Emails 8/29/16

Sending this to you because I think I look pretty good in this picture ;)

Also because I didn't take any this week, it was Elder Booth that took it. :)

Also it's so you can see Elder Booth. :)

 It must be fun to have the cousins close by, even if you probably don't see them too much. :) I'm excited to have them around when I get back, because maybe we can do fun things together every once in a while. :) 

Ok, this week was pretty busy, but really good!

On Monday, we played basketball with a couple members and Elder Grisenti (one of my previous companions) and Elder Neuhaus. That was really fun! Then, Monday night we spent some time contacting, then went to a member's house for family home evening. That was pretty fun! I really like visiting members, it's one of my favorite things about being on a mission. They are always so nice and really fun!

Tuesday morning we went to ZuoYing for district training meeting (we have it there every week), and afterwards we went on exchanges with the Elders over there. I went with Elder Neuhaus. It was super fun! :D

Wednesday we had a miracle lesson in the morning! The other Elders had an investigator that told us she was sick and couldn't make her 2pm appointment and it sounded like she didn't want to meet with them anymore. 5 minutes later she called us again, telling us she was at the church and asked if we could meet with her. So that was cool. We did that. Afterwards, we came back to SanMin, and I went with Elder Musgrave again. Then we contacted all afternoon. We had English meeting that night and met with a couple of investigators, which was good. :)

Thursday we spent about the whole day outside contacting. The miracle was that we both just went out in an excited attitude to talk with everyone and we did and it went great! We met some cool people that day who will hopefully have time to meet with us! We also met with a family, which was pretty cool!

Friday, we went up to Taizhong to exchange with the assisstants. That was pretty great, too! I got to go with Elder Booth, the Austrailian who was in my MTC district with me. That was super fun to work with him again and see how far he's come as well as the changes I've made, too!

Saturday, we missed our train back to GaoXiong, so we were really late to our appointmet, which was a bummer. Then the ward had an activity which we went to for just a little bit to introduce our investigator to some members so we could get back out on the streets contacting more people!

Then Sunday came. I was so tired on Sunday! :o I had to take a power nap during dinner time! :o It's great to work super hard! Anyway, that's about all for the week. :) It's been great and I'm loving every minute of it!! :D

Here's my letter to President Teh this week: :)

Working here in San Min is going really well. The people here have been very nice, possibly nicer than my other areas. I am so grateful to be among these wonderful people. I also thought about what you said when you first got here about how these people were so good. I was thinking about it lately and they really are. I have been trying to develop charity and love in particular these last few weeks and when I go into a lesson or a contact with that attitude and that love, it makes all the difference in the world. I have had plenty of contacts--to many actually, where I go into the contact almost robotically. It's a lot like what Moroni says in Moroni 7, if you don't have charity, you have nothing.

The miracle we saw this week was that as we were contacting, going to a place to make calls, I rode past a dark alley and saw a man standing there. I rode by, but felt impressed to talk with him. I immediately turned around and started a conversation with him. He lives really close to our church and was really interested. About a minute later, his wife and baby showed up, and they agreed to meet with us this week. They met with us twice, came to a ward activity, and then the wife came to church yesterday! Hopefully we can keep meeting with this amazing family! Another quick miracle was Elder Musgrave was being very diligent in asking everyone for referrals. I admired his diligence, but questioned the effectiveness of it. Later that night, we got a text saying we had received a referral. I fully believe it was because Elder Musgrave was showing his faith and diligence in asking for referrals.

--

Elder Fleming

Emails 8/22/16

Ok, another good week in GaoXiong! :D

Monday we went to the Gaoxiong 85, a super huge tower in Taiwan! That was super fun! I went with my son, Elder Anderson! He's doing great! Then Tuesday we went on exchanges with them! Woohoo! He's doing sooo well and it was awesome to see that my trainee is doing way better than I am!! :D I'm so proud of him! We met with a 60year old man, who is pretty awesome. His name is Brother Zhang.

Wednesday was pretty good. The miracle came at English class, where we were finally able to set up a time to meet with an English student that I've been trying to meet with since I first got here. He's great and I love him in a brotherly-way, so it was great to set up a time to share more about the Gospel with him.

