Taipei Taiwan

Taipei Taiwan

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

MTC Week 8

Nimen Hao!! Hello!! It is so good to be able to write you today! I have had a great day and hope that I can share everything that I need to. Thank you all for the letters and love that continues to come in. I'm leaving..... next Tuesday!! I'll be in leaving Salt Lake at 11:00 AM MST and then I'll be arriving at LAX at 12:30 PST. Suoyi, wo gen nimen xiangyao shuo hua! ( Therefore, I want to talk to you!) I have a 3 hour layover in LA so please expect a call from me some time in those 3 hours. I'm so pumped and can't wait. Please. Do me a favor and pray for the people of Taiwan. They need this message and I know that the Lord would love your extra prayers for them. :) Today I had a super cool experience visiting with Tarah, Sarah, and Mom. Apparently we broke a ton of rules. I felt like a sinner. But if it was a sin.... it's the best sin I ever did!! :P haha I can not tell you how much joy I had and how much happiness I felt when I got to hug them. It was such a blessing to see them, but so incredibly special to see Tarah. Yes. I cried.... hahah I'm tellin' ya! Missions do it to you! Hahah I am so happy that I got to see them. We were given 20 minutes, and I feel like there should have been more time given, but it was sufficient for me to muster out a short testimony in Mandarin and for Tarah to share her testimony with me in Tagolag. The spirit was so strong and it was so peaceful. It was so so so incredible and I am so happy for that blessing. This Sunday we had the opportunity to hear from Stephen B. Allen. He had a presentation prepared to share with us about the churches efforts in the media department, but he heard that following the devotional we would be watching Sister Monson's funeral service and he felt prompted to speak by the direction of the Spirit. He shared some incredible advise that will help me as I enter the missionfield and also had some comforting things to share about the Plan of Salvation. He had us sing " Come, Come Ye saints". Next time that you sing that song, please think of the Plan of Salvation. Think of the things that we experience here on earth and then think of the life after this one. God has a plan for us and it is so great. We will all fall down and give in to a temptation of the adversary, or say some thing we didn't really need to, and the adversary will continue to tell you horrible things about yourself, and you will feel that there is nothing you can do to get back to where God wants you. But those things that the devil tells you... they are not true. All God wants you to do is to Come Unto Christ. Through the Plan of Happiness we have a way to get back on that path that God wants us on. It is through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that by applying the sacrifice of Christ in our lives, we have the ability to overcome all things. I rejoice in the Great Plan of My God. I love my family and I love the fact that I will forever be able to live with them. Wo zhidao zheshi zhenshi de. (I know this is true.) I know that my purpose as a missionary is to help others come unto Christ and I am so excited to serve God's people in Taiwan. I love this work and seal myself to it. I am the Lord's. Strength and Honor. Love, Elder Westover

Monday, May 20, 2013

MTC Week 7

Brigg, Gunner, and Kaleb. You are amazing and I love you. Congratulations on earning the Rank of Eagle Scout and know that I was there in your Eagles Nest in spirit. Keep up the good work and don't stop till it's all done!! :) There is no end to progression. You can always progress. Remember that. If you don't figure that out from scouting, you'll definatedly find it out in the mission field! Sarah and Tarah, I wish I could have been there!!! I know that you did great in your homecoming talks and the spirit was there. I'm super excited to see you next week Tarah!!! Thank you all for the love and letters! I have so much to catch up with, so if you don't get one for a while... Just know that I haven't completely forgotten about you! :) HEYYYY!!!!!! Guess what?!?!?! I only have 13 days till... "I'm leavin' on a jet plane! "... (Babylon) Hahah I'm super excited and at the sametime, completely freaked out of my mind, and then I think... I have a calling. I'm a missionary. I'm a representative of Jesus Christ. This. Is. What. I. Do. (Doubt not, fear not) :) I have loved this week so much!! I had the opportunity to sing in the MTC choir this las week and we sang "Come Thou Fount" for Elder Nelson :) It was awesome and I love the man :) Lastnight we had the opportunity to hear from Mary Edmunds....... she is an older lady that has served like, 6 missions and has been working for the missionary department for over 40 years and she... is hilarious!! Her and Elder Nelson spoke on the power of the Spirit of Elijiah. Along with the power of Prayer and all that you need to do is ask for the help of your family that is on the other side of the veil. I love that and it is incredible. My progressive investigators are doing well! We have one with a baptismal date and the other we are working on.... I love you!!! I must be exactly obedient.... :) Love, Elder Westover

