Rain, Tracting in the Rain, and Zou Lu-ing in the Rain‏

Hello Family,

I hope that your week has been a good one, especially with it being the last week of school for you! I hope that all of you are planning for an awesome summer!

Well, if you couldn't tell from the subject of my email, it rained this week, a lot. Like, A LOT!!!

So, we had heard from an investigator that it was going to start raining on Wednesday. We thought, all right, not too bad. 

Well, then Wednesday came. It had started drizzling a little bit that morning and we thought it wasn't a big deal. Well, on the way to Puzi, Elder Watson and I saw what looked like a grey wall moving towards us. But then we started to hear it. There was literally like this wall of rain moving towards us! We darted to the side of the road and threw on our rain gear, but by that time it was too late. We were both soaked as the sky started to drop an ocean of water on us. We kept pressing onward to Puzi to meet with our investigator at his house. But the worst thing was that when we got there, his house was closed up. So, here in Taiwan, every house has a big metal garage door thing that slides down in front of the entrance to their homes to prevent water from coming in. So, this thing was closed, so "mei you ban fa." So, we tried contacting for a little while, but nobody wanted to stop and talk to a couple of white guys in the pouring rain apparently. So, we pulled into the nearby 7-11 to make some calls and do some language study. The rain let up a little bit and we headed back home. Well, this rain hasn't really "stopped" since Wednesday, and we have done everything in the rain.

On Saturday, we went to MaYuLiao to meet a less active for dinner at another less active's new restaurant. Well, the dinner went well, and afterwards, we started biking home. Well, MaYuLiao is about a 45 minute bike ride or so. So, about to XinPi, about a 30 minute ride from our house, my back tire on my bike decides to "bao diao." It went flat. Without a pump and not much time to spare, we started walking to our home back in Taibao. Well, about an hour and 10 minutes later, we finally made it back home. But yeah, walking down rural Taiwanese roads in the rain for an hour is always a fun thing!

Well, that about sums it up for this week. Lots of rain, but we are still having lots of success. Our investigators are doing ok, although some of them have not been able to meet for a little while. We are still working to set things up with them, and they still like us, so not all hope is lost. We are doing lots of finding and have been able to find a few new potential investigators. 

So, this week for personal study, I wanted to really put focus on sharing the words of modern prophets and apostles with our investigators. So, I started thinking about our individual investigators and their needs and different talks and other resources we could share with them. One thing that came into my mind that seems to be a common need among many people is their desire to have some life-altering, dramatic event that will allow them to know the Gospel is true. Well, the video that came into my mind was the Mormon Message, "Waiting on the Road to Damascus." It is all about how the Gospel will manifest itself to those who really desire to know of its truthfulness, but that it won't always come in some dramatic, mind-blowing way. It will more often than naught, come slowly and gradually, filling people with more and more light as they continue to search, ponder, and pray. It was a really cool subject to study.

One last thing, training ends today!! I am done with training and am now part of a normal companionship. We leave the door at 10:30 instead of 12:00 now. More time to "chuan jiao." WOO HOO! So, I'm pretty excited. Anyways, I hope that you guys are all doing great. I love you all and I hope to hear from you very soon. God Bless!

Sincerely, Your Brother, Son, Grandson, Cousin, Nephew and so on,

Elder Chase Joseph Millett

雷長老

Zone Conference in Jiayi complete with Costco Pizza

(And PS: for those of you who are still curious about the demon bird, we finally found out what it is called. In English it is called a Black Drongo. In Chinese it is called 大卷尾. 

We met a professional photographer at a restaurant the other day who had some pictures of this bird. I will send them so you can see what has been happening to us! It is too funny!)

Demon bird aka Black Drongo

大卷尾. 

**So each week Elder Millett sends us a talk or a challenge to participate in. Here is this weeks:

"This week is a little different. I want you guys, for family home evening this week, to watch the Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration movie. The hour long one. You can find it on LDS.org or you can probably get it at Deseret Book. But I want you guys to watch it and then tell me how it built your testimonies of the prophet Joseph Smith and the Restoration of the Gospel."

