I know, it's been a while, but I've got time so let me tell you about all the new, crazy, and exciting things that have happened. My last companion Sister Cheng got her VISA! She leaves for the MTC in June. 😀 I GOT TRANSFERRED. Yes, after being in my last area (BaDe) for a good 7 1/2 months, President finally decided it was time for me to leave. We had to take a 5 hour train ride from Taipei down to Hualian and then another train from Hualian down to YuLi. It's a long way. I got moved down south, to a little place called YuLi in the HuaLian area. Surrounded by moutains and by the ocean side. We get to bike along the coast, pick coconuts off the ground, talk to people on pig farms and be chased through rice fields by all the stray dogs running around here. This place is the spitting image of Hawaii. He's a funny guy. He is preparing me very well for when I go home in 11 weeks. YuLi is a very intimate place. Everybody is on a first name basis with everybody. You can bike around the entire thing in 60 minutes(that's if you bike really slow). Moving from TaoYuan to YuLi is like jumping off a horse and onto a sloth. The pace of life is just so slow here. Im still trying to adjust to it. Everything is so chill. YuLi is very chill. Everything closes at 8:00. Like Kauai. So street finding at night can be a struggle sometimes BUT it IS a very
special place. Why put emphasis on the
special? Because YuLi unlike any other place in Taiwan....YuLi is home to 3 of Taiwan's largest Psychiatric Hospitals. Just like how the U.S. sends their homeless to Hawaii, Taiwan dumps all their crazies down in YuLi...We are fortunate enough to come across people that don't seem to be all there. We've met people named; apple, fish, box, pig... It makes things very interesting here.
Another special thing about this place is that our chapel is on the second floor of the richest man in YuLi's house and our apartment is right about the chapel. On the third floor of the rich man's (whose name is Mr. Hong) house. The members in YuLi are not enough to make a ward so right now it is just a branch. The YuLi branch on a good sunday have a turnout of about 35 people in sacrament meeting (missionaries included). The members here are pretty interesting. We've actually got two Haole's in our ward. Their wives are Taiwanese and they have been living here for a while. There is a couple called the Gunn's whose house is in the middle of a rice plantation and they have 13 really big dogs (max, grace, lucy, nina, nan, happy, QQ.....thats all i've met so far). Our members, although few in number, are so willing to help us missionaries and help this branch grow and become a ward. AND, the members here COOK REALLY GOOD FOOD!
With a new area, comes a new companion. I've got a new companion. Her name is Sister Anne Marie Watson from Salt Lake City Utah. She has been on her mission for 9 months. She is a crazy good artist, pianist, and loves to talk. She's pretty great.
YuLi is a pretty small area but the entire area that we cover is pretty big. I am so excited to be here and I am sooo HAPPY to be serving in such a beautiful place in Taiwan. I know that these last two transfers are going to be a blast. We are going to KILL it here in YuLi!
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