Two years is up!

Hey everyone!

Verbatim:

Being evil is really parching!--Sister Muhlstein as we played "Aye! Dark Overlord"

 

Me: Yeah, I'm an old man now.
Sister Taylor: That's hot.

Me: *giggle*

 

Elder Phelps (reporting in zone meeting): He'll be getting sealed in the temple in a year.
Elder Lew: Sounds like Elder Siebert!

 

Whoa! The planes just get closer and closer!--Me when the announcements, folded into a paper airplane, nearly hit me in the back of the head in zone meeting.

 

(written on the calender)

12/31 "My favorite companion kisses another girl at midnight and gets engaged"

Me: Yeah, that'll go well 'I've got a resolution. I'm gonna get married! And it's you!'

Elder Welch: I gotta pee. That's what she's gonna say too.

 

Me: Don't get it mixed up with Fang4Bian4.

Elder Welch: What's Bian4?

Me: Poop.

Elder Welch (and me): *Laughs super loud*

 

Let's go blow up his company. Or at least block the door.--Elder Welch on getting Brother Cheng to church.

 

This week was a good way to end my last Sunday here on the island. We had an amazing baptism. Brother Zhang's baptism went without a hitch really. His good friends in the ward, Brother Tu and President Zeng gave amazingly spiritual talks and the musical number went smooth and beautifully. The most beautiful part was that his whole family came and sat with him. They were given the front spot next to the font and were able to watch their husband/father get baptized. Even more beautiful was the fact that the Zeng family went over after the service and also the Huang family went and talked to them and the wife was much more open after interacting with them. We are planning to visit them with the Zeng family and meet them more and also share a little message. I have a lot of hope for their family. I am so eternally grateful to Heavenly Father for letting me see this miracle happen and let me be here for the realization of it.

This week we had a really cool finding miracle. We set up a referral at a member's house for a first time meeting. When we got there, we brought the investigator, a Brother Chen, in and he met the Que family and they just wrapped their arms around him (figuratively, although I am sure that literally would also have gone well). Our lesson with him went really, really well. We followed the spirit really bravely and taught with power. As we taught, he really opened up to the message and even though he didn't understand everything perfectly, he clearly felt the spirit. He came to church this week and because Brother Que is a counsellor in the bishopric, his wife and Elder Welch sat with Brother Chen. Brother Chen loved the talks and was writing notes down. Then in sunday school, Sister Que took him upstairs and then arranged for someone to sit with him while she took care of some things and then came back to sit with him again. It was amazing how well they took care of him. I am sure that he felt the love and will be very willing to come back.

Well that's all from me! Over and out, thanks for reading all these weeks!

Elder Siebert

Getting close...to another baptism!

Hey everyone!

This is the second to last email that you will get from me. Just thought that I would throw that one out there.

 

Food:

Orange chocolate cake: I was sitting in Priesthood and the idea came to mind that I had to make a cake with candied orange zest syrup drizzled into it. I had made the cake and it was going to be taken over to a member's for dinner so I went home and made the concotion and it was so good! I put super dark hot fudge on it so that it would mellow out the sweetness and it was to die for. 5 orangey....things....out of 5.

 

Verbatim:

Elder Welch: Does he drive a scooter?

Me:Yeah....?

Elder Welch: Well let's brake his scooter....or put a shark on his scooter.

--As we talked about how to help Brother Zhang stay for all of church.

 

We'll use his hormones against him!--Elder Welch on how we could get the young women to get Roy to church.

 

Everyone could use friends of the opposite gender.--Elder Welch

 

President said to stay away from any form of pornography. So he showed us a video... (we all burst out laughing)...No! On the impact it had one someone!--Elder Zou at ZL council

 

Me: Ouch! I got a mosquito bite on my neck! Come on!

Elder Welch: Must've been a girl mosquito then

 

This week I also saw someone change their kid's diaper in the middle of sacrament meeting. yeah. That was uncomfortable.

 

Well as for miracles this week we got a really cool referral from a member. We had an appointment fall through, someone was going to go to the member's place to have a lesson with us, but since they weren't coming, we shared with the family and had a little FHE. They felt the spirit so strongly. The mom was especially moved by the message and how we have the gospel right now. The feeling came into my heart that I really needed to ask for referrals even though we have before. I asked and they talked really quick about their family members and gave me their little brother to see. They called him right then and he accepted the invitation to meet with us. We then met with him and he's really open to the message and really hopes that it can help his family. It was such a cool miracle to see how God prepared him. It was good news!

 

Other business is that Brother Zhang should be getting baptized this Sunday. It's gonna be great.

 

I love you all,

Elder Siebert

Baptisms!

Hey everyone!

Verbatim:

Maybe it was a poor mosquito, so you're feeding the poor and fulfilling your baptismal covenant.--Elder Welch on me complaining about getting attacked by a mosquito.

 

This is the perfect finding opportunity! They're all on hospital beds, they can't get away!--Me when we went to the hospital looking for service.

 

We can tell her that there are sharks in the water, but in case we can't buy a shark or find one, we need a backup plan.--Elder Welch in response to my question, "How do we help Sister Guo come to church?" (she always goes up to JiLong and swims on Sundays)

 

Sister Taylor touches your little ear thing too?!? I'm telling President.--Me with Elder Zou on exchanges

 

Me: It's an epic quest! Far more exciting than saving a princess! We're saving souls!

Elder Welch: Well, you never know, one of them could be a princess.......for someone.....---While knocking on night

 

Elder Welch: Lebron James.

Me: Yeah........

Brother Lu: Oh yeah, Kobe just called me a minute ago too. So did A-Rod."--While meeting with Brother Lu, the phone went off and it was the kid who calls himself Lebron and just bugs the crap out of us. Hilarious.

 

There's a way out...........SIN!--Elder Welch on me wanting to make banana pie and take it to a member's house but not having bananas at the time and needing to get them. It was Saturday night at about ten, so there weren't any options to get the bananas needed without breaking commandments. We made no-bake cookies instead.

 

Well this week was a good one because Brother Chen got baptized! It was a sweet service and he was ecstatic to be baptized. While sharing his testimony, he told us how he feels like God gave him a good present that morning because he'd just found the BOM and Bible for his phone, that way he can read them all the time. It was so cool!

So this week was also really cool because there was one day where we didn't have anything really scheduled as far as lessons for the whole day and we just went finding. I contacted this guy early in the day that set up with us for later that day. While we were waiting for him later I had this feeling to go and talk to this guy on the corner who was waiting for the light. At this time the guy we set up was nearly ten minutes late and wasn't answering his phone, so we thought it was unlikely that he was actually coming anymore. I talked to the guy on the corner and he seemed really open. I asked about his religious background and he shared that he was Christian but he doesn't really believe much anymore. I talked about the restoration a little bit and asked if he wanted to go upstairs and talk in the chapel. He practically bellowed a resounding, "YES!" and up we went. We sat down and began to talk and he expressed his excitement about the Restoration. As we shared, the Holy Ghost was really strong and it helped out a lot. In the end he accepted the BOM with great excitement and he also expressed his desire to read and know more. It was a really cool miracle to see that God let us set up a person just to put us in the right place to find the person who He'd really prepared.

 

That's about all from me. Peace out!

Love,

Elder Siebert (Trunk-stache extraordinare)

Another baptism!

Hey everyone,

Verbatim:

Sadly, I forgot my planner at home so I don't have the verbatim this week. Oh, I remembered a little of it.

 

Brother Lin: I've been really busy lately, I have to prepare stuff like Noah's Ark because the end of the world is coming.

Me: Oh, don't worry, God hasn't told us yet when the end is, so you can still take some time and meet with us. It's not a big deal.

Brother Lin: He's told me.

Me: Oh........................................................

 

Brother Yuan: I remembered my past life. I'm a God. I came down here to save the world. I also killed my son in my past life because he wouldn't be obedient.--Brother Yuan while meeting with him. He had been getting really close to baptism.

Xiang3Xiang: Oh, our stuff is all in there.

Me: Okay. (close door. Freeze. Turn and look at Elder Lew) Their stuff is all inside?

