February 28, 2017 - Sun Moon Lake, Chinese Temple and Diagon Alley

Last week on P-day our zone went to Sun Moon Lake. It was really fun. My first companion from my last area, TaiBao, Elder Fuller, is in my Zone now so he went to Sun Moon Lake too.

This was the first time my current companion, Elder Shakespeare, had the opportunity to go to the lake.

Beautiful Sun Moon Lake

Our Zone had a great time at Sun Moon Lake

My mom wanted me to try and find a rock with carving on it to bring home as a souvenir. Apparently they are popular in Taiwan, but I haven't been able to find any. I came across this one but I don't think I will be able to pack it in my suitcase, 

this one might be a little bit too big! 

We also went to this temple last p-day. 

This temple was classy and the nicest one I have been to in Taiwan.

There is this weird street in our area that we have been tracting, it is actually kind of creepy. We call it Diagon Alley because it reminds us of somewhere the death-eaters from Harry Potter's wizarding world would go to hang out or buy supplies.

People in Taiwan have alters in their homes that have a red light on them. Many of the homes on this "street" (which really is more like an alley in the United States) have these alter lights and it gives an eerie glow. 

I thought I would use my "magic wand umbrella" to try to wizard my way through this brick wall. There are also some big dogs on this street too, so I am not really looking forward to returning to tract here but our area is so small that I'm sure I will see Diagon Alley again. Our teaching pool is very small right now and we could really use your prayers to help us find those who are ready to hear the gospel.

Have a great week! Love, Elder Erwin

February 19, 2017 - This Week Was Crazy... I Got Hit By a Car

This week was kind of crazy but because I am pressed for time I will just give you a little overview. At the beginning of the week we helped our investigator by dedicating her house... unfortunately she refused a baptismal goal, she likes her other church and is not willing to change. We tried to tell her the blessing of a home is conditional on the terms of repentance and willingness to follow Jesus Christ. She did not really listen so we had to let her go for right now. 

The next day I was hit by a car in the center of the intersection. They were crossing over at the last minute to get onto the freeway so they were not going too fast, it was mostly the shock that upset me. They knocked me off my bike, in the end I made it out with just a swollen ankle, pulled muscle and some scrapes. The man just left after I got up and moved out of the intersection. In the United States, that would be a hit and run but in Taiwan it is just the way it is.

We ran into a crazy man who said he was the literal Jehovah... Need I say more?

I went on exchanges with Elder Thomas, my old friend from my first area in Zhang Hua. We started there together and will go home together. It was a fun exchange full of singing because Elder Thomas sounds like someone who deserves to be on the radio. He literally will be famous someday.

I thought I would include some pics of Elder Shakespeare tracting so you can see some of the Taiwan that we see everyday. Elder Shakespeare is doing well, I feel bad because we don't have a lot of people to teach so the chances for him to speak Chinese are a little less. He is a super hard worker though, he studies like crazy, but it just doesn't come together until you get to practice hearing it and saying it. 

 

That was pretty much the interesting stuff of this week. We are going to Nantou to go to Sun Moon Lake, I'm excited to go because I haven't been there since my first area when I went there with my trainer Elder Brady. 

Sorry I don't have time to write more. 

Love you all! Elder Erwin

February 12, 2017 - Goodbye My Topical Paradise

This week our beautiful tropical weather went away, I was sad to say goodbye to it. We went from weather with highs in the 70's to highs in the 30's! Needless to say we have been freezing! Gloves, scarves, jackets, we have it all. I went from wearing short sleeves to long sleeves, to this! haha! 

Last Monday on p-day, we went looking for souvenirs and found a couple of nice things but not what we were looking for. We will keep looking...

On Tuesday we went to visit a less active member. He actually fixes bikes in his home so he offered to fix our bikes. I just asked him to tighten my brakes but the next thing I know, he had dismantled my entire bike! He cut all the brakes and gear shifts and my chain as well. He literally kidnapped us! haha! There was no way for us to leave. My bike however now looks almost like new again because he cleaned it and replaced mostly everything. I was a little angry (for fear of my beloved bike being lost to a repair gone wrong) and grateful at the same time. I asked how much and he said, "free". I asked to at least pay for all the parts he changed. He finally said I could pay him about $10. I don't know if you can get service like that anywhere for that cheap. It was all and all a good thing but his house was a little scary... He's a little bit like a hoarder I think. 

Elder Shakespeare in a bit of a mess at the member's house who fixed our bikes.

This week we had interviews with President Teh. I think it is really neat that he is a member of the seventy. He is wise beyond his years for sure. My interviews always go too long! Everyone is allotted 15 minutes. This time mine was about 35-40. I think he and I are pretty good friends by this point. 

Picture of President Teh

Our week was pretty empty besides that. I think the cold weather makes people a bit more grouchy because recently everyone seems pretty unwelcoming. They are probably just sad that New Year's vacation is over. 

I love you all. Pray that we will get back to a normal temperature soon. I really don't enjoy the cold! And I'd like to get back to work.

Sincerely, Elder Erwin

I included Elder Erwin's letter to his dad after his dad returned from a motorcycle trip to Vietnam.

Dear Dad,

I am glad you are safe! Mom told me a lot of the things that happened to you while you were trail riding across Northern Vietnam. It was crazy! I think that trip may have been a little too much of an adventure. 

