WEEK 20 --Transferred to Keelung

This week has been great but also kind of hard.

Last Monday i moved to Keelung 基隆。

This place is super cool. It's on the east coast. East of Taipei city. I hear it always rains here but the weather has been super nice. Later that day I remembered my backpack and we'll. I left it on the train. So rip. It was loaded. So we went back to the train station. They said to go to Taibei city. 

That's okay because Tuesday we went to Taibei for the temple. We did an endowment session. I truly love the temple. It's amazing. It truly is God's house. Anyways after we talked to the Taibei main station about my backpack. And they are going to send it on the train back to Keelung. So that's good!

Wednesday we had district council and English group. We ate a yummy hotpot with fire ice-cream. Hot pot is one of my favorites here in Taiwan. Anyways this English group was amazing. Because earlier in the week I was feeling down. But in English group I met a certain member. 徐姐妹 Sister Xu.

And guess what? She met my dad when he served in danshui. It was truly amazing. And it gave me the strength. And helped me remember why I'm out here. She speaks really good English. She lived in the states for about two years. And she went to many national parks. National parks are my favorite. They are so fun. Anyways this miracle was awesome. I'm so grateful I met her.

Thursday we went with this member to a neighborhood leader. They have people who serve over a neighborhood called li zhang 's. Anyways it was a crazy adventure. We had a lesson too. We read the Book of Mormon

Friday we some finding and stuff. I can't remember that well. Except we did get my backpack back. YAY!

Saturday we went with a member and visited a less active mom who is a member. She had her 2 sons with her. It went alright I think. We also found a New friend. So that was cool

Sunday we had stake conference I think. We did a little finding and found a friend. Idk if the lesson will happen. But oh well.

Today we are going to a Old street and a waterfall. It's called 十分shifen. 

Anyways I love you guys and hope you all have a good week. 

I want to share today about the Book of Mormon. 

Before my mission I literally never read the Book of Mormon. But now on my mission I read it every day. And I know it's true and it contains the full gospel. 

I'm grateful for my parents who spent countless hours nurturing us and helping us grow up in a great environment.

I love you Mom and Dad. 

And I love my Savior Jesus Christ. Because of him we can live as a family together forever. And I know his plan for us.

愛你們❤️，

Max Clegg 

WEEK 19 -- Happy New Year

 

hello guys!

Its the new year so Happy New Year.

Last Monday we hung out at the church with some other missionaries and played bored games. I learned how to play a new fun board game called Catan.

We then had dinner with a mom a dad their daughter and son. it was fun, we had pasta.

Tuesday we went to the mission office for interviews. we were at the mission office longer than we planned because they were behind schedule. That's fine though we got to chill with the other missionaries which was good. 

Wednesday we had a English Service with a friend then they brought two others with them and it was at the church. After we taught them about the difference between us and other churches. We also found a New friend.

That night we had English group and we talked about the Earthquake in Japan.

Thursday morning we had a lesson and we taught him the plan of salvation. he thinks its good but he doesn't really believe right or wrong. so yeah.

We then taught our homie Kevin. this is the first time we met him because he goes to the hospital more than once a day. He's really cool though. He likes videogames and also drives a sick motorcycle

Friday we went across the river to ShuLin. we had dinner with two members. then after with one of the members we went to a less active member and taught the plan of salvation. the less active member is really good at painting. His paintings are beautiful. We then got home and looked at the transfer boards.

I'm transferring the Keelung which is east of Taipei by the ocean. when we got home i started feeling really tired. I guess I got sick.

Saturday I was feeling sick so we didn't do much. but the zone leaders came over and they did an exchange for the night while i just stayed home with one of the ZL's. because they said it would be better not to get someone sick. Then I took a well needed nap. At first i didn't think I was tired but I went 'out like a light'. As Travis Scott would say. we then had board games. I learned a new game called Machi Koro(i think it was spelled). So that was fun.

Sunday I was still feeling sick. but we went to church and I said my goodbye testimony and said bye to all the people. A lot of the members I am going to miss because they are so awesome. I'm grateful i could come here.

today I'm transferring to Keelung. North East of Taiwan. So it's exciting but also scary. 

Since starting my mission I really came to realize who Jesus Christ is. I'm so grateful for him and all he does for me.

