Dear Mom, Dad, Eric, and Belle,
"The sun is setting, the lamplighters are at work, it is Christmas
Eve for certain." Growing up I often contemplated the words to the
popular carol, "I'll be home for Christmas," and lamented over the
unfortunate men and women who don't get to be near their loved ones at such a
lovely time of year. It brings new revelation and enlightenment, knowing
that I am now one of those people who although they wish with all their might
to be as near as possible to the ones who bring them the most joy, cannot for a
period of time. I miss the fires, the hot chocolate, the snow, the
lights, the excitement, the music (in English), the laughter, the food, the
love. This Christmas I expect, however, to be the sweetest of all.
The spirit of Christmas is within us all "wherever [we] find love."
Heavenly Father "is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be
in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy
are over all the earth." I'll miss you, but I'll be alright.
My new companion's name is Elder Magnuson and he's a hoot. I think
you all would get a kick out of him. He loves to talk and talks non-stop
about everything that comes into his head. He loves the gospel and
overcame a lot to come out. He loves telling, re-telling, and telling
again about his personal miracles and stories. I ADORE Elder
Magnuson. He works hard and has such pure desires. We're going to get
along great. This is his fourth move-call in Taiwan (compare to my being on my
seventh) and his Chinese and Taiwanese are great. He works really hard
all of the time to improve it whenever he can. I see a lot of success in
his future. He's very intelligent and is an avid student of the
scriptures, well versed in all volumes. He loves basketball too.
We also had the Christmas Activity where I got to talk to Elder Erickson
(who is now in my Zone!), Elder Taylor (Matt), and Elder Haag (my trainer now
assistant), and others until I was blue in the face. They are such
wonderful examples of diligent efforts and hard work. I really respect
how great of missionaries they are. We went to a massive Buddhist temple
in Mingjian to take a huge photo of everyone and a video which you will
receive from President Bishop shortly. We then visited some Western-esque village and tourist attraction, but I pretty much talked to
Elder Haag the entire time. We then ate at an all you can eat Steak and
Stir-Fry (Timpanyaki) with all of the missionaries in the
mission. Then everyone went to Taizhong for a Christmas devotional.
It was so much fun to see EVERYONE in the mission. It's a unique
opportunity that I will only have once more. Oh yes, at the activity, we
discovered that our release dates have all been moved back. I am now
released on January 21st. All sisters were pushed back three weeks.
I'm not sure how I feel about that just yet. We received a gift from
President Bishop that had part of Helaman 5:12 written on a
cool-looking rock in Chinese.
I didn't do hardly anything on my birthday. I restaurant gave me
free dinner which was cool. I began opening the two presents that weren't
marked as Christmas. Today, me, Elder Magnuson, Elder Erickson, our Zone
Leaders, and some other missionaries went to the Gaoxiong 85. An
85-story building here in Gaoxiong. It was
really great and I'll show you all some pictures tomorrow through SKYPE.
You'll love it. What a fun trip. We ate together and then came
here. I don't have a lot of time left before I need to begin proselyting actually.
I want to see you all tomorrow. I want to see Belle, and I want to
see your favorite present!
It's tragic about Connecticut and sad about Lance Armstrong.
I don't know what all I want to hear about tomorrow, just how everything
is going. I want to maybe touch on schooling and please prepare questions
for me. Any questions. Do you want to hear some Chinese?
Tomorrow would be the time to ask. You didn't ask in May much to my
surprise.
I'm still in Nanzi.
I know I'm missing a lot somehow. "I'll be home for
Christmas, if only in my dreams." I love you all, and I will talk to
you all tomorrow.
- Elder Woolsey
No comments:
Post a Comment