Great Week

Hello Everyone!

 

It's Monday morning here in Taiwan. I hope you all had a great last week! My companion and I had a great week also! We were able to teach a lot of lessons and meet several new, cool people. The highlight of the week was on Thursday. That morning, my companion and I went out to find a referral that the sister missionaries had found a week before while tracting. We went to the man's house and were surprised to find 3 high school seniors there. They turned out to be the man's nephew and his friends.  We were able to sit down with them and teach them what we as missionaries are doing here in Taiwan. They all seemed to be pretty interested, especially one of them when we started to talk about the existence of God and how each of them can come to know for themselves that God is our loving Father in Heaven who wants to help us. He kept asking great questions which we were able to answer as we helped him better understand this principle. The sad part for me and my companion is that these high school boys all live up in Taipei and not here in Yuli! So, we won't be able to teach them, but we will send their contact information to the missionaries up there so that they can get a hold of them. I'm glad that these young men will have a chance to learn the gospel wherever they go!

This past week we were able to meet with the Rong Family again. We talked to them about about their baptismal date and the parents seem really excited! They understand that they will have to make some changes in their lives, but they truly have a desire to draw closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ through baptism. We went by on Friday night to visit really quickly and say hi, and we were able to talk to the father. He said that he and his family have started to read the Book of Mormon together as a family most nights! I was shocked - how cool!  In the previous lesson, I had shared with them how my family just read a little bit together each night.  They took this to heart and started doing it too. It has been a really sweet experience to see this family change as they begin to live the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Jesus's Christ's atonement truly provides the power for all of us to make changes in our life for the better. I'm excited to see how the family progresses and will keep you updated!

Today is our preparation day so we have until 6 in the evening to do what we want and then prepare for the coming week. My companion and I will take the train down to Taidong and Coastal City and spend the day with the elders there. Hopefully, we will be going to the beach also, which will be my first time since I have been in Taiwan, so I am super pumped!  I will make sure to take pictures for you guys to see.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week! I'm so thankful for all the prayers and support from each of you. I hope that everyone has a wonderful week!

Elder Bastian

The Power of Personal Prayer

Hello!

 

The heat is kicking up here in Taiwan, but the work still moves forward! My companion and I had a great week last week. It was full of focus, vision, and hard work! We were able to meet with a few new people including a high school student named Xie Yu Quan and and older man named Brother Jian. I met brother Jian on the street the beginning of last week and shared a little bit about the power of the gospel in helping us to overcome life's challenges and to make changes for the better. He seems to have had a lot of struggles in his life and saw hope in the message we are sharing. We met with him a second time on Thursdayevening, but back at the chapel this time. As we got to know him more, we learned that he has a little bit of christian background and has attended a few other christian churches here but at the moment he doesn't seem to be very active in any of them. We felt impressed to share with him more about the nature of God as our literal Father in Heaven and also how we can communicate with him through prayer. We invited him to say a prayer at the end of the lesson and he did. It was so sincere and beautiful! After he prayed, he explained that at first when we asked him to pray he didn't want to, but then he said he felt God encouraging him to do so and when he was praying and after he finished praying, he had such a wonderful feeling, as if God was right by his side lifting him up. He said that at all the other churches he had been to taught him to read/memorize prayers from the bible, but that every time he did that, he never felt anything, but when he said a personal prayer with his own words a whole new door was opened.  SO COOL!  We are excited to keep meeting with him and watch him progress.

The rest of our time this past week was spent visiting members and doing service. On Thursday, we had the opportunity to help a less active man that has started coming back to church move some things in his house as he was in the process of remodeling.  Afterwards, he bought lunch for us. Saturday, we also had another big service opportunity as my companion, some priesthood brethren, and I went to a widowed sister's home who is in the Branch and we repainted her small home for her. It was pretty fun and her house looked so good afterwards! I wish I had some pictures to show you, but i forgot to bring my camera that day.

