I think I'm getting one of the more unique perspectives on (guo nian) Chinese new year. I'm sure I'll never be able to recreate the experience of being a missionary in Taiwan at this time. To be honest, I'm not sure why the celebrations last an entire five days (starting 26 January). As far as I can tell, a large part of the celebrating is eating a lot of food. At least, that will be my main form of celebration as invitations to lunch and dinner pour in like never before. It's also usual to do a thorough house cleaning right before guo nian, which we also get to (read: are required to) participate in by announcement (read: decree) from the bu (bu=mission office; it makes sense if you speak Chinese). I'm actually really glad that we're asked to do a good cleaning, because it justifies us in using more of our limited personal time to get our apartment more in order. We do maintenance cleaning, but of course everything needs a little more from time to time. Cleaning and letting our souls delight in fatness aside, the most noticeable change from my perspective is all of our investigators and most less-active church members that we try to set up with suddenly not being able to set up with us because of the holidays. This may seem like a setback, but on the other side of a setback there's always something that you didn't expect which often does more good than the setback did harm. I'm not sure exactly what miracles will emerge this time, but I trust they'll come. It's already a blessing to feel the love of those who welcome us into their homes to celebrate with them.
This week we got to sit down with an entire family in their home, which is probably one of my favorite things to do as a missionary. This family consists of a father, mother, and three little children. We've met with them sporadically before, always at the church. Having an opportunity to go into their home and share the message of the restored gospel was really special. I know from my own life that the blessings of the gospel are made all the sweeter when shared in the family. I'm so grateful to have the support of my parents, and my brothers and their families while I'm so far from home. It's great to know that we can be together forever through the ordinances of the temple, especially because I think that living gospel principles makes our relationships with each other such that we would like to be together eternally. My companion, Sister Angulo, had a little sister who died in an accident when she was seven and Sister Angulo was ten. She'll happily tell anyone how that experience turned her to really find out whether or not she would see Taylor again, and that she did in fact find her answer through prayer and the scriptures. Instead of relying on the passage of time to put it behind her, she has the knowledge that someday she'll be with her family forever to heal her grief and make her truly happy. Seeing the peace that she finds through that has made me all the more anxious to find people who are looking for the same thing and share it with them.
