1-25-16 President's Weekly Letter

Dear Elders and Sisters,

How blessed we are to live in a time in which we can be taught by prophets, apostles and other inspired leaders! I was profoundly impressed by the missionary broadcast we were privileged to view this past week. I came away with a deeper understanding of the Doctrine of Christ and some of our most fundamental responsibilities as outlined in Preach My Gospel. What a remarkable opportunity is ours, for a brief period, to share a sacred charge with the Quorum of the Twelve to testify of the Savior and invite all to come unto Him. I want to follow the admonition given by Elder Anderson to always “have His name on [my] lips.” If I am ever unsure of what to say, I want to speak of Him, of His doctrine, of His teachings and His Atonement. Elder Anderson went on to say that our “greatest responsibility is to extol and defend the divine mission and doctrine of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.” He then shared one of his “favorite promises” from the scriptures, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32). Wouldn’t you want the Savior to confess you to your Father in Heaven?

Ours is the challenge and blessing to labor in an area where the name of Christ is barely known. We must prayerfully plan and adapt our message to the needs of those whom we teach. In doing so, we must always remember our responsibility to teach and testify of Him. “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).

“As your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ grows, your desire to share the gospel will increase” (PMG, p. 2). I urge you to do as Elder Anderson urged, “Ask yourself: what do I really believe about the Atonement? Am I personally experiencing the Atonement every day?” By increasing your own understanding of the Atonement, your effectiveness as a missionary will increase! In order to accomplish this, Elder Anderson encouraged us to personally “learn to love [the] powerful spiritual nourishment from the Book of Mormon so that [we] can share it upon the silver platter of [our] own faith.” He then promised that, as we do this, we will “see the faith of those [we] teach grow.”

Wow! I have only shared half of my notes just from Elder Anderson’s talk, not to mention all of the other great teachings in the broadcast. I am excited to hear of your personal thoughts and insights. I invite you to share them in your email to me today and in the coming weeks. Most significantly, I invite you to ponder carefully and set goals as to what you will do differently as a result of the inspiration received as you viewed this broadcast. I hope that each of us may, with real intent, have “total sincerity to act on the answers to our prayers.” I know that as we have real intent, we will be able to more fully accomplish our missionary purpose.

President Blickenstaff

Mentor of Champions with Real Intent

1-23-16 Our Daughter's Wedding (featuring Taichung Mission Sons and Daughters)

Although President was not able to attend, it is a wonderful blessing for your children to find their eternal companion while you are serving your mission and know that their marriage is sealed for time and all eternity!

 Draper Utah Temple

 Though a cold and snowy day, our hearts were warm!

Our family:

 Our children:

Many of President's family members were able to attend the sealing, 

after which they joined us for lunch at a nearby chapel:

 I met this lovely sister who told me a story of one of our missionaries:

Her friend's son had been in a language immersion program and by high school was quite fluent in French. However, the night before signing up for his junior year classes in high school, he dreamt he was teaching people in the Chinese language. He felt prompted to take Chinese instead that year, and invited his friend to do so as well. They both received calls to serve in the Taichung Mission and entered the mission field together. We are so grateful for missionaries who follow promptings of the Lord and do hard things!

The evening's open house:

 Our grandchildren! President still hasn't held the two youngest grandsons yet:(

 My brother's family:

I had the delightful opportunity to meet this couple from Elder Teh's home ward! 

Here come all our Taichung Mission Sons and Daughters!

 We used to see this young man working in the MTC dining room when we participated in language immersion prior to coming to Taiwan:

 How exciting it was to meet these two young men who have recently received their calls to the Taiwan Taichung Mission! We can't wait for them to come!

 My all time favorite returned Taichung Missionary:

So much fun to meet another returned missionary and his wife at church on Sunday:

 And then to have several visitors that evening!

 So fun to meet their spouses too!

What could be better on the long flight back to Taiwan, than to be able to visit and catch up with one of our returned missionary's parents? They are such a blessing to us, preparing their sons and daughter to serve faithfully and diligently!

1-18-16 President's Weekly Letter

Dear Elders and Sisters,

I have greatly enjoyed the interviews I have been able to conduct over the last two weeks. I always learn so much and feel blessed to receive inspiration and direction as I strive to help you find your own answers to the questions and challenges that you face. I have also been blessed to spend some time participating with missionaries in nightly planning, teaching and contacting. I have learned a lot and have had some fun along the way.

