Sister DeVictoria writing:
Where did this week go? I know I was busy all week, but all of the days have kind of melded together. I guess the biggest news this week was the typhoon. The government called off all work and classes for two days, but actually here in Taipei the storm wasn't that bad. I did see some video from southern Taiwan that looked pretty intense. Someone mentioned that it was kind of like the typhoon kept bouncing off the edge of the island. Elder DeVictoria said it was probably the mountains. We did prepare food and water just in case, but it was a very mild storm for us here in Taipei. We actually went in to work those two days that everyone else took off from working.
On Tuesday we also had a military drill. We were told to stay indoors from 1:30-2:00. Anyone found outside would be fined. I was standing at the window of our 4th floor office and could see an elderly lady outside sitting on the wall by the chapel. I could tell from a distance that she was mentally ill. Eventually someone came and helped her get inside. The drill started and ended with sirens.
Today is preparation day (P-day) so we have been trying to get things ready for incoming missionaries. The senior couple in charge of housing are preparing 4 sets of bunk beds to put in our apartment, and another three sets in the other senior couple apartment. Our apartment has three bedrooms, two of which we aren't using. So they will set up the bunk beds in there. On Thursday we will be getting in 12 new missionaries. Some will stay here, some will stay in the other apartment, and if needed, some can go to the President's apartment and the office elders' apartment. Our only problem is that our apartment has only one big bathroom, and one 1/2 bath. The 1/2 bath is off of our bedroom and is VERY small, but does have a shower head hanging on the wall with a drain in the floor... so if really needed we could shower in there. Then on Saturday those new missionaries will meet up with their new companions and go to their assigned areas, and the missionaries who are returning home this transfer will come take their places. We have 16 going home!
Paul taught the Institute class on Tuesday night and I tried to help out as much as possible. I spoke with one of our Service Missionaries who confirmed my suspicions that Taiwanese students don't like to talk in class. It sure makes it hard to teach a lesson, and even more importantly, to assess how much the students are learning. This next weeks lesson is going to be TOUGH! We are teaching about the divine gift of intimacy in marriage. We aren't teaching how, just that it is an important part of marriage. lol
Two more pictures of the pretty lanes in our neighborhood.
Yes the Institute classes are by far the biggest challenge that we're facing right now. That, and exhaustion. I haven't been sleeping well at night, or, I can't always get to sleep at the right time. Sometimes I have weird dreams. One day I woke up and a song was running through my head, an old pop rock song from 1972 by Emerson, Lake and Palmer called "From the Beginning". I hadn't heard that song in nearly 50 years. What I figured out while I was laying there in the dark in the middle of the night, was that I must have seen this song in my YouTube feed the day before. I whipped out my cell phone and there it was, in a "reaction" video by a young black couple who I had never watched before, I had just glanced at the title as I scrolled by. I hadn't stopped and watched it, I didn't really even notice it, and I'm pretty sure I hadn't heard that song since I was a teenager. Then to wake up in the middle of the night with that music playing in my head? It's just weird. So, I got out some headphones and looked up that song on YouTube and listened to it. It's a nice groovy song with some nice instrumental sounds but the lyrics go on to say "You were meant to be here...from the beginning." Is that a message to me? Yes! It's very moving, quite a meaningful sentiment. For everyone. And wow, the incredible power of the mind to recall that meaningful phrase buried in a 50 year old song that my waking mind would never have remembered. Here is a link if you want to listen to it yourself, a nice song from the years of my youth:
Russel M. Nelson (October 2013): "Your Heavenly Father has known you for a very long time. You, as His son or daughter, were chosen by Him to come to earth at this precise time, to be a leader in His great work on earth."
That song reinforces the belief in the plan of salvation and God’s will that He has a mission or specific need for each of us to fulfill while we are here on earth. I think His will is being confirmed as you seek to serve his children and follow His son.
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