FamilyMart Miracles, Pokemon GO Taking Over the World, and More Miracles

大家好。

This week has just been loaded with so many miracles! It has been super awesome to see how the Lord will bless us in different ways. And we have been able to see His hand in everything we've done. 

So, first off, this last week we decided to try something a little different. Instead of just going outside and contacting people, we decided that we were going to go into FamilyMarts and 7-11's and try and sit and talk to people there, because they are always so busy. So, on Tuesday morning, right out the door, we headed over to the nearest FamilyMart, like 2 minutes from our house. We said a prayer, and before we had even gotten into the store, we talked to this young 15 year old kid outside the store smoking. He said that we could talk to him for a bit, so we went inside and shared about God and His relationship with him. He himself was not very religious. He is just a rebellious teenager looking for his place in the world I suppose. He was touched by what we'd shared and he said that we could meet with him again. We scheduled a time and then he went on his way. Elder Clayson and I were amazed at the miracle we'd just seen. The first person we talk to at this FamilyMart was willing to come and learn more. We prayed and thanked God for His blessing to us. Well, the miracles didn't stop there. The next day, we decided to hit up the same FamilyMart at the same time. This time, we actually made it into the store. We asked to sit next to this young guy who was sitting by himself and he agreed. He started asking us questions about America and stuff and we asked about his work and stuff. Apparently the guy designs apps for a living, which is kind of cool. But, the conversation naturally lead up to him asking about our beliefs and things and we shared with him about prayer and how we can use it to communicate with God. He thought that was pretty 不錯, and he also agreed to meet with us another day! So, that was incredible. Two days in a row, at the same time, at the same store, we were able to find people who were willing to learn about the Restored Gospel. What a huge blessing and testimony to me of God preparing people daily. (I guess you may want to know what happened to them afterward. The 15 year old kid ended up giving into peer pressure because his friends were teasing him about meeting with missionaries, so he said we probably won't meet again. We were crushed, but we know that we have planted a seed that will indeed grow. And the other guy has just been really busy up in 台北 this past week, so he hasn't been able to meet. But he is still willing and he should also be able to come to church next week as well, so that's awesome.)

Well, on a lighter note, Pokemon Go is taking over the whole world right now. Everywhere we go, there are people walking with there cellphones out looking for Pokemon. It is ridiculous! Even better though are the parks. There is a huge park in the other Elders' area, and there are TONS of people gathered in groups just waiting to catch Pokemon. We decided to do English proselyting there one day and we talked to tons of people. But yeah, this game is no joke. I heard from another Elder that there have been something like 12,000 deaths as a result of playing Pokemon! And I could understand why, there are literally people we've seen who when they are driving or riding their scooters that will swerve over to the side of the road without warning to catch a nearby Pokemon. It is like the saddest thing I've ever seen! So, a friendly tip to my friends and family who may be playing Pokemon Go back home, DON'T BE STUPID! Don't catch and drive. That is all. But yeah, it definitely makes for some cool proselyting because it is bringing more people out of their homes. So who knows, this could become an effective tool in the work of the Lord.

Lastly, MORE MIRACLES! So, recently, we have been meeting with an awesome woman named 石姐妹. She is a single mother living with her one son. She has been meeting with us with hopes of us being able to help her son. Well, for weeks, the son has denied the invitation to come and meet with us. And just this last week, we finally got the chance. What we were expecting was not what we got. 石姐妹 had always talked about her son being very depressed and having no desires or goals in life, so that's what we were expecting. But what we got was a very normal 15-year old guy who loves the NBA and playing the piano. He is really interested in what we have to say and we are meeting with him regularly. He and his mother came to church this last Sunday for the first time, and they loved it! The members did a fantastic job of 關心ing them and making them feel welcome. But that's not the only miracle we saw on Sunday, we also had 5 other investigators come to church! That is a record for me. Elder Clayson and I were rushing around trying to make sure everybody was doing ok and that no one was being left out or left behind. It was one of the most tiring Sunday's I've had in my life! But it was so so rewarding! And then we are also working with a bunch of other awesome people too. One of which is a 19 year old college student who repairs F-16 fighter jets and Apache helicopters!!!!! WHAT!?!?!? Yeah, he is super dope. He is pretty busy, but he is super smart and super willing to learn. He loves the Gospel so far and he is doing everything he can to find out if it's true. So, score! 

