Dear Mom, Dad, and Eric,
Dad, I know you're a really lihai (fierce) cyclist,
but do you know what it's like to cycle in gale force winds, torrential rains,
and a flooded street that comes up to your ankles? It's...an experience,
that's for sure. All I can say is...TYPHOOOOOOONN!!! Supposedly it's
the worst it has ever been on my part of the island in twenty years. I
wouldn't say that I ever felt in danger, but I tell you right now, that it's
difficult to work in that kind of weather. No one is on the streets and
people cancel appointments like crazy. The bishop along with many others
told us that it wasn't safe to be on the roads and that we were crazy for being
out in it, but it's a testimony builder for many in my opinion. The
wonderful thing about storms is that while it's like the second coming outside
and your bike falls over making you lose your rain pants, your flash cards, and
a plethora of other useful things, the miracles are free flowing. Elder
Erickson said that he saw a clip on the television of a security camera
catching a man who was walking along when suddenly the ground collapsed under
him. Also, although I try really hard not to look at televisions, that
same day Elder White and I saw a clip of a man in Taibei getting sucked into a whirlpool in the middle of the
street. It was insane. There was this river the flows next to where
some of our investigators live and it was crazy huge. It's supposed to be
the size of that little stream that flows next to our church in Draper but this
thing looked worse than Grizzly River Rapids and people were out in the streets
pumping water out. Supposedly giant rocks were flowing down the main
street in Shalu which we didn't end up going to ourselves. Typhoon =
Cyclone = Hurricane in case you were wondering. It just depends on where
you are in the world.
I asked about why Taiwan is referred to as Chinese Taibei, and it's actually another official name for Taiwan and it has
to do with the relationship that Taiwan has with China. Supposedly, China
wouldn't let them compete without it.
A missionary that left from my ward here in Taiwan came home from France
this week and it turns out that he trained that incredible Elder Dagenais who was in my District in the MTC. That was
incredible! I was stunned out how small the world is. One is from
Quebec, I'm from Utah, he's from Taiwan, but we all know each other
somehow. It's incredibly strange. As Thomas S. Monson would say,
there truly are no coincidences. His faith is great. I can't wait
till I can come back from my mission, returning as the greatest most pure
person that I have ever been. It's a crazy thought to know that at
that time, I will never have been a better person at any other point in my
life. I suppose that that's how every day should be for all of us.
That's how repentance works.
I've had several friends that
have gotten married already. I really can't believe it. Elder
Erickson keeps mentioning how when we return it's our turn. I feel more
mature and more like an adult than I ever have in my entire life, but at the
same time, I feel far from ready to start a family. That being said, I
feel like my eyes have been opened to the reasoning why missionaries return
home and try to get married and start families quickly. I'm not saying
that I plan on doing that, but I'm not going to intentionally avoid marriage at
that point (whew....I'm only nineteen...).
Mom, Dad, and Eric, I invite you all to set spiritual goals with regards
to scripture reading this week. I don't know whether it will be to finish
the Book of Mormon by the end of the year, to read a chapter daily, or just to
read daily period, but I promise that as you set these goals, you will see the
influence of the Lord in your life more abundantly. You will find that
your burdens will be made lighter and the love your Heavenly Father has for you
will fill you continually. I encourage you all to set a goal and a plan
to achieve it. Please tell me how this goes next week!
I hope that I can fulfill your expectations when I return, Dad. I
hope I change enough, and that I'm eloquent enough. I can't make any
promises on how well I will be able to express myself, but I promise that I
will have changed, that this will mean everything to me and that I have made
changes and will have made changes that I don't plan to budge on. I'm
going to work hard to serve my God for the rest of my life. I've seen
many types of missionaries already. Lihai (fierce),
mediocre, yi ban (average), and every other time. I don't know which I am
right now, but I'm going to do my best, like Eric did his best. Not every
missionary changes and not every missionary changes enough to maintain it when
they return, but I PROMISE you all that I will. I'm trying to do my best
here, to find, to teach, and to baptize. I don't know what success I'll
have, but I'll have been converted and if the Lord chooses to bless me
accordingly, I will help a few others come unto Him as well.
It's difficult, there's no doubt, but it's more than worth it.
There are very few days that I don't go to bed exhausted, then to my...disappointment,wake up exhausted, doing everything in my
power to push my legs while running or squeeze out one more push-up. We
begin studying sometimes and it's hard to stay awake, and then we go to work
for eleven hours before returning and doing it over again. I love every
minute of it.
Goodwood sounds delicious
right now. Steak. Mexican food. Whew....Elder Erickson tells
me sometimes that the first thing that he's going to do when he gets home is go
eat. If it's one in the morning he wants Wendy's first. He's a lot
of fun, but he kind of has a good point. I try not to think about it
though. I have a long way to go.
I'm sorry about the drought. That can't be good for anyone.
Well, I hope that everyone is doing well and that you feel the blessings
of sacrifice daily. I'm grateful to have such a wonderfully supportive
family that thinks about me often and loves me enough to write weekly and pray
for me. I love this gospel. This isn't just a "oh he's a
missionary" kind of thing anymore. I don't want it to be.
There's sort of a legend about a missionary named Elder Buning who lives in Utah somewhere. He was the hardest working
missionary that any missionary I've met so far has ever seen. Actually,
Elder Haag was his companion at one point. Supposedly it was almost
inhuman how hard he worked and how incredible of a missionary he was. I
want to be like that. That's my only desire. He left about four
days after I met Elder Haag so there was no chance to ever see him in
action. I don't want praise or recognition, but I want to be able to say
what he wrote to Elder Haag a couple of months ago which was that when he got
home and collapsed into the arms of his mother, it was everything he wished it
would be. He worked as hard as he could on his mission and had no
regrets. He was tired, but satisfied. He also said that the first
few weeks were torture for him because he wasn't working as hard, and he didn't
know what to do. I want to be able to say that.
I love you all. You xin xin you banfa (get a
translation for this)! I don't know how to type in characters or I
would...
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