Week 76

Wow, Transfer Went Fast

So, another transfer has passed (and it was a 7-week one, longer than usual ) and this time it just flew by. My training experience is already half way over! I can't believe it. I am kind of sad, because I will almost definitely move this next transfer and I feel like I just got to ZhangHua! I guess I still have six weeks, though... I remember when I used to think six weeks was a long time!

I want to share a cool experience we had this week.  There is a family in our ward, the mother is a long-time less-active and the three kids are all recent converts (they were baptized last July in a different area). They moved to ZhangHua about 6 months ago, and since they got here, they have only been to church once. We have tried every single thing to help them come back to church, from having members invite them to having members drive to their house on Sunday morning and offer to take them! However, each time they have come up with an excuse on why they couldn't come to church. But, while planning on Friday night, we were inspired to go visit them. So following our contacting from 6 to 7 on Saturday night, we headed over to their house and gave them a simple invite to church. The mother told us she had a feeling we would come that day and had hoped we would visit. She then told us how she had been longing to come back to our church lately. They then committed to come to church and all four of them showed up at church the next day! This is a testament to me that the Lord never gives up on people and we should do our part and remember it is all in the Lord's timing.

Now the investigators... Do you remember Peter Luo? He is an investigator we met a few weeks ago. Since we met him he has been to church every week and now is planning on getting baptized next week! He loves church and he comes to all the church activities.

Then there is also Claire, our english student. She came to church yesterday too. She loves coming to church and is preparing to get baptized soon. Today is a holiday in Taiwan, so most of the college students are returning home for four or five days. She came to church yesterday and then after church she headed back to her home up north.

Then our investigator Lin Pei Hua (or Jessy? I never call her by her english name). She is the one who is partially blind. She is such an example of someone prepared by the Lord. She is trying everything she can so that she can read the Book of Mormon. Currently, she has decided she will just enlarge the text until it is so big that there are only a couple of Chinese characters on her phone screen at one time. Doing it this way still causes her a lot of pain and requires a lot of effort. She is such an example to me of faith and diligence. She is willing to sacrifice so much in order to learn more about the church of Jesus Christ.

Then I told you about Jack (Xin Xiang) last week. He is the one who came to the easter activity. He is doing well too. He came to church yesterday and is currently considering setting a baptism goal.

And there are others who are progressing- Peter Lin (the one with family opposition) and Kim are still working towards baptism.  We also have a few new investigators. We are truly blessed lately!

Love you guys,

Elder Quist

Week 75

It just keeps raining.... miracles!

Wow! Although it rained from Monday to Friday (basically non-stop and freezing), we still saw so many great things happen this last week! I think I have to thank you guys, because I asked you all to pray for sincere investigators and we were so blessed this last week. Thank you for your prayers and I hope you can keep praying for me (because prayer works).

The first miracle was last Tuesday. A couple weeks ago we were tracting (which usually brings minimal results, but we felt like we should), when we came across a 30 year old woman. She answered the door and told us that she had gotten in a car accident about a year ago, which had left her partially blind (she can only see colors and shapes of people). She shared with us her great trial of being trapped in her house for the last year and all the things she misses from her past. She then shared with us how she felt like God had saved her life and how she wanted to meet Him. So, this last Tuesday we went and visited her again. She was extremely receptive to everything, especially the idea of baptism. We talked to the ward about her and we were able to arrange with some members to bring her to church on Sunday. She attended church and she loved it! During Gospel Principles' class, she was asked to introduce herself. She got up in front of the class and shared how she met us missionaries. She then shared how when she was a young girl she had an experience where she had got in a fight with her sister, which caused her to begin crying. While crying in the front room of the house, a man came to the door who told her he was a missionary (he was also an american) and he began to console her and tell her that she didn't need to cry. She was really impressed by this experience, so she has always had good feelings towards christianity. Then later in her life she moved to Australia. While in Australia, she found a good friend who was a christian. She was so impressed by her christian friend that she decided she wanted to go to church. However, before she had the chance, she moved back to Taiwan. It was then that she got in a horrible car accident. After the accident her uncle began visiting her and sharing about how much church could help her (he is a christian). However, since her uncle's church is so far away, she never had the chance to go to church. Then she met us. Our church is really close to her house. No wonder she was so receptive to our message!  This experience gave me so much faith that people are truly prepared for the gospel. They are literally waiting for missionaries to come knock on their door.