I'm grateful for my family and all the friends I've made. And the friends I've made in Taiwan so far

I know God lives

Love you all,

Max Clegg

Week 18 -- HAPPY NEW YEAR

It is the new year here, I have been out on my mission for 6 months since December 26th.

This week has been pretty good I would say. 

We have been doing English and a 10 minute lesson for our English services. We have found some high potential friends.

On Wednesdays we had English group but the sisters were sick. So we combined the advanced with intermediate and my comp taught that.

I was in the parent and kid one. We played some games and learned some new things. It was really fun actually.

Thursday we had some more lessons/English. Some finding and stuff. Than that night we started our exchanges. 

Friday was alright. We went and talked to this guy named sonic. Last time he invited us into his home which was really cool. This time we were at a coffee shop. He bought us hot chocolate. It was dark chocolate so kinda trash. But still really good. People are so nice here. They always want to buy you stuff. 

One of our zone goals is to invite someone to baptism each day. So out exchange goal was 2 invites. We did it, But it's such a troll lol. That day I bought a Pokémon card pack too! Got good stuff🥰.

Saturday was pretty packed. We played badminton with a friend and her son. Her name is Elisa. She is so funny. And likes to make fun of us. 

We then played volleyball with some members and non members. It was really fun. Volleyball is super fun. We then had board games activity. It was good aswel. 

Sunday. This Sunday was one of my favorites. First we had church and we had a non member who after church we taught about why our church is different. He believes religions all have some truth but is trying to understand.

If he has even a tiny desire to find out truth. He sure will find it. 

I love how if we really humble ourselves we can find out the truth of all things.

We then had a English/lesson with Vincent. We talked about movies TV shows and anime's. Then we shared about the Plan of Salvation. My personal favorite.

Then we had a member visit where we are teaching a less active member the lessons. And we have a member there that joined in. 

After that we went to a members house for dinner. He is my favorite member. He is so sick. He also has the cutest kids in the world. We ate dinner with them and some other members and friends. So that was really awesome. It was fun to be over there and visit and eat dinner.

There has been a few moments this week where I feel out of it. And not that good. 

But I know if I keep trying. I will find something I'm missing. I'm not sure what Heavenly Father wants me to learn out here yet. 

One thing I do realize now that I didn't before my mission is Jesus Christ and His Atonement. Its because of Him that I get to come here to this earth and learn and grow. Build relationships, and experience joy. Receive our bodies and our personalities. And all the blessings we receive.

I'm so grateful for hobbies, friends, relationships, families, Plan of Salvation, and most importantly my Savior Jesus Christ. I know he loves you perfectly. He loves me perfectly. He knows us each individually. I know He lives, He loves you

Sincerely,

Max clegg 余長老❤️

WEEK 17 -- MERRY CHRISTMAS

This week was pretty good. It's Christmas week so that's awesome.

Last Monday we didn’t really do anything. We looked at a pet store which is always fun to look at. Then we ended up hanging out with some other missionaries playing games. It was alright.

Tuesday we had English with this older lady named Elisa. She is pretty funny. But she roasted me. She said I don't have any muscle and am weak. 

I'm always getting roasted by all the people here. It's so funny.

We had a pass of lesson after dc with a pretty cool guy I found on Facebook.

Wednesday we talked to this mom during another English/lesson. And she can make really good sculptures out of clay and she also likes skiing. She went to Japan skiing a couple times.

We then had English group. It was alright 

Thursday was our zone conference. It was really cool. I liked it a lot. I heard some good testimonies from the missionaries leaving. And some cool stories. For lunch we had a Jesus time period meal. All the things from his time period. What they ate. And we sat on the ground on mats. And it was really cool. 

Later we went to someone's little room thingy and tried to teach a lesson but it didn't happen because the guy just talked too much.

I feel like missionary work never ever goes as planned lol.

Friday we found two friends

And we had dinner with the sister of my favorite member brother wang. And with another member. 

We went to an all you can eat place where you cook meat on a grill sheet. So we ate some good meat.

We then had to leave early because a guy that we were going to have a lesson with Arrived early. Then he left in two minutes. Another part to "missionary work never goes as planned".

So we returned to the member visit and finished off with ice cream.

