Hello, everyone! Thanks for your prayers in my behalf this past week (and always) - I'm feeling them, and I'm doing great! I got mail last week, which was super-fun. Mom, I laughed at the Christmas card you sent - thank you for thinking of me! Sarah, my English vocabulary is dying... I can't think of an answer to your hig-pig! But thank you for your letter (I had a huge smile on my face when I read it and even laughed in some parts) and your pictures! Okay, I'm already pretty sure that this email's going to be pretty disjointed. Bear with me:
- Where do I normally write my emails? Well, there are internet cafes that we use here (we used them in Hualien, too) - these seedy little joints where people come and play World of Warcraft-type games for hours on end. It always makes me feel a little sick, actually, that people are so addicted to computer games that they'll come here and waste their lives away. Okay! Onto the next point!
- A few food experiences from this past week: a couple of weeks ago, I tried this soup with a bunch of random things in it (they have those kinds of soups with pretty much every qing ke, or dinner at a member's house). One of the things in it was this black square. I ate it and moved on with my life. Well, when I was in Hualien, Wu Jiemei dared me to eat one of those, but I told her I'd already eaten one. Her reaction was pretty much the worst it could possibly be: "WHAT?! You ate one of THOSE?!?! Do you know what that IS?!?!" Of course I didn't. And of course she wouldn't tell me what it was ("TRUST ME, if I tell you what that is, you'll never eat it again."), which definitely left me wondering. Well we had dinner at a member's house (it happens at least once a week or so, Mom) last week and I remembered to ask what it was. Turns out it was.... pig's blood sausage. WOOF! Wu Jiemei was right - I have NO DESIRE WHATSOEVER to eat it again (even if it wasn't that bad). But, I'm also happy to announce that I've found my new favorite food here! Ice cream spring rolls. It's a spring roll wrap thing with... ice cream inside. With peanut butter-ish crunchy things. HEAVEN. I love our "celebrate with ice cream" motto in our family (and I LOVED that you did that, Dallin!), but it's created a problem here - I work so hard every day that I feel like I need to celebrate every day. Preferably with an ice cream spring roll. Oh, well. Today for P-day we're going to this place that has ENORMOUS bowls of shaved ice (and I mean enormous!) - pictures should follow next week.
-Speaking of pictures, I'm attaching some from TAROKO GORGE, the greatest place in the world! I loved it so much. It was like Yosemite but experiencing it in a completely different way. We had a member drive us up to the top of one of the mountains with our bikes on his car, and then he dropped us up on top and we rode down. It was incredible. All I can say is that I want to go again. It was drizzling a little bit, but that just made the colors pop out more for my camera. :) Thanks for your prayers! The weather really was supposed to be terrible, but it was awesome. Just a note about the pictures - I'm kind of in love with the first one (even though it seems narcuissistic of me to say so) - it's my "I LOVE TAIWAN!" picture. The next one is what it was like while we were riding around. Hmm... and this computer isn't cooperating right now, so we may or may not be able to attach more pictures. They should be coming your way by March 31st, though!
- Miracle of the week: mosquitoes here hate my blood, too. :) Yay for no bug spray!
- Contacting: I was thinking about it this week, and I realized that a lot of things we say here in Taiwan would be extremely weird or even rude if they were translated into English. A couple of examples:
"Hey, GRANDMA! Over here!"
"Hey, can you pull over? Wow, you're beautiful!"
"Handsome boy! Have you been to church before?"
"Who is he? Oh, you mean that chubby chubby one? That guy?" (I hope "chubby chubby" is never used to describe me - I get "tall tall" all the time, though).
"Oh, yeah, I remember her. She ate a lot." (I hope I don't get that one either, but you never know...)
Yeah, we say things like that all the time. Well, I haven't quite gotten used to saying the rude ones yet - we'll see how I am a year from now!
- Saving the best for last: my investigators! I love them so much. We're having a baptism this weekend as long as everything works out - please pray for Lu Jiemei! Her life has changed so much from the Gospel. Please pray for Susan, that we'll be able to help her get baptized as soon as possible and that she'll come to church! Pray for Yu Jiemei that she won't be lonely and that she'll find work soon. Pray that she'll also be able to resist the temptation to drink tea. Please pray for Zhou Jiemei that she'll be able to get baptized with her family, that her dad will be able to quit his smoking addiction. Pray for Elain that she'll realize the need to get baptized and that she'll have the courage to tell her family about it and then make her own decision. Pray for Lin Jiemei that she'll be able to keep the Word of Wisdom. Pray for Yang Jiemei that she'll be able to go to church on Sundays (you can also pray that Lin Jiemei will do that as well). Pray for another Yang Jiemei's situation with her husband. And pray for Huang Jiemei's son. You can also pray for our less actives that they'll have a desire to go back to church.
...That's not all of them, but that's enough for now. :) They're wonderful, and I love watching them come unto Christ more. I really do feel more blessed to be able to participate in this great work the longer I'm here and the more I focus on the needs of others. I love being a missionary! This work really is God's work, and I'm on the front lines, taking care of His children for Him - I feel so lucky. Thank you for everything you do for me - I love you all and I pray for you every day! Take care this week.
Love,
Sister Winters
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