二十一週 - Week 21 - February 24, 2025 - 竹北 - Zhubei

 大家好！

 

■Highlights■

     -Bought some socks

     -Salmon 便當

     -Mission wide Devotional with Elder Cook!

     -Witnessed an Apostolic witness of Jesus Christ

     -Received an Apostolic Blessing

     -Shook Hands with an Apostle!!

     -(Read a scripture with the D word in it in front of said Apostle EEK was scared)

     -Went on exchanges!

     -Met another member (陳媽媽 - Chen Mama) from 桃園 (Taoyuan) who knows my mom!

     -Trilingual lesson (English, Indonesian and Mandarin)

     -Fillipino potluck!

     -Got to eat homemade dumplings :)

     -Saw so many miracles--ran into people that we had dropped a few months ago, got to put another friend on BD date in the first lesson, found double our New Friend goal--the Lord is hastening his work!

READ THIS PART

I'm pretty sure every missionary in the Taiwan Taipei mission is going to write about the same thing because we all witnessed an incredible event this week.

Todays spiritual thought is about how God is the same yesterday, today and forever:

When Elder Cook spoke to us this week, I received a very strong personal confirmation that he is a prophet of God. He is no ordinary man. The only other time I have received a spiritual confirmation with this level of clarity is when President Nelson was set apart as the President of the church!  The only way I can describe it is that I got chills and the words "this man is a prophet of God" came clearly and suddenly to my mind. God speaks to His children through the Holy Ghost! God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

In his address to us, he shared a very special witness of Jesus Christ. When he bore testimony of him, it was clear--everyone who was in that room can testify--that Elder Cook truly knows Jesus Christ is alive, and that he is our Savior. It reminded me of this scripture in 2 Nephi 26:

13 And that he manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him, by the power of the Holy Ghost; yea, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, working mighty miracles, signs, and wonders, among the children of men according to their faith.

God is the same yesterday, today and forever.

The words of this scripture are still true for us today! 

God can work miracles, give us signs and wonders, and even manifest himself to us in the same way He has always done. The things that happen in the scriptures are real! Things have not changed!

One of the miracles and marvelous works of this day is the Gathering of Israel.

I am so incredibly grateful to be in a place where I can, in step with the Apostles, obey Christ's divine call to feed his sheep. This was his final message to His Apostles after he was resurrected--I think its easy reduce that divine call to being a part of the scriptures or to being something Christ said to his Apostles only, but God is the same yesterday, today and forever! The call to feed the Lords sheep cries out from the dust and should ring in our ears today!

I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer, and that He lives. He is the same yesterday, today and forever and has called us to feed His sheep! I bear witness of these things and invite all to remember what is actually important in life, and act. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Quotes:

-"Why don't you give him a chapel tour tomorrow at 8 am"

-"Can we pray? This is interrupting my nightly reading of Mormon Doctrine by Bruce R McConkie"

-"My boy Bruce R McConkie"

再見

Sister 吳ardle

Pictures: Selfie with Elder Cook, Beautiful Zhubei, Mission Conference with Elder Cook, 我跟陳媽媽 (me with Chen Mama), The Elders..., Exchanges!, Post Elder Cook Meal, Zhubei

二十週 - Week 20 - February 17, 2025

 大家好！

■Highlights■

     -Went to the legendary 大便麵 (da bian mian) place after  going to the temple (It's so cool when you understand more of the Endowment in Chinese)

     -Had cake with a member for Valentines day :)

     -Service project!

     -Filmed an Ad!

     -Found another mission bike for Sister Vranes!

READ THIS PART

Thoughts on Stewardship:

What is Stewardship you might ask? My simple definition for today is 'the ability-authority to be in charge of things'. 

This ability/authority is only given to us if we are perfectly obedient. I like to think of it this way: if we can't do what God has asked of us, then we will never be capable of asking others to do the same. 

1 Nephi 2 (God speaking to Nephi)

22 And inasmuch as thou shalt keep my commandments, thou shalt be made a ruler and a teacher over thy brethren.

Stewardship is gifted to us as we become worthy to receive it! 

Why is this important?

In the life to come--in the Celestial kingdom--we have the chance to become as Gods ourselves. Our trajectory is one of sanctification and stewardship! This is another reason why the Christlike attribute of obedience is so important; it helps us become like God. 

In order to be worthy of the stewardship that will befall us in the eternities, we have to prepare ourselves now. 

Be obedient to be sanctified-->

-->Be sanctified to gain stewardship! 

繼續加油！

再見

Sister 吳ardle

Pictures: My district (the Elders finally talked with us!) Beautiful Taiwan, Toy Story!, Corn IYKYK, Beautiful Zhubei!!, missionaries 😂, 大便麵

十九週 - Week 19 - February 11, 2025

 大家好！

●Highlights●

     -Sister Vranes Happy Birthday!!! (We got Pokémon cards and opened them together--greatest birthday celebration ever experienced) 

     -Interviews!

