CHRISTMAS MIRACLES!!!!

First I want to throw out some shoutouts!!

VASHA BURROWS AND FAM!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR AMAZING PACKAGE!! This girl is awesome at taking care of missionaries!!! YOU ROCK GIRL!!

PEJA!! (林炫良) You are a stinker...but I love ya :) This is my trainers trainers trainers trainers trainer....haha He is a stud :)

Okay story time....strap in:

BAPTISM! BOOM Yup it happened it was a WHITE CHRISTMAS IN TAIPING!!! But you can give all that credit to the Lord since I am a pretty 'eh' missionary haha, but with the Lord all our efforts are sanctified and we (including people around us) are blessed for our faith, obedience, and desires! I love it so much!! :) So 張 got baptized!  His English name is Dobby... yup like from Harry Potter :). He is SO FUNNY! I love him and it was so amazing to see his baptism especially seeing Elder Roberts preform it!! :)

On exchanges this week I was SEVERELY humbled as I was biking around and decided to say a prayer since our efforts weren't working...then the first guy I saw. I went up to talk to him...HE WAS PERFECT! He said " I have been looking to get into a church and find out more about Christ but I didn't know how to start!" I said...well....lucky for you...I am a missionary haha. He then asked "so if I get to the church and just start asking for you can I find you and you can teach me?"...Lets see how I responded to that..."um............YES!" Haha it was amazing to see the Lord lift us up as soon as we put our faith in him! I love it so much!!!

I have gotten to use that boogie board in lessons mom! Thank you so much! The Kid's love it too! :) [Shannon here: The Boogie Board we sent is a small writing tablet, not the mini surf board.)

President came to DTM this week......scary..........But I didn't choke don't worry :) [Shannon: DTM=District Training Meeting.]

I love you all...quick invite...SHINE BRIGHT! Just smile at people this week, maybe give them a wave...make them feel good :) I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!

-

Ge Sheng Long ZhangLao

葛勝龍長老

Two best holidays!!!

Wait what?...Two?....yes...TWO! What are they Elder Gish?

Well....Let me tell you. ONE you can guess...CHRISTMAS!!! Which I will save for AFTER I talk about the other...which comes up in the 27th....what is that...SHANNON GISH'S BIRTHDAY!!! I think my wonderful mom is turning 28 or something like that! :) She is so amazing and so wonderful! I wanted to just take a second to send some praise her way and to let 大家(everyone) know about how FLIPPIN INCREDIBLE THAT WOMAN IS!!! She has raised me, supported me and loved me my whole life! I can hardly even think of a mean word that has come out of that guardian angels lips! She is pretty much perfect...just ask anyone in my family. The only reason that she hasn't ben translated (sent straight to heaven) is because God needs her here to watch over and take care of us boys (yes including my pops haha). So Mom, I love you so much and I am so grateful for you in my life. I miss you so much! I hope that I can treat everyone in my life the way you have treated me and love them like you have loved all of us boys. I don't think you will ever know how much you mean to us! But I thank God so much for sending me to someone so wonderful! He must have just thought...Oh Sam Gish eh...hm....well he needs a patient loving mom...a perfect mom...well we only have one...I guess he is going to Shannon McGurrin! :) You are the best and I love you more! RWYAHOTE, WIP, ATILY, SB!!!! :)

I also am so grateful for this amazing Christmas season where miracles are noticed (I won't say seen since we see them everyday...it is just about noticing them ;) And where hearts are opened to think about Christ our Savior I hope everyone can take this opportunity to share the light of Christ with someone! Go out and just make a new friend, that is good enough, make someone feel good :) The Savior and Lord came into this world for OUR happiness.

So this week has been a ton of fun and Elder Roberts is just killin it more and more! I love bein with that kid! His Chinese is so good and his teaching is so good and he just has such a love for the work and such a strong spirit! He is going to be a leader in this mission no doubt and I am just lucky to be his trainer! 

Oh...we opened our presents early....:) haha it is P-day! And we get to talk to our families on Christmas which is like the best gift ever so that will be sweet!

Our investigators are doing well and we are really focusing on finding this week and so we could really use everyone's prayers.....and letters since they boost our spirits :):) haha

We are SUPER busy today and this week because of mini-move call and Christmas and such. So I am super sorry this email is so short but I hope you all have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!! :)

P.S. I am a Mormon....ask me why ;) haha

LOVE YOU ALL!!

I will always be a missionary :) Catch the wave y'all...cause it's sweet! :)

-

Ge Sheng Long ZhangLao

葛勝龍長老

[Shannon Here] From the Official Taichung Taiwan Mission Blog

Missionaries, Taichung Stake choir members, and National Taichung University of Education students
join in singing praises to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ:

I will go...AND DO

This week as I was doing my studies I came across a section in the Preach My Gospel about....can you guess??...Humility!....yup...my favorite :) haha. And one of the things I read was about submitting to the will of the Father..as in our all knowing all loving HEAVENLY Father....first off...who WOULDN'T want to follow Him and do all He asks!

