Fish & Fish Stories

Hello family!

It's been another week here in Daliao. This week was just an ordinary week. Which just means lots of finding lots of teaching. This week we were  not able to baptize Artie. Because he wasn't able to make it to church. But, fortunately he had a good excuse, he was really sick and I think he's still sick. That's okay! We'll get him next week. The bright side is that we have more time to teach him prepare him for his baptismal interview. He's a really good kid. Then we also have some really cool people we met throughout week. So we should be getting some more baptismal dates set and ready to go. I don't know there's just lots of cool investigators and potentials we have. It should be exciting to see what happens. Finding kind of sucks. But that's okay.

This week we came across an LA Pingdong ward member he's got a lazy eye and he's obviously crazy. He met with us and wrote to us that he's a mute and cannot speak. So I had to read his Chinese characters written on a tissue for an hour. It was just a little bit of a patience game asking him question then having to wait to read it. Then we gave him a Book Of Mormon and told him to come to church. When he came to church it was a miracle. He could speak again, because he stayed up all night reading the Book of Mormon and then he said all of a sudden he could speak Chinese. I literally told him, "....Cool...." Then walked off... The guy is so crazy.. And a liar...

The members were really nice to my comp this week and bought him some Thai food. He really liked it and was very happy. I got to try some of it.. Holy freak, that stuff is spicy.

We also had Zone Conference this week. The theme of it was talking about obedience and laws. There was some good stuff mentioned in it. But, I only like Zone Conference for the weird comments people make.. Oh yeah, and Elder Fuller/Hatch sat next to me. So of course we just laughed the whole time. They always end up serving around me hahaha! It's so bad....

Last Monday we went to the aquarium in HengChun. It was really cool. I love Aquariums. We got to see a really really fat whale/dolphin(?) I don't know but it was really cool.

我愛你媽媽!!!

Oh man! I miss you guys so much. Happy birthday mom! I love you so much and I'm blessed to have a loving mother as you. You're the best and I'm thankful for your support and example. I always tell my investigators how great of an example you were to read your scriptures every morning. You'll forever be a great example to me and my mother whom I love very much! You're the best mom and I wish you a happy birthday!

我愛你媽媽!!! (I love you mom)

It's sounds like you guys are having a lot of fun. Yeah, I'm really thinking the UofU now for college. But I think I'll go to SLCC first. I don't know where to begin with stuff this week but I'll start off with things that happened.

On Monday we went to the 85 a big skyscraper in the heart of Gaoxiong. It's really cool. I got a lot of cool pictures. It was just a testimony to me that I like Gaoxiong more than Taizhong. I really want to take the family back to Taiwan,  you know, when we're all billionaires.

This week we've had to work our butts off. We were working in the rain all week. And when it rains in Taiwan that puts a big X on missionary work. Taiwanese people hate rain and believe that the rain will make you go bald and get you sick.  So most people start freaking out when it rains and will run inside which sucks because then I can't really do my job. So I just pretty much bike around in the rain getting soaked. I don't really mind it. Previously, in my other areas like Beitun I would've been sad or something, but I just don't really care anymore. I'm just doing my best. But, yeah not a whole lot of people talked to us this week... I'm also not the best at finding, so that sucks.

This week was actually not bad though. I called up a recent convert in our ward that is a young kid. Recently, at school there's been a lot of tests and stuff. So I asked him if he could meet with us. He was willing to meet with us and we did. When we met with him I noticed that he looked sick and tired. I could obviously tell that he was under a lot of stress. So we just sang some songs with him and watched some Mormon Messages. He said it made him feel better... He's a good kid!

Most of our investigators are disappearing, which is sad. But, I think next week we'll be able to find some new people. We also have someone on track to be baptized this transfer. His name is Arty. He's a 13 year old boy that's a member's son. I think I've already talked about him. He has a lot of trouble coming to church though, because he stays up late playing MineCraft. Sounds familiar? His dad also believes that he has to make his own choices, so if he wants to get baptized and go to church he has to do it himself. So, he has to wake himself up and tell his dad he wants to go. I think he'll get baptized, he just needs to come to church this week. He promised he would. He really likes me and calls me every night to talk and joke.

I'm doing really good though. Sorry again! I don't really have much.

My new comp is very fun and interesting

Hello!

So things are pretty different now. My new comp is very fun and interesting. As for communication it's not too bad. Although there's a lot of times I can't really understand his English or Chinese. We use a weird mix of English and Chinese to talk. I've also been learning Thai to get on his level. I only know how to say really basic things but it's pretty fun. He think it's hilarious when I say weird stuff in Thai. As for reading Thai, no thanks. This week was just an average week we just have been finding a lot and teaching our few investigators. They're all really good. We have 3 people on track to be baptized this transfer and probably some others later on as well. Our leading investigator is Arty. He's the son of a member he's 13. He's a really nice kid a little ADD. So it's hard to teach him sometimes but he really likes missionaries. I think he secretly wants to be a missionary when he's older. He always steals my bike and rides it after our appointments. He also likes to call us and talk about random stuff. He's a really good kid. I think he'll eventually get baptized. He just as a problem coming to church because he likes to sleep. Sounds familiar. Nothing really funny or interesting happened this week. Elder Hongvilai made a slamming Cheese cake. that was really good hahaha.

