Monday, March 28, 2011

Jared 3-14

Hello Family!
no problem about last week I enjoyed getting 2 letters this week :) So do you have to send the letters before 7:30 am? or is that at night?
Life is great here in Taiwan! Sometimes I forget that I'm in Taiwan, and I'll have little shocks... It's really good fun :)
I've heard about the earthquake, and the tsunami that went along with it, and apparently the east side of Taiwan got hit really bad, but that actually isn't part of our mission. That is the Taibei mission actually, so has had no effect here in Taizhong. But yeah Brandon must be having the time of his life... I know here in Taiwan all the missionaries love Typhoons and other natural disasters. I know it sounds horrible, but it's a great opportunity to serve the people that we love, and it's a good humbling experience for these people, and well it's really just a lot of fun I guess :P Unfortunately here in Taiping (the suburb of Taizhong that I'm serving) we don't really get typhoons.
Everything here is amazing, the people are so prepared it's great :)
Our main focus right now is the Bai family, Bai dixiong and his wife li jiemei. They are doing amazing. They passed their baptismal interview on saturday, and they are just so amazing. Li jiemei has no problems, she loves the Book of Mormon, and reads it everyday probably more than we do. Bai dixiong has been having a tough time quiting smoking. He's stopped now, but it's obvious that this week building up to his baptism are going to be rough, Satan will really work to tear down everything he's built up, but we know that Bai dixiong can easily overcome that. And luckily he has great support of 2 missionaries devoting all they're time for him, a wife that won't let anything postpone her baptism, and a loving heavenly father to support him in his efforts.
Our next big man is Duan dixiong. His family used to meet with us, but the daughter didn't really have interest, and the son came upon some anti Mormon literature and now he thinks baptism is too fast... But Duan dixiong is amazing. He also is quiting smoking, and he seems to be having an easier time. Yesterday his last pack ran out, and so today he should be completely clean. We still have to follow up on that, but he's great :)
Other people come and go, and we meet tons each day, it's really a lot of fun. Yesterday we sat down with a brother who is actually a drunk. Him and his wife straight up asked us what things does he have to do to change, and we simply told them read, pray, come to church, and obey the commandments of God, and his life will turn around. I'm excited to see the Atonement of our Savoir Jesus Christ work miracles with him. And we're sure when it does his wife too will have her hearten softened.
It's great here. I love it. I love you all back home, and I'm greatful for all the prayers you offer for me. You have always been a great example for me, and looking back you are such a blessing to the missionaries in your ward. So in missionary work we take a lot of numbers, to keep track of progress and whatnot, and one number is the number of nonmembers who came to church. I was laughing to myself one day when I thought about my farewell talk. That day the missionaries numbers must have skyrocketed with like 20 nonmembers at church :P Fun fact, I know has no real relevance :P I would actually really like to know, what things are you doing to help the missionaries in your ward? Besides feeding them, what amazing blessings have they received because of you?
-Elder Tate
Tang Zhanglao

Fun Stuff in Mexico - Nathan

Dear Mom and anyone else:


Since December 20th, I've been growing out my mustache to make myself look more Mexican. I also included a soul patch for the heck of it. It grew at an extremely slow rate, but three months can really make it pretty long. It still was pretty white, and many people didn't even notice it. To tell the truth, I hated it, but I kind of liked the soul patch. The only thing was, I didn't want to shave it because I figured it'd be the only time I could grow one and still respect myself. Every day I was tempted to just cut it off, but I told myself, there's no way I'm growing one again, so enjoy it. This morning, I'm sorry to say, I shaved it all off, and no one noticed.


When I got here, the Elder's quorum president asked for volunteers to go visit an inactive member. I knew his parents very well, so I offered to go. Pedro, my companion, went with me. We've been visiting them a couple of times, and he seemed pretty lazy to go to church. But today, he started off by asking if there was anything the prophet was saying to help us prepare for all the destruction. What a coincidence, next weekend is conference! We had a great chat about the mission and stuff (he's twenty) and he said that he was preparing to go when he suddenly got attacked by a bunch of doubts about Joseph Smith. He said that he would like to start going back to church. We're really excited about next Sunday!


The workshops are a lot of fun, if not draining on our energy. Speaking spanish rocks.