But anyways I had only writtin' above that sentence "I will go!" And for some reason it just looked weird to me...I was thinking about it and I figured out that it was weird to me because it was not accompanied by a AND DO...I was sitting there thinking about all the things I am willing to Go to...but how many things am I will to DO....I can Go to a service activity, I can Go to church, I can GO on a mission...But does that mean that I will be DOING what I should be while I am there? I want to say that GOING is just not enough...we have to DO. Nephi said that we will GO AND DO for a reason.  It got me so pumped to just GO AND DO! It reminded me also of a story/ joke my Pops tells....that guy is just so funny ;) haha. It is where he talks about 3 birds on a dock and 2 decided to leave...how many are left??....................THINK ABOUT IT...........................All 3 are still there..WHAT WHY HOW???? Just because they decided to leave doesn't mean that they actually left! We have to GO AND DO our part :)

Well this week...i'm not going to lie...has probably been the most stressed I have ever been in my life...I feel like I am just a problem fixer...running from person to person, ward to ward, missionary to missionary just fixing problems and trying to help people bear their burdens...at first my prideful self was getting pretty frustrated with people and just angry and...it wasn't very good. But then as I humbled my self and went to the Lord in prayer I realized how much of a blessing that all was and I saw the growth that I could gain from such experiences! That is something that I think is just amazing about this gospel! It may not take our problems away but it gives us the PERFECT way to deal with the problems. It isn't just taking the problems and finding out how to deal with it, but rather taking the problem and making it into a blessing! How amazing is that!? Who would not want to partake of this amazing gospel!?!?

I was told the District meeting topic THE DAY that I was supposed to hold the meeting...so I am SUPER grateful for want my mom and dad taught me about following the spirit and being about to just get up and say what comes into our minds and into our hearts!

I also had an AMAZING experience with Elder Vandiford this week...it was straight out of Ammons life from the Book of Mormon! It was awesome!! :) So we were contacting and while we were talking to this guy he kinda looked at us like...oh gosh...here we go. And he seemed at first to not have any interest and then Elder Vandiford said "so what makes you believe that a god exists" And looking to argue..the man replied, "well what god do you believe in, are you talking about that god?" And then Elder Vandiford said this..."I believe in your and my Heavenly Father, the creator of the world and of you and me." The man had NO RESPONSE and then he agreed to meet with us!! It was SO SWEET! Haha, it was like a spirit arrow...kinda like the ones, Legolas shoots, except it had spirit fire and was carried by the spirit past any armor and right to the heart! GODS TEAM: 1 / SATAN: 0!! :) haha

So needless to say the week was...one of those weeks :) But we are setting REALLY high goals for next month and going to start working HARD to hit them so if you could add Elder Roberts and I to your general prayers that would be nice since prayer is like the number one best source for any power! :)

Keep the Christmas spirit and Go out to make people smile and laugh! This week as you prepare for Christmas go out and try to help all those around you..just be willing to support them in their burdens and feel of the blessings that come from that!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

JUMP IN AND SHINE BRIGHT!!!!

-

Ge Sheng Long ZhangLao

葛勝龍長老

The Phoenix

Who is the Phoenix?...Elder Roberts!! As the superstar Elder Erickson leaves for the promised land, Elder Roberts is prepared to rise from his ashes and be the greatest missionary this mission has ever seen! :)

Today we got to go see Elder Erickson, Limponostrong (spelling...), and others for their last time on the Island as a missionary! Whoa....crazy....that is scary. It seems like just yesterday I was being dragged around by Elder Erickson from place to place and I didn't know a single thing I was doing! And  now I am here with the Phoenix in Taiping flying through the streets carried on the wings of angels! :)

This week has been a pretty amazing week! You know...this world really is getting bad and harder and harder to find purpose in. Things are getting...chaotic. And as missionaries I feel that we see some of the darkest of the dark....all we do 24/7 is talk to everyone...but the thing is that as missionaries we also see the lightest of the light! Do you know why? Because all we do....24/7 is talk to people! :) I can say without a doubt that I know that this gospel is true. It changes all who will let it into their lives...it has changed me and it CAN change you. I am continually changing and everyday becoming better! I have changed...I have turned and I am not going back :) I have seen this gospel, the light that Christ shares take the person on the street that is thinking about suicide and has had 20 years of cigarette and drug addiction coupled with heavy alcoholism become a church leader and a man worthy to enter the temple!!

This week we had a sweet party...CHRISTMAS PARTY!!! WHOOHOO!!!! We took people caroling...I was amazed by the number of people that said...NO DO NOT SING TO US...but with the push of some younger kids that desperately wanted to sing...most people would give in and let us sing to them :) So much fun!!

Other than that we have had a pretty average week! Now the average work for hard working worthy missionaries is FILLED with miracles :)...also filled with rejection...but we can brush that off right? :)

The man whose wife was baptized awhile ago came to church and seems to be doing good...he is still having trouble smoking...but hopefully we can see another miracle and he will lose that desire! :) I know it can happen...

A lot of people moved away today! But this next move-call is going to be a lot of fun! We are going to work until we can't work any more and we are going to help out EVERYONE!!!!!! :)

[Shannon here: We asked Elder Gish to send us some pictures of the food he typically eats and then tell us what it is.]

That is chicken heart with other various meats...such as fish that has the eggs still in the belly...yummy....:)

Thank you so much for all of your support...Especially for those letters that I know you are all writing!! :) haha.

Shine Bright! (JUST LIKE WE ARE MEANT TO!)