( He looks at me and the devil enters into both of us and we run back into the church and giggle as we hide all their stuff)--When we were leaving the chapel while the YM/YW were cleaning the chapel.

 

I think that's all for the verbatim that I can just remember.

 

FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

White sauce, Cheese Broiled Stinky Tofu: Oh man, I totally saw this on a menu and I hadn't ever had it before so I thought that I would have to try it out. It was amazing. The flavors just mix so well. It makes the cheese taste super duper sharp and the sauce kind of mellows it a little. 5 stupendously stinky soys out of 5.

 

Beef Roll: It's basically the chinese version of a taquito. I still like the mexican version better especially Reyna's, but this wasn't bad. 4 China men from Mexico out of 5

 

We are also excited that we have an investigator that has passed his interview. Brother Chen has been making a lot of progress lately and has a great testimony. The other day he came to the church with a really big question because he saw some pamphlets from another church that said some miracles that happened there and he asked us, "Why would a miracle happen outside of His Church?" It was a really good testament of how much he believes in the Church.

The work is going really well. We are stoked.

That's it. Really.
Love you all,

Elder Siebert

PS Hey, I forgot to tell you about the wasabi strike this week. I took this tube of wasabi that I had to this dumpling wrapping activity that we had and I totally made a wasabi dumpling. Me and Sister Taylor (who has as much devil as I do) worked in coordination and pulled the heist. It was awesome. Elder Lew ate half of it, knowing that it was the wasabi one and he was completely red in the face and crying and phlegm everywhere. It was hilarious. Then Sister Taylor wanted to make another one to surprise someone with so we wrapped a double peel one and gave it to Sister Wu and she nearly died before spitting it. So fun.

Major Baptismal Fury!

Dearest D,

This week was so good. I loved your letter this week and it was so funny. I was blown away. I snickered the whole time. I was on exchanges with the elder that is now my real companion and I gave it to him to read and he was laughing the whole time and it was great. I am prophetic these days. Elder Welch was on exchange with me and I told him, you could just leave your stuff here because you're going to come here on Friday and be my comp anyway. It happened. It was hilarious. He's a good guy. I like him. Hey, everyone tells me that I have lost tons of weight lately even though I haven't really because I've been putting on muscle, but I have found the most magical way to cut down on body fat. If you eat only from 11 or 12 to 6 and then nothing after that until the next day at about noon, you can eat normal (or for me above normal amounts of food) and cut down body fat percentage. It's a really great system. It's been working wonders and I think that if you tried it out, you would be really pleased with it. Anyway, you could also wait til I get back and I'll walk you through it. Oh, I am so tight with Sister Day, President's wife. At move calls she called me out and had me stand up and raise the roof. It was hilarious. She always comes and specially shakes my hand whenever she sees me. It's so cool.
Love you so much dad!

Matt

 

Hey everyone!

This week there were two people baptized and three confirmed! It was so good! I was so happy to see what the Lord has blessed us with here in Songshan. It's been great.

 

Verbatim:

I learned so many good things from you...I'll look in the mirror a lot now.--Elder Zeng on us going our separate ways. He's commenting on how I always make faces in the mirrors in elevators.

You make a cool tongue twister and it blows their minds.--Elder Robinson

 

We are going to go find Chen2Yi4Han2 (who is in my opinion, the most beautiful actress/model in Taiwan) for Elder Siebert's bye-bye book, please bless us and make preparations--Elder Zeng, praying for us to find a picture opportunity. I felt slightly sacrelidgious.

 

I noticed his fishing gear and talked to him about it. You could say I hooked him. --Elder Welch while contacting

 

This week brought many miracles with following the spirit to find people to teach. We were coming back from Nangang when I saw a person sitting on a corner by a light. The feeling came to me that I needed to turn around and talk to him. I slammed on my brakes, startling my companion and expressed my feeling to him. We both returned to this brother and began to talk to him. Turns out he had some exposure to christianity before and he's very open to learn more about our message. He was very grateful to talk to us and learn more about this gospel. I know that if I had not heeded the still small spirit, I would have missed that chance. It was really cool.

 

I had another experience just yesterday. We had the feeling that we needed to stay near the church and make calls to LAs and potentials and find someone to teach from that. We did so and I was sitting with a pile of potentials when I this guy came and asked me for a pen. I gave it to him and then kept calling. He returned the pen to me and I had this subtle tugging in my mind that I should keep looking up. I looked at this man that had borrowed my pen, but I didn't have too much feeling about him. I then noticed looking over his shoulder, that there was a younger man who was walking towards us. The feeling then came that he was the one that I needed to talk to. I got up and ran over to him and felt to give him an English Tract. Turns out that he was a student three years ago. I asked him to sit down and talk and he did. We then went upstairs to the church and had a lesson. I am so blessed to have God placing these people where I can teach them and just leading me along. I have no clue what to do on my own, but with the Lord, I can do all things. 

I love you all,

Elder Siebert

Brother Lu's Baptism

Hey everyone!

Food: Banana Pie: I made this the other day because we had it somewhere with Wu Mama and I thought that it would be the perfect treat here because it's cheep to make and easy to get the stuff for. I got the pie crust down this week over many attempts and I have found that I can make a pie in just fifteen minutes and that includes baking it in my tiny little toaster oven. The flavor is just amazing. With cinnamon and sugar, the bananas are succulent and soft with the crisp, flaky crust underneath. It's a refreshing dessert that leaves you feeling not too heavy afterwards. I brought two over to Wu Mama's last night for dinner and everyone wants to learn how to make it and also raved about my pie. That's a cook's greatest joy. Wu Mama said that it's much better than the one that we ate at the restaurant. Brother Lu says that he wants to learn it and then he's going to sell it at his restaurant as "Elder Siebert Banana Pie". I will finally be on a menu! 5 banana bonanzas out of 5.

 

Bitter gourd: I ate this a long time back but forgot to review it. Terrible. It's what the name suggests: really stinking bitter gourd. So nasty. It's stomachable but it's just painful. If you're going to eat, eat well. 0.1 bitter belly-grumblings out of 5.

 

Verbatim:

While playing "what if" for english class:

Q: What if Toku invited you to play golf with him?

A: Then I would take my clothes off.

Toku: That's the right answer!

(The answer was originally to the question "What if you were superman?" This was a shockingly dirty turn of events)

 

Me: I pooped a little.

Elder Reynolds: I haven't been able to poop, that's how nervous I have been!--Me conversing about the huge change in events, namely the assistants calling way too early and personally announcing who's going to move.

 

Wendy: How are you going to make that work?

Me: Tape. Tape fixes everything.

Wendy: *Snorts in derision* It does not. *Starts laughing at me*

Me: (tears a piece of tape off and then quickly puts it over Wendy's mouth as seen in picture 1500) See?! Fixes everything!

 

So when are you going to learn from your dad and come back to Taiwan and find yourself a wife?--Brother Lin. He's just like this. I try to get my companion to call him because I don't know what to say to him. I just ignore what he says. 

 

Brother Lu: (bearing testimony) And I really started to feel the spirit...yeah, it's just like that. 

Me: (mouthing) In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. (I totally thought he was done)

Brother Lu: I'm not done yet! Don't be so rushed!

Me: (Hides behind my hymn book, everyone laughs)

 

This week was a really good one. We had one of our great investigators who has been transforming so much lately get baptized. Brother Lu was so ready to go and he's just awesome. I went and got tons of people to promise to come and we had a great turnout, probably 40-50 people. It was such a great way to welcome him into the ward. President Day came over and attended too. It was a really spiritual experience and everyone was so happy. We are also looking to have two more brethren baptized this Tuesday. The ward is so stoked. I am so happy. We are having a lot of success. 

A really cool miracle that happened this week was actually kind of from last week. I was contacting people for english and I had this feeling about this guy that was walking pretty fast away from me. I chased him down. I handed him a english flyer but really just wanted to talk to him. As I talked with him I just had a feeling that he was really good. I set him up to meet with us and when we met he was really good. He's really buddhist but he's super open to the message. I think that it's definitely because of our faith and the fact that we set a goal to have a new investigator and the Lord just put him right there. So cool.

