Hey everyone!
This week doesn't bring any new foods unfortunately, but I did find a
place to get spring rolls for 35 NT and they are huge! Seriously, eat
one of those suckers and you are FULL.
Verbatim:
God's gotta be laughing when you toot in a a contact. --Elder Kasparian
Oh my gosh, it smells so bad. Sometimes I go under the sheets to see
how nasty it is. Is that weird? --Elder Kasparian about the toots he
ripped at night
What do you mean lady problems? OH SNAP!--Elder Kasparian about why an
investigator in the zone couldn't be baptized on her date.
I pretended to look up "dog" while he was looking over my shoulder. To
this day, I think he's confused as to why I didn't know the word for
"dog". --Elder Peterson on Elder Alston's habit of looking over his
shoulder everytime he looks up a word.
This week was a blast everyone, I had an awesome time going on
exchanges with some of our great missionaries and I got to be with my
Brother, Elder Peterson--we are both of the seed of Benson. Very fun.
Sounds like good ol' Elder Benson still had some classic "JT" (joshua
todd) in him. Hilarious!
This week we saw a really cool miracle as we were contacting. I was
going down the street and I saw this older guy who was walking towards
me. I felt like I should talk to him so I went up there and started a
conversation. Turns out he's been going to a church for a little while
now. It all started about ten years ago when missionaries invited him
to english class which he didn't go to, but he recently had some
trials and started going to a church. Now, I have contacted him and
he's totally okay to hear the message and be baptized because he was
already prepared. It is so cool to see that God let me find His child
who He has been preparing for over ten years to receive the gospel.
It's a really cool thing to be on a mission and see all these
miracles first hand. I know that God loves me as he loves each and
everyone one of His Children.
I love you all!
Elder Siebert
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Back to the Childhood
Hey everyone!
This week brought both cold and glorious weather, stay tuned through
the commercial break for more on the details.
Food:
Green Bean Soup (mung bean): this is my new favorite breakfast. I
started making it on a regular basis this week and have had it a lot.
What can you say about a breakfast high in fiber, protein and
goodness? I give it 3.5 luscious legumes out of 5.
I also had a rice burger this week which was very good. I actually
like it more than a normal burger I think. 4 ricey recreations out of
5.
Verbatim: This is so legit! They're totally out of their minds!--Elder
Kasparian on the revelries (heathen) on the end of the lunar new year
(they were shaking an idol over firecrackers).
I'm going to toot on my baby. (follow remarks are in conversation with self)
"Honey, why's the baby crying?"
"I tooted on it"
"What's wrong with you!?!"--Elder Kasparian about the toots that made
me think something had died in him.
*Crinkle. *Crunch. I'm starving.--Elder Kasparian on eating paper.
Last week we went to the Disney exhibit here in Taibei and it was an
amazing experience. I had so much fun looking at all the original art
from the movies and seeing how they made them. The stuff was all about
the classic disney movies to the current and had all this art that had
never been shown in public before. Really the whole thing made my
life. I was so thrilled and it was fun to have Elder Baker around
because he could enjoy and talk about the art with me.
Yesterday we had a really cool story where I felt like we needed to go
see this guy who stood us up a little while back. We went to his house
and found that it wasn't him who lived there, but the guy who did live
there was totally okay with us coming into his house and sharing with
him. He actually wants to find a church and is excited about the
restoration. It was cool that the Lord put him there for us to contact
through the works of another person. I think that He did that so that
there would be no doubt that it was His hand that made this miracle
possible. So cool.
I love you all,
Elder Siebert
This week brought both cold and glorious weather, stay tuned through
the commercial break for more on the details.
Food:
Green Bean Soup (mung bean): this is my new favorite breakfast. I
started making it on a regular basis this week and have had it a lot.
What can you say about a breakfast high in fiber, protein and
goodness? I give it 3.5 luscious legumes out of 5.
I also had a rice burger this week which was very good. I actually
like it more than a normal burger I think. 4 ricey recreations out of
5.
