Temples and Phubbers

10/25/15

Another week on the island of Formosa come and gone! This last week, I got to go to the temple. I have to say, it was the funniest temple experience I have ever had but also one with very deep spiritual meaning. All the temple workers are Chinese (for obvious reasons), but they choose ones that can.... speak?.... English to work at the temple on days that missionaries come for poor Elders like me that have no idea what is being said in Chinese. Pigeon English is officially my favorite language. It is hilarious. And everyone once in a while, they would give up and just switch into Chinese and I would pretend I knew what they were saying. At the same time, it really sunk deep when I did the endowment for a man named Miao Ji Hua. That name just sunk in. This Gospel really is for everyone, and that man that lived around 200 years ago in China could have been waiting for not only people to do the ordinance for him, but also for someone to find his name and even for the Gospel to be preached in Taiwan so someone would be able to find his name. How incredible that I get to participate in two of those parts.

This is the best work in the world. The food is amazing, racing through the streets on my bike is fantastic, the people are superb, I see miracles every day, I don't have to worry about school or anything, it's awesome!!! Language? Well, yes, it's uh... coming is a good word for it, yes. Coming along. It's hard not to be able to just speak--to just let out words. Every day, however, I learn a bit more and more and am able to understand more and more.

People in Taiwan are super blunt. Yesterday the recent convert we were meeting with straight up told me I was looking fat right after we sat down. I got a pretty good laugh at that (as long as I can bike up the huge stupid hill to get to your house I'll be fine!!!). I've heard the Chinese food actually plumps up the cheeks a bit, but I didn't know it was THAT noticeable.

Weird Burgers I Have Eaten Lately:

-Octopus shaving, cabbage, mayo, shrimp burger with rice paddies

-PBB Burger (and yes that stands for peanut butter and banana)

Also, a tip from Taipei city: "Don't be a phubber." For this we have to look at the literal Chinese to English translation: "Don't be a phone-rubber." Still doesn't make sense? Under the inscription is a cracked phone with red spots and a stick-figure walking. Apparently, it's a very gruesome campaign to end looking at your phone while crossing the street. I dunno, don't ask me.

Yesterday, we had a young man call us. He had been on our radar for a while because he didn't want to meet with missionaries until he had finished the Book of Mormon (what??). He finished!!!! He has already been to church and everything, and I am so excited to meet with him! Yesterday we were meeting with a recent convert, and I felt impressed to say "At the end of it all, we are just ordinary beings with an incredible calling." Must've been inspired to say it because up until then I really hadn't thought about it that way, but it's true--missionaries are ordinary people. Nevertheless, God has given us an enormous calling to come to this earth and to learn and to grow: to become perfect through his perfect plan. How grateful I am for that trust in me to do his work in Beitou. I love you all so much and I hope you all have an incredible week! 

-- Elder Hawkes

P.S. I just learned that Suzie--one of our investigators in Modesto, CA--was baptized last week! So excited for her

Teaching and "Releasing Pigeons"

10/20/15

Sorry this email is coming in on a different day, I get to go to the Taiwan Temple today!! I'm so excited! Anyways, first off I have to apologize if my emails lately haven't been quite up to par. It's pretty hard to remember that there actually might be someone else reading this and sometimes I forget and just use it as a 'pep-talk' for myself. So, from now on I will just say the things I have learned in the past week and then throw in a bunch of fun stuff. Sound good? Ok!

I've got to say, there is no better feeling in the world than passing a BMW on a bike. No better feeling. Granted, in Taiwan the streets are so narrow and there are so many motorcycles that cars can't move faster than 20 mph, but when you pass a car and then see the BMW symbol on it.... There is no way to describe it.

Cultural Experiences:

-You have to learn three languages in Taiwan: Mandarin (obviously), the language of the Spirit, and pigeon-English. Seriously. Their English is so bad. Old people yell at you in Taiwanese every once in a while, but you don't actually have to know what they are saying.

-Oh, they have open sewers. I'll leave it at that.

-Stairs aren't even

-Had my first earthquake

-The sidewalks sparkle

The coolest thing ever happened yesterday. The past week, my companion and I 'went ham'. We got 33 lessons in a week when most companionships struggle to get over 20, us included. It wasn't anything we did, the Lord just had a lot of people for us to share lessons with that weren't usually there. So then this Monday when we usually have Preparation Day, we had absolutely nothing scheduled. It was literally empty. So we went finding all day. Street contacting for 4 hours and passing out English flyers for 1 hour. Street contacting is where we get the majority of our lessons, so we were expecting to have so much success, probably around 7 or 8 lessons. We got 2. They were right at the end of finding too, right after the trial of our faith. I've found so much on my mission that those miracles come right at the end. We had said a prayer with one of those two lessons to help him find a job, and guess who told us they had received a call offering them a job yesterday? He did! It was incredible. He even asked Elder Boyce if they could do a prayer over the phone, so they did. I love you all so much and I am grateful for the example you all have been in my life! 

