Then There Was A Typhoon!

Dear family and friends,

 

What an interesting week. I'd love to say a lot happened, but not a lot did. Monday I pretty much messed up our whole night. I felt so bad. But it worked out in the end. We had set up with a less active at his hair cutting salon. But it was more like we'd just stop by and have a short lesson between customers. But I switched in my head his lesson with Xie dixiong at his bear shop on Tuesday. So I booked it to the bear shop and Elder Teerlink was a little confused. We got there and his cousin let us in. I called him and was confused and thought maybe he just accidentally scheduled the wrong day. So we met with him. We were able to set a time table to overcome tea and coffee. Then after we got home, I realized that he really was set up for Tuesday and we just left an LA in the dust. We saw him later on in the week though and he forgot we were supposed to come, so it ended up being ok.

 

Tuesday was the start of the rain. We had a great DTM on talking to everyone. We had cool practicing scenarios. Then every lesson fell through because of the rain and one because of sudden family things. So the day was very long. But we also had a really fun English powerboarding. We got a lot of success from that.

 

Wednesday was also very long because the typhoon was about to hit and everyone wanted to stay home. It was just little rain (for Taiwan) all day, until right before English class started. Then it came pouring down. Elder Bardsley and I went outside with umbrellas to escort people inside. We still had a surprising turnout of 22. It was a nice night. A lady in my class said a prayer for the first time to close the lesson. It was cool.

 

Thursday there was lots of rain. But I was stuck inside all day so it was ok. From lunch to dinner I had phase 1 pass offs, ward coordination meeting, and a baptismal interview for the Sisters' investigator. We ended up eating at the same place for dinner 4 days in a row. It was unintentional, but they've warmed up to us a lot. Now their just making us their star meals. Then we tracted for a while. I love tracting. A man let us in and loved talking about American sports teams. But then his wife came home and he kicked us out so fast, it was like he was in trouble. It was funny.

 

Friday was a lot like Thursday. After weekly planning, I had to do a few phase 1 pass offs. And it was pouring all day still. After a long day, Xie dixiong came to the church. I love when he comes to the church because he's more focused. We asked him how his time table was helping him. He's been exceeding beyond it! He got up to where he planned to be a few weeks later! So we're really excited for him.

 

Saturday and Sunday were really complicated with Lin dixiong. All said and done, he's going to Taibei for 3 months for a school program they have here. They have school for 3 months and then work for 3 months, and then they do it again. It's year round. So because of that, his baptism was thrown all out of wack. But we were working with the bishop and the stake president because they work with Lin dixiong's and our RC Xiao dixiong's school system and we can figure out where they're both going so we can have the missionaries and the wards look after them there.

 

Sunday night was really relaxed. It was still raining all day, but we got to go to a lady's house in our ward. A cool 30 year old in our ward is going to be a short term missionary with one of our zone leaders who is stepping down and opening up a brand new area that has never had missionaries before in Tainan. So he came to dinner as well and we got to share about missionary work.

 

I have been semi sick for the past 3 days, so my days were really dizzy. But they were still really great. I'm way excited for this week. Elder Teerlink and I have made plans to go out to some of our undiscovered secondary areas in the mountains where all the aborigines live! It'll be fun.

 

I love you all! I hope everyone is doing ok! I pray for all of you!

 

Love, Elder Anthony Kai Buckwalter

Ooh My Bones Are Aching. A Storms Comin Quick!

Dear family and friends,

 

Nothing like another great week! It all started out with a trip to a Xie dixiongs house. I don't know if I've ever talked about him, but him and his cousin own a bear store. It's just a ton of stuffed animal bears, bear posters, bear wedding planners, etc. It's nuts. And they're very devout Buddhist. They're both slowly investigating the church. When we got there, Xu dixiong, the cousin, was there. He was doing paintbrush calligraphy. He's really good at it. After showing us some Buddhist prayers, Elder Teerlink had a brilliant idea to have him write down Joseph Smith's 1st vision in calligraphy for us. So he DID! It was so cool. He also sang it out loud like a Buddhist prayer while writing it, which was also cool, but also creepy.

