Earthquake, Corn, and Amma

Hi Family, I hope that you are doing well as I write this letter to you.

Anyways, I will start explaining the weird title of my letter. The first part earthquake occurred last week when I was emailing. It is pretty self-explanatory I'm guessing. We were sitting there emailing when we felt an earthquake, not big at all, just enough to shake our monitors and shake us up a little bit. Nothing bad though, we just laughed afterwards. So that was fun.

The second part is a short story, but it is still a mystery to us. So, we were biking around on Thursday I think. We were going to some places in our area that we hadn't been to yet, and we found quite a strange sight. There was a road that we passed that was completely covered in corn kernels! It was so weird. And it wasn't like a load of corn off of a truck spilled onto the road, no, this looked like it was done purposefully. So I took a picture. I will attach it. 

And the third part will take some explaining. So, in Taiwan the word for Grandma is "Amma." (Pronounced Ah-mah) And around Taiwan, there are lots of these Amma's that drive scooters loaded with junk on them! Apparently a lot of them collect like cardboard and stuff to recycle and earn a little bit of money. Anyways, usually the backs of their scooters are piled ridiculously high with stuff, and they manage to keep them balanced while they are riding. So, this is where it pertains to us, we have an investigator that lives in Pu Zi  = Pooh (and then Zi is a "ts" sound followed by "uh.") that needed a bicycle. So, at our apartment we had a missionary's old bicycle that he'd left when he went home, so we told him that we could bring that one to him. Here was our dilemma though; we had to get a third bike to Pu Zi, already about a 20 minute bike ride away, while riding our bicycles. How it was to be done, we did not know. Traditionally, missionaries do what's called "ghosting." Now, ghosting is where you roll the extra bicycle alongside the one that you are riding, so that it has the appearance of a "ghost: riding the extra bike. But we had a problem; this bicycle had strange handlebars that did not allow for proper ghosting. So we had to figure out a new plan. So, after a few minutes of thinking and experimenting, we finally found the solution. We took one of the bungee cords from my bicycle box and laid the bike on the back of Elder Watson's bike. We strapped it down as tight as we could and took off. After a few close calls, the bike finally settled and we were able to get it to Pu Zi. It was quite the adventure and I have pictures! Anyways, we decided that we had reached Amma status because we had put something ridiculous on the back of our bike and were able to ride without issue. It made us pretty proud of ourselves.

So, other than those few fun adventures that we had, things are going really well here. Ke Guo Lin came to church again and is now ready to be baptized. Now we are trying to figure out the most convenient date for him. We had a lesson with Ke Guo Lin this morning. We watched the hour long Joseph Smith movie with him. He liked it. He said that it helped him understand Joseph Smith a little bit more. It has been tricky to plan though, because there is a big holiday coming up called "Sa Mo" (I think that is how it's said.) But it is the Grave-Sweeping holiday. Because the culture is so focused on family and ancestor respect, every year they have this holiday where they go and clean up the graves all around the island, usually their own family ones. But every year missionaries help clean the graves and use the opportunity to talk to people and spread the message of eternal families. So that is pretty cool.

As for culinary adventures this week, nothing too out-of-the-ordinary. I have discovered that I love the fresh fruit-juice here. It is SO fresh, like we watch them make it. I had some watermelon milk and pineapple juice. Mmm, so good!! 

We didn't have any new investigators this week, which is kind of sad, but this area is kind of hard. There are not a lot of people here. The weather is really unpredictable around here. One day, the wind will be blowing, and the sky overcast, and we will need to have a jacket on, and the next day it will be warm and sunny and we will be sweating away. So it is really hard to tell. As for rain, down here it isn't as frequent. Apparently up north like in Taipei they get a lot more, but we have only had a little bit here so far. But typhoon season is not too far away so it may start raining more soon. The beach here is kind of different (than California). Not a lot of activity there, at least at the one where I was at. Just a couple of fisherman. I guess from what I've heard is that people try to find oysters at the beaches. There are a lot of them apparently. I haven't seen them yet. We have a section of beach in our area in a town called Dong Shih, just past Pu Zi. We really don't have mountains. Our area is just like flat. You can google earth it. Just look up Taibao City and if you want to be more specific you can look up Taibao 2nd Road and that's the road we live off of.

