The the the..... THE GRINCH March 7, 2016

Minxiong is awesome. Since everybody has returned from winter break, there's a lot more going on! That in combination with the blessings from power week, we now have a really solid pool of investigators which includes a nurse, a military man that served in the middle east with U.S. troops, and an Indian guy (just to mention a few). We're hoping that we can continue seeing these people progress. We have a great branch that is really caring and supportive of our investigators. I really hope we can see some friends step into the waters of baptism soon mainly for their own salvation obviously but also because I think it would really help the branch. Our branch president, President Li, and his wife are some of the greatest people ever! They're taking us out to dinner again and this time it's to a super nice buffet! I can't believe how well I eat here in Taiwan... Elder Jackson is a wizard. Literally. He is crazy good at magic tricks and he uses them to teach the gospel which is even cooler! Becoming senior companion has been a little bit stressful just because I'm now the one that has to make most of the decisions and I'm now the one with better Chinese but I feel like it's made me strive to work harder and Elder Jackson is a stud so it's not too difficult! This past week the coolest thing I have realized is that I have really come to love the people of Taiwan. I don't know these people but I feel for them in a way that I didn't before. There was a moment this week where I felt like I really had a better understanding of the love that Christ has for each and every one of us. He's always there to lift us up as long as we let him! I don't know why but that just reminded me of a quote I read the other week by Howard W. Hunter “If our lives and our faith are centered upon Jesus Christ and his restored gospel, nothing can ever go permanently wrong.” Man, I feel like the mission has turned me into the Grinch at the end of the story where his heart gets like 3 times bigger. It's all about love!

Love,
Elder Poon

Lunch with Mr. Zhao again. Teppenyaki!

Finally ate the lemon squares that Dora sent for Xmas! Also, Elder Parker and I are in the same district again! Wahoo!!!

This is in our neighborhood's local court yard area. Elder Jackson is pondering this question, "If a pineapple and an apple got in a fight? Which one would win?"

Re: From Mom and Dad February 29, 2016

Hello Parents!

Sorry I forgot to email you back last week! However.... THAT'S SO AWESOME I HAVE A NIECE!!!!! That's the best news ever!!!! Jade. So awesome. You are right! What a wonderful gift!! Easter weekend will be a great experience! Thank you for your message of peace! I feel like I have a lot more peace lately because I've had a lot of opportunities to help other people find peace. I've found that peace is one of the best blessings that we can promise investigators because there is a lot of chaos and craziness out in the world and a lot of people are really searching for something that will help them have peace. This week has been good but I've been super tired in the mornings.... I thought that I had gotten over it but I still don't feel used to waking up so early! well, here's my favorite scripture of the week:

D&C 78
17 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;

18 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.

19 And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.

We don't even understand all the blessings that God gives us! But if we're thankful he'll give us at least one hundred times more blessings!!!!

love,
Son

PS Elder Jackson (my new companion) has been out for just over 6 months. He's a super nice guy and is very supportive, but he lacks confidence some times so I just really want to help him build that so we can go and BE BOLD together. We hit 4/7 of our power week goals. Our Book of Mormon goal was to give away 13 books but also to get their numbers and make a time to follow up with them! It was super cool because I feel like I haven't really focused very much on giving away books of Mormom so far on my mission but this made me realize how easy it is to bring up the book of mormon in contacting situations.

So Much... Power. February 22, 2016

Power week. It was legendary. A week of full-purpose fully diligent missionary work. Our studies were cut short and our meal times were to be as short possible which made for a lot of proselyting time. That also helped us see a craaaazy ton of miracles! We also had some crazy goals for each day such as 'give away 13 BoM' or 'confirm 15 people for church'. If we succeeded we got to call Pres. Blickenstaff and say "Mission Accomplished!" with which he would reply by singing a part of the Mission Impossible song. What a guy! Anyways, it was the hardest I've ever worked in one week in my life and we were dead tired at the end of every day but that came with a really cool sense of personal accomplishment. This week I learned: Boldness brings miracles. While bearing testimony in lessons or on the street I could feel that sense of urgency that we NEED to save these souls! This week when we testified of gospel truths I could feel the spirit working through us. It has been electric! I feel like every time that anyone accepted an invitation this week it was a miracle. This week I've had a deeper sense of the principle that as missionaries we really are just tools in God's hands. This week I've learned a ton. I feel like I gained a deeper sense of my purpose as a missionary. I learned that diligence always brings blessings/miracles. I learned that each of the daily challenges are things that can be worked towards every day. I also learned that my testimony has grown a lot. A guy asked me this week, "If your life fell apart and everything went wrong, would you still believe in God and Jesus Christ?" I was able to answer firmly and boldly that I KNOW I would. Maaaannn, I love mission life.

FEAST!!! February 15, 2016

Well this past week was the best week of food of my life. The members of Minxiong/Jia Yi are so great! We got fed for pretty much every lunch/dinner up until Saturday. The Chinese New Year celebrations were super cool and people were super friendly all week! However, the work was definitely slower. That being said, we were still able to help our friend Gary set a baptismal goal so that's super cool! Besides that, Elder Mitton left Minxiong today and I have a new companion, Elder Jackson from Ohio! I've become Da Tongban aka Big companion aka senior companion. I have no idea how to be senior companion but that's ok it'll be fun! Elder Jackson seems like a stud and very ready to work which is good because this week is Power Week which means that mission wide we have crazy high goals and we have shorter study times and we eat on the go! It's gonna be awesome. Well here's some pics!