Anyways, the point I'm trying to make is that the Lord is blessing us at every turn. We are working hard to give everything we've got to the Lord, and He is blessing us because of it. I am so grateful I have the chance to serve him here in Taiwan. These past two years have given me so many experiences that I will never forget. I've changed, and I continue to change on a daily basis. I love the work and I love representing the Lord here in JiaYi. Life is good.

Well, I love you guys so much! Sorry, no new pictures this week.🙄 But there is a video from our English class that I'll include. Anyways, I'm doing great and I hope that you are too! Love you and I'll talk to you very soon!

From Taiwan with love,

Elder Chase Joseph Millett

雷龘鬱長老

My First MLC (And with Two Members of the Seventy!), Taiwan Youth Conference, Translating is Hard

大家好！

Wow, this week was pretty nuts! Meaning that I am just so tired. We had all kinds of activities and meetings that it made me dizzy! But I'm doing great! It's kind of fun. I'm still loving Jiayi, and the work here is still going strong!

Well, this last week, we had a special meeting with Elder David F. Evans of the Seventy up in Taichung. All of the Taichung Zones, and the ZhongXing Zone got to attend, as well as all of the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders. We talked mostly about focusing on the Doctrinal Purpose of Missionary Work. We talked about using time wisely and really putting the most important things first. Throughout the world, missionaries are putting the focus on "Teaching Repentance, and Baptizing Converts." And Elder Evans really brought that into a new light for us. It was such an incredible meeting. Here is our email from President Teh this week that I feel really sums up everything we talked about:

"Dear Elders and Sisters,

This past week we have been blessed by a brief visit of Elder David F. Evans of the Seventy and a member of the Asia Area Presidency. He reminded us of Elder Dallin H. Oaks' encouragement to all missionaries in the January 2016 broadcast to all missionaries:

“Now that we are past the extraordinary expenditures of time necessary to accommodate large variations in the numbers of missionaries we have experienced over the last two years, including the increased numbers of sister missionaries, we are now able to improve our focus on teaching repentance and baptizing converts. That is the doctrinal purpose of missionary work: teaching repentance and baptizing converts to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We, of course, continue to recognize the importance of helping every missionary become more fully converted unto the Lord and of assisting priesthood and auxiliary leaders in the work of rescuing less active members. We are not reducing our emphasis on these vital aspects of the work of salvation, but these worthwhile endeavors MUST NOT DIVERT US from the fundamental duty we have to teach repentance and baptize converts.” Elder Dallin H. Oaks – January 5, 2016
「過去這兩年，我們因應傳教士人數的大幅變化，包括傳教士姊妹人數的增加，而投注了可觀的時間，現在，我們能進一步將重點放在教導悔改和為歸信者施洗。傳道事工在教義上的目的在於教導悔改，為歸信耶穌基督福音的人施洗。當然，我們會繼續重視：幫助每位傳教士更歸信主，並協助聖職及輔助組織領袖援助較不活躍成員。我們不會減少對救恩事工這些重要層面的強調，但切不可因為這些值得去做的事，而偏離我們的基本職責，即教導悔改和為歸信者施洗。」達林‧鄔克司長老—2016年1月5日

Elder Evans invited each of us to review all the activities we engage in as individuals, companionship, district, zone, and as a mission. Identify which ones are vital and which ones are not. We have been invited to reduce or eliminate activities that may be good, but distract us from performing our fundamental duty to Teach Repentance and Baptize Converts. I echo that invitation. 

During the coming months we will be talking more about this invitation. I believe that if we begin now to prayerfully consider the things that we do or the activities that we engage in, God will inspire and bless us.