We saw Unknown last night. My companion wanted to see Sucker Punch, which I wasn't looking forward to, but they weren't showing it at our theatre. As I sat in line for the room to open up, I was really tired, and I was saying, "Man, I can't believe we're watching Sucker Punch." But then I remembered we had bought tickets for Unknown and got really excited again. My companion was so disappointed it was amazing. I really liked the movie, I thought it added a new, original dimension to movies that were similar.


We played a marriage game in FHE and the men kept on losing, until I finally won and got married!! Wooooo, first one married! I decided to marry all of the women who were already prepared to get married. I ended up with four wives who were embarrassed by me :P


Love,
DiegoTate

Jared 3-28

Hello Family!
It's good to hear from you! And that you all got to hang out with Bethany and Brandon. How's Chandler doing? Does he still remember me?
Have I told you about the garbage trucks here in Taiwan? They're fun, they play the same music every morning during personal study, it's good fun. Sometimes we also hear them play Bethooven, that's always a treat :)
This week has been good. I never thought I'd say this, but it's cold here. It gets pretty chilly, and it rains. It's so fun! Last night was one of the coldest wettest days on my mission, and it was such a blessing. We've found that only the really prepared souls go outside in the rain, so lot's of people were really willing :)
We also got to spend some time in the mountains yesterday! One of our investigators, Liu dixiong lives up there and we finally got to meet his son, and drop off The Family Proclamation to the world. Then spent some proselyting time up in the mountains.
I'm officially on my second move call now! I'm still with my same companion (Elder Johnson) in my same area (Taiping), but it's exciting because all the new elders came in, and I'm no longer the youngest on island!
Oh and when the new elders came in I got to go do Dan Jones with them! (Dan jones is the activity we did on our first night on island, standing on the soap box in the super crowed area) And this time I got to be "one of the older guys," it was such a different experience this time. It was still just a dream, but it was weird... I seriously was completely blessed with the gift of tongues for that night. I felt like I was speaking perfect Chinese and I understood everything that was going on, so that I could help this new Elder who just got on island learn how to contact. And then when we got back to our area I started speaking my broken Chinese again... But it was fun for that night :P
I can testify to you that the gift of the Holy Ghost is real. The gifts of the Spirit are real, through the Holy Ghost we can really know the truth of all things. Because Joseph Smith restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ we can always have the Ghost with us as a constant companion. Pray to have it's guidance and it will guide you. I love you all!
-Elder Tate
Tang zhanglao

On Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 4:34 AM, k tate wrote:

Hola Nathan and Jared,

we had Bethany, Brandon and boys at our house this week so everything was wild, noisy and fun. Brandon spent most of his time driving around to interviews, so he was in and out, but the rest of us here were in party mode. We only played 3 games of Settlers and Dad won all of them. (He has much more practice.)

Bethany and I built a bed. Dad helped. It's huge - the head board is close to 6 feet high. It's in Natalie's room and she's not very happy about it. "Don't try and make me tell you that I like it," is a direct quote. Her bed and box spring used to sit on the floor and she said she liked being lower than the lamps on her night stands. Now, lying down, she's much higher.

My big news is I bought an I-pad. I went to the Apple store and they told me I had to wait in line at six in the morning with the other 200 people who line up every morning, but then I got an e-mail, an annoynomous tip from a friend's son who works there who told me when they were getting a shipment, how to get into the mall, and to be there by 4 am. I really didn't think I'd go, but Friday morning I happened to be awake at 3:30, so I went to the mall, got in through the food court, and settled down in front of the Apple store in two big, soft chairs that pulled together. It was sort of surreal. The lights were dim, strange music was playing, I sat and read. Around 5 people came running in and I think they were surprised to see me. They'd been outside standing in the rain and the security guard let them in. I'm sure they thought they'd be first in line (but oh no, that was me.) Everyone around me was talking about all the nifty things the Ipad could do and I felt like a faker because I don't know very much about computers or IPAds, but I really want one because it has 12 hours of battery, it's amazinglly compact and light, and it will be great for writing. It also never deletes anything, everything you write is automatically saved immediately, so never again will I lose any of my writing. I'm also jazzed about downloading books... although it's sort of dangerous that I can now have the books I want immediately, no more reserving them at the library and waiting weeks, or hunting for them at the stores. I'm sure I still haven't learned everything my new wonder toy can do and perhaps I never will, but I'm very excited about it.

