Week 73 - Blessings in doing the work

Finding by where my first day in Taiwan was.  The Grand Hotel 

大家好!

This has truly been a week of miracles. Elder Ploeg and I have seen the Lord's hands in His work this last week that it is hard to even express it all, but will hopefully be able to share a few of those experiences in the email this week!

To begin off, we had a blast to the past this week. That day my MTC companion and I have been waiting for, we got to go on exchanges and it was a blast. We got to see how each other were doing on the mission and also have a really cool miracle. During the exchange, most of our time was spent finding as our afternoons during the week are a little harder to set people up, so we decided to go out to a part of the area that we are in that I had not been to before and find at a park their. We started with a prayer, and then started talking with everyone. After only 10 minutes of contacting, we found the one. 陳弟兄 (Brother Chen) was off for his afternoon break when we contacted him. He is so prepared. On the street, we shared the full restoration with him, invited him to baptism and even set a baptismal date with him. With being in Taipei though, we find people from all over the city, and 陳弟兄 (Brother Chen) lives in 板橋 (Banqiao) over by were my last last area was (新埔- Xinpu). We have since talked with the Elders there and they have said he has set up another time and everything, so we are super excited to see how he is doing in the upcoming weeks!

As for two of the biggest miracles that Elder Ploeg and I had this week was actually with setting apart some time to go LA finding. We prayed and then pick two names from off of the ward list that we wanted to go find. The first was... a challenge. We couldn't find the address at all, so after a while, we moved on to the next one, which was the miracle. We found the address and were going to go up the elevator when the guard stopped us. After talking with him for a few minutes, he let us go up and knock on their door. When they opened their door, we asked if 蔡明洪弟兄 (Brother Cai) was there and 剛剛好 (it just so happened) he was there and had a few minutes to talk with us, so we went down stairs and found a place to sit. He was baptized 20 years ago in the States and then when he moved back, just never got connected up with the church again. The biggest miracle was this though: 1. He doesn't live at the address, 2. He was off of work that one day and actually came back to visit his parents, 3. He set up another time for the missionaries in the area that he now lives in to meet with him and his wife and son! After meeting with him, Elder Ploeg and I just turned to each other in amazement. God really had worked that out just right. If we had knocked their door any other day, we would not have found him, but He lead us to know what to do and when to do it! Such a blessing and miracle that I will never forget!

The other big miracle that Elder Ploeg and I had together this week was actually with a mainland China person. She is here studying law here, but is from 福建 (Fujian). The coolest part is that while she has been here, she actually has been the one looking to get to know Christianity, so as we were sharing some of the simple truths of the church with her, we really could see she was prepared. We shared about Jesus Christ and the atonement and how through baptism we can be cleansed of our sins and mistakes. As we were sharing about this we both felt prompted to set invite her to baptism and she accepted! Even better, she lives in our area too, so in the next few weeks, you should be hearing a lot more about 蔡姊妹 (Sister Cai/Juster)! We are really excited to be able to have such an awesome new investigator and are excited to see the blessings that she receives as she is learning the gospel for herself!

This week, we also got to contact a member referral that we were given on Sunday. We set plans and visited him on Tuesday night. The funny part about it was when we got there, 黃全瑋 (Brother Thomson Huang) said "What took you guys so long to come visit me." It was only two days, but he was just so enthusiastic to meet with us. It was just a lot of fun for Elder Sumsion and I, as we were on exchanges, to be able to share the church with him and also invite him to be baptized. Even though he said he is not yet ready to set a date, he is super willing to get baptized as soon as he gets over his two packs of cigarettes. The coolest part was just the other night when we were meeting with him, he told us he has already cut down to just one pack a day! So, we are really praying that he is able get that help he needs to overcome the last pack!

Coolest bike ever!

Elder Sumsion & I

We also had stake conference this week, which was super fun. They kind of announced that the stake would be splitting here at the end of the year, so we all need to prepare for changes. As for my favorite part about it was having three investigators at church. They are all so awesome and it is super cool to see them progress and make the commitment to come to church every week!

As for a whole, this week was so awesome. We were blessed to see so many miracles and even see those miracles move into this next week as everyday is already packed with lessons or some type of meeting, so we we have barely any finding this next week! Thank you so much for all the prayers, we are really seeing the miracles! Hope you all have a great week!

