Wo de Zuihao libai!

ITS MY LAST WEEK!!!!!!! So first things first, I have my travel information so here it is!

I leave the MTC on January 22nd…to Seattle, WA. We leave THERE to Tokyo Narita, Japan on January 23rd... We then leave to Taibei, Taiwan. From there we will take a bus to Taizhong and probably arrive around Midnight!!! YEAH! 

This week has been hard because EVERYONE is getting ready to leave and EVERYONE just can't wait to get out! I totally agree though...as fun as the MTC is, 12 weeks is too long, we are ready to go. We got ANOTHER new generation and they both will be leaving in only 9 weeks! Lucky! It really is amazing to talk with them and to see how we came in just like them...to see the blessing of the Lord with giving us the Gift of Tongues! It is sooo amazing to see the hand of the Lord in our studying! One of the things that really helped me to realize this is that our teacher challenged us in 1 hour to memorize all three baptismal challenges in Chinese. We were all thinking...holy cow....no way. But our teacher asked us to say a prayer and in faith ask for the gift of tongues...the ENTIRE district memorized them in the hour allotted, some of us even went beyond and memorized a scripture with it. IT WAS INCREDIBLE! Now we are all constantly praying for that gift of tongues! The Lord WILL take care of us!

So this is a kind of off topic but funny story! Mom...Grammy...skip this part :) Its more for Dad and the boys :) haha. So there is this Elder in our Zone. He is a Marine and is a pretty rough, tough guy.  Anways I was talking with some other Elders at night and telling them about how I wrestled for a little and I had done some other martial art type stuff, but never for very long. Well [this Elder] started talking about his training and how Marines don't lose and how he could beat up anyone of the Elders...yes even the 300lbs Tongan haha. But I kept quite and he said randomly I wouldn't be able to last even 5 sec....well....I told him I was willing to wrestle with him if he really wanted. He wasn't going to just say no because he wanted to maintain his status as "tough guy" haha. So he pulled me in and we started to wrestle. And he was wrong...it didn't last 5 sec, it lasted about 30 sec, and he tapped out :) hahaha. I KNOW I KNOW, I need to repent, that was not very missionary like...but it was really fun! And pretty funny! We have actually become really good friends since then :) So everything ended up working out perfectly!

So anyways, OH since I am going to be in Taiwan in a week, now would be the time to start sending letters to Taiwan!  I am not 100% sure about how long it takes, I am guessing about a month max. I have heard though that two weeks is a possibility. But either way, Elders live for snail mail :). And Dear Elder I heard can still get to us either same day or next day. So that is also a very good method for sending mail! Thank you so much for everyone that has been writing me! I really, really appreciate all the support, it really does give us all a little burst of energy to see our names on the package slips and on the letters! You all are the best! Thank you soooo much!

So as District leader I have taken in two new missionaries...my power is growing! First this zone, then Taiwan....THEN THE WORLD! Just kidding! But they are two amazing missionaries! They are both AMAZING at Chinese and are both going to Taizhong! Elder Ng (pronounced ing) and Sister Tung (pronounced dung). They have added so much to our district and are amazing amazing servants of the Lord! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful district! My companion is also SUPER amazing! He is just so humble and can say so much in so little. He is an amazing guy!

I am so grateful for my wonderful family, I have been able to bear so many testimonies and share so many stories because of how AMAZING my family has been! THANK YOU SO MUCH! You have blessed the lives of so many people that you may never know. I am so grateful.

Oh and just so you know this will be the last email and last letters I send for awhile. Next week I leave so I won't be able to email or really write letters. And then I will be in TAIWAN! So letters will take a while and I am not sure when my Preparation day will be in Taiwan. And I am sure that from this email forward the emails will have way more info and will be much more interesting...by week 10 in the MTC...everything is usually the same haha.

One thing that WAS really cool this week is that my district and I were all sitting at lunch and then out of no where President Brown comes over and sits next to us! THE MTC PRESIDENT! It was so great, he just got to know us and it was super amazing! He is such a nice man!