 

Tuesday we had an epic adventure taking out bikes on a train to Gaoxiong for ZTM. None of us had ever been there before. Oh yeah! I totally forgot to mention last week. The zones for the entire mission have been changed to whatever our stake is. So now we're no longer the Pingdong zone. We're the Gaoxiong east zone. So we have to travel to Gaoxiong to ZTM. It's different than the normal place we meet for like zone conferences and stuff. So none of us knew how to get there except Sister Liu since she served there last. It was a really good conference talking about all the changes. How we count numbers is completely different now. And we also had a member of the Stake High Council come to talk about working with RCLA's. It was really good.    That night we got to meet with Pan dixiong. We haven't met with him in a few weeks since he's been in Taibei. We finished Word of Wisdom and taught Tithing. His desire has grown so much! We used a baptismal planner to set a for sure date with him. He's super willing to work towards it. It was an amazing lesson!

 

Wednesday morning we went to pull weeds in a member's garden. It was just tons of tall weeds. So I pulled a "dad" and released all my energy and kicked out a ton. Then rested. Then blew up again and kicked out another bunch. Then rested. Then used all the rest of my empty tank and destroyed the rest, and then fell over and nearly passed out from lightheadedness. Everyone was in shock at my blasts of energy. It's just how I was raised. For lunch we were taken to a really nice steak restaurant by a couple in our ward. All of us missionaries were taken. Way expensive. They're preparing to serve a mission and needed our help translating all their info for their papers. That night at English class, my class was a little dull. I tried some games to get them talking, but they didn't want to. So it was awkward. But they still all had fun.Thursday had a lot of rain, kind of like the beginning of the week. We got to meet with an LA that cuts hair. He was really cool and opened up to us a lot. We got him the new translation of the Book of Mormon since he only had the old one and lost it too. He's a pretty sweet guy.

Friday was so stressful but then became fun. We had to meet with Lin dixiong to go over the baptismal interview questions with him before his interview on Saturday. We also had zone leader exchanges an hour later. So it was way rushed. But it all worked out. Elder McKenzie came here with me. He's one transfer below me and we knew each other in the MTC. He's super cool. As we finished dinner and were about to bike 45 minutes to our RC's house, it starts POURING! Super massive downpour that I haven't seen in almost a year. Good ol' typhoon season. The roads started flooding and we didn't wear any rain gear. We were soaked from head to toe. We started biking through over 6 inch deep water covering the road. Once we got there, our RC wasn't there. But his parents were. They're a cute old couple. Our RC is 45. They were really friendly and talked to us about the church. As we were heading back home, we were self contacted by an LA who is in the military and hasn't been to church pretty much since he was baptized 5 years ago. But he saw us and wanted to talk to us. It was really cool.

 

Saturday we found out that Rocky moved back to Miami... I was depressed. He was only here for the summer though. We talked to his uncle and he's going to get Rocky's info for us to keep in contact.  Then we ate at Cafe Grazie. Super good Italian restaurant that every missionary wants to go to when they come here. And we got a free pizza!   Lin dixiong's baptism interview was supposed to be after lunch, but he called and canceled at the last minute! He has this training thing in Gaoxiong. So we were broken up. But it got rescheduled for Sundaymorning before church.  That night we met with the Pan Pan Guo trio of friends and had our ward mission leader peike. Him and his wife did a really good job explaining the need to be baptized by the proper authority.

 

Sunday morning before church Lin dixiong was interviewed! He's set for this Saturday! So excited. He had to leave early after Sacrament meeting because of family things though. The Ke family came again and brought their friends that live in Pingdong. It was a pretty good day at church. We were going through a ton of records for the rest of the day. We noticed that there isn't as many former investigator records that there should be in our apartment. Then we realized that our coffee table in our living room had some doors on it. The handles were gone, so we never saw it. When we opened it up, there was 11 binders FULL of records. So we had a lot of work to do.

 

And that was my week! Our 4 man is having a ton of fun. There's just little things that we all just die laughing over. I'm way excited for this week! I'll keep you in my prayers! Don't forget to write! Remember S.H.O.P. (sweet hour of prayer) don't forget to pray. I love you all!

 

Love, Elder Anthony Kai Buckwalter

I Love Family Reunions!

Dear family and friends,

 

What an interesting week! Some of the things that happened this week have been some of the most happy and the most funny moments of my mission.

 

Last Tuesday for DTM, since all of us are training or being trained, I did DTM on goals. And we worked with our companions to help them set goals for this transfer. It was a lot of fun. Our district is really close. We have a lot of fun. That afternoon we met with the happy trio of friends. Two of them are Christian and one is Buddhist. I really respect missionaries in very Christian countries, because it's very different than meeting with Buddhists. They were a little iffy to set a baptismal goal, but the Buddhist was willing! So we're going to be working hard to help them out.    That night we biked out pretty far to one of our RC's house. He's single and taking care of his 2 year old son. They also have a little Labrador puppy. The boy and the puppy were playing and it was so dang cute. After a while the puppy bit the boy's pants and he was like "dad! He's got my pants! Dad!" So he was dragging the puppy along and soon the puppy won and took his pants. It was so funny. It helped our RC out with having hope for his family.

