Leaving Nanzi And My Friends...

  Hey everyone! 

  Today was a sad day. My time in Nanzi has drawn to a close and now I have been assigned to serve in another part of beautiful Taiwan. It's a place called Xihu and it is very small. Actually our area boundaries are some of the biggest in the mission, but the population here is....not very much. So now I am sitting in an internet cafe in the middle of nowhere haha. It's super cool though. I have usually served in the city or factory areas of Taiwan, and now it's my first time serving in a place out in the country. Actually my previous companion Elder Moore served here before and I've heard lots of stories of this place. One of which is that there are more dogs here than there are people. We will see... 

  But before I left Nanzi Elder Grisenti and I had some last few stories and miracles together.  We had planned to have a lesson with a guy that usually is always able to meet, and never cancels appointments. But then for some reason he didn't show up, and when we called him, he said that he had completely forgotten and that he couldn't meet with us. At first we were a little sad, because we had already had our other lessons for the day cancel on us too. But then about a minute or two after we finished talking with our friend, the church chapel phone rang. I answered and it was a women that really wanted to come to our church English class, but was always too intimidated to come. So she had decided to call our church and see what we were like. She asked if she could come over right then and tour our church. Before I could respond she said that she would come over right then, and then she hung up! I called up the Sister missionaries to come to the church to help her out. And then when she came the Sisters gave her a tour, and had a lesson with her right then. And now she is continuing to meet with the Sisters. If we wouldn't have had a cancelled lesson at the church, then that whole thing would've have happened.

   We also met up with our friend W... S... H.., and he is still awesome. He has started to read the Book of Mormon, and says that when he has questions, he goes and talks with one of his college professors who is a member as well. He has a really strong desire to change and set a baptismal goal for the 2nd of January. Unfortunately I won't be there to help him along the way, but I know that Elder Grisenti will continue to do a great job. He really is an amazing missionary. I'm really sad that we will no longer be working together.

   We also had a fun activity at the church. A member taught a little class on how to make handmade lotion, and chapstick. It was actually pretty cool to see how it was done. It looked far too complicated for me to do myself, but at least I have a little of the finished products to take with me and use! We also went and played basketball with A... one of the nights. It was a lot of fun. I hadn't played in a while, but it was still a lot of fun. It was a good last time together with A.... I really hope that he will continue to come to church and be able to work  out his concerns. He has a lot of desire, but I hope that his doubts and concerns don't get in the way of that progression!

   It was really sad to leave Nanzi. I was especially sad to leave Elder Grisenti and S.... They are both awesome. S... has really grown so much and is a great guy. I remember when I first met him, he was a little bit of a pessimistic guy and now he is super happy and I've seen that the knowledge of Jesus Christ and His gospel has really helped to change his perspective on life and the challenges that we face. It's super cool to see that change. Both him and Elder Grisenti went with me to the train station this morning, but we were running late and there were no time for "goodbyes". After riding the subway to the train station, I had to sprint with all my luggage to the platform, and made it onto the train literally one, or maybe two seconds before the doors closed!! It was too close! haha. But now I've made it to Xihu and my new companion is named Elder Williams. He's from all over the place.  He was born in New Zealand, and moved to Utah, and then to Samoa. He's a cool guy that just finished up his training here. So we should have a great time! Despite the challenges that we sometimes face, I love being a missionary, and I love all that we get to do! I'm looking forward to the new challenges and adventures that lay ahead here in Xihu!

I love you all lots!

Love,
Elder Stevens

I Will Miss These Great Friends