March
10, 2013
We can now email anyone!!!!!!!!!!!! well not strangers
but friends are ok.
So please let anyone who might want to write me know they
can just email me and give them my email address. Also if you could put it on
face book that would be great.
Mom said "I
want to know about the letters or notes your mission President writes to you.
What is the hardest experience as a ZL
so far. How is your knee? Your health?"
I attached
Presidents letter at the bottom
Hardest experience
is not being as good of a missionary as I should.
My knee still hurts a little if I use it a lot like climb
a mountain and in the morning is tight but other than that all is great.
Anyways this week
was sweet.
Here is my email
to President
Sabey, Matthew John
President,
This week was great. I learned a ton and had a ton of
fun. My zone went up in most categories and me and my companions relationship
is so good. There was a lesson that as we were teaching I felt we had complete
unity and I don't know if I had ever felt that before in a lesson. It was so
cool. I wish we had that lesson video taped. Also I am getting through the Book
of Mormon in Chinese (Alma 49) and the D&C in English. I went on exchanges
with Elder Chen (Elder Dwiggins companion, forgot his full name) and he was
good. He carries a ward list where ever he goes and visits LAs in the area that
they are contacting in. He also knows where many of his investigators live and
work and visits them often. I thought this was cool, but he does this because
he said he has lost some of the finding fire. So that was sad. But he is a good
teacher and missionary and his English is great. He said the way to get back
the fire would be to move him to an area with no investigators so he had to
find more. I told him I would tell you. He wasn't too happy. LOL. He made a
goal to not spend much time on people who don't have much potential.
I also went on exchanges with Elder Peterson (the
assistant) which was great. I learned a lot from him, especially about sharing
family messages. We had a blast and saw some cool miracles.
The coolest miracle was we had 3 students from shulin (2
had bikes) and 1 walked from there to our chapel (1 hour) to meet with us. They
came do "come a step closer to understand Christ." They all set
baptismal dates and committed to pray. It was so crazy and I was so happy. I
have never heard of Taiwanese 15 year olds walking 1 hour to meet with us. We
set up for a members house near to their home so next time they won't have to
walk/ride the whole way. Another crazy part to the story is that our peike
fanged us so we couldn't meet with them, but Elder Peay and Elder Bowler had a
lesson set for the same time and the investigator they set u for last minute
changed times so Elder Bowler was able to peike for us, while Elder Peay did
calls right outside the room. It was such a tender mercy. I would have felt
heartbroken telling them that we couldn't meet with them because some member
forgot to come, and tell them to take the hour walk home. God really does care
about his lambs and is willing to have them walk along ways so that they can
enter in his fold, but he will not abandon them when they get there.
Anyways I had 2 thoughts/suggestions for you:
1) Don't do so many quotable because it takes so much
time to read it all, so I only read like 5 then start writing. But if it was
like just one page instead of 5 full pages, I would read it all.
2) Also send the quotable to the MTC. I think MTC
missionaries have plenty of time and would love to hear miracles that happen in
the mission field. It would have them come to the field expecting miracles and
full of fire.
I felt you wouldn't mind suggestions but if you feel it
is not my place please let me know. You are such a man. I am so glad to serve
under you. I have a few friends who teach there and are always asking for
miracles to tell their students. When I read the quotable today I felt this is
what they were looking for.
Love
Elder Sabey
Spiritual thought:
We were reading
with and investigator 3 Nephi 11 where Christ lets everyone come and touch his
scars 1 by 1. I have thought what an amazing experience that would be. To have
one on one time with Christ. Then I remembered that every week we partake of
broken bread (symbolic of a broken/scared body) and get to actual ingest its
meaning to us and it is completely silent and it is one on one time with god.
The Sacrament is so special. I hope it has the same effect on us as it did
those ancient Nephites.
Well love you all!
Elder Sabey
Also another letter to a son of a former investigator who
asked me to baptize her.
Elder Xie, AKA Tony the Tiger,
I am the Elder who
will have the privilege of baptizing your mother. I was so blessed to get to
know your family and share with them the gospel. I want to thank you for your
faith and service. If it weren't for you your mother’s heart wouldn't be
softened and she wouldn't being getting baptized right now. I am sure this is a
miracle you have been praying for since you have been baptized. You are a great
leader and both our parents have followed you into the gospel. Like Lehi, but
you got your whole family to the tree.
Thanks, Love you, Elder Sabey
PS Maybe next mother’s day keep the call to one hour. LOL
I am sure you obedient and your mission President gave you permission.
