July 11, 2011

Is Joe going to be all right? I'm glad your book is coming along. Also I think it's cool you want to run a half marathon, DO IT. I'll pray for you. You most definitely can. I can't believe how fast time flies. I'm mad at the MTC because it eats 1/8th of my mission. I need you to send me more pictures--pictures of the family, Vern's prom, etc. My companion wants to marry Veronica or Savannah.

Another Week gone by in Xin An. This next week is going to be CRAZY!! Why? 2 Words. Duan Chuan. Or in other words we have a young man coming to join our companionship for the next 7 days. It's going to be SWEET!! Living it up with a couple Taiwanese Elders. We have no idea who he is, but we go pick him up in an hour.

This week had some definite high points. Where to start. I think my favorite part was interviews with the Mission President. I love being able to sit down and have ten minutes of one-on-one time with him. It's an opportunity to learn so much, and I always walk out of there feeling so excited to do this work. Before this transfer I wasn't too excited about serving right by the mission home, but it's been amazing how convenient everything is and it's really great to see President so often.

Another highlight is my new best friend. Guo Di Xiong. We went to visit him this week and he is AMAZING. He lives in a house on the roof of a 6 floor apartment building out in the far east corner of our area. He has amazing mountain views, and his house is amazing. He's loaded. Coolest part is that there is no elevator. This 82 year old man walks those stairs every day. He took us out to dinner where we met up with the temple sisters. He is awesome. He has had the Book of Mormon for 8 days and he's finishing up Ether. He's almost done. Yesterday he came to church, loved it, and we taught him after church at about 1 o' clock. We taught him the Word of Wisdom. He loves to speak English. In his prayer he was speaking in Chinese and then in English he said "and... No Coffee, No Smoking, No Tea, No Drinking, No Druggies." I loved every minute of it. He hasn't smoke or drank his entire life, and his health is amazing. Yesterday he also told me his own word of wisdom health tip. After I had 3 fish meatballs during lunch yesterday, he told me how bad and unhealthy they were. I told him I was ignorant to the fact, and he committed me to avoid them the rest of my life. In English he said, "promise me, you must never eat." I'm totally ok with keeping that commitment. They're not even that good tasting. 

We moved his baptismal date to 7/30, and he got so excited. He said he's excited to get baptized so he can go to the temple, and help his wife get baptized so that they can live in heaven together. He's an absolute miracle and such an awesome guy. We returned to the church at 6:30 that night and he was still there. He had been reading and making friends with members from all over Taibei. It's amazing this guy has been out there for so long!!! THERE ARE SO MANY PREPARED PEOPLE, WE JUST HAVE TO FIND THEM, AND THEN HELP THEM UNDERSTAND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. It's so amazing this work. So simple. Anyone who is willing to open their heart a little bit, and try out our invitations will get an answer. In the Chinese translation of Moroni's promise there is a character that means DEFINITELY, WITHOUT doubt the Holy Ghost will answer. I love emphasizing that with investigators. I love the fact that I've been privileged to teach an absolutely amazing family, and now an old guy. Both are pretty rare, and both are things I wanted so badly before my mission. Guo Bing Jun is amazing!

This week I also had an absolutely amazing, miracle filled exchange with my zone leader. His name is Elder Binkinuan. He is a Taiwanese aborigine and super smart. He's 26, and has a law degree from NTU, the equivalent of  an Ivy league school in Taiwan. We started our exchange out with our nightly planning session in which he requested to sing the Star Spangled Banner. He sang it with more soul than the most patriotic of Americans. He loves R and B and his Star Spangled Banner was top notch. The exchange was a ton of fun, literally a perfect 24 hours in missionary work, and we saw amazing miracles.

I'm excited for the week ahead, I'm expecting some sweet miracles in the near future. I'm super excited for Guo Di Xiong's baptism. I love this work, really loving this area, really excited for what the future holds. For some reason I get the feeling I'll be here to stay awhile. We'll see. Love you all.

Read scriptures, read correct translations of the Bible, read the Book of Mormon. Those books have POWER. I believed them to be true before coming on my mission, but only out here have I realized their power.

I was in a restaurant this week and heard "Blower's Daughter" by Damien Rice. Last song I would expect to hear in Taiwan. Very trunky moment.

