WEEK 72 TAIPEI: Is there anything better than serving the Lord?

I would say not. But I'm pretty biased. Also the proof is in the email! But this week has just been incredible! And you know why? Because the Lord is goooooood! 

Let's start with a quote "The only thing more dangerous that a stick is a bigger stick" 

It's a beautiful quote isn't it. 

So Monday I went to the hospital. Cause my face. But we made it there with like 2 minutes to spare and so it was a huge miracle we made it there in time. I should probably have left earlier. But that is okay! They looked at me and were like, oh yah you've got problems, here's some drugs, bye. 

And I was like, I just waited like 90 minutes and that's all you do? 

But yah so I went home after that and then did some LA tracking (less active members for those of you not all hip with the colloquial vernacular of missionaries, we also say white washed. Not doubled out, Some people) 

:) 

So the Tuesday that came after the Monday that I just talked about was really good. We went on exchanges and so I went up to mother of heaven (天母) with my friend Elder yang. 

We then had a lesson with a man who kinda just wants to practice his English and so we just wanted to share a little bit. But we weren't quite sure what to share because he is just an interesting guy. 

But as we were teaching him I saw on the back wall there were the lyrics to I am a child of God in Chinese. And so after he finished talking and we could share a little bit, I shared the lyrics with him and just testified of the truthfulness of a loving Father in heaven. And the spirit was so strong!!! And I was just so happy to be testifying with the spirit and just knew he was feeling it and being touched!

And he rejected it

And that was hard. 

But that's what we do in life. Our part. We don't control the agency of others, but we do control ours. We had a 14-year-old in our ward give an amazing talk on choices today and agency is just so powerful. People can't make us do anything, and that is so nice! Like someone can't make you mad, you can only choose to be mad from what someone did. And people who don't believe that are just willingly surrendering there ability to choose and just become a victim. It's so myopic and I'm so grateful for the plan of salvation to extend our view :) 

Before that lesson though I was hungry and so I wanted a snack. On our way to the snack place I passed a lady on the street waiting for the bus and was like "that's a Fillipena" and so I was like, cool, and kept walking. 

I bought my snack. 

And as I was walking back she was still there. 

So I walked past her and was on my way into the church when the Holy ghost was like, "I'm literally telling you to talk to her, you going to or what?" 

And I was like, oh yeah I should probably do that. So I was like, "where are you from?" 

She looked at me odd and said the Philippines. 

So I started to talk in my broken Tagalog and she was like no way and then I was like my friend is actually Filipino, let me get him contact with you so we get her contact information and texted her and it was so amazing and it was a great miracle and it made me so happy that I had listened to the spirit and talked to her and I love run-on sentences and wow just so great! 

Then we knocked into an LAs house and I played the piano for her. Pretty fun. 

I also had a mint Oreo for the first time in a year and a half. 

Wednesday we had zone Conference which is always just amazing! Learned a lot. Like always. So great. 

Then we did a chapel tour with this man who brought his girlfriend and that was so good! 

Then we had dinner with a member

Then talked to a taxi man

Thursday I decided to apply everything I learned in zone Conference and really study for my friends (which is really hard BTW) and it was so great and I got good lessons and stuff ready for them. 

And they all don't show up. 

Agency is an amazing thing :))))))))))))))

Then we had a member make us dinner and give it to us, it was way nice. 

Friday was a great day as most Fridays are because they're the day before the weekend! 

Oh wait we don't have those... 

A good day non the less. 

We ate really good noodles in my old area because we went to go finding there because we can do that. #no are boundaries#only office Elder would understand #swag 

Also we went the the dentist and they cleaned my teeth for a buck 50. Socialism ladies and gents. 

But it was terrifying because for the x-ray this woman ripped me away from my companion and led me downstairs. Outside. Into another building down the street. And then downstairs again!!!! 

I have never been more uncomfortable in my life. I mean I've had companions run away and stuff but being taken away from my companion to ANOTHER BUILDING???? It was terrifying. 

The dentist said I had good teeth though! 

