Home again, home again, jiggety jog

 Sister DeVictoria writing:

What a wonderful opportunity we had to return home for our son Daniel's wedding.  We love him and Noel and think they are perfect for each other.  The wedding was absolutely beautiful and was held at a nursery that has a wedding venue.  Flowers and plants everywhere.  Noel looked beautiful!  She had her dress made in Ukraine.  It really suited her.  She is pretty without the fancy clothes, but they just added to the effect.  :)

We felt so blessed and happy to see family and friends who came long distances to attend the wedding. Daniel's friends from California all came to be his best men.  Our two other sons, Joseph and Samuel were also his best men.

Our daughter Teresa was one of the bridesmaids.  She was such a big help to us throughout the weekend.

Two of our grandchildren

Even though it was a quick trip, we feel so blessed that we were able to go to the wedding.

A few hours before our flight back to Taiwan, I decided I should make a trip to instacare and see if they could do anything for my knee.  As I talked to the doctor, he became concerned that maybe I had a blood clot in my leg.  He asked me to go get an ultrasound.  We really didn't have time to do that, but we made time.  Elder DeVictoria went home and grabbed our luggage while I finished with the doctor.  The doctor gave me a steroid shot in the knee and tried to relieve some of fluid on my knee.  We quickly headed to the ultrasound place in American Fork.  I was so relieved when the technician told me she didn't see any clots.  Later the doctor called and confirmed that.  If there had been he would have wanted me to not fly back to Taiwan for a couple of weeks while I went on blood thinners.  Just as I expected, my problem was just tendonitis which I've had before.  The shot has helped though so I'm glad I went, even though we were tense wondering if we would make our flight okay.  We made it with time to spare.  Thank you everyone for your prayers in our behalf!

That is one long flight.....  The flight from SLC to LA was about 2 or 3 hours. Then the flight from LA to Taipei was 14 hours. 

We took the subway back to Taipei.  We sat in priority seating which is available to those who fit the sign below.  I had a knee brace on, so Elder DeVictoria said that I fit the picture with the cast.  He said he fit the picture with the big stomach.  ;)

At another place in the airport they had the following signs.  Elder DeVictoria said The first sign was a face washing station.  The last sign was a tickling station.  I told him the middle one must be a dating game with the host sitting in front and a curtain between the two people.  ;)

We have enjoyed eating at local places near our apartment.  Just down the street are several cafeteria style restaurants.  One is Vegetarian.

Right across the street is another restaurant with a big sign that says, "Eat meat".  Pretty good advertising!  lol

 

 

 We got back to town and rested a little bit then went straight to the office.  I had a matter I was concerned about resolving, and a lot of other things that needed to be done, so we went straight to work.  We have been helping with the food for mission leadership meetings.   We enjoy working in the office.

The young missionaries have been preparing for a special musical fireside that they will be performing in several places throughout the mission.  The concert is called "Love, share, invite".  Some have been given permission to bring musical instruments to the mission, and these are stored in the mission office.  We will get to hear their concert Sunday night here in Taipei.  

Elder DeVictoria writing:

What a whirlwind week!  Returning from Taiwan back to Utah for Danny's wedding, then back to Taiwan in 6 days time.  Danny and Noel's wedding was wonderful.  So well prepared and so nice and enjoyable.  We had just enough time to do some errands and the family dinner at Michelle and Kawika's house was great.  Our deepest thanks to everyone who supported us. 

 

Now we've got to perform all of the mission office couple tasks on our own.  It's a little daunting.  I think we will get through it.

It is really nice to back in Taiwan and to enjoy the culture here.  It's wonderful to see the young missionaries working so hard and having such success.  It seems there is a steady stream of baptisms occurring which is wonderful.  With each baptism, the missionaries post on the Line app (local social media) a brief introduction telling about their friend who is joining the church.  Also, the young missionaries are quite friendly towards us, which is nice for us.  

One interesting thing that happened to us during our travels is that a number of Chinese people approached us asking for help.  The Los Angeles airport is so confusing, it's no wonder these people were bewildered!  I think they saw our name tags in chinese, and came to us to ask for help.  For example, one approached us about finding the shuttle to the rental cars.  Another asked us to help her speak with the hotel where they were staying so they could find the transfer bus to take them there.  Another asked how to get to a certain terminal etc.  I think LAX needs to have chinese people stationed there to help all the chinese travelers.  

 

"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."

 Hebrews 13:2