Finally in Taiwan!

Ni hao!! Wow, this has been kind of a crazy week, as I'm sure you can all imagine!! Starting at the end of the MTC stay:

     So I said goodbye to my companion, Elder L., last Sunday night. That was definitely a hard thing to do! Being with him for 3 months and then just saying goodbye like that was hard for our whole District. I think we all cried a little that night! That Monday was really weird! I acted as a solo missionary the whole day, so it was the sisters and I, and then a teacher in the classroom pretty much all day! I never thought it would be so weird not having a companion! But wait, it gets weirder! When we got to the airport, I realized... "Oh, wow. I have no companion at all!" Talk about crazy! It was super weird. So you all know most of this, at the airport, after we all got through, I called you all and got to talk to you for quite a while! I got a little choked up quite a few times (I'll admit it!!) but it made me so, SO happy just to here all of your voices! The plane ride to Seattle was pretty uneventful! It was pretty funny because Sister G. decided to take pictures of everyone while they slept, so we all had a pretty good laugh about that at the airport! We were all very impressed that Sister W. could sleep through the ENTIRE landing (which was really NOT smooth!) and then we finally stepped off the plane into the "real world." I don't think I can even explain how "out of this world" the MTC really is! When we got to Seattle, we were like aliens landing on earth! Ha I'm serious! Missionaries stand out SO much, especially when there's 10 of them walking around together trying to look for phones and food! We met a couple of people in the airport who were members and we talked with them for a while, we even found a member family who were living in American Fork, but from Hong Kong! Way cool. Definitely a humbling experience to know that I REALLY don't speak Chinese!

     So we got on the plane to Japan o.k. and then had a very long flight. 11 hours, is a lot longer than it sounds!! We all joked about how hard it was going to be to sleep on that plane, and it was... for everyone except for Sister W.! Ha, if we flew for a total of 18 hours, she probably slept for 14 of that! Ha not really, but we all gave her a hard time for it later. It was really hard, because obviously as missionaries we can't watch the movies or listen to the music, so most of the time was spent setting goals, or reading in the Book of Mormon, or trying to catch little bits of Chinese from the couple behind us (without a whole lot of success!) And so, after a LONG flight, we landed in Japan! The descent was absolutely beautiful, honestly, it was so cool. The sun was just setting over the island and everything was lit up, you could see the beaches and everything! Japan is a whole different world! Every thing kind of has this awesome, cartoon quality to it! Even the airport itself, speaking of which, I don't think I've ever seen a cleaner airport! It was immaculate! Japan was a very fast experience, we had about two minutes to get through customs and then we were racing to the gate to board the next plane. Once we got on the plane in Tokyo, I really felt like my mission had started. Sister W. and I attempted talking to the people next to us in Chinese, and we actually didn't do too badly! The people are just SO SO nice, and willing to help so much! That flight went by really quickly, I slept pretty much the whole way, and then.... we were in Taiwan. Wow. Taiwan is incredible! I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it wasn't this! It's like a mix of New York City, Hawaii, and then a mix of about a hundred different smells (not all of them pleasant, but then others that make your mouth water haha)! We were met by the mission president and his wife and the assistants to the President, and had a very, very quick goodbye with Sister G. and O. I really wish we could have had a little more time, I really hope they're doing good! So we took a quick picture, and then it was onto the bus for orientation! Orientation was just a basic overview of what they expect of us, and then we all introduced ourselves! It was pretty difficult, because Sister W., Sister R. (a Sister who left Taiwan because of health issues and now came back) and I were the only Americans! So I felt a little bit disappointed that my Chinese wasn't all that great! It's hard to communicate with people when you're not entirely sure what they're saying to you! haha but the other missionaries were so nice, and so willing to help out. We finished out our long night, by splitting up and going to the separate apartments to sleep. I and the other Elders went to the Zone Leaders apartment for the next 2 nights. Everything is so incredible here in Taiwan. It's really crazy, because even though the buildings and city is so big, everything is totally jam packed into it! All of the stores are tiny, and the doors and every thing is miniscule! It's so cool!

