week #37 Mon., Nov. 18, 2013

大家好!

Hope you're all doing well. This week was full of miracles. As stated in the recording, too many miracles, we'll see how many I can get in.

 

Monday: We met with Brother Cai one of the recent converts, it was so great to see him and his wife are still doing well. He showed us how on his face book he's been bearing his testimony by taking a picture of the Gospel Principles textbook's picture, and bearing his testimony of the principle the chapter is about. How great is he? He's amazing, definitely one of those members that will for sure receive Exaltation.

Tuesday: went on exchanges with the zone leaders. It was such a great experience. Elder Vandiford is so driven and such a great missionary. We really had such a great time. We learned a ton about teaching to people's needs, how to follow the spirit. Definitely made a great start for the week.

Wednesday:Got back to my area, we had English class, and A TON OF NEW STUDENTS CAME! and what's more is they are all super eager to meet with missionaries. It's going to be a great month I can tell. 

Thursday: So we met with Stan and we invited him to bring his brother, and he was kinda unsure about it, but he totally came with his brother. We had a great lesson, and his brother has decided to start meeting with missionaries. He's moving to Taipei, so we don't get to see the teaching work done, but I'm sure that we'll still here of his baptism sometime soon. 

Friday: So Friday the other Elders had a baptism and we were struggling to get an investigator to come, but we got Bileg to come an hour before so we could meet with him. We taught him more about priesthood, (used lds.org in Mongolian, thank you Mongolian preach my gospel) then we went to the baptism. And an English student showed up. Elder Pao sat next to him while I translated for Bileg( I'm getting pretty good at it). Great service and afterwards Brother Lin (English student) set a time to meet with us on Saturday. 

Saturday: Well we met with a ton of people, and one of them being that Brother Lin. We had two peike's (members present). And what a miraculous lesson. So amazing, definitely one that I'll probably remember forever. It was a lot like Richard's first lesson. He started off saying he didn't believe in God, and in the end he decided he wanted to become a better person. He said he was willing to do what it took. He came to church (all 6 hours) has a date set for December 14, he's praying, such a miracle. 

Also this week, I've been reading Preach my Gospel a ton. I've learned so much, I really have felt myself grow from who I was a week ago. I also have applied it's teachings into a lot of my missionary work, and it has brought a ton of miracles and added to my fire. One of the things it invites us to do is to continually pray about what the Book of Mormon says, what you read, ask God if it's true, ask him to help you better understand it. And I've done it. HOLY COW!!!!!!! the power it has brought into my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I know that it is the true record of an ancient people. I know that they are real events, real people, that Joesph Smith did translate it through the power of God. And this is God's true church. I encourage everyone to do this as well. pray about what you read, pray about what you will read, pray about what you know and God WILL add to the testimony which you already have. 

I love and miss you all, I'm doing great, Chinese is improving daily. Until next week.

Elder Bean

畢長老

week #36 Monday, Nov. 11, 2013

Hey Everyone,

It seems like it hasn't been that long since I last emailed. It's almost like it wasn't a full week, it was only 5 days....oh wait, that's exactly what's happened. So since then, lets see what's happened. Well, we've been working w/ a kid for a long time. He worked w/ Elder Raley and Elder Gummow back when I first got on the island. So it's been a long time. He has gotten close to baptism quite a few times. But in the end nothing. Occasionally the thought would come up..."Why are we teaching this kid, he isn't progressing, he is a kid, not that mature, etc." but we have kept him in the investigator pool. We continue to meet w/ him. Well this week, I realized why. So we went to the house the other night and shared a lesson, and afterwards his mom listened in, (not a member) and afterwards she was thanking us so much. Saying how much she loves what we teach him. How sometimes it seems like we are little miracle workers, bringing joy into their family. At that point I realized we should try teaching his mom in addition to this kid. Well, this last week, we had another lesson w/ the family. The grandma participated (she's a less active) and it was crazy spirit filled. I actually have a feeling this is going to be a family effort. We are going to help the entire family come to church, and become active members. and in the end be sealed as an eternal family. I'm not gonna lie, I think that was one of the greatest feelings I've received, the joy of eternal families. I really do know that is the reason we are called to this work. Help families obtain that eternal blessing they would not normally be able to obtain. 

This week has been pretty great. Elder Pao really knows how to work w/ the ward. We've been giving notes to almost every member. They are starting to be really great. I'm seeing a huge change in the their attitude towards us as missionaries. It's amazing what a few cards, star attacks (we were going to heart attack a recent convert, but we couldn't find heart shaped sticky notes), visits w/ members, and constantly getting to know the members around us can really change the entire nature of the ward. I feel we are about to see miracles happen here in the land of  Zhongming. 