     -Got to meet Annie媽媽！She is a member from 桃園(TaoYuan) that knows my mom from when she was here! Such a treat:)

     -Got gifted a figurine of a Buddhist God on the street but I didn't know what it was at the time

     -Connected with a friend through our mutual love of Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood

     -Found out me and my companion might have gone to the same elementary school?

     -Made a Lantern out of an orange

     -Finally tried 臭豆腐 (Stinky Tofu) (1/10)

     -Bike Theft part 2 (not my bike this time, please pray for Sister Vranes) I am going to be fluent in bike-theft-police-station-lingo by the end of my mission 

 

READ THIS PART

Thoughts on Obedience:

I've been focusing on the connection between exact obedience and missionary work this week.

D&C 130

20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated— 21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.

This is a concept that I have a very strong testimony of. There is no chance that I will be able to use the gift of tongues, teach with the spirit, be able to have the Lord guidance or accomplish our weekly goals without doing with God has asked us to do! Mission work will not be as successful without the spiritual confidence that comes from exact obedience. 

The specific insight I gained this week is that this perfect obedience is what allows us to become sanctified, and that this sanctification is required for us to gain greater spiritual knowledge.

Ether 4

7 And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are.

The unfolding of all revelations! This is such an incredible promise! It's clear however that if we want to receive these revelations we have to sanctify ourselves.

So how do we become Sanctified?

Sanctification comes by the exercising of faith, as Moroni tells us in Ether 4:7. But how do we exercise faith? Obedience! Obedience to God's commandment is the method by which we exercise our faith! Therefore, as we are obedient, we become sanctified. 

Faith --> obedience --> sanctification 

If you are seeking guidance from the Lord at this time, I encourage you to first humbly ask what needs to be changed in your life to become more fully obedient to the commandments of God. This will allow you to have the spirit with you. This will sanctify you, and allow God to reveal to you all His revelations :) 

It is promised in the Sacrament prayer for the bread (Moroni 4:3) that if we keep the commandments, we may always have the spirit to be with us. Remembering Him allows us to have the spirit (Moroni 5:2), but it is by keeping the commandments that we are promised to always have His spirit to be with us. Allow God to speak to you by living in obedience to His laws :) The Sacrament is a great time to re-dedicate ourselves!

再見! 繼續加油 (Goodbye! Keep up the good work!)

語言的恩賜是真是的 (The gift of tongues is real)

Sister 吳ardle

Pictures: Lantern Festival!, Annie 媽媽, Candid shot Annie Mama took, My Comp, Stinky Tofu

十八週 - Week 18 - February 3, 2025 - 竹北 Zhubei

 大家好！

■Highlites■

     -請客s (qing ke's / member meals) for every single lunch and dinner this week! Absolutely insane

     -Ate the best steak I've ever had in my entire life

     -Learned how to 剝 (shell) a shrimp finally!

     -Talked about Flat Earthers in Chinese

     -Zone Conference!!

     -Got invited to someones Family Reunion and got to see their 紅包 (red envelope) ceremony while paw patrol was playing in the background

     -Got the rare chance to eat real Italian style pasta!!

■READ THIS PART■

I have a lot of things I want to share but for now I will share two things:

1. --> Charity is more important than knowledge.

     As someone who loves to learn, this was a really interesting revelation to me. 

In the words of the Apostle Paul: "Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away" (1 Corinthians 13:8 (one of my favorites))

This helped me realize what an "eye single to the glory God" (D&C 4:5) actually means. I was always confused on how we were supposed to have a singular focus when it feels like there so many goods things in the world to focus on! It turns out, when Charity becomes your singular focus, everything else falls into place. 

When Charity is main focus of your thoughts, it becomes the foundation of your actions, and therefore your home, job, relationships, goals, dreams, and life. 

All these things become an extention of your Charity. When Christ comes again, that is all that will matter. Everything else will vanish away.

To live a life where Charity is the foundation is to live a Heavenly life. Whats more important than that? We need to live in a Heavenly way so that when we return to Heaven, we feel that we have truly come home :)

(I could say so much on Charity but this will suffice for now)

2. --> Baptism!

     When we came to earth, we became separated from our Father in Heaven. I haven't had kids, but I can imagine it would be extremely nerve wracking to be knowingly separated from your children for an extended period of time, not knowing when you will truly be connected again. He loved us so much that He gave us the ability to choose to reestablish this connection! 

This reestablishment of connection happens through baptism: the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost! We communicate with God through prayer, and he communicates with us through the Holy Ghost! The Holy ghost is more or less a bluetooth connection we have with Heaven!

This is why God is such relentless pursuit of us. He is longing to reestablish that connection with you! 

3 Nephi 27:20 -->

Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.

Don't forget the power and significance that comes from the covenants and blessings of baptism.

■Quotes■

"Elder Konishi...You're a Master!"

新年快樂！再見 (Happy New Year! )

Sister 吳ardle

Don't forget that discipleship = discipline! 加油！

Pictures: The Steak, LOTS of member meals, Zone Conference, The number of chairs represent how many transfers you've been out, The family reunion,  more member meals, Martty visiting Sister Haslam