Elder Andrew Erickson's Taiwan Taipei Mission

Well its literally been just an amazing week in paradise aka Tianmu. Like its sooo beautiful here. Last Monday this investigator family, the Liang family,drove us to the east coast and took us to 2 historical spots, 九份 (Jiufen) and 金瓜石 (Jinguashi). Both have so much history and are just soooo beautiful. I loved it. But the best part was we got to spend all day with this super cool investigator family.  But anyways another little highlight from this week was General Conference. SO MUCH FOCUS ON THE SPIRIT. I loved it.  Anyways I'm loving the mission. Loving the mission. Loving the people. And most importantly loving Jesus.  Pics from last p day

Well 天母 is a pretty great place. Elder Triplett and I are already seeing so many miracles here. My first night here we had the opportunity to meet with this guy named Kirby that came to English class and had interest in learning more about us missionaries teach. So we taught him the Restoration and he was super interesting in Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. We invited him to come to a YSA fireside at the Jinhua Chapel and he came! He loved it and just didn't stop asking questions about the church the whole time. We then met with him again after English class and he set a baptismal date! He's just a super great guy and actually just becoming a great friend to me and Elder Triplett.  Anyways another little miracle from this week happened just yesterday. Elder Triplett and I have been making a pretty large effort to visit as many members as possible every  Sunday . So he showed me this sister's name in the phone and said he didn't really know who she was, but I sho...

So this past week was a little crazy... On Monday  night we got a call that Elder Moss would be training this  next transfer, so this would mean that I would be moving out of Zhubei  on Thursday . So that news hit pretty hard, and really started some  reflection on everything that happened in Zhubei. This reflection  really took off when we met with the Liao family  on Thursday  night. When we arrived at their home, the visiting teachers were there, which happen to be Sister Xie (Charlie and Yvonne's mother) and Sister Yu (the bishops wife). They were discussing how following the Spirit has blessed there family. When myself and Elder Moss joined in on the conversation, Sister Xie shared an experience from just a few months before, after being inactive for 10 years and rejecting members and missionaries of the church's attempts to reach out to her. She had finally just hit such a low point in her life and knew she needed the gospel in he...

W ell this was just the best week of my life. Last Wednesday we had a zone conference and Elder Funk came and blessed us with some great insights into how to be better missionaries. He really just once again stressed the importance of member work, which we all know is just absolutely essential.  But anyways, yeah, that was a great experience, but quite the best part of the week. The best part came  on Friday  night when our good friend Kristine got baptized! Me and Elder Aiono met Kristine while he was still around here last transfer. It was a cold winter night where me and Elder Aiono were trying something new. We decided to bring out one of the guitars and sing some hymns in a busy part of the city and see if we could attract some people with interest in the good news. And it failed miserably, so it wasn't long before we abandoned it and resorted back to more standard street contacting. It was a pretty rough night but on the way home we passed this girl in t...

So this week was just the best week ever. THE LIAO FAMILY GOT BAPTIZED! It was so amazing. Their testimonies are all so strong. When Nick was asked to bear his testimony in sacrament, it was so powerful. He started it by saying he had been reading in 2 Nephi 31 and started talking about the importance of enduring to the end. After sacrament, we had a potluck and the former Provo mission president happened to be there visiting with his daughter who served in Taipei. He had some good conversations with Nick about the temple and Nick expressed a lot of desire to take his family there. They're just the best family ever and are going to be such a great help in building up God's kingdom here in Taiwan.  But this week I have been focusing a lot on removing distractions and tuning in to the spirit. I have been thinking about how spiritually in tune I was back at the MTC and how helpful it was in all the lessons there. And I thought of what changed when I came to Taiwan. I was ...

I continue to be amazed at how the Holy Ghost inspires people!  Today we went for a follow up appointment for this missionary with a hurt ankle. Imaging study showed he needed a cast for 3-4 weeks, but can't walk or bike with a cast and it rains frequently. I asked if he could get a brace or boot and Dr. Su said it is more expensive but he could then walk and possibly bike.  We asked how much and he said $1200NT ($360US) I don't carry that kind of cash around and I know the m issionaries don't either. I asked if they would take my credit card. Dr Su made a call and asked for a discount for "personal friends" and price became $8000NT! I had $4000NT($120US) and as the missionaries pulled out what they had...Dr. Su said "I will lend you the money!" I declined his offer but he insisted and asked "Won't I get blessing?" I couldn't refuse! We accepted his offer and I asked if I could take a picture and he sprung from his chair! What a wo...

