Taipei Taiwan

Taipei Taiwan

Monday, September 30, 2013

Tou Fen # 17 + pictures!!!

This week has been good. We had an awesome Specialized Training in the Forest Jungle of Nanzhuang, just east of Toufen. It was so great and a very good experience. We had training along the trail from Missionary Leaders and a great training at the top of the mountain. We read Mosiah 15:14-17 (How beautiful are the feet upon the mountain of those who publish peace and salvation). It was a very special and spirit filled training. Zhou JM got baptized!!! The 15 year old girl who we started teaching when I got here with Elder Hopper. She finally got baptized :) We met with them on Monday to follow up on their Church experience and were finally able to set a baptismal date!!! Other than that we didn't have another opportunity to meet with them, but they did come to Zhou JM's baptism and actually, they wanted to be there so bad that Lin Dx told me that he got a speeding ticket to get there on time to see what a baptism was like. I think they are pretty serious about the truthfulness of the message of the Restoration if they are willing to get a ticket. Anyway, Cai JM (Lin JM) was wearing a pretty immodest dress to the baptism and I was thinking about who I could ask to give her that talk but my prayers and my question was answered at church the next day. Lin JT walked in and they looked so naturally Mormon... :) Cai JM's dress was a little better, but they walked in and sat down and it just so happened that the place where she was sitting, was right under the AC :) and I know that she listened to the Spirit when she left the house this morning, because she brought a sweater :P. It was an answer to my prayer! They had a great time at church and the ward did a great job of fellow-shipping them. We have another follow-up visit with them tonight. Sacrament Meeting... Kevin from English Class walked in. I saw him and I don't know if he saw it but I feel like my jaws just hit the floor. He promised he would come to English Class and when I asked him why he came to church, he reminded me that he promised he would come to Church. But because we didn't get his number for some reason, we hadn't been able to remind him. He came and had a good visit. We set up a time to meet with him on Tuesday and look forward to setting a baptismal date with him. I love that kid! Chen Dx is progressing toward baptism and really wants to change. We committed him to live the Word of Wisdom this week and is excited for baptism! I am sending a few pictures :) hope you have a great time looking!

Monday, September 23, 2013

Tou Fen #16

Hello family!! This week I have had a wonderful time serving the Lord. Just like... every week I have been out here :) There is so much that I love about being a missionary that it makes me so happy just just thinking about it! Seriously. I love it. Anyway, on to the good parts!! :) This week on Friday we had one of our former investigators (Brother Peter Lin who moved to Tainan in the Taizhong mission for college) give us a call and wanted to meet. We sat and chatted and let Elder Broeder get to know him for about 40 minutes, and then we started to follow up with him on how he was doing with his progression to baptism. When he moved down there he said he was pretty good about it and then after a while because the Tainan missionaries had not gotten in touch with him he started to get off track... He shared with us some trials in his life recently... specifically because he had recently moved and missed his family. As he broke out in tears I gave him a big comforting hug and he continued on to share how grateful he was for his parents and their hard work for him to go to school. He respects and loves his parent's religious beliefs too much right now to accept a baptismal date, but he is slowly developing a relationship with his Father in Heaven. We shared with him the plan that our Father has for us and the power of prayer. Recommitted him to pray every day and pray specifically for the things that he needs comforted. It was a very special lesson for me. Chen Dx, one of our investigators with a baptismal date is progressing. We hope to see him get in the font by October 5. He has had some problems with addictive drugs before (he doesn't have the problems anymore, but he does eat Beetle Nut) and wants to change. He knows that this gospel can help him change and is committed to changing. We had 3 investigators at Church. That has not happened for a long time!! I was super happy to see Lin JM and her son walk in, but it really tore me down to hear that Lin Dx didn't want to come. It was good to see them come, but we'll get him going! We have a follow up appointment for tonight to see how church was and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It makes me so happy to see a family progressing!! I know we will run into trials... roadblocks, but they will know that this message is true and will someday be baptized. I know that my Redeemer is Jesus Christ. I know that there is no greater man than He who has ever walked upon the earth, because He was not just a man. He was the Son of Man. The Son of God. The one Chosen to make to ultimate sacrifice and conquer death. I know that He lives. He is risen and he is calling us. "Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might mind, and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you." I love you. Have a great week! read your scriptures and pray ;) I'm praying for you! Elder Westover

