Jia You

Hello Everybody!

 

This week has been great! We have been teaching most of the days to our role play investigators. I am really learning how to best teach each of the lessons and learn to teach by the spirit and allow Him to guide me in my words. Sometimes it's hard because I want say something in Chinese but I dont completely know how so this week I have been trying to expand my vocabulary so that I can testify and descibe things more effectively. I'm pretty sure that I have mastered that basic Chinese needed to teach! But I know that it is not good enough and that I need to keep striving to expand my vocabulary and listening skills. 

My companion and I taught at the Teaching Resource Center again on Saturday. The place where we teach real people who come in and volunteer to listen to us. It's pretty cool because we get to meet and share are message with new people each week. Most all of them are already members but I have had that chance to teach two people who aren't members so far. It is awesome. This last Saturday we taught a BYU student. It just so happens that I knew this student from BYU. He was is my missionary prep class. He has been taking Chinese for three years but hasn't had the opportunity to go because he has had some health issues but he hopes to get out soon. As we started to teach him and get to know him a little better I had the impression early on to bear my testimony to him that God loves him and that He knows each of us perfectly. 

That he is His son and that He is always there for him. I started to get choked up and didn't really know why I was testifying of these things at this point in the lesson, but I could feel the spirit and knew that he felt the spirit testifying to him that these things were true. He started to get a little choked up too. I know from then on that it wasn't and isn't ever me teaching the people but that I and all missionaries are just instruments in the Lord's hands to bring to pass His work. The spirit is the master teacher, and he will always let us know what is right. 

The second group of people that we were able to teach was a father and son and then another man who goes to BYU. You'd never guess but the son is only 8 years old and is already learning Chinese! I couldn't believe it. He doesn't know to much but he knew enough to introduce himself and say how old he is. His dad doesn't speak Chinese at all. The other guy was born and raised in China so his Chinese was perfect. It was fun to share our message with them and get to know them better. I have come to love teaching more and more.

I finally am over my cold after a long bout with it and it feels good to not be coughing anymore. This week I started to go jogging during my exercise time with one of the other elders. I have just do a mile each time we have run but still it feels good to be running again. The first time we went we ran a 7:34, the second time a 7:04, and then this last time a 5:49. I think I got a little ambitious :) but I'm loving it. I hope to be able to run a good solid mile by the time I leave. We will see what I can do then! Tonight we have our weekly devotional. We never know who the speaker is 'til we get there but we are hoping that one of the Apostles comes to speak again. The last once came about 4 weeks ago. We will see! I always love hearing from them. We hear such good talks every week! So spoiled! Anyway, time's up 'til next week.

 

Love,

Elder Bastian

Much More Learning

Da Jia hao!

 

This past week has been a pretty good one. I have been sick for the past few weeks and it is finally starting to go away which is great! I'm loving it here. I've reached the halfway point at the MTC. The older generation of Mandarin speaking missionaries all left today to their missions, so it's pretty quiet around our dorms and classrooms now. The total group had about 50 people in it and the new group that comes in 2 weeks only has 20. So, the Mandarin zone of missionaries will be much smaller for my last half of the MTC stay. It was cool to see how all of the missionaries have progressed in their language since I have been here. My branch president gave a farewell talk for the missionaries leaving and said how all of them next week would be sitting in Sacrament meetings all around the world. And possibly some of them would be assisting in a baptism that Saturday. How crazy would that be? It seems surreal to go from Provo, UT to the middle of Taiwan in about 14 hours. Im sure when I walk off the plane in about 6 weeks I will have a little bit of culture shock. David Jorgenson, my friend from High School just left to Tai zhong, Taiwan today. He was very exicted to leave. It will be cool to see how his experience is in Tai zhong and if there are many differences from how mine will be in Taibei. I'll be in the north half of Taiwan and possibly along the east coast (which supposedly has some of the world prettiest beaches!) and he will be in the southern half. I can't wait!

 

I titled this week's email, "much more learning" because as you reach the halfway point it seems like the learning curve starts to level out and you don't seem to be learning as quickly in the language. BUT, it all depends on your ability to study creatively and effectively. The Chinese language has some 5000 characters in it, and not to mention when you combine them it blossoms into thousands of meanings. My point is, there will always be more to learn! My branch president, (the leader for my group of missionaries church meetings) has studied the language for 50 years and he says he is still learning new things! He claims that you can never truly call yourself fluent in Chinese. It's pretty funny to think that. As my companion and I are figuring out, we need to constantly change our study so that it is effective and allows us to learn at a faster rate. My idea for this next week and into the coming weeks is to spend some of my time reading the Chinese Book of Mormon and comparing the English right along with the Chinese to learn some of the important terms that the scriptures have in them. I think this will allow me to utilize the Book of Mormon more effectively in my lesson and help the investigator be able to see how the Book of Mormon specifically applies to him or her. As of right now we usually use a scripture in our lessons but we really don't know what the investigator is saying when he reads them, we just have to remember the English meaning because the Book of Mormon language is much more formal and a larger vocabulary than I have learned. So we feel that this new way of studying will really be effective for us in learning and teaching.

 

Another importing thing that I learned this week, almost more important than being able to speak the language well, is the importance of having a strong and profound testimony of the Book of Mormon. A speaker came to talk to us this past Sunday about the Book of Mormon and its role in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the entire world. It was a very powerful and life changing talk. He talked about how the Book of Mormon is central to the belief in this entire church and how without it, it would be nothing. The Book of Mormon, truly was translated by the power of God. This book is "most correct of any book, and would help an man draw nearer to God than any other book if a man would abide by its precepts." -Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon truly is the Word of God. It contains the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and contains all the things we need to do to be able to return to our Father in Heaven. I learned from Brother Watson's talk that I must have a strong, unwavering testimony of this book if I am to help others see the imoportance of it. I love this book and I love reading it everyday and seeing how it helps me in my life and how it can help others. I hope that all other will come to see the truth of it also.

