Move Calls

Hello Everyone!

 

Well, there have been a lot of changes here for me! On Wednesday, we got "Move Calls" and I found out that I would be moving on Friday. My companion and I went to the Transfer Meeting where I found out that I would be moving to an area called Long Tan, which means Dragon Lake in English. It's a smaller city northwest of Taipei. It was so great to be able to serve in Zhong He for 3 moths with Elder Johnson. I really hope that the people there continue to blossom.

I've only been in Long Tan now for 3 days but it's been pretty great so far! It's completely different from Zhong He. My area before was just packed with people and 8 story buildings in every direction you looked. Long Tan is much smaller. It is outside of main Taipei city. It's a lot more spread out, less people, and the buildings are only 2 or 3 stories high. I think this type of environment will really help me to learn how to love people more fully as the ward here is smaller and the area is not as rushed and busy as before. I think we will be able to build and create some great relationships here. My new companion is Elder Wang. He is 26 and is a native from Tai Zhong. It's been great here with him so far. He is a great missionary. He is very loving and seeks to help those around him, especially me. Its been so nice as he has been patient in helping me with my language. His English is pretty good.  I think this will really help my Chinese improve a ton! Elder Wang has only been a member for two years, but it does not seem like that at all. He has a great knowledge of the gospel and he truly understands how people work.  He has given me much insight into this work already. I think that this transfer we will really be able to help the people of Long Tan improve and we will be able to help our brothers and sisters come unto Christ.

This past couple of days has already been great here in Long Tan. On Saturday, one of our investigators had his baptismal interview. He passed and is ready to be baptized! He is the younger brother of a recent convert. He is 15 but you can see that he loves the church and although he sometimes tries not to show it, he seeks to understand the principles of this gospel and really believes them. Elder Wang and I are really excited for this upcoming baptism. Saturday was a pretty cool day too because we were able to get a lot of good work done. Elder Wang said that it was the most work completed in a day since he has been here. I have a strong vision that through diligence and effective use of our efforts we can really help Long Tan flourish. We have a few investigators that have already finished the lessons and have committed to a baptismal date. 

This following week and beyond, we are really going to strive to help our investigators overcome their concerns so that they can feel prepared and qualified for baptism. Yesterday I was able to meet the ward members at church. The ward is much smaller here, but the people are great! We also had a great experience working with the Bishop and the Elders Quorum President last night as we went out to visit Less Active and Part Member families. I went out with the Bishop and we were able to visit a family whose father is a less active member. We were able to visit with Brother Fan and his wife. They really opened up to us and they are super kind and funny. I think this was a start to a good relationship! I guess these family visits are something that we will be doing every Sunday night. I think that it is absolutely great because we are able to build our relationships with ward members and with the leaders. I think these visits will open the door to a lot of success in the future.

I'm really excited for the experience I will be able to have here in Long Tan. The mission is just great. I hope that everyone is doing well back at home and at school. I miss you all! Have a great week!

Elder Bastian

My Heart Was Full

Da Jia Hao!

 

It's been another good week here in Zhong He! We were able to have some good experiences and some success in the work this week which has been very satisfying to the soul. Lately, our investigators have been struggling in their progress of faith and in making those steps of change and action within their own lives. It seems like a lot of them have been curious and willing to listen and to try it out, but not to strongly commit. It has been a little disheartening for my companion and me as we love these people so much and hope to see them progress in the gospel because we know this will help them find the most happiness in this life. 

We did have some miracles from the Lord, though, this week. We have two new investigators who came to church for the first time this week. I think they really had a good experience and were able to feel of the spirit and see the difference this gospel can make in their lives as they attend. They have been willing to act upon the invitation to pray and to start reading the Book of Mormon to find out the truthfulness of these things for themselves. It has brought a lot of joy to us to see their sincerity, faith and hope. I think one of the best parts of this week was at church yesterday. One of the new investigators is a new mother from mainland China who has been in Taiwan for about 2 years. We were able to have some of the sisters in the ward guide her around the building during church and at one point, the sisters told her about Primary (the classes for the kids), and our investigator's eyes lit up and she asked "Can we go take a look at the Primary really quickly?" She has a daughter of her own and I think the family aspect of our church and that there is something for everyone here, really helped her open up. It was a cool experience.

Another cool experience this week was on Monday a week ago. For P-day my companion and I were able to go to Taipei 101 with one of the recent converts in the ward. Taipei 101 is the second tallest building in the world reaching about 1600 feet tall. Its elevator is the fastest in the world and goes from the bottom to the top in 30 seconds. It was such a cool experience with a very very pretty view from the top. We were able to see a lot of Taiwan from the top with the different parts of the city and the terrain that it has. I was able to get some cool pictures that I will try to get up next week for everyone to see. It was a lot of fun.