We will get to watch conference, but it will be a week later than back home. For Easter, the church is starting its new initiative. I'm sure you've heard about it. The Because He Lives initiative. We are going to get special pass-along cards at Zone Meeting tomorrow and we are going to be spreading the website the church just created. helives.mormon.org  

There is candy here; some of it is similar, but not a lot. There are Oreos. Which is good. Very Good. I have discovered the Coconut Delight Oreos and they are like manna from heaven! Fruit is super popular. There is a lot of it. There are like 3-4 fruit markets in Pu Zi alone. Food in Taiwan is not as extreme as it is in America. It's not as sweet, not as salty. It is super good though. We don't eat with members a lot. Our branch is pretty small. We have about 15-20 people in our congregation max every week.

Well, that is about it for right now, I look forward to talking to you and know how much I love and miss you guys!

Your brother, son, grandson, and so on,

Elder Chase Joseph Millett

"Amma" status

Corn

March 23, 2014

Hi Family,

I have to apologize for getting this email out so late, but today has been a crazy day. Fun, but crazy.

So, last Friday, we taught an an investigator named Ke Guo Lin. He has been taught for a while now, and he is pretty much ready to be baptized, but because of his work schedule, he hasn't been able to come to church the last time that is required to be baptized. He is coming this week and is going to be baptized next Saturday though, so WOO!

But anyways, I had heard about this guy a lot from Elder Watson. He is a health nut! Apparently, he was like Taiwan's top triathlete 3 years ago or something. He is kind of a big deal I guess. But this guy is the most Shuai guy I've ever met. (Shuai (pronounced Sh-why) means just like awesome, well-dressed, and other compliment type things). So, anyways, after the lesson, he asked if this coming P-Day we could go with him to Tainan, which is about an hour or so south of our area. He wanted to take us to his work and stop by the beach and stuff. So we got permission and we went with him this morning to Tainan. As he said, we stopped at the beach for a few minutes and took some pictures (which I will attach.) After that, we went and ate some lunch, some dumplings in some kind of soup, (really good!) After that, he took us to his work. He works at this place called Amway, I'm sure you're familiar with it. Apparently it's a big company. So, we took the WHOLE tour of the building. He was showing us their products, the history of the company, how he got involved, and what the company does and stuff. So, three hours later, we had pretty much gotten to know Amway. It's all about like a healthy lifestyle. It specializes in nutrition, beauty, and some other stuff. But it is cool. Some of their stuff is pretty pricey though. But it is legit. There isn't a catch or anything, just high quality stuff. Anyways, it was a super cool place. After that, we drove home. We took a scenic route, so it took a while to get home. But now I am here emailing you. And that is why the email was so late.

So, as for a spiritual experience this week. We have been meeting with this guy Chen Li Sheng recently. He lives with his parents in Pu Zi. He really doesn't do much other than stay at home and help his dad in is watch and clock shop every now and again. We had only met him a couple of times without much progress. After going through and totally revitalizing our area book and formers list, we found an old progress record of his from a few years ago. On it, the previous missionaries wrote something along the lines of "He has some mental issues, leave this one to God." That didn't click well with Elder Watson and I. We knew that there was something special about this guy and we were going to work our hardest to help him. It's not that he has mental issues, just social issues. Anyways, the next couple of lessons after that went incredibly. He started reading the Book of Mormon in Alma 32. He read the entire chapter in a matter of a few days! He loves the Gospel and he knows it will help him. We just have to continue to help him overcome his trials and fears and we know that he will be baptized. We can feel it.

Anyways, that is about it for this week. If by some crazy chance you are awake and email me back, I'll be on for a little while. I love you guys so much. Know how much I miss you and I will talk to you guys soon. 

Love, your Son, Brother, and friend,

Elder Chase Joseph Millett

雷長老

On exchanges in Jia Yi with my Zone Leader Elder Pihl!

Me and Ke Guo Lin

Basketball, Blood, and a Baptism

Hi Family. I hope that you are all doing well. We are doing fantastic here in Taibao! 

To start off, WE HAD A BAPTISM ON SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, We officially welcomed Sister Chen into the branch yesterday!!!

So that is super awesome. The baptism was fun. Look at Sister Chen's before and after pictures and you can see the difference. She is glowing!!! (the before is her in her baptismal clothes and the after is the one with the branch members.) It was super cool to be able to witness that. It shows how much of a difference the gospel makes in peoples' lives. She is a super cool person and I can't wait to see how she progresses. Elder Watson and I sang a special musical number for it. At the baptism, we sang Nearer My God To Thee, but in Chinese of course! So that was fun.