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Sorry, but I wasn't able to get all of those pictures, I did get some though! Dad's right about another big storm. It's pretty funny hearing everything from you that I've been experiencing here, I've got some funny things to share. First, the Taiwanese hate rain. I can't explain it! They are so scared of it. The minute a raindrop falls WHOOSH their rain ponchos come out. That's mostly what they wear here, just a light rain poncho that goes all the way down to the knees. Mostly they just stay inside when it rains. Typhoons are even funnier. I ask everybody, "Hey when is the next typhoon coming?" And they all kind of say, "Oh, next Monday!"  In reality, nobody actually knows when the typhoons come because they travel so slow. They all kind of know that a typhoon is coming, but nobody is 100% sure. This next one coming in the next few days apparently has the potential to get huge though, Dad would know better than me. I'll take some pictures though. Second thing, Elder Boyce and I actually jogged to Puji Temple a few weeks ago. The other temple you mentioned in your letter dad is out of our area. We only cover about half of Bei Tou itself, and then our area extends down to include a small part of Shilin. Today we are going to Chiang Kai Shek, so that should be amazing and I will definitely send pictures. So we were jogging the other morning, and I was thinking about Elder Colton Richman's companion who is named Elder Superman. Really. Superman. And I was like, hey, what if there was a kid named Bruce Bateman, and the teacher starts calling roll, says his name, and in the most Batman-like voice he says, "the E is silent". It gave me a pretty good laugh as I jogged down stairs surrounded by wild dogs and banana spiders. I'll let you in on a common occurrence here in Taiwan. It's called 'fang ge zi', or being 'stood-up'. But when you literally translate it to English, it means releasing pigeons. What?? All I can say is that I don't have many pigeons left because investigators release ours on a daily basis. I love you all! By the way, optimal solution for letters and such I think is going to be receiving all paper mail, and sending all email. Other than that, I might be a bit stuck. So tell me how this sounds: continue sending mail in letters no matter how slow, and send me each family member's email so I can send one out every once in a while in response to your letter. Every so often I will try to get out a handwritten as well, but it will mostly be that. Sound good? Let me know! I love you all!

-Elder Hawkes

Excuses, Cultural Differences, and Compliments

10/11/15

Family!

My companion is Elder Boyce from Boston, but his family is currently living in Provo. He is an incredible worker and we are working so hard. Well, he does the majority of the talking but we work super hard together otherwise. Typical day involves getting up and jogging up the mountains to absolutely stunning views out into Taipei city or to Buddhist shrines or temples. Soon followed by a bowl of cereal because Elder Boyce is obsessed with cereal (man after my own heart). We do studies in the morning, and then out to eat lunch at one of the many food places around our apartment, including an awesome market. Then we start the normal day meeting with investigators, less actives, and recent converts sometimes at their homes but mostly at parks and restaurants. Eat dinner, go finding at MRT stations, go back to the apartment, do a ton of calling because my companion is district leader, finally finish up planning and everything else, and hit the bed. Normal day. Food is incredible. And the portion sizes are huge here. You just keep eating and eating but don't really get fat. Ward is great, the members love cooking at the church. There aren't too many of them, but our area isn't even that big anyway so there is more than you would expect. The majority of the people are just super busy. You go up to them to talk with them and they say, literally translated, "I have things", "No time", or "no use". They are all really nice and polite about it though, we don't get yelled at that much, except by the crazy people here. There are so many crazies! Just today there was one roaming the street tipping over motorcycles one after the other and then almost got hit by a bus (we followed his path of destruction and put the bikes back upright). Biggest challenges include language and... language. They pretty much all stem from the language. Because I don't know what is going on, I don't know if what I say actually fits in with the lesson and it is really hard to stay awake. But I absolutely love it. I love learning new words and phrases and it really is an amazing language. Sometimes I wish it would come faster (ok maybe a little more than sometimes), but I know it will come and I am really enjoying myself. Just looking up at the huge apartment buildings and saying 'hey I'm in Taiwan' is just the best. Bathrooms are weird. They use tissues fom like a box instead of toilet paper. The shower head isn't in the wall, it just comes off. There isn't a shower place to step into either, like, no tub. The bathroom is just all tile and the showerhead is right by the toilet. Still not really sure how to shower correctly. Can't drink the water too, you can see things wriggling in it after leaving it still for a few days. Apartment is small, but they all are in Taiwan. Sorry that was a lot in a short amount of time, I'm just trying to get my thoughts out because I'm out of time. Also, how do we want to do letters? I really don't think I have time on Preparation Day's to write letters to all of you even though I want to. Can I just do emails or something? Even that would be hard, but easier than writing letters. Let me know how best to do that. You all are the best and I love you!!!

