8 October 2012 - Investigators, Mushrooms, and English

Zao An! ("Good morning!")

Yet another incredible week has blown by, and I'm positively swimming with stuff to tell you.

Perhaps the biggest news is that we have two investigators that are moving towards baptism. One of them is set to be baptized on the 20th of October. He goes by the name Rich, and he is such an amazing guy! He is in his late 30's, and he has been investigating the church off and on for about 7 years. Before I came, Elder Cox and his companion had a breakthrough with him where he really understood why he needed the Church. Since then, he's been awesome in keeping commitments and getting ready for this ordinance. We are very happy for him, and I am very optimistic that he will be able to hit his goal. The other one we met through the English class we teach, and his name is Zhou. Zhou is in his early 20's, and he's very shy and very kind. What's funny is that Rich totally latched onto him and they have become amazing friends. Rich has told us several times that we really need to help and support Zhou because "he really needs this Church." Rich has done a great majority of the missionary work, bringing him to Church and different activities. Zhou does not have a baptismal goal yet, but he has been progressing through the lessons pretty fast and has been keeping commitments. We pray for the both of them every day and we see them making progress all the time. It's such a blessing to see how the gospel can change people's lives for the better.

And on to less important things, but noteworthy nonetheless...

There is this awesome couple in our stake that is good friends with Elder Cox, and I was introduced to them on Sunday. They told me that I was very "shui" (handsome), and that I looked like Justin Bieber.

 I was asked to play piano for Church. We're organizing a church choir as well, so I've been playing quite a bit! One day we had dinner at the ward mission leader's house with a few investigators and recent converts, and they asked me to play piano for them. When they saw me play, they all got really excited. On the following Sunday, I was attacked with sheet music and song recordings. :)

Taiwanese culture fact of the week: They do not acknowledge bodily functions that could cause embarrassment. If someone sneezes, coughs, burps, etc. you don't say anything or even look at them. During Ward council meeting this week, one of the ladies choked on her drink, and started coughing uproariously. She was completely ignored, even when I thought she was going to pass out from lack of breath.

Those who know me know I don't like mushrooms. We were at a young single adult activity, and we cleaned up a lot of dishes for them. To show their gratitude, the people gave us a nice big plate of mushrooms. I forced myself to eat all of them and smile, and I guess I was convincing because they asked if I wanted more. :) "Wo chi bao le!" ("I'm full!") They were so nice: on the way out the door we were laden with cookies, cakes, soda, and even a bag of meat.

Every week we teach English class. I teach the beginner class by myself, and the frustrating thing is that I don't have any curriculum to work off of, so I basically just plan the lesson that day and hope that I can do it. I've been really lucky; one girl named Apple has been translating a lot for me when I can't think of words. Her English is very good; I have no idea why she is in my class. I teach them an hour of English, and half an hour of something spiritual ("Spiritual Share"). It's been really stretching me and helping me cement the differences between Chinese and English in my head, especially with grammar concepts.

Now for a spiritual share!

Last week I delved a little bit into the priesthood, and there is a subject that stems from it that is of utmost importance. There are many offices in the priesthood (one of them being Elder), and there is one that is more important than the rest, and that is the role of the prophet.

You know those guys from the Bible that were basically the spiritual leaders of their time, people like Moses, Adam, and Noah? They are what we would call prophets. Prophets are people called and chosen by God to reveal spiritual truths to His children, and to guide and direct His Church. God has given him the priesthood authority to be a leader for all people on the earth. This priesthood authority can be traced back to Joseph Smith, who received it from Peter, James, and John (Christ's original apostles), and in turn bestowed it upon following officers of the Church.

Prophets receive spiritual truths through a process called revelation. Revelation is an instance where you receive promptings or knowledge from a divine source, namely the Holy Ghost, a spirit whose job is to protect and guide us. We are all entitled to revelation, but in order to receive revelation for others, you must have the authority to do so. Prophets have the authority to receive revelation for the entire church. 

There has never been a time when we needed a prophet more than now. There is a living prophet on the earth today, and his name is Thomas S. Monson. God has not left us alone; He has given us a guide. I testify that he is a prophet called of God, and that if we listen to and obey his words, we will be greatly blessed.

Twice a year we have the opportunity to hear from our prophet and other church leaders in a worldwide broadcast. One of these broadcasts took place this past weekend. I encourage you to visit www.lds.org, and hear what he has to say. Look up the October 2012 General Conference and you can find videos, podcasts, and text of the event.