This week’s Letter that President sends weekly
WE INVITE, THEY COMMIT, WE FOLLOW UPAs a missionary, I
know you desire the salvation of souls (see Mosiah 28:3). You know that people
can come unto Christ and be saved only on conditions of repentance (see D&C
18:10–16). One way to fulfill your desires is to cry repentance (see Alma 5:49;
D&C 15:6; 16:6) and boldly invite people to exercise faith unto repentance,
to be baptized by water and the Spirit, and to endure faithfully to the end
(see 3 Nephi 27:16–20; Mormon 7:10). 身為傳教士你渴望人們的豈魂獲得救恩蹼見摩賽亞書28：3）。你知道人們只有在悔改的條件下鮪才羋夠歸向基督並得救蹼見教約18：10-16）。成就你的渴望的一項方法就是去呼籲悔改蹼見阿爾瑪書5：49；教約15：6；16：6）鮪並且勇敢地邀請人們運用信心來悔改、接受水和聖豈的洗禮鮪並且忠信地持守到底蹼見尼腓三書27：16-20；摩門書7：10）。 “Preach My Gospel”
teaches us several important principles concerning commitments. “宣講我的福音”教到了我們一些重要的承諾原則。 One
of the best ways to help people make and keep commitments is to extend a
commitment invitation. 幫助人們訂立和遵守承諾最好的方法之一鮪就是提出承諾的邀請。You
can show your love for the people and your faith in God’s promises by following
up to help them repent and keep their commitments. 你可以作追蹤來幫助人們悔改和遵守承諾鮪藉此表示你對他們的愛鮪以及你對 神的應許有信心。 Be
constantly aware of the need to invite people to do things that will strengthen
their faith in Christ. 禓時常注意鮪你需禓邀請人們去做羋夠鞏固他們對基督的信心的事情。 Be bold and confident as you invite
people to make commitments (see Alma 38:12).Boldness shows your faith that
obedience to the Lord’s commandments brings blessings. People will not likely
change unless they are invited to do so. 邀請人們訂立承諾時鮪禓勇敢且充滿自信蹼見阿爾瑪書38：12）。勇敢會顯示出你相信服從主的誡命會帶來祝福的這種信心。除非受到邀請去作改變鮪否則人們是不太可羋改變的。
Missionaries extend commitment invitations to help people experience
conversion. We promise blessings. We bear testimony. Most importantly, we
follow through to help people keep commitments. 我們傳教師們提出承諾的邀請來幫助人們體驗歸信。我們應許會得到的祝福。我們作見證。最重要, 我們要作追蹤來幫助人們遵守 承諾。 I know that as you
follow these principles, you will have increased success with your
investigators. 我作見證,當你遵循這些原則時,你會增加你慕道友的成功。And
don’t forget to follow the Spirit.而且不要忘了跟隨聖靈。 DO SURVEY Elder Kent
D. Watson, our Asia Area President, and his wife, will be doing our annual
mission tour the first week of May. The missionary department has again
reminded me of the need for you to complete your surveys. If you did not do them prior to Elder Evans’
visit, or encountered difficulties, then please complete them.
The website for this survey is http://www.lds.org/survey3 . If
language is an issue, an English speaking missionary in the district should
assist other Chinese missionaries as much as possible. Thank you for your assistance. ADJUSTED EMAIL
POLICYI have this week received the following official notification from Church
Headquarters:“Missionaries are to write to their families each week and are
also authorized to communicate by email with friends, priesthood leaders, and
new converts. Mission Presidents should allow sufficient time on preparation
day for missionaries to write emails and letters. While in the mission field,
missionaries should receive authorization from the mission President before
entering into communication, including via email, with converts and others of
the opposite gender within the mission boundaries (see Missionary Handbook,
36–37). This is a significant change from the prior email rule which only
allowed you to email your family and the mission President. Please be wise when using your time to write
emails and letters. Please do not short change your mission President on the
email letter he is due because of the time you may want to spend emailing to
others. Remember this is a privilege
that I am advised can be revoked like other privileges. Be wise. QUOTABLESHere are this week’s quotables:“This
week . . . was filled with more miracles then I've seen in a while! When my
companions and I tried to explain the spirit we felt and the miracles we saw,
we realized that we couldn't put it into words. We felt just like the Nephites
who were visited by Jesus Christ and saw and prayed with him and saw such great
miracles and then they said that it could not be written or explained for it
was just to amazing. Maybe we did not see Jesus Christ himself or real angels
ministering unto us, but the spirit that we felt that whole week was more
abundant then I've felt it in a while.”“這星期真的是奇蹟的一個星期! 以前我覺得我需要經過很難的時間我才會成長很多. 但是這個搬家天中, 我學到我可以在快樂中一樣的學習很多!”“As
it was early in the morning, there weren't a lot of people around us to talk
to- as our time became short and had to return to the church, I began to pour
out my heart in prayer. Here's the gist of my prayer: "Heavenly Father, I
am so incredibly cold, this rain is stinging my face, I'm scared this rain is
going to make me go bald, but I am outside- and I am doing thy work. Please,
please, just help us find one person." Well, after we returned to the
church and were getting ready to go upstairs, a lady walked in. She said,
"I live behind the church and today I feel as though it’s time that I
listen to your church's message. Can I attend church and meet with you?"
God loves me. He loves those who are trying their best. We don't have to be perfect-
always achieve every goal, but if we try our best, God will do the rest.”“We
had an investigator go with us to a qingke (dinner appointment)and he got along
with the member really well. The investigator was telling him about his
conversion to Christianity including his mission to mainland China, his leaving
his original church because he realized they lacked something, that kind of
thing. A non-member boarder at this member's home walked in and our
investigator looked up and asked him if he was a member of "our
church" when the guy said he wasn't, our investigator started proselyting
with him and they ended up telling the guy that he should met with us to learn
more. So that was a pretty nice feeling.”“This week we had my first baptism my whole
mission! [XXX]! The baptism went pretty good too! The biggest concern that we
had was the water wasn't very hot (it was about room temperature) but it's an
outside baptismal font (and it was FREEZING outside) AND this is a 75 year old
woman that we're talking about here! But when she found out she said, "Oh,
that's okay. Christ didn't have any hot water when he was baptized in the River
Jordan." Isn't that just an awesome reply! She was just so willing to
follow the Savior that none of that trivial stuff mattered. It was really
cool.”“The other day we were eating dinner at a family mart, and there was a
man sitting across the room with four empty cans of beer in front of him. His
head was in his hands, and he looked absolutely dePressed. It was clear he was
drunk and not in a good place, but I felt like I should talk to him all the
more because of that. I went up and gave him a tract and invited him to church.
