Sun Bursting Through

Hello from Taiwan!

 

Well it's Monday afternoon here in Taiwan, the rain has seemed to stop and the sun is bursting through! How great. I was really starting to miss the warmer weather. 

This past week has been full of meetings and conferences, the most important being General Conference for us members here in Taiwan. I was excited to see so much emphasis on missionary work! There are currently 65,000 missionaries, around 7,000 more than 6 months ago, another 20,000 who have already received their calls, and 6,000 in the application process. The Lord is truly hastening his work and I'm glad to be apart of it. What were your favorite parts? I know that there is always something for everyone when we sit down to watch conference. These talks are truly from God, given to us through his authorized servants here on earth.

Yesterday, Sunday, two new investigators came to attend the conference sessions with us. They seemed to have a wonderful time. One of them even came up to my companion and me afterward and asked if he could have another appointment with us.  He said that a member had mentioned something about this to him. We are so excited to be able to meet with him this coming  Wednesday!  I know that he could really feel the spirit as he heard and saw the prophet, apostles, and other church leaders speak to him.

Another cool thing that happened during the week was at one of our meetings with the local missionary zones and our mission president. They announced that in June we will be starting a new English Class program. Every Wednesday evening we have the opportunity to teach English to the people here for free. It is pretty fun and you can really see that the people enjoy it. A lot of their English is actually pretty good, they just never get opportunities to use it!  Sounds like this new program will really be vamped up and pretty professional. I'm excited to see how it turns out.

One of the special experiences I had this week was on Saturday evening after conference. We had gone out to the main road in Longtan to find people to talk to and share the gospel with. As I was riding my bike, I saw a guy sitting on his motor scooter so I decided to go up and talk to him. He turned out to be pretty good and interested. I was a little surprised by his interest, but when I asked if we would be willing to meet with us to learn more, he started giving us the common response that a lot of people here give, "Oh I'm busy, sorry, I can't." I felt impressed as he was saying this to bear humble testimony to him of the truthfulness and blessings of this gospel message we were sharing. His expression quickly changed and he said that yeah he could meet next weekend! I know if I hadn't followed the spirit, this man would not have had the opportunity to learn more about the gospel at this time in his life. It's always so cool to feel the promptings that Heavenly Father gives to us, and to follow those promptings, and then to see the blessings that come from it.

Well my time is about up for now. I hope that you all have a wonderful week!

I love you all!

Elder Bastian

General Conference

Hello Everyone!

 

I may be 10,000 miles away on a tiny little island in Asia, but I am so glad that I have the chance each week to keep in touch with everyone! Technology is just great! By the way, someone in church yesterday talked about some kind of "Google Glasses" that will be coming out next year. Sounds pretty crazy!  It will be cool to see all that has changed by the time I get home.

Well, this past week has gone pretty well! The work has moved a little slower this week since a lot of people went out of town to return to their original homes for a 4 day holiday. The Taiwanese people have a tradition called "Sao Mu" which is where once a year families will gather together, return home, and visit their ancestors' burial place and clean the graves. The Taiwanese culture really emphasizes families and this holiday is a really important one for them. So this week, we focused more of our efforts on the ward and finding and visiting less active members. We were able to get a hold of several of them and 3 of them came to church on Sunday. Pretty cool!  It has been fun to get to know the ward here in Long Tan. The ward starts to feel like family when you have been here for a bit.

This past week has been pretty rainy so the time that we spent contacting people, was mostly done by tracting which means going door to door and knocking and talking with people who answer their door. We were able to meet some very cool people!  There were a  few who were willing to let us in and they listened to our message. We ran into one family on Saturday that we were able to have a pretty cool experience with.  The wife let us in, and at first she was the only one to sit down and talk with us, but within 15 or so minutes the whole family had came down to listen also! They had a college age son that came down first, then the father, and then about half way through the father even called their daughter to come down and learn about prayer together. We were able to say a heartfelt prayer with them and I could see the spirit working with the father after that. In the end, the mom said that they would be pretty busy as they were only all home together that weekend because of the holiday, so meeting in the future with them might not work.  Still, I was glad to be able to plant a seed in their home with my companion, and I know that this seed will blossom in the future.

