Week 67

Zhang Hua First Ward

My first week in this new area has been very different from my last area. We live right next to a big university here and a big busy street full of tons of food for the students. If we wanted, we could walk outside and walk the whole day talking to people and we would still be within 10 minutes of our house all day. It's because there are so many people by the university that we could contact!  Also the church is right next door to the university, so we are always within this small area.

  

Our church building has 2 other wards that meet there. So we have six elders in our district and we all serve in different areas and wards. We got the best of it because our area is the area surrounding the church. One of the wards has members that live like 15 minutes away biking, so those elders have to bike a lot. Also, it seems our ward has a lot of people, and a lot of families. In my last area there was not a single family that came to church. They were all one parent that came with their kids or couples coming with no kids, no entire family. But here it is nice to serve again with a lot of families. I was sad to leave the people of Heng Chun, but I am excited to see a different side of missionary work in this new area.

We met a lot of people this last week and were able to talk to a lot of people. However, a big problem we're going to have the next couple weeks is Chinese New Year.  All the college students are on break and nobody wants to meet with us. Chinese New Year is a huge thing in Taiwan! Basically, nobody does anything for an entire week except for eating and spending time with family. Which means next week everything will be shut down. What missionaries do during Chinese New Year is go around to members' houses every day and eat food. That's really the most productive thing we can do. If you tract, people will yell at you and tell you to go home because it is a holiday. It is like Christmas day and a bunch of Jehovah Witnesses knocking on your door and asking to share a message. Nobody is going to let us in. But it's okay, because it is a great chance for me to meet all the ward members here. My companion has already been in this area for a long time, so he will probably be moving next movecall (which is in 2 weeks), so I have to hurry and get to know this area before he leaves.  I am exited to see what this area is like. I have already met a lot of cool investigators and members. I really like my companion.  It's fun to talk about good ole' P Town with him. 

Love you all and Happy Chinese New Year!

Elder Quist