The Faith to Build Faith! February 13, 2017

Hello!

Elder Moody and I just had a crazy busy week. We had MLC (missionary leadership conference), ZTM (zone training meeting), interviews with President Teh, and companionship exchanges all in the same week. As a mission we have shifted our focus to the instruction given to us in the last Worldwide Misisoanry Broadcast. Put simply, we are focusing on helping missionaries to better live and understand the gospel of Jesus Christ in order to help our investigators do the same. To do that we have started to talk about the first step in the gospel of Jesus Christ which is.... 

FAITH

1. In the Lord

2. In yourself

3. In your companion

4. In your area

Elder Moody and I prepared a nice ZTM mainly focused on this prinicple. We also focused on NOT SKIPPING STEPS. Sometimes as misisonaries, members of the church, or just people in general we tend to focus more on the application portion of things without gaining a solid understanding of the doctine and principles behind the application first. For example, if you ask, "How do we help investigators prepare to be baptized?" you could answer; Get them to pray! Invite them to come to church! Read the Book of Mormon with them! But that's just the application. What we want is for investigators to first have faith that God is their Father in Heaven and that Jesus Christ is their personal Savior. That leads them to repent and apply. As David A. Bednar says, "The answer is always the doctrine." If any of us have a problem in life the answer we shouldn't  skip to application. We should first try to gain a better understanding of the doctrine and principles.

In other news, we have an awesome investigator who is going to be getting baptized this Saturday. His name is Brother Liu. He is a dad who self-contacted the church because he wants to provide a good environment for his 4 year old daughter to grow up in. Over the last little while he has developed his own faith and committed to live the commandments of God! We're looking forward to another awesome week here in Daya. Today we're taking the train back to Zhang Hua! I love that place. We're going to go to Mr. Steak with my old companion, Elder Stroud and some of the other missionaries in Zhang Hua. It should be good. 

Last but not least, I would like to congratulate Tom Brady for being a legend and doing legendary things (although that would've been pretty sweet if the Falcons won).  Love you all!

-Elder Poon 

Dericious! February 6, 2017

Traditional Feast

Costco Feast

The District (there wasn't actually anyone taking a picture over there).

新年快樂 January 30, 2017

Another Happy Chinese New Year to all y'all!Chinese New Year is a very special time here in the Taiwan Taichung Mission. It is a time where finding through our own efforts (i.e. street contacting, tracting) becomes incredibly difficult. Elder Moody likened it to a Jew trying to proselyte on Christmas. That being said, we have had meal appointments with members for lunch and dinner for the last 3 days and we will be continuing this schedule until Thursday. Nice! Besides being able to eat delicious food, this is also a great opportunity to build relationships with members and help build their faith and desire to do missionary work. We've had a lot of fun so far and it's been nice for me to be able to get to know so many of the members here in Daya on my first week. 

In other news, we had a multi-zone conference this past Saturday where we watched the World-wide Missionary Broadcast for this year. BIG CHANGES. For those of you who have served missions before this news will probably be very interesting for you. The church is giving a lot of control to mission presidents and missionaries over the missionary schedule from now on. The schedule, which was previously fairly fixed for most of the world, is now able to be almost completely customized by mission presidents around the world based off the culture and society of a mission. This is our new schedule here in the Taiwan Taichung Mission:

NEW DAILY SCHEDULE

6:30 AM- Arise

6:30-10:30 AM- Pray, Exercise (30 Mins), Shower, Eat Breakfast, Prepare for the day, Plan (30 Minutes), Personal Study (60 Minutes)


10:00 AM- 9:00 PM - Proselyte, Companionship Study (30-60 Mins), Language Study (60 Mins), First Twelve Weeks (30 Mins), Lunch (30 Mins) Dinner (60 Mins)


9:00 PM - Return to Apartment

9:00 PM- 9:30 PM- Write in your Journal, Prepare for Bed, Pray

9:30 PM- 10:30 PM- Retire to Bed

I think the biggest changes are that we plan in the morning instead of night now and that we have more of a choice of when we want to do studies. The leaders of the church have informed us that this change is to allow us missionaries to be able to exercise righteous agency and be more effective.

Oh... I forgot one thing...

The new Preparation Day schedule: 

8:00 AM- 6:00 PM- Preparation Day activities, including:

Laundry, Grocery shopping, Cleaning of Apartment, Communicating with family, Letter to Mission President/Key Indicators, Lunch and Dinner, Study, Recreation and Exercise, Prepare to proselyte

6:00 PM- 9:00 PM- Proselyte

Nice! 2 extra hours on P-day! 

Well, Elder Moody and I are having a lot of fun together already. We hope that this week after New Years we will be able to meet with more of our investigators and go find the prepared souls of Daya!

Love you all,

Elder Poon

PS Oh, and everyone's release date in the entire world got moved earlier one week so I'm going to be leaving Taiwan on May 26th now. 

