Townsend 2 taiwan

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Change....


Update
 
Well I'll be sent home early! (That is by three days Dec. 15th) Also I got a phone call from President Day... He gave me a new calling... I will be moving to a spot that is a secret right now (Hint is one of my old areas) to train a fresh little missionary from the MTC! I am so excited. It was weird at first, almost unreal because I have wanted to train since the beginning of my mission, but never had the privilege till right now! So this thursday I get to pick up the cute little (or big) Elder this Friday! I am excited I get to teach this missionary how to do work! I am also excited he can teach me the newest things from the Prophet and apostles. Get excited to see the new addition to our family next week!
 
Food
 
Chou dou fu (Stinky tofu aka bean curd) really good. It was in a soup type thing. Had mushrooms and other stuff which I have no what it was. ha Just add spice and call it good!
Next is Avacado milk. Its amazing! Take an avacado, milk, sugar. wallah! Magic.
 
Activities
 
Well this last week, I was enveloped in service which is feeling great! We took all these books, (probably can easy make a small library out of all of them.) and moved them outside to be taken to the dump or something. Its one small step. There house nasty and destroyed so we'll continue to help them out and see if it can help some of her kids come back to church.
This week we had a water balloon volleyball it was really funny to watch them try to fling a water balloon from a towel. it was a little hard for them but they enjoyed the time to be able to play together.

Peeps!
 
The Li brothers. They are doing fantastic! The oldest li hao is eating up the book of mormon. He is really thinking about the things it says. Li cai lin The youngest is hilarious as always. Still the same as connor and cooper. Just can talk forever. They are the three boys in the picture with me. I will really miss them. They are fun to talk to and try to keep them in order. Ha the more we share the better they get. The Gospel is slowly changing them. They are still beating each other up and being well boys, but they seem more receptive. They still love Jesus which is awesome and their love for him is growing everyday.
Next is gao chen ai zhen. She is the family with the adorable little kids in it. She loves church. Still learning slowly, but is moving forward. We invited her to be baptized and she is willing, but she is worried about her husband, she actually, on her own free will tried to get him to study the gospel, however, her husband had in the past some bad conflict with other church missionaries (one of them was his aunt) so he is not too excited. He is still willing to let her study and come to church but might be a little bit strict at some other parts, we will just have to see.
Well this last week as we went running, doing the pre-run stretch I noticed this 23 year old man and I felt impressed to talk to him but I kind of pushed that feeling away making excuses. As we started to make our run I felt it again so I decided I would talk to him when we get back to him. Well talking to him went really well, he actually was studying the gospel last year but got busy with some things. He gave me his address and we said we would come visit him. So we did and he was great. He likes the feelings of prayer and is willing to learn again. We have a lot still to share and he is willing to try again so it will be a happy thing. I am just grateful that I was sensitive enough that early to go and talk again, I need to be quicker to react but I am grateful the lord is willing to lead us to people, day or night or really early in the morning.
 
Lots of Love




Elder Townsend

Good Morning! Sept. 9, 2012


Its another beautiful hot sticky day here on the East Coast. I am your Elder Townsend representing it here in Ji An.
 
Well this week was good. Wasn't out of the world, make me drop down and cry out of joy or a catastrophic week were all of it went to the dogs. It was good and I enjoyed serving the Lord. The good is helping establish my testimony on the basics rather than seeing giant miracles. Its helping me face the challenges we come across. Now let me tell you why it was good..
 
Food
So lately we tried out this food called rou yuan (I don't know the english for it) Its mean inside a something similar to a steamed roll in a sauce. Its pretty good and I have enjoyed it. I love all food.
 
The fellow Comrades (AKA other missionaries)
We started this week off with a training that Elder Alston and I put on. It was fun and focused on the principles of missionary work. How help investigators understand how to receive revelation.
After we went on exchanges with the south taidong elders and I went with the old son of mine... Elder Slawson. It was fun. It was really similar to being with him back in Xinzhu. It was funny because when we taught together we already knew what the other would say. It was enjoyable.
Next went on exchanges with Elder Wright. He is fantastic. I was kinder to him about being australian(well part of one at least). We visited some members and it was fun to see them talk about their involvement with missionary work. One of the was Brother Wan. He is the coolest man in the world. He taught how to make a sesame sauce for noodles and afterwards called one of his clients to invite them to study the gospel (he is a hairstylist and his wife went to san fran to major in fine arts). We also helped bro lu pull giant boards of wood from the first floor to the third floor. We had a rope pulley system attach to the window with me on the 3rd floor pulling it in, Elder Wright on the 2nd floor roof guiding it and pushing it up and Bro lu outside hooking the boards up to the rope. My hands were dead but it was great. Nothing like great service for the people of taiwan. So now if anyone needs any weird moving jobs, I am the man to find. (Along with my Ozzie brotha)
 