I love this work! I love Jesus Christ! I have been hit over and over again this week with the importance of my purpose, the importance of all of our purpose, our responsibility as children of God to share this gospel. I have also been so struck with the importance and power of the Atonement. In and through it we can do ALL things. I love my Savior and I am so grateful for Him. He has saved me. I am grateful for every day, every breath. I know that without Him I am nothing. I also know that WITH Him, I can be exactly who I need to be! I put my trust in Him, I lean on Him and depend on Him for everything. He IS OUR Savior! I want to invite everyone to say a prayer tonight and just thank Heavenly Father for Jesus Christ, ask Him to help you have more faith and a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ. Then go forward and act, READ THE SCRIPTURES! THEY ARE GOD'S WORDS! What better information can we have then that that is straight from God? We can all always improve, but we need Christ in order to do that.

I love you all and I hope you have an amazing year! (PS This will be my only full year on a mission! I am going to give it...well...actually...nvm....I am going to give the rest of my life over to the Lord :)....I am just grateful for this full year to be set apart :))

Ju ni hao yun!
Elder Gish

Only 2 Weeks Left

I am going crazy!!! Can you tell from the Picture?...The funny hat one is Rao Zhang Lao and I being pokemon trainers haha. That goes to show how crazy we are going here! I really do love the MTC! It is amazing here! But 10 weeks is enough for me haha. I just want to get out and preach and teach and share this AMAZING MESSAGE!!! I know that I have a lot to still learn in the Gospel and ESPECIALLY in Chinese! But I am just so anxious to get out to the field and do the Lord's work!

Wanna hear something AWESOME!? We got new teachers this week (Wu laoshi and Liu laoshi) They are both really cool! With this switch we also got new investigators! Xiao DiXiong and Qiu DiXiong! They are both amazing people! But what is superdooper cool is that Wu laoshi came back about 4 months ago from Taibei! He knows Elder Graves AND Elder Gong! [Shannon here: Elder Graves is a friend from Colorado. Elder Gong is a friend from New Hampshire. Serendipitously, they were companions just a few months ago in the Taiwan, Taipei mission. Both are really wonderful young men.] It was really cool to take a second or two to talk to him and hear about my amazing missionary friends! I really have been blessed so much by the Lord with THE BEST FAMILY AND AMAZING FRIENDS!!! The Gospel has blessed me more than I could ever express and more than I could ever show my thanks for! I can't wait to get out to Taiwan and to serve the Lord through the people Taiwan and to share this gospel with EVERYONE IN TAIWAN! Can you sense my excited...ness? Yeah...my English might start to drift away a bit. We are all doing our best to use ONLY Chinese. So the only time we use English is when we just really truly cant get our point across, when writing family and friends, or when our teachers make us :(. We are all getting really good with our MTC Chinese, but we all know that MTC Chinese is NOTHING like real Chinese, especially in Taiwan with all their funny accents! Apparently in Taiwan, they all have really girly accents! All the teachers warned us about it so that the Elders don't start picking up the girly accents! It was really funny when they gave us examples though! It is also a little hard to understand! I'm sure with the Lord's help we will get the hang of it!

This week has not been too exciting, I don't know if everyone has heard but some big flu wiped out the MTC, over half the elders and sisters were sick. It was insane! But everyone seems to be back to normal! But, because everyone was sick the week was incredibly uneventful! However, I was able to do some SWEET study of the Book of Mormon! I LOVE that book! It is so powerful and wonderful! I was studying the life of some of the BEST missionaries (besides the savior) like Ammon, the Son's of Mosiah and Amulek! They are so amazing! One thing that really touched me was when they say that the thought of just one soul perishing made them shake and tremble! No matter who the person is, no matter if they are a loved one or an enemy, we have to have that mindset! Then EVERY person we see will be the perfect person to share the gospel with! We will then see them as God see's them! And at that moment, nothing will stop us from inviting them to come unto Christ! When they see and feel the love of the savior through us, they will WANT to be taught and be baptized by proper authority! HOW AMAZING IS THIS WORK! I want nothing more than to share that love, that piece with everyone I come in contact with!