I love you all, and have a wonderful week!

Love,

Elder Jorgensen
He looks happy and that warms this mother’s heart!

1 October 2012 - Pig's Blood and Fish Eyeballs

Hello all!
The food here is fantastic. I forgot to mention in my last email: My first two days I tried pig's blood and fish eyeball. The blood was decent, but the eyeball threw me for a loop. I expected something blubbery and squishy, but instead, if you can imagine, it's like a really tough nut coated in fat, with a thin clear shell that had the consistency and taste of plastic. I drank plenty of orange juice after that one. Street food is really good here. I discovered a new favorite, something called "turkey rice". It's, you guessed it, turkey and rice. Just put it in a bowl with some of the turkey juice, and plop a nice fried egg on top. Gooooood stuff. And I'm getting pretty skilled at the chopsticks; I'm not getting any more hand cramps.

Elder Cox has been pushing me hard, but we get along very well. He's sensitive to how I'm feeling about the culture shock, and he's done a good job helping me adapt and yet throw me in the middle of the work. Contacting people is getting easier, and while I still can't understand anything, the Spirit is helping me discern what they are saying. Elder Cox has been practicing with me quite a bit on talking with people. One cool thing about him is that he loves to sing, and he's a really good tenor. We sing every day before Companionship study. And to answer your question mom, he has been hit by a couple vehicles. One of them was a close call, a bus had him pinned up to a sidewalk curb, and his handlebars were catching on the side of the bus. Luckily the bus passed by right before he lost control of the bike.

The sisters in our zone had two baptisms this week, a mother and a daughter in this very sweet family. Brother Oba, the ward mission leader, asked me right before the meeting to give the opening prayer. We had an investigator with us and my companion was making calls, so I found myself frantically asking our investigator if he knew the last name of the family. I eventually thought I heard Brother Oba mention they were the Wu family at the beginning of the meeting, so I said the prayer and mentioned them in it. When I sat back down, I realized that they were not the Wu family, but the Pan family. Ugh. Brother Oba was cool about it; he understood that there is a definite learning curve when it comes to the language. But one thing is for sure, I am learning a lot about humility.

We contacted an awesome family the other day in a direct answer to our prayers. The father and mother were 20, and they had an adorable newborn with them. We talked some about the blessing of eternal families, and they arranged to meet with us on Tuesday. I'm very excited!

One night we came home to a bunch of cockroaches in our kitchen. We had a pretty good cockroach smashing fest; my favorite tool is a hefty water bottle. :)

Our ward (Lingya ward) held a primary program, and had fun little activities about preparing to serve a mission. Elder Cox and I got to come and teach them about what they needed to do to prepare. They are such sweet little kids!

I got a letter that had a fantastic question: "I understand you are an elder now. How do you become an elder?" For the sake of the reader, I will also address the question, "What is an elder?" To get a clear answer, you must take a step back and understand that an "elder" is an office of the priesthood.

The priesthood is simply the power of God. He used the priesthood to create the earth, and uses it now to accomplish His work and glory, "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). Christ worked his many miracles through the priesthood.

We as mortals can have this priesthood too. We need it because it is through the priesthood that saving ordinances like baptism and the sacrament are performed. Only worthy men can hold the priesthood (I will explain later). When a man receives the priesthood, they are given God's power and authority to carry out His will on the earth. In other words, they can only use this power when they are bringing about the salvation of mankind.

If someone holds the priesthood, they cannot use it unless someone in authority directs him to exercise it. For instance, I cannot baptize somebody unless my mission president authorizes me to do so. This is important to understand because we believe that this authority was lost when Christ's apostles were killed long ago, and that this authority was restored when these apostles, now resurrected beings, bestowed it upon the prophet Joseph Smith.

To become an elder, a person in authority officially set me apart for this office. Elders are called to teach, expound, exhort, baptize, and watch over the Church. That person gave me the authority to exercise the priesthood in this capacity.

Now why can't women hold the priesthood? I'm afraid I do not have an official answer, as many people even within the Church don't really know why. I can tell you my limited understanding. Men are called to provide and protect, to carry out the work of God. Women are called to rear and raise children. In today's world where such a large effort has been made to prevent the oppression of women, this may seem remarkably discriminatory. But I firmly believe that these duties are equal in importance. In reality, the power of the priesthood benefits everyone, regardless of gender. And the power to have children benefits everyone as well. This is why family units are so important in the Church: the husband provides the priesthood to the family, and the wife provides the nurturing of children.

