So sorry if I freaked anyone out last week. Basically, I started writing about a knife fight that I may or may not have witnessed/helped break up last week, but then it sounded really scary so I deleted it. So yeah, I'll tell you all about it this week.
Last Sunday night, we were coming home from a lesson with one of our recent converts. We were almost home, when we saw some commotion on the side of the road. I just kind of glanced over and thought it was a Dad with his daughter in his arms and she was flailing around a bit. But on second glance, it was this super angry Vietnamese man who I guess had refused to pay for his food at this Pho restaurant(pretty tasty, by the way. we tried it later last week) and in the ensuing debate, grabbed this lady who I assume was the landlord by her throat and started pushing her out into the street, knocking over motorcycles and bikes that were parked on the side of the road in his wake. Elder Gish came screeching to a stop, jumped off his bike and ran over to help. It took a little longer in my mind to register the seriousness of the situation, but once I came to, I got off my bike too. By then, Elder Gish had already pulled the man and the woman away from each other and taken the large vegetable knife out of the man's hand. We told him to walk away, but as he did, the lady started freaking out and yelling at him. A couple other workers were outside with a couple customers trying to calm her down, but he ran back and tried to grab her again. In the ensuing ruckus, another woman got knocked out. Finally, the guy started walking away again, this time for good. Aside from a few bruises and a knocked out woman on the sidewalk, everyone was alright, so no biggie, but it was pretty scary still. Definitely one of my scarier experiences in Taiwan. So yeah, there you all go. The Knife fight. Oooooooooohh!
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| Brendan and Elder Sumison with Zheng Baba's son, who was baptized last month. |
But yeah, aside from that a couple super cool things happened this week. for one thing, we had 5 new investigators set baptismal goals in this last weekend. John is getting baptized next week(woohoo!) which is super cool because we haven't been able to get in much contact with him this week because of his work. He's done now, though, and he's excited to be at church more often. Golden Chen couldn't meet with us this weekend because of work but said he can for sure come to church next week so hopefully we'll be seeing a baptism soon with him. The main challenge will just be making sure he can stay faithful.
We met this super awesome guy the other day. His last name is Wu(吳). We were having a really rough day. 2 appointments had already fallen through and as we went out to contact, 2 more cancelled with us for later that day. Morale was low, especially for Elder Gish. He was super bummed. As he puts it, "I was so mad I just wanted to go out and talk to EVERYONE!" Not a bad thing to do, I guess. The first guy we met was super atheist and told us even if God appeared to him right then, he still wouldn't believe. Just a testament that miracles don't bring belief. So we pretty much gave up on him. We told him if he ever has any challenges in his life, to try church. It can help him for sure. The next guy we contacted, however, was completely golden. He was like "yeah, I never really had any interest in this stuff before, but I've been having some rough patches recently and now I think church can probably help." I really think God has a sense of irony. It was super awesome! Miracles! So yeah, we saw a lot of success this week, but please don't think it's because I'm a super awesome missionary or my companion and I are super awesome missionaries. God has blessed us a lot this week. I'm hoping I can stay humble and not let it go to my head. Suggestions for doing so are welcome. I'm going to be trying prayers of gratitude and an increased emphasis on obedience, but if you all think of anything else, please let me know. I love you all and I'm so grateful for your support! Letters/emails are welcome. Even if it's just a couple sentences, it would be good to know how you're all doing.
Love,
Elder Smith
Shi Zhanglao
施長老
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