Taichung Time
Well, another week gone by and I'm left to scramble through the
week, attempting to describe some pretty incredible events that I never
seem to do justice!... Oh well, in two years (actually, more like a year
and a half!! Isn't that CRAZY??) I'll be able to tell you all a lot
more!
First things first, your questions!
1 - How's the new area?
It's pretty incredible!! It's in the very deep south of
Taiwan, so it's not only incredible, but incredibly hot!! Which is good
and a little hard at the same time, because it means the fruit is
honestly the most "prime" (as Jessi would say) fruit in all of Taiwan!!
The people are also so nice. I don't know why, but they'll almost always
listen as you talk to them! Most of the time people just drive off on
their mopeds, but here they at least listen! I'll explain a little more
later on...
2- You said you're now in Gaoxiong... Is that the same as "Xiaogang?"... Is it near the coast or inland?
Gaoxiong is HUGE! Xaiogang is a place inside of Gaoxiong, and
I'm in the west part of Gaoxiong... a little place called 苓雅 Lingya!
It's actually where my teacher, Brother V, served for a while. We
also share the Chapel with Elder S's favorite area in the
world... side note, he may actually be coming back here to Gaoxiong
because he's been begging President B. for a year now. So there's a
good chance that we'll be in the same district again! It's near the
coast, in fact we may be going to the beach next week! I'm gonna get my
surf on... I wish! haha
My new companion is Elder D., although I'm willing
to bet mom (with all her crazy super mom powers... and the internet chat
rooms) already knew that! He's a pretty awesome guy, and he actually
served with Elder H. right after Elder H finished training
too! Kind of funny, right? He's a really hard worker, and right now
we've got some great investigators that we're working with and hoping to
baptize by the end of April! The only catch is that we might only be
together for like, 2 more weeks. The missions of all over the world are
trying to sync up the move-calls so that they're all on the same time
frame, so this move-call is only 3 weeks long! He's been here in Lingya
for 4 move-calls now, so it's pretty likely that he'll move... but you
never know!!
Yeah! SO, I'm working in the best place ever I guess! Ever
since I've come to Taiwan, I've only ever heard how incredible Gaoxiong
is, and not just Gaoxiong, but the area that I'm in right here! We had a
sister in my District in Tainan, Siste L, who was freaking out when
she found out that I was coming here! She was so happy for me! haha and
now I know why everyone loves it here so much! The weather, the people,
the ward, and just the general atmosphere! Our apartment is also right
next to the Cultural Center so we get to see all the cool stuff going on
over there every night! They usually have parades there and festivals
and dancers and weird rituals and stuff, haha so it's a great place to
contact people! I won't lie to you, I miss Tainan SO, SO, SO, MUCH!! I miss
Elder S, I miss our old apartment, I miss my old district, and
most of all I miss the investigators and ward members! There is just
something special about your first area that you can never really
forget!! But this place is still so awesome! My first couple days felt
like weeks... not because of the heat, not because of my companion, not
because of anything except for.... the bike. Oh I've never hated
something as much as I hated this bike. I had to wait a couple days for
my bike to be sent from Tainan down to my apartment here in Gaoxiong,
and I had to use an old missionary bike while I waited. This bike had
about 8 gears... but I couldn't change gears myself, the bike decided to
do that for me... at the most inconvenient times!! I'd be going up a
big hill in 8th gear, or riding on flat ground in 1st!! And then, when
I'd start pedaling after waiting at a stoplight, the gear would jump
into 8th again and I'd end up almost racking myself with the bar between
my legs as the gear jumped! Elder D. got a kick out of it, and my
journal must have been pretty sick of me complaining about it! Haha,
seriously guys, there is no way to explain to you how much I did not
like that bike, but there's also no way to explain how happy I was to
get on MY bike when it finally came!! I had the biggest smile on all day
when it came! haha, and now that I've wasted a couple of minutes of
your time with that story, on to the week! The first couple days here
were spent meeting people in the ward, the recent converts, less actives, and a few of the investigators we're meeting with right now.
They're all doing really good, and we're making some good progress!
We've also met 2-3 new people in the last week who are now progressing
investigators! Way awesome right?? I'll have to tell you more about them
next week because I don't know a ton about them myself yet!