On Saturday evening as my companion and I were out tracting, we ran into an older lady who was moving some things in and out of an apartment building. We asked her if we could help her. At first she was a little hesitant, but then accepted our offer. She led us down to the basement which had all of the stuff she was moving. The basement was piled up with books and paper and just different things all over! The only two people there to move the things were the lady and her husband who are nearly 70 years old! We quickly got to work and carried all of the books and things up the stairs out to the moving truck. The lady and her husband were soo kind. They told us that we were a lifesaver and sincerely thanked us for our help. We were able to get everything cleared out quickly. It was a great opportunity to serve and my heart was full at the end of the day. What I felt for this older couple, gave me the opportunity to understand better the love that our Father in Heaven has for us. 

Things are going well here and I am having memorable experiences every week. I hope everything is going well back at home!

Love,

Elder Bastian

Teaching Prayer

Hello Everyone!

 

How is everyone back at home, any snow? It's been a pretty good week here in Zhong He. The rain is starting to kick back in. The weather here kind of reminds me of Provo in how extreme it is. One day it will be over 70 degrees and really sunny then the next day it 45 degrees and raining hard the entire day. It's interesting; you never know what to expect when you wake up in the morning. I hear that the best weather here rolls around in March--May. 

Well, we had a lot of good things happen this week. I think the highlight was last wednesday. We were able to go to the temple. We have a temple day about every 3 months. It was a great experience as it was my first time going to the Taipei temple. I love how wherever you, go the temple always sticks out amidst the scenery. Here in Taiwan, there are buildings and buildings all compact together with scooters and cars everywhere and then right of the middle of it is the big white temple with beautiful landscaping around it.  It is gated, separating it from the busy city life. It was very re-energizing to go there and have the opportunity to think about the Savior and the important things in life. It brought a lot of peace and motivation to this week's work. The temple is such a beautiful place!

After going to the temple on P-day, our district decided to go up to a shopping market that was about 25 minutes from where we live. It's at the base of some smaller mountains, a little outside of the dense city area. From the outside, the shopping area just seems like a lot of apartments lined up together, but as you go in between them through the little alleys to the back it's just a maze of hole-in-the wall shops. There were so many! I wish I had a picture to show you what it looks like; it is kind of hard to describe. Most of the stores are clothing stores, just lined up kind of like they are in the mall. All of the inner alleyways that have the entrances into each of the shops have canopy covers on the top so it kind of turns it into an indoor mall. We were able to look around for a while and some of the Elders bought some shirts. The best ones where the cheap plain t's that had English writing on them, or at least the attempt. None of the English really made sense; it's pretty funny.

After P-day this week, we have had a lot of important lessons with our investigators and also several new investigators coming in. I think one of my favorite parts about meeting with people for the first time here in Taiwan is teaching them about prayer. Many people here have heard of prayer or maybe seen it on TV, but they dont really know what it is. So when we start to simply explain that prayer is communication with God and not just us speaking words to Him, but truly a two way communication with someone at the other end who loves you, listens to everything you say or ask, and answers, their expressions after hearing this is pretty cool. Most say that if that's true that it would be pretty miraculous and something very special. A lot of people here feel that God is just a power or something that is very vague and distant, but as we help them to better understand their relationship with him, that he really is their Father in Heaven and how close their relationship can be, their hearts start to soften and they start to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Almost everyone we pray with for the first time, afterwards explains their feelings as very calm and peaceful. I think one of the really important responsibilities we have as missionaries is to help these people recognize and understand their feelings and promptings and that they are coming from God.

I've learned so much as I have been out here on the mission. I know that I am still pretty new to all of these things and am still adjusting to it, but the experiences I have had so far are truly priceless. I know that I have, and will continue to learn and experience things here that I could not learn anywhere else. What an opportunity it is. Well, it's good to be able to hear from some of you! My time is about up here, but I hope that everyone has a great week!

Love,

Elder Bastian

Conversion Takes Time

Hello Everyone!

 

I hope everything is going well back at home for all of you and that everyone is settling back into classes and work for the new year! 

Things are going pretty smoothly here in Taipei. This last week was pretty good! We had some important lessons with our investigators this week that really helped us understand where they are in the conversion process. Sometimes when we are teaching it is hard to understand what the investigator is feeling or how they are taking all of these things. You feel like you are putting a lot of effort into teaching, and you are just hoping for the best, but you're not sure what to expect in the end. I have learned that as we get on a more personal level with them, we can become a little more direct with our questions and ask them how they are doing. We had a few lessons like that this past week with our investigators, and they were able to open up more with us. The conversion process is different for everyone. I think when I first got here it seemed like it would be quick for most everyone that we met with, but I'm learning that the spirit works in different ways with each person. Some accept the gospel immediately, but for  others it is a process of building upon little spiritual experiences that over time culminate in faith, repentance, baptism and a true testimony of these things. 