Verbatim: This is so legit! They're totally out of their minds!--Elder
Kasparian on the revelries (heathen) on the end of the lunar new year
(they were shaking an idol over firecrackers).
I'm going to toot on my baby. (follow remarks are in conversation with self)
"Honey, why's the baby crying?"
"I tooted on it"
"What's wrong with you!?!"--Elder Kasparian about the toots that made
me think something had died in him.
*Crinkle. *Crunch. I'm starving.--Elder Kasparian on eating paper.
Last week we went to the Disney exhibit here in Taibei and it was an
amazing experience. I had so much fun looking at all the original art
from the movies and seeing how they made them. The stuff was all about
the classic disney movies to the current and had all this art that had
never been shown in public before. Really the whole thing made my
life. I was so thrilled and it was fun to have Elder Baker around
because he could enjoy and talk about the art with me.
Yesterday we had a really cool story where I felt like we needed to go
see this guy who stood us up a little while back. We went to his house
and found that it wasn't him who lived there, but the guy who did live
there was totally okay with us coming into his house and sharing with
him. He actually wants to find a church and is excited about the
restoration. It was cool that the Lord put him there for us to contact
through the works of another person. I think that He did that so that
there would be no doubt that it was His hand that made this miracle
possible. So cool.
I love you all,
Elder Siebert
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
There are short-stops, short people and short weeks
Hey Everyone!
Sorry last week I forgot to tell you who got wet and that was Zheng4
dx who was someone that I found! It was so exciting to see someone
else that I personally contacted on the street get baptized. Yeah!
Food:
Nai3 Ru2: This is a vietnamese milk pudding that a member made for us.
It would have to say that it was the best pudding I've ever had. She
kept apologizing because she made really big glasses of it. I was
totally fine with that. 5 perfect puddings out of 5.
Verbatim:
You should snort one! (me)
I did that once. (Elder K)
You ground it and snorted it?!?(me)
No, I just stuck it up my nose. (Elder K)--Regarding Altoids
This week, we went to this place to get taught Chinese by a bunch of
student teachers at the request of a member. It was a fun and games
until this one girl got up there and ruined my life. She started off
by saying to the girl who was getting taught along with us, "Wow,
Elder Siebert is very handsome. Will you please ask him if he will add
me on Facebook?" I responded that I couldn't because I didn't use
facebook. She then turned to my companion and asked him, "Does Elder
Siebert have a girlfriend?" He, very uneasily responded that I didn't.
She then said, "Oh, well then will you please ask Elder Siebert if he
would like to have a girlfriend?" I was horrified, but my companion
brought down the house by turning to me and saying, "Elder Siebert,
you are getting tempted!" Everyone thought that was the funniest thing
ever and it totally disarmed the situation. Very well played Elder
Kasparian, 5 smooth saves out of 5.
This week was a good one. We found a lot of people this week but my
favorite thing has been training missionaries this week. I have been
on a lot of exchanges and had a blast teaching them about our vision
for the zone and for the mission and seeing them catch that fire. It's
been a blast.
I did have a pretty awesome miracle this week while talking to someone
on the street. I talked to this one guy and turns out he has always
thought that our church is cool, but just never gotten the chance to
get over here. It was cool to invite him and see him accept.
This week I also saw a really cool miracle while waiting for a guy to come
meet with us. I saw an African man who was standing with a box on his
head and a bag in his hands at an intersection, waiting to cross. I
went over and started talking to him. I asked what he was up to. Adam
(that was his name) said that he was just moving stuff to his new
house. I offered to help him out. He said that this was the last of
the stuff and I exclaimed how we were too late! Then he said something
that really impacted me, he looked at me and asked, "why are you so
nice?" I realized how much it means to simply offer to lift and serve
others in small ways. I began to talk to him about religion. He is
muslim. I asked him what role it played in his life and he told me
that he was going to put the stuff at his house and in just a minute
would come back. I said that was fine. When he got back we sat down
with him and shared about the restoration. It was cool because I
realized that Islam has many similarities to our religion. We were
able to relate a prophet to Adam very easily and he actually really
wants to know about the BOM and start reading it. It's so sick we'll
call it ILL!
