Week 3 in Miaoli! Reed gets a surprise birthday after all :)

A week of miracles! P-day was good. We went down to Sanyi (a tourist-town known for its woodwork) to get Christmas presents for family. We missed our train going down, but as with every other time I've missed my train in life, it turned out even better and we had fun while we waited for the next to come. We ended up all getting lunch together prior to heading down. That night the YSA pulled off quite the feat. They managed to plan a little birthday celebration for me without me knowing it. They had intentionally made sure that no one said Happy Birthday to me on that Sunday because they said it wasn't my "real birthday." I was really quite content with it, but no, they had other plans ;) I felt really loved; they're really the best.

Missing the train

Surprise birthday cake

The amazing woodwork of Sanyi

We learned a lot about Taiwanese culture this week. During district meeting with the zone leaders and some native Taiwanese we learned of the Taiwanese learning model: you have ears but you don't have a mouth. As a result, the Taiwanese don't inherently ask the question "Why?" They don't doubt. If the teacher (or the missionary) says it...it's simply taken for fact. We learned about new ways to get them to be more involved in the teaching process and to help them have a deeper understanding through the asking of inspired questions and use of analogies. It's already helping our investigators.

Life in a slightly larger city in Taiwan

We also got to go on exchanges with the zone leaders this week (I actually hadn't had a chance to meet them prior to this point due to the geography of our zone): Elders Iverson and Crawford. They're both incredible. I worked with Elder Crawford; he's kind of a mix of my uncle, Vernon, Joshua Sanders, and Brother Funk with a red-head flair thrown in the mix. Needless to say, he's a lot of fun to work with and simple brilliant. We had great success working together and I learned much. We talked about the blessings and joys of "eager obedience;" it was a really good experience. We even had a chance to SERVE! (unheard of in Taiwan) We got to help a member move furniture up and down several flights of stairs. It was wonderful!

With Elder Crawford

With a cat

At the invite of the zone leaders, we took a couple hours one day in the dead hours of the afternoon to put our apartment in order. We got organized and our house became HOME :) We're already working more efficiently as a result of this change. It's much more comfortable and the general atmosphere is infinitely better. 

Cleaner Home

I got a new name this week. I previously had a last name only, and the members have been trying to help me find a full name for some time now. We were out tracting on the street one night and ran into a man who wanted to know why I didn't have a full name. After some discussion, he suggested Dingsheng. It was really pretty funny as he asked me if I knew the character "sheng" by using the word "shengling" (Holy Ghost). Anyway, the name stuck.

New Name

Amazing Food

 

Wei Wen Liang--my friend Wayne. He's incredible. He's 17 years old and quite the athlete. He's a track champion and unmatched in a sport called Woodball (kind of like golf I believe). He's a wonderful example to me of faith as he makes and keeps commitments that are helping him come unto Christ. He hopes to get baptized not this Saturday but next Saturday, and I fully believe he can make his goal. He's excited, and I'm excited for him.

We saw many miracles this week. One was named Casper. At the start of our meeting he was Atheist, and he told us as much. However, by the end of the lesson, he had a belief in God and faith in the truthfulness of the 1st Vision. It was a miracle and blessing to see the Spirit work this mighty change in him as we got out of the way and allowed Him to lead. He was awed with every new point of doctrine, and at the close of the lesson, he said (in Chinese of course) "Wow! This is good stuff!"

Wearing traditional Chinese overcoats

It was another week of singing in the rain. I've gotten in the habit of belting out hymns on those long rides through the night. It does a lot to keep up morale and keeps me smiling :)

We met with a wonderful less active man this past week. His faith and his desire are admirable, but work keeps him from attending church most of the time. We had a wonderful discussion with him, and his 6-year-old daughter drew a picture of me. She was super cool. He ended up coming to church this past Sunday and even brought a friend.

Picture she drew

Church was simply superb. As I rolled up to the building, I was greeted by an old friend: XU YANG KAI from Hualien. It was a joyful reunion to see him again. He's an outstanding friend and example. He actually called and took a leave of absence so he could spend P-day with us today. It will be a good time. The plan is to kaorou (Taiwanese BBQ). There was also a return missionary who served in Taiwan back in 2000 in attendance. I didn't get a chance to talk with him, but his name was Russ Lindsay.

After church, we practiced singing and the nativity for the upcoming ward Christmas party. It was kind of disorganized and crazy, but the Spirit was present regardless as we told the story of the birth of Jesus. We saw several other miracles as we pressed forward yesterday and were actually led to revisit the church before returning home...we discovered the oven had been left on and were able to turn it off. We had a late thanksgiving dinner last night courtesy of Elder Johnson and a package from his family :)

Practicing for Nativity

I thought a lot about faith, hope, and charity this past week and the relationship between the three. As I thought, I figured that it was kind of like a car. Faith is the keys: it takes faith to start any journey; without it you aren't getting anywhere. Hope is the map, GPS, road signs, etc.: faith in the future, it gives us direction and is necessary to if we are to end up where we want to be. Finally, charity(love) is the fuel: motivation, why we do what we do; it determines how far we go and how fast we do it. All three are essential for our growth and progress. For more on this see the Book of Moroni in the Book of Mormon. Our job is to control our habits and make sure they are in line with our hopes.

My analogy drawn out

There are miracles on the way each and every day. Have faith in the future!!!

All is well,

Elder Dickson