One time I don’t mind running around in circles for hours!
Last Monday for P-day we went ice skating with the other elders as well as some friends that we have both from our area in 中和 as well as some other areas. It was really fun! I haven’t been ice skating in over a year, so it took a little bit to get back in the swing of doing it.
Penny, Elder “Blades of Glory” Simonson, and Amber
A little help, Elder?!!!
S.O M.U.C.H F.U.N!
Thawing out at dinner…
A little taste of home…
From Tuesday to Wednesday we had exchanges with the zone leaders since I’m district leader. It was pretty fun – for dinner we went to this pretty expensive restaurant to eat some burgers and have some milkshakes! It was really tasty…just super expensive!
Milkshake!
On Thursday, we had a musical performance at our chapel. It was organized and performed by…you guessed it: us missionaries! Sometimes we would be singing, sometimes I would play the flute, and sometimes my companion would play the violin. It actually went really well! Everyone who came said it was really good and that they enjoyed it!
The gang’s all here!
Last night, at the monthly fireside that we have up at the big chapel right next to the temple, I found out that I will be moving today to a spot in Taiwan called Yuli (玉里). It’s actually the farthest spot away from our mission office…I wonder how long I’ll be banished to there! Actually, I hear that it’s a really pretty spot – there just are little to no people who live there…and those that do, are pretty old and either not willing to listen or don’t understand us because they might only speak Taiwanese instead of Chinese.
I’m supposed to give a talk TODAY?
You have what…for the 2nd time?
The great thinkers…
Look mom…I’m teaching someone (to roll their eyes!) Bwuhahahaha
Mom always said, if eye rolling burned calories, I’d never have to watch my weight!
Nailed it, nailed it, epic fail…
My train leaves in about an hour and a half! It will take me about 3 hours to get down there by train and I also have to take all my luggage with me since our mission president said he didn’t want me to have to ship anything there other than my bike. In Yuli they don’t have the MRT like we do here in Taipei, so we’ll have to use bikes to go everywhere. I’ve heard that you can bike for over an hour and a half and still be in the area. We’ll see how it goes!
I didn’t forget to vote!
This was the first time I’ve moved, though, that anyone has actually cried when I was leaving the area – probably like at least 6 or 8 people either cried or started having watery eyes when I told them I was moving today. I’m sad to move too, but I didn’t think people actually enjoyed me that much! On the bright side, a bunch of people said that they would either drive down or take the train so that they could come visit, which is really nice since I’m so far away from Taipei.
(Saying goodbye is really difficult!)
Became one in the gospel
Brothers forever!
Goodbye, my dear friends! Until we meet again…
(Must have attended a “Junior Birdman of Taiwan” convention…)
Roll call…
President of the local chapter
Junior BirdMEN?
Sharing the gospel, hoarding the germs!
We’ve got a couple people who are most likely going to be baptized pretty soon! Unfortunately, I won’t be in ZhongHe to see it. I also think that since I’m so far away from there, President Jergensen probably won’t let me come back up to Taipei to see them when they get baptized. I hope Yuli is fun though – it’s where I’ll be for Christmas.
Had to leave my “babies” behind…
I’m also sad that I have to leave the garden I started in ZhongHe…but it’s okay. I hear that in my new area, we have a house, which means I can actually have a real garden outside! I took my three grow lights that I bought with me so that I can start another one up when I get there! lol
My pot…smoked all it’s going to in the kiln!
Complete with inscription
Above is the picture of the pot I made when we went up to YingGe (鶯歌) with some friends about a month ago. They finally arrived in the mail last week so we could see what they all looked like! I think it actually came out looking quite nice – on the inside I wrote 吃飽了沒？which pretty much just translates to “Are you full yet?”
Brother Chen – Mr. Kuzmich’s Asian counterpart
There’s also a member in my ward who really reminds me of my history teacher in high school – if he were Asian! I’ve been wanting to take a picture with him for weeks, but I always forgot to ask him…or if I remembered, he would have already left before I got a chance to ask. I finally got the pic though!
– Elder Austin Simonson
文長老
Lunch with Karen and Ray
What? He’s not a doctor?
Kickin back!