Speaks at Zone Conference in Chinese

Hello, Hello from Keelung City, Taiwan.  This week has been going really good!  Yesterday we had Zone Conference and it was very touching.  Not even kidding.  I think it was my favorite zone conference with the new President.  President changed his method of people giving talks.  In the past, you were usually called on the phone and told you would give one, then there was one person who was surprised every time and asked to give one on the topic they asked us to prepare.  However, Elder Watson came and did a Zone Conference a couple weeks ago, and he picked names from a hat, and he had anyone on a mission longer than 6 months give their talk in their second language.  Well, this zone conference, we all had an assignment to read one of the four gospels studying how Christ taught, what kind of questions he asked, what revelations we recieved reading it, and record it in a study journal.  I had the gospel of Mark.  I had just finished Matthew when the call came telling us the assignment, so it was perfect.  The talks were to be on what we learned in the process, or what we learned because we were studying the Savior.  Well, I wasn't expecting to have to give the talk in Chinese, and in my personal opinion, the old language in the Bible is a little more complicated of vocabulary.  So, I was a little scared of being called.  But, well!  I was!  Haha, actually he said "Elder...well, this says Elder Bruno, but we don't have one!  So we will hear from Sister Bruno!"

So yeah, I changed my talk to less of a focus on the actual study itself, and more of a focus just about my feelings about Christ lately.  I shared how Sister Kunzler and I were watching Finding Faith in Christ with an investigator last transfer, and it just dawned on me...people ask who your hero is all the time, and I never know how to answer, but I realized, Jesus Christ is my hero!  He was really awesome.  In the movie, there's a part where he heals a man with leprosy (sp?)  and I just thought in my mind, that man looks so gross, I wouldn't want to go near him at all, but Jesus Christ just loved him, and healed him according to his faith.  Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the ugliness a person has, like in a mission it's you see a companionship having a hard time, and a lot of missionaries will take one side or the other, and hope they don't get put with the "bad companion" but Jesus Christ wants to heal people.  He suffered for them.  He wants us to forgive them, because he promised he will forgive them.  And so, I want to be more like Alma and the sons of Mosiah.  They were great missionaries and it says they did impart the word without any respect of persons in Alma 16:14.  When I read that, I wanted to be less discriminant in who I contact.  A man came to the church yesterday night, we had just gotten back from Zone Conference and 6 missionaries had lessons at the church, so we were all there.  This man was persistant in pleading us to buy him a ticket back home.  We couldn't of course, and kept saying he didn't want money, just a ticket, and we kept saying we had no way to help him.  He wouldn't listen to us sisters, so Elder Cai4 our zone leader, came out of his lesson and talked to him for a couple minutes.  Thank goodness for Taiwanese missionaries!  He was able to tell him another opinion he could TRY to use, which gave him a tiny bit of hope, that i'd never heard of.  Well, usually I wouldn't think to invite him to church or anything at all, but after Zone Conference and reading that scripture just a couple days ago, I felt impressed we should invite him.  So after the Elders had fully explained there was no way we could buy him a ticket, Sister Kunzler and I told asked if he'd ever been to church.  He said no (there are a lot of people in Taiwan who just find a church when they are in a really hard spot because they think the church will help them, which of course we desire to help them, but usually they just want money, and we have no way of helping them in that way) and so Sister Kunzler and I testified that we had no way of helping his money and financial situation, but we could help his soul if he was willing.  We invited him to go to church when he got back home.  I felt good about that.  I want to be more searching for the good in people, and their opportunity to change.  I know my first companion was really good at that.  When I first got here, I was not very good at a lot of things.  She really had to just see my opportunity for growth to love me, since I was a hard person to love at times.  Good thing I got a companion who already knew how to do that.  I'm just barely figuring that out over the last couple days! 

So yeah, I shared about the movie and the leper, then I just shared a story from that night before, there is a sweet little Taiwanese missionary, Sister Chen Shu Ting who is my roommmate, and my companion and her companion were going to do a musical number at zone conference, so they wanted to wake up earlier than usual to get to Taipei.  Well, I just wanted to split and wake up at 6:30, but Sister Chen wanted everyone to go together.  I told her, Uuuugh, Sister Chen, I'm so tired in the morning!  You don't even understand.  We can just wake up at 6:30 and get there at the normal time.  And sweet little Sister Chen, she thinks about it for a few seconds, and then turns to me and whispers, "Fu jiemei, mei guanxi, Yesu Ji1du, ta liao jie."  "Sister Bruno...that's okay, Jesus Christ understands!" And then she was like, "Geng kuai qidao! Wen Tianfu bang ni qi chuang" "Hurry!! pray!  Ask God to help to wake up in the morning" And in the morning when my alarm clock Sister Phillips had set for 5:55 went off, I prayed really fast, and ran straight to the bathroom to wash my face.  I was the quickest out of bed.  I know it was through help because I usually don't just jump out of bed! I take a minute or 3.  Haha.  So yeah, it was really great for me.