 

Love you all,

Elder Siebert

It's going to be a wet Sunday!

Hey everyone!

His heart is black--Sister Liu at District Meeting on Elder Zou stealing her scripture story that she was going to share.

Brother Skanky? Maybe they're mispronoucing it, but I'm gonna giggle anyway.--Me at stake conference on callings and sustainings.

 

Mexican? Native American?............Paris?--Sister Ochoa trying to guess the other half of my heritage.

 

Sister Taylor: No! I can't give you.....this heart. (referring to a heart shaped pastry thingy)

Me: You were totally going to say "my heart" huh?

Sister Taylor: How'd you know?!? And yeah, I was but there are too many other missionaries here.

Me: So can I have it?

Sister Taylor: It's not all about you! You can't just ask for it.

Me: Sorry, It's been a long time on the mission, I've forgotten how to get it myself. All I know how to do now is to ask "direct questions"....So can I have it?

Sister Taylor:Fine, you can....have my heart.

Both: *Laugh*

 

Maybe we missionaries love everyone, but I still have Sister Taylor's heart--Me later on in the district meeting.

 

Well this week I also have food report:

Sea Cucumber: It's really completely tasteless. I mean, it's like eating really chewy gelatin that has no flavor. Honestly, I think I'll stick to my jello because it's cheaper and has more flavor. This thing was a total let down. I was expecting really good or really gross but it just yielded a complete zero on the oral satisfaction scale. The only thing that was really good was the texture. No taste. 1 tasteless thing-a-ma-bobs out of 5.

 

This week was really cool. We should be having two baptisms this Sunday night and we are so stoked. Brother Lu and Brother Yan both passed with flying colors and they are happy to be getting baptized this week!

 

This week I saw a really great miracle while finding. We were going along to this street to go tracting. I had a feeling to pray so we did. As we were then riding, I had a strong feeling to go down this back alley. We went down there and I had a really strong feeling about this one stack of houses. I grabbed the Family Proclamation and we started tracting. We told the third floor that we had this family proclamation that would protect their family. They let us up right away. When we got up there they asked if they were supposed to read this thing while they prayed and we told them that they can just pray. They told us that their grandma was in the hospital and not doing well and they really wanted to pray for her and didn't know how. We taught them how to pray and they prayed so beautifully and sincerely. It was a really amazing experience where we were prompted in where to go and what to use to find Heavenly Father's children. He really led us to a family that night because we prayed and listened to what He wanted.

I know that if we will hearken to God's will, we will receive His blessings.

Love,

Elder Siebert

The Lord Makes Up the Difference

Hey Everyone!

Verbatim:

Whoa! Your hair!--Godric from Danshui, upon seeing me at conference. My hair is asian style right now.

 

Oh, Elder Siebert, you let your hair get a little longer...I almost didn't recognize you.--Sister Zhuang from Xindian

 

You are really good at styling your hair, does it take a long time?--One of the young men

 

I'M GOING TO SHAVE ALL MY HAIR OFF TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!--me, sick of the hair comments

 

(quietly) Wendy Zeng: I like the hair

Me: You make me sick. AHHHHH!

 

Yeah, I forgot to write down the rest. I know that there was tons of good stuff though. We had dinner at the bishop's last night and the sisters went too and it was super funny because Sister Wu kept saying stuff that was super direct and semi-offensive but she doesn't mean it to be but me and bishop just teased her and so did bishop's wife. It was so funny. She kept going and trying to make it right which just made it worse. Yeah, hilarious.

 

This week I saw a cool miracle going out the door. I talked to someone at the light right by our house and had a prompting to tell him about the living prophet and conference. I asked if he believed in God and he said yes and then I asked him to pull over which he did. He stepped off his scooter immediately and took his helmet off and stood there waiting for us to share more. It was so cool. We shared and then invited him to Conference and he accepted. He really showed up and really liked it saying that we can definitely share more about the church with him in the future. It was such a miracle to me to see this random person be so prepared to receive the gospel. I pray that he can go the distance and I am faithful that he will. I know that God knows His children. They are all valuable to Him. Even when we feel like we are not, He is preparing ways for us to receive His happiness if we will only open our eyes and hearts to receive those blessings.

 

Love,

Elder Siebert

A Good Week

Hey Everyone!

Verbatim:

Me: I've decided, I am never marrying.

Elder Zeng: then how are you ever going to save a devil? (He calls girls devils)

Elder Zeng: What would you do if someone told you that you were really compatible with sister Wu?

Me: I would kill them

Elder Zeng: Good thing I didn't say it. But seriously, think about it, you'd grow so much because we always grow through trials.

 

OOOOH! Sister Wu wants you to protect her! Protection is like a committment!

Me: You're going to need to be protected in a sec.

Me: Sister Chen is a saint. I love her.

Elder Zeng: Chen2Yi4Han2?

Me: (attack him in fake fury)

 

Well this week we got up super early to climb up a mountain to watch the sunrise. It was really fun. My camera can't take pictures of that stuff super well.

 

We also had an awesome barbeque this week and it was a really fun time. We were super crazy and I think that I almost killed my zone leader because I was stuffing a sandwich in his mouth. You'll have to see the video when I get back. It's kinda long. He nearly suffocated I think.

 

Well this week we had a really cool miracle happen. I had a feeling to go and knock on the 373rd lane of this one road and on the way over I ran into this kid on his bike who was willing to talk. We sat down in the park right there and shared a lesson with him. He really pondered and liked the message. The coolest part was when I asked for his address, guess where he lived! On the 373rd Lane of that road. We were way far from that lane, but the Lord delivered!

Love,

Elder Siebert

Kyle got BAPTIZED!

Hey everyone,

This week was a really good one for verbatim,

You have to teach us! We also want to work out our butts.--Sister Cai on P-day (the whole story was that Sister Liao asked what I was even going to the gym to work on anymore because the people over here are really easily satisfied as far as musculature goes. I sarcastically told them that I was working on my rear-end and they then said this. Super funny and awkward. Definite culture difference. I nearly peed.)

 

Actually, I don't think that's it. Girls don't need a reason to be mad.--Elder Zeng on why Sister Wu was mad at me.

 

I dunno, we'd have a really 'weird' relationship if our communication was any better--Elder Zeng in Companioship Inventory

 

Me: Oh MAN! Today my traps are so....

Elder Zeng: Happy?

 

You may think that Elder Siebert going to the gym everyday and crushing himself with 200KG on a bar is really meaningless, but it's just like our spirituality, you have to work really hard on it and you'll have a really strong unbeatable spirit.--Kyle in his baptismal service testimony. He kept referring to this analogy and then me and how I work out tons and also said that "I just want to work up to be like Elder Siebert." Afterwards everyone came and wanted to feel my arms. Haha. Another awkward moment.

 

And one year from now, we are going to be going to the temple to have a Celestial marriage. We are excited to have a family in the gospel and the Celestial Kingdom is our goal.--Sister Liu (Marcel, Kyle's new wife) at the baptismal service. (I nearly died of happiness)

 

I never thought that Justin Beiber could get stuck in my head like this.--Me

You're going to marry a devil.--Elder Zeng on me marrying someone really pretty. He calles them "Mo2gui3"s or devils.

 

Well that Water Cow ate a quarter of the rice field. Now this story doesn't have anything to do with the topic I am speaking on, I just wanted to make you laugh.--Bishop in our combined 3rd hour class.

 

It's okay, it's not like Chen2 Yi4 Han2 is here.--Elder Zeng remarking on my helmet hair. He's referring to a Chinese movie star/model. So funny. There are a lot of Chen2 Yi4 Han2 jokes that go down. I mostly tell him that she keeps trying to court me but I just tell her that I don't have time right now.