P.S. if anyone has any other questions or things they want to see...feel free to write and let me know! (No this is not a creative way for me to ask for letters ;)) haha

-

Ge Sheng Long ZhangLao

葛勝龍長老

 

Uhoh...

I litterally have about 10min....I thought that I would have more time but we only have one computer where we are and so the place that I am at is makin it tough....I am so sorry! P-Day ends soon. Sorry....I love you all though. Here we go with a quick update!!

Elder Funk came!....it was sweeeeeet!! Spiritually uplifting! I loved it! I want some more of it.

This week was tough on my companion and I as far as numbers go. I got SUPER sick this week and it made it a little tough. But don't worry mom I am all good! :) I got an AMAZING blessing from my wonderful companion...THANK YOU ROBERTS FAMILY FOR RAISING AN AMAZING YOUNG MAN!!!! And for one full day I was honestly scared and worried and the next I was almost 100% fine.

Could some people just send pics of home and stuff. I miss seeing everyone's faces back home!! Especially Gish Clan!!! :)

I totally forgot Thanksgiving was a thing....how embarrassing is that....but the turkey that we got on that day was AMAZING!! :)

Back up plans-when set with God WORK OUT! :)

The simplest doctrines are often the ones that hit me in the most profound way! :) I love it so much!! :) SO I INVITE EVERYONE. Just to go and study a simple doctrine and it is this. That Heavenly Father is our FATHER and he loves us, he sent his son Jesus Christ to help us get through this rough life. That is the best and happiest message I have ever heard! Who doesn't want to hear that message!?!?!.....Sadly a lot of people....haha but if you listen I promise you will know it is true! If nothing else I would tell people of the truth of God, but even BETTER THAN that is that HE GAVE US HIS TRUE DOCTRINE AND HIS TRUE CHURCH!!!! :)

That is all the time I have...love you sorry!

-

Ge Sheng Long ZhangLao

葛勝龍長老

Photos courtesy of the official Taichung Taiwan Mission

The Angelic Potential

sorry my time is a little low today....I spent some time translating for some other missionaries so that they could read and write to some of their really good friends out here....It is such a blessing to be able to read and write in this amazing language! There is NO WAY IN THE WORLD that I could do all this without the help of the Lord! But since I am low on time lets jump on in!!

GOOOD MORNINNGGGG SAND DIEGO!!! (Hallelujah...TESTIFY!!!!....yes Pops...I am thinking of mosters vs. aliens! :))

Okay so I know you are all just dying to hear about the miracles that happened this week! Well the thing is that most of them happened within me and so it is sort of hard to express through an email...especially when your English is sounding more and more like you should still be in elementary school....:(....it is too bad that google translate is terrible haha. 

So before miracles...I will start with some fun stories. FIRST AND FOREMOST I have a new found respect for baseball players!! We played baseball last week...my arms were SO SORE!! But Dad you would be so proud! I was KILLING the balls that were coming at 140km/h...I think that is something like 85 mph. Pops would be so proud! It was a TON of fun! 

This week I also got to enjoy a delicious meal of pig scalp and intestines....yummy....:) Mom would be so happy at the things that I am willing to even THINK about putting in my mouth out here haha.

Okay...MIRACLE TIME! So this week we tried tracting...my LEAST favorite method for finding people who are prepared...but we still did it because it was in our plan that we had prayed about the night before and guess what!? WE FOUND A COOL FAMILY AND WE FOUND A LESS ACTIVE WOMEN WHO WANTS HER HUSBAND TO HEAR THE GOSPEL!!! We are going to go over there tonight so....pray for us!! :) It should be really good! Another thing I loved is that we got to do TWO exchanges this week. One with the Assistants and one with the Zone Leaders! They were both really amazing! It was Elder Limpinostropong (spelling?....I just call him Elder Lick-an-ostrich-bone...sounds about right :)) and Elder Vandiford that were down here with me! It was SUCH A BLAST BOTH TIMES! One thing I learned is that eveyr missionary really has their own special thing!! One thing I have started doing is that as I go around doing different activities I try to think about and act as different prophets and missionaries from the Book of Mormon! As I go finding Less Actives...I activate Alma Mode.....when I am going to find a New Investigator...I go switch into Ammon Mode (minus the cutting off arms thing...) haha. And doing that has really kept me motivated and helped me to keep such a good attitude!!

Other than that I have really focused my studies and free thinking time (which is not much out there...) on the godly and angelic potential that we have as Sons and Daughters of our Heavenly Father. If we truly knew who we were and where we come from..I don't believe we would ever make wrong choices...if we could just see that we are LITTERALLY children of God....GOD! Then we would see our potential to be like him and we would be so much better in every aspect of life! So here is the INVITE OF THE WEEK! Pray, pray like you are talking to your Father. A REAL father daughter or father son relationship. If you don't pray...then start :)

I am sorry for the low amount of time this week...Know I love you all so much and I also really love getting letters from my amazing family and friends!!! :)

SHINE BRIGHT AND JUMP IN!

P.S. Me and my comp are the Ninjas of TaiZhong :) 

-

Ge Sheng Long ZhangLao

葛勝龍長老

P.S. Elder Sam Gish’s brother, Chase, has been called to serve in the Hamilton, New Zealand Mission. If you are interested in signing up to receive his updates, the blog address is: http://elderchasegish.blogspot.com/

And the War begins!

