Do all Americans look alike?!

I'm going to teach you a Chinese word so that I can use it to help capture the understanding of things that are going on around here and how it sounds like things are going on at home. The word is "xin ku" which means..... hard working/ tough luck/or time of trial (kinda). Anyway, that should get the point across. Life sounds (xin ku) for you at home with everyone moving around and huge changes going on. It’s good though, the Lord likes to give us lots of trials before He really pours out the blessings.

HOLY SMOKES! Henry is such a stud. (nephew Henry is nine months old). Here in Taiwan we would say “shuaige”, which means stud, or handsome boy!!! Everyone calls each other handsome over here. It’s awesome, every time I come to a red light as I'm riding my bike, I say to the man I pull up next to, "Shuaige" and then he says, "No, you’re the shuaige". Then I say, "you’re the most shuai."

With the older men that I pull next to, we'll have that whole conversation in Taiwanese. I've learned how to say some things in Taiwanese, like, "where are you going?" "How is your day?" "My mind is broken", etc. The older people really like it when we speak Taiwanese to them, hahaha. It’s a good way to scatter sunshine, which is key here in Taiwan, because of all the people who are opposed to Christianity. I love it.

Hahaha, there are so many awesome people here. A lot of the older people are kinda crazy. It’s so funny. Some of them are really crazy, literally. There is a guy that somehow always finds us as we're teaching people on the street. His name is Lucky and he walks around wearing a hard hat, carrying a rolly basket. He is such a happy man. He always tells us to come to his daughter’s haircutting den where it is only 100$, which in American currency is about $3.33.

What I don't understand is "why is all of the crazy people’s English better than the not-crazy-people’s English", hahaha. Oh well. It’s kinda funny, because these people just roam around the streets all day. They all love missionaries because we are always nice to them. Every missionary in the Taibei mission knows about Lucky and another guy we call Banqiao boy. Every missionary has the opportunity to run into these people on the street. I don't know how, there are 23 million people in Taiwan, but "Lucky" and "Banqiao boy" are always in the same places we are. I don't know how they do it. Anyway, I'm trying to make this letter more about the culture.

The fruit in Taiwan is AMAZING! Wow! That’s pretty much all we eat...and rice. It’s really interesting to hear about people’s beliefs in God here. Some people think the purpose of this life is to be good, and judging by how good we are in this life, tells us what type of animal we will be in the next life. The animals are rated on a scale of good to bad, I guess. This older man on the street, told me in the life before this, I was a shrimp! I don't know the theory he had behind this, but he was certain that I was a shrimp and that he was a beaver. (I think it was beaver. I'm not sure how to say “before” in Chinese). I just guessed beaver by the actions he was making to help me understand what kind of animal he was talking about.

Man, there are so many crazy philosophies and traditions over here, but what I've realized is, I grew up in a completely different place and culture. Here, they think Christianity is kinda weird. The sisters who are native in our district say that the Americans all look alike... which I don't get that at all, hahaha. At least have different colors of hair and eyes. At church the other day, a 12- year-old girl asked me, “Why do Americans have black spots in the middle of their eyes???” ( You mean our pupils? I'm pretty sure you have those too, little girl). Holy smokes I love the people here

Things are progressing, the language is still coming. I can read a lot of the Book of Mormon in Chinese now, but it’s still really, really hard, and I can't quite get the meaning out of it sometimes. I'm getting a foundation of characters from flash cards, then I'll continue to read. It takes along time to look up a character you don't know in the dictionary.

Now, the Su family. This past week we have been very bold with Joyce. I bore testimony with all my heart and it brought her to tears. She tried to give me a hug, it was kinda weird. Anyway, she just isn't letting the spirit into her heart. We asked her some questions and she just becomes quiet. She doesn't know how to answer. I just don't think she is willing to give up her church. We went over there for a family night and she had her whole family put on the shirts they got from their church’s summer camp. (They had been away, which was the reason we hadn't visited her for a while). She isn't hearkening to the two missionaries who are bringing her a message of truth. I told her that the next time we stop by, I’m going to ask her if she knows that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. We're at an impasse right now, she isn't progressing, we've taught her everything. The spirit told us to be bold and to share the Joseph Smith history with her, where it says .... “the Presbyterian church is not true.” We have to determine whether it's worth our time to go over there or not. It’s hard, I love that family, but she needs the desire first. We might have to end our visits to the Su family house. That’s hard, but the Lord will provide a way......
My time is gone, love you, Elder Daniels