-Elder Hawkes

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Finally got to watch conference (in English, yay the church is true!) and it was so awesome! I absolutely loved the messages we heard from all of the apostles. They left us with so many things to start applying into our lives: centering our lives on Christ like clay on a potter's wheel, 'ponderize' a scripture weekly, smile, etc. Totally awesome!

So missionaries in Taiwan compliment everyone. It's just a thing we do. The Taiwanese love it. The most common one is calling men 'shuai' or handsome. Even old guys. So we are street contacting at a train station, and we start talking to this guy who happens to have the same last name as me (happens a lot in Chinese). To be funny, I jokingly called him 'shuai ge ge' or 'handsome older brother'. No harm in that right? My companion and I kind of laughed, and then later in the conversation we found out that he was gay and so he wasn't really interested in the church. Awesome. I just called a gay guy handsome.

More normal cultural experiences:

-all the car mirrors fold in, or there wouldn't be any

-stray dogs are everywhere, and little old ladies go up into the mountains to feed them

-they have stackable bike racks at MRT (metro) stations! Stackable!

-the Taiwanese put on coats and jackets under 80 F degrees

-they have playgrounds for old people to work out on

-the stoplights countdown until they turn green

Coolest miracles this week ever! One less active member has had missionaries working with him for a long time because he couldn't quit smoking. He would smoke 40 cigarettes a day. We met with him last week on my birthday, and he told us that he had just stopped smoking! The day of the last typhoon, he couldn't find any cigarettes to smoke after searching the whole house and it was too windy to go get more, so he just quit. Just like that. 40 a day to 0 a day just like that. He started having a hard time sleeping because of the withdrawals, so what does he do? He reads the Book of Mormon until he falls asleep. Incredible! and get this: We had gotten the impression to bike up a huge hill in part of our area to go finding because missionaries hadn't worked there in a long time the day after the typhoon. We had talked to him and set up an appointment for the next week the day after he had quit smoking. So cool!! I love you all! Have an incredible week!

Life in Taiwan

this is about a 1/10 of all the bikes at a single MRT station, not including motorbikes. Not even kidding. I probably under-exaggerated. They are literally everywhere

rare food found only in Taiwan, and only in Dan Shui. Now that I have eaten it I know why. It's a tofu ball you poke open and clear noodles come out. Oh and the whole thing is soaked in red sauce. Kind of like worms coming out of a big spiders egg.

"Dear customers, please play your civic-minded, do not put trash in here."

the majority of my apartment

squirrel shower head that I recently purchased because the last one broke

creepy construction workers who spoke weird English. 

One of the awesome Buddhist temples in the area. 

What happens when members drop off food

Letter to Sarah 1

10/20/15

Couldn't resist responding to all those questions you've asked. They are awesome! The music we listen to is mostly sappy Mormon music but occasionally you get a good song that is worth listening to. Missionary humor is way different than regular humor. Most of it has to do with Gospel topics, and is kind of like a Seminary joke. It's horrible unless you are on a mission. We try to give out around 5 or 6 Book of Mormons a week. Something discovered getting along with companions.... Rough. It's pretty hard. Mostly, don't look for the faults. There are so so so many little things that you can pick out and criticize, but there are also so many big things that you can praise them on. You got to get past the little things to see the big things. Also, when criticizing others, it's interesting because I use the word 'I' a lot. Who would have thought? I've found when you take the word 'I' out of the equation, you look more positively on others. How to focus your prayers so they are more meaningful? I don't know if you have heard my solution before, but I sometimes like to say two prayers. One where I get everything out that I normally say, and then the next one you are forced to really think. To think deeper. It's awesome. Give it a try. It doesn't work for everyone, but it's a suggestion. How to not spiritual plateau. That's a good one. Along with making the scripture study more meaningful. So one of the greatest ironies of missionary work is that you don't have enough time to read the scriptures. We get one hour of personal study a day, and it certainly isn't enough. When studying, I have a few suggestions that might also help with not spiritually plateauing (That's a word? My auto correct isn't underlining plateauing!!). First, have a purpose. You need a reason to study other than "I need to study". Second, set aside the time. Third, keep a study journal. Those three things have helped me so stinking much. Having a purpose helps you really focus on learning something. Go into a study with a question or a topic you would like to learn about. Study about a quality you would like to possess, etc. Make it meaningful and take steps to actually apply it rather than read a chapter of the Book of Mormon and forget it the next day like I did throughout High School. Setting aside the time allows you to have a time where you can actually focus. Study journal is a super important part. Each time you study, write one thing down that you learned. One thing. It can be super short. When you do this, it helps you reflect on what you just did and actually get something out of it. When you go back, you have a journal filled of thoughts and impressions that are meaningful. I have some other advice on the whole Kelly thing that I would like to share with you, but I've got to do it next week I'm sorry. Those are some tips you can try and use as you would like. Ultimately, it's your own study. Good luck! Also, my ponderizing scripture is Philippians 4: 11-13, what is yours and the family's? I love you!

