A Thousand Years

Remember the Bizzarre Foods show? Well, this week I ate a "thousand-year-old egg", as they are called, which apparently was voted in the top ten most repulsive foods in the world or something. I think mine might have been cooked and seasoned pretty well, though, because it wasn't that bad. I certainly wouldn't eat it for fun, but it was tolerable. The family of a lady in our ward took us to a hot-pot buffet on Saturday night, and the husband basically dared me to eat it. I was like "Okay, why not?" So I did. 

 

I also found out... I ate pig's blood cake and blood tofu on accident. There was a kimchi soup that some member made after church a few weeks ago... I swear, I really did have a strange feeling as I was stirring around its suspcious red contents in my bowl. There were these chunks of dark-grey tofu in it, and a cube of blackish rice. Tasted kind of unappealing but hey, so do a lot of things. Last week, Sister Kang told me what they were. It had been a couple of weeks since I had eaten it, but it still made me gag! Ughhhhhh.... Mary, remember when I almost passed out in Wayment's class because everyone was talking about blood soup?

 

That was the only food though that I think I regret trying. I remember being at Tucano's with my band last summer and I didn't want to eat chicken heart, it was two weird. And everyone was teasing me about all the much weirder things I would eat in Taiwan. I was worried for myself. But ever since coming here, I've had this sudden curiosity and willingness to try whatever I am served, sometimes even ordering strange things for the purpose of trying them out. There is still a long way to go before I eat the chicken feet people bring to ward parties, perhaps, but I am getting there. I'll keep you updated as my resume of strange-foods-eaten expands.

 

So... If anyone wants to write me, I promise you don't need to be scared of sending things to Taiwan. Postage from the states for a normal letter is $1.05. If you address your letter to me and copy down this address it will get to me. This is the mission home address, so it won't change throughout my mission:

 

Floor 4, No. 24, Lane 183
Jin Hua Street, Da-An District, Taipei
Taiwan

 

Hint hint..... Just kidding. :)

 

This week Evonsa was baptized! Evonsa is her english name. Often the english names people choose for themselves are kind of rare and old-fashioned. Sometimes they are not even English--like our friend Xu JieMei, a slightly slow, round, 30 year old lady who loves Americans. She believes firmly in both Jesus and Buddha. She comes to English class religiously, always showing up a few minutes early to give us snacks and to tease us. I love her, and becuase she is so instantly sweet and accepting I don't feel self-conscious about my Chinese around her, which is refreshing. We always have really funny, broken conversations with a lot of sign language and laughter. Anyway, her English name is Kenji, which I am pretty sure is actually a Japanese name.

 

Recommended reading of the week: The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality, by Elder Bednar. It is in the April 2012 Ensign. I was reading it during personal study this week and just kept experiencing this "Yes yes yes yes yes!" through my whole self. He talks about how the grace Christ offers is more than redemption--more than something that neutralizes our sins. It is something that enables and empowers. He says to lay hold on this type of grace, we should be asking not for our circumstances to change, but for us to have the power to change our circumstances. I love this idea and have experienced it in small degrees and want to experience it more. Please look it up! Here, I will do it for you:

 

http://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/04/the-atonement-and-the-journey-of-mortality?lang=eng

 

My heart is so full of things I want to say. My heart is also so full with all the things you have to say to me. I don't know what challenges you all might be facing every day, and if you see conections to the challenges I face, but every time I share mine I do so because I hope they will relate, and connect. And that we can grow together.

 

I have lately been on a sort of high... I feel so happy to be here, to be able to feel this much love, gratitude, and awe for people and the world around me. Have you ever thought about how each of us at each moment are surrounded by infinity in all directions? How funny that sometimes we think we know a place or a person or a situation, but we will never even really be able to see or grasp the essence of a pen we hold in our hands. The only kind of knowledge that sticks and matters most is the kind that is connected to our souls, our moral centers. I don't know what this pen is but I know by making these strokes on this card I can communicate some meaning to a person who is sick and feeling lost and hopefully inspire a recognition of goodness in them that can make waves in their reality as it has in mine. God is so cool.

 

I am really, really tired. Last night for the first time in a while my high was wearing off, my mood on the edge of collapse, and more than anything I just wanted a nap. A break from Chinese and from having to think all the time. Then on the way home while biking I started singing "How Firm a Foundation", and I found this spurt of strength that wasn't there before. I don't know how you find strength, but remembering Christ, studying his life, and trying to be willing to sacrifice and love as much as he does has really changed my life. I don't know very much, but I think he wants me to really take up this situation I am in, accept it and appreciate it, and do what I feel morally compelled to do. I don't think he wants me to run away from or resent the challenges I face.

I still need a nap! We wake up at 5 to do emails. But hopefully I will catch up on sleep tonight. Haha. Keep praying for me.

 

I love you all! Thanks for the love and support. Take care.

 

Sister Brown