Dear family and friends,
This past week has been so great, but so terrible at the same time!
I had some intense eye pain the beginning of last week and it lasted a
few days. I could barely open my left eye because it would sting and
start to water up like crazy. But that left after a while. And then for
the past few days I've had some intense stomach problems. Our first
thought was food poisoning, but then we thought e-coli. Still not
entirely sure because the symptoms were all over the place. I'm now in
the process of recovering. I have little to no energy though. But that's
all the bad news. Just lame physical junk.
Last Monday we got to meet with Kevin again. I was so happy to get
back in contact with him again! We started to have the recent convert
lessons. We found out that he moved out of our area... He's still in our
zone though. But he goes to school outside of our zone and goes home to
his family every week in another zone. So he's all over the place. And
he said that because of his new job, making it to church is a little
hard at times, but when he can, he'll be near where he goes to school.
So we're gonna have to transfer his records up there. But we have a cool
friend in that ward that is excited to meet him as well.
Tuesday we went out to visit the Ke family. They're doing really
great! It was pretty busy at their work, so we left for a bit and ended
up getting two new investigators in the process! We went back and they
had a friend there that we met before. He had a sudden curiosity about
the church, so we shared a 1st with him while we waited for work to slow
down. He then gave us all his info to give to the missionaries where he
lives. So Sweet! We finally got to sit with the family and shared about
the Plan of Salvation, wrapping in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and
finishing with the Law of Chastity. A lot, I know, but they had heard it
all at church before and accepted it really fast. They're so golden!
We also sat with a guy that contacted us a few days earlier and said he
used to meet with the missionaries. He's really good too. We're still
not sure why he stopped meeting with the missionaries, and I can't find
his previous teaching record, but we're excited to work with him!
Wednesday we had a district service opportunity at a retirement
center! I love doing service. We were cleaning out they're recreation
hall. It was a good sized room that was completely covered in dust and
spider webs. Like it hadn't been used in decades or something. I killed
spiders sizing from microscopic to 4 inches long, lifted heavier objects
than I have in over a year, and pretty much made my own long sleeved
shirt out of spider webs. It was a ton of fun. That night we also got
to eat at a favorite burger place of mine with Kevin! He's doing really
well still and was getting ready to head back to where he goes to
school. We'll be moving his records this week. Such a depressing
thought... And English class was a lot of fun too. My class loves
making fun of me and telling me I'm going to go bald in the future.
NIGHTMARE!!
Thursday was so amazing! We had Zone Conference. So we left really
early in the morning to get on a train for Gaoxiong. We either had to
leave really early and get there really early, or leave at a more
reasonable time and risk being late. Never be late! So a ton of
missionaries got there early and we all had a great McDonald's
breakfast. It's been a long time since I've had that. Zone Conference
was extremely great. President Bishop focused on working with members.
Member referrals are the most golden investigators because they already
have a friend in the church. And getting members involved in the lessons
early helps the investigator have a new friend early on. I was then
happily surprised to see my trainer, Elder Allen! Him and a few other
companionships from up north came down to help with training, Including
Elder Greer! So I was way excited to see them. It was such a great
reunion. We had training from one of our senior couples on family
history. It got me really excited to do it as well! And then the
Assistants taught us about quality less active rescuing. It's not just
meeting, sharing a spiritual thought, and then inviting them back to
church. It's friendshipping, helping them overcome their problems,
inviting back, and strengthening. Many less active members know why the
missionaries are going to visit them, because their less active! But
many missionaries treat it like it's only a job or something to check
off the list. Real rescuing involves having that desire for their well
being and showing it. It was a really good lesson. I was also sung to
with a ton of other missionaries with birthdays in October, November,
and December.
Friday we went back to see the Ke dad and go over the baptismal
interview questions. He was by himself at work and was really busy, so
it was a little difficult, but he wanted to and we finally got through
it. That night we got to sit with a cool kid we met with a few weeks
ago. He's really good as well, just very busy with college.
Saturday was all over the place and it seemed like we got nothing
productive done. Everyone stood us up at our appointments. It was really
annoying.
Sunday was really good though. Us and the Zone Leaders got to the
church really early to interview the Ke dad. It all went over really
well! We also got to show them the font and demonstrate how to be
baptized. A little while later after our classes were over and were
about to head up to Sacrament meeting, Elder Crandall came up to us and
said the Ke mom might also be getting baptized next week. We were
surprised because she didn't feel ready before. So all 6 of us
missionaries were talking to them and she said she felt ready now and
wants to be baptized the same day as her husband! So she's going to get
interviewed this Wednesday and will be a drop in week A! So we're
keeping our fingers crossed that the interview goes well and we get a
family baptized this coming Sunday! Later that afternoon, we were
able to sit with an 85 year old less active that lives rather close to
the church. His house is flat out amazing. He was the CEO of some
company here in Taiwan and is well known by the government officials. He
has an autobiography of his life, and the last 50 pages are all about
his life in the church. He was baptized around 15 years ago. His health
isn't too great and hasn't been able to wake up early enough to get to
9:00 church for a few years now. We really took to heart what we learned
at Zone Conference and really wanted to show him that we cared about
him. In the end, we told him that Sacrament meeting started at 10:45 and
we would come ride over to his house and ride back to church with him
so he can be a part of that. So I'm excited for next week! A baptism in
the morning, a confirmation a few hours later in Sacrament meeting, and a
great older man to come see it as well.
That was my week. Pretty rough physically, but amazing spiritually.
Thank you all for your love and support. I love the letters I've
gotten. I love letters. Until next week!
Love, Elder Anthony Buckwalter
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