From Taibao with Love, THE BIRDS, and a Childhood Dream Realized‏

Hello Family, 

This will be my first email to you guys in a couple of weeks, because last week I got to Skype my family! So, that is why I named the first part of my letter "From Taibao with Love." So, last Monday, at 10:00 AM Monday, Taiwan Time, and 9:00 Sunday Night, Utah Time, I called my family from the chapel computer. We Skyped for about an hour and had a really fun time! It was such a blessing to see how well they were doing. I am so thankful for their support and for always encouraging me to do my best. I will never forget that experience! Thanks Mom, Dad, Tyler, and Karlie!!!

WARNING: THIS NEXT PART IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART

Not really, but it is terrifying. So, recently, for the past couple of weeks, we have been facing a demon. He is black. He is relentless. And he is a bird. So, on the way to Puzi, which is like a straight shot, 20-minute ride, there is a line of trees on the side of the road. Well, a while ago, we had one of the AP's going on splits with us, Elder Jardine. He served here in Taibao about a year ago, this same time of year. While he was here, he told us about these birds that attacked him on the way to Puzi. He said he finally got sick of it and started keeping a bread roller on his bike that he could wave in the air to prevent the bird from attacking him. Well, we thought it was a funny story at that time, and we had never seen them, so we were doubtful. But then, just recently, about 3 weeks ago or something, as we are riding to Puzi, we hear a noise. An awful noise. It sounded like laughter. It sounded like the devil himself was laughing. Elder Watson and I turn around and see this black bird chasing us as fast as he can. He looks at me and yells "ELDER! IT'S THEM!!!!" We start hauling butt as fast as we can, trying to outrun the beast. Well, we prevailed that time. He stopped chasing us and returned from whence he came. We were relieved, and we hoped that it was only a one time thing. But our happiness would not last forever. The next time, the same thing happened. Then the next 2 times. But then, the next time was even more terrifying for me. So, I was riding in the front this time. We were ready for this bird. We start hearing its taunting laughter and we started busting butt again. But he had us figured out. He came up out of the rice field next to the road and was able to catch me. He started flying right behind my head, attempting to peck through the holes in my helmet. But, alas, my helmet was to thick for the vile creature. So I prevailed. And Elder Watson was behind me watching the whole thing, laughing at my ordeal. Well, the bird "didn't like that, not one bit. He starts chasing him, laughing while he does it." Anyways, this experience convinced Elder Watson and I that we were going to have to start carrying defensive equipment with us. He found a small back pack that he could swing over his head. I, myself, found an extra leather belt of mine. Since then, although we have been chased by the bird, we have not since been approached. Man has won this battle.

Now, that that little incident of terror is over, I will tell you about my childhood dream that was realized this week. But I must start from the beginning. So, since I was little, I have loved reptiles. I had a pet snake when I was young, and later, I owned a bearded dragon. Growing up, I always loved to watch the "Crocodile Hunter." I'm sure we all remember him. I loved watching him show off these amazing animals and finding so much enjoyment in doing so. These creatures have always fascinated me. Even to this day, I have a soft spot for them. Whenever I went to a zoo, I would always get the most enjoyment out of seeing the reptiles. While seeing them behind glass was fun and all, it didn't really allow for that experience of getting up close and personal with them. Well, this last P-Day, that all changed... That morning, our zone leaders called us and asked if we would like to accompany them and a member from their ward to go to a zoo in Ma Dou in Tainan. We had nothing else to do that day, so we said "what the heck, sounds fun." So, we went to the zoo and we saw the animals and things that it had there. It is not a big zoo by any means, and if you don't know where it is, it is super easy to miss. But, what I was not aware of, was that this zoo is home to the largest alligator in all of Taiwan!!! The thing is legendary. It is like 30 years old, 20 ft long, and I don't even know how heavy it is. But, as we were taking pictures of it, his trainer saw me and asked if I wanted to get closer. My excitement was too much to contain. I went down into his "domain" and the trainer let me take pictures of him up close. But then he asked me if I wanted my picture with him. I was ecstatic! The trainer made sure everything was under control, and I was able to get up close and personal with this incredible creature. I got to rub my hand along his back, I got to feel his heart beat. A dream I'd had since I was a little kid had finally come true. Not only did I get to get up close and personal with the creatures I love so much. But I got to spend some personal time with the king of them all! Before we left, I hugged the great beast and thanked the trainer for the opportunity that I would probably never have again in my life! It was, and probably will forever be, the most memorable P-Day of my mission. God's creations certainly are beyond comprehension!

