Jehovah's Witness and Rick

MARCH 17
This week, I got to play Ping Pong twice! Right before English class I played for about 15 minutes! I never realized how much I missed little things like that. We played with that old man a couple weeks ago, but we don't have a whole lot of time. I bought a Chinese paddle, and I have got some crazy spins on that ball now. All of our investigators are doing awesome. We have 3 that are so close to getting baptized. It seems like people always get right up to the very last step and then they lose faith. If only they would take one more step of faith. There is a new college kid that we have been meeting with named Cai Jing Wei. He is so cool! Everytime we set up an appointment he rides his bike 30 minutes to come meet with us. And then on Sundays he rides his bike 30 minutes there and back to come to Church. He is a really humble kid, who is sincere in his desire to know. Sometimes people we meet with aren't really there to learn they are just there to mock us or start arguments. Usually, the people that argue are the funniest because, us missionaries refuse to argue. It doesn't do any good to argue. No one learns anything and the Spirit leaves. We won't raise our voices, which usually just makes them more agitate because they are trying to makes them more agitate because they are trying to get a reaction out of us.
Speaking of arguments. These Jehovahs Witness missionaries are staulking me. They came to our church and were trying to tell me that every hardship that we have, is God punishing us! I was nice to them and told them that I believed differently. Look at Job for example, He was such a good guy, but he went through some really tough hardships. Anyways, they were very agressive, but we were still nice to them. I guess I wasn't mean enough though because they keep coming back. Everytime they come they tell me that they just want to encourage us to read the Bible. I was a little more firm this time and I told I do read the Bible, every morning for at least one hour. And they were like no you need to read the Bible, what they meant was I needed to read the Bible the way they see the Bible. Finally I told them listen, there are thousands of different christian churches in this world, how do I know that your perspective on the Bible is the correct one? They seemed a little confused and said that if I was reading the Bible carefully then there wouldn't be any confusion about correct doctrine. I told them that is what every church says. I don't think they have had many chances to talk to other Christians. Less than 5 percent of Taiwan is Christian so they mostly talk with Taoists and Buddhists. Anyways, I shared with them in Ephesians 4 about, Apostles, Prophets, and Evangelists. I asked them if Christ promised us these Apostles and Prophets, Where are they now? I love that chapter in it, it talks about how, Apostles and Prophets are necessary for the unifying of the saints. I love that line! Anyways, I told them that I truly believe Heavenly Father has once again given us Apostles and Prophets, just like Moses and Abraham. To guide us so that we are not 'tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine' that is blown our way. I tried to give them a Book of Mormon, but of course they didn't accept. They didn't really want to let me talk actually. If people want to have an open discussion where both sides get to share spiritual experiences and insights I am more than willing to participate. But if you want to come and start arguments and say things that are meant to hurt people, then I won't sit down with you. The Jehovahs witness missionaries always want to sit down, but I know that if we sit down we will just spend an hour and a half listening to them talk. Next time they come I am going to hide, hahaha, just kidding. I won't hide. But I WILL continue to bare testimony for the living Prophets and Apostles on the earth today. Anyways, i wrote a lot more about them than I wanted. :). Guess who came to see my on Sunday? Rick, my new convert from Ping Dong. I didn't know he was coming and when he walked into the Chapel I almost had a heartattack. Hahaha... I haven't seem him in months. He is doing so good and is a Sunday School teacher now. Every other week he teaches the adult Sunday School and then on the weeks he isn't teaching the Adults he teaches the 8 to 12 year olds. He is so awesome! He is so smart and has learned the Gospel so fast! It is amazing that someone who wasn't christian 8 months ago, now has one of the strongest testimonies of Jesus Christ. It was so good to see him and it made me want to work even harder as a missionary to find more people that are ready to hear the Gospel. When people learn by the spirit like Rick, rather than learning by the intellect, you can learn so much faster. To me it is amazing that members like Rick can understand the Bible better than people that have been studying it there whole lives. If you study it like a Chemistry textbook, you aren't going to learn a whole lot, but if you study it as the word of God you are going to learn really fast.
Well I got to go eat hot pot. Hot pot is like a big stew and everyone has there own pot and you through in all sorts of stuff. Its great because everyone gets there own so you get to make your own soup. Usually you boil your meat and vegetables and then you pull them out and dip them in sauce and eat it with rice. Its sooooo good. thinking about it right now makes me even hungry,
Love yall Elder Craig Anderson
Taiwan Kaohsiung Mission