He looked at me and said something like, "Do you really believe we can be
saved?" I said yes, we got his contact information. Yesterday he met with
the Elders and set a baptismal date. He apparently wants to quit his drinking
problem really bad. It made me so happy to hear that from the Elders! I don't
know what will come of that but it really is an example of the importance of
treating people as people with worth and potential.”“This week has been perhaps
my personal greatest week of progress thus far in my mission. I've truly felt
the hand of the Lord bless me as I continued to strive to serve him to the best
of my ability. I've felt the Lord bless our investigators, as some of them who
perhaps lack real desire have made it known, while others who truly want this
in their life have had answers through the Spirit and the Lord has blessed them
to be able to receive further blessings as they prepare for baptism.”“Our week
was great! We found a family through a Jinhua (ward) member referral!”“One of
our investigators has really had a change of heart. His attitude about meeting
us and coming to church has completely changed. That in itself is such a
miracle.”“We went out finding at night and we only had 2 hours to find. [XXX]
was really nervous at first that we wouldn't be able to find anyone and [XXX]
said [XXX] felt [XXX’s] faith was kind of down. We decided that we would work
this out together and just say more prayers then we've ever said them before.
We went out finding and said prayer after prayer all in supplication to our
Heavenly Father to let us be instruments in his hands and guide us with his
Holy Spirit. We started seeing a pattern that night: We'd pray in faith to help
us find, we'd find, we'd say a thankful prayer and keep on moving to find more.
And then we'd find again, we'd say another thankful prayer and ask to find
more! And then we'd find them. We were finding those prepared people! Heavenly
Father was guiding the two of us with his spirit! And we could both feel it.
And the people who we talked to could also feel it. It was so strong, and it
was so real. This finding pattern continued on for the rest of the night. We
found 4 new investigators and 6 other lessons that night!” I love this work.
MAN IT IS HARD. But I love it.”“[We] continue to be blessed daily! We are still
receiving great new investigators spilling over from our hard work during the Chinese
New Year. My companion and I have
started to make a more concerted effort to work with the members... and that
starts with simply getting to know them more. We stuck around for about 10
minutes right after Sacrament meeting ended and were able to set up 5 member
families to visit this week! ”
Then.....we got fanged.. Which meant that someone else was more prepared
at that time. We went out finding and my
companion found that man.”“我知道天父和耶穌基督就在我的身旁陪伴著我們，他們會幫助我擋掉一切邪惡的攻擊，我信賴他”“She asked me how I came to know the Book of
Mormon was true. I told her my experience. After she said, ‘I really believe it
is true.’”“我會努力繼續去尋找更多神的孩子,來讓他們知道這個幸福又真實的福音!!!”“Then
there is her friend [XXX]- she calls us and asks when we can meet. Mind
blown.”“And, our district meeting it's become better and better. Since we begin
to discuss our needs or our investigators’ needs...., we are more like a team.
I really like this part about report our numbers and discuss how our district
can worl together.”“我相信每一件事都是神所安排好的. 只相信沒有什麼事是做不到的,因為天父我們祂會幫我們”“We're
seeing so many great miracles. Last week a man walked in to church and loved
it, he came back yesterday and we've met with him once. The day after we gave
him a Book of Mormon he told us he's read to 1 Nephi 10. Yesterday at church in
Priesthood meeting they were talking about baptism and he leaned over to me and
asked what he would have to do to join the church and be baptized. There's not
many things greater to hear than that. We're going to meet with him again
tomorrow.” It always amazes me that
there are people who would be willing to be baptized, just walking around on
the street.”“傳教最大的快樂就是看到別人因為我們，變的更開心，感受到關懷，進而改變變的更好，更像天父和救主希望我們成為的人，而歸信!!忠信到底!!!!!”“Yesterday
we had a miracle. There was a new girl at church. When we got to know her we
found out that she is a former. She even brought her Book of Mormon to church.
She set up to meet with us. It was really awesome!”“Yesterday I had one of my
favorite moments all week. [Our
investigator] brought a friend to church! She can only stay for one hour to
take the sacrament due to family circumstances, but she invited her friend and
was practically glowing the whole time as she kept whispering to her friend
"Isn't this wonderful? I love church!". After the meeting was over,
she just burst with excitement and happiness, sharing her testimony with her
friend about how the missionaries and the gospel and CHRIST had changed her
life and brought her so much joy and happiness. She told her friend that she
should start meeting with us, and before I could say anything, she was already
setting up a time for her this week to have a lesson.”“我很感謝天父祂信任我 給我這個機會為祂的兒女服務”“The
[XXX] missionaries are so great! They don't miss a chance at ANY stop light to
talk to someone. It was such an inspiration to me and I have already improved
at doing that more! I really need to invest in a basket so that I can have all
my tracts in front of me at all times.”“這個禮拜真的因為聖殿姊妹們來的關係，有許多地奇蹟發生，我們有11個新慕道友~~~~~挖，我快飛上天了~~~”“Met
with an inactive lady, and she was really nice! She gave us a referral as well!
