The Book of Mormon Really Does Have The Answers

Hello Everyone!

 

This week's letter will be a bit shorter due to time, but it's been a solid past week here in Tucheng. We were able to withstand another Typhoon! (It sounds impressive but it actually wasn't too bad where I live). The rains came and there was a little bit of wind but we were still able to go outside and tract in the city.

This past week we were able to have some key lessons with a few investigators. One of them was Brother Que. He is 52 and has a great desire to be baptized, but is still struggling with smoking and finding someone to take care of his elderly father on Sunday morning so he can come to church. We met with him last night and were able to talk about the power of the atonement in helping us to change as we turn towards the savior like Alma the Younger did in the Book of Mormon. It was a great lesson and he felt that he was really able to relate with him. After we read that part with him, he stopped and looked at us with a quiet but happy look and said, "The Book of Mormon really does have all the answers..." It was a powerful witness to me of the importance of this book in regards to our message and the conversion of anyone who seeks to learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm confident that through the Lord's help Brother Que will be able fully prepare for baptism.

We were also able to go on exchanges again this past week. I was able to go with an Elder Hagedorn and Elder Illu who are both from Utah. They are great missionaries and it was fun to be able to work for the Lord with both of them.

Overall this past week was another good week.

I love the Lord, and I love this work. It may be difficult at times, but salvation never did come easy, so I am willing to put for the work for my Savior and my fellow brothers and sisters.

I hope that everyone has a great week back at home!

Love you all!

Elder Bastian

Coming Along

Hello Everyone!

 

Wow, it really has been a busy week this past week.  It's been tiring but so worth it! This past week a few cool things happened that I will highlight in my email today.

First off, our investigators are still coming along. We have meet with many this past week - older and newer investigators. We were able to meet with two of them that have baptismal dates for the 28th of this month. One is a father in his early 50's and the other is 21 and in his last year of college. They both have a great desire to be baptized and are still just trying to overcome a few things right now. It has been so inspiring to see them change through the atonement of Christ. That's what has attracted them to this gospel. They both have had some challenges in their lives and since they have heard about the sacrifice that our Savior has made for us and the enabling power of the atonement to change lives through faith, repentance and baptism; they have grown so much and have really begun to develop a testimony of God's love for them. My companion and I are excited to continue meeting with them to help them be prepared to be baptized.

This past week we have also been able to find some great new investigators. One of them is a Mr. Gu, who was a referral from another set of missionaries in Taibei. He met with us on Saturday for the first time and we had a good lesson where we invited him to be baptized at the end. He said when he receives an answer he will. We also invited him to church for the next day and he came! He is great and seems so willing to learn! He is about 27 years old and is an insurance agent. It has been fun to meet all of these new people here in Tucheng. I'm excited to continue to see miracles.

This past week we also had a really special thing happen. President had decided about 2 months ago that he would like to hold a big outdoor zone conference over the coming weeks for the 8 zones here in Taibei. Our zone's conference happened to be this past week. It was so awesome! The north zone and our zone (west) went to Yang Min Mountain - a national park. We were able to hike up the mountain and stop at several different parts of the trail for some training and for lunch. It was a spiritual experience to learn of the gospel amidst the beauty of nature. It was overall a great experience that I will never forget! I should have a picture to send to you guys. As part of the conference, Elder Forbes and I were able to give a training on "how to effectively manage our time through weekly planning sessions". It went really well and I think it helped the other missionaries to know what to focus on when planning so that the spirit might best be able to guide this work.

On another note, I was able to go on exchanges with another elder this past week. His name is Elder Bromley and he is from Utah. He happened to be in the MTC at the same time as me, just in the younger group. It was fun to be able to go out and work with him since I already new him a little bit. He is such a sincere missionary and really loves the Lord and these people here. I have been able to learn so much from going on exchanges with other missionaries. It is great! I hope to be able to continue to learn much more.

Well, I don't have much time left and this about sums it up for the week.

I hope you all have a great week at home! I love you all!

Elder Bastian

Really Really Busy

Hello!

 

Well it's been a really, really busy last week full of meetings, exchanges and meeting with investigators, but during all of this we have seen miracles while finding people to teach out on the streets.

