The Atonement, Our Source for Hope

Dear Family and Friends,

Hey guys!!! I hope that all of you have had a great week and continue to keep your faith.  This week has really been a fast one!  I am finishing up training as well!  I have probably only 1 more week with Elder Munger and I will probably stay in Dakeng and get a new companion and will get to lead out the area.  That should be really exciting, but at the same time is soooooo scary! haha There is so much Chinese required every day to make sure that things are running smoothly.  I think that it will be another great learning experience for me.  I really look forward to opportunities where I get thrown into to the fire a little bit... I truly feel like those are the opportunities I learn the most.  I feel like I get beat up the most, but it is great because it causes me to rely upon the Lord.  That is something I have learned I just have to do.  Chinese is impossible otherwise.  I am super grateful for Elder Mungers example of hard work and patience over the last 10 weeks or so!  He is a great missionary and a great friend with a great heart.  I will miss him! I got lucky to have him.  He really pushed me to be better and learn lots.  It is something I will take and use the rest of my mission and the rest of my life!  

This week we had the opportunity to help an investigator move.  Her name is J and she loves the gospel but can't get baptized because her mom won't let her.  She is 16 and her mom is making her wait until she is 18.  We have encouraged her to pray about talking to her mom and really testified that if this is the desire of her heart that Heavenly Father will provide a way.  We moved their whole apartment, and her mom was so grateful.  I hope and pray that it had an affect on her mom and that she was able to see the gospel in action.  We are really hoping for her!! 

Also this week at church during Gospel principles D leaned over to me and asked if I would baptize him!! haha I of course said yes!! haha He has a baptismal interview this next Saturday!! I am really excited for that.  He is a great kid, and this gospel can really help his life.  It already has whether he knows it or not!  He has quit drinking, and smoking, and going to the club.  It is super cool.  

This week I had a sore throat... haha and I thought that chinese was hard before... hahaha!!! It was impossible to get the tones. hahaha!!! I remember when I was talking with Elder Lloyd before the mission about tones... they are so tough, especially when you don't have a voice!! I am good now though!

Everything else is going well and I am so grateful for the Lord and all the blessings that he has given me.  I read in D&C 19 this week and it really hit me that the greatest blessing that we have received is the atonement in our lives.  It is the one thing that allows us to keep going.  How sad would be to have no way of moving forward... to have no hope for the future?  There are millions of people right now who have lost hope, who feel like there is no way they can continue.  It is our responsibility to reach out to those in need and give them a reason to hope for something better.  To share with them The Gospel of Jesus Christ.  

I love you all!!

Love, 

Elder Redding

Amazing New Investigators!

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been another great week!  It has been a busy crazy week, but has been awesome!!  I was so happy to hear about Elder Lloyd's baptism this week!!  What a stud!  I love him!  haha I can't help but smile when I think about him cheetoing around in the jungle!! hahaha!  This week was a great week for us finding new investigators!  This week we found 7 New Investigators who all have great desires to hear the gospel!!

Three of them are this one family... This family is amazing.  We met them out side of a family mart a couple weeks ago.  We decided to sit outside, because it was noisy inside... haha it was outside too! haha but in the window of the family mart there was this guy and his wife!  The guy had this Aeropostale bag by him... haha you know the ones with the ripped guys without their shirts on! hahah! So we made eye contact with him and he started laughing because of the bag! hahah he then started to pointing to me and saying that it was me on the bag! hahah and we started pointing to him!!! hahah!  it was so funny, but when he left he came up and brought us Orange Juice!  He told us that he knew that we didn't drink tea so he got us orange juice! haha we got talking with him and he told us that his English name was P...!  hahah!  He just told us that we should come over to his house for dinner! haha so we got his number!  (That is super un-common to get invited to someones house here) 

So this week we made it to his house!  We were on exchanges, so I was leading out the area and was with Elder Wutang.  We got to P's house and there was just a feeling of love there.  It was special.  This was the most amazing family.  They are amazing!  They really want us to help their son, and they themselves are really into learning about the church!!!  They made us spagetti and got us Coke and juice and Fried Chicken!! We bore testimony of families to them and it went really well.  They invited us back this week again for dinner and to share a message! 

The exchange was way fun, and when we got back after planning Elder Wutan went up on top of our building on the roof and just overlooked TaiZhong.  It was so humbling to be up that high and look out over the whole city and to think how many people are here and how many of these people need the gospel in their lives.  I just felt love and felt the great responibility!  There are about 6-8 missionaries in the city of Taizhong... there are over 2 million people who haven't heard the gospel in the city of Taizhong.  I cannot affort to waste one second out here.  These people need to know!  On the roof I also thought about how small I am... yet how much my Father in Heaven loves me.  It gave me great peace.  It was a neat night! 

After the exchange we were meeting up at the church to exchange back and this guy from Korea was there and found us and asked to take us to dinner!  haha he is a member in Korea!  So we went to ZhongYouBaiHuo department store!  Its this big building with all these awesome restraunts in it!  We went to this HotPot!!  It was amazing!!!

J had her interview this week and passed, and was going to get baptized this next week... but she says that she doesn't feel quite ready yet!  She says she feels stressed.  She said she hasn't experienced a "miracle" yet!  We tried to help her realize that no one is ever ready.  It is a life long journey of happiness!  It truly is.  We are really praying hard that this week we can help her have an experience of her own!  She needs one right now.  D has really made some good changes.  He is making head way!  All good things ahead!!!!! Just keep praying!!!

