November 10, 2013

Hello most beautiful people,
> 
> I cannot believe you guys celebrated my birthday party for me! I am way too loved. So happy you rocked it at the Loyal Jade. Classic. I love that place. And I love all of YOU who partied for me on my birthday. Thanks to my beautiful mother's awesome package, a member who didn't even know it was my birthday and bought us steak, and an awesome former investigator who set a baptismal date for Christmas it was an awesome birthday. And my companion even bought me a cake. But we didn't eat it until Sunday. If I didn't say I don't feel completely loved right now I would be lying. I don't know why Heavenly Father has blessed me with so many of the most loving, caring people. But it is a testimony to me that God lives and loves us. And knows us personally. He knows exactly what we need and He is so willing to give it to us. He truly is an all loving Father in Heaven.
> 
> This past week Elder Wright and I realized that we are working with 8 different families. Some aren't complete families and some we've only met with once or twice. BUT, that is not the point. Point is we're working with 8 FAMILIES! How cool is that!? The Lord is blessing us so much. He knows that Yuli needs these families to strengthen the Branch. Yuli needs these priesthood holders! So, we're really getting the members stoked on helping these families. And they are all going to be baptized! It is gonna be crazy.
> 
> On Tuesday we were in the post office and we ran into a former investigator who I met with only a few times when I first got to Yuli. He was good then and he is even more prepared for the Gospel now! Since meeting with us his Dad and Grandma have both passed away and he has read the Book of Mormon almost everyday. What. He already understands that they have gone to a good place and he isn't mad or sad. He knows it was God's will. We reviewed with him the Restoration of the Priesthood and Baptism. He set a baptismal date for Christmas. And he will make it! Mark my words. His name is Zhang Zhong Yuan. Pray for this man! He is so good.
> 
> Our investigator Brother Dai came to Church and caused a rukus. Hahaha. He is a complete non-conformist. He doesn't even wear clothes(except for some shorts) because he feels more free with no clothes on. Haha. He sits in his house all day smokin' cigs and watching T.V. This man has more thoughts and opinions than any other person I have ever met. The Gopel Doctrine class and priesthood teachers didn't get to share their prepared lessons because Brother Dai was sharing all of his opinions and view points. Some of the members weren't too happy, but that is okay. This man needs the Gospel too.
> 
> It was a great week, full of challenges, trials, miracles, and happy things. My testimony in the Restoration is strengthened my the day. I am so grateful that God loves and trusts us enough to let us have his Priesthood. I know I so lucky and blessed to have been able to serve in Yuli for such a long time. 5 months. That is a large part of my mission. I love what I do everyday. It still freaks me out I only have about 6 months left. I don't like thinking about it. I love this work and these people. Even Brother Dai with his weird opinions. Pray for him. He needs it.
> 
> I love you all with my whole heart. Have the greatest week. Tell your friends about the Gospel! It will make you happy.
> 
> Love, Elder Relyea

November 3, 2013

•  "I've got sunshine on a cloudy day. When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May."‏

  This past week was full of ups and downs! I am learning so much about trials, the law of opposition, and God's love for us. Our investigator Brother He has been teaching me a lot through his questions about the Gospel. He has been asking so many questions about the law of oppostion, agency, and trials. He is asking questions that I have never even thought of before. It is blowing my mind, but it is so good. It just shows how much desire this man has to find out if this Gospel is true. He wants answers to his questions. We've told him how he can find his answer and he said he would be willing to try. Pray for this man! I really believe when he joins the Church he is going to be an awesome leader. Yuli needs this man in the Church!
  > 
  > I want to tell you a SWEET miracle we saw.
  > 
  > So, Friday night Elder Wright and I are riding down the street and we see this woman waiting for the garbage truck.They all stand outside and wait for the truck and throw their garbage in themselves. And we start talking to her. Her name is Wenting so I gave her the name of Wendy. She is already Christian and loves Jesus. We gave her a Book of Mormon, and got her number to give to the Sisters. The Sisters called her and invited her to Church and she came and she loved it! We taught her the Restoration in Gospel priciples and she loved all of it. She is now the Sister's new investy. NICE! Thank you Holy Ghost for guiding us to this Golden Investigator.
  > 
  > I love this work. It definitely is hard. But it is so good. I am learning things that I would never learn anywhere else. Our Father in Heaven lives and loves every single one of us. Our Saviour loves us and wants us to return home to Him.
  > 
  > I love you all.
  > 
  > Elder Relyea

