March 26, 2017 - Kind of an Empty Week

That title sounds bad but this week I don't have much to say. I have a good reason though. 

On Wednesday we had zone conference which took up most of the day. 

On Friday and Saturday we had exchanges so we also weren't here. I feel like this week just slipped through my fingers. I didn't really take any pictures either. 

I saw Elder Gasser (one of my companions from last summer) in the mission office on p-day and happened to get a pic. 

None of our investigators came to church this week, but it was actually a blessing because the teachers didn't show up  for the first hour of class, so note much happened and then the second hour they taught a really complicated lesson about tithing so I was glad no one was there. 

I took this pic which I thought was pretty cool but besides that this week, sadly, was one that you kind of just let slip by. I hope I don't have anymore of those but sometimes it is out of our control. 

Sorry for the boring email. I still love you all.

March 20, 2017 - Laman and Lemual Are My Teachers

On Wednesday, we met with our investigator, Brother Xie. We brought a member of the ward with us. We have asked Brother Xie to attend church but he has always had some reason not to go. The member ended up asking him to go to church... He said he would come so that was a cool, and he actually did go to church on Sunday. Missionary work is so much more effective with the help of the members.

Brother Xie reads the Book of Mormon like no investigator I have had before. He doesn't read fast but he really understands and applies what he reads. His favorite characters are Laman and Lemuel. I asked why? Those are the worst people to be fascinated with. He responded saying "But they are us." He gave me a whole new perspective. He said "Without the the two older brothers and their example of what people will always do, we wouldn't know what to avoid. We also wouldn't know the good that was in Nephi." My new perspective is perhaps that all the brothers are a representation of all people. We are a little Laman and a little Nephi. We have their good and bad things in us. It is hard to explain, I know that doesn't sound like a super new thought but it really struck me and it has been interesting to ponder. 

Thursday, we had District Training Meeting. We talked about faith to find. We talked about how finding people to teach is a way that we can meet God. The line from the musical Les Miserables, rang in my ears as I taught the missionaries in my district. "To love another person is to see the face of God." We are constantly looking for those who are ready to have the gospel and loving these people. But in actuality, that love is allowing you to know God on a new level that you could have never imagined. 

Saturday, we went with our ward hiking. It was a good experience we talked about the Mountain of the Lord and enjoyed the tropical climate of Taiwan. 

We contacted this Grandpa that we see in the park all the time. His background is extremely interesting. It turns out that his wife was one of the first people in Taiwan to be baptized but when she married him, she became less active. He always tells us "next time, if fate allows us to run into each other again, I will come to church". This time he really came! 

Sunday we had three people at Church, which is the most I have ever had in DaKeng! It is so stressful, but rewarding. The grandpa, Mr. Chan, Brother Xie and Sister Lin. We enjoyed them being there, but it really takes a lot out of you because it is three hours of worrying on their behalf. 

This is what my Book of Mormon looked like when it was new and what it looks like now after nearly two years... I don't use it anymore because it is the study version that has English and Mandarin side by side. I can read pretty fluently the Chinese only version. This poor Book of Mormon has been through 3-4 typhoons and a lot of reading, transfers and more. It even has has mold on it I think... I feel bad because they are still scripture and I didn't intentionally destroy them, they just kind of ran into a lot of bad luck. 

The apartment we live in is super small. It's just one little room and a very small bathroom but our garage is massive! We literally live in an apartment above a storage unit where the extra supplies for the entire TaiXhong mission are stored.

Last Monday was Sister Zoller's 24th birthday! We went to TaiZhong's city center to eat lunch and buy stuff at the street markets. Even though it was her birthday, I bought presents for myself! haha! I will include some pics it was all very shuai... I am thinking about going back today but I need to be careful because I could end up spending all my money! Quality clothes are so much more less expensive in Taiwan than in the United States. Since I leave for home in 2 months, I think I will stock up on shoes and pants.

 New Leather Shoes 

  

 New Pants

That is it. I love you all! Have a great week! 

March 12, 2017 - Good Luck - Bad Luck!

This last week went by fast... After today I will have only 9 more emails... single digits. This week I really felt that we are incapable of stopping time, It just rolls on no matter what you do. Since this week went by really fast, I think about doing it ten more times and can feel the end of my mission breathing down my neck. I have mixed feelings about it coming to an end.

We spent last p-day in the hospital because for the past couple weeks my body has been having some strange muscle problems... The left side of my face was kind of numb and every time I touched it, my ears would make a pounding sound. The doctors didn't know what to do so they gave me some medication and sent me off. It seems to have improved since then so hopefully it was nothing. 

On Tuesday we had nothing going on so we got pushed up into the mountain part of our area. We are desperate for some new places to go. Unfortunately, the mountains are still the mountains and don't have really anyone out there. 

Interesting road on the way up the mountain.

On Wednesday we taught brother Xie, he refuses to come to church and says he has a reason but he is not willing to talk about it. If he doesn't change we are left at a stand still and won't be able to do anything with him. He is a good man so it makes me sad that he is so opposed to going. We are praying for him.

