I have to admit, time in Taiwan hasn't flown by quite as quickly as time in the MTC. I attribute this mostly to the cultural/lifestyle transition. A lot of former missionaries say that the first part was a little slow, and then suddenly they were going home, so I imagine I'll have a similar experience.
The other thing that takes some getting used to (but is definitely a good thing) is thinking about other people all the time. At college, most time is spent figuring out how to manage my studies, do well on my tests, which extracurriculars I want to participate in, etc. All of this is closely connected with my desire to prepare to contribute throughout my life to my family, to society, and to God, but the immediate questions are mostly centered around my own life and activities. Being a full-time missionary involves almost full-time pondering, and then acting, on how to find others to teach, how to help those others learn the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and then apply it, how to strengthen members of the church in our area, how to help my companion, etc. The good news is that my own personal problems and emotional quandries are best sorted out and done away with when I'm doing my best to facilitate the happiness of others. I wonder if there are professionals who feel the same way (school teachers, for example).
The other thing I'm focusing on the most right now is opening my mouth. There are all sorts of great scriptures in the Doctrine and Covenants (a book of scripture, which is a series of revelations mostly received through Joseph Smith) about the importance and blessings of opening your mouth to do missionary work. There are lots of times that I need to open my mouth: when we're talking to people at a park, or in 7-11 (Taiwan loves 7-11), or when we're knocking on doors. Here's a scenario that happens multiple times daily: My companion and I are sitting at a red light on our bikes. There's a motorcycle ahead of us with a woman on it. We have approximately 60 seconds. What do you say? "Hi, I'm Sister Andersen. What's your name? Oh, great, how are you today? Wonderful. Yeah, we're missionaries. Have you ever seen missionaries before. (Light changes). "We'resharingtheGospelofJesusChristCanwehaveyouphonenumberandshareitwithyousometime?" The balance between trying to get to know someone and also give them an opportunity to meet with us is tricky. Trying to sum up the whole message of the thing nearest and dearest to one's heart in just a minute or two is a bit difficult.I'm working on it. Trying to sum up the whole message of the thing nearest and dearest to one's heart in just a minute or two is a little difficult. But the best feeling in the world is when we find someone who wants to take a little time to talk. We share a bit about our message, they share a bit about they're lives, we talk about how the message means something in their life, and they say they are happy they talked to you; you made their day better, and yes, they would like to talk to you again. So I guess it's worth a few dozen (or hundred) of the other conversations to find the one who was looking for what you have.