One of the investigators we are meeting with is Brother Lu. He is about 26 and is a computer engineer. Life is very simple for him. He has a Buddhist background, but we tracted into him about 2 months ago when I first got here. Even though we have been meeting with him about every week, he says that he still does not believe in God, and he says that he doesn't have much in the way of expectations for our meetings, but you can tell that he does have a desire to learn.  Also, he sees the difference it makes in our lives and in the members lives and he does want to know for himself. This week he explained to us how he has been meeting with us all this time and hasn't felt anything, but he's starting to realize that if he wants to really feel something for himself he needs to do some things on his own - not just listen to us. He told us that he was going to pray and read on his own to see. It was really cool to hear him say that. As much as I wish that everyone would accept this gospel, agency is so important.  It was cool to see him using his agency in a way that will bless his life. I hope that he will pray sincerely and be able to get that answer he is wondering about.

I would also like to share a cool experience with you guys that happened to my companion and me two days ago. We were at a little market store making a phone call that evening. When we finished up, we left to go start contacting at a park.  When we arrived at the park,  I realized that I had left my backpack back at the store. So we decided to go back to the store and get it really quickly and just see how the contacting would go on the way. After we got my backpack, we decided to go to a different street to try contacting. During the last 5 minutes of our time there, we ran into a wonderful family that was walking on the street. They invited us to come over the next day to share our message with them. The father said that he felt it was something that would help his family. It was a cool little miracle to see. Although we did not plan for this at all during the day, and I did not intend to leave my backpack at the store, I learned the Lord is always guiding us and helping us to go where his prepared people are. I know that He wanted me to forget my backpack that day so that we could go to that other street to contact, and at that specific time run into this family. It is so cool to see His guiding hand in the work as we step back and look at all the blessings that have occurred.

My times is about up here for the week, but I hope that everyone has an awesome week wherever you are!

Love, Elder Bastian

P.S. I know that my English is getting worse and the email is a little rushed. I hope it still makes sense to you guys!  Ha, Sorry!

Wonderful Time of Year

Hello Everyone!

 

Well... sadly, Christmas is over, but a new year is about to begin! What a wonderful time of year. I think this is a great time to reflect back on all the good things that have happened this past year, all of the blessings, memories, or major events which have come into our lives. As I have been out here on my mission, I have really started to enjoy the time that we have at church more fully. One of the reasons is similar to what I have just talked about, it's a great time for me to reflect back on how things are going. Sometimes in the mission or life in general, we just start to go through the motions, but I have found that as I take the time to reflect back on my week each time at church and realize all that has happened, it motivates me for the next week and helps me to see what I can do better and what I need to continue to do. Reflection helps us to stay out of the rut of just going through the motions. One of my biggest goals in life, is for it to be FULL - filled with experiences, memories, family, friends and happiness. I hope that everyone can take the time to reflect and see what we can do this next year to achieve our goals. Make life fun!

 

This past week has been a good one. I was able to talk to the family over the phone and get a little taste of life back home. It sounds like all is going well! Even the Seahawks are having some success!? One of the highlights this past week has been the opportunity to serve. On Friday, we were able to go to a Buddhist temple and help out with their service team for about an hour. When I first got there I was wondering what it was going to be like and how the people would receive us, but as they took us around to the back and we saw so many people working together, I knew it would be a good experience. This Buddhist temple is famous for its service in the community over the years. That day we helped recycle plastics. Here in Taiwan, one of the popular things to eat is guava that you can buy from the street vendors. It comes in a small Styrofoam container and a plastic bag. Our job was to pick out any of the left over bits of fruit or leaves from the packaging so that the packaging could be recycled and used again. It was actually pretty fun, and all the older ladies who were working there thought it was pretty cool to see some young foreigners helping out. They were pretty great and took a big picture of us at the end. 

