As I write this email a typhoon is building outside... Storms in Taiwan shut down everything so today might be an interesting day. All of our appointments have been canceled at the potential of this storm. I don't really know what will happen because I am not allowed to look at the weather. So I think I told you all that my first week here was Mid Autumn festival... I was wrong. I translated incorrectly but yesterday actually was! The goal of the Taiwanese people I am now sure is to kill me with food. Last night they kept trying to shove pigs blood and squid down my throat. I ate so much and we had to bike across town to a late night appointment, you could say I didn't feel good last night.
We had an adventure last p-day with this old Ah-gong (grandpa aged man) in a back alley. The elders in third ward found him and we decided to go pay him a visit. He is a custom, hand-made suit guy. My companion decided to get a maroon colored suit which I am very excited to see. He got it for like hundred dollars! If it looks good I might have to make a long term investment in a suit. Most likely I won't though...
One last story then I want to talk about some of our investigators. We were sitting in this store making some phone calls setting up appointments and we met some new friends.
This is Nicole and her two little siblings. They were playing in the street, they saw us and freaked out because white people here are a rare sight! We started making faces at them and after some time they started to press their faces up on the glass and we wrote each other notes on the glass! They were the most amazing little kids, my heart was so sad when their mom called them back home. I hope that they will just remember the fun that they had with the missionaries and maybe one day be receptive to our message.
So this week we tried a new method of proselyting. I went on to the same street corner that is in this picture and played my violin in the street while other people in our district passed out flyers for our English Class. People responded well to it. It got them to stop for a moment and think about what we were doing. I just played hymns and then me and Elder Thomas (third ward elder) played the violin and guitar together. It really tested my listening skills because he would just play songs from the radio and I would play along even though I have never played them. I found out that I am not a half bad at making things up on the spot :) It was worth doing because almost all of our baptisms here in Zhanghua are from English class.
My companion met this girl from Da lu which translates as the Mainland. Her name is Chris and she came to our English class this week. She told us that she has been in Taiwan for two weeks and has been looking for a church and has been to several but didn't really enjoy them. She then proceeded to ask us what that feeling was that she got in our church building! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect question! We are meeting with her this Wednesday and I am so excited!
We have three other progressing investigators I will try and tell you a little about all three
1. Sister Hong- She is a middle aged woman whose son is one of our recent converts, she is a devoted Buddhist, however she still wants to meet with us. She told us last week that she believes in Heavenly Father and that he answered her prayers. You can imagine our excitement at this but then she proceeded to tell us how she believes that Heavenly Father and Buddha are both gods and believes in both. Oh sister Hong.... But we had a really great lesson with last night and I think that her faith will continue to grow if she keeps our commitments. Last night we committed her to read the chapter that talks about no man can serve two masters... I thought that was pretty funny myself:)
2. Peter- His Chinese name is Lin Zi Yuan but peter is his English name and it is much easier in my opinion. Peter is 15 and is great, he has so much faith and wants to be baptized but his dad is still saying no! We tried to visit his dad yesterday but he took one look at us and hid out in his room until we left. So we will continue to pray that his dad will open his heart.
3. Kelly- This woman is so special. Her faith is massive. She lives a pretty difficult life. Her husband doesn't work and she pays for her two daughters to go to school by working in a factory all day. I led my first lesson with her because my companion was on exchanges up in Nantou, so I taught her tithing! How is that for your first solo lesson! Kelly didn't even blink she told me that she would live it after her baptism! The hardest part of Kelly's situation is she hasn't told anyone in her family that she is meeting with us. She is terrified of her husband and what he might say. But it is a rule that your spouse has to know and so that is the only reason she isn't being baptized right now. We fasted for Kelly yesterday and are praying for a miracle.
This brings me to my email title. Gratitude, I have all these people that I am teaching that want to accept the gospel but can't. I have had the gospel my whole life and never really thought of how blessed I really am. My heart aches all day because I want Kelly and Peter to both enjoy the same blessings, but they are being held back by someone else's agency! So my message this, never forget to show gratitude to Heavenly Father for giving us his gospel and always strive to be worthy of its blessings!
I love you all,
Elder Erwin
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