I talked to a scary American guy on Saturday. He was scary. And American. Those two things seem to always go together when we talk to people on the street in Taiwan. 

Then we went to an random LAs house and we knocked on the door and a nun-clothed man answered. Thankfully he didn't open the door all the way. We asked if Jervin was home. He was like "oh wait a sec" 

Like 5 minutes later he comes back and opens the door (clothed this time) and we start talking with him. We ask if Jervin is there and he's like "uhhhhhh, that's my brother" 

Liar

That was my first thought 

So we talk to him for a while in Chinese, and we find out that he is from the Philippines, so I like motion for my companion to start speaking Tagalog. But he's dumb and keeps speaking Chinese. He thought he was kidding. 

But he really was from the Philippines. And so then they started speaking. He invited us in. 

And revels himself as JERVIN!!!! HE HAS NO BROTHER. 

He said he was just trying to Char us (joke) but he just was scared. 

So we just talked with him and he's had a rough life lately and has fallen away from the church, but you could tell that he knew that the things he had been doing were wrong. And so now we know he exists and we will try to help him! 

Then on our way home we were on a walkway. And there was a fence on the walkway. And we needed to be on the other side of the fence so that we could get to the bridge to take us home. 

And so we hoped the fence with our bikes all while trying to stay hidden from the cops. It was pretty stupid. But we wanted to go home lol. 

There's a video attached but I'm not sure how the quality is. It's probably me just scream whispering that the cops are going to find us. Oh well. 

Then Sunday!!!! 

Celine got baptized! I don't have anytime to go into her story and so I really won't but it was miracles all around. Praises to God. 

I also went to Choir practice for the first time. They said I have to keep coming back now. Oooooh noooooo. I guess I'll have to keep going I guess.... I'm just sooooooo sad about that you know..... Could there be anything more tragic then the ward saying that I HAVE to be there every Sunday..... 

:)) 

Then we had like 7 friends at church and three of them were new and two less Actives and a confirmation and we were trying to juggle it all and it was super hectic. 

But during the sacrament I was able to just focus into myself and my relationship with God and it was a very revelatory experience for me. I love the sacrament so much! 

Then we had a lesson. Then a lunch. Then a dinner. Then we did reports. And then we went home. And I was just so incredibly happy!!!!! I love being a missionary so much! There's so much happiness and Joy to be found if you do it right! And that is to do it God's way. And guess what, our lives are like that too! So amazing!!!! 

Anyways, I'm going to call it here. Running out of timeeeee

I love you all! 

Elder Baird

Oh also I forgot to stop the water at the baptism, and so it was literally a jacuzzi temperatures baptism. Like it was hot. 

At least it wasn't ice right? 

They should just install jets in the fonts... 

Something About Socks:

So in Come Follow Me we read Doctrine and Covenants 3-5. And chapter 4 is just great. And this is why I think there is nothing better than serving the Lord. 

Verse 4 states "he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul" 

God's work brings salvation to our soul. Could there be anything other than that? 

Nope :) 

Pictures! 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/f7DNai29VSeBJgxKA

Me and the painter boi

Zone

Zone

Preaching the word!

Meme

Baptism!

Asian parks

WEEK 71 TAIPEI: A week of looooooove

Hello

It's me

I was wondering if after all these weeks you would like to read.

An email.

Froooom me.

HEeELLOOo fROOMM TAIWAAAANAAAAAAAN

I MUST HaVE WroTE A LOt Of TIIIIIMEMEMEMSSSS

To tell you my liiiiife. And all the things that I'm doing.

BUt wheN I wriTE YoU never, seem to respond.

-_-

That was waaaaaaayy too much fun!

But I hope the message was clear :)))))

So let's move onto my email. Because that is the good times. Let's start on Monday. Because Monday is a special day it's the day that we do P day. And we played bowling! That was fun, I haven't played in a long while so that was way fun! I bowled 138 my first time so that was fun! Then we played 3 more games because it's soooo cheap to go here! Way fun. I eventually just started throwing them with a ton of curve cause it's fun but I hurt my hand. Whoops.

