be able to attend his baptismal service. But before he was ready to be baptized, I moved to my next area. It was sad, but I accepted the will of the Lord.

Now, I have been blessed to return to Shalu. Upon my return, I learned that Ke Jun Hong had still not been baptized, but he was getting close. My first Sunday back in Shalu, Ke Jun Hong told me he was ready for baptism and that he wanted to get baptized soon. We met with him and he told us he wished to be baptized on his birthday, October 8. We made the plans and on October 8 I was able to baptize him. I know it was a tender mercy of the Lord to be able to attend his baptism and even get to perform his baptism. I gained a testimony that all the efforts we do as missionaries have a positive influence, even if we don't immediately see what that influence is. 

It was truly a great week!  We also got to watch General Conference.  It was such a great conference weekend. I loved it!  We are also working with our other investigator, Lin You Ru, who has a goal to get baptized next week. Things are good here!

As part of going home, we are required to share a miracle story with the mission president. We are supposed to write it out and send it to the secretary. I decided to share the story of how I met Huang Pin Yi. I will copy and paste it so you guys can read it too. Here it is: 

I remember it as just a pretty normal day of contacting. We had decided to go to the 7-11 to make some calls. I was really focusing on talking to everyone that day, so while we were making calls at the 7, I had the chance to talk to five or six people who were sitting around the 7-11. However, it seemed that no one we were talking to that day had much interest. As the time came that we had to go to our next appointment, I saw a younger man enter the 7. He walked up to the drink section and started picking out something to drink (I think it was black tea :)). I decided I had time, so I went up and talked to him. I will be honest, I don't remember what I said, but I gave him a tract and he gave me his number. It was just a normal contact to me, as I had had at least hundreds of contacts that went like it. 

A couple days later, we were planning to go to a ward activity. As we were preparing, we decided we wanted to invite as many people as we could to come. One of the people we invited was the young man we had contacted at the 7-11. However, he rejected our request, but told us he could probably meet with us the following day at about 7 o'clock. 

So, the following day we planned on meeting with him. As we sat down and met with him at the church, the lesson started pretty normal.  In fact, I remember having a distinctive and pretty negative thought. While we were asking him why he wanted to meet with us, he told us that the main reason to meet with us was because he wanted to hang out with some foreigners and because he didn't have a lot of friends around here (since he was currently living here for an internship). We continued to ask him questions to check his interest and for the most part he seemed to have no real reason to meet with us. The thought I had was basically like this, "Not again. Not another person who just came because he was curious about foreigners and as soon as we try to teach him anything he will immediately shut off and we will never see him again." I remember being really frustrated, because it had been a time in my mission that we had met so many people, but could not find any people who wanted to progress in the gospel. However, I decided to press on anyway. After that I got out the first lesson pamphlet and read to him the first paragraph.  It talked about how God is our loving Heavenly Father. As soon as I began talking about this, the entire atmosphere of the room changed. All of a sudden Brother Huang's demeanor changed and he was listening very intently to our share. We invited him to pray and to meet with us again and he agreed. I left that lesson filled with the Spirit.

As the weeks went on, we continued to teach him and I am still absolutely amazed at how receptive he was to the gospel. Even though when I first met with him he seemed to have no reason for the gospel, as he learned more about it, he wanted more. I realized this was a chosen vessel of the Lord, the kind of person that Preach My Gospel says "doesn't recognize they were looking for the gospel until they have found it."

Eventually, I had the opportunity to baptize him (about 4 or 5 weeks after we met him). That day was filled with the Spirit. I was touched as he cried during our musical number and as he cried as he embraced us after. He told us it was one of the happiest days of his life and surely it was one of the happiest days of my life. This person I had contacted in the 7 had become one of my greatest friends.

The week after he got baptized, we informed the bishop that he would be a great candidate for any calling. The bishop told us he would counsel with the Lord and think about an appropriate calling for him. The next day during sacrament meeting, I was shocked when the bishop called him to be the new male young single adults representative. I knew that calling came from the Lord.

I often think about this experience and I learn much from it. One of the lessons I learned was how important it is for us to work hard and invite everyone. I could have easily left the 7-11 that first day. I didn't have to talk to him. Especially since I had already been rejected so much that day. It would have been easy to say that my efforts were useless and nobody had any real interest. But, that one contact changed his life forever and it also changed my life forever.