 

Wednesday was all of our trainee's first time English proselyting. They loved it. People were taking pictures of them. Weird. That's never happened to me. I think... Then that night we had English class. It was pretty alright. But afterwards I was talking to a family that has been coming the past few weeks. Elder Feigleson and I were self contacted by the dad. He's the one that said he has interest because America is a powerful country and has so many Christians. So he's been bringing his wife and little daughter to English class. During the spiritual share when I was teaching about how to say a prayer. The mom looked to interested. I was going to sing "A Child's Prayer" but no one could play the piano. So I read the words and the mom thought it was super cute. So she started talking to a member afterwards. So the whole family is now interested in our church and we set them up for Saturday!!! Super amazing!

 

Thursday we had a super sweet time painting the outside walls of a member's house. It was super cool. Almost exactly a year ago while being trained, I was on Chuson's multi-leveled roof painting his outside walls. Now I'm doing it again while training! These recurrences have been happening so much. It's freaky. But it was a ton of fun. We then got to meet with a less active that's slowly becoming more active. He's mom is an aborigine and their house is super cool. It looks like a cabin. You don't see that here.

 

Friday was a rough day all the way until the end of the night. As we were waiting for a lesson that never came through, we saw some people just walking around in the hall. So we went to meet them. Turns out he's a former of 7 years that came super close to getting baptized but started doubting and backed out. He still keeps the Word of Wisdom, remembers the 1st vision, is still in contact with the original missionaries that taught him, and loves coming by the church every once in a while to feel the peace inside. Miracle! So we sat with him and shared a bit. He said he's not as doubting as in the past. So he wants to try again! Oh, and he's fluent in English. Such an amazing night.

 

Saturday we got to meet with the Liao family that we're going to try to co teach with the Sisters. They're super cute, but don't have much hope because the husbands parents are very traditional and don't agree. But we're going to do all we can to help them! That afternoon we sat with Lin dixiong. We told him that we have a lot that we still have to cover and do before he can get baptized. And because he's so dedicated to hit his goal, he's putting a lot of time in to meet with us a lot this week and get an interview. He's super willing!    That night we got to meet with that family from English class. The Zhong family. It was one of the most AMAZING 1st lessons I've every experienced. While using the pamphlets, it was all brought back to the picture of the happy family, and the picture of Christ holding the lamb. They loved it so much. I can't even describe it. And their 8 year old daughter was asking the perfect questions to lead into the next topic. They're an amazing family!

 

Sunday the unimaginable happened. I'm sitting on the pew right by the door, and right as the sacrament was over, the KE FAMILY walks in. Yes the Ke family from Tainan. I seriously dropped my jaw and stared. Sister Liu and I were in so much shock. They came down to visit us. It was so amazing. They've been kind of touring the south wards for one purpose: to take their friends. Last week they were in another ward that they brought their friends' family to. And after church yesterday, I got a call from them saying that they were coming again next week because they're bringing their friends that live in Pingdong! They went to visit them and told them all about our church. So they're all coming next week! So amazing!

 

Then in the evening, the ward had a thing on eternal marriage. A girl in our ward got sealed on Saturday, so they had a half reception half activity on eternal marriage thing. A bunch of families got up and talked about aspects of eternal marriage as their marriage pictures were playing on a projection screen in the background. It was really cool. Our ward is super strong!

 

And then today a Chen family in our ward took us to this super cool big buddha place. It was amazing. It was so huge and beautiful! We were taken around by a monk from Singapore that spoke English. She was super cool and nice. The life of a monk...

 

And that was my week! I love you all! I love my mission! This place is so amazing. What a blessed place. Keep writing. I'll try to get pictures next week.

 

Love, Elder Anthony Kai Buckwalter

Taiwan Week 62: Congratulations, It's A Boy!

Dear family and friends,

 

What a week. It was the most crazy I've ever had in my mission. For one, I'm training! It's so much fun. His name is Elder Teerlink. He's from Salt Lake City and went to the same school as Elder Bardsley. We're having a lot of fun. And let me tell you how. Here's the crazy:

 

Monday night while contacting, I got the call from President Blickenstaff saying he wanted me to train. I was excited and nervous. When me and Elder Feigleson got home, both the zone leaders were pacing on the phone talking at crazy speeds and there were suitcases on the floor. Turns out that Elder Limpanasriphong was called to go assistant! He's replacing Elder Allen, who is going home tomorrow. And he had to be up in Taizhong on Wednesday. So he was all over the place. And then the next thing, Elder Bardsley was called to train too! So our apartment became a two trainer apartment. So we were all over the place trying to get everything figured out.

