Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Working hard in Tianmu

One of my best friends I've made on my mission, Bro Deng
Another week and a half, just like that. Through my entire mission, time has never slowed down. Always accelerating.

Besides time slipping through my finger tips, everything else is going great. Our area here in Tianmu is still on fire. We see miracles on a daily basis.

Our most progressing investigator is my friend named Brother Wu. GREAT guy. So incredibly humble and ready to receive the Gospel in it's fullness. He has so much Faith in Christ that he's always willing to give his all to change and apply the Atonement in his life. He is on track for the 7th of May. We're real excited for him.

A miracle from the street:
We continue to do a lot of finding. Here in Tianmu, there's a few places that often have steady flows of people walking around. Elder Chia and I like going near the MRT stations and try to catch as many people as possible. Just this past Monday we were out at the Ming De station. When I said hello to this man, he sort of hesitated then said, "oh.. uh. hello" then looked down at his phone. I continued talking to him, sharing our purpose as missionaries. The entire contact lasted about 5 minutes or less. He said he doesn't have any specific religion, but can accept that some type of God or maybe divine power exists. I asked him if we could grab his phone number and share with him another time and he agreed. He gave me his number then let me know that he was a little late on time so he had to go. He took maybe 5 more steps, turned around and said, "actually, this is super crazy, I had a dream about you last night."
"What?"
"Yeah, just last night I had a weird dream. I saw a painting of Jesus. Below the painting it had his name and then some other words."
Before thinking, I pointed at my name tag, "Did it say this?"
"Yeah that."
"...."
"Usually I just walk away from you guys. I felt like I should listen this time."
"...uuhh."
"call me next week!" then he ran off.

I was soooo blown away. We'll see what happens with him. One of the coolest experiences.

By the end of today I will know whether or not I'm moving out of Tianmu. I'm not sure how I feel about that. There's a chance I could be emailing out of another area come next monday!


Have a blessed week!

Elder Chase Matua
P.S. Sorry about the huge lack of pictures lately. I'll get some for monday!

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Short update today

First things first. I am beyond grateful for a loving Father in Heaven that has called prophets and apostles to lead and guide His  living church. How blessed we are to hear their inspired words each general conference. This past conference was truly incredible!

It was probably the highlight of my week!

Elder Chia and I are working with a few people right now that are doing pretty well. Still in the first stages of sincere conversion. With a little bit more time, effort, and divine help, they'll be on their way.

Some of the most powerful moments from this week come from being in the middle of a lesson and Heavenly Father opens my heart and allows me to see His children through His eyes. It's at these times that I've loved my mission the most. It's in these times that I feel like I never want to give up on anyone. and It's in these times that it hurts to see people walk away from the opportunities the Lord has given them. In a small degree I can understand the way our Heavenly Father feels when we fall away from Him. Stick to the basics. Life can be simple, and still be full of true joy.

One of my favorite quotes from GC:
 "Pull out the weeds, and water the flowers." - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Have a happy week! I love and miss you guys.


Elder Chase Matua

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Quick week, miracles and more

Beginning English Class
Another week in the blink of an eye. Time is flying faster than it ever has been. I'm sure I probably say that every week.

Elder Chia and I are still out here in Tianmu working our tails off. We continue to see plenty of miracles as we invite others to come unto Christ. 

Huge miracle that I saw this week:

Remember Sister Liang from Lontan. She got baptized a year ago when I was there. Well she went through the temple for her first endowment session. Elder Huntsman and I got to go with her. Such an incredible thing to see the Atonement literally change someone. It felt like I was talking to a completely different person. If there is one thing that I've learned on my mission it is how much power the Atonement has. 

Matthew 11:28 ~
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
It's real and it really works. Come unto our Savior Jesus Christ and feel the peace that our Heavenly Father is waiting to give us!


I love you guys. Have a blessed week.
Elder Matua

Funniest English Class ever. We made them close their eyes
and have their partner direct them through the 'maze'
Super good dinner
At the temple with Sister Liang - awesome

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Easter, Saomu and miracles

Meeting up with great people is
always fun
Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend. They don't celebrate it at all here in Taiwan. Most members didn't even know it was Easter. No worries, it was still a wonderful time to remember our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Here in Taiwan, around the same time we celebrate Easter, the Taiwanese have a very special holiday. It's called saomu. They get together as families and sweep gravestones, clean up grave sites. They don't know that it's actually symbolizing cleaning an EMPTY tomb. I thought it was pretty interesting.

We had a great Easter weekend. Nobody celebrates Easter here. Not even the members. The special times to remember Christ, such as Christmas and Easter kind of fly over the members heads. Kind of sad.

Me, Elder Huntsman and our little buddy Shawn
I've really appreciated the things I've learned from the spirit since being out on my mission. I've really gotten closer to my Savior. It feels really great. I love this work.

Elder Chia and I are still seeing miracles left and right. You know, before I came on my mission, I always thought I'd be seeing insane miracles on a daily basis. More than anything, I've seen and felt the impact of the small and simple miracles that bring about the great things. Things like finding people who are searching for the truth.

The biggest miracle we saw this week was meeting Brother Wu. Super humble. Super ready to learn. and he came to church! He's right on his way on the path of righteousness.

Another miracle: I'm not sure if you guys remember Ace from Longtan. But I was standing at the MRT station waiting for one of our members to come out and help us with some street contacting. TONS of people walking past us and all of a sudden I see this man running at me. I looked closer and it was ACE! He gave me this huge hug and we were both soo happy to see each other. It gets better. That was on Saturday night. Last night, we were having our planning session and the AP's call. "Hey is this Elder Matua?"
"Yep."
"Do you know a guy named Ace?"
"Yep."
"He showed up to our ward today, said he know's you."

Miracles. Gotta love em.

I love you all. This is the work of the Lord. Don't be afraid to do it. Don't not, Fear not.

Elder Chase Matua