I have been pondering about the general sense of urgency with which we go about our work each day. The sons of Mosiah had a very high level of urgency for their work. “They could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble” (Mos. 28:3). We all look to the sons of Mosiah as examples of truly great missionaries. As we strive to be like them, how is our own level of urgency to follow the prophet’s call to hasten the work? Do we feel the same level of urgency while preaching the gospel among the people of Taiwan as the sons of Mosiah did in preaching the gospel to the Lamanites?

Another way of assessing your urgency to hasten the work would be to evaluate the efficiency with which you use prime proselyting time each week, from 6 to 9 pm each day. Excluding English class, there are six days, or 18 hours of prime time every week. Do you make good use of this time? How often do you spend this time eating or chatting with members? If a lesson falls through, do you act on your back up plans right away? How often do you have two or more lessons in a night? Do you often spend more than 45 minutes in a lesson? My observations of missionaries over the last two and a half years has convinced me that those who baptize more often are organized, plan well, work diligently and waste very little time. How can we improve in these areas?

I would like to mention one final suggestion. I often hear missionaries describe adventurous days out to their most distant secondary areas, complete with getting lost, flat tires, not finding anyone and occasional miracles. In our mission president’s seminars, we have been taught that we should implement the concept of “building from centers of strength.” Our chapels are the centers of strength in each of our areas. If we were to take a map and draw concentric circles around our chapels, we should then spend most of our time in the areas closest to the chapel. When we go out to the outermost limits of our areas, exciting things may happen, but it is always more difficult to get people who express interest in our message to come to the chapel than it is for those who live in the vicinity. As you plan your days, resist the temptation to spend an entire day exploring, and just stay closer to the chapel. If you have LAs to visit in far away areas, ask an active member to take you (preferably one who knows where they live). Your days may not seem as adventurous, but you will find yourself working with people who are more likely to attend church and receive fellowship.

We all know that missionary work can be repetitive and exhausting. It requires great mental as well as physical effort, concentration and focus. Preach My Gospel and the Book of Mormon contain the knowledge, skills and converting power that we need in order to do this work. We need to continually study, apply and teach one another what we learn from these inspired resources. We must do all that we can to prepare and strengthen ourselves and our companions as we go forth each day. As you ponder and apply these suggestions, you will be more successful at finding and teaching those who are prepared to come unto Christ. In so doing, your joy will be full.

President Blickenstaff

Mentor of Champions

1-11-16 President's Weekly Letter

Dear Elders and Sisters,

President David O. McKay once said to a group of Church employees:

        Let me assure you, Brethren, that some day you will have a personal Priesthood interview with the Savior, Himself. If you are interested, I will tell you the order in which He will ask you to account for your earthly responsibilities.

        First, He will request an accountability report about your relationship with your wife. Have you actively been engaged in making her happy and ensuring that her needs have been met as an individual?

        Second, He will want an accountability report about each of your children individually. He will not attempt to have this for simply a family stewardship but will request information about your relationship to each and every child.

        Third, He will want to know what you personally have done with the talents you were given in the pre-existence.

        Fourth, He will want a summary of your activity in your church assignments. He will not be necessarily interested in what assignments you have had, for in his eyes the home teacher and a mission president are probably equals, but He will request a summary of how you have been of service to your fellowmen in your Church assignments.

        Fifth, He will have no interest in how you earned your living, but if you were honest in all your dealings.

        Sixth, He will ask for an accountability on what you have done to contribute in a positive manner to your community, state, country, and the world.”

Imagine for a moment what it would be like to have an interview with the Savior at the end of your mission. What questions do you think He would ask? Do you think He would ask you how many people you baptized?

I think He would want to know about your relationship with each of your companions and what you did to serve them and help them reach their potential.  He might then ask what you did to influence other missionaries in your district and zone. What kind of example did you set? Did you strive to lift and encourage? Then He would want to know how you used your talents to serve others, including members and investigators. I don’t think He would be as interested in whether you were a junior companion or an assistant to the president as He would in how you served and strengthened others during your time in the mission. He would ask you if you were strictly obedient and would be interested in what you learned about obedience as you served your mission. He would want to know what you did to use your time wisely and “leave your area stronger than you found it” (PMG, p. 137).

