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
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