 

Well this week had a really cool miracle happen. We were teaching one of our investigators, Sister Guo. I had a prompting earlier to look up a ton of scriptures about the resurrection because she had a lot of questions about it. She looked them all up and really like it. She asked us if it's really true as we shared with her and how she could learn that it was true for herself. It was really cool because we had been talking about how to help her to get a testimony of the BOM and get her more interested in it. She was really attentive and as we shared, the spirit was so strong. She commited to daily prayer and study. She was really committed too. We then had the feeling to extend the baptismal invitation and it was really special. I had been praying about the date and at first I had thought about the eleventh of November, but as I prayed the date, October 28th came to mind and I new that was the right date because of the feelings of the spirit. We extended the date and she accepted. It was so exciting. I was blown away by how strong the spirit was there and how God made it all happen just through a simple sheet of scriptures and notes.

 

I know that this work is truly the work of the Lord. I love you all,

Elder Siebert

Transfers come. I get cheated. I'm going to baptize Kyle!

Hey everyone!

The first action that I would like to take is one of rage. I got a letter from the office the other day that says that they are cheating me of three precious days on my mission. I am now returning on the 15th of December and not the 18th. It was a little bit of a suprise. It's because of the new move call method...what with having a crazy rowdy transfer meeting and all. 

Speaking of transfers, I am here still in SongShan and my new companion is Elder Zeng. He's a shortterm missionary who will be with me for the whole transfer unless something goes wrong. I am excited to work with him and get really good chinese and help people come unto Christ.

 

I'm sorry, I forgot most of the verbatim for the week, but I do remember a little bit.

 

(in front of all the youth and some of the leaders)

Zhuo2yue4 (who also did a short term mission with me): Hey Elder Pectorals. (in chinese)

Me: What did you call me?

Zhuoyue: Elder Pectorals. (to everyone else) Man, you should see his pectorals, he's so crazy. Every morning he would work out so hard and it's crazy they're... (cuts off because I grab him and force him into silence)

Me: Well this is awkward.

--from that moment on, all the young men always come over and like to hit my arm and chest and then exclaim that it's so gross. Sigh. There goes all my respect.

 

You don't want to stand there. The whole stair thing is just going to come flying down. Watch out.--Bishop, while teaching us how to use the water heater for the baptism.

 

Kyle is getting baptized this weekend! And he wants you to baptize him!--Elder Kaluhiokalani uttering the sweetest words I have heard in forever. I just screamed afterwards.

 

Oh my gosh, I just got called by Lil'Wayne!--after receiving a call by this one guy.

 

We aren't responsible for our faults anymore, it's all because of the bishop. The bishop will pay the price for us!--Brother Chen, a member at the choir activity.

 

Stop brainwashing me! I won't be able to teach people anymore. I will tell them that repentance is really easy because the bishop does it for us!--Me to Brother Chen because everytime someone hit a wrong note, he would tell me that it was all bishop's fault and we weren't responsible. So hilarious.

 

E tu brutus?--Me about Brother Yan getting me with shaving cream. I could only think it though because my mouth was full of cream.

 

Well this week was really great. I got to baptize someone for the sisters and next week the bishop wants me to confirm her. It's kind of cool that bishop loves me that much.

 

Oh, I got attacked for my b-day this week. I had hopped in the shower right after exercise and then Elder Cordon told me that the sisters and my investigator wanted to give me cake downstairs. I finished the shower in two minutes and ran downstairs really fast. They had a cake and candles and we sang and I lblew out the candles and then Sister Wu and Brother Yan both put a huge plate of shaving cream in my face. It was insane. I nearly suffocated. It was so funny. Sister Wu was laughing about it but then didn't realize that she was standing really close and that with all that cream, I could get her a good one. I totally wasted her. I also got Sister Cai. It was hilarious. Super memorable. I am so happy.

 

We had a really cool thing happen this week. We were meeting with brother Chen and Lu and then when we finished, their friend came over and they immediately took him into the shop and told him, "meet the elders, they can help you out." They then sat down and told us to start sharing. Turns out their friend is having a lot of questions and doubts in life and he really does need a ton of help right now in his life. It was so cool to see him just coming unto the Lord and it was all because of two of our investigators. Tis a testament of how one wants to share as they feel the atonement working in their life.

 

Well I love you all. I know that God's love is unconditional but mine isn't and I love those who write me more.
Elder Siebert

"Sticking it" for a solid olympic "10"

Hey everyone!

This week brought many miracles and good tasting indian foods

Indian Fried Noodles: This was really good. It was an indian curry with lamb (kinda a lamb masala) and then shrimp, veggies and cilantro. It was heavenly. The flavors where a perfect match. 5 curry concoctions out of 5.

 

Verbatim:

Me: (over phone with a new member who always takes us out to eat) Elder Zou is to embarrassed to say it but he really wants to see you tommorrow.

Brother Zhang: Oh, so you mean that he wants to eat stuff?

Elder Zou: Oh man! (totally shamed)

 

You gotta do something for yourself, come to church get married.......shave!--Elder Cordon talking about Brother Zhang not really making much progress.

 

Some people are like, "I'm not married yet" and I just think " you're old enough to be my mom!"--Elder Cordon on how sisters here in the church never seem to be married.

 

An1An1: You should thank me because I got Zhuo2Yue4 to come today (zhuo2yue4 was my short term missionary companion)

Me: I was going to, then my back started hurting really bad, right under the shoulder blade! (this is in reference to the fact that there was a day I was just on the street at a light contacting and suddenly I felt a punch in the back and AnAn was standing there and she waved and said in a really low voice, "HEY" and then walked off. It was hysterical. It was even funnier because we were actually headed to her house to visit right then and she freaked out when she got there and we were there.)

 

No that's not dirty enough, make it look grungier!--GuanChen on making tiedye together.

 

I think that it's really funny. Elder Cordon seems to have learned many things from me which may not be good. He used to be so innocent but now he is a lot more sarcastic especially when the sisters tease him, he goes right back at it and they always tell me that I have corrupted him. I don't think so, I think that it's  pretty funny. I've totally helped him. Okay, I'll confess, maybe he's a little corrupted.

 

This week was a really cool week. We actually had a day where we were in the chapel teaching lessons for four hours straight. It was a really great experience. The spirit was so strong through the whole thing. We had the hugest miracle happen that day. There was a Brother Chen who just walked upstairs on his own--he'd never been contacted by us--and said that he wanted to learn about our church. It was so cool. I know that God really does lead His children to learn the gospel. It's either he will guide us to them or them to us. Brother Chen came to church this week and he has already felt the spirit answer his prayers. It was really cool because the prompting came to share Mosiah 4:9 with him and he loved that scripture. He prayed about it and I got an impression to ask him what he'd felt and said that he got an answer right then. I know that God loves His children and will allow for everyone to come into this gospel at the right time!

Love,
Elder Siebert

Going to the Rescue!

Hey everyone/body,

This week brings good verbatim!

Verbatim:

Bro Zhou: Do you like chocolate?

Me: Yeah, It's my favorite.

Bro Zhou: Oh, there's a lot out there....you really like it? (this conversation was over the phone when he just called us out of the blue one day. So random.)

 

Katherine: (to daughter) Why are you being so shy Kelly? Is it because, honestly speaking, he's a really good looking guy?

Kelly: (nods) uh-huh.

Me: (Thinking in my mind) Well that's awkward.

 

After telling my companion about what just happened with Katherine and Kelly:

Elder Cordon: How old was she?

Me: Like, 12.
Elder Cordon: What's wrong with kids these days!?!

 

Oh, Elder Zhou needs to be careful. You'd better be prepared for when you go on exchange with him!--Elder Cordon

 

I mean, that's what we'll do when we're married.--I can't even remember when I said this.

 

Want some? (gestures with bag of bettle nut) It's taiwanese chewing gum.--Guy on the street

 

Wow, this is really cool! You did such a good job. Only problem is, it looks like it just molded.--Me commenting on GuanChen's tie-dye shirt. He's gonna make me one too. I am so stoked.

 

GET OUT!--GuanChen replying to my comments about his shirt.

 

Food Review: Acai ice-cream: This was really good. It's a little unique and it's got a good tart flavor that makes the ice cream really good on the mouth. It's a great way to indulge too because I was told that it boosts metabolism. I think that makes it an antidessert right? I think I would have liked it even more if I hadn't been BURSTING with food already. We dropped by a couple members earlier and they all insisted that we have a snack with them. I am going to get FAT! AHHHH! I have to watch my girlish figure. OH! Give me more acai ice-cream, its gotta help! 4.5 deceptive desserts out of 5.