It's so much different here in Tu Cheng than on the east coast. Life is really fast paced here and there are so many people! It's great. This past week we had our first Zone Meeting since I have been here. The zone is great. There are about 18 missionaries here in the West Zone. Many are younger missionaries, which I'm sure is how it is in other places now as over the past few months we have had sooo many missionaries entering the mission field. The zone meeting went smoothly and my companion and I were able to give a training at the end of the meeting on the importance of effective planning and how to do it. I hope it helped the other missionaries!

I was able to go on exchanges twice this last week. That seems to be the pattern. I first went to an area call Xin Zhuang with an Elder Edmunds from Mapleton, Utah. Elder Edmunds has been out for about 5 months or so. We had a lot of fun working together and were able to have dinner at a member's place that evening. We were also able to run into some cool people as we passed out flyers for our English class that is every Wednesday.  We ran into a cool lady whose English is pretty fluent, it was cool!

On the second exchange, I went to another area in our district call Xin Ban with an Elder Heaton. He is from Utah also and has been out for about 9 or 10 months. We were able to meet with a few of his investigators and some new members in his ward. One thing that is great about going on exchanges is being able to learn from the other missionaries that you serve with. I think it will be a great learning experience to be able to go 2 times a week as compared to once a month before. The miracles always come on exchanges!

This past week I was able to meet with a few more of our investigators and continue to teach them about the gospel. Right now we have 3 people who are really close to baptism.  We are just helping them to continue to overcome a few personal concerns. At the end of this month, the stake here in the west part of Taiwan will be having an outdoor baptism in the ocean. Right now our three investigators baptismal goals are set for that date. It would be so cool to help people enter in to the waters of baptism...in the awesome coast front beach!

Another miracle that happened a few days ago was also pretty amazing. We were riding back to our city after just finishing exchanges and I heard some man on the sidewalk call out my name and beckon me over. I was really confused because I had never met this man before and I was wondering how in the world he knew my name. He said, "Do you remember me?" I told him "no...I dont think I have ever met you." Then he said, "Yeah you have, you're Elder Bai (my chinese last name) right? You ran into my scooter this morning and broke my mirror. I have a gospel tract with your name on it." I was super confused and started to get a little worried that as I was riding around in the morning and had somehow nicked this man's mirror with my handlebars as I rode by, but I could have sworn I didn't. In the end we figured out that another missionary in our zone with the same last Chinese name as me had hit this man's scooter this morning. But the miracle of this story comes as he started to ask about us missionaries and what we do here in Taiwan. He then told us how he has researched every religion and how he feels like he has not found the right one - he has never found his "answer". We quickly shared with him the story of the restoration and the Book of Mormon.  We promised him that his answer was waiting for him and he would find it as he reads and prays about this book. He seemed so fascinated with this book and was really anxious to begin reading it. He thanked us and thanked us. He lives in another area so we will have to pass him off to the other Elders who can continue to teach him. I know that the Lord is guiding him to the Truth no matter where he goes. One of the coolest parts of this story is to see how God really led this man through a series of events. First, running into a missionary that breaks his mirror, then mistaking me for the other missionary but we end up having the same name so we stopped, and then how he was searching for an answer himself! I'm so excited to hear how things go for him!

I am sure that my companion and I will continue to see miracles here in Tu Cheng. We are pumped!

Lots of Changes

Hello Everyone!

 

How has it been back at home? The summer seems to becoming to an end which means that school has started or is starting soon. How sad!

There have been a lot of changes this past week here on my end of things. On Monday last week, we got a call from the assistants saying that I would be moving! I was pretty shocked as I had hoped to be in Yuli for a while longer. I really love that area and the people. I hope that the Rong Family will continue to progress and be baptized this month. Elder Relyea better send me a picture! It is sad to leave them, but I know that whoever teaches them the gospel, it is all for their benefit. God knows their needs and I'm sure the new elder there will have a testimony that will be especially for that family.

