Serving in Taiwan: Week 17

你好！

This has really been an interesting week, we haven't had much success, but we have had a lot of opportunities. But probably on of the biggest things was that 李世淼 (Li Shi Miao) called us back and said that he again wants us to meet with him and teach him some more, which was pretty cool.

For a couple of funny things this week, there were two that stuck out. First one was just before English class on Wednesday. We have English meeting for about an hour before English class to finish preparing for the class, but this week the members decided to clean the church at the same time as our meeting. As for many of the homes in Taiwan, they do not have carpet, so they have never used or seen a vacuum before. One of the sisters that was there, was attempting to use the vacuum at the church, and it was quite the sight. She turned the vacuum on and started vacuuming, but she didn't know she could click the little lever on the back and make the neck of the vacuum move. Don't know if I explained it very well, but pretty much, she was lifting the vacuum up and down over every spot on the carpet. It was really quite the sight, but after a few minutes, Elder Meeks and I showed her how to use the vacuum without the challenge of lifting the vacuum up and down on every spot til it is gone. We could tell she felt a little funny afterwards.

The other funny event was during service on Friday. We went over to the 羅家庭 (Luo family) home and helped them paint their main room. It was quite the project, but we were able to finish it, and it looks a lot better than it did now. The funny part about it was that we created quite the mess, but sadly, we cleaned up a majority of the paint before getting a photo. But what happened was 羅弟兄 (Brother Luo) stepped on the side of the full pan of paint, and paint went flying everywhere. The biggest part was that it got all over the floor and we needed to clean it up before it dried on. But his shoes and pants were completely covered in paint. One other really cool thing was that happened was that Elder Meeks prepared for Christmas. It wasn't on purpose, but as we were painting little spots of pain began appearing on his missionary tag. It really looks like he is prepared for Christmas now.

A blessing that I had this week actually came from something that I thought would be a little bit of a pain. During district meeting, we found out that we would need some pants for this weeks Outdoor Zone Conference, since we are going hiking. I did not thing that I would actually be able to find any that would fit. I went to 洪姐妹 (Sister Hong), the bishop's wife and also Sister Benson's friend here in 苗栗 (Miaoli), to help me out since her and her husband own two clothing stores. We thought they would be able to help me out. They actually did have some my size too which was cool. The blessing was that when I was going to pay, she wouldn't let me. So I got a pair of new pants for my mission from a member, which really was a blessing.

Also, this week, we went to a 烤肉 (BBQ) with our district, as our last activity. We really had a good time and really enjoyed the food. And now, just to let you know, our district has shrunk a little. It is now just four elders. It is the same as last transfer, but without the sisters. It is really different though, just because the sisters were really out going. But with that being said, our district still is pretty sweet.

As for 請客 (Dinner invitations), we got two really sweet ones. The first one was pizza hut with some members. It is amazing to have some western style food again. The second was actually today for lunch. A recent convert took us to a 吃到飽的火鍋 (All you can eat hot pot) that was really good. The quality of it was also really good, which made it even better. The best part of the hot pot though, in Elder Meeks and my opinion though, was the ice cream. There was unlimited Haagen Dazs ice cream. For a little thing of Haagen Dazs here it is 120 快, and all I can say, is that we had a good number of the Haagen Dazs ice cream, so we definitely made our moneys worth at the all you can eat hot pot. :)

Well, my time is about up. Love you all and thank you for all the prayers and letters.

Love,

柯長老

Elder Okeson

P.S. We had our first Typhoon here. We didn't get a Typhoon day, but it was loud enough during the night that it did wake us both up at one point or another during the night. President day also gave us some statistics on how much rain there was. Thought you might find it interesting: " In portions of Taitung County, so far we have had 656.5 mm (2.15 feet) of rain since yesterday. At the time of typing this email, in Hualien County, so far we have had 391 mm (1.25 feet), but the rain has not yet stopped. In neighboring Pingtung County, some areas report as much as 912 mm (3 feet) of rain since yesterday." Here in 苗栗 (Miaoli) though, I think we may have gotten a fourth of a foot. When we went out this morning, it looked like a majority of it had dried up.