As for the basketball part; On Saturday, before the baptism, we biked out to Xin Pi to meet a potential investigator. We had gone to this park last Saturday and played basketball with him and with some middle school age boys. We told him that we would like to meet him again and he said that we could come back and play with him the coming Saturday, so we did. He seems to like us, so we are slowly working up to sharing the Gospel with him.

As for the blood part; so after the baptism, a couple in the ward wanted to take us out for a bite to eat. We went to this place that we had never been to. Apparently this place uses like every part of the animal. So, they brought out this plate with some weird black-ish rice looking stuff. I ate some, and it wasn't too bad, a little bitter though. They told me that it was coagulated chicken blood!!! So, yeah, that was weird, but it was fun!!! I also ate some pig's skin (some from its head and some from elsewhere.) And I had a bowl of pretty typical beef noodle soup (so good!!!!)

The Costco experience in Taiwan is fun. It's like a little piece of home right here in Taiwan. It is very very similar, but the one here is a little bit smaller.

I am definitely enjoying this place. There are some downfalls though. Right now, it is moving into the spring season, which is like summer basically. Seasons aren't as different here as they are at home. It is pretty much warm all year round. We have had a couple of chilly days though, but they don't happen very often.  It is starting to heat up, so the humidity is going up and the mosquitoes are multiplying. We have managed to bring the number of them in our apartment down, but outside it is still hard to keep them off of me, but I have been using bug spray and some mosquito repelling ointment that a member gave me and it seems to help a little bit. Other missionaries don't seem to have the same problem with mosquitoes that I am having. Maybe it is just because I am still new on the island. They must like that sweet American blood! Haha! We bike a lot, some places are like a 40-50 minute bike ride away, but because it is all flat, it isn't too bad. My legs don't get very sore, but my knees get kind of sore sometimes. But I guess I'll get used to it.

                As for how I am adjusting, I am doing pretty good. I am still a little bit nervous about using the language, but Elder Watson has told me that the members have been impressed with how much I can say already. They are surprised that I am so new and can say so much. Our apartment is ok I guess. It is just not home though. It has NO carpet. It is all tile and wood. It is pretty old and worn, but it works though, gives us a place to live.

Anyways, that's about what's been going on this week. I hope things are going well for you. I hope that my car will get fixed promptly. And I will talk to you soon!!!

With lots of love,

Elder Chase J. Millett

Elder Coleman (they graduated from SCHS together)

Sister Chen on her baptism day

Food, Zone Conference, more food, biking, and more food!!!!!

Well Fam,

I have survived another week here in Taiwan! I'm in the Jia Yi (Chia ee) zone. Our area is pretty spread out compared to say Taichung.

We are pretty rural. Things are going pretty well at the moment. We had some fun experiences this week, as well as some interesting ones.

For starters, I received my luggage and my bicycle this week. (Yeah, It's pretty awesome. I love it.)

So it was nice to be able to get the rest of my clothes and stuff here. I have all my ties now and not just the same 4 I had. 

So, as for things that happened this week...

We have been doing a LOT of biking this week. Our investigator pool is diminishing because, well, they are getting baptized and everything. So we have been trying to find, find, and find some more. We have some potential people that we can call, and we are working with some of the people that come to English class. (Every week, in this mission, all of the missionaries teach a free English class at the local chapel. So that is pretty fun. I teach the advanced class.) Our English class is very small. We have about 7-10 people that show up max between the two classes. And we have manuals that we use. We teach about having basic conversations, about different recreational activities and things like that. 

Now for my culinary feats for this week, I have eaten a LOT of delicious food this week. We had 2 "Qing Ke's" (Ching Kuh), which is a member dinner. Here in Taiwan it is a very different culture. These people prepare enough food to feed like 12 people, and then four of us have to eat it. It is rude here to not eat all of the food that was prepared, so we were trying to eat all of this food, and I swear I was gonna die. I was so full. We suffered riding our bikes back home after that.  -- I also tried some street food this week as well, like night market stuff. So I got this thing, I can't remember what it is called. But essentially it is an entire octopus tentacle, deep-fried, and then they cut it up and put it in a bag like french fries. It was actually pretty good, chewy though. Speaking of chewy, I had another fun experience with food this week. Apparently there was some holiday this last week, (Even Elder Watson had never heard of it.) But on this particular holiday, the people make a special "soup" called Tang Yuan. It is a really sweet, dessert soup. It has these little handmade sugar ball things in a very sweet sugary broth. It was so sweet!!! I could only put down one bowl because of how sweet it was, but it was fun. 

