Finally out of the Teens!

WOOO!!!! Finally not a Teeny-Bopper any more! haha. And how cool that it is on a P-Day?! So awesome! 

 

We were planning on going up to monkey mountain and getting to make some little Hou(3)zi (monkey) friends! But I don't think that is really going to work out today...:( But we will see! It all depends on what we are able to get done in the next 2 or 3 hours! Gotta keep busy on P-Days :)

Oh so something that is SO awesome that happened this week was I met this group of Indonesians and they were SO funny. They can't speak English or Chinese so we were all talking really slow with each other and we all had no idea what was going on. But somehow they were able to understand when I was talking with them about prayer! It was super great! They also all took a ton of pictures with me and thought it was so great to be with a white guy that could talk Chinese (even though they all knew a few words) haha. And they were all 'missionary-appropriate' pictures so don't worry mom!

Oh by the way, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE BIRTHDAY WISHES! It is so great that on my birthday I was actually able to get on and see all the wishes! You are all so awesome! It really is needed haha. This week has had the Biggest up of my whole mission and probably the biggest down. So I am so glad that the Lord's hand is in everything and he will not let you just live in the 'down' he will always give you an 'up'. Our job is to just focus on the up! So let's talk about the up! WOOHOO!

So here it is, HUGE MIRACLE! We have been teaching this family, the H. J family. And they are so awesome! He is totally golden and has been reading about the church and is so ready to be baptized, he agreed to keep the law of tithing cause he read about it in the Liahona and we haven't even taught it yet haha. But anyways, it is his wife that has been having a lot of trouble with the church. She just didn't know if God existed and has been having a really hard time deciding to be baptized. But she has been doing everything she needs to, obeying the commandments, reading, praying, everything. And we, of course, have been pouring our heart out to God for her! But anyways, we went over this last week and we were talking to him about arranging his baptism date, and we were going to turn to her but he stopped us and looked at his wife and said "ni yao gen wo jieshou xili ma?" (Do you want to get baptized with me?) And of course we were stunned and there was a moment of silence, maybe only 2 or 3 seconds but you know how long it feels. Then she looked at us and said yes!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!! She went on to explain how she was reading in the Book of Mormon with her Husband and they were reading in Mosiah 18:21 about "one baptism," then it just hit her like a ton of bricks, she needs to be baptized with her husband. How amazing is that?! They have a son who has mental issues so he can't be baptized, but I know that they are going to be able to press forward and go to the temple together, ( I might even still be here for that!) And they are going to be able to be a family for time and all eternity! How great is that!?!? AHH!! I felt super embarrassed because I was in the lesson and when she said that I couldn't hold back the tears ( I got my dads genes ;)). I started think about my amazing family and about our future and about the amazing blessing this family has just received! I am so grateful to our Lord and Master for giving us the chance to live for eternity as a family and to experience a fullness of joy! There is nothing that I could ever hope more for than that!

So I was reading today in the D&C and I came across a scripture that applies to all of us (since we are all missionaries) and I just wanted to share it because it was so amazing! ( I might even share it later when I come across it in future studies haha) But it is D&C 100: 3-8. It is amazing how the Lord will take care of us! I know that more than anything, he WILL take care of us, no matter if we are in the down of downs or the up of ups. He is there, He loves you, He cares about you, and He will take care of you.

I am sorry I am kinda short on time today because of going through all of those birthday wishes (THANK YOU SO MUCH)! And I have to do all the senior companion duties from now on (My trainer thinks the best way to get me ready is to make me do it haha So I am senior companion from now on...even though I depend on him for SO much haha) But I want to take a second to talk about families since that is what has been hitting me big time this week. Treasure the family time that you have now. The Family Home Evening, the Family Scripture time, the Family Prayers. Treasure it, it is so precious and will bring so many blessings! Those are sacred times. There is nothing that I could miss more right now than to kneel at the bed side with my brothers (Gage on my back and Chase and I having a mini poking war until Dad makes us stop :)) And then with my wonderful parents all together saying a prayer to close our day and to report to our Heavenly Father and to prepare us for the night and next day. Or to all sit on the couch and have Dad get up and start doing the chicken dance as we sing songs and laugh and can feel the spirit through the joy that our family has together! I love my family so much and I hope that they know that! They are so wonderful and by far the biggest, brightest, and happiest part of my life! I don't know where I would be without them. I love them more than anything in the whole wide world.

