Miracle week!!!

The last P day we had, we went to my old area in Danshui and went uo to the beach with some people. I told them that they need to buy a discraft frisbee because there is a difference. We all played on the beach and went around to some of the farms around there just to look at the scenery. Always have fun P days. 

The title says it all. This week was absolutely crazy with all of the miracles we saw. I'll share a few things that happened. 

The whole time during Elder Hyde and I's companionship, we have been working hard with little success. We haven't seen a baptism together, so we have been working really hard anf doing our best at making plans to see things happen. And I believe that through all of those efforts, we were able to see so many miracles.

So. The Elders in Sanchong have been working with a kid for four years now. He is a little bit different mentally, so he was waiting to turn 20 years old before he could get baptized. 20 years old is the Adult age in Taiwan. He has always been afraid that his parents wouldn't let him get baptized because they are Buddhist. Missionaries have been telling him for three years now to just ask his parents if they would let him, but he was always way too scared. It's only because of the member's help that he has stayed this long. Last week he finally asked his Father if he would sign the paper to let him get baptized...and he signed it!!! We were all super happy for him and we are going to help him get prepared for baptism soon. Finally after 4 years he get permission.

I got word this week of an investigator from my old area in Bali is also getting baptized next month. He had the same problem as the kid before, but his parents wouldn't let him. He's been waiting to get baptized for years. He comes to church as often as he can, and he was pretty much a member. So many missionaries have been with him, and I'm so glad that something good is coming out of the area I served. 

We have been also helping one of our members really get working to share the gospel with his friends. They all don't live in Sanchong so he didn't really know how to share with them. We met with him a few times, and then skyped his cousin who is a Taiwanese Aboriginal. She was really funny and had a fresh different attitude from the other people around here. She was really excited to meet with the missionaries in Taoyuan after we talked about the Book of Mormon with her. So yeah! Fun helping members with their own missionary work. 

One day as we were going around doing normal missionary stuff, I wanted to go to the park to do our studies, so we went over and just sat there by the tree doing our studying. People would come and walk by and talk to us cause it was a Saturday and the weather was nice. While we were sitting there we met two cousins with their parents exercising their dogs, they came up and started talking to us. They were super nice and it was just a really casual conversation with them. We set up one of the kids because he said he wanted to learn about Christianity! As we were leaving the park, we saw him already reading the Book of Mormon!! His cousin's Mom was smiling at us really wide so we stopped and talked to her to find out that she is actually a member of the church!! She hasn't been to church for seven years now, so we hope we can get working with her!

So yeah those are some of the miracles we've had this week!! Really blessed!

Zone conference!

Sorry if this email isn't as detailed as you would like. I wrote it, and then somehow it got deleted before it was sent so this is draft #2.

This week was full of great stuff!! Last

week on Monday we went to my old area in North zone around Bali and had some good fried rice with some of the Elders in the district. After that we went all the way to the south zone to play soccer with a bunch of other Elders. It was super fun and we were pretty tired when we finally got back to our home in central zone getting ready to go back to work!!

This last week was the week of birthdays. The two sisters in our district actually have the same birthday which was last Sunday. They both turned 20 years old!! And then we had another Elder in our district, and some members also had their birthdays last week!!

Elder Hyde and I have really been trying to improve our teaching and lessons. We have been making sure to have the spirit teach them through us. In one of the lessons we taught last week, we were teaching someone the Restoration and he just wasn't really believing what we were teaching. We taught the Great Apostasy and then the spirit just told us to stop teaching because he wasn't open to the message we were about to share. So we stopped and told him we wanted him to start praying to receive a desire to learn what we were teaching before we talk about the First Vision.

We taught another person who owns a shop that sells beer. He's a father and he's a really cool guy who has been meeting with missionaries for over 4 years now. We talked to him about his family and how the best way to raise his family is to build it on the foundation of Jesus Christ. He said he will ask his wife and see if they can meet with us, so we were happy that he was willing to ask. 