That's about all! Keep holding strong everyone!
Love,
Elder Siebert
Sorry last week I forgot to tell you who got wet and that was Zheng4
dx who was someone that I found! It was so exciting to see someone
else that I personally contacted on the street get baptized. Yeah!
Food:
Nai3 Ru2: This is a vietnamese milk pudding that a member made for us.
It would have to say that it was the best pudding I've ever had. She
kept apologizing because she made really big glasses of it. I was
totally fine with that. 5 perfect puddings out of 5.
Verbatim:
You should snort one! (me)
I did that once. (Elder K)
You ground it and snorted it?!?(me)
No, I just stuck it up my nose. (Elder K)--Regarding Altoids
This week, we went to this place to get taught Chinese by a bunch of
student teachers at the request of a member. It was a fun and games
until this one girl got up there and ruined my life. She started off
by saying to the girl who was getting taught along with us, "Wow,
Elder Siebert is very handsome. Will you please ask him if he will add
me on Facebook?" I responded that I couldn't because I didn't use
facebook. She then turned to my companion and asked him, "Does Elder
Siebert have a girlfriend?" He, very uneasily responded that I didn't.
She then said, "Oh, well then will you please ask Elder Siebert if he
would like to have a girlfriend?" I was horrified, but my companion
brought down the house by turning to me and saying, "Elder Siebert,
you are getting tempted!" Everyone thought that was the funniest thing
ever and it totally disarmed the situation. Very well played Elder
Kasparian, 5 smooth saves out of 5.
This week was a good one. We found a lot of people this week but my
favorite thing has been training missionaries this week. I have been
on a lot of exchanges and had a blast teaching them about our vision
for the zone and for the mission and seeing them catch that fire. It's
been a blast.
I did have a pretty awesome miracle this week while talking to someone
on the street. I talked to this one guy and turns out he has always
thought that our church is cool, but just never gotten the chance to
get over here. It was cool to invite him and see him accept.
This week I also saw a really cool miracle while waiting for a guy to come
meet with us. I saw an African man who was standing with a box on his
head and a bag in his hands at an intersection, waiting to cross. I
went over and started talking to him. I asked what he was up to. Adam
(that was his name) said that he was just moving stuff to his new
house. I offered to help him out. He said that this was the last of
the stuff and I exclaimed how we were too late! Then he said something
that really impacted me, he looked at me and asked, "why are you so
nice?" I realized how much it means to simply offer to lift and serve
others in small ways. I began to talk to him about religion. He is
muslim. I asked him what role it played in his life and he told me
that he was going to put the stuff at his house and in just a minute
would come back. I said that was fine. When he got back we sat down
with him and shared about the restoration. It was cool because I
realized that Islam has many similarities to our religion. We were
able to relate a prophet to Adam very easily and he actually really
wants to know about the BOM and start reading it. It's so sick we'll
call it ILL!
That's about all! Keep holding strong everyone!
Love,
Elder Siebert
Finally someone gets wet!
Hey everyone!
I know that there are a lot of foods that I tried for the first time,
but I can't remember a lot of the them. Oh!
Kimchi Beef: Kinda spicy and sour, but the beef is a little darker in
flavor, so it balances rather well. 4 barely balanced bovine out of 5.
Verbatim: "Dobby is FREED!" --me on discovering a pair of socks under
the sheets in Elder Thatcher's bed.
"Wow, that was like a clod of poo up my nose." --me on Elder
Kasparian's flatus during WPS.
"Do you realize how creepy half the stuff we say would be in the
states?" --me on contacting methods.
"He dropped the game ball" -- Elder Kasparian on the failure of some
of our missionaries to get us the info we needed.
