December 1, 2013

Hola! Li ho! Ni hao! svotyka! anehaseyo! I can't think of any others at the moment...

Welp, it sounds like things are going pretty fun over in the land of Turkey and mashed potatoes! It's the first time I can honestly say I miss American food... we sort of celebrated Thanksgiving over here, but it's just not the same without those American specialties. Mom's mashed potatoes, Grandpa's pumpkin pie, Aunt Francie's chocolate and banana cream pies, the salads and endless delicacies at Aunt Sherrie's place, I suppose Grandpa Happymeal's banana bread is being incredibly missed at this time as well! We (the 4 daya elders, Elder M, Elder T, Elder C and I) went to KFC, the closest place we could find with somewhat americanized poultry, and totally pigged out. Then we headed over to McDonalds to pig out on apple pies and Ice cream. That was about as "Thanksgivingy" as it got over here! Pretty much a blast!!

We had an INCREDIBLE week full of A W E S O M E stuff! On Wednesday, we spent all day with Elder Randy Funk of the Seventy. He actually did a meeting with all of the District and Zone Leaders in the Northern part of the Mission and asked me for a lot of advice on training missionaries (seeing as I was the only District Leader who was training at the same time)! Talk about being put on the spot! He's a really awesome guy! His aura was pretty astounding. He was really kind and SUPER wise! Some of the points he brought up were just so inspired, I feel like I learned quite a bit from working with him all day. We (the Daya District) also had an opportunity to sing at the meeting! Kind of fun! Got us out of having to give any talks!

We spent the rest of the week looking for new investigators and prepping for a huge Thanksgiving party that we had on Saturday night. The party was HOPPIN. Tons of awesome games (I taught them how to play Football) and a lot of food! Granted, most of the food was super Taiwanese, they all tried their best to Americanize it! We found a lot of new investigators there and are so stoked to start working with them! Ward activities are so awesome!!!

Other highlights of the week?

-ran into some Scottish dudes who were in a piping band!

-went to a super awesome buffet on Monday with the family that has 9 kids

Super awesome week! just like every other!

Something I really liked this week, on a spiritual note, came from a Young Women as she shared her Testimony in Church yesterday. She said: "Crying doesn't solve anything. We must face our trials bravely." It made me think of the Book of Mormon, how Laman and Lemual are always 'crying' about what they have to do or how hard something is. If we will just man up, deal with our issues and go forth with Faith, God can work some SERIOUS miracles. We will also change for good. We will become stronger and gain experience. I testify that these principles are true! I've seen them so many times out here, and I've personally gone through many strengthening trials. I'm so grateful that I have a Father in Heaven who is able and willing to test me in order to help me grow. Don't worry. Be happy. (yes, just like the song.) Go forth, and be epic.

Love, Elder Noll