We love you all very much,

President and Sister Teh"

What powerful counsel from the Lord's appointed leaders. Anyways, after we had this big meeting, we were invited to stay behind (we, meaning ZL's and STL's) for a special MLC with President Teh and Elder Evans. We discussed a lot of things that we do in the mission, as well as some things that maybe do not directly relate to our purpose of Teaching Repentance and Baptizing Converts. I can't say, but there may be some big changes coming to the mission soon. MLC is kind of an intense environment! Here you have a group of experienced missionaries, counseling together with the Mission President, (who himself is a Seventy) and Elder Evans, another member of the Seventy. I was so spiritually drained after that meeting. But it really is neat to be a part of the decision making process here in the mission. It really does come by divine revelation and you can feel the amount of dedication that is needed to make some of these decisions. It is a rather unique opportunity. Elder Clayson told me that it's not usually as intense as it was this last time, so that makes me feel better! Haha.

Well, nextly, this last week we had the Taiwan Youth Conference in our Zone. All of the youth of Taiwan came to a college in our Zone for 3 days of fun and spiritually uplifting experiences. The Jiayi and Tainan Zones were asked to participate in the event. We were to perform a musical number, the EFY Medly in Chinese for a crowd of about 800 youth, while dressed as the Army of Helaman. It was pretty intense. What we didn't know until later, was that David Archuleta was going to be singing that number with us! Yeah, a lady in our mission is a family friend of the Archuleta's, and she managed to get him over here to Taiwan for a week or two. He got to come and perform for the youth here and that was super awesome. So yeah, I can now say that I've had the opportunity to sing with David Archuleta on stage! That was pretty fun. The youth went nuts when he came out. Anyways, the musical number was so powerful, probably one of the most spiritual experiences on my mission. I was standing there facing the youth of Taiwan, while we all sang "We are as the Army of Helaman. We have been taught in our youth. And we will be the Lord's missionaries, to bring the world His truth," in a foreign tongue. We were almost 1000 voices strong, and I've no doubt that the sound reached as a testimony to Heaven of the determination of these youth to go out and serve the Lord. It was super super neat. I will remember that experience forever.

Well, this last week, I also had a couple of opportunities to try translating! That is really hard. The first was actually at the youth conference. I had a chance to talk with David, who speaks no Chinese, for a couple of minutes with one of our Senior Missionaries, who spoke no English. So, I would translate Elder Chen's Chinese into English for David, while I would translate David's English into Chinese for Elder Chen. Kind of weird going back and forth between the two, but it worked out ok. And it was only for like 3 minutes or so. Just idle chat. But the crazier part was what happened on Sunday. So, we were standing in the hallway waiting for our investigators to show up when President Teh walks into the chapel. He told us he would be attending our meetings that day, and we were like, "Ok, cool." Well, we got to Gospel Principles class and he asked if one of us could translate the class into English for them, since their Chinese isn't that great yet. I agreed to do it, so I spent all of Sunday School sitting in between the Mission President and his Wife trying to translate a lot of very fast Chinese into very basic English! I don't think I've ever been so tired after church in my life!!! But it was fun. And then I also translated for President again during Priesthood meeting, so that also fun. Got to have a little one-on-one bro-down with the Mission President, something that doesn't happen very often. I love President Teh though. He is such a genuine, loving guy and he is just excited to be here. I love talking to him and wish that I had more time left to work with him more. He is a great mission president and will do great things in his time here.

Well, that about sums up the week. Lots of fun stuff. The work is going super duper well. We are working with some really cool people right now. And this week should be even more awesome because we don't have to spend as much time out of the area and in meetings and such. So we are going to go hard this week. And we are expecting miracles!!! Anyways, I love you guys so much and I will talk to you soon!

Sincerely,

Elder Chase Joseph Millett

雷龘鬱長老

Here are some beautiful pictures of the Taipei Taiwan Temple

These geckos are everywhere, and they make a really fun sound

Some Missionaries bearing testimony to the youth

First Week in 嘉義, 應許地, Loving Every Second!

大家好。

Sorry for the late update again. I emailed for about an hour this morning, mostly just talking to family and stuff, so I am just getting my weekly out now. But, hopefully it's still pretty good.

