Howdy Rowdy! Random Stuff about My Family

Welcome back!

We started this day by searching for the “Mega Mall” in Kaohsiung. After a few wrong turns Thane saved the day by suggesting we go around the block a different way. It was just like a huge mall in the states… we spent some time doing a little shopping and then decided it was time to get on our way.

After leaving Kaohsiung we headed south toward Kending – this is the beach resort area of Taiwan. It was about two hours to drive there and we made a few stops along the way. Our first stop was a good beef-noodle shop. The boys again had swei-jous and we all got our clothes dirty with splashed soup! We did some shopping along the way and then we make a quick stop at Fang Liau.

While I was serving as a missionary in Chao Chou I knew a member named Jackie Jang that lived and worked in Fang Liau. My companion and I would stop in for a quick visit every other week as we traveled to Heng Chun for district meeting. Sister Jang worked at the fisherman’s co-op as an accountant. The co-op hasn’t changed a bit… the same old fisherman selling their catch to the wholesale buyers right on the dock. We inspected the catch for the day and were surprised to find a HUGE, LIVE lobster waiting for a buyer. It was amazing… the fisherman even offered to let me hold him. He told me to really hold it firmly because it would try to get away. Just as soon as he finished telling me that the lobster gave an incredible flip of its huge tail… the noise was almost enough to get me to drop it… luckily I maintained my grip and he didn’t get away!

A short time later we arrived in Kending and checked in at the China Youth Corps Hotel – a youth hostel that has been converted into a “hotel” and has buildings with traditional Chinese architecture. The accommodations were excellent and we really enjoyed our stay here. After a quick change at the hotel we drove a few minutes to the beach and enjoyed the warm water and explored the reef seeing bright-colored tropical fish and eels.

In the evening we called Tiffany Lu (Lu Jya) who is a member in Hengchun. We had met her a few days earlier in Kaohsiung at the 50th anniversary celebration. She and some other friends met us at Smokey Joe’s for dinner. We had a good time looking at old pictures and talking about missionaries and the Church in Taiwan.

Pictures

Posted under Taiwan

This was my favorite day of our trip to Taiwan. We arose early and headed out on a 45-minute drive to Chao Chou to attend church services. Chao Chou was where I spend most of my missionary time and there were still a couple of members there that I knew as a missionary. I had a lot of anticipation as we drove to the meeting. Luckily we were able to find the meeting house easily and arrive only a minute or two after services started. I was immediately surprised by how many people were in attendance and the only available seats were front-and-center.

The meeting was a little boring for Davis, Thane, and Natalie as the only indication of what was being said came from me as I did some sketchy translating. As the speakers concluded the branch president stood and made mention that many missionaries over the years had served in Chao Chou and that they had one in attendance that day… he proceeded to ask me to come forward and share my thoughts with the congregation. It was a humbling experience to stand and try to express my feelings with my rusty language skills.

Pictures

Posted under Taiwan

This morning we arose at 3:30 a.m. and made our way the the mountain-top train station. The train transported us to the sunrise lookout point n the mountain tops of Taiwan. After getting off the train there was a short hike to a large pavilion with spectacular views of the mountain range and the valleys below. The sunrise was spectacular and afterward we ate some breakfast from road-side vendors selling dan-bings (“egg cookies”). This was one of my favorite breakfast foods when I had lived in Taiwan as a missionary. It was fun to have Natalie and the kids try out some of the foods that I had talked about many times before.

After the sunrise activities we did some additional walking tours around the trails and visited the Elder Sister Pond and other sites.

After we finished at Ali Shan we packed-up and started our journey to Kaohsiung. The drive to Kaohsiung took a couple of hours but was very pleasant as we were able to travel on some of the newly constructed freeways in Taiwan. After finding our hotel and checking in we had to do a little research and make a call to the Kaohsiung missionary headquarters to find the location of the Church celebration planned for the evening; there was a 50-year missionary celebration in the outdoor amphitheater next to the Love River (Ai He). Members and missionaries both participated in a play and singing that illustrated the teaching and conversion of an early member family in Taiwan. While the performance was being setup and practiced, missionaries were contacting and answering questions for curious passers-by.

While at the performance we also met some missionaries that are currently serving in Chao Chou (which is where we plan to visit on Sunday and attend church services). We were able to directions to the new meetinghouse and it was exciting to hear them talk about the branch and growth that has taken place there.

Pictures

Posted under Taiwan

Well.. we’re finally under way on our trip. We had a little snag at the airport with some incorrect data on a passport. After spending the night at the airport we were able to work things out and the immigration officials allowed us to enter the country.

Yesterday we visited Taichung – we visited the mission home and they had just finished a zone ocnference so there were lots of missionaries in the office. We were able to meet with the President Waterson for a few minutes and we enjoyed getting to know him. It is amazing to see how the church has grown in Taiwan and how missionary work is progressing. After meeting the missionaries we walked around the city and had dinner at “Fattys” (an Italian place) — We’ll start experiencing the local cuisine later.

Tonight we are staying up in the mountains at a place called Ali Shan. We are staying at the Ali Shan House – it really feels like a “local” hotel with its Asian-style furnishings and authentic food. We are surrounded by lush forests that are literally “in the clouds” and are anchored by ancient Cyprus trees; many of them are more than 1000 years old, and some are around 2000 years old. We’ll be getting up at 3:30 a.m. tomorrow to go see the sunrise on the top-top of Taiwan. It should be fun but will make for a long day! After that we are off to Kaohsiung.

Pictures

Posted under Taiwan

We were finaly allowed to enter the country with Davis with the restriction that we immediatly apply for an emergency passport at the American Institue in Taiwan (AIT). We traveled to Taipei and found that several documents were needed before we could apply for the emergency passport — one of which is a birth certificate.

After our visit to AIT we headed to Taichung. This is where the mission offce/headquarters are located. We had a nice visit at the misson home with several elders. A missionary zone conference had just concluded so the mission office was croweded with missionaries. The mission president, President Waterson, took a few minutes to meet with us and welcomed us to the mission. It was a great experience for Davis and Thane to see all the missionaries in action and to meet the mission president. I think they are getting a sense of what missionary life is like and what it is all about.

Tonight we stayed at the Landis Hotel in Taichung — it is a very modern hotel that was very nicely furnished and had a great breakfast with both Western and Chinese fare. Thane enjoyed a bowl of Fruit Loops (which made us chuckle).

Pictures

Posted under Taiwan

Arrived in Taiwan in the evening about 8:30 p.m. We ran into some snags with Davis’ passport as his birth date is incorrect. Spent the night in the airport and we were not allowed to enter the country.

Pictures

Posted under Taiwan

Headed to the airport today to begin our two-day journey to Taiwan!

Posted under Taiwan

Finalized our packing today – heading out tomorrow.

Posted under Taiwan