AND, she came to church. She is going to be a sweet missionary with us. Then,
we went on exchanges, and provided a wonderful day for Elder [XXX]. He needed a
day of miracles, so that's what we did! We found, taught, and turned Baptismal
Date investigators into investigators that are actually considering baptism! It
was good.”“This week the Lord gave us two of his children to baptize and it
went really well. He strengthened us and made us able to do these
things.”“Getting lost is how I find myself-- literally.”“另一個見面之後昨天又邀請他去爐邊聚會剛好也有成員要一起去 他們也聊的很開心 我相信當那些不積極成員 開始等待回到教會的機會時 天父會帶領我們去找到他們”“That night, we were just riding around with
so much fire, talking to everyone. I totally felt that desire in 3 Ne. 19. It
felt so good to truly be searching for the next prepared person. We don't
contact to pass time, we have the feeling that THIS next person is so prepared,
so we HAVE to talk to them. There was a really quick red light, and I pulled up
next to a car, I waved them to roll down the window and asked them to pull
over. The light turned green and they pulled over! I LOVE scooter/car
contacting!!! We set up with that mom and the two girls in the car and they
were on their way!”“上一個禮拜的目標並不是做的很好，我希望能夠每天邀請５個人接受洗禮”“Finding
new investigators wasn't a hard thing because pretty much everyone we talked to
could feel the Spirit.”“I am so grateful for this chance to go [on exchanges].
I've learned more this past week than I've learned in most of my mission, and I
know [these missionaries] have too. It reminds me of that scripture D&C
50:22 - when we teach by the Spirit, both the teacher and the learner are
edified! I feel that my whole spirit has been lifted to a new level….”“我真的要為傳道組織做見證，我知道神派我們2個人一起工作是很有意義的，其他的同伴團也是一樣，我們的彼此扶持及學習，真的可以讓自己增長很多。有時候我覺得神讓我們兩個年輕人一起工作然後在這個區域中有許多的成功，真的很備受祝福，有時覺得這很難去達成，但我可以知道這也是在今生中我們必須學會的事。”“Mostly, I'm really excited about a new
skill [my companion] and I have been
working on: following up. About two weeks ago, we decided to be really good
about it and set aside time each day to make calls. At the beginning of this
chunk, we call all our investigators (like WPS, focus first on not losing what
you've got) then pull our very well kept Potential Investigator form. The
people's info is in black and the follow up is in red and I'm seriously so
proud of it. Most people end up having an F next to their name for a long time
and then eventually it becomes a T for "Teaching." Many people that
say they're busy but would like to meet, mean just that. Most people need to be
followed up with 4-5 times before scheduling an appointment, but I would say
half of our new investigators are from diligent follow up of potentials. It's
been working VERY well and it's not as stressful as knocking doors all day,
because you've already talked with these people who have already exPressed
interest.… I LOVE FOLLOWING UP! It really is like going to that performance you
purchased the ticket for.”“我們這一個禮拜有五個人參加教會聚會，他們真的有感受到聖靈，並且我知道他們對於洗禮有更多更多的渴望”“Its been crazy good because before GuoNian
things were not looking super amazing but then after GuoNian we found a ton of
people and now they are all progressing toward baptism. We have been using the
new baptismal planner with all of our investigators and it works miracles. We taught the greatest family last
night. Doctrine and Covenants 45:62
‘For verily I say unto you, that great things await you.’”“Life is wonderful!
So, don't wait another moment to live your life, to live your dreams! The Lord
will help you live your life to its fullest if you will just trust in Him.”“我感謝我能來傳教, 是神手中用來祝福祂兒女的”“Also,
we had a woman da cuo us (misdialed), ended up setting up, came to church on
Sunday and is working towards her Baptismal date- da cuo? Maybe not :)”“This
week I saw a pretty cool miracle, as me and Elder [XXX] were leaving the church
to go out and contact in front of it while we were waiting for Elder [YYY]. A
guy started riding his scooter into the church and I had a feeling I should talk
to him and say hi. Turns out he was a former investigator and lately he hadn't
been too happy and saw the lights on at the church and decided to come by. He
came to church yesterday, lots of people were excited to see him. Miracle!!!
The work of the Lord continues to roll forward.