Love you all, Going to go pick up my new companion

"No Coffee, No smoking, No Tea, No Drinking, No Druggies"

Elder White

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Dang good food

Nei Wan

 Xin Zhu District

 Zhang Yan Rou Being Baptized!!!!!

 Zhang Family (Who were all baptized Saturday!!!)

 On one of our trips to Nei Wan the Zhubei district decided to join us, Elder Erickson decided he wanted a "father-son, trainer-trainee" picture done by the sketch artist there. We sat on the couch being sketched not knowing what it was looking like while passers-by stared. We were worried that he would have a had time drawing Americans and we'd end up looking the same.....

 Zhang family and the Elder Anderson. I am his mom (Elder Bogle is training which makes him his dad, therefore I'm his mom)

Zhang family, Elder Bogle, and I. This was an emotional night, I'm sitting next to my best friend Alfred.

 Random

 Sweet view of 101

 It says I heart Xin An, in my horrible character handwriting

 Guo Bing Jun, my new best friend!!!

 Me and my comp

 Me and 101

  Me, My Comp, and another Taiwanese Missionary @ a Kao Rou (barbecue) resturaunt

 Bunch of missionaries Kaoing Rou

Me, 101, my comp

Hello. 

Another week gone by. This week really flew by quick.

THE BIG NEWS

Zhang Family Got Baptized!!!! No I wasn't there for it, which is heartbreaking, but there is no way I will miss their sealing in 1 year. This is more than amazing. The odds of finding a big family like that and baptizing them in our mission are so small. I'm so happy I can't even describe it!!! They're going to heaven. I know that the Lord had an interesting mission map for me sending me to ZhuDong for only one transfer, but I know that the Zhang family is the reason I was there. In the end my companion and I left ZhuDong on fire. The other family we found there is doing really well, along with some other individuals we found there. Working with Elder Bogle was amazing. We worked our tails off and saw so many miracles. I'm so happy for ZhuDong and the Zhang Family!!!

Now back to XinAn

Things are going well here. I'm still feeling a little bit held back. I want to work harder, like I had been thus far on my mission, but I can't get out the door until my companion gets out with me. It's tough but we're working out the kinks and working better together. I want us to light Xin An on fire. The ward here is great, and they need some good new converts.

The greatest news from Xin An is Guo Bing Jun. HE IS AWESOME. He came into the church Saturday at the Temple Square, and the sister missionaries there gave him the tour that they do. They gave him a Book of Mormon and a baptismal date. And he lives in our AREA!!! He is 82 years old and sat in the foyer for 3 hours Saturday reading the Book of Mormon. Then he came to church Sunday where we Elders met him and taught him. He is the cutest old man EVER! He wanted to talk all about Lehi and his 4 sons and how he prophesied Jerusalem would be wicked!! He is awesome. When we taught him he started talking about his wife who passed away and how lonely he is and he starting crying, and then bore testimony that he believes in God and that everything will work out and he'll see her again. Then in his closing prayer he started crying again. He is so amazing, and I'm so excited for him to get baptized, and then do the work for his wife!!! He's awesome!

It's amazing how different the work is being right in the heart of Taibei and next to the temple as opposed to running around like crazy in the mountains of ZhuDong. No matter where I'm at I know the Lord needs me there. I know that everywhere has prepared people, it's all about having the faith to find them, Diligence to be out there finding them, Obedience to have the spirit, and Love to make sure they make it to baptism.

This is a wonderful place to do the work of the Lord. I'm privileged to be able to represent Jesus Christ in the beautiful country of Taiwan.

I love my waffle maker that makes waffles in the shaped of little penguins. YEAH BREAKFAST, it's the most important meal of the day. Syrup in Taiwan tastes like syrup in America, so no worries there.

I found a $19 dollar store!!! It's about 60 cents in USD. I bought a bell for my bike. My companion beat me to the bike bells and took the only American flag one... He's Taiwanese! So my bell is just blue. I think to Celebrate the 4th of July I'm going to steal his bike bell.

By the way, I've lost 30 pounds since I left the MTC. None of my clothes fit.

Love you all.