We have had to drop a few of our investigators this week which was pretty sad. I was working with Brother Chen for so long and really hard trying to help him. He got a text from a member that told him about the commandments which kind of scared him off. We haven't taught him or talked to him for 2 weeks now, and we are waiting on the spirit to tell us when we need to get in contact with him again. The ward mission leader came up to me and told me that Brother Chen never had a testimony. It kind of frustrated me because I've put the most effort into him and helping him build his testimony and I know be has one, he just has to realize God has a plan for him. So this week we have been trying to get new investigators. 

Because I'm the teacher for the intermediate English class level, we have a set topic that we need to talk about. This week was:"going to the hair salon". I'd never gone to a hair salon before so I didn't really know how to teach them. I brought my razor and shaved without a mirror having them tell me what to do in English! They thought it was really funny and I didn't get cut! Yes!

Zone conference was by far the highlight of this week! They told us that the Asia area covers all of Asia except for Japan, Korea,. and the Philippines. The area that we are in holds more than half of the world's population, so it's a big responsibility haha. They said the goal for our area is to have every companionship baptize one convert each month. It's a really big goal, but it is possible, so we are really going to try to do it. President asked us if we are really willing to do what it takes to reach this goal. It made me reflect on what I'm doing as a missionary and gave me more motivation to work harder!

That is pretty much all that happened this week. The pictures are just us with investigators and stuff. Love you all!!

-Elder Thayne

So this is Persecution?

Sorry for not writing the big letter to everyone last week! I was pretty busy with P day stuff so I didn't have enough time to write one. Last P day was really fun though! We went and played lazer tag with a bunch of people in the central zone! I was able to see Sister Fissiahi from the MTC!!(I know I spelled her name wrong, but she'd give me credit for trying haha.) I also got the inside scoop on one of her companions from the MTC. She had to return home for a knee surgery pretty early on her mission, and now she's engaged to someone! Pretty crazy, but just goes to show that there's always a happy ending! 

Elder Hyde and I were able to work really hard this week, and we saw a lot of fruit come out of it. We had some people to come to church and found some new people who want to learn. I've been the English Unit Leader in our district ever since I came to Sanchong, and now Elder Hyde is the district leader so we are busy all of the time. We are trying to get English class better because it's one of the only ways we can serve in Taiwan, plus it's a really good way to get people interested in the gospel. 

There is an Elder here who got on the Island the same time as I did and he is a master computer programmer! He made a new English class website for the mission and it's super good and professional. They are really trying to do good things with the English class, and Elder Hyde and I plus some other people in the mission are going to be Beta testing the website with finding new students. Pretty exciting stuff. Just since the website has been made we've had 18,000 visitors on the website And 400 people signed up for the class. Out of those four hundred, we have about 140 that said they want to learn about Jesus Christ. So yeah really exciting opportunities! If this goes really well, they may use this with other missions across the world. Here is the website! It's in Chinese, but you can still check it out! Taiwaneng.com

We went to the mission office a lot this week. We had to go there on exchanges with the Zone Leaders one day and that was really fun. The Zone leaders are awesome! That night we went to a park and set up a Lemonade stand to give to people and shared about how the Book of Mormon can answer questions of the soul. It was a fun activity, and they were able to get a few potentials out of it. I still can't tell the difference with Asians so I started to try to talk to someone in Chinese and I found out they are from Japan. It was really weird cause they couldn't understand English or Chinese!! So we just stood there awkwardly and then gave them a handshake and let them go. 

We also went to the mission office to have interviews with President! It was really good for me to meet with him and get his counsel on how to improve the area. We got some famous street food on the way there and ran into some other missionaries. One of the Elders told me that someone had painted "Mormons go home" on a street lamp by the temple. I thought it was hilarious because it's the first bit of "Persecution" I've seen here it made me laugh.

I also went up to Luzhou on exchanges and went with Elder Donalson. It was fun and I got to see more of their area. He got a flat tire and got it patched by someone on the street and then it got flat again so he got it fixed a second time! 

Don't want to bore you all with the details but it was a busy week and we were able to get a lot done! 

Another Transfer...

Transfer week!!! I've been banished to Hualien where the earthquake happened! They decided to send a few Elders from Taipei to help with the cleanup, and that includes me! I will be helping with the cleanup service and sharing the gospel with people there...I was wondering how far I wanted to take this, but I don't want everyone to freak out. 