Sorry this isn't too long, I didn't have a lot of time today....we FINALLY get to go back to the temple and we are heading down a little early to get Lunch!
Thank you all and I love you all!

Love Ge Zhang Lao!

P.S. I am not sure about how dearelder's will work in Taiwan but it is probably still the fastest way to get mail to Taiwan! The handwritten will always be the favorite though ;).
P.S.S. CHASE WHY YOU NO WRITE YOUR BROTHER! :( haha. I sure love and miss you Bro.
P.S.S.S. Gage, you are the favorite brother :) hehehe. JK I LOVE YOU BOTH!
P.S.S.S.S. MOM AND DAD ARE THE BEST!!!!

XinNian Kuaile!!

Thats HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!?!? We made it passed 12-21-2012! I thought for sure we were done for! Haha just kidding!

So this last week has been AMAZING! I was called as the District Leader and have been severely humbled! It is GREAT to be humbled haha. I love my district and I have to seriously analyze myself and make sure that I am doing my very best all the time! I will be the District Leader until we leave for TAIWAN!!! WHICH IS ONLY 3 WEEKS AWAY!!! AHHH!!!! HOW CRAZY!?!?!?! Oh and as a side note, it takes about 3 to 4 weeks to get a letter from US to TAIWAN so if you start sending letters this week, I will probably get them my first week in Taiwan! That would be nice :).

So the principles I focused on this week in my teaching is teaching SIMPLY and INVITING. The PMG [Shannon here: PMG=Preach My Gospel] tells us that as missionaries we should be inviting EVERY PERSON we talk to to act, so be prepared for an invite somewhere in here ;). Also in order for someone’s life to change they have to act and in order to act we have to invite them! Agency is KEY in inviting, not only key in the person to choose to accept but also in the inviter asking the right question at the right time and being bold in the request! I have learned that as a representative of Jesus Christ, He will back up the promises that I make to investigators when I am inviting and prompted by the Spirit. How amazing is that? God has our back at all times! The other thing I learned was about teaching SIMPLY. This is soooo hard to do! I would teach the 5 main points of the Gospel and I thought I was being overly simply when I talked about Faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy Ghost and enduring to the end! But no, that isn't simple enough! When the teacher told me that, I thought "Shenme Dongxi!?" (What the heck?) How could I possibly teach more simply than that?! As I thought about it and tried to figure out how I could do it, I came up with these points, "Believing in Jesus Christ, Changing to be more like him, Making two way promises with, following His will and acting on it, and doing this same things over and over and continually striving to be better!” How much better is that? For people who have NO IDEA who God is...this is how I need to teach EVERYTHING. Plus, as I teach like this, I can really feel how it is more a part of me and has more sincerity in it then using the words that have been presented in Preach My Gospel. Now of course, eventually they will have to understand these terms, and we will help them get to that point, but it really is step by step and line upon line. It is amazing to see the interest level of investigators SKY ROCKET when we really teach from the heart instead of from the rote presentations that PMG gives us. Preach My Gospel is written for MISSIONARIES to HELP them teach investigators. And it really helps SO MUCH! I love Preach My Gospel! If you haven't gone through and read it I would invite you to do so! Start by reading Chapter 6 about the Christ-like attributes, that will get you HOOKED, then move through and finish it out. Really study it! I know it was written to help missionaries, but shouldn't we all be striving to share the Gospel all the time? Sharing the Gospel is what saves the lives of our brothers and sisters! Be bold and teach, share, and love the people you are with! You will see miracles happen in YOUR lives AND in the lives of those you teach when you exercise your faith in Jesus Christ and preach His gospel. Why would you not share it? Are you worried about what the person would think? What they would do? Remember Nephi when Laman and Lemuel were scared because Laban controlled 50 men? God is all powerful and all knowing. He will back you up if you have faith in Him! Don't be afraid to share the gospel with anyone, everyone! In your words and example!