Thursday we had to go up to Taizhong for another meeting. The trains cost sooo much money! :o We are going up this week again as well! :o The meeting was great! There was a member from the 70 and it was like a mini-mission tour because President Teh is a new mission president. That was great, but we didn't get out of the meeting until 6:30, had to get our phone fixed for an hour (because it rained hard and the phone was in my pocket and then it broke) so we didn't get to the train station until almost 8, and fortunately there was a train that left right after we got there, and then took a 2 1/2 hour train ride back to GaoXiong. :o

Friday was pretty good. We had weekly planning, met with an investigator, and that's probably about it for Friday.

Saturday we met with our investigator from English class. We had a good lesson, expressed our love for him, which he felt, and invited him to be baptized and he was so excited to set a goal! It was a huge miracle!! He was the most excited person to set a goal I've ever invited to be baptized before! It was great!

Sunday we had 2 new investigators for the week and mission standards and our goal was to have 3. It was Sunday night, and we decided to go out and try to sit down with someone and get our last new investigator, which we were able to do in that last little bit of time in the week! Huge miracles and things are great! :D Sorry I don't have more time. I love you all and hope you have a great week!!

My email to President:

Dear President,

It's been another good week in San Min. I am also glad to be working with Elder Musgrave. I feel we have been able to work hard as well as enjoy our time together. He is a hardworking missionary and I'm glad I can be working with him here. I hope that I am doing everything I can to continue to stretch myself to become a better missionary. I don't want to slow down or get into a comfort zone, especially now. I think Heavenly Father gives us trials on a mission so often to keep us growing and to help keep us out of our comfort zone and to rely more on Him.

This week's miracles were on Saturday and on Sunday. Really, we had miracles all through out the week, but a couple big ones I want to mention were on Saturday and Sunday. After English class last week, I was finally able to set up with an English student that we've been trying to set up with since I first got to this area. He is a really great person but hadn't set up with us until last week. I have come to care about him a lot as we have gone through English class. We met with him on Saturday, set some expectations, and lovingly invited him to be baptized. He felt this love we had towards him and he understood that we wanted him to receive this blessing because we loved him and we knew it would help him. He was so happy to get baptized. I thought of the people in Mosiah 18, who "clapped their hands for joy" when they were invited to baptism! It was amazing, I don't think I've ever had an investigator this excited to be baptized.

On Sunday, we were at two new investigators for the week, and needed one more to hit mission standards for finding. It was about 7 or 7:30 and we needed an other lesson with someone. We didn't have anyone set up to meet with us that night, but we went to a nearby 7-11 and sat down with someone there who agreed to meet with us next week! I was really grateful we were able to hit that goal, and it was a great lesson to be diligent and use every minute wisely, whether it is during the week, or in the last couple hours of the week.

I am still trying to work as hard as I can to be all in all the time!

--

Elder Fleming

My (sort of) new companion, Elder Musgrave

Elder Anderson and I on exchanges and a giant picture of Taiwan with my areas I've been in where I'm pointing to them. :) 

Elder Anderson and Elder Fleming

8/15/16 Emails

Alright, it was a great week!
That's it, love you guys!

Just kidding. :) It was a great week, though! Start of a new transfer, so I have a new companion, also shou tout to Elder Ward for finishing his mission and surviving me as his last companion! :) 

I have a new companion now, Elder Musgrave. He's great! We had a pretty good week. Monday was spent at the train station waiting for new missionaries to come in so we could welcome them into the zone, then we helped the sisters out who are new to the area find their way around and got them some bikes to ride for the next day or two until their normal bikes come in the mail. 

Tuesday was pretty standard. We had a meeting in a neighboring area, DTM, which was good. We learned how to be better missionaries. :) I was able to see one of my previous companions, Elder Grisenti, who's awesome! I'm super excited we're in the same district together! :D 

We had a lesson set up after DTM, but he ended up not being able to come because his family doesn't want him to meet with missionaries. Bummer. So we just contacted people. Taiwan is an amazing place. Also, it's pretty cool because there are tons of people out on the streets you can just start talking to. It's pretty great! But yeah, we just contacted people all day on Tuesday. :) 

Wednesday we met with a less-active member and our Bishop. That was pretty good. Afterwards, we contacted some more. Also it rained very suddenly which sometimes happens here. So we contacted people in the pouring rain, which was pretty fun. :) Wednesday night we had English class. That's always pretty fun. :) There weren't a lot of people there, which might have been because of the rain... 