Tuesday Elder Bardsley and I had to go to Gaoxiong for a training meeting for trainers. It was a lot of fun. There are 33 new missionaries, so 33 trainers. When we got back, Elder Limpanasriphong and Elder Feigleson were teaching one of our investigators, and we started teaching one of theirs. And it just kept happening back to back for a few hours. Oh yeah, and Sister Liu is training too. So our entire district is training now. That night we were all over the place trying to get everything in order some more.

 

Wednesday Elder Limpanasriphong got on a train in the morning, so we became a threesome for two days. We had a few lessons in the afternoon and then had to run all over the place to get ready for our English party that night as lightning was striking all around us. It struck a building right next to us. I've never been so terrified in my life. The English party was a lot of fun. We had a ton of people show up and they all had fun. We taught them all how to have an FHE for the spiritual share. It was cool, and most of them loved singing the hymns.

 

Thursday was super hard since we had weekly planning and helping Elder Feigleson get packed. So many people were moving in the zone, so we had to coordinate that. Then we had a service project out an hour away in the rain. It was actually really fun. It was for a part member part active family. And the dad, who isn't a member, really liked talking to us. We hurried and got showered and hopped on a train for a far away area to meet up with Chuson and Elder Cao because that's where Elder Feigleson was going to stay for the weekend. The train broke down and we had to wait. We made the exchange and made it back right before 10:00. And then it was just me and Elder Bardsley.

 

Friday we had a 5:45 train to Taizhong. It was nerve racking to wait to see who we're training. But not as scary as the new missionaries waiting to meet their trainer. We had a sweet meeting and then found out who is training who. When Elder Teerlink said my name, I was way excited, and Elder Bardsley was right behind me since we're in a 4-man. Elder Bardsley is training Elder Davies. They're both really cool. We ate at Hawaii 51, I said my final goodbye to Elder Allen and got a picture as grandfather, father, and son. All together. It was cute. We headed back and got back around 6:30. We had a good beef noodles and then had a rather messed up and funny lesson at a bear shop with Xie dixiong and Xu dixiong. They're cousins. They're very not together when they're together. It was hard to keep the lesson going without distractions. It was funny.

 

Saturday we had a few good lessons during the day. We met with Lin wei kai and shared the 1st. He really loved it and is way excited for his baptism. He just needs to meet with us more! Haha.

 

Sunday was really sweet. We had so many people show up to church. There were a ton of visitors. Lin wei kai came, but left a little early. There's a Liao family that was meeting with the Sisters before I got here. Because of family opposition from the grandparents, they stopped investigating. But they called up Sister Liu and said they want to come to church again. So they came! Sister Liu asked me if I wanted to co-teach them. Me and Sister Liu co-taught the Ke family in Tainan together. She thinks us working with the dad will help they're family get baptized. So we're doing it again! And he's excited.   We then had a Single's FHE after church at a members house. Everyone in this ward is way excited to help us out. They're all excited to work with our new companions, since all of us are training!

 

Today our companions' luggage finally got here! It took a long time. We had a pretty relaxing day getting all they're new things bought. We had lunch with a Filipino investigator of Elder Bardsley's. It was good. And now here we are! Last week was so crazy. But it was really fun. And I'm really excited to keep it up!

I love you all! I miss you all. Don't forget to write!

 

Love, Elder Anthony Kai Buckwalter

Taiwan Week 61: The Day To Remember

Dear family and friends,

 

What an AMAZING week!! Oh man I loved it so much. We were running all over the place. We were on a roll. We were having a ball. We were on fire. We love Pingdong!

 

Monday we got lunch at a Mexican restaurant. You don't find those in Taiwan. It was a miracle that we came across it. I had a spicy chili burger. It was so good. We had lunch with Kang Zhe Wei. Our man that got baptized on Saturday!!! But I'll get to that in a bit. It was his first time eating Mexican food. So it was a funny experience. He was getting so excited for his baptism. That afternoon I got one of the happiest phone calls ever. I was told that CHEN MAMA in Xihu was getting BAPTIZED that Saturday! And she was this last Saturday! It brought so much happiness to my heart. I wish I could've been there. She said she wanted me to come. But I'm so happy for her.