Another cool experience was going over to the home of Brother Wu who just got baptized about a week ago. His father had come to the baptism last week and Elder Johnson and I were able to meet him. Brother Wu really loves his family and was hoping that we could meet them sometime soon. So after the baptism we talked to his dad and set up a time to come back during this past week. Brother Wu told us how his family might not be too receptive to the gospel because they don't have a lot of interest in religion, but he still wanted us to come over anyways and at least get to know them. When we got there they were super friendly and we got to know a little bit more about this family and introduce ourselves - where we are from, and a little bit about our families back at home. As we started to talk about the gospel, Brother Wu's father proceeded to tell us about how impressed he was by the missionaries he has seen and their willingness to go to a completely new country and do all the things that we do. It was cool to hear that. We started to talk to him and his wife a little bit about the importance of families in our church and family history work too. You could see them start to open up a little bit more after that. We were able to set up a time with them to go to the family history center this next week. There was nothing super special about this visit, but to me it was memorable because I was able to see the big picture and look at the influence this gospel is starting to make on their family and how it is able to spread from person to person. I don't know if they will be up to hearing more about our message in the future, but I hope that things go well! There is so much joy that comes from this gospel. One last quick experience - this last week my companion and I were about to go to a pre-school and teach the children about the Christmas story on Christmas day. It was pretty cool! There were about 20 little kids running around when we got there. We were able to teach them about the nativity story, the birth of Christ, and sing some songs with them. It was pretty cool!

Well my time is about up here but it's been a fun week. I hope it has been a good one for you guys too! Don't let things change too much while I am gone!

Love you all!

Elder Bastian

Christmas Spirit

Hello Everybody!

It's Christmas Day here in Taiwan, and just a little bit longer until it reaches your end of the world too! I hope that everyone has a great day and enjoys the "Christmas Spirit". It truly is the most wonderful time of the year! This past week was pretty great. The highlight of the week was the baptism of our investigator, Wu Di Xiong. It was a great experience and everyone that was there was able to feel the spirit. Our mission president and his wife even ended up coming to it. Brother Wu has a new start and is doing so great. Right after the baptism, I was standing next to Brother Wu and I asked him how he felt. He told me that he felt something new in his heart that has sprouted and is starting to grow. I know that it is a feeling from above. How cool it is to see the love of God spread through other people. I'll never forget this experience. He has really jumped into being a part of the Zhong He family. 

Yesterday, was our Ward Christmas Activity, and he was there from the very start to the end helping out with all of the different stations and events. The Christmas activity was held outside in the middle of a large park hald Si Hao Gong Yuan. It was a big success! There were many people at the park who stopped by to see what all the hustle and bustle was about. There was a lot of Christmas music, games, food, and dancing. Many of the people asked which church we were, as they were really interested in the activity. The Christmas Spirit changes hearts in a way that other thing couldn't, just like the Grinch. It's a special time of year.

Some other highlights this week was teaching an 87 year old investigator my companion and I found while tracting a few weeks ago. He is christian but hadn't been to church in 60 years. He got a ride with a member and came to church 2 weeks ago, but this last Sunday didnt show up. As we met with him on Friday, we found out that he had tried to walk all the way to church by himself last time and got about halfway when his knee started to really hurt him so he turned back. What determination! Our sad feeling we had that Sunday before quickly turned to joy as we more fully understood the intentions and desires of this man. We taught him about the restoration of Christ's gospel and you could see his heart start to change at the lesson went along. It was very cool. 

We also had some other miracles happen this last week as we were going about sharing this gospel. One lady that we hadn't been able to get a hold of or meet with for about a month ended up inviting us over to meet with her AND her son! The worth both invigorated to learn more of the Book of Mormon and prophets and being able to learn of the truthfulness themselves. We have seen that as we've prayed for opportunities to share this gospel with families the Lord has been answering our prayers. I love it and know that the Lord will answer everyone's prayers. It may not come in the time or the way that we expect but He will always answer. He loves us and know perfectly what is best for us. We just need to do our best to align our lives with His will and we will find greatest happiness in this life. I have seen this starting to happen in so many lives including my own. I hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Love, Elder Bastian

P.S. I meant to attach some pictures of this weeks baptism and the previous ones, but we forgot our SD card adapter. Next week! Sorry!

Holiday Spirit

Hello Everybody!

 

How is everything back at home? I bet all of you are excited for the holiday spirit that is coming around! It's almost Christmas!  A funny thing happened on Sunday at church. Our ward mission leader came up to us after one of our meetings with a box full of Christmas stockings and told us to each pick one for them to hang up in the church. All of them had different sports teams/ American colleges on them. One was the Redskins, Connecticut, Huskies, Steelers, Michigan, Michigan State and a few others. It was so hard to choose because my allegiance lies with the Seahawks and BYU/UW. Eventually, I settled on the University of Michigan because my brother-in-law went there for graduate school. So I will represent them this Chirstmas! I'll try and put up the picture next week. It's a good one.