The War?...yup, the WAR! Elder Gish what war? The war between the natural man and my eternal potential!!!

IS that not the coolest idea for a book ever!? Probably have a lot like that already actually...but still.

So here is why I say this! This past week I have really had a big struggle within myself. I don't really know what it is or why it was there, but if there was ever a time that I wanted to go on a walk with Mom again or hop in the mini with Dad it would be now! I just feel as though there are these forces within me battling for who will come out on top! It is wild! I have one that is totally natural man and wants to just give in and tells me things like "people will understand" or "no-one will know" things like that. Or even things like, "this time it is okay to just take a rest, don't worry about talking to that guy over there." And then there is this...強烈的感覺...(overwhelming feeling?)...That tells me that I have so much more to do here and that I can not settle for standard or just acceptable. This feeling tells me that as a Child of God the Eternal Father and being endowed with his spirit and his power I have so much more to do and that I CAN NOT settle for any less than what my God would have me do! It really is like a war between who I have been all the past and this new strength that has an incredible desire to take over! It is only interesting because until now I have never really felt like there where honestly two separate forces battling within me haha. Now this just reminds me of a story my Dad LOVES to tell about an Ancient Indian tribe. When a young man was feeling the same feelings I am...the old Indian Chief told the boy that there were two wolf spirits fighting inside of him...the one that wins will be the one that he feeds the most. So who am I going to feed? By Reading my scriptures, praying, choosing to obey the commandments and going to church I am feeding the new powerful angelic force within me! And by avoiding all other forms or temptation and evil I am starving out the other! YEAHH! Super cool! :)

Anyways... on to the week!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPS!!!!!!! TODAY MY DAD TURNS....What is it...36? Something like that! :) hahaha...wait..was it 63?....I can't really remember any more...haha...:) Anyways...Pops I am SOOO GRATEFUL FOR YOUR AMAZING EXAMPLE AND INFLUENCE IN MY LIFE!!!!! Please take care of yourself! I expect another 100 years or more out of you so you better keep working out! I think that because your metachloriens (spelling? If you think my English is getting bad wait till you hear my Jedi...haha) are so high that you should be able to use your force powers so keep going :):) I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! YOU ROCK!!!!!!

This week I discovered something that I wish I knew a long time ago but that I will never forget. Obedience is the key to unlocking the power of our faith. I have dedicated these two years to my Lord and it is only when I am obedient that he can use my faith to bless me and those around me! Without obedience my faith is for not. I will be 100% obedient and continue to allow the Lord to bless me and those around me. No matter the struggle I want to be able to stand up and be strong and courageous!! It was a nice realization! :)

I love it when you wait 30min for the shower water to heat up but it never does so you finally step into the shower and its so cold you do that panting thing...that lasts the WHOLE TIME...and just before you get out it warms up...yup...thank you amazing shower in our apartment....

So Knight Roberts and I are on the ride, soaring on the wings of angels, slaying demons in our path and gathering souls to join with us and our God! :) haha...saying things like we live in the mid-evil days is always so much more fun...haha. We found a BUNCH of new investigators this week thanks to Elder Roberts amazing spirit...I still can't get why he doesn't have to say words but can get peoples numbers...haha.

I now see that with less than a year left....the clock is really ticking...before I know it time will be up. I need to really decide right now who I want to be and what I want to do. As do we all.

So...INVITE OF THE WEEK! Pick ONE THING that you FOR SURE want to do in that week in order to improve any aspect of yourself! None of us are perfect...But we need to all pick just one thing, small or big, and the WHOLE WEEK focus on that ONE thing. I would love to hear the results from people! I have SOOOO much to improve so advice would be nice too ;)

I love you all so much and I hope you have an AMAZING WEEK! Until the next Lovely P-Day!

JUMP IN and SHINE BRIGHT!

-

Ge Sheng Long ZhangLao

葛勝龍長老

The worth, of EVERY soul, is GREAT in the eyes of God.

I just want to develop those kinds of eyes so bad!!! I want to be able to look at each person and see the worth that they have to my God and thus to me. It is something I am working on and getting better and better at with sincere prayer and study! I just want nothing more to be THE MOST EFFECTIVE instrument in my Father's hands, I want to be a carrier of that power and that spirit!

OKAY BUDDY!!! YOU KNOW ITS THAT TIME!!!!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are finally a big boy!!!!!!!!!!! :) You better be playin it safe man! I know that al' dem' ladies are gonna try to be all over you but you just gotta say... hey...many are called and few are chosen baby ;) hahahahaha keep safe my main man!!! You are my best friend buddy I love you so much!

Can you believe that the one year mark for me is done!?!?!? HOW DID THAT HAPPEN!?!? Where did the time go!? Gosh Dang I gotta, get my game on!! I haven't helped NEARLY enough people!! Oh THANK YOU FOR THE AMAZING PACKAGE MY AMAZING FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT WAS SO WONDERFUL AND THOSE SHIRTS ARE OFF THE HOOOOOKK!!!! Just in case anyone else want's to know...As a missionary in Taiwan...I do love getting letters and packages and if you just happen to have a desire to send one...I guess I would be willing to receive it :) haha.