Happy moon festival everyone! And remember, don't point at the moon, or it will fall down and smash you! (I'm completely serious here, by the way. If you point at the moon here, people freak out.)

Love,
Elder Jorgensen Elder Jorgensen with his MTC companion Elder Christiansen—his first and  very awesome companion.

 
Elder Cox—Elder Jorgensen’s first (and equally awesome) companion in the field.


“Doesn't that exit sign remind you absurdly of the game "Portal"? Just like exit signs in America, they are everywhere here.”

24 September 2012 - First days in Taiwan

I LOVE TAIWAN!!! It is so incredible here. I have no idea how I can possibly describe it all, so I guess I'll just have to start at the beginning.

On the day we left, we all got into a bus and took off to the airport, and in our group there were about 45-50 Mandarin speakers going. Everyone was excited and slightly nervous; especially when we left the walls of the MTC (we hadn't been outside the campus for 3 months). The flight to LAX was good, no problems. I sat down next to a couple on their way to Hawaii, but it was clear they were very uninterested in talking with me; perhaps it was the obvious Mormon missionary appearance. So I only said a little hello and how they were doing, and pretty much remained quiet for the duration of the trip.

We had a three hour layover at LAX, so we went phone hunting to see if we could call home for a little while. It was great to hear familiar voices of those I love so much. But I had to go pretty soon after because the gate was calling for us, and for some reason they had to take my carry-on because it was too heavy, so I had to sign for the luggage and board the plane.

And then commenced the longest plane ride ever . . . it was 14 hours, and I had no movies or games to distract me from the limited leg room. All the people in my row were missionaries, so I couldn't do any proselyting. I was sitting next to Sister McKay (also going to Taichung), so I talked with her for a lot of the trip. Turns out she's related to the prophet David O. McKay. I felt kind of dumb for not making that connection.  Sister Newman sat in front of me, but she slept the whole way there. As for me, I couldn't sleep at all. And when we landed, it was the worst landing I've ever experienced. Since the plane is so big, the pilots use cameras mounted on the bottom of the plane to see the runway, and for the passengers' enjoyment they put the video feed on the TV screens. So I watch as the camera, knocked askew in mid-flight, captures the plane hitting the runway at the wrong angle, and the plane starts swerving back and forth to stay on the runway. That was pretty fun, to say the least.

All of us going to Taichung got on a bus and went to the mission home located in the heart of the city. At night in Taiwan, most trucks and buildings are decorated with flashing green, red, and blue LED lights. It felt like I entered some form of "arcade land". Half the people on our bus were native Taiwanese missionaries, and we got to talk with them a little bit. We all introduced ourselves, and learned a little bit from our mission president (who is super awesome, by the way) about what Taiwan is like. That night five others and I stayed at our mission financial secretary's home.

For the next day, we had orientation and tried out the native food. Imagine the humidity of western Washington, multiply it by two and crank up the temperature to 95 Fahrenheit. And the streets are crazy. The majority of traffic is scooters and motorcycles, and then some cars. You really have to keep on your toes, there's a lot of frantic driving. One thing I love about the streetlights here is that a lot of them have countdowns next to red lights. This is especially helpful when you are contacting people on scooters, so you know how much time you have left to talk with them before the light turns green. Also, if you are a pedestrian waiting to cross the street, they have this little animated picture of a man walking when it's time to cross: when there are only a few seconds left, the man starts walking faster and faster until it's in a full-on sprint. Very funny, and gets the message across.

That night we got up on a soap box in the night market and preached, just to get the heebie-jeebies out of us, and then we went contacting. I believe the mission office published a video, it may be online . . . a very fun and yet insane experience.

I met my new companion a few days ago, his name is Elder Cox. He'll be training me for the next twelve weeks. He reminds me a lot of my dad in his mannerisms. He likes to use a lot of witty humor. He's very experienced, and speaks really good Chinese and Taiwanese. We are stationed in downtown Gaoxiong, a large city towards the south of the island. Our area is strictly city, no rural areas. I've had to get used to biking in the road amongst all the scooters. It hasn't been that hard, but apparently I haven't experienced a real rush hour yet... we'll see how that goes.