 

This past week has been pretty great! We got the transfer calls on Wednesday and the two temporary companions moved on Friday to other parts of northern Taiwan. My companion and I are staying put in Zhong He for at least 6 more weeks. We are so excited for this. This Saturday we will have a baptism for one of our investigators, Wu Di Xiong. He is the one that my companion ran after in front of the church my second week here. He is so great and his faith has truly blossomed as we have shared the restored gospel of Jesus Christ with him and he has began living the principles that Christ has taught us. On Sunday, he had his baptismal interview and afterward as we were talking to him about the baptismal service and who he could invite, he asked me if I would be the one to baptize him this next Saturday.  My heart was full. As I thought about the significance of the choice that this wonderful man is about to make, and that I will be able to assist in it, it really warmed my heart. The joy that comes from sharing this gospel and seeing people change their lives is like no other joy. It is true happiness. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be here in Taiwan sharing this wonderful message. I have learned so much!

As I have been thinking about Christmas this past week, I've kept dwelling on an email that my brother sent to me last week. He talked about the importance of Christmas, and the most wonderful gift any of us has received in this life, the birth of Christ.  He told me that the best gift I could give to anyone, and be able to give back to Christ too, would be to work my hardest to share His message with those around me. This has really impressed upon my heart as I have dwelt on it. This gospel truly can change lives and bring unimaginable happiness and direction to this life. I hope that all of you back at home might be able to take the time to think about the importance of the true meaning of Christmas in your lives - it is such a wonderful time of year! These next few weeks my companion and I are really going to try and focus on finding a family and sharing this message with them. Each day as I forget about myself and focus on helping others I feel the hand of the Lord helping us do his work. Anyway, my time is up for this week. I hope everyone has an amazing week.

Love,

Elder Bastian

Photo Time!

The More the Better

Hello Family and Friends!

 

It's been a great week here in Taiwan! The work is moving along well. I hope everything has been going well back where you guys are!

On Monday this past week, my companion got a phone call from our mission president saying that because of emergency transfers in some of the other areas in Taiwan, we would be having two extra Elders join our companionship until the actual transfers this Friday. So this week we have been happy to be joined by Elders Davidson and Heaton. Both are from Utah and are fairly new to the mission like me. Elder Davidson has been out for about 6 months here in Taiwan and Elder Heaton has been out for about 3 months. It's been crazy having a companionship with 4 Elders but a lot of fun and we have been able to get a lot of work done! I will try and get a picture up of the four of us next week. We've been striving to effectively use our companionship so that we can get the most work done in these two weeks and really get our area Zhong He up and moving. It's been a bit of a challenge, but its worked out well. What we do each day is split the 4 Elders into 2 companionship's of 2, like we usually have, and then we both head out to different areas and lesson appointments so we can get double the work done. Usually each day we rotate the companions around so that we are all able to be with each other. Its been interesting to be with the two new additions because our language in not nearly as good as Elder Johnson's. So, when two of us younger Elders are together I've found that we really have to exert all effort and really push our language to get up and moving. Its been great. I have had a lot more opportunities to contact, hold conversations, and teach the people. It has also been nice to be able to learn from the other two Elders and have their help and inspiration in how we can better do the work.

On Saturday, as Elder Davidson and I were out working together, it was raining pretty hard and we hadn't had much success that day with being able to contact people who were interested. At about 3 o'clock we started to head back to the church building for a lesson we had scheduled, but when we got near the church we found out that our investigator cancelled on us for that day so we weren't going to be able to meet with him. As we reached the other corner across form the building, we stopped to cross the street and a man walked past us, so we said hello and he stopped and we proceeded to have a conversation with him. He told me that before he was Catholic, but right now he didn't believe in God and believed in a lot of the conceptual science things about the universe. He seemed interested but was hesitant to accept the belief of God - it seemed. At one point the man had explained to me that he actually thought that man made up God and that it was wrong to believe in him. He was very nice about this all and very open about it, but his expression still touched me deeply in my heart. At first I was a little taken back and didn't know what to do, but then I remembered my testimony. I testified to him that I do know He exists and that I came to know this through praying and reading the scriptures and how so many others have done the same, and that he can too. It seems that in times of need the Spirit jumps in and the lessons become much more soul to soul communication. My testimony was simple but sincere and you could see that the Spirit had touched his heart at that moment and softened it. Next, we asked if we could say a prayer with him to help him see how he could know these things for himself. He accepted. I offered a simple prayer and prayed that the man would be able to know these things for himself. Afterwards we asked the man how he felt. He said that he felt very peaceful and as if we really were talking to God when we prayed. It was so profound and cool. He said that he would have to think about all of this but we would probably be able to meet with him this next week. Whether he does or doesn't meet with us, I know that this gospel has had an influence in his life. I hope that he will choose to meet with us this week.

I just thought I would like to share this experience with you guys. I learned a lot from it. I have been learning so much as I have been out here doing the Lord's work. All other facets of teaching and things have been going well. We are excited for one of our investigators as he has been working with us to prepare for baptism at the end of this month - before Christmas. He is sooo great! He is the man that my companion met in front of the church. It has been so great to see the changes he has made in his life. We are really excited! This gospel is SO TRUE! I hope that all of you have a wonderful week with school and work and family, everything!