1st Week in Taiwan

10/4/15

Family,

The typhoon was hecka crazy (By the way, has that word hit Utah yet? I picked it up in Modesto. All the little black kids say it and it is absolutely hilarious). My companion and I were in downtown Taipei sightseeing (I will send pictures) because it wasn't really raining or anything.... until we started heading back. So, it turns out, the MRT or metro shuts down when it goes above ground in a typhoon. We got completely stranded miles from home with no bikes or rain gear (because we didn't think we needed the rain coats and only brought umbrellas). Texts started coming in that everyone should be home and not go out proselyting. Trashcans were absolutely packed with broken umbrellas from the strong winds. Taxis are super expensive, so we didn't want to ride in one, and not only that but absolutely everyone from the train station was trying to get on one. So we found a bus that would take us closer to our apartment and where hopefully we could find a taxi, but it didn't come for 20 minutes so we were out in the rain with a ton of other people hanging out in a typhoon. It was so cool!!! Finally the bus came, and at the final bus stop we realized we hadn't said a prayer. So we did, and right after we met a guy that just so happened to have told us where to find the right bus and was heading two apartment buildings down from us. Crazy!! So he got a taxi and we rode safely the rest of the way. The food markets here are pretty awesome. There is a huge one near our apartment. There, you can find coagulated pig blood, a horrible smelling aroma from 300 ft away (the infamous chou dou fu or stinky tofu that I have yet to try), squid heads, complete fishes barely fried, octopus tentacles, rocky mountain oysters (not actually sure from what animal), all kinds of fruit, you name it! The Taiwanese give a whole new definition to the food named chicken legs. It looks like they hacked it off a chicken a few minutes ago and were too lazy to do anything else with it. Skin, claws, everything. Ew. Sorry for the disturbing picture but you didn't get to see or smell it. We got a much safer lunch there, consisting of a Taiwanese burrito and three big scones for each of us, amounting to 60 kuai or about US $2. Way cheap. Milk is about $5 or $6 in US dollars. There is about 30 kuai to a US dollar for future reference. I drank Pocari Sweat too, which is just another sports drink, despite the name and description on the bottle. Ok, I can't get over the weird old people at the parks in the mornings. They do so much moaning and things with their hands and extremely flexible things I've never seen anyone over 60 do. The exercise here is nothing of what it is in America. Well, I'm going to get a haircut after this, so wish me luck. It's so great to hear everything from back home! Tip for Mary: just get out there and play soccer. Honestly that's the best way to get good at something: do it. I'll be trying to send letters out soon! Love you all!

-Elder Hawkes

Hey! First full week in Taiwan has come and gone and I still don't think I'm quite in the swing of things. I went to a new missionary orientation with the MTC district that came in a week after I did and re-met my trainer! It was pretty funny because they provided lunch, which included a bian dan (just a small tray of food) and Cocos (the drink of all Taiwanese missionaries). To our dismay, it was discovered that we had accidentally ordered drinks with tea. Call to church headquarters: Hey we have a problem. What? About 40 missionaries drank tea. Did you tell the mission president? He drank it too.

Cultural Observations:

-Banana spiders really are real. I had heard of their fame, but I ran into one the other day and I just about died. They are bright blue and yellow, and literally the size of a dinner plate. Now I know where J.R.R. Tolken got his inspiration for Shelob's Lair.

-everyone in Taiwan is either busy, 'busy', or super nice. Either we go up to them on the street and they say "don't have time" or they stop and listen to our whole message.

-knocking doors in my area is just a figment of our imaginations. Everyone lives in apartment buildings with only one entrance, and usually entrance is only attainable by going through a blast door, buzzing in, getting past the security guy who does facial recognition, using the electronic key attached to your apartment key, and finally getting through the final blast door with the apartment key. Consequently, we don't knock doors and usually meet people places anywhere but their home.

One hard thing about Taiwan is pretty obvious--language. I wish I could tell a lot of spiritual experiences and the like, but honestly I don't even know if we have had any. I pick up the "Hello. Hello. How are you? Good. What's your name? (Something unintelligible). Cool! My name is Bo Zhang Lao." That's where I insert my name in addition to my companions and sit back and enjoy the scenery. Ok, not really, I really try to understand, but I think it would be more effective if I just enjoyed the workers practically hospitalizing themselves by attempting to clean up the typhoon remnants. It's easy to think that I am less of a missionary than I was before I started my mission. From a world's perspective, that is absolutely true. I'm not doing practically anything. Nevertheless, I hear the words of my district leader from Modesto: "You're a missionary wherever you are." So I put on the smile, add a hop to my step, and try to bring the Spirit wherever I go. From God's perspective, we are all missionaries--no matter the place, no matter the people, no matter the language, no matter the circumstance--and have been called to bring people closer to Christ. Trust me: it's easier done than said. If I'm a missionary without hardly ever saying a word, how much better of a missionary can you be? Conference is next week for us, but I hope you all got the chance to listen to as much of their inspired words as you could. Love you all!