I heard a wonderful quote this week, I think it was by Bruce R  McConkie, I can't quote it exactly but this is the idea of it. "The "New Star" that was seen as the sign of Christ birth was not just placed there on that day (God COULD do that but it most likely didn't happen that way). God new exactly when Christ would be born and so he placed the star where it needed to be placed FAR before the birth of Christ. And this star was in the right place at the right time so that the Shepperd's could see it and think it was a new star brighter than all other stars." God has done the same thing with you and me. He has put things into motion far beyond this moment so that we could be where we are now, so that we can be that Star in someone's life. We need to "let our light shine!"

I love you all, I love the people of Taiwan, I love Chinese and I LOVE THE SAVIOR!!! I am so grateful for Him, not only for me in my life, but because of how He has blessed all of you! I am grateful for each breath, each day that God gives me. All I have is His and I will serve Him with all of my heart, forever and always!

I hope you all have an amazing week!

REMEMBER! Tian (1) Zhu (4) Zi (4) Zhu (4)!!! (The numbers are the tones, and it is an old Chinese Proverb that means God helps those who help themselves, so remember to take that step and ACT! :)
Elder Gish!

P.S. I really miss my fam :( You all are SO AMAZING! :) Thank you so much for your amazing examples to me and for all your support....YOU ROCK! :) and to everyone else, your prayers are REALLY felt...thank you so much!!!

SHANGDAN KUAILE!!! (I'm sure you can all guess what this means given the date :)) (Shannon here: We received this on Christmas Evening. But are just posting it now.)

Okay so let me set this up by saying that since Christmas fell on P-day I actually have ZERO time for letters and EVERY missionary has been given 20min to do their emails so I actually have less time then usual. SORRY! So let me quickly get a few things out before I start the REAL good email :)

Okay I KNOW ELDER NOLL!  (Shannon here: I found a few blogs by families whose sons or daughters are serving in Taichung. Elder Noll’s was among them.) He is so cool! A truly amazing missionary! Would I be able to get little updates now and then from his blog? :)

Also we had to go in awhile ago to get our Visa form checked out...and as I was looking over it everything looked fine till I saw it...BAM! Female was marked in all black! RAWR! So this wasn't my mess up either, this is what the mission house had done! Really...ELDER Gish...Female? I am sure you can just see how that I will never live that down here! Oh well haha, it really is fun and amazing here! I am so glad to be a part of this amazing work!

Okay next, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!! I won't tell everyone your age don't worry!...but I'll give a hint...she looks 27 right?...well she is a little older....in fact, she went to school with Joseph Smith Senior! Can you guess now? ;) Haha, i'm KWX (kai wan xiao...just kidding in Chinese) I love you Mom and I hope you have a WONDERFUL day! You deserve it for having to put up with me these last 19 years! I know for a fact my parents are both going STRAIGHT to the Celestial Kingdom for that! :)

Also you have been asking me for my schedule a lot! Sorry I keep forgetting! Here is the basic Rundown!

Wake up every day at 6:30 and be ready and out by 7 to be at Breakfast by 7:20 (Except P-day, then we get a sack breakfast around 6:50)

MWF: Personal Study from 7:50-8:50 and then an Additional Study time until 9:20 and Gym time starts at 9:30. Gym is from 9:30 to 10:20 and I usually play Basketball or Volley ball with elders that played those sports in high school! It is TONS of fun! Then we have time to get ready again and Then from 11:00-12:00 is Personal study time on Monday, a Workshop on Tuesdays, and Tall lab (language study) on Fridays. We have a personal study on Monday because during the usual study time we do service on Monday! Then Lunch is at 12! Language study is after that from 12:45 to 1:45. Classroom time is 2-5 and that's language and gospel study! Dinner is at 5 and then MORE class from 5:45-8:45! Then we have planning 9-9:30. Prepare for bed and be IN BED at 10:30! :)

T: P-DAY! Early Breakfast then Laundry at 9:20 then Personal Study from 11-12, Lunch (Sack) at 12. Temple time from 1:45-3:45 Usually goes over till 4. Then Personal time (Write letters and Email usually) That goes till 5. Then Dinner and then TALL (Language) from 5:45-6:45. Devotional from 7-8 and District Meeting from 8-9 Then Planning and Bed!