Thursday was District training meeting. My share was on how when we fill our lives with the things that make us happy and fill us with light, there is no room in our own tabernacle for darkness to come in. If you are literally full 100%, can anything else fit in? The answer is no. The only problem is people are constantly feeling empty because their lives are out of balance. Consequently there is plenty of space for other things to seep in. We talked about how we can use our time here on a mission to remove some of that space. It was really a good discussion. We have a new sister in our District, Sister Zoller, she is from Hawaii and she is so cool! It feels like we are old friends. Today is her birthday so our district is getting together to buy her lunch to help celebrate. Birthdays on missions don't really get celebrated so we all try to make them as special as possible.

On Friday we met with Ben, he has been an investigator for a long time, about 6 months, but he has a baptismal goal for April 1st. His biggest problem is he is just lazy. He said it himself. I also struggle with laziness sometimes. I think that laziness is one of the hardest things to get over. When you don't want to do anything, it is really hard to change and improve. I guess that is why it is one of the 7 deadly sins. 

On Saturday, I fulfilled a mission dream which was to teach a lesson to a Buddhist monk! I taught her about the Book of Mormon and she taught about "Fo Fa" (Buddhist Method). We both had things to learn from each other. She was really cool and very kind! 

Sunday we visited the Chen Family. Brother Chen is literally a genius! His knowledge about the church and about China blows my mind. I could talk to him forever. He also told me I was one of the most talented Elders he has met. I don't think that is necessarily true but it was nice to hear.

Elder Thomas finally sent the picture of us playing darts his last night in our tri-companionship.

I saw this picture on an ad for some potato chips. I thought it looked like a picture of me and my sisters that I carry with me! haha! But the guy in this picture is more shuai! (Shuai means super cool)

Love you all! Elder Erwin

Elder Erwin received this letter from his last companion, Elder Cox, who is still serving in my last area, TaiBao. He shared it with us and we would like to share it with you.

Hey Elder Erwin!  Chen Hongtai wants all the missionaries who taught him to know that he was baptized. I want to thank you for helping him on this path. I attached a picture so you can enjoy seeing it. When he was bearing his testimony after being baptized, the only missionary he mentioned by name was you. He told us how after the funeral (of a member in the TaiBao branch who died suddenly while Elder Erwin was still serving in TaiBao), he felt like he really needed to talk to you. Thank you for taking the time to talk to him. You were listening to the spirit and let him share his feelings. Thank you for that! We would not have been able to baptize him if it wasn't for you. I hope you can keep things going in your new area up north. Jiayou! Ai ni!  Elder Cox

March 5, 2017 - Pet Pigs, "Interesting" Appointments and Goodbyes

This week was good. On Tuesday we picked up Elder Thomas and so we had a tri-panionship for a few days. We also had to say goodbye to some good friends, Elder Sims' 2 years was up so he went home. Unlike last week, we didn't do anything fun for p-day, we were too busy. 

We had a lesson on Wednesday With a Brother Xie. He is a good investigator but he thinks way to hard about things. I have found that it is best to just look at things as simply as possible and then they will become more clear and more true then you could have ever imagined if you had started out analyzing every detail. He is willing to read and meet with us but we can't seem to get him to do anything else. 

We had coordination meeting Wednesday night. It was a good meeting and pretty fun. Our ward mission leader's wife made us cookies. Sadly, there is no such thing as real cookies in Taiwan. They are always hard and taste more like a cracker than a cookie. It was still a nice treat.

On Thursday, we met with a crazy guy who was just wearing two pairs of underwear and counted the outer one as his pants... We spent 10 minutes there and made a run for it. Thank you AP's for setting this appointment up for us... haha

Friday we dropped Elder Thomas off to go to his new area. That was sad for me. Elder Thomas and I have become good friends. He is the one who has an amazing singing voice. The night before he left, the three of us stayed up playing guitar, throwing darts and talking about music. He actually made me think about going into music production or recording or something like that. I don't think I will actually do it but it might be an interesting hobby. 

On Saturday we met with a new investigator. It was crazy, she showed up to the appointment and the member who was supposed to have the lesson with us didn't show at first. The investigator then said, I am sick I need some water. She went to get water and didn't come back. Our member finally showed up and we called the investigator again and she came back after about 20 minutes. We were still a little confused but the lesson went well and she agreed to continue to meet. 

We saw a pet pig tied to their scooter. The pig was wearing a dress! It was quite a sight, and very weird.

Sunday was disappointing because no one came to church. However for anyone who has served a mission before they will know that the only good part of no one coming to church is that you are able to relax for a second and just enjoy church. It is all about looking at the bright side of things. Maybe if a bunch of people came to church I would have lost my mind from the week of stress. 

Taiwan has so many amazing different kinds of bridges. I really like them so I usually take pictures of them. That is my companion, Elder Shakespeare at the end of the bridge.

This is just a view of where I am serving.

Overall this was just an average week in the life of a Taiwan missionary. 
I love you all.  
Elder Erwin