I am now officially inactive!!!

I have now not been in the area of Daliao for church for three weeks! I feel really bad because I have to keep asking the Bishop to help me organize the lesson for the Young Men. Three weeks ago was the Singles Conference, last week I woke up with a terrible headache and was exhausted from coming back from the Singles Conference without stopping for a breath and then this last week I remembered on Thursday that I had a School paid for trip with all of the other teachers that was traveling back home on Sunday so I would have to miss another day. I made sure that I read some General Conference talks to try to get a little of the spiritual nourishment that I need to get through this next week.

The trip was really cathartic though. We went to Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan which is the biggest lake they have there up in the tall mountains. It looked just like one of those wistful Chinese paintings with the gargantuan mountains leaping out of the ethereal mist wandering through the lower valleys. We went on a lot of scenic little excursions including a little ferry ride across the lake with a tour and a nature walk up in the mountains surrounding. It was all so magical and just gorgeous! My favorite was a little metal pathway called the skywalk that started from a ridge and made it so you were walking among the tops of the trees. It was awesome! I felt like I was on some kind of Swiss Family Robinson house or something. The best thing I got from the trip I think is that I got to become closer friends with some of my non-American co-workers. More and more I am feeling like a regular part of the staff and not some foreign piece of garnish that isn't included in the stuff that matters and doesn't know how to do the stuff that doesn't.

All in all I'm now officially excited about Christmas, except for the fact that I won't be spending Christmas with my family, again. I really hope that they know that I love them dearly and think about them all of the time. Here's wishing everybody that reads this the best Holiday season.