Hangin' Out July 25, 2016

This has been the easiest move call of my mission. I believe that the only way for missionary work to be easy is 1. Have the spirit 2. Be diligent 3. Have good companionship unity. Right now all of those things seem to be in abundance. Elder Storey and I have been working super hard and have been prayerful and thoughtful about our investigators and our area. But besides that we're great friends. It honestly feels like although we are working hard that we're also kinda just hanging out all day. We've seen miracles and things have been coming together in incredible ways, but it's easy to see that Elder Storey and I haven't done anything special and the Lord is just doing his own work. 

Elder Storey and I were amazed as this week two of our investigators made great strides in their conversion process. Two investigators that are honest seekers of truth and that are already beginning to repent and change through the power of the Atonement. Our friend Zheng Di Xiong realized this week that he is ready to be baptized even though he was feeling really hesitant before. Our friend Zhan Di Xiong said, "I'm beginning to feel like there is actually someone there.", the feelings as we learned that these two brothers are experiencing a mighty change in heart manifested to me that there really is hardly anything better than knowing that you played a part, even a tiny tiny part, in helping someone come unto Christ.

As great as the movecall has been I know that personally there are still many things that I can and need to improve in order to be a more effective missionary and disciple of Christ. I need to be more consecrated. I also need to keep myself from getting discouraged by the call to be consecrated. As Tad R. Callister says, "The Lord does not require immediate perfection, but he does require immediate progress. Progress comes from consecration". I know that as I consecrate myself more I can progress more and become perfected in Christ.

Taiwanese Captain America

Friends from my first area, Taiping, came to Zhang Hua and stopped to see Elder Bradford and I because we both served there before. The girl next to me was the girl that got baptized just 3 weeks after I got to Taiwan. Wow!

The Man Has Arrived July 18, 2016

President Teh is the man. Fun fact: He is still a General Authority and member of the quorum of the seventy. He is just on a 2 year (that's right, 2) assignment here in Taiwan. Speculations and rumors have been flying around the mission. For a seventy to be called as a mission president, something super big has to be happening.... right?? There are some members in my district that think China is gonna open up soon and they're just going to take all the missionaries in Taiwan and send them over there. Who knows. We had the opportunity to go meet President Teh and his wife this week. Hearing that man speak is just like watching general conference it's so cool! He speaks as though he has all of Preach My Gospel memorized in his head. Many of us were anticipating that he would make the rules more strict. However, he has taken away 'The Taiwan Taichung Mission Rules & Clarifications' and has simply left us with the white hand book. In a way this does put more responsibility on us to know the letter and spirit of the rules. On the other hand, it's been nice being able to do some of the things that we weren't allowed to do before such as using the elevator in the church, being able to eat meals in the church, listening to stuff other than EFY/Mo Tab, and ordering pizza. I also had the super cool opportunity to have my first interview with President Teh. He is such a kind and loving guy! He asked one question to begin the interview and that was, "If you're mom would describe you, what would she say?". A master question! I came away from the interview thinking that it felt short but also feeling like President Teh had already learned a lot about me in that short time. General authorities are cool. In other news, there is a lady that lives in the 3rd ward's apartment building named Pan Jie Mei which translates to....... Sister Poon! She is awesome. Not just because we have the same last name. She owns a Nike factory!!!! Long story short she game me a free pair of Nike's yesterday and they're sweet. Other than that, we continue to see miracles on the daily here in Zhang Hua. Our lessons have been getting really bold lately which is awesome because that is a sign that our lessons have also had more love! It has been easy to see lately the Lord is directing the work here in Zhang Hua.

Root beer is rare in Taiwan. We found it at a random grocery store and I had my first root beer float in a year!

Super sweet ward activity. Pretty much just a 2 hour long water balloon/water gun fight with food.