 

Tuesday we had lunch with two of our investigators from English class that are friends. They're super cool. They brought a friend as well and now he has interest. We ate at this traditional restaurant that has epic drums and music playing. It was super cool. We were sharing about the Book of Mormon and brought up how they were an ancient civilization. Then the tribal music started playing in the restaurant. It fit perfectly.    That night we met with Pan dixiong and started sharing about the Word of Wisdom. It was a little hard for him to take in, so our Peike did a really great job talking about where this commandment came from and why it's so significant to our time. It was really cool. I love the ward here.

 

Wednesday we had the most amazing lesson with such an amazing kid. He's had a rough life so far. I had no hope in him when we contacted him on the street. I didn't think he was going to make his appointment, but he did! That was the first humbling experience for me. When we met, he was super sincere and said he wanted to change his life around. After hearing about his life a bit, we asked him what made him want to meet with us and he said "When you said you represented Jesus Christ, I really wanted to learn more, because I want him to make me better." It was the hardest battle for all of us to hold back tears during the lesson. It was so amazing. He's beyond willing.

 

That afternoon as we were running around between a ton of appointments that came out of nowhere, the zone leaders called and said Elder Limpanasriphong was beyond sick, so they wouldn't be able to make it to English class. So we were running around all over the place to fill their spots for the night. And in the end, I had 15 new members in my class. It was so crazy. They were all so curious about me, which made my long term students also excited because I hate just talking about myself, and this gave them a chance to learn more about me. But it was a crazy night. We didn't get home until right before 10:00 because we had to run some errands for the zone leaders.

 

Thursday was Zone Conference!! It was so much fun. I finally got to see Elder Terry. I haven't seen him in nearly 6 months. So much fun. It was super short. We got to hear introductions of new missionaries and reflections of the ones about to go home. Elder Allen gave his. It was really good. I love my trainer. Then President Blickenstaff did some training on some changes he wants to make. It's going to help the mission so much.

 

Friday was all over the place. We had a lesson with a less active family, but it was way far away. We got really lost. In the end, the mom had to come out and find us and direct us back to their house. They own this big flower orchard thing that's under a huge net. It was so cool to walk around inside. We're going back this week to help pull weeds. I'm way excited. I had to catch a butterfly that got inside. It was a pretty epic hunt. The family is super amazing though. The mom brought the two youngest kids and the oldest son to church!   That night, the assistants stayed over at our house after they had exchanges with the zone leaders. Elder Allen presented me a tie that has been handed down from one son to another. It was given to him by his trainer, who got it from his trainer, who is Spencer Harris. How far back it goes, I don't know. But now I have it and I need to give it to my son.

 

Saturday we had a lesson with a member referral. He's super amazing and has a huge desire to get baptized. He said after being to a few different churches, he knows that this church is true by the feel he gets here. It was so amazing.   That night Kang Zhe Wei got BAPTIZED!!! It was so great! He finally got a little nervous right before. But afterwards he said he just has the burning feeling inside that he's never felt before. He loved it so much. The Sisters also had a baptism and she's super prepared too. It was an amazing night. We got baptism ice cream afterwards and reflected the memories.

 

Sunday we had a sweet church. Kang dixiong got confirmed and was even more happy than the night before. He also peike'd after church and loved getting to share his testimony. There were some... interesting things that happened at church that were a little freaky, but it's not important now. But it definitely was the most interesting Sacrament meeting I've ever been to. We went to the Single's FHE that afternoon and tried out a bunch of English games for our English party this week. They're going to be helping us out.

 

And that was my week in a flash! It was a ton of fun. This week is the last week of the transfer and 30 new missionaries are coming on. So a ton of people have to go trainer. So us 4 have been pulling pranks on each other saying one of us has been called to go trainer. It's been a weekend of pranks. Haha, we'll see what happens. But I'm way excited to keep going here in Pingdong! I love you all! Keep writing! Keep the faith!

 

Love, Elder Anthony Kai Buckwalter

Taiwan Week 60: Fill Up The Font!

Dear family and friends,

 

What a week. It has been crazy. Probably a little bit more than it should have been because I tweaked my back a bit and can only move it about half as much as I could before. It's not good. It hurts. But I've been doing stretches and might have to get it checked. But other than that, the week has been great!

 

Monday night we had FHE at the zone leaders' RC's house, who is the aunt of one of our RC's. So he was there too. It was in the outskirts of Pingdong. There were so many mosquitoes. It was so annoying. But it was really good. It was on gratitude. We all had a fun time. Altogether there was about 15 people there.

