Week 56

Luo jm's baptism went really well! The Spirit was really strong as she bore her testimony and was baptized into the Church. I feel she was also very welcome by those who attended the baptism, which I felt really good about. Elder Tay and I performed a viola/piano arrangement as part of the baptismal service. With Linda, we'll have to wait for another interview next week. It's been really hard with her because we only get to visit her once a week, and so we never really know how she's progressing. I think recently she's been having some Word of Wisdom problems, so we'll see how that goes the next time we meet with her. Even though we had meetings-galore this week, we were still able to hit a decent amount of our goals, which we were excited about. We went to Taibei twice for temple day and meetings, and will go once again today. We'll have a temporary missionary with us for a week that we'll go pick up! He'll be coming to see if he will want to come on a mission later. Hopefully we'll have a boatload of miracles to tell you all next week -- I know the Lord will help him see the blessings of being on a mission! There are just too many! Elder Tay and I have made a goal to look at our goals daily! (Otherwise they never get done...) No wonder we are commanded to study daily and partake the sacrament -- we are so easily distracted with the daily things of our lives, that we forget the purpose. We forget the commitment and fire that we've felt a few moments before. When, in the long run, we definitely would choose the most important things, which is the result of the goals that we set in the beginning. Sometimes Elder Tay and I feel the new 12-week training program is a little repetitious, especially when there are the same videos in 2 consecutive weeks. But I know that it has helped a lot with giving me opportunity to share my own experiences and insights. Hopefully we'll continue to take as much as we can from this opportunity to go through this training. I'm going to continue to do all I can for the district. I'm still praying hard for inspiration to know how to lead them. Thank you for everyone' own example in leadership and Christlike attributes. I've been able to learn a lot by reflecting on the example of all of you. Elder Tay says hi. Ah yes, we might not have had second breakfast, but we had second dinner -- it was awesome. We had a multiple family gathering at the church with some dinner, but a lin2 family also invited us to dinner later that day. I felt kinda bad, but I was really full at the end of the day, so it was okay. We shared a simple message at both of them. I think they both went really well. It was good to get to know the members in the area here. Thanks everyone! I hope you all continue to actively bring yourself closer to Christ. -Elder Liu

Week 55

Today is our temple day, which I really have missed this past year! So our preparation day got changed to wednesday instead of monday. Recently this place has been doing great! Mostly because here we get to teach sisters. The previous missionary here, Elder Kasparian, is a wonderful missionary, so I got to share in his blessings with 3 baptisms planned for this week. He's in a nearby area as our Zone Leader in Taoyuan, and so we get to see him pretty often too. Whoa, Citadels! I played that here. It's a pretty cool game -- kinda dark, though :P But yeah, I really like it. I thought you would enjoy it. It was wonderful to see our new Mission President! These two weeks has been absolutely amazing. We hit every single one of our goals last week -- that feeling is just amazing. I don't know about other missions, but hitting every single goal doesn't happen very often. I know that the Lord provided this opportunity for us to be able to grow in our faith and our understanding of the sacred work we have. Our last two investigators were found on Sunday, just barely hitting our goal. I know that through our prayers, our faith, and our effort, that we were able to be lead to great, prepared people to hear the gospel. I've been having a hard time finding a balance in leading this district.Elder Tay and I were talking about the Color Code yesterday, and I realize that a lot of our district members are yellow (the fun-loving type), which has been harder for me to lead. In my last area, I would say they were all blue or red, except maybe one. I've always have had a problem leading those who love to play, which I guess will be a good thing to develop. Sometimes I think we get less out of things out of meetings and reports than we could because we have this difference. So I'm going to be praying to find a way to be able to lead them in a more effective way. I feel the new missionaries are doing pretty well. I'm sure they're having some hard and frustrating times, but I think they're pushing through it really well. They're really lucky to have Sister Chen and Sister Christensen as their trainers. Speaking of Sister Chen...yes. I don't really know how to describe her family, but we know them. She lives in Provo and I think their brothers stayed at our house a while ago. This week we'll have one person, Joanna 羅jm, who will be baptized this week. They announced her in Relief Society that she was in young womens (oh yeah, she's probably in her 50's). And so they'll be a ton of young women at her baptism, and they'll make the dessert for the baptism, too. Kinda funny, but at least there will be people there for sure. Next week we also have another potential baptism. Linda 彭jm. She has some really cool faith. She's pretty busy, so usually she has no time to meet with us, but by the time it's 9:30 and we can call her, she can pick up. She's had some challenges throughout her time investigating the church, including some Book of Mormon, Word of Wisdom and Tithing questions. In fact, she was at one point, going to stop investigating. But she always willing to pray about it, and sure enough, in a couple days, she would come back with an answer from God. And then she was totally willing to do whatever was required from the Lord, without any particular effort on our part. She's definitely prepared to hear the Gospel. Love you all, 加油! Elder Liu