So my wonderful family...can I tell you that all this week I was thinking about how much I would love right now to be in Florida on a vayy-kayyy-sheeeoon!!!! :)...DEL FUEGO! :) ( I hope you said it atleast in your head when you read that!) :)

So just today and yesterday I had two HILARIOUS moments with Elder Roberts...I was almost crying...hahaha So today's was we went to get some food to eat and something that people out here do a TON is just crack an egg into ramen and let it cook in the soup. It is a little funny looking I guess but really it is just an egg. When Elder Roberts saw it he had no clue what it was and had that face like..."uh oh....oh gosh..." hahaha. So realizing my chance for some good comedy I took a small bite of mine and put on a kinda funny face that made it look like I was struggling to get it down. Then he looked at me and said "what is this??" I said, "it is really good man just eat it." He was so scared and kept saying "no way no way, you eat it." Then I said, no man it is just an egg you eat it. It was funny cause I was telling the truth but he DID NOT believe me haha. Then when he finally put it in his mouth I was like "OHHHH YOU ACTUALLY ATE IT!?!?!?" haha he had a tiny freak out moment and said, "EW IT TASTES LIKE A WEIRD FISH!!!" I just started DYING laughing. After about 5 seconds he realized it was really just an egg...hahha oh gosh...that will be a good  memory. But I think the Other will be one I tell forever haha. It is one of those...chinese jokes haha. So we met with this Less active and we were teaching the First Lesson about the Restoration. In the Middle of it I handed it all over to Elder Roberts to completely take over! He is really a GREAT teacher. It was just super funny because we were using a pamphlet and Elder Roberts wanted to ask our friend to read a part from it and so he wanted to say "你可以幫我唸嗎 (Ni keyi bang wo nian ma?){Can you help me read this part?}" But he accidentally said "你可以幫我尿嗎？(Ni keyi bang wo niao ma?){Can you help me go pee?}" hahahhaha Oh my gosh I almost started crying from laughing so hard! The Less active sure thought it was pretty funny too haha.

So Long story short, I LOVE TRAINING!!! :) hahaha. 

So one thing that has been stuck in my head this week is I remember an experience I had with my awesome cousin Chris Gish a long time ago. He used to take me to Krav Maga classes with him. One day when we were down there he told me about how the radio in his car (EXPENSIVE RADIO) had been stolen. I thought I was some tough kid so I was all about, OH MAN AREN'T YOU SO TICKED!? You shoulda' found that kid! And then Chris Looked at me and said "If he needed it so bad that he was willing to break in and steal it, then he could have asked and I would have given it to him, so it's really okay." That really blew me away. I hope I can develop that kind of Christ-like charity and love for all those around me, even the ones that hurt me.

Okay, now this is for all those amazing missionaries and people out there that feel that they are working hard not not seeing the results that they want or had hoped for! I was thinking about how hard I work out here and how often I am disappointed in the amount of success I see sometimes. Then I got into that dumb..."man I work so hard for nothing" kind of attitude. Then I thought about how much I ACTUALLY work. I started thinking...do I really give my ALL ALL the time? Do I talk to some one at every light? Do I talk to the people on the sides of the road? Do I earnestly and sincerely call all the people that gave me their numbers? So one thing that I want to ask everyone who might be going through one of those moments...are you REALLY giving it your all? I want to be able to tell the lord that I REALLY will give my all to him and that I did ALL I COULD. So make the decision now and go do it!!

I need to call together the prayers of all of you so that I can make a HUGE SPIRIT BOMB and totally dominate satan here (that is right...lowercase S). We have a man named Brother Liu. He needs the prayers of everyone here so that he can quit smoking, get baptized and in a year be sealed with his family! He tried before and gave up...now we are not going to give up on him but we need your help!

We have found TONS of new investigators and so going through all of them would take awhile...I am so lucky that I have an AMAZING companion like Elder Roberts to stick up with my weaknesses (which I have found out recently are a TON), and to work so hard with me! We are killing our selves out here! I feel bad for him working so flippin hard! We hardly ever get home at 9:00 because we just don't stop working! His Chinese is also getting really good. I expect that he will be one of the best if he keeps pushing himself like this!! :)

Ready for theeeee INVITE OF THE WEEK!?!?!? WOOOO!!!! Okay boy's and girl's, ladies and gentleman!! This week I want to invite everyone to pick a special person and pray for them in EVERY prayer that you say this week :) Pray that they will feel the saviors love.

I  want to take a moment to share my love and compassion with the Nadeau Family. I wish I knew what I possibly say that would bring consolation or relief of any kind. [Shannon here: A very dear family to us lost their son, Nick Nadeau, this past week in a car accident. Our hearts our broken over it.] The thing is that I know that I can't...but I know someone that Can. And that is the Savior Jesus Christ. He will bear our grief and our pains. Nick is an AMAZING man. I loved him and looked up to him. Ever since coming off his mission I loved being with him, joking together in Young Adults or playing Ping Pong together at Robs. He is such an example to me of humility and charity. I really look up to him and I am SO grateful for the knowledge that I have that the Plan or Happiness is true! I know that my good friend, your Son or Brother is in a place where he can  "rest from all [his] troubles and sorrows." I know that this may not bring the mortal and physical consolation that many of us long for, but it can bring an eternal and spiritual peace to our souls. Because of the Savior, he still lives and is working hard on the other side. I love you all so much and as a full time servant for the Lord you are all in my prayers, so is Nick. I love you all and I hope I can hear from you. If there is ANYTHING I can do, feel free to call upon me for anything at all.