So then Tuesday came around and I had but some bananas and dragon fruit in the freezer so I could use them in my shakes. Learn wisdom. Don't put bananas or dragon fruit with peel on in your freezer. I couldn't peel them.

So after letting them thaw I peeled 40+ bananas Tuesday morning. Frozen bananas. Why does autocorrect correct both of these different bananas into the same thing. So odd.

It froze my fingers. Then I called a tooon of land lords about our apartments cause that is what I deal with. Fun times! Good District Council. We going haaaam.

Then Wednesday was MLC. So I translated and let me tell you folks, my Chinese has gotten a loooooot worse. That is kinda sad. But my translation skills are not what they used to be. But that is life I guess!

After I went to MLC I went on exchanges with Elder Pond and that was fiiiiiiiiire. We found 3 friends and it was sooooo cool! We had a super killer English Conversation Group thanks to Elder Pond and a healthy dose of the Holy Ghost. Pretty legendary.

Then we had a great "civics" discussion. Let me tell you. Pretty good. And that is all that we are going to say about that.

All in all a good day!

Then Thursday. What a great day! Personal study was super good. Learned about the bread of Life. I love bread. Then I had  a lesson with Brother Wang. This was one of the coolest experiences of my mission I have to say. He is an 0old man that doesn't have much in the way of money, health, sight, presence, room, or anything. I've never met someone like this before. But his love for God in the limited way that he is able was amazing to see.

Called a lot more contracts that night and it went so good. Then I tried to call a potential. And he didn't answer. So I said a prayer (cause he said he would meet with us) and I called him!!!!

And he didn't answer.

So much for prayers I guess....

So I prayed again.

And then I prayed again.

And then I Called him and he answered!!!! And I was able to teach him and to say a prayer with him and we got a new friend and it was awesome! I love the power of prayer! That's actually my goal recently. I have an alarm for every hour to say a prayer, and it is really helping me to always remember him which I am loving! Highly recommended. 10/10. 7/5 even.

Then Friday was 6 week follow up. More translation. Then our walls were inspected by a professional city dude.

Then we went street contacting on the way to an LAs house. I learned the importance of letting my words be guided by the spirit in my contacts. I contacted one guy and kinda just plowed through a contact how I wanted to. Shared the scripture I wanted. And didn't ask any inspired questions. And he was like "nah"

So we went on and I just felt so bad. I realized that I hadn't let the Holy Ghost do its job in the contact.

So I was like, well I better repent. So I contacted another guy and did my best to just follow the spirit and share a connecting scripture and ask inspired questions. And he was like "nah"

But I felt so much better! I was happy after being rejected, because I knew that he had made an educated decision, and that the spirit was there. And so that was really cool!

Wow my personal studies have been so good lately! Awesome! how are yours going recently? What had you learned in the past day from the scriptures. Tell me about it! I want to hear the inspiration you're getting and share mine with you in a more personal matter! So reach out!

Then Sunday. We had church. Good times. Got to take the sacrament so that makes everything great! Then we had a family history meeting with our RCs and that was super good! They are all so excited! Then a big Filipino lunch. Then we went to a members house for dinner and that was awesome! Love the Rose Family! Brother Rose is an IT worker for the state department and travels to work at embassy and stuff. Sounds like a life I could get behind!  (It's actually way cool to talk to someone doing what I'm looking into! What a great miracle of being in this ward! God is soooo Goooood!)

Anyways, I'm tired. So I'm going to end this here. I hope yall had a fantastic week and that you are finding peace in Christ. I know things are crazy right now. But your life doesn't need to be. We can be centered on Christ and that is amazing and brings the peace our lives need.

So yah. Focus on him. Not on the (insert catastrophe of choice here)

Love you!

Elder Baird

BREAKING NEWS:
There's a new way to hear all about Elder Baird time in Taiwan! No longer do you have to scroll back through all my emails during your daily "Have to read something that Elder Baird wrote" fix!

