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!

Hittin' the beach, talkin' on the phone in my sleep, and teaching a Filipina

Hello!

It's nice to hear about the stuff going on back home. Home seems really weird to me now. I'll probably have massive panic attacks when I get back. I've been talking to some Elders that have gone home and they all say that they don't know how to fit into American culture anymore. One of them stays inside all day and doesn't really talk to anyone besides people from Taiwan over Facebook... I worry that's going to be me.

This week was good... I'm not sure where to begin.. I'll start off with a weird experience that happened this week. I fell asleep in our apartment and my companion fell asleep too. (oops.) And then I remember the phone ringing and it was a member that was going to help us teach a lesson. I just remember the phone ringing and answering it and saying some Chinese... I guess I did the entire call in my sleep and responded fine to everything. I don't remember the call. I just knew that the lesson was cancelled... Some things never change with me.. I'm super weird with sleep.

We've been eating healthier this week. It's very common in Taiwan to be given massive amounts of fruit all the time from members and stuff. So I've been making an effort to eat healthier with my companion. It didn't go well as we immediately were taken to a steak place this week with some greasy American food.

We also got our apartment inspected this week by the senior couple. They surprised us and said they were coming down THAT morning to tour our chapel and inspect our house. So me and companion spent the entire morning cleaning. My companion kept making jokes about dust being on horizontal surfaces and checking my mirrors from all angles. They didn't say anything about our apartment mostly because it was literally military standards clean.

We've also reached out in love and are eating with the neighboring Elders once a week. I enjoy talking to them, one has some really interesting ideas about missionary work and me and Elder Miller just laugh. The other is really cool, he was an Air Force ROTC cadet up at USU and so me and him were talking a ton. He's fun to talk to.

Nothing really new is going on missionary work wise. Just kind of the same old same old. We don't really have anyone in particular that's especially progressing. We're teaching a girl from the Philippines. Right now she's basically working like a slave and her family lives in the Philippines. She has 5 kids. She's really cool and we teach her in English. She's really enjoying the Book of Mormon. The only problem is, she can't really get to church due to obvious reasons...

I'm doing really well and Kending was super pretty. It was like a movie tropical island scene. It was really pretty. Don't worry I took some cool pictures. It reminded me of Hawaii. At least what I think Hawaii is. I love you all so very much. Today we're going to another Island, 旗津海岸公園. It should be pretty.

I almost got raped kissed, but we had a cool little miracle...

Hello!

We had a really fun week. This week started out really slow, and so it was a lot of finding and contacting, but I don't really mind contacting anymore. On top of this, our mission changed some ways we contact. Before, we had contact cards just like business cards that people can write their information on, and we also had these pass along tracts that had short gospel messages that we give out like candy. At our zone conference, we were told that we were not allowed to use these things anymore, so it's been weird to go out and contact and not have these things. I actually like it more, because I don't feel like a business man. Although, many missionaries across the mission are really upset about this change.

One of my fun stories this week was while we were contacting at the MRT station (Speaking of which, I got some pictures of us on the MRT going to zone conference, and it was really fun, because it's a subway and it's really clean and cheap.) we came across a guy that looked a little funny. He was acting weird right from the start. So he starts rubbing me and Elder Millers hands right off the bat. So we're weirded out, and then he just goes for it and just hugs me. I instantly pull away and stare at him weird. Then he goes in for another surprise hug and I pull away. He's not letting go, so I start to push harder, and then at the last second I pushed him really hard. I'm glad I did, because he was going in for a kiss. I almost got raped kissed. Elder Miller was entertained for many days.

We also had a cool little miracle. We were eating our lunch at the church, and it was time for us to go back out get back to work. But, me and Elder Miller were feeling a little lazy, so we both said, "5 more minutes." During that 5 minutes I started to feel a little bad about being in the church longer than we should have. Then all of the sudden, a woman walks up to the church and starts asking us if she could meet with us and attend church. She was super nice and friendly.... I don't know, just a cool experience I guess haha...

On Sunday, we had a ward member bring her friend. He's from Vietnam and doesn't speak Chinese very well. So..... I had to translate most of the church meetings from Chinese to English.. On Sunday I realized how awful I am at translating. I have this weird thing where it makes sense to me, but I have no idea how to say it in English. Plus, Chinese is sometimes weird like that and I can't really explain it well. But, I asked him how I did and he said it was fine. There was only a couple times where I had no idea what they were saying in church, which is pretty usual for me. But yeah, I learned I really suck at translating.

Sorry to hear things at home are a little bit crazy but that's nothing new... I love you all so very much!

Today we're going to one of the beautiful places in Taiwan, Kending. It should be fun.