Happy Valentine's Day

Our Branch pres and his life took us to "the best restaurant in all of Jia Yi County". It was pretty dang awesome. We got a 5 course meal and I got the best steak I've had since being in Taiwan. I also ate foit grois or however you spell it which was weird. Then I had one of the best cheesecake I've ever had ever. :) 

Another chairs = movecalls pic

There's this crazy rich member in one of the Jia Yi wards that invited a bunch of us missionaries over to her house for a gigantic traditional new years feast.

Our ward mission leader, Robert and his family took us to a Thai restaurant! It was like a normal Thai restaurant but if you pay the buffet price you can order as much as you want!!!!! It was so good. Definitely one of my favorite meals I've had in Taiwan. They say that smell is the sense most related to memory and I will say that when I first smelt the green curry it was like I was teleported home! So good. 

Went to a super nice American restaurant with some members. I got a chicken cordon bleu hamburger with grilled peaches on it that was legendary and then we got red velvet cake. :)

This is Elder Johnson. He died today. RIP. (he didn't actually die, Mom. He went home to Utah.)

My new friend Elder Jackson!

New Years/Earthquakes!!! February 8, 2016

or those of you that didn't hear it on the news, Taiwan got hit by a 6.4 earthquake this week! It was only like a 4 here in Minxiong though... BUT it was still one of the craziest moments of my mission so far. It was approximately 4 in the morning (or so I've been told) when the shaking starts. Elder Mitton and I both bolted out of bed and I was going to run downstairs and outside so I wouldn't get crushed but Elder Mitton had a better idea and stayed in the door frame. We kinda just stood in the door frame waiting for our house to fall over but it never did and then the shaking stopped. Then we were both super tired so we went back to bed without saying anything like nothing happened lol. The earthquake had pretty much no effect on the work here in Minxiong but it did some pretty hard core damage in Tainan which is a little bit south of us. All missionaries are ok though! Besides that, it's been a fun week. People have been in a really good mood because of Chinese New Years. However, this week is supposedly the worst week of the year for mission work according to people who have been here before. It is probably due to the fact that we get fed by the members for every lunch and dinner and we have an hour longer than usual to eat. I'm super stoked to feast though! Last night we were invited over to the district president's house to eat a traditional Taiwanese feast with his family. There was a lot of really good food.... and a lot of pretty weird stuff. I can't wait for all the weird stuff I get to eat this week. And the good stuff. Tonight our branch president is taking us to, "the best restaurant in all of Jia Yi county" (using his words). I feel so blessed to be here in Taiwan during Chinese New Year and so blessed to be in a place with such awesome members! Well, I'll try to eat enough for all of you at home (and probably still won't gain weight)! Love y'all Happy Chinese New Years!

-Elder Poon

Rainy Daze February 1, 2016

t has rained. A lot. The work continues though! I feel like I blink and then I'm waking up, I blink and I'm riding my bike, I blink and we're planning/going to bed, and then blink and it all starts over again. That being said, there weren't any special activities this week. We met a Japanese guy named Kenji who is super cool though! Oh, and fun story: Elder Mitton contacted this guy at a light who had a lot of interest. They pulled over to the side of the road and then we got a call from a member so I went to the other side of the road to answer it. Elder Mitton finished exchanging info with this guy and I was still on the phone. He started biking across the street and then WHAM he gets drilled by a Mazda 5. Elder Mitton put a real nice dent in their hood but Elder Mitton is also a beast (and probably had some heavenly help) so he walked away with no injuries! So I guess that is this week's miracle. My comp didn't die when he got hit by a car! New Years is starting up this weekend and we're stoked. We're probably going to have to eat a lot of crazy weird stuff but it's a week of free food so can't complain! 

Fun Fact: Mcdonald's in Taiwan has delicious corn soup. with one of our members, Craig.

Catan 4 lyfe

Caught a fly that was swimming in my fried noodles. Call me Mr. Miyagi!!

Re-Assigned/Happy Banana Monkey Year January 25, 2016

This last Friday Elder Mitton and I got reassigned to the newly created Antarctica mission! To clarify for those of you how who might not understand this joke (mom & dad), I did not actually get re-assigned, but the last few days have supposedly been the coldest few days in Taiwan in the last 30 years. IT SNOWED. Not in Minxiong. But up north and on a lot of mountains there was a few inches. Ridiculous. I thought I was gonna be safe from the cold for a few years but I guess not... The cold is super awesome for the work and tracting though because people are super hospitable and are very willing to invite you into their homes. We had a worldwide missionary training mission this week! It was titled "Teach Repentance and Baptize Converts". It was a great meeting and it got everybody super pumped to go out and preach the gospel again after it was over. My favorite part was during one of the training segments they stressed how we don't need to consciously notice that we are receiving revelation. "Revelation is thoughts to the mind and feelings to the heart". As missionaries we are (if we are worthy) constantly receiving revelation. We don't have to worry about being able to point out when we are receiving revelation, rather we should just go to work and the Lord will put thoughts in our minds and feelings in our hearts. That principle applies to all y'all at home too! Anyways, Elder Mitton and I had been speculating what crazy new announcements they were going to announce at this meeting. We were pretty much just hoping they'd announce that we would all get iPads, but we definitely over hyped because they didn't announce anything. Great meeting though! Besides that the people in Taiwan have all been getting ready for Chinese New Years and their Winter Vacation is starting which is nice because we can visit with more families!!!!

Well, I'm gonna go play Settlers of Catan with some other missionaries now.

Happy Banana Monkey Year, everybody!

-Elder Poon