People
We taught the Li brothers again. they are hilarious. The youngest reminds of Connor and Cooper together. So I have a pretty good idea how to work with him. He'll sit there and we will ask a question and he'll say "oh I know that its... (pause, fidget, make some grunting thinking noise, take a deep breath) Its the.... (again pause, fidget, make some grunting thinking noise, take a deep breath) " Finally we share it and it works out. They also will sit in church and just beat each other up... Hmmm... Sounds really familar to something Connor and I used to do... I really do think that Heavenly father gives us similar people to us to teach because he needs them to help us recognize our own weaknesses. These kids are really smart as well. They understand what we teach them.
Also this week we found this pretty cool family. Elder Alston and I made a goal to contact at least 6 houses around the Less Actives were going to find. Well one of them turned out to be someone who was interested and let us in. He is the Airforce (Thankful for Elder Alston's observant eye notice that the clothes he was wearing were an unit in the airforce) and he is curious about jesus and the bible. So thankfully we can help him understand those two and so much more.
This week it happened again a member introduced us to a friend. She was so excited. So excited to the point that she couldn't stop talking. Her enthusiasm was contagious. When I first got her this member didn't have much of a testimony. Thankfully because of her 9 year old boy that we helped baptize, she has been good about coming to church. Over this time she has been able to build up her testimony till its brimming over the top and she wants to share it with everyone. The friend she introduced us to is looking for truth. He was almost baptized once and in his prayer, he was told no and that he still needed to look. Hopefully we can prepare ourselves to help him find that truth he is desperately looking for.
Well my time is up and I love all you!
Elder Townsend

Hello! Sept. 2,2012


Hello from the East Coast! It is beautiful here and so are the people!
What really touched me this week was the Lord answering my fast so quickly. The Assistants invited us to pray for our members and since it was a fast sunday to also fast for them. So this whole I prayed for them and the weekend I fasted. What I saw at church was the Lord working through his children. We had a family come and they were taken care of, we had a other investigators taken care of, we had a member bring his three nephews, and we were just there. The branch was taking care of all of them. As we got into sacrament and looked at everyone being taken in and cared of, I said, to my companion, "now what do we do?" I could really feel the Lord working through this dear brothers and sisters.
Beside this miracle there were so many more. Its just impossible to cram it all into words. All of the things we saw and felt just fits into one word, work. Work of the Lord, work we put forth, and work of members.
So the family I mention is the Gao family. They are so cute. She has 4 kids all under the age of seven. One of them they call datou which translate to "big Head". They are so funny. The youngest is super cute and is now rocking some awesome stiches in his head. He likes to bang his head on the table at times. Ha I don't know why but he is just a funny little guy and had a great time at church. When we were teaching them this week, it was actually a really cool lesson. We were teaching mostly through the seven year old. We were teaching to his understanding and as we did such it was clear and easy for his mom to understand also her father. It was also funny because the little seven yr old, li hou (its an aborigine name) was honest and it made sense why the savior wants us to be like little children. He told us lots of stories and he also told us he lies sometimes. He said his little brother will hit him, but he won't tattle tell on him.
So the member who brought his three nephews was awesome. After church we sat down to talk and share a short message. I am so grateful for his assistance his love for them. As he talked it was evident he loved these kids as his own. He would make them laugh and then make them feel his love. As the three of them accepted the invitation to be baptized bro li asked them if he could have the honor of assisting them in learning
This week we went up to Taibei (which was fantastic) for our zone leader meeting. It was really good. I am at marvel at the way the President leads us. He is so sensitive to the spirit. We were about to start and he was standing there and was pondering. He then said we need to say a prayer. He prayed and he prayed with sincerity of  his heart. It could be felt. He then shared with us, how he prays everyday for inspiration to lead us, guide us, find these souls, and to help us missionaries as individuals grow and develop in the gospel. He then changed his original plan and taught us according to the spirit. I know that God has called a living prophet who in turn has called president day to guide us here.
 