Th: Breakfast 7:20 and from 7:50-10:50 Is class11-12 is Personal Study time. Then Lunch! More language study from 12:45-1:45. Then Class from 2-5 then a break for Dinner and more TALL from 5:45-6:45. Then Gym from 7:05 to 7:55. After we have to get ready and do some Additional Study till 9:00 Finally Planning and Bed!

Sat: Sat is EXACTLY like Thursday EXCEPT we have TRC in the morning in stead of class! TRC is where we teach members and real investigators in Chinese! AHHH soooo funN!!!!

Sun: Breakfast at 7:20. Priesthood from 9:10-10. Lunch is 11:30 to 12:15. 12:30-1:30 is Sacrament and after is District Meeting from 1:45-2:45. Dinner is at 5 and then Personal Study from 5:45-6:30. We have a fireside from 7-8 and a talk/movie from 8-9. Then Planning and Bed! Anything on Sunday that is not scheduled time is for additional study so it can be language, personal or companion!!

As a Side note we got to welcome in the New Elders this week! We got the FIRST 18 year old elders and 19 year old sisters this week! HOW COOL IS THAT!!!! THIS WORK REALLY IS AMAZING!!!!!! But it made me think about Dad and dropping me off...I might have gotten a little teary trying to help these elders and their families find comfort in the fact that their son is serving GOD :). It really was amazing!

I just came back from a devotional where we were privileged to hear from an apostle of the Lord Elder Russel M Nelson! What an amazing man! We also heard from his wife! She is amazing, what a powerful duo! :) I don't have much time but I would like to share a little thought from each of them!

Sister Nelson: The Lord does not have a sleigh full of gifts for us...no...he has entire galaxies full of gifts and blessings for each of us!

Elder Nelson: We are imperfect, but God, his words, his plan IS perfect. We will share his word and his plan! We are his children! BECOME PERFECTED IN CHRIST.

I know it isn't much...but truly ponder those words. They have great meaning....like a glacier. It is large alone on top...but just look under and see the truly MAGNIFICENT blessing. :)

Now with what little time I have remaining I would like to share my thoughts on the Atonement. I shared a little last week because I wasn't sure if I would be allowed to email today. But since I am, let me just tell everyone who is able to read this or hear these words...I know that Jesus Christ came down to this Earth, he was born as a little child. He condescended from supreme creator to just a little child. Like us he learned to walk, talk, and work. He struggled, felt pain, sorrow but he never once gave in. He lived his life perfectly for us! He never messed up ONCE...so that we, his brothers and sisters would have a chance to be saved. And even through the struggle of living an absolutely perfect life, even after that he gave his life freely for us. He suffered pains that are unimaginable, he was tortured and crucified for us. He gave everything for us. He then, for us again, conquered death, he was resurrected and defeated death. Now he is a perfected and glorified being. He is my savior and my redeemer. I know that he lives. I know that he loves me, I know that he loves each of you, your family, your friends. No matter what has happened or what will happen, he loves you and he will continue to do so. He will always root for you, love you, carry you, pick you up. He is Jesus the Christ, my master. I am now serving a mission in Taiwan for not only my Heavenly Father, but for Jesus Christ. I will forever serve and love him. I pray that anyone who reads this will be able to come to a knowledge of this truth as I have. If you have not, I challenge you to PLEASE read the Book of Mormon and ask God if it is true. I KNOW you will get your answer. He will not let you go without, because he has promised you that he will tell you. And God will not lie.  If you have read this treasure than please, especially in the joy of this season share it with someone. This message literally saves lives and rescues souls. As Children of God should we not love our brothers and sisters unconditionally? Nothing should ever come between us and our fellow children of God. They need this message, don't cover it up....let your light so shine! :)

I love you all and I wish you a VERY Merry Christmas!