Letter from Mom

10/4/15

Hi Jojo,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY on TUESDAY!!!!  I wish we could sing to you in person, but know we will be singing to you in spirit (we may just sing really loud in hopes that you'll hear us).  I'm sure birthdays are a bit strange in the mission field - probably just another day.  But promise me you'll go get yourself some kind of treat or something.  I even included some cool candles you can put on your treat (in your birthday box). 

I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father sent you to me some 19 years ago.  I thought you were the prettiest baby that I'd ever seen and I adored you from day one.  I still do. I could have never imagined how much love I would have for another little person.   When you hold that new baby in your arms, you want to do everything exactly perfect as a parent and you have dreams of what they will grow up to be.  You naively think that if you do everything just perfectly, that they will grow up to be the perfect child.  Well, I definitely didn't do everything perfect - and in many ways, I was majorly lacking as a parent.  But I must have done something right to have deserved you.  As I've said before, if I was to carefully plan and design the perfect son, I can't imagine anything different than what I was given.  I'm so grateful everyday for the person that you've become and all the good things that you have done and are doing in your life.  You are an example to all and especially to me.  I love you.

This week has been pretty non-eventful.  Preschool keeps me pretty busy, but I have Jenny helping this year so it takes off a lot of the pressure.  The kids are easier this year as well which helps immensly.  I'm still working with the Webelos but they are about to change me to working with the Wolves which I'm excited about.  I get to work with Rebecca Sperry and boys just coming into cub scouts.

You'd be proud of little C.J.  He's becoming quite the little soccer player.  He scored about 5 goals last game (one was an own goal dad probably told you about) and he's getting really good ball control.  He plays constantly in the kitchen which drives me crazy.  I keep telling him that when he makes his first million as a famous soccer player, he gets to buy me a new kitchen.  Why, oh why can't boys take the soccer balls outside?  Don't answer that.  He says that he's going to be amazing when you get home.

Mary on the other hand has been struggling with soccer.  Her coach (Andrew Vance) clearly sees her as the weakest on the team and sits her out a majority of the game.  I bet she played 5 minutes the 1st half yesterdays game, and about 15 the second half.  She's losing confidence in herself.  It's pretty sad to see her sitting there.  If you have any advice or tips on how she can improve her abilities, that would be great.

Sarah had a bit of a disappoinment this week as well (don't tell her I am telling you this).  You know how much she has a crush on Tanner VanOrman.  Well, Scott VanOrman randomly called us on Thursday to go waterskiing with them.  Sarah got kind of excited and nervous - but you could tell really wanted us to go.  Dad was super busy, but knowing how much it meant to Sarah, put everything aside and went with the kids.  When they left, Sarah was extremely disappointed to find out that Tanner had also invited his Homecoming date to come along.  They kind of ignored Sarah and were acting like a couple.  Her little heart was broken.  So sad.

I really enjoyed conference this weekend. So many amazing talks given.  It seems like the older I get, the more i truly love conference. You may not have gotten a chance to hear the talks yet, but there are some real gems.  I need to go back and read many of them again and again.  You'll have to let me know which ones were some of your favorites.

Hope all is well.  I never got your email with your bank information so hopefully you'll send that soon.  We miss you but we are so grateful for what you are doing.  We pray for you many times daily.  Love you and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Love,

Mom

Iain Mckay Letter 4

9/29/15

Dear Elder Hawkes,

Welcome to Asia!! I share with you lots of similar experiences. Yes, they keep adding to your meal regardless of what you say! However, if you keep to a good Asian Diet you won't gain any weight. It is all the US fast foods that do the damage in Asia. Yes, the buildings are skyscrapers and the apartments are tiny. That is the reason they all go to Parks, Can you imagine raising kids in those little apartments! And, YES, everything moves super FAST. But what beautiful people they are. I know the Lord loves them and the Celestial Kingdom will be full of faithful,beautiful, Asians. That might comes as a HUGE shock to some of our Wasatch Front East Bench "Saints" living in their castles and who are convinced they are the only ones entitled to be in the Celestial Kingdom. Same goes for the faithful, humble, African Saints.

What airline did you fly to ROC on? Obviously an Asian airline. The Flight Attendants look like "perfection" and I think they check their makeup about every 10 minutes but I'd hate to be in an emergency situation with them. I think they would be clueless. Incidentally, I flew back from Seoul, Korea on Asiana in June. There was one service rule for the Asians and another for the Whites (ignore them- pretend you don't speak English!! Ha.

