Cold Sinks Into Your Bones

Hello everyone!

 

Another week has gone by here in Long Tan. Its been pretty good! On Friday one of our investigators was baptized! She is 18 and actually had lived in China for 10 years of her life and had just returned about 6 months ago. She is the neice of the Bishop in our ward. She really has a desire to develop her relationship with God. It's been really cool to see some of the changes that she has made. After her baptism on Friday evening, she was just sooo happy and excited! She said she wasn't sure why but she was so happy! I know that these feelings were given to her from God helping her to feel that she truly was doing what is right in life. I hope that she continues a life full of faithful service and growth in the church. She is great.

This week it has been a lot colder here in Long Tan. It is a lot different from the dry cold in Provo that I experienced when I was at college. The air here is so humid so when it is cold it just sinks into you bones cutting through all your layers of clothing. Fortunately, we have been able to stay fairly warm. It's always nice to come home at the end of the night after a hard day's work to flip on the little electric heater that we have and warm up my feet as we plan for the next day! I hear that it's supposed to be nicer weather this next week and that soon things should be starting to warm up for good! I'm excited. It's pretty interesting to see how people's moods correlate with the weather. People truly are happier and smile more often when it's sunny outside. I have really been able to see this as we go out to talk to different people each day.

Yesterday, Sunday, we had the opportunity to eat dinner at a member's home. He has a returned missionary and his wife visiting them for the weekend. The returned missionary is from Lehi, Utah and about 10 years ago served in Gao Xiong, Taiwan. The member speaks amazing English and the returned missionary has been able to maintain his Chinese fairly well, so most of the night was a mix of what we call Chinglish. It's pretty fun. I think his wife was a little lost at times but she seemed have a great time experiencing the different culture here in Taiwan. It really is much different here in Taiwan. It was a pretty cool experience to be able visit with the returned missionary and hear about his mission experience while he was in Taiwan. I think it gave me a little spark to do the missionary work even more diligently.

Recently, my companion and I have been wokring on a service project for our Ward. Each week we have been spending some time to paint the church parking lot lines. The have really faded over the years so we are repainting them. It's been tedious and long as we have to do it all by hand, but it's been cool to see the progress and I'm sure the members will really appreciate. Service always brings a smile and a good attitude to your heart. 

I'll have to send a picture to you guys once we finish.

Well, I hope that everyone has a wonderful week and that you are able to accomplish all that you need and want to do! I love you guys!

Elder Bastian