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| Elder Larson is going to England by himself! |
I'm in Taiwan!!
Crazy right??!?!?! It was definitely a long trip (no doubt about it). So we
basically didn't sleep the whole night before the plane ride, needless to say I
was tired because I love sleep. When we said goodbye to people from our
district, I may or may not have teared up a bit. (I USED TO NEVER CRY BEFORE
THE MISSION. WHAT HAPPENED??)
So on Tuesday morning, we met at the travel office at 4:50 am. Four of us Sisters with Elder Turpin and more than 30 other missionaries were bused to the Front runner with all our luggage in toll to take the 6:00 train to the airport. Luckily there were many Elders to help with loading and unloading. We made it to the airport around 7:40. We were the only group flying with United. We got to call the family so that was good!! I miss you all, but I also love it here.
On the plane ride to San Francisco, I sat by a girl who isn't a member, so me being the little missionary I tried talking to her. Turns out that she's from Arizona but she had lived in South Africa for a while. Her dad had served a mission but fell away from the church pretty quickly after he was home. I got to share about what a mission was like and how it could sometimes be scary learning a new language and living in a new place. My teacher was right, I think there are things such as divine rendezvous, she was originally going to go to Thailand but her plans got changed and she has never taken United airline but here she was!! It was nice to be able to share my testimony with her and hopefully it had helped her to think more about the church.
In San Francisco we actually met up with the three fast track Elders that got visa delayed in the states!! We also ran into a member and she was so nice to take a picture of us and sent to mom. I sat by Elder Ehinger, Sister Lim, and Sister Hansen on the plane. As always, the food was absolutely awful but what is new!! It was a very long flight and I barely slept...I probably looked like a homeless person but what can you do?? Elder Ehinger got food poisoning or upset stomach so he puked....four times...right next to me but he's fine now!
We arrived in Taiwan on the 28 evening, around an hour later than we were supposed to and the customs line was LITERALLY SO LONG. We waited in customs for over an hour but we eventually got through. There were eight of us from the States and ten natives that arrived that night. We had some amazing food our first night called Biandan and we had boba -- after the MTC food this stuff is like golden. We stayed at the mission home for one night and then we got our companions the next day!
So on Tuesday morning, we met at the travel office at 4:50 am. Four of us Sisters with Elder Turpin and more than 30 other missionaries were bused to the Front runner with all our luggage in toll to take the 6:00 train to the airport. Luckily there were many Elders to help with loading and unloading. We made it to the airport around 7:40. We were the only group flying with United. We got to call the family so that was good!! I miss you all, but I also love it here.
On the plane ride to San Francisco, I sat by a girl who isn't a member, so me being the little missionary I tried talking to her. Turns out that she's from Arizona but she had lived in South Africa for a while. Her dad had served a mission but fell away from the church pretty quickly after he was home. I got to share about what a mission was like and how it could sometimes be scary learning a new language and living in a new place. My teacher was right, I think there are things such as divine rendezvous, she was originally going to go to Thailand but her plans got changed and she has never taken United airline but here she was!! It was nice to be able to share my testimony with her and hopefully it had helped her to think more about the church.
In San Francisco we actually met up with the three fast track Elders that got visa delayed in the states!! We also ran into a member and she was so nice to take a picture of us and sent to mom. I sat by Elder Ehinger, Sister Lim, and Sister Hansen on the plane. As always, the food was absolutely awful but what is new!! It was a very long flight and I barely slept...I probably looked like a homeless person but what can you do?? Elder Ehinger got food poisoning or upset stomach so he puked....four times...right next to me but he's fine now!
We arrived in Taiwan on the 28 evening, around an hour later than we were supposed to and the customs line was LITERALLY SO LONG. We waited in customs for over an hour but we eventually got through. There were eight of us from the States and ten natives that arrived that night. We had some amazing food our first night called Biandan and we had boba -- after the MTC food this stuff is like golden. We stayed at the mission home for one night and then we got our companions the next day!
First day in
Taiwan:
My companion's
name is Sister Austad, she's from Arizona and has been on her mission for about
nine months now! She's literally so awesome and I literally can't say enough
about her ugh I just love her. We are in an area called Xizhi, it's the most
northeast mission in Taiwan and about an hour from Taipei city. I love it here
because here is more of a residential area, not like Taipei, more of a business
city and people are so nice. I got to ride a bike the first night and let's
just say there were a lot of tiny screams coming from my body. PEOPLE HERE
DON'T CARE ABOUT TRAFFIC RULES. They just go and there are no biking lanes so
cars and scooters just go around you. There's these things called death squares
-- no one stops so it's just people going straight, left, right, you name it
and they are probably doing it. We bike literally everywhere...EVERYWHERE. The
only time we get to take the MRT/train is if we are going to Taipei. I got my first mosquito bite here and my calf was like red and swollen but now it's fine! I love mosquito bites :)))))) (that's a sarcastic smiley). Understanding Chinese here is SO HARD. I literally just stare and smile with a pained face. My trainer is so nice and helps me though. Everyone has been pretty understanding when I say I'm an ABC (American born Chinese) though.
We are
currently teaching the Cai family, Sister Liu and her daughter, and well a
bunch of people. The Cai family is really close to being baptized, we have to
teach a few more lessons but we are hesitant to teach the law of tithing.
Sister Liu and her daughter and progressing too!! We have taught them the first
two lessons and she attended the recent convert fireside yesterday!
MIRACLES:
So we were
calling people to try and set up appointments when my companion finds one that
says miracle right by it so we called her. She immediately said she wanted to
meet with us at McDonalds (okay can i just say that McDonalds in Asia is way
classier than the ones in America) so we went to our local McDonalds to meet
her. When we prayed with her to start our lesson she started crying and when we
asked her why, she said that she had been struggling (she had taken lessons
before from the missionaries) and been questioning if life was worth living.
She remembered how the missionaries had told her about prayer, so she asked God
for help and after she ended her prayer we had called her. HOW COOL IS THAT.
God is so mindful of everyone and each of our prayers. Her experience just
reconfirms that.
Sister Liu and
her daughter also had one, so her car had died and she was wondering how they
were going to get it started and how they were going to get home. Sister Liu
remembered prayer, so she asked God to help her and to help her car start and
afterwards they went to eat and when they got back their car started!!
Nonspiritual stuff:
Okay a lot of
my email here was talking about how my first mosquito bit in Taiwan was, but
you guys remember how I said that bad things just always happen to me??? (aka
the Mat in MTC) Well, in Taiwan all the elevator doors keep closing on me. Now
you may be thinking oh that's harmless, they sense you're there and they open
right back up. THAT'S A TOTAL LIE HERE. Here, the elevator doors literally try
closing on you. So, every time they close on me, the doors abuse my shoulders!!
Also, everyone
thinks that I'm Japanese or a Huayi ren (Oversea Chinese). They keep telling me
this because of how big my eyes are LOL. Actually, in church they introduced me
as a person from Japan, then a Dalu (mainland China) person, and then from
America. The struggle is real. But my ward is absolutely awesome!! They are so
into missionary work and they just are so willing to peike for us. Our district
is so small there are just four of us - so just 2 sisters and 2 elders. Also I am
scared cause I have to give a talk on missionary work on the 29th in Chinese
and I have no idea how to!!
趙姐妹
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| Finally arrived! Trip to the mission home. |
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| Grand Hotel |
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| Group picture with the Mission President and his wife |
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