It was a great week here in TaoYuan. I'm really looking forward to this upcoming transfer. I feel like we've got a couple people that are so close to baptism, but there is just that last bit of opposition keeping them from making it. I hope we can help them kick Satan in the teeth and be baptized. That's what occupies my mind all day now. I think that I think about it to an unhealthy degree, but all I want is to help these people make the sacred covenants they need so they can return to Heavenly Father. So we must start by getting them baptized and confirmed. I can tell you more about them in a second.
First a little update on my Zone!!! The TaoYuan zone is amazing! Every single week is getting better and better. Especially in finding. It's amazing taking the call in reports every week. We see the trend that President Grimley has been telling us from day 1--that is that as finding goes up, everything else goes up. This week our zone soared to new heights, especially in finding. We don't focus on the number itself, but the people that the numbers represent. We also don't compare, however, I think this might have been the biggest finding week by one zone since President has been on Island. It was beautiful and the best part is that means baptisms will follow. I'm super blessed to serve the Lord in TaoYuan and super blessed to serve with the missionaries we have.
The biggest news this week is that I invited Brother Tsai to quit his job. We shared the story of Jesus calling to Peter to leave his nets and follow him. Then we posed the question what would have happened if Peter hadn't left his nets. He'd never have reached the potential God had planned for him. We then very boldly and by the spirit invited him to quit his job. It was so strong spiritually, and the spirit was confirming to him that the things we were inviting him to do were right. I told him we've already asked him to do a lot of things to change his life, and they've been hard, but I asked him if they've been worth it and if they've had benefit. He said they all have. Then I promised him this would have huge blessings. He'd just have to trust the Lord because these blessings are hard to see before he actually does it. I then told him that we represent Jesus Christ and what we're inviting him to do is what Jesus would invite him to do if he were here in the room. He thought for a second and said "I'll do it." I asked him when and he said "tomorrow."
Then our 1st counselor who was our member present in the lesson (really PMG) said "Hold on a second, maybe you can just ask for Sunday off. Don't quit, because your job is a really good job. Just let your boss know you really want to attend church." I was a little bit mad on the inside because we've invited him to do this already several times and his boss always says no. So brother Tsai the following day asked for time off. His boss said he'd think about it and called him back and said no. We had it. He was ready to leave his nets and follow Christ. He was willing because the spirit was so strongly present... and then we lost it! We're going to meet with him this week, and invite him to again. I really hope the spirit can be with us as we do. All I want this transfer is Brother Tsai, one of my favorite investigators ever, to be baptized. Inviting someone to quit their really solid job was very hard for me, one of the hardest things I've had to do on my mission. But I know the Lord has better things in store for Brother Tsai.
On a more happy note, the sisters have an investigator who has her baptismal interview this week! The best part is she was an English student (at our free English class), and my first week in TaoYuan I taught her English class. I testified of the Book of Mormon and how it can guide our lives, and she came up afterwards and asked if she could have a copy of the Book of Mormon and start learning... 2 transfers later she's getting baptized!! I'm so excited!!
A real highlight this week was working with an Elder Braithwaite on exchanges. He's from Alpine, graduated in the same class as me from Lone Peak. It was my first time working with him and we saw so many miracles. He is such a solid elder, but the best part was the miracles we saw. I feel like on that exchange everyone I talked to turned to gold. We were contacting on the street and I decided to go up to a drink shop and talk to the person working there (not common to talk to someone on work with so many people on the street) but I had a feeling to talk to him. I asked him if we could come back and share when he gets off work. He said he gets off at 3 and we could come then. At 3 we came back and sat down with him. We began talking about Heavenly Father and prayer (a common starting point here in Taiwan) and I shared with him 3 Nephi 18 about prayer. It says that if we pray for righteous things with the belief we will receive, God will give them unto us. I asked him what things he thought he could do to start developing that belief or faith. His answer was awesome! He said "I don't know, but I feel like I should set a goal of some sort." I looked at Elder Braithwaite and our eyes both lit up. We talked about setting a baptismal date goal and he set it right away. He was super golden. It was an amazing exchange.
Also on this exchange I had a short period of time where I was really confused. This is because I was on the street contacting everyone I see and I started feeling like everyone I was contacting was a really pretty, 25-30 year old women, speaking good English. I didn't know what was happening, so I decided to ask one of them. Then I found out I was standing outside of the Eva Air headquarters, where the Air hostesses stay between flights in the living quarters. That answered a lot of questions. Needless to say I have a posse of about half a dozen air hostesses willing to come to church with me if their layovers are on Sundays.
It was a great week for us and moreso for our zone. I really hope the mission is all pushing to new heights and getting stronger. I know that this is the Lord's work, and I'm privileged to be a part of it, working under a mission president called by him.
I love the gospel!
Elder White
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