...Continuation From Last Post and A Great Week This Week!

(Continued from last week)

Brother Archuletta also sang the song Glorious, from the movie Meet the Mormons. Excellent performance.

Then Brother Wilcox gave a talk about birthrights. Super interesting, though I do not remember all of it. First he talked about the Jacob/Israel's Birthright, and his sons. The Abrahamic covenant is sometimes hard to understand, but he said it so simply. Basically the youth in this church have a birthright. Since we are given much, we also have increased responsibilities, one of which is sharing the gospel. 

I tried to find the talk on the internet without success, but Brad Wilcox is the man. He has spoken a lot at BYU and his other talks can also be found on the internet. 

This week was great. The best week of this transfer so far. We attended a double baptism (two people being baptized on the same day). Originally, 5 people from our area said they would attend. Then 3 canceled. But one of them that did not cancel, brought three friends. So we met 3 new people, and after the baptism, we had a lesson with one of the new people, and he is super good.

Also, earlier this week, we met with an older man named Jack. His situation is not typical of most Chinese people we teach. He speaks almost no english, he has a son in the US, and he works here. So we taught him about prayer, and families being ordained of God. He accepted everything very well. He really wants to learn more and be baptized.

Today is zone P-day. We will go to a church building, and sister McFadden, a senior missionary, will show us how to make cake. Then we will play some games, maybe Mahjong, and then another missionary will cut my hair. I hope he doesn't mess up.

Elder Jordan Andersen
楊長老
*76 Cathies Lane*
*Wantirna South VIC 3152*
*Australia*

Listening to one of our past American Idol, David Archuletta.

Hello everyone!

This week went by super fast. We had a special event at the mission office. We heard from David Archuleta, Brad Wilcox, and Elder Dudfield. 

So first David Archuleta sang "Be Still my Soul". Then he talked about that song, and how it helped him on his mission. Then he told this story from his mission that I can really relate to.  He was on a bus with his companion, and they were about to arrive at their destination. The spirit told him to invite a girl on the bus to a YSA event. He resisted because the bus was almost there, and she had tattoos and stuff. The spirit told hime to talk to her again, and he invited her, and the bus arrived, and his companion was waving him to get off the bus. (he told the story much better).

Later, that girl was baptized by other missionaries. Her family was also baptized, and she served a mission. 

There are many times finding, when it is easy to make up an excuse to not to talk to people. An example for me is that older Chinese people are usually pretty set in their ways, so I sometimes don't talk to them. But I really should. 

I am almost out of email time! The rest will have to wait until next week.

Sometimes people wonder if they are feeling the Holy Spirit, or their own feelings. If anyone has ever had this question, please watch this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkOVbT2oxnI

Elder Jordan Andersen
楊長老
*76 Cathies Lane*
*Wantirna South VIC 3152*
*Australia*

A Slow Week!

Hello!

This was a good week even though not all that much happened. Jamie, a guy we are teaching, has not been answering our calls. A few days ago there was a baptism. We called people for close to 3 hours and were not able to get anybody to come. The work in this area feels slow. We do a lot of finding on the street. When I started my mission, I hated talking to people on the street, but now I am ok with it. 

We did exchanges this week with a missionary named elder Jiang from Taiwan. He is newer. I really enjoyed being with him. Lessons go a lot smoother with a native companion. But no worries. It is safe to say that I can use Chinese for normal communication now. Maybe. 

Last week my companion and I went shopping. The issue is that we don't have money, and all of the clothes here are more expensive than the US. But luckily the Lord led us to a super cheap clothes place, and I got some sweaters and shoes.

I would like to get more creative with the finding, but can not think of many good ideas. I welcome your advice.

Until next week

-Elder Andersen