Sometimes my companion and I are asked why our church does not have a cross on it and I always think back to the quote by President Hinckley that the symbol of our devotion to Christ is manifested in the lives and action of our members. Whenever we have the opportunity to serve others, I always feel that we are really fulfilling our purpose as followers of Christ. Service is fun too!

Well, that about wraps it up for the week here in Yuli. Things are going well and we are working hard! I hope that everyone is having a great summer. 

Love ya!

Elder Bastian 

Seeing Old Friends

Hello!

 

Another week has flown by here in Yuli. I forgot to mention last week that our P-Day would be on Tuesday this week, so I would not be able to email until then. We had a Specialized Training Conference yesterday in Hau Lian, about an hour away from our town. It was a really good experience. We were able to hear some inspired instructions from our Mission President and I was also able to see Elder Lackey, my MTC companion, and Elder Orchard who was also in my district at the MTC. Whenever we reunite at a meeting or something, I always feel like Alma and the sons of Mosiah as they reunite after serving their missions to the Lamanites for 14 years having not seen each other the whole time. I know my situation isn't as extreme... but it's so fun to see them all again! They are all doing great.

This past week has gone pretty great! Our investigator Sister Rong and two of her kids were able to come to church for their first time this past Sunday!  Her husband and their other son were not able to come because of work and a basketball competition, but we were so happy to see the other three at church! I think they had a great experience and really felt welcomed by the branch members. We really are like "little, big family" down here in Yuli. I think the family members were all able to feel the Spirit and have a good experience. Elder Relyea and I will visit their family tonight and will be able to see how they felt about church.

This past week, we have also had some great opportunities sharing the gospel with new people that we have come in contact with. On Saturday, we met a guy that is 18 years old and is already a doctor in a hospital. He is so smart! He already has a Book of Mormon and has read the whole thing.  A patient he had a year or so ago gave it to him.  Also, I was able to meet a high school kid on the train ride home from Hau Lian yesterday. I sat next to him and we started to talk and get to know each other and then I was able to have a great conversation with him about God and about Joseph Smith's experience. When I started talking to him, he told me that he was Atheist, but as we talked more and more he really started to open up and by the end he accepted my invitation to pray that night after he got home. He was so nice and really sincere!  I hope we will have a chance to see him again. Another cool experience was meeting a high school student here that is from California. His parents are divorced and he moved to California before middle school.  He comes back each summer to visit his dad. He was really open to meeting with us and talking about religion. He willingly accepted a Book of Mormon and even told us that he tried praying after he met us the first time like we had invited him to. How cool!  He will be heading back to California in a week, but we were able to get his information for the missionaries in California. Hope all continues to go well with him! 

It is cool each week to see all the different ways that Heavenly Father is preparing people to hear and accept the restored gospel!  I know with all my heart that the message we are sharing is true!

Last fun thing - on Saturday we had the opportunity to play T-Ball with the branch members, their kids, and some local kids. It was pretty fun! I haven't thrown a baseball in forever!  It felt so awkward...

Well, that's pretty much it for this week. I love you all and hope that you all have a great week back at home!

Elder Bastian

My First Typhoon

Hello Everyone!

 

It's been a great week here in Yuli with lots of awesome experiences!  Elder Relyea and I have been meeting with the Rong family that was found by the sister missionaries a couple months ago. They are doing great! We had the opportunity to share the Plan of Salvation with them this past week and talk about eternal families. They really absorbed all of these restored truths and when we asked them if they would want to have an eternal family they all said, "Yes!" They are an aborigine family with a little bit of christian background. The best part has been seeing the dad's disposition change as he learns more about the gospel and as his faith grows. He is even helping his kids to say prayers before meals! How awesome. 