我愛你們,

Love you,

柯長老

Elder Okeson

Sites in Taipei

101 Building at night

Week 72 - Busy doing His work

大家好!

Well, this truly has been a busy week. As Elder Ploeg and I were evaluating this last week, we came to the conclusion time flies and it really felt like we didn't have any time together in the area, which was kind of true. This last week, we had three exchanges and they were all a blast, full of really amazing experiences and learning opportunities. So, looking back, it is kind of hard to explain all that happened, so I am just going to pull out a few things.

To start the week off, I had the privilege of going on exchanges with Elder Leonhardt, who has been on his mission for about two weeks, so I got to be his very first exchange. Even though he has only been on island for a short period of time, it really has been cool to see how hard of a worker he is and also outgoing. As we were finding together, we found a really awesome new investigator, 汪弟兄 (Brother Wang), who just seemed to be that golden investigator. When we asked where he lived, he told us where and it was just slightly out of our area, but in the Sisters area, which is the cool part. After setting him up for in two days, we referred him to the sisters, who actually ran into him the next day while contacting as well. Two days in a row of running into missionaries. He has since met with them and also is coming to some of the ward activities, such as FHE and hopefully church next week!

As for one of the few days that Elder Ploeg and I actually had some time together to do missionary work, we actually got to meet up with a potential that Elder Ploeg and Elder Varney (his last companion) ran into just before transfers. As we met with her, it was one of the coolest experiences because we originally thought we were going to have to cancel because we could not find a male member to help 陪課 (assist teach the lesson). Then about an hour before, Rusty, a member from back in 新埔 (Xinpu) called and asked if we could eat lunch, which was such a miracle. He was able to help us have that lesson with her, 邱姊妹 Ray (Sister Qiu), who is also now a really solid baptismal date investigator. The lesson with her just was flawless. The only thing that kept things interesting was the place we met with her at had cats, which was when we found out my companion is allergic to cats, so he was sneezing a lot during the lessons. He told me afterwards, we will be setting up a different location next time, I agreed. :)

This week, we also got to attend the baptismal service for 呂嘉玲姊妹(Sister Lu), who I got to do the baptismal interview for last week. It was such a cool service and she was even able to invite her best friend to come to the service, which the Elders jumped on and are now meeting with her as well. As for my favorite part of the service, it was actually a piano solo by my companion. One of the many gifts/talents that my companion has is to sit down at the piano and play ANY song you name. He played one of the coolest versions of Be Still My Soul, which lead perfectly into the baptismal service. And then after the baptismal service we went on exchanges with the Elders there. I got to go with Elder Lin, who is Taiwanese, but has really good English. He has been on his mission for just over two months now and really is such a great missionary.

For those three exchanges that we went on, I actually was put with the trainees each time, which was super fun. Elder Lin, Elder Leonhardt, Elder Peterson are all such great missionaries and it just made me think how much potential and time they have in their mission. It was really such an opportunity for me to learn from them, as they all are teaching the most simple way possible, which was really cool. Not to mention, trainees always bring blessings of success, which was evident with all three of the exchanges!

One of the other really cool miracles from the week was that we got two awesome referrals from members in the ward. One of which lives pretty close to where we live. A member, 游弟兄 (Brother You), brought a friend to church which was when we met him. When I shook his hand, his first comment to me was, "I have seen you before." At first I didn't know what to think because it feels like I haven't been here very long, but that was when he told me where he lives. He said he has seen me bike by every now and then. Guess when you are tall biking around on the streets of Taiwan, you kind of stick out a little, so it was kind of cool thinking that even though we may not be able to talk to everyone on the street, they still will recognize us when we finally get the opportunity to talk to them. And then the other, we are waiting to find a time to set them up, but it is a family which we are pretty excited about.

Over all, I really am enjoying my time back here in 台北 (Taipei). It really feels like you only need to walk seconds and there is someone else you can share the gospel with. I really am loving the work here and am super excited to see what the Lord has in-store for us this next week!

我愛你們,

Love you,

柯長老

Elder Okeson

Doing service at the church.  We stamped over 50 boxes of Book of Mormons that would be sent to most of the missionaries in the mission... That took a while...

