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.

Transfers, Service, and a KaoRou‏

Hello Family, 

I hope that this week has been a good one for you. This week has been a good one for me. Quite a bit happened so I will try my best to sum everything up.

So, transfers (move calls, as they are called here) are today. The calls have already come in and people are traveling to their new areas. As you have probably already guessed, I am not moving. Elder Watson and I will finish out our training and we will see where we go from there. But as for the rest of our district, every other companionship is changing. Yup, every single one. 

So, Elder Chapman, one of the awesome Elders in our district is going to go be a zone leader in GaoXiong East. And Elder Zhu, our awesome native district leader, is going up to Taichung. Sister Kwong, from the MTC, will also be getting a new companion as her companion is going home. So, in exchange for these we will be getting 2 new elders and one new sister. One of the Elders I know. He was my "Dan Jones" companion, Elder Jenkins. This will be the last transfer of his mission and he will be our district leader here in JiaYi. I don't know who else is coming though.

 So, we also did service this week. We went and helped Huang Di Xiong in our ward pull up some tarp stuff from his garden. And then he treated us to a huge KaoRou (Barbeque). 

So, here is where it gets funny. Elder Watson told me that he and his last companion had gone and done service for him before. He said that they only did like 30 minutes of service and then ate for like 3 hours! That is the same thing that happened here. We pulled up the tarps and folded them up, which took like 20 minutes, and then he came back with this HUGE box full of food. We went back to his little "house" that he built by his garden, and barbequed for like 2 hours! It was ridiculous! It was soooo good though. We ate pork, fish, vegetables, some kind of soup stuff, and more meat, of all kinds!! So that was fun and I will send pictures.

So, on Saturday, we had a lesson with our recent convert Chen Jie Mei from my first weeks here. She is doing great. She loves the church. She is reading her scriptures and praying. So all is well. After the lesson, we had forgotten that the branch was putting on an activity for all of the sisters in the branch. The Relief Society President, Wu Jie Mei, was demonstrating how to cook a healthy meal. They invited us and our Peike, Ye Di Xiong, to sit in with them during the activity. At first we weren't going too, but then our less active friend Rafiki came to the activity to take pictures for the branches Facebook page. It's kind of like his calling to do that. So, yeah, we stayed and mingled and ate some really good food afterwards. So not too bad.

Well, this week, we had a really cool experience. We got in contact with a potential investigator that Elder Watson and Elder Davis had found back during Guo Nian. He finally was able to meet with us and we met with him yesterday night. He is a really dedicated Taoist, almost like a "monk-in-training" sort of thing. He travels around, going to different Miao's and things like that. But, when we met with him, he seemed to love everything we were teaching. He was putting so many of the dots together, more so than any other investigator I've met with on my mission. He was paying attention and really focusing on what we were saying. We were able to give him a Book of Mormon and challenge him to read and start praying. At the end of the lesson, he said a wonderful prayer, a sincere prayer. This experience testified to me that it really is not the missionaries or their skill that touch peoples' hearts, but the message itself. The Spirit will stir their hearts and help them to know that the message is true if they are but willing to plant that seed of faith.

Yeah, I got the jam (on my birthday!) (mom is happy to know that Habanero and Jalapeno jam will make it through customs!)Thank you so much! It is so good!  It's funny. Elder Watson was so opposed to the idea of pepper jelly at first. But then he tried it and liked it. But he still thinks that spicy jelly is just weird. 

My birthday was fun. Apparently, Elder Watson called the zone leaders the day before my birthday and simply said, "Elder Dawson, I need a cake." "I'm on it!" he replied. The next day, after our district meeting, the zone leaders brought up this delicious mango cake It is fairly similar to regular cake, and OH MY GOSH it was so good!!! and the whole district sang to me. It was fun, and definitely very memorable. (Good thing that Elder Millett is biking about 10 miles a day :)

Yeah, apparently Elder Watson felt the earthquake. I didn't. It was at night and he said I must have slept through it. (Taiwan had a 6.6 earthquake on April 20, 2015)

Well, that is about it for this email. I hope it satisfied. I love you all and I can't wait to hear from you guys very soon. Stay safe, have fun, and know that we are on the Lord's side!

God Bless,

Elder Chase Joseph Millett

雷長老

Service

Scenery

Service

Scenery

Elder Watson

Elder Millett

Barbecue (KaoRou)

Yummy looking tomatoes that Elder Millett won't eat

More tomatoes

Exchange, Dong Gua, and I'm a Wizard‏

Hello Family, 

I hope that this week has been a good one for you guys, because it has certainly been a good one for us here in Taibao. We have had some wonderful experiences this week, which I am sure I will get too, but for now, I will address the things listed in my email subject. 

