Jacob Dyer Missionary Blog: March 9, 2015

IT'S A BOY! So turns out I'm training one of the "visa waiters" that's waiting on a visa to Taiwan – should be a pretty fun experience.

We do a lot of service as missionaries, including weeding yards - which is especially fun when the whole back yard is weeds. One of our recent convert’s wife had us help her weed this back yard that was literally all weeds. We showed up and I just said we're getting some weed killer. So we get the weed killer and come back and spray it, then she says she needs it out by TOMORROW, to show people who are renting the house... So we had to clear weeds for someone who wanted to rent out a house. It took a really long time and Round Up apparently isn't made for killing weeds in one night... Luckily one of the missionaries that helped us is a farmer from Iowa so that sped up the process.

It's really interesting seeing the Chinese people that live here. The older people still have old habits that die hard. Their kids come and buy a half million dollar home in cash and they go around the parks looking through the garbage cans for plastic bottles they can recycle. I guess it does help the environment, but funny nonetheless.

We're teaching this eight year old who is getting baptized with his mom this week in Chino Hills. On the subject of faith, I asked him how does he know the sun will come out tomorrow. He replied in a very matter of fact way, "because the weatherman said so." I guess that's faith.

We spent a lot of this week helping prepare for the Stake Chinese New Year Party that the Chinese members threw. It was huge! 700 people at least. Elder Murray and I were in the dragon. I was the tail so I had to shake it a lot. It was really fun though, especially for the kids who all kept trying to reach out and touch it.

I get really excited every time we go to a Chinese member's house for food. The food is good, and hearing the Taiwanese (at the Taiwanese member's homes) really reminds me of home and listening to all the Aunties and Uncles talk!