Elder White

More pictures for June 2011

  the back cover of my planners

 The nest of elders I was born into, Elder Jhou, Erickson, Duff and I

  Zhubei district  (this picture pretty much sums up my whole 1st transfer)

  zhubei chapel

 cig hangin on by a thread

 playing some chinese chess with the old drunk guys in the park

June 26, 2011

From the roof in Zhudong apartment

 It's really beautiful here.

 I miss it so much. I want to go back!!!

 In front of the 101

 From the 101

 From the 101

 Important part of missionary work. It's all about the love.

 Elder White and Elder Bogle

 Nei Wan, awesome little town in the Zhudong area. LOVE IT

Hello family and friends,

Today I have a small amount of time, but not a lot to report on.

This week has been a big adjustment. I'm still adjusting. I miss ZhuDong a lot. I went from this amazing little town right in the mountains to the heart of Taibei. The hardest adjustment has been companion. Elder Bogle and I had sat down and said we're going to do everything in our power to save souls in Zhudong, and we did. We didn't waste a minute. We rarely took a full hour for meals. We sometimes had days where we were so busy we started the day not knowing when we're going to eat, and ended up having to just find some time to throw some fuel in our bodies during the day. We came home at night wiped out. We had really uplifting and spiritual companionship studies. We found the perfect recipe and saw miracles, We lit Zhudong on fire. 

This companionship is a little different. It's been a little tough, but it will get there. It's a much slower pace, and I'm trying to a balance so that I'm not impatient, but so that I'm also not feeling held back. It'll all work out, its just going to take some time and it's going to be a different transfer.

Zhang family will be getting baptized this Saturday. I wish more than anything I could go. But I'll for sure go to their sealing 1 year from now. I'm so excited for them. They embraced the gospel with an open heart and received so many blessings for it. Their home is a real home of love and happiness. It's so good.

Last week I was asked if I was Filipino, Chilean, or from Holland. No, no, and no. Most people guess we're from America. We occasionally will have an England or Australia guess, but I've never had the Filipino or Chilean guess. Both people said it was because of my eyes. Apparently Chileans have big eyes.

I'm out of time. I'll keep you all in my prayers.

Love you all, This is the Lords work, if we do it his will we are blessed and really happy.

Love Elder White

June 20, 2011

Hey Everyone,

Are you kidding me? 27 inch Mac? Trip to Ruins? Are you guys even buying food since I've been gone? or playing too hard to eat? I understand, the funnest member of the Family leaves, so you need to compensate by doing amazingly fun things. I understand, it must be hard. 

I loved the story about Pepper. I'm glad Veronica had an amazing time on trek. I realize that Veronica is going to be a ridiculously good mom. I'll probably have my wife take lessons from her. I'm listening to Avril Lavigne through the email place's sound system right now. Jealous? They love her here. I have a native Taiwanese companion! Goodbye English!!! My Chinese is coming so fast. I realize it's all the gift of tongues, and what an amazing opportunity this is. I'm absolutely blessed. I know without a doubt I've been called to the right mission for me and where the Lord needs me. I know without a doubt the Lord has placed me in the places he needs me. 

I thought I'd end my mission before I served right next door to the mission home. But here I am. Should be good. Really cool thing is that my MTC teacher, Brother Hodges, said that he thought I'd serve around some colleges. The area I just moved to has the largest college in Taiwan. That man called it. My other MTC teacher, Sister Fan said she thinks I'll help lots of families, I'm off to a good start on that. I hope that trend continues. I love this work. I love you all. Pics next week, I promise.

My 3rd Transfer began today. I moved. My 3rd transfer, 3 places, 3 companions. Really, really rare. I have moved to Xin An which is right by the mission home. Really really close. My area also includes 101. Since I moved right next to the mission home I'm probably going to have to shave my mustache. Just kidding. 

This place is completely different from what ZhuDong was like. There are tons of people. I'm right in the heart of the city. It's time to find some prepared people here and do work!! My new companion is an Elder Yu. You're probably thinking that's not an English name. You're right! He is a native Taiwanese missionary! I never thought I would get a Native Taiwanese companion this early. I'm stoked because it will help my Chinese progress. I'm really pretty far ahead of the average on our mission's language study program, and this will help my Chinese a ton. I'm excited about that a lot.