Finding in Taiwan, one of the funnest things to do.  You meet a ton of people and have such a great opportunity to share the gospel with them, no matter what their backgrounds are. Kevin, which seems to be a very common name here in Taiwan, is a Buddhist, but was really interested in the temple at Jinhua Street (our church), hopefully doing a tour with him here in a week.  Exchanges with Elder Leonhardt

Week 71 - A very busy week!

Hardest part of being tall. Eating at Cozy Burger with some of the zone members between conference on Saturday

Sunday Dinner :)

大家好!

Well, just want to start off this letter by saying I love being back in Taipei.  The people here are so nice and everyone is so prepared. My favorite part is that you don't really need to travel at all.  You walk two seconds (if that) and there is another prepared person to share the gospel with us.

Some of the highlights of the week was actually getting to go on exchanges with Elder Willes this last week.  He was my old district leader, so it was really fun to get to talk with him again and also get to do some missionary work with him. We saw some really cool miracles.  The two miracles we saw, in the space of three hours because we exchanged from dinner to just before studies the next day, so we only got to go out doing missionary work together for a short period of time, were so amazing.  We found a really prepared college girl who actually set a date on the street, came to general conference on Sunday and then Sunday afternoon attended a baptismal service! So, that was a really big miracle from just inviting others to act.  The other was on the way home.  As we were biking, we ran into Brain, who just got back on Thursday night from being in the states for 5 or so years and wasn't sure where to find the mormon church here in Taiwan because he was baptized in the States.  So, it was such a cool miracle that we were able to meet him, and he even told us he was wanting us to meet his family as well, so we will be hoping to meet with them here in the near future! Such a huge blessing.

This week, we also had zone meeting which went really well. The biggest thing I felt I learned from zone meeting was the meaning of inviting someone to baptism.  An invitation is an opportunity for someone to change. For example if we don't let someone know that there is a problem, it will never get fix.  As missionaries we have been called to invite, to give people the opportunity to change for the better and to have that new start. I really have been loving this opportunity I have had so far for share that invitation with everyone all over Taiwan.

The biggest thing from the week had to be General Conference.  It was such a cool opportunity to learn and be able to learn from the leaders of the Church.  One of my favorite things about it all was the personal things I learned.  The biggest thing I was thinking about during conference was how to be a better missionary because time really is going by fast.  The answer was simple, be simple. A lot of times as we share the gospel, we may over complicate things, but as we simplify the way we teach things, the spirit will also be able to teach simply and even more powerfully than we could by ourselves.

Lastly, I want to do a little bit of math with everyone.  This was something Elder Willes also shared with me that I thought was super interesting.  It really gave me a different perspective on things.

    There are 737 Days in a Mission for a Taiwan Taipei missionary.

    63 are spent in the MTC

    Therefore 674 days spent in the field serving the Lord or 16176 hours

    In a week, there are 168 hours, of which you are only actually about to do 37 hours of missionary work because of sleep, studies, planning session, and meetings.

    Therefore, only 22% (37 hours/168 hours) are you actually able to serve the people of Taiwan.     Use every minute to serve the Lord because your mission time really is not that long.

Time really has flown, but I truly am grateful for the 22% of time I have been given to serve the Lord and invite everyone to come unto Christ! I love my mission and am so grateful for the experiences I have also been able to have.  It is truly one of the biggest blessing that we have been given to be able to serve!

Well, my time is pretty much up. Sorry about the shorter letter, but I hope that you enjoy the photos.  I will try to send a few more next week as well.  Have a great week!

我愛你們,

Love you,

柯長老

Elder Okeson

Running into an less active on the street. Was one of the coolest miracles.  We will be meeting with him again on Tuesday! Such a blessing of finding on the street.  

Week 70 - New Area

大家好!

This really has been an exciting week. There has been a ton of stuff that has gone on and it has just truly been a blast. But to start the week, it was really a little slow. About two hours after finishing emails, we got a call from the Zone Leaders that it is now a Typhoon day and everyone needs to go home ASAP. So, the start of the week was a little slow, but after Monday, it really started to pick up. But it was very nice having the evening to pack and get ready to move on Wednesday morning.