This past weekend was General Conference for the church, where many of the Apostles and the Prophet spoke to the worldwide church. Here in Taiwan, we have not been able to see and hear conference yet as they are still translating all of it, but we will be able to watch it this coming Saturday and Sunday. I can't wait to see it! How amazing it is that we have apostles and prophets in our day - just as in the days of the Savior. That is the key to our message. The windows of heaven are not closed. God still interacts with man and reveals his will to us as in times of old. The truth has been restored. How grateful I am to be a missionary here in Taiwan sharing this message with others each day.

I hope that many of you will have the opportunity to watch some of these conference addresses online.

Well, that's about it for the recap of the week. My time is just about up here for today. I hope that everyone has an awesome week!

I love you all!

Elder Bastian

Happy Easter

Hello Everyone!

 

I hope that everyone had a very Happy Easter! Its been interesting in Taiwan to celebrate Easter as it is almost non-existant here. Last night, I was thinking about this difference and started to ponder about the Savior and all that he has done for us no matter where we live in the world. I felt such a warm and calming feeling come over me as the Spirit testified to me of the life and divinity of the Son of God among men. He has lived for us and continues to live for us each day.

This week has been just great! The highlight of the week was the baptism of our investigator Sister Guan. It was a cloudy and rainy day, but our spirits were bright and high as we saw her enter into the waters of baptism to make a solemn covenant with her Father in Heaven. She was just so excited! It really brought a smile to my face.  Also, Remember how I told you that Sister Guan would call us and let us know how things were going? We have found another investigatot of the same such remarkable kind! His name is Brother Lu. Actually, my last companion and I ran into him about a month ago in front of McDonald's. I contacted him again about 2 weeks ago, but he was busy getting ready to return to Tai Cheng for the weekend. Last Monday, we were finishing up dinner and heading over to the church when we got a call from him. He told us that he was trying to find our church and wanted to meet with us that night. We ended up meeting with him and sharing a message about Heavenly Father and prayer. He just seemed so curious and interested in these things, the church and missionaries. He seemed to react well to what we shared with him that day but we weren't  totally sure until Saturday night, when he gave us another call to see what time church started the next day. He said that he would be there, and he was! He seemed to really like it and he had a lot of good questions. We are hoping to meet with him again this week! Its so great when the Lord brings the prepared people to us!

Last Monday, our Preparation Day, was another fun one. We were able to go hike Mount Shi Men. It was very pretty and the view from the top was quite pretty! We were able to find a small Buddhist temple and burial sight there which was so cool! I almost got lost on our way back down, but finally made it as we navigated our way through the trails to the karaoke singers that were situated near the trail head. Sounds weird, right? People here in Taiwan love karaoke so much that they have little huts in the mountains and the people go there to do it all the time. It was a lot of fun. 

This past week has been pretty great. Were doing well and are excited for another week of successful work!

I hope that you are all doing well at home and that you have a wonderful week!

Love you all,

Elder Bastian!

Mountain Lookout

Hello Everybody!

 

Its been another pretty good week here in Long Tan! Sister Guan is continuing to prepare for her baptism this next Saturday. We are all very excited! It has been so cool to be able to see the changes that the gospel has made to her life. You can really see a new light in here eyes. I think one of the coolest things since we have met her, was that after we gave her a Book of Mormon and she started reading it, she began to call us and give us updates saying that she read today and how it was going. She called us... pretty cool huh?! 

This past week Elder Bennion and I have had a lot of fun. I think as we have worked hard and come home to the warm apartment, wiped at the end of the day, that's when we have really had the most fun because we know that we have done our best helping others come unto Christ.

On Preperation Day last Monday, we decided that we wanted to get outside and bike somewhere cool for the day. We found a cool mountain lookout spot on the map that we had in our apartment and decided to go there. Since I have been here for a little while I thought I knew the area pretty well and knew where the mountain was. We biked out to the edge of town and started to head up the mountains that line the little city. It was such a windy and steep road! We kept climbing and climbing looking for the signs that had the lookout. We couldn't find it... so we finally decided to stop at the top and go down this little road where we could get a good view and take some pictures. We ended up finding this abandoned leather sofa chair in the middle of this field so we decided to get some cool pictures sitting in it. I'll attach them. It was a pretty cool place up at the top of that mountain. Taiwan is super pretty! Elder Bennion and I plan to go hiking so I'll get some pictures up of that next week.

This week we had a cool experience of meeting an 80 year old kung fu master at the park. He was just awesome! He said that he has been teaching kung fu for over 30 years and invited us to stop by his place some time. On Friday, we went to visit him. He was pretty funny. He taught us a couple punch blocking moves and we were able to teach him a little bit about prayer and Jesus Christ. Good trade, huh? We are going to try and keep visiting him. I hope all goes well, and that over time he will be able to accept the gospel into his life.

