week #41 Monday, Dec. 16, 2013

Hey family,

Yet another week has passed. This week we've seen a surplus of miracles, seen a lot change and learned a lot of lessons that will help me in the future I'm sure. So this week we didn't have a lot of lessons, there's been a lot of finding opportunities though. We've tried a lot of different things from visiting Less active's and asking for referrals, going up and down the streets, trying to find former, teaching English class. And I've learned that sometimes working hard will still seem to have no results, but that doesn't mean we've failed. I'll get to that in a second. 

So I'm English Leader, and I'm the first English Speaking Foreigner that has been stationed in Guiren for over a year. So Our English class tripled in numbers this week. (pretty good growth rate). And they are all super fun, we had a blast of an English class. I love teaching English here. 

Then Saturday, we had a crazy day. Elder Shang had to go do 2 interviews throughout the day in the east district of Tainan. So our day's plans where all over the place. What we ended up doing was going on exchanges with the zone Leaders from 12-3:00ish and we taught lessons while Elder Shang did the first interview. We saw some great miracles, met a guy outside the dentist and did a short lesson with him and he's super willing to meet with us again. Then in the evening, we had to go back to Dongqu (east district) for another interview. I called our investigators and former investigators during that time. And I ran into somebody who knows the Bean Family. He was talking to the Zone Leaders about how when he went on a mission he was there during the 18 months time, and I was like.....Wait If he came to Taiwan during that time, he might know Uncle Jack. So I asked The Zone Leader to ask him if he knew a Jack Bean (because I was on the phone) so he went and asked (they're in the room next door). And he was like "Of course I do!" Then he came over, turns out they didn't know each other from missions, but he was at your guys high school. He's a year in between Jack and Donald, but he knew all the Beans, we talked a bit, it was super crazy, small world. Then I talked to Elder Edwards (BYU Football team kicker, super cool guy) He's the zone leader over here and he gave me some great advice. He told me about when he got in the area, nothing was happening, most people considered the area a black hole, nothing could really happen. But he came (not attributing faith to himself) but had lots of faith, worked hard, and now that area is a gold mine, has people lining up to be baptized every week for the next month or two. I was so motivated after that. He told me "Every area is golden, it just needs missionaries who have faith in Jesus Christ." Since that chat, I've been so motivated to go and find, work as hard as I can, and help people who are looking find the gospel. 

Then Sunday gave us a bucket full of miracles, we had 6 investigators at church, 2 were eternal investigators, 2 were ones we invited, and 2 were referrals, out of no where, and they were all golden. I was in shock, I was amazed, I couldn't understand why it happened but for some reason God blessed us with such amazing miracles. And because of it, I was able to see, it doesn't matter what we think our success is. If we work hard, have faith that God will allow us to see miracles, He will be there. I know it's true, He is with us every step of the way. 

This week I've definitely learned the Christ like attributes, I've spent quite a few hours on my knees, begging with my Savior.  It's amazing what can change in a week, where you think life is going great, you're an awesome  missionary, you've mastered an area, to the contrast, you have no idea how to do anything on your own, you need the Savior, you need prayer, you need to depend on him, and trust him, and believe that he is there, he hasn't set you to fail. I know my Savior lives, I know he loves me, he is protecting me, whatever I say that may cause worry, don't let it cause worry, I'm the Lord's servant, he's sent me here to succeed, to learn, and to become a better person. I know this is true, I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Love you all, until next week

Elder Brandon Bean

week #40 Monday, Dec. 9th, 2013

Well once again I have moved. I have been kicked out of Zhongming, they think I brought too many miracles to that land, so they sent me away. ;p. But for reals I'm out, we got the call Saturday night and I wasn't sure what to expect. But Elder Jensen says "Elder Bean your moving" and I immediately yelled "NOOOOOOOO!" So here's the low down for the week.

So we've worked this week, we've tried to work on getting new investigator's and this week we definitely did it. First on Tuesday, we were trying to visit one of our investigators with the young single adult branch president, only to find that he wasn't there. So President Zhang suggested the idea that we go and visit one of the young single adults who lived nearby and has a father who is not a member, but recently was in a crash. We went and visited them and it was such an amazing lesson. When we gave him the invitation to be baptized, he said "obviously I want to be baptized." It was so good. Then Ken one day was eating lunch with us, and he brought his friend and his friend was super willing to meet with us, so we met with him, had a great lesson, super willing to meet with us and to continue learning. So that prayer was definitely answered. 

This week we had a really amazing zone training meeting. We discussed the vision for Taichung, right now Taichung has 2 stakes, they want to build a 3rd, and the Zone Leaders showed us how close we are, it is totally feasible, and we can totally do it. I made several goals for us to do our part and help  the ward be ready for a third stake in Taichung, so exciting. 

Ya so then Sunday I had to give my first real talk in Chinese (7 minutes).  I may have been a slacker and haven't really prepared that much. The day of I decided my topic and then I kinda of if'ed my way around an idea of what I might say. But for the most part, no script, just went and tried to follow the spirit and in the end it wasn't too hard. I really felt the spirit lead me to say certain things. and the ward complemented us a ton on our talks, so I guess it was over all good. 

