week #53 Monday, March 9, 2014

Family,

 

So the new move call has already started and it's definitely gonna be an interesting one. So first thing that's new is I have to do my DTM's (district training meetings) completely in Chinese now because one of the Elders is a native, and it's a new rule so that'll be fun, get to practice my Chinese....But DTM's still seem to be good, I'm still feeling pumped to go chuanjiao(go do mission stuff...bad translation). We have been trying to work really hard and hit the standards in our mission. Sadly, Elder Lieske and I failed this week. It was the first week since Chinese New Years that we messed up. We didn't do so hot on finding this week. We called a ton of people, we contacted a ton, but in the end everyone was willing to set up this next week, instead of last....so we messed up is that the end? No. Are we gonna give up hopes this movecall? NO. Is Guiren still amazing and I love every second of it? YES!!!

We definitely hit a few road bumps this week. Our new recent convert came and told us he had a problem with the Bishop and wanted to leave. We were heart broken, but after a few days of cooling down, and someone in the bishopric talking to him, he's all good. He's gonna be fine. I feel like recent converts are even more stressful then investigator's because you really don't want your recent converts to decide to drop the church. 

This week we tried tracting, found a really cool miracle, we were tracting near an less active and a familly motions for us to come in before we even knock on the door. We went in and the family was really not interested at all, they just wanted to talk to some foreigners. However, they invited there son to come down, who was 26 and we met with him and he was so golden. He wanted to understand more about Jesus Christ and was asking all the right questions. So that was great. 

Saturday we were able to help the sisters do an interview, super great interview, their investigator is really ready to be baptized, it'll be great for our sisters. Then that's pretty much it for the week. Oh ya, today (this morning) we met with a new investigator that we found on the streets. She seemed not too interested at first, but ended up being super into the idea of prayer, was asking a ton of questions about it. I'm excited to see if she still has interest at the end of the week. If so, I'd say she'd get baptized in the next month....

Well I want to share my testimony, I know that God is with us. I know that every trial he puts us through makes us stronger. I know that sometimes we need a little wall to stop us so we stretch ourselves, reach higher than we've reached before. I know that this is his works, I'm his servant. I love everyday and I look forward to see the miracles that happen in the next year.

Love you all,

Elder Bean

week #52 Monday, March 2, 2014

Hey,

 So another week has happenend, what's even weirder the movecall ended. And here's the results,,,drumroll please......ELDER LIESKE AND I ARE TOGETHER FOR YET ANOTHER MOVECALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were super excited when we got the call, I'm still district leader, the zone leaders and sisters in our area aren't changing either. The other elders are switching out, but other than that, our distircs pretty much the same.

So this week, we started off with a ton set up, we were just meeting with a ton of people, it was crazy. We had no idea why, but on p-day we had about 4 lessons, and we were like...ok that's cool. Then Wednesday we had 5 or 6 and we were like, yes! It was all going pretty good. Wednesday we had an English party, we did a birthday party, played games like duck duck goose, musical chairs, had cake, it was really fun, I think our class enjoyed it. This Thursday we had our DTM (district training meeting) on finding, Elder Sumsion said it was really good, which is a good sign. I'm really excited when the zone leaders have a good opinion of the DTM's. 

 

Then for some reason, no one was setting up to meet. It was super weird....but then we found out this weekend is a three day holiday, so a lot of guiren people went out of town. So we were pushing really hard to get our new investigator's because that's all we needed to hit our standards this week. Sadly we had nothing set up, so we tried the alternate way. We went tracting, and despite the fact Elder Lieske and I aren't that good at tracting we got into the houses we needed to. Got the new investigator's for the week. It's so crazy how a prayer of faith can put our abilities over the top. 

We've also been trying new things to help the ward invite their friends to hear more about the church. We've been giving everyone our tracts and inviting them to give it to a friend. We'll see how that works. Yesterday both Elder Lieske and I bore our testimonies in sacrement meeting. I talked about one of my favorite scriptures Alma 26:27 (have that one memorized now). And how the Lord has his hand in the work here in Guirren, I told them that I knew he's prepared plenty of people here in Guiren, I told them I know that he lives and he's been helping the work so much in Guiren. I really do know that this is true. I know that Christ lives and he has called me to serve here. I know that this is not a work inspired of man, but of God. 

