Transferred to Taizhong?

This week has been one of the craziest weeks of my mission! 

Last P day, we went to a waterfall on Pingxi and saw it! It's the biggest waterfall on Taiwan. We also painted Chinese characters on a lantern you light up and let float in the sky so that was really fun!  Overall a really fun P day! 

This week Elder Halverson and I were working hard to help people set a baptismal date and it paid off! I'll talk a little more about it later. 

On Tuesday afternoon we were in the church planning a few things when I received a phone call from the AP's. Whenever you get a call from the Assistant's, you know something big is going to happen. I picked up, and they told me to put Elder Halverson on the phone. He was listening, and they asked him how fast he could get to the nearest hospital. We knew they must be joking, so we told him about 20 minutes and then we heard from the AP  that Elder Halverson is going to be training! It's right in the middle of the transfer. The transfer still has 3 weeks, but Elder Halverson got the training call. A missionary came, he got his visa early and so he came to the island and so they called out there have her send to be his trainer and of course I was wondering what was going to happen to me, and then they told me:" You will be going to Miaoli with Elder Fernandes!" I was honestly so excited but super confused. They told me I would be leaving on Thursday morning and I need to get everything ready and buy a train ticket and just be ready to leave by then. 

It was a crazy announcement, so we finished that day like normal. The next day we picked up the new Trainee. He is a really cool guy, and I know they'll get along pretty well. The rest of the time, I basically just packed and got the area ready for them. I felt a little bad because Elder Halverson doesn't really know what he's doing in that area. I also taught my last English class that night. The students were a little sad cause it was so unexpected, but they were also very loving. We all said a kneeling prayer together for the last day, and I said goodbye to all of them. It's funny cause the Sanchong ward saw me give a talk, and then the next Sunday I wasn't there. I basically just disappeared!! They'll do well. 

The next morning getting to Miaoli was a nightmare! I left and took my suitcases on the subway for awhile. When you carry that much stuff, it's really heavy and hard. I didn't have a companion the whole way over there, so I was by myself on the MRT. When I got out of the first station, one of my suitcases split open and most of the stuff spilled out. The zipper broke. I stuffed everything back in. Tons of people were walking past. I was had to hurry and be super careful with the suitcase so it wouldn't spill out again. I was barely able to get it to the train station and I got on the train. It was a struggle, but after about an hour and a half, the train was coming to Miaoli station. I grabbed one suitcase and then stepped off the train. I put it on the deck and then I went back on the train to grab my broken suitcase... As I was about to get off the station with my second suitcase, the doors closed and I was stuck in the train. What I didn't know at the time, is that the train was delayed, so it was trying to make time up by closing the doors faster. Too bad for me the next stop was 15 minutes away and it's out of the mission! Miaoli is right on the border with the Taizhong mission. So yeah I traveled across the border into Taizhong. I was able to get back to Miaoli, but it was a rough ride haha. 

The story doesn't end there sadly haha. They have to ship my bike from the mission home, so it took three days to get to my new area. We only had 2 bikes between 4 missionaries. I borrowed one of the bikes and as I was riding it, I downshifted and it broke the derailer off!!! I felt Christlike that day so next thing I knew I bought Elder day a new Derailer which costed around $20. Which is a lot for missionaries!!

This is going to be a long email, so I will send more details about my new area and my companion! But I am SOOOO excited to be with Elder Fernandes! We became best friends while in the MTC, and we always joked around about becoming companions and now that we are we're super happy. We'll work our hardest! Love you all. Talk to you next week!!

Some pictures with members at the waterfall, English class. And me on the train in Taizhong

6th Transfer!!

Transfers happened again... And I'm still in Sanchong. It is a long time to be in one area, but it's all good because I got a new companion named Elder Halverson!! I actually knew him back in the MTC. He's only 6 weeks older on the mission so it's pretty fun! We both don't know how to read yet so we are having a fun time. He is from Kansas, and he has a really good singing voice. He's only a month older than me, but looks a lot more mature haha. He tells me I remind him of his little brother so that's cool! We're getting along well. When transfers happened I totally thought o would head out cause I've been here for awhile, but instead Elder Hyde left. He became a zone leader in Songshan which is the East Taipei zone. The funny thing is, there are only two missionaries in this mission with the same last name of 海(pronounced Hi). And they have both become my companion! So when people ask his name I just say he's the same person, just got glasses and became a little bit taller. 