October 28, 2013

Hello beautiful people.
> 
> This past week was way better than last week! We found 5 new investies! NICE! And they are all awesome. I want to tell you how we found one of them. It was a straight up miracle. He is a referral given to us by the Seesters.
> 
> So we search around the address they gave us for a good 30-40 minutes and we couldn't find him. We ask some people in the street that were having a funeral if they knew where a Wang Xian Sheng lived near by. They pointed us toward a house, but nobody answered. We continued to look for a while but couldn't find him. So we decided to go up the street and find someone we met a couple weeks earlier. We get to a road where you can turn right and there is a small road that goes into the mountains. I see a man pretty far down this road chopping some branches. We decide to go talk to this man. We get up to him and start talking to him and it is the referral we had been searching for! It was the WangXS! He cut off some branches to sit on, we sat down on the ground with him and had an awesome lesson. He is already Catholic and loves Christ. Finding this man, we were completely led by the Spirit. I'm so grateful for the Spirit in this work. It is so true, "if we have not the Spirit, we shall not teach." I know that with such surety. What an amazing gift our Father in Heaven has given us, the gift of the Spirit. We are so blessed. In President Packer's talk,"The Candle of the Lord" he talks about the blessings from serving a mission. He says:"But these things do not compare with the most lasting reward. The choicest pearl, the one of great price, is to learn at an early age how one is guided by the Spirit of the Lord, a supernal gift. Indeed, it is a guide and a protection." I love that quote.
> 
> We also found an awesome aborigine guy named Jiang Jian Wen. He has 4 of the most adorable daughters I have ever seen. One of them cannot stop laughing. I will take of picture of them and show you next week. I'm going to record this laugh on my camera and everytime I'm feeling the least bit sad I'll just play her laugh. It would make any person immediately happy. So we start talking to him outside his house(he lives right across from Zheng Wei so we've chatted with him before), he grabs some seats and we sit with him. We start talking about Christ and Heavenly Father. Then he asks an awesome question. He asks, "why was Christ crucified on the cross?" We were able to answer his question with the Book of Mormon. 2 Nephi 2:26. After he read the scripture he understood why Christ was crucified. I told him that Christ died for him as well and that He loves him. It was beyond cool. Huge miracle for sure.
> 
> We're also teaching a man named He Pei Ji(His name sounds like Paige-ee. Haha) And he is AWESOME! He has so many questions about where we go after this life, why we are here, and if God even exists. He has thought out these questions for years! It was our third time meeting with him and we taught him the Plan of Salvation in more detail than I have ever taught it before. We even taught him about Satan's plan and the third of the host of Heaven. What? Yeah, never done that before. But he got it! And he was so surprised. He didn't see it coming at all! It was awesome. And we left him on the edge of his seat. We didn't get to the Spirit World or anything after that. We're getting our friend Brother Tang to come teach with us. He is a Master Teacher and is going to blow him away. I'm stoked. Paige-ee is totally going to join the Church. Because we have answers to all of his questions! This Church is true.
> 
> I love this work. I love Yuli. I love the members here and everyone who lives here. Even all the homeless dogs and the crazy people. I'm so privileged to be where I am. I am one blessed man. I know my Father in Heaven lives and loves me so much. I'm so grateful for His son, our older Brother, Jesus Christ and his infinite atoning sacrifice. He loves us with a love we cannot yet comprehend. I know that to be true. 
> 
> All of my love,
> 
> Elder Relyea