Love,

Elder Gish (Ge(3) Zhang(3) Lao(3))

P.S. The pictures are from the beginning of today. Hopefully there will still be more to come! :) And that is my birthday Breakfast! And the Mexican food we went to go eat LAST P-Day....(such a relief to get real food like that :) hahaha) 

20 Kuai daole! (almost 20 :))

Wow!!! THIS WEEK HAS BEEN FILLED WITH SO MANY MIRACLES! WHERE DO I START!?!? Oh I know, let me get to the million questions Mom sent in the last letter that I don't know if I have answered or not! If I have just skim over this or whatever! :) Here we go!

Okay so I am actually not in Taizhong I am in Gaosheng (I don't konw how to spell it in English but it is something like kaoshueng). And it is AMAZING! It is incredibly...INCREDIBLY HOT! Do not worry about me getting cold at all! I am sweating like crazy here...it is CRAZY hot haha. I am getting this funny tan on my fingers because the top is getting hit by the sun but the part that wraps around the bike handle is still white haha. It is super funny. But Taizhong is something like Denver! Except everything is in Chinese haha. Oh and to be more specific if you want to see the city I live in it is called XiaoGang (shiaogong or something like that) and it is super fun! I love it here! It kinda reminds me of maybe some of the more run-down parts of Florida! The weather is actually JUST like Florida, and they have those pretty trees and everything! It is amazing! It is really hard to describe...I guess you will just have to come to Taiwan some day :) The best part is all the fruits...oh my gosh...they have AMAZING fruits! And yes they take a lot of getting used to, but now....holy cow they are AMAZING! So in our area we are in a city but there are these little villages around we can visit with the Taiwan aborigines! They are super cool and they almost all believe in Jesus Christ! Oh and don't worry, I sleep on a bed haha. It is a...well...its a bed haha.

So every Pday is on Monday and we have until 6 to do what we want. [Shannon here: Pday is short for Preparation Day] They typical day involves us on our bikes, pulling up to cars or people at a stop light and trying to get a few moments to chat! We hardly ever do tracting but we DO do it. We also have lately been getting a LOT more lessons than usual which is awesome! We have been working our tails off and of course the Savior is directing us and helping us to find 'those who will hear' us! Ahhh I have not gotten a chance to go exploring yet but the next few Pdays we should be going to monkey mountain (YES!) and the Beach probably too! So we can only explore on Pday obviously and we haven't gotten a chance yet. But you can expect some pretty pictures in the upcoming weeks!

So I am over the jet lag but I am still out of energy haha. I am so so so tired all the time but that is the life of the missionary! Plus if I go to bed not tired then it means I didn't work hard enough that day so I really enjoy it. I am glad I get to work hard and put my whole heart and soul into this work, into the work of Jesus Christ. The bike is really good! It has a few bumps and such but it is able to get my from place to place and that's all I really need :) so it is TOTALLY perfect.

My companion...HE IS THE MAN! Oh gosh Elder E. rocks! He is so smart and such a spiritual power house! Plus his Chinese is amazing! He has been out for about....15months? But only in Taiwan for about 12. He is so great and we have so much fun! We are literally ALWAYS laughing. It is super great. He does like to joke with me though and I can probably only believe.....12% of what he tells me the first time? Haha, but that just makes so many funny memories!

