We spent most of the week introducing Elder Liu to the members in the area. We visited the Wang family. Their dog has always hated us, but this time it got a little brave (or stupid) and it bit me. I kicked the dog pretty hard and it ran off whimpering... Luckily, the bite didn't puncture, and the boys in the family thought it was pretty funny.
Thursday I received a surprising phone call while we were eating lunch. I answered the phone, and I heard a woman's voice: "Hey, this is Sister Zhang, from Shizhong ward." I said, "Oh, hello!", but I was thinking in the back of my mind, Sister Zhang, who is that? Shizhong? Sister Zhang, sister Zhang... OH! SISTER ZHANG!!! My good ol' Taiwanese mother and her daughter, Amy, had come down to Hengchun to visit me. I had a fantastic time catching up with them. They are two wonderful friends that I will dearly miss and never forget.
Friday was Zone Conference, and it was a wonderful meeting. President Blickenstaff likes to have smaller groups instead of the half-mission lecture halls that I was previously accustomed to, and I find the change refreshing. I like the classroom setting, and it provides a lot of opportunity to learn things on our own and explore. We focused a lot on the Atonement, and President Blickenstaff asked us to read "The Meaning of Repentance" found in the 1998 Ensign. I thought it was a wonderful talk, one of the best I've read on the subject, and it certainly changed my perspective on the repentance process.
We came home to howling winds and cold rain. All the stores were boarded up. We spent the night worrying that the windows were going to blow in.
The next day a large typhoon had settled in. We did venture outdoors for a few minutes to see how bad it was, and when I felt like I was going to blow away, we decided it would be best to go back in. We spent the day making calls, reading church periodicals, and playing board games. The next day, church was shortened to only the first hour. Those days were, uh, fairly unproductive.
BUT. We have a new week ahead, and it looks like typhoon season is over. So I'm looking forward to some good work and some miracles. My companion is the bomb, he's a convert of only two years, and he has a testimony of solid iron. I love working with him.
Love,
-Elder Jorgensen
“The wind was so strong that it blew water through the seams of the window, and water was constantly spraying up from the windowsills.”
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