Mister's Mission

Mister served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints over 6 years ago. He served in Taiwan. How could we pass up a visit to the place that was his home for 2 very important years? We just couldn't.

This is where the Mission President and his family live. They volunteer 3 years of their time to oversee about 150 missionaries in a specific area. (There are over 400 areas with mission presidents-wow.)

On his first day in Taiwan, mister and all the other new missionaries were taken to this spot in the middle of the night market. To get out of their comfort zone, they got to stand on a box in the middle of tons of people and try to share (in Chinese, mind you) about the church. 

 A lot of what mister did while in Taiwan was talk to people on the streets (even in intersections while people on scooters were waiting for a light) about his and their beliefs.

Brother is ready to go!

It was so fun to see where Mister began his time as a missionary. We loved hearing stories and experiencing the night life of Taichung, Taiwan.

Big Buddha, Big Belly

If there is one thing I'll remember from our Taiwan adventures, it is the people we were blessed to associate with.

Every step of the way we were the receivers of SO much goodness.

After a day in Taipei, we headed to Taichung. Lucky for us, so did the Bowens! It was SO fun to be with them.

Mister would start off every day like this if he could. Mmm. 

We took a walk to find the Big Buddha. When we entered the courtyard, this is what we found. I was expecting something a little bigger...

That's more like it!

Family pic in the courtyard.

For lunch we went to the famous Japanese BBQ!

All-you-can-eat meat that you cook on your own=fantastic. We probably didn't eat this much beef combined while in China.

These wonderful people drove us around, took care of our babies, and made sure we had a place to sleep at night! 

                        Octopus salad

What a sweet way to start out our day. :)

Hello, Taiwan

We had to take one more trip before heading back to the homeland.

It was THE perfect end to our adventures in Asia.

Shanghai Airport--headed to Taiwan!

After landing, we headed straight to the temple in Taipei. This might have been the thing I was most excited for. There is no temple in China (only one in Hong Kong) and it was so good to be home. It was raining and peaceful and beautiful--surrounded by the busy city streets.

There is something a temple does to a place. I could just feel it.

That night, our good friends showed us how to do a night market. They were experts.

Oyster omelet, shrimp, whole fried fish, and...snails

I wasn't very adventurous with food in China (no dog or stinky tofu for this girl), but we were on vacation, now! Little did I know the whole fish and snail would be nothing.

Miss A LOVED the market and her new best friend.

Taiwan had us at hello.

China, We Won't Forget You

We have been thoroughly enjoying ourselves for the past month. In between LOTS of traveling we have spent our days in beautiful places and with our most favorite people.

I've been struggling to answer the "How was China?" question.
Either I feel like I'm living a dream in this wonderful place called America or I'm already forgetting how good it was.

Either way, I hope we don't forget.


Dear Miss A and Brother,

You lived in China.

Don't Forget.

There isn't just one "way" things should be.

Maybe marshmallow layers are just right sometimes.

Keep an open mind.


We have so much.

Life can be spectacular without it.

You can do hard things.

Like learn to walk on bumpy streets

or be born in China

or overcome your fears

Keep doing them.

You are loved immensely.

 Love back.



You have a built-in best friend.

Stay like that.

There are billions of people on the earth.

Heavenly Father loves each one.


When I say you lived in China, you sure lived.

Love, Mommy.