Weekly Letter

Hello!!! It has been another great week here in Fengyuan.  The work is definitely starting to pick up!  This past week we had interviews with President Teh, he is super awesome. It's not often you get to have a 1 on 1 conversation with a General Authority of the church.  He really is a true man of God.

This past week we have been really trying to work on using a book about our family history created by the church.  It has been a really cool experience gathering information about my ancestors and then sharing it with others.  The Taiwanese people really love and respect their ancestors and when they see two, Foreign Christian missionaries talk about it, it really gives them a different perspective on our Church!  We have really seen people starting to connect with it, and now we have started inviting members to put together their own book and share it with friends and family!

This past week we went and were knocking on some doors trying to find someone interested in the gospel. Went down a full street/alley thing and no one was interested.  It was almost 9 pm, so we packed up and started to head home.  As we were leaving the area we ran into a guy in about his 40s waiting outside a house for his son.  We started to talk to him about his family and his aspirations for his children.  We testified to him he could be with his family forever and he was instantly drawn to that truth.  We set up and met the next night with him and his 17 year old son.  We shared the plan of salvation and as we asked him to pray to know it was true the spirit came over us all.  He felt it!  He wants to help his family, and I know it was God's plan we ran into them!

I am grateful for the opportunity to serve our Savior.  I have seen this Gospel change the lives of so many here in Taiwan.  God our Heavenly Father, is a God of miracles.  He acts according to the faith of his children.  So if you want to gain a testimony of Him.  Do what it takes!! Read the Book of Mormon and ask with a sincere heart to know if he is there and if the book is true,  He will answer your prayer, I promise.

Love you  all!!

Elder Michael Henderson

We survived the Typhoon!!

Good week! Sorry not a lot of time! The typhoon was a bust and nothing really happened!! 

This week I studied one talk in particular by Elder Dale Renlund. "Our Good Shepard" I think it was called. In a sense we are all diseased sheep, We are all not perfect, we all sin, and because of that we are as "diseased sheep". My favorite thing he talks about is, that when Jesus Christ came to the earth, he walked with sinners, he ate with the diseased, and he cared for the poor. He doesn't care who we are or what our background is, he loves us no matter what and will be with us no matter what we have done, as long as we are willing to believe and act. This has really changed my view of it all. I love the Lord and amazed by what he has done for us. I am grateful he is willing to walk with me even with my diseases.

I love the work and the opportunity to serve others and the Savior!

Love 

Elder Henderson

Thank You all for the Birthday wishes and Support!!

First off thank you for all for the birthday wishes and support!! If i didn't respond to your email i am sorry!! I will next week, I don't have a lot of time!! 

This has been another great week in Fengyuan, Taiwan!! Me and Elder Richter are really working hard and brainstorming on some news ways to make the work more effective!!  We have seen many miracles.  Here is one in particular:

Thursday night we were heading home and passed a 7/11, we went by and I noticed a lady sitting in side.  We were short on time so I did not think much of her until I had a feeling come over me to go back and talk with her.  We turned around, and walked into  the 7/11. We talked to her for about 5 minutes and she was more than willing to meet with us!  We then met the next night and she was literally drawn to the Book of Mormon.  At first she did not seem to have too much interest until we brought out the Book, we introduced it and she wanted to read it so bad!  She told us she wanted to meet next week and talk about what she had read!! We are looking forward to meeting with her again!  I truly believe the Book of Mormon has power like none else.  It contains the fullness of the gospel of Christ and is full of the Spirit of God.  It all comes down to us opening it up, reading, and praying!

 This week I read about the life of the prophet Gordon B. Hinckley and his contribution to the Lord's work on the earth.  He  was an amazing man with a vision for the future.  I loved a quote Elder Holland said he often heard from President Hinckley,"Keep trying, Be believing. Be happy. Don't get discouraged. Things will work out."  The optimism president Hinckley had is truly inspiring, and I have been trying hard to apply it to the work here in Fengyuan.  Optimism is a trait in this life i believe we all need to strive to develop.  We all live in this world that is not always the best, lot's of crime, poverty, and sickness.  But there is one thing that can always trump that, and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ.  In Ether 12:4 in talk about the gospel giving us the "hope for a better world."   I truly believe through this gospel we can have the most happiness in spite of so much bad. 

"If you do your best, it will all work out.  Put Your Trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future The Lord will never forsake you." -President Hinckley

The highlight of the week was Brother Xiao (蕭暐城), One of my best friends in all of Taiwan got baptized on Saturday and asked me to do it!!!!!