Oh and another thing is language has been doing great lately. I feel like my entire day has become language study. We switch off very often, speaking English or Chinese, telling stories, sharing spiritual experiences, helping one another in lessons (lessons w/ Bileg are all in English), we read each other's languages and ask for feed back. Honestly it's been amazing, such a blessing to have Elder Pao  here to help me. 

 

Well that's been everything for the past 5 days. today we are looking forward to a Costco trip w/ a member. Just know that I know these things are true. I know that the Lord is sending angels to prepare, people to receive the gospel, preparing members to share their testimony and preparing us missionaries for the people we need to contact during this short time. I know that I'm seeing miracles on a daily basis. I look forward to the experiences I have coming this week.

Love you all,

Elder Brandon Bean

week #35 Wednesday, November 6th, 2013

Hey Everyone,

Sorry This is late. Today we went to the temple so our p-day got changed for this week only. Ya, so basically a crazy week. Let's see where to start. Well, last week, we had interviews. That was pretty great, I really do enjoy having President Blickenstaff. He's such a great leader. He really does a great job. Hey mom, dad, did you get the pic, I still needed a pic from him so I asked him if we could take one, he said he'd e-mail you. Then for English they put me at the.....Doorman! Wooh! So much fun. I was really shocked they put me there because they normally put the person with the best Chinese there, but even with 3 Taiwanese in our district. They decided to put me there. I'm not complaining it's super fun. 

Then this week we've been helping Elder Bao get used to the area, he is a fast learner. He pretty much knows the area as well as I do, so we don't really have to think of how to get places at all, we just go. He's really great, probably the greatest person I could have asked for. His English is really good, so whenever I don't understand what's going on, he'll help me immediately. He's just as interested at learning English as I am Chinese so we help each other a ton. He likes monopoly, deal, he's a little bit older. He's finished his military service and graduated college. ummmm ya that's him. 

 

Well, I just want to share a bit about today's experience at the temple. It was so amazing. I forgot how wonderful going to the temple really is. The spirit was so strong! I prayed for all of you. I honestly felt like Elijah's servant from the bible when he is told that angels are all around them, and then Elijah "opens his eyes" I really did feel the truth of "I am on your left side and on your right" The scriptures don't lie. I truly wish I could go to the temple more often....but alas I cannot, so those of you who are closer to a temple than I, GO! You'll love it. 

Ummm, that's really all I got for the week, hope everything is going well. Sounds like everyone enjoyed Halloween. Can't wait to here from you in 5 days.

Elder Brandon Bean

week #34 Monday, Oct. 28, 2013

Hey everyone,

Sorry so late, it's been crazy today, I got a new companion. I stayed here in the city, but Elder G left for Zhanghua. We were super sad he was leaving, he was really sad. He got a really cool gift from our investigator, it was a drawing of Elder G. It looks super cool. Maybe he'll send out a picture. 

Well this past week was pretty fun. We started off w/ playing basketball w/ all the Elders in DongQu. Super fun, then we went and hung out w/ the Zone Leaders. Then this week we've noticed we are really struggling w/ a few of our investigators so we are going to be spending a lot of time finding. 

Went on exchanges w/ Elder Jensen this week, which was super fun. It was weird going on exchanges w/ my trainer, I didn't realize how much I've grown/changed since I was trained. But it was awesome, I was understanding everything he said, I was able to teach well. It was super fun (except for the fact we got stood up a lot). 

 

Oh ya, my companion's name is Elder Bao, he is a native. I don't know him too well yet, just barely picked him up and we came and did e-mails, more to come next week. Well I guess this is everything. I love you all, thanks for the updates. I'm super grateful for the chance I have to serve in this area another move call. See ya next week.

Elder Bean

week #33 Monday, Oct. 21, 2013

Hey Everyone,

It's been a great week filled with awesome experiences. So first off, I had an exchange w/ Elder Chia. He was a zone leader beforehand, so there is a lot to learn from him. We had a blast. Then this week Elder G and I used teamwork to teach the little kids and it worked out fine, not nearly as much chaos. We had fun doing that, and this week we have a Halloween party, so that will be fun. 

On Friday, we had a special training meeting on stress. I think it was mandated by the area, they gave us a new book called "adjusting to missionary stress".  It was definitely a different training, but overall it was fun, especially because I got to see the rest of my MTC District. It was a nice, small reunion. Oh and they gave us a present there, they gave us reflector vests to wear as we are riding in the nights. I will have pictures to send you all next week for sure. I didn't think of taking a picture of us wearing it. 

Oh, so on Wednesday, we got a call from the Stake Presidency. Elder G was asked to give a talk in the Adult session of Stake Conference, along with the Patriarch, President and Sister Blickenstaff, The Stake President and some other members of the stake. He was super focused on it this past week, studying writing, and then on Friday, we got a call from the High Council Member in our ward who is over the English Branch. He asked if I could translate the talk at the Conference. So, we both participated in Stake Conference this last week. And also something that should be said to Sister G, His talk was really, good. he related Lehi and the Tree of Life to a sure fire way to help the work progress. He taught the members, that if we repent, gain a testimony of Christ, look for opportunities to share, and we invite, we will be able to see lots of success. His testimony was very moving at the end. (I'm sure he won't include all these details in his description of this experience).