The one thing that is like GRRRR is that my shower is either SCOLDING HOT or FREEZING COLD, it is almost never in between. So I usually will let it be cold, get wet then step back so the water isn't hitting me. Soap up and wash my hair, then jump in for little 5 second bursts will I am washed off haha. It is sometimes really good and on those days I take SERIOUS advantage of the shower haha. And as for my heart and mind. I do REALLY miss my family, but I love it out here and I am so happy and...TAIWAN IS JUST SO GREAT! So everything is so good, you have nothing to worry about at all mom :).

So yes I chose your names since not very many names actually directly translate. [Shannon here: In a snail mail, Elder Gish gave Harvey, Chase, Gage and I Chinese names.] But I chose them because I think the show your characteristics and such! :) I might re-pick names for Chase and Gage sometime unless they really like them! Let me know what you all think of the names, I want them to be something special. The names are supposed to have similar sounds as your real names.

Oh so something really cool, I met a member today (PS Ward is AWESOME! But really small...maybe 50-70?) and he pulled out his Iphone and looked up our house! So I was able to see our house again! I couldn't see the new walk though...or the dog! haha. I want to see it all so bad! And I want to see my family! I want just some of you now and some of just us before! I take the calander around and show people but the pics are a little small. [Shannon Here: We made Elder Gish a 24 month mission calendar for Christmas with pictures of family in it.] Is there a way I could get like a mini book with printed pics? And maybe some extra space for the pics you will send later in the mission? :) haha. Oh I love my family so much! I am so happy I will get to live forever with all of you! That is the greatest blessing! Last night we were teaching this family and I was almost brought to tears testifying of the importance of family. I was just so touched by how blessed I have been with my amazing family and how grateful I am for a father who is a worthy priesthood hold and a loving and caring mother! Not to mention I have two studly and AMAZING brothers! How great is that!? You are all the B.E.S.T. BEST!

One thing I love about Taiwan is that no one will accept compliments but as a missionary you also don't want to reject compliments so you will just compliment the person back and sometimes it turns into complimenting battles like, no you are better looking, well you have great hair, but you are so strong. haha It is so funny and so fun! It is kinda like a game for us to see who can find better things about the other person haha, the Taiwanese people are so funny. Plus people think that Elder Erickson and I are in our 30's, and it is true...around here that is what we look like. All the guys look SO YOUNG. I finally learned to add like 10 years when I guys some guys age (unless they are clearly old, then you shoot for like 20's to make them smile :))

One thing that is hard though is to distinguish tones and to make sure you are saying them right, for example...gosh this is embarrassing....so when we were going to go running, we were talking about what we were going to do. I wanted to say that I was going to run stairs so I said it and my companion started CRACKING UP. Gosh...so I don't know what is going on. But apparently the word for stairs and and the word for naked is only one tone difference....hahha. So instead of saying I am going to run stairs I said I am going to run naked! hahahaha oh gosh...So funny!..oh jeeze Chinese haha.

So how blessed am I that my birthday will be on Pday next week! That is so cool! I am excited, we probably won't do anything out of the norm or anything, but it will be cool to just have that Pday on my birthday haha, I dunno, I thought it was a cool blessing haha. ANYWAYS. Ready to hear some Miracles!?!?

We had a Baptism this last week! It was amazing to see the change this man has had in his life. He had soooo many addictions and we was able to triumph over them all! "Every baptism is a miracle" -President Hinckley. I loved being able to watch that man walk into the freezing cold font water and make a covenant to obey his father in Heaven and to receive the priceless and innumerable blessings that will be promised him! He is an amazing man and I was so happy to have the opportunity to teach him.

