Spiders, Danshui & Argentinians!

Now to our favorite part of Taiwan -- the Temple and the people we meet there! This Saturday we are privileged to work nearly eight hours in the Baptistry and had a glorious experience with some people from Argentina. (Take note, BJ!) Brother Moise's is the Branch President in Hsinchu, which is an hour or two south of Taipei. He has been here for three years, is married to an English girl and has two adorable girls! The couple met at BYU Hawaii. He hopes to go to BYU Utah next March and pursue a career in Law or Business. The girl on my right is his sister, Heva Marie Moise's and has been a member of the Church for two months! Brother Moise's wanted his sister to experience the feelings of happiness that are found as we serve in the temple, so they came and did baptisms for the dead. All of the other baptismal patrons had left, so there was just Dad and I and them and two of the Baptistry workers there. Brother Moise's decided it would be more meaningful for his sister if he could baptise her and pronounce at least one of the baptisms in her native tongue of Spanish. He had to think hard for a minute to be sure he could remember the right words. Then he began, and all of a sudden I could hardly hold back the tears of joy! Here they were, from Argentina, doing work for Chinese sisters and brothers that would bless them for Eternity! and doing it in the English and Argentine language!! Where else but the Temple could something like this happen? Nowhere else in the world!! I looked at Dad and he was feeling the same, for there were tears in his eyes as well. The Spirit was sooo strong and feelings were sooo sweet. It felt as if we were experiencing a little of what heaven might feel like! Needless to say, we all bonded, and exchanged email addresses so we can invite them to dinner when we get home from our mission here! I am so grateful for these beautiful experiences. We have many like this each week! I cannot keep up with writing about them all! The Lord has been so good to us. We feel so very blessed. I pray that we can carry this sweet Spirit with us always, as we reach out to help others, no matter where we are!! The work of the Lord is beyond description and beyond any other "highs" or happinesses we could ever feel. We LOVE it!!

This is the scene of a mountain across the Danshui River. We have ridden on a ferry boat to the other side and shopped in the small shops over there. The Taiwan Straights are where this river empties into the East China Sea, on the right side of the picture.

Fishing boats docked inland off the Danshui River. Note how bow and aft are curved upward.

Just a sample of the gorgeous flowers that lined the walkway by the Danshui River.

We took a day trip to Danshui (pronounced Dawn shuaye). It was great to walk around and just relax and take in the beauty of this quaint town on the Danshui River. This is one of the huge Banyan trees that line the river walkway.

Dear Blog, here is just a few of the things we have experienced lately. We'll begin with this picture taken on the second floor of our apartment building. I'm glad we live on the third floor. After Elias saw this, he began spraying around our door and windows! I'm glad I didn't see it!

Chaing Kai-Shek Memorial pictures

This picture does not do the gorgeous sunset justice. But it was amazing! The colors were brilliant. We were so glad we spent some time visiting this beautiful place.

As it began to turn evening, we sat down on the rocks at the side of a pond. All of a sudden, a large bird came flying very close behind where Elias was sitting! It was like it was "looking us over"! If have no idea what kind of bird it is. Anyone take a guess.

I hope you can see that this sign says, "Take kind care of flowers & trees. Please don't tread on or pick up." I love the way the Chinese people word things! How quaint is this? "Kind care"

Aren't these flowers beautiful? We are just missing Elder Miller, who was sitting on the bench, but then decided he did not like the picture with him in it, so this is the second one we took.

One of the pine tree paths we walked down at the grounds around the Chaing Kai-Shek Memorial. It felt good to be in the shade of these big trees. They are a different pine tree than at home.

They had a Mammoth elephant display inside the Chaing Kai-Shek Memorial. It was too expensive, so we didn't see only but this part! This is the Visitors Center where we bought Joyce a jade necklace for her birthday.

There are hundreds of these guards who do fancy footwork and marching at the Chaing Kai Shek Memorial. They are really impressive to watch - especially when it is time for the "changing of the guards."

The Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial. It doesn't look big, but it is huge! The Memorial property takes up many square blocks of the city.

We cannot believe how loving these Filippino sisters are to us. For our birthdays, they gave us flowers, an expensive, long-sleeved white shirt and silk tie, a beautiful blouse and beautiful picture frame! How do you like the vase? We don't know where to buy one, so Elias made one out of our plastic, milk bottle.

"Typhoon day" scene from our dining room window. The rain came down as if poured from a huge bucket! We were so comfy in our cozy apartment!