Another lesson I learned was to never judge a person's potential. When I first saw him I saw him as a person with no chance. I assumed he was just going to disappear, like some of the other investigators we had met. However, the Lord saw his potential. When I looked at him that first day and saw a man who was just meeting with us to find friends, the Lord saw the future young single adults representative of my ward. It was a testimony to me of the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Truly, the gospel of Jesus Christ is able to awaken a dormant soul to the spiritual. The gospel of Jesus Christ is able to make saints out of the ordinary. That experience was a miracle to me, just as miraculous as parting a sea or healing the sick.

Elder Quist

Week 102

ANOTHER TYPHOON Well, this last week started off pretty interesting. First thing that happened was on Monday night. We decided to go visit our new investigator that the Primary president told us about. We had his house address so we started off and we kept riding and riding and riding and finally we realized that not only does he live a lot further than we thought he did, but he also lives in the other elders' area! But that's okay, we talked about it with the president and he told us just to do what the bishop thinks is best, which is to continue teaching him in the ward he is more comfortable in. So, we will have to travel out of our area a couple times a week to teach this investigator, but we are happy to do so.                                                                                       On Tuesday, everyone was telling us that a typhoon was coming for Taiwan, but from what I have experienced in Taiwan, a typhoon isn't always necessarily that bad. So, we didn't know what to expect. However, Tuesday morning the wind was really strong. We decided to go out that morning and buy some food for the night, just in case we weren't able to leave our house to buy dinner. So we walked to the nearest 7-11. As we were walking over there, the wind started to pick up a bit and I had to walk behind my companion (because I am a little smaller) so that if the wind blew too hard I wouldn't be blown over. So, we bought the food and quickly headed back to the house. After getting back to the house the weather started to get worse. The wind started to pick up even more and the power went out. Before we knew it, the wind was blowing so hard that our back door was beginning to blow in and we had to secure it.  It was a crazy day. We didn't leave the apartment all day and we didn't get power back until 11:30 that night.                                            Wednesday we were able to leave our house, which is good, because we saw miracles on Wednesday! We visited with some of our investigators and we were able to get a baptism goal for Praystone! He is planning to get baptized next week. I am so glad I got to come back in time to see his baptism. Wednesday we also met a new investigator. He is named Louis and he came to the church Wednesday. He came to the church asking us about what the church was all about and he told us he was really interested in learning more. We taught him that night and he expressed to us all the problems he has been facing in his life the last couple of months, including attempting suicide. He told us that he hoped we would be able to help him overcome his problems. We met with him on Thursday and Friday too and on Sunday he came to church. He is a really great guy and although he still has some problems to overcome, it is a tender mercy of the Lord that we were able to meet him.                                                                                                                                                         Besides that the rest of the week was pretty normal. We are working hard to get all our investigators progressing. Pray for us!                                                                                                     Love, Elder Quist

Week 101

WELCOME BACK TO SHALU!
This was definitely one of the most interesting weeks of my mission. It felt really weird. When you move to a different area you usually have a few things to deal with. One of them is a new companion. You have to learn who your new companion is and what they are like. Another thing you have to do is learn the way around your area. You have to learn what your area is like, what kind of proselyting would be most appropriate and where to proselyte. You then also have to learn about the ward members and which ward members are the best to work with. However, as I moved this time, I didn't have any of these normal issues. As I rode down the street in Shalu, it felt like I had been serving here just yesterday! I was amazed at how easily I was able to bike around and find places.  I was even able to find old investigators or members we had only visited once of twice when I was here before in Shalu! It was really fun to be back. I have also been able to contact a lot of people I had met here before. I have already met with some of the recent converts that I taught while I was here and some less-actives too.

But probably one of the biggest miracles was Praystone (Ke Jun Hong). I don't know if you remember him. When I first got to Shalu last year, we had an investigator named Praystone. He was a christian that was very interested in our church. Elder Fox and I began meeting with him regularly. However, he seemed to be very slow to progress. We gave him baptismal goal after baptismal goal, but by the time I left he still wasn't ready for baptism. However when I got back here last week, Elder Weatherford informed me of the current investigators and, believe it or not, one of them was Praystone! He has still been struggling to accept a baptismal goal. But on Sunday he came up to me after sacrament meeting and told me that it was time. He said he felt he was finally ready to get baptized and he wants to get baptized soon! I never imagined I would be able to attend his baptismal service... It is such a miracle!

