Dear friends and family,
So many changes have been made this past week. Somehow
mysteriously, both Elder Bardsley and Elder Hanset were moved out of
their area and two new missionaries have moved in. That has never
happened before. Their area is really growing, and now it's in the hands
of two new, but really sweet, missionaries, Elder Taylor and Elder
Vandiford. Elder Taylor was training in Nantou zone in Puli when I got
on island so I've known him since I got island. And Elder Vandiford was
just in our neighboring zone of Zhanghua and is now on his 4th transfer.
It was pretty rough watching half our district leave, but I'm also
really excited for this new transfer.
Last week we had our Zone Training Meeting in Nantou. We talked
about working with the ward. That is something we really love and need
to do, and I guess the rest of the zone is wanting too. So we had some
really great training on effective ways to work with members sitting
with investigators at church. Then we also had a member come from
Taizhong and talk about a really effective way to use the ward list. I
was so happy to see that it's pretty similar to the way I've been using
it! We then had a sweet lesson at McDonald's! He was a sweet referral
contacted that has met with missionaries for a while. We're not sure how
much interest in baptism he has, but we can keep working with him! We
also had a sweet lesson with Jack later that night. He has such a desire
to get baptized. We talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ and he was
feeling the truth of it so much. I'm really excited for him.
Wednesday was all over the place. We were struggling because our
lessons were rescheduling so much. And then it all came down to our
English party. We weren't prepared. Our class has been slowly decreasing
the past few weeks with a low of 8 because of various holidays and
stuff. So we didn't think many people were going to show up. Then out of
nowhere, we had 33 people come, 11 new, mostly families. It was so
cool. They all had a good time and want to come back! I'm so excited.
We're hoping to increase that to 40 this week!
Thursday we had a sweet EARTHQUAKE during weekly planning! Our
building was swaying a lot with a bit of rumbling as well. It was pretty
fun. I think it was Elder Lathen's first EARTHQUAKE. And I guess it was
pretty big since it was even felt at the very south point of the island
too. That's pretty cool. I love them so much. We then had a split
where I sat with a less active and Elder Lathen and a member, Huang Yi
Wei, sat with a new investigator. He has a lot of desire as well. He has
a lot of questions that I feel like I've never had to answer before. So
I'm so glad we had a peike there.
Friday we had a sudden exchange with the zone leaders. They were
passing off Elder Fiso on Phase 1 in Nantou and they heard Elder Lathen
hadn't fully passed it off yet. And they wanted to see how ok Elder
Lathen would be leading in our area in the chance that I move. So they
put together an exchange. I went to Caotun with Elder Larson. While
Elder Larson was passing off Elder Fiso, I was with Elder Nickell in a
room making a ton of calls to get new investigators. Then they had a
less active come for a lesson and I remembered him from when I was
serving there! So it was pretty cool to visit with him. I then took
Elder Larson to a less active that he didn't know about in their area
that I had visited before when I was there. It was really cool to see
him and his wife again. Elder Larson felt a good connection with them as
well and really want to work with them some more. The whole night was
really great and full family adding miracles! Even one that stopped
investigating with the zone leaders while I was there because of
scheduling problems. But they now have time and were really happy to set
up again! And Elder Larson and I found out that we have probably 50+
mutual friends because he lives right by the Riverwoods! Super Crazy!
Saturday we traveled out to find some formers and ended up meeting
with their aunt and uncle. They have interest too! So many families all
of a sudden! We exchanged back and had a few great lessons with some
investigators, one of them being the new one from a few days before. The
bishop peike'd and ended up sharing everything that this guy needed. I
was in shock. My companion was in shock. Our investigator was in shock.
It was shocking. The Spirit was so strong in that lesson. In the end,
our bishop kind of plainly said "you need to get baptized." And our
investigator pretty convinced was like "ok". Mind blowing.
Sunday was pretty nice and all over the place. During Sacrament
meeting, a sister I had never seen before gave me a note saying she's a
member in Taibei and she needed my help in the hallway with her brother
that isn't a member yet. So I grabbed Huang Yi Wei and we went
downstairs and met him. His health hasn't been well lately and they told
him about Priesthood blessings. So he wanted a blessing. We gave him
one and he said it was absolutely amazing. It was such a great
experience. I hope we get to meet him again. That night we had FHE
and everyone said their goodbyes to Elders Hanset and Bardsley.
Today we were helping them get all their stuff ready to go and they
gave all their stuff to us. A lot of exhanging companions was done at
the train station, and now we're here! Every single companionship
changed in the zone except for ours. This transfer is one of the biggest
in a long time because so many missionaries are coming on, but hardly
anyone is leaving. So there has been a lot of moving around to get ready
to train. This transfer is only 3 weeks long. In 3 weeks, 24 new
missionaries are coming on. And then another semi large group comes
again 6 weeks after that. There will be a lot of people training. It'll
be exciting to see what's going to happen in the next month!
This is going to be my 4th transfer here in Yuanlin. It'll
technically only be 3.5 because this one is short. But I'm excited! I
love you all! I feel like this email is so long. This week has been so
epic, I can't capture it in this email. And the next 3 weeks are so jam
packed with stuff. If you have any questions, write me a letter! Until
next week!
Love, Elder Anthony Kai Buckwalter
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