I'm actually staying in Sanchong for this next transfer with Elder Hyde. I was pretty sure I was staying and Elder Hyde would stay here too because he's only been here for one transfer. The sisters are staying together again and Elder Endicott left from training. The district pretty much stayed the same. A few of the ward members were happy that we were all staying! So hopefully the work will be able to pick up a bit!

English class was also good this week! All of the grandma's that I teach in intermediate class were really happy that I'm staying. I will be staying and teaching them. It was fun because I taught about directions and how to lead someone with English directions!  We played some games and they really liked it. At the end I taught a spiritual share on how to receive direction in your life. And how Jesus Christ and his teachings can be that direction. I had a member come up to me after saying that what I taught on was an answer to her prayers, and how she realized she needs to focus on raising her family instead of trying to chase her dream job. Family has become number one for her.

Our investigator Brother Chen is doing really well! He is super funny and was at church with us yesterday. He is really savage to the other people in the ward so it's really funny. He'll tell people that they became fat over Chinese New Year and then us missionaries just laugh. They will just say whatever they want and most everyone is okay with it. But missionaries have to be careful what they say or they will offend someone, it's funny. But he is doing really well and he came to scripture class last week when we were talking about Lehi's vision of the tree of life. He said that the Iron Rod was the Book of Mormon. He didn't even know that is in a hymn!!! He's so cool, and he said he'll play frisbee with us tomorrow. He's 43 but super healthy.

So yeah! We are working hard and having a good time doing it! That's the key to having fun! 

Here's some pictures:

My companion, us with members, me when I had hair haha.

Love you!

-Elder Thayne

你吃飽了沒?( Are you full yet?)

This week was Chinese New Year!! Really different because everyone went back  to their parents house, so most of the people in Sanchong went to every other place in Taiwan haha. Everyone asked us what we were doing for the new year and we just said we keep doing missionary work. They're all so surprised, but we still stay in our areas and do what we can. 

Krispy Kreme!!

 We have a security guard at the bottom of our apartment building who knows us by name and always does the same things. We come in after a long night and he says “你吃飽了沒?” we say yeah we ate. And then he asks us where we went to eat and then tell him. And then he asks us if we went to church that day, and we usually just say no we're on the streets today. He's just a really weird guy but he's so funny. He likes to shake our hands whenever we come in, and the past few times it's been cold he grabs my hand and then slaps me and tells me I need to keep my hands warm or I'll get sick. Sometimes we walk in and before he stands up to greet us, I hide behind the furniture and he has no idea where I am. Elder Hyde then tells him that I left him, and he doesn't see me for the rest of the night. I then come in the next day and he gets up and walks over to me demanding where I went. It's pretty hilarious, stuff like this happens every single night with him.

Since it was Chinese New Year this week, members of the ward fed us. It's over 6 days, feeding us 12 meals. I have been putting on a little bit of weight because they make me eat so much. When we want to leave, they say:" you have to eat more or we won't let you leave." So yeah my stomach has been hurting these past few days...I think it's being forced to get bigger 

It's been a pretty slow week with the work because most everyone is gone, but it's been interesting. The Sanchong ward combined with the Luzhou ward for Sacrament meeting yesterday, and they asked all 6 of us in the district to give talks. Everyone had their ideas for talks, and I had totally forgot about the talk so I prepared a little during Saturday night. I decided to do it on loving someone enough that you will do the hard thing to help them. I told them that the last time I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting apart from testimonies was in Lehi Utah with my family and friends. It's pretty weird to think that was over 6 months ago. I basically talked about how God loves us so much that he will give us trials as an opportunity for us to turn to him for help. I also shared the story of our cow Creamy and how I spent so much time with her every day and I loved her. I told them how she got sick, and we tried to keep her alive, but it just got worse and worse until we had to let her go. When I shared that part some of them were crying and thanked me after. I was just happy they could understand my Chinese!! It was weird after though because all of the members started asking me to share stories from the farm, cause it's so different to them. They think it's so funny but cool! I love that I was able to have that opportunity growing up cause not many do. 