 

Tuesday we had a great DTM on Finding, particularly finding formers. We had some fun practicing on each other calling formers and trying to add them. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be. There's a skill behind it that I'm still working on after calling through 500+ formers on my mission.   Afterwards we had a really sweet Zhang kid come meet with us. We had contacted him the first week of the move call. We've been meeting with him very slowly, but he accepted a baptismal goal! He's super cool. He came even in the pouring rain.

 

Wednesday morning was super hard with straight contacting and no success. But we kept doing it. And then after lunch as we were continuing our language study, a man self contacted us and flat out said he has interest. He said there's gotta be a relation between the US being such a super power nation and the fact that there are so many Christian believers. He says it must be a promised land from God. I was blown away. All of this from a retired policeman. So he set up for another time!   That night at English class, I stayed here in Pingdong. My class missed me. They were happy to see me and we had a ton of fun. I missed them too. They wanted to learn about cowboy culture. It was a lot of fun. It's hard though because I don't have any members in my class, so the spiritual share is pretty hard.

 

Thursday we got to do service for a member. We moved a ton of furniture in their house. It was fun. And then they force fed us a ton of watermelon. I ate so much. It's so good, but I can't eat that much. Everyone here is so good to the missionaries. That afternoon I got to do a baptismal interview for one of the Sisters' investigators, and he is beyond prepared. I would ask her one of the questions and she would just start teaching me all about it and bear a ton of testimony. I just stared with my jaw dropped, thinking "how did you learn this much in a month?" It was so insane. She is so excited to get baptized this week.

 

Friday was all over the place since we had lessons scheduled all throughout the day with no time for weekly planning. So we had to fit it in everywhere possible. And the zone leaders said they wanted to exchange later that day. So we were running around all over the place. But it all came down to watching this video with a member on finding jobs. He had just come back from being less active. He's really cool and wanted out help. The ward gave him this video on finding jobs. It looks like a church video from the 80's. It's in English with Chinese subtitles, so he wanted our help just in case there was a weird translation. So Elder Limpanasriphong and I helped him out. He's been bringing friends to church ever since he came back. It's super amazing.

 

Saturday we met with an investigator that isn't allowed to get baptized. He has a huge desire to join the church and has been investigating for over a year, but his dad won't let him get baptized. He has already read all of the standard works and a lot on the history of the church. His testimony is amazing. He loves history and even did some intense research in China's history and found places where the script was taken out that proves that God exists and has His teachings. Once again, jaw dropping. He then brought up some questions about family history and brought up one of his relatives. Mao Ze Dong. Like you know, the famous Chinese dictator guy. He's related to him. What a weird conversation that was.

 

Later that day we met at a member's house and had FHE with them and Kang Zhe Wei, afterwards had a baptismal interview in one of the rooms in their house and he passed! He's really excited to get baptized.

Sunday was ward conference. So many people were there. The Sisters' investigator and ours were announced for baptism this Saturday. I'm way excited! The rest of the day was meetings and a ton of phone calls. But it was such a great day.

 

And that was my week. It was a lot of fun. We're all hoping to have a relaxing day today. I'm so tired. My back hurts. We'll see what happens with that.  I love you all! I miss you so much. I'll keep you in my prayers.

 

Love, Elder Anthony Kai Buckwalter

Taiwan Week 59: Lamest Typhoon Ever

Dear family and friends,

 

Well this week was a weird one. Everyone was preparing for a record size typhoon to hit, so meeting with people was pretty interesting. Tuesday we got hit by heavy rain right before our ZTM. But we had a great meeting. We focused on working with members and getting member referrals. Elder Chang (Chuson) and Elder Cao gave some really good training on asking for member referrals. It was so amazing.    Afterwards, Elder Feigleson's bike had a flat tire and there was nowhere near us to fix it. So we had to walk a long way and put our entire schedule behind. It was rough.

 

But we had an amazing lesson with a less active that we met with last week. A Patrick. He's the one that was baptized and then went less active shortly after, but found another Christian church later on. I just had this urge to call one random less active in our phone. I came across a Pablo and decided to call him. It was Patrick! He changed his name a few years ago. It was a such a miracle for all of us because he had lost Elder Vandiford's number and needed it again.. As we talked, we got on the subject of the Book of Mormon. He only had the old translation. We brought out a new one for him. He said after all these years, he remembers one picture that our church has that stood out to him so much. It's the one with Christ descending into the Americas with his arms held out to the people. It's in the Book of Mormon! So I turned to it and he just stared. The Spirit was so strong. He said he'd start reading it again!