"We have realized that if you are lost, all you need to do to find
your way is to focus on the NORTH STAR!" --me in Jilong district
meeting
"Hey mister, your shoes are very handsome. We have a free english
class"--me, aforementioned creepiness
This week I have spent a lot on how to get the Zone getting the vision
and came up with the "North Star". Basically, I used my notes from ZL
council and noticed over and over again that the main message I got
was valiantly using time. I noticed too that this was the biggest
change in my work. I looked at that and realized that the way that was
taught to us by president and the assisants was the focus on goals
before plans. I formulated a little bit of training for the zone to
share in all our DM so that the rest of the zone can know how to use
that process to be real missionaries and not just busy doing
missionary things. It has gone very well. We presented it in Tianmu
and also the Jilong districts. It wasn't received too well in Tianmu.
The district wasn't really willing to listen and pay attention, so I
don't know if it will get implemented with them, but the Jilong
district wrote down my "power phrase": "let the goal decide the
action" and also the heiarchy of goals: vision to goals to direction
to plans to action. It was really exciting to see them get the gears
turning and "get it"!
Yesterday I got to meet with one of our investigators Chen Zhi4
Gang1. He is doing so well and is a great blessing. He wants to learn
and learns slowly, but once he's got it, he doesn't forget and doesn't
get mixed up. It's great and it feels so nice to have someone who
appreciates what we share so much.
I love you all and am out of time!
Elder Siebert
I know that there are a lot of foods that I tried for the first time,
but I can't remember a lot of the them. Oh!
Kimchi Beef: Kinda spicy and sour, but the beef is a little darker in
flavor, so it balances rather well. 4 barely balanced bovine out of 5.
Verbatim: "Dobby is FREED!" --me on discovering a pair of socks under
the sheets in Elder Thatcher's bed.
"Wow, that was like a clod of poo up my nose." --me on Elder
Kasparian's flatus during WPS.
"Do you realize how creepy half the stuff we say would be in the
states?" --me on contacting methods.
"He dropped the game ball" -- Elder Kasparian on the failure of some
of our missionaries to get us the info we needed.
"We have realized that if you are lost, all you need to do to find
your way is to focus on the NORTH STAR!" --me in Jilong district
meeting
"Hey mister, your shoes are very handsome. We have a free english
class"--me, aforementioned creepiness
This week I have spent a lot on how to get the Zone getting the vision
and came up with the "North Star". Basically, I used my notes from ZL
council and noticed over and over again that the main message I got
was valiantly using time. I noticed too that this was the biggest
change in my work. I looked at that and realized that the way that was
taught to us by president and the assisants was the focus on goals
before plans. I formulated a little bit of training for the zone to
share in all our DM so that the rest of the zone can know how to use
that process to be real missionaries and not just busy doing
missionary things. It has gone very well. We presented it in Tianmu
and also the Jilong districts. It wasn't received too well in Tianmu.
The district wasn't really willing to listen and pay attention, so I
don't know if it will get implemented with them, but the Jilong
district wrote down my "power phrase": "let the goal decide the
action" and also the heiarchy of goals: vision to goals to direction
to plans to action. It was really exciting to see them get the gears
turning and "get it"!
Yesterday I got to meet with one of our investigators Chen Zhi4
Gang1. He is doing so well and is a great blessing. He wants to learn
and learns slowly, but once he's got it, he doesn't forget and doesn't
get mixed up. It's great and it feels so nice to have someone who
appreciates what we share so much.
I love you all and am out of time!
Elder Siebert
Monday, January 23, 2012
Eating Up Chinese New Year
Hey everyone!
This week brings the new year and with it all the food in the world.
Pear Apple Juice with Mint: This one was pretty darn good. A little
bit minty and fruity, very refreshing, very weird. 3 minty mixes out
of 5.
Fried Nian2gao1: This is a little gelatinous thingy that has red beans
in it and is very sweet which is then battered and fried. As all fried
things, it is delicious. 4 fried fritters out of 5.
Verbatim:
I pulverized it. --Elder Kasparian
Shuai! --little kid, pointing at me as he walked away.