      Teaching is going well. We have some new investigators. A lady from English class and a family of 3. So that is looking good.  

We had a really neat spiritual experience this week. So, on Friday, we went on exchanges with our zone leaders, Elder Dawson and Elder James. Elder Dawson came to Taibao with me and Elder Watson went to JiaYi with Elder James. Well, that night, Elder Dawson and I had set up a lesson with a lady named Helen. Helen has been coming to English class for quite a long time now. She has met with missionaries before without much progress. Well, we had another lesson with her on Friday night that turned out to have a very similar result. She didn't seem like she was taking much of what we were saying to heart. We invited her to go home and say a kneeling prayer. At first she refused, saying that she had here own methods of praying. So, we finally just invited her to pray. Well, from what she told us, was that that night, she did say a kneeling prayer when she got home, twice! The next day, after we had exchanged back, we got a call from Helen saying that she really wanted to meet with us again that night. We didn't know why or what to expect. We met with her again. And her attitude had changed completely. She was totally ready to start taking the Gospel into her heart. It was the most spiritual lesson I've had on my mission thus far. We invited her to church the next day. She said that she might stay for the first hour. Well, she stayed for all three hours! And she said that she loved it so much that she was going to do all she could to come every week. It was a miracle. I know that the Lord is preparing people in his own time. We just have to have the faith to press forward!

    Here is your talk for the week!!!

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/is-not-this-the-fast-that-i-have-chosen?lang=eng

This was President Eyring's talk from this last conference. I loved it so much.

Well, that about sums it up for this week. I hope that you guys are doing well. I love and miss you and I will talk to you guys very soon!

Sincerely,

Elder Chase Joseph Millett

Mother's Day 2015

After counting down All day, (okay, lets me honest, after counting down for the last few months), we finally got to Skype this amazing missionary! Elder Millett is doing amazingly well. He is working hard, loving the work, the people, the food! He just plain loves it! His language is coming along wonderfully, His companion says that he doesn't give himself enough credit, that he is speaking well! He is the same old Chase, sense of humor and all! He shared about his day to day activities, he shared a street contact with us, and at the end he offered a prayer in Chinese! The Spirit was so strong. What a testimony he shared in that prayer. Hitting the end call button was almost as hard as the day we said goodbye at the MTC. But, he told us he loves us, and said, "I have to go, there are souls to save!" I am so thankful for a son who chooses to serve the Lord obediently! I am thankful for modern technology that gives us that short time with him! We love you Elder Millett!

New Investigators, Bye-Bye Andy, and a Xiao Tou‏

Hello Family,

I hope that your week has been phenomenal. Ours has been pretty good here in Taibao. I guess I'll get right into the meat of it.

So, yeah, we have new investigators!!! We have finally been able to find some promising investigators. The first is a guy named Chen Yun Ying. I talked a little bit about him in my email last week, but I'll fill you in if you didn't get the chance to read about him. So, Chen Yun Ying is a hardcore Taoist. Essentially, he is like a monk in training. He travels around the area, going to different "miao's" or Taoist temples, to worship. Elder Watson and his previous companion had run into him around "Guo Nian" time. (Guo Nian is the Chinese New Year). And at that time, he was super busy with his family and stuff, so he didn't have time to meet. But we finally found time to meet with him and yesterday was our second meeting. He is GOLDEN! Although he is super firm in his beliefs right now, he has agreed with and liked everything we've taught him thus far. He is super smart. He has been able to connect all of the dots and understand the points we are trying to make. We invited him to start reading the Book of Mormon and he has done so. He seems to like it. 

