Dear family and friends,
It was a pretty crazy week. We had a few activities that we knew
were going to take away a lot of our time, so we had to go crazy on the
days that we had time.
Tuesday we biked super fast out to a college an hour away and found
two really cool guys in a row that wanted to sit with us and learn
more. It was really cool, and the 2nd guy was just around the corner
from the first. It was cool. During the 1st guy, a ton of sirens started
going off. It was super loud and no one was freaking out. I was way
confused. I then got a call from the zone leaders, who also had sirens
going off where they were, and they said they do this yearly drill to
practice the police preparedness just in case China invades. Super
funny. So all the streets were shut down and had policemen lining every
intersection. It was really cool. After all the biking, we were super
tired while doing English proselyting. I had no energy at all. But that
night we went by the B-ball court to find some new investigators. I sat
with this cool guy that just seemed really relieved to be talking to me.
He does the cool traditional puppet shows. Cool guy.
Wednesday was the long day. We had to get up at 5:00 to get on a
bus to Zhanghua. From there we took an hour and a half train to Jiayi
for Zone Conference. It was a lot of fun. Elder Allen said he got to do
assistant exchanges with Nantou a week before and got to see all our
recent converts. But my first family baptized that I got to help set a
temple goal with said they're moving to China. And they're now already
there. Super depressed. But I have their email address! The conference
was really good. We talked about how to keep missionary work exciting
everyday so it doesn't feel the same everyday. We also got a new Taiwan
Taizhong mission clarifications book that goes a little more into detail
from the missionary handbook on what is legal and allowed in our
mission.
After the conference, I had a district leader meeting that made it
so we had to take a later train than the rest of the missionaries. So
we're walking with some other companionships in our zone that are
district leaders and we realize that we'll have no time to eat before
English class. So we stop at the Macker's (McDonald's) on the way to get
food for the train. Elder Greer ordered an apple pie that took FOREVER
to cook. We weren't sure why, but it made it so we had to sprint to the
train station. We barely made it. It was crazy. Then we had to take a
bus from Zhanghua back to our area, so we were 45 minutes late to
English and the other Elders had to start without us.
Thursday was super rough. We were let in by an old couple. They
didn't have a whole lot of interest. And then their 95 year old mom was
walking around outside, so they just went to take care of her. We biked
forever out to Erling just for our lessons to fall through, so we biked
back. It was a long day. Friday was the same. It was raining, and no
one wanted to talk. It was rough.
Saturday we had to bike out to our furthest area because the other
Elders called and set up a less active sister and then realized she
lived in our area. But she really wanted to meet with us and didn't want
to change locations. So all in all, we biked about 3.5 hours to her
house in the rain. Our keisters were sore! (is that how you spell it?)
And it was quite the experience. Actually, it was the WEIRDEST lesson
ever. Mom, write this down and I'll tell you all when I get home:
Dacheng, LA lady, power. Then we had to bike back, which felt like
forever as the sun was going down and the wind was blowing against us.
We had two amazing lessons with some part member families though! One
lady we're working with that is less active. We're trying to help her
come back to church and help her 10 year old daughter get baptized. The
girl loves church, but her mom has only taken her once. After talking to
her for a bit, she just opened up about what's keeping her from coming.
We also met with our RC and her parents who have been investigating as
long as our RC. Her mom also opened up about why she won't come to
church.
Sunday we see the less active with her two daughters walk into to
Church! It was sooo great! Then we get a call from our RC saying her
whole family is coming to church! After Sacrament meeting, the mom said
that a ton of her questions were answered in that meeting. I was so
happy! Then last night we were seriously lost in the middle of the rice
fields. It was insane.
And that was my week! We got permission from President Bishop to
take a bus to Yuanlin today and eat at Shitou with Elder James and
Lathen. My investigator there, Jack, got baptized last Saturday! Super
happy. So we're about to head out.
I love you all! Keep your chin up! Keep smiling. The Lord loves each and every one of us! Always trust in His guidance!
Love, Elder Anthony Kai Buckwalter
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