Week Fourteen: Family Letters to Mom and Dad

Hey Dad!

 

Thanks for the updates. I don't have time to respond to all of them but I'm glad your birthday went well. I'm going to be mailing a package out today with my ipod, a lame gift for you, my sunglasses(they're buxing which basically means they aren't allowed), and a note I wrote to you for your Bday.

I'm glad Damon's Eagle project is shaping up!

Intense ping-pong.

Alright about the ward. It is a ward. About 100 people come every week which is pretty big for Taiwan. We have a really nice chapel as you can see from the picture I sent a couple weeks ago. Most of the ward are converts but there are a few extablished families which is cool. They can sing alright and there are plenty of people who know how to play piano. The bishop's son is ridiculous. We've had 3 dinners at members homes so far. Basically, you get a bowl of rice and that's your plate. They have a bunch of different dishes on the table and you just grab whatever you want and put it in your rice bowl. It's fun to try everything. The only thing I've tried that I haven't loved is this meat that was mostly fat. I'm fine with a little fat. It gives it a nice flavor. But when it's like 80% fat, I gag a bit. I got like 1 piece down with considerable effort. As far as English goes, most people speak at least a little bit. Some are better than others. They probably know how to speak about as much English as I knew how to speak Chinese when I was taking it in High School. Members don't really help a whole lot. They want to help, but they don't really know how to do it effectively. They give us referral cards, but most of the time they didn't actually talk to the person they referred and when we call them they have no idea why and don't want to meet. Elder Sumsion's been teaching a member-missionary class the past few weeks but hardly anyone comes. So yeah, hopefully we'll be able to build up the member-missionary work here. As for now, we're doing our best.

 

That's about it though! I love you dad!

 

-Brendan

Yujin and the setting sun.

Dear Mom!

I'm glad things are going well at home:) Yes! The Atonement talk by Brad Wilcox...I just read that this past week, actually. Jake Hawken gave it to us to read one week but Elder Sumsion also had it printed off so I got to read it this last week again. 

It is so great--especially the part about how he sees judgement day. That really resonated with me especially when reading Mosiah 3:24-27. When we meet God on that day, it won't be him telling us "Sorry, you aren't on the list" and then dropping us down a chute into a different kingdom. We won't want to be in his presence because of our own choices and our own guilt. It makes the whole atonement and the whole plan of salvation so much more merciful and agency just makes so much more sense. Everything that happens to us is what we choose. Even living with God again is our choice. I mean we can't choose to change the laws that govern the universe to allow us to feel comfortable in the celestial kingdom, but neither can God, as much as he may want to. 

Yeah, that talk is awesome. The Atonement is awesome. Oh my goodness. 

Alright, but yeah I also recommend Elder Christofferson's talk titled "Redemption". I used to like him mostly because he was your friend B.'s dad, but he's grown on me a lot and that talk is fantastic.

I love you mom. You're such a great example and I don't know what I would do without you or how sad I would be if you weren't my mom. I'm excited to talk to you guys at Christmas:)

Love, Brendan