I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!

 

Shengdanjie Kuaile! (Merry Christmas!!)  I love the translation for Merry Christmas in Chinese! It means “Happy Birth of Christ Festival!” How great is that!?

Well we have now passed the half way point! 7 weeks in and 5 more to go! I can't wait to get out to teach! However, the older generation that was AMAZING at Chinese wrote the districts and told us how even THEY couldn't understand anything that was being said! AHHH I guess there really is a difference between MTC Chinese and real Chinese haha. I guess all I can do now is work hard enough to qualify for the gift of tongues and then just pray for help!

Thank you everyone for your wonderful support! It is so nice to get Christmas cards and the happy thoughts! I really, really appreciate it!

So I heard a cool story recently that I want to share. It is obviously a Christmas story. I will summarize it for you all so that it doesn't take TOO long.

There was this little girl in her Kindergarten class and her and all of her classmates decided to put together a fun little play where at the end they would all hold up a letter and the letters would spell out C.H.R.I.S.T.M.A.S. L.O.V.E. They practiced and practiced and finally it came to the night when it was time to perform for the school and all the parents! Everyone was nervous and worried about doing their best. Finally it came to the end of the performance and the kids one by one started to hold up their letters to the music. The little girl I mentioned earlier was in charge of the M. But the poor little girl looked at her M and held it up when it was her turn....she didn't know but she was holding it upside down. A few parents laughed and looked at the cute girl sympathetically and a few of the school kids just laughed and pointed at her. The poor girl didn't know why everyone was laughing so she stood tall and held her letter up big and tall. She held it up and put on a big smile. And finally it was the last letter, the E....and a hush fell over the crowd. Everyone, seemingly, all at once saw what had happened. The letters now spelled. C.H.R.I.S.T. W.A.S. L.O.V.E. Everyone smiled and clapped and realized what Christmas was really about. The sign spelled Christ Was Love...and that is so wonderful, however, we know that Christ IS Love and will always be.

I just thought that was a really neat story and I hope you all enjoyed it!

I want to wish everyone a merry Christmas and bear my testimony to you all:

I know that Jesus Christ was born and came down to Earth in order to save us. Heavenly Father loved us so much that he gave us his beloved Son. For us all Jesus Christ suffered and gave his life. Through Him we can and will return to live for eternity with all our loved ones. I know that we can be relieved of our guilt and burdens through Jesus Christ. An all powerful creator of all came down and was born as an innocent Child, lived, felt pain, temptation, and all manner of afflictions and still remained perfect so that He could give us the greatest gift of all. I love Heavenly Father and I love Jesus Christ. I am out on this mission right now because I KNOW that these things are true. I am weak and Christ has made me strong. I know that I am nothing without my God and so I thank Him for every day, for every breath. Not only has He given me all of that but He has given me the BEST family and the greatest friends. Thank you all so much! Please, I ask everyone to remember Christ, remember him everyday but ESPECIALLY this next week. He loves you and has given all for you. I know that these things are true and I know that because They love us They gave us a second witness of Jesus Christ and that is the Book of Mormon, I know that this special Book is true. I testify of these things as a representative of Jesus Christ himself and in his name. Amen.

Please remember why we are even able to celebrate Christmas and why we do it :)

So here is a quick update, we got ANOTHER new investigator! We are busy like CRAZY preparing for our 4 and possibly 5 or even 6 investigators! But what is amazing, is that as I feel I have no time for myself, is when I discover the greatest truths. Truths that I needed to learn. It really is amazing. One thing I have learned comes from a sweet quote that my teacher told us, "we don't teach to the investigators interests, we teach to their needs in a way that interests them!" How amazing and true is that? I have found that as I choose to view everyone as a child of God and as I try to see their Eternal potential, I find that it is easier to love them and find their needs and then help them!

