Happy April Fool's Day!!

Happy April Fool's Day! And in celebration of next Tuesday--happy birthday to myself! :) Just kidding.

I thought about writing an incredibly bizarre (but untrue) story about my life as a missionary in honor of April Fool's day (you know how much I love telling stories!) but I realized that my life is crazy enough that I can tell the truth and it still sounds bizarre. First, just let me tell you that my companion's hand is healing nicely and we are going up to Taipei today to get the stitches out. We haven't been able to ride bikes, though, so it has been a bit trying on both of us to have to walk everywhere (I get so tired!) and has also given us some weird experiences as we ride busses and trains everywhere.

First of all, most of our time is not spent contacting and knocking doors but teaching lessons (to investigators, less actives, and new members) and we contact along the way. But we have had to get kind of creative with our transportation so we can still get to everywhere we need to go. So I will tell you some random transportation stories and hope you get a laugh or two (and don't get concerned for my safety!)

The first random one is my companion and I were riding in a taxi with a Taiwanese taxi driver (naturally) but his laugh was exactly like Dil Parkinson's (my Arabic teacher). It freaked me out because I have never heard any one laugh like Dil-and it was seriously EXACTLY the same. (only those who have heard Dil laugh will appreciate this)

The rest of the stories might come as a shock to most of you, but I have found that for some reason the Taiwanese men (especially when they are under the influence of alchohol or betel nut, a legal drug in Taiwan that stains your mouth red and is kind of like chewing tobacco) find me very very attractive. Even my companion admits that she has never had such a problem with men staring at her companions before me--and a lot of her companions have been a lot more attractive than me. Really, I think I just look normal, but I attract a lot of attention.

Anyway, so we have learned to be a little more careful since we are walking everywhere and not on our high speed bikes. But I am grateful for the Lord's protection-and usually I don't feel threatened, just disgusted. Betel nut is kind of a weird drug and I am not quite sure what to compare it to, but it gives the person chewing it a "high" and, as mentioned before, stains your lips, teeth, and mouth red. One time when I was riding my bike I was waiting at a stop light and this man on a motorbike next to me turned and said (with betel nut dripping from his teeth) "Halleluiah!" What can I say, being a missionary comes with some fun experiences!

One other story-we were riding on the metro and this man got on and walked up and said to us (in English) "Oh, missionaries!" Turns out that he had met with the missionaries before and actually lived in our area. I asked what he talked to the missionaries about and he said "Family Guy" (apparently that is how he learned English!). It was rather odd.

Anyway, I hope all is well. Happy April. I love this work and I am so grateful to be able to serve the Lord here.

Sister White