Dear family and friends,
First I'd like to start out by saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! I
really don't remember the dates at all anymore, unless something
important is going on with one of our investigators. We were talking to a
member yesterday and we set something up for next Monday. He said the
wrong date and I was like "no it would be the 17th because tomor OH MY
GOSH it's my dad's birthday!" So I'm glad I remembered! Time just flies
out here... Anyway. Hope you have a great relaxing day dad!
Another great week here in Tainan! We dedicated a lot of time to
contacting to get new investigators. And we did a pretty good job! We
started out by making a goal to not eat rice or noodles at all that
week. It's not an easy goal. So we had a lot of McDonalds. Also not a
good thing. Tuesday we had a great combined zone training meeting. Each
of the district leaders taught a small principle on contacting and we
did some practicing. It was a lot of fun. We also have a new zone leader
because Elder Wang was called to the office to be the new operations
manager, and he has training for the last 3 weeks of the move call. So
we had a mini move call and Elder Crandall came down here! He's really
cool. He just came from Yuanlin, where he lived for 3 weeks. That was in
my last zone, so I was glad to hear some news about what's going on up
there.
That night we met with Kevin. He's all ready for baptism! We went
through the interview questions with him and he's excited. We set up the
interview for Sunday morning before church.
Wednesday was a really hot day and we had no energy whatsoever, and
hardly anyone was outside to talk to. It was hard. But it ended really
nice with English class. It's really funny now that they've started to
talk more. They want to learn how to speak "American." Not just English.
So I gotta prepare for that now.
Thursday was a miracle day. We had contacted a guy, David, on the
street the week before and set up for Thursday. And he actually came. I
was so happy. He speaks fluent English, so it was pretty weird teaching
in English. We both could do it and explain things a lot better than
when in Chinese, but it just sounded weird saying all the church terms
in English. That'll be hard to adjust to when I come home... But David
is really good! He asks a ton of questions and clarifies everything once
we teach him. So he left really excited to read the Book of Mormon and
learn more.
Friday we got to go on zone leader exchanges! I got to stay in my
area and Elder Crandall came with me. I felt kinda bad because all I had
planned was straight up contacting in a bunch of different areas. But
he said that's all they're doing in their area too to boost up their
teaching pool. And I made it better by taking him to get Dr. Pepper and
Subway. I LOVE Dr. Pepper and Subway! It was a good day and we got some
great adds.
Saturday was "clean up the world" day. So all the missionaries in
our zone got to come over to this big park in our area by the ocean and
help clean up the area. There was a ton of people there. Like 500 maybe.
Just a bunch of Tainan people coming together to clean the world! It
was so much fun! But since we were just in our regular clothes in the
sun for a few hours, we all got some pretty intense sunburns where our
collars usually are. I can't turn my head without a lot of pain to
follow. That evening we got to meet with a guy that I added over a week
ago during Assistant exchanges. He's really cool and wants to know all
about the church. Him and his wife got married last year and she's
pregnant with their first child. How do I keep running into this same
circumstance? And she's from China, which is where she is now visiting
her family. So I'm really excited to teach this family! He loves the
story of Joseph Smith and loves hearing about God's authority. He's
really excited to learn more and flat out brought out his own planner
and planned in church next week.
Sunday was a little rough. Kevin was sick and called and said he
couldn't make it. So the baptism is pushed back a little bit, but he's
still really dedicated.
This morning we biked over to the beach and had some fun standing
in the water. I love the beach. And then we headed over to a morning
market and finally found some passion fruits. By far my favorite fruit! I
missed it so much. And that's my whole week! It's been a lot of fun.
We've got some really sweet new investigators and one that's right about
to be baptized!
I love you all so much! Please continue to write and send pictures and whatnot. Thank you all so much for the love and support!
Elder Hoopes with what he bought last week
Cleaning between some raft things on the beach
How we relax on preperation day
Typhoon from our balcony
At the beach
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!
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