I love you all and this work!!!

Shine bright and just jump in!!

-

Ge Sheng Long ZhangLao

葛勝龍長老

It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new liiifffee! :)

Shout out to Grammy!! You are remembered all the way out here in beautiful Taiwan :):)

OKAY NOW FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS LETTER!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are so amazing my brother!!!! I bet you are pretty close to Bigger than Chase now eh? And knowing that you are a super saiyin...you are probably stronger too right!? :)

Oh man! First off, I am sorry that I didn't email on Monday, it was a huge surprise to us too when we got the call on Sunday night saying...hey there is no P-day on Monday so go and do your work, we will be....GOING TO THE TEMPLE ON WEDNESDAY!!

Ofcourse my first reaction was YEAH THE TEMPLE!!! I HAVEN'T BEEN IN ABOUT A WHOLE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!! CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!! But then the reality set in.....no P-day....and a full day of NOTHING scheduled since we thought it would be a P-day!? Thank goodness for the amazing humility of my amazing companion! We hopped right on our knees and asked God for help and then got right up on the phones and called everyone we new!!! After about 30 min of INTENSE quick calls, we had most of a day set up. Can you say miracle story?! I think soo! We we calm and ready for the next day! I am so glad elder Roberts is so willing to help and to serve and to just Jump in...Infact I made that my new catch phrase.."JUMP IN" I have started saying it all the time. Sometimes we really do just gotta jump in and not be afraid and not turn back!

So anyways the TEMPLE WAS AMAZING!!! About a whole year that I haven't been to that building...let me tell you...it was INCREDIBLE! I can't wait to go back again! I did the whole thing in Chinese which was even cooler! We could choose to do the Chinese or the English. Me and ONE OTHER missionary went Chinese. I was actually really happy to see that I was able to understand and actually participate as well!! It was so much fun! I love this language and this people!! I feel like I am really apart of this people! I can really participate in the culture! It is so amazing and I really am just giving my all to the Lord! :)

Alright I want to do a quick run through of the week. ( I don't have much time since the Temple literally took ALL of our time...) So here it is:

I am going through training with Elder Roberts and I pulled out my old Training book to help him see what I did and stuff...then I realized that I had that book out when I was being trained...I saw where I am now and my heart literally hurt for a second...I don't want to go home...(I mean I do want to be with my family again obviously) But I love it out here...I love being a missionary...I love helping and serving and loving people, inviting them to Christ! I don't want to ever leave this!

Elder Roberts doesn't even have to say a single word to get people to write down their information on cards...

I forgot Halloween was a thing....

I read an amazing article called "marriage is not for you" by Seth Adams...read it! :)

We sang "I stand all amazed" In Comp study and I remembered Mom singing me to sleep with hymns and what an impact that made in my life..MOM YOU ARE THE BEST!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

And Yes dad...OFCOURSE I remember the Dragon stories with me and Tomak and Chase and Balarr....Why do you think I am so manly now ;) haha.

We had interviews last week and it was AMAZING to see Elder Wang again and so incredible to sit down with President again! That man is so busy but also still so full of wisdom! :) I love it!

Can I just say that one of my favorite things about being in Taiwan is making my companion try weird Drinks and foods? :) The best is when I give him something or tell him something and his face drops (but there is still that smile like...are you kidding me...) hahha....oh Taiwan...how I love you.

Shout out to Everyone in 高雄 and one in 桃園!! I love you all!! :)

Okay here is your Invite for the week everyone! Watch the Movie.."Joseph Smith and the Restoration"...I watched it again for the first time in a long time today on the bud ride up to the temple!...IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!!!!! I Can not and will never deny that I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God! And that because of him we have the Church of Jesus Christ back on the Earth today!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

-

Ge Sheng Long ZhangLao

葛勝龍長老

 

The Padawan has returned!

That is right!!  I have received another Padawan to enter into my Jedi Training network. He will soon be known as Jedi Knight Roberts trained by the hand of Jedi Master Gish! Some may say...Elder...are you really a Jedi Master? The answer would be...yes...that would be due to the metachlorians handed down to me by my Father and Mother. For those of you that don't understand...please go watch StarWars again :) haha.

So I realized yesterday that my chinese really is taking over...I looked at my companion yesterday and said, "I want with you right now to set goals, is that alright?" My grammar is all messed up...hopefully it still all works out haha.

Okay, well I just went through a lot of my friends emails that they sent me (one's on missions) And you know what the most common phase I saw was "Can I say....miracles!?!?" haha SO AWESOME!!!  THIS WORK BRINGS SO MANY MIRACLES! It is seriously so so true! I love it. How can someone NOT see what we are saying is true....LOOK AT ALL THE MIRACLES!! AHHH! :)

So I know what you are all thinking now...HOW IS THE TRAINEE?! Well Elder Roberts the great rocks!!! He is a super stud and super 帥!! He is also really funny, I kinda forgot what it was like when I first got here but now the memories are slowly coming back! :) haha. But the best is that he is doing is best and has a sincere desire to do what the lord asks of him!! I love it!!! One funny thing is that we were talking to someone about our families and all this stuff and somehow we started talking about someone that he knows that is a chef or something and when he said it me and the other investigator were takin back because he said "Go DIE!" hahahhahaha. The words are exactly the same with different tones hahah. SO FUN! :) I love chinese! :)

So this week really in all was so amazing! I got to see my Old MTC companion Elder Green. That stud seems to be doing amazing out in his area! It was awesome to see him and I was able to meet a LOT of new missionaries and make a lot of new friends! I seriously LOVE my mission...I don't think I will ever be able to express in words how much I LOVE it here...I have seen a lot of friends go home and I know that when that time comes for me I am going to be soooo sad....:( I hate thinking about that time coming so lets change topics :) haha.