I love you all so much!  One thing that really struck me this week was a thought I had about the Prophet Joseph Smith. I cannot even imagine everything that he went through and the fact that he continued to keep his faith.  He is an example to me and I know that he was prepared in the premortal life to have the faith to endure his mortal trials and carryout his mission.  I also know that he is no different than all of us in that sense.  Our missions here on this earth may not be exactly like the Prophet Joseph, but they are of great importance and enable us to learn and grow.  We like the prophet Joseph were also prepared long before we got here to succeed.  That gives me great comfort as I face every day's new challenges.  I hope it gives you all strength and comfort as well!!  I love you all!

Love,

Elder Redding

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Everything About the Gospel is Love

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been a good week full of great experiences, learning, and growth.  Every day out here is a blessing.  That is something that I really am trying to focus on.  I can't think of anything else that I would rather be doing that this.  There is nothing more important in this life than the gospel.  It is what links us all together.  To me the gospel is love.  If I had to describe it in its simplest form I would say love.  The gospel teaches what love is, teaches us how to love, and teaches us that we are all loved.  Heavenly Fathers Plan of Happiness was created out of love for us, His children.  Our Savior, out of love, willingly volunteered to give His life for our happiness.  In turn, we to have a special opportunity to express our love, by following our Heavenly Fathers commandments, by using the gift of the atonement in our daily lives, and by sharing this message with others.  As we live and share the gospel we feel the love of our Heavenly Father and our Savior in our lives, and we helped others feel their love as well.  Everything about the gospel is love.  

This week we had a cool opportunity to continue teaching one of our investigators who I would say kind of was slipping under the radar... we hadn't really noticed her desire for the gospel until this week when she called us to set up the next appointment. haha!  We got there and asked her if she has been reading in the Book of Mormon. (most investigators really struggle with that)  we were expecting the usual answer... "a little... "  but to our surprise she confidently said Yes.  So we asked her what her thoughts were about the things she had read.  She went on ... (with specific question).  This was amazing news!! haha because most people here don't even get that far and if they do, they don't really seem to care.  This showed me her desire to learn about this gospel.  We helped her realize that Heavenly Father loves all of His children and is willing to do what is necessary for the safety of their souls.  It was really cool.  The next time we met with her she opened up her scriptures and they were all marked up! haha it was awesome!!  She has a goal set for after Chinese New Year.  She is really solid and will hit that.  

As for our other investigators... they are struggling a bit with their desire.  They just don't seem to have the desire.  They don't want to be pushed... that is hard.  We really have to make a conscious effort to get out of our comfort zone if we want to progress and change.  We really have to put of the natural man.  Putting off the natural man is not easy, and it is not comfortable at first.  It really is a step of faith.  So right now we are really trying to help them realize the blessings that await them through their faith.  It is kind of a tough situation, and we are just trying to love them the way the Savior would.  

Every day is a great opportunity for us to learn and grow and put of the natural man a little bit more.  I am grateful that I get to do this every day.  It isn't always easy, and isn't always comfortable.  However, at the end of the day when I have done my very best I can always feel the love and peace of my Savior.  I know that what I have done is right and I know that my efforts every day do not go unnoticed. 

I love you all!!  Have a great week!! 

Love, 

Elder Redding   

Banana Spider - Eeek!

ELDER REDDING

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello everyone!!  I hope that you all enjoyed your New Years and ate TONS of food and most importantly enjoyed the company of the ones you love most.  I sure do love you guys and am grateful for all your amazing examples!!  Lets all dominate this next year!!! 

Poisonous Banana Spider

Last week was a crazy week... hahaha!  Just a lot happened and it is super hard to remember every detail. (Something I am working on)  It started off last Monday after we emailed!  ...we went to subway.. After that Elder Munger and I decided to ride our bikes up the mountain to look for monkeys!  It was awesome, and a nice ride.  On the way up we got a little lost and asked this guy for directions... He was white and spoke english!  hahah, he was just cruising down the mountain on his scooter with his little dog! haha We got talking to him and he has been in Taiwan for over 30 years.  He came here for work.  We set up with him to go pick up trash down by the river next week.  We eventually made it to the monkeys but was a tough climb up the mountain on bikes.  There were tons and they were awesome!!  We also saw a banana spider!  It was as big as my hand and SUPER POISONOUS!!  

Wednesday we took a surprise trip to the temple!  It was awesome!  Elder Munger and I got up at 5 to ride to the DaYa chapel!  We left at 6.  On the way there we watched Ephraims rescue!  I really loved that.  It gave me this great desire to always be ready to serve the lord.  I was so happy, and so touched.  I just felt the power of the Savior.  Finally we got there and it was just right in the middle of TaiPei!  Crazy, and it was so beautiful!  While we were in the temple there was an earthquake! It was just a small one! haha but when it started my heart dropped... haha then I said a prayer quicker than I ever have and I just felt happiness.  (Weird feeling huh?) haha but I just felt safe because I was in the temple.  haha the earthquake was so small, but I just felt the safety of my Father in Heaven at that moment.  

Thursday we had a first lesson with this guy and he truly is "seeking for the truth".  Some people will meet with us because we are Americans or because we are "Shuai"  (Handsome)  ...haha their words not mine! ;)   So to see this guys desire to really learn about the gospel and what an importance it has in his life was amazing.  He is praying and continues to meet with us.  We followed up with him on Saturday and taught him the message of the restoration.  

Sunday was absolutely crazy. haha... we have church at 2 o'clock.  We get there and we are out front and this guy on his scooter just gets drilled by our investigator in his car.  We ran over and he was okay, but his hand was cut up and his helmet was cracked!  He drilled his head but was okay! We are just seeing so many wrecks lately!! But we had an investigator come to church who I think will get baptized this month.  Lets keep praying!!  

I love you all so much and am so grateful for all of you!!!  You are my greatest examples and feel so blessed for every memory that I have with each of you!!  I love you all and love this gospel!!  If there is anything that I can do to help you guys out here please let me know!  I pray for you all the time! 

Love,

Elder Redding