Sister Winters - January 15, 2012 Zao An from Hualian!

(Editor's note: Rebecca arrived safely in Taiwan on Wednesday evening.)

My body's adjusting alright to the time change - we've been waking up before 6, sometimes before 5, for the past few days for various reasons, so when my companion told me that she wants to take a nap today during P-day, I probably won't stop her (or myself) from taking one... Unless I have a miraculous burst of energy instead to study some Chinese. :)

 

Okay! A little bit about everything! I got onto EVA airlines and as I was walking down the aisle, I heard this weird classical music playing over the speakers. I call it "weird" because it had this interesting Chinese twist - I couldn't tell if it was actual Chinese music, or if it was elevator music for Chinese purposes, or if it was Western music trying to incorporate Eastern themes. In looking at that past sentence, I've realized that I am still a music nerd at heart - glad that part of me hasn't changed. :) Anyway, that isn't very important - I just thought it was a funny way to start my journey.

 

I slept for a LONG time on the plane - a little over 9 hours, I think! I'll tell you one thing - the MTC really wears you out... And it only gets better! Anyway, it wasn't the most comfortable or restful sleep that I've ever had, but it was good to sleep for so long. We got to Taiwan at 10:30ish, went through customs, got our baggage (they had "quarantine beagles on duty" that supposedly sniffed our luggage to make sure we had no agricultural products - I don't know why, but I thought that was so funny!), and met the mission president! I really like President Grimley. I expressed a few fears that he seemed pretty strict, but he's so nice and friendly. He and Sister Grimley are friends with Uncle Steve and Aunt Marcia, too! That was fun. We went running that next morning at 6:30 in a place called Freedom Square in the middle of Taiwan (look it up on Google Earth or something). It was awesome - the architecture made me feel like I was in a movie set or something, plus they had all of these old people doing Tai Chi and various "martial art" dances. So fun! We also went to the dedicatory site of Taiwan - I really felt the Spirit there as I thought about early missionaries there (some of whom are still alive) and as I dedicated myself to being a good missionary for the next 15.5 months and to serving with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength. This was next to the Taiwan Grand Hotel (I think that's what it's called?), which is an awesome building. We got to take some pictures in front of it and inside of it - I'd look it up so you can see what I'm talking about. Funny story - President Uchtdorf's twin nephews both served in Taiwan (both of them are now MTC teachers), so when they were done in his month off in July, he came out here to visit with his family. As a general authority, he's allowed to stay in any hotel in Taiwan - normally they arrange for general authorities to stay in nice Marriotts or something, but President Uchtdorf adamantly stated that he wanted to stay in the Taiwan Grand Hotel. So he did! I thought that was funny.

 

Anyway, during our orientation, President Grimley kept on talking about how all of us were going to stay in the Taipei area, except one of us was going to the East coast, or "paradise," as the Taipei missionaries call it. I really felt like I was going to be the one to go to paradise - not because I'm very different from the other missionaries or anything, but just because I had a feeling that I would be leaving. Well, when we met our trainers and found out where we were serving, I was right! I'm in an area called Hualian (or maybe Hualien is the English name - not sure). It's on the east coast, about 10 minutes running distance away. I've got the beach, the mountains, the trees, and the city - I totally lucked out! It's beautiful here, and I already really like this area. I'm sorry that I don't have pictures - my companion told me that I needed my SD card, but she actually meant a USB cable for my camera, so I don't have any that I can share with you. Next week, though! And you can look up pictures until then. :) I'd especially recommend Taroko Gorge - that's a place that I hope to go to next P-day, and it's one of the most beautiful areas in all of Taiwan. My companion says that President Grimley trusts us a lot and that's why he sent us to Hualian, but I'm inclined to think that it's probably because Heavenly Father knew I couldn't handle biking in Taipei city. :)

 