Well, this last week, or my first week back in JiaYi has been incredible. I LOVE THIS PLACE! We saw so so many miracles last week. One of the miracles that we saw was that we were able to hit most of the mission standards, which are (2 Investigators with a Baptismal Date, 2 Investigators at Sacrament Meeting, and 3 New Investigators.) We were able to drop in 2 baptismal goals with some GOLDEN, no, PLATINUM people. One of the guys is named Tu 弟兄. He is super cool. He is studying at the University here in Jiayi to become a veterinarian. The guy loves animals! But he is super ready for the Gospel, and is excited every time we give him a new invitation. AH! So awesome!

That is only one of the many miracles that we have seen this past week here. But it really is another sign to me that JiaYi really is Taiwan's 應許地 (Ying Xu Di), or Promised land. I have had a special connection to this place since I got here. Having traveled every week to the JiaYi chapel when I was in training for our DTM's and such, I became somewhat familiar with the city. And now actually being one of the shepherds of this area is a huge blessing and privilege for me. Even just this past week, I started thinking about the circumstance that I'm in. I got sent back to the same zone, and what was before, my same district as my first area. I'm companions with an Elder whom I became good friends with back in DongHai. The area just became a stake close to a month ago now, so the work is booming here, and everyone is excited to help. And I am at the prime of my mission. The Chinese is ok. I'm used to the life and culture. I feel like everything was leading up to this point in time. I really feel that it is one of the tender mercies of the Lord sending me back here. I do love this place!

As far as being a ZL goes, it has it's ups and downs. One of the upsides is that I get to be with a companion who is also pretty experienced. We both know what has to go down and it makes things smooth. One of the downsides is that we make a TON of phone calls, especially this last week, forwarding messages from President and the Assistants and so forth to the other missionaries. There was one night that we didn't really get to bed until like 10:40 because we are trying to help prepare this youth conference and stuff. But it's all good. I'm having fun, and I'm getting used to it already. But really, it's no different that being a regular missionary. We still go out and work just as hard as every one else. We still have meetings and lessons with investigators and members just like every one else. So it is a pretty exciting time. I'm doing great. The work is great. And I just love being a missionary! And I love all of you too! Can't wait to hear from ya! See ya'll soon!

Sincerely,

Elder Chase Joseph Millett

雷龘鬱長老

We got asked to present an introduction to our church in a cram school in our secondary area. We taught them how to sing "I am a Child of God" and we taught them stories about Jesus. It was super fun! Haven't taught a group of 20+ kids age 7-12 the Gospel before. Kind of a change of pace.

We biked around this super super cool lake with a member today. It was pretty cloudy. This was like 1:30 in the afternoon!

What is my favorite part of being a missionary?

"I just love the people of Taiwan. It really has become my second home, and I'm sure that I will be back here more than once. I love the service that I get to provide. But mostly, I love the chance to give 100% of my time to Christ. I have changed more in these two years than in any other time of my life. There have been hard times, and wonderful times. But it has all been so worth it. Every day, I get to see people open their eyes to the truth. I get to see people get filled with the light of Christ. I have seen miracles, some small, and some great. And I am a totally different person because of it. It is so awesome! And soon Tyler, and maybe someday, you, will have a chance to have the same experience."

Dear Brother and Sister Millett ,

I am pleased to inform you that your son, Elder Chase Joseph Millett 雷, has been called to serve as Zone Leader in the Taiwan Taichung Mission.

Only the most experienced, obedient and energetic Elders are called to be Zone Leaders. Zone Leaders not only must set an unwavering example, but also spend much of their time training and motivating other missionaries in their zone. He will supervise several districts and be a source of counsel and advice for the missionaries in his zone. I am confident your son will fulfill these duties with the utmost diligence.

Please, continue to encourage your son to reach out in excellence as he serves the Lord in this new calling. You can be proud of him and his efforts. He is certainly living up to the trust the Lord has placed in him as he serves here in the Taiwan Taichung Mission.

Sincerely,

  

President Michael John U. Teh
Taiwan Taichung Mission

Here We Are, Ending Where I Started, Saying Goodbye to DongYing and Elder Sagastegui

大家好.