But my worst experience with food happened yesterday. It all started Saturday evening...

We had gone to the 7-11 across from our apartment to plan and make some calls and stuff. After we did that, Elder Watson said that we needed to buy food for lunch and dinner on Sunday. So we had to buy food at the 7-11. They have these little meal things that you make yourself at home. You put it in the microwave and eat it. Anyways, I got this one that had rice, some tofu, and some really tasty red sauce on it. It was so good while I was eating it. 

But then I waited...

On our way biking to our next appointment in Xing Pi, about a 30 minute or so bike ride from our appointment, my stomach started turning. It felt really heavy in my stomach and up into my chest. It was terrible, but I pressed forward. So we are sitting in this member's home, and we are having a lesson and it just keeps getting worse and worse. Finally, I ask the member if I could use their restroom. He took me there and I sat in the restroom, ready to puke my guts out for like 5 minutes or so, but nothing happens, I figure it will go away soon. As soon as I come back downstairs, to my horror, the member has brought out this HUGE papaya for all of us to split. We each take a quarter of the papaya. So, as to not be rude, I manage to squeeze this papaya into my system. But then, as we leave the house, my stomach turns again. We get about half of the way home and I feel like I'm going to pass out. I drop my bike on the sidewalk and stand by this gutter thing. I puke a little bit and feel a little bit better. I make it just around the corner from our apartment without any issues. But then I got off of my bicycle and my stomach finally gave up. In what Elder Watson described as " a dragon breathing fire" I hurl in the gutter in front of our apartment. (Luckily nobody was around to see it other than Elder Watson). It was terrible, it was horrifying, but there is a great lesson to be learned from this experience. Let me quote some apostolic witnesses of my story.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said:

"Look, this is food, we are talking about here, not sunday school. We pay good money for the food that we eat. We can buy our food from a 7-11 in Taiwan if we want too! This young man was persistent. We can buy our food from a Taiwanese 7-11 if we want too? Rule number 1 about being an effective disciple of Christ, YOU NEVER BUY YOUR FOOD FROM A 7-11 IN TAIWAN!!"

Elder Bruce R. McConkie said:

"Heresy seven: There are those who believe we can buy good food from a 7-11 in Taiwan. This is not really a great heresy, only a doctrinal misunderstanding that I mention here in order to help round out our discussion and to turn our attention from negative to positive things. If we keep two principles in mind we will thereby know that good and faithful members' stomachs will be saved, even though they are continuing to make this mistake. These two principles are (1) that not all food from a Taiwanese 7-11 is inherently evil, but that there is some that should be avoided (2) that people must exercise spiritual caution when purchasing food from such a location.

(Those quotes were quotes from actual talks that they gave; I just altered what they actually said to fit my message. I had a good time doing it. )

So, there you have it, don't buy meals from a 7-11 in Taiwan. The apostles have said so.

 Zone Conference was amazing, super powerful!!! And we ate Costco pizza! Apparently, according to what Elder Watson has told me, Costco here is exactly like Costco back home, same food, same smell, EVERYTHING! We are actually going to the Costco in Jia Yi after we are done emailing today,

Anyways, other than that little incident I'm doing great. I hope to hear from you soon. I love you all and know how much I miss you.

With lots of love, Your son, friend, and brother,

Elder Chase Joseph Millett

Last week I received this letter from a member in Elder Millett’s ward in Washington. So sweet to hear from members about your missionary! J

“Your son is so good and kind. We loved having him in our home! My son left on December 17th for his mission, Pennsylvania Philly Spanish Speaking, so I know what it's like to hope someone is taking care of your boy!!  We got his email and are so glad he got to Tawaiin safely. He's going to do some amazing things there! Our favorite thing was to have him bare his testimony in Cantonese. The Spirit was always so strong!”

President Blickenstaff

Zone Conference lunch: Costco Pizza

2nd Quarter Birthdays

Singing the mission song

3 zone conference The Zhongxing, Jiayi, and Tainan zones

Jiayi Zone

Better late than never!

Chase's Mission Call- Looking at pictures, and counting my blessings that my sweet boy is half way around the world, and loving it. Not that I don't miss him immensely, but it sure is easier knowing that he is serving his Heavenly Father so selflessly. Just having a proud mom moment! I remember this day in May 2014, and the nervous excitement, and then the wave of peace that just rushed over him when he read his call. It was like he knew that was exactly where he needed to be. It took a while to get there, and there were some ups and downs, but the Lord has a plan! And now he is there! Yay! And just for the record, there are 10 Sundays to Mothers Day!