Monday, May 13, 2013

MTC Week 6

Hello!! Thank you all so much for the amazing birthday here in the MTC! I enjoyed getting a wave of letters.... :) you all made my district jealous because I seriously got 4 packages, and like 25 letters! :) Definately made my day. Provo Crew and NM Westovers- Thank you so much for the Shirely's! They were amazing. Hall Family- Thank you so much for the fun puzzle, letters, and chocolate chip cookies! Mystery sugar cookie-giver....- :) Awesome!! I really didn't find any sign of who those were from, but I would like to say thank you! :) Brown Family- Thank you for the awesome letter and Eagle Invitation.... I hate to tell you that I won't be there :( Congrats thought Kaleb!! I'm super happy for you :) Good job. You're not done yet though! I love my pillow case, by the way :) Meyers Family- thank you so much for the great update and birthday wishes Jared and Laci- I. Love. You. Give the litter and gang all a love for me there! Joshua and Katie- Hey thank you for the update!!! Such Goood news!!!!!!! I'll continue to pray for you and show my graditude for the blessings that you have recieved so far. I need to go study more, but I love you all! Thank you all so much for the great things this week. I wish I could share more... Loves. I feel your love prayers through the guidance of the spirit. Love, Elder Westover

Monday, May 6, 2013

MTC Week 5

Nimen Hao!! Happy Mother's Day!!!!! Thank you all who have sent packages :) I love them. Guess What?!?!?!?!?! I'm over the hump :P I have been here for almost 5 weeks and it seems like it's just flying by! The Tai Cheng generation of mandarin missionaries is leaving tomorrow morning bright and early and in three weeks... that will be me!! I know it seems like I'm super excited to leave the MTC (and don't get me wrong, I am), but I know that I have much more to learn. This week has been super busy and super crazy. We had our schedule changed, right? And I had a new companion who knew the language a ton better, but I had a great time with him. He was just waiting for his visa to come in because he was on the advanced track to get to the field. His name was Elder Chow from Hong Kong and he actually was only my comp for like 3 days, but really got to learn more of the language and apply more of it when I was with it. It was super nice because if I needed to know anything, I just asked him!! He is now in Taipei and I'll see him soon, but I hope we could be comps out in the field because I really wanted to get to know him more. My first week as district leader was so great. I ruled them like a tyrant and made them do everything for me.......... hahaha :) JK! But seriously... It's been great this week. As a missionary leader, you have the opportunity to learn from your branch presidency and learn about the way that we can administer to the needs and concerns of those under our stewardship, but also, to minister to them.... The man I think of when I think of a great leader, is King Benjamin he was a great man and lead by example through his humility. As a district leader I am learning to "minister" as Christ did. Teach as he did, love as he did, speak as he did, do as he did, and I know that as I do that I will have the constant companionship of the Spirit. I'm running out of time, but I want you to know that I love you. There is no other place I should be than right where I am. I love the Lord and know that he loves and knows each and everyone of us. Jia You!! Hurrah For Isreal!! Strength and Honor. Love, Elder Westover P.S.- So Chad Lewis came and talked to us on Sunday and I found out that he went to Taiwan also! And guess what?? :) I found out that my brother John served with him!! :) John... He says "What's up?!"

Sunday, May 5, 2013

MTC Week 4

Hello all! Before I start I just want to thank everyone who has written me and sent me care packages :) I love hearing your words of encouragement and unfortunately I don't have a crazy ammount of time to write, so I don't always get around to writing you... but I do love you!! Just think of me working as hard as I can to learn a language and learn how to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ... It's absolutely awesome!! Anyway, I have a ton to tell. This week we made some progress with both of the investigators we are teaching. Liu Dixiong: We have been having no problem getting return appointments (hahah as if they could drop us :P) but we have been having a hard time getting him to pray and ask to know if God is his Heavenly Father along with praying to know if the Book of Mormon is true. Anyway, Elder Illu came up with a great candy analogy and we taught him about faith. He loved the lesson and understood what faith was. Jerry Ye: We have only met with him twice but we found out what he, hypathetically and spiritually, wanted to eat (we found out that he was looking for peace and the truth). The language is a super big barrier right now, and we only have 30 minutes to teach, so the time goes by super fast, but we are getting better in our understanding of the language and the spirit. I'm learning a ton. We got a new summer schedule so our P-Days are now on Mondays. I got called as district leader yesterday. This week I am being put into another companionship with a semi-native speaker from Hong Kong. His name is Elder Chow. He seems like a super good missionary and I'm excited to work with him. It should be just a temporary assignment, because he is just waiting on his visa.... I'm excited to have him as a companion so I can learn from him as much as I can. Stephen B. Allen came and spoke to us on Sunday and I have to say I had so much fun! Probably one of the funniest and most edifying meetings I have ever been to. We discussed the pains and trials of a missionary and compared them to Book of Mormon missionaries like Ammon. Super good. I wish I had more time to tell you, but I want to tell you all thank you so much for the prayers you pray. I feel the help and the love from them in all that I do. Pray for the missionaries in your area and do all you can to help them find people to teach. Be a fool for the Lord. I love you and know you love me. Strength and Honor. Love, Elder Westover P.S.- just a little quote I got from the choir director here at the MTC: "If you think you can't do it, you're wrong. If you think you can do it... alone, you're wrong."