I'm doing email a little early today so I can get off to rehearsal for the musical group that the mission is putting together for Christmas. I'm not quite sure what it will be like, to be honest, but I hope I can hold up my end. I actually get to go on exchanges with my trainer, Sister Lin, for practice. Aside from moving to a new area, we are literally always with a companion; since Sister Frasier doesn't need to be at practices, we're exchanging with Sister Lin (who is participating) and her companion (also Sister Lin, who is not participating). They're coming up to Zuoying this morning, and from here we'll split off into our temporary companionships. It already feels strange to me to think of not having a companion with me all the time; I'm sure that will be an interesting transition after my mission. It will be nice to have alone time occasionally, but I know I'll miss having someone around to be excited with, disappointed with, late with, see blessings with, etc.
Speaking of seeing blessings with your companion, this week was no exception to the constant stream of little miracles. One of the tender mercies this week was a street contact we made. We actually contacted her three times in the same day, twice at lights and once outside a 7/11 (coincidence? I think not). The third time we had a little more time to talk, and she gave us her contact information for us to set up with her. On another occasion, we went looking for a church member who hasn't been to church for a very long time (probably years). When we called, the man who answered said she wasn't at that number, so we decided to go knock on the door of the address we had. When we got there, no one answered. We were just about to leave, when a girl pulled up to that very house. She was able to get us the new number for the woman we were looking for, who we got in touch with later that day. I'm always amazed at how the timing on these things works out just right; just a few seconds difference and we wouldn't have talked to the woman at 7/11 or the girl pulling up to the house. So basically cool stuff happens all the time, and I'm not sure if it happens more now than it used to in my life, or if I just notice it more often, but it's really exciting to see every day.
Last Friday Sister Frasier and I celebrated Six Day. No, Six Day is not a lesser-known Taiwanese holiday. It is the day that marked my six months from entering the MTC, and Sister Frasier's six weeks from going home. To commemorate this historical day, we used our dinner hour to eat out, plus Coldstone for dessert (yes, my area has a Coldstone in it. When I got to Zuoying, Sister Frasier welcomed me to little America--which I always thought was just an overly-advertised tourist spot in Wyoming--because we have tons of American restaurants and stores here). Time is flying.