We have a nice apartment, and our neighbors are pretty quiet too. We've had a few cockroaches but they haven't been very big, and not very many. And the air-conditioner is heavenly.

We had stake conference on Sunday, which was held in a High School auditorium outside our area, so we had to take the subway. The meeting was two hours long, and I didn't understand a single word. My brain pretty much imploded: I had to fight off sleep by stabbing my hand with my pen. After the meeting I got to meet the bishop and a lot of members and recent converts, which was a lot of fun. They were all really nice, and it was fun to see them struggle with pronouncing my name. But they were laughing as well when I struggled to hold a conversation. The other day I contacted a guy on a bike at a stoplight, and at one point he said something I didn't understand, so I said, "Sorry, I don't understand, my Chinese isn't too good," to which he laughed and responded, "I know!" and drove off.

Right now we have a few investigators working towards baptism, and one of them is scheduled for it in four weeks. We taught him about prayer and how it's a commandment, and he responded well. He seems to really get this, and I can see the Spirit working in him. Today we are giving our first lesson to a guy named Zeng, and I'm leading the lesson. Wish me luck!

I've already made another friend as well. He goes by Tyler, and he's this crazy, funny early 20's Taiwanese guy who works in the Navy. He wants to serve a mission in a year, and he loves hanging out with the other missionaries. In fact, he's determined to have me as his "little brother", and really wants to be a part of our family. So watch out mom, you might be getting some Facebook messages soon.

I love these people, It's truly a wonderful place. I hope someday I can come back with my parents after my mission.

And I love all of you too! Hope you are all doing well, and I wish you a fantastic week!

Love, Elder Jorgensen

20 September 2012 - Elder Jorgensen has landed!

David made it safely to Taiwan. What a great looking group of missionaries!

17 September 2012 - We are all enlisted

I'm going to Taiwan TOMORROW! Ahhh!

I forgot to tell all of you that I've gotten to perform a few times at the MTC. I was part of a boy’s choral group singing "Come Thou Fount" for a fireside, and I accompanied Sister Chord in Sacrament and Relief Society meetings. They went really well, it was a lot of fun.

This week I got a real wake-up call as far as the seriousness of my calling to serve as a missionary. Yesterday, we had the Director of Proselyting, W. Tracy Watson, speak to us yesterday about the importance of The Book of Mormon. He then did something I wouldn't have expected in a million years in the MTC: he showed us a video of the opening number of the Broadway Musical "The Book of Mormon". It was weird hearing it. Before I came on a mission I probably would have laughed at the jokes. But now, when I am actually a missionary, I just felt uncomfortable and sick. We are supposed to be viewed as representatives of Jesus Christ, not as overzealous, earnest young men with badges.

We are at war. Satan is using every tool in his arsenal to confuse the children of God to keep them from ever discovering their true divine identity and potential; he desires that "all might be miserable like unto himself." How do we combat the degrading images of Mormons that the adversary is displaying? My opinion is that we should love. It really is that simple. We love. Only then will people see us for who we really are as disciples of Christ. We, all of us members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, have been given a charge to share the gospel. Every member a missionary! It is time we shared this message, to step out of our comfort zone and show the world who we really are. I believe very strongly that our timidity and shyness to share the gospel, our fear of rejection, is what has caused Anti-Mormon literature like the musical "The Book of Mormon" to have so much prevalence and critical acclaim in our world today.

Did you know that in 1999 (I think), President Hinckley said that we were having on average 300,000 convert baptisms each year. That's great! That means 300,000 people are taking part in the necessary covenants to start on the path to salvation. But he said we could double that number. 600,000. That was the benchmark he set. And as of last year, we had about 280,000. The fact is, in order for us to be able to meet this goal, everyone must be missionaries. Not officially, but just sharing the gospel with your community, with your friends. It really is that simple.

Now if you are reading this, and you are not Mormon, I challenge you to read The Book of Mormon. Read it. Study it. Ponder it. And then pray about it. For if it is false, then Joseph Smith was not a prophet, and therefore the doctrines of the church crumble. But if it is true, then this gospel truly is from God. Read the book! Only through The Book of Mormon can you know if this church is true, that our claims are correct. Yes, I concede, Google can tell you a lot of answers. But Google cannot give you the divine witness from the Holy Ghost that this church is true. The Book of Mormon can do that. You may have many questions about the validity of the church, some of which may not have any answer. But in the end, if you know the book is true, you have no more questions. If you know it is true, then so is everything that goes with it.

