Week 49

Dear President! Wha! District Leader is tough stuff. It definitely keeps you on your toes. But I know that from it I'm growing and learning what the Lord would have me learn. I hope that I'm doing an adaquate job to help my district members continue to learn and improve. I haven't gone on exchanges yet, but I'll be planning on going with YuLi this week with Elder Xu. I'm really glad that they saw some good success this week. YuLi hasn't had a baptism for over a year. But they seem to be progressing a lot. Hopefully I'll be able to take part of some of that success in that area. Elder You is a great companion. He is definitely different than Elder Bowler, but he has many strengths as a missionary and I know that I will learn a lot from him. So far I feel that he's not always as into the work as he should be. So hopefully I can excite him for missionary work by example and help him do his best. I feel the district has done really well this week. So far I don't think there are any companionship problems. They had good reactions from the invite this week. Even though it was really simple, I think it helped remind them the importance of it. Overall they had better relationships with their investigators and they were able to evaluate and improve their ways of contacting their investigators. Sister Rosander was sick this week, so we gave her a blessing. She seems to be doing fine. I don't think her work was effected. She just had a rough voice and was wearing the hospital mask. I know the blessing helped her a lot. Elder Peterson is doing great! And better yet, he's a tenor! That means we have SATB in our district. We're going to have a lot of fun down here. But besides that, I know Elder Peterson's doing a great job as a senior companion. He and Elder Lin seem to get along great. So with investigators, we've been finding a lot of haihao ones. They'll get to setup, but then end up having some excuse not to come. I noticed in PMG it says it is essential that investigators keep a continual influence of the Spirit that they felt when they first met with missionaries, and I definitely see that in our investigators now. But there was a really good one this week. He came from Tai4Ma2Li3 太麻里. Which, for him, is a half hour walk to an hour bus ride. And he came just for us! I don't really understand why he has interest at this point. But I know there's some. He said he really liked church this week. They talked about Patience. He said each member who spoke really touched him. Which was good. Our church meeting really helped me as well. I feel I need to have more patience with myself and with those around me. Zhou Surfer is also making steady progress. We're giving him a lot of ways to strengthen his faith and overcome temptation. He's doing really well. He hasn't touched tea in 2 weeks, and he's a lot stronger than he was before. He also came to all three hours in GaoXiong's ward! He's on track for his 6/16 date of being baptized. Thank you for everyone's support and packages and fun stuff. Love you all! Have an awesome day! -Elder Liu

Week 48

I'm excited to stay another 6 weeks in TaiDong! Especially as a district leader! I know that I have many, many weaknesses. But I also have a firm belief that Christ will lift me higher. Elder Bowler is moving just next door in the same district -- YuLi. My new companion will be a Taiwanese, named Elder You2. So no, our baptisms didn't go through. But they're still okay and they're still progressing even further on the path. It's been a little hard recently. Not too many new investigators, but I feel that we are handling well our old ones. A lot of them stopped meeting with us or are very hard to get a hold of, so it's hard to balance the time right. With Elder You2 we'll probably get a lot of finding done, and see even more miracles. I feel that I've learned a lot with Elder Bowler. I feel our investigators are finally getting the importance of our commitments. They're also understanding more our love for them, and how because we love them, we want to fulfill our purpose through them -- by doing everything we can to invite others to come unto Christ. I know it's because of focusing on these things the past few weeks that we've seen a lot of miracles and a lot better success. It feels like the numbers don't portray how much work we've done, but I feel like I've grown a lot, so it's all worth it. I know that I've helped those I need to, and I've done my best. Hopefully in the next transfer we'll get at least these last two (Chen Wei Hong and Zhou Surfer) baptized and confirmed. Sorry, a shorter email this week. We need to get more things sorted out for the new transfer! Love, -Elder Liu

