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