     So the next morning we went on a run, and then to the mission home for an incredible breakfast of Taiwanese fruit and delicious food! Oh my gosh, the food is so good here!! You'll be surprised, dad, I've eaten some pretty weird stuff already! I'm pretty surprised at some of the things I've eaten, because I don't even know what some of the things even were! So that morning, breakfast was heavenly, I even used chopsticks (for the enjoyment of all the natives and Sister W. especially found that funny!)! That whole day we had orientation. For lunch we went to a place for a "hot pot." You just grab a bunch of veggies/meats and throw it into some boiling water! Not really sure what I ate, but it tasted awesome!! We continued orientation, and then we started in on some real missionary work. Contacting!! That was a blast, kind of nerve racking, trying to talk to someone in a language that you can barely read let alone carry on a conversation, but I loved it. We then went to a very nice restaurant, where I ate a fish eye (can you believe that one?) and then went on to do "Dan Jones!" You may have gotten the video of that and all the pictures, but basically we all took turns standing on a box and preaching! haha It must have looked pretty funny to see a bunch of people standing there yelling in broken Chinese! We then contacted for about an hour and a half, and then went to sleep for the night! I needed it, wow I was dead! The next morning we met our trainers, and then left to our areas! I'm in Tainan (a little more southern) and my trainer is Elder S. He's awesome! He's got some crazy good Chinese, and he is so good with people! He is really good at making people feel comfortable, and he loves doing it. I'm learning a ton from him right now! That first day in Tainan was a little difficult, it's kind of like the MTC adjustment... times about 100! It's so beautiful here and everyone is seriously so nice!!

     I've been trying to figure out if you guys would or wouldn't like it here!! Basically, imagine New York. The buildings, the overall feeling of business, and the amount of people. Got it? Now times it by about 10, and that's Tainan! The traffic is SO crazy, and so much fun to maneuver (I'm now forgetting how to spell those difficult words...) around in! Dad, I'm pretty sure you would be going crazy here! And Delyla would have a heart attack! There are literally THOUSANDS of Mopeds. It's the coolest thing I've ever seen. At every intersection, we pull our little bikes up next to the mopeds and just start talking to people! Some people give you the weirdest looks, but they're generally so nice and listen for at least a little while! Our Chapel is just about 5-8 minutes away from our apartment, and I think I've gotten the route down so that I could probably find my way now... maybe! I'm amazed at how my companion just knows where he's going all the time, everything is so similar! So basically, I love it here. The food, the people, the atmosphere, my companion, and everything!

     Church yesterday was an awesome experience! I didn't understand a whole lot of the talks, but when I talked to members afterwards, I was able to communicate really well! I'm so grateful that I'm learning Chinese as a missionary, because there's no way I'd be able to do this without Heavenly Father's help! After Church, there was a little lunch meeting next to the Chapel, and then choir practice for the Christmas play! I think that the rehearsal was possibly the most comical thing that I've ever seen! There were about 20 Taiwanese kids running around yelling in Chinese, and then they would have us (in the choir) run up on stage randomly and sing a song... by the way, dad, if you thought that singing in an English choir was difficult, try reading Chinese characters (which I failed at pretty badly!!) and music at the same time!! Talk about hilarious, watching the Waiguoren (foreigner) trying to sing on stage! hahaha. At the end of the day, we had a family home evening activity which we take our investigators to. The investigator that came last night is actually getting baptized this Saturday!! So the activity was possibly funnier than watching the play practice! It was some crazy star wars game where the pieces move around the board by rolling some dice, and then using a measuring stick to move them around, and then shooting another piece... I still have no idea if I won or lost...

     It's definitely different from anything I've ever done.... including the MTC experience, which was pretty foreign in the first place! I miss my District and my Companion quite a bit, but it's worth it being here in Tainan and doing some real missionary work, and I know I'll see all of them after my mission anyways, so no worries! I'm doing great here, everything is all unpacked and I'm all settled! Our apartment is actually pretty spacious! I love it! We each have our own bathrooms, which are so funny I'm going to have to figure out how to sent you pictures soon, and a big bedroom, and then a big study room with a couple desks! So I just want you all to know that I am safe here in Taiwan, I'm loving every minute of it and working hard!