I have been studying "Preach my Gospel" and it has again confirmed to me that we need to let the spirit do the teaching. We might "know it all" but the Holy Ghost is the converter. If we live to have the spirit with us as a (hopefully) constant companion people- especially investigators- will "feel it" It is a far more powerful witness than spoken words.

Conference weekend is approaching and it looks like there will be quite a few changes. Bottom line: The Lord is in control. It is His Church. He is never frantic. Revelation comes to our leaders.

Incidentally, I have broadcasting friends in NZ who do Tai Chi. They swear by it. You will see people all over Asia in the parks- especially early in the morning.

Love and prayers,

Iain

1st Week in Taiwan

9/27/15

It is only now that I realize just how grateful I am that I learned how to type without looking before my mission. I'm typing on a keyboard that has the letters and numbers we all know and recognize next to three other symbols I completely don't recognize. Oh, and their is a typhoon outside. You may have guessed it, but I actually find myself sitting in an internet cafe in Taiwan. Last Wednesday, President Palmer called me into his office and told me I was headed to Taiwan the next morning. Next thing I know, I'm being whisked off on a plane that has little Asian stewardesses saying in the most Chinese stereotypical accent one can muster: "Pwease fasten your seatbewt." Out the dark window is a small lattice of orange lights that continue to grow into the skeleton of a huge city that slowly fades into the smog in the distance. I met my companion, Elder Boyce, and we've been working ever since!

Cultural Experiences:

-biking around my new area, Bei Tou, is a little bit like mario cart. Nothing in the city moves faster than you can pedal, so we literally weave in and out of traffic amidst cars, buses, and a truly astonishing amount of motorscooters

-the majority of traffic lights are a flashing yellow, which has no significance at all other than it kinda looks pretty

-the lines on the road are suggestions, as well as the flashing lights of emergency vehicles

-in Taipei they don't build out, they build up. Half the buildings here are skyscraper apartment buildings

-they have so much traffic they build a freeway to go on top of the other freeway

-7 Elevens are everywhere and they are convenience stores

-McDonalds is actually a bit on the expensive side, a heaping plate of rice and whatever else they put in cooked fresh in front of you has been known to cost around $2

-the most irritating thing about Taiwan: they don't drink with their food. I am always thirsty because they simply don't serve drinks anywhere, you have to buy them separate

-I haven't stopped sweating since I got here, and that's not including the rain

-the people are amazing, we literally teach lessons on the streets around train stations

Well, a few more cultural experiences than normal. I haven't mentioned even half of them so there will probably be a big list fairly often. I went to church yesterday, and I was surprised at how similar it was to ours. Granted, the ward was only 60 or 70 strong, but I love how the Gospel really and truly is the same where ever you go. The culture may be different, but because the church is based on fundamentally true principles of faith in Christ, you can always be sure to be edified at a Latter-day Saint church. I love you all! Remember the church is true!

_________________________________________________

There is a typhoon outside. You may have guessed it, but I actually find myself sitting in an internet cafe in Taiwan. 

Last Wednesday, President Palmer called me into his office and told me I was headed to Taiwan the next morning. Next thing I know, I'm being whisked off on a plane that has little Asian stewardesses. Out the dark window is a small lattice of orange lights that continue to grow into the skeleton of a huge city that slowly fades into the smog in the distance. I met my companion, Elder Boyce, and we've been working ever since!

It is so crazy here. Salt Lake City is so itty-bitty compared to Taipei. I seriously couldn't believe it. It is literally row after row after row of huge apartment buildings and tight roads in between. Guess what? Everyone goes to parks here. They are absolutely packed in the mornings. People are everywhere doing Tai qi.  They feed you until you are fat. Every single time we eat with the members, they load up your plate or bowl and then continually drop stuff in throughout the course of the meal without asking. When you refuse by saying "chi bao le" or "dude I am super full" they offer it again. Chi bao le. Offer it again. Chi bao le. Offer something else. No I'm chi bao le of that too. I've hit the weird foods already too. Red-bean cakes, fish balls, deep-fried pig blood (I managed to narrowly avoid), and a lot of other stuff I can't put a name to. We have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Try to get a hold of some Pomello though. You zi (you as in yo-ho a pirates life for me) as they call it here. It tastes super awesome. The Taiwanese love karaoke, but they are extremely bad at it. There are no trashcans here! You have to really try to find one. They pretty much only have them in convenience stores, though the city is actually pretty clean.  Dad has probably already looked it up, but there is a fair-sized typhoon coming through today which should be pretty fun. Love you!!!