One day [this week], all the investigators we met with had read the Book
of Mormon! YEAH!!”“We've started to use faith and put many of our former
investigators that are not progressing the way they should be in to the 'formers'
(trusting that they will have an even better opportunity to accept the gospel
at a more appropriate time) and going out and finding those who are more
prepared. Our newest recent convert got
confirmed yesterday. It was a happy moment. After we confirmed him in sacrament
meeting he turned right around and gave me a huge hug. The joy and confirmation
of the Spirit that fills those types of moments is unforgettable.”“下禮拜我們會繼續的努力有陪課，繼續的不斷要回條，繼續的不斷有信心。”“NO MAN LEFT BEHIND!!!!”“We had a brother in
our ward who asked us to meet his sister, which we did. Turns out she comes to
church all the time, has had free time lately and is now willing to meet, she
is incredible! She even drove us home when it seemed like we might not make
curfew, what a tender heart :)”“I spent the majority of my time thinking about
investigators and how to help them. It
is great to see that as a missionary companionship you have done your job when
your investigators seek revelation through prayer and being at church. One final miracle I want to mention was about
our most recent convert's referral, who is now a progressing investigator with
a baptismal date. I really love Enoch, I never realized how cool he is and how
amazing he is. I want to keep developing my speaking so my "slow of speech"
like Enoch's will also be able to become like Enoch's ability to speak and make
lion's roar, mountains flee, and rivers bend. To be able to speak with so much
power and authority to bring others to have their heart's change and come unto
Christ.”“I am weak, but with the simple act to humble myself before the Lord I
feel an immediate strength and energy that tells me that "yes, you can do
it, for the Lord God is with me" one of my new favorite scriptures 2 Nephi
2 : 2 "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for
the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also has become my
salvation. I also saw a miracle in Ward
Council. We discussed the Ward Mission Process. A lot of people there had seen
the sheet before, but didn't really know what it was. A lot of people were
really receptive to it. At ward council they discuss people in the ward that
need help, and they ask missionaries to meet with them. So what we were sharing
about was very relevant to the meeting and the ward mission process is just a
more organized efficient and effective way of doing what they are already
doing. I have learned lately to be more like Christ or Peter or Paul and not
just advise people to do things. I now understand that we need to not only be
these people's (investigators) friends, but we also need to boldly (not
overbearing) invite and testify and promise. I think that our success at the
moment is due to prayer, obedience, humbling ourselves before God, and then
going out to do His work and last of all inviting Him to work alongside us and
work miracles for the benefit of His children. I feel things will only continue
to improve next week. I asked someone for directions when coming back from
[XXX], super nice girl! Then I ran into her at the next light and I was able to
give her a tract. Then the next day, I ran into her a light again! Hopefully
the third time is the charm and I will see her again :)” (Sister Quote—Not
Elder QuoteJ)“They were both interested, but when we mentioned a prayer to
finish the sharing, the friend said, "I've never prayed, please let me do
it" then mentioned in the prayer how he hopes he can learn about this
message and continue to meet with us. It was a wonderful mercy of the Lord to
help us finish off our finding with two awesome new investigators. I've noticed
the power that comes in to planning and then teaching when we plan as a
companionship, then work out kinks in study. ““我知道只要繼續保持信心和希望,這個星期會看到更多的奇蹟.”“還是一樣!!我很愛傳教!!! Loving every moment. Thank you for another great week! We look forward to adding a lot of
missionaries to our mission this week!
Transfer meeting on Friday. Love,
President Day
March 17, 2013
Hey Family! Love ya!
I don't know what
is going on with rules recently but the church has now declared that all
missionaries are now allowed to skype home for mother’s day and Christmas. So
my last call home I will get to see you all! If you want. DO you? This week was great. Like always. But I am so
excited for Xie JM's baptism which is this Saturday! When I was in Shianghe I
was in two Wards and now I will have the opportunity to have gone back and
baptise one of my investigators on both wards. I am so glad to have been sent
there and am working hard here, we have already had so many people so close to
baptism that had fallen away because family not approving of Christianity. It
is weird in Taiwan it is never because we are Mormon but we are Christian. I
like it that way. But now we have some coming up in April. So I am
excited.
Questions: How do
you use scriptures in your discussions? We always plan scriptures to share with
our investigators and try to use them as the main resource of our teaching. We
sometimes just read the Book of Mormon with them. How do you follow up with
investigators about what they were supposed to read? I call them and ask how
reading it went and what they liked.
What happens when they haven't read what they are supposed to read? I
like to read it with them, but sometimes we just still share the lesson we were
planning but add a focus on the scriptures.
How many investigators came to church this week? 4 but only 3 on time.
Letter to President:
18 Mar 2013 Hey President,
This week was a blast. We didn't go on any exchanges, so
it was a week staying in my area with my companion, so it was awesome. We felt
we should call formers and got a few set ups. In the end we got to meet with 4
former investigators. Two of which accepted the baptismal invite! It is a
father and a son. The son is about 10 years old and when we got there the
father said "I have been happy all day because I knew you were coming. He
is un educated so can't read but his son can read. But the father’s heart is
gold. He gave our peike a new cutting board for free because she liked his wood
stuff. It was so cool. I am so excited for this family. As far as the Zone goes it had a drop because
of the new transfer I think. I know that is always how it goes and I don't know
why, I was really hoping it wouldn't. I think it dropped partly because when
new missionaries come it take time to get back in to a grove. Also I have found
every area has a little different personality and it takes time to adjust. But
I don't want to find excuses. Anyway we
only worry about Elder Papritz and his companion who are having a hard time
finding. Last month I think they found 3 investigators total and one of them I
fond while on exchanges there. So we will go on exchanges again with them this
week and try and help them again. As far
as our vision is going, the Zone is loving making specific plans around a
lesson and pinguing after each lesson. However it seems like everyone is having
a hard time having investigators write down their commitments. I love the work
and my companion. He is a great example to me of service and complimenting. He
compliments me too much I swear it is awkward sometimes. I try and compliment
back with real intent but he seems to always say more. I truly respect him and
love working with him. Thanks for not moving us.
Spiritual thought: In D&C it states we are to wear
our lives out in the work so we bring to light the things of darkness. I
thought it was interesting how our job is not to help people see the light but
to see the things of darkness for what they are. I think it is beautiful proof
that man is inherently good. Clearly this scripture is saying that if we see
clearly a good and bad choice we will choose the good one. Our job is not to
sell the gospel it will sell itself if the people have a clear and lighted
choice.
