Dear Mom and Dad,
Merry Christmas! You'd be suprised to know, Christmas is actually a little bigger here than I was expecting. One factor is that Chinese people love any occasion to buy stuff and eat food. So Christmas here is extremely materialistic, even more than America, because nobody knows that its about Jesus. But anyways, its nice to see the occasional Christmas tree or Christmas lights. We had our ward Christmas party on Saturday, it was pretty fun. Someone brought mashed potatoes and turkey, that was crazy for us Waiguoren.
Did I tell you about Waiguoren? Its absolutely hilarious. I remember when I was a little kid and saw a black guy at the grocery store. I remember pointing at him and saying "Look, a black guy." And you (mom) hit me and told me never to point at a black person ever again. Well, not in Taiwan! Whenever I see parents with a little kid here, I say "Hello!" And the parents tell the kids, "Kan, shi yige waiguoren! Yao gen ta jiang Yingwen! Shuo how are you, shuo how are you!" (Look its a foreigner! Speak English with him! Say how are you!) These people are not used to seeing white people, and honestly, neither am I. I remember the first time I went on exchanges with a Taiwanese, Elder Lai, and I didn't see a white person all day. Now, I've been serving with Taiwanese for over 3 months, so I feel very comfortable surrounded by a bunch of Asians. Like, I can't even explain how it feels to be in a country with no diversity at all. Everyone here is Asian. Its really funny, we actually don't like talking to foreigners, because their rude.
We here from other missionaries in other countries, and we here stories of people threatening them or spitting on them, stuff like that. People tell them they are evil and that their church is fake. For us, we say "Yeah, today was tough. I guy told me that he was busy, and wasn't interested. That other guy said he was Buddhist, and he'd come to church if he had time. That guy said he doesn't believe in God, and then he gave us a pineapple. Tough day." I honestly have 3 experiences that come to mind about people persecuting me as a missionary. Taiwan is a wonderful place, the people are very kind and many are willing to learn the Gospel.
We have a really cool investigator named Bai Mengxun, he's great. He's interesting, because he's in an electric wheelchair, so everybody at church notices him. But he has a lot of faith, and passed a baptismal interview yesterday. He's working on quiting smoking, but he's looking like he'll get baptized on Christmas. We're all really excited. We have another investigator named Brother Zhuang, he's a member referral. He'll have his interview tomorrow, and likely will be baptized this week. Very cool guy. Pray for both of them.
So, gifts! I sent something for grandma! I hope it survived...its fragile. But anyways, it should be there in a day or two. I sent something for you dad, it should get there around Christmas or a few days after. Mom, I found something really cool for you, but it took a bit of time. I'll send it today. I think they're pretty cool, I hope you enjoy a bunch of dongxi from Asia. Let me know if there's any problems. I did get a package from the ward, yay! I have not recieved yours, but probably will soon. Thank you so much.
I'm excited to be able to call you on Christmas, but I'm a little nervous. My English has definitely gotten worse. I struggle to do this email, because I have some words I no longer normally use in English. Chinese is so fangbian! You can check if my accent has changed or not. I remember when my Trainer called his family and was scared, but its because he had forgotten how to speak Spanish.
The Taiwanese presidential elections are on January 14th. Everytime I walk by the TV, I see the statistics on who is leading the election. Its funny that even in a country that I can't vote, I'm still interested on the progress and the outcomes. It makes me think more and more that I'll be involved with government when I get home, even if its a route that begins through education. Anyways, I figured out the day they take down all the campaign flags, so I'm going to try and grab a few.
For Braidyn, it would be nice to have it done in Calligraphy and then framed or put on a scroll. There is a calligraphy store in the Zone Leader's area, I'll take a look. I wish I would have thought of it in Pingdong, there was a member of the Branch Presidency in Hengchun that did calligraphy for free for missionaries. Oh well.
Something I've been learning about is being a good leader. We had leadership training last week, it was really great learning about how to better serve the missionaries in my District. I've had the opportunity to do a few more baptismal interviews, its been such a wonderful, spiritual experience. I love having an opportunity to be serving other missionaries, I try to find opportunities to teach and learn from my district daily.
Well, I love you! Have a good week!
-Elder Travis Leatham
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