 

Until next week,

Elder Bean

p.s.1 year down, crazy how time flies!

week #50 &51 Mon. Feb. 17, 2014 & Feb. 23, 2014

Hey family and Friends,

     So yet another week has gone by and boy was it fun. So last week we finished tuning the guitar and played that and goofed off for p-day. Then on Tuesday we did exchanges w/ the Tainan 2nd Elders, we sent the juniors down there and Elder Bak and I came back to Guiren, we did good. Had fun, but most importantly I feel like we both grew a lot. It's definitely different leading exchanges now. I remember when it used to be my companion worrying about them and I'd just go w/ the flow, but now it's completely my responsibility to check these companionships are doing well, make sure they are ok and see if there is anything I can do to help them. We had a great lesson w/ a new investigator that started out kind of lacking a huge burst of spirit. We just taught a bit about God, and then as we were ending he asked "Where do people go after they die, my friend died and I've always felt a little sad about it" Elder Bak and I immediately shared some scriptures and we felt the gospel's truths apply to him. I'm so excited to help him. 

     Wednesday, we came back, had English Class (people came again yay!). We went on another exchange w/ the zone leaders this Friday. I went w/ Elder Sumsion, so that was way fun. We've been wanting to go on exchanges since we were in Gangshan together. It was super awesome. We had some great lessons, but the coolest part was our investigator passed his baptismal interview. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!!!!! So this week we'll be baptizing. I'm so excited as is the ward. We are definitely gonna be working hard to make sure it happens. Our area is honestly blossoming. I love Guiren, it's filled w/ miracles. We have people set to be baptized every month through April, and I think It might even increase more so as we keep working. Elder Lieske and I are trying our hardest to make this area set, we don't know what will happen in two weeks when the move calls over, but b/c we work so well together we are a bit worried it might end. But we also have received inside word that President like us together, so it could go either way. 

     Well I guess that's all, I'm approaching the year mark in the next too weeks, I feel old. However, I have learned so much in this past year. From how to speak Chinese, read, write, I've learned how to work w/ companions (that was probably the hard one). I have learned more about the truthfulness of the gospel. I've learned the value of being patient, giving people time. I have learned that honestly the mission isn't just to help the church grow (it still does) but it is to help all of us shape into what we can become, The Lord's servants are to help bring in the kingdom of God.

Love ya all, until next week,

Elder Bean

Feb. 23rd

Well Here's the next week,

So this week was what our mission calls Power week. Basically b/c of Guonian(Chinese New Years) there was a small decrease in the numbers of the mission. In response to that our mission has a week where everyone cuts there studies in half (except language that gets completely killed off). We don't schdule any meals, we eat on the go. Some missionaries are upset about it and decided to complain but then there's other missionaries (us) who get excited for it, we put our heart into it and end up at the end of the week almost dead w/ no energy. IT WAS AWESOME! 

So first monday we had power cleaning day, that was just boring and not that fun, but we did it, then went out and met w/ a former family, they were nice, we aren't sure how interested in the gospel they are but they were really nice. We'll see how they progress over time.

Then Tuesday the real week began. Every day we were given a goal to complete and if we did it we could call president Blickenstaff and say "Mission accomplished" Well the first goal was hand out 13 book of mormon's on the street and get there information and try and set up a time w/ them. This was hard b/c Taiwanese won't take stuff from you. No matter how much you insist. But finally in the last moments we placed our 13th book of mormon. One cool thing is that we got a really golden investigator from that. He met w/ us the next day, and he said he'd been looking for the gospel but didn't know where to turn. Then we showed up, he set a date to be baptized and everything on the first date. Wednesday was pretty good, we were supposed to "add" 20 people in the day. We didn't hit it b/c it was really cold so no Taiwanese were outside we still manged to get 8 (which is still really high for us. Then thursday we met w/ a lot of people, but didn't hit our goal of giving 5 people on the street a week E goal on the spot. We gave out 1 but the it was a lot harder than I thought. Friday we went to our farthest secondary in Longqi, it's basically mountains as far as the eye can see, and very little people live there. It was so fun, we found a really nice family, but they didn't want to meet anytime soon, maybe someday down the road. We got our mission acomplished that day by confirming 15 people for church. Then Saturday we had a baptism w/ Shi dixiong. How great is that. It was pretty good, except for the fact it takes 3 hours to fill the font. Guess when we found that out.....about 30 minutes before the baptism........ya it was pretty crazy. We used every bucket and sink in the church and tried adding as much water as we could. still barely got enough water. I felt so bad it was pretty chaotic, but the member who baptized him did a great job the next day reminding us all of saints back in the beginning of the church who would get baptized in places w/ ice in the water and it could have been a lot worse. Yesterday we had a huge conference a mission conference. The General Bishop of the Church met w/ our entire mission, and it was so good. It was fun to see all my past companions, talk w/ a bunch of missionaries, and past friends. We got home pretty late b/c we had to ride a train from taichung to tainan, then an hour bike ride from the station to our apartment. ya