Well, my time this week is about up. The church has changed some of the mission rules that allows us to email individually to friends so I have spent a little more time doing separate emails today, which has eaten up some of my time for the main email, but I hope that everyone has a great week and that school, work, or whatever life is bringing you at this time all goes well!

Love ya!

Elder Bastian

Move Calls

Hello Everyone!

 

Its been a week of big changes! On Wednesday evening we got the move call from the Zone Leaders saying that I would be staying in Long Tan, my companion would be moving, and that we were to be in Taipei on Friday at 9:00 in the morning. My companion Elder Wang ended up moving about 30 minutes south to an area called XinZhu (sheen jew). I am glad to welcome Elder Bennion from Maryland to Long Tan. My new companion is just great! He studied a semester at the University of Utah before his mission, i think in time i will be able to forgive him..., but no, seriously he is great! He has a very similar personality to me and similar perspectives. He has been in Taiwan for about a year and a half now, so he will be returning in July. I think this transfer we will be able to see a lot of success here, working with the member to seek out less actives and help rebuild the ward while bringing in new people to the fold as we contact on the street and knock doors! We are both really excited to get the ball rolling!

Last week was pretty great. I was able to go on exchanges Tuesday to Wednesday with Elder Mattson again, this time in my area. We had a great time. We were able to go tracting that evening and had such a cool experience! We started off at one end of the street and the second house that we knocked at the gate a lady came out, we started talking and it turns out she had met with missionaries a few years earlier at her home. She was very kind. She said that recently she was very busy and had a lot of family things going on, but then (completely unexpectedly) she said that her neighbor was christian and that we should try and see if he is home. We said our goodbyes and and headed off to next door. We rang the doorbell out side the gate and waited for a little bit then out came running a little boy. He asked who we were and we told him that we were missionaries, he quickly said "wait a second" then ran back inside the home and about 20 seconds later he and his mom both came out the door to the gate and welcomed us in. My companion and I looked at each other and just thought, "WOW!" They were both super nice. 

We were able to sit down with them, get to know them, and share our message about the restoration of Jesus Christ's gospel. This spirit was very strong as Elder Mattson and I (both fairly younger missionaries) struggled through the Chinese to explain the importance of what we were sharing. The mom was very kind and welcoming, but sadly in the end she said that she was glad to have meet us but that she was not too interested in the message we were sharing. My companion and I were a little bummed as we had been really exctited when she let us in, but even though she did not accept our invitation to learn more, we know that we planted a seed in her heart that over time will grow! It was cool to be able to see that miracles that happened that night as we met some wonderful people.

This last weekend my new companion and I, Elder Bennion, and I were able to hold a little fireside for the members of our ward. We talked about the missionary work in this area and how we could work togther better to help other come unto Christ and help this work to move forward. It was a great experience as we were better able to understand the perspectives of the members and find ways that we could work in better unity. I think that soon we will really be able to see the Long Tan ward rebuild and grow. 

Our investigator Sister Guan is still progressing well and it looks like she will be able to be baptized next Saturday! She is super excited! We have a lot that we need to get done this transfer. Many people to call, visit, and new ones to meet. Im stoked! The mission is so fulfilling and awesome! I wish I had more time to explain all of the little miracle we are able to see each day. I hope that everyone is doing well back at home and that the weather is starting to shape up! It is sure getting nice here.

Love you!

Elder Bastian

A Week of Variety

Hello Everyone!

 

This week has been pretty good! We were able to invite 2 other people to be baptized this week and they said "yes!" We hope to be able to set firm dates with them this following week. The work has been a little slower lately but as Elder Wang and I have done our best efforts to help this area we have been able to see some miracles and success in here in Long Tan. As of right now, we have one investigator that is progressing quickly towards baptism. Her goal is for the end of this month and I know that she will be able to obtain it. She is very accepting of the gospel and you can tell that she has been blessed with the gift of the spirit to believe. I think that is one of the things I have noticed on the mission so far, there truly are some people that are blessed with this gift. When you meet them, you just know that they will be baptized and you are truly able to see their potential. How great are the blessings of the Lord! 