We really like to eat fried rice here.

I don't really have a lot to write about today hahaha sorry.

Transfer Day - Waiting on my new companion Elder Hongvilai(?)

Things are really crazy and I apologize for not emailing. Today is transfer day! So I will be getting my new companion, Elder Hongvilai(?). He's from Thailand! So it should be pretty fun. I'm excited to serve with him. I talked to him on the phone briefly and it was pretty fun. We had to use a mix of Chinese and English. He doesn't really speak English or Chinese. Hahahaha! So my English is probably going to be jacked up by the end of the transfer.

This s week nothing really happened. It was one of my more boring weeks. We've just been working on getting our investigators to be tipped over into the baptismal font. We have lots of cool people basically ready to be baptized, but they just won't budge and have the weirdest doubts. So we're trying really hard. But I think this transfer we can baptize at least one. We should be able to get more. We had a little fun adventure this week since Elder Miller was moving we have these HUGE scrolls we bought this P-Day that have these really cool designs and stuff, but they don't fit in any sort of luggage, so we had to slow boat it home. But it was super crazy, because the post office didn't have any boxes that were able to hold the scrolls, so we had to go outside and go look for our own ghetto box. So we went to a store and found this clothes hangar thing. We really just wanted the box, but we had to end up buying the clothes hangar thing, throw everything out, and put our scrolls inside and mail it. I was laughing super hard, because we were in the store and we literally opened up the box and stuck our scrolls in it to make sure it worked. Hahahah! I thought it was so ghetto. On the bright side, the clothes hangar is being used. So it's a win-win.

Conference was really cool. I enjoyed many of the talks. We had a member give us a ton of American food. She's really nice. She's from the US and she teaches English in Taiwan. She's really nice to us and helps us a ton. I think she sent you a picture.... I really enjoyed all of the talks though, my favorite was probably Elder Holland's talk. I really like what he talked about. We got macaroni and cheese from that member. It was kind of ghetto the way it was made but it was good. Melted down cheese slices on noodles...... Oh well it was good!

I don't really have a a whole lot of time to write. But I love you all so very much!! I'll send some pictures next week.

Elder Hatch and Elder Fuller have both moved down to Gaoxiong... So... There should be some good P-Days coming up.

We got an email from Charlotte Gao

Hello to the families of Elders Miller and Burge!!
This weekend we had a conference party!

For the first session we had cookies and milk -- and it was Oreos and Chips Ahoy, because that's the best I could do in Taiwan.  Then, I didn't get a picture but between sessions, we had fried chicken, apple pie, french fries, and ice cream from MacDonalds.

​Sunday morning it was chips and salsa.

​And between sessions, it was macaroni and cheese and hot dogs and BBQ sauce.  I didn't have serving bowls, so I brought it in pitchers.  And I was afraid the mac & cheese wouldn't turn out so I made alfredo too...

When I was growing up, before everything was online, I was in a tiny branch and one of the guys in our ward told Salt Lake that his house was the church meeting house, and they sent him a satellite box decoder so we could watch conference at his house.  And so the whole branch brought food and we lounged around on couches and partied....

It's hard to be abroad.  And conference feels like home.  So I've just continued this tradition with the Elders.

Thank you for parting with your sons for these couple of years.  They are a great blessing to all of us here in Taiwan!!  They are needed, and are doing a great and useful work.

Thank you,
高明馨/Charlotte

We've been meeting a lot of cool people and I'm having a lot of fun with Elder Miller!

Hello,

I don't really have a whole lot to write about this week. Pretty much nothing happened this week. It was just a regular week. It went by pretty fast which was good..

I had interviews with president Teh in PingDong. PingDong is a really interesting place. Getting there though was quite the journey. We had to take a train and then take our bikes on the train, go to PingDong and then bike for 10 minutes. It was pretty fun. I enjoyed our little adventure. Elder Miller had his interview before me and he asked President Teh about our workouts at the track next door to our apartment (we do push ups, sit ups, pull ups, etc). My comp told him that I was thinking about joining the military after my mission. During my interview with President Teh, he brought up joining the military with me and said that the military is a wonderful thing, and he encouraged me to join the military. The very last thing President Teh said to me was that he was excited for me to join the Army. Hahaha, my companion has been trying to convince me to join the Air Force.

This week I also got a package from Grandma and Grandpa Matson! They sent me a lot of American candy and food. I'm very grateful for loving grandparents!

We also got lost this week and accidentally went out of our Zone. Then we randomly ended up near an Army Academy for Infantry. It was really cool to look over their indestructible walls and see some military guys walking around and guarding their precious bases.

One night it rained and the water was thudding on our AC me and companion were so tired the next morning. So my companion decided to put a towel on the AC by sticking a towel on a broom and then hanging it out the window and carefully placing the towel on the AC... I thought it was going to make a swift plummet down our 13 story tall building but it worked and fixed the problem.

Our investigators haven't really been answering or willing to meet with us recently, but we're still working hard and trying to find people. We've been meeting a lot of cool people and I'm having a lot of fun with Elder Miller!

We watch General Conference next week (this week)

For P-Day we went to the small Island I have a few pictures. It was fun. It was mostly just a beach and some old bunkers.

I love you all so very much!