Greetings From Taiwan!
Okay. Seriously. Taiwan is soooo crazy! Haha. I haven't even been here for a week and I am loving it!
I left the MTC on Tuesday. FINALLY! I was there for such a long time! The airport was awesome and so were the flights. I'm glad I got to talk to all of you at LAX. Sorry some of our conversations were very brief. My calling card stopped working when I was supposed to have seven minutes left, the phone at some of my precious quarters without allowing me to use them, and all the stores in my terminal wouldn't exchange change. With that being said, I loved hearing from home. The flight here to Taiwan was most excellent! The plane was huge, and all of the people on it were fascinated with our chinese. I contacted the flight attendant while I was waiting in line for the bathroom. I told her about God is our loving Heavenly Father. She thought about it for a minute, and then sent me to another bathroom. Haha. I guess she didn't like that. That was my very first try at conversion, and it went pretty well :-) I only slept for two hours which really took it's toll on me later because our plane landed at 10:30PM and it wasn't until 11:30 that we had all of our bags. We took about a two and a half hour bus ride from the airport to the mission home. We did a little bit of orientation stuff, so no time to sleep. It was dark outside, so I didn't really get to look at Taiwan. We got to bed about 2:30 and woke up at 6:00. Doesn't that sound miserable? It wasn't. We went running and all I could think was... Wow. We were running through the streets of Taiwan! I could not stop looking around at all of the buildings, with their flashing signs, and advertising in characters. It was incredible! The people all stare at us as we run by. There are a TON of scooters. That's all everybody rides. There are very few cars. We got to the track and ran around for twenty minutes. The peole here are BIG on exercise. We had orientation at the mission home after that. We were fed a traditional chinese breakfast. Holy cow. It was seriously the best breakfast I have ever had! Bread dipped in soy milk, baozi (dumplings), some other bread, and a lot of fruit. It really was celestial. We did more orientation... and more orientation... and more orientation... we ate lunch at a place where we do hot pot (throw everything into a pot of boiling water and spices). It was pretty good. And then I was adventurous at dinner and tried some fish that they pulled out. It wasn't even fishy tasting. I could get used to that. The only negative about it was the fish waving high to me as it layed there, staring into my soul. The mission has a tradition of doing "Dan Jones Night". Dan Jones is the missionary that baptised thousands and he would stand on a box and bear testimony in big crowds... That's what we did. We walked to this really busy street. There were a ton of shops, and a ton of people. We all sung "Love at Home" and then one by one, called everyone to repentance. When we finished yelling on the box, an experienced missionary grabbed us, and we began contacting. It was really annoying realizing that everything you had practiced at the MTC wasn't understood by everyone. Haha. I couldn't even say Shen (God) without having to repeat it three times. Haha. But it really got me some good practice. We returned to the mission home and then to the apartment that the elders were staying at. I had a mattress the consistency of a brick, but I think it was the best sleep that I have ever had. The next day, we had a little walking tour of Taiwan with some of the zone leaders. We walked to a confucious temple. It was so neat to see some of the focus of Chinese beliefs. We went to the mission office and had a little more orientation and waited for President Bishop to tell us what to do next. As we were sitting there, anticipating over our companion and first area, I told everyone I was going to Kaosiung (pronounced - Gaoshung). I have felt like that ever since I saw one of my teachers pictures where there was a sign that said Kaosiung. Afterward, we went to the church and watched some footage of our Dan Jones night. To no surprise, I looked like an idiot, but it's fine. No one could understand me anyway. I'm not even sure I was speaking Chinese :-) We received a red envelope with our trainers name in it and where we were going. I got Elder Vance, and I was going to Daliao, an area in Kaosiung. Cool, right? Haha. We went to TGIFridays for lunch to get to know our companions. Elder Vance is awesome. He seems to know how to do everything right, so I'm really excited. I said goodbye to the missionaries that I have spent 12 weeks with at the MTC, and we were on our way. Haha. I wish you could have seen me. I wish I could have seen me. I was pulling my two big suitcases and duffel bag through the middle of the streets in Taichung. Haha. We walked a quarter of a mile to a bus stop and took that to a train station. We did some contacting while waiting for our train. It was more fun contacting this time because I wasn't in the middle of a lot of noise. We had a three hour train ride to my area. I looked out the window the whole time, staring in awe at rust covered buildings, rice fields, and the sun set. The sun set was way awesome! The sun looked so close to earth. That's when I thought "I hope they manufacture SPF 200 here." We got off the train, and got right onto a subway. Haha. It was a twenty minute subway ride to my apartment. Keep in mind, I'm still lugging my luggage around. We talked to some really nice people. The people here are so friendly. They are always trying to help me with my chinese, and show excitement that my chinese is as good as it is for being on island for 2 days. We did some proselyting for an hour, and then It was time to go back. Wow. What a day. The next day was my first real day. My bike wasn't at my apartment yet, so I borrowed Elder Vance's old companion's bike. I was super nervous. We had to ride to the church to fill up the baptismal font. It's about a 15 minute ride of scooters flying by you and people running red lights. Haha. I was used to it by the end of the night. Everyone knows how to drive here, so i'm not even worried about anything. There was a baptism, and I got to stand in the font with Wan Jiemei (Sister Wan). She is a really nice woman who fell out of a tree so she needed a second person in the font to help her. Even though I didn't perform the baptism, it was a special occasion for me to be there with her. We went and taught a couple of lessons. I mainly sit there and listen to it and pretend I know what's going on. Elder Vance will translate for me and then I say a couple of sentences. Biking from one house to the next is really working my legs out. Haha. I was thinking while biking "Even though my legs hurt and I'm really hot, it's always worth it when I visit those investigators." I already love the people here. Especially the ward members. They are all really friendly and loving. Everything about this place is really awesome, and I'm always thinking you would love it if you were here. I especially think of Amanda as the garbage trucks pass by playing ice cream truck music (there are people like you in Asia sister). Haha. Well, my time has come to an end. I can not describe my true emotions over email. I am really excited to be here. I got a little homesick this morning, but it passed once I got out onto the streets and realized where I am and what I am doing. I'm so thrilled that I get to be here and share the true gospel with these people. I know it's where i'm supposed to be and that it will go by really fast. I love you all! Please keep praying for me because I need them more than ever now. Talk to you next week!
With All my Love,
Elder Mitchell R. Sorensen
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