Can i give you something!?! (me to man who is walking along)
Can we give you an X-box? (Elder Kang who is standing beside me) Huh,
he really doesn't want it. That means we can keep it! (still Elder
Kang)
Elder Kasparian (heretofore EK): (with fingers splayed like the letter) V
Man: two
EK: No, V
Man: Three...?
EK: (Now pointing to the man's letterman jacket which has a "v" on
it): No, V. What's your name?
Man: Zhou1
Me: Oh! "Z"!
While knocking:
Lady: Who are you looking for?
EK: People who are willing to listen to the gospel!
Lady: Oh! It's not very convenient right now!
Me (aside to EK): Oops, we must've knocked the wrong person.
Me(To kid at a different door): well can we come back another day?
Kid: Sure
EK: We're really going to come back, you'd better prepare yourself.*
*Winner of the creepstache of the week award
This week was a fun one without too much crazy stuff happening. We did
have a really good meeting with a Shi1 family who are willing to meet
and keep preparing for baptism. We are really excited about them
because it's the first time that either of us have taught a whole
family in a long time (5 transfers for me and something like 6 for
Elder Kasparian). It will be a slower progression, but we have a lot
of hope for them. They live out on this one street way in the
boonies--so far that I could probably almost throw a rock to Danshui
from there. We love them.
I love you all!
Elder Siebert
This week brings the new year and with it all the food in the world.
Pear Apple Juice with Mint: This one was pretty darn good. A little
bit minty and fruity, very refreshing, very weird. 3 minty mixes out
of 5.
Fried Nian2gao1: This is a little gelatinous thingy that has red beans
in it and is very sweet which is then battered and fried. As all fried
things, it is delicious. 4 fried fritters out of 5.
Verbatim:
I pulverized it. --Elder Kasparian
Shuai! --little kid, pointing at me as he walked away.
Can i give you something!?! (me to man who is walking along)
Can we give you an X-box? (Elder Kang who is standing beside me) Huh,
he really doesn't want it. That means we can keep it! (still Elder
Kang)
Elder Kasparian (heretofore EK): (with fingers splayed like the letter) V
Man: two
EK: No, V
Man: Three...?
EK: (Now pointing to the man's letterman jacket which has a "v" on
it): No, V. What's your name?
Man: Zhou1
Me: Oh! "Z"!
While knocking:
Lady: Who are you looking for?
EK: People who are willing to listen to the gospel!
Lady: Oh! It's not very convenient right now!
Me (aside to EK): Oops, we must've knocked the wrong person.
Me(To kid at a different door): well can we come back another day?
Kid: Sure
EK: We're really going to come back, you'd better prepare yourself.*
*Winner of the creepstache of the week award
This week was a fun one without too much crazy stuff happening. We did
have a really good meeting with a Shi1 family who are willing to meet
and keep preparing for baptism. We are really excited about them
because it's the first time that either of us have taught a whole
family in a long time (5 transfers for me and something like 6 for
Elder Kasparian). It will be a slower progression, but we have a lot
of hope for them. They live out on this one street way in the
boonies--so far that I could probably almost throw a rock to Danshui
from there. We love them.
I love you all!
Elder Siebert
Monday, January 16, 2012
Still a Zone Lobster
Hey everyone!
This week was a good week loaded with all sorts of food:
Run4 Bing2: This is the real version of the eggroll. It's a chewy
tortillaish wrapper with vegetables, meat and all sorts of little
seasonings in it (the best is the peanut stuff). It feels much
healthier than an American style eggroll, tastes better and is
cheaper. I give it 4.5 taiwanese "is better"s out of 5.
Hamburger Gai4 Fan4: This was possibly one of the sickest things that
I have ever found. There's a place on a college campus that sells this
thing and I felt like I had to try it out the second I saw it. They
serve you a big bowl of rice with curry on it, vegetables and various
other things, but the best part is they put this big huge hamburger
patty with cheese on the top of it all. It's like a real American
hamburger, seasoned in the American way. The mix of the two (burger
and curry) is a little like burgers, noodles and gravy Taiwanese
style. It's amazing. 4.5 burger baby bump bellies out of 5.