Week 47

Hello, everybody! Happy Mother's Day -^^- Everything is going wonderfully. I really loved the specialized training we had this week about invites and following up, and I'm already seeing so much more success and love as I use the "ABC" way to invite and followup (Because ABC's are the best :P). A stands for Ai4. Yes, Love. B is Bold. C is confident. I think I personally benefitted most from C. Although before I knew that these invitations would give them blessings, I think I needed more confidence that these invitations are the number one best things they can be doing in their life to help them and their families. No exceptions. And of course show an added measure of love as you boldly give invites. I think our investigators are finally understanding how important these invitations are in their lives through a clearer way of inviting. I sure hope that I don't move, but of course, it's the Lord that will decide that! We're still getting one baptism this week, Zhou Surfer. He really has been amazing. He needs to get up earlier for church, but other than that, he's exercised his faith a lot in the past month or so. Elder Bowler's doing just great. I feel he is learning a lot, and it is showing in his finding, teaching, and Chinese speaking. He's really doing a great job. I'm grateful to have him as my companion. This week we had Elder Lin with us in a 3-in-1. Although the work was a little more busy with two area's work, it was still really good and fulfilling. We were able to visit with their investigators and visit their area (and eat their food! all the good food is in their area...) But it was a really good experience, especially to learn from a new companion. Elder Lin is doing good as well. He's in his second transfer. He seems to be frustrated with his own abilities as a missionary, but he really is doing great and is doing great things. This week has also been a little hard because this week was Mother's Day. A lot of our investigators went home for the weekend, so we had quite a peaceful church with no investigators :( It's been a constant struggle to get people over to our church. Elder Bowler and I will talk about more we can do about it. I hope every mother feels how special they really are, and how much the Lord loves you for your sacrifices! Love, -Elder Liu

Week 46

Hello, everyone! TaiDong is doing spectacular! This week was a little rough because we had a lot of unexpected things pop up, like going to Hualian for exchanges and having Elder Lin be in a threesome with us (since Elder Lusubudan is dang1 bing1-ing for a week.) It's been great, and we've been working hard, but it's been hard on the numbers. I know the Lord will bless us in unexpected ways as well. So far we have 2 baptisms planned for next week. So we're having 2 interviews this week. We're working a lot closer with our MMLeader, Jerry, to help these go as smoothly as possible. The two people are: Zhou Surfer. He's doing amazing! He's done with all the lessons - took tithing like candy, and has been studying and pondering the baptismal interview questions. He's really been an amazing example of faith. I asked if he's had any family opposition, and he said of course he has, but he feels that this will be better for him anyway. He went to church in Gaoxiong this week, and he'll be in Gaoxiong again next week for Mother's Day. I think his biggest problem with enduring to the end is to come to all 3 hours of church. He has yet to do that. But he will always make the sacrifice to go to at least Sacrament Meeting. He has the faith to do everything he needs to, but he needs a push to do it sometimes, but then he's great. I've been grateful to have Zhou Surfer as an investigator. In his prayers he mentioned how he was grateful us Elders could help him make these changes in his life to be more fitting for God. It helped me see the impact that we have in other's lives. That's really refreshing sometimes for a missionary. The other one is Chen Wei Hong -- He's been a really long time now. He's had 2 interviews, but none of them are effective now. We've decided to wait until he's 20 next week so he can just get baptized without parent permission, and so hopefully everything will go smooth next saturday. Have an awesome day, everyone, and a magical Mother's day! I love you, -Elder Liu

Week 45

Hello, everyone~ The work has been wonderful. I feel that from our specialized training from Elder Gong my testimony strengthened so much. I was praying for an experience that could help me strengthen my testimony and desire to share what I know. Being able to talk about teaching skills and the Restoration of the Gospel, as well as feeling the Spirit really did answer my prayers. I'm grateful for the training you gave and the Spirit that you, Sister Grimley, and Elder/Sister Gong brought to us. I also feel that the focus of my finding and teaching have taken a more effective and spiritual turn by focusing on the Restoration of the Gospel. This week, I feel that by opening a lot more responsibility to Elder Bowler, things have naturally gotten a little harder in some aspects. He's doing an amazing job at being proactive and continuing to improve, so the work load is becoming even more equal. But now as we plan and discuss things together, we have to work more fully with two different opinions. Of course, as we both try to seek the Spirit, discuss, and study it out in our minds, we try to find the will of the Lord in our decisions. It's been a wonderful opportunity to be able to develop these communication skills and Christlike attributes. I'm sure the opportunities will only increase as life goes on. This week we've had some great progress with some of our investigators. Zhou Surfer is making a conscious and faithful effort to stop drinking coffee this week so he can have is baptismal interview next Thursday. He's already finished the Book of Mormon in less than a month, and his testimony is really strong. He specifically said in his prayer his thanks for the missionaries helping him change his life to fit how the Lord would have it. That really touched me. It helped me see firsthand how the gospel really does change lives. It helps people really become happier. -Elder Liu

