Serving in the middle of no where
Date
October 1, 2017
Area
Hualien
Companion
Elder Brad Halverson
Serving in the middle of no where
Well this week was pretty strange. Our schedule got changed so now we do weekly planning on tuesdays instead of fridays which leaves fridays wide open, which is perfect! We teach English at National Donghwa University on Friday nights. Donghwa is about a half hour away, so we like to spend our whole day there if we go. Well friday was awesome! We met a super cool new investigator who is way stoked one changing his life, then we went to Donghwa. We had 2 lessons planned, and we got stood up twice... BUUUUTTTT we set one of them up for the next day and he was super cool!! Im way stoked to continue to meet with him. So friday night, we had our english class. We teach at a vegetarian restaurant on campus. Honestly looking back on it, it was totally being led by the spirit, but we went to a convenient store on campus and there was a restaurant next door. I thought, "huh I wonder if we could teach there." We already were pretty sure we could teach in a classroom but I thought, we should check anyway. We went it and asked who the owner was and the person we talked to said it was her. Turns out her name is annie and her english is incredible. She said that she wasnt religious, but she knew that we were trying to make the world a better place, and she wanted to help us do that. She was completely willing to let us use her place. So friday night, she came and opened her shop for us, and we got all set up and then just waited. I was terrified that we werent going to have a soul show up. Well we were fortunate enough to have 4 show up! A long time english class student that lived nearby, a girl who is from mongolia who lived in the states for like 8 years, a member, and the members roommate who is totally going to get baptized. It was super fun!!!!
Then on saturday, we went back to Donghwa to meet with one of the guys who stood us up on friday. He was so cool. He is from indonesia and he is a super funny dude. He told us about how at 20 he accidently started an English school. His English is fantastic, and he started out going to college in singapore. He ended up dropping out, and going back to Indonesia. He was doing some English tutoring to earn some money, and he said that he kept getting more and more students. Eventually he said he had too many to handle so he hired another teacher, developed a curriculum, and trained that teacher. Super funny! We continued to find throughout the day, and we ran into a group of international students from all over. Most were from Hong Kong, Korea, or Japan, but there was also one from Tuvalu that we met. As we were talking to this group, who turned out to be a youth christian group, the dude from Tuvalu said "Hey man my brother is on of you guys in South Africa right now." We asked what he meant and he said, "yeah he's an Elder like you guys. We dont talk a lot because he only emails once a week, but yeah I know lots of Mormons. Most of my friends were." We were like, oh dang we gotta meet with you! Right after that, we ran into the other guy who stood us up on friday. He said that his phone broke, and he couldnt tell us that he couldnt meet, but that he still wanted to. His two friends also said they wanted to come! It was awesome!!!!!
Then Sunday night, we met a grandma (who I admittedly dont like to contact because they are usually unwilling to talk or learn) and she shared about how her son died 3 years ago. We shared about eternal families and she said that she wanted us to come back. She asked if we had anything she could read before we came back so that she could understand better. I was amazed! She said that she has met tons of missionaries before, because its super easy to get lost in her neighborhood (its the worst) and so they always asked for directions. Any time theyd try and set up, she would tell them she was too busy. We asked what made this time different. She sat pondering for a second, and said "I dont know." I love that answer though because I think that means that the Spirit is working on her, and her heart is softening! I cant wait to meet with her again!
Then on saturday, we went back to Donghwa to meet with one of the guys who stood us up on friday. He was so cool. He is from indonesia and he is a super funny dude. He told us about how at 20 he accidently started an English school. His English is fantastic, and he started out going to college in singapore. He ended up dropping out, and going back to Indonesia. He was doing some English tutoring to earn some money, and he said that he kept getting more and more students. Eventually he said he had too many to handle so he hired another teacher, developed a curriculum, and trained that teacher. Super funny! We continued to find throughout the day, and we ran into a group of international students from all over. Most were from Hong Kong, Korea, or Japan, but there was also one from Tuvalu that we met. As we were talking to this group, who turned out to be a youth christian group, the dude from Tuvalu said "Hey man my brother is on of you guys in South Africa right now." We asked what he meant and he said, "yeah he's an Elder like you guys. We dont talk a lot because he only emails once a week, but yeah I know lots of Mormons. Most of my friends were." We were like, oh dang we gotta meet with you! Right after that, we ran into the other guy who stood us up on friday. He said that his phone broke, and he couldnt tell us that he couldnt meet, but that he still wanted to. His two friends also said they wanted to come! It was awesome!!!!!
Then Sunday night, we met a grandma (who I admittedly dont like to contact because they are usually unwilling to talk or learn) and she shared about how her son died 3 years ago. We shared about eternal families and she said that she wanted us to come back. She asked if we had anything she could read before we came back so that she could understand better. I was amazed! She said that she has met tons of missionaries before, because its super easy to get lost in her neighborhood (its the worst) and so they always asked for directions. Any time theyd try and set up, she would tell them she was too busy. We asked what made this time different. She sat pondering for a second, and said "I dont know." I love that answer though because I think that means that the Spirit is working on her, and her heart is softening! I cant wait to meet with her again!
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