 

Wednesday was so crazy. We helped a member move in a new fridge. In the end we had to carry it down a flight of stairs from one house, and then up 4 flights of stairs to his apartment. It was so hard. But he's a really cool member. He loves taking pictures, and I came across one of Chase Gluch with Elder Tate! Later that afternoon I went down to Donggang again with Elder Cao and Elder Chang for english class.

 

Thursday we had lessons all over the place, so we were just running around so much. But it all came down to a less active dinner. There are a few less actives in our ward that are pretty close friends, thry're super less active, they know they're less active, they know we want to help them come back to church, and love joking about it to us. So they put together a less active dinner at a Thai restaurant. It was pretty interesting. But we built better relationships with them, so hopefully it'll help them a bit too.

 

Friday we had our interviews. President Blickenstaff and his wife are super cool! And yes, his nephew opened the Blickenstaffs toy store in the Riverwoods. I'm a little jealous of the missionaries in Taizhong. Sister Blickenstaff loves to cook and loves cooking for them. I'm excited to have him as a mission president.  That night we biked out to a far area to visit a recent convert. He's really cool, but has so many problems with his family. It's sad. He's just asking for help and comfort. He's got some epic willpower though.

 

Saturday was the day of the "Big Typhoon." We went running in the morning with some rain and semi strong winds, and then it got really crazy for about 10 minutes during breakfast. But after that there was nothing. Some typhoon. Everyone was still scared that it was going to come, so no one was out on the street.

 

Sunday was so amazing! Kang Dx came to church and loved it. After church, we finished up the rest of the lessons and went over the baptismal interview questions! He is so ready! I'm way excited. Then last night we had a deep lesson with a very long term investigator. He was so open with us. I could tell he had a huge trust in us. So I was happy for that.

 

And that was my week. I really need to catch up in my journal. There are some details in these that are so amazing. It was a great week! I hope you are all doing great. I love you all! I'll keep you in my prayers.

 

Love, Elder Anthony Kai Buckwalter

Taiwan Week 58: Welcome To Miami! I Mean, Taiwan

Dear family and friends,

 

So before I forget, I saw Hayden Pugmire singing at the worldwide broadcast! I forgot to mention that last week.

So this week was super crazy! We had so many cool experiences! We as a zone are trying to focus on praying before everything. And the miracles have been flooding in! On Tuesday night we had a lesson fall through. We were just going to go out contacting, so we decided to say a prayer first. After the prayer, we both had the feeling to go find some less actives. After a few that weren't home, we got to one that was really willing to let us in. He has perfect english. After a few minutes, he asked if Elder Vandiford told us to go visit him. We were confused. Turns out, Elder Vandiford contacted him in Gaoxiong the day before. Also! He lives there now and we just happened to come looking for him on the one day he decided to visit his parents here. So it all came into place! It was so crazy. Since being baptized 10 years ago, he has joined another Christian church. He didn't feel like he was ready for our church when he got baptized and left really soon after. And ever since then, his desire to grow close to Christ has been growing. So he found another church and joined it. It just doesn't seem fully right to him though. This was like candy to me! It was such a huge miracle to find him.

 

Wednesday was all over the place. I'm helping Sister Liao pass off her phase 1, so we had to hurry and do that so I could meet Chuson and Elder Cao at the bus station. One of us Elders goes to their area every week and helps teach english. So I got to be with Chuson for the night! I got to meet their investigator that was getting baptized that Saturday. He is now baptized! It was so cool. Their English class is a little more relaxed. There isn't over 100 people like here in Pingdong. It was a lot of fun.

 

Thursday was Independence Day. I decorated my planner like crazy to celebrate, but our day was too packed to really celebrate. I was a little depressed about that. We had dinner with a member family that night. Their son is in Canada on a mission right now and I was in the MTC with him! Well I only got to see him for a few days. But they were all super nice.  Later, we had two lessons set up at the same time at the church. If you haven't noticed, a lot of people have the same last name. There's a lot of Chen, Ke, Lin, Huang, Li, Wang, etc. So a Huang guy called me and asked if we set up for that night or the next night. I thought it was the Huang that we were about to meet with. So he said he'd be there soon. The original Huang didn't show up, but this teenager did. I had never met him before, but he's met Elder Feigleson before. So I was really confused. And I was splitting with my companion, so I had no idea what this kid has heard before. It was such a fun night.