We also found a miracle family this week. I arrived in Shalu and I realized we didn't have too many investigators, so we spent a lot of the last week finding. As a missionary, you talk to a lot of people. A LOT of people. However, the people who become new investigators are few. So, we worked really hard last week and talked to a lot of nice people. Among them was a family, the Chi family. We contacted them really close to the church. Apparently they had recently moved in to the area and they had seen our church. Since they live right across the street from the church, they were really willing to come and check it out. They came over on Sunday (the mom, dad, and their two small children) and they were a really awesome family! They seemed really interested! It was such a miracle. We have found a family to begin teaching!

Another great thing that happened this last week included Charles. Do you remember Charles? He is an investigator I taught who got baptized my last week in Shalu when I was here last time. He was the one who came to church the first week I went to church in Shalu and after that began investigating with us. Well, now he has been a member for quite some time and he gave a talk on Sunday. It was a tender mercy the Lord gave me, the chance to listen to his talk. He talked about how he was so grateful for Elder Fox and I and he was glad I got to be back in the area. I really do know that the Lord gives us what we need.

Last miracle to share with you... So yesterday while at church, Praystone wasn't the only one who came up to us and told us that he wanted to get baptized. We also had the primary president come up to us and tell us that there has been a young kid who has been coming to church lately. Apparently his cousin is a member, so this kid has been coming to church the last few months. Well, we didn't really know this, so she told us she felt it was time for him to get baptized. We talked to the kid and he told us we could go visit him and begin teaching him the lessons. His name is Chen Xin Hong. It was such a miraculous day yesterday! I am so grateful to be back here!

Love,
Elder Quist

Week 100

BACK TO THE BEGINNING!

This has been quite the crazy week, I don't know where to start!  I guess I can start by telling you that (yes, you guessed it) I moved my last transfer! But, you'll never guess where I moved.... to Shalu, the first area where I started my mission!  And you'll never guess who my new companion is.... Elder Weatherford! Do you remember him? He was my companion over in Fengyuan, my second area. Yes, I was pretty shocked when I heard about all the changes. The best part about it is that I am not a zone leader or a district leader anymore so now I can completely focus on my area and get the work done! I am so excited!

This last week we also had a huge typhoon! We were up in Taizhong the day before (because we went on exchanges with the assistants) and when we got up the next morning it wasn't even cloudy. So, we thought it wouldn't be that bad. Then we went back down to Tainan and as soon as we got down there, President told us that we were to stay inside until further notice. It didn't look that bad, but we went back home as we were told. When we got back to our apartment the winds started to pick up. Before we knew it, we were in the worst typhoon I have ever seen in Taiwan! Things were blowing everywhere!  At one point, we watched as our neighbor's roof lifted from their house and flew away! It was pretty crazy!

It was kind of a sad week, as I had to say goodbye to all the people that I met while in Tainan. One of the hardest people to say goodbye to was Pin yi. It was a sad goodbye. There was also Bo Ru, the one who got baptized when I first got to Tainan. It was, all in all, pretty difficult. But it's okay, because it really is a blessing that I get to go back and serve in Shalu again. I get to visit the people I used to meet with there and I finally get to meet with some of my RCs again. I am so happy that I get this chance! 

I can't believe this is my last transfer!  It is going to be the best! I am going to really live it up and savor it!

Love you guys,

Elder Quist

Week 99

This was a great week! After emailing last Monday, it started to rain really hard. It rained and rained and rained some more. On Tuesday it continued to rain. Then it got really serious. It began storming with rain and lightening. It was pretty insane. I remember a time before my mission when we went up to the high Unitas and the lightening seemed to be right outside our tent. The storm here reminded me of that experience.  Crazy!

We taught Chun Hao (our deaf investigator) some more lessons. He is doing really well. He is currently reading the Book of Mormon. We are teaching his entire family. Last week we went to visit him one night, but he was sleeping when we went over. His mom let us in and we were able to teach his mom and his older brother more about the Book of Mormon. This is a really special family! There is not one member of the family who isn't willing to come and talk with us. We just want to get them to come to church.  Pray that they will be willing to come to church this next week! 