Love you all,
Elder Sabey
March
24, 2013
Hello dearly
beloved family, I am so glad every week
to read your emails. I always come worried that there may be something bad that
happened because I have been getting good reports every week for like over a
year now. I figure something bad might happen, well Josh, I guess not winning
the soccer tournament is a bad thing. I am sincerely sorry for the pain that
must have caused and I am sure me bringing it up again may just add salt to the
gash, but seriously I have been so blessed. Every week I hear good things. God
is looking out for us.
To answer your questions:
Tell us about the city you are in and the places you have
gone to on P-days? I am in TuCheng. It is on the very outskirts of Taibei. It
is a great place, not quite as many sky scrapers and not quite so busy as
Yonghe and Zhonghe, On P-days I go to tourist sites or climb mountains. I have
gone to 101 and boy that is a tall building. Last week we played Frisbee as a
Zone. Which was a blast. Thanks for the frisbee Christmas Present. How often do you have interviews with the
President and what are the types of questions he asks? Every other transfer. He
asks about the Zone, our own personal spirituality, how we are doing, how we
did on the invites from last time and helps us set new invites. He also sees
how our companionship is doing. Is the
weather getting hotter and more humid? YES!!!!!!
Letter to
President:
Dear President,
You really are an amazing
man. Thanks for all you do.
This week was
great as usual. I went on Exchanges with both the District leaders in our Zone.
I first went with Elder Allred and he was great. We went to his Area and I got
to meet with two of his investigators who will be having a baptismal interview
this week. We are so excited for them. We had a good lesson with both of them.
One of them we talked about the importance of baptism and the other we shared
the Law of Chastity. They both committed to our invites and are really
great. He really wants to be a good
district leader and was really open to suggestions. We also got to do some
service at a library and also at psychiatric center and I got to make balloon
animals for them. There are about 11 special people ages 28-58 (ba) who come
and listen to them share the gospel weekly along with three helpers. It was so
cool. I was impressed with his knowledge
of the area and he is great at loving everyone,
and being their friends. I see why he is district leader. I learned a
lot from him.
Then with Elder
Papritz we had some cool miracles. The first was after our first lesson we went
out to find, so I was reviewing with him the plan and this kid walks by and I
say “hi” and start talking to him and ask if we can take him inside and do a
tour of the church. He said ok and we did a quick tour and then had a good
lesson on prayer and invited him to meet with us and to come to church. He said
he was glad to meet and to learn to pray but he wasn't wanting to keep meeting
at this point. It wasn't quite what we wanted but a miracle none the less. Then
we were contacting over to our planed area and this woman sees us at a light
and starts waving to us and calling to us in perfect English "Elders
Elders." It turns out she was in the MTC Branch Presidency and knew Elder
Thornely and a bunch of missionaries. I also learned she went on a mission a
long time ago and a I told her my mom did also about 30 years ago and I told
her my mom’s Chinese name and she knew her. My mom was in her branch when she
had recently joined the church, and she went to BYU Utah and often hung out
with my mom. It was so crazy awesome. We had a few good lessons that night and
the next day we meet with a former at a restaurant. They had just finished a
meeting and he convinced them all to stay and listen to our lesson. It was so
great meeting with five people at once One of them was actually kind of
interested and I invited him to church. He went, but to a different church. I
will work on him.
Our Zone is doing
ok but not quite reaching its potential. We are so excited for Zone conference
this week and are working hard to prepare a good training. We feel our zone
especially needs to work on finding so we will add a little of that into our
training.
My companion has
recently been a little lost or confused and asked for a priesthood blessing,
which I gave. He has just been more easily put down and said he feels like his
foundation has been shaken and he doesn't know why. So I thought you would want
to know that. But we are doing great together. I love him. In the training I asked about if a sister
tells you something a little more private what should you do? I asked because
Sister Sutton's father is having some health issues, I know it is a brain or
heart problem and my need to have a dangerous surgery. So I am a little worried
about her, with just becoming a Senior companion as well as a trainer. She
seems to have a lot of stress. So I did tell Sister Daye.
Elder Papritz is
working hard but his faith has gone down. He admitted when he contacts someone
he expects them to say no. So I think that is why they have been struggling so
much. I invited him to read finfing faith to find section every day this next
week.
I think my
companion is also a little nervous about Elder Norris but I don't really know
much.
That covers it for
Zone problems. Life is still great and the work is going forward.
Invites are good.
I have beat the beast of Alma and am now in Helaman 7!
Thanks for all
you do. Mom the person is Kathy Luo,
whose email is kteng@doterra.com if you want to email her. She may have some
pictures for you. Spiritual thought: Following up on commitments is supper
important. Like Christ did to Peter when he went fishing again after his death.
If people don't have goals or make commitments they will go back to their old
ways. Or if they forget. The sacrament is a time to remember our commitments to
god. It is a time to recommit and to do better. He needs disciples not
fishermen or any other occupation. Let us work for him with all our heart might
mind and strength. Hurrah for Israel!
PS Mother Dearest happy Birthday I will write you a card
today! Love, Elder Sabey
March 31, 2013
Dearest Family,
I love you so
much and am so grateful for your support. Things are going great. To answer your questions:
Tell us about
zone conference. Zone Conference went great me and my companions training was
good and powerful especially for the short time we had to prepare a 45 minute
training. We trained on we invite they commit and we follow up. Then President
and the assistants trained on Weekly Planning Session and Daily Planning
Session. It was great. Lastly we got trained on the area vision and how we fit
into it. I love the vision. We are supposed to be more rounded and visit
members and LA's so that we can save more souls. Favorite quote: "It is
just as important to save a sheep as to birth a lamb." talking about
helping LA's return and baptism. How is
your companion’s “crisis of faith” doing. He is doing good, I still don't know
what is up with him but he had a interview with President that he said went
great. He is a great missionary. What did you do for Easter? In the morning a
missionary called and said happy Easter and I asked "Is today Easter?"