I thought, as I looked at the poverty of the village children where you gave school supplies, toys and food, "Why are some so blessed and some so in distress?" I realized, however, that the poor people of the village are not necessarily the ones in distress. If your heart is at peace, where you live and what you have doesn't matter as much. Are we at peace? Are we looking for material gain and for that which is of no worth, or are we looking for the love of God and for the love of man around us? We are blessed to know God lives and loves us. No matter how precarious our situation might be. 

I am glad you had a good time and returned home safely! Love you Dad!

February 5, 2017 - The New Year Continues

This week we ate at some members houses to continue the new year celebrations. I am actually glad it is over... Now I can go back to eating simpler foods. 

We went to a fancy restaurant where you cook your own steak on a burning hot piece of what I think is granite. It was super good and made me feel very classy. 

My companion eating his steak. It was really good! 

We both enjoyed it

I got to sit in a members massage chair though... It was not that great. I need a real massage by the end of these 24 months.

This week we met with quite a few new people. However they all seemed to have the same problem, which was they were not exactly sure why they were there. I am not sure if I was not clear enough or what, but we were not able to set up a return date with any of them! However, we met a really interesting lady who was not super interested in meeting with us but was very interested in reading the Book of Mormon. She saw us holding it and said "I will read that if you have one to give." I think that is one of the first times anyone has been willing to read the book before I invited them to do so. I am not sure if we will ever see her again but perhaps she will read and be brought back to us one day. If all I can do is plant seeds for later times that is what we will do. 

We have a porch here and it gives me a chance to practice my Erhu skills. It should be interesting getting it home. 

On Saturday we had a ward activity at the park, where they played park games and it was pretty fun. We had investigators come and they enjoyed it as well. 

The picture is of our little district being weird... ​​

After being in rural Taibao, it feels weird to be in a ward again. There are a lot of people! Haha. Church in America will be even crazier! 

Our week was mostly contacting but it ended well with a family home evening at our mission leaders house with some investigators. 

We had a beautiful sunset this week. This is a really cool bridge.

That was about it for the week. 

I love you all. 

January 29, 2017 - Big Changes

This week was Chinese New Year and it is pretty ridiculous here to say the least! Everyone and their dog has been on holiday so naturally everything is closed. The good news is that we have been fed meals everyday since Friday. Normally we are not fed by the members, it is rare, usually only on holidays. Even then we need to be careful about it. Most people here are very poor and we have been asked to not tax them financially by eating at their houses. 

We have saved a lot of money but have eaten a lot of weird stuff like octopus and tofu, I even ate pig ear and all sorts of fungi. 

This is my companion, Elder Dayne Shakespeare at one of our many meals to 

celebrate the Lunar New Year 

We have enjoyed weather of high 70s and low 80s. It has been very nice to say the least. No one has been willing to set up because it is about the equivalent of asking someone to meet with you on Christmas day... I understand but it gave us a lot of time to find some news. 

Some of the coolest people we ran into was a family from Virginia. The mom was Taiwanese and they had girl  triplets and one boy. They were so cute! They were a little like my own family because 3 girls one boy. I told them that and the mom told them to all give me a hug since I probably miss my family. The girls were 6 and shy so I gave them high fives but the boy was 3 and he just jumped into me and gave me a hug. He melted my heart!

I also got a package from my parents! Thank you, thank you!! It was nice to have some stuff from home. 

They sent this shirt, I loved seeing it again. It fits me a lot better now. At one point on my mission I lost so much weight that I barely tipped 100 on the scale, but since my health has improved, I am putting on weight again. It is good! It is weird to think that was probably the last thing from home. (Mom's note: Elder Erwin is mistaken in this. He will be getting a birthday package in May. Won't he be surprised!)

The big news is that the missionary schedule has changed. We can now leave the door at 8am on p-day!! We also have some changes to allow us to be more flexibly in the use our time. It is a worldwide change but we are the first to use it because it is still Sunday on the other side of the world.  :-)

The other big news, that is not that big is that this transfer is only 5 weeks long. Why would that be big new you ask? It means I will now be returning home on July 6th instead of July 12th. They made this change because missionaries all around the world were going home way after their missionary license expires like me, mine expires on June 24th,  so I will be illegal for a week! haha. 

I only have 21 more weeks which seems like a lot until you take one out and it seems to go by really fast. I love you all hope you are have a great week! 

Because missionaries all around the world were going home way after their missionary license expires like me, mine expires on June 26th, so I will be illegal for a week, haha. 

I am district leader of our little district of 4. I just prepare district training meeting and do follow ups. So not too busy. 

It is weird because I am so much older than all the other missionaries. One sister is being trained right now and her trainer has been on a mission for 9 months and my companion 5 months (only 3 months in Taiwan) so when we go to dinners and stuff at members houses I feel like the old fart! I don't feel old in age but mission age there are only a hand full of people older than me. I received a nice compliment from my companion this week. He said my Chinese was so good that he doesn't understand half the stuff I say haha! I really am the old man now.

The longer I am on my mission the more I realize how smart my parents are... haha. Not to be rude but I never thought that they were much smarter than me! hahaha! I know better now. 

This last transfer my old companion Elder Cox was made a trainer. He had to leave for the mission home to pick up is new companion a few days before transfers, so I had to go stay with the other Elders in my last district. I had to stay there a couple days but I needed my stuff so Jiang Mama drove us in her box truck to MinXiong, which is the area next to TaiBao.  It was 6:00am and very cold and loud. It was not well advised. 

 Show original message