Weekly Report: Trail of Fear, Phones, God's Timing

Hey Everyone!
I hope you all had a great week. I did. Elder Pei has a very different mode of doing missionary work, so it was an interesting week. He's a master with a phone, so we spend a lot of time calling formers and people who have set up in the past. I've basically mastered switching between a standard Chinese accent for contacting and my Taiwanese accent on the phone. My companion said I sound super Taiwanese when I talk on the phone. Elder Pei really likes to spend time visiting people, so we spend a lot of time riding. It's got a much more laid back feel than riding from intersection to intersection and contacting my guts out. He asks really great questions and makes me feel bad about my Chinese (his Chinese is good even for a native). I've got a lot to learn this move call.

Speaking of riding a lot, we've been going out to Er Lin, our secondary area a lot this last week (incidentally, if said with a Taiwanese accent, the name of this place sounds like "evil spirit"). In memory of Halloween, I've decided to call the 13 kilometer road there "The Trail of Fear." This is why: There are dead animals all along the way that scare people. Road kill is everywhere: cockroaches (mom), rats (Sister Ludwig), bats (Klarissa), birds (Kira), snakes (Indiana Jones), and girls (Kohl) (Just kidding, for all I know, Kohl could be happily married by now, as he has chosen to use his agency to not write me). Sorry, Brother Ludwig, no pelicans. Pretty spooky ride over to Er Lin.

Shirt Review:
This week I saw some lady with a shirt that said, "It's Democracy's Fault." I couldn't agree more fully. It IS democracy's fault that she could have the freedom to wear such a tasteless outfit. I hate it when civil liberties get in the way of good fashion. Ridiculous. 5 politically informed opinions out of 5.

Since I've been doing a lot of calling, I've been using the phone at the church a lot. I hate it. It's evil. The buttons don't work, so I have to push the little ringer a certain number of times for each number in the phone number, which gets really tedious when numbers are 10 numbers long. I mess up all the time. I hate it. Just thought I'd let you all know about my little frustrations.

(Mom, don't read this paragraph)
Lately, there've been cockroaches in our apartment. I got some traps and have been happily killing them. I check every morning, and I have to say, I'm pretty much a master cockroach killer.

I'm sure many of you could have told from my emails throughout the last transfer that I was having a rough time here in Xihu. You'd be right if you had come to that conclusion. People were mean, and I didn't really feel much progress or see much success. As I started this move call, I was really apprehensive about staying here. However, this week, I got a letter from my dad that basically told me to take it easy and not worry about it; everyone has hard times on their missions. This letter was extremely comforting, and as I tried to take this counsel into my life, I've found that I've been much more relaxed and happier the last couple of days. What's more incredible is the timing of the letter. It happened to show up at just the time I needed it. In fact, it came late, coming a week later than the one that came later chronologically. God can work around the post office. He truly looks out for me, often through the people around me. I'm truly blessed to have such a wise, loving father. This week, I'd hope that you'd all be grateful for your fathers and father figures for their influence upon your lives, despite it being the wrong time of year. Heavenly Father has blessed us all with earthly fathers, and they truly make a difference.

I love you all,
Elder Siebert