That's basically all for this week, just a ton of eating, and seeing members.

新年快樂!!

Companionship study at the park!

摩爾門教

This week was actually pretty awesome! For all those who are wondering; my hair is growing slowly but surely! I had some Elders come up to me and tell me they have respect for me cause I cut my hair. Also Shoutout to the Lynch's and the Jonson's Northrup's and everyone else for sending me stuff! You guys are amazing!!

Last P day we went up to the top of a mountain with the zone leaders and Rui Cong. It was crazy cause we saw snow!!! There wasn't much, but it was pretty awesome seeing snow in a sub tropical climate! The really funny thing is that the police were telling everyone they needed to put chaines on their tires because of the snow, but being from Utah it was hilarious. There was like a half inch of snow in the deepest parts and people were acting like they were going on a Klondike! It was so funny. I guess most of them hadn't seen snow before so I can't judge them.🤣

We also had an earthquake this week which some people were freaking out about. It was a 6.0 that hit in Hualien which is on the east coast. I've been there before on a P day actually. I was on exchanges up late talking to Elder Donalson when I felt it. The apartment building I was in was moving side to side so that was fun! If an earthquake like that hit Taipei city tons of building would fall over. Taipei is in a bowl, and the soil is kind of wet, so hopefully we don't get an earthquake here.

So our investigator Brother Chen had a really cool experience. Every year at the end of the year, companies will hold a party for their workers and do a raffle. Our investigator told the members that he had never won it before and he really wanted to. He said he prayed to Heavenly Father and then he won 1st prize!! He won 20,000元。It's pretty insane, but he's super happy and knows it's from God. I'm not saying it works for everyone haha, but it worked for him!!!

A really cool miracle happened. We had some extra time one day so we went to a few less active members homes to make sure the church had their correct home address. We were biking around and the people weren't home, but we were talking to people on the street a lot. As we talked to them, they just kept telling us to go find the young people because they will actually listen to us. People kept telling us, but we talked to as many people as we could. We had an appointment with someone though so we started on our way back home. About halfway home I got a call from the person we were about to meet with saying that he couldn't meet anymore cause his work was moving to a different workplace. So we turned around and biked back close to where we were. The person we were looking for wasn't there so we started on our way to get closer to our house. As I was biking there was an old guy on the street(by the way there are always old people out and about here walking and buying food and stuff) I just said hi expecting nothing to come out of it when he said hi back. We pulled out bikes over and asked if we could share a message about Jesus Christ with him and he said sure! It's super weird to hear that, but he unlocked the door to the apartment building and brought us to the roof to meet his son. It was super funny when he brought us to him cause his son wasn't expecting us at all. The apartment was super messy and we just sat down inside. Once we had all got situated his dad just said:“ you guys can just talk and I'm going to my apartment,” it was super random cause he hair left us to talk to his son. His son was kind of in a trap haha, he couldn't really tell us to leave cause his Dad was the one who brought us there. He was just folding laundry so we sat and shared the Restoration of the Gospel with him. His wife came out to go buy groceries and was super surprised to see us there! The husband just said one word to explain:“摩爾門教,"(Mormons). It was funny. It was a really cold experience though because all that stuff happened with perfect timing. If all of the stuff didn't happen before then the son wouldn't have listened to our message, or got the opportunity to. I could tell that it was only in that setting that it would be possible for him to accept us and listen. The Lord has amazing ways for gathering his children.

So yeah that was basically my week!

Here are some pictures!!

-Elder Grayson Thayne

Why did MTC teachers say it wasn't gonna get cold in Taiwan???

Okay so it's only been 5 days since my last email, but I have a few things I can write from this week. It's been a very busy week full of traveling and other things. We've gone to the Mission home 5 times in the past seven days for things, so it's been pretty busy. We went for interviews with President, meetings for English class, a piano practice and now a fireside from last night. It's been busy, but good! It's also been really cold here this week! The teachers in the MTC said it wasn't going to get cold... We checked the weather one day and it was 8℃ here and 11℃ in Salt Lake City. And that's not even accounting for the humidity and the rain. It's actually been pretty chilly. All of the Taiwanese people think that America is so much colder because it snows, but Taiwan is cold too, it's just different.