Winter Winds January 16, 2017

Hello!

Things have been slowing down a little bit on our little island out here off the coast of Taiwan. The winter winds are constantly blowing here and have been keeping the residents of Magong City in their homes. This has made finding new investigators a bit more difficult as of late, but we continue to see success as we show faith and diligence in the work. I feel like I have really adjusted to life here now and Elder Fear and I ready to go hard during this last week of the transfer. 

Many missionaries when asked, "What are your hopes and dreams concerning your mission?" will respond by saying that they hope that by the end of their mission they want to be able to say that they gave it their all and have no regrets. I've been thinking a lot this week about what it means to have NO REGRETS. 

The Atonement of Jesus Christ is central in missionary work. I think to have no regrets towards one mission would have to include understanding that the Atonement applies to the missionary just as much as it does to the investigator. I can only speak for myself, but I there are definitely times on my mission when I've made mistakes, when I didn't follow a prompting that I should have, when I didn't use time as effectively as I should have, when I didn't get out of bed right on time, etc. These are definitely things that will prevent a missionary from having the spirit (which is the single most important element in missionary work). However, I know that through the power of the Atonement, real intent, and action on my part I am able to overcome my shortcomings and move past my weaknesses with faith towards the future and NO REGRETS. My hope is that during the last few months of my mission and throughout the rest of my life that I will have continue to build a stronger and stronger testimony and understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I hope that you all will be able to as well. As you do you can ponder this piece from David A. Bednar in his last conference talk titled "If Ye Had Known Me". In that talk, President Bednar states, "I am acquainted with Church members who accept as true the doctrine and principles contained in the scriptures and proclaimed from this pulpit. And yet they have a hard time believing those gospel truths apply specifically in their lives and to their circumstances. They seem to have faith in the Savior, but they do not believe His promised blessings are available to them or can operate in their lives. I also encounter brothers and sisters who fulfill their callings dutifully but for whom the restored gospel has not yet become a living and transforming reality in their lives. We come to know the Lord as we not only believe in Him but also believe Him and His assurances."

I love you all! The gospel and the Atonement apply to each of you individually on a personal level!

-Elder Poon

Sharpen the Ax January 9, 2017

Greetings! 

After a few weeks of battling sickness, I have returned to full health and am back in action. It's an interesting dilemma being sick on a mission. On one hand you don't want to waste any time and be as effective as possible and just be a normal missionary. On the other hand, in order to be as effective as possible one needs to be as healthy as possible and so that may include resting in order to recover as quickly as possible. Health really is critical in missionary work. 

Being here in Peng Hu is an absolute blast. Being in a 4-man apartment is so fun. The 4 of us here have gotten very tight over the last month. Last week we all bought Beyblades and made our own arena to battle at night lol. The members here are few, but those that are active are incredible members. As a district, we have been working really hard to help establish a better vision for member missionary work. 

As far as Elder Fear and I's work together as a companionship has gone, we are doing all we can to teach repentance and baptize converts! Our most progressing investigators are a couple who are in college, Coco and Leo. Coco looooooves church. She loves everything about it. Her boyfriend, Leo, is not nearly as interested but he is a super cool guy and is willing to do the things that we invite them both to do. They are going back to Taiwan soon for Winter Break but they have baptismal goals for when they come back to Peng Hu.

I continue to be grateful for this opportunity to serve the Lord. I'm grateful that through the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ that I can change. WE CAN CHANGE. We can change our very nature. I realized this past week that I had gotten out of some really good habits that I have developed over the course of my mission. I think it was due to the fact that I was sick and also that sometimes being in this 4-man apartment it's hard to focus. I continue to be reminded of a story from a Liahona:

This is the story of two ax men who held a contest to determine who could cut down more trees in a day. At sunrise the contest commenced. Every hour the smaller man wandered off into the forest for 10 minutes or so. Each time he did this, his opponent smiled and nodded, assured that he was forging ahead. The larger man never left his post, never stopped cutting, never took a break. When the day ended, the larger man was shocked to learn that his opponent, who seemingly wasted so much time, had cut many more trees than he, "How did you do ti when you took so many breaks?" he asked. The winner replied, "Oh I was sharpening my ax."

I think this story can be applied in a lot of different situations. In application to my current situation, I think that 'sharpening the ax' is how one can become a more effective missionary. There are lots of ways to 'sharpen the ax'. We can use our time effectively, we can plan better, we can have more effective studies, eat healthier, etc. There are A LOT of ways. That's why I think the best way to sharpen one's ax is to 1. Be worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost and 2. Recognize promptings from the Holy Ghost and act on them.