The Barnettes left this morning. We're hoping they'll be back and that Brandon will take a job around here. We don't know what will become of Adam and we pray that he'll find a job. One man told Brandon that where and how he choses to practice is more important than who he marries. Brandon and I decided that that statement says a lot about him and not that much about working. How you support your family and contribute to the world is important, but not as important as your family.

I've been thinking about life changes, how when I was at my dad's I was comfortable, I knew it well. When I went running every morning, I knew all the streets. I knew exactly where I was because it used to be where I belonged, but it's not where I belong anymore. I belong with Dad and the girls (or whomever happens to be in our home.)And it's the same with Bethany. She knows Rancho, it used to be her home, she used to belong here, but now she belongs with Brandon and her family. I guess the trick is to find the best place for us to be at the different stages of our lives and make the very best use of our time and circumstances. Jared should be the best missionary he can be, Nathan should do the best he can at his internship, etc.

Today in ward conference President Brennan had brothers Clyne, Tennison, Giar, Brokaw, Cruise, Miahara, get up and give their testimonies about how joining the church was the best decision they ever made. It was pretty powerful and it made me think of all the people you're teaching and how you might be introducing them to what could be their best decision.

I love you and miss you. I hope you're making your best decisions everyday.
Mom

Thursday, March 10, 2011

March 2011 Family letter

Dear Family, (including, but not limited to Jared and Nathan who are so far away)

Happy March madness. We’re as mad, happy, etc, as we last were. We’re amazingly boring.



Adam is winding down. Law review, moot court, etc. in a little more than a month law school will be a happy memory. He’s hoping to get a clerkship, working for a federal (or state) judge.



Bethany, Brandon and boys are coming for two weeks . Technically, they’re coming so that Brandon can interview for jobs (he’ll be a real live chiropractor soon) but, we’re polishing our party hats and setting up the game boards.



We wish Nathan (and Adam and Jared) could join us, but Nathan’s still in Mexico. He’s still alive, and from what little we hear, he seems happy, well adjusted, but stinky… I seem to remember a snaffoo with his shower. He's working with the church's employment center and teaches workshops that help people begin businesses. He loves teaching and at his last class he had 140 attend.



Jared’s letters are a heady dose of enthusiasm. It’d be awesome to be as excited about life as Jared. He loves his mission. They do little tracting and do most of their contacts on the streets. He has yet to be hit by a car, which proves that miracles really do happen.



Miranda and Natalie just finished roadshow. There’s a possibility that this was our very last… wouldn’t that be awesome? Sad, of course, for those who loved it…



Larry goes to work. For someone who hates talking on the phone, he’s doing a great job as executive secretary. He doesn’t hang up on people or do anything remotely rude, although I suppose at times he is tempted.



I love, love, love being the primary pianist and I hope I get to keep the bench for life. Last week Isaac broke Ben’s nose and this week Isaac sang operatic in senior primary. Stuff like that never happens in Relief Society. A few weeks ago my piano bench was wobbly and the primary president, who had been sitting on it, complained. So, I flipped it over, tightened the screws and thought, this is about as intellectually challenging as this calling gets. I do other things besides play the piano. I run, I clean stuff, I get jealous. My critique partner’s book came out last week. A guy I met at a writer’s conference a couple of years ago just came out with his second. Another friend sold her book; another has her book being read by an editor with a major publisher. But, none of that matters because, hey, my kitchen’s clean. And I’ve finally lost all that weight I gained when I was relief society president and what else matters? (Joking, there’s plenty that matters, like getting this letter mailed tonight so that Jared will have something to read 2 am our time.)