On Saturday, we were tracting and ran into an older man in his late 50's or 60's. He doesn't really have a religion but says that he will sometimes read from religious books, including the bible. We asked him if he believed in God and what he thought his relationship was with him. He said that he did believe in God and he believed that God was the creator of our spirits, our father. My companion and I looked at each other and said... "Ya, He is!!" We were both really surprised because many people here don't really know what attributes God has at all, many of them don't even believe in God. We continued to teach him about prophets and the Book of Mormon and he seemed to really like it and accepted the copy of the Book of Mormon that we gave to him. He is so humble and really accepting of what we teach him.  We will be heading back to his house tonight to meet with him again. We're really excited! The work is moving forth in Yuli.

Of other news, I experienced my first typhoon here in Taiwan. At first we thought it was going to be really big, but the typhoon decided to hit the northern part of Taiwan hardest and we just got a little bit of rain mixed with some huge winds. Trying to ride our bikes in the wind was really funny because we had to focus on not falling over while pedaling as hard as we could to move only a couple miles per hour.  The typhoon has come and gone now so we are doing fine and are back to enjoying the sun.

Last night, I also had a pretty funny experience. I woke up at about 1 o'clock and felt something on the back of my head so i knocked it off and sat up so I could look down at my pillow to see what it was - a Fat cockroach right there!  As it started to run off my bed, I jumped up and turned on the light, then pulled my bed away from the wall, found a shoe and smashed it! The whole time my companion stayed asleep only to wake up when I was getting back in bed and he said "why is the light on?" He turned it off and I just laughed. Crazy story!

To end on a better note, my companion and I were also able to do some service for a less active man in our branch who lives up in the mountains. We spent about 3 hours moving old furniture from his house to a little shack back in the jungle where he stored stuff. It was super pretty up there. It was fun doing service and fun being able to build a good relationship with this man. He is just great!

Well that about sums it up for this week. Thing are going great here. I hope you all have a wonderful summer back at home.

Love you!

Elder Bastian 

Yu Li

Hello Everyone!

 

Well it's been a pretty awesome last week! Monday I went to Taipei on Monday to meet my new companion and head out to the new area I would be serving in. Now for the big news... I have moved to Yu li on the south eastern coast of Taiwan. It's about a 4 hour train ride from Taipei. It's the most rural area of the entire Taipei mission, but it is great here! The people are so nice and its super pretty. It reminds me a lot Aurora, Utah. My new companion is Elder Relyea from Farmington, Utah. He is just awesome! He has only been here in Yu Li for about 3 weeks but were both getting into the swing of things here quickly. We've have some time this past week getting to know the members of the branch here. There are about 35 and they are all stoked for missionary work! I can really see their desire to help this area of the Lord's vineyard grow. Elder Relyea and I are going to do all that we can to continue to build our relationships with them and find though who are prepared to receive this gospel. This area hadn't seen a baptism for about 2 years but since the beggining of this year they have already had 5! This place is really on fire, with the missionary spirit.

My companion actually had to head back up to Taipei on Wednesday night for a training meeting since he is the district leader. He got back on Saturday morning so during the time that he was gone I went to the neighboring area called Taidong. I was there with a newer missionary, Elder Martin for a few day and we saw so many miracles as we went out to do the Lord's work. I think the coolest was when we went to this small park and we ran into these 4 college students from Tai Nan about 4 hours away. I asked them if they would like to do a church tour and they gladly accepted. So we all rode over to the church and did a tour and then had a small lesson with them on Prayer. They really seemed to like it and asked some great questions. We going to hand them off to the missionaries back in their hometown, but I'm super excited for them. It was a great blessing to see the Lord lead these people to us. Im grateful to have been in the right place at the right time.

Now back in Yu Li, were ready to get the ball rolling and hit the pavement. I know that the Lord will lead us in the things he needs us to do. He has a plan for each and every single person on this earth, and is a perfect plan.

I hope that you all have a great week back at home. Enjoy the summer! It's pretty warm here!

Love you all!

Elder Bastian

Unexpected Transfer

Hello!