Thursday night my companion got a call to train. Petty cool. We were both pretty excited. This transfer has been so amazing! We found the perfect recipe of hard work and fun and absolutely tore ZhuDong apart! It's on fire right now, and it was asleep only 6 weeks ago. I got to see one of our investigators we got together baptized, that being the Zhang daughter. They are all getting baptized on July 2 and I won't be there. I arranged it so my last lesson in ZhuDong was with them at their house. It was really emotional for me and them. They are more than 1 missionary could ever ask for in an entire mission, It was so sad to have to leave ZhuDong just because of them. They said they'd plan on me coming to their sealing in the temple in 1 year. I'm so excited for them. I had the most amazing feeling on the bike ride home from their house last night. I had thought earlier in the transfer that I would be in ZhuDong for a long time, because my comp had been there for 4, and I was just starting, but on the bike ride home I had this feeling like the Lord needed me there for that one. In all honesty just to meet that family, and that my work there was done. I had an amazing feeling that the Lord was really pleased with the effort and work I had done there. It was so sad to leave that area, but I know that the Lord now needs me somewhere new, and that he has a plan for me.

I just look at the crazy circumstances that put me in ZhuDong, and there is no doubt that my mission President is receiving  guidance from the Lord.

So here I am, 3 transfers, 3 areas, 3 companions, 3 bikes. I'm ready to go to work right here in the heart of Taibei. My new companion is an amazing missionary I've heard. He was in Hong Kong for the first 6 months of his mission, but because of Taiwanese military rules he had to come back and finish his mission here.

The last couple days were really fun too since my comp was training. We got to go up to Taibei and pick up a brand new missionary, and then have the 3 of us together for a couple days. It was crazy to see how green he was! I know every missionary is green, but I know I wasn't THAT green. It's hilarious. So adorable. Any greenness I had was quickly worn off just because of the nest I was born into, my trainer being Elder Erickson, and always being with Elder Jhou and Elder Duff, the zone leaders. Elder Bogle would always tell me he thinks I act like a 5 or 6 transfer missionary. So right now all my greenness is long gone.

The last transfer was really fun, amazing miracles, so much help from the Lord. Coming home at nights and just passing out from working our guts out. It was so cool. I'm leaving behind a lot of amazing people and I'm really sad to be leaving that beautiful area, but I know the Lord has good things in store for me. I feel like I still could transfer again after this transfer because I think my current companion could train next transfer. We'll see. This mission has been an adventure so far, really amazing. I'm having a blast. 

This week I bought a waffle maker. It makes waffles in the shape of little penguins. It's pretty amazing. I bought it for the equivalent of 6 US dollars from a thrift store after doing some fine bartering. Not too shabby.

I'm right by the temple now so I get to look at that beautiful house of the Lord often. I'm really excited about that. I'm starting to think in Chinese a lot, and it's going to be more and more this transfer especially, so if my English in the letters home sucks, I'm sorry. It's just that the Lord needed me to preach the gospel in a language 100 percent different than I learned growing up. Apologize for the bad English, especially coming from the son of an author.

Everything is good. The rewards of missionary work far outweigh the sacrifices. I love this work, I love the Zhang family. They are getting baptized. They are my family in Taiwan. If it weren't for the language barrier I know that our families would be such good friends. Every time I teach them I think of how much they are like our family. I love it. I'm so happy for them.

All is good. Didn't get hit this week. Love you.

Elder White

June 13, 2011

Hello Family and Friends,

Another week gone by here in JhuDong. Many more miracles and blessings.

Last Pday we were able to get together with the Zhubei District and go to Neiwan, a small, really touristy town in our area. They came up and we had a good time. The highlight was that Elder Erickson, my trainer and I were walking around and found this guy that does pictures of people. He was just getting done with this Asian family and did a really good job. In the mission a trainer and trainee are called a father and son. So he said he wanted to get a picture done with his son. We thought it'd be funny and so we sat as the man drew us. Many curious Asians gathered to watch this man draw us, many said things that would translate to "I see the resemblance" and "It looks a lot like them." In our mind we were worried he wouldn't be able to draw white people. Elder Erickson even said it might just be a picture of 2 Tom Cruises with different hair. 10 minutes later the masterpiece was completed and we found out he can't draw white people. We look the exact same, and we laughed for about 10 minutes straight. We also sent a copy up to our mission president. He's going to love it.