Week 44

Hello, everyone! This week has been incredible! We've definitely seen the Lord's hand and guidance in our lives. We've been unconsciously been sharing more and more scripture because our roleplays have all been How to Begin Teaching and Scripture based. We've been able to practice how to effectively introduce, read, and apply scripture. It's becoming more and more apparent how if our investigators are just wiling to read the Book of Mormon, they will be able to bear with faith the trials necessary to becoming converted. We've had a big wave of lessons this week. Which means we had less finding time. But we definitely had the Lord's help to hit our goals. During our WPS Elder Bowler and I were able to talk about the equality of our companionship. Elder Bowler has been staying in the background more, and waiting for my lead to know where we should go or what to do. I've been trying to have Elder Bowler and I have 50/50 planning, teaching, and every other aspect. Once we simply talked about it, we've been seeing even more miracles. He's been giving more input. We've been seeing that as we pray about the things that we are about to do, we are both lead to have the same feeling, and we see many miracles as a result. Yesterday we had to find one last investigator in the last 30 minutes of the day. After the prayer, we both had a distinct feeling that we should go toward Obama cake, which is away from home. As we went, I found a kid willing to do prayer, but didn't have time for a lesson, so I got his number. Elder Bowler found a former investigator who said he needed prayer in his life again. He was willing to meet with us more. His wife and kids seem to be inactive members. Hopefully we can help this family come unto Christ once more! Li3 Chang1 Xian4 dx has been amazing after his baptism. We already have two of his friends that we've met on the street that they say they know us because of his influence. They were both willing to meet with us and learn more. Because of various reasons, their progress might be slower, but we'll try to do the best we can. Li3 dx's already being an awesome member missionary, mostly just because about the things he talks about every day. We have an investigator Chen2 Wei3 Hong2 who has passed his baptismal interview! He's a Dong1 Da4 freshman in college. Recently he's been out of town and not being able to meet with us. But this week he's had a lot of time. He ran into a problem last week, in that we taught him the 10 commandments. He said that he didn't know if he could give up his family religion to be baptized. He wanted to respect both religions equally. We asked him to ponder and pray about it. A couple times later he said he was willing to follow the 10 commandments. I'm not really sure how he came to this conclusion, but he did mention how he's gotten a lot of help from this church, so he's willing to be baptized. It reminds me of how if we just follow the doctrine, we will know of the goodness and the truthfulness of that doctrine. He's been amazing. I think his biggest need before baptism is to know that after baptism he needs to attend church every single time, and not just when we invite him or when it's convenient. Our next baptism will probably be a Zhou1 dx (we call him Zhou surfer, just because...he looks that cool.) He works for the government, so he has a lot of free time. He uses at least 30 minutes a day of this free time to...read the Book of Mormon! Yay! He's amazing. In 3 1/2 weeks, he's already at Alma 40s. And the testimony he's grown has really shown in his progress. Even those these commandments have been a little daunting at first, he's been able to overcome them very well. He goes to GaoXiong every other week on the weekend to spend time with his family. Normally they go out to eat on Sundays, but this week he bought a bunch of groceries on Saturday and he's going to eat by himself on Sunday. It's kind of a sad sacrifice, but it's wonderful that he's keeping the Sabbath Day holy. He's sure to see the blessings of Sabbath day observance. We found a Vegan place called Loving Hut. A very interesting name, but also very good vegetarian food. It's been great to see the creativity of names here. Why can't the US do that? :P I love you, -Elder Liu

Week 43

Hello, President! This week has been going great. We've seen tons of success. We had over 30 lessons this week. And a lot of new people willing to set a baptismal date on the street. We hope they'll all be able to keep progressing and build their testimony. We have also been studying the Book of Mormon using 5 different markers as an invite from President -- one for each part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So far...I dont' feel like I've gotten a huge amount of revelation. But I think part of that is I need to establish my own expectation of what I want to learn. I'm still working on it. I have noticed that drawing these helps me realize how much the Book of Mormon testifies of Christ and helps us learn his teachings. It helps us see clearly the effects of faith, and the consequences of repentance (and not repenting). It helps us see how earnestly the prophets want us to come unto Christ and be baptized. As well how important the Spirit and Enduring to the end are. We're really grateful for the success that we've seen this week. We just hope we can continue in humility with the Spirit's guidance. We're going to get all these people baptized! And of course, on Friday the 13th you need a fun story. The sisters brought us their investigator that has been having some creepy problems recently. She says she has spirits in her, one named Baba -- a spirit who doesn't want her to pray and needs other vessels to do his work -- and another called Xian1Zhi1. And I'm sure there were a few more. But she kept referring to herself in 3rd person and saying some weird things. She was never like that before, so the sisters wanted us to give her a blessing. So I gave a blessing of comfort. And I blessed her that she would have the ability to use her agency to cast out these spirits. We sang with her and prayed with her. As of now, she's still a little weird. But she's a lot happier and more normal than usual. Hopefully she'll get better soon. It's been fun to have all of my district members the same! It's great to have the same district, so we can have greater unity in our work. Thank you for your service, President! Have a good one! -Elder Liu