He said he heard it was, so I started singing the 3 Easter songs in the hymn
book. Read a talk by President Monson and then went to church and all the
members had no idea if it was Easter and the Sacrament meeting had nothing to
do with Easter so it wasn't till after Sacrament meeting I had a member look in
his cell phone for me and it was Easter. We then attended a baptismal service
and afterwards did a baptismal interview which is probably the best way to
celebrate Easter. Then we visited a member family and shared a mormon.org. (I
was glad to find that most you all have a profile!) Then went to dinner at a
members house and then went to an LA's house and invited them to come back to
activity for Easter’s sake. So pretty much a great Easter, but dad no one
celebrates Easter in Taiwan. But the ward is having an Easter Activity coming
up. so that will be fun.
Letter to
Pres: Hello President!
Thanks so much for
the great training. This week was a little sad for the zone and our
companionship numbers wise, but I think we learned a lot and it will only go up
from here, as a companionship and a zone. A few reasons for it going down was
Zone conference got rid of a day and we had 3 baptisms and a baptismal
interview (A Wang Yong Jie, Who passed!) which also took some time. Our
companionship has been having lessons go a little long (rarely over 45 minutes
but rarely under 30) which I think could be worked on and will be worked on.
Other than that I don't know what we need to do because we haven't had baptisms
in this area for 3 months and April only has a few possibilities. If you have
any advice let me know. We are making good plans and working hard and seeing
miracles. This week other than the 3 new investigators we found, we also found
a family and a mother that we gave to the sisters. So spring cleaning is great,
but still is taking some time to get back to a good pool.
Anyways this week
I went on exchanges with Elder Beck and we saw some great miracles. We meet
with a Bao Dixiong who had been baptized before but never confirmed. He was so
excited about the gospel and we were able to help him recognize the spirit.
When we asked him if he believed the Book of Mormon to be true he said
"yes" and we asked if he knew by the spirit and he said
"no." He said that when he read it sometimes it would just make sense
and help him in his life. I told him when suddenly things make since because we
were reading the Book of Mormon and it helps us. This is called revelation and
it is from the spirit. When he recognized he had felt the spirit of revelation
he was so excited. It was beautiful to be a part of that experience. Another
cool miracle is Elder Beck grew up is my home town. It is because of members in
my stake, the Dyer family, that his oldest brother got baptized. So that was
cool to make that connection. Also on exchanges I passed Sister Anderson on
Phase one, her Chinese is really good for a second transfer, I was shocked. She
will be famous for her Chinese. As far as Elder Beck and Elder Huangs
relationship goes, it is not grate. Elder Beck feels like Elder Huang is in his
own little world, and doesn't help out much with what needs to be done, so that
gives him a lot of stress. He feels like he is pulling the work along alone,
when they are rushed Elder huang rides at his own pace and won't keep up with
Elder Beck. So I invited him to let Elder Huang lead when riding bikes and also
made sure that next time Elder Papritz goes on exchanges to have Elder Huang
stay so that he can feel how much responsibility Elder Beck has. I think these
two things will make a big difference.
So the biggest
and coolest miracle ever: So Thursday night we plan to drop a note off at 11 at
an investigators, Zhang Dixiong, house who hadn't answered the phone in a long
time. But then realized we had set up a
LA at noon so decided to postpone it, and eat lunch from 11-12 then meet with the
LA then drop the note off. The LA fanged us so we went to his work place and
talked to a lady there, then on the way to drop off the note ran into 2 people
on the street who pulled over and we got their numbers. Then finally we dropped
the note off and as we were leaving our investigator came walking down the
street. We got to talk to him. He was so shocked to see us there. He asked if
we had been waiting for him and all that and we just testified it was gods
arrangement. We were able to go to a
Seven with him and print a conference talk for him to help him deal with the
trails he was facing, mostly breaking up with his girlfriend. He committed to
meet next week. So pretty much amazing miracle that day was totally spirit
lead. I meet a family that committed to church but then canceled but still
seems like they have great potential.
Thanks for all you
do!
Spiritual thought:
Happy Easter. The resurrection is truly the happiest thing that ever happened.
Because of it we will all be resurrected and we can all be cleansed from
sin. Also In D&C the famous
"Shall we not go forth is so great a cause, onward and upward" verse
is prefaces with a lot of scriptures about baptisms for the dead. Which also
have great resurrection symbolism. The fount is below ground level to symbolize
the grave. A person dressed in white willingly goes down into the grave to take
the place of another and then is buried and then risen and walks out of the
grave, and this way the persons whose place was taken can leave the spiritual
grave/prison in which he was bound and enter into paradise. If there is
anything more atonement like that we can do please let me know. Truly how great
is the work, let us do this work for our ancestors and our family and let us
learn of Christ I pray.