 

My time is up for this week, but I hope everything is going well for every as school is starting and the summer is ending!

 

Love,

Elder Bastian

The Work Continues

Dajia hao!

 

This week has been pretty great! I've started to get the used to the whole routine of studiying, eating, and teaching! Its been great though. The language is coming along well and my companion and I have had good success in our  lessons. We are really learning how to speak with the investigators!  This week we had about five opportunities to teach people. On Saturday for the first time we taught an investigator who is from mainland China. He is studying at BYU and is investigating the church with a friend. We had the oppurtininty to teach him about pray. It was very cool because he was able to see the importance of it and see how through prayer we can truly communicate with our Father in Heaven. He is always listening and will always help us, we just need to stay in touch with Him. I'm beginning to love teaching more and more. At first I was a little nervous with it because of the language barrier but the more I learn the easier it seems to teach. One thing that I have learned this week is that even though being able to speak Chinese is important, it's not everything. We need to be able to bring the Spirit to those we meet with and allow the Spirit of God to teach those we meet with the truths of His message. I have learned that this is not my work but it is the Lord's work. I am just assisting in it, and how great it is!

 

This week the group of Mandarin speaking missionaries that came in the transfer before us (transfer is every 6 weeks) are leaving to their missions around the world. There are people in the Chinese group going to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, New York, Manchester England, Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, California, and a few others that I'm sure I am forgetting. Its crazy to see how Christ's church is spreading around the world and how the fullness of His gospel is being spread to every continent, every nation, every city, and every ear. This is the Lord's work and He will cause it to go forth until everyone has the opportuninty to hear and accept it. I can't wait to get to Taiwan and experience everything that will go on there. I'm excited for the food, the city, the people, the culture, and yes I can't believe im saying this, but even the rain! (at least for now). Although I still have 7 more weeks here, which seems long, I am loving every minute of it. And I am sure I will love it even more once I arrive in Taiwan. I am learing more and more each day how to have love for each and every person. We are all truly God's children, He loves us, He wants us to return to him, and has provided a way through our Savior Jesus Christ.

 

Along with all the learning that has been going on, we do have the chance to get to get in some exercise and sports days out of the week for about and hour each day. I've been taking it pretty easy since I have been here. Not any running or anything, but I think I will be able to start up again soon. I have been playing a little bit of volleyball and frisbee which has been fun. But I can't wait to be able to go for a little jog again! Anyways, I am about out of time for this week. I hope everyone is doing well and doing their best!

 

Love,

Elder Bastian

A Teaching Frenzy

Hello Everyone!

 

What a week it has been! I am loving it here at the MTC. This past week we have been given several opportunities to teach. The first great experience was on Saturday. For the first time since we have been here, we went to the Teaching Resource Center (TRC) where we will now go to every Saturday to teach real people, instead of just teachers or others role playing. The people we teach at the TRC are usually BYU students or others who live in the area that have been to Chinese speaking mission, and also a few people who are from Chinese speaking areas who are here for vacations or who are studying abroad at BYU. So our first go at real teaching, we ended up with this guy and this girl who were attending BYU. I think they were dating, but they may have just been good friends. The guy had served his mission in Australia, Mandarin speaking and the girl was from Taiwan, Taipei. We were super exited to teach them. I was a little nervous before hand, but as my companion and I prayed beforehand to have the spirit to be with us to help us teach i felt a wave of calm come over me. I walked into the room where the two people were and instantly i had a smile on my face and thought, this is going to be great! The Chinese just came to my companion and I and we spoke so well! We were taught the two a little about God's plan for us and how through Jesus Christ we can return to our Heavenly Father after this life. We then talked about the Book of Mormon and how it talked about Jesus Christ and his gospel and that through reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it, we are able to know that it is the word of God, that the fullness of Christ's gospel and His church have been restored, and that we do have a modern prophet on the Earth again today. It was very cool to be able to testify of the truthfulness of these things in the Mandarin language. We then shared our favorite scriptures with them. Overall the first lesson went great! They both told us that they were suprised at how well we spoke the language. It was comforting to hear that from them.

 

The next pair that we taught was a father and son who are from Taiwan, Taipei! They are here in Provo 'til November beacuse the man's wife is going to school at BYU to get her degree. The were both so cool and so kind! We loved talking with them about our families and Taiwan and everything it was so fun. We also, taught them about the same things as we did the other pair. At the end I asked the man how the gospel has blessed him and his family in his life and he explained how throught scripture study and prayer to our Heavenly Father, his family has been able to over come any struggles that they have had. It was so cool to hear his testimony and it really just showed me that the church is true where ever you go around the world. We truly are sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father.

 

The next to opportunities to teach were with Wei di xiong and Mao jie mei. We had meet them both once before. They are our regular investigators. Again our lessons went sooo well. My companion and I just prepared as best as we could to teach the two and we left the rest up to the Lord to help us out, and He really did. There were times in the lesson where I was listening to our investigators speak and I didn't know what they were saying but I could understand what they meant. It was an awesome experience. The spirit truly helped us teach and testify to Mao and Wei. My companion and I walked away from the lessons feeling great. The language has just been coming along so well this past week!

 

I guess the only downside to this past week has been that a cold has been going around and I happened to get sick for a few days. I actually lost my voice from it so I could only whisper in a raspy voice and it was pretty funny to teach like that. I'm pretty sure that it was hard for them to understand me... but luckily it is gone and passed! I'm back to normal now. Well, my time is up for the computer, and I've got to get going.

Hope everyone is doing well! 

Love,

Elder Bastian

Photos from the Dropoff