 

One investigator I am really excited for is an old man named W. who has been taking the lessons for a LONG time and has pretty much just been stuck on the Very beginning of the Plan of Salvation and the Restoration. But when we went in and talked to him (the second time I met him) he said that he had a sign from god. The first time I met him I had been on island only 5 days. And he said that all the missionaries he had ever talked to have never understood his concerns and ideas and philosophy. But he said that I was able to understand him totally and help him connect dots and move forward even though I had only been on island for only 5 days and my Chinese should be AWFUL. He said that he thinks I am an angel sent from God to tell him this is right and to move him forward! So I say all this for one amazing reason...that is that my Chinese is TERRIBLE and I have NO IDEA what he needs or his concerns and I don't understand his philosophy in the slightest...but do you know who does? Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. And by some amazing miracle I guess that somehow they were able to work through me...someone who needs a LOT of work...and touch this old precious soul. I don't know what I said or did, but they Holy Ghost was able to testify to this man that what was being taught is true, and that is the miracle!

Another cool thing is that yesterday we had POWER BOOK OF MORMON DAY! We were asked to take out 15 copies of the Book of Mormon and go out and give them out and set up follow up lessons and commit to be baptized at some later date (in the first contact!!!!)! And we did it! That was something I thought would be impossible! People here always just say "bu yong" (no need). Which basically means don't bother talking to me and leave haha but with the help of Heavenly Father we were able to set up with 15 people and get them to commit to taking the first step to eternal life!! We did have to work harder than we had this whole time and really put our all into it, but we did it! :) I am so grateful to God for helping us to do that! Oh that reminds me, did I ever tell you about my first day on island how a brand new missionary and I (Elder Ng) decided to take a Book of Mormon and give it out at the train station? We were both scared out of our minds but we took that step of faith and just went for it and we were able to do it together! I love how the Lord will show you how silly it is to be scared, the uncomfortable feeling is ALWAYS Satan trying to stop you because he knows how important it is for you to do what you are about to do. And once we push Satan aside and chose to show our faith and just take that step the Savior will show us who is really in control, and that is him, and he has prepared someone for ALL OF US to help. No matter who we are, there is someone out there (maybe its ourselves) who is ready to discover the amazing joy and happiness and peace that comes from the Lord and Master Jesus Christ! So take that step!

Oh so as to the missionaries who may be feeling discouraged...that is tough. There is a lot that is way to easy for Satan to use against you, language, success, your personal testimonies strength. The one thing I think I would tell an elder who is having those thoughts is to make sure they are being 100% obedient. If they are then the doctrine they learn will lift them up, and they will be blessed beyond belief. There really is not a whole lot that I think that I could say to a missionary to lift them up that much, but I know that the savior has that ability. And he will if the elder is sincerely seeking it. Also make sure he knows of the prayers and the support he has all around him, not just from home but from other missionaries and from the Lord! That is a tough one...make sure that the elder is leaning to the Lord for his strength and not to himself. Be like Ammon and boast of God and of nothing else and to Glory in the Lord. Recognize that all of our power is from God.

And the Agency thing. MOM THAT IS SO COOL!!!! HOW ARE YOU SO SMART!?!?!? That is so amazing! I don't really have time to do studying like that (even though I want to so bad haha) But all my studies are focused on the needs of investigators. All I can say is that I am a firm believer in agency being the amazing gift we have been given to have the ability to chose the right! And to thus be blessed for that choice! :)

I will leave with a thought about something that has blessed me so far (and it hasn't even been THAT long :)). That is the power of numbers when we set goals! If we set goals for everything, then track it over a period of time we can find patterns and really fix problems and grow so much! Tracking numbers for anything (church attendance, diet, stats in a game, ect.) will make that thing so much more effective! 

Well thats my thoughts for the week! Next email should be on Monday again so less to say but it will come quicker so...yay! :) haha.

I love you all!

Elder Gish!

P.S. Tell me about the dog!!!! :) SOOOOOO JEALOUS!

P.S.S. Missionaries love snail mail :) hint hint ;) haha I don't know how long it takes to get mail exactly but I think it is something more like 2 weeks. Thank you so much for all those who have taken the time to send letters! You don't know how much that really lifts spirits and can turn a day around so quick and re-motivate! (unless you were a missionary, then you do know haha) so thank you so much!

