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

 

Blessings DO follow trials

 

My new companion came in. THE ONE....THE ONLY...ELDERRRRR CRAPPSSSEEE!!!! Elder Crapse is the man! He is about 6 feet 8 inches...yeah...crazy...he likes to parkour and read and play chess and do athletic things haha. We have a lot of fun together! It is really great!! He is a miracle bringer! He hasn't been out very long and I learn so much from him and get strengthened everyday by is testimony and his example! I love having such a great companion!!! Here is an example of the miracles he brings with him. We are whitewashing as you all know so we don't have too much to do other then go find people to teach, but because of our hard work we are seeing a lot of success. We actually have this investigator named Yang Di Xiong. He is so amazing! He also had a hard time believing in the Book of Mormon and knowing if God existed. But after he came to Taiping Yang Di Xiong, FOUND an old Book of Mormon and decided to read it! After the first 5 pages he had this "crazy amazing feeling" and all the sudden he knew that God existed and that the Book was true! I was like...WHHHATTTT YEAH!!! It was amazing! And thank goodness Elder Crapse came and brought with him miracles! :)

So we were talking in our companionship study and he mentioned about how much time I have left...I got this SUPER sick feeling...I know that I still have over a year but it hit me that time really is flying...I really don't have THAT much time left here and it stinks...I love it here, I love the people and the language and I love helping people find this everlasting happiness! ITS SOOO GOOD!!!

Here is another SWEET story. So yesterday we were tracting (my favorite......not haha) but after we had finished we started walking back to our bikes and we walked past this garage with three guys. And one yelled "hey!!!" (just like everyone does when they see Americans here...) But this time I took it as an opportunity and so I turned around and said "hey!" We walked into this garage and introduced ourselves, asked if we could sit and talk for a sec and they said yes! They offered us beer....ciggs...and some other drugs..so obviously not a good situation haha. But we just sat there and first  chatted and trued to become friends, then started to slowly and boldly share testimony and teach donctrine, At the end of it all they were still drinking but had stopped smoking around us and eating the drug nut (its called beetle nut), and they gave us their address, number and invited us back! It was SO AMAZING!!! Those are things that can and will happen ONLY on a mission! I was so grateful for the amazing blessing!

This week (today) I finally got to play pingpong!!! Thank goodness haha...and yes...I still got it ;) hahaha. We also made brownies for a sister in our district since it was her Birthday last week. It was a lot of fun and the brownies are gonna be SOOOO good!! haha. We might go out bowling later today! :) 

I don't have too much time...

I love you all so much!

Go out this week and read a talk by President Monson...any talk ;) haha HE IS AWESOME!!!

YOU ARE ALL SO GOOD Thank you so much for the support!

-

Ge Sheng Long ZhangLao

 

Bum bum bum buuum!!!!!!

Just so you know...that bum bum bum buuuum is the sound of "the revealing!" Like at movie theaters when the movie is about to start! Why you ask? Well is it not obvious? This letter should be PACKED with me revealing stuff and fun things!! So get excited!!! 

Well lets do the big new first...I hope these emails don't get too confusing haha. Here we go.

So lets back it up a bit, 2 weeks ago I got a call "Elder Gish can you train?" I got a call 1 week ago, "Elder Gish I am sorry, your trainee got sent home early so we will wait till next move call (6 weeks later) okay?" I got a call last Monday "Elder Gish I just found out that there is going to be another missionary joining us, he is a Taiwanese missionary, can you help me train him?" I came to the training meeting on Friday "Elder Gish I have actually prepared a new young man that I need YOU to train can you help me? I will reassign to Taiwanese Elder and figure things out, but can you do that for me?"

Do you see what I am getting at here haha, these last weeks have been CRAZY for me! But here is the final news after things all evened out! I AM TRAINING, I AM WHITEWASHING, and I have recently found out (yesterday) That I am to be called as the new District leader here as well! I am SO EXCITED for all the amazing learning opportunities that I will have in these next few move calls! :) IT IS GOING TO BE INCREDIBLE!!!!! So who am I training? AN AMAZING MAN named Elder Hartshorn! He is from Texas and is so amazing! I have a LOT of favorite parts about my new son ;) haha but one I REALLY like is how he says yes sir and no sir or yes mam and no mam. It is just so....TEXAS haha. What are the other cool parts?...HE PLAYS LACROSSE! LIKE A BOSS! He played for this USA team and stuff and in college. He brought some sticks and he went out to play for exercise this morning (P-Day). IT WAS AWESOME! We have been talking about all these Lacrosse job opportunities that he knows about and was as we played he was like "oh man, you could totally do this and this and this" and I just got so excited about lax again! I need to stay focused on the work I know :) But it was just so refreshing to hold a lacrosse stick and pass around and even cooler to hear about his connections and the things we could do with lacrosse!

Okay, enough about lacrosse :) On to the more important...the gospel and the work!

Here is some SWEET news that we heard! In the...near future...:) we will be able to use FB to proselyte out here! We will be allowed to create new accounts that are our ELDER accounts but we can still add people from home and do all kind of stuff, it will be the same thing but will be us posting uplifting thoughts from studies or lessons or letting investigators post and ask us questions and all kinds of stuff like that! HOW COOL! I really got excited about the blessings that the Lord has givin' us in regards to technology!! I am super stoked to say the least!

Well this week was full of miracles! Mostly because of my companion! He is so awesome! He have only been here 3 days and because of our hard work and dedication to the Lord we have found three new investigators and helped 2 of them accept the invitation to be baptized! WOW! How the Lord blesses his servants!!! 

You know, as I think about the work and who I was before and who I am now...it is so interesting, mostly to think how dumb I was before hahaha, but really also to think about what has become important to me, when I try to do and what I try to think about and such! It really is amazing to think about what a mission does and the blessings it brings. It really is a ONCE in a life time thing...so let me just say one more time...with all the vigor an email can bring...if you are thinking about or debating serving a mission...JUST DO IT! Put in the papers and go! Is it hard, yes, will you have days you can hardly walk and just wanna go sleep in a corner...yes, will you grow closer to your God and savior and become a BETTER you..YES! So just trust in the Lord and go. Everything else can wait!! The Lord will make everything ready for you, so if you don't want to go because of any reason just think...whose plan is better...you or the lord? He can put that opportunity back in your path in 2 years, so just go! :)

I love you all so much!!!!!!! I have to go take care of some other duties now! Sorry if my emails start to get shorter...I have a LOT of stuff to do now...but I really do love you all!

加油!!!

SHINE BRIGHT!

P.S....is it just so scary that I am now pretty used to taking freezing cold showers? :) haha.