Thursday with the   Liao Family Somehow Andrew's former companion Elder Aiono received this today and forwarded it to Andrew's dad. These men love this family so much and you can tell from looking at the picture.

So the rain kind of paused there for a little bit and we got to see the sun for a couple days here in Zhubei. So everyone's been outside enjoying the beautiful weather, and its made for some pretty great proselyting. And we actually found a guy that we've ran into a few times.And it turns out he actually got all the missionary lessons like 20 years ago! And didn't get baptized just because his family is Buddhist. But now that's not a problem and he's going to start meeting with us! Aren't miracles just the coolest? But anyways, our favorite family (the Liao Family) has their baptismal date  this Thursday ! I am so excited for them to take this huge step towards becoming an eternal family. Yesterday we reviewed the baptismal interview questions with them and I had the opportunity to see Angela (9 year old daughter) teach her father the 5 principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.. They are truly an amazing family. So yeah it's been a beautiful week in Zhu...

So this was been a wonderfully cold and rainy week here in Zhubei. And the Taiwanese people, much like myself, don't like the cold. So you can say it's been quite difficult finding more prepared on the streets. But they are still out there! And within the past week we have actually found 2 people who have been on tours of the Salt Lake City temple and actually have interest in hearing more about why we have them! So yeah miracles are real, like for real.  This week we were able to cover the commandments with the Liao family and when we taught the Sabbath day, we taught it a little different.  On Thursday  we had a little opportunity to receive trainings from and do interviews with President and Sister Jergenson. Sister Jergenson taught us more about the importance of the sacrament and how great of an opportunity it is to renew our baptismal covenants. If we really make repentance a daily part of our lives, the sacrament could leaves us with the same clean feeling tha...

So this week we started out the week with a goal to find more new investigators, because we found our self with only 4 people to teach, and they all happen to be in the Liao family. And they're super super great and all but we need more people to teach lol. So we had a goal of 4 new investigators. And lately we've felt impressed to go knock some doors in the smaller villages near the mountains of our area. So when we did this the other night we got invited in to share our message by two different families in the same night! And both set up times for us to come back and share more this week. So yeah we've really been blessed as we set goals, share these goals with God through prayer, and go out and act on the inspiration!  But yeah the Liao family is doing absolutely wonderful. After some prayer and discussion, we've decided to meet twice a week now to prepare for the whole family to be baptized on the  9th of March . Its so great to see them come participate in chu...

Well its been a very cold, windy week in Zhubei. Transfers were  on Thursday  and a lot changed. The biggest change being: my father abandoned me and left the country. Or in other words Elder Aiono finished his 2 years of serving the Lord and returned to his family in the states. He was a super great missionary, trainer, and friend to me. I learned a lot from him and I definitely miss the big guy. But I'm excited for him to begin this new adventure, and I'm super excited to get that wedding invite within the next few months ;).  But yeah so I got a new companion and his name is Elder Moss. Super cool dude and super tall too at 6'5"! But yeah he's actually only been on the island for 3 months longer than myself. Which is definitely a little different from the older companions I've been with for the past 2 transfers. But its been great so far.  But anyways the work in Zhubei is going just as great as ever. And the Liao family is doing...

Elder Erickson went with his companion Elder Aiono and Brother and Siter Vatcher to have some  Mongolian Bar-b-que. Here are the pictures Sister Vatcher shared with Andrew. Monday February 6, 2017

So yeah another week in paradise. Can I just say I LOVE ZHUBEI.  But yeah anyways its been great. This past week Chinese New Year finished up and we've been able to really start work again. Though all the time spent with members during Chinese New Year was great, its great to be back hitting the streets and finding those ready to receive us. Lately we've been going to the more mountain/village part of our area and have actually had a lot of success just doin that good old door knocking. Its been super fun and we have already had a few people ask us to come back and share our message.  So as some of you may have heard, they changed the missionary schedule. One of these changes includes the ability to go out in the morning, rather than requiring us to stay inside all morning studying. So this week we did some exploring on the morning activities in Zhubei and found a super lit morning market! And there are so many people there every morning.  On Saturday  it was ...