Love you guys,

Elder Bastian

This Book is Truly Amazing

Hello Everyone!

 

This past week has been pretty good here! We have been having a great time, my companion and I, finding and teaching the people in Taiwan. It's been so cool to see all of the different kinds of prepared people as we go out each day. This month our mission has been working on focusing around the Book of Mormon. Our mission President gave each district a box of Book of Mormons and wanted us to place them by the end of the month. My companion and I were supposed to place 7 and we ended up placing around 9. It has been so great to see the people's eyes light up as we tell them about this wonderful book and that it truely is the word of God.  I am learning quickly about the importance of a testimony of this book in the conversion process for investigators. You can see the difference in the investigator that reads it often and those that don't. It's not because they are better at keeping commitments or they are just willing that they progress faster. That may be part, but I firmly believe that it's because of the Spirit that is invited into their lives as they read the Word of God. I have seen several times recently of investigator telling me that they have a special feeling when they read this book. 

We had one investigator this week who read about Lehi's dream in chapter 8. I thought this may have been a confusing part for him but he was searching the book and was able to see past the outer story and find the deeper meaning of it. He said that he really loved that chapter and was able to receive a lot of personal inspiration on how he could better his life. This book is truly is amazing. I am so grateful for a loving God, who has prepared a way back to Him and has given us so many things to give us direction in this life.

Right now we have several investigators. We are learning the importance of having shorter, frequent visits as we go about week to week. I wish there was more time in the day and people didn't have to work! Haha. It's been great to be blessed to meet these people. We actually have an investigator that is preparing for baptism this month. He is just on fire. We got a phone call earlier this week from him, saying that he was going to find a different job that would allow him to go to church each week and keep the Sabbath day holy. We were so stunned! He has such faith and is so prepared to hear this message. You can see how much he loves this gospel and the Book of Mormon. He carries it with him when ever he comes to meet with us in its own little bag. We are very excited for him. He has truly allow this gospel to change his life.

This week has been pretty crazy. It has rained everyday and its been pretty big rain too! Im so grateful for my rain gear, but I think my guess was right when I said I would be seeing this a lot more. It keeps us on our toes as we rush from place to place trying to avoid it as best we can. The crazy food that I tried this week was.... pig tongue! I didn't even know what it was 'til after I ate it and then the member who we had dinner with started busting up laughing and then told me. It was a good laugh. But i dont think I will eat it too often. Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well back at home and making time for the important things in life! I love you all!

Elder Bastian

The Lord's Work

Hello Everyone!

 

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving back at home! I actually have a quite interesting experience about my Thanksgiving here that I will share in a little bit.

This week has been pretty great. I have been able to see that Lord's hand in His work much more this week as we strive to find and teach those who are prepared to receive the gospel. In each opportunity we have to meet with people I see how the Lord has influneced their lives, or given them experiences that help prepare them to hear and accept this gospel. I am so grateful to be a part of this work. 

We had two baptisms on Saturday that went absolutely wonderfully. They were for Brother Mei and Brother Wang. Brother Mei is about 25 and is so great! He really loves the gospel. On Sunday I sat with him in Sacrament meeting and he started to tell me about his experience yesterday being baptized and today receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. He feels that recently the Lord has really been helping him personally and is starting to recognize the influence of the spirit more and more and his role in guiding our lives. It was so cool to hear him explain this to me and for me to better help him understand what these feelings are and how they can help him the rest of his life. The other, Brother Wang, is also awesome! He is 16 and loves Jesus Christ. He has such a love for Him that you can see whenever we talk about following the example the Savior has given us. He always focuses in more when we talk about Him. He had the opportunity to be baptized by his less active dad and it was such a cool experience to see them together. I think it will be a big boost in their lives and hope that this will re-motivate the father to come back to church. It was been so cool to see all these changes.

 

This week we have been able to continue to meet with our others investigators and share the gospel with them and invite them to make changes in their lives so that they may be able to follow our Savior, Jesus Christ. We have been using the Book of Mormon a lot more this week in the work. It has been so great in helping the investigator build a testimony of all these things as they learn of the significance of this book and feel the spirit as we read from it. It is truly the keystone of our religion. Each person that sincerely reads it and prays to know of its truthfulness, receives that witness. We have a lot of investigators right now and are working with them to prepare for baptism. I am learning more and more how important it is to have the spirit with me and my companion to be able to discern the needs of these people and best be able to help them accept this gospel into their lives.

