Ok first off, I had my first adventure on Saturday! It had been a long hard day of riding around in the rain, so we were very excited to get to our 7:30 lesson with an adorable old Christian couple who always gives us fruit. Through the entire lesson, we had a feeling that something was off, and sure enough, at the end they told us that they wanted to stop meeting with us until they had made sure their pastor was ok with them reading the Book of Mormon. Then, as we were riding away from their house morosely, I heard a bunch of barking, and Sister Smith said "Go Faster!" with sudden intensity. And that is how we got chased by a pack of wild dogs. In the rain. Up a hill. At night. After being dropped by our favorite investigators. Also we were fasting. We're fine though, the dogs only chased us for a couple hundred yards, and then we were free to soggily make our way home at a less adrenaline-fueled pace.
It's interesting though, because even though that sounds like a terrible day, it was actually wonderful. I loved riding around and visiting people, and the rain and dogs couldn't get in the way of the absolute joy I felt from doing the Lord's work. This week in the Liahona there was a quote by Henry David Thoreau that I really liked. He said: "Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn you attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder".
One of the highlights of our week is English Class. Every week we get to spend an hour and a half teaching a bunch of teenagers and adults English. We're using a really weird, old program designed to help Hispanic members who have already moved to America learn English. This week we got to teach a bunch of teenagers and adults without kids how to set up a meeting with their child's teacher. It was wonderful. We never really know who's going to show up, but there are a few characters who are pretty regular. Some of our favorites include Eric, who always manages to turn every lesson into an innuendo while pretending his interest is purely academic, Daniel, the father of 9 month old triplets, and Maybe-later, who got his name when he was asked if he had an English name, and he said not now, but he'd get one 'maybe later'. There are also the teen brothers Linguine and Tortellini.
In Taiwan, there are two things that are keeping the country together: 7-11s and Amas. In this country, 7-11s are not the seedy, slightly grimy gas stations that we find in America. Rather, they are high end convenience stores that stock literally anything a person might need to survive. They sell everything from stationary to skin care products to disposable underwear. They also have tons of food, and even areas with chairs and tables where people can eat said food, visit friends, or simply take a break in air conditioning. No matter where we are, we are always a five minute bike ride from another 7-11. We do a large chunk of our contacting in 7s, because they're usually full of slightly bored people who have stopped in for a break, and are willing to chat for a bit about Jesus.
The backbone of the country is definitely the Amas. 'Ama' is Taiwanese for grandmother, and holy cow, the grandmothers in Taiwan have character. There are a few specific Amas that we run into fairly regularly. One is the lady who takes care of the common areas in our apartment building. Every time we go to take our garbage to the dumpsters, she materializes out of nowhere to supervise. The trash system in Taiwan is insanely complex, so as we start to put our myriad of trash bags into their corresponding dumpsters, she starts yelling at us in Chinese, takes away our trash, then proceeds to do exactly what we were already doing. I guess we didn't use the right wrist movements or something. Last time we walked in, she didn't even wait, just took away the bags I was carrying and told me to go wash my hands. Also, everything happens with extreme urgency, so you would think the trash was a matter of life and death. Our other favorite group of Amas meet at the park every night from 7-8. They do crazily complex line dances to crowd favorites including songs by Cascada, Obladi Obladah by the Beatles, and miscellaneous Chinese songs. About 40 of them show up in short sparkly skirts and leggings, and dance for an hour. Every night. I want to be that cool when I'm old.
Anyway, that's all I have time for today! Hope everyone has a wonderful week full of adventures!
Lots of Love,
Sister Hull
Pics:
1. I got rather bored the other day, so for breakfast I had crackers with peanut butter and reeses pieces.
2. Last P-day we went to a potsticker/dumpling restaraunt, and the elders ate 50 dumplings each. For reference, I ate 10 and felt pleasantly full. And no, 50 is not a normal amount for anyone, even elders, to eat.
3. One of the best things about Taiwan is the bing. Bing is just a giant bowl of shaved ice with a bunch of random toppings on top. The best type of bing (obviously) is mango bing. Please enjoy this incredible photo of this incredible food. It tasted just as good as it looks.
4. I am amassing an alarming number of nametags. I got 4 in the MTC, one in Logan, and for some reason they gave me 4 here, so I now have a grand total of 9. I have some on my scriptures, I actually wear one or two, and I use the rest to organize my money. (I have it divided into four weeks, and each week is clipped together by a nametag)
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