October 21, 2013

Hello!
> 
> This past week was honestly a rough one. But I am grateful for it. I feel like the hardest weeks of the mission are the weeks where you learn the most. And then Heavenly Father gave me a gift this morning in the form of a talk by Elder Tad R. Callister that he gave in the MTC a few years ago called, "Becoming a Consecrated Missionary." It was what this guy needed. And now I feel completely Rejuvenated(capital R) for missionary work and for being the most obedient, consecrated missionary ever born! Thank you Elder Wright for giving me the talk.
> 
> We have a new family that we are teaching! They are awesome! The Sister's actually found them about a month ago. They have 4 kids and one bun in the oven. The wife is deaf and they would just end up meeting with the husband everytime so they gave them to us. And they are Gold! The wife is already Christian and the husband has great faith in Christ. The first time we met with them the husband set a baptismal goal! Nice! We were sharing 3 Nephi 18:19-21 and I went over and sat by the wife. And read with her Christ's words. I showed her the picture of Christ visiting the America's. With their kids all around me I felt so much love for this family. At that time I could feel how much the Gospel could bless these people. Such a cool experiece. So happy we could meet these wonderful people. It is interesting she is my 2nd deaf investigator here and both of them don't do sign language. Very interesting. We went over again this past week and brought our Branch President and his family but the husband wasn't there. It was really cool though, the Branch President's wife Sister Chen wrote on a notepad with her to get to know her and to find out what her beliefs are. It was really cool and the Chen's are going to help them so much!
> 
> That is pretty much it for this week. Zheng Wei is doing so well. We are starting to prepare him to recieve the Melchezidek Priesthood! So cool. I love this Gospel. And being a missionary. I love these people. This week is going to be so much better than last week! I'm stoked!
> 
> Love, Elder Relyea 
> 
> Nan An Waterfall

October 14, 2013

Hello everyone!
> 
> This past week our man Wu Zheng Wei was baptized! It was a very spiritual experience. Except for the fact that our baptismal font here in Yuli is like a small kiddie pool and he had to kneel down to get all the way under the water. Haha. But it was still great. One of the coolest parts was his testimony after the baptism. He is the shyest kid ever born but he gave such a good testimony! I'm proud of him.
> 
> Conference was amazing. Got to listen to it in English. Nice.
> 
> Elder Holland's talk... That is the hardest I've cried in a long time.
> 
> I love this Gospel and know that it is true. This work is the greatest work and brings the most happiness. True and everlasting happiness. I'm so grateful for our Prophet, his councilors, and the 12 Apostles. This Church is TRUE!
> 
> I love you all. Have the best week of your lives.
> 
> Love, Elder Relyea

