Christ Was a Vegetarian?

Hello!

This past week had a few great things happen. We have been meeting with one investigator named Mr. Qiu who didnt seem to be top interested at first but this past week he has really started to progress. He is praying to know if the Book of Mormon is true. He has started to read the BOM and reads it with the bible for about an hour each night and he completely understands the doctrine we teach him. He is attending a Baptist church right now but is super open to meet with us. I really hope he continues to investigate with with real intent a gets an answer to his prayers soon!

We also have been meeting with a family for a little while now and it seemed like they were progressing more slowly. We met this past week and the mom has started to pray with their 1 and a half year old daughter every night! We also re-invited them to baptism in the middle of teaching the Plan of Salvation and they both said that after they learn a little bit more that "YES" they would like to be baptized! We first invited them a month or so ago and they seemed really unsure. We are excited for them and will set a date this Tuesday as we teach them about the Gospel of Christ!

Another awesome thing that happened this week was Ward Council. I feel that is was the first time since I have been here in Taiwan the the member/leaders really came together to get ideas flowing on how they can help with retention of new members, HOME TEACHING, and getting members to the temple. Some great plans started to come together and we are focusing on every quorum/auxiliary being an active part in each of these categories, working together. They finally have started to tap into the potential of a "ward COUNCIL". I really felt the spirit there and hope that much lasting good come because of these regular meetings. We are excited!

Lastly, one funny experience that I want to sure with you guys. This past week as my companion and I were walking down a more busy street, we looked over to the other side of it and saw this man with an anxious look pointing at us. He then started to run across the street towards us still pointing. We stopped and he got to us then asked if we could speak chinese. We said yes, and then he asked me if I eat met and I also said "yes..." much more skeptical now. He then started exhorting me to repentance to because I am not a vegetarian, saying that Christ was a vegetarian! I then asked him if he thought I was committing serious sins and he replied, "Of course you are!" and continued to call me to repentance while poking me in the shoulder as I slowly started to walk backwards away from him. He was NUTS! It was pretty funny but at the end when he was following me a little bit poking me in the shoulder I started to get a little anxious. 

My companion and I are glad that we now have a very funny story to tell others.

Well, that about wraps it up for the week! Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

Love,

Elder Bastian

Many Miracles

Hello everyone!

Its been a great week here in Tucheng. This past week things started to get up and rolling and we were able to meet with a lot more of our investigators which was great and to cap it off, Brother Zhang was baptized!!! It was a wonderful experience for him, he even brought his friend that he has been starting to share the gospel with. How cool! I forgot to take my camera the baptism, so I will try to get my companion to send me the picture and I will email it next week.

We had a couple cool miracles this past week; the first I would like to share is also about Brother Zhang.

After his confirmation and sacrament meeting on Sunday, our Elder's Quorum President put on a little meeting for all the recent converts and he taught about Genealogy/Temple work and the importance of it. He talked about establishing goals to go regularly starting as soon as they can. Afterwards, Brother Zhang came up to me and said, "It's a miracle, really it's a miracle!" He explained to me how in his family not one single person has kept their family history except for his father. He said his father always told him that his other family members never did it because they were too busy, so he did it. He said, "even though my father is not a member, he is a good person and I know that God prepared my father to do this Family History so that I would have the opportunity to take all of their names to the temple and do their work for them!" He was SO excited. (Genealogy in Taiwan and China is a super important tradition and a way that helps people here to be able to remember their ancestors). Brother Zhang is really great at noticing the blessings God has given him.

The other miracle came from tracting on Saturday. We knocked into a man who popped his head out the window and told us to wait 2 minutes for him, then he came out and told us to tell him what we got, he wants to here it, and to do all we can to persuade him. He was serious! It was a special experience. He really seems to be one seeking for truth and said that he would be willing to do the experiment. He will meet with us today so we are really excited. MIRACLE!

This past week I also had the opportunity to go on exchanges with Elder Leo from New York. He is a great newer missionary. His special talent is just being able to stay relaxed and be funny, which is so important out here in the mission! I really felt lifted up by his personality as I was around him. It was a good experience.

This pretty much wraps it up here. Overall this week went great! I hope everyone else all has a great week!

Love,

Elder Bastian

Roller Coaster

Hello Everyone!

This past week has been a little bit more of a roller coaster. You would think that being out for over a year it would get easier. NO! Ha ha.  I guess the ride doesn't end till we get off the roller coaster, or in this case, on the plane home.