The other new investigators are this guy named Rush and his girlfriend. We contacted into them on the street a little while back, but he too has been super busy with his work. He works for real estate and is constantly traveling all over the island. But we got to sit down and eat dinner with him this week in Puzi. He speaks fluent English. It's pretty much perfect. He spent a year or so in Australia and was able to learn. So that helps if I don't know how to say something in Chinese. His girlfriend speaks pretty good English too. We invited her to our English class and she said that she would come, so we will see what Wednesday brings. But they are super cool and we look forward to meeting with them.

Now, onto the second part. So, here in Taibao, there is a restaurant that we go to eat at all the time called Lao Di Fang, which translates into "Old Place." The lady who owns it is a less active, who runs the store with her non-member husband and her son. They love missionaries!!! They have been helping missionaries for like 10-15 years now. They have become our really good friends. So, this week, the son, named Andy, had to go to GaoXiong for a job interview at a printing company, and he got the job! So, our friend Andy left for GaoXiong on Saturday. We are so happy for him, but it was kind of sad to see him go. But we wish him the best. Please pray for Huang Jie Mei. Without her son there she is having trouble finding help. I will attach some pictures of us with them.

And the third part, Xiao Tou, means thief. So, yesterday, we came home from church and were trying to get into our apartment. To our surprise, the key would not go into the keyhole. It's not that the lock wouldn't turn, but like the key wouldn't actually go in at all! We went down and talked to our security lady who called our landlord. He came and looked at it and he couldn't figure out why it wouldn't go in. So, he called a locksmith who came and opened our door for us. He said that it wasn't a big deal, that sometimes the gears in the lock slip and the key won't go in. So we didn't think much of it. Well, a little while later, while we were doing our studies, our neighbor knocked on our door. He was standing outside with what I thought was a police officer and some other guy. He asked if our lock was broken. I told him that it wasn't and he said that some guy had broken into his house and that he had thrown stuff all over and of course, stolen some things. We were curious. Later, we went back downstairs on our way to go make some calls, when we saw the officer, our neighbor, and all of our security people looking at the security monitors in their office. They were apparently looking for someone who broke in. So, to sum up the story, the guy had obviously come up to our floor, tried to break into our door with no success, and had then moved to the neighbor’s house where he, unfortunately, had had success. The Lord certainly blessed us that day, and we are praying for our neighbor that everything will get sorted out.

Taiwan is very very green. So humid though too. Elder Watson said that this has to be the warmest area he's ever been in either! He said that technically, GaoXiong is the hottest area in the mission, but because you are always surrounded by buildings and stuff it's not so bad. But here, because we are always out in the open, it gets a lot hotter! So yeah, I sweat.....a lot..... But I guess that's to be expected. 

Well, that about sums up this week. It was a good week, with a few funny happenings. Well, I hope to hear from you guys soon and know how much I love and miss you.

Sincerely, 

Elder Chase Joseph Millett

雷長老

Me with my new district leader Elder Jenkins. He was also my Dan Jones companion!!!

The knighting of the new Elders in our district by our new zone leader

 Huang JM, Andy, Myself, Zhuang Di Xiong (one of our RC's), and Elder Watson

So, last P-Day, our less active friend Rafiki took us to XinGang, the northernmost part of our area, to play and sightsee. Here are some pictures of us in some old masks we found.

Some cool art we found. The art was made from metal, and the pictures don't do it justice it was huge

Some sign I can't read

Some rice fields typical of rural Taiwan

Some rice fields typical of rural Taiwan

A bird that I took a picture of.