I invite you to take time this week to contemplate these questions and ask yourself what specific changes you might make in order to give an accounting to the Lord. Remember that, “Accountability does not come only at the end of your mission. It is a principle that influences how you begin, how you think and feel about the responsibility the Lord has given you, how you approach your work, and how well you endure. The attitude you have toward your mission experience is a reflection of your love toward your Heavenly Father and His Son and your respect for the priesthood” (PMG, p. 164). You have the opportunity to give a personal accounting each day and receive personal inspiration as to how you can be a more successful missionary. As you act upon that inspiration, you can make progress every day and receive daily a confirmation of His commendation, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over many things… enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (Matt. 25:21).

My prayer is that you may experience this joy each and every day of your mission!

President Blickenstaff

Mentor of Champions

1-4-16 President's Weekly Letter

Dear Elders and Sisters,

This week we will begin another round of interviews with each missionary. Interviews are a significant means of accounting to the Lord, through His authorized servants, for your personal progress and the progress of the work in your assigned area. They are also an opportunity for you to seek counsel and direction on personal matters and to learn how to succeed in your calling. We try to create a schedule of interviews and planner/area book checks that is efficient and minimally disruptive to your work. Please be on time for your assigned interview and other activities on the schedule. After you have completed your interviews and checks, please return quickly to your area and continue with regular proselyting activities.

Your interview will be approximately 10 minutes. I will use a timer and make every effort to adhere to the schedule that has been established. Please be courteous to other missionaries by helping me to begin and end interviews promptly. If you have a need that will require more time than has been allotted in the schedule, I will reschedule with you in the near future, as soon as can be arranged, so that you may have my undivided attention. My experience has been that interviews are most helpful if missionaries prepare ahead of time by carefully considering what they would like to discuss during the short time that we will have together. By planning and prioritizing, we can make sure to give attention to those areas that are most needful.

Although interview days are often long and tiring, I look forward to my time with each missionary. It is one of the ways in which I strive to connect with you – to know you a little better, to build your faith in the Savior and to encourage you in this most significant opportunity that is yours to represent Him. I earnestly strive to prepare myself for interviews so that I have as much energy and inspiration during the first interview as I do during the last. I love interviews!

My dear fellow servants, as you know, Sister Blickenstaff and I will complete our time as mission president and wife at the end of June. I have received permission to inform you that Elder Michael John U. and Sister Grace Teh have been called to serve as the next mission president and wife in the Taiwan Taichung Mission. Elder Teh is a member of the First Quorum of Seventy and is currently serving as the Area President in the Philippines Area of the Church. This will be a wonderful experience for you as well as our local leaders and members to work closely with one of the Lord’s especial witnesses in the work of salvation. I invite you to begin praying for Elder and Sister Teh as they prepare themselves for the challenging and rewarding experience of serving as Mission President and wife. We look forward to welcoming them and working toward a smooth transition to their leadership in the mission.

Although we know who the next mission president will be, Sister Blickenstaff and I still have six months to serve in this place and among people that we love so dearly. We will work hard to the very end and still have much to do to establish the Church and “leave our area better than we found it” (PMG, p. 137). We ask for your continued faith and prayers on our behalf as we strive to finish our assignment and hand off a well-prepared, obedient and diligent group of missionaries to Elder and Sister Teh.

President Blickenstaff

Mentor of Champions

1-1-16 New Arriving Missionary!

No better way to ring in the New Year than with a new missionary!

 Detained at the MTC for a few days, we're grateful she made it to Taiwan safe and sound:)

A warm embrace from her trainer the next day:)

 Receiving training together on President's mission vision, goals and plans:

 Training from the assistants on contacting:

 Some practice time:)

 Our new missionaries get the best trainers!

 Wrapping up health and safety orientation over a quick dinner:

 Out to her first area by train before the night is over!

1-1-16 Departing Missionary - Saying Goodbye to Our Favorite Missionary!

Enjoying a farewell dinner with Sister Chao, my mother, at our favorite vegetarian restaurant:

 Saying goodbye to friends is not easy!

 Sending Mom off at the Taoyuan Airport:

 My new iPhone lock screen:

Later that afternoon, releasing this valiant Penghu couple from faithfully completing their Taipei mission:

 Always enjoying seeing recent converts attending the temple together...

 ...as well as our returned missionaries (and girlfriends)!