I'm 20 now?

Hey everyone!
This week was a crazy week! We had a lot of fun and a lot of success!

Food: This week we had an amazing meal at the Yang Family's house. They are Brazillian and they made Arroz de Furnos. I don't know if that is spelled right, but they made this amazing rice dish with cheese and ham and peppers and all sorts of goodies in it. So delicious. They were all laughing because my Brazillian pronunciation is horrific. I give it 5 agressive "arroz(es)" out of 5.

Verbatim: From a lady who walks out of her house.
Me: Can we come inside and talk to your family right now?
Her: Well, it's probably not too convienient. We're all really liberal and open and nobody's wearing pants. I actually saw you outside and that's why I put this sweater on.
Me: Oh. That really probably isn't too convienient. Maybe some other day?

Elder VandenBurg on my bday brownies: They're rice brownies...and this is rice cream!

Last week we went up to a place call 18 peaks which is a gorgeous place to go hike around and walk. Reminds me of the Schaeffer nature trail up in Washington. We had a lot of fun and I started getting into the whole Planking thing. Elder Townsend (my good buddy out here) and I were looking for the "perfect plank" the whole time. We might even go back today because it was so pleasant.

I got my B-Day celebrated in style a day late because people remembered wrong, but the sisters made me brownies and got ice cream, balloons and the works. They're so great.

Just last night we had a really cool experience with following the spirit. We were tracting and then went to a different place to go check on a man that the sisters had referred to us. My companion and I both had an impression to check up on a lady and her family whom we had met the week previous. We went to her door and rang the doorbell. The son answered the door and let us in. Her little sister, with the sister's husband, and two of her children were there. They were all very willing to listen and we very excited about the gospel. We are going back tonight. One thing that went especially well in the lesson is that we used How to Begin Teaching with great effectiveness. There really is a massive difference when it is used well. They understood why were there and we understood why they were letting us be there. It was a huge miracle to me that the Lord let us hit our goal for NI even though we were way below the goal before and He delivered right before we had to go home.

Love you all so much. Sorry time's tight.
Love,
Elder Siebert

Deliciousness and Miracles! My two favorite things!

Hello Everyone!
Guess What? I am almost twenty! Crazy huh?!?

Food: Churasco
We have a brazillian family who live in our ward and they invited us over for a BBQ because of the holiday and we went not expecting what we got. They made a whole brazillian BBQ, just like the type that you might have at Tucanos, only better, for us. It was out of this world good. I got to work the grill with Reinaldo (Brother Yang) and we had a blast. The best was this garlic crown steak that was just about the best thing that I have ever tasted. They also had friends come over who we were able to share with. YES! 6 brazillian bonanzas out of 5. (My father just shuddered at that stunning lack of mathmatical literacy).

We went and had a great time this week. We spent a lot of time finding. I went on exchanges with the APs this week, but they came when we were going to have english class, so I wouldn't have had any time to actually go do work with them, so I talked Elder Binkinuan into skipping English class with me. We left my companion in the care of the other elders and then me and Elder Binkinuan went and worked for two and a half hours in my area. It is always great getting to work with the assistants.

We had a really cool experience with one of our investigators this week. His scooter had a flat so he was late to the church which meant that we only had a few minutes with him, so we had to change our plan to just talk about the BOM with him. After praying hard to start, I knew everything that I needed to say. I remember just feeling so powerful and aware of his every need. Huang dx was willing to read and very excited to find out if God is real or not. The whole lesson was perfect for him and just what he needed at the time. It was so cool because the spirit really led. There was no Elder Siebert opinions or thoughts there, it was all just what God wanted to say to him. So amazing!

Well, this week I have pictures to send to you all. The first is a picture of the Churasco in preparation.there's no picture of all the food together because it disappeared really fast into our mouths when it came off the grill. The second is everyone, the Yang family and their friends. The last one is how we got an extra bike to the church for the AP. We took the box off the back of my bike and then laid the bike across the rack and locked it in place with my big U lock. It was actually really sturdy on there, but scary riding through 25 minutes of traffic to get it to the church. Enjoy!

Love,
Elder Siebert

P.s. I realized that I have to marry a morning person. So all you lovely ladies who are reading this, I'm sorry if this cuts you out. It can't be helped.

Staying and Becoming an Old Dog

Hey Everyone!
This week marks my first day as Senior companion! I will be greenie busting a spanking new missionary who is just coming onto the island. I am not sure how to spell his name, so I will keep you posted when I actually meet him. His trainer is a great guy, so I am expecting great things!

Food:
This week we got to go to a member's place to have a BBQ with them because of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Everyone is BBQing. So we made all this stuff and I got to contact tons of referrals and get them sent out all over the place. That was really fun. We had some really amazing bacon-golden-mushroom rolls. I would have to say that though the taste was great, the texture was even better! I give them 5 greasy golden gastronomies out of 5.

Verbatim (new section): Regarding what he learned in studies, Elder Lin said that he didn't learn too much, instead he "Wo3 jue2de wo3 hua1le bi3jiao4 duo1 shi2jian1 gen1 Sa1dan4 dui4kang4". (I feel like i spent more time battling with Satan). This was because he was dozed off a couple times.