 

Ok, now for the funny part of the week! On Thursday a couple in the ward took us out to dinner for Thanksgiving. I thought we were going to their house for dinner but it turns out we went to a sushi house. The husband kept pulling off all these different plates of raw fish and seafood. I dont even know what half of what I ate was. I had some sea urchin though and raw tuna and scallop and eel. It was pretty weird but an experience that I will never forget. Oh I also tried some squid this week too. Just thought you guys would like to know! Be grateful for the food that we do have!

 

Time's up for this week, but I hope everyone has a great week back at home.

Love Elder Bastian

Here Comes the Rain

Hello Everyone!

 

Another week has gone and passed here in Taiwan! So many things have happened. One of notable mention is the rain. 2 days ago is started to downpour and it was the same yesterday. I'm sure I am going to start seeing my dear old Seattle friend a lot more often these next few months. Luckily, i was able to get some rain gear about a week ago. That stuff is magic! It's super cheap and is totally water proof. We get dumped on as we are riding our bikes but are able to stay dry. Why don't they have this cheap stuff in America?

This next Saturday is going to be awesome! We will be having a baptismal meeting in the evening, where two of our investigators will be getting baptized. My companion and I are so excited. The first, is Brother Mei. He is such a golden investigator. He loves the Book of Mormon and understands the importance of each thing he reads as we teach him. He really has been prepared for us to teach him. It's so cool. The other is, Brother Wang. He is a teenager and has been living with another less active family but has been going to church for a little while with the family's son and daughter that are about his age. He loves Jesus Christ and wants to follow the example He has given us. He knows that His example is the door to all blessings in life. I love being able to see the changes and differences the Gospel makes in people's lives. It is truly miraculous.

The other investigator we have, that we bumped into in front of the church about 2 weeks ago, is doing awesome. He was able to come to church yesterday for the first time and he loved it. He loved the atmosphere and the spirit that he was able to feel there. We taught him about the The Plan of Happiness, God's plan for us, a few days ago and he absolutely loved it. It teaches about where we came from before this life, our purpose here on earth, and what happens after this life. He had some great questions and felt that this was able to give him much greater direction and purpose in life. We're excited to meet with him again soon.

The last investigator I would like to talk about is a brand new one that we met with for the first time yesterday night. Her name is Sister Lin. We had actually contacted her about 2 weeks ago in front of the church while she and her husband where on a walk. She asked what made our church different from all the others and we were able to briefly talk with her about the Book of Mormon.  She also said that she really liked how all of the Mormon men treat their wives so well. We were able to get her number and she got ours, but we hadn't been able to get in contact with her over the past week, but then all of sudden we got a call about two days ago from her. She said that she wanted to meet with us on Sunday night. So we met with her at the church last night. We were able to take her on a little picture tour around the church and show her 3 paintings that are hanging on the walls. The first was a picture of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane,  the second was of Christ ordaining the 12 apostles, and the last one was of Joseph Smith with God the Father and Jesus Christ appearing to him. We were able to talk about Christ and His purpose and who He is and the establishment of His church while he was on the earth and how after he was crucified the doctrines started to be changed by the people and how this is why there are so many different christian churches here on the earth today. We then talked about the Restoration of the Gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith and the coming forth of the translation of the ancient plates, now called the Book of Mormon, and how the Church today is the same as it was when Christ was on the earth. She really loved the lesson and was able to see the truths in these things. We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon to read and to pray about to know if it is true. Towards the end of the lesson she told us how she thought that this meeting was a Godsend and how she was so thankful that she was able to meet with us. She then told us how she would have the Book of Mormon finished by the time we meet next Saturday! We were blown away. It was such a miracle experience, you could already see the changes in her as we met. I love this work and can't tell you enough how true this message is and how much I love being able to share it with others. I hope all of you have a great week!

Love Elder Bastian

SO Busy

Hello Everybody!

 

Well, we jumped right into the work and have had so many things to do and so many people to meet with! This past week has been pretty good. We have a few new investigators that are preparing for baptism that we found this week. It's been so fun to see the changes that the gospel can make in people's lives even though i've only been here a week and a half. The language is coming along and I have been able to help contribute in the lessons and share my testimony. You can always feel the spirit in the lesson. It's great. So many people here are seeking for truth and are willing to change their lives when they hear about the gopsel.

 

One cool miracle we had this week was when we were finishing up a lesson one day at church and were walking out of the building. There was a guy who was walking past the church and was almost past it. My companion had the impression to run up to him and start talking to him. He invited the man to come into the church and take a tour and meet with us for a little bit. When we sat down and he started to talk to us he said that he felt that God had given him this opportunity to meet with us and that life has just been hard lately and he has been looking for somewhere to receive help. He has been really receptive and has accepted to be baptized after that first short lesson with him! He has been great and really is seeking for truth. The gospel is so miraculous in the ways that it is able to help people. We have been working hard

contacting at the intersections on our bikes and at the parks and on the street talking with everyone. Its been hard, but fun.