 

Well, Big news! My companion and I got a phone call from the assistants to the president yesterday morning telling us that we would both be moving the next day (today). My companion will be heading to the mission office most likely to become one of the office elders, taking care of computer things, and I will be heading out to a new area as a result of a short term missionary cancelling. I'll figure out where I am going at 3:00 pm today when we head over to the mission office. I'm pretty excited, but also a little nervous to have everything change all of sudden, just after getting used to this area. Well, the Lord always has new things in store for us and I know that His plan is better than mine, so it will be a great experience.

The past week has gone pretty well here. We were able to see some cool miracles. The highlight of the week was with our English Class. We have implemented a new mission-wide English Program with new text books and everything and have been inviting a lot of people to come. This week, about 15 or so new people came. Our class was packed. As a result, 3 new people in our area are interested in learning more about the gospel. We were able to meet with them after class and share a little message with them. 2 of the 3 are a newly-wed couple. It was nice to be able to meet with them and see their desire to learn more about the Savior. One of the best parts of the mission is being able to watch and see people change as they start to learn about, and accept, the gospel into their lives. Their whole composure seems to change.

I had the opportunity to meet with Brother Wu yesterday. He was the first person that I helped baptize on the mission in my first area. He found out that I would be leaving this area again and wanted to meet with me. He has changed so much and really grown in the gospel. He has been to the temple, received the Melchizedek priesthood, and is preparing to go back to the temple for his endowment. So cool!

I'll be sad to leave this area. We were just starting to see things ramp up in getting the work going here. I hope all of these people that we have met in the past few weeks will continue in the gospel and be able to receive the blessings that come from it.

Well, that's about it for here! Hope that you all have a great week back at home. I love you all!

Elder Bastian

Hastening the Work of Salvation

Hello Everyone!

 

Taiwan is really bringing the heat now. We have had several days in the 90's and just as humid as can be. We have had a couple times where we were tracting and my companion and I were just soaked in sweat. It feels good to come home at the end of the night knowing that we've done our best helping our brothers and sisters find their way back home. This past week we have spent a lot of time finding, searching for those who are ready to hear this gospel. We are striving to build up our teaching pool and hope to be able to see a lot of success in this transfer.

Yesterday evening my companion and I had a sweet little miracle. As we were at our apartment it started to down pour and thunder like crazy! It kept coming down so we decided to adjust the first hour of our finding time that day to call former investigators to see if there would be interested in starting to meet with us again. I decided to call one guy that my companion told me had met with missionaries about 5 months ago and was just golden, but who ended getting really busy with school and stopped meeting. I called and he didn't answer... but about 20 minutes later just before we were about to leave he called me back and I was able to talk to him. He said that he his finishing his finals in a week and would love to meet again after that! My companion and I are really excited and thankful that the Lord sent a little rain our way.

Now for the fun story of the week. Just after that phone call we headed out to go tracting in a place that was rather far away. We got there and I noticed that I had forgot my bike key so I couldn't lock my bike. I figured it wouldn't be a problem and that I could just leave it there, but then my companion turns to me his face looks a little shocked and he says "uh oh..." He had just locked his bike and then realized that he forgot his key also. Now he had no way to get back. So we had to make about an hour and a half walk round trip to our apartment and back to get his key. It was just one of those days. We had a good night though after that tracting for a little bit.

In my new area we also have the opportunity to go to this really large park to walk around and talk to people about the church. One thing that I have been working on is listening to the spirit as we are seeking to know who we should talk to. As I have focused on this, we have been able to see some cool miracles, meeting a lot of great people and some that are willing to learn more about the Restored Gospel.

This morning was a world-wide conference on missionary work, titled "Hastening the Work of Salvation." It emphasized the importance of members and missionaries working together in efforts to help all of the children of God to return to the fold. I know that what was talked about today was direct revelation from Christ through his servants, the prophet and apostles, to the world. I'm glad to see what things will come about in the future and the integration of new technology and the internet (facebook etc.) in helping this work move forth.

I hope that everyone has a great week! I love you all!

Elder Bastian