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Sunday, August 16, 2015

Progress, bike referral, good feeling about Tina, RCs, feasting


Feast on the word of God
Monday
17 August 2015
DaKeng, Taiwan

It was an interesting week! 

Proud of the progress
We had a duan chuan [short-term missionary] with us which always makes things fun. I really love being in a trio and it was awesome being able to have a native Chinese speaker with us 24/7. I took full advantage of the opportunity and made her correct every little thing about my Chinese! And man are the Taiwanese blunt.  She told me I sound weird and that my grammar is bad but she can understand what I'm saying. 

I still have a long ways to go but I'm proud of the progress I've made. As long as they can understand what I'm saying for now, I'll count that as a success! But I do hope that by the end of my mission I'll sound more authentic. 

Duan chuan
It's fun being with a duan chuan (short-term missionary) because it helps me think about missionary work, since it's all new to them and everything that we do surprises them. It's always amusing to see how dead-tired they are. I forget that the things we do as routine are actually pretty tiring! Biking long distances in the sun, our morning work outs, studying for hours in a row, etc. We're so used to it that we don't even think twice about it, but it's hilarious seeing them fall asleep throughout the day and crash every night when we get home. 

But she's a trooper! I was impressed with how confident she was and with her desire to serve. She'll be submitting her mission papers about a year from now when she's old enough. She's going to be an awesome missionary! 

Bike crash referral
My companion, Sister Eo, is also super awesome! As we were biking out of the church Thursday, there's this really weird 5-way intersection where 3 different lanes have a green light at the same time, so it's pretty dangerous. 

I'm actually surprised nothing has happened earlier, but she got hit by a car.  Of course there she is in the middle of the street, our flyers flying everywhere, and traffic is stopped now. She was totally fine--just a few bruises.

Salads with Tina!
I was impressed with how well she handled it. She asked for the driver's number. (I thought so in case there was damage done to her bicycle she could call him to have him pay for it).

But she gave it to the elders as a referral! Even after getting hit by a car, the first thing she's thinking about is missionary work and that the elders can give this guy a call later to talk him into coming to church :p

Good feeling about Tina
It was a great week food-wise. On Tuesday we met with Tina, someone I met when I first got to this area. At that time there was literally nothing going on--not a single person to meet with.  So I desperately called tons of people from our Area Book, anyone whose number I could find. 

Salad!
I still distinctly remember this moment: I was sitting in a 7/11 and called someone named Tina and asked if we could meet her. She said clearly to me that we could be friends but that she had no interest and that if we wanted to meet, it couldn't be at the church.
Most missionaries would probably at that point say no thanks and keep calling other people but for some reason I felt to go with it.
"Mexican"

We've met a couple times since then and have gradually been working with her and things have improved a lot!

She's a total foodie so we get along great. She took us to a super cute cafe and we got salads which is one of the things I miss most about America because they don't really eat raw vegetables here. 

We mentioned that we had an activity Friday and invited her. She texted us the next day asking for all the details and voluntarily came herself to the church. She's really sweet and enjoyed it! We're going to keep working with her and I have a good feeling about her! 

RCs
On Thursday, a big group of us went to Mexican food together! It was our RC (recent convert) Vickie's idea and we had a great time!

The Mexican food was nothing like what I was used to, but it was still a treat to be able to have some international cuisine for a change! 

On Friday, we had an activity where we taught people to make oreo balls with cream cheese inside and chocolate chip cookies. 

Chocolatey hands and face








Chocolate chip cookie activity














Hot pot!
On Saturday, a member took us to eat hot pot at our RC (recent convert), Wang Jiating's restaurant. We visit them at their restaurant every week.  The food looks really good but I've never been able to eat there before. But we tried it for the first time this week and it was delicious! 

Then for FHE on Sunday, we taught everyone how to make American brownies from scratch with Andes mint frosting. They loved it! 

Feasting
So tons of delicious food! It was a week of feasting :) Which got me thinking about these 3 scriptures:
2 Nephi 9:51 "Feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness"
2 Nephi 32:3 "Feast upon the words of Christ; for behold the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do"
Jacob 3:2 "Feast upon [God's] love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever" 
Food has always been a hobby of mine and my family. We love cooking together, trying new recipes, making up our own, eating at restaurants, traveling and trying authentic food in foreign countries, and mostly just eating together. 

In one way, food has been something I've sacrificed by being on my mission. Before, I loved making tons of healthy vegetarian recipes. But now being in Taiwan, I'm not vegetarian anymore, and the food is... different. I'm not able to cook as much anymore and I don't have access to the same ingredients, so in one way it could be viewed as a sacrifice. 

Feasting at the restaurant of newly baptized Brother Wang
People often ask us if we miss American food and if their food makes us feel sick, etc.  But I think it's actually the opposite!

As much as I miss international food, I've loved FEASTING on the Taiwanese food and learning to love their food.

But most importantly, I've loved feasting on the things that matter most--

things that last and bring true happiness, like God's love and the scriptures, and this wonderful Gospel. 

All my love!
Sister Hancock


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