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Family,

We will definitely have to go to Yosemite! And then I can show you around Modesto after! It's a pretty exciting place.... kinda. I hope everything is going great back at home! Sarah I am officially mad at you because you were supposed to ride Cannibal and tell me how it was. And what is this about a new Pixar movie? I saw an advertisement before I left for Taiwan. Well, after almost missing my flight, I finally made it to Taiwan. It is so crazy here. Salt Lake City is so itty-bitty compared to Taipei. I seriously couldn't believe it. It is literally row after row after row of huge apartment buildings and tight roads in between. Guess what? Everyone goes to parks here. They are absolutely packed in the mornings. People are everywhere doing Tai qi, moaning weird sounds while doing yoga, pounding their fist into their palms while walking around, walking barefoot on pathways with big pebbles like egg cartons on them, you name it. I didn't realize how accurate some of our stereotypes are. They feed you until you are fat. Every single time we eat with the members, they load up your plate or bowl and then continually drop stuff in throughout the course of the meal without asking. When you refuse by saying "chi bao le" or "dude I am super full" they offer it again. Chi bao le. Offer it again. Chi bao le. Offer something else. No I'm chi bao le of that too. I've hit the weird foods already too. Red-bean cakes, fish balls, deep-fried pig blood (I managed to narrowly avoid), and a lot of other stuff I can't put a name to. We have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Try to get a hold of some Pomello though. You zi (you as in yo-ho a pirates life for me) as they call it here. It tastes super awesome. The Taiwanese love karaoke, but they are extremely bad at it. There are no trashcans here! You have to really try to find one. They pretty much only have them in convenience stores, though the city is actually pretty clean. Well, thats probably enough stuff for one week. In all, it is just super crazy that I am in a whole new country where everyone speaks a language I can't really speak. Dad has probably already looked it up, but there is a fair-sized typhoon coming through today which should be pretty fun. Love you!!!

-Elder Hawkes

Welcome to Teipei

about half the motorbikes and pedal-bikes at one of many train stations (keep in mind that those are only the motorbikes that are parked and does not include the billions of others on the road at that time),

me on a bike in front of a classic Taipei row of apartments.



an intersection in front of our apartment (look for the 4-story McDonalds)
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Off to Taiwan

Elder Reintjes and I at the Taipei airport



Taipei temple



 the alley-way where we park our bikes

New Bikes and New "Doctrine"

9/21/15   

   Transfer calls came in yesterday and it looks like my visa has not quite come through, so I will be in Modesto for a little while longer. In the mean time, I am being assigned to work in a trio with the Assistants! So my companions will be Elder Murdock and a new assistant, Elder Jones. Saturday night I believe I got food poisoning, because I had to wake up every two hours to relieve my digestive system. It was absolutely horrible. Even Elder Shepherd had to throw up a few times. Consequently, we both found ourselves sick in bed all of Sunday. I don't know whether it was the lamb our Hindu investigator cooked for us, the huge glass of apple juice I drank in an attempt to have a lucid dream, or the sketchy DQ we went to in memory of the Centerville DQ, but boy did it knock me out. 

   So I discovered why Elder Shepherd kept leaving me in the dust on his bike. I mean, he has a torn hamstring and joint problems and I still couldn't keep up. I don't have a bike and his was in the repair shop, so we got two bikes from the Mission Office that had been left behind by other missionaries. Elder Shepherd got his bike back from he repair shop and so I got to have the other bike, and that is when I figured out that it was the bike. This new bike I am on is like the Lamborghini of the bike world, and the old one is a power-chair. Now I'm the one that leaves Elder Shepherd in the dust.

   We have an interesting investigator named Francis. I'm not sure if I have ever heard more crazy doctrine than we have heard from her. She says things about the Bible that I have never heard before in my life. For example, she is obsessed with this Lilith character that was created with Adam when God blew dust, and the reason Adam was thrown out of the Garden of Eden was because he cheated on Lilith with Eve. She also believes in a 'scientific study' that showed water is alive and can talk back to us by turning red and murky or clear depending on if words where mentioned about Satan or God. Stuff like that. She absorbs everything she is taught. Literally. However, she illustrates a a good point as well. We have taught her so much and she listens to all of it. A lot of times, I think we as church members believe we know everything, or at least understand the basics. What others have to say isn't always on the top of our priority list. Granted, we need to examine everything before we take it in and accept it as doctrine, but I think we could all become a little more teachable and look at things from different perspectives as Christ has asked of us and how Francis has shown me. "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

Building Momentum in Modesto

9/14/15

Brothers and Sisters,

Things are getting better in Modesto California! When we came into this area, we only had one official investigator. Can you believe that? One. Now we have around nine or ten. Momentum in the wards is picking up as well. Missionary work is a lot like a train: the more people you have on board, the more effective it will be. Well, there is another thing about trains. Boy are they heavy. Have you ever watched a freight train accelerate? Good, neither have I because you would be there all day. Every time you switch from Sisters to Elders or Elders to Sisters the train just halts. Dead stop. Transfers? Slam on the brakes. Not a dead stop, but not far from it. So why do we slam on the brakes every six weeks? We wouldn't do it if it inhibited the missionary work. But we do, and it is so incredibly hard to get the momentum back up and moving. However, every six weeks comes a fresh new pair of missionaries, which means new motivations, new excitements, new perspectives, new everything! My point is, the work doesn't stop. Our comfort does. And as we have all heard: there is no comfort in the growth zone. If you are uncomfortable, it means you are growing! If the missionary work stayed the same, we wouldn't see any progress. 