The other miracle was that our investigator Claire also has a new baptismal goal! She is also very willing and ready for the gospel. On Saturday, the other elders in our building had a baptismal service scheduled and Claire came to attend. However, the water in our building was not working the night of the baptism. We called president and got permission to go to the nearest chapel to perform the baptism (which is 30 minutes away). By 8:45, we had finally started the baptism and Claire was still willing to come! It was a great baptismal service, the spirit was very strong. We didn't get home that night until about 10:15 (with president's permission).

Also, we had an easter activity last night. We had a bunch of investigators come. We played the egg rolling game we always play as a family and it was a big hit! It was a pretty funny experience. Before the activity, we went out with members to the college close by and we invited people on the street to come and one kid from the street actually came. His name is Chen Xin Xiang. And it just so happened that he won the competition! It was just like our family competition, the person visiting who few have ever met before, wins the egg roll!  He is a super cool kid and he lives right next to the church. He seems really willing to learn more, so we are meeting with him tonight.

There are so many other miracles.. but I don't have time and most of you will just skip this email because it is already too long...

Love you guys and Happy Easter,

Elder Quist 

Week 74

Rain Rain Go Away

Another rainy week... and it's supposed to stay rainy. But it's okay, because even though it was rainy last week, we still had some success! We were able to help a lot of people come closer to Christ! I know you guys must have really been praying that we could have more sincere investigators, because we have found a lot of good people lately.

Here are some of our people:

The first person is named Kevin. While making calls in a 7-11 last week we were self contacted by Kevin who we had contacted on the street the week prior. He came up to us this week and told us he has recently had a lot of trials, and he really wants God's help. So we met with him and he seems super cool! It gave me so much hope that when we contact people who reject us, we are still helping them feel the truth of our message!

The next person is Peter. He is the kid whose dad does not want him to get baptized. We fasted with him on Sunday and even though he is only 15 years old, he was willing to fast with us for a full two meals! We keep praying that his dad will let him get baptized. 

Next is another Peter, Peter Luo. He is super cool! He has met a bunch of missionaries in the past, and now he is super golden! He has come to church every time since we met him and has a new baptism goal! 

Then there is Brian. I told you about Brian... he is the one who said he was really interested in Christian churches. He had committed to reading and praying and going to church because he feels like he needs God's help in his life. 

Then Kim of course.  She is still working towards baptism and yesterday she fasted with us to help her prepare for baptism. 

Also we have a new investigator named Claire. We met with her on Wednesday. She is from our english class and when we met her she seemed pretty golden. We taught her the first lesson and she cried. She said she felt something so strong when we were talking about the restoration of the gospel! It was so great. She also came to church on Sunday!

We saw a lot of miracles last week! Keep praying that we will be led to the people who have a sincere desire to come unto Christ! 

I love you guys!

Elder Quist

Week 73

What a good week! The only problem was from Wednesday until today it has been continually raining.... and if there is anything that stops missionary work in this mission it is the rain. People here are so afraid of the rain. It is probably because a lot of people only have scooters, so if they go outside they will definitely get wet.

However, since we serve close to a college, we were able to stay effective over the last few days. When it rained we just got out our umbrellas and walked over by the college. Since the students still have to eat and go to class there were still a lot of people outside. Then, when it seemed like our efforts outside were pointless, we went inside a 7-11 to make calls. I made a point to sit right next to a set of benches inside in the 7-11 and every time somebody came inside the store and sat down we would make sure to talk to them. We met a lot of really cool people!

What else happened last week.... We got a few new cool investigators. We have two who are really awesome and both of them are referrals from other elders in our district. One of them is a guy named Peter. The other elders met him close to the church and knowing that he would be in our area they invited us to come to the lesson with them. I don't if it was intimidating or not... but we had four elders vs. one investigator. It went super well, though. He told us he has seen a bunch of missionaries his whole life and he has probably talked to about 12. However, up until now he has never wanted to meet with them. Finally, after the 13th missionary talked to him, he decided he should go see what they have to share. Since meeting with us on Friday, he came to church on Sunday and he came to our family home evening activity last night! It gives me more faith to go out and talk to everyone, and even though people may still reject us, I can have faith that maybe I am preparing these people for a future time with future missionaries.