First Off, I'd like to apologize to anyone who was caused some distress by my not emailing last week. We got back really late from the amusement park, about an hour later than anticipated, so our email time was cut pretty short. I would've loved to email you guys, but I was trying to get everything done like numbers and stuff as well, so there wasn't too much time to make things happen. Sorry. 

Well, this last week has been pretty insane. We were kind of caught off guard actually. So, to start off, after that crazy p-day adventure, our two progressing investigators, Ashley and Vicky, both dropped us like a sack of potatoes. Ashley explained that her dad was extremely against her coming into contact with Christian beliefs, so she said that she would not be able to meet anymore.  But she did get permission to come to English class, so they will be able to keep seeing them there. I'll explain what I mean by "they" in a second. Secondly, we had our ZTM (Zone Training Meeting) on Thursday, and I found out that day that the P90X videos can no longer be used for exercise. Well, there goes my daily workout! I don't know what to do without Tony Horton! Haha, that's ok. I can still use the P90X workout book to do the workouts, just not the videos. Wednesday night was our English party, and that was crazy. Everything from a wallet disappearing to kids throwing apples happened that night. ...Needless to say, I was dead tired! Lastly, on Thursday, we found out that Elder Christiansen, an Elder in one of the other wards in our chapel, was going to be training this next transfer, so we were asked if we could have his old companion stay with us for a couple of days. We agreed and Elder Hongvilai, from Thailand, was our companion for 3 days. Well, the day we picked him up, that Friday, we got a call from the Assistants telling us that the DongYing Elders apartment was going to be closed and that Elder Sagastegui and I would BOTH be moving! We were both shocked to say the least. But we were informed that we had to get the apartment like super clean before we left so that it was ready when they move Elders back in there in a few weeks (like a transfer or two). So, we spent a lot of time cleaning and organizing the apartment, prepping it for temporary closing. Well, the next day, Saturday morning, I got a call from President Teh. He asked if I would be willing to serve as a Zone Leader, to which I think I gave an audible gasp. After talking with him, I agreed to. And he told me that I would be serving in.........JiaYi! Yup, that's right. I was born in the JiaYi Zone, and now I am going to die in it. I was in the same Zone when I was trained. I was in a different area though. I was in Taibao, which is like the outskirts of JiaYi. I am now in the city. But that's ok, I came here every week for DTM when I was here.  Super weird feeling. And not only that, but my new companion is Elder Clayson, an Elder who served in my district when I was back in DongHai. We know each other pretty well, so we were excited.  Elder Clayson is from Mapleton, Utah. And I forgot to mention, Elder Baxter moved into my zone now too, so I'll get to see him at some point. Well, not only that, when the actual transfer came in that Saturday night, we found out that Elder Sagastegui would be moving down to DongGang to be with Elder Park!!!! WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Yeah, my son and my previous companion serving together. They were freaking out!!! And not only that, Elder Hongvilai found out that he was going to be serving in Tainan 3rd ward with Elder Starkweather! My previous companion and area! Sometimes I wonder how these things work out. But it was pretty exciting too. So yeah, we closed up shop in DongYing, a ward with only Sisters in it for the moment, and now I am serving as JiaYi's ZL. Pretty wild stuff. But yeah, I am healthy, happy, of course a little nervous for this new responsibility, but excited to be dying in a place with which I'm somewhat familiar. I feel it is one of God's tender mercies. I love you all so very much. I'm excited to hear from you. Sorry for the lateness of this email, again. But know that I am looking forward to talking to you!

Sincerely,

Elder Chase Joseph Millett

雷長老

Last pictures of DongYing

Elder Clayton and I at the JiaYi chapel

Missionaries are Busy...Subject for when you don't get a letter

So, mom is filling in the blanks this week, as we did not receive a letter from Elder Millett. He did send a couple of pictures and a video. He spent his P-day at an amusement park...Lihpao Land.

The video he sent was from inside the Ferris Wheel. (Can't get the video to upload :()

Costco Brothers