Guonian Kuaile! (happy new year!!)

 

Happy Chinese New year!!! It is the year of the Snake! It is a pretty crazy time...Lots of fireworks lots of really nice people and a LOOOOOTTTT of food. Which is good AND bad haha. Before I really get into everything let me go through and answer a ton of Mom's questions! :) I will probably have to answer some next week too because this week we don't have as long to email! :( It is because it is New Year and we have to do a POWER CLEANING of the apartment this week which means the whole day is dedicated to cleaning that roach filled apartment and we get a break to eat and to do shortened emails! I am so glad Mom and Dad made me do my chores haha, otherwise this would be TORTURE, but it actually isn't so bad, and when you finish a job you just feel so satisfied and proud of yourself haha. But anways here are some answers.

The flight over here was LONG it was something along the lines of 34 hours of travel. I got to sit with some good friends and play some chess and talk our nerves out which was really great. Also on the flight over to Taiwan I was across from a family and was able to talk to them about the church! They were on a plane...in assigned seats...they were trapped! There was no escaping talking to me about the gospel! :) It really was a lot of fun and was an amazing experience! Although...it was also very humbling to see how different native Chinese speakers and white missionaries speak haha. Taizhong is an AMAZING place! It is so full of life! There is a lot of pollution here but after a little you don't really notice it anymore. The thing I haven't gotten used to still, and don't know if I ever will is the smells...especially stinky tofu....It smells like...well I guess it smells like wet dog but it is so strong and you will smell it from so far away! Plus the combination of all the other wild smells...its a little crazy. Somethings smell really good, but not mixed together. Elder E. has lived here for almost a year so this is his first New Year too. He has been on his mission for almost 15 months, but only only island for about 12. The food....well let me tell you...haha. Guonian (the new year) is filled with such celebration and so much food and EVERYONE wants to feed you. So first off I won't be surprised if I finally put on some weight :)...but also I won't be surprised if I lose a ton from not eating/throwing up haha. No....i'll eat...I have too haha. It is really rude to not finish and people will just sit there and talk to you until you finish what is on your plate so you have to take small portions at a time that you KNOW you can finish. And they want you to try EVERYTHING and they will watch you eat it....there is no getting around it...haha. So some of the weirdest things that I have eaten THIS week is octopus (really not bad), fish eggs (it looks like a hotdog sliced long ways but no...its a huge diced fish egg...so nasty), and a black chicken. The chicken meat is actually 100% black. It is a little weird, but tastes almost exactly like chicken so its okay. The thing that is weird is that they don't just find meat for you. they cook the WHOLE thing. So I was able to partake of some delicious chicken lung, which means I grabbed the chicken breast and ate that, then went behind and had to tear off the lung (yes you have to eat every part or its rude...) That wasn't really that bad either, its just that you have to get over knowing you are eating a lung.

So some funny and cool things that happened this week are, I went on my first exchanges! So neat! The Zone leaders are studs and I got to go stay up with one of them at their apartment. Which, by the way, is SO much nicer than ours! It was pretty funny to see actually haha. Also sometimes people just sell stuff and don't really put it in the right boxes and stuff haha. So this week I went to buy a clicker to keep track of the number of people I contacted and the box had a black clicker on it, so I bought it. But no...I opened it up...inside was a pink...bright pink, clicker. so embarrassing, haha but I am using it anyways. I think it will become a fun little thing that I can give to someone I train and have it passed on :). I also teach the advanced English class on Wednesdays which is really fun! All the students are really like students and really consider me like a teacher haha they even do little things to suck up haha like this one girl walked in and gave me a little gift haha. It was so funny and super nice. It is really acceptable though because during guonian everyone is just OVERLY nice so I don't think it was REALLY sucking up :). haha. 