Something cool that happened this week is we were going around 三重 trying to figure out if some members lived in the apartments that were on the records. We walked up to a door that had another wooden door behind it. We knocked on the metal outer door pretty hard and no one answered. We tried it a few more times and no one came. I thought I heard someone move though, so I was able to squeeze my hand through the metal door and push the wooden door behind it. It opened and then a man from the Philippines came to the door and talked to us. We asked him if we could come back another day and talk to him about Jesus Christ and he said yes! Hopefully he'll set up a time with us! 

We were able to get Elder Hyde's Bike fixed which was good. He refused my free services and got it done by a professional instead haha. 

English class was good this week. I got a few new ideas for how to teach my class better cause we really want to teach them English. A few new kids came that I found on the street and they seem pretty cool. They just live in another area!! They live in 淡水 my old area!! But they were nice, and they should be good referrals if they want to be taught. 

We have also started up this Book of Mormon class every Thursday for people to come to. Both members and our investigators. We just want to help people better understand the Book of Mormon and how important it is to everyone's conversion. We had one investigator come and we also had a bunch of members there. We talked about Nephi and his brothers going back to get the plates. We had a really good discussion and our investigator really liked it. He's brother Chen. He is 43 and super awesome. He dresses super well and he looks like he just turned 30. He's super healthy and really happy all the time. I met him on the street with Elder Welch and he's progressing super well. He's also really funny. So yeah he liked the class!

We went into a Hi Life one night and met a man playing cards by himself. We talked to him for a bit and found out that he is homeless. He's only 65 years old, but he has no job and he doesn't want one. We taught him for a bit and then tried to help him find somewhere to sleep cause it was cold. He had just made some bad choices and didn't have money to live anywhere. He wouldn't accept help though because he doesn't want people knowing he's poor. It's hard and sad, but he doesn't understand how things can help him. I hope he will learn later.

Pics are us in Mormon Helping hands shirts.

The whole Taibei Central zone was asked to do a service project in Taibei for feeding the homeless. All of us missionaries went to help set up tables and chairs and decorations for 2,000 tables and 10,000 chairs. We set them up and tents and it was pretty fun getting to do something different. We were there for 6 hours so it was good. On the way back while we were on the MRT we were talking to some Elders and missed our stop for 三重 so we had to get off at the next one. We got off and two Black foreigners got off as well. They had pretty good hair, and I remembered my friend Elder Fernandes was looking for a place to do a lineup (the people in Taiwan don't know how to cut his hair so it's been a struggle haha). So I went up and asked them where they got their hair done. I got a guy's contact info and we talked to the two guys. They were really cool and were from the Caribbean teaching English. Hopefully they will set up and we can start teaching them!

But yeah that was basically my week. The fireside last night was great. I got to be with a lot of my missionary friends, and the people I know in my ward now. We haven't gotten very far into the lessons with Brother Chen, so when someone bore their testimony about abstaining from coffee and tea he was astonished haha. He couldn't believe it, but I told him we'd teach him later haha! Don't wanna get too ahead of ourselves! At the end of the fireside he told us that he felt like he needs to be a better person. I was pretty happy, last night was a really good night.

 

I'm a bike Mechanic

Hey everyone!! I have to apologize for emailing late. My P day was switched because we are going to the temple for P day, so I wasn't able to email until now. Forgot to tell everyone. But I will be on the usual time next week! 

Last P day was super fun! Elder Welch was still in Taiwan, so I got to hang out with him and his parents with some Taiwanese people. We went to the Grand Hotel, and then to Jilong to walk down this cool old street. We also hiked a bit and took pictures. It was awesome to be with my old companion again the day before he actually goes home back to America. His parents brought me a football and some BYU chocolate truffles which I was super grateful for! I've had some fun with it. The Taiwanese don't know how to throw a football, so it's pretty funny. 