I love this gospel and all it has brought into my life.  This isn't just a religion, but a way of life, helping us to prepare to live with God forever.

love you all!!

Elder Henderson

                                                                              Brother Xiao (蕭暐城)

                                        Miracle!!! Birthday Package arrived ON his Birthday!! Prayers are answered!!

                                                       Incredible and Wonderfully Supportive Ward Members!!

Hello!!

Hello Fam and Friends!! I Hope everyone had a great week!! All is still good here in Fengyuan! This week was great and the work continues to move forward.  This week we spent lots of time finding! We are really trying hard to find those souls prepared to hear the message of the restored gospel.

Saturday night we went to visit a less active in the ward.  As we were going down this alley I realized that they lived on the next street over, so we turned around and started to head back on the main road when both me and Elder Richter felt we should go back and knock on a couple doors on that street.  As we did so, the 3rd door we knocked opened and a big buff dude answers the door and in perfect English says "Whats up guys, I speak English." hahah it caught me so off guard, but he let us in, He had lived in Canada for 12 years.  So we shared the message of the restoration with him.  It was the first time i had taught this lesson in English since Jean in my first area.  It was a very powerful lesson and the spirit was so strong, He said he has always really wanted to hear what our message is but never really has.  This definitely was a miracle and tender mercy from the Lord!!

I know i have talked about this talk before but I just love it.  "Act in all Diligence" by Henry B. Eyering.  I would like to share a quote in it with you!

"This is the Lord’s Church. He called us and trusted us even in the weaknesses He knew we had. He knew the trials we would face. By faithful service and through His Atonement, we can come to want what He wants and be what we must be to bless those we serve for Him. As we serve Him long enough and with diligence, we will be changed. We can become ever more like Him."

The Lord has given each one of us a sacred trust.  Even in the weakness he knows we have, he trusts us, he believes in us, and is rooting us on!! And as we act in diligence to better understand him. And everyone, member or not, use his atonement, we can become like him, and prepare for eternal happiness! This church is true and I invite all of you to read the Book of Mormon and pray to God for yourself, to know it is true as well! 100% of the time he will give you an answer!

Love you all!

Elder Henderson

                                                                   Elder Henderson and Elder Richter

                                                                              Beautiful Rainbow!!

                                                                                    A Typical Text! 

                                                    Some Kids in the Ward drew a Picture of Elder Henderson!

                                                         Elder Henderson's FAVORITE Taiwanese Breakfast!

A Gospel of Change

Hello!! Hope everyone has had a great week! Big week with a lot of changes, I am very grateful for the chance to be with Elder Richter!! He is a beast, from Ogden, Utah, and has been in Taiwan for about 4 months! 

This week we worked hard to find some new investigators, lots of time on the streets contacting people!! One miracle of a story that i would like to share with you!!  Saturday night we went tracting in the pouring rain!! For about the first 40 minutes we were getting doors slammed in our faces, lots of no interests, and even some yelling to get off their property. We decided to go down a different street and the first door had a picture of Jesus on it.  We got super excited and knocked on the door, a lady in about her 20s answered the door and as she saw us her eyes lit up!! She was soo excited, right there we shared the Restoration message and about the Book of Mormon.  She was so intrigued by this message of Jesus Christ she had never heard. She has spent almost her whole life trying to follow Jesus Christ but something has been holding her back from true discipleship.  It is the message of the restoration of Jesus Christ's original church.  We are hoping this week we can continue to help her learn this beautiful gospel!

This week I studied a talk by Russel M. Nelson about choices and change.  The purpose of the gospel is to change us! I thought back of stories of people in the scriptures with these kinds of experiences. I thought about Saul to Paul, I thought about Alma the Younger, and civilizations being changed through the gospel of Jesus Christ.  As I pondered about the big changes they made, I realized how applicable their stories are to our lives.  Of course our change might not be as drastic as their's but if we put our faith in the Lord and are willing to do his will,  we will be changed for the better.  We will become the disciples the Lord needs us to be, and will receive so many blessings.  At this point we may not feel like we deserve to change, we feel it is impossible to overcome habits or things of the sort, but the Gospel and the Atonement of Jesus Christ is there for this purpose us.  To literally change our hearts and desires.  The Atonement can give us the power to press on!

I love the Gospel and have seen it change so many lives, including my own! I hope all of us this week can make a plan to become better, and prayer to our Heavenly Father for the help to do so!!

Love you all!

Elder Henderson