Harvesting, Finding, Investigators and truth seekers

Ice with Aaron and Zora

Don't have tons of time today, but I'll try my best to give a quick overview of the week. It was a good one!

Monday- We went with Aaron and Zora to the Shilin market. One of the biggest markets in Taiwan. I finally bought some new pants. Had some good xue hua bing (Taiwanese shaved ice). Later on Monday we were knocking and a brother named Ben let us in! He was really nice to us, but wasn't willing to meet with us again.

Tuesday- Our District has 3 companionships. Us, the zone leaders, and a sister comp. Our sisters called in telling us they were sick and that they weren't going to be able to make it to district meeting. The Zone leaders were heading up to the Beitou district meeting so they weren't going to make our district meeting either. Having district meeting with only one companionship doesn't really doesn't work too well, so the zone leaders had us tag along with them to Beitou district meeting. Tuesday night we had our first

Our trip to Danshui

meeting with Kenton. 18 yr old guy from Michigan. He's on a foreign exchange program at a school right near the temple. He ran into the missionaries on the MRT and they got us in contact with him. Super awesome kid. Very humble and I consider him an honest seeker of truth.

Wednesday- Had a lesson with our buddy Reinaldo. Haven't seen him for a while so it was nice to sit down and talk with him. He went back to Brazil over Christmas. He told us how he had the chance to visit his mother's grave. While he was there he felt inspired that he really needs to get his life and his family's life in order. They're putting in extra effort to get their priorities straight and come back to Church. It was cool to see the excitement as well as Christ's countenance oh his face. We told him we'd come back to his pizza shop for dinner. Well, right before we went back one of the crazy people we met on the street recognized us and followed us in. He decided to have dinner with us... and asked us to pay for him. We ended up paying for him, had some super good pizza, and the crazy guy calls us every day to let us know how his day went. English class was great and through it we found a new investigator, Peter.

Having dinner with a member family

Thursday- We met with Kenton again. He let us know his doubts about Joseph Smith. We encouraged him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. He committed to do so. He's such a great guy. He told us that one of his greatest desires is to help people come unto Christ. I said, "me too."

Friday- We went on exchanges with the zone leaders. Both of us went into the area to proselyte. Had a good time, and learned some new things.

Saturday- We met with Peter, our new investigator. Really nice, humble guy. We shared our purpose as missionaries and set a baptismal date with him. He seems pretty excited about learning more. Prepared Peter. We had a long day of street contacting. The usual: crazy people, people who act like we don't exist, people who act like only their phones exist, dogs in strollers, me tripping over my feet every five minutes because I somehow forgot how to walk, and lots of miracles, big and small to fill in the space. We ran into a mom and her son who were willing to pray with us. They said they would ask the father if they could meet with us. We're praying they can. Also met a kid whose family goes to a Christian Church, but wants to meet with us to know more.

Meeting up with our friend Kenton

Sunday- The Sabbath. I love the Sabbath. What made it even better is I woke up to rain. And it never stopped. Heavenly Father was really looking out for me. Church services were great. We had a lesson with Betty Huang afterwards. Shared more about the Book of Mormon.

That kind of wraps it up!

Atonement Highlight of the week:
"A true faith in Christ is more than just knowing about Him or even believing He is divine. It is knowing that His Atonement is real, that it's purpose is to transform us, and that it will be available as long as that perfecting process takes. We have a Savior who covers us, a Redeemer who changes us, and a Good Shepherd who is willing to go in search of us again and again---continuously." -Brad Wilcox
I believe that Heavenly Father rejoices with every happy decision we make. But He knows we can always do better. I don't think he looks at us for who we were, but instead he looks at us for who we can become. He knows our potential and is willing to help us achieve it. So He has sent His Son to cover us, and change us. And if we happen to get lost, He will come in search of us.

"REMEMBER who you are." -Mufasa

You are a child of God, never forget it.

Have a blessed week!

Harvesting, McGyver and contacting

Our happy zone

Harvest.

That word has never stuck out in my mind so much as it has recently. With some changes world wide, "HARVEST" continues to be the responsibility and blessing of being a missionary, but in an even more emphasized manner. I love it.

We had zone meeting this past Tuesday and it was focused on "Teaching Repentance and Baptizing Convert". We are helping people that don't know who God is have an experience with the divine. Through helping them change their lives and truly repent of their sins, they have the that burning desire to "sing the song of redeeming love" that has been brought to us by our Savior, Jesus Christ. It leads them to lasting conversion, beginning with: BAPTISM. They have trained us to have quick and powerful lessons on the street. When I say quick, most contacts last for about 5-10 minutes. They are powerful and full of the spirit. Our entire mission has been seeing miracle after miracle. This direction from the brethren is indeed helping us find those that are prepared. We're HARVESTING!

Elder Qiu and I had a pretty good week. The majority of our time was spent on the streets, but it was fun.

My mind is pretty scattered right now (as always). I'm sure I'll have more cool stories to share next week. I'll also probably forget them by then, but I know you guys will forgive me!

Consider this: Alma 5:26
if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?

We had about 3 hours total of sit down lessons for the entire week, the rest was out side on the streets. we met a lot of really awesome people.

The spirit did something pretty cool for me this week. One Wednesday night English class back in my days in Long Tan I met a guy named Mcgyver. One night, that's all. I never saw him again. I thought he was pretty cool, and that he might come back another time. Time passed until saturday. Elder Qiu and I were contacting down a busy street, when a group of about six people walked past. I noticed a man in the back wearing sunglasses, and before I could even think, I heard myself say "Mcgyver"! He stopped, took his sunglasses off and said, "who are you?" we continued to talk and we made the connection. He was pretty amazed at what happened. I was too. He told me how his life was going and the struggles he was facing. I asked him if he ever actually sat down with the missionaries and learned about God. He said that he did over 20 years ago. I bore my testimony of Heavenly Father and the relationship we have with him. I encouraged him to meet with the missionaries again  in Longtan, and he said he would. It was a pretty cool experience and a testimony builder that God will work through us in special ways.


Love you all,
Elder Chase Matua

Getting "worked"

Pretty awesome to think that I spent all of 2015 in the service of our Lord. Probably definitely one of the highlights of my life.

Happy Elders getting 'worked'

Elder Qiu and I had a super slow week. We're struggling with finding people to teach. Last night as we were knocking, I taught him some new English. I rang a doorbell, a man walked out, asked what we wanted, I told him we're representatives of Jesus Christ and we'd like to share a message. He said, "thank you" about 50 times with out letting me say anything else, while he slowly shut the door. It actually happens pretty often. I looked at Elder Qiu and said, "He just WORKED me." He looked so confused, "..Whaaat??" Then explained to him how sometimes these people simply take control of the contact and leave us absolutely nothing to work with. They WORK us. So yeah, we're gonna be super bold this week so nobody works us. Elder Qiu and I get some pretty good laughs.

Our Ward moved to 1:30 in the afternoon so know we have studies in the morning. First time that has happened to me on my mission and I'm pumped. Sabbath Day studies. I'm sure there's nothing better.

Brother Lin came to Sacrament yesterday for the first time! We've been working with him for a while. I'm certain the big reason he came to church was because he has an awesome member fellowshipping him. Most converts that stay active, stay active because they have close friends helping them along the way.

Scripture of the week:
Proverbs 13:20
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

Surround yourself with greatness!


Love you all, and have a blessed week
Elder Chase Matua