1/23/17
Elder Triplett and I decided we wanted to shake up the "ride in big circles around our area on the main streets and talk to anything that moves" finding method, so we took a lesson from Dan Jones. I don't know if you are familiar with him or not, but if you look at the first few pages of the "My Purpose" section of Preach My Gospel, you will know what we are talking about. After Preparation Day ended, we strapped a bucket to the back of my bike and headed for the nearest MRT station. Once we got there, we found a super crowded street corner, set down the bucket, grabbed a Book of Mormon, and went to work! Well, it turns out there isn't anyone in Tian Mu willing to listen to a pair of white punks in ties taking turns standing on a bucket and yelling about Christ in broken Chinese. Frankly, I can understand why. It did accomplish the purpose we had intended though, because the 10 minutes of shouting our testimonies gave us a unique fire for the rest of the night.
Elder Triplett and I decided we wanted to shake up the "ride in big circles around our area on the main streets and talk to anything that moves" finding method, so we took a lesson from Dan Jones. I don't know if you are familiar with him or not, but if you look at the first few pages of the "My Purpose" section of Preach My Gospel, you will know what we are talking about. After Preparation Day ended, we strapped a bucket to the back of my bike and headed for the nearest MRT station. Once we got there, we found a super crowded street corner, set down the bucket, grabbed a Book of Mormon, and went to work! Well, it turns out there isn't anyone in Tian Mu willing to listen to a pair of white punks in ties taking turns standing on a bucket and yelling about Christ in broken Chinese. Frankly, I can understand why. It did accomplish the purpose we had intended though, because the 10 minutes of shouting our testimonies gave us a unique fire for the rest of the night.
This morning we woke up early to drive to the top of the mountains in our area and watch the sunrise. We got to the top, but it was covered in fog and clouds, so we couldn't see a thing. We were so disappointed, but then we felt a slight breeze pickup that blew the clouds off to the side and revealed the whole sweeping city lights of Taipei. It was gorgeous. It was one of those beautiful once-in-a-lifetime experiences that you just can't ever forget.
The last awesome highlight was just yesterday morning. On Monday (Preparation Day was on Wednesday this week because we went to the temple), we were out finding when a mother came up to us and asked us if we could visit her daughter in the hospital. She told us that her daughter loved talking with people and making friends, but had gotten sick with cancer two years back and has been in and out of the hospital ever since. She asked us if we could go visit her because she new her daughter would just love talking to two Americans in English, so yesterday after studies we headed up to the hospital. After navigating the busy hospital to the 19th floor, we finally found her room. As we all know, hospital rooms are ironically not very 'hospitable', and government-sponsored-
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Mom-
Sorry, I'm really tired so I probably won't write much more than some cool spots if you end up coming to visit. English is harder than Chinese when you have a headache!! Honestly, I haven't thought much about the release date. Life is like jogging: if you look straight up you will eventually trip on something and if you look at your toes you will most certainly slam into something. The best thing to do is run with your eyes focused 15 yards or so ahead of you, and closer if it's dark or the path is rough. So, the date hasn't sunk in yet. That being said, I can mention some must-see places (from my point of view) from which you can pick and choose and ask questions and all that stuff: DanShui Wharf, ShiLin night market, Chang KaiShek Memorial Hall, Taipei 101, National Palace Museum, Beitou Hot Springs, YangMing Shan national park (hike to QiXing ZhuFeng or sunrise where we went this morning), PingXi, Nanya Rocks in KeeLung, Taroko Gorge in Hualien, QiXing beach in Hualien, hiking up the river in GuangFu or Mugumuyu. I have never been to Taidong, but there are some really cool natural landscapes there. For absolutely incredible food, cultural sites, and relics, I've heard the place to go is TaiNan. As for the West Coast, much of it probably doesn't interest me unless you find something really cool. A lot of it is big smoggy city (which you will get plenty of in Taipei). There are members and others we could go and visit in Beitou, ZhuBei, and Hualien. There is a bullet train down the west coast of Taiwan, but it is expensive. I've heard the drive down to Hualien and Taidong is incredible, although driving in Taiwan is a terrifying experience and would probably be best to be avoided if possible.
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my camera fell into a crevice at the elephant rock place, so Elder Triplett descended into the crevice of despair to go and get it! At first attempt, it was too far away to reach. He ended up going further down the crevice, underneath an overhang, and then finally reaching in to retrieve the camera! Wahoo!! So crazy!!!
unfortunate spelling
more unfortunate spelling
more papercutting I gave to a member because they took us to see the sunrise and gave us some really cool paintings
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