I promise you that if you have a sincere desire to know if it is true, you will receive an answer that it is true. I have done this myself, many times. As a missionary, I stand as a witness of the divinity of The Book of Mormon, that it indeed contains the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ as we claim, and that "a man can get closer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book" (Joseph Smith, Introduction). I know it is true, beyond a doubt. I add my testimony to millions of others, that Jesus is the Christ, and that he is the head of this church.

I love you all! God be with you 'till we meet again,
-Elder Jorgensen

Elder Jorgensen and Elder Bastian, a friend from our Stake who will also be serving in Taiwan.

11 September 2012 - A teacher who cared

Hello all,

It's the last week!!! Man, it's weird to think I've been here for 10 whole weeks. The best way I can put it is that the days are super long, but the time flies by very, very fast.

I've been keeping a running list of nicknames/accidental names that I've been called since I've been here at the MTC:

-Elder Jacobson

-Sister Jorgensen

-Elder Yourgensen

-Jorgie-bear

-Ammon (due to my "Team Ammon" T-shirt)

-Elder Hendrickson

-The Mailman

-The Music Man

-Elder Chang Ge ("Ge" is my Chinese name, but "Chang Ge" means "sing a song")

-Dr. Seuss (I have a tie that reminds Elder Deal of The Cat in the Hat)

It seems to get longer every day... Most of them are purely accidental, but the "Jorgie-bear" one is just plain weird. But the guy who calls me that calls everyone that.

Yesterday I was sitting in the corner of the classroom studying, when I just glanced up for a moment and saw my teacher Sister Weinheimer watching me. I just treated it as a funny, awkward moment and went back to studying. It was clear to me, however, that she was getting some sort of prompting from the Spirit, because she pulled up a chair and asked me how I was doing. She then asked me what I was most worried about for when I left to Taiwan, and the thing that I told her that has been worrying me for a while is that I don't want to be a burden to my companion. I told her that I've been learning the language at a slower pace than most (I've had to have Zone Resource, or private tutors, help me), and that I don't want my companion to feel compelled to do all the work and me just sit there like a big dead-weight. She then said that she wanted to talk with me because "people with [my] personality type tend to be unnecessarily hard on themselves." She asked me why I was so concerned about my ability as a missionary, and my mind was immediately flooded with all the people I know and love in my life. I told her that I came on this mission expecting that somehow my work here would help those I love back home, and that I was very worried that I wasn't doing enough. She told me that someone she loved very much was inactive in the church and jobless before she left on her own mission, and that while she was gone he got a job and became active. However, when she returned, he was inactive again. She said that everyone has their agency, and that I do not have any power to make someone do the right choice. She then told me that it is too easy to set our standards higher than the Lord's standards. He doesn't expect us to be perfect. In fact, he expects us to make mistakes. That's part of the purpose of life. We learn through our mistakes. She told me not to measure my success by how many people I help. I need to measure my success by who I become through this mission. There's only one convert that the Lord expects us to make, and that is ourselves.

I saw a fantastic video this week on "Mormon Messages", and I wanted to share it. The man who's speaking is Apostle David A. Bednar. It explains really well what a conscience is, and the process in which we all receive revelation.

 http://youtu.be/fycvkAhYz1I

And one other video, that I think all would enjoy, illustrates just what kind of world I will be immersed in, in the very near future:

http://mormon.org/zho/mao

Translation of the first segment: "I live in Taiwan. I know Taiwan personally. I know Taiwan has given me many blessings. Therefore, I love Taiwan."

And so I go so soon... I'm very excited! I love you all, you are in my prayers.

-Elder Jorgensen

4 September 2012

Hey! (And that's Chinese for Hello, by the way!)
So I've gotta fill you in on that meeting, now, don't I? I suppose I could just not say anything, but that would be a little rude, since I know a number of you were waiting impatiently on the edge of your seats. So I proceed:
Dad, you were close on your guess, but not quite. The guy who came was one of the Seventy, who was an area authority in China for the last 5(?) years. It started out mainly as a pep talk about how the Chinese people are very nice, and that they are very interested in what the gospel has to offer, particularly around having eternal families. And then he opened it up to questions, and people began hammering him with questions about if China is opening soon and little details around that.

