I very aware of what is probably running through your minds right now. I just want to tell you right now that Elder Park and I are ok. We were safe and not affected too badly.
For those of you who don't know, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Taiwan 2-3 days ago at about 4:00 in the morning. Northern Gaoxiong and Tainan received the brunt of it. But the area that we live in was not affected as badly. There was a 17-Floor apartment complex that did collapse over in YongKang, about a 30 minute bike ride from here, but no missionaries were affected. But, unfortunately, as of the writing of this email, there were 18 people confirmed dead as a result of the quake. We will be praying for their families and friends as well as they go through this trial. All missionaries in the mission were safe and accounted for, even here in Tainan. There were also some buildings in GuiRen and a couple of other places that were damaged pretty heavily as well, but it seems like they've got things under control at this point.
Well, now for my personal perspective on what has happened. So, at about 4:00 in the morning, I suddenly woke up, just as the quake was getting going. It started pretty small, almost amusing, so I decided to wait it out and then go back to sleep. But as it kept going, it kept getting larger and larger. Our apartment complex was creaking and moving all over the place. Our building had to have been moving by the foot. We were shaking left to right, with a little bit of up and down motion as well. Eventually, I called to Elder Park who was still sleeping, and he woke up just as the quake was at its most intense. Our chairs were sliding around our study room (which doubles as our bedroom so we were watching the whole thing.) There was stuff falling from our desks and bookshelves and stuff, and it sounded like there was some glass and metal falling somewhere in our apartment. Well, after about a minute to 2 minutes, it seemed like things had stopped. We waited for a little bit to make sure it was through, and then we went to check on the apartment. The metal that I heard fall down was my wardrobe in my bedroom. It is pretty heavy, but it had toppled over, sending my clothes around the room.
We had a fan fall over as well as some other small stuff in the apartment. And we only had one casualty, a jar of my mother's precious pepper jelly had shattered on the ground, which, like Nephi, caused "mine eyes [to] water my pillow by night." After a little cleanup, we decided that we would finish when we woke up in a couple of hours. Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well for the next 2 hours. I was checking up on the district members, answering calls from members asking if we were ok, preparing to text the Zone Leaders and other stuff. I got to sleep about an hour and a half or so after it happened. Then when we woke up, we finished cleanup and stuff. All of our water is good, although we are running off of our building's reserve tank. Apparently a main water line was damaged, and so all of Tainan's water is temporarily shut off, but it should be back up within the next day or two. So, we have water at our apartment, just not at the church.
So yeah, like. It was one of the most terrifying moments of my life, but then I realized something when we down to get our bikes. So, we park our bikes in this little room on the side of the building. There are usually quite a few bikes there, so we weren't surprised when we found that most of the bikes had fallen over.......aside from ours'! Yeah, all of the other bikes had toppled over during the quake expect for mine and Elder Park's. It was definitely a testimony to me that the Lord is watching over and protecting his servants. Us missionaries are doing all we can to help those affected by the quake, and I personally believe that the Lord spared us for this very purpose, to be a light shining forth in the darkness of such a trial. So, onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus, going on before.
Well aside from that little incident, Happy Chinese New Year Everybody!!!! 新年快樂！ 恭喜發財!! Yep, the New Year is upon us. The dinner appointments are rolling in, the people are retiring to their homes with their families, and the red banners are going up. This is definitely a moment I've been waiting for for a long time now. When I got to Taiwan just about a year ago, I missed the New Year by just a week or two, so this will be my first and last Chinese New Year on my mission. And I am so excited for it. While the work tends to get a little tricky during this time of year, we are so stoked to be able to get to know the members and really just get immersed in the culture of the place here. It is definitely a time to start setting goals for the new year, as well goals for finishing out my mission strong. So, I can say that I am living the dream right now. We had our first New Year's meal with our FHE group.
Lastly, for our P-Day last week, we went to some building in our area that is like 400 years old. Apparently it was used by the Dutch or something when they first came to Taiwan. A member, Ricky, gave me the whole history of the place, but I have forgotten after a week, but enjoy a picture instead! (And there are more to come)
Well, that is about it for this week. Know that we are safe here and that we are enjoying a wonderful New Year! Can't wait to hear back from you! Stay safe, and GLHF!!
GGWP, Earthquake....
Elder Chase Joseph Millett
雷長老
**So far Elder Millett has experienced a very powerful typhoon, record breaking cold temperatures, and now an earthquake! Proof that the Lord is looking out for all of His missionaries!
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