Australians and fire-breathing elder's quorum presidents and also this dude saw Moroni

"My 6 month mark zipper tie" (more info about that in the post)

Hello! 大家好！

This week we had Elder and Sister Meurs, the Asia Area President and his wife, come and preside over our zone conference in Taipei. He is the Australian guy who gave a closing prayer in General Conference, so he's kind of a big deal haha.  The Meurs are both way cool and very nice and their accents are stellar, so needless to say it was an awesome zone conference. We talked a lot about improving how we work with members based on the invites we received last zone conference, as well as improving our English class and helping that live up to its potential as a way to bless lives and provide an environment where people can feel the spirit and develop a desire to learn more.

On Monday, we did a little hike along a jungley mountain to a pretty cool waterfall, it felt like something straight out of Indiana Jones so it was sweet.  We also went and got cheap zip up ties at a place called NET and I set some goals for the next six months until my year mark and next conference.  I'm only going to wear one zip tie every day except for special occasions to remind me of my goals it's going to be fun haha.

Tuesday was really long and super weird. We were studying Chinese in a McDonalds when an old dude randomly came up to us and wanted to buy us coke and fries and ice cream, which was a pleasant surprise, especially when he told us he loves the church and was a member when he was younger but hasn't been in a while. When we went down with him so he could buy the stuff he wanted, we ran into a member from our ward! (We actually run into him in the most random places haha). We introduced the two guys and sat down to talk a little. We quickly realized this old guy was crazy when he told our member that he hadn't been baptized, and proceeded to talk about how all churches are the same, and that he believes in Joseph Smith more than us missionaries because he has seen Moroni, and how Taiwan had a Moroni prophet too that he's seen, and a bunch of other random things not even the member could make sense of haha. He also didn't want to set up a time to meet with us or come to church again for some reason, so that was strange. That was an interesting experience for sure.  Missionaries seem to attract crazy people here.  I don't know if it's the fact that we're a bunch of white dudes in ties going around teaching about Jesus in terrible Chinese or what, but in addition to some absolutely amazing people you also meet some weirdos when you're serving the Lord haha.

Study session selfie break

For zone conference I got to play the cello again which was nice. I need to find out more about the Lamb of God thing.  I'm kinda isolated down here in Hualian.

On Friday, we went to visit a cool LA (less active) guy we had visited with on Sunday.  This time our Elders Quorum president didn't even talk to us about a plan, he just walked in, pulled up a stool, and started bawling out on the dude about how we're all friends and he knows he loves the gospel and needs to come, share his experiences, learn from others, and be part of the ward family.  We just sat there stunned.  About 10 minutes later, and after being promised lunch and breakfast on Sunday, the guy ended up promising he'd be there every Sunday.  It was beast haha. We also were able to share a message about the Savior to strengthen his testimony and ensure that he knew we weren't just there to drag him back to church haha.

For my thought this week I wanted to share from Elder Oaks' talk from last conference, 'Small and Simple Things' in which he quotes:

'President Steven C. Wheelwright gave an audience at Brigham Young University–Hawaii this inspired description of Alma’s teaching: “Alma confirms for his son that indeed the pattern the Lord follows when we exercise faith in Him and follow His counsel in small and simple things is that He blesses us with small daily miracles, and over time, with marvelous works.”

President Howard W. Hunter taught that “frequently it is the commonplace tasks … that have the greatest positive effect on the lives of others, as compared with the things that the world so often relates to greatness.”'

On my mission and really in my life, I have yet to see huge astounding all-at-once miracles of conversion or healing, and really I think that's usually not the way the Lord chooses to work anyway. I have seen as I do the little things for people or for my own spiritual growth, only when I look back over time do I see the Lord's hands in my relationships and my own learning, and I've certainly seen the importance of the little things even more watching people's process of gospel learning from an outside perspective and seeing how if one doesn't do those little things, nothing happens that they're expecting. I do know that if we are patient and persevere in well-doing, we'll be amazed at where the Lord will take us. I certainly have been, and I'm excited to see where I end up as I do the invites from conference including looking for the "small and simple things" I can add to my life, I would love to hear your ideas and experiences as you do the same!

Love you guys!

Elder Joshua Ogden
Missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
武忠樂長老
耶穌基督後期聖徒教會的傳教士

"Something that's kinda cool and probably Buddhist or something."