Then there was another referral from those same elders. This guy is super cool.. he is about 30 and he seems super willing to get baptized! He already has a baptism goal. The only problem is it is a struggle for him to come to church, and we just don't know why. 

Then our other investigators are progressing pretty well! Pig (our investigator) has come to church twice now and he loves the ward! Yesterday in priesthood, he wrote down the names of all the men in the elders quorum.

We also have Brian still (the guy I told you about last week). He has started reading the Book of Mormon.. but he can never come to church. 

Then there is a kid named Peter Lin who is the son of a recent convert from a different ward. Because his parents are divorced, he lives with his father (who is not a member, and who will not let him get baptized). As soon as his dad lets him, he can get baptized right away.  Pray for him.

And lastly, there is Kim.  Kim is all ready for baptism too, but she is really busy now and still needs to figure some things out before she gets baptized.

And we have some other investigators, but they are not really progressing. 

Things are great here! I can't believe I have been out this long... I am starting to get super worried. I feel like I have a thousand things I still want to do before I go home! I don't have enough time!

Love you guys...

Elder Quist

Week 72

YOU LEARN A LOT ON YOUR MISSION

This week we continued to work really hard to find new investigators. Everyday was filled with hours of contacting people on the side of the street. And we saw a lot of cool miracles this week! I will share what happened with us on Monday night.

We were contacting all Monday night. We talked to a lot of people, but it seemed like most people were not interested in what we had to say. Then, while we were biking back towards the church area, I saw a guy leaving a store on the corner of the street. We were turning and I just felt like I should go back and talk to him. As I turned my bike around to go back, the guy we saw leave the store turned the corner. We talked to him and as I introduced myself as "Elder Quist" he asked me why I was called "Elder."  I told him it was because I am a missionary and he preceded to tell us that a few years ago he was able to attend a christian church service and he was really interested in Christianity. Because we still had about an hour till it was time to go home, I asked him if he wanted to go over to our church so we could give him a tour. He was like "I got time, where is your church?" It was awesome! So, then we walked with him to our church and shared a short lesson about our purpose as missionaries. His name is Brian and he seems really cool! 

However, even though we saw miracles this week, we also had our share of trials. We worked really hard and it seemed like the people we were meeting on the street just didn't have a lot of interest and some of the investigators we already have were telling us they no longer wanted to meet with us. So, it seemed our situation was just getting worse and worse. Finally, on Sunday, we had invited at least 10 people to church and five of them told us they would be there. However, as church started we were sad to see that none of them decided to come. I was really disappointed.  Even though the Lord has taught me, time and time again, what real success is on a mission, I still felt like my efforts were inadequate. Then, during fast and testimony meeting, a younger member (only 18 years old) got up and shared an experience. He told of how his parents called him one day at 3 o clock in the afternoon and told him in order to apply for a certain college he had to submit his application that day. However, since he needed his Taiwanese identification card, he had to run to his school, find it, and enter the information into the computer, all before 6 o clock. Since he was far from his school, he went to rent a U Bike (which is a bike you can rent and bike around the city). However, as he was trying to get the U bike, his yoyo card (the card you use to rent the U bike) stopped working and it wouldn't let him take out a bike. He said he kept trying and trying and finally he decided to say a prayer. After saying a prayer, the card still wasn't working. Finally, he thought God had forgotten him; however, as soon as he thought that he saw Elder Hampton and I biking down the road. He then became emotional and expressed how much he felt God's love for him at that moment. We had talked to him for a couple of minutes (oblivious of his situation) and then left. He then said after we left his card worked perfectly and he was able to go get everything done that he needed to get done.  I don't know why he needed to talk with us missionaries, but it really strengthened his testimony. I remember that day.... We had contacted for about an hour with absolutely no success. I felt like our efforts that afternoon were worthless. But, as he shared that experience the spirit testified to me so strongly that our time on our missions is the Lord's time and He will use it as He needs. If we are willing to sacrifice our all to the Lord, and follow the Spirit, we can be certain that what we do each day is God's will for us, whether or not it seems to wield success.

