What a November!!!!!

It has been awhile since we have posted about Chris' mission, but a lot has been going on!

Were were excited for Chris' next e-mail, which usually come Sunday evenings (his P-day in on Monday in Taiwan).  We waited, and waited, and waited, and no message ever came.  Earlier we had replied to an e-mail from Chris' Mission President asking us to tell him a bit about Chris.  In his reply he mentioned that Chris was complaining about some back pain.  So, when we didn't get a message, we started to worry some.  It turns out that his District went to the Temple in Taipei on his normal P-day, so he couldn't write us until Wednesday.

On the Temple grounds in Taipei.

This is what he wrote about his week...

It did finally rain here! A LOT! It dumped on us all day Saturday and Sunday. I'm glad my slip-on shoes are pretty water proof, because there was a puddle in them the whole day. haha!

My week was pretty good, but also slow as far as missionary work goes. We had a lot of lessons cancel on us. Taiwanese people dislike the rain bad. Half the ward was absent on Sunday because of it.

Bad vision? Join the club! (Mom got glasses for the first time) If slightly decaying vision makes you old, I'm probably well beyond my expiration date. haha. Speaking of old, The person I did the endowment for today was pretty old. Take a guess. Nope, guess again...one more time... 749 BC oh yeah. OLD. I also did 9 initiatories today...in Chinese... :'(  Taipei was fun today! The temple is super small.  Like I said, this week was kinda slow for missionary work. Not a ton of appointments, so a lot of talking to strangers. (about 498 since last Monday to be exact. Yeah, we keep track).

On Thanksgiving Chris and his companion baked an apple pie in their toaster oven...it turned out ok.

Chris' girlfriend got her mission call the next day on the 23rd.  She will be serving in Oslo, Norway and will be leaving in mid-April.  We are very excited for her! (so is Chris!)

 On Saturday the 24th Chris and his companion had a baptism.  Here is what Chris said about it:

The baptism went really well! He's the reason his family is baptized. He met the missionaries on the street 13 years ago and they taught the family. The dad overcame alcohol, tobacco and beetelnuts in order to be baptized and he saw the changes in his family and finally decided to be baptized! He's had problems keeping commitments (prayer, reading, etc) and problems with his girlfriend. He participated in an abortion in the past but changed his life and got baptized. I'll send a picture next week. He's super awesome!

Baptism day!!!

At 9:30 am on the 25th, we got a phone call from Chris' Mission President.  He let us know that Chris was in the Emergency Room suffering from severe abdominal pains and he was having some tests done.  A couple of hours later we got to talk to Chris on the phone...it was his gall bladder.  He needed to have surgery to remove it.  He went under the knife at 5:30 pm (7:30 am on Monday in Taiwan) and was out of surgery around 7:30 pm.  Everything went great and he is doing fine.  We got to Skype with him for a few minutes while he was in recovery.  He was a bit drugged up, but it was good to see him and talk to him.

Chris with Jerry, the mission's giraffe

 He was released on Wednesday, November 28 and taught an English class that night.  He needs to take it easy for a bit, but he'll heal quickly. 

While Chris was in the hospital, we received an email from his companion, through his mom.  This is what he wrote:

Please forward this to Elder Wolfs family,

Hello, this  has been a very interesting week here in Da Keng. It was a super xinku (hard working) but super miracle-filled week. It was Elder Wolf's first week with rain, while we were both out there wet and cold, he was sure to crack jokes, so the Elder Wolf quote of the week was "I'm a prune elder ... what do i do now" (said in a Muppet Christmas carol tiny tim voice). We then proceeded to have a super full week, we had interviews on Tuesday, temple trip on Wednesday (once again sorry for the late e-mails), Thursday was district training meeting complete with a you ban fa (improve/ crazy) apple pie made in a toaster oven... toaster ovens you can do anything in them... bread, apple pies, pizza toast, pizza, scones, etc. Then we had a super cool baptism (Elder Wolfs first) it was a super cool guy who met missionaries 13 years ago! He introduced his family to the missionaries, then the whole family except for him got baptized. Now after seeing the change in his family, he is finally willing to give up his old vices and come unto Christ. So he got baptized on Saturday, and it was the biggest turnout i've ever seen at a baptism here in Taiwan, the ward was super supportive, and Brother S. bore a super awesome testimony.

Well, that was the fun part, the week then ended in a big bang. Elder Wolf ended up having stomach pain and needed to get his gallbladder removed... he had lots of fun (not at all) But he's a trooper, and an awesome stud. He put up with everything and is well on his way to the mend... so keep him in your prayers. That was about our week.

 We have communicated several times with Chris' companion's mom.  She is awesome, and was very supportive during the stress of Chris' surgery, etc.  Her son has been an incredible companion for our son!  We were definitely blessed in this situation!  The mission president told us that his companion basically stood by Chris' bedside all night before his surgery.  We know he has been in good hands!