Zui4 Ji1: This is literally translated as drunken chicken. It was
good. The flavor was nice and light with a touch of sourness from the
vinegar and a touch of sweet from the wine sauce it was cooked in.
Sadly, I'm too inebriated from eating it to even tell you what it
rates.
Verbatim:
Is it the itch you gotta scratch? The dump you gotta take? (both me)
The stone you gotta pass? (Elder Kasparian)--Regarding the need to see
the move call sheet.
Sounds like a great idea. I'm going to go talk to this lady. (In
english) "HEY LADY!"--Elder Kasparian
This week we had a lot of miracles. One night as I was praying and
accounting for the next days plans to Heavenly Father, the impression
came that we were supposed to go to She4zi3 not to Da4Zhi2. It was
really shocking to me because we had made hours of plans already, but
the next morning I kept praying and the feeling was the same. We ended
up doing it and were rewarded for following the prompting. In just a
few hours we were able to find so many new investigators it was
insane. One of them, and Chen dx came to church with us and is looking
really good. Another instance where I was prompted to say something
was while we were in a rush to drop something off and I saw a kid
smoking on a bench. The thought came to talk to him and I went a
little bit without doing it then turned around and talked to him. I
asked if he wanted to stop smoking. He said yes but he had no clue how
to do it. I told him the gospel would help. He eagerly set up a time
to meet with us. It was so cool because I don't really ask people
about their smoking or anything. I know that the Holy Ghost is with
everyone who has been baptized and confirmed. All you have to do is
listen for him.
Love,
Elder Siebert
This week was a good week loaded with all sorts of food:
Run4 Bing2: This is the real version of the eggroll. It's a chewy
tortillaish wrapper with vegetables, meat and all sorts of little
seasonings in it (the best is the peanut stuff). It feels much
healthier than an American style eggroll, tastes better and is
cheaper. I give it 4.5 taiwanese "is better"s out of 5.
Hamburger Gai4 Fan4: This was possibly one of the sickest things that
I have ever found. There's a place on a college campus that sells this
thing and I felt like I had to try it out the second I saw it. They
serve you a big bowl of rice with curry on it, vegetables and various
other things, but the best part is they put this big huge hamburger
patty with cheese on the top of it all. It's like a real American
hamburger, seasoned in the American way. The mix of the two (burger
and curry) is a little like burgers, noodles and gravy Taiwanese
style. It's amazing. 4.5 burger baby bump bellies out of 5.
Zui4 Ji1: This is literally translated as drunken chicken. It was
good. The flavor was nice and light with a touch of sourness from the
vinegar and a touch of sweet from the wine sauce it was cooked in.
Sadly, I'm too inebriated from eating it to even tell you what it
rates.
Verbatim:
Is it the itch you gotta scratch? The dump you gotta take? (both me)
The stone you gotta pass? (Elder Kasparian)--Regarding the need to see
the move call sheet.
Sounds like a great idea. I'm going to go talk to this lady. (In
english) "HEY LADY!"--Elder Kasparian
This week we had a lot of miracles. One night as I was praying and
accounting for the next days plans to Heavenly Father, the impression
came that we were supposed to go to She4zi3 not to Da4Zhi2. It was
really shocking to me because we had made hours of plans already, but
the next morning I kept praying and the feeling was the same. We ended
up doing it and were rewarded for following the prompting. In just a
few hours we were able to find so many new investigators it was
insane. One of them, and Chen dx came to church with us and is looking
really good. Another instance where I was prompted to say something
was while we were in a rush to drop something off and I saw a kid
smoking on a bench. The thought came to talk to him and I went a
little bit without doing it then turned around and talked to him. I
asked if he wanted to stop smoking. He said yes but he had no clue how
to do it. I told him the gospel would help. He eagerly set up a time
to meet with us. It was so cool because I don't really ask people
about their smoking or anything. I know that the Holy Ghost is with
everyone who has been baptized and confirmed. All you have to do is
listen for him.
Love,
Elder Siebert
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