 

Friday was even more all over the place because there was a young men activity that the ward asked us to be over that was right in the middle of our weekly planning. So we were running all over the place to get as much done and make it to the activity. I was able to meet a bunch of the young men. They're pretty sweet.  We had lessons back to back to back. We had no time to contact that day. So we prayed for miracles in our final 30 minutes before we had to go home. While we were parking our bikes, we were self contacted by a boy and his dad in english. One of the first things the boy says is "What brings you to Miami? I mean uh Taiwan?" I told him I was a missionary and asked why he brought up Miami. He said he lives in Miami. His mom lives there and he visits his dad every summer. He doesn't really know Chinese anymore, but is learning again. His dad had pretty good english too and told us that we had to help his son join our church! I don't think he knew what that means in our church... Haha. But I'll take it! So they set up for church!

 

Saturday we had an amazing lesson with Kang. He's just this super smooth guy. He's got a goal for the 27th and is really determined. After the lesson, we were all just talking. There were a lot of people there. Then he just comes out and says he wants to know how to have a happy family! His desires just flooded out! So our peike, who is super cool and was the last ward mission leader, said we should have the next lesson at the Bishops house. Then perfectly, the bishop walks in! And it was all set up. What an amazing thing.

 

Sunday was so great! Rockie, the Miamian, came. Kang came. And our RC brought his friend! We were all over the place helping them. It was so great. They all loved it so much. It was just a great Sunday. Miracles everywhere.

 

That was my week. It was so good. I love you all! I miss you all too! That's all on this part for now. Until next week!

 

Love Elder Anthony Kai Buckwalter

Taiwan Week 57: Pingdong, The Land Of Milk And Honey

Dear family and friends,

 

I am absolutely loving it here in Pingdong! The people here are famous for being nice. And it is so crazy. They are so nice. I'm loving it.

 

Last Tuesday we had DTM. I love my district. It's us four Elders and Sister Liu and Sister Liao. Sister Liu served with me in Tainan and co-taught the Ke family. And Sister Liao is going to serve at Temple square, but she's waiting for her Visa. So she's going to do a full training here. We have a sweet district.   We went English proselyting and has so much success. We added 20 people for English!   We have this Pan Dixiong investigator. He asks so many really deep questions. I love it so much because he actually asks questions! But they're really hard to answer and hook into the lesson. They're super deep.

 

Wednesday we got to be in a Threesome with Elder Limpanasriphong because Elder Bardsley went to Donggang. They only have two Taiwanese Elders, so we do splits on Wednesdays to teach they're advanced class. But this week CHUSON from Nantou is coming down to help out and be a short term missionary! I'm so excited! His English is better than mine. But we still might keep switching to help train him how to use our program. I think I'm going down this week. So I'm way excited.  But anyway we had so many miracles on the street with Elder Limpanasriphong. And then that night we had an ok turnout. They usually get over 100 students here! But last week was a low. I love the beginner class though.

 

Thursday was a pretty hot day. And we were all really tired. So we took every chance to get inside. I got to meet some really nice less actives. Everyone is new to me! Haha. I also got to meet a Xie investigator. He's super sweet too. He owns this shop that sells stuffed animal bears. It's crazy cool.

 

Friday we met with the most golden investigator ever. Everything we taught him was golden in his ears. He said he wants to get baptized and be a part of God's eternal family. He said he'll be willing to obey any commandment because it's what God wants for him to be happy. But he's moving! He actually left today. I was really sad. But he's going to try to keep working with the missionaries in Taibei.

 

Saturday I got to meet some of our RC's here. They're really cool. One is this really cute old man. He can't hear well, and might be losing his mind a bit. Apparently he's gotten a little slow in the past few weeks. Poor guy. That night the Sisters had a baptism! Also a super amazing woman that self contacted the missionaries after having a huge urge to talk to them a week before on the train but got too scared.

 

Sunday was amazing. The ward here is super strong. We had a sweet Kang investigator come to church. He is a good looking fellow. He's just so smooth in speaking and everything. And he's extremely willing to learn as well. He's already come 3 times and keeps coming back because he loves it. He's working towards a goal as well. We got to watch the worldwide leadership broadcast last night. Super sweet things are happening to missionary work! And the Hengchun Elders came to watch with us and then slept at our house. Six of us. It was so much fun.

The Ke family in Tainan called me last night! Elder Greer is there now and gave them my phone number. So they called! It was super amazingly amazing! I miss them so much.

 

This place is amazing. I love it here. I'm so excited for this next week. I miss you all! I hope that package comes soon. I'm really excited. Please keep writing! Until next week!

 

Love, Elder Anthony Kai Buckwalter