We were also able to help Gwen. She is definitely going to get baptized. She has some small concerns, but for the most part she is willing. She has been coming to church consistently for about a month now, but she still refuses to accept a baptism goal. She is going out of the country for the next few weeks, so we hope that we can help her even when she is gone.

Also, we have a new investigator who is really cool. He was a member referral from a member in a different ward. He is a really smart guy that is willing to come and learn more. His name is Yang Guang Yuan. He came to church yesterday for three hours and then he set a baptism goal for the 15th of October (my two year mark!). 

We also met with Sister Qiu this last week. She is an investigator that has the same last name as me. She loves the church and loves to read and pray and come to church, but her husband doesn't really like it, so she usually can't spend too much time with us. However, we had a great lesson with her this last week and we were able to give her a baptismal goal for the 15th of October. Pray that she will allow us to go visit her home. We feel it is key to helping the rest of her family accept this message. 

This next week is transfers, so this may be the last week I spend in this area. This next transfer is the last transfer of my mission, which is really crazy to me! I feel like I just started. I love the mission... it is such a great place. I love the peace and happiness I have been able to feel while serving others. I hope you will all have a chance to go on a mission!

Love you guys!

Elder Quist

Week 98

THE POWER OF CONVERSION

We saw a lot of great things happen last week! 

We were able to visit our deaf investigator again yesterday. As we visited in his home we saw a huge miracle. Instead of meeting with just him, we were able to meet with him, his older brother, his mom and his dad. They all sat down with us! It was a good lesson. Even though we haven't committed them to baptism yet, it was definitely a good start. 

We are focusing a lot on going to visit people in their homes lately. As a mission, we have been used to meeting with people at the church, because the culture of Taiwan is usually not to go visit people you don't really know or let them in your house. However, we have been trying to find new people around their houses, so we know where they live and can find them if needed.  We have seen a lot of miracles because of it.

You remember Pin Yi, the investigator who got baptized last month. This last week he got called as the young single adult co-representative for the ward I am serving in right now! I remember meeting with him about a month and a half ago for the first time. As we sat down and talked in the first lesson, I could never have imagined that I was looking at the future young single adult representative of our ward. I did not see the potential of this son of God. However, our Heavenly Father saw his potential. This experience has given me faith that there are those who are prepared. They are there and they are ready.

We also had another conference this last week. It was basically the same as the conference we had up in Taichung with Elder Evans, but this conference was just with our zone and the president was the only one there with us (no Elder Evans). Since I had already been in a similar conference, I ( and a few other people) was asked to do some of translating for the conference. We translated for all of the Taiwanese people who maybe didn't speak english as well. It was crazy to think that I have gotten to the part of my mission that I am translating for other people. I can't believe I am one of the older missionaries out here. Time really does go by so fast! I can't believe I am coming up to my last transfer as a missionary. I have been getting a lot of emails from my friends who are now home from their missions and I am amazed at how fast this time has gone.

The mission is the greatest place to be!  I am so grateful for the chance that I have had to come here on my mission and I am so glad that I still have one transfer left. 

Love you guys!

Elder Quist

Week 97

Well this one was a great week for me as a missionary! The best part was Huang Pin Yi 黃品逸getting baptized!  I don't know if you remember how we met him or what his story is, but I'll give you a little review...

We met him about a month ago. We went to a 7-11 to make calls one night and we sat down and called for about an hour, not seeing much success. Finally, it was time for us to go to our next lesson. So, I got up and I saw a guy buying a drink. I decided I should go up and talk to him. I gave him a tract and asked if he could come some time and meet with us. He said he could, but he didn't seem like the most golden investigator. That was on a Friday. The next Monday we met with him at the church. The lesson started off pretty average. He seemed more interested in being in a room with a couple of white guys than coming to learn about Jesus Christ, but we still had hope. We invited him to begin to pray on his own. The next day I was able to call him and ask how his prayer went. He then told me over the phone that he had had a dream. He wouldn't tell us what it was, but he said that he had been praying a lot since we met with him. That started his conversion process. We kept meeting with him and he kept progressing. He missed the first week of church after we found him, but since that Sunday he has not missed once (including the time we went over to the stake center and had a conference). He is also currently reading in Alma. Originally, his baptism date was set for September 9th, but since we felt he was doing really well, we moved his baptismal date up two weeks. I had the opportunity to baptize him. After he was baptized, he was given the chance to go up and share his testimony. During his testimony he shared about the many experiences he has had over the last month that have caused him to want to come closer with God. That's why he wanted to get baptized in the end, because he believed it could bring him closer with Jesus Christ, a person he said he had come to love over the last few weeks.

