I'm sure you've been following the news, so you will know what happened to me this week, but I hope that yours has been good. Let's get right to it, shall we?
So, yes, everyone, a very large and very serious typhoon DID touch down in Taiwan. Apparently its name is Soudelor, but we didn't know that until just this morning, so we've been calling it Charlie. But yes, Charlie was angry.
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| Typhoon Soudelor |
So, on the day of the typhoon, it really wasn't bad. The clouds were a little dark, there was a slight breeze, but nothing major. Well, that night however, things started turning a little nasty. The wind picked up and got really, really strong, so we decided the best thing to do would be to go outside and enjoy it. So that's exactly what we did. While we were waiting for an appointment, we were outside, being blown around in the wind. Scooters and Motorcycles were falling, trees were being knocked over. (Elder Moore got hit in the head with a small branch, but he was ok.) We saw some guy run over a helmet that had blown into the street. We thought it was pretty bad. But that night, while we were sleeping, Charlie went crazy...
I woke up, about 4:00 or so, because of a loud thumping noise that I heard. Well, come to find out, it was the sound of Charlie's great winds trying to bust through our windows, and the thumping sound was the sound of the glass moving and bending. We heard massive trees collapse across the street and such, but we decided to wait it out until morning and then survey the damage. Well, 更好, the next morning happened to be when the eye of the storm was passing over Taichung, so it was pretty calm. We walked outside and looked down our street to find that trees had fallen on cars and scooters were blown halfway down the street and such. So, we spent the morning going and cleaning up the road and a local park nearby. Lots of people walked by, but nobody volunteered to help except one, very willing lady. We moved 2 feet thick trees that had fallen. We picked the motorcycles back up and then we went home and showered. Well, although our house was safe and no damage was done, our chapel is another story.
Since our chapel is on the 19th floor, the wind up there was even crazier than it was near ground level. We were advised by the mission president that if the wind or rain got too bad, we had to walk instead of riding our bikes or take a break indoors if necessary. Well, we had an appointment at the chapel we were waiting for, but they ended up not coming because they didn't want to leave their house, which was probably the smart thing to do. Well, we noticed that the chapel had a lot of wind or air pressure changes going on, and we didn't know why. So we started exploring. Well, we went to a classroom across the hall and we saw that a few ceiling tiles had fallen and there was some insulation on the ground. Well, we thought, "Oh no, that's too bad!" But then we kept going. I stayed back to try and clean up a bit when I hear Elder Moore say, "Elder! Oh, shoot. You're gonna want to see this." Well, I walked to the room next door to discover this.
Yup, the room exploded. The windows on the left side had completely broken apart, the wind had come inside and blown down the wall, the ceiling, and the rain had started coming in and such. So, now there is a huge flipping hole in our chapel. It was because of Elder Moore and I that all the missionaries had to go home. We called him and told him about the chapel exploding, and he said, I guess this storm was a lot more serious than we thought it was, and then he sent out the text saying that all of the missionaries had to go home immediately.
But, aside from that little adventure, the typhoon was a lot of fun. I kind of enjoyed it. But it made missionary work pretty difficult. Nobody wants to stop and talk to you when the world is falling apart around you!
Well, now that that part is over, onto the second subject. Plain and simple, Elder Moore taught me how to play Chinese chess. It is quite different from regular chess, but it is just as competitive and just as fun!
And lastly, we went up to a local night market to do some finding this week, when it came time to eat dinner. Elder Moore remembered that there is a really good burger place up the road a little ways, so we said what the heck. Well, he told me that I had to try there supersize big beef burger. So I said ok. Well, here is what they brought me.
This burger was the size of my head. Well, after much struggling, I was able to finish this beast. Yup, good times.
Well, that's about it for this week. Know that I am safe and that the storm has passed. Thank you for your prayers on our behalf. I hope that you have a good week and I hope to hear from you very soon.
Sincerely,
Elder Chase Joseph Millett
雷長老
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