Street Names:

-Coffee Rd

-Walnut Park Dr, Black Walnut Dr, Walnut Grove Wy, Walnut Tree Dr

-Mill Oak, Moss Oak, Shadow Oak, Star Oak, Majestic Oak, Coral Oak, Lincoln Oak, Canyon Oak, Manor Oak

-Friar Tuck Wy, Maid Mariane Ln

-Fine Av

The ones under the same bullet point are right next to each other. Basically, the street names here are absolutely crazy and sometimes fairly clever. Unfortunately, they make no sense and navigation is nearly impossible, especially now that we are on bikes and that our GPS and map were stolen by the Assistants. Nice. But hey, at least the Laotian Elders coming in today get all that good stuff! Elder Beck, my District Leader who I went on transfers with, bought me some corn from a little Hispanic salesman riding his little truck around on a bike. It's a corn cob dipped in mayo and cheese and then sprinkled with chili peppers. Super tasty, but my mouth was absolutely on fire for the next hour and I couldn't even finish that horrible thing that we only paid a dollar for. At least he liked it. We got a new investigator named Andrew, who just came up to us on the street and said he was Mormon and wanted us to meet with him. At the time he was homeless and fresh out of jail (and probably drunk), but now he is living with his brother. We talked with him yesterday, and had an awesome conversation. He never got baptized, but talked with missionaries before jail and now wants to have the lessons, go to church, and get baptized! It was so crazy! So we gave him a Book of Mormon because he lost the one he was reading in jail. So it turns out all of our investigators come from jail. Kinda funny. There's something in that though: the Spirit can only teach those that are willing to listen. Sounds pretty obvious but it really is so hard to apply. You all are the best! Thank you for the amazing support and for the lessons you have taught me throughout the years, even when I wasn't that person willing to listen the first 100 times. Have a great week!

-Elder Hawkes

Mission Phases

8/31/15

Brothers and Sisters,

Hard to believe it has been an entire three weeks since I've been in the mission field! In the MTC, Brother Stephen B Allen gave a devotional in which he described the four phases to adjusting to a big change: the Honeymoon Phase, where you are just happy-go-lucky and have all the energy and motivation in the world because you are excited for the new experience; the Hostile Phase, where you just get down on yourself and get irritable because you feel you aren't adjusting to the change very well; the Grin-and-Bear-It Phase, where you smile because you know you have to even though you don't fell it, and you just keep moving forward even though you don't like it; and finally the Successful Adjustment Phase, where you gain the peace and comfort from a set routine and become effective and efficient. Yep, I'll be honest, I think I would consider myself around the Hostile Phase. I'm not exactly a roller-coaster kind of Elder though so my 'hostility' is very mild. 

We all share that roller-coaster kind of adjustment in our lives, my hope is that we can all understand a greater perspective. In my Gospel Essentials class yesterday, we discussed the Atonement. One of the most comforting things about the Atonement is that Christ suffered our sins and can see the end result. We each go through the refiners fire--big changes and trials--in order to become better individuals. The challenge is gaining that perspective that Christ and Heavenly Father have in seeing that end purpose: that person He wants us to become. As Elder Joseph B Wirthlin says, "We see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today. Our Heavenly Father sees us in terms of forever."

Two days ago, Elder Shepherd and I drove to an appointment that cancelled out on us because they 'forgot'. Classic right? Anyways, we were driving away when Elder Shepherd says, "I can't do it anymore!" and flips the car around and starts driving back. He parks the car a good ways away from the house we just left and I'm thinking to myself "what on earth is he doing?" We got out and I practically have to chase him as he Olympic-speed-walks towards a young man, his sister, and his dog in the back of a pickup truck listening to some music. Elder Shepherd loves dogs so he went straight to the dog, but we started asking him about his interests and he said he had anger issues so he got into MMA. Uh oh. So I ask him if he as any other interests, and he says, "right now actually I am really into religion. It has helped me cope with my anger." It turns out that he goes to the House, a non-denominational Christian church that even they occasionally unknowingly refer to as the 'great and spacious building', and is training to become a pastor. But he said he would love to meet with us!! So we are stopping by sometime this week to tell him a little about our church! Galatians 5:25, sent to me by my mom, says: "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." Let us all strive to have the influence of the Spirit in our lives and to find the purpose in each of our refiner's fires.

--Elder Jordan Hawkes