Moving on to other stuff... Our teacher pulled my companionship aside a few days ago and said, "I take back what I said before. You have a lot of love toward your investigator. You have a great amount of faith. But your Mandarin is, uh..." I jumped in, "--terrible?" "--Terrible!" He quickly pulled back saying, "Just kidding, just kidding!" When we replied that we really wanted to know what he thought, and that we wouldn't be offended, he said, "Yeah, it's terrible." He continued to say that we have some wonderful things to say that would truly help the needs of the investigators, but we just lack the language to communicate them. That, and our grammar is totally atrocious. Which I take more of the blame for: usually in lessons it's me asking Elder Christianson what the investigator was saying, and me asking him for vocabulary when I'm trying to speak. I feel like I have this annoying problem of forgetting everything. But I'm not letting this get me down. The fact is, I was called to do this by the Lord, and he qualifies whom he calls. "And I will do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that he giveth no commandment unto the children of men save he shall prepare a way for them to accomplish the thing which he commandeth them" (1 Nephi 3:7). As I try to improve myself each day through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, I can accomplish all trials. As I exercise my faith, I can become the missionary the Lord has foreordained me to be.

Some news on Isaac Hales: I sat by him in a Sunday night devotional, and I learned he was going to Mosambique (sp?), Africa, Portuguese speaking. Crazy. We reminisced on the good times we had when we were younger, such as me throwing giant rocks at his head because he made me angry at a campout. Good thing he doesn't remember that episode. It was so crazy running into him, talk about slim chances.

Congrats to Adam Price to going to Taipei, Taiwan. You're gonna speak more Chinese!!! :D

And I just got the news about my best friend Dillon. 糟糕！不好意思。Man, that's a huge bummer. Get all the way through the mission paperwork process, only to have to start over because it accidentally got deleted. For those of you who don't know, it takes a long time to get through all that paperwork. Because you could get sent pretty much anywhere in the world, you have a lot of medical information to fill out. My mom said this, and I agree: Clearly the Lord is preparing a special mission for him, but it's just not quite ready to have him there yet. Good job staying positive through all this Dillon; you're gonna have a great story to tell during dinners at the MTC. I'm rooting for ya!

How about a Chinese lesson, eh? Let's do a simple phrase:

nǐ hǎo! wǒ shì ____. Nǐ shì shéi?

(Hello! I am _____. You are who?)

See those little markings above the vowels? Those are called tones. They are extremely important to get exactly right. If you want to know how they sound, just match the line to your pitch. For example, if it is a rising line, just make your pitch go low to high as you speak the word. If it's a dip, make your voice dip as you speak it.

"nǐ hǎo" literally translated means "You good", but is commonly understood as "Hello". Keep in mind that this is a very formal greeting. Normally, people in China just say "Hey" or "Hi", or my favorite (translated), "Oh, your doing ____ right now."

"wǒ" means "I". "shì" means "am", or "is", in the literal sense. If you were saying that someone is dead, you cannot say "Tā shì sǐwáng" ("He/she is death"), because they are not literally "death" itself. So you have to add "de" after the word for death ("de" is a descriptive word, meaning "type"), in order to say "He/she is death type person." See how the meaning changed to something that makes more sense? (Oh, and don't go around saying "sǐ", it's bad luck. And all the Chinese hate the number four, because it sounds very close to "sǐ".)

"shéi" is a question word, meaning "who?" Because Mandarin is a tonal language, you cannot use a rising tone like English to indicate you are asking a question. You have to use some word or sentence particle to indicate that you are asking a question. If "shéi" is used, people know you are asking them for some person as an answer. In this case, if someone asked me "Nǐ shì shéi?", I would respond with "wǒ shì David". In this case, it's implied that you are asking for a name, but in reality I could answer with a variety of things, such as "wǒ shì chǔanjiàoshì" ("I am a missionary").

And that's about it for now. You may want to take everything I say with a grain of salt, because apparently, my Chinese is terrible.

Love you all, and write you again next week! Oh, and before I forget, I will be going to Taiwan in two weeks, so if you want to send letters, I'd start sending them to this address, because it takes about 2 weeks for letters to reach me from the US:

Elder David Hendrick Jorgensen

Taiwan Taichung Mission

#498-11, Wu Chuan Road

Taichung 404-46

Taiwan

And international flat rate is a heaping 3 stamps (I think, don't quote me on that one).

See ya later,

-Elder Jorgensen