So yeah!  I'm excited I got the chance to share my talk in Zone Conference and talk about how my relationship with Jesus grew this transfer.  It's been a really great transfer.  Zone Conference was just really amazing focused on the Savior and what he did for us. 

It was especially touching, as Elder Daniels, now the traveling assistant, and Elder Gassin bore their testimonies.  They were sobbing.  Elder Daniels bore a beautiful testimony about how he knows his mission will bless his family, and Elder Gassin talked about how if we remembered nothing else about him as an Assistant, to remember that he truely believed this work, the restoration, and the principles we teach daily.  Elder Daniels companion, my old Zone Leader E. Worthen was also crying.  It was just so touching because it's not like they were putting on a show...they just had so many emotions.  So many of us were just really touched during that and the closing song "I Believe in Christ."  Not many dried eyes.  I myself, cried when Sister Chen (Neihu sister Chen) bore her testimony in English.  She always said she would one day, and did her last one.  It was amazing and sweet and I felt the spirit so strong as she bore her testimony in her 2nd language.

30 seconds! Bye!

Transfer 5 Week 2: Struggles in New Area

Wednesday, October 7, 2009 9:11 AM

This week doesn't have a lot in the way of things to talk about. I've found that I don't exactly like moving. I miss Zhongli a lot. Mostly because I worked so hard there in Zhongli for almost 6 months and our numbers were like, almost too good to be true, then I came here and we only have one ward instead of two, it's a lot smaller of an area and only one ward, and it's really ridiculously hard to get places, and I'm exasted to death after ever 20 minute bike ride, whereas, 20 minute bike rides in my old area were nothing...and our numbers were the worst they have been on my entire mission. I'm not really sure what to do to start to like this place. Our church is the 5th and 6th floor on a 12 floor building, and it's kind of ghetto fabulous. It has green tiled floors, and looks like it was built in the 60s. But, at least I have found some more positives besides my huge apartment and my own bathroom. Haha. One is my companion. She's actually really good. She's been here a long time, so you would think that if I thought we should stop meeting with an investigator, she'd be upset at me and want to hold on, because she's been here 6 transfers (longer than I've been on a mission) and been working with them forever, but she's very open to my opinions. We've spent a lot of time contacting, which I've never spent a lot of time doing at all...and I'm getting used to it. I have to admit, I feel like contacting is not exactly super effective because you talk to people for 2 hours, and you are lucky if you find 1 that wants to meet, but I'm talking to more people, so that's good. In the past I have not talked to nearly as many people. My legs are also pretty buff. It hurts to go up hills, but my legs are getting huge with muscles, so I'm sure I'm going to like that eventually..once it stops hurting. Rather huge with muscles than with fat right?!

Our district is also really good. Our district leader, Elder Daniels, used to be the zone leader in Hualien. Elder Lords went and took his place. He's training an Elder Leavitt this transfer, so he went district leader to train ba. His companion is very dedicated. It will be fun to see his Chinese improve, I've always been the youngest in my district until now. We also have the zone leaders in my district. Elder Cai is really funny. He was in Zhongli 2nd ward with me and Sister Hill back in my first 2 transfers. So, it's nice to be in a district with someone I already knew before. And E. Hammer seems fun too.

The only thing that I can even remember about this week, besides that we contacted a lot since we don't have a whole lot of investigators right now, so we are in a transition and finding a lot...we had the Moon Festival here in Taiwan this last weekend. There are about 3 big festivals here, and the Moon Festival is one of them. We cooked meat...steaks and squid and porkchops on a grill and BBQed them. That's a big thing to do. And FYI squid isn't bad. It's just chewy! It was a lot of fun. I just played with the kids and ate a lot. My stomach was so happy. Us missionaries are kind of poor, so we don't eat a ton of meat...at least I don't...because it's a lot more expensive. Unless I just eat like a piece of Chicken for dinner, for 50 kuai..and that's all. And I haven't had steak since America! So yum yum yum. So yeah! I enjoyed Moon Festival, too bad I only get to be here for one. But not THAT too bad, because everyone going home is always like "I'm so tired!" So I probably will be tired by next year too and not want to stay another 3 months to have Moon Festival. haha. Soooo that's pretty much it. Contacting and moon festival. Those were pretty much the events of this week! Next week we have Zone Conference and we watch General Conference Saturday and Sunday, so I'll write about that next week perhaps!

Oh! And by the way, I invited someone to baptism on the street yesterday, just to practice, um I think I confused her a little, so I need more practice at explaining it, she said "next time there's an chance.." whatever that means! But at least I did it, and I got her number, so I'll call next week and see if she'll set up. she was cute. Haha.

Bye bye!