One thing I SUPER encourage the young-men to do is to REALLY practice that "give the first lesson in 30sec" type thing. It is so interesting to see that now I will pull up to a red light and see that we have 40sec left (they have things to count down) and I will think, WOW 40sec! PERFECT! I can get in a few principles, discern a need or two, set up a time, ask about baptism, and extend a commitment! Sometimes we only have about 5-10 seconds to say something powerful enough to get someone to agree to meet with us again so we can really teach them. I am still learning but Elder E. is awsome at it! I am so glad I have him as my trainer! Something else that was super funny happened and as we were biking to an appointment we passed this HUGE BEAUTIFUL building. I looked in and I saw all this fruit, I mean tons and tons of beuatiful and big fruit. So I asked Elder E. why they had such huge and nice fruit stands...he just started laughing so hard and I didn't know why until he explained that it was a temple and those were offerings to their ancestors! haha. gosh...the life of a new missionary :). I would say the hardest part is all the tricks that get pulled on me! They are almost all food tricks like..."oh yeah thats chocolate!"...(Pigs blood frozen into a jello type thing). "No those are frogs eyes" (seeds they put in drinks with a weird cytoplasm around them). But that is what makes it fun :)

Well. I am running super low on time! I want everyone to know that there are miracles EVERYDAY! We have started to record our miracles and it is amazing to see how many we have each day! Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are such a big part of your life, their hands are in every part of your life whether you know it or not. Like yesterday, We were biking to a dinner appointment and on the way there we ran into a past investigator that has no phone! We talked to him and set up a time to meet that night. We commited him to baptism and set amazing goals for him to give up smoking and drinking tea! The drugs and smoking is the hardest thing to deal with here...especially binglong (its like chew in america except it stains the asphalt red....so nasty). But with the Lords help I know that ANYTHING is possible.

I know that this church is true and I know that Jesus Christ lives, he suffered so that each of us could live again. He loves you and he believes in you. Lean on him and believe in him. There is no other way but by and through Jesus the Christ.

I love you all and have a happy new year! Find someone new to share the gospel with! (Maybe you just share it by your example! But build the church at all times and in all places! :))

Elder Gish

dixiongmen, jiemeimen, dajia hao! (how they address people for church talks)

Taiwan is so awesome! Filled with CRAZY smells, and crazy nice people!
It is so funny how Elder E. [Shannon here: Reminder – Elder E. is Sam’s mission companion.] and I will get TOTALLY rejected by someone, but not feel bad at all after because they aren't mean at all! I mean, of course we are sad that they don't want to hear this INCREDIBLE message, but at least they are nice. Everyone is just so friendly, in fact, this week we were walking in a park contacting and all the sudden I had to go to the bathroom, so I asked a man (who didn't look too friendly, but never judge a book by it's cover!) where a close one was, and he said he wasn't sure but that he could take us to his house and I could use his! How nice is that? We walked over and got to have a really quick lesson too! I think I might start using that as a contacting tactic from now on ;) haha.