Much love,

Kristy

Jared 3-6-11

It's pretty amazing being a missionary, right now I'm in an internet cafe, where one of our friends work, so this is free. And afterwards I'll get my haircut by an inactive... for free. Yeah it's a sweet life.
So this last week has been pretty interesting. My trainer went to a leadership training meeting on Tuesday, so for most of that day I went on exchanges with an Elder Evans, and we stayed in my area. So effectively for that entire day I was the senior companion, and was incharge of making sure we got to where we needed to be. Well needless to say, we got lost a few times, but that's okay because we still did amazingly that day, and at the end we found our way back to my trainer and life continued on as usual.
Well almost usual, the very next day we saw quite the miracle: It was around lunch time, and we were looking for a place to eat. We saw a great little place, good prices, pretty clean, and just alround nice little place to stop for lunch, but for some reason we decided not to eat there. No real big reason, just not too appealing (I think they might have offered Karoke). So we continued on and saw a place that I had been to just the day before. Last time the boss gave me free soup, and helped me figure out the map so I suggested we go there for lunch again. While there my chinese was barely understandable (as usual) and a nice sister helped me out, and taught how to properly say it. We started talking (the three of us, my trainer included) and she ended up sitting down and eating lunch with us, we ended up teaching her about the message of the restoration, and she loved it. On the spot believes Joseph Smith is a prophet of her Eternal Father. Super prepared daughter of God, who randomly decided she wanted to sit down for lunch with some white guys, is now being taught by the sister missionaries, and I'm excited to hear how well she progresses. Oh yeah, and the next day we tried to eat there again, and we couldn't find it. We think it's closed now. It just goes to show that if you are doing everything you are supposed to be doing, if you are worthy, obedient, and dilligent the Lord will put people in your path, you will be at the right place at the right time, and not entirely know how you got there. What a blessing it is to sieze such opportunities.

-Elder Tate
Tang zhanglao

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Jared 2-28

The language is abosolutely amazing, I love it. It's kind of weird tho, I thought that once I got to Taiwan all I would speak is Chinese. I figured my trainer would pretty much only speak chinese except in rare situations, but in reality, the majority of my time is spent in English. It's kind of a bummer, because by the end of my MTC experience I was almost completely in Chinese, and my Chinese was skyrocketing. Now it's at a little of a standstill, but I'm sure I'll go back to only Chinese when I know all the English things I need to. But yeah, the majority of lessons and what not I understand. Church is a little harder though, because they dont speak with you, and you can't make them keep repeating the same thing:P
Our ward is good. We have a ton of amazing members. Everyone here loves the missionaries, it's really quite amusing. There are quite a few inactive members, which is really too bad. We do what we can to help them, but our purpose is firstly to help people come unto to Christ, and so majority of our time is finding.
In the morning we wake up run, eat, and study until 10:30. From 10:30 to 9 we proselyte. In between teaching appointments, an meal times we consistantly contact. So on our way places we'll pull our bikes over and talk with people. Luckily the majority of people ride scooters so it's a lot easier to contact them. Car's also sometimes roll down the window. We very rarely go tracting (door to door). and 90% of the people here are fojiao (buddhist) and don't want to learn more, and 9% are "already Christian, we are the same." With little interest in the restoration of Christ's church.
Then there is the 1%. The one percent come from all backrounds, and are willing to meet with wai4 guo2 ren2 (the numbers are the tones *Natalie*) (Outsiders) for whatever reason. Willing to at leat sign up. This 1% is what we spend 85% of our time on. Out of this 1% about 1/150 will end up meeting with us, read scriptures, pray, come to church, and then enter the sacred convenant of baptism. These 1/150, is what we try to spend 70% of our time on. We are always trying to help them, they are our life.
As of right now our 1/150 are the Bai family, Duan family, and Chen dixiong
Bai family- absolutely wonderful. The husband has to get out his smoking problem, and they'll be baptised on the 19th. (only bai dixiong, and his wife)
Duan Family - They're actually new. Only met the dad, and his two kids, but they're super willing, and also super busy. The nicest thing about them is that they are reliable, when they weren't able to make an appointment, they called and changed the time. (I know that might sound pretty basic manners, but majority of people just don't come)
Chen dixiong (dixiong means brother in Chinese) - Umm... we don't know with him. We don't really know here he came from, but he loves coming to church. He comes to Church every Sunday. We meet with him about everyday, just share a little principle, and go. He has a baptismal date for the 19th, but he smokes also, and doesn't know he needs to stop (in fact he offerred me a smoke...)
We don't know what exactly happened to our vietnemese friend... Other people come and go, but for right now, that's who we are focusing on.
No we actually do not make our own food. We eat oatmeal everyday for breakfast, but besides that we eat out for every meal. Food here, like little side in the wall places are super cheap. Almost everyday we get an all you can eat meal for about 50 kuai (less than 2 dollars) and everything here is just amazing. It's actually cheaper to by food out than make it at home.
Well yeah that's the boat I'm in, it's pretty much amazing. We work, we work, we work, and we love to work. And you know what you do when you don't want to work? You repent, and get to work. I love the work, I love the food, and man... I LOVE these people
-Elder Tate
-Tang Zhanglao