Monday, September 16, 2013

Tou Fen # 15

Joseph, Lisa, Kaleb, and Victoria..... Happy Birthday!!! I love you. 'nuff said. This week was really crazy... I have heard of it before, but I never thought it would happen to me... One of our new baptismal commitments thinks we are FBI agents. He wants us to team up with him to emigrate Asia to America. Bahahahah!!! I am praying that we can talk some sense into him next time we meet with him so that we don't have to drop him. I love being a missionary. Hahah "I love my life!!" :P Two favorite miracles for the week... First was on Saturday... We were out finding some LAs that our Branch President assigned us to visit and neither I or Elder Broeder can't really read characters, I was asking some people to help us find it as we got to the general area it was in. Several people had rejected me the second I asked them, but as I pulled next to a man at an intersection I felt that he would be a nice man and help us find it. I asked him, he looked at us and told us we were about 1 KM away and said he would guide us there. This in and of itself was a miracle... but the Lord blessed us even more. We got to the house and got to know this LA. Li Dx is a 50 years old and was telling us about how much he loves the gospel principle of Eternal Families and before that he was talking about his sons (he's a very proud father), when his second oldest son, who is a professional soldier on his 3rd of 5 year contract and wants to go on a mission, walked in. He took his father's place and talked with us... He spoke great English and we took a little time to get to know him and then we talked about his father. He told us some great information and we were so blessed to have him there, but the greatest miracle was, he had woken up this morning and just felt like he should come home. He got time off come up just that one day. He didn't know why he needed to come home, but the Spirit told him that he needed to and the greatest thing is that he obeyed!! We still have some work to do with his father, but we got his number so we can stay in contact and get his dad back. Second was on Sunday...We went over to the Lin JT (I) to follow up on the "On the Way Home" video we had left for them. They said they had watched it twice and really enjoyed it. We then started to share the Plan of Salvation from after death and on, and answered questions and discussed about our church's doctrine with the Catholic Church's and what differences they have. It was a GREAT lesson. I felt like a representative of the Lord and a missionary that teaches people, not lessons. There were several concerns that came up and that were resolved. Such a blessing!! I'm starting to read some scriptures that I am advised to read in my Patriarchal Blessing and I am seeing more and more the purpose that the scriptures have in my life and how they can help the people that I teach. I'm really trying to help people see the blessings that come from reading the Book of Mormon. I am loving reading Jesus the Christ everyday because it helps me focus on the Savior... and His great glory and importance in the Work of Salvation... He is the Work of Salvation. He is the Master and I am the Servant. That's it for Week 15 in Taiwan :) Love ya! Thank you for your love and prayers. Bringin' in the Harvest for the Lord!! Love, Elder Jordan Westover