October 8, 2013

Yooooooooo!!!
> 
> Last P-day was the best P-day of my entire mission. Which is interesting because we went to a place that I went to over a year ago when I was in Taidong. But this time it was so much better. The place is called San Xian Tai and it was so great. Perfect weather and the wind wasn't bad at all. First time I went it was overcast and the wind was intense. One of the coolest parts of the experience was a less-active named Janice came with us. She is from the Philipines and is one of the biggest sweethearts I have ever met. She works in a resturaunt as a cook and since she is a foreigner they treat her like complete crap. Pretty much modern day slavery. Makes me so angry and sad. But, she got to come out with us and have what could have been the best day of her life. She could not stop smiling the entire day. Warmed this guys heart. 
> 
> Annnnnd...... ZHENG WEI PASSED HIS BAPTISMAL INTERVIEW!!! He will be baptized this Saturday after the entire branch watches Conference. It is going to be an amazing day. And what could be better than right after hearing the Prophets voice, enter into the waters of baptism. My friend Elder Mattsson who interviewed him said he was the most prepared person he has ever interviewed. YEAH. His birthday was on the 5th and we threw him a surprise birthday party. Haha. He was beyond surprised. This kid has most likely never had a birthday party in his entire life. A member gave us a white shirt, I gave him my blue pants that I hate, and Elder Wright gave him a zip up tie. "Hehe. It's a clip on." "Ya sure?" It was an awesome party.
> 
> On Friday we rode up to Songpoo to visit our man Fronk. We get up there and he tells us he just hurt his back trying to move this boulder. So Elder Wright and I move it for him. We're huge. I give all the credit to my traps. And Elder Wright. Because he is actually buff. Then we talked to him for TWO hours. It was nuts. One of the longest lessons I've ever had. He was confused about a lot of different things, but we were able to answer all of his questions. The Spirit was so strong as we taught him the Restoration and about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. It is crazy how similar him beliefs are to ours except for the Restoration. The whole time he was thinking our Churches weren't different at all until we got to the Restoration. After we shared all of the Restoration he as impressed. He said he is so curious about the Book of Mormon and wants to read it. We got his French copy of the Book of Mormon two days ago. I have a feeling he is going to read it in under a week. I know he felt the Spirit as we were teaching him in his small little farm house. Seriously, no cooler place could we be teaching an investigator. In the middle of the mountains in a tiny farm house. So beyond cool. The Lord has blessed us so much with so many cool cool miracles.
> 
> Yesterday we went to the straight jungle to receive training by President and Sister Day. It was so cool. We went with all of the Taidong missionaries as well. 36 missionaries. It was a blast. The hikes here in Taiwan are awesome. They don't have normal trails... Instead of trails they are just stairs. Yeah, my calves are feelin' it. But such a great experience, we spent the entire day in the mountains. I could not have been happier.
> 
> The Lord loves me so much. He has blessed me so much with all of the experiences I have had on my mission. I am so grateful. Yesterday I was reminded how truly lucky I am to be a missionary here in Taiwan. I love it more and more everyday. Tonight we find out if we move or not. I have a feeling I won't move but... I am always wrong. So, we'll see. I will be happy anywhere I go because no matter where I go I am still doing the exact same thing, helping people come unto Christ. And it is the greatest thing I could possibly be doing right now. I love you all.
> 
> Love, Elder Relyea
> 
> Pictures:
> 1:Right when we got to San Xian Tai


 2:Me. On the top of the mountain



 3:The ocean is magestic



 4:The Hualian Zone

September 29, 2013

Hello beautiful people!

I'm sorry I didn't write last week! I had no time! SODDY!

This is from last week...

This week was so awesome. We worked so hard and saw crazy miracles. One of my favourites was we biked out to this tiny town called Songpu(most beautiful ride of my life). And we met this French guy who has lived here for 15 years. We ride past him and I see him coming out of his house so I turn around and the first thing I say to him is... "Your beard is good." (He has a sick beard). And he says, "I'm sorry, my English is not so good." In a super thick French accent. I was grateful his English was terrible, if it wasn't he probably would of thought I was a weirdy. Then he asked if we could speak Chinese. We said yes and he was very relieved. So we talk to this guy for a good 20 minutes in Chinese. I told him my ancestors are French and he said when he looked in my eyes he had a really familiar feeling... :/ I guess its not weird to say things like that if your French. He is taking us to his fruit tree orchard on Friday. It is going to be awesome. We are going to baptize the only French guy in Yuli. His name is Fronk.

This weeks letter...

This week was crazy! We went to Fronks orchard and learned so much! This man is the definition of granola. He has the most beautiful orchard. And is growing so many different things. Fruits, vegtables, coffee, tea tree oil. This guy is awesome. And he pretty much already believes everything we do. He is so prepared! Meeting with him I definitely learned a lot more than we taught. We're going to get this man a Book of Mormon in French and he will be baptized for sure. He is so cool.

Zheng Wei wasn't able to be baptized this week because he drank tea on Monday... I was a bit sad, but it is all good. It just gives him more time to prepare and to develop his testimony. The thing is if I move I won't be able to see him be baptized.... Pray that I don't move.

Things here are looking up. Getting super close with all the members. Last night ate dinner at our mission leaders house and there were lots of other members there and it was awesome. Starting to feel like a family. It is really cool. I love this area. If I never left I would be a happy man.

I love this work. It is true. On Sudae I gave a talk on the love of God. I shared from Mosiah 5. I love King Benjamin. He is the man.

Alright, I love you all.

Love, Elder Relyea