Welcome back!
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.
Posted under Taiwan
This post was written by Paul Pearson on July 29, 2006