Nothing is too different this week, except tomorrow we will get to host and bring in the new elders! WOOHOO!! That will be so fun and great! Except it is gonna be freezing with all this snow...we will just have to stand out there and wait! But it will be worth it to be able to make the first MTC experience the best it can be!

I expect letters from my Fam! Especially you Chase and Gage! ;)

I love you all and hope you have a WONDERFUL Christmas!
Ge ZhangLao

P.S. My arm is still undecided, but it should be good, thank you for your prayers and please don't worry, I trust that whatever happens, the Lord knows whats best and I will let him do with me whatever he chooses.

P.S.S. Hey mom do you think you could find a Chinese Hymn Book for me? A small one? And could I have Chris Gish's address? Thank you so much! I LOVE YOU!

 

Hey!!! So I finally found a way to attach pictures! But I have to be in the laundry room so it is kinda weird and I can only send about 3 or 4 at a time! So hopefully I will be able to send more later! But this should be good for now! I think the first one is Elder Green and I on our first day, the last one is of the Elders in the District and one of our district presidency members who is a native speaker so having him around is REALLY nice! The one with the white bags....well that is about the incident a few emails ago...thats the Taichung missionaries. {Shannon here: Don’t worry if you don’t see that one, I don’t think it got attached.}

Okay so this week was actually a little boring, but I learned a lot still! Now we are on week 6, it is hard to not just get into a groove and let it ride. However, Elder Green keeps me in line so we are doing well! And just so everyone knows, I don't remember talking about my arm in the last email, but if I did here is the scoop. There is a POSSIBILITY they will have to take out the screws in the arm (they can't take out the plate without re-breaking the arm). I am doing everything I can to make sure that DOESN'T happen though! I love the MTC but an extended stay here (or a possibility of having to go home for it....) would KILL ME. I just want to serve the Lord and get out and teach! But it is really unlikely that will happen, I will know by the end of this week what is going to happen so I will probably be able to give the final word next email. Your prayers are felt and appreciated so thank you! Yet as a missionary I have been so blessed and there are so many missionaries that need prayers so much more than just I...like my companion...having to deal with me 24/7...GEESH what could be harder!? ;)

I am finally at the point with my Chinese where I am comfortable speaking 24/7 which is really nice! A lot of elders still want to speak English a lot and it is really really annoying, but sometimes I just need to humble myself and speak English to make sure that we understand each other 100%. The older generation just left so next week we will be getting new Elders and Sisters for our zone! It is going to be really exciting and it is amazing how time goes by! It is so true that the Days seem like Weeks and the Weeks seem like Days!

So the update on the investigators! We got a new young man named Joe, he is really difficult...but it is so easy to see his potential and I really care about him. I know he feels the spirit and we will continue to work with him and prepare him! The other two that we have had (Dai and Wei) are both committed to be baptized on the 1st of January! They both know that our message is true! We would baptize them next week if we were able to finish teaching them this week! But because we are teaching in Chinese....I think it will take a good 3 weeks to get through it all, the language barrier is tough. What is tough is that we have a pretty set vocabulary and if someone says even one word wrong it throws it all off...Here is a pretty funny example. So I was teaching Dai about the Holy Ghost and she was explaining to me how she thought she felt the Holy Ghost and it was such a great answer! I wanted to add a second witness so I showed her the Scripture in D&C 8 about how you will know it in your mind and in your heart. So I opened up the D&C in Chinese (all characters) I forgot exactly what verses but 6 and 7 sounded right so I had her read verses 6 and 7....I heard a few familiar words about gifts so I thought I had gotten the right scripture! I was excited and I asked her how she felt and how she thought this applied to her and her last answer...She just looked so confused and said that she had no idea and kept asking me what Yalun de Enci was. Well I had NO IDEA...I thought maybe it was how the scripture had talked about the Holy Ghost so I ALMOST told her it was the Holy Ghost. THANK GOODNESS I DIDN'T! I told her that I wasn't so sure and she understood when I told her I would go translate it and next time we met I would be able to explain it to her more. I was really confused though about how she didn't understand the scripture! So after I went back and looked in my scriptures and Bam....there it was...I should have had her read verses 2 and 3! Verses 6 and 7 are about the Gifts of Aaron and the Priesthood and how she can receive it!...SHOOOOOTTT!!!! I am going to have to fix this this week....ughhhh, but its okay. I am sure she will understand! We are FOR SURE not perfect teachers!