 
Lots of love and Gratitude from this Elder!
Elder Townsend

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Typhoon!! 8/26


Well hello.
This week was pretty cool and very wet. Still saw lots of miracles and saw a typhoon or two. However, the Lord blesses.
I get the preparation day stuff done first. We went up to shui yuan di. It was rad! So much fun, jumping rock to rock and enjoying the beauty. This island is really so beautiful its splender and jungle atmosphere.
Next (this sets the whole week of miracles up) we had Zone Conference. It was really good and it was interesting because this time I was one of the people training, not being trained. It was fun and I learned so much during the study and preparation for it that I want to apply and help these people with. Well what President Day took the scripture from the Bible where Christ is inviting peter to go feed his sheep three times and president broke into the three categories. Investigators, members, and less actives. We talked how we could work with those three groups of sheep. One that I really had always been impressed with working with is less actives. So we went to work after.
 
The Typhoon came on Thursday. Big winds but we were called by President to hang inside that night.
 
On Friday, We were out and still had a bit of the typhoon after effects (Heavy rain, mild wind). We were writing a card to an investigator and I decided to pull out the member list and see who lives close by. On the first page I saw someone and felt we should go over there. Well as we get there is an older man sitting in front of the house. He is missing an arm, has few fingers missing, and smoking a little butt of cigarette. I felt like this was right inside as if we should be here (Of course the address was correct as well) and I start talking to him. The members who lived there previously had moved but the man who I just contacted, daughter just moved in a little bit ago. I start talking to her and her dad and ask if we can share a short message. We talked about prayer, got to know their family. Her husband is on Jinmen which is a little island that stands as the military base between Taiwan and China, she has 4 children (All under the age of seven, The kids were a bit crazy.), and some about the religious background. In the end, they let us in and they are excited to learn more and are wanting to attend church. It was definitely a tender mercy the Lord has given me this week. It was as if all the effort from the previous work had paid off. Obviously there is still a lot of ground to cover but this is a wonderful start. Cool little testimony of when we help the branch or ward out we get blessed in return.
 
Also this week we had a youth, Skyler Wu come out and do some work with us. It was fun we enjoyed it. He is fun kid and I love him. He has this big goofy smile and a giant desire, but gets nervous real easily as we talk to peeps. 
Obviously still have more miracles, but not enough time.

Well lots of love from this End of the world. 




Elder Townsend 

A New Change 8/19


Well another week on the beautiful island of  taiwan. Its fun because I am on a competely different island than Taipei it feels like.
This week Elder Alston came down. He is from Pocatello, Idaho. This is first time as Zone Leader so I am going to have the privilege of teaching him the Ropes.
This week was a bit long. However I know I did my part and worked my hardest. The members this week invited us to go "help" with a humanitarian act this week. One of the little villages in Taroko gorge got mudslided and the village got wiped off the map. They haven't received any help. What we were told was that we could help them clean up and maybe play with the kids. So we were pumped and headed up there and when we got there we were later told that they could only drop off the donations. It was a bit of a bummer but we managed to some work. (Lift boxes out of cars)
Also this week we met with our Branch President. Our mission president has a vision that we and our ward branches we serve in can work together and become a super power. So the first place we start is with the Bishop or Branch President. The Branch President at first was a little hesistant when we got there. He wasn't quite sure what was going down. As we explained to him that we wanted to be of help and our vision and how we would like to correlate together with his efforts, his whole demeanor changed. He was very willing to share and give us assignments of things we can do. I took those and went to work on them. After getting them done I would follow up with the Branch President and he in turn would really excited. He enjoyed hearing about some Less Actives we got in contact with and some of the plans we made with them.
This week I also went on exchanges with Elder DeVisser. It was really good. We were able to talk and I was able to relax and just go find. I loved spending time out with the people on the streets talking with them learning about them and sharing the Gospel. I have been thinking about it lately and the Taiwanese people put up a lot with craziness. For example if some white kid wearing a tie, riding a bike, talking about Jesus and how you should come to church approaches you, you might just walk away (Which a lot of people do). So it is so amazing how we can go around and talk to these people like that though. I know that the biggest difference is that we hold the power and authority from God. It makes the greatest difference in the world since the Lord is leading this work.
Finally we had an investigator who asked me "what do we do if our stress hits its limit?" I took that to studies and applied to myself. The scriptures quite simply to pray and the rest is work! So I think my personal benefits of doing that study were so much more than my investigator. The Lord answered my prayer and I did what he said and it helped. I learned that the lord blesses us and meets our own personal needs as we first seek to help others needs.
Love,



Elder Townsend