Xin Zhu

Well the pictures are a few from the previous area and the flight. Oh and the last one of the stencil is from my new area.

 

Hello!

I survived my first week in my new area! I have successfully memorized the route from the church to the apartment and some other paths. ha In my first it took me about a transfer to do that so I am considering this a major improvement blessing! So adjusting to the new area is a bit different, but not too painful. Instead of looking at trees, mountains, aborigines, and clear skies, I now look at cars, scooters, buildings, and more buildings. Its a big change, but I am grateful this change wasn't to the middle of taipei. That would be a little too much. So my new companion is Elder Millett. He is from Utah as well, go figure. He has been out over a year. We are just a normal companionship so nothing out the extraordinary. The work here is a bit different because we have two college campuses here and lots of people. This week was pretty good, its funny how any single person you come across on the street could be prepared. Most of the finding this week took place at parks or at street lights. Basically, all that will happen is you will turn to the person next to you and say something like, "have you been to church before?" or "We have an important message that can change your life" or "how are you?", something along those lines. Next thing you know you can get them to pull over to the side of the street and you start sharing the gospel after finding about who they are. The hardest part about the street lights is we have about 30 seconds (give or take on the light) to 1. Find if they are interested 2. Prepared 3. Their Needs 4. Testify 5. Promise Blessings 6. Share the restoration and baptism. Those are just a few of the things we have to share and if they aren't prepared be able to turn to the next person and start sharing and starting the process over again. Lots of rejection, but after all that rejection, I like to think that it puts me one closer to the prepared soul.

This week I had a pretty spiritual experience. We just pulled up to this park type area. Got off, prayed and went to work. My companion walked off ahead and walked right past this man smoking on the bench. (I don't know if I have mentioned before, but everyone and their dog smokes in taiwan) I just had the words pounded in my head that I need to talk to everyone and a scripture that says roughly don't rush around while the inhabitants on your sides suffer in unbelief. So I just sat down next to him and started to talk, pretty soon we had talked about his job, prophets, the apostasty, God, Jesus Christ, and the restoration, and prayer. He was awesome and know that I think about it he really felt the spirit. Crazy to think being among the chaos and turbulence of the world, that God could create a bubble around huang cao qian and me so he could hear the Gospel. We set up a time to meet again and he was pretty excited. I had walked off and was talking to another man at that time but mr. huang came up to me and gave me a coke he just bought from the family mart. ha I loved it he was excited to give it to me.

Oh this week of course we had english Class which was interesting. One of the other Elders, Elder Siebert and I took on the Little kids class! It was ran off of improto, but we survived! Ha it was hard and it will be a long transfer with that, but we can do it! Oh another thing, everyone here in xin zhu speaks almost perfect English. In the last area very very few, but here everyone does. It is so weird... I like the chinese better. ha Its a blessing and a trial at the same time. Blessings, 1. We can rely upon their help 2. I kind of know English Trials, 1. We are called to speak chinese and teach in their tongue 2. Easy to be lazy and not speak chinese. I'll just use their bilingual skills to improve mine I think. Oh also I have seen more White people here in the last week than I have seen my whole entire mission. Its weird. Ha the funny part is that here I am, a white person, commenting on seeing a foreigner. Ha its what happens when you become Taiwanese. We have a super awesome investigator and he was showing us a presentation and he told us we had to pretend to foreigners again. ha He says that missionaries, us, aren't foreigners, but are really Taiwanese. Ha made me feel pretty good. 

Well there is so much to write, but I'll write it my journal and save it for another day so you can read it.

 

Lots of Love Elder Townsend