'Merica

I've actually had 3 companions this move call. Raymond (the short term missionary) and because there is an odd amount of Elders in the mission right now, Elder Kunz (on the far right) was our companion for a few days last week. #brothasinthepriesthood

The Perfect Storm June 11, 2016

Zhang Hua is catching fire. Everything is just coming together right now! Elder Storey and I have only been together for a total of two weeks now, but we are already great friends and a unified companionship. We have been blessed beyond belief this week. We have seen a plethora of righteous miracles! We were also blessed this week to have a short-term missionary come and serve with us! His name is Brother Xu and is from a place called Dou Liu. He just graduated high school and wanted to get a taste of missionary work so he got sent over here to Zhang Hua! My first tripanionship! It was awesome. We were able to be REALLY effective having an extra companion (and cause he's Taiwanese). Also, a typhoon hit Taiwan this week!!! We were told on Thursday night to not leave our apartments the next day due to the typhoon. However, in Zhang Hua it was WEAK. Honestly, it was like another normal rainy day. However, because we were still supposed to be in our apartment. Elder Storey and I made the goal to call 1,000 people that day. It was legendary. We didn't quite get there because we were told at 12:00 that we could go outside, but those calls set up a lot of people. So many miracles happened I don't have time to describe them but the best part is that Elder Storey and I know that we didn't do anything special, the Lord is just preparing a way for his work to come to pass! Tomorrow we get to meet President Teh for the first time so that'll be cool! Oh, and turns out that the Blickenstaffs home ward is where my friend Landon is serving right now! Crazy! Miracles!

-Elder Poon

Nice! June 27, 2016

I've developed a few strange language habits out here in the mission field that I feel like I will definitely want to break when I get home. For example, whenever I end a phone call I say, "Buh-bye" (cause that's what Taiwanese people say). Also, I say the word "Nice!" way too much. Elder Chen and I have a thing where I say, "Nice, Elder Chen!" and he replies with, "Nice! Nice! Elder Poon!". It's pretty nice. That being said, this week was real nice! Elder Chen and I had a nice last week together. He still has not gotten his visa but has moved down south to a place called Guiren. My new companion is a nice guy from Logan named Elder Storey! He's a bro and we're going to have a lot of fun here in Zhang Hua! I feel really at peace with my mission right. Earlier in my mission I feel like I felt like I had a lot to prove, to myself and to other people. However, right now I don't feel like I have anything to prove anymore. I just want to go out and fulfill my purpose as a missionary, be led by the spirit, rely on the Lord, and have fun, and eat some good food.

While English proselyting in a morning market one day, Elder Warner and I started talking to an Ama (old grandma) and she showed us these tiny mangoes that she was selling! They are tiny but taste exactly like real mangoes. Then the Ama gave us a bunch of them for free. I love Ama's! They're so nice!

The Lin family took us out to eat at a Thai restaurant. I love Thai food more now that I ever did when I was at home.

Our friend Brother Xiao (Jacky) got baptized and confirmed this last week! Jacky is a great guy and a great friend. He's legit super athletic and plays basketball with us in the morning some times. He met missionaries his freshman year of college and has been meeting with them on and off for a while. Elder Chen and I called him up when looking through some former investigator records. We met with him and he said that there were some things that had happened recently in his life that had really made him think that there really is a God. So we started over and taught him all the lessons. He quit drinking tea and began to keep the commandments and has gained light. The members here love him. He just graduated so he won't be staying here in Zhang Hua for long but he is doing a master's program at the college that is right by the Taipei temple so he'll be in a great place to continue on the straight and narrow path.

Casual day at a Taiwanese Mcd's

Mango Showers June 20, 2016

Hello!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. It was a great celebration of 2 decades of myself. When you're trying to forget yourself in the work, having a birthday is a little distracting but it was fun and I appreciated everything that was done for me! My district did a lot for me. The sisters are the best. They got me some cake and a Taiwanese flag hat. I had the best shower of my life too. I bought a bunch of mangoes in the morning and then didn't have a lot of time to eat breakfast so I decided to eat my mangoes in the shower and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I recommend it for everyone. Also happy Father's Day to all the dad's in the world. As my mission has progressed I've realized more and more how much of a BOSS my dad is. There are several reasons on which I could probably go into a lot of depth on but here are a few: 

1. He was raised in a 3rd world country and is now living a comfortable life in the best country in the world. 

2. He went on a mission when he was OLD and he got in a super bad car wreck in which his companion died. That is amazing. 