This week we have been able to concentrate our efforts a little more on finding as we have been out on the roads going to and from places, seeking out Less Actives. On Friday, I was able to see a miracle. I had felt that finding was a little harder that day and I was feeling a little down. I prayed in my heart that we would be able to find someone. As I began to talk with those one the street I noticed a young man that I had seen cross the street a little ways back after he left the army campus. I rode up next to him and started to share about our relationship with God and prayer, said a prayer with him and he loved it! He was really interested in meeting with us! Sadly, but not sadly, he lives in Xin Zhuang so I had to pass him off, but I know that the Lord is watching over me and him and that no matter what area in the world we are in. There is one more starting on his way back home to the Lord.

On our preparation day Monday, Elder Wang and I and a couple other missionaries in the neighboring area were able to visit a place called the ShiMen Water Resovior. It is a dam that is built up into that side of this mountain at the border of our area in Long Tan. It is such a beautiful place! The mountains here are really pretty and the water behind the dam was pure blue. It reminded me a lot of all the beautiful hiking areas in Seattle. We had to ride quite a ways to get there, but it was so worth it! After the little trip I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with the Zone Leader, Elder Anderson. We went back to his area, Tao Yuan, which is a little north of ours. We had a great time together and I think we were able to learn a lot from the experience about enjoying the work. 

The next day after that I was able to go on exchanges with another member in our district Elder Robinson. He is from, well actually a lot of different places. His father is an NCIS agent and they often move. He spent his high school years in Singapore, but his family, before his mission moved to California. We were able to visit a new family that we had been able to get in contact with and the family is great! I see a lot of potential in them. Later that night as we headed home and started to talk about life back at home and especially BYU! He did a year there also before his mission. We talked about how awesome of a university it is. It really is the best! By the way, how is the BYU basketball doing and the other sports teams? Im sure the the NCAA is rolling around or maybe already started. How cool.

Well, in all this week has been pretty good! A lot of memories made and people met. Taiwan is great. I hope that everyone is doing well back at home and that your week goes great.

Love you!

Elder Bastian

Cold Sinks Into Your Bones

Hello everyone!

 

Another week has gone by here in Long Tan. Its been pretty good! On Friday one of our investigators was baptized! She is 18 and actually had lived in China for 10 years of her life and had just returned about 6 months ago. She is the neice of the Bishop in our ward. She really has a desire to develop her relationship with God. It's been really cool to see some of the changes that she has made. After her baptism on Friday evening, she was just sooo happy and excited! She said she wasn't sure why but she was so happy! I know that these feelings were given to her from God helping her to feel that she truly was doing what is right in life. I hope that she continues a life full of faithful service and growth in the church. She is great.

This week it has been a lot colder here in Long Tan. It is a lot different from the dry cold in Provo that I experienced when I was at college. The air here is so humid so when it is cold it just sinks into you bones cutting through all your layers of clothing. Fortunately, we have been able to stay fairly warm. It's always nice to come home at the end of the night after a hard day's work to flip on the little electric heater that we have and warm up my feet as we plan for the next day! I hear that it's supposed to be nicer weather this next week and that soon things should be starting to warm up for good! I'm excited. It's pretty interesting to see how people's moods correlate with the weather. People truly are happier and smile more often when it's sunny outside. I have really been able to see this as we go out to talk to different people each day.

Yesterday, Sunday, we had the opportunity to eat dinner at a member's home. He has a returned missionary and his wife visiting them for the weekend. The returned missionary is from Lehi, Utah and about 10 years ago served in Gao Xiong, Taiwan. The member speaks amazing English and the returned missionary has been able to maintain his Chinese fairly well, so most of the night was a mix of what we call Chinglish. It's pretty fun. I think his wife was a little lost at times but she seemed have a great time experiencing the different culture here in Taiwan. It really is much different here in Taiwan. It was a pretty cool experience to be able visit with the returned missionary and hear about his mission experience while he was in Taiwan. I think it gave me a little spark to do the missionary work even more diligently.

Recently, my companion and I have been wokring on a service project for our Ward. Each week we have been spending some time to paint the church parking lot lines. The have really faded over the years so we are repainting them. It's been tedious and long as we have to do it all by hand, but it's been cool to see the progress and I'm sure the members will really appreciate. Service always brings a smile and a good attitude to your heart. 

I'll have to send a picture to you guys once we finish.

Well, I hope that everyone has a wonderful week and that you are able to accomplish all that you need and want to do! I love you guys!

Elder Bastian