Some small miracle from this week is the personal strengthening of my testimony and love for this work! This week one of the sisters in my district was havin a tough time a guess and I was privileged and honored to have her come to me and ask for a blessing! I gave her that blessing and felt so edified! The rest of the day and week I felt so good! Especially after she let me know how good it made her feel! I just felt so strengthened! It was awesome! Being worthy of the Lord's direction is...well...THE BEST! And knowing that at anytime anyone can come to you and ask for that...I LOVE IT! It really helps me to understand about how much the lord loves and cares for each of us individually!

Last bit of stuff...The move call came! A TON of the district is leaving...it is so sad...but like a phoenix we will rise from the ashes and again bless the lives of the people of 太平!

This week we got ditched a ton and it really put a hurt on our work...we got pretty frustrated...but how did we handle that? We went out and served! Nothing brings happiness back like service (that is what my Dad taught me!) We served EVERYONE! Our members, investigators, district members! And it is EASY to see the blessings that it brings! We were still able to hit most of the mission standards even with a LOT of missed lessons and the district was still so happy and as a district we had done really well! I LOVE THIS DISTRICT! I am really sad to see it split up but excited for the miracles that are coming!

In my studies this week I read about Teancum. Now I know what you are thinking...Elder Gish...Don't you go rouge on me. Don't worry I would much rather be a Moroni than a Teancum haha. But I was still just impressed with his diligence! I made choice this week, I would give my life for this work! I love it so much and I want to give it my all! With Alma and Amulek (Elder Roberts and Gish) There is nothing we can't do under the power of the Lord!!

Alrighty everyone!! HERE COMES MY FAVORITE PART AND YOUR FAVORITE PART!!! THE INVITE FOR THE WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you ready? Get in contact with an old friend and just chat 關心他們一下. :) It is a good way to show love for the lord and show THEM the lord's love for them! :)

-

Ge Sheng Long ZhangLao

葛勝龍長老

 

Another Week in 太平

So this week...I might have just 100% forgotten to write anything down that happened this week...thus... my missionary fried brain is drawing blanks...grrr

One thing that was awesome was I was able to see a video of my amazing Brother opening his mission call! Nothing has made me happier so far than to see that!!!!!!!!! I was nervous for him even though I already knew where he was going!! =) I will probably be watching that video a lot :) 

this week we did the stake conference and it was AMAZING!! I love seeing how the missionaries and the Wards are starting to really get along and see the work progress like this! See this for me must have been what it was like for my dad to see people move from having to catch and ride dinosaurs into sitting in nice cars!! :) hahaha. JUST KIDDIN POPS!!! :) But really, this is an amazing work and I as so happy to be able to see it move along like this!!!!!!

This week...not to boast about my amazing Elder's and Sister's surrounding me...but THEY ROCK! Our Zone right now is leading our mission and the Taiping District is leading the Zone!! :) PRAYERS, FASTING, and DILIGENCE BRING MIRACLES!!!!!!!! It just got me all stoked to hear that! :)

Right now I am calling for all prayers for two amazing men, one is a Brother Yeh and the other is a Brother....zeng. They are amazing! :)

This week I decided to be a little more random in my studies and I came upon Mosiah 26.3 and made a connection to the story of the Rich man with the lord! I know it is a weird connection...but it all seemed to come together as I thought about giving up all I had and being humble...just serving the Lord 100% I will not give up and I will not back down. It is in my blood from my wonderful mom and dad! :)

I took some time to teach my district this week about the blessings of finding ourselves and discovering our potential! I have a firm belief that as we develop ourselves and take the gospel and from our lives with it, we will be so blessed and see so much more than we ever did before how much God means to us in our lives and how much our savior Jesus Christ and his Atonement mean to us....it is EVERYTHING. So I have taken some time to just try to figure out who I want to be, who I REALLY want to be. A good Man, Father, Husband, Priesthood Holder, Friend, Brother, Son. It will take a lot of work...especially from where I am starting haha, but I will get there!

I want to invite everyone this week to just random flip open a book of scripture and randomly point to a verse, read it, and think about how it can apply to the problems or anything that you or a friend is facing. I would encourage the use of the Book of Mormon since EVERY ANSWER is IN THE BOOK! If you don't try it you won't know...that book is the key.

I love you all so much and I will try to write things down better this week! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH and I really enjoy the letters and all! Sorry if I am slow on getting back to you...I WILL get back! :)

I would like to be able to hear from more of you! Snail mail makes my world go round ;) haha

Love

Elder Samuel The Irishman Gish

-

Ge Sheng Long ZhangLao

葛勝龍長老

 

The pictures below are from the Official Taichung Mission Blog

HES BACKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I have a shout out real quick for someone very special in my life! My wonderful and loving Grandfather James Ross McGurrin.  It is his birthday! He has always been such an amazing example to me of how to live my life and how to love those around me!