 

Chocolate Caramel Cake: I made this for Wu Mama this week because she always has us over and I wanted to give back as well. It was actually okay despite the fact that for chocolate I used hot choco mix. It was hilarious. I was rather happy with the results. Some of the people really didn't like it but she and GuanChen really loved it, so that was the main reason for it. Mission accomplished. 3.5 out of 5.

 

We worked with a lot of less actives this week and that was really cool. Most of them were people that the bishop had given to us and we went and visited them and they are miraculous. For the most part, all the people that the Bishop gave us want to come back, they just don't know how. My favorite experience was with the Luo Family who own a shop in Nangang. We went and visited them without saying that we were there visiting first because that's what bishop said to do. They were willing to set up a time to meet with us. We went back at that time and their daughter was there as well. It was a great experience as we shared the restoration and they testified of how God has been caring and protective in their own lives. It was a great witness to them as they felt the spirit in their lives again and all recognized it. Sister Luo even cried when Brother Luo said a closing prayer for us--his first in many years. I am so grateful for working with the members more, especially the bishop. It has brought about so many miracles in this work.

This week I had a really cool miracle where I was calling people and I just set up a Brother Ye and he was willing to come and learn. He actually showed up and he's great. He really wants to learn about religion and is willing to do whatever to learn. We were able to share with him about the restoration and then at the end of the lesson, Wu mama asked him to come to church with us. He accepted. He showed up at church yesterday and we had a member,  Brother Chen who I have been working on fellowshipping take him around and I think that he had a great experience. He's just progressing well and it's such a miracle to me. I am so happy to be doing this work and want you all to know that it's true otherwise I would have failed long ago!

 

Love,
Elder Siebert

Climbing Mountains

Hey everyone!

This week was a really good week, we got to go out and climb a huge mountain in the area with some members. It was a memorable experience. When we got to the top, I got one of the members, Guan4Chen2 to hop on my back and I carried him up the last little bit. It was actually kicking me in the booty to carry him up but it was really funny. While up on the top we just goofed around and did a ton of crazy stuff, it was such a good feeling going up there.

Verbatim:

Elder Lew: Hey look at that bug!

Me: Wow, that's so cool!

Elder Lew: Yeah! Kill it.

 

Quick, give me my name tag back before everyone thinks that we have some sort of weird relationship!--me at zone conference when Sister Wu stole my name tag and put it on her blouse. She freaked out at me after I said that. So funny.

 

I'm going to have to be more attentive.--elder Cordon after I pulled the b-day surprise on him.

 

This week was my companion's b-day and I made secret arrangements so that we could get a big thing together with a lot of missionaries and surprise him to death. It was really funny because I pretended that I was going to go to the bathroom and then was in there and called everyone that I needed to. I then set up the rest of it that night and he didn't have any idea. I then set all the clocks in the house faster so that we could get up at normal time but get to the surprise place on time. It was so funny, I totally pulled the wool over his eyes and he was so stunned. Amazing!

 

I had a really cool miracle happen this week. I finished the book of mormon this week and i had the strongest feeling to go and pray about it so I did. I got the spiritual confirmation again that it is indeed true and wasn't really sure why I would need to know that this week but I just did it. While we were meeting with a Brother Huang who has been investigating for months and months, we invited him to read and pray about it and he told us he didn't get why he needed to pray about it. I then knew why I had to pray about it because as I shared about my experience THAT VERY MORNING, he was able to see why we need to pray about it even if we are long time members. It was such a cool experience and so spiritual and really testified to me that God knows all things. He is willing to pray about it and I think that this could be a turning point for him!

 

I love you all!

Elder Siebert

Member Crazy!

Hey Everyone!

This week brings,

Food Review: Xian4Bing3: I think I've had these before but I couldn't remember if I had reviewed it. They are a salty sort of pastry thing filled with meat and some green onion and stuff. They are so super good. I ate so many last night! 5 porky pastries out of 5.

 

30 bei4 bing1: This was the most colossally large ice of my life. We had seven people together eat it. It was so good. I ate fifteen bowls because we were going for a time record (which we set at 24 minutes) meaning that I ate as much as three other people put together. I wasn't even aware that my ice eating skills were that good. It was so fun. To finish, I picked up the huge bowl and then drank the last of it and slammed it on the table and told them to stop the time. I still love the limelight. 5 mega-ices out of 5.

 

Verbatim:

In Weekly Planning Session:

Me:"my goal was serving Elder Cordon in two ways or more a day...I think that I'm doing well on that one."

Elder Cordon: "Yeah, you're doing super good......(mumbles something)"

Me: "did you say 'keep doing it'?"

Elder Cordon: Oh, no! I meant something else. But you don't have to stop either.

Both: Laugh loudly

 

Me: How are you doing today?

Guy on scooter: Feeling like I don't want to talk to you....

Me: Oh.....

 

Sister Wu: What does your opinion matter?

Elder Cordon: You're probably talking to yourself right?

Sister Wu (to me): You've corrupted him! He never talked back before! He used to be an angel, now he's changed. No fun!

Me: (begin to be very focused on what I am eating and don't say anything)

 

I know there was more this week but I was really lazy at writing it down.

 

This week was really fun and we saw a great miracle because we went to an investigator's place but he wasn't there and we talked to his friend and his friend was okay with meeting with us. We shared and it turns out that his dad was a member and since passed on but he has had exposure to the church and I don't know why he didn't want it before, but he is totally okay to learn now and wants the gospel. A huge blessing is that he really understands what we teach him and he helps his friend out as well. They are both learning so well and I have huge hopes for them.

I love you all,

Elder Siebert

Songshan

Hey everyone,

This week I got to my new area, songshan without any problems. This place is great and people here are awesome. I love it. The members really like to feed us and give us food all the time. It makes me worried about being able to keep up my figure. I will have to work out really hard now. Haha. Good thing that I have a weight gym around here.

 

Food: Wild cherry chocolate ice cream bar: I know that this is really lame for a review but it was a good deal, buy one get one free and we had a feast of ice cream bars on a very hot day. really hit the spot. 4 cold cherry creams out of 5.

 

Verbatim:

(I hope somewhere out there Brandon Rogers reads this, or someone gets on my facebook and tells him to read this):

Me: Oh, have you ever had Ceviche?

Elder Cordon: Oh yeah, it's most what people eat when they're drunk though. They go and throw up and then eat ceviche and it kind of like...brings them back to life.

Me: (after laughing really hard) Oh, my friend learned how to make it on his mission, he made it for me in college. It was really good.

Elder Cordon: Oh, I wonder who taught him how to make it....I'm worried!

(Both of us bust up laughing)

 

What if it's a good lie? Like to make someone feel good?--Makiko, our investigator, on the 10 commandments

 

I don't cheat on my husband!--Makiko, after I invited her to keep the law of chastity. This happened mostly because our member said that it was basically if you're married to not cheat on your spouse and all. It was really funny and I assured her that we don't think that she cheats on her husband and that it's just a standard that we are expected to keep. It was hilarious. She's so cute. She's this Japanese woman who is just so sweet and accepting.

 

I met with the bishop here because no one had done it in forever and he was super happy for us to come over. He told us that it was so rare that missionaries would come over. We shared a message and it was both funny and serious and he really liked it. We earned a lot of trust with him and in Ward Council the next day, he just gave the time over to us to present some new plans from the mission and some of our plans. It was amazing to be able to work with him and see the impact of having the bishop on our side. It's something that I have learned over and over on my mission. 

We also worked a lot with members this week and got to know them a lot. Most missionaries here have just kind of clustered around Wu mama who is amazing but she's not the whole ward and can't substitute for it. The members seemed surprised and touched that we wanted to see them and all. When we visited, they were so warm and accepting of us and we have already gone a long way to establish an amazing relationship with them.