The first one is exchange. So this week, I went on companion exchanges with my District Leader Elder Zhu. He is a native Taiwanese, but his English is near flawless, so that made it a little bit easier. But I went to Jia Yi again while his companion Elder Shurtz, came down to Taibao with Elder Watson. It was a really fun exchange. Jia Yi was a lot of fun, but it is very different from Taibao. So, as you know, Taibao is pretty rural, with the cities in our area spread pretty far apart. Well, Jia Yi is a big city. So it is definitely very different in terms of missionary work. We are always talking to people on the street and going to and from the chapel for lessons. In Taibao, we are pretty lucky if we find someone on the street to talk to! But it was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot from Elder Zhu. And I also finally passed off my first Phase 1 lesson. If I haven't already told you, Phase 1 is the language learning program that missionaries in Taiwan use.  But I finally passed the first part and am preparing to pass the second part off this coming week. So I need to 加油. But yeah, that about sums that up.

So, I believe I have neglected to tell you guys about one of the most delicious things I've ever had in Taiwan, and that is 冬瓜茶, or Dong Gua Cha, Wintermelon Tea. It is like nectar from heaven it is so good!! And because it doesn't have tea leaves, no Word of Wisdom problems here! But it is super delicious. I always get it with 珍珠, or tapioca pearls, so that it is like a bubble tea. (Random Fact: Bubble Tea was created in Taiwan if I remember correctly!) But this week, I had another variation that was really good, and that was 冬瓜鮮奶, Dong Gua Xian Nai, which means Wintermelon milk. It is simply dong gua cha with some fresh milk mixed into it, and it is soooooo goooood!!!!! Anyways, enough about dong gua.

And Finally, the last part is simply because I'm a wizard. Elder Watson says that all the time. When he tells you that you are a wizard, it means you have impressed him in some way. Sooooo, yeah, I'm a wizard. And don't forget it.

So, today for P-Day, we are going to a Chi Dao Bao, or the Taiwanese take on an all you can eat buffet. There is one on the way to Pu Zi and we are going to eat there for lunch. You pay like 300 kuai (About 10 bucks ba. (Ba is just something you put onto the end of a sentence to show that you are suggesting something.) So yeah, it is about 10 American Dollars,  and you stuff yourself full for like 2 hours or something like that. So my mouth is watering already! 

Well, as I said earlier, we had a really neat spiritual experience this week. So, we have been meeting with this investigator, Chen Di Xiong (Di Xiong just means Brother, like we call people in the church Brother so and so.) So, this Chen DX has been a rather interesting guy to talk to. He is very very quiet and doesn't say much a lot of the time. And he rarely leaves his house other than to eat food. We had tried in the past to see if he wanted to come eat food with us and he usually rejected the offer. But this past week, we went over to teach him a lesson, and his whole personality had changed. He was excited to see us. He was super talkative. He was asking lots of good questions, and then afterward, HE INVITED US to eat with him. Yup, HE INVITED US!!! We were shocked. It was super awesome. He is starting to love the gospel. His understanding is only very very simple, and the scriptures confuse him at this point. So we started bringing him a copy or two of the Church's international magazine, the Liahona. He likes reading those because he can understand them better. But it has certainly opened the door for letting the gospel into his life. I can personally testify that the Lord is preparing people in his own time. We just have to have the patience to accept His will and work as He would have us work, relying on Him in all things, and He will put those whom He has prepared into our path. 

Well, that about sums up this week. I will attach a few pictures. know how much I love you and miss you guys. I look forward to Mother's Day coming up soon and am super excited to talk to you! Love you so much. Have a good week. Stay safe and have fun!

With lots of love,

Sincerely, your Son, Brother, Nephew, Cousin, and a Flippin Wizard,

Elder Chase Joseph Millett

雷長老

 

On Exchanges with Elder Zhu, eating at this awesome place called Shark Bite

In the Chapel, drinking my Dong Gua Xian Nai

General Conference, My First "Shuai Dao," and the 6-Month Mark‏

Well Family, the time has finally come. And it seems like it just snuck up on me.