Okay so here we go with the weekly update! I am going to do this first since last week was super bad!!! Sorry everyone!! 

So this week was SWEET!!!!!!!! I know it probably seems sudden right now since I didn't email you this last week but we had an amazing BAPTISM!!!!!!!!! It was so so so fun! And probably one of the best testimonies I have ever heard came out of Yang Dixiong's mouth after he was baptized! IT WAS AMAZING!!! I love knowing that I am over here doing the Lord's work and helping so many people coming unto Christ and really just improving their lives!!

This week was general conference!! IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! SO INCREDIBLE!!!!! One line that I love (I know that everyone who saw this must have loved it) is By President Uchtdorf, he siad "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith." I heard that and I instantly was like AHH!H!!! That was so awesome! It is was too easy to just doubt your faith and doubt what you know is right! We know this is right and he have known it for awhile. It reminds me of a scripture that a good friend (Sister Soucy) shared in a talk a long time ago that I have used ever since because it touched me so much. It was D&C 6:26 (I think it was that, I have it all marked in my scriptures). It talks about how we already got our answer and that no answer is strong than that that comes from the Lord.

I love this work so much and I love TAIWAN!!!

CONGRATS TO MY AWESOME BROTHER CHASE ON GOING TO NEW ZEALAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is SOOO him! AHHH SO GREAT!!!!!

And Congrats to Gageroo on becoming Batman ;)

Love you all!

-

Ge Sheng Long ZhangLao

葛勝龍長老

 

oops...

I have no time!! I am so sorry! How does this always happen! I got caught up hearing about my awesome brother and preparing for his mission!! GO CHASE!!!!!!!!!

SHOUT OUTS!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY GRAMMIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU ARE THE BEST EXAMPLE OF A MISSIONARY! YOU ROCK!

DANE! MY BROTHER! YOU Are a killer man, lady and gospel slayer :) Keep up the hard work and Happy 13th Birthday ;) haha

MOM AND DAD! Happy Anniversary! YOU two are my examples to follow. Awhile ago someone asked me what I wanted to be like when I grew up and what I wanted my life to be like and so I just explained what the two of you were like! Even down to Dad's Mike and Ikes :)

The pictures are of us at a bat cave and an interesting hair cut this lady wanted to give me...I had it fixed haha.

I am so sorry about how short this is!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!

THe work is moving forward nicely! Working hard brings blessings, as does obedience. That is all. LOVE THE LORD!

-

Ge Sheng Long ZhangLao

葛勝龍長老

 

The Empire Strikes Back

 

image from Taiwan, Taichung Mission blog

(Shannon here: Elder Gish is in the 2nd row, 3rd from the left. For those of you who know Sister Rachel Basko from the Sanford Ward here in the Exeter Stake, she is serving in the same mission and her first district happens to be the same as Elder Gishs. She is in the front row, 5th from the right – cute short brown hair with the brown blazer.)

 

Why would I start the title to a missionary email with a line from starwars?...Well besides the fact that my companion and I are HUGE nerds together...and the fact that we are both studying in the ways of the force....;) haha. Besides all that (and the lightsaber training...) We are striking back super hard this week! We are gathering our forces and bringing the fight to Satan! We aren't scared and we aren't going to run! We stand firm in the faith and we are fighting to the end! :) I really like thinking about the mission as a battle, it just makes me try so much harder in everything that I do! I think it is because my Dad trained me in the way of the Jedi since I was young...for those of you that don't know...My Dad is the Master Jedi over all the universe!!

Well lets move from the Universe to my little area Taiping on my little island Taiwan :) It is AMAZING!!! I really do love it here so much! and I love my district! Speaking of them, the District is doing well. I am so glad to serve her and help these missionaries grow! I have been thinking recently about how I can make a difference as a district leader and have this influence spread and effect the whole zone and the whole mission as a whole. I have been thinking about the effect of ONE person on a society. I want to help my district grow personally because if we don't progress how can our investigators. We tell people that the gospel can make today better than yesterday and tomorrow even better and so on. I wan't to truly help people recognize that that is true! I have found recently that all those old Chinese movie quotes are true...where the old blind master with the long beard holds out one grain of rice and says 'one grain of rice can tip the scale of balance between victory and defeat' haha. It really is so true!! The difference of just one person is incredible. Whether you know it or not, I am so sure that every single person that reads this has made a great influence in someones life! What we have to do now is just make sure that we know how and why we are doing what we are doing! :) 

I wish I had more time for these emails but my time is almost up today. And we are going to be going to a bat cave today! I will try to get some sweet pics for that!

We have an amazing investigator that needs help giving up smoking, he will be getting baptized on the 12th! We need your prayers!!! :) THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!!!

I love you all so much!

I also love letters :) haha

If you can read chinese: 真的可以看得懂的話你應該已經把這個翻譯了到中文!! 我真的指導我們傳教士所分享的都是真實的!!我想要你們都可以一直記得我們的救主耶穌基督的贖罪我們真的可以每天進步. 我也愛你們. 那記得你可以隨時打給我們傳教士.我們都非常的樂意服務啦!!最後要記得最簡單的方法 接近神,那就是禱告看經文和教會喔. 我愛你們!!

-

Ge Sheng Long ZhangLao

葛勝龍長老