So I have an AMAZING miracle this week! Ahhh it was so great! So We were street contacting, and I looked at this guy and kept thinking that I should talk to him. So I pointed to him and asked elder E. if he had talked to him before. He said they used to talk to him every week but he would never meet. But he still encouraged me to give it a try. I decided that it wouldn't be worth it since he didn't accept the 'expert missionaries.' So we decided to go to the next intersection. Elder E. started to bike away and I got about one or two pedals and then my chain fell off! Off the brand new bike that has had NO problems! I was a little upset. But I got off and Elder E. was already across the street contacting (So "you [pronounced yo] banfa" {mission term for an awesome missionary}. I walked my bike over to the side of the road and bent over to look at the gears. Then ALL of the stuff in my pockets fell out....ugh. I was feeling pretty embarrassed, and frustrated. But I picked up all my stuff and looked up and that guy that I had been watching over came over to help out! We flipped the bike, fixed it all up (It has had NO problems since) and I had a good conversation with him and we set up an appointment! HOW AMAZING IS THAT? Some angel clearly took off my chain and pushed all of my dongxi [stuff] out of my pockets! :) It was such a blessing! My haihao [kind of okay] day turned into such a happy and grateful day! It was an amazing miracle! It is so amazing to see the Lord's hands in our lives in just the little day to day things!
I have one more miracle that really hit me hard this week. So I had only been in Taiwan for about 5 days when we met with a W. D., he is this old man that believes we are basically all animals and the only real difference is that we wear clothes! But he has still been coming to church and meeting with the elders cause his dad was Christian before he died and Wu wants to learn what his dad believed. But it was my first meeting with him. And we started talking and teaching, and it was the first lesson where Elder E. basically forced me to lead the lesson since he would hardly talk >:0 haha. But it was good because it really pushed me. But we ended the lesson and I thought nothing of it until this past Sunday. W. D. walked up to Elder E. and told him that we was rethinking things and that he wants to progress more! He said that when we talked he was so blown away that I could understand him and talk to him, he said that he thinks it might be a sign from God. He called me his angel! HOW AMAZING IS THAT?! I know with all of my heart that I was not the one that made him think that, because really I hardly understood a word he said! But the spirit did, and the spirit helped me to communicate with him and the spirit testified to him that these things are true! It was NOTHING I did, I am SO grateful to the Savior and to Heavenly Father to have my back like that, to help me out and to bless his children like that! 
So a quick funny story. We went to go visit this family, the D. family. They captured this bird and keep it as a pet. Well they wanted to show it to us! So they set him on my shoulder (reminded me a lot of our trip to Florida! Brought back some really good memories! ) But so the bird was on there for about 5 or 10 sec and then I wanted to move him onto Elder E. because he really doesn't like that bird haha. So I wanted to set the bird on him and just be funny when BAM...the bird pooped all over my shoulder...I was just like...no...haha. The family quickly got the bird and helped me to clean it out. And right now I am washing my clothes that have a little yellow stain on the shoulder. It really was pretty funny!

Another funny story! (And mom I TOTALLY forgot your letter at the house. So I will just answer your questions either next week or in a letter I send is that okay? SORRY!) So you know how we are INFESTED with roaches...ugh. Haha, So I have been killing a ton lately, and yesterday there was one in our room so I went to go squish it with a piece of paper and RIGHT BEFORE I squished him, the paper slipped out of my hand and my thumb went right on him and totally squished him! Of course I had one of those freak out moments when somethings takes you by surprise (kind of like mom stepping on that frog :) haha). Elder E. and I were laughing so hard that we were crying! haha It really was pretty funny.

So as a last note before I get going. I want to let everyone know how IMPORTANT referrals are, if I had known about how important they were before, I would have been giving referrals every time the elders came over. It doesn't even have to be someone you think is Golden, just a friend who could use the gospel (in case you don't know...that would be EVERY FRIEND! haha EVERYONE can use the gospel!). We are really having a hard time getting referrals lately, so on behalf of the other elders around the world, I would challenge everyone to think of at the least ONE person to give as a referral to the Missionaries (even if it is yourself :)) We came out here to Taiwan, learned Mandarin and live in a cockroach infested apartment, wake up at 6 and go to bed at 10:30. We do it because we KNOW THIS IS TRUE! We want to bless the lives of everyone we talk to. We came out here because this gospel has changed our lives for the better. No matter how happy or peaceful we are without the gospel, we can all, ALWAYS improve. The Gospel is they way to do this! I see these people that wave us away and I get so sad to think about what they are passing up. If you haven't given the elders a chance, then just give them a chance, how can you know that you don't need something until you give it a shot? And if you have before and think that this just "isn't for you"...then I am sorry to say...You are wrong...this IS for you. This is ALL FOR YOU. This Gospel is for every single person individually. The Savior gave his life for YOU as an individual and he loves you as an individual.
So let this gospel bless those around you :) refer your friends, or yourselves haha.
I love you all so much and I hope that you have had a great week! So until next week! :)
Ge Zhang Lao