Dear Mom and Dad,
When I was serving in the south (Tainan and Pingdong), the members often speculated the building of a temple in Southern Taiwan. Which is not a rumor. There is land selected in Gaoxiong, the church has enough funding, and the wards have enough members. So now they are waiting on the wards to show that they really desire the blessings of the temple. It would be really exciting to see that building project begin! I'm glad Taiwan is such a safe nation, I've seen one gun on my mission, and it was a pistol owned by a police officer. I've never seen a police officer doing anything. Ever. Good sign.
We just finished power week, yay. Basically, we leave the door early, skip language study, and have extra invitations throughout the day. It always feels good as we work hard and recieve what feels like an extra scoop of blessings, but man, I am tired. Last night, I finished follow ups by 9:40, got ready for bed, and was in bed by 10:00. That's right, I went to bed early. By myself. I am sure that I had a full 8 hours of sleep last night. My body feels a lot better, but my eyes are still super tired. Haha! Do you know what my reaccuring fantasy is? My first 24 hours as a released missionary. This is the schedule:
7:00pm Be released by the Stake President.
7:01pm Hug the first child that I see.
7:05pm Get in the shower.
7:20pm Take a bath.
7:50pm After-bath-shower.
8:00pm Kneel down and thank Heavenly Father for the wonderful 2 years of service I was able to give.
8:10pm Go to bed.
9:26am Wake up in a panic, thinking that I forgot to plug in the cell phone. Put on my running shoes.
9:28am Be confused for a few solid minutes.
9:30am Eat bacon. And cereal. Real bacon and cereal.
10:00am Probably should read the scriptures, pray, etc.
10:30am Quick shower. Power Nap.
12:00pm Walk to 7-11, in casual clothes, by myself, and by a slurpee.
12:05pm Run home, put the tie back on.
12:07pm Call the Elders. When can I peike? Here, clean out the contacts on my phone, 57 member referrals!
12:10pm Call the Bishop. When is the soonest that I can have a calling? How many callings can I have?
12:13pm Call the Elder's Quorum President. Man, I need to start home teaching! I'm two years behind!
12:15pm I'm going to go buy some tacos. Real tacos.
12:45pm Power Nap.
3:00pm Look around the house for a bit. So clean. But where are the Moermenjing?
3:30pm Go visit all the people that may be interested that I am home. Lets go tracting.
5:30pm Thank Heavenly Father again. Ask Him to turn all the white people into Asians.
6:00pm Mmm, family dinner.
7:00pm Go to bed.
Thats about how things will go. I'm really scared about what will happen on day 2, I'd rather not think about it. I love being in Taiwan as a missionary! I remember being a new missionary, and seeing old missionaries dreading leaving the mission. I thought they were crazy beans. Missionary work is hard! And as soon as I get one part of the work down, I learn about something else I need to be doing! And then I recognize how much I've grown, how much this work has blessed me, my family, my friends, my companions, and my Taiwanese family. Man, I would hate to leave this.
For my release date, I'm still thinking about the 6th or the 27th. In the big picture, the Lord will be satisfied with the service that I give. I still need to pray about it, but my gut is leaning towards the 6th. I'll give you a confirmation next week.
But there is a more important question: when are you turning in your mission papers? I will write you every week, I PROMISE!
Love you!
-Elder Travis Leatham
1 comment:
I remember promising myself (probably close to a hundred times) that the first time it rained when I was home I'd cancel everything, lay on the couch with big comforter and a book and do nothing. All day.
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