Subway art made by Chase's Aunt Mallory

First e-mail from Taiwan

Well, Family. I AM HERE! I finally made it to Taiwan!

We got there about 6:25 PM (Taiwan Time). We took a 2 hour bus ride to the mission home in Taichung. We had some orientation, and then we crashed at wherever they told us we were staying. We got up the next morning, jogged to a stadium just down the road and ran a mile! GAH, I was exhausted! But, after working out and some personal study, we had some more orientation and breakfast at the mission home. More orientation, and then some lunch. And then more orientation. We contacted a little bit, went to a really fun dinner, ate some duck brain, and went to the biggest night market in Taichung and did the Dan Jones experience. After we were done on the soap box, we each went with an experienced missionary and talked to people all over the market and they took pictures and stuff. We went back and went to bed. The next day, more working out, went to breakfast, and then we were brought in to meet our trainers. (Yes, they decided that since we were in a new mission that we are going to repeat the first 12 weeks of training.) We were each given a small red envelope that contained the name of our trainer and our new area. We were told one by one to stand up and read our cards. 

My trainer is Elder Watson. He has been here for a year and a half or so. He is super awesome. The area that I cover right now is Tai Bao. And it is Tai (said like Neck "tie") Bao (said like taking a "bow" at the end of a play.)

 It is more rural and very flat. Not too bad for biking. I haven't received my luggage or my bike yet, but it should be coming today (Monday for me. Sunday Night for You.) Anyways, I have been adjusting well. The time change didn't kill me as much as I thought that it would. I am getting eaten alive by mosquitoes though. But I have some spray that should help with that. The food is just as wonderful as it looks. It is super good, and super cheap!!! Like SERIOUSLY CHEAP! A typical meal costs like 60 kuai, which is like 2-3 American dollars. (To say kuai, think like saying the word cry, without the r. Like Elmer Fud saying the word cry. And the exchange rate is like 1 American Dollar to about 30 kuai.) And it is quality food too!

Yeah, it is just me and Elder Watson in the apartment. Our zone is actually the smallest zone in the mission, so there are only like 8-10 companionships in the zone. As missionaries in Taiwan, we will rarely, if ever, cook in our apartment. We will eat a quick breakfast, but every other meal is on the go. Since food is so cheap, and since we are always on the go, we will find whatever little shop or stand and eat food from there. And it is safe to eat. As for the water, we have to drink bottled water. The tap water here will make you sick. But every missionary apartment has a filtration system installed so that we can fill our bottles at our house. But if we are out on the street, we have to find bottled water. Our area is kind of weird. It is rural, but the way that it works is that there are a few little cities separated by fields and stuff. We go from city to city. Yeah, we attended church yesterday.  The "church" that we meet at is actually a small skinny building with like 3 floors. The first floor is the chapel. The second floor is class rooms. The third floor is the Branch President's office. It is super small. Not a lot of people come either. I think that there are 20-30 people max that come. My head hurt afterwards, but I could understand some of what was said. Our area is actually the only area that is not a ward or a stake. We are the Taibao branch, in the Jiayi area. 

My favorite part is probably just that people are so friendly. People seem to understand that I'm not too comfortable speaking Chinese yet, but they understand. And I have been told that for only being here for a few days that my Chinese is very good. I actually talked to another sister from St. George. She is going to be training one of the other sisters that flew in with us.

I don't have my luggage because they have to ship it from the mission home to our different areas. It would've been too much to have to haul from the mission home to the area. I mean, we cover half of the island! My area is like smack-dab in the middle of the island, so they have to ship the stuff to me. But it should be getting here today. Yeah, we can email just like we did back home. I got the Christmas package, thank you so much. It was fun and thoughtful. I have some clothes and stuff in my carry-on that I can use until my main luggage gets here, so I'm not too worried about it. The living conditions in our apartment are ok. It is not a beautiful apartment by any means, but it works. The only thing is that there are mosquitoes, but that is going to happen anywhere I go. Elder Watson is from Syracruse, UT (spell check?) But yeah. I am doing pretty good!

Anyways, I hope that you are all doing well. I am doing pretty good myself. I hope to hear from you, but depending on what time it is there right now, we'll see what happens.

Love you all so much. Miss you! Hope you are all happy and well!

Lots of love, your son, brother,

Elder Chase Joseph Millett

雷長老

https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/my-kingdom-is-not-of-this-world?lang=eng

 I love that video. It reminds me why I'm here