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Tou Fen # 14

Hello wonderful, beautiful, amazing family! This week was a great week here in Toufen. We had many incredible miracles. First, Huang Dx. The sisters gave him to us as a referral in the hospital. We were going to finding but we really felt like we should go visit him. We went got to know him, found out that he has been in the hospital for about a month and not any of his family members have come to see him. He is such a happy man and just has such a great spirit about him. We shared the Restoration with him and he really loved it. We set a baptismal date for next month and set up a time later this week. The other is Chen Dx. We were on our way to an appointment with the Weng Family when I saw him... He was on my side of the road and was going in the opposite direction. I just said I to him and then he responded back. I asked him if we could talk to him for a minute. We didn't have much time but we found out that he had read the Bible and he also had some other interesting experiences that lead him to believe in God. We had to go but we set up a time with him later in the day. He actually came. He talked alot... and I'll be honest... I couldn't completely understand everything he was saying, but from the very moment I saw him. I could feel that he would be a great instrument in God's work here in Toufen. I felt really good about him. He accepted the baptismal date, but still hasn't set a date. He came to church too! The other cool on was it was Thursday night. All of our appointments had fallen through, and we were going over to the park to contact and find when a guy on a motorcycle rode by me. As he was riding by me, I yelled, "HELLO" (We're going like 20 MPH). Then he looks at me and says hi back. I asked him if he could pull over so we could talk to him and he did! He spoke a little English so we talked to him and he had some questions to ask us and then we shared the first lesson with him. It's going to take some work to get him to baptism but he said we could meet with him again and share. This week has been such a blessing and I think it's because my companion and I have been really trying to look for miracle and and praying for them too. It's been awesome. I've been feeling much pain and sorrow for our two LAs who have been working on quiting their addictions. Huang Dx fanged us alot and got back into drinking again. Qiu Dx is still not making progress and came to church this Sunday and said he would stay for the whole time but left about half way through Sacrament. I have found alot of comfort in studying mercy and grace. And I realized that I can let that play a little bit bigger role in my life... and then through the Spirit, I can help them come unto Christ and feel of his love and from that love, grace and mercy receive strength to overcome the natural man. Make their weaknesses strengths. (Ether 12:27) I love this work with all of my heart and everything that is in me. There is so much to learn and so little time to learn it. Today I'm going to Taipei to do some things up there with a member and grab some stuff at the distribution center for our investigators. I'm absolutely loving it here are I love you. I am going to set some goals to make my letters more fun so... haha expect some more fun stuff next week. Love, Jordan
PRESIDENT'S EMAIL: Miracles: Last week was great. The Lord answered my prayers and blessed us with finding this week. We were blessed in Toufen with many miracles and I would like to tell you about the two that came our new investigators. First, Huang Dx. The sisters gave him to us as a referral in the hospital. We were going to finding but we really felt like we should go visit him. We went got to know him, found out that he has been in the hospital for about a month and not any of his family members have come to see him. He is such a happy man and just has such a great spirit about him. We shared the Restoration with him and he really loved it. We set a baptismal date for next month and set up a time later this week. I feel like it's been really good for Elder Broeder because ever since that visit he has been comparably diligent. The other in Chen Dx. We were on our way to an appointment with the Weng Family when I saw him... He was on my side of the road and was going in the opposite direction. I just said I to him and then he responded back. I asked him if we could talk to him for a minute. We didn't have much time but we found out that he had read the Bible and he also had some other interesting experiences that lead him to believe in God. We had to go but we set up a time with him later in the day. He actually came. He talked alot... and I'll be honest... I couldn't completely understand everything he was saying, but from the very moment I saw him. I could feel that he would be a great instrument in God's work here in Toufen. I felt really good about him. He accepted the baptismal date, but still hasn't set a date. He came to church too! Many more, but I am so grateful to the Lord for the miracles and blessings this week. Studies: I've been feeling much pain and sorrow for our two LAs who have been working on quiting their addictions. Huang Dx fanged us alot and got back into drinking again. Qiu Dx is still not making progress and came to church this Sunday and said he would stay for the whole time but left about half way through Sacrament. I have found alot of comfort in studying mercy and grace. And I realized that I can let that play a little bit bigger role in my life... and then through the Spirit, I can help them come unto Christ and feel of his love and from that love, grace and mercy receive strength to overcome the natural man. Make their weaknesses strengths. (Ether 12:27) Companionship Relationship: Great. We're still getting to know each other but he really seems to be improving with his attitude to the work and his diligence. I'm still praying for Charity and striving to love him. Personal Development: I'm doing great and I feel like I'm getting more and more lost in the work. Anything Else Important: Thank you for your words of encouragement and reminding me not to get into a habit of finding... like one thing to find. Elder Broeder and I will discuss that and make plans to make our finding more effective and fun!

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Tou Fen #13

Another great week here in Toufen!! Definitely not the greatest with Key Indicators, but definitely a great growing week for me. My "dad" (Elder Hopper) left me at home and I will not see him at least for another 6 weeks... but it's alright because I have to grow up some time! :P haha and the Lord felt that the greatest thing to help me grow up would be to send Elder Hopper off and to bring 3 Elders back to Toufen. . . Yes!!! I just said that!! Toufen has 4 Elders and 2 Sisters! The work here is about to explode!!! It's been a little crazy for me because I am the Junior Companion, but the only one out of the four of us who knows anything about this place, but this is the will of the Lord. He knows I can take it. The Sisters also had a baptism this week and I got to baptize her! :) haha her name is Lin JM. She is known to the missionaries as mine and Elder Hopper's "Girlfriend"(Elder Hopper and I found her two weeks befor the Sisters got here and she always called us Shuai ge (handsome)) :P she is about 70 years old and is just the cutest old lady you will ever meet! She is so great. It was a great experience. It was such a great thing to hear her bear her testimony and see how much the knowledge of the Restoration has blessed her. Because of this Gospel, she KNOWS that she is a precious daughter of God. My greatest thing from studies this week was Alma 7... The Atonement of Christ, why we need it, and how we can apply it. We are working with 2 families (Weng and Lin Families) and they are progressing just great!! Weng Family actually came to the baptism on Saturday and I think they really liked it. next time we meet with them we are going to share the Plan of Salvation and I'm super stoked :)!! I love you. Thank you for your prayers and blessings. Love, Elder Westover