This week had some great miracles. We found an amazing guy who is actually a referral from another area and he might just turn out to be the one who can go the distance. I am terribly excited to be working with him. I will keep you posted.

A little while back, I made a member plan and I've finally put it into action. The members here had no relationship with the missionaries really. So I've been stopping by and sharing short five minute scriptures or messages with them and then asking for referrals. It's been really good because we try and have contact pretty much everyday with some member in some form, even if it's just writing them a little note. Yesterday , I saw a great result. One of the super active members shared that when we had gone over the other day and shared a message about studying the scriptures with pictures and gospel art book, we had reminded her of this way to have revelation. She said that even having been a member for 20 some years, this really helped her out. It was a very touching testimony.

Outta time!
Love,
Elder Siebert

Drawing to an end

Hey Everyone!
This week was a bit of a cool down for a couple days. There was actually a rainy day where the temperature was lower and the wind was high and I felt for the first time in so long....cool....outside. It was the weirdest feeling in the world. Most of the time, I think that 30 degrees celsius is super cool and comfortable these days.

Hmmm........I don't think that I had a single new food this week. Oh, but I did get to try something that, even though I have had before, it especially good and famous here.

Gong4wan2 Mi3Fen2: Beef Ball Rice Noodles: this is a food that XinZhu is famous all over for. The rice noodles here are supposed to be better than anywhere in all of Taiwan. The beef balls are also supposed to be the best. I finally had some and found that the craze is no lie. The beef balls were especially spectacular. I was pretty much in heaven. I give it 5 faddish foods out of 5.

Here's some verbatim for the week. After the typhoon day and seeing Elder Millet on P-day, "Elder Millet, what's that growing on your upper lip? DISOBEDIENCE?!? (the second part interjected right before his response)" I felt that it was a really funny comment.

I saw a lot of miracles from following the spirit this week. Of particular note was the Deng4 family. We were about to head to visit a former that we had planned to see and I was praying hard that I would be able to find those on the road who were ready to listen to the gospel. Well, the result was I moved about ten feet from where I was parked to the cafe area of "Seven" and started talking to this little family. At first, it was only the mother who was more interested, but she asked the husband if we could share more and he had some questions about why our church was different. I was able to share the restoration with them and the spirit guided them even though the time was short. They really wanted to know how to find the truth and what it could mean for their family. It was very exciting. Even though the invitations to act were rushed (we made it home with seconds to spare), they have been saying their prayers everyday:a testimony of the power of the spirit.

I know that the Lord is guiding me and every single one of you. I wish you all well and encourage you all to do your part in missionary work. Find those who have fallen into inactivity and rescue them. Help those who are not members to come unto Christ by doing what missionaries can rarely do: be their friend. Answer their questions because I know that they have them. Invite them to act and come to activities. It will bless them and it will bless you as you feel the fire and love for the gospel by participating in missionary work. I love you all and I know you can do it. When all grinds to a halt, pray and then go do!
Love,
Elder Siebert

Typhoons!

Hey everyone!
We had a typhoon yesterday and it was so cool. The wind was so intense! When we were coming home from church to go home and stay inside, there were a couple times I nearly got blown over and also when the wind was head on I would get stopped where I was. It was so crazy! I would be biking and then it was like I hit the brakes hardcore because I would just virtually cease any sort of movement. However, I found a facial mask during the time that we were inside, so I will keep you posted with pictures and stuff once I find my little camera chord.

Food:
Starfruit: we went and got a starfruit the other day and it was really good. It tastes kind of the way that roses smell. Really an intriguing flavor but also really pleasant. It's something that I could probably eat all day because it's pretty mild and the flavor's not so out there that you would get sick of it. I give it 4 sugary stratospheric sensations out of 5. (I know that doesn't make sense but I just wanted to be cool like Mark)

I also got a ton of guavas this week. I found out that there are little "reject piles" of fruit at the stands where fruit that might have a mark or two are thrown. This fruit is so cheap. I got guavas that taste great and just need a little bit cut away for a fifth of the cost of normal ones. The total in US is 6 cents per guava. Yeah. I've been eating a lot this week.

We found a family this week! They are so great. The little daughters love me because they think that it's fascinating that I am foreign but that I can speak Chinese. I also come up with some fun little analogies for them too. Brother and Sister Chen really liked the lesson and they brought the family to church this week. It was great because the ward just embraced them and were all so excited to see a family come in. I have really great hopes for them.

Oh, of final note, we have a thing called the love box here. Every district meeting it goes to a different companionship and you take it home and bring it back filled with love. This week I have it and I wrote a hilarious song for it on my guitar, here's an excerpt.

I was buying stuff at the store
Walking down the aile labeled fun stuff galore
I pick up Ken Barbie and what do I see?
Elder Thatcher staring back at me!

This is because Elder Thatcher admitted that he went for the ken barbie look before the mission. I thought it was rather clever. The song also includes some chinglish parts and stuff. It'll be great.

Keep going strong everyone. I know that God loves you and that he will do anything for you!
Love,
Elder Siebert