Elder in the East: Week 12 in Taoyuan

It's been raining a lot lately, but these days have been some of the greatest of my mission. I've been really happy. As I've thought about why, I've come to two conclusions.

One, "instapentance." I love the scripture in Moroni that reads "But as oft as they repented and sought forgiveness, with real intent, they were forgiven." I've recently found great joy from repenting immediately of doubts, bad thoughts, and anything in discord with the Spirit. By repenting there on the spot, I've been able to be happy despite everyday trials and disappointments.

Two, we've been busy doing the Lord's work. We've got so many wonderful investigators who I consider my friends. I'm grateful to Elder Smith. I don't feel that I've always appreciated him for the great missionary and man he is, but I'm grateful for the times we've had. He's a true friend. Transfers are this week; we aren't sure what will happen yet, but it's pretty rare for companionships to stay together for 3 transfers in our mission. In short, it was a week of many a miracle and times to be remembered.

One Miracle:

We were going to meet with this guy named Danny, but when we went to the college at night, we literally didn't see one person, so we were a little skeptical. and we had brought a member to go with us as well. We went to the library and it was closed because it was a holiday, and there was still not a soul in sight. We waited for 15 minutes and then my companion said sorry to the member for wasting his time.

Then, out of no where, this random guy popped out from behind a pole and was walking past us to go to his home. We said hi to him and started talking and even shared a little bit about the Book of Mormon. He was very curious, but didn't really want to meet to learn more, until the member started talking to him, then he realized our church wasn't just a bunch of white people but also Taiwanese people!

The next day he came to the church and we shared more about the Book of Mormon with him, and then the day after that he wanted to meet again, and he is super excited to learn about the gospel. He even came to 3 hours of church this week and loved it. He also made a bunch of friends in the ward. The topic in church that day was the law of chastity; we told him the topic was different every week, and he was ok with that. Sometimes when we are out doing the Lord's work, he puts people in our path and turns it into a miracle, all we have to do is go to work and have faith.

Lesson with our investigator, Mr. Yan