3/17/13

Wo de jiating! Ni hao! Hello from Taiwan! It was definitely an adventure getting here but I wouldn't change it for the world. It was incredible to watch our Elders. They truly took no thoughts for themselves on the trip here. I especially loved watching one elder, but that may be because he's been in my district the last 12 weeks and I was right next to him the entire trip because they seated us by our districts. He was incredible as I didn't see him take time for himself until 2 in the morning to finally rest and get some sleep in the Narita airport! The entire trip here, he was doing missionary work, inviting people, teaching them, and most of all, getting to know them and serving them. I feel a little bit like I was watching Christ at work. So, I should probably mention that our layover in Narita that was only supposed to be like, 2 hours, ended up being over 14 due to poor weather conditions and they took so much care of us! They gave us water, food vouchers, food, blankets, pillows, mats, it was amazing. And as I said, our Elders were serving the entire time. I ended up crashing for a good hour plus right after I got that blanket since I hadn't slept at all and went like 3 or 4 days on maybe 6-8 hours of sleep so I crashed really hard. But our Elders the entire time were handing out blankets, pillows, mats, often giving up their own for other people. Then later on, they moved us upstairs and our Elders instantly got to work helping others move their stuff, not even thinking about the carry-ons they'd left with us, it was incredible! As I said, I feel a little like I got to watch Christ at work by watching them. We also met this sweet lady from Taiwan that seems like a golden contact but I don't know exactly what area she's in so I don't know what's happened there but we gave her a Book of Mormon and got to spend time testifying to her. She wanted to know why we were all serving others so much and what made us different, why we were so happy. It was amazing. I have her e-mail so when I can write in characters I will definitely write her and check up because she was SO sweet and seemed so ready for the gospel! We were truly blessed! As for being here, I LOVE IT! My trainer is Sister Sutton. I was "born" in the Tu Chen area. The awesome thing is, our first night here I got to go to a lesson with my trainer and her companion, as well as the sister that her companion is now training. This is extremely rare since usually you end up going out and proselyting on the street but it was so truly incredible and I'm glad I got to be in this area since that first night I was already developing such a love for it. Sister Sutton and I actually have a lot in common, we're both the youngest of three, with an older brother and older sister. We were both sealed to our families at 8 years old. Both our brothers have 2 kids. It's crazy and I already have such a love for her, did before I learned of all our similarities! I'm loving learning everything I can from her and she's definitely helping me practice and learn my zhongwen, it's awesome! We're over the Tu Chen and Xinban which means we get to go to 2 wards on Sundays so I got to bear my testimony in zhongwen over the pulpit twice yesterday! It was awesome and sooo scary! But everyone's complimenting me on my zhongwen so maybe it's not as bad as I think it is? But oh my gosh, the members are constantly throwing food at the missionaries! They love us so much and want to feed us and take care of us. Yesterday we had like, 3 or 4 people just randomly give us food. And earlier in the week a Sister brought us food after a lesson. It's really humbling since I know I"m the Lord's servant and I'm just fine in taking care of myself but they want to help and serve us any way they can so they're giving us food and trying to take care of us. They also all really want to be our members present at a lesson, it's awesome! We haven't had a lesson that we weren't able to find a member to attend and I love it. I love that they love and are so involved in the missionary effort and I feel there's so much I can learn from them! Wo ai nimen!