First off! The great news... Our investigator Brother Zhang passed his interview this past Saturday and will be baptized this coming Saturday at 7 pm. He is just great.  The gospel fascinates him, and he is actively participating in the quorum lessons at Church. It's been inspiring to watch him build his faith in the Savior and see the blessings that come from living the gospel principles. 

Much of our time the rest of the week was spent fulfilling our back up plans because many investigators were "No Shows". It was a little frustrating for Elder Chatman and me.  One thing I have been trying to focus on is staying humble, and seeking to understand the Lord's will. Sometimes it's just hard! But we are continuing to learn and grow.

One other miracle we had though was meeting with our new investigator Saturday night. He was set up to meet at 7, but by 7:15 he still hadn't shown up. We had called him twice and he had not answered, so we started to pack up our bags and were about to leave when he showed up!  We sat down with him and ended up having a great lesson about the Restoration. The spirit was present as he had a natural desire to learn about God and ask questions, Elder Chatman and I both especially noticed that. We are excited to see what turns out for him.

This past week, I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with Elder Mansell in his area in Xin Ban. It went very smoothly. Elder Mansell is just great. He has a great desire to do the work  and he seeks to recognize his weaknesses and overcome them. His Chinese is rapidly improving even though he is a newer missionary.  One thing I thought was interesting is that Elder Mansell and his companion both have hearing aids which makes it really hard for them to contact people on the streets while riding bikes as it is really loud and hard for them to hear voices over the background noise.  They often have to walk (instead of bike) and contact at parks where it is quieter. We had a good time together.

It's been awesome to come out on the mission and see all the different backgrounds that everyone has come from whether as missionaries, member,s or non-members and how the Lord has influenced their lives and has a plan for them.

Well, that about wraps it up for things over here. Hope that everyone has a great week! 

Love you all,

Elder Bastian

Missionary Leadership Council

Hello!

 

The winter weather is starting to kick in here and I wore my long sleeve shirt for the first time in a long time!

Things are going well here in Tucheng. Right now we have one investigator, Brother Zhang he is just golden. I found him about 5 weeks ago one the street and he will be getting baptized not this Saturday, but next. This will be the first of my converts that I personally (well, really with the help of the spirit) have found and taught the whole way to baptism! This past week he said something to Elder Chatman and I as we were leaving the chapel that I hope to never forget. He said, "I never imagined I would be here. This place is awesome!" Sunday during our lesson after church he said, "I've just seen too many miracle's" (since coming here to not believe in God). Were so excited! We are also pumped for the mission-wide White Chirstmas. (They plan to have a special baptismal sevice on Christmas day).  We also really hope and are striving to find a family in this next week or so and help them to come unto Christ in the month we celebrate his birth. How cool would that be?

Right now we are still striving to figure out where we should go since we are limited to about 2 streets to contact on and then tract in the surrounding areas. We are limited because of walking, but we are starting to figure out where all the different buses go in our area and are trying to get to different areas to possible tract/contact. This week we saw a miracle as we took the bus to a local college to see if we would be able to find there. The first person we talked to after getting of the bus was a college student who seemed very interested! He accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon right there and set up for later in the week. Right after that we tried to go into the college but it did not work out, so it really was a miracle that we ran into that kid!

This past week I was able to go on exchanges with Elder Hagedorn a missionary from Provo, Utah. He is great. He is a very organized missionary who works smart and I was able to learn a lot from his example. His Dad happend to own a chinese food resturuant on University avenue, that after talking to Elder Hagedorn, I found out I used to run by it almost everyday when I was at BYU. What a small world! I guess a lot of returned missionaries that went to Taiwan often go there to eat. I will have to try it when I get back.

This past week my companion and I were able to participate in the Missionary Leadership Council in Taipei. This meeting happens once a month, where all of the Zone Leaders will come and meet with the President of our mission to discuss the vision, goals, and plans for the next month. We all seek to come with a humble and open heart to be able to learn what the Lord wants us to. Each time I have been there, I truly have felt the Spirit and inspiration given to me, more than most any other time. Its a very cool experience.

This week we hope to just really focus in on sanctifying ourselves, working hard, and listening to then following the promtings of the spirit. We hope to continue to see the miracles!
希望大家有一个很棒的礼拜!

Hope you all have a great week!

Love you,

Elder Bastian