Dear Mother and Father,
Ni hao! Let me tell you some interesting dongxi.
Monday, we went to Ershui to go find monkeys. And monkeys we did find. A horde of them! We took a bunch of bananas, and there was a guy who had a bag of kernals, and with combined efforts, we had about 30 monkeys surrounding us and eating our food. It may have been the most interesting thing I've ever done. Other than kissing the sheep. The monkeys were really cute, they're about a foot, foot and a half tall, light grey, with red faces. I'll send pictures. We saw some baby monkeys, they were the best part. I did not get bitten this time.
We did meet with Zhang Hong Wei and his mom, that was a great blessing. She does not oppose him being baptized, and we were able to clear up some questions she had about Christians. Zhang Hong Wei made a deal with his mom, there's a few things he needs to improve on in their home, and if he does, they will discuss baptism again in a few weeks. Its requiring a lot of patience, but its obviously a huge improvement. He's really willing to do his part, he really wants to be baptized. The best part is the involvement of the ward, a great sister went with us, and testified how the gospel blessed her family and has helped her ancestors. She is the family history consultant. One of the biggest concerns in Taiwan is the oldest son is required to carry on the tradition of ancestor worship, in order to keep the ancestors from going to hell. So teaching about our respect for ancestors helps the families of converts a lot.
Yesterday, my companion contacted this white guy from Scotland. This isn't extremely unusual, we rarely see white people from America: most are Canadian, Australian, English, or South African. The interesting thing is, he is starting a church here in Yuanlin. He is a congregationalist, and he said his theology is Calvinist. We had a really long discussion about the atonement and the gospel of Jesus Christ, and he brought up some concerns he had with our doctrine. There was no argument. But anyways, he invited us to come to his church meeting, and said he would like us to talk to the congregation about our church. We accepted the invitation. I'll let you know how that goes when the details are worked out.
The last part of my letter includes things I'd only like to share with you.
I brought four questions to conference, and I recieved a lot of revelation.
1. How can I develop enough faith in Christ in order to have a change of heart?
I loved Elder Hallstorm's talk about being converted to the gospel and not to the church. The church is meant to be a place to develop in the gospel. It made me think, why am I a member of the church? Do I have the gospel embedded in my heart? I've realized that as a missionary, I have learned the importance of developing faith, repenting, and keeping covenants. As I continue doing these things, I will be changed by the Spirit.
2. How can I be a better example, as a missionary, and as a normal member of the church?
Elder Bednar's talk about the sealing power helped me a lot. When talking about the example of his father, it made me evaluate how I respect the priesthood which I bear. I also enjoyed Elder Uchtdorf's talk about doing our duties.
3. How can I help my struggling family members?
There was so many about families. I can't remember who said it, I think President Monson, but I am required to forgive all people. I need to forgive Kyle. I also liked Elder Wilson's talk about allowing children to righteously use their agency. I felt really inspired to write Kyle, and then you sent your email to me, which seems as confirmed revelation.
4. Should I join the Air Force?
Pres. Uchtdorf (the Pilot) talked about setting our priorities, to make sure that our good priorities do not come before the best priorities. I also remember a talk about putting our families first. I realized that no matter what choice I make, the decision should be made based on whether or not it will best help my family. I like the idea of it, because it would be a very stable job with great benefits. I would also be required to move, even if I was only in the Air Force for 4 years. So it gives me something to be more focused on.
I thought it was a great conference, I recieved a lot of revelation. Luckily I wrote it all down.
I love you!
-Elder Leatham
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