Well This was awesome but I am tired so today I'm just gonna rest. I got 4 of the 7 goals this week, It was definitely fun getting to call President and tell him mission accomplished then here him sing the mission impossible song for us. Not only that but I've seen us push ourselves beyond where we have been before I feel this week has helped me improve my contacting a lot and I love you all next weeks my year mark so that'll be weird until next time.

Love ya 

Elder Brandon Bean

week #49 Monday, Feb. 10, 2013

Hey Fam and friends,

This week has been an adventure. So Guonian (Chinese New Years) has ended and the work boomed. We increased the possible investigator's by a ton because we had a lot of people who said to wait until after guonian to call them. So that's been fun. Other than calling our APR for an hour a day we've also been meeting with a ton of people. So it's been fun. 

Tuesday we had a great Zone Training Meeting about faith, and progression. They had a bunch of cool things to introduce. We were invited to talk about baptism more on the street, because the Asia 70 presidency has noticed the increase number of investigator's when that is brought up in an area, so we are excited to try that out. Our English class was even more empty then last week, had no one come, so we went to visit a less active. Thursday we had interviews. That was fun meeting with President Blickenstaff, we discussed a lot about baptism and my investigator's. It was super weird to realize how much has changed since I got on the island. I was talking to Elder Sumsion (who was in Gangshan the same time, but now my zone leader) and it honestly feels super weird how old we are, we've been missionaries for about a year (him longer). Oh ya, so in our english class we had a student who came every week and suddenly stopped coming and I had a thought to go visit her, (we have records on every student) and I kinda ignored it. Then on Thursday night I was saying a prayer and I felt a huge prompting to make plans to go visit her (in my bedside prayer).  I almost just wrote it down, but then I felt a very strong urge to go grab her record. Elder Lieske asked me what I was doing, I told him "God pretty much yelled at me telling me we are going to an English Student's house tomorrow, so I'm grabbing her record so I don't forget."  We went and visited her and she is willing to meet and hear about the gospel. It was so cool. 

 

Well Everything is well. Elder Lieske and I fixed the guitar. We played it today, it sounds great (well for us playing it, we really aren't that good). We have a week set up to meet with a lot of new investigator's we are super excited. We're seeing God's hand in the work, I'm loving it and I'm excited for the next miracle God gives us. Until next week.

Elder Bean

week # 48 Monday, Feb. 3, 2014

Yo family and Friends,

This week was the first week of Guonian and despite mission wide low expectations, we seemed to rock it and didn't let it get in the way of doing the Lord's work. It was great. We went out and found a ton. There were a ton of people on the street and I felt like they were all super willing to talk to us and give us a chance. Then this Thursday the guonian hit us. It was a completely different world. First of all, we suddenly never had to buy food. Not only were members constantly feeding us and it was impossible to leave the house unless you ate like 4 times the average amount. But as we would leave a house, the members would offer at least 10 fruit, some form of snack food, and some of the leftovers of what we had that night. It was so crazy, We don't even feel hungry anymore. I feel like I've eaten enough that I won't have to even buy food for the next couple days. 