Week 54

Ha, I left out a very important detail last week. Elder Tay is my companion! I'm sure you all know by now, though. It's been awesome - I feel I have such a great relationship with Singapore now :D. We get along great -- He reminds me so much of my best friend 之一, Elder Nicholas Harrison. And I know that the Lord has taken care of me musically throughout my mission. Who else gets to sing SATB hymns with his district, play string duets, and be with musical companions almost every transfer? He plays the piano and organ, so we had a musical number yesterday for the baptism they had for a Liu jm. I shook her hand for the first time seconds before the baptism picture, so it didn't have too much meaning, but it was great to be in a baptismal service again. LongTan is doing great. Of course, it'll need our hard work, but the people here are great and I'm loving the work. I found out my MTC companion, Elder Xie lives in BaDe which is the area right next to ours. It's great to be serving the people of TaoYuan! In the District I have 10 people, which has been a little harder for me, but so far so good. Elder Tay has been a huge help and blessing to me. He's really good at getting everything done and helping me whenever I need it (which is a lot). I have 2 new trainee sisters that Jonathan taught at the MTC. They both say they loved him as a teacher and learned a lot from him. I hope they're doing well and adjusting well. It's a little harder for me to know how the sisters are doing. It's especially harder in this district because other than district meeting, I never see my district. LongTan is a 40 minute bus ride from everyone else. In TaiDong, I would see my district every day, and so building a good relationship with each of them was super easy. But here I only have phone calls and district meeting to get to know them and their needs. But I know the Lord will still find a way for me to fulfill my calling out here in LongTan. That's all for this week. Love you all, and am praying for you! -Elder Liu

Week 53

I don't have too much time. But I'm moving! Whaa! It's been so much fun and I've had so much learning here in TaiDong. I've been called to be the district leader in Long2Tan2. There are 10 members in that district. 6 Elders and 4 sisters. It's going to be a crazy transfer. Zhou dx's baptism went really smoothly. A very good way to end the transfer! I'm so excited for him! Love you all. Thank you for your support and love! -Elder Liu

Week 52

I hear there's been flooding all around Taiwan, but we've been okay. All the water drains out of TaiDong pretty fast. This past week I went on exchanges with Elder Bowler in YuLi! It was great! There seems to be some great challenges there, but he's taking them on so very well. I think the Lord is using his gift to be able to encourage everyone to do their best and reach their potential. He feels that Elder Xu's actions, especially in finding, are limiting the success and growth that he could be seeing. But I feel Elder Bowler really is getting the help that he needs from the Lord. Our companionship study went really well. He said he's finally realizing why he was sent to YuLi. Maybe not for a baptism, but to help his companion. They're also seeing tons of miracles every day. I've been trying to get the district to be able to become happier/more confident by having the Spirit. I don't know how well it has worked. But I can feel that our district members all have had their challenges but have been able to resolve them by doing what it takes to invite the Spirit more in their lives as well as unity in their companionship. This last week we've had a great activity! We had a Scripture Story Filming activity. We had a workshop system with 2 gospel lessons and then 1 station with filming a story. We had David/Goliath, Ammon, Daniel in the Lion's Den, and Abinadi. Everyone loved it, and there were about 70 there. I think it was really good for the branches here. We had a few investigators including families that were able to get to know a lot of members and have a lot of fun. It was great! The mangos are great! Especially the yellow ones that are as big as your face :) I'll hit my year mark in 4 days. It definitely doesn't feel like a year has gone by. I'll need to cherish every moment! Love you all, and Happy Father's Day, Dad! ^^ -Elder Liu

Week 51

Hello! Exchanges went really, really well this week. Elder Peterson is a stellar missionary, and often wonder why he's not the district leader. But I know the Lord has his purposes. He's been doing a great job and helping Elder Lin. In North Taidong they're seeming to start anew and to start over with a lot of things -- stop meeting with some non-progressors, etc. I think they're both doing a great job in their area, and should see a lot of baptisms within the coming transfers. I feel a few members in our district have been struggling to know how to recognize and even fully desire the Spirit to go out and work their hardest. This week we're planning a movie-filming activity about Book of Mormon and Bible Stories. It'll be a great activity. We already have 15 or so people who already signed up, so it'll be pretty good for an activity here. We're hoping our members will like it and everyone will have a good time, and of course, draw closer to Christ. I hope I can more fully fulfil my calling as a district leader. I've found that I haven't been focusing enough time and energy on my district. It's hard because I feel my companion needs more push than companions in the past, so it lets me worry about my area in addition to my district. I finally got on phase 3, which is reading, and it's going great. I've already mostly finished the first box. There are 3 total, with about 800 in each. And it's been some really good help. Hopefully I'll continue to learn and my make way to full Taiwanese! Love you all! -Elder Liu

Week 50!

Hello! This week has been great. I feel like I've learned a lot from being a leader. It's really stressful sometimes, and half the time I swear I'm forgetting something. But I feel by more actively thinking of the needs of others i've developed more love and more patience. I feel like my companion isn't make the most of his mission, so I'm trying hard to be able to encourage him to do his best and be more active. I know he wants to be here, but I think the natural man is pulling him back from putting his full effort into it. He's a great teacher and has a great testimony, though. He really is a great person. This past week I went on exchanges with YuLi! It was great! I love YuLi. The YuLi noodles are pretty good, too. I especially feel that Elder Bowler has been having a great impact on that place. I know they see miracles every day, and it's been helping Elder Xu to be more optimistic and faithful. I was with Elder Xu at Yuli, and we had a good day of work. He wasn't very active in his finding -- it was mostly me pulling people off the street. But I feel his teaching is really powerful and very clear. They have some good progressing investigators so far. Hopefully they will be able to have a baptism this transfer. I tried to help Elder Xu learn as much as he could from having Elder Bowler as his companion as I have. This week I did my first baptismal interview with the sister's Yan2 jm. It went well. It helped me remember the sacredness of baptism. And it was great to be able to see her desire and change that this gospel has given her. She later cancelled because she wants her mom to be able to approve her baptism, which, as of now, is not super likely. She'll definitely be baptized someday, we just don't know when. Hope finals go well for everyone! Have an awesome week! Love, -Elder Liu