The baptism. I Baptized Xie Jeimei whose son is on a
mission in Washington. It was such a beautiful baptism. In her talk she talked
about her conversion process. It was beautiful. She is a miracle her family has
waited for 7 years and I got to be a part of it. I am so glad. Love you. I love this work and this gospel. I love god. I love you. Elder Sabey
March
24, 2013
Hello dearly beloved family,
I am so glad
every week to read your emails. I always come worried that there may be
something bad that happened because I have been getting good reports every week
for like over a year now. I figure something bad might happen, well Josh, I
guess not winning the soccer tournament is a bad thing. I am sincerely sorry
for the pain that must have caused and I am sure me bringing it up again may
just add salt to the gash, but seriously I have been so blessed. Every week I
hear good things. Gog is looking out for us.
To answer your questions:
Tell us about the city you are in and the places you have
gone to on P-days? I am in TuCheng. It is on the very outskirts of Taibei. It
is a great place, not quite as many sky scrapers and not quite so busy as
Yonghe and Zhonghe, On P-days I go to tourist sites or climb mountains. I have
gone to 101 and boy that is a tall building. Last week we played frisbee as a
Zone. Which was a blast. Thanks for the frisbee Christmas Present. How often do you have interviews with the
President and what are the types of questions he asks? Every other transfer. He
asks about the Zone, our own personal spirituality, how we are doing, how we
did on the invites from last time and helps us set new invites. He also sees
how our companionship is doing. Is the
weather getting hotter and more humid? YES!!!!!!
Letter to
President: Dear President,
You really are an
amazing man. Thanks for all you do.
This week was
great as usual. I went on Exchanges with both the District leaders in our Zone.
I first went with Elder Allred and he was great. We went to his Area and I got
to meet with two of his investigators who will be having a baptismal interview
this week. We are so excited for them. We had a good lesson with both of them.
One of them we talked about the importance of baptism and the other we shared
the Law of Chastity. They both committed to our invites and are really
great. He really wants to be a good
district leader and was really open to suggestions. We also got to do some
service at a library and also at psychiatric center and I got to make balloon
animals for them. There are about 11 special people ages 28-58 (ba) who come
and listen to them share the gospel weekly along with three helpers. It was so
cool. I was impressed with his knowledge
of the area and he is great at loving everyone,
and being their friends. I see why he is district leader. I learned a
lot from him.
Then with Elder
Papritz we had some cool miracles. The first was after our first lesson we went
out to find, so I was reviewing with him the plan and this kid walks by and I
say hi and start talking to him and ask if we can take him inside and do a tour
of the church. He said ok and we did a quick tour and then had a good lesson on
prayer and invited him to meet with us and to come to church. He said he was
glad to meet and to learn to pray but he wasn't wanting to keep meeting at this
point. It wasn't quite what we wanted but a miracle none the less. Then we were
contacting over to our planed area and this woman sees us at a light and starts
waving to us and calling to us in perfect English "Elders Elders." It
turns out she was in the MTC Branch Presidency and knew Elder Thornely and a
bunch of missionaries. I also learned she went on a mission a long time ago and
a I told her my mom did also about 30 years ago and I told her my mom’s Chinese
name and she knew her. My mom was in her branch when she had recently joined
the church, and she went to BYU Utah and often hung out with my mom. It was so
crazy awesome. We had a few good lessons that night and the next day we meet
with a former at a restaurant. They had just finished a meeting and he
convinced them all to stay and listen to our lesson. It was so great meeting
with five people at once One of them was actually kind of interested and I
invited him to church. He went, but to a different church. I will work on him.
Our Zone is doing
ok but not quite reaching its potential. We are so excited for Zone conference
this week and are working hard to prepare a good training. We feel our zone
especially needs to work on finding so we will add a little of that into our
training.
My companion has
recently been a little lost or confused and asked for a priesthood blessing,
which I gave. He has just been more easily put down and said he feels like his
foundation has been shaken and he doesn't know why. So I thought you would want
to know that. But we are doing great together. I love him.
In the training I
asked about if a sister tells you something a little more private what should
you do? I asked because Sister Sutton's father is having some health issues, I
know it is a brain or heart problem and my need to have a dangerous surgery. So
I am a little worried about her, with just becoming a Senior companion as well
as a trainer. She seems to have a lot of stress. So I did tell Sister Daye.
Elder Papritz is
working hard but his faith has gone down. He admitted when he contacts someone
he expects them to say no. So I think that is why they have been struggling so
much. I Invited him to read finfing faith to find section every day this next
week.
I think my
companion is also a little nervous about Elder Norris but I don't really know
much.
That covers it for
Zone problems. Life is still great and the work is going forward.
Invites are good.
I have beat the beast of Alma and am now in Helaman 7!
Thanks for all
you do,
Elder Sabey
Mom the person is
Kathy Luo, who's email is kteng@doterra.com if you want to email her. She may
have some pictures for you.
Spiritual thought: Following up on commitments is supper
important. Like Christ did to peter when he went fishing again after his death.
If people don't have goals or make commitments they will go back to their old
ways. Or if they forget. The sacrament is a time to remember our commitments to
god. It is a time to recommit and to do better. He needs deciples not fishermen
pr any other occupation. Let us work for him with all our heart might mind and
strength. Hurrah for Isreal! Love you,
Elder Sabey
I forgot to tell you about the baptism. I got to Baptize
Xie Jeimei whose son is on a mission in Washington. It was such a beautiful
baptism. In her talk she talked about her conversion process. It was beautiful.
She is a miracle her family has waited for 7 years and I got to be a part of
it. I am so glad. Love you
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