Other than being full, I've been using these days to my advantage. Lucky for us, this gave us an excuse to visit almost every ward leader and to lay down our plan for the next year, point out how we can hit their ward goal of 10 baptisms easily. I've assigned an investigator I know for certainty will receive baptism this year to each auxiliary organization and I will be asking them to take care of that investigator. Helped them understand how they can help those investigators and I have a feeling this will help the ward a ton to have the missionary excitement or "catch the wave" as Elder Nelson says. I also feel it will help them realize how capable they are to doing missionary work. Ya pretty much.

Then this week we've been working like crazy to hit standards. We didn't want to end this week in a lower position then where we were. But one huge problem about guonian is the fact that a lot of people leave town, or are out of town, not to convenient to go visit them. So instead of having the usual people that we meet with every week, we had to find new people. And almost everyone we find on the street is visiting, and they actually live outside our area. So basically the hard numbers are new investigator's and total lessons. We hit all of our goals except the new Investigator's, we missed it by one, but I was super happy because we saw lots of miracles in the process. One day we were trying to meet with an less active, but we couldn't find the house so we said a prayer asking Heavenly Father to bless us with a lesson so we could help someone come closer to God. W/in about 2 minutes we got a call from a private number and it was a Lin Dixiong who I did not know, he said we met him on the street and he wanted to meet with us right then at the chapel. So we go the chapel and as we were there, the ward mission leader just happened to be pulling up to the chapel, we asked him to help us and fellowship this mysterious Lindixiong, he was willing so we waited. Because he was a private number he was impossible to call back, and in the end he never showed, but Elder Lieske and I saw a guy on the street and we started talking to him, asked him if he had time to meet with us and see our chapel, he said sure. So we met with him and he was so golden. It was such a crazy miracle, honestly that never happens, but I know it was an answer to our prayer. 

Ya we've been working hard, seeing miracles on a regular basis, finding, and looking to baptize in the coming weeks, be ready. Guiren is on fire (in a good way) I'm loving the work, our companionship is doing great. I can't wait to see what happens. Until next week, love you all

Elder Brandon Bean

week #47 Mon. Jan 27, 2014

Dear Friends and Family,

This week was superb I loved it. I have one of the greatest companions ever. So here's what happened. First we got home, I found out my companion sings opera, he's from St. George his name is Elder Liesky (pronounced like Whisky but w/ an "L"). He went to SUU before the mission, he's on his 4th move call, I'm his 3rd companion, he was in Pingdong before here, so he's freezing here in Tainan. But he's doing great. So when we got home, we discussed our expectations for the move call, we discussed having a goal of a lot of lessons in a week, we decided to have a goal of 50 lessons in a week. The next day, we made a surplus of goals and expectations everyday in order to hit it. (he's so motivated I love it). 

Tuesday, I led a DTM (district training meeting) on the Book of Mormon, I felt it went really well. It's definitely weird leading these now, but I feel the spirit lead me into what to say, what to ask, and so forth. We've found a ton this week, we have almost doubled our investigator pool this week.  We have to call a ton of people now, and we're seeing miracles like crazy. Finding people right before we have to go home, so that we hit our goals, we will pray for a miracle and we find people who are willing to meet. There was one time were I prayed for a new investigator and the Zone Leaders called us within seconds of me ending the prayer, saying they were with an investigator who just admitted he lived in our area and was gonna come to church this Sunday. It is crazy what is happening, I don't have any explanation other than We are being obedient and diligent and God is blessing the work in drastic means. I love it. I tell Elder Liesky a ton, honestly, I feel work is the best when we are busy doing the work. He's been super supportive, I feel like this move call is gonna be filled with miracles.

Yesterday, I had my first Baptismal Interview. That was different. It was super interesting because he was super ready, knew all the answers, was willing to live the commandments, he just had a problem with Joseph Smith and randomly the thought came to ask him if he'd received an answer before hand. He said he had. I shared D&C 6:23 with him and asked him why he doesn't believe that first peace he received, than he agreed he did believe. Towards the end of the interview I wasn't sure if my decision was right, I started saying to the investigator "Well according to your answers and my understanding of the gospel, You are ready to be baptized" and then I felt a rush of spirit fill my voice and I knew what I was saying was true, it was so great. 