 

This week also saw a great miracle on the street. We were going along contacting at night before a lesson and I was talking to people and I just talked to this guy, a brother Liao. He is already Christian and recently got baptized in another church just because the minister said to. He is super open to the message though and as I shared about the restoration with him he seemed like he like it a lot. I set up with him to come back to the church later that night and he really did come back! He came to church this week and has met with a few times. Both times he's been a little late so we have had very little time to share with him but we are excited to set a date with him this week. I can't wait. I think that he's got tons and tons of potential!

I love you and thank you for all your support!

Elder Siebert

OH NO! MOVING TO THE LAND WHERE ALL MISSIONARIES GAIN WEIGHT!

Hey everyone,

This week I was a little slacking on the verbatim.

 

"Oh, you might want to pick up your bag, the dog just peed."--Brother Hou on his dog peeing on Elder Ks bag. ELder K was not pleased.

 

(In english) "No, not here"--Brother Zhang on me trying to give him a hug in the starbucks. He'll give me one in the church, but he's too gansta to give me one in public.

 

"No, no, no, it's like this."--Brother Zhang teaching me a complicated hand shake man hug thing. I'mma stick to the normal hug, my mind kinda exploded.

 

"YOU'VE BEEN PLAYING FOOTBALL AND YOU HAVEN'T INVITED US?"--Sister Liao, one of our district's sisters on finding out we've been playing ball.

 

"Hey Elder Siebert, did you play Age of Empires? Because you say shi4 like the Chinese troops in that game."--Sister Muhlstein. She called me nerdy for it, but I wouldn't have picked up on that, so I leave it to you to figure the real nerd out.

 

Food:

Rose vinegar honey tea: This was given to us by an investigator. It's very aromatic and sweet at the same time, but not overly so. I don't know if it was because I was really hot and it was really cold and refreshing but this drink is one of my favorites. I will have to get the stuff to make it and then mix up some awesomeness at home. I give it 5 honeyed horticultures out of 5. (that was a real stretch).

 

I have noticed that it's been a little hard for me to focus these last couple days after getting the move call. I had a great experience though where I was having a really hard time and we pulled out our hymnals and sang a couple songs because I had a prompting that would help. A feeling of the spirit just came over my heart and I said a very sincere prayer and that night was one of the best nights in a long time. It wasn't that we say an above average amount of miracles, but I was able to focus and I was able to be happy with the work.

 

We had a great miracle with someone that we were teaching this week. We have been teaching Brother Zhang who is someone that I found on the street my first week training Elder K. I have really seen him grow a lot and start to cast off the shell that he puts up. Deep down he's just a really sweet guy who wants to be happier in life but just hasn't really known how to do it yet. This week we shared about prayer some more to help him get over his smoking habit and the feeling came to share about Alma 37:36-37. It was a really great scripture and I joked around about counseling with the Lord and how most of the time we don't. I made a fun analogy with a member that was with us and we were all laughing but then I brought it back in and the spirit told me just what to say and Brother Zhang was smiling and just touched by the spirit. His prayers have been better ever since and I have just seen him continue to progress so much. I know that God is directing this work because I am not strong enough to do it by myself. I am so grateful for him and for the miracles that he's let me see here in Xindian and I hope that I can be a worthy and good enough tool to keep helping when I move to Songshan today.

 

Over and out with all my love,

Elder Siebert

Typhoon!

Hey everyone!
I don't have much in the way of verbatim this week but I have some pictures that I am going to attach here in a second. I do have a funny story that I forgot to write about though.
(during studies)
Elder Zhuo: (picks up a pocket hand sanitizer sprayer) what's this?
Me: It's mouth spray
Elder Zhuo: Oh really?
Me: Yeah, it tastes great, you should try it
Elder Zhuo: (points it at his mouth, starts to press the spray)
Me: It actually doesn't taste that great though.
Elder Zhuo: (presses the spray, the hand sanitizer sprays into his mouth. He freezes for a second.) OOOOOHHHHHH NOOOOOO!
Me: Oops!
Elder Zhuo: IT TASTES SO GROSS!
Me: It might have been handsanitizer!
Elder Zhuo: (after rinsing his mouth copiously) Hahaha, that was so funny! I don't even blame you for doing that, I would've done it too!


Uh, this week I got trapped inside because of the typhoon. It was a little weaksauce for the most part but it was good to be able to have the time to go nuts on all the records and call a million people. I am afraid that I ran up a phone bill though. Sigh. We also had a great time walking around in the lavalavas and feeling hawaiian. This week my companion also made me some lunch and I ate the closest to a raw egg I have ever had in my life. I was grossed out and intrigued by it. More grossed out than intrigued though.

We are continuing to see tons of progress with our investigator Kyle and he's just doing great. He's still struggling with finding a way to get all the commandments down pat but he's just improving so much, he wears a nice shirt to church now, and sat in the front of the chapel for the first time ever today. He's always told us that he hates sitting up there before, but this week he just did it by himself and did it in Sunday School too. In Sunday School he shared a powerful testimony about the Word of Wisdom in which he told everyone that there are many reasons why all those things are bad but the most important thing to know is that our knowledge has limitation and God is perfect so we just can't doubt in Him. It was so amazing to see how much he is changing and how much of a love he has for God now.

This week was really cool because we had an awesome miracle while finding. We went to go find a former and we didn't get them at home but we had a feeling to keep knocking and didn't have much success. We went nearby and as we were going I had a feeling to find another former. While we were there I got into a longer contact with someone and then my companion knocked into an apartment building which we went into. When we came out and got to the former's house, Brother Lin walked up right as we got there. He said that we could come in and was surprised that we were there right then because he had just gotten home and been out all day long. It was an amazing miracle where the Lord just set everything up so that we could right at that door at the right time and that meant delaying us at a couple other places so that He could get the time just right.

I think that that's about all for this week!
Love,
Elder Siebert
p.s. you can all write me letters if you'd like!:)

My companion says I look Tongan...in a lava lava!

Hey everyone, how you durn?

Food: Corned beef fried rice and Spam musubi (shaka): This was amazing! It's so bad for your body, but so good. We got sent some canned corned beef from Mama Kaluhiokalani and Spam so we made the super spam shaka! We fried a can of the beef with rice and then used that rice for the musubi which is like a little sushi roll (sorta) and then put spam on top of it and condiments. I loved it and it was so good! I give it 5 spankin' good shakas out of 5. Ps. My companion freaks out whenever I call these "shakas" because that's not what they are called.

 

Verbatim:

Hopefully there will be no head chopping in the Taiwan Taipei Mission.--President Day on following the spirit (in reference to Nephi following the spirit)

 

He's a gay investigator, well not really investigator, more like gay eternal former.--Elder Lin "Lincoln" on Diego

 

Me (over phone call at night): *kissing noise* (very loud)

Elder Lin: Oh great. (hangs up)

 

Oh, you look so Tongan right now.--Elder K on my lavalava being worn over my slacks and shirt with tie.

 

YES!!!!!!!!--Me on being told I look Polynesian

 

Me: Oh, the no-tie lavalava method is not as easy to take a pee in.

Elder K: It's like a dress, just hike it up

Me: Oh, sorry. I didn't know how to take a pee in a dress.

Elder K: Well I just figured it out.

 

News:
I got a lavalava! Yeah! I wear it all the time. It's so good. I love it like I love.............my............biceps...............and my family. Haha, just kidding, I love the family way more than the biceps. I don't love those anymore.

