1/29/15
I got transferred last week over to the northwestern half of the island in a place called XinZhu (Taiwanese pinyin: HsinChu). My new companion is Elder Humphries of Bountiful, Utah! Kind of crazy my companion is from that close. Oh, and we had a baptism this last Saturday! Nothing like moving into a new area and having a baptism! Her name is Polly, but I don't know much else about her because I only got to talk to her at the baptism. Between the church and our apartment is the infamous XinFeng hill. I had heard rumors, but never experienced the horribleness. I knew it was one of the biggest hills in the mission, but I didn't realize we had to go up and down it almost every day and yesterday twice. My legs are literally noodles. Don't worry, next week they will be legs of titanium steel.
I got transferred last week over to the northwestern half of the island in a place called XinZhu (Taiwanese pinyin: HsinChu). My new companion is Elder Humphries of Bountiful, Utah! Kind of crazy my companion is from that close. Oh, and we had a baptism this last Saturday! Nothing like moving into a new area and having a baptism! Her name is Polly, but I don't know much else about her because I only got to talk to her at the baptism. Between the church and our apartment is the infamous XinFeng hill. I had heard rumors, but never experienced the horribleness. I knew it was one of the biggest hills in the mission, but I didn't realize we had to go up and down it almost every day and yesterday twice. My legs are literally noodles. Don't worry, next week they will be legs of titanium steel.
Sidenote: Playboy in Taiwan is actually a shoe store. Who would have thought? Playboy, DON'T LOOK! Oh wait, no you can look it's only a shoe store. I am very tempted to buy a pair of their really cozy slippers and see what my mission president thinks.
Belowthesidenote: Wedding rings for women in Taiwan are worn on the right hand. The third finger while engaged, and the fourth finger while married. They wear it on the right so when they hold hands with their significant other (who wears it on the left) the rings are right next to each other. We found this out from a lady thinking about divorcing her husband. Go figure.
The worldwide mission conference last week was amazing!!! I loved it so so so much! I wish I could watch it again and again. It was really cool to here their inspired words, and I'm excited to start working on applying it all in my mission. One thing they really talked about was member missionary work. Missionary work is most effective when members and missionaries work together. The majority of baptisms throughout the world are from member referrals, so keep it up back home! You're doin' a great job! I love you all!!
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Question (probably for Dad): is the rain actually acid rain and will it actually make my hair fall out? Literally everyone is convinced it will, and I need to know if I have to take drastic measures to preserve my luscious hair. People go crazy at you if your hair is exposed to the rain and I want to know if they are justified in turning my world upside down due to a lack of proper protective hair covering.
I'm sorry, but as for the who I am teaching category, I'm not 100% sure yet. New area, so I don't really know anybody yet. Next week. Frustrations? Everyone here thinks all religions are the same and that it is just an emotional support. The WORST perspective anyone could have. Religion is just like yoga is in America. People go do it to relieve stress right? That is exactly how they treat religion. "Oh ya! I love religion! I can just go on Sundays and get rid of all my stress!" NO! They cannot physically accept the fact that religion is so much more than just a 'scapegoat' and that our church is VERY different from other churches. It is so stinking frustration trying to explain it to someone on the street.
I'm still getting to know the members here, but they are so amazing. Some of them have the perspective that I just mentioned and it is horrible, but there are some real powerhouses. I don't know about my favorite thing as a missionary. There are so many amazing things that I love. One of the best though is going to bed at night. Like, not kidding. After a day of hard work and before another day of hard work, it feels so incredible to finally let your head hit the pillow at the end of the day. On the street, we get quite a mix of reactions. About 2 in 20 are completely rude (ok not completely) and straight up ignore us and walk away with angry faces, 1 in 20 is completely willing to listen to our message, and the remaining 17 make up some lame excuse not to talk to us, about 10 of which will make the lame excuse and then kind of chat with us for a bit after they realize we are actually pretty nice and fun people. That is pretty much the composition of our street finding. I love seeing people all the way down the street dive into an old dingy store full of drugs or something to avoid us though. Pretty funny. Well, that is the majority of it. I love you Dad, Mom, Sarah, Mary, and Christian!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm sorry, but as for the who I am teaching category, I'm not 100% sure yet. New area, so I don't really know anybody yet. Next week. Frustrations? Everyone here thinks all religions are the same and that it is just an emotional support. The WORST perspective anyone could have. Religion is just like yoga is in America. People go do it to relieve stress right? That is exactly how they treat religion. "Oh ya! I love religion! I can just go on Sundays and get rid of all my stress!" NO! They cannot physically accept the fact that religion is so much more than just a 'scapegoat' and that our church is VERY different from other churches. It is so stinking frustration trying to explain it to someone on the street.
I'm still getting to know the members here, but they are so amazing. Some of them have the perspective that I just mentioned and it is horrible, but there are some real powerhouses. I don't know about my favorite thing as a missionary. There are so many amazing things that I love. One of the best though is going to bed at night. Like, not kidding. After a day of hard work and before another day of hard work, it feels so incredible to finally let your head hit the pillow at the end of the day. On the street, we get quite a mix of reactions. About 2 in 20 are completely rude (ok not completely) and straight up ignore us and walk away with angry faces, 1 in 20 is completely willing to listen to our message, and the remaining 17 make up some lame excuse not to talk to us, about 10 of which will make the lame excuse and then kind of chat with us for a bit after they realize we are actually pretty nice and fun people. That is pretty much the composition of our street finding. I love seeing people all the way down the street dive into an old dingy store full of drugs or something to avoid us though. Pretty funny. Well, that is the majority of it. I love you Dad, Mom, Sarah, Mary, and Christian!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
a beautiful Danshui for probably the last time
we got a picture with the rebel exercise lady!!!! She was so awesome!! If I haven't told you about her remind me to next week.
our exercise crew
me outside of the gigantic XinZhu chapel with Elder Humphries
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