Thanks to the hard work and countless hours of a mother who is too nice there is now a new way!

https://elderspencerbaird.blogspot.com/

Click on the link above and you will be taken to an internet blogging platform that will have all my letters and pictures in one place! As well as added pictures and videos never before seen! So there you go! Invite all your friends as well! The more the merrier!

If you'd like to support the blog please send all your love in the form of a package to the address listed on the blog! 

Something about socks

What does it mean to love your enemies? What does it mean to forgive? What does this look life in normal human life? These are questions that have been pouring over my mind. Especially because of everything that is going on. There is so much hate and contention in the world and the states right now. And that scares me. And it terrifies me when I too feel some of these feelings.

I want to share the experience of one of our friends this week.

While we were meeting her we were reading in the scriptures. Somehow something lead her to start talking about her employers and people in the past who have treated her bad. And when I say treated her bad I mean like employers who would beat her when she messed up. She talked about how there were times where she would want to call the cops. But wouldn't. She talked about these hard times and how she just wanted to love them. Have that Christ like love.

And so in her prayer she just starts crying as she asks God to bless these people and to help them. And to forgive them. And she was just crying. And I was crying. I had never heard anyone prayer for their enemies before, and the humility and love from this sweet sister who isn't even a member of our church yet just made me weepy.

And I realized that she had tapped into the love that Christ has for each of us.

In John 8 we read of Jesus' miraculous forgiveness of the woman taken in adultery. He shows us that he loves us all and will pardon us even though we are sinners. And that as Christ shows mercy for us, we need to show that to others.

It reminds me of the bumper sticker that reads "don't judge me because my sins are different than yours" How much better would life be if we could live by this. If we could just not judge people for their beliefs. If we could love them even when they do stupid things.

And Jesus was not condoning the action. Not in the slightest. He told her that he was not passing judgment on her yet, that would be saved for the last days, but that she had time to repent. We cannot condone evil action. But can we at least try to not treat people with animosity?

The interesting thing of this story is that Jesus said that those with out sin could cast the stone. He thereby gave himself permission by this law to cast the stone. He was the only perfect one there, and is the only perfect one ever.

He is the only one who can cast the stone. And he could cast that at her. At you. And at me. At the person on social media. At that person you've never met. At anyone. Because we are all sinners.

But he doesn't. In his infinite grace and mercy he gives us time to repent and to love others. What would life be like if we tapped into that love? It would be amazing. But it starts with you. And it starts with a prayer pleading to our Heavenly Father, the God of this Earth and the universe, to give you some of that love. And to "pray unto the Father with all energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love"

I don't know. But I hope that you can do this. It will change your life. It's changed mine.

Pics 

Bowling proof

This is my best friend in the winter

MLC generation pic

This is Santa

Our nice "winter" day of 75

Starbucks stud

It was pretty hot... 

Cloud 9?

If you get it you're probably Roman.

MLC pic

Zone prayer... 

Selfie

Quality meme

WEEK 70 TAIPEI: Sometimes you just have to sloooooowwwww dooowwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Hey! Hey! Wouldn't it be great! Great. If we could just laaaaay doowwn. And wake up in slooowww town. 

Today! 

Is a good day. And here's why, because today you get an email from me, and we are going to be taking this one verrryy slowww. That's what I've learned this week. Sometimes we just need to slow down. And that is what we're gonna talk about! 

So Monday was super good. We went hiking with a member and it was just a solid time. We then spent the night redoing all the transfer calls because we had them all done on Sunday like good little office bois and then President changed them all so that was a great time and inspiration is real, so that is pretty cool! 

On Tuesday I was in a poopy mood, but I can't remember why. I'm looking at my journal as I write this and it is a super short entry and I do remember that something was up but I don't know what. Oh well. That is okay. 

But some Filipinos took us out to a super nice dinner! So that was awesome! 

Then on Wednesday I found my pen that I lost a week ago at a different church, so that was a miracle!!! Yay! Also I found some spinach thanks to the senior missionaries. Apparently it is hard to come by in this country. But now my shakes are off the charts! 

