"It's like Narnia...except always hot!"

This week was super busy and tiring, but extremely rewarding. We had P-Day on Wednesday instead of Monday because we got the chance to go to the temple today! It was super cool to go to the temple in a different country.

To start off with a sort of funny story, we met a guy from France this week! As we were getting to know him, he said the only thing he hates about Taiwan is the weather, "It's like Narnia...except always hot!". Haha I don't think there's any better way to describe it.

We got fed by a family in the ward this week and it was the best food I've ever had (other than my mom's cooking). The worst part is that they kept bringing out more food and making us eat even though I was sooo full. Maybe it's a good thing that it's blazing hot everyday because I sweat off all the weight I eat...

We've met with Gregory a few times now (the guy who is currently studying to be a Father in the Catholic church), and each time we've met with him I've learned so much about his religion and religion in general. He is extremely smart and willing to listen. He's definitely an honest seeker of truth. We had an amazing member, Paul, come for the lesson who also used to be a Catholic before he joined our church. The spirit in the lesson was super strong as we discussed how the Book of Mormon is the only way for him to know of the truth of these things and as Paul told him about his own conversion story. The only thing that we can do know is hope that Gregory reads the Book of Mormon and sincerely prays to know of it's truthfulness!

We've been meeting with a married couple! The husband is Taiwanese (Xie DX) and the wife is Vietnamese (Ran JM). Ran JM speaks decent Chinese but doesn't understand a lot of the Gospel specific terms. She also speaks some English so we try teach her what she doesn't understand in English, but she still doesn't always understand. This week we had a senior couple come peike (be the member present) for us because the senior Sister missionary speaks a little bit of Vietnamese. It was super fun to have 3 different languages being spoken in one lesson. Xie DX currently has a baptismal date, but his wife doesn't yet. She's not super interested yet but we're hoping that through starting family prayer and scripture study together she'll start to have a desire. 

Currently our most progressing investigator is Zhang Yi Zhang (Braque). We've been meeting with him for about 2-3 months now and he's come to church both of the last two weeks. He's been expressing to us some personal experiences he's been having with prayer and receiving support/guidance. It's amazing to see the Gospel change people's lives. It strengthens my testimony so much to see others have similar experiences with the Gospel that I've had in my life. We taught him the Word of Wisdom this week and he said he's try it for a week and see how it goes. He's baptismal date is currently for the 9th of October and he's still down to work towards that date. This week we'll be teaching him the Law of Tithing, and then next week the Law of Chastity. I'm nervous because I've only taught these commandments one other time so far on my mission, and that investigator blocked our number the day before his baptismal interview. If Braque continues to build his faith and testimony through church attendance, reading the scriptures, and praying on his own, I think he'll be ready.

After church on Sunday our ward held a dinner activity, and one of the members brought two recent converts (a mom and a daughter) from China! For those who don't know, there's are no missionaries allowed in China. Their conversation story is awesome! The daughter was baptized in America, and then after she returned to China she taught her mom the Gospel and she got baptized 3 months ago! The church is very small in China, so the testimony of the members there has to be super strong, and meeting these two members from China made me realize how important the work we are doing here in Taiwan is. 

We meet so many people each week, teach a ton of lessons, and have so many amazing experiences that have helped me grow so much even though I've only been out here for a few months. The more I teach and testify of this Gospel, the more my own testimony grows and the more I realize how lucky I am to have it in my life.

Elder Smith（施長老）