Saturday was cool. We had a long bike ride in the rain at night across our area. All the way to the other side for a member visit and a planned visit. Ee sang silent night to the less active member then to a former. The former is a different church. We then rode back. It was cool to be in the country side instead of the city for a little bit.

Sunday we had an hour church just like how it is in America. It was Christmas eve so we went to a Christmas concert held by our mission. After we did some caroling. We walked around with missionaries and members singing songs. It was super fun. We then hurried home.

Now it's Christmas for us here. So merry Christmas for you guys. 

I know our Savior Jesus Christ was born. And that he suffered and felt everyone we've ever felt. He knows us completely and loves you completely 

愛你們，

Max Clegg 

Week 16 Tucheng

 This week has been really good. And pretty miracle filled. And just overall really fun.

Monday we went hiking. It was really cool and beautiful. We went with a member and His daughter. This member is really cool, he is one of my favorite. His daughter is like 4 years old and we went down the mountain a different way then we came up. It's a spot where you have to hold onto a rope and lower yourself down the rocks. So the member was connected to his daughter with a rope and then they went down. It was crazy. The hike was super fun and the weather that day was kind of hot.

Tuesday we had district council and we contacted some people. We then went to a 7 and we had an English service. With this guy named Alexis and his wife. It was good to talk to them. I can't remember what else. Probably studies and some street contacting.

Wednesday we did personal study first. Personal study is always the best. You get a break from everything and just get to learn. 

That night we had English group. And we had 19 new people come and 29 people in total. We split the class into three groups. And the sisters came and they invited a whole family of 6 and they are going to come to church and want to pray. This is so awesome and could be amazing. It was all really good.

Thursday we exchanged in the morning. I went with Elder Chao. He is a native. So that was nice to practice my Chinese some more. He did speak English pretty well though. 

We did some finding and had a chat with a guy who wanted to talk from Facebook. So we basically taught him the plan of salvation. It could have some potential. During finding there was this kind of weird guy. Who when you didn't look at him he would whisper really quietly a bunch of weird things. It was scary and i got the chills.

We also had some lessons that night as well.

The apartment I went to was a four man. And the other two went home Saturday morning. It was good to be with them before they go home. They are both really cool. And I'm good friends with one of them.

Friday we switched back and had an English service with this guy name sonic. He was so cool. He invited us to his home. It was so cool. He has a bunch of plants in all his windows balcony things. He also had two fish tanks. And he had two turtles. A small one and a big one. Both in different tanks. They also had a frog. He has 3 kids.

Its always so sad to hear people talk about Taiwan. And that they just want to make it out. Taiwan is really hard work. School is super long. And they work long hours.

But he is planning to get a stingray in his home someday.

We also went to the temple for an endowment session. It was really awesome. President Yang and Sister Yang, the mission presidents, joined us. It was really refreshing. We then said goodbye to the missionaries leaving and grabbed our Christmas packages and went back to our area.

We then had some phone calls with people. 

Saturday we had an English service with tony. We've been teaching our English people how to pray. And lately through English we've gotten a lot of new friends technically. We then had our Christmas ward activity. It was so awesome. We had food and the ward performed the nativity. And the kids played some games. We had that family with 5 kids come so that was really good.

Sunday we had some lessons that didn't happen sadly. But Sunday was really nice. And we watched the first presidency Christmas devotional for the last hour. After that we ate left over food from the Christmas party for lunch together that's one thing I really liked. The members are all really close and super fun and nice. Sunday was awesome. 

That was basically all we did. This week has been really awesome. 

One of my favorite scriptures I read this week is

John 3:17 "16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

God truly loves us and sent Jesus so we can make it back to him. And live forever in endless happiness. I'm not sure what eternal happiness would feel like. But it gives me hope. 

We also can live forever with our families because of Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful to share that with people in Taiwan 

愛你們，

Elder Clegg

WEEK 15: Christmas Concert

 

Hello Everyone!

This week was pretty good but we don't really have any friends right now. But we are starting to teach some next week that seem promising.

Last Monday we went to a place called Mega City. Just a big mall. We were gonna go hiking but rain cancels everything here. It's super weird lol. The mall was super cool and downstairs they had a food court and it was really cool looking.