This was an overall good week for the work as well. We spent a lot of time helping organize a ward activity that they were having. Every month they use the last Saturday to celebrate the ward Members' birthdays who had birthdays in that month. We called through all of the members of the ward inviting the less active members and really trying to get people to come! A lot of people ended up showing up and we had food and cake and then played board games with them. While we were there, a ward member asked us to go to the subway station and pick up a French guy who speaks a little English. His name was Alex and he was pretty cool, not super interested in the gospel though. He loved the costco cake which I thought was funny. He's from France and they are really good baked things and he loved a store bought costco cake. Haha the activity turned out well though, lots of people showed up and we had lots of fun.

A member in the Luzhou ward got his mission call as well. It's weird watching that while you're a missionary. Cause you know some of the stuff they're going to experience. It's all different. He's going to London England speaking English so he's pretty excited. We also were able to help a ward member move. No one had offered to help, so we did and we got a bunch of his stuff moved. He was pretty grateful, so he bought us some good Beef Noodles last night.

My bike was acting up a lot this week and wouldn't move very well. I found out that it's because I had bent the wheel, so it's constantly being dragged by the brakes. I decided to switch my tire with the old Exchange bike we have. To replace for a new tire is really expensive, so I just wanted to take the old tire. I needed a tool to undo my bike though. I went to this bike shop to ask this guy if I could buy a tool to fix my bike. He kept misunderstanding me though and tried to sell me new breaks. I told him I needed the tool, cause I could do it myself. He just told me that no one in New Taibei City sells that tool and I could just pay him. I decided to go to a more advanced bike shop and got the tool there. I spent the next hour fixing my bike up outside of our apartment building. It was pretty funny because all of these Taiwanese walked by just seeing an American with black greasy hands working on two bikes. They thought it was funny that I could do that and asked if I learned that in school. I told them that I had never done it before, and just did it there. The tire I put on is a 5 year old tire that is also bent, but it's a lot better than my other one, so I'm grateful. 

My bike isn't the only one that for wrecked this week though. Elder Hyde's Bike is totalled.We have a few injured people in our district right now. The District Leader Elder Donalson's knee is inflamed, so he is constantly in pain. His companion Elder Endicott rolled his ankle. My companion Elder Hyde just got hit by a car yesterday so his bike is broken. Basically everyone but me for the Elders. The sisters are really safe on the road so they're alright. 

So yeah it was a really fun week this week, and we were able to work hard and see some people progress! Don't want to take too long, so I'll email you all again in 5 days!! 

The pictures are of us with Elder Welch and his parents on P day.

 

Elder Welch where are you?

Haha Elder Welch is officially off his mission now. I was able to spend my last P day with him on Monday and we went hiking. We hiked with two of his other former companions and we all had a good time. He was really happy and it was fun. He was an amazing 3rd companion and I learned so much from him and he's a stud. I dropped him off on Wednesday morning giving him a goodbye hug and then letting him go. I hope he doesn't get married too fast haha. 

This week was a pretty big change. A lot happened! Right when Elder Welch said that he was going home, a bunch of members wanted to eat with us. We ended up having a dinner with someone for the next three nights! I swear that it is the Members' goal to get me fat. They are always giving me so much food. Even though they know I'm full and can't take anymore they make me eat more! Haha I never thought I wouldn't have a choice how much food I shovel into my body. They just make me eat! I heard when Chinese New Year comes it gets crazy and people get sick... needless to say, I'm not super excited for that haha.

Since Elder Welch was leaving, the luzhou elders had to be with me until I got my new companion. While I was with them a member called me and asked for a priesthood blessing. I hadn't ever been the one to say the blessing before so it was a new experience. I was able to do it in English, and Elder Endicott said that through the whole blessing he was thinking of stuff I needed to say, but I ended up saying it all. The spirit was truly guiding me which was a cool experience! After that we headed to the MRT station and picked up my new companion Elder Hyde. He is a pretty nice guy, and super obedient which is always good. His Dad actually served a mission in Taizhong so when he was 8 years old, they moved to Hong Kong. He lived there for ten years because of his dad's work， so that's pretty cool! I think we'll do well in this area and receive blessings for our service. 