3. He married my mom. 

4. He speaks 7 languages! We had stake conference this past week and Elder Wong (area seventy) came and spoke. His English is good but he gave his talk in Cantonese. For those who think that Mandarin and Cantonese are pretty similar... think again because I only understood like 3 words. 

5. Lots of other reasons.

Been on an island for 1 year, 1st time I've seen the ocean.

At a place called Gary Bee's. Pineapple bun burgers. Not too shabby!

At a place called 'Tasty'. We got free coupons from a member.

Elder Spendlove and I got lost and had to do some mountain biking #BrightonHS4lyfe

In Taiwan (In Taiwan) June 12, 2016

Hello! The mission life is so normal to me now. Being in Taiwan is so normal. Waking up in the morning is still hard sometimes but I find it much easier to wake up if there's something fun to do in the morning i.e. go play basketball or ping pong. Training hours seem a lot shorter now that I'm the trainer instead of the trainee. Elder Chen and I work on this thing called 'The 1st 12 Weeks' which is basically the training booklet made by the church. It's super cool and we get to watch 'The District' videos. Elder Chen loves it because he is going to San Diego where the 'The District' was filmed (he still doesn't have his visa). Looks like I might finish training Elder Chen before he leaves Taiwan! Anyways, then we pretty much eat on this same road that is 1 minute away from the church every day. The entire road is full of restaurants so we can switch it up pretty well. This past week we had zone conference. It was the best zone conference I've been to. I think since the Blickenstaff's are about to go home they're getting more and more relaxed, but they're still spiritual beasts! A lot of really great missionaries are going home this summer so we got to hear many of them give their reflections on their missions. Reflections are the best. Anyways, besides zone conference, Elder Chen and I have just been trying to do everything we can to get the work rolling here in Zhang Hua! We have one investigator, Jacky, who is looking pretty solid right now for baptism on the 25th. We had a miracle yesterday at church as 5 investigators came to sacrament meeting! That is more than the last month and a half combined! The ward is great. We hope that we can keep investigators coming to church cause that is part of what leads to enduring conversion. Last night, we attended a fireside in honor of the Blickenstaffs. The Blickenstaff's are legends. They'll be gone and the Teh's will arrive in two weeks. Things are about to get wild! I'm stoked for my birthday and am ready to celebrate two decades of myself by forgetting myself in the work! 

-Elder Poon

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I forgot to bring the cord for my camera. But next week there will be a plethora of pics!

Happiness? or LIES???? June 5, 2016

Apologies for not being on the ball with emailing this last little while. Many people have remarked that I have probably doing really fun things on the last few P-days but we actually have not done anything that interesting.  Our district here in Zhang Hua is super tight and we all are homies so we just always end up playing basketball or going to the church and playing ping pong. For the last 3 P-days we've gone to Mr. Steak for lunch which has been awesome. Anyways, this past week was a very successful week with Elder Chen. A busy week. Busy weeks are the best. Right now we are working with a few college students and 1 really cool couple who has a 2 year old kid. Elder Chen is still a boss. I am still amazed at the amount of humility and patience he has. Also, his English has gotten a lot better! He can now say 'Rules' without a super strong accent! Wow! . Neither us or the sisters (we got sister missionaries in our area btw) had any investigators at church (rain). So we attended the English Sunday school class which was taught by a young white couple that are teaching English here in Taiwan. It was super cool. Anyways we talked about how there are a lot of things in life that makes us happy. However, only some things give us REAL happiness. Most of the things that give us REAL happiness are things that we can do every day and not get sick of. . So we can look at our lives and see what really makes us happy. This can be applied to everything. For example the food we eat. Some people feel the need to diet but if you just look at what you're eating and say to yourself, "If I ate this every day would I feel good about myself". Healthy foods tend to be foods that we can eat a lot of on a regular basis and not feel bad afterwards. Rather than being a test of good/bad or healthy/unhealthy it's more of a test of whether these things help you have REAL happiness or not. If not, then it's a LIE!!!! That's why the gospel is so awesome. We can pray, read scriptures, and follow the rest of the commandments every day and we will just continue gaining more and more happiness. The gospel is indeed the 'Happy Message' as it's Hebrew translation denotes. So if you read this email, I invite you to look at your life for a second and see what things really make you happy and what things are just LIES!

-Elder Poon