I'll tell you about one of the coolest experiences we've had
so far though! So, 2 days ago, we were calling some phones and I got a
call from a member who lived up in Taizhong. She told me that her
brother lived down here and he was in the hospital so she wanted us to
go over there and give him a blessing. I told her we'd love to do it,
and we went to meet her at the hospital that night. We got there and she
talked to us about what had happened for a little bit. This guy had a
work accident and was absolutely covered, head to toe, in burns. He was
in really bad condition. So much pain, breathing through a tube, and
unconscious. She went to let us in, and the hospital wouldn't let us
because visiting hours were over. She introduced us to her sister who is not a
member. She didn't totally understand why we were there, but she was
willing to let us do whatever, and told us to come back with her sister
on Sunday during visiting hours. I was a little nervous about having to
give a blessing without any other member of the church there, but we
agreed and then came back on Sunday. We got there, and more than 1/2 the
family was there! Not a single one of them even knew what a priesthood
blessing was, but you could just see the look of hope in their eyes, the
hope that we (two 19 year old white kids) could do something to help
their loved one. They took us around to a room that we could look
through the window and see him... it looked pretty bad. We told the
sister that we'd like to be inside to give him the blessing, and they
told us it wasn't allowed to be in there because of the risk of
infection. Very understandable, so we did the blessing outside without
the oil... I'm sure God understands! Elder D. gave the blessing, and
it was so great! Our Chinese is about the same, vocab and grammar-wise,
so it wasn't beautiful and fluent Chinese or anything... but the power
behind it was absolutely astounding. Every word had meaning in it. He
had to pause a couple times, letting the Spirit direct, and then he
would seal yet another incredibly powerful blessing upon the victim and
his family members. It was about half way through the blessing when I
noticed the sister, not a member, was sobbing. With the blessing
finished, she tearfully thanked us over and over again, and then we wanted to give them some privacy, so we left... the entire family of 10-15 people
staring at us with happy, a little awe-inspired, looks on their faces.
It was so amazing.
That's part of what my spiritual thought is on today. The
priesthood, the Restoration. Such a basic principle, right? I've been
learning about it since I was a tiny kid, it's taught to kids when they
are old enough to talk, and it's continually expounded upon as we become
more and more mature. I've learned more about the Restoration in the
past 6 months than I've learned in 20 years. It's not just something you
can study or read about, but it's something you MUST feel and
experience in order to truly understand. I remember the starting point
of my understanding in the Restoration. It started when my family took a
trip to Palmyra, New York my senior year of high school. The feelings I
felt in that Sacred Grove are only comparable to those in the Holy
Temple of the Lord. There is no way to explain it, no way to capture the sacredness of it in a picture, but it's a feeling not of this world.
It's the Peace of Christ (John 18) on earth. I won't go into detail
about what I know about the Restoration other than this simple
testimony. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ has been restored
through Joseph Smith, that Joseph Smith truly saw God the Father and
Jesus Christ and that he did, in all actuality, speak with them. I know
that even today, we have a living prophet who leads the Church, not the
way HE wants to, but the way that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, has
commanded him to. If we rely on him, we will never go astray. Lastly, I
know that the Book of Mormon is truly the word of God given to us to
light our paths and show us the way to Eternal life. I promise with all
the faculties of my soul that these things are true, and I invite those
of you who are not yet baptized to come unto Christ and learn of these
things. I promise you will feel the most precious joy you could possibly
have. And, I mimic Elder Holland in inviting those who have fallen away
to come back and partake of the joy of Eternal Salvation. I know that
I'm just a 19 year old kid, I know that I haven't had a whole lot of
worldly experience and my knowledge is nowhere near as deep as most of
you, but I do know that this gospel is true and is the only way unto
Christ and Eternal Happiness.
I love all of you, and MISS all of you more that I could
possibly explain! I have pictures on my wall of all of you that I look
at every day before bed... and when I say all of you, I mean ALL OF
YOU!! Extended family included!! I can't wait to be back in your
presence and tell you more of how much I love you, but I've got work to
do here right now. It's incredible to me to know that 6 months have
already gone by! It only makes me want to work harder and give more
effort! Everyone add some oil (sorry, that's a Chinese joke) and enjoy
life!
Love Elder Noll
Mom, I just need to tell you that I apologize for not cleaning
as much as I should have at home. I'm now Elder Maria the Maid at this
new apartment!! I don't think the Elders have swept the floor there in
about a year and I'm pretty sure that they shave in the living room
because there is hair EVERYWHERE!! Ha, but it's looking a lot better
since I got here. I've done a deep sweep each night, I've mopped twice
and I've organized 2 of the 4 rooms into a suitable living situation...
Elder S has turned me a little OCD when it comes to cleanliness!!
Does that surprise you? haha, just want to tell you I love you! I'm
still going through all the quotes you gave me and loving each and every
one! Hope all continues to go well back home! Love ya!
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