On Friday this week was pretty cold. I think it was in the 40 degrees with wind chill and everything. It wasn't actually that cold, but with the moisture in the air that's what it actually felt like. For some reason I decided to just wear my short sleeved shirt and go out. Everyone on the street was just saying:"他不怕冷!!" Which means that He doesn't fear the cold!! People were so worried about it to the point where they brought a sweater for me. I kept telling them I just left my coat at home, but they didn't understand and were genuinely concerned haha. They are super nice people and always willing to do something to help someone.

I am still adjusting to changes, and missionary work is never easy work. Most people don't like to talk to you and things can be hard sometimes. Yesterday morning I received a call from my RC An Zhi. He told me that he had overtime work and that he was super tired and hadn't had the opportunity to sleep yet. He said for some reason he felt like he needed to call me and tell me that I will become a good missionary. He bore his testimony to me and said that I'm doing the right thing and my parents are proud of me. He also said that I am a good kid and I'm providing for my family in a spiritual way. Right after he said all of this he  hung up and went to sleep. It was just really cool to me that he called me to strengthen me. I'm super lucky to have got to know them.

I love all of you and your emails make my week! Thanks for all the love and support. Choose the Right!!

What happened to me??

Hey everyone!! The first week of the year was pretty great! Last P day I was able to go to a mountain and hike with a bunch of missionaries. We just do a bunch of hiking in Taiwan haha. It was nice because I was able to see a bunch of missionaries and one of my best mission buddy's Elder Cheung. We spent the day together and had some fun. 

 
This week was pretty cool. It is Elder Welch's last full week as a missionary. We wanted to be able to hit the key indicators so we worked really hard. The key indicators are 4 new investigators, 4 investigators at church, and 4 people who have a baptismal date. We tried to find new people and we were able to do a lot because we had the goal. We found a guy at McDonald's who saw us and saw that we were really happy so he talked to us. We ended up having a lesson with him a few days later. Yesterday was probably the craziest day of the week. We set up lessons with three investigators back to back, and had a lesson with a less active member at his house. It was super busy, but we were able to have good lessons with everyone and then go to Luzhou for an activity. We ended up eating dinner later that night cause we didn't have time. 

We found a place in a big park to do some exercise with the district. It is like 4 miles away from our house, so we have to wake up extra early and then bike there. The Sister's don't usually come, but we have the Elders and a few members come with us. It got a little competitive during a soccer game and one of the members who is a girl tripped over me and got a big bruise on her leg. At church today she was telling everyone what I did haha. They just aren't used to competitive Americans haha.

 

On Monday I had the longest hair I've ever had before. As I started to cut it though, I did something crazy. I BUZZED ALL OF MY HAIR!!! I felt like I needed to learn to be more humble because I would always get a lot of looks from people. The thing is, I buzzed my hair and now I'm pretty much bald. I thought it was really funny though. As I was at church today, people couldn't believe it was me and they kept just laughing hahaha. I guess it helps improve the relations with the members and the missionaries haha. People would always tell me I looked like someone from One Direction or Justin Beiber, but now so many people think I look like Eminem the rapper. Haha it's pretty hilarious. I just didn't want to care about my appearance too much, so I did this instead!

 

We saw a really cool miracle this week too! The Sister's ran into an old man on the street and he recognized them as missionaries. They talked to him and showed him where the church was and he lives super close. The Sister's passed him off to us as someone who might want to learn the gospel. When we met with him though, he kept saying:"I've already been baptized," we have heard the same thing over and over again, so we were dreading teaching him for a bit. When we started teaching him though, we realized he was already a member of the church! He had been baptized into the church over 15 years ago in Germany. He really loved it, but they taught him in German cause no one knew Chinese. He moved back to Taiwan, but didn't know where the church was so he didn't come back. As we taught him about the Restoration, he was super happy. He told us that this is the first time he's been able to hear it in his native language. We asked him to start praying and reading the scriptures every day again and he was super willing. He said of course. We invited him to church, and he was there starting to get to know the ward. It was a miracle. He told us that he always knew he would come back someday. And the Lord brought him back. 

Anyways this is just some of the things that happened this week. I hope we can all read the scriptures and pray every day to strengthen our relationship with Heavenly Father. He truly cares about us, and will always help us return to the thing that is best for us.

Enjoy your week! Love you all!

-Elder Thayne