Off and Running

The transition from quarantine to full-time missionary service has been dramatic. It's almost as if we have stepped through a door into a post-covid Wonderland, Narnia, or whatever you want to call it. We were instantly reminded that Taiwan has had over 200 days without a locally transmitted case of Covid-19, or what they refer to as the Wuhan virus. Stores, restaurants, churches, and schools are all open. People of all ages are bustling about their daily lives with maybe about a quarter of them wearing masks when they aren't feeling well, when they want to be cautious, or when they are going someplace where masks are mandatory like Costco or a church meeting. At the risk of making someone jealous, I have to tell you that we feel like we are in the best place on earth right now.

But as good as it was to get out of quarantine, the most exciting part was jumping into our missionary service. In the first week PQ (post quarantine) we had two combined zone conferences, which gave us a chance to meet all of the 130+ missionaries in our mission.  What a great way to get started! 

The first zone conference was on Tuesday. The day began with a Chinese lesson with my tutor and then we walked to the office to help organize and cook an early Thanksgiving dinner for the 76 missionaries who attended. A real highlight was participating in choir practice with the missionaries in preparation for the big Christmas concert coming up, and then listening to the final testimonies of the outgoing missionaries who will be returning home at the end of the month. One sister missionary talked about the long road to repentance which had brought joy into her life and eventually ended with her serving a mission. She is actually a leader among the missionaries and helps to mentor and train other missionaries as well. 

Wednesday, we were trained in our office duties and then Sister Coffey gave us a walking tour of the area. We had our first mango bing on the island before we headed over to the chapel to participate in the English study group. The people we met there were incredible...

Thursday, we served up another Thanksgiving dinner to the other half of the mission and spent our last night in our quarantine apartment. We LOVE our missionaries!!!!!

 

On Friday, after the busy week, we had a chance to move into our new apartment. Goodbye lovely, quiet quarantine apartment and hello to a spacious, centrally located apartment. Just check out the view from our window!

Is that a view of the temple from our apartment window? Why yes, yes it is!

Happy birthday Elder Zhang, one of our office Elders.
 

First shaobing you tiao

Viewing our quarantine apartment from the outside

Speak, friend, and enter.
The magic door of our quarantine apartment.

Unusual snacks

Local cutie pie