So yeah this week has been pretty crazy getting everyone switched around to their new areas! Our district changed a lot too. One of the sisters left, and then both of the Luzhou Elders left too. We weren't expecting that at all because they have been whitewashed 3 times in the past 7 months which kind of kills an area. Elder Donalson whitewashed in when I came in, and then he got whitewashed out. His companion became the AP. For those of you that don't know what Whitewashed is, it basically means that both of the missionaries in an area get switched out with two brand new missionaries so it can be hard. If it gets whitewashed a lot, the missionaries basically have to start over from scratch in a lot of ways. Like getting investigators, or knowing who the ward members are. So yeah I've been in Sanchong for the longest out of everyone in the district.

General conference was pretty amazing!! It was a great time to just sit there and watch the prophet and the apostles speak right to us. I was sitting right behind president Jergensen which was fun. He turned back and said the main financial guy that should up to give the report is actually his cousin. I hope everyone got a chance to see that and really get help and direction from the prophet of God. 

Yesterday we taught a lesson to a less active kid's mother. We showed her the talk by Elder Uchtdorf on Jesus Christ and testified of him and what he has done for her. She just told us she believes it is good stuff and that's why she is letting her son go to church. I could really feel the spirit testifying in that lesson but it wasn't getting through to her. It frustrated me because I couldn't get her to see the importance of Jesus Christ. We did everything we could by inviting her but she wouldn't accept. 

Sometimes it can be really frustrating when people don't understand what we know can help them, but all we can do is invite them.Which reminds me of a quote in Preach my Gospel by Elder Holland: "Much of the time we are just too casual about all of this. This is eternal life. This is the salvation of the children of God. Eternity hangs in the balance. … It is the most important path this investigator will ever walk. But if he or she doesn’t know that, at least you do! … So take control of this situation. Teach with power and authority."  

I know as we understand that this gospel can help other people live a happier life, we will be more inclined to share it... So just do it!! 

Here are some pictures. By the way, we are having Temple Wednesday next week so my P day will be changed to Wednesday. So that will be Tuesday evening for everyone back home!! 

We also went to the zoo today!

-Love Elder Thayne

Wang shi hao

The best part of this week was Wang Shi Hao. He's a 19 year old kid who has been meeting with the missionaries for four years now. He's super shy and doesnt say much. He also has spiritual experiences in the form of dreams, but he doesn't really telk the missionaries about those. He mostly just tells his friend in the ward Rui Cong. I knew he has a testimony, but it's really hard to get him to talk. He has been waiting until he turns 20 to get baptized, but this last week he went and asked his father and he finally got approved. So this whole week has just been us thinking about him and trying to help him get ready to be baptized on Saturday. When he went in for the interview i honestly didnt know if he was going to make it through or not. Well... He DID!! The zone leader who interviewed him said he has a strong testimony so he passed. We are still going to have to work with him really hard to help him with church and scripture reading, but he got baptized on saturday!! Saturday was a big baptism day in our mission. Just in Taipei we got like 8 or 9 baptisms which is crazy for the mission!!

I was also able to go on exchanges with Elder Jorgenson which was awesome. He was trained by Elder Welch so we had a really good time talking about him. He was a really amazing companion for both of us and we really look up to him. We just went street finding and talked to so many people. We got a setup though so it was all worth it. 

This week's English class went really well! We played the game where one person stands in the middle of a circle of people and they have to say what they have never done before, and the people that have done that thing have to stand up and find another chair. The grandma's didn't really get it though because they stood up and said:" I have never eaten food before," and then everyone else got up and ran around. I don't think they understood it needs to be true haha, they had fun though! 

This week we have been getting ready for General Conference because we will see it a week later than everyone in America. We have told our investigators to think of questions they would like answered and then bring them to conference. I also heard about the Apostle that was called from Hong Kong. He actually served his mission in Taiwan too!! His chinese name is not "Gong by the way haha. It's Jiang. So my family will all say his name right when I get home haha. 

Last p day we went on a hike so I can send some pictures. Love you all!