Typhoons rip trees out of the ground.  Got to make sure our roots [in the gospel] are deep so when the storm comes, we don't get blown over either.

So, Tuesday was my last day in 香山 (Xiangshan), and it was a blast. We actually spent the entire day there because we weren't able to go to our usual district meeting in 竹南 (Zhunan), but it was still really fun. We got to attend the 新竹 (Xinzhu) district meeting and had a great time in it. It was really interesting too to also see the different ways that district leaders run the district meeting. The rest of the day was filled with meeting with a bunch of investigators and saying good-byes to a lot of the members there.

Trying to get to District meeting, all of the trains were stopped because of the Typhoon Monday night.  So, that was why we went to the 新竹 (Xinzhu) district meeting.

新竹 (Xinzhu) District meeting

 Wednesday was super cool. I got to spend it finishing in my old area. I spent the afternoon and evening finding and going to English class in 新埔 (Xinpu), which was really fun. Since Elder Heaps was part of doing the new trainer trainee meeting, I got re-assigned with Elder Dorius and Elder Peterson for the day til transfer meeting, which was pretty fun. They both have really different styles of finding, so it was super interesting finding with them for the afternoon, but going to English class was super fun. My favorite part was going to English class especially getting to see a good number of the students and investigators that were there when I was there, and to see that they have progressed as well, which is super cool.

Now for the big part of the email, I have officially moved to my new area. I am in the 金華 (Jinhua) ward, which is the ward with the temple and everything in it, which is super fun. My new companion is Elder Ploeg, who is half Taiwanese and half Dutch. He is a really awesome guy and we are so excited to see the success that is happening here. Also a really interesting thing, this is the last area that my Trainer (Elder Meeks) served in.

Me and my new companion Elder Ploeg in a really short hallway going to visit an RC.

 A little bit about my last area, Elder Heaps and his new companion had a great baptismal service Friday night. Everything went great for 胡美玲姐妹 (Sister Hu), and she is officially one of the newest members in the church. One of the other cool things was that even though Elder Heaps and I did not split the area, the area was still split. Elder Dorius who I was temporary companions with and another Elder opened up the 香山B (Xiangshan B) area. It really is such a blessing for the 香山 (Xiangshan) ward to be able to have two companionships and be able to see the work moving forward there as well. Elder Heaps and I really saw so many blessings and even though it was only a transfer that we got to serve together, it was still such an amazing experience for the both of us and the area as well.

As for one of the coolest blessings of the week, was actually contacting a 中國大陸人 (Mainland Chinese). We met 胡弟兄 (Brother Hu) on the way home and didn't really have any time to actually share much about the gospel, so we set him up to come for a temple tour the next day, and he said sure since he didn't really know much about church. The next day (Saturday) we call him up to see if he could still come, and he said "可以 (can do), but can I bring a friend as well." That is probably the one sentence as a missionary that we all love and wish to hear from an investigator. And to say the least, they are both really golden. The sisters that did the temple tour did an amazing job and they both could feel the spirit. The coolest part was that 張姐妹 (Sister Zhang) was so moved that she actually had to leave for a minute. The sisters went out to help her better understand that the atonement is for everyone, and when she came back in, her first words to Elder Ploeg and I were, in English, "I am ready to join your church." I am so grateful for the work that the sister put into the temple tours and for their amazing testimonies. Elder Ploeg and I both know that it is because of the sisters and the temple tour that we were able to find such an amazing investigator. And they both came to church on Sunday, which was super cool as well, so that is the first of many miracles that Elder Ploeg and I got to see together in this area.

I really am so grateful that I am able to be able to serve here and be able to serve those around us too. Taiwan is such a amazing place and the people here are so ready to hear the gospel. And on Sunday, I was asked to do a baptismal interview for a girl that met the missionaries just three weeks ago. It was truly amazing to be able to hear the changes that she has made in her life to come closer to God and just hear her story of looking for a church since she was a child, but finally three weeks ago, two missionaries contacted her at a stop light and the rest was her conversion story.

It really has been such a blast serving the Lord and so grateful for all the prayers and emails! Hope you all have a great week!

我愛你們,

Love you,

柯長老

Elder Okeson

Elder Nixon, my new District Leader/MTC companion.  Looking forward to getting to go on exchanges with him at some point again :)