Thursday, we met with our recent convert, Brother Peng and his friends. He's doing awesome! :D At night, we met with the stake presidency and give a report or presentation, which I should've clarified what they wanted us to do, because I wasn't sure what I presented was what they were expecting.... :/ Good to know for the future. :) 

Friday was pretty standard. Weekly planning. Some lessons fell through, so we hit the streets and talked to more people. It was nuts, because this week we did a lot of talking to people, but as we tried hard, the time went by really fast, which is good, but also the time went too fast! :o 

Anyway, Saturday we had to go to another area in Qi Shan to do a baptismal interview for the missionaries out there, so we spent a large portion of golden Saturday finding time in Qi Shan. We did have a miracle lesson that night from someone we had contacted earlier that week who said they wanted to meet with us so that was pretty cool. :) 

Sunday was good and sacrament was a highlight of the week, as always. I love being able to take the sacrament and know I can be forgiven of all of the things I did wrong and the mistakes I made that week. It's great! 

Sunday night we were on the roads again contacting people. :) Good week. :) 

Anyway, I love you all and I'm praying for you! 

Here's my letter to President Teh today:

Dear President, 

It was a good first week of the new transfer and with a new companion. Elder Musgrave is doing well and seems to be excited to be here. He is very willing to work and seems to be adjusting well. I am glad I get to work with him these coming weeks. I hope I can be the kind of companion for him that Elder Ward was for me. He worked hard, and pushed us both and we saw many miracles together. I hope I can do the same. 

This week when I was in studies, I read Helaman 8:15. The word "look" stood out to me. I had never really studied the word "look" in the scriptures before, so I looked up some scriptures that also use the word "look." I thought about Lot and his wife, as well as a scripture in Doctrine and Covenants that stress the importance of looking towards the Lord, and not looking back when the Lord tells you to. If you're looking in a direction, you'll probably end up there. In Mosiah, when King Benjamin addresses his people, they pitch their tents towards the temple. Shortly after, they all end up there making covenants with the Lord. In the Old Testament, (I forgot who) but they pitch their tent towards Sodom. Shortly after, that's where they are. If we are constantly looking towards the Lord, that's the direction we will head. If we keep His commandments, have faith and follow Him, we will be able to endure to the end, we won't have as many distractions and we will end up with the Lord. 

This week, we spent a lot of time contacting. We tried very hard to get some new investigators, because we need to find some new investigators with real intent right now. We had found some promising people, but no one had set up with us, despite our efforts. On Saturday, I was a little worried. We had tried our hardest through out the week and had been diligent in finding, but so far, we hadn't had anyone who had set up to meet, or if they had, they didn't show up. During dinner on Saturday, a person called us up and told us they were at the church and were wondering if we could meet with them. I was shocked. We ended dinner early and met with them right away and shared about the Gospel with them. We were able to set up another time to meet with them, which was a great miracle! Sometimes, the Lord does what we think is impossible to increase our faith in Him. I like the quote "There is a power that causes things to happen that need to happen." In the Lord's infinite mercy, He allows us to participate in His work, to allow us to learn and experience the joy of helping others, when really the work is all in His hands. What an amazing miracle!

-- 

Elder Fleming

Emails 8/15/16

Alright, it was a great week! 

...That's it. Love you guys. 

Just kidding. :) It was a great week, though! Start of a new transfer, so I have a new companion, also
shoutout to Elder Ward for finishing his mission and surviving me as his last companion! :)

I have a new companion now, Elder Muscrave. He's great! We had a pretty good week. Monday was
spent at the train station waiting for new missionaries to come in so we could welcome them into the
zone, then we helped the sisters out who are new to the area find their way around and got them some
bikes to ride for the next day or two until their normal bikes come in the mail.

Tuesday was pretty standard. We had a meeting in a neighboring area, DTM, which was good. We
learned how to be better missionaries. :) I was able to see one of my previous companions, Elder
Grisenti, who's awesome! I'm super excited we're in the same district together! :D

We had a lesson set up after DTM, but he ended up not being able to come because his family doesn't
want him to meet with missionaries. Bummer. So we just contacted people. Taiwan is an amazing place.
Also, it's pretty cool because there are tons of people out on the streets you can just start talking to. It's
pretty great! But yeah, we just contacted people all day on Tuesday. :)

Wednesday we met with a less-active member and our Bishop. That was pretty good. Afterwards, we contacted some more. Also it rained very suddenly which sometimes happens here. So we contacted
people in the pouring rain, which was pretty fun. :) Wednesday night we had English class. That's
always pretty fun. :) There weren't a lot of people there, which might have been because of the rain...

