Elder Ogden in Taipei: Back to Youth Conference...It's Like I Never Left

"Eating a real salad at a real burger place."

Hello everyone!

This was a pretty busy week, and we were able to have a lot of cool experiences and further the work a little more, so I feel pretty good about it.

On Monday, we played frisbee at the beach again; so that was pretty good. That day I was also able to pick up my birthday package that was finally located. (Insert huge HOORAY from Missionary Mom Des.) Thank you again to everyone who sent good wishes and love through that or any other means! It means a lot to me for sure.

The missing birthday package! Hooray!!

That day was quite the day of miracles. Somehow we managed to get up to the zone leaders apartment to grab the package, come back down, run over to the train station, and get on a train just in the nick of time, all in the course of about 5 minutes. Then that evening we went to visit a less active member, who wasn't there. Elder Hong let me write a note even though I'm way slower than him (he's kinda Taiwanese haha), and literally as soon as I wrote the last character the guy pulled up and we were able to talk to him for a bit. As we were biking away, we stopped to stare through the window at this little traditional Chinese music studio that was really cool, and there was a guy serenely sipping tea at this stone table, and we just kinda sat there for a while because it was super cool. Then the guy turned and looked at us, waved, and then came out and asked if we wanted to come in for some tea and Chinese piano. We had to politely refuse because of time, but we started talking to him and he's really cool. He already understands how to get inspiration from the Bible, not just treat it like a story book, and he loves that feeling. He was also really excited to learn about the Book of Mormon and the special things we learn from it, so that was a cool miracle.

After that we had a lesson with Dora. She had been struggling with getting an answer to prayers, but said that the two days before, she had decided to pray with a real desire to know if these things are true, if God is her Heavenly Father...everything, and then go and act on the answer she received. For two days in a row she had felt an overwhelming and undeniable feeling of warmth and love wash over her body, and she knew it was her answer! We had a great discussion about how Joseph Smith was similar to her when he was searching for answers and the spirit was super strong. She was able to work out her remaining concerns and realized she is actually ready and desirous to be baptized. She set her own date and everything! So needless to say, our week got off to a great start.

Like I said, this week was very busy and so much happened I wish I could tell, but I don't have time. But one of the coolest parts was on Friday night. We were invited to participate in a youth conference for all of northern Taiwan being held in our area (We originally thought it was in Zhubei, so we stayed out there after exchanges waiting for it until President realized it wasn't where we had all thought it was. He called us to let us know it was actually back in our area with just enough time for us to get in the taxi that was miraculously sitting at the Zhubei chapel and ride the half hour back there. Fun times haha.) Anyway, that was a really great experience. It was kinda strange to be at a youth conference again and see kids doing pretty much the same stuff I was doing like 2 years ago (it's also weird it's been 2 years since I've been to a youth conference haha) We were invited to share with groups of youth why we decided to serve missions, what challenges we faced, and what blessings we have received. It was a great chance for me to ponder and for the youth to ponder too. I wanted to share some of the thoughts I typed out while I was pondering what to say to them with you:

Since I was small, I've always had a desire to serve a mission. Of course being in the church, it was just an expectation for me too, but I can honestly say the more I learned, the more I had a genuine desire to go (of course not yet fully knowing what a mission really entails). Then I became a teenager, and faced the things every teenager faces: the pressure to fit in with people, the pressure of getting good grades and thinking of what to do with my future and even just trying to figure out how to be happy in a world with so many excuses to be unhappy. Then I realized that I already had the key to happiness. I already believed and knew I had a Heavenly Father whose greatest desire was for my happiness, who knew how I could get it, and had packaged that knowledge into what we call the gospel.

I realized that while I didn't know everything, I knew one thing through my experience: that whenever I tried to repent and strived to be like God--to read the scriptures and pray every day, and do all of the other little things we're told to do that may seem ridiculous until you try them--when I tried to do those things I saw real change. My situation didn't change, I was still a teenager with weaknesses surrounded by other teenagers with weaknesses in a world full of unfair and imperfect things, but my attitude changed. My ability to do what I needed and wanted to do increased, as did my ability to see the beauty that is in the world, to acknowledge the ridiculous amount of good things in my life.

I learned even more that happiness is a choice, and I was able to make that choice more often because of the things I knew and the experiences I had. Conversely, when I got lazy with those things, when I started just going through the motions of church and everything, my attitude became worse, I became more easily overwhelmed with things and less able to see the beauty right in front of my eyes. I realized that if living the gospel could bring those kinds of positive changes and more to my life even when my life has honestly already pretty easy and my privileges were pretty abundant, how much more could it do for someone who was in a worse situation than I was? Because of the tools I grew up with access to, I had been able to learn for myself that God exists and is our Father and many other amazing and precious truths, how precious would this knowledge become to someone that hadn't had access to those tools, who didn't know who God was, or if He's really there? I have since seen in real life that that the gospel really does have this power to bring change and true happiness to people, regardless of their situation, which is the greatest joy of missionary work!

So yeah, those were the results of my pondering, as I copied it, I realized it was pretty long, so sorry about that, but that's not even enough to express what coming to know my Heavenly Father has done for me. That being said, what I was able to share is true, and I cannot deny it.

I love you all, stay tuned for more miracles from this week I don't have time to type today and remember to look for the beauty in your life and choose happiness! It's a lot better in the long run.

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