Yesterday while traveling to an less active's house Elder Liesky stopped and said "look a guitar". Sure enough in the trash there was a guitar, I was like "let's take it so we have a guitar, I'll try to attach a picture of what it looked like last night and what it was like after we fixed it up a bit, we have to go buy strings and a ...bridge...I think that's what it's called but ya. super cool.

Well in case you can't tell I'm loving life, I love Taiwan, I love Guiren. I'm seeing miracles, having adventures. I'm doing my best to lead our district to a better playing field. I'm 20 years old and so much wiser. I'm thankful for all the birthday wishes, I love you all. I know the atonement is a real thing, It may be intangible but I do know that my savior Jesus Christ has suffered for all of us. I know that we can all become better thought the power of the atonement. Until next week my friends and family.

Love you all,

Elder Brandon Bean

week #46 Monday, Jan. 20, 2014

Hey Family and Friends,

Today is amazing. This week was great, saw plenty of miracles, honestly like I think this was a week I'll always remember. So let's go through. So Monday my companion was still super upset with me wouldn't say a word, then that night the zone leaders called, and Elder Shang told them he didn't want to do District Training Meeting (he was district leader). So they asked to talk to me and guess what, they asked me to lead my first District Training Meeting. So that was definitely new. I actually think it went really well. I really felt a ton of help when preparing, I honestly felt I didn't put a lot of thought, but I got a lot of inspiration, it was really cool.

So then Tuesday we had DTM, spirit was super strong at the end Elder Edwards (the BYU kicker that's super cool) had an idea to share our favorite moment of move call. So we did and I got so fired up, I was so ready. And then I went on exchanges with an awesome missionary, Elder Bak! He was super awesome, his Chinese great, and he's super diligent, it was a great to exchange, learned loads.

Then on Wednesday we had a great English party, watched the Testaments, everyone loved it, and the spirit was super strong, came home. Elder Zhu helped Elder Shang get into a good mood while they were on exchanges. Then Thursday came around and it was like I was alone again. I was leading the area. I didn't not receive any guidance on where I could go, I was not told where people lived, he had crashed again and expected me to do it all. So I did, then Friday came. We started the day with  a lesson and in the middle of the lesson Elder Shang went into his crashed mode, he normally won't show his mood in a lesson, it's usually when it's just us, so I was scared, then after the lesson he ran away from me twice......I think the zone leaders and the Mission President definitely will recognize the sound of my voice, I had to call them a lot that day. Luckily everything turned out OK, I still managed to get an exceptional amount of lessons that day, got a new investigator. Then on Saturday, I was completely leading the area, taught by myself, chose how were gonna do things, went to where I wanted to go, and he went about 2ft/hour speed limit. I was dying inside, I had no idea what I could do to change this, I said a lot of prayers this week, he got super mad at me that night and yelled at the top of his lungs, I'm not gonna lie. It was a hard day. Maybe one of my hardest, he locked me out of our room, while he took pictures of investigator's records. He got a call telling him what was happening, he was going to Tainan west to be with another Taiwanese companion that was his good friend before hand. Then he hung up and told me I was gonna be with an Elder Lindsy, who is younger than me but he was already senior, so I was like "oh guess I'm still junior that's cool" then the next day I grabbed the phone, called the zone leaders because I wanted to know who was coming into the district, and then I asked wait who is District Leader and they were like, "you are" and I was like what!" turns out my companion is Elder Lieske who is not Elder Lindsy and that to a Taiwanese they sound identical. so ya.

Then Sunday I finally did it, I broke down the wall that Elder Shang had. We started talking, he was apologizing his behavior, and I told him straight up, already forgave him, I don't remember the bad things about companions, I try to remember the good things, ya overall he took it really well, and was super happy the rest of the move call.

I've got my companion, My zone leaders are with me and they're super cool, I'm loving life. We're gonna see miracles within the next few weeks, expect miracle stories, funny quotes, and amazing adventures. Because that's my expectations of everyday. I love this mission, I love every second, don't let me say otherwise, I know that God lives, I know that Jesus is the Christ, my savior, my Redeemer. I know that Joseph Smith did see God and Jesus Christ descend in a pillar of light. I know this is his work. I am so grateful to be a part of it. I love all of you, you're in my prayers, and this week I'm 20 (officially an adult according to Taiwan standards).

 

Until next week,

Elder Bean