week #103 Monday, Feb. 23, 2015

Dear Friends and Family,

     So it was a great week. It was Guonian (Chinese New Year). So in other words all of our investigators decided to go out of town. Which meant.....We got to do a lot of finding. It was a great experience. We put ourselves out there we contacted and.....Everyone we talked to lives outside of our area. So we sent a ton of referrals out but hadn't found anyone in our area who was willing to meet. Then Saturday came around and we went tracting and after saying a prayer.... Our 2nd door we tracted had a lady sitting inside and she saw us and said. "Come on in!" She invited her husband to come in and we shared about our church. They seemed more than willing to act on our message and learn more. They were so great. Then Sunday night came and we went and visited a man who self contacted us. He lives in poor conditions, and seems to have a rough life. But as we shared the principles of the gospel, he seemed excited, he seemed ready. And then we invited him to be baptized and.....HE ACCEPTED!!! He set a goal for the 28th of March. Which is super cool. He also said he'd be willing to come to Stake Conference this week. It was a great experience. 

     So I'm sure plenty of you are aware my time is coming to a close. I think my body is trying to fight it off, or Satan doesn't want me to end my mission.  So far in the last week, I've crashed my bike, I hit my head on my windowsill on accident when I was sleeping. I've woken up to a huge earthdquake, And I've lost a ton of sleep. So if I can ask for any prayer it's that I won't die before I have to go home. Saftey prayers are always welcomed. 

    But on a more spiritual note. Today I was studying in 1 Nephi in the 17th chapter. I read the verse that talked about Nephi going up to the mountain, him hearing the Lord ask him to build a ship and he gladly accepts. First thing I thought about when I read that passage was...."why did the Lord ask Nephi, why not Lehi?" I pondered for about 3 minutes reading and re-reading. Then I started to realize, wait how old is Nephi. I saw he was prolly somewhere between the age of 20 and 25. This is right around my age. I thought about how I get to be a part of such a great work, despite he has plenty of great teachers in the church. He has power house testimonies, and yet he sends me out to do this, he has sent me to help build his ship. He allows us at this point in our lives to take on a part of his work. He needs us to learn, to grow, and get closer to him. 

     I'm loving the work, I love being a missionary, I love you all.

Elder Bean

week #102 Monday, Feb. 16, 2015

Well Another week older another week wiser.

 

Dear Family and Friends,

 

    I can't believe how time flew. It didn't help how I went on 2 exchanges this week. One w/ Elder Zeng (in our district) and one w/ Elder Jensen (our zone leader).  So needless to say, time went by faster than usual. This week we found a ton of great people. Despite it being the week before Guonian (Chinese new year), they were willing to meet. And it strengthened our faith in the Lord. On the way back from a dinner appointment we ran into person on his motorcycle, introduced ourselves and invited him over to the side of the road. He willingly accepted and we started to share our message and he got super excited. He said it was fate that we ran into him, we set up a time and met w/ him, and we discovered he is the most prepared person, his life is set up to here the message of the restoration of the gospel. I love the work.

     So new missionaries are breaking through the iron curtain of Taiwan. We have 12 that will be coming on the island on the 25th of February. We are starting to see success. Hopefully, we will continue to see missionaries come on the island. 

We are enjoying the work, Elder Tatton today is officially my longest companion and it seems we'll be companions until at least March 2nd if not until the end of my mission. Either one. We are happy together. I'm sorry I'm hitting a wall as I write this letter, but I do want to testify, I know this is the Lord's work. I know that as we read the BoM we will see success in our lives. The Lord is preparing us for a great work. I love you all!

Elder Bean

week #101 Monday, February 9, 2015

Hey everyone,

      So this week was yet another great week. Us missionaries put on a great ward activity about how to help the work progress. We did a skit, Elder Tatton and I proved our acting skills (and our chinese) by showing how hard missionary work is out in the real world, we get rejected a lot. But then how great missionary work is w/ the members. It went really well. Then we split up into 3 groups and rotated and trained the members how they can be better member missonaries (i.e. helping w/ lessons, giving referrals, and how to take care of investigators at church).

Outside of that Guonian is coming up (chinese new year) so a lot of people are busy, out of town, and not able to meet....so sad. But it's okay we are stilling seeing work done.

     Well things are going well. I can't believe how fast time is flying by. I love the work still, love my companion (still Elder Tatton) and I love being a missionary. 

Love you all

 

Elder Bean

week #100 Mon., Feb 2, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

     This week was a little bit harder. One of our solid investigator's has fallen off the radar and it seemed to take a toll on our work. It's always hard when that happens, but it's all good. We are still working on finding, teaching, and baptizing. This week we have some cool successes as we work w/ some LA's. It is cool to see people start to feel their testimonies build again. I love it when I see things like that. 

    Also a new thing has started for me. Because my last movecall started today, I can now call my RC's anytime I want to. So last night I started calling a few of them and it was so good to hear from them. I could feel their testimonies. I especially had an opportunity to talk to one who has been struggling to go to church recently b/c she has school on Sunday's. It was good to hear her desire to go. We talked a bit about praying and reading. I will stand by what I have told a million people while being on a mission.  If you read and pray everyday, you will be able to retain your testimony, as soon as you stop doing the simple things, that's when you get weak, and struggle to stay firm and steadfast. I am also excited to help strenghten each one of my RC's that I can. I love being a missionary.

    So the week of virtue was great, this week is a week of knowledge. So as I study every day during personal study, I'll start by writing down 3 questions. Then as I read the scriptures I will try and find an answer to those 3 questions. Today as I studied I realized the gospel really is the answer to most questions. If we want to know what to do to strengthen our friends, the answer is the focus on the gospel. If we want to know what can help secure us after the mission the answer is the gospel. The gospel changes us, allows us to become better, makes it so when we fall down there is a sure way to get back up. The answer is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

     I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, he has set the path. He has invited us to come unto him, that's the key, INVITED!!! He's not forcing anyone he wants everyone to choose for themselves the things that will make their life better. So let's spread it. It needs to reach everywhere. As cool as it is that we have 80,000+ missionaries preaching it, we still need help. The work needs 15,000,000+ missionaries constantly sharing, inviting and helping others come unto Christ. Let's not ever give up this great cause. 

I love you all

 

Elder Bean