 

More news, I have a very probably baptism next next week. We are all very excited. I will keep you posted. His name is Kyle and here's the story! I set up a split where I was with a member and Elder K was with a member for a night because Elder K was baptizing someone and I needed to go to Taipei to do a temple tour for an investigator of ours, Kyle. I prayed about it really hard to know if it was the right thing to do and I felt right. Kyle showed up late to the temple but as we started the temple tour he and his GF told me that they were actually hoping that they could go to the baptism that was at that chapel that night. I was a little confused because I had asked them to attend the baptism that we had in Xindian but I said of course we could do that. We went in and sat down; it just so happens that we were just in time for the baptism to start. I was puzzling to myself why in the world I had to come all the way to Taipei instead of staying in Xindian for the baptism and it was just confusing. I was a little frustrated because I thought that maybe I had mistaken the spirit and staying was what I needed to do. The baptism began and President Day, our new mission president, actually gave one of the talks. I knew then why I had to come up to Taipei. His talk was so spiritual. The Holy Ghost was there so strongly and it was just amazing to feel that and his love. I know that that feeling touched Kyle's heart. After the ordinance of baptism had been performed, I sat there contemplating what to say. I got the impression to ask him how he'd felt about it and I did. He replied that he hadn't really felt anything special. My heart dropped. I had really felt good about asking him that question. He paused though and then quickly said, "but I'm ready to really get ready for baptism now." I was so shocked and all I could manage to say was a startled "When?" He replied saying, "the sooner the better." "August 11th?" I asked. He agreed and the spirit came and I was so happy. It all made sense to me then why I needed to be there that night and all the doubt that I had melted away. It was a great feeling. We are working with some problems that he needs to overcome but I have faith that it'll all work out well.

 

Love you all!

Elder Siebert

My short-term missionary goes home

Hey everyone!

Verbatim:

Me: I wasn't 100 percent sure, but I think that she was a girl, her face looked girlish.

Elder Zhuo: Oh, you could tell by her chest.

Me: WE CAN'T LOOK AT THAT!

Elder Zhuo: Oh yeah, I forgot, I'm a missionary now.

 

Elder Kaluhiokalani: (in chinese) I am going to beat your pants

Me: I think you mean "butt"

 

Oh, I'm sorry, was that the Holy Ghost leaving me? It's probably because IMMA KILL YOU!--Elder Kaluhiokalani

 

Guy: I'm an English Leach

Me: A leach?

Guy: Yeah, like this (grabs the skin of my arm and makes a loud sucking noise).

Me: Oh.........you could still meet with us though.

Guy: (drives off)

Me:................

 

 

Well sorry this week didn't have that much happen because I am actually only reporting on a half of a week here. We got killed this week and most of the week we were outside just going and finding. Elder Zhuo was a really great guy and was working really hard even though he doesn't have much experience. He was really brave. It was great to see him break out of his shell and go and contact people by himself and just have a good time doing the work.

 

This week I was going and contacting and after five hours of contacting straight and not having anyone set up with me at all and getting few phone numbers I was waiting at a light to go and grab a bite to eat. I was pulling up and then I just started talking to the guy next to me and he responded in english. There were few seconds left on the light so I asked him to go to the side and he did. We started talking about the gospel and he was willing to learn more and learn  little bit right there with me. His name is Tony and he seemed really intent on learning the gospel because when I was leaving, he reminded me of our meeting time and said that he'll call me to make sure that I can still make it. It was a really tender blessing of the Lord to finally let us have a great new investigator after a trying afternoon without success. Heavenly Father will push us and try us, but in the end He will always make sure that we have what we need to be happy and successful.

Love,

Elder Siebert

Drinks...veritable weapons of war

Hey everyone!

Verbatim:

Yeah, all of my friends will be married when I get back too...except for one...then I'll get home..and then she'll be married too. Hahaha.--Elder Kaluhiokalani on friends before the mission

 

I wouldn't want to shave my arms because when I shave, my hair growth goes crazy. My arms are the one body part that hasn't gone wildebeest.--Elder Kaluhiokalani on shaving off body hair (I will be happy to tell all of you that I have convinced him to shave his armpits. I have had amazing success with that lately. I got him, Elder Weng (actually american) and Elder Sabey to do it. I am rockin' the new trend! It's so much more hygenic!)

 

You just haven't tried dark meat....You don't know what you are missing until you have tried dark meat, once you have, you realize how dry and tasteless white meat is. That's how my friend explained this to me.--Elder Kaluhiokalani on looking through my pictures and realizing that all the girls I knew before were white. He doesn't like white people that much.

 

Let's get weapons of war *wink wink*.--me right before we got drinks for war

 

Well this week was an awesome week because I have a short term missionary with our companionship right now. He's a great kid and he's having a blast with us, though I think that he's exhausted out of his mind. Last night we had the awesomest war in the world! We went and got drinks with the big black tapioca balls in them and then we drank the drinks, strained out all the tapioca and had an all out war in our apartment! We put all our papers and everything away and were going in and out of rooms, ducking behind furniture and just blasting each other silly with the little tapioca things. It was the funnest 10 minutes ever! We were all covered in tapioca balls and so was the apartment! We spent a long time getting them off everything and then mopping the floor and wiping everything off, but it was totally worth it. It was the funniest thing, we were all screaming and yelling and shooting each other. I think that we'll likely all remember it for the rest of our lives. haha.

 

This week was also a week of hard work. We met with an awesome family this week, A Sister Chen2 and her little boy who is eleven. They both came to church this week too and the ward was so excited to see them. The bishop was talking about it to everyone afterwards and the whole ward it seemed, went up and talked to them, got to know them and invited them to come back. It was a great miracle to see this ward so excited and in the game.

 

I had a really cool miracle as I was going down the street this last week as well. I was headed to an appointment and I still had a little time and I saw a guy walking on the other side of the street. I just had a strong feeling to talk to him. I went to the other side of the street and started talking. For some strange reason, I had a feeling to ask if he'd just been to the bookstore because he was holding what looked like a book in his hand. He said yes and that it was a religious book. I then asked what religion he had and he told me that he had just started going to church not too long ago. It was really cool. I started talking about the restoration and he was immediately interested to hear more. we went over in the shade and I had some time to share the whole message of the restoration with him. It was super cool. I was blown away at how prepared he was. I am also grateful that the spirit told me to talk to him, otherwise I would have missed the great opportunity to share the gospel with him and have my own testimony strengthened as well.

 

I just know that the spirit will inspire us to do all the things that God wants us to do, He will also tell us all things. We were teaching a former investigator this week and as we were talking about the BOM I could tell something was bothering him about it. I prayed and then it came to me by the spirit--He thought that the BOM replaces the bible. I quickly told him right then that the BOM doesn't replace the bible but supports it. He instantly softened. It was a great miracle. The next time we met, he brought up a question about the sabbath on sunday because he's seventh day adventist and I shared some scriptures but then the discernment came that his real question was if there really is revelation at this time or not. I asked him and he looked surprised and responded that yes, that was his problem. We testified of the BOM and Joseph Smith and he committed to pray about both and also to baptism. It was a great series of miracles. As long as what we do doesn't drive the spirit away and we are willing to slow down and listen to Him, I testify that He will lead us to do all things that are good for us and those we love and serve.

 

I know that this gospel is true and I love you all. Thanks for all your support, love and prayers!

Elder Siebert

Super Hot! Of course I mean me....oops....the weather.

Hey everyone!

This week was a really, really hot scorcher. I was soaked through and through in sweat a lot. I will drink something like 6 liters of water in a day. Pretty nuts. i am always drinking and always thirsty.

 

Verbatim:

Get Jock Itch! Get Jock Itch! Take off my pants!--Elder Visser as Elder Kaluhiokalani tried to pin him for fun. Elder Visser then started yelling this and Elder "K" cleared out really fast.

 

Me: I hate my life!

E.K. good, that saves me the trouble of hating it too.

 

I love your positive attitude. And your cleavage.--Elder K during companionship inventory

 

Me: I almost felt better about myself for a second.

Elder K. : "Oh...........don't"

 

Me: Can we come and share with you?

Lady: I'm not wearing a bra....so it might not be very convenient.

Me: Oh! Yeah, not convenient right now.

Lady: It's because it's really hot today.

Me: I'm going to go....I'll leave our number.

 

Elder Sabey: Elder Siebert, some girl wants to talk to you!

Me: What?!? It's six in the morning!

Elder Sabey: I'm kidding, it's Sister Muhlstein

 

I'm going to rewrite a song for you, I am going to make the "real slim shady" into the "real slim Sabey".--me on exchanges. I don't actually remember the words to that song. It's an evil evil song.