Thursday, we met with our recent convert, Brother Peng and his friends. He's doing awesome! :D At
night, we met with the stake presidency and give a report or presentation, which I should've clarified
what they wanted us to do, because I wasn't sure what I presented was what they were expecting.... :/
Good to know for the future. :)

Friday was pretty standard. Weekly planning. Some lessons fell through, so we hit the streets and talked
to more people. It was nuts, because this week we did a lot of talking to people, but as we tried hard, the
time went by really fast, which is good, but also the time went too fast! :o

Anyway, Saturday we had to go to another area in Qi Shan to do a baptismal interview for the missionaries
out there, so we spent a large portion of golden Saturday finding time in Qi Shan. We did have a miracle
lesson that night from someone we had contacted earlier that week who said they wanted to meet with us
so that was pretty cool. :)

Sunday was good and sacrament was a highlight of the week, as always. I love being able to take the sacrament and know I can be forgiven of all of the things I did wrong and the mistakes I made that week.
It's great!

Sunday night we were on the roads again contacting people. :) Good week. :)

Yay European soccer! :D That's nuts that Michael Phelps won so many medals! :o 

Happy birthday, Aunt Amy Ryan! 

Anyway, I love you all and I'm praying for you!

Here's my letter to President Teh today:

Dear President,

It was a good first week of the new transfer and with a new companion. Elder Musgrave is doing well 

and seems to be excited to be here. He is very willing to work and seems to be adjusting well. I am glad I get to work with him these coming weeks. I hope I can be the kind of companion for him that Elder Ward

was for me. He worked hard, and pushed us both and we saw many miracles together. I hope I can do 

the same. This week when I was in studies, I read Helaman 8:15. The word "look" stood out to me. 

I had never really studied the word "look" in the scriptures before, so I looked up some scriptures that

also use the word "look." I thought about Lot and his wife, as well as a scripture in Doctrine and 

Covenants that stress the importance of looking towards the Lord, and not looking back when the Lord

tells you to. If you're  looking in a direction, you'll probably end up there. In Mosiah, when King 

Benjamin addresses his people, they pitch their tents towards the temple. Shortly after, they all end up

there making covenants with the Lord. In the Old Testament, (I forgot who) but they pitch their tent 

towards Sodom. Shortly after, that's where they are. If we are constantly looking towards the Lord, 

that's the direction we will head. If we keep His commandments, have faith and follow Him, we will 

be able to endure to the end, we won't have as many distractions and we will end up with the Lord.

This week, we spent a lot of time contacting. We tried very hard to get some new investigators, because

we need to find some new investigators with real intent right now. We had found some promising 

people, but no one had set up with us, despite our efforts. On Saturday, I was a little worried. We had 

tried our hardest throughout the week and had been diligent in finding, but so far, we hadn't had anyone

who had set up to meet, or if they had, they didn't show up. During dinner on Saturday, a person called 

us up and told us they were at the church and were wondering if we could meet with them. I was 

shocked. We ended dinner early and met with them right away and shared about the Gospel with them. 

We were able to set up another time to meet with them, which was a great miracle! Sometimes, the

Lord does what we think is impossible to increase our faith in Him. I like the quote "There is a power 

that causes things to happen that need to happen." In the Lord's infinite mercy, He allows us to 

participate in His work, to allow us to learn and experience the joy of helping others, when really the 

work is all in His hands. What an amazing miracle!

--

Elder Fleming

Emails 8/8/16

Welcome home, Tyler!! :D

My new companion is Elder Musgrave. He's from Alaska. I had seen him before and knew who he was, but I didn't really know him know him. He's probably been out about the same time as me. I'm guessing he's a few months behind me. Maybe 2 or 3 months?

I haven't really noticed a lot of people getting into the Olympics here. :/ They're obsessed with this new  game where you go around town and find pokemons on their phones. Last night, there were people everywhere playing that game. It made it difficult to contact because they were so dialed in. Phones are a big thing here.  People are always on them.  I have decided that I'm not going to put ANY games on my phone when I go home--so make sure I don't! I don't want to waste my life away on a 3x5 inch screen.