Then my companion and I drove two different cars at the same time. But we stayed in each other's mirrors so it was okay. And we rolled the windows down so we could hear each other. What a great experience I have being in the office. Who would have known. 

Then Elder Costales tried to order subway on the phone and it was soooo funny. Cause he was struggling to understand and say the right words. So eventually he just gave up and was like "Whatever, you guys just choose what to put on the sandwiches" and hung up. But we were ordering like 14 for a lunch tomorrow... And so I called them back and we got it all squared away, but it was really funny. It doesn't sound super funny now that I'm typing this, but I promise it was. So just laugh. 

Haha

Ha

H

Then Thursday. The day of slowing down. Or being forcibly reminded to slow down.

Biking Adventures X Hubris 

So....... There's no easy way to say this... But let's just say your Elder is not used to driving in Taiwan where they like to trick you. 

Yep. 

I got a speeding ticket. 

1800$

That was a rip. You don't get pulled over in Taiwan. You get a picture flashed and then you go to a 7-11 to pay your fine. Basically I was going 15 over. Which I never go. Especially in Taiwan. So both me an my companion (and he can attest that I don't speed cause he does and gets mad at me lol (he's gotten a ticket before)) 

But turns out that in Taiwan you can change the speed limit from 70 to 40 on the same road very very quickly. So yep. I got buzzed. 

That was a great reminder to slow down. 

Then there was the rest of the day. 

We had a new missionary come and so we did all the new missionary training stuff with them which is always a fun time! But as President was talking he mentioned how when he came back he got to see some people that he had taught that got baptized after he left and how happy that made him. And right then it hit me that I only had 30 weeks left. 

30 weeks and I was done as a missionary. 

And I just immediately started to get down. Because I didn't feel that I had been able to make a difference in anyone's life like President had. I didn't feel like I'd had a ton of success and now it was almost over. 

Now I know that I have done great things as a missionary and that 30 weeks is not 'almost over' but Satan really worked on me to get down on myself. 

And so I was just a lottle sad. Then we had a lesson where we read 1 Nephi 11 verse 6 where the Holy Ghost shouts "Hosannah" and for some reason I was immediately filled with the desire to shout Hosannah as well! I didn't cause we were in a lesson, but I wrote it down to remember it. 

Then I read in the Bible, John 4, where Jesus talks about how some are soers and some are reapers and that just made me feel off for some reason. 

But thankfully my companion and I were able to take a drive to deliver some bikes and we just talked about it and how we never truly know our influence for good. But if we follow the Holy Ghost and are humble in following, we will be blessed beyond anything that we could imagine. It was a great talk and I love my companion muchly! 

Afterwards we had a lesson with a man named Clint Clack. What a great name! But I had the opportunity to just testify about God and Jesus and I just realize that all I'm supposed to do here is to testify boldly of Christ. And so fulfilling that made me soooo happy! Even though he's not super interested it was a miracle lesson for me. 

And the day is not over yet! 

So what do a Hippy meditating Taiwanese person, a college dropout trying to find truth by thinking himself out of religion but who likes to read books and party at clubs till 3:30 in the morning, and a philosophy major from America that is now in Taiwan and skipping all his Chinese classes and thinks incredibly deeply about everything, have in common? 

Well, not their beliefs I can tell you that. 

But we somehow taught them all at the same time and let me tell you Ladies and Gents that was a trip! But it was one of the coolest lessons I have ever had before. 

When we started out with them we took some time looking at the beautiful art in the chapel which they all loved, so we took them to the second floor where the art is set up to teach about Joseph Smith and the first lesson. 

And as we started to teach the first lesson all three of them were sucked in and we entered this noise vacuum. Like it was weird. We would talk and teach as they looked at the pictures and they would just be completely silent and absorbed. When we stopped talking there was no noise. Like none. No background noise. And as we started teaching about the First vision and the reality of God as our Father the spirit was so strong bearing testimony to them that it was true and bearing testimony to me that I'm here to testify. And that I do need to slow down and be patient. Something that has always been hard for me in my mission. I've always just wanted super visible success. And Fast. But the spirit was teaching me the same principle that I had just learned from the flaky traffic laws of Taiwan. Slow down. 