 

No, she left for good. She decided that if there wasn't a good looking guy coming all the time that she would do funner things with her vacation--sushi store boss on the helper girl

 

Well this week was really awesome. We made some amazing smoothies over at Elder Visser and Weng's place, played games and did the work. We are working with a family that is getting so close to being baptized! We are trying so hard to help the son get an answer and it's going realy well. We are hoping that in a couple weeks he'll be able to do it and are praying for all the inspiration that we can right now. We also have a really good young man who is doing awesome and the bishop is so interested in so he's progressing super well. It's been a week of miracles, but time's up!

Love,

Elder Siebert

Sushi, Verbatim

Hey everyone!

Food: Three seafood sushi roll: this was a wonderful, amazing, beautiful creation by my friend, the boss of the sushi roll store. I asked him this week if he could just randomly make a roll for me and then I would eat it. He did. I have continued this same pattern for most of the week and the results are brilliant. I am very happy to annouce that this one was probably the best of them all though. It had japanese style fried shrimp, qi2yu2song1 (there's no word for that in english) and also tuna in it. He added pineapple and a sweet and spicy thai sauce on it. Super good. I give it 5 seaweeded seafoods out of 5.

 

Verbatim:

I've come to not expect cheese. Elder Rayburn on the lack of real cheese here.

 

Sister Liao: This is my son

Elder Lin: Ewww....--on sister Liao while pointing to a picture of her cat

 

Burn it. ON HER. --Elder Kaluhiokanali when I pointed out a particularly interesting fashion trend.

 

I just can't stand screaming babies. It makes me want to punch a baby in the face--Elder Kaluhiokalani on screaming babies.

 

Boss: Look, She's crying that you're leaving.

Me: No, she's cutting onions

Boss: Oh, it could be that too.--Boss on his new worker who is love with us.

 

Boss: Elder Kaluhiokalani, you're has all three of our love in it.

Me: Why didn't mine?

Boss: She wouldn't let us help. She put in enough love to make up for us.
Me: (groan in pain)

Elder Kaluhiokalani: AWKWARD!!!!!!!!!--on the sushi roll that the new girl made

 

Well my time suddenly just appeared to be almost up so know that this week was good and there were a lot of miracles that happened but that I just don't have time to list them all for you because my time got gypped. 

Love you all,

Elder Siebert

Street lesson

Hey everyone!

This week I made apple bread in my crockpot. It was pretty good but I think that my cinnamon is a little old so the taste wasn't as strong as I wanted it to be and the apples that I used also were pretty low on flavor. It was still pretty okay though. Not bad for a crackpot....uh.....crockpot. Haha.

 

This week's completely lacking on the verbatim because I forgot to write it down. I feel like there was some good stuff but I can't remember.

 

We did go and celebrate my old companion Elder Reynold's b-day in style this last week. We went and rode to his apartment early in the morning, and got in while he was still sleeping. There were 9 elders in total. We all went in and brought him cake stuff and then flipped on the lights, jumped on the bed and stuff and started singing to him. He was freaking out hardcore and the first words he said when we had finished was, "What the FREAK!?!" it was hilarious. It was way fun too. I hope that someone does that on my b-day. Haha.

 

Well I am going to be staying in XinDian for another 7 weeks so that will make it six months here. Yeah! I am so stoked. I love being in areas for a long time.

 

This week I we had some pretty good miracles. I think one of the bigger ones was a Sister Lin2 that I ran into on the street. I was coming back from english class which we had left early because there weren't really any students. We were going along and I saw her and felt like I should talk to her. I had just talked with Elder Visser minutes before about how I don't really do that many street lessons anymore and he affirmed that he still does. I was thinking about that alot and then I contacted this sister Lin. She's actually already christian but she was very pleasant and willing to talk to me for a few minutes. The prompting came to say a prayer with her so I asked if that would be okay if we prayed together. She said that would be fine. We sat down and I asked what I could pray for her for. She mentioned that her body gets tired easily after an operation that she had a while back and that she would hope that it would be better. I prayed for her fervently and felt the spirit come over the both of us. I shared with her about the atonement from the BOM and about how Christ had really suffered every pain and affliction that would come on her. It was amazing the feeling of the spirit that came over us and I asked her to pray about the BOM and she asked if that was "necessary" and if "God [would] really answer". I showed her Moroni 10: 4-5 and promised that He would and she gave one of the sweetest prayers that I have heard offered about the BOM because it was so meek and so humble. She really wanted to know. She accepted my invitation to learn more and keep meeting with us. It was a great miracle because as she prayed and felt the spirit, she was able to be touched to the point where she could make the right choice rather than being merely a little curious like she was at the start. 

I know that God will work mighty miracles among His children and He loves us all.

Love,
Elder Siebert

Wet and Wild

Hey everyone,

This week brought many new things:

Food: Crockpot banana bread: I made up a recipe for banana bread and threw it in the crockpot and about an hour and a half later, I got the bread out and it was great! It wasn't quite as moist as I am used to, but I think that if I make the loaf smaller, it will make a big difference. The banana could have been heavier and could have added a little more but that's okay. I give it 3.75 bushleague bananas out of 5

 

Shell on shrimp: my companion just chomps the whole shrimp down--head and all, not peeling it at all. I decided that I would try it out and put some down. They were amazingly good. I can't say they were bad at all, just a little more chewing but so much more convenient! 5 crunchy crustaciens out of 5.

 

Spam-shakka (actually called a musubi): this is a slice of spam sandwiched between two slabs of rice with a sesame and seaweed seasoning blend on top all wrapped in seaweed. It's super good. We put a sweet soy sauce based sauce on it and I felt Hawaiian. 4.5 Hecka-good Hawaiians out of 5.

 

Verbatim:

Elder do you wanna eat some of this? It's fuzzy on top!--Elder Kaluhiokalani on his first experience eating fuzzy meat, he wasn't too inclined to do it again.

 

(while I was translating zone conference during the health and nutrition presentation)

Native sister: I have heard that some people have problems drinking milk

Me: (translated that it was lactose intolerance, TAKE THAT MARK!)

Elder Shu who was also with me doing translation (whispering to me): I have that problem

Me (over translation): Elder Shu has this problem

(all the native elders and sisters burst into laughter. The foreign ones look confused.)

 

Also in translation: Elder Kaluhiokalani: I have a problem with eating a lot after I fast, is that bad?

(Over translation) Me: Oh man, yeah, he eats A LOT. (everyone busts up again)

 

If they start laughing, just laugh first and I then wait for my translation.--me to all the native people listening to my translation at zone conference. They all laughed.

 

Elder Sabey: How's you're english?

Me: His english is super good.

Chen Hao: (Shakes head) Super sucks. (while eating dinner with him)

 

Elder Kaluhiokalani: Man, I don't think that I like the various types of tea here. I wouldn't drink it. No problem. Like that flower tea the other day....

Me: I thought that tea was great!

Him: YOU EAT BEANS!

 

It's the horcrux clock--Elder Kaluhiokalani on his clock. That thing makes devil noises when it goes off. I hate it. Scares the crap out of me everyday.

 

When we listen to conference, do we have a similar experience and fall on the ground? I know I do. (acts like he is dozing off)--high counselor.

 

This week we had massive flooding and rode hardcore through a flooded tunnel. So cool. I loved it. We have a little special situation this week because we have three elders and two areas right now.

 

This week we also had a lot of success with getting people to church. I haven't had this many people to church in ages. I think nearly a year. One of the coolest experiences was while we were teaching a Brother Zhang who is a younger guy going to college. We were in Starbucks late at night and shared about the Plan of Salvation. As we were sharing, I could tell that the message wasn't connecting on an inner level. It was a little bit like it was sliding off the top. I was praying so hard for a long time that we would be able to connect with him. I had an impression to tell the member that came to share about his testimony of the atonement--just what we had asked him to share. The testimony was so good and sensitive that I knew Brother Zhang had felt it. I prayed to know what to ask him and the question came, I asked him what that would mean to him, to be clean, to come to know God's love. He responded that he really wants to repent and change. The spirit came so strongly when I asked the question and then I asked him to come to church with us and he accepted. He prayed and said in the prayer how grateful he was that God was going to let him go to church. It was an awesome, awesome experience.

Love,

Elder Siebert