The week was pretty good. The last week of the transfer, we had MLC Tuesday, then ZTM on Thursday. It went well. We also were with another missionary for 3 days because his companion was training and they start on Friday, so we were with the other Elder. He is from Taiwan, which is pretty cool. It was a good week. :) It was kind of weird saying goodbye to Elder Ward. We both tried to stay focused to the end, which we did, so it didn't feel like it was goodbye, but it was. It was interesting being with him. I like him and he's a great person and a great missionary. It was great to learn from him and I definitely learned a ton from him, so I'm super grateful for that. He was a great companion, too.

Alright, it's a new transfer and I don't have my last planner on me. Let's see what I can remember...

This last week has been good. It's been very busy, which is good. :) I feel like it is the last little bit of being busy from July when we got the new mission president. Monday we had preparation day, so 10:30 to 6 we had time to rest and prepare for the week. It was Elder Ward's last one, so we bought a scroll for his parents before he goes home.

Monday night, I think we just proselyted.

Tuesday, we went up to Tai Zhong for a meeting, so between going there, being at the meeting and coming back, we were gone all day. It was great to learn from the new mission president, President Teh!

Then on Wednesday, we had a bunch of lessons, which was great, especially since we didn't have a lot of time to meet with people Monday or Tuesday. Then Wednesday night was English class. That was pretty good. Our English class has been awesome for finding people lately and has a lot of potential! We set up a family to meet with us on Sunday, which was awesome!

Thursday, we had ZTM, yay! ZTM is always fun. :) We got together with the zone, about 20 other missionaries and met and did some training.

Friday we kept proselyting.

Saturday was the same.

Sunday was great! It was Elder Ward's last day, so we told all our investigators to come, so we got a lot of investigators at church!

Sorry, I don't really remember a ton, but it was a good week and we were able to work hard. I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!

Oh! Also, here's my letter to President this week:

Dear President,

We just dropped Elder Ward off at the train station and are now emailing as we wait for the new missionaries to come in. I am very grateful for the opportunity I had to serve with Elder Ward. So far on my mission, I have had 2 very influential companions, who helped me to stretch myself beyond what I thought I could do to become an even better missionary. One was my trainer, and the other was Elder Ward. He was a great example for me and he stayed focused until the very end of his mission. It was a great experience to learn from him.

While I was with Elder Ward, during a more difficult week, when we were out on the roads a lot and not finding very many people who were willing to talk to us, I read a talk called "The Circle of Fire." I can't remember who gave it, but he was talking about how as we work harder for something, the more opposition we will face. He also talked about how the most valuable things we have to earn in life will require going through a crucible of experiences to ensure that we are worthy to achieve that prize. Being on a mission hasn't been easy, but it's definitely been worth it. It has been hard work, but the blessings I've received have been innumerable. I also learned about unity this week. We visited a member and discussed unity. He asked us what we thought "unity" meant. I was a little surprised by his question. I explained that unity was working together towards a common goal, and like many small threads put together in a rope make it very strong, so can we, if we work together, be strong. Elder Ward said it was an "equality of consecration." It wasn't a division of tasks of "you do this, I'll do that," but rather "We will do this, and We will do that." Like a circle divided down the middle, with a division of tasks and separation as opposed to one circle, not divided and all together. Then our member talked about how (especially in a council or a ward) everyone has their own viewpoints, but as we increase faith in Christ, He will make a center point of our views, and the more faith we have, and the more we are accepting of His will, the more our view points will align. I think that in the Book of Mormon we can see this pattern. During times of peace, the Nephite's faith in Christ is strong. Especially after Christ visits them, they are very unified, because their faith in Him is strong, but when they lose faith in Him, that's when they start to have problems and lose that unity. I am going to try to apply that principle of developing faith in Christ and try not to divide tasks of "I'll do this, and you do that" especially as I start to work with a new companion.

I love you lots and I'll email next week!

--

Elder Fleming

Brother Peng, our newest member in San Min Ward!! :D 

Sister's baptism, pictures from the exhibit last Saturday, sunset, etc. 

Future temple will be built here! I'll be coming back when it's built! :D

A bunch of members and us :)