Then we saw another really cool miracle this week. While contacting on a road, Elder Williams saw a street and had the impression that we should come back another day and tract out that street. So only a few days later, we returned and started tracting. We tracted only about four houses when we got to a house with a young man sitting at the computer. Upon seeing us, he ran upstairs. About a minute later, the young man's dad came down the stairs and invited us in. He told us that his son was deaf and was probably just nervous about the communication issue. So, we began teaching the dad and I had an impression that we should talk to the son. So, I began praying that the son would be prompted to come back down the stairs. However, after about 10 minutes he still hadn't come down. Finally, I had a thought. Why was I waiting for the Lord to compel him to come downstairs when I could just ask him down? So, I talked to the dad and asked if the son would be interested in talking with us. He said he would go and ask. A little bit later the son and the dad walked down the stairs. The son seemed really interested to talk to us and immediately sat down and began talking to me. I learned that he had been praying to Jesus for a long time in his life (because when he was young he had attended a church once). He then told me he had always wanted to ask God why God had allowed him to be deaf. I was amazed at the faith of this young guy, who has had very little exposure to any sort of christianity, but has undeniable faith in Jesus Christ. He set up for us to go visit him again. We are planning to go back tonight (and Huang Pin Yi is going to come and fellowship him too). 

Gwen is progressing really well lately. She always comes to sacrament meeting now.  She still refuses to accept a baptismal goal, but I think it really helped that she was able to attend Pin Yi's baptism. We will keep working with her.

This last week we were also able to spend half the week with another elder in our zone. He and his companion had been struggling lately, so President sent him to live with us until today, when he moved to a different area in the mission. His name is Elder Hongvilai and he is from Thailand. He is a super awesome missionary! He had to learn both English and Chinese when he came here. It is kind of lonely for us now that he is gone. I will make sure to send you a picture of us with him.

There are a lot of miracles happening here! Everything is going well.

Love you all!

Elder Quist

Week 96

TEACH REPENTANCE

This last week was really busy!  We had two days where we were gone all day. Thursday we had a meeting up in Taizhong. We got on a train pretty early in the morning so we could get there early enough to make it to a meeting with Elder Evans of the Seventy. He used to be the head of the missionary department. He talked to us about teaching repentance and baptizing converts. He talked about how important it was for us missionaries to teach all the people we meet about repentance and teach them what it means to truly repent. After which, it is so important for the investigator to have their own experience with repentance. As we do this, these are the people who are going to be changed because of the gospel, really these are the people who are going to stay faithful for their whole lives.  So, we as missionaries need to do better to help our investigators have experiences like Alma and Enos. He also talked about finding new investigators.  We should not do anything that distracts us from our purpose as missionaries, regardless of how good of an activity it is.

Then on Friday we had the opportunity to go to Youth Conference. There was a youth conference for the entire country this last week and it was all happening in Jiayi, which is the city right above Tainan. So, on Friday at noon we headed up to Jiayi and once we got there we took a bus to a college. Once there we practiced singing. We sang "We'll Bring the World His Truth" and "As Sisters in Zion" medley in Chinese. While we sang it we were dressed up like the Sons of Helaman. Apparently it was a big hit. We talked to some of the youth who went and they said they were really moved. A lot of them decided that they were going to go on a mission.

While we were at Youth Conference I met David Archuleta. I guess I didn't really meet him. When we first got there he was just standing at the door and I just shook hands with him and greeted him. Then later in the night when we were singing he sang with us. Apparently he was sick, though. He is a really nice guy. He also shared about how he deiced to go on a mission even though there were a lot of people who thought it was not the smartest idea.  It was a really fun activity. I saw a lot of people I had met previously in some of my old areas. We also had Elder Evans come and share about some experiences he has had with missions and mission calls. He went to Japan on his mission. 

