Arrived in TAIWAN!!

I got to give out a Book of Mormon on our trip to Taiwam. It was to a Chinese man from Brazil. It was fun to talk to him. He speaks 4 languages.

It was cool to get to the mission home and to see that President Hoer and his wife really are as awesome as they were made out to be. The kind of people you could be seeing in the middle of the Conference Ensign in a few years. They've lived in Asia for 20+ years! I was glad to get here and have the mission spirit be as strong, if not stronger than it was at the MTC. The spirit of the missions is "There's a Way - Anything is Possible" (you ban fa). Even more than that, I was excited to see that the spirit truely is in the heart of the missionaries and in the heart of my companion. The Hoers fed us well! They gave us some trainings. Then they had us go to a night market and we got to get up on a box and preach to the people there. It's called "Dan Jones Night" (he was a powerful missionary in the early days of the church). We spent the rest of the time going throughout the night market contacting people.

I am serving in XiHu. It is about a rural of a place as Taiwan gets (yet there are sitll people to talk to everywhere). My companion is Elder Porter. We've been spending most of our time finding. I'm starting to feel more confident in finding. It's a lot easier when you keep the perspective our life's purpose. There are prepared people here! To sort out the willing from the unwilling, we set a baptismal date the first time we meet with people.

I want to let you know I'm loving this. I feel like I've been here for a long time.

One of my favorite times of the day is personal study. Finding scriptures to share, talking with God, self evaluating, setting goals, and receiving inspiration.

I know that I'm in good hands--God's, the Hoer's, and my companion has got my back.

I love you all so much. The church is true. There is real power in keeping our covenants, living by gospel principles, losing ourselves in the service of God, and in trusting in the Lord.

TAIWAN Address

Elder Spencer Brian Harris
Taiwan Taichung Mission
498-11 Wu Chuan Rd.
Taichung, 404-46 Taiwan
R.O.C.

Eleventh Week: Last Week at the MTC

The MTC is a great place. The experiences we have here are amazing. I have learned a lot. There is a power here. In the MTC I don't feel like I'm a sub-missionary, but that infact I am a missionary.

I got a new Chinese name and I love it. HUANG LING KAI
HUANG - my last name
LING - Spirit, clever, sharp, effectual
KAI - Triumphant strains, triumphant

We are it - We are THE force for good in this world. Missionaries have the authority to put people on the path home to their Father in Heaven.

I want you to know that the atonement is real. Faith has real power. Our covenants have real power.

I read this great talk by Elder Holland called "The best is yet to be". It was awesome.

With love,

Tenth Week: A Tender Mercy

The best part of this week was at our Teaching Center. We had these two awesome returned missionaries that we taught. The Spirit was there. After we taught we had a discussion about having faith to do hard things and relying on the Lord's promised blessings. As I pondered, the Spirit came into my heart and in my mind that made me know that the Lord had accepted my efforts here at the MTC. What a tender mercy. I think that is what we all are striving for in this life, to know that our attempts - poor, human attempts - to be the best we can be - are recognized by a divine Heavenly Father.

I am excited to go to Taiwan and give it my all. I feel like I have been given insight into who I am and what is expected of me.

Ninth Week: MTC Experiences

I'm not sure if you remember, but one time we taught a lesson to another Elder who was playing his friend. His friend's father wasn't a member and was having issues with the legitimacy of his citizenship. My companion and I had somehow felt that the lesson we had and our prayers for him actually helped. Anyway, this man got baptized and now the whole family are members. A cool little closure to this story.

My companion and I had a late night talk with an elder who was having a hard time. We gave him a blessing.

My teacher invited me to teach tithing to the whole class...In Chinese!!! It went alright, it was a good experience for me.

We also had a good experience in district meeting. We shared stories and scriptures about the Book of Mormon and its effect in our lives. The spirit WAS there!

I read a talk from Elder Uchtdorf, near the end he talks about having a Celestial Pedegree... He also talks about having an effect on those around us and the nation in which we reside. It gave me hope for my future experience in Taiwan.

Random Information:

Our district has 8 missionaries (2 of which are sisters)
There are 2 districts going to the Taiwan TaiChung mission
I am in the choir.
I lost about 5 pounds when I first got here - we were doing rigerous exercises
Now we are playing volley ball
My favorite thing is when your testimony is confirmed through a sacred special experience - or - when you feel that God accepts the work that you have done so far and He consecrates it for your good.

Eighth Week: New Year's Resolutions

This week I had the opportunity to give a blessing to a sister in our district, it was a special experience. She followed the instruction in the blessing to get some sleep and woke up feeling fine.

New Year's Resolutions:

Get to bed by 10:30 p.m. every day
Get up by 6:30 a.m. every morning
Learn Mandarin
Live in another country for 2 years
Wear a nametag everywhere I go
Wear a suit every day
Spend time studying the scriptures every day
Try new foods
Share my testimony with everyone I meet
Shave daily
Teach a nation

I hope you liked those.

p.s. The chruch is true!
With love, Elder Spencer Harris