I ended up moving back to Taipei in the big city to a place called Tu Cheng. My new companion is Elder Forbes. He is just plain awesome! He has been in Taiwan for over a year now, about 3 months longer than I have. He is from Colorado, and before the mission he attended BYU at the same time as I did. He also played for the BYU Rugby Team for a semester. He is just an all around awesome person!  We are the Zone Leaders now for the West Zone in the Taipei mission. When I was at the transfer meeting and it popped up on the screen saying that I would be in Tu Cheng as the new zone leader, I was so surprised! It was pretty humbling.  I have already been able to learn a lot from the service and being with Elder Forbes. I hope that I will be able to serve here as best as I can. I know that Elder Forbes and I will be able to see some great miracles as we work here together.

The past couple of days have been really busy. Being back in the city the missionary work moves at a much faster pace! Right now there are many wonderful investigators in Tu Cheng with a few that are really close to baptism.  We hope that in the next few weeks we will be able to help them be ready to make this commitment to follow the Savior and allow the blessings from heaven to flow into their lives.

A cool story - we were able to meet with an investigator David Wang who is really close to baptism but will be heading back to college today so he will continue to meet with the missionaries there. When I first saw David as he crossed the street I thought that he looked super familiar. As I introduced myself he said, "I have met you before, do you remember? It was at that park in Yong He 2 months ago..." He was right! When I was in Yong He, my companion and I had ran into these 2 college student who were already investigating the church in different areas. One of them happened to be David! It was cool to be able to teach him once before he headed off to college. Such a coincidence!

I wish I had more time to share about the other miracles we have been able to see this past week but my time is short and I need to send an email off to President Day. I'm really excited for these next coming months and know that it will be filled with the Spirit and honest missionary service!

I hope you all have a great week at home.

I love you!

Elder Bastian

He Is At the Helm

Hello from Taiwan!

 

This week has been just awesome! Elder Relyea and I have really be able to see miracles as we have done our best this week. The Lord lead us to the places and people that we needed to help.

Of first note, Brother Rong came to church yesterday for the first time, and he brought his three kids!!! We were so excited. After spiritually-filled sacrament meeting Brother Rong came up to us and said "As long as I have faith, I can do it!" His meaning was to be able to give up things that have been holding him back and be able to be baptized! It has been so awesome to watch his desire grow over the past month and a half. We will be heading over to their house tonight with our Branch President and another member to make a plan with them on how they can over come their problems with the Word of Wisdom. It may take a little time, but we know that as they rely on the Lord, truly, all things are possible. We really hope to see them be baptized at the end of September!

Another miracle of the week happened on Friday night. We had decided to head over to a kids house that we had met on the street to see if we could set up a time to come back and as we got to the house and knocked on the front gate, we ended up running into his older brother who will be starting his senior year of high school this week. Their family seems to have a lot of challenges, but they are so humble! We began talking with his brother and were actually able to teach him about Heavenly Father right on the spot. Tears came to his eye as we talked about the peace, comfort, and support that He can give us as we develop our relationship with him. We were able to go back the next day have another great lesson and then he came with us to church on Sunday! We will head back to his house on Tuesday and hope that his Mom and little brother will be able to join us too. They need the gospel so much!

Last cool story that I would like to share... On Tuesday night, my companion decided to tract in the neighborhood of a less active member in our branch. We were going door to door and nobody seemed to have any interest, some were even a little rude. My companion was starting to feel a little frustrated, but then we rang a doorbell and the whole night changed! A lady came out and says "Oh Elders! Hello!" We were shocked, she quickly invited us into her home. As we were walking in she told us how her son used to be a missionary for our church. We were able to sit down with her and her husband and they told us all about her son who went to Australia on his mission and who is now in Texas working with an active family of three. As of now they are not super interested in hearing the gospel, but I know that we have established a good relationship that i believe over time will be nurtured and turn into an opportunity for them to hear the gospel. It was a cool little miracle as im sure no one in our branch has ever heard of this family.

This past week I have come to know more deeply and personally of the reality that this work we are doing is truly the Lord's work. He is at the helm of this ship and is leading us as we seek to do our best. I know that He lives, He loves us, and we will all be able to return to Heavenly Father as we turn towards his Son, Jesus Christ.

That sums up much of this past week. I wish I had more time to tell more! I hope that everyone has a great week as summer is finishing up and everyone is getting ready for a new start at school.

Love you all,

Elder Bastian

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