 

Other than teaching and finding on our bikes and in our parks, I have had some other pretty interesting experiences. I have tried a lot of new food since I have been here. Some including pig intestines and cartilage, dried pig's blood with rice, and some other weird stuff that i dont know exactly what it is. It's been pretty fun to see all of the different things they eat here. They have some crazy stuff! Another cool thing is that on Wednesdays we have the opportunity to teach English classes at the church. I taught the advanced class this week so everyone spoke pretty good english. The main point of the class is to get the students to talk and practice the language with each other. So we mostly just had discussions and talked about all sorts of stuff. They asked some questions about America and different things that were pretty funny.

 

The weather has been pretty good. It's been mostly dry. Yesterday was the first day that it rained and it kept up through today. Today is Preparation Day so we haven't  done any contacting in the rain yet, so we will have to see what that is like later tonight! I'm pretty excited.

I've Arrived

Hello Everyone!

 

It's been a week of many changes! We left for Taiwan last Tuesday at around 8:30 in the morning. On our flight to LA there happened to be a lady sitting behind my friend and she had a copy of the Book of Mormon in her hands and was reading it. He started to talk to her. She is from Taiwan but is currently living in Hawaii. She is not a member and had been visiting friends in Salt Lake City when she ran into some missionaries. She said that past weekend was the first time she really started to investigate church seriously and she was very interested in the church and in the Book of Mormon. The were able to talk to her and testify of the truthfulness of this book. It was really cool. They were able to get her contact information so that when she gets home she will be able to start meeting with some missionaries. It was cool to see the missionary work starting so quickly. 

The rest of the flights were long, but good. We arrived in Taiwan about 23 hours after we first left Provo.  What a culture shock! So many people and so many lights! It's a great place. We were picked up by our mission president, his wife, and the assistants. They took us to the mission home where we stayed for 2 days to receive some orientation and training before we met our companions and headed out to our proselyting areas. The mission home is right across the street from the temple so it was very cool to be there and wake up each morning to see the temple. Most people around in the neighborhood, when we talked to them, had said that they have seen the temple before. 

I think my mission president said that there are about 6 million people in the Taipei basin. The main area for missionary work. It is so cool. On Friday we were able to have our transfer meeting where I was able to meet my companion. His name is Elder Johnson. He is from Provo, Utah and he has been out for about a year and 4 months. His Chinese is sooo good. He's been such a help and a great companion.  He is really cool. He actually went to the University of Arizona for a year before his mission where he played baseball for them. So, both of us are collegiate athletes, I bet that doesnt happen too often in companionships! Kind of cool. We found out which area we are going to the same time and we are serving in the south Taipei area called Zhong He. 

Elder Johnson has been in this area for about 6 months. We were able to get our stuffed all moved over a little later that day. We had to take the "MRT" a little underground subway, which is supposedly the cleanest one in the world. It is super helpful! After some planning, we headed out to do some proselyting and we taught a lesson with a 16 year old who is preparing to be baptized. Right now we have about 12 investigators. They are all so great. It is awesome to be able to share the gospel with them and see their lives already changing even though it's only my 6th day here. One of our investigators, Mei, is so great! He just loves the gospel and eats everything up that we share with him about it. I have been able to meet about 5 other of our investigators and will meet more of them this week. 

The other crazy part about Taiwan is the traffic! It is nuts. There a tons and tons of scooters and cars everywhere and you just weave in and out of every one! It is a lot of fun. Especially contacting from the bikes at intersections. We usually have about 30 or so seconds to start talking to the person and get their interest and have to pull off to the side where we can talk to them about the gospel and set up a time to meet with them. It's crazy, but awesome! It's been a little hard for me because of the language, but each day is getting better and I get more and more confident at it. 

My companion has no fear! Ha, he talks with everyone, Literally. I know I need to do the same and am working on that a lot this week and improving my Chinese to be able to better talk with them. I have already learned so much! Yesterday, I was able to meet our ward. They are soo great! There are about 130 people in the ward and I was able to introduce myself and bear my testimony in Sacrament meeting. It was really fun and you could feel the spirit so strong in that meeting. They are all so great! Other than that, everything is going well. I am working my hardest each day. And I know that this gospel is true and will make changes in so many people's lives. It is just awesome. I love all the people here.

I hope everyone is dong well back home! Here in Taiwan my mission president allows me to receive emails from everyone. So feel free to send them! That is probably a lot faster than mail, but mail is still nice too! Time's up for today, but I'll let you know what's changed next week!

 

Love, Elder Bastian