Random Chance or Divine Arrangement?

 Sister DeVictoria writing:

Something really interesting happened to us.  We were trying to find a place to eat dinner so started walking toward a place we had seen that sells hamburgers.  When we got there we found that place seems to be closed permanently, so we decided to keep walking down the street to an area we had never been.  We were just hoping we could find a good place to eat as we walked along.  Eventually we came across a ramen restaurant, so decided rather than keep walking we would just eat there.  When we got inside, the guy behind the counter immediately commented on our name tags and asked if we were members of the "Mormon" church.  Elder DeVictoria told him that we are missionaries.  He said, "But you are old, how can you be missionaries?"  Elder DeVictoria explained that we served missions here when we were young, 42 years ago, and now we are serving again.  We agreed, "Yes, we are old."  He said, "Well, I'm over 60."  We told him we are too!  Then the guy said, "Do you know President Hyer?"  I said, "Yes, he was my mission president!"  He said, "Then you should know me.  I was in the Taipei 2nd ward."  I said, "Oh, I was in the Taipei First ward."  But then the more we talked, the more he revealed. At one point we went to our table and I told Elder DeVictoria that there was something about the man that was familiar.  So Elder D. got up and told him what I said.  Then he explained that he had served a 3 month mini-mission in Yilan.  I told him that I also served in Yilan!  Memories started flooding back.  I remembered a part-time missionary who had moved to Yilan right before I went home.  The more I thought about it, the more sure I was that it was him.  I asked him his name, he said "Hsu" and when he told me his name I KNEW it was him.  I don't think he is active in the church now.  We talked for quite awhile.  He remembered the name of the Elder who baptized him.  I told him that I am in a group with that Elder on Facebook, and encouraged him to join our group.  The more I looked at him, the more memories came back.  Pulling out the memories was like dragging pieces of a puzzle out of playdough.  The memories are in there, just so far back that they are hard to recall.  I pulled up a picture of myself from back when I was getting ready to board the train to leave Yilan, and showed it to him (here is the photo)

Then he recognized me!  I said, "I remember you!" and he said, "I remember YOU!"  Life is just weird sometimes.  I mean what are the odds of us meeting?  I normally wouldn't have walked that far to find a restaurant.  I had never been to that part of the neighborhood before, and had no real reason to go there.  It was so random.  We happened upon the one restaurant where an employee was someone I knew from way back in the winter of 1984.  Is this just a coincidence?  I've had too many of these kinds of experiences to think it was just coincidence.

This week I have been busy applying for residency cards for new missionaries, and I will reapply for a group of missionaries that has been here one year.  I knew it would be a long wait in Immigration when I got my queue number 220 and looked at the board and saw they were on number 160.  Including travel it took me about 2 1/2 hours.  But thankfully I can take the subway which is SO convenient.

Today is Tuesday.  Elder DeVictoria and I breathed a sigh of relief tonight when we realized we don't have to teach Tuesday night Institute any more!  We did love meeting all of the students and laughing with them, but teaching deep subjects in Chinese is so stressful!

There is a guy who calls the mission office almost every day.  When I answer the phone he says, "Are you an Elder or a Sister"  (I have a deep voice).  I tell him Sister.  Then he asks if I am an American, to which I reply yes.  Then he asks to speak with one of the Elders, or he asks me what time church starts.  The other day he asked to speak with an Elder so I asked one sitting near me if he would talk to him.  He didn't want to because this guy calls all the time with nothing to say!  Today when he asked me for the umpteenth time what time church starts I said, "I have already told you before."  So he said, "Okay, I'll go to church tomorrow goodbye."  I keep getting calls from someone who immediately hangs up when I answer.  I suspect it might be him.

We had a wonderful baptism on Sunday.  Our office Elders had posted on a "Foreigners in Taiwan" group on Facebook, asking if anyone would like to talk with them.  One woman called them up.  She is married to a man who is a member, and they have been going to church together for years, but she never got baptized.  So the Elders taught her and now her family can plan to be sealed in the temple!  They decided to take a group picture of everyone who attended.  I'm not in the picture because I was the photographer.  She is from The Philippines and her husband is still there, so they zoomed the meeting for him.

Here in Taiwan they use "chops" or seals to sign important documents.  These chops can be made from various materials.  I have one made of wood with my Chinese name, and Elder DeVictoria has one made of plastic. When I was a young missionary I had to use it for bank transactions.  I actually bought some marble ones but I never had my name carved into them.  Today we had to go get a key made at a place where they also carve chops.  They had so many beautiful ones you could buy.

Before the new mission leaders moved in, their apartment was completely renovated.  This included getting new furniture.  The old furniture is old but in excellent condition.  The senior couple in charge of housing wanted to make good use of it so brought the former presidents' desk to our house.  I can't help but wonder if my mission president from over 40 years ago used this desk.  The housing couple also arranged for our apartment to get three new air conditioning units.  They are the ones in the bedrooms.  The old ones in the two guest rooms weren't working and we need good air conditioning for missionaries who stay in our apartment.  The installers sure made a mess of our floor, so we spent this morning cleaning up, sweeping and mopping.

The Relief Society president messaged me and asked me to teach the RS lesson tomorrow.  She is staying with a sister in the hospital who just had breast cancer surgery.  I will do my best.  

Tonight we went to a restaurant that serves rice porridge.  Mine had pork and vegetables and bamboo in it, and Elder DeVictoria's was beef and vegetables.  This food is tasty and so comforting.

 I also snapped a picture of Elder DeVictoria on the subway.  Someone told me they were worried about my safety on the subway.  Trust me, this isn't New York City.  Taiwan is very safe.

Elder DeVictoria writing:

The large group of 16 missionaries went home together on Monday.  Here is the bus that we hired to take them to the airport with all their luggage.  They're all onboard, ready to go home, the bus is just leaving.

 

There is an interesting old house we walked past on Heping Road with a fence that looks like piano keys. The fence is new but I suspect this house itself was built before the takeover in 1945.  It looks original and well preserved.  This is similar to the era of house the first missionaries in Taiwan rented when they first arrived in Taiwan way back in 1956, to live in and teach in, and they used the living room for the first church meetings.  That house was located on Ren Ai Road which is parallel two streets to the north from this, but that has long since been torn down and there's some kind of office building or hotel located there now.  Here we are living right in the same downtown Taipei neighborhood where LDS missionaries have been serving continuously for 68 years. 

We decided to share a bing last night, this one was half mango and half taro.  I estimate we're eating on average about one bing per month.  About 4 bings in 4 months.

 “None of us ever fully utilizes the people-opportunities allocated to us within our circles of friendship. You and I may call these intersectings ‘coincidence.’ This word is understandable for mortals to use, but coincidence is not an appropriate word to describe the workings of an omniscient God. He does not do things by ‘coincidence’ but … by ‘divine design."  Elder Neal A. Maxwell