 

Then we had stake conference the next day, and we were fortunate to watch a clip from Elder Holland, Elder Hales, Sister Stephenson of the Primary Presidency, and Elder Evans the head of the Mission Board. And it was an amazing presentation, I'm sure the stake got a lot out of it and I can't wait to see the results of it. 

So one thing we've been doing this week is teaching the first lesson to investigator's who weren't really progressing. It was an invite from the zone leaders, to help remind our investigator's that this church has more to it than just a list of commandments, and that there is a reason that they continued meeting with us. I feel like we've seen a lot of success from that. It's interesting how much power the first vision has and how it can inspire anyone, less active, active member, investigator, missionary, etc. I feel like it really does have the power to inspire to teach and to help us remember why we love this church. It's been great. 

Well that's everything for this week. Sorry I didn't have a recording, I was pretty busy this week. I hope you're all doing well. Miss you all. I know that Joseph Smith in reality did have the first vision, he saw God the Father, Jesus Christ, in the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, New York. I know that this was the beginning to the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and has lead to the amazing growth of Jesus Christ's only True church on the earth. 

Love you all,

Elder Brandon Bean

week #32 Monday, Oct. 14, 2013

Hey everyone,

So this week has been pretty great. We have had a lot of great experiences. On Monday we didn't do anything too special, just went to the church and played around w/ our instruments of choice. Elder G decided to change his guitar string which turned out to be more disastrous then he thought. Basically he didn't use his guitar until Saturday because he was trying to fix the string all week. 

 

Wednesday was super busy. And when I say that, I mean, we had no lessons, so we were on the streets all day just straight up contacting. It was crazy all the people that we went and talked to. I think it will bring a lot of new investigator's for the future. Then Thursday we had an exercising activity. It was super fun. The stake president invited all of us missionaries to attend, so we were there, competed, had a blast. Sister Blickenstaff took a ton of pictures, I'm the one wearing an orange Ragnar shirt. Don't worry I drank lots of water, didn't get dehydrated at all. 

Conference was amazing. I was super ready for it. I loved all the talks but some of my favorites included Elder Dube on looking forward. Sister Oscarson's about trying doctrine before you know it's from God. Elder Ballard's on Missionary Work. Elder Oaks on putting God first. Elder Nelson on our divine nature. Elder Christofferson about the moral strength of  women. President Monson's Sunday Morning Address, President Eyring's talks (both were amazing) President Uchtdorf on lifelong service in the church, it was honestly amazing. I loved it. 

Ya I think that's everything for the week. I love you all, I love the work, love the prophet. I know that President Thomas S. Monson is called of God, he is a prophet of God. I know that his Apostles are also called of God and act in His name. Talk to you next week.

Elder Brandon Bean 

week #31 Monday, Oct. 7, 2013

Hey Everyone,

Yet another great week in Zhongming. This week we had a lot of crazy adventures. First, on Monday we went to a 吃到包aka, an all you can eat restaurant. This one was pretty special, called 石頭 which means rock head, it was a meat buffet, so all meat pretty much, so good, we definitely ate to the point of filling (what chidaobao translates to) it was so good. Then on Tuesday we had ZTM, we got some new standards of excellence, and was invited by the mission President to teach the lesson of the restoration (with every principle) at every first meeting with a new person, and to invite them to be baptized, I was super shocked, but Elder G and I were super willing to obey and we've seen a lot of blessings out of it. I am shocked how much it has changed our work. We really have seen it help so many of our investigators. 

Overall, November looks to be a month of baptisms (this month is pretty crowded w/ General Conference, Stake Conference) but it'll be great. Apparently, lately there have been a lot of meetings going on, being set up between our mission leaders and stake/ward leaders. It is starting to really reap rewards, our Ward Mission Leaders are seeing what needs to be done and what should be done in the ward, it is crazy the difference it is making. President Blickenstaff definitely has a vision of where he wants our mission to be and he is fulfilling a way for us to hit that goal. 

Let's see, we got to participate in a ward activity where we helped clean up a park. Super fun, Elder G and I have been asked to do prelude music some time in our ward, they love that they have a guitar and piano player in the ward. So that'll be super fun. Elder Erekson got called to be the new office Manager, so basically all of the Gangshan district has been up here to the north, It's super fun. We got  a calendar a couple days ago, and we are going to be having a lot of meetings coming up so I'm super excited.

Well, that's all I got for now, I've been praying a bunch for all of you, I know the church is true, I'm super excited for conference, I hope you all got a lot out of it. Talk to you all next week.

Love,

Elder Brandon Bean