After we finished the lesson we asked how they were feeling because they hadn't spoken. And they were all like "We have no clue how to take in what you just told us, this is unlike anything we've heard before." 

They all wanted a book of Mormon and to learn more! And they said that they would come to church! (spoiler, only one of them did, but that is okay!) 

It was just so great and it made me so happy to testify of Christ again! 

Thursday was a long day. 

Friday happened

Saturday we took some missionaries to the train station where we waved them goodbye. I never thought that as a missionary I would send other missionaries home. But I am now. It is an odd experience. Especially considering how one of them was my old companion. May Elder Zhao rest in peace. Brother Zhao is here now! 

Then a bunch of lessons in Tagalog. I'm learning how to pray, and I can read the scriptures pretty okayly so basically I'm illiterate. That's okay! 

Then I messed up on one of my new year's resolutions. 

So that sucked. 

But it gave me an opportunity to really just remember the importance of the Atonement in everything that we do. And that every day we need to get better and improve. If we only expect perfection then we will never be happy. 

Good lessons all around today. 

Sunday we had a goooood time! Great church. Great lessons. Great.... Weather? 

Oh yah on the weather, it's like freezing here. Like Super super cold. It was 9 degrees with 90% humidity the other day. Which is COLD! 

The man that we taught on Thursday is from Canada and he thinks it is cold. So it is cold. 

Hummmmm.....Don't really have anything else to say right now. Hopefully that is okay! And I've got stuff to do. 

So I love you all! 

Have a good week and give a high five to the next person you see after reading this line! 

Elder Baird

Something about socks:

So I've been recently trying to fix some broken code for one of the programs that we use at the office. And honestly it's felt like I'm beating my head against a brick wall. Which for any of you who have done that before, it is no fun. 

Just trying to remember everything that I've learned from the past and see how they have this set up which is in different language then what I've used before has been hard. 

However as I was looking at this I realized one thing. It was super complicated! 

No duh. That's why you couldn't figure it out Elder Baird. Egg head. 

No not that! As I looked at it I realized that whoever had written this had put two nested if statements that did the same thing and outputted a " " if the answer was true which was completely useless. And they'd done this for the whole thing! 

So I went through and deleted about half the code and it still worked! Whoever had done this had spent sooo much time typing a bunch of useless stuff and it had made it super hard to understand. 

But after I deleted all the excess stuff I was finally able to see where the real problem was. 

And it made me realize how important simplicity is in our lives. Not in just mortal life. But also our Gospel life. 

Recently I have really enjoyed learning more about the Bible and all of the different translations and looking back at the original Greek or Hebrew versions and seeing differences between them and our modern scriptures. 

I've enjoyed it! But in the end... It doesn't change the gospel. 

Small and simple things bring to pass great things. 

When we remove the clutter and get down to the basics, a lot of once important things fall away. And I just want everyone to kind of think about that :) what are you complicating? Find something in your life that you can simplify. And do it! 

BREAKING News (from a long time ago that I am just copy and pasting) :

There's a new way to hear all about Elder Baird time in Taiwan! No longer do you have to scroll back through all my emails during your daily "Have to read something that Elder Baird wrote" fix! 

Thanks to the hard work and countless hours of a mother who is too nice there is now a new way! 

https://elderspencerbaird.blogspot.com/

Click on the link above and you will be taken to an internet blogging platform that will have all my letters and pictures in one place! As well as added pictures and videos never before seen! So there you go! Invite all your friends as well! The more the merrier! 

If you'd like to support the blog please send all your love in the form of a package to the address listed on the blog! 

Pictures! 

Good lunch! 

Good dinner! 

The one on the left are people coming to Taiwan. Right are reassigned missionaries... 

Why? 

Don't know what's happening. But the Elders are doing something. 

Cool. Shrine thing 

Too bad the Gif didn't get me when I was fully extended... 

Dope

Saying good bye to two great missionaries 

We put allll the bikes in the van