January 30, 2018

This week can be summed up pretty well with three words. Moving and language study.

This last week we had to close three of the apartments the apartments that got closed during the last transfer. They were all Sisters apartments and they all had lots of stuff in them. They also are apartments in the Taiwan so if they didn't have an elevator then it was a couple stories up with very small staircases. Thankfully there are wheels on the fridges here so the only hard part is getting it down the stairs. Hahaha it went really well though and we were able to get everything  all finished and the contracts signed without a problem.

The other part of this week was the language study part. This time it wasn't Chinese. One of the missionaries in our mission is incredibly smart and created a new website for our English class that works so much better! But, the problem is that he needs some help and some of the information we have in the office so I have been learning 4 programming languages in any of the spare time I have. I actually love it though.

This week we were also able to start meeting with our investigator Ye Dixiong! He is really funny and can't seem to pay attention for too long because of how old he his but he has been coming to church every week and even stayed for class the last few times. It has been quite nice to have an investigator again!

It has been raining a lot here lately and it is freezing! It has kind of made finding be a little bit harder too. There's not as many people on the street and none of them want to talk. So the last couple weeks we have really been emphasizing English Class and it has worked really well! We made all new posters and bought all new supplies for our English Unit here and it really helped not only us missionaries but also the students really feel like it is important. The results have been quite amazing our district was able to get so many more new investigators this last week using English class in addition to all the things they were doing before.

This week I also really learned the lesson of trusting in God. There have been so many small little miracles like thinking of the solution to a new problem, discovering a new scripture or having a parking spot. I reminded of 2 Nephi 4:19-24, 34 yesterday and I love it. I really know through prayer we CAN receive the help we need from God no matter our own inadequacies.

Elder Holderness

January 21, 2018

This week was just full of translating actually, we had Zone Conferences for all the Taibei Zones so my companion and I had to translate on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from about 9:00 to 1:00 so that took a lot of our time. Our president trained us by creating an analogy of how us as missionaries are like the medics on a battlefield. We need to be urgent and focused on our objective. We also need to be able to help everyone individually while at the same time helping as many people as we can. It was a really awesome comparison and some of the activities we did really helped us all understand it better.  (I asked Brian why he translates for zone conferences? They are all spoken in English so he has to translate Chinese for the naitve speaking missionaries)

This transfer has been going pretty well so far. My companion is Elder Hong, he is from Nantou which is the center of Taiwan. He is a genius and has some very impressive English. He is actually a convert of about 5 years so he is my fourth Taiwanese, convert companion! He is pretty quiet but we are able to have a lot of fun together and with the Assistants.

This week we were able to set up with the husband of a part member family here! We are super excited to start teaching him! He has been coming to church every week for the last couple of weeks and yesterday he was able to stay for the second hour! He is kind of the miracle for our area over the last few weeks.

Also, if you haven't watched the entire broadcast that President and Sister Uchtdorf gave, at least go watch the first couple minutes of Sister Uchtdorf's talk. The entire broadcast was amazing but the first little bit of hers was hilarious and you can't help but loving both of them so much after you watch it.

Last week we went to play laser tag again for P-Day which is always super fun!

January 14, 2017

Really the whole week was taken up by me coordinating transfers for our mission! Currently we have 88 companionships in our mission. The last transfer moved 68 of those. It was a little crazy and I really didn't get much sleep the whole week. I am pretty much finished with the aftermath and look forward to the end.

We got a new AP in the office, Elder Carson, it has been super fun to be around him especially because he was actually just the Zone Leader here so he actually didn't even move chapel buildings. He just switched wards.

There really hasn't been too much to report on here other than that! I don't even have good pictures!

Elder Holderness

January 7, 2018

Sorry, this email is going to be pretty boring because this week was super busy and stressful.

This week I got a new companion! Elder Hong! We have the same Chinese last name so we are pretty much both Elder Hong and no one knows how to differentiate us so we respond to everyone even if we know they are talking to the other person! Haha

Elder Qiu is leaving today which makes me really sad because I have loved being with him so much. He has been my favorite companion yet and I wish I could be with him longer but he has been in the office for a half a year already and needs to move.

For the year 2018 I totally redesigned our office and all the reports that we make for the Mission here. It took a long time but it looks and works fantastically! I can now make 264 weekly reports automatically on Sunday night!

We really don't have any investigators right now but we are going to start working with a Grandpa Ye! He is a member's husband who has lived a crazy adventurous life, his house is filled with different awards and gifts of recognition from just about every country in the world. I can't wait to help him progress in the gospel and I hope that he will be able to be baptized and sealed with his wife.

This week is transfers again so I have to start planning and coordinating all of the travel plans today. I let you know how it goes!

Elder Holderness