I love being a missionary! Don't forget to keeping praying for us to find investigators with real intent! We are going to see miracles!

Love you guys,

Elder Quist

Week 71

HAPPY LEAP DAY!

This day only comes once every 4 years, so you better live it up!  We are having a leap day party today during p-day. We are having pizza and board games and everything. I can't believe the last leap day I was a sophomore... that was 4 years ago?! Crazy...

This last week was a great week here in Zhang Hua. We got some new investigators and met with some old investigators. However, most of our time here is spent finding. The area right now is not full of a lot progressing investigators, it is more like a lot of potential. So we are just trying to get some new people who are sincerely interested in hearing the gospel. So if you were wondering what  to pray for, you can pray that we are able to find some new sincere investigators.

I am having a great time with Elder Hampton. He reminds me a lot of myself when I first started as a missionary. I didn't realize how lucky I was to first start in America. It was a huge blessing to get to first get used to life as a missionary in Washington and then get used to the Chinese language and the Taiwanese culture once I arrived in Taiwan. We, missionaries that come to Asia, must be the ones who have to learn patience and humility!  This mission experience has been a great teacher to me.

A great experience I have to relate this week happened with an investigator I talked about last week. His name is Will and he was brought to church by a member last week. Since he was a member referral, we were eager to meet him! However, when we called him he wasn't answering his phone. I really wanted to get in contact with him, so I prayed and asked God if he would let us come across him on the street. I prayed on Tuesday night that we could come across him on Wednesday, but we went the whole day without seeing him. And then on Thursday I had stopped praying, and had even forgotten about it. However, as we were leaving the place we ate for lunch, Will was standing right next to our bikes! We talked to him and set up a time to meet with him the next day! It was a great lesson that the Lord has His own time and also that the Lord is involved in missionary work. Although sometimes we are not perfect missionaries, He won't let us fail.

I don't have much else to write... I love you guys... Pray for the sincere investigators. 

Elder Quist

Week 70

MIRACLES!

This week I have been able to see the hand of the Lord in our missionary work. Elder Hampton has brought so many miracles!  The area I am serving in has recently had a lack of new and progressing investigators, so we needed a new missionary to come and bring all the miracles. 

This week was Power Week. Since Chinese New Year is such a slow time for missionary work, the week after we have something called Power Week. It is basically like working super hard and you only have 2 hours of study everyday and you have crazy goals to accomplish. It was a really fun week!  We saw a lot of new investigators!

I will focus on the miracles we experienced on the weekend. On Saturday, we had a day full of contacting. As we went out for the day we decided everyone we met we would invite to come to church the next day. We met a lot of cool people. Then in the middle of the day we had a lesson up on the top of a mountain. However, we got lost. As we got lost we talked to a guy on the side of the road for directions. He told us that he was a boy scout! That was the first boy scout I have ever met in Taiwan. He told us where we were supposed to go and then he added us on facebook. Then as we continued back towards the road we were "supposed" to be on, we got lost again. Then we asked someone else for directions. This person had recently moved into our area and he told us he would like to come see our church sometime! It was amazing to see that even though we were somewhere we originally did not plan on being,  God wanted us to be there. Even though we are imperfect missionaries who get lost and sometimes make mistakes, He uses us as we are and lets us see miracles. While on a mission I have learned that God is a merciful god. 

Then yesterday on Sunday, we saw even more miracles. Pony came to church yesterday (the guy who is studying in China that I talked about last week). Even though he can't get baptized here this week, I feel he will definitely get baptized in the future. Then also we had a lot of new investigators come to church yesterday. We had a member bring a friend to church and his friend is really willing to meet with us. Then also we had two people we contacted on the street come to church and they also said they would want to meet with us sometime. Also, that night we had family home evening and we had a new investigator come to family home evening. We were able to get 6 new investigators last week. The Lord gave us so many miracles! I have learned this week how willing the Lord is to bless us and how much He blesses us everyday of our lives!

I love you guys!

Elder Quist