That is right. 2 days from now will be April 15th, my 6 month mark. I will have finished a quarter of my mission. It seems to crazy to think about. But I've definitely done a lot of things these past six months. So I thought that I would reflect on them a little bit. I was in the MTC for just over 2 months. I went in on October 15th, 2014. I walked nervously into my class room where my tall, red-headed Wu Di Xiong of a teacher was waiting for me. I was actually the first one to arrive in the class room as well. I met my companions, Elder Noah Quist and Elder Jarom Hendricks a little while later. I then met the rest of our district, Elders Benjamin Chan and Marlou Marcelo, and Sisters Proffit, Kwong, Nemrow, and Hancock. What a fun group that was. 2 months later, after rigorous Mandarin study, visa-waiting, and many fun moments shared as a district, we got our reassignment notifications. I was reassigned to the Washington, Federal Way Mission. I flew out early, early, on a Saturday morning to the Seattle Airport with Elder Quist, and Elders Tan and Smith (some other Elders from my zone at the MTC.) And then I met my mission president and his wife, President and Sister Eaton. I was then introduced to my companions, yup, companionS. I was once again in a tri-panionship. My trainer was Elder Dold from Placerville, CA. And my other companion was a fairly new missionary, a convert of about a year and a half, Elder Odell. I then had a lot of adventures in the realms of Buckley, WA for the next two months. There were ups. There were downs. And there were in-between days as well. I learned a lot about the actual mission lifestyle there. Then the day came when I got a casual phone call from the mission office telling me that my visa came through and that I would finally be going to Taiwan on the 25th of February. The day came. I said goodbye to my awesome companions. I said goodbye to the friends I had made in Washington. And I met up with Elders Quist, Tan, and Smith again, and we stayed at the mission president's house that night. We left early the next morning from the Seattle Airport, flew to San Fransisco, and then to Taipei. The flight to Taipei was like the longest travel of my life! It felt like an eternity in that airplane! We landed in Taipei about 6:30 pm on the 25th of February. (Taiwan time of course.) We met our mission president, who was eager to greet us long awaited new missionaries. We spent a few days in mission housing and had some orientation. We ate some good food, had an awesome Dan Jones experience, yelling our testimonies in the middle of a crowded Taiwanese night market. And the next day, we met our trainers. I met Elder Watson, and we took a train and a bus to our area, Taibao! Taibao is a pretty rural area, with our cities scattered pretty far from each other. But it is a fun area. We have seen success. I have continued to learn a lot, and I am now halfway through the training period. And that leads us to where we are now. 

Wow, what an experience I have had so far. Pretty crazy in my opinion. But it has been rewarding, as well as refining. I look forward to the new adventures that still lay ahead.

Well, now that my reflections are over, how about some humor. I had my first Shuai Dao this week, which is essentially a crash. Yep, I crashed my bike. I am fine, it wasn't bad. We were on our way to our Branch President's house to do some Home Teaching. Elder Watson was in front and was slowing down. I didn't see that he was going to turn right, and I couldn't slow down in time. I jerked my handlebars to the right to avoid running into him, and the rest is history. I slammed onto the ground pretty hard, according to Elder Watson anyways. My hands got a little scraped up, but other than that I am "Hai Huo Zhe." (Still alive!) So, yeah.

And we had General Conference this last weekend. It was super awesome. So, the missionaries here have to go to Conference in the building where they serve, but they get to watch it in English. And because our branch is so small, it was only Elder Watson and I in the room. We had the clerk's office all to ourselves, where we enjoyed an amazing General Conference!! I still can't decide which talk was my favorite, but it might be Elder Holland's talk about the Atonement. That one really left an impression on me. I hope that all of you enjoyed Conference as much as I did.

Well, that about sums it up for this week. We found 3 new investigators this week, so we will see how far they go. And we are still working with Ke Guo Lin to found a baptismal date. But we are waiting until he gets back from Hong Kong. And the mission life goes on. 

I love you guys. Hope you have had a good week and I look forward to talking to you guys very soon!

Sincerely, your Son, Grandson, Brother, and Nephew,

Elder Chase Joseph Millett

雷長老

Training Follow-up Meeting - Jiayi with Cinnamon Rolls made with Love by Sister Blickenstaff 

Training Follow-up Meeting - Jiayi

Some nightly planning fun at the 7-11 by our house.

Aww....Love him!

Elder Quist and Millett together again!

Nom-Nom Star Fruit Breakfast!

Star fruit is really good! Kind of sour. Kind of sweet. It is just right. It is different though. 

Conference "Pai Dui"

Some Service we did for a member!