Halftime May 18, 2016

Just a foreword: Because we went to the temple today we only got 1 hour of email on Monday and now we have another hour today so that is why I'm emailing again. 

1 year! That's pretty wild. I haven't had much time to think about it, but it's kinda cool to look back for a sec and see how awesome the last year has been. It has no doubt been the most challenging year of my life but no doubt the most fulfilling. I've learned more and grown more in the last year than ever before. I feel like sometimes Satan works on us missionaries and tries to get us to think that we haven't accomplished much or tries to get us to focus on our mistakes that we've made in the past but I know that this mission has helped me become a better person and has given me many opportunities to help improve the lives of other people and that's good enough for me! As far as the work is concerned, last week was a little slow. We have a few really awesome investigators, but all of their parents oppose them getting baptized! We just have to keep working with them though and build their faith and pray for miracles. Well, even though it's halftime there's no break in the work so we're just gonna go 

加油!

Celebrating the year mark in the best way possible - Mango shaved ice

This bird was chillin' outside of the church on Sunday. What a boss.

Elder Chen is the bomb. Elder Kunz is also the bomb, and not just because he gave me one of those Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

Mom May 9, 2016

Woooowwwww, I love Mother's Day! It was great to Skype with the family this morning! I can't believe how much the children have grown and how much Leo can talk. It's also always nice to have Dad test my Chinese lol. It feels like I just Skyped for Christmas the other day. Time continues to be a myth out here on the mission. As far as the work has gone this week in Zhang Hua, it's been awesome! We are working with a lot of really awesome people with a lot of faith. We have 3 super cool guys that we are working with that all want to get baptized but they all 3 have pretty serious family opposition. It's an interesting predicament. We are working to help build their faith and praying for miracles! One of them is Brian and when discussing this with him this past week I was prompted to share my own mother's conversion story and she overcame her family members' initial opposition to her baptism. I think it definitely helped Brian see that the Lord can and will provide a way. Especially with it being the week of Mother's Day it was great to able to invite the spirit and testify of how the Lord provides a way by speaking about my mom. 

Also, yesterday I studied about moms! I began by reading Elder Holland's talk from last October's general conference, Behold Thy Mother. So good. I then took a while to reflect on my own mother and the huge influence she has had on me and my life. I feel like being on a mission has helped me better understand just how much my Mom loves me. I also feel like seeing how my mom has loved me helps me better understand the love that our Heavenly Father has for every one. Pretty cool! Love you momma! (and every one else)

-Elder Poon

加油時間 May 1, 2016

Hello! Since Elder Quist left on Monday we have been trying to transition into having 0 investigators to having a lot more than 0. There were a lot of calls that were made but we now have a pretty schedule for this upcoming week! I feel a little pressure because Elder Quist and Elder Hampton did such great work here and I don't want any of that to go to waste. We hope we can just push the work forward! This past week we also had Elder Hampton's memorial and a baptism where two super prepared sisters got baptized! Both were great environments for the spirit and I feel like I was pretty enlightened! President and Sister Blickenstaff were there which made them even more inspirational. Oh, and the Blickenstaff's introduced Elder Chen and I to the couple that were in the car that hit Elder Hampton and it turns out that they also live in our area so we are going to start meeting with them. It's going to be awesome, the couple already has said that the church has been amazing towards them and every time they come into the chapel that they get that good warm feeling. Well, as the title of this email says, it is time to add oil!

-Elder Poon

Last P-day we went to this really cool Nike store that has a basketball court on it's top floor. Elder Spendlove (from Brighton) is a baller. #concreteSchoolyard 

Reunited @ Elder Hampton's Memorial. Although we are all Asian, the only person that isn't from America in this pic is on the far left.

Claire and Sister Lin! They are both so solid! 

Saw this 16 year old girl on the side of the road with a long board. The first one I've seen in Taiwan so had to take a pic!