Sunday, March 20, 2016

New friends and miracles

P-day in Tianmu
We had another amazing week. This week was even better than last. I'm still in Tianmu with Elder Chia. We keep seeing so many miracles. We taught 35 lessons, have five people preparing for baptism, and three people came to church. Our area is picking up huge. President Jergensen also sent in another companionship in our area, it effected us immediately. Both of our companionships are just having so much fun and getting some awesome work done!

President Jergensen was feeling pretty inspired and hooked Tianmu up with another set of Elders. Now we have 4 Elders in Tianmu, and well, things have caught on fire (not really mom, no worries). Elder Chia and I saw so many miracles.

New companionship added to Tianmu
Because there is too much to share, I will tell you my favorite story of the week:

Elder Chia and I were finding by one of the MRT stations and getting rejected for an entire hour straight. Not fun. Elder Chia keeps a clicker with him to count how many people we talked to. We were up to 68 people with no success. We stopped for a second to evaluate and before we even got into anything a guy walked passed and before thinking I was talking to him. He took his headphones out and started talking with us. His name is Ning Wei Kai. Explained how his family is Christian but he himself hasn't been to church in a long while. It was a miracle contact and he decided to set up with us later in the week.  In his follow up lesson, we taught him the restoration, and set him on a baptismal date. He has TONS of desire. Said one of the most sincere prayers I've heard. He came to church the following day and loved it.

We are super excited to work with him.

Things are going well.

I hope you all have a blessed week!

Elder Chase Matua

Elder Aiono is my new Zone Leader!

Sunday, March 13, 2016

New companion, great week

I'm gonna miss this guy
This past week was a lot better than the last one.

Seeing Elder Qiu off was hard, but he emailed me and I got a good laugh in.
He's a funny guy and i'll have to keep in close contact with him. Super sad seeing Elder Qiu off, but I'm excited for him to continuing his journey. He sent me an email that said, "hey dude, i want to tell you , The USA's rice is really not good , when you try you will know!!!" He's a funny guy.

Got a little closer to the Savior this week. I learned that "the purpose of going through the refiner's fire isn't to face challenges. It is to meet the refiner." If there is one thing I've learned on my mission, it is Jesus Christ Lives. The power of His Atoning sacrifice is infinite in every way.

My new companion is Elder Chia from Sandy, UT. He's been in Taiwan for 6 months now, and he was just companions with my buddy Elder Smith. We're excited to do some good work together. His dad is Taiwanese, and his mother is Korean. Loves the work, and does it well.

Elders of the North Zone
We actually saw a lot of miracles this week. Met some really great people, and two of them showed up at church. Tianmu was alive this week. It felt really good. I felt much power from the love and support of each of you. Thanks for your prayers.

Me and Elder Chia
This week is going to be interesting. I may have another new companion by next monday. I could even be in a new area. We'll have to see what the Lord has in store.

A scripture that hit me hard this week:
Alma 31:38 - How can our afflictions be swallowed up in the joy of Christ?

Fun fact: The Taiwan-Taipei mission is welcoming four (4) Pioneers this week. Good luck to each of them.


Have a blessed week!

Elder Chase Matua

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Elder Qiu is out!

Our district
He's leaving first thing tomorrow morning. And I'm going to be pretty sad to see him go, but happy for him to move forward. It's been a great two transfers serving with him. We learned a lot together (mostly the hard way). They say you learn more as a trainer than you did as a trainee. Seeing that I probably didn't teach Elder Qiu too much, That statement is true for us! He's going to do great things in California.

This week was pretty interesting. Our area is still lacking in investigators. It's been pretty hard not having people to teach. Being on the streets the majority of the time definitely takes it's toll. We have some set ups this week, hopefully we don't get fang'd.

Miracle of the week:
We were biking last night, trying to feel something, letting the spirit guide us to a place to find. We rode past the baseball stadium, and out in front, I saw a man sitting on a bench staring at his phone. Everyone stares at their phones here. If they're not sleeping, they're looking at their phones. Before I could even think, I told myself, "It's him". We hopped up on the curb, rode towards him, and I said, "hello".
He said, "what?"
All you can eat BBQ!
I said, "We're representatives of Jesus Christ, can we share with you a message about Him?"
"Sure."

His name was Daniel, and he was one of the nicest people I've met in a while. He was taking his work break when we started talking to him. He wasn't willing to set up, but he was willing to listen, and he even said a prayer for us (he's never prayed before). I call it a miracle because it was the first time in a long time that someone sincerely listened to what we were sharing. I believe we'll run into him again, and he said if it's fate that we meet again he'll want to learn more. I know it's something simple, but it's these simple moments that have been keeping me going. Unfortunately there have been days that I just don't want to work. It's hard to keep going. But the miracles come. They may be few, they may be small, but they're there. And that's why I love missionary work. The simple, joyful moments will ALWAYS make up for the struggle.

Jesus is the Christ, He lives. and while He lives I'll sing.

I love you guys. Have a blessed week.

Elder Matua