ROACHES!!!

The transition into my new area was unbelievably smooth. I was homesick for a couple days for my last area, and I didn't shed a tear :P, and then I was in Dali, and ready to keep going. Like I have anytime to think with my new companion anyway... Elder Durham is a super diligent missionary, and the contrast between the way he and Elder Pei serves their missions is VERY different. One isn't exactly worse than the other, it's just -- different. :). I don't think I've ridden a bike this fast EVER. My legs are sore everyday, and my bike loses oil, and loosens up pieces WAY too fast. Maintenance is required a lot more often. But I don't care. I feel like we have more success than I've had before, and I'm happier than I've been in a while. I find that the more people you talk to, the happier you are, regardless of the results. Elder Oldham, who has gone home now, was an assistant when I came to Taiwan and he said, "The happiest times are when we talk to the most people"-- I want to add my little bit to that and say, "- no matter where you are, or what phase of life you're in". I truly believe that the more we converse and connect with people, the better people we become, as well as happier.

It's not easy. Never is. But I'm determined and motivated this move call like I haven't been before. My Chinese is still REALLY poor, but I'm a lot more confident than I use to be, so it gets easier. I'm also a little too focused on my accent, because my new companion has a really bad American/Taiwanese accent. I don't want that. :D But who cares, really? Just say the words so they understand, and all is well. Although I think focusing a little bit on developing an accent like the people I teach will bring me closer to them and help me understand them better. Plus, they appreciate that. I also run into foreigners all the time. And that's fun. I ran into two Thai people last night. Their Chinese is alright, their accents are amazing, so, at first, I thought they were Taiwanese. But they misunderstood a lot of what I was saying, and I thought that my Chinese was just bad, but as we continued to converse, I realized that their Chinese was about as horrible as mine. They didn't speak English, at all. So I thought it was interesting, that a couple people from different countries speaking different languages were both in a country not their own speaking a language not their own, but it was the only way we could communicate. It was fun! And they were referred to the Wufeng missionaries and are coming to Church next week. Hope that goes well. We're also meeting with a Phillippian investigator this week who speaks english. So that should be fun. I just think it's cool to see people from places where my friends and heroes have served missions before, and to think, that I'm meeting people that they talked with for 2 years on their missions. Like Alexx in Thailand, Japheth in the Philippians, Ryan in Thailand. Just cool to see.

Time escapes me too fast right now. There's not enough time in personal study to study what I want or need to, no time at night to write in my journal. But the blessings of being the District Leader's companion are insurmountable (ooh.. a big English word I just remembered... that makes me feel good). It's already week 3 in move call 3, and I can't believe it's already the middle of September. Didn't September just start? I'm scared! I don't want the time to go too fast, but I watch missionaries all around me go home, get closer and closer to going home, and it makes me think about it sometimes. But that's so far away right now, I'm just excited to keep digging my toes into the track of my mission with my head bowed in fervent concentration. Shoving my legs down one, two, three more times, and looking up to breath every now and then. When I ride my bike or run, I treat it like I would treat my mission. Don't stop. Or that's how your mission'll go. I've done that for 10 years. I always thought about my mission when I thought about giving up during any physically taxing activity. It always helped, and I've never given up completely. I have no regrets from giving up physically. So I won't have any regrets on my mission. It's amazing what could happen if you don't focus on your mission. It's scary! I know exactly when I'm not focused, and it's scary, 'cause you know that if you're not focused, you won't receive the blessings you've asked for, and that means that your investigators may not be able to keep progressing. Yikes. I just like that everything I want right now is not really for my own welfare but for my investigators'. Yes, sometimes motivation is for numbers, 'cause you've got to make a goal, or something, or our motivation is to get baptisms. But as soon as I think about numbers to motivate me into continuing to be diligent, I know I'm wrong, and won't have success, or any lasting motivation.

I'm so use to the culture now, that everything is completely normal. The bus parades for religious marches are interesting, the random funerals on the streets are silly, the loud Buddhist music pounding across the street from the church or on any streetside, the puppet shows to no one but the Gods, set up on the street side, the millions of scooters, the random KFC at which we meet our investigators... lol, I could go on. It's all normal now. If I run across something American or an American Cultural anything, I take a step back and say, "Haven't seen that in YEARS! Americans are weird.... " lol. I hope I'm not too weird for too long...

I'm blown away everyday about where in the world I am. Did you know that fire alarms here are a loud bell for a few minutes followed by peaceful, relaxing music? And the dump trucks play Fur Elise as they go around picking up trash (NOT ice cream trucks here)? Huh? Where am I? I, still, everyday, feel like I'm living a dream, or watching a movie. I feel like I'm in a videogame sometimes, too. It's a weird feeling. But time goes so fast here, that's probably how it's going to be for a long time.

I also feel like I'm a completely different person, but at the same time, haven't changed a bit. One thing I do know, is that, yes, I feel like I wasted my life before my mission, and, yes, I could've done a lot more with it-- but I've found the EVERYTHING that happened to me before my mission was preparing me for my mission. EVERYTHING. Name my any experience and I can tell you how it helped prepare me for my mission (specifically my mission here in Taiwan, not just a Christlike attribute or a future characteristic, specifically for Taiwan Taizhong mission at this time). I'm not so scared to teach anymore, even though it's still nerve racking. I just don't want to be District Leader and have to do baptism interviews. I guess that's one of the best parts of being District Leader, but I'm scared to death to perform something so important like that in a different language.

It's also interesting to try to figure out how I'm gonna keep studying the language. It was easy to study words with Elder Pei, cause I could use them with him right there, and he would understand- but, now? I really have to work to use them on the streets. I'm seeing progress, but it's slow, and I've been feeling like I've been digressing a little bit, because I'm not speaking as much as I used too.

For some reason, I'm scared to call home at Christmas. I don't know why. Obviously, I will, but first of all, 1 hour isn't enough, 2nd, I'm gonna get WAY too trunky, 3rd, I just don't know how that's gonna help me. But it'll help you guys. And that's what's important. Plus, I think it's funny... Elder Durham said that after Christmas, when you call on Mother's Day, it's WAY too fast. He said that the Mother's Day call was funny because there wasn't a lot to say, it had only been 5 months since the Christmas Call. Lol.

Mom, have I told you about the cockroaches EVERYWHERE!!???? I left my bag open one morning, and reached in the top pocket to get a pen, and something moved. I looked back in, and realized I had grapped a palm-sized cockroach. BLECH BLECH BLECH BLECH BLECH!!!!! I washed my hands furiously for 15 minutes after zipping the pocket shut and stamping the poo out of my bag. I opened the bag, and it was gross. White cockroach guts EVERYWHERE. Took way too long to clean, but at least I killed the bugger.

They're everywhere. I'm used to it now. I'm not bothered by the bugs everywhere, or the occasional spider, or the everywhere type spiderwebs and fruit flies. This place is so dirty, one of two things will happen in the future. One. I will be a clean freak the rest of my life, or- 2. I just won't care, because almost anything in America is cleaner than the cleanest place here (not quite that exaggerated, but close... ;)

All in all, all is well. So sorry for my Typhoon sized overload last week. I hope you all still love me and still know that I love you and am forever, unfailingly grateful for the influence you've had on my life. Or I wouldn't be here in Taiwan today. And my mission is already everything to me, as it has been for my whole life. So thank you. And, Mom-Dad, ... sorry. I love you.

-Elder Carter