Ya, so I'm in Guiren, a county in Tainan. Super close to Gangshan actually. I haven't been here long (literally got of the train, dropped off my stuff, and came here. So I don't know much about the area, other than what Elder Pao told me (this was his last area).  He loves it, says the ward is amazing, wants to help. The bishop loves missionaries, so basically the golden land. Then my companion is  Elder Shang. He's super cool. He's been here for a move call, he's a native missionary (man my Chinese is gonna be off the charts).    ....yep that's it for now I guess. I will talk to you all next week!

Love,

 

Elder Brandon Bean

week #39 Monday, Dec. 2, 2013

Hey Everyone,

So this week was pretty great (as usual). Elder Pao and I are trying to get a bunch of things done before the move call ends next week. So main things that happened was this week we've been trying to find some more investigators. Trying to find a service opportunity. And we've been fighting the cold. 

So this week we had a mission tour. Elder Funk (the Seventy who spoke during priesthood session about Spiritual power) came and visited our mission and it was crazy spiritually powerful. I explained it more in Dad's recording but long story short is, He helped us understand teaching with spiritual power. He challenged us to pray for a testimony of the Missionary Lessons, and to be worthy of the spirit. We learned a ton of stuff and I just felt ready to go preach the gospel. It was super cool and crazy. 

This week was also freezing. Like I'm sure most of you will be rolling your eyes, but I was wearing long sleeves, my suit coat, Elder Pao was wearing a scarf, but in the end it was probably 50's or lower 60's, I don't believe it got below 50 all week. But we did manage to have a small thanksgiving, just chicken and the sisters made pumpkin pie for us all. So it was a nice small thanksgiving. 

Saturday, there was a huge baptism and a huge wedding, not even from our zone, but it was at our chapel. So we had to help host it, it was interesting to see the huge difference. We also had our bishop's son's baptism that we helped set up. There was such a drastic difference where the spirit was so peaceful at the Bishop's sons, such a nice feeling, there wasn't a large display, fancy clothes, not a ton of food, there wasn't even that many people, but the spirit was very subtle, and I actually liked the spirit there a lot more. It's funny how that works. 

Well, the only other thing that happened this week is, we found a service opportunity, we're gonna try and work at a special needs day care. There's one right down the street from us. So that's our plan, we are super excited, we'll see what happens. 

Ummmmmm, that's most of the highlights of the week, I'm sure next week will be full of adventures. But I will say, I know the Book of Mormon is true, it is the word of God, I know that Jesus Christ came and visited the Americas and shared his Ministry with these people called the Nephites. I know he still lives. 奉耶穌基督阿們

 

Love you all. Until next week.

Love 

Elder Brandon Bean

week #38 Mon., Nov. 25, 2013

Hey everyone,

This week has been pretty great. Here's some of the amazing miracles I have seen and learned. So first off we've been trying to get our district to have unity. That was a concern of our zone leaders, so Elder Pao and I have been working hard on obtaining that. With our ideas combined, we've seen a lot of success and our district is really looking better. We've also been working on finding, and trying to find ways to serve others more. 

So we got to go to Bileg's (a  recent convert) Painting studio and see his paintings. It was so cool! His paintings are so amazing, definitely a must see. Sometime I'll get a picture with it to you. 

 

So we had a special activity this week, a bunch of members, new converts, less actives, and us all went to Costco (right next to our chapel) and proselyted for like 2 hours. Elder Pao had the idea to pull a Camp of Israel and walk around it 7 times, giving pass along stuff to everyone with in our reach. (like the Israelites who walked around Jericho 7 times to conquer Jericho). It was super fun, we all had a blast. But a miracle happened. So as we traveled around the first time we saw a worker who was helping direct traffic in the parking lot, one of the members went to hand a pass along to him, but immediately he put up his hands shook them and did the "掰掰" motion (in other words he's Buddhist and he doesn't want to be talked to. Jokingly I said, "hey studies show that people take about 7 times to accept the gospel from missionaries, he might have rejected us this first round but by 7 times he'll be begging us to be baptized." In the end, we didn't get a full 7 rounds, we got about 4, but here's what happened. the second round he said "no thank you I'm 掰掰的" Then the 3rd he took a pass along, but immediately gave to his friend.  The 4th time, he said to us "Church is tomorrow afternoon eh?",  then we started to talk to him.  He told us he had work on Sundays so he couldn't come, but his daughter had gone to our church before for English, said he likes our church. He went from completely rejecting us to willing to chat with us in a matter of 30 minutes, I really do wonder if we were to continue for another 3 rounds, what would have happened. Maybe he would have ended up coming to church, who knows. It just adds to my testimony the line in Preach My Gospel that says "No effort is wasted, your diligence in sharing the gospel with everyone is God's way of preparing all of his children to receive the gospel someday."  I know that this is true, and that maybe we as missionaries (and members) will be rejected every now and then, but that doesn't mean we have failed. 

We also have a new Bishop and he is doing awesome, knows the members needs, been focusing on getting home teaching done, helping us missionaries...  He's awesome. Oh, the Gangshan members came to the chapel yesterday to said hi, It was so cool to see them.  It really did bring back a lot of great memories, and once again, helped me see how much I've grown.  It's crazy what can happen in a matter of 3 months. 

This week I've also been reading the Book of Mormon, and I really do know that it is the true word of God, it is a true record of ancient inhabitants of the America's, and most importantly its testimony of Jesus Christ is true. It's purpose is to help us know of God and the covenants that he has made in the past with his children, and He is letting us know in these days that he fulfills all his Promises. I love ya all! Sorry no voice recording this week. Until next week...

Love,

 

Elder Brandon Bean

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