Dear family,
Huanyin to another week in Taidong, the Promised Land! I'm doing great, it sounds like you're all doing great, the people here are doing great - life is good. This week was really, really good with a lot of really, really weird things that happened too. I don't have time to write about all of them, but I hope that I can share a few (along with maybe a spiritual insight or two) in this email.
The new district is doing well. I miss having everyone together like we did for the past two transfers, but the new elders here seem to be doing well. I heard one of them bear his testimony in church yesterday and it was awesome - he talked about the meaning behind church and he seems to be really willing to serve. The other is none other than the kid that Joshua Benson trained on his last transfer here - he seems nice and ready to work hard too. He also got the Coke scholarship and went to Harvard for his freshman year, which of course isn't intimidating at all.
In random news, there might be an employee at the 7-11 across from the church who has a crush on us (or one of us, but doesn't want to make the other one feel bad so he's nice to her too). Let me tell you a little bit about 7-11's here - they're really nice, unlike the sketchy gas stations in the States. And they're not gas stations. They have food, drinks, and air conditioning (not every place has that luxury). Plus they have regular toilets (not the pit kind), which basically makes it a missionary's dream come true. ANYWAY, we were writing records and calling people at the 7-11 when a really nice employee came up to us with two cups of coffee and said, "there are these two guys outside who want to treat you to coffee. You just are working so hard and they thought this would help you relax a little bit." We looked outside and there were these two older guys with beers in their hands, grinning at us. Yikes. We were a little embarrassed and apologetic as we explained that sorry, but we didn't drink coffee. He stubbornly said, "well, they gave it to you," and left. My companion and I just started to laugh. We ended up giving the employees the coffee back, and then left. My companion and I were talking about the experience later and she said, "I just hope it wasn't actually the 7-11 employee who wanted to give it to us. Because I didn't even see those two guys come inside... But it's probably not him, right?" WRONG. Yesterday we were writing records outside and the same 7-11 guy had just gotten off work and was getting ready to go home. So we chatted with him for a bit and then he went back inside. When he came back out a few minutes later he said, "Here, it's cold and rainy outside, so I think you two should have this. It's hot chocolate with milk added." Just to let everyone know, it's almost June on a tropical island... it is NOT cold, even if it was raining a little bit. But it was a very nice gesture. I hope the elders baptize him.
Sarah, you asked about Brusters - sadly, it doesn't exist here. First, I didn't know how I was going to survive, but I've found a substitute that'll help keep me going until that blissful day when I can eat Brusters ice cream again. If you go to http://www.icebig.com/tw (or maybe it's "bigice.com" - there were two different signs with two different websites, and of course I can't really check), you'll see what I'm talking about. My personal favorites are the chocolate banana one and the mango one. I might even say that one time this week it was so hot that we went there for lunch since the Taiwanese don't believe in summer salads.
My companion's been really sick this week. She's been a trooper and we've still been out working every day (plus the mission nurse hasn't given her permission to stay at home), although we did go to the hospital to get her checked out. I say "hospital," but it's really like a doctor's office. Here in Taiwan they have a hospital with like every single kind of doctor available - from dentist to a doctor for a cold to a plastic surgeon - all in one place. It's really convenient. It also gives me the creeps. Anyway, we had a fun learning experience there and my companion got a bunch of pills. But then later that day we were going to an investigator's house and I saw this lady outside so I went up to her and talked to her. She was also Christian and had gone to our church before. We ended up having a quick lesson with her. After we were done I was talking to the member who had arrived to help with our investigator's lesson, and my companion was chatting with the Christian lady. Apparently, this is how the conversation went:
Christian lady: "Oh, you're sick!"
Sister Rosander: "Yeah, it's fine - I went to the doctor's and they gave me some medecine."
CL: "Oh! I went to the doctor not too long ago and they gave me some medecine too. It worked so well, and I got some extra! Here, let me give you some!"
SR: "Wait, what? Are you allowed to do that? That is totally illegal in the US."
CL: "Trust me, it helped! Here, let me open it for you! Actually, just try some right now!"
*POURS THE MEDECINE DOWN SISTER ROSANDER'S THROAT*
SR: *cough* *splutter* "...Thanks!"
...And that's not all. After we got home later that night, she said that the medecine was called "Brown Liquid Mixture." I said, "Let me take a look at that." Turns out the medecine has opium in it! I know you're not allowed to smoke that stuff, but I've never heard about drinking it before. I shouldn't have been so surprised - after all, China did fight a war over it.
So, I'm not really sure if I've talked about this before, but my companion and I give "chapel tours" every week at the... well, at the chapel. We try and get members to come and bring their friends, but every time it's just been us finding people on the street and bringing them in for a few minutes. We just do it to have them look around, to teach them a little bit, and to help them realize the differences between being outside and inside the chapel. Well, chapel tours time came around this past Saturday, and guess what? Members came and brought their friends! The first one was a Chen Jiemei, who brought her friend with a slight physical/mental? handicap. Apparently she said at the beginning of the tour that normally once every week or two, she'll randomly collapse and have a seizure (except not shake?). Everyone nodded to show that they understood, myself included... although of course I had no idea what she had just said. So we took her on the tour and got to the part inside the "chapel" part of the chapel. I did my normal routine of playing a little piano to help the touree feel the Spirit, and then we ask them after I'm done how they're feeling in the chapel, and then we identify that feeling as the Spirit. That's how it normally goes, anyway - when I got to my V7 chord right at the end of "I Stand All Amazed" I heard someone collapse to the floor. I'm ashamed to admit that my first thought was: "Just wait a minute! I haven't resolved the chord!" ...But my better self got a hold of me and I left the hymn unresolved as I rushed to Xie Jiemei, who had collapsed. She ended up being fine after a few minutes, but it was a little startling. Lesson learned: when someone comes in who seems like they might have some sort of problem, ALWAYS make sure you know what that problem is, even if it means swallowing your pride and asking someone for help.
In spiritual news, though, we got 7 received referrals and 12 contacted referrals this week. That's incredible! The members this week have been giving us so many of their friends to talk to. I've found that when we teach those people, they really are the best. They are normally more prepared and more receptive, and they feel a lot more natural having us talk to them in their home or in a friend's home than they would if we just approach them on the street and invite them into a building that they've never been to before. Member missionary work really is so important! Alright, that's my soapbox issue for this week - thank you for your time.
This work is God's work - I love doing it! And I love you. Be good and take care this week.
Love,
Becca
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