We are told in the 50th section of Doctrine and Covenants that missionaries are "sent forth to preach the the word of truth by the Comforter, in the spirit of truth" "and if it be by some other way, it is not of God.". We are told in 2 Nephi 32 that "the Holy Ghost...will show unto you all things what ye should do". There are A LOT of ways to 'sharpen the ax', but if we have the companionship of the Holy Ghost, then Heavenly Father will teach us and remind us through the Holy Ghost all the things that we need to do to be the most effective tool in His hands. When we receive promptings, we need to act. This shows Heavenly Father that we are receptive to His guidance and are willing to do what He needs us to do. When this happens, Heavenly Father will give us even more guidance that we will be more able to apply in our lives. 

I invite you to discuss with Heavenly Father about how you can 'sharpen the ax' in your own life. I know that as you do, you'll receive direction from God and will be able to see greater results in whatever thing you want to improve on. 

Well, that's it from the island for this week. Love you all

-Elder Poon

One of the coolest views in all of Peng Hu. 觀音亭

Christmas Dinner with some members.

Went to a cool temple that had some cool trees.

Travelin' the island on P-days

'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints'

Whale Cave

We have a member in our ward named, Xie Ba Ba, who is a renowned physician and used to be a general surgeon. To celebrate his birthday he invited us to a very nice dinner at a hotel here in Peng Hu. These are many of the nurses that have worked alongside Xie Ba Ba.

Transferred to Paradise December 19, 2016

Heavenly Father is too good to me. I've been sent to a truly amazing place. I've loved every second of my time so far here in Magong. It's a small island, but there are still plenty of people to share the gospel with here. The branch out here has about 40 active members, and they have some real faith. It's amazing to see that even on a tiny island off the side of Taiwan, there are still strong saints living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The island is awesome. The climate is impeccable. Sometimes the ocean winds come in pretty strong and it gets down to the 50's. I honestly think this is probably one of the greatest areas in the entire world to serve. Besides the environment, however, the work has also been great here in Magong. My new companion, Elder Fear, and I saw some sweeeet miracles in our first week together. I feel very at peace with my mission right now. Very chill. All is well. All is well.

Quick bio on Elder Fear: He is a goof ball. He has pipes (sang in BYU's Men's Chorus before coming out). He is on his 4th transfer, but is a very mature missionary. He does work.

The Magong apartment is a 4 man. Along with Elder Fear and myself we have Elder Miller who is a giant on the far left and Elder Horton pictured to the right of me.

Let's Baptize December 12, 2016

After 8 months in Zhang Hua, I'm finally being transferred. This last week has been my favorite week of my mission. This last p-day was an adventure going to Tai Ji Valley with the sister missionaries, a few members, and Pony. The rest of the week we were getting ready for Sister Lin's baptism and working with the rest of our investigators. This weekend, I felt, was just a culmination of a lot of good things. Harvest time. On Saturday, a few friends from my first area came to Zhang Hua and ate lunch with us. Then that night was the baptism. It was a very excellent baptismal service. It was very easy to feel the spirit in the room. The sister missionaries helped us out with a rendition of "我是神的孩子"/"I am a Child of God". It was one of the best musical numbers I've been a part of. Then Saturday night at about 10 pm we got a call saying that I'm being transferred to my dream area.... Magong! Magong is a city situated on a small island called Penghu which is situated off the side of Taiwan. I'm going from a tiny island to a much tinier island! I head up to the mission home and then I take a 20 min. plane ride later today. Magong is also the most coveted area in the mission because it's absolutely beautiful out there and nobody is in your business. You just do you out in Magong! I'm super excited and grateful that I have this opportunity to go out there. That being said, I'm also sad to say goodbye to all of the friends and members here in Zhang Hua. The ward members here are indeed my Taiwanese family. When I think of Taiwan in the future I feel like most of my thoughts will be centered on the people here in Zhang Hua. I'm grateful for all the service that they have given me, for their testimonies, and for their friendship. Going to church yesterday was a very bittersweet experience, but I'm glad that I at least had the chance to say goodbye! This past transfer has definitely been one of my favorite transfers. It was definitely the most stress-free. I've loved hanging out and serving with Elder Stroud. It's been fun to just go out and get it every day. We've seen a lot of success this past transfer, and I know it's because we have done our best to receive direction from the Lord. With 5 months left this may be the last time I move. Magong, let's go!

-Elder Poon

Look Mom, I'm a panda!

Pony finally did it! He had a goal for Christmas Eve, but he last second decided to just get baptized on the same night as Sister Lin! He had already passed a baptismal interview, but he would've had to do another one to be baptized on the 24th because they expire after 2 months. So it all worked out great! Pony aka Brother Wang is now an official member of the church!

Sister Lin Shu Yu is the most golden investigator I have found/taught on my mission. She comes from a family of 8 children like my mom. She's not married but she loves taking care of her siblings' kids. She has indeed been prepared by the Lord. She has given up drinking coffee and has committed to endure to the end! Quote from her testimony at her baptism, "I love Heavenly Father. I love Jesus Christ.". She's great.