Emma's Baptism

3/27/16

 Emma had her baptism and confirmation this last week!!! It was so awesome! I am so lucky that I got to be a part of her conversion. I think there was another reason why Emma was so prepared to receive baptism at this time, and that is that my companion is going home this week. His release date got moved up a little, so he is headed back to Costa Rica sometime this week! Elder Karlinsey is totally awesome, it will be really sad to see him go. He is very excited to see Star Wars and Superman vs. Batman though, and it has made me super trunky (ok, not really, but I want to see them so bad).

     
    We had this awesome moment this last week where we stopped to talk to someone on the street, and she said, "You two are Christians! I want my kids to get to know Jesus really bad!" Our hearts got this awesome little fluttering feeling! Then she asked, "Where is your church??" Our hearts were soaring at this point. The minute we said it was in ZhuBei (10 minutes away), however, she said, "Oh that's way too far. Never mind." 10 minutes. There is just this weird perspective here in Taiwan that all religions are exactly the same, so why go to one Christian church 10 minutes away when there is one next door? This perspective leads to a few interesting situations. About 9 out of 10 people we start talking to tell us they are Buddhist and start walking away like it is the end of the conversation. No! That is like the whole reason we are here! Even better is the 1 in 10. They say they already believe Jesus and then start walking away like it is the end of the conversation. No! Some people actually get mad at us and tell us to go find people who don't already have religion. There is this awesome idiom in Chinese, "draw cakes to satisfy hunger." A lot of people here think that that is all religion is.

     

    Easter came and went like the blink of an eye, especially because they don't celebrate it here. Most people here don't even know about the bunnies and eggs and all that jazz, let alone Jesus Christ and His atonement. It was really fun this week sharing what the true meaning of Easter is. I'm so grateful for the Savior and all He did for us. Our Gospel Principles teacher asked me a question on Sunday that really hit me: "If you were there while Christ was being crucified, what would you do?" I stumbled out some incoherent answer in broken Chinese and the lesson moved on, but that question stuck. What would I do? I would certainly be crying. More importantly, I think I would just want to say, "Thank you." How grateful I am that Christ suffered and died to overcome death, pay the price for our sins, and strengthen us according to our needs. I know that Christ is not distant, but right here in the garden working with me. I know He is with you too. I love you all, and I hope everyone has had an awesome Easter!

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    You gotta send me a picture of the sweet trailer Christian mentions in all of his letters! Also, is Batman vs. Superman good? It looks so epic. I heard there was more story to it than Man of Steel, and a little less beating each other to a pulp. I also heard that Batman wins. Oh ya!!! Batman rules! Wait... I spent all that time looking for my basket yesterday and the Easter bunny didn't come?? No wonder I couldn't find it!! I've got a pretty interesting week ahead, so next week will probably be an interesting one. Mom and Dad, were you really poor in New York? I was just reading through some of Grandma's old letters and she mentioned the air conditioner being $20 and not working at all or something like that. I dunno, I guess it was never something I had thought about before. Also, Dad, have you found a new job yet? Sarah, I keep running into tons of really talented artists and l always just miss your art. I never realized how much I enjoy looking at art until I came here and then I just obsess over it when I see it. Mary, how is that soccer coming? Better than your computer skills? ;) Is your teacher still Mrs. Hansen? It isn't right... do I know your teacher? Christian, punk! I meet a lot of 6-year-olds running around and they are punks just like you! You would get along so well with this kid named Duo Duo. He runs around the church screaming swear words and the like, but he is super cute otherwise. I love you guys! Have a great week!

There is this awesome little pian pi part of our area. How do you say that in English... Distant? Solitary? Isolated? Away from the city? Suburbian? Excluded...?

This is what I call an Elders apartment. No, that is not a bunch of cheap ties tied together to make a clothesline to dry our laundry on because our dryer has gone the way of the dinosaurs and the company we get them from is 'out'. And no that is not garbage that has been sorted into different bags but left there for too long. We have plenty of time to take out the garbage and wash dishes.... 

OK, these are just weird pictures. The first is kind of a "oh man I'm doing exactly what mom and dad said not to do and riding my bike with an umbrella" (all four of us started doing it and it was really funny)

me trying to express just how much my mouth is on fire but also trying to smile for the camera so ending up at a horrible clash of the two. We four Elders ate at this Korean restaurant, and Elder Xiao and I were sweating like camels. The other Elders were laughing at us really hard, but Elder Xiao was way more sweaty than I was. It was hilarious.