Don't quote me on those verses but I am pretty sure it is REALLY close to that.  So that gave our district some good laughs!

Here is another one that ALMOST happened, thank goodness it didn't. 1st Nephi 3:7 and 3rd Nephi 3:7. Don't get those mixed up! Just read them haha....after you read 1st Nehpi 3:7 it is usually a good spot to make the baptismal challenge! haha....just think about that! :) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for all of the support! You are all so amazing!
Read your scriptures, Pray, and live like a child of God!
Elder Gish!

Nimen Hao!

So first I want to know how everyone did on sharing the gospel!? Any amazing experiences or anything!? You can always Dearelder me :).

So this week has been powerful spiritually...but really...thats how it should always be, so be ready to read that fairly often! I want to take this time to openly thank my family. First of all I want to thank Papa Jim for the amazing example of faith he expressed to me. He truly was incredible. I have often brought him up in order to invite the Spirit and to share my testimony of the power and importance of the Book of Mormon! I am so grateful for my wonderful Brothers and my Dad what righteous priesthood holders (and to be - for you Gageroo :)). I could have never asked for anything greater. I want to take some time to focus on my Mom...I love you so much…. I could not imagine my world without my mom. I love you Mom. And Heavenly Father loves you, He has given you gifts that I have never seen in anyone else. You really are incredible Mom. I am very very lucky. Please don't worry about me. The Savior has more than provided for me. His Atonement has done so much more for me than I ever could have asked and I know that all will be okay through that.  {Shannon here –: Elder Gish has been having trouble with the arm that he broke when he was 13. It might be all the P-day Volleyball  games with his new Tongan Brothers –see previous post for explanation. We’re waiting to hear if corrective surgery is needed before leaving for Taiwan.}

Okay so I want to leave everyone ANOTHER challenge! This is one that I hope everyone is already doing but if not then it's time to start! READ THE BOOK OF MORMON! Just dive in! I promise that the second you open the book with a sincere heart and pure desires, your mind will be filled and the blessings of heaven will pour out onto you! It truly is an amazing book, a book of God. I understand how tough it can be at times to read...well...I have experienced that BUT I don't understand it. Now the Book of Mormon has become a part of me and I can't imagine going a day without reading from it! Please, please read the Book of Mormon. I could not and never will be able to stress the importance of the Book of Mormon!

So here is a small testimony just so everyone can know that YES the Lord takes care of his servants! (There is no way I would ever be able to speak like this without the Lords help!) Wo zhidao zhege jiaohui shi zhenshide. Yuese Sime kanjian YeSuJiDu he Tian Fu. Touguo YueSe Sime YeSuJiDu fuxin ta de fuyin. Ta cigei women Mo'ermenjing. Zheduan shu de jingwen hui bangzhu women huida women de wenti. Wo zhidao YeSuJiDu huozhe. Wo renshi Tian Fu he YeSuJiDu ai women, Ta ai Ta de haizi. Women shi Shen de haizi. Zhege xinxi shi zhenshide. Nimen keyi wen Shen he ta hui huida nimen. Ni xuyao zuo qidao. Ni xuyao meitian wansheng zuo qidao! Wo ai women do Shen. Wo hui dui Ta fuwu. Feng YeSuJiDu de ming, A'men.

I love you all and hope that you can feel God's love for you.

God be with you!

Ge Zhang Lao

P.S. The Shengling (Holy Ghost) is so important in all of our lives! Invite him zai sui shi sui di (in all times and in all places.)