On Saturday we had a baptism interview for Pin yi. He passed it with no problems! He is super awesome. He has had a lot of experiences lately that have helped him know that the church is true. He loves reading the Book of Mormon and is currently at the end of the book of Mosiah. (We met him last month, so that might make you feel all guilty about how much of the Book of Mormon you've read in the last month!)  Since we have been focusing on teaching repentance lately, we wanted to make sure Pin yi has really repented and is ready for baptism. He shared with us his experiences so far. One of his experiences was a dream he had. While he was struggling to know if he had truly repented of the past sins he has committed, he had a dream. In his dream he was drawing a picture and the picture was a young boy who was on the ground, sad because he had committed sins. However, behind the boy were two hands and it seemed like the hands were protecting him. After waking up he knew that no matter what he had done, or what he will do, God will never forsake him. This Saturday he is going to be baptized!  He asked if I would baptize him, so I am really excited.

I love all you guys!  Here are some shout outs. Congratulations Zac and Nicole on getting married! Happy Birthday Allie! 

Elder Quist

Week 95

WHAT A GOOD WEEK!

On Monday we were able to go to Anping, which is a tourist area in Tainan. It is just a city with an old fortress that used to belong to the Dutch until Zheng Cheng Gong, a Chinese leader, came and kicked the Dutch out of Taiwan. It was really fun. One of my old friends from Zhanghua, Pony, came down to Tainan to visit me!  It was so great to see him again.  I also was able to buy some cool souvenirs.

One other cool thing happened this week. Currently, the Pokemon Go game is super big in Taiwan. So, Elder Williams and I have been going to this park in our area and all we do is sit down in the middle of this big crowd of people playing Pokemon and we are able to constantly talk to people! I love this new game! It has gotten so many people to leave their houses and come outside so we can more easily talk to them.

Then this last week David Archeletta came to Taiwan. The park we talked to people who were playing Pokemon was the same park where he performed.  So since it was our area, the stake president asked us and the missionaries in our district to go and hand out programs to the people entering the concert. Although we weren't able to attend, it was still pretty cool to get to participate in the activity. There were a lot of people we had met on the street before that came to the concert. I didn't get to shake hands with David though...

Our investigators are doing really well.  One of them is 品逸 Pin yi. We were able to meet with him a few times this last week! He had some trials, but through prayer he got all the answers that he needed. He was originally going to get baptized in September, but we changed his goal to August, because he is ready for baptism. He has already been through all the lessons. He has a interview this week, so we will see how it goes.

We also had another investigator progress well this last week. Her name is Gwen and she is an english class student. When I first met her (my first week in Tainan as her english teacher), I asked if she would like to meet with missionaries sometime. At that time she wasn't very interested. However, as time went on and we did a lot of spiritual shares (we always do spiritual shares in english class), her heart began to soften. She now has come to church twice. She is reading the Book of Mormon regularly and she is also praying. This last week we had stake conference and even though our stake center is a little far from where we live, she was still super willing to come and participate! 

We have other investigators that we continue to work with to help them progress.

This next week should be busy. Taiwan is having youth conference for the entire country this Friday and it is happening in the city just north of us, so we have been asked to participate. We will be up there for most of Friday. Also, we will be attending a seminar for zone and sister training leaders up in Taizhong on Thursday all day.

I love you guys.  Pray that we are lead to the chosen vessels of the Lord! 

Elder Quist

Handing out programs at the David Archuletta concert!

Week 94

ANOTHER TRANSFER IN THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY

Well transfers were today... And as it turns out I am not going to move! I am so happy to stay here with the great people of Tainan!