The Zhang family is doing great. They are so ready to be baptized. They come to church every Sunday, and love it. They read their scriptures as a family and really study them out. They all love to read their Book of Mormon, and now we're beginning to teach the commandments. Saturday we taught W.O.W. and they already started to live the Word of Wisdom before we'd invited them. They're so amazing. They are what make this work so rewarding. I love it. We're meeting with them Thursday and they are feeding us Pizza. It will be good.

This week I went on 3 exchanges. It was good. It was needed. The highlight is that Elder Erickson arranged for an exchange and came up to Zhudong with me. It was really fun to go and do work with him again. It was also the craziest rain ever that night. It absolutely killed all success, because all our lessons cancelled. There was huge lightning that was striking just streets away. It was Crazy!!! It was fun to do missionary work with him again. We both anticipated being together for a 2nd transfer because he was training, but instead we didn't even get a full one. This transfer has been good though. I've had to stretch a lot more and been forced to step up my game and take control in almost all our lessons and not be anything like a 2nd transfer missionary. But it's been good for me to grow so fast so early in the mission.

My first exchange of the week was just for half a day while my companion was at special training for senior companions, and I was in Zhubei. I ran into Dan, the less active that Elder Erickson and I were able to activate there. He is doing really really well. He came up on the street and gave me a big hug and took a picture, then he invited us to eat food with him for lunch so that was nice. I've set a goal that in every area I serve I want to find someone to reactivate to full activity.

Things are good, and we're being blessed. This is the last week of the transfer, and then we have Move Call Madness. It should be an interesting one. You are all in my prayers. Thanks for all the prayers in my behalf. I shaved my head this week and my hair is now short. Taiwan is really hot and humid.

Love Elder White

June 6, 2011

Hello Family and Friends,

This week flew by. I don't remember a lot of details. I'm sorry.

The highlight of this week was Zhang Yan Rou (Zoe) getting baptized. This is what missionary work is all about. Her family are my favorite people in Taiwan and they're all set to get baptized next month. Then they're going to work to get to the temple 1 year later. Zoe's baptism made me so happy. I watched the power of the Book of Mormon come to life in a lesson with her, watched it resolve her biggest concern and change her right there on the spot. That was when she decided she was willing to be baptized. She is amazing and she's setting the example for her family. Her family is so great! They're so amazing! Last night we taught them about the Plan of Salvation. It's such a privilege to be able to share God's perfect plan with others, especially those who are hearing it for the first time. I'm so excited for their family to become an eternal family. They are the greatest! They also get us cool gifts all the time and have amazing fruit to eat when we go teach them. BONUS!

The rest of the work is going really well. We're meeting a lot of great people and sharing with them this wonderful Gospel. It's amazing how much different my view of people is when I'm constantly thinking about and focused on their salvation.

The food in Taiwan is amazing, something I'm really going to miss. We eat outside from street vendors almost every meal because it's so cheap. Here in Zhudong there is a special food stand that sells what I call Chinese burritos. They're a burrito type thing, but the inside is brussel sprouts, lettuce, peanuts, some meat, and curry. It's really good, and I'll miss it when I'm out of Zhudong. My other favorite is Dongguo cha (Wintermelon Tea) It is one of the few teas we can drink. My first night in Taiwan, the missionary that took me out contacting bought me some Wintermelon Tea and said that every missionary doesn't like it at first, but by the time they leave the mission they love it. I drank it, didn't really like it and that was that. Now I love me some Wintermelon tea with milk added. He was right. 

One tough thing in Taiwan is giving a mini Word of Wisdom lesson every lesson because we get offered so much tea.

Overall this week was quick. It was good. Taiwan is good. Asians don't look very Asian anymore, sometimes I forget that I stand out, because to me everyone just looks normal. I hope all is well with all of you. You are in my prayers, and I wish you all the best. Go have an amazing summer. Go to church. Choose the Right. Do your best and good things will happen.

Love Elder White