Taipei Taiwan

Taipei Taiwan

Monday, February 23, 2015

Xinan # 87

Dearest Family, Happy Chinese New Year!! 恭喜發財,拿紅包來!新年快樂!洋洋得意! There's your Chinese for the week :) haha At Chinese New Year the people all head back to their birthplaces and spend time with their families. This year the Holiday season in for the space of 6 days and pretty much what happens is they eat, and eat, and go on nice little walks, and then eat and eat some more, and then go back to work at the end of the holiday. We as missionaries are taken care of very well... every single day, and every single meal is scheduled by members to feed us :) So this week has been super crazy because Elder Greenhalgh and I have been helping President Day with interviews, but he wanted us to go to all of our visits with these members.... Taipei is a very big city and we have been doing lots of running to and from those visits back to give training to missionaries, but it's been great!! :) I love serving the Lord. Like I've said before... I can't speak very clearly how I feel, but I know that there is no way that I would be here in Taiwan and serve here and see people change their lives unless the Savior really did Live. Brother Huang and Sister Wu are now married!!! :) He passed his baptismal interview on Tuesday night and will be baptized on Thursday next week! February 26th. We hope to see Sister Wu baptized on mom's birthday... March 14th :) We are meeting with the Lai Family tonight and we are super stoked about them :) We'll get back to you about that later :) Like I said... this last week we have been giving training to missionaries as President Day does interviews this last week and we will also be doing so next week from Monday (thus Elder Greenhalgh and I are having our P-Day today) up until Wednesday night when 19 of our visa waiters come in!!!!! :) Heavenly Father has answered our prayers and we are super excited :) Thanks for your prayers! Next week I'll send you more pictures, but that's it for now. :) I love you all!!!!!!!!!! Have a great Happy Chinese New Year :) Hurrah For Israel!!!!!!! Love, Elder Westover pics! Costco trip with Sister Day! Chinese New Year meals!

Monday, February 16, 2015

Xinan # 86

Dear Family, Happy Valentines Day!!!! :) We are doing well. This last week we didn't get to go on any exchanges and spent alot of time on an assignment from President Gong (Asia Area President) on Monday through Thursday morning, but I learned a ton! :) Elder Greenhalgh got sick on Sunday and it gave me an opportunity to love and serve him. I have been praying for more Charity... and just like He has always done.... He gives me opportunites :) Brother Huang is getting baptized on Saturday at 3 PM. The Lai Family is pogressing!!!! And I'm so excited!!! :) I hope I get to see them get baptized before I go home. It's always been my dream to find a family and help them come unto Christ!!!! They set up for Saturday night at 7:00 :) We are seeing so many blessing from Heaven. We are so imperfect, but the Lord puts the prepared in our path!!! Brother Lai brought his whole family to Church. His wife is called Sarah, and has two daughters... 3, and 2.... They are adorable!!!!!!!!!! He came to a baptism after church and loved it :) I was spending more time writing in my journal and pondering this week and I feel like I have decided to keep my covenants my whole life. hahah..... I am sure you as a mission president am really happy to hear this, but I really hope to see myself drawing near the end of my mission, doing more, and more, relying on the Lord to go beyond my own strength to do the most that I can here. I am so happy and I hope that I can be faithful. I love you. I love you all!! :) Family.... and Friends....... I know that Christ Lives. There is nothing that I am more sure of than that. I know because I see the way that he has changed my life, and how he can and does change the lives of my beloved Taiwanese brothers and sisters. :) HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!!!!!!!!! Love, Elder Westover a couple of pics: the first, dropping of the mission van for President Day at the Grand Hotel. SO they snatched a quick pic. Second, huge service opportunities this week!