Okay, next, my companion! Her name is Sister Wu, and she's from Taizhong (the other mission in Taiwan). She's actually surprisingly tall for a Taiwanese person here (I feel extra tall in this country), she works hard, she follows the rules, and she's a little blunt, as most Asians are. This is good, because I told my MTC teacher before I left that I needed to develop a more humble attitude, and this will definitely help! :) She also bikes fast, which is another blessing - I told people before I left that I wanted to good at biking fast and navigating through this city, and this is already helping! Don't worry - if she's ever too fast, I'll tell her at companionship inventory or something. :)

 

Food - really good! I've liked almost everything that I've had thus far. Scratch that - I think i've actually liked everything I've had. I almost had pig ears for dinner last night, but since it was buffet-style, I felt okay in just skipping over that plate. :) I've felt really blessed, because I just put stuff on my plate (or in my bowl, which is more common here) and eat it, no questions asked (except for the pig ear, which is why I didn't eat it). I'm sure that I'll still have some interesting stories once I DO find out what stuff is, though! I'll keep you posted.

 

Weather - really similar to Florida, probably. This means that I have 80's hair every day, but it's great - I think that it's so interesting that it gets some people to stop and ask me about it, which will hopefully lead to more contacts! :)

 

Language - it's as good as it can be right now. President told me that I would have a really tough time at the beginning, but everyone does (even people who have studied Chinese for a long time). I can understand what's happening in lessons that we're teaching, and I get some stuff out of church and contacting, but the regular vocabulary is a little hard. Just keep praying for me! Everyone's so nice about it - the district president (Hualian is one of the few areas that has a district and not a stake, so pray for that too) spoke yesterday after I bore my testimony and said that I was a "qiji," or "miracle." It'll be really great for my Chinese to have a "Bundiren," or a native, as my companion. She also talks extraordinarily fast (and I've listened to natives speak before this, so I really can say that she's fast even in comparison to them!), so if I can understand her, then I should be able to understand most people, I think (as long as they don't have a really thick Taiwanese accent, that is). I have hope for the future, because the other missionaries in my district didn't take Chinese before, and now their Chinese is really good. They and President Grimley said that if I can speak this well now, I'll really catch on. I'm not sure if they were just practicing the Chinese custom of "giving face" or not, but it was comforting all the same.

 

What else has happened? The branches that we serve in (we cover two) are really nice. Most of them are converts themselves, so they really, really love the missionaries and help them in whatever ways they can. They're really nice to me, and I'm trying to give back (Dad, I said in my testimonies yesterday that I really want to help in whatever way I can; I didn't get to talk to the branch presidents, but I will! Thank you for that advice). Hmm... as far as crazy stories go, I've been rejected by an investigator with a giant buddha in their house, I've talked to an old man on the street for five minutes without realizing that he was deaf, I've been told that my eyes are so big and so beautiful that I look like I'm a comic book character, I've told a man that he was beautiful on accident, I've had some hard times, and I've had a lot of peace. We've already seen some miracles here in Hualian, and I know that more will come. Please pray that they will happen - I know that your prayers will help!

 

Last thought - most of you know that one of my biblical heroes is Paul. I love Paul. Well, I was reading in 1 Thessalonians 2 about missionary work, and I noticed that Paul said something along the lines of "I spoke to you not as a pleasing man, but as God, which trieth the heart." It's sort of hard for me to ask for people to pull over so I can tell them about the gospel, but when you think about it, Paul was kind of bothersome too! And he says later that he "not only imparted the gospel" to them, but his "whole soul." I hope to do that as I work and labor in this area. We've already seen a lot of success - we have many members with baptismal dates - and I know we can see more. Please pray that I'll have the courage to open my mouth and that I'll find people! This week we're going to try and use my violin for contacting - we might have to do it on the weekend, though, because people are always working here. Oh, and Guonian (Chinese New Year) starts this Sunday all through next week, so you'll get to hear about that in the next email!

 

Thank you for your love and your constant prayers. I LOVE you all so very very very much, and I miss you. But, I also know this is where I'm needed the most, and I'm happy to serve. Please continue to pray for me! I'll do the same for you.

 

Love,

Becca

 

PS - Sorry this is so long! I promise that I'll try and make it more "readable" next time.

PPS - I'll be writing at about this time every week.