One of our new investigators, Pin yi (品逸), is doing really well lately. I think I talked about him a little bit last week. Well, this week we saw a lot of miracles with him. He is the type of investigator who is super willing to keep all commitments, but we just had the problem of getting him to have his own spiritual experiences. So, this last week we had a lesson where we followed up on his scripture reading and we asked that as he read the Book of Mormon if he would highlight the scriptures he liked and be prepared to share with us why he liked them. Well, he shared with us one of the scriptures he liked and we started talking to him about it. He then told us he suddenly had a weird feeling. He said it was like a feeling he had never felt before, a feeling that made him so happy he almost wanted to cry. It was such a spiritual lesson with him. Since that lesson he has been progressing even faster. Then it got to the weekend and he was really excited for church. However, on Friday morning his boss told him and the rest of the workers that they would have to work that Sunday. He called and told us he wouldn't be able to come to church anymore. Elder Williams and I decided that we would give him a chance to strengthen his faith, so we read with him about "ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you." We shared with him that if he really wanted to go to church, and had enough faith, the Lord would hear and answer his prayers. So, during his work break he went and prayed and asked God to provide him a way to go to church on Sunday. Later in the afternoon, the boss asked all the workers in for a meeting. During the meeting the boss decided that maybe they wouldn't work on Sunday after all. Pin yi was so surprised. He was amazed that the Lord really answered his prayer. After it happened, he sent us a text and told us that he knows that the Lord hears and answers prayers. He then came to church on Sunday in the white shirt and tie that he had bought the day before!

Then a few kind of sad things happened with a couple of other investigators we have. One of them was Brother Xue. He is doing really well still, but we realized that he lives on the border of our area and the other elders' area and he is actually on their side, not ours. It is a little sad, but it's okay because he is still willing to come and meet with missionaries.

This same thing happened again last week with a different investigator. This investigator is named Carter and he is super cool. He is going to BYU Hawaii next semester and he wants to get baptized before he goes. However, he too lives on the border and he too just so happens to live on the other elders' side.  It's okay though.. I know that it's all the Lord's will and there is obviously a reason they don't live in our area. I know that everything the Lord gives us is a blessing, so we are definitely going to see miracles by doing it the Lord's way.

We continue to meet good people here and see miracles!  This last week we were a little busier than usual, but I am excited to go out and find some cool new people this next week. I have only two more transfers and I am going to make them the best two of my mission!

I love you guys!

Elder Quist

Week 93

THAT WAS QUITE THE WEEK

This last week was a really special week. It was full of disappointments and miracles. I think that at one point we had about 40 lessons scheduled for the week (investigators and new potentials that we had met on the street). However, at least 20 of those lessons stood us up or cancelled. I remember we got to Saturday and I was just mad. I just didn't understand why people could not understand how important this message we are sharing is. I just didn't understand why everyone refused to give us a chance. I felt that there we were talking to so many people, but nobody was willing to hear. Isn't this the most precious and important message in the world? Why did nobody understand?

I still don't know all the answers to those questions, but yesterday the Lord gave me some answers. I realized that timing is important to Him. Not everyone is ready right now. I also learned that if one thing was true, it was that the Lord will never abandon anyone and nobody is a "lost cause" to the Lord. So, even though most people are lost, the Lord will be there as soon as they are ready to accept Him. 

I also had an experience that taught me charity. Last night we had a family home evening activity and our recent convert brought his friend. His friend is a very active christian in a different church. After family home evening, I went over to talk to him to see if he would be willing to meet sometime. He immediately asked me if we read the bible as a church. After which he told me how he had never heard of the Book of Mormon and that he was used to reading the bible. He then proceeded to ask me if I read the bible regularly and he then pulled out a bible scripture on a piece of paper from his wallet and asked me if I could tell him what it meant. I felt attacked during the whole thing. I felt he didn't really like our church, and I felt the way he was going about it all was very prideful. He then proceeded to tell me that he believed our church felt different than most christian churches, and the way he said it just made me feel offended.

So, we met with him this morning. He was going to return to school in Taibei, so he asked if we could meet this morning before he went back. We brought out bibles and we were ready to "open the scriptures" to him. Then the lesson we had with him changed my attitude. As we began to meet with him, I realized that he was actually really interested in our church and that also he had asked me all those questions about the bible and the Book of Mormon because he was genuinely interested in learning more. He turned out to be golden. A lost soul looking for the truth. I realized that I was offended during the conversation I had with him the night before because I was so used to be rejected and called out by other Christians that I immediately assumed his questions and his comments were all an attempt to attack. I assumed he was just another prideful Christian from another church, but then realized that maybe it was me who was being prideful. I learned that I need charity, for charity is essential in helping anyone accept this gospel. We will not build anyone's faith in this church by tearing down their faith in their own church. 