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Xinan # 85

親愛的家庭!! 我非常快樂!!! 這個禮拜我坐飛機到花蓮 :)真漂。可能我一生當中看到的最漂亮所看過風景。 Last week I got to go down to Hualian on the East coast and we got to fly... :) I know that there has been some news going around... that a plane engine failed and crashed here in Taipei, luckily that was the day after we flew down there, so we are all safe, but please keep the people that lost their family and friends in the crash in your prayers. We finished all of our Specialized Trainings for this transfer and this week we have all of the mission presidents from the Asia Area here for trainings with the Asia Area Presidency. It's a great opportunity to be among some wonderful men and women. There are so many miracles... just like I always say, but there is one thing that I would like to share... This Sunday before Church we had set up to meet with a dad who had brought his daughter to church two weeks ago, and he is super prepared. :) He had some interest in the Church because one of his College School-mates posted some mission pictures on Facebook and she encouraged him to take his two little girls (2 & 3) to come to church. :) We met with him and during the whole course of the visit I just felt the Spirit SOOOO strong. :) We just shared very simply that Heavenly Father had prepared a plan and that it was the Gospel of Jesus Christ. we tied it very well to him and he felt the Spirit strong too. :) He accepted a baptismal commitment for mom's Birthday!!! :) March 14th. He said that we want to be baptized. We are going to meet with mom and the two little girls next week :) Pray for the Lai Family!! Brother Huang and Sister Wu are doing great!! They went and visited their families and it's all up to them to decide :) Hopefully they will be going down to the Government Building this week and get married!!! Then a little later they'll have a wedding. Sister Wu accepted to keep the Sabbath Day, and tithing and the 10 commandments. Pray that she will be good with the Word of Wisdom :) I love you!!!! That is it for this week. Keep up the good work :) I liked a scripture I read this last week. James1:22 Hurrah For Israel!!!!!! Love, Elder Westover Hey ummm..... Happy Valentines Day.... :) Love you all!!! oh yeah.... my parents have been married for 44 years!!!! :) They're awesome!!!

Monday, February 2, 2015

Xinan # 84

Dear Family and Loved-ones, There is so much that I have to say. I am grateful for the pictures that I finally got of the beautiful little niece of mine :) I can't wait to see her :) I will admit one thing.... I am a little baby trunky.... ;) I have to say that I am so very grateful for the gospel and the opportunity that I have to serve the Savior. I think that the thing that all missionaries, or servants of the Lord all realize when doing His work is that we are really so little. There is so much that we are able to do, but only if we do it through His power. If we try to do something by ourselves or by our own power, we have not the promise of God. This week I have seen many miracles, and learned much about the will that the Lord has for me. The Lord gave us so many miracles!!! We had our first Member referral from a member that we met with on Sunday last week and it was awesome!! We actually had asked him to help us teach a lesson with a 16 year old RC, but during the lesson he leaned over to my companion and said..."Hey I want to let you meet my roommate after this lesson, is that ok?" It was the first time that I have had one of those!! The visit was really good and the guy's name is Brother Jerry Yu and he is studying Electrical Engineering :) We are going to visit with him tonight and invite him to baptism :) Super stoked!! We met with Brother Huang and Sister Wu on Friday night after Mission Leadership Council and they are doing so great!! Brother Wu is so on track. He want so to get baptized so bad. Sister Wu is doing good too, and she has grown in faith so much it's crazy!! She is reading and praying daily and we're still working on the Church every week, but We will be meeting with them this Wednesday night and teach the rest of the Commandments. We're praying that her faith will continue to grow and she will be able to have the faith to make the changes necessary. She feels our love and the love of the Ward. The Stake President and his Wife are fellow-shipping them. Recently we have been visiting many members and developing relationships with them, and a couple of weeks ago I was looking at the Home Teaching list and there was a little section on the list that said, "People who need missionary fellow-shipping" and we have visited a Yang Family (baptized back in 2008- dad has almost no eyesight, mom is working alot, and two kids are going to college in other towns and LA) ... long story short. We have been visiting them, and asking them to let us teach lessons at their house and the Lord has been really strengthening them and this last week their LA daughter came to church !!! :) We hope to help them prepare to go to the temple and become eternal!! :) The daughter said that she wanted to have her boyfriend learn and she is going to invite him to our English Class on Wednesday :) Elder Greenhalgh is from Syracuse Utah, and is super awesome!! He is the most obedient missionary I have every been with and I love it!! :) He and I are seeing so many miracles together and planting seeds :) I believe that that is the greatest thing that I have been able to see... I feel like the Lord has given me the opportunity to love the members and work with them. :) I love Taiwan and I love this people. Like I've said before, we are seeing so many blessings from the Lord in working with the ward in unity. We are praying that during the Chinese New Year we can see many miracles with them! Thanks for the Prayers :) I Love you!!! Hurrah for Israel!!! Love, Elder Westover