Tuesday we went down south to Sanxia and had district council. And also helped someone who wants to take the English test here in Taiwan. The best advice was to just read. My Dad said if you want to be smart reading helps. I agree. It helps with a lot of stuff. Too bad I never liked reading. I do a little more now.

Wednesday we had English group and it went well. We had like 7 new ppl come. We expect a lot this week. Because we had a lot of people fill out a form to join. So we expect a ton of people. We then called some formers. And that was that.

Thursday we went across the river to the other side of our area and we had dinner with a member there and we then prepared a less active member birthday cards and a little treat. We went over to his house together to deliver and sing happy birthday. The guy is really freaking good at painting too.

Friday we basically messaged and called people to English group because of that post that blew up a lot of the day. So it was kind of boring.

Saturday was crazy fun and cool. We did studies then finished up the English contacts. We then took the MRT train to the chapel right by the temple for the Christmas concert. We got their early and got on our Santa hats! We were the ushers and basically stood at the door. Eventually once most the stragglers got in we sat down. It was so Awesome. It really was beautiful and truly was filled with Christmas spirit. It was good to listen to and really good for non members to get to know the church better. It was really awesome!

Sunday we had a member lunch so that was pretty cool! And also taking the sacrament is good as always.

 Anyways this week was good. And I'm grateful to be in Taiwan for Christmas.

I'm so grateful for all the blessings I have. I hope everyone has a good week.

One thing I want to share is I know we are all Heavenly Father's children and he loves us.

Love yall 

Max Clegg

WEEK 14 -A Rat that a Cat Bit.

This week has been super sick. Lots of stuff happened if I remember correctly.

Tuesday we met this guy named Alex and his wife. We talked with them and helped them practice their English. They both have good English. That was pretty fun actually. 

Wednesday we did some finding in the morning. I can't remember how it went. Always when we start finding I'm pretty nervous because I'm not sure what to say or how to share the gospel as well. But once I say a prayer and I start with a person it gets easier and easier then the next day hard again. 

But I know prayer works!

We also had English group that night. I lead the advanced class usually. That went really well. Although there was this one guy. He truly is a character.

Thursday we traveled to a guy who is a little less active but he came to church the prior Sunday and we set this up with him. His name is Guenter. Like the penguin from adventure time. Lol. He has severe mental problems the ward said. I always feel bad. He is really smart too. Also I can feel God's love for him easier. 

We had two teachings that day. And we called some formers as well.

Friday we had zone council then after we went and all got McDonalds. It was very yum yum. On the way back. Elder Wang found a rat that a cat bit. And it was basically dying. He picked it up and held it. Putting it in his pocket. Wang is a goober lol. So I had to snap a picture with it. Wang also has perfect English and a mainland China accent. Which I find funny😁. 

We went to the other side of the river of our area and we did a decent amount of street finding. At first I was again scared but after a prayer and a first start of conversation it got easier and a little easier. Idk why it's always so scary. But I had a lot of good conversations with people!

Saturday we did some service in the morning. We helped clean the house of a deceased member. Their house was a mess. But it was so satisfying from garbage and bugs and cockroaches and rat poop to empty rooms and floors cleaned of debris. We called the small bugs 小朋友's(xiao peng you) and the cockroaches 大朋友's(da peng you). Small friends and big friends. It was a good service. 

We then came home showered. And did our studies then went to dinner with members. It was cool. At the restaurant they just bring it plates and put it on a big turning circle thingy. That's how they eat in Taiwan. Make lots of random thing then you grab what you want. 

We then hurried and set up board games then after that home and sleepy time.

Sunday was fast Sunday. We shared are testimonies which is always fun but little scary. We helped set up a Christmas tree. Then that night had a member visit. They invited some other members as well. It was some fun times.

I want to share something I heard in a conference talk it was this:

Though we are incomplete, God Loves us completely.

Though we are imperfect, God loves us perfectly.

Also that love is what heals Relationships and our souls

Elder Dieter F Uchtdorf said 

"Heavenly Father’s love for His children is the core message of the plan of happiness, which plan is made active through the Atonement of Jesus Christ—the greatest expression of love the world has ever known."

I love you guys all and I know that God loves His children perfectly. Imperfections and all. The plan of happiness is real. He just wants what's best for us, and knows what's best for us as well.

Love you all!

Max Clegg ❤️