Hello from the Other Side (of the Pacific)

The Golden Gate Bridge

Hello everyone! 早安！(Good Morning-zao3an1)

(So I stole the subject [aka blog post title] from Elder Nate Hutchison, so I'll give the credit for that one to him.)

Well, I'm finally in Taiwan, and I have to say it has not disappointed! The flight was long, but it was some good study time and we talked to this lady behind us named Wendy. She was born in Taiwan, but had lived in Washington DC for a while so her English and Chinese are both perfect. We just talked to her about her family, and why we were going to Taiwan (she didn't believe we had only been learning Chinese for 10 weeks haha) and she ended up making the connection we have with the DC temple, so that was fun to tell her about that. We ended up giving her a pass-along card for Light the World, which she thought was really cool, and a sister had an extra Book of Mormon that we gave her too, which she was really cute about and got really excited and said she was going to tell her friends and stuff, it was really neat. So there's miracle one.

San Fransisco Area

In Flight Maps at various stages (waving to family in St. George, even though it's the wrong St. George.  Lol)

On the way to Taiwan

Flying over Japan

We got to Taiwan and eventually found President Jergensen. He's super tall and super awesome, he kinda reminds me of a mixture of Will Ferrell and my uncle Hal haha.

We ended up sleeping with the Assistants to the President because the apartments in the mission office building were full of temple patrons from India and Malaysia and other places in Asia [who were] being sealed to their families [in the Taipei Temple], which is so cool.

We had some trainings, got our phones, met our trainers, and by 3:00 pm on Friday, I was off to Hualien!

Hualien

On the train to Hualien

My Trainer is Elder Nielsen, and he's awesome! He's from Logan, going to Utah state, and plays Clarinet and Bari sax so he's a music nerd like me!

Hualien is an awesome place, in fact they told us at the office that people always joke being sent to Taidong or Hualien is basically a vacaction because they're so beautiful. We're going on a hike today in the mountains, so I'm excited to get some epic pictures for you guys!

My first full day proselyting was cool, we did English class and I met some members and non- members too. We had a box lunch for about 2 bucks with Pork, rice, an egg, vegetables, tofu, a fried squash dumpling thing, and a couple other things and that was really good.

At the 7-11 down the street from our apartment, we talked with this guy who's in Hualien for his mandatory military service, and we found out he's Christian and likes the Bible, and he thought the Book of Mormon was super cool. He agreed to meet with us 3 weeks out, the earliest he could, which is unheard of for someone to commit that far out! So that's miracle 2.

That night we went to a Christmas party with the ward, met some less actives and investigators, and they had us do a skit where we sang all these American Christmas songs and they loved it! (I was Santa Claus when we sang Rudolf)

They had some other acts too, like there was a traditional Chinese music ensemble, with the Chinese piano, a traditional flute and oboe thing, an erhu (the violin you hear in a lot of chinese music), and bass guitar (obviously). That was gorgeous to hear.
They also did the Virginia reel, which was super funny, and the Bishop killed it (mostly because he's white and from Cache valley).

Sunday was great.  We went to ward council and got to know a lot of members. The bishop is great, he served a mission here and then came back and married someone and has raised his family here. The ward mission leader is also white; he's here for an internship at a hospital. The young men's president is named Mark, and he's really funny, has really good English, and likes giving us hugs haha.

Everyone in the ward is really awesome, they've been very welcoming, and they're really excited about missionary work, it's great.

That night we visited an investigator who's set to be baptized soon, and went knocking. Miracle 3 was we came across this Indonesian lady who's working in a house taking care of the Ama, which is a super old grandma. She was pretty interested in our message about families, but didn't know if she could meet with us becuase it wasn't her house, and she is always there. We talked to the guy who she worked for, and he was super nice and said we could come and teach her this week, so that was really exciting. Elder Nielsen says he's never had two setups in two days before, so it's really cool the Lord gave us that.

We visited with a member and they gave us a bunch of food and said they'd introduce us to their friend at an activity this week, so that was cool.

My spiritual thought this week is about the story of the woman at the well, which is actually the Savior giving a perfect example of a contact. He didn't care that she was a Samaritan, he only cared that she was a child of God, and he started out by actually getting to know her, and showing her he was interested in her life and happiness, not just making her a number. The conversation He had with her changed her life and that of many other people that she told, and I know the Savior can change ours too if we let Him in. With our investigator we're really seeing the power of the Atonement to not only cleanse us, but to strenghten us and give us the desire and the means to become what we can be, and to be what our Heavenly Father sees in us, and I love that!

Love you All!

Elder Ogden

The Mission office and the Taipei Temple

The awesome massage chair in Elder Ogden's apartment

Our apartment is kinda ghetto, but I love it! We have this massage chair from like the 70's that has done wonders for my back. My closet is a broomstick sitting across some books on top of two small shelf units, which is pretty funny. Our room is just 4 mattresses squished together, but it's not uncomfortable. Our bathroom is a toilet, a sink, and a detachable shower head with a drain in the floor, but it's pretty roomy because it doesn't have a wall for a shower or tub in it, so it's actually pretty nice.

One thing I've learned here is that they love American culture and they are REALLY surprised I can speak the Chinese I do after 10 weeks, so I've gotten a lot of compliments in that sense which has helped my confidence a lot. They are also all in like winter coats and I'm feeling a little hot if I'm not in a short sleeve shirt, so that's kinda funny. It's been a good conversation starter when they ask me how I'm not freezing, and I can tell them I've come from Utah in America, where it's SUPER cold, and this is nothing, and then talk to them about why I'm here.

I just want you all to know I'm loving it here, and I love you all!