Another miracle we saw was getting seven people to church on Sunday! Our investigators are progressing now! The Wang family is doing really well and our new investigator 品逸is doing really well too. Next week is transfers. I hope I stay.

I love you guys! 

Elder Quist

Week 92

FINDING THE CHOSEN VESSELS

As you know, Elder Williams and I have been really focusing on finding the people who are truly prepared to hear this message. This last week I was studying in Moroni 7:29-31 and I read something I really liked. I read about how people who spread the gospel are to do it the Lord's way and they are to share repentance to the "chosen vessels."  I was thinking about what that meant and I think it means we are supposed to find the people who are really willing and interested in learning about this gospel. We have been praying hard for that... 

We have a new investigator from this last week. His name is Brother Xue. We found him at the park last Sunday with his daughter. He was sitting around the pond with his daughter and he told us how he has been recently looking for a new way of life. So, we scheduled a time to meet with him. We met with him and shared the first lesson and he loved it. Not only did he commit to coming to church for three hours, but he also committed to coming to a baptismal service and getting baptized at the end of August. He came to church on Sunday and made sure to take notes of the things he liked. We learned about the spirit in priesthood and he shared with us that while we were talking about the spirit, he had an impression that he as a father alone cannot raise his kids and he believes he needs to bring his family into this church in order to raise them. It was such a miracle!

We are also helping the Wang family progress. This last week we gave the older brother a baptismal goal. The sons also came to church on Sunday. They came to church and asked a lot of questions about getting baptized. It seems they are really interested.

We are also helping other people who have been showing real interest. We have a lady with the same Chinese last name as me who is currently investigating and she decided she wants to start bringing her son to church on Sunday.

And finally, we had an interesting experience this week. We were contacting when we talked to this lady who asked if we would go to her home and talk to her son. She told us that her son is really lazy and she wants him to start coming to church. So, we visited them on Saturday and her son really is very lazy.  He acted like he did not want to talk to us at all, but I was able to get to him in the end. It was his birthday yesterday, so we dropped off a present for him last night. The mom is really hoping he can get baptized, but first we need him to be willing to get off the couch.

Thank you for all the prayers! I will email more miracles next week, so keep praying for me!

Love you all!

Elder Quist

Week 91

MIRACLES FROM YOUR PRAYERS

This week we found more people who are willing to actually come and learn more about the church! We saw so many miracles this last week!

We continued to work with the Wang family (the family I told you about last week). We went back to their house this last week and met with the two sons (because the mother was busy during that time). We taught the sons the first lesson and they were really receptive to the message we were sharing. We invited them to be baptized and they accepted! However, yesterday they were unable to come to church because of an activity they had to attend. We are going to visit them again this week and I really hope we can help them start progressing faster!

Then we had another miracle where we visited the Chen family again (the family of the investigator we have been meeting with lately). We also met with them and shared the first lesson. The spirit that filled their home when we were with them was so strong! We invited them to sit down and pray about it as a family. They said they would that night. I have never been able to work with families in my mission, but I am so grateful now for these opportunities to work with these great families.

We met some cool new people this last week, too. We met a lady named Lilian who came to church yesterday and also a man who is interested in trying new religions. 

Yesterday, I met a man who was sitting at the park with his daughter. He told me that lately he has not been going to work because of some things that he is trying to figure out in his life. He has been looking to religion to an answer to some of the questions in his heart. I expressed to him that I could help him better understand the problems he is facing and the answers he could find and he immediately set up a time to meet with us.

Right after talking to him, I walked up and came across a whole pack of Jehovah's Witnesses. I don't know if this is their own rule, or a law in Taiwan, but they will never contact people themselves, they have to wait for people to come to them. So, I got too close to them and next thing I knew I was surrounded. There were probably about 20 of them. They started to ask me questions about missionaries. I was super afraid they were going to start bashing me (because the Jehovah's Witnesses here LOVE to bible bash). So, I slowly backed up while trying to give them a good testimony about our church. It was a pretty crazy experience.

This next week we have more investigators set up and more miracles waiting to happen. I can't wait for the great things coming our way!

Love you all,

Elder Quist