Oops!

August 27, 2013 changed our mission and our lives.  Wayne and I had gone to the visa office to drop off paperwork early in the morning.  Mid-morning I discovered that the tracking number on the receipt had been transposed, so I needed to go back and have them fix it.  Otherwise the visa would be lost forever.  Wayne was busy and Sister Day volunteered to go with me.  We had a fun afternoon, visiting the Chinese Handicrafts Museum.  I bought some things.  As we approached the bus to go back to the office, we had to hurry to catch it.  Busses don't wait for you.  Sister Day got on, I grabbed a rail and my feet tripped on the stairs.  I fell sideways into the door, breaking my right arm in three places and smashing my right foot against the step, breaking it also.  She managed to get me onto the bus, although I kept feeling faint.  We got off at our stop and I hobbled across the street (busses have their stop in the middle of the street) and sat down on a flower planter.  I told Sister Day that I couldn't walk the five blocks back to the office and that we needed a taxi.  There were three in the lane waiting for the light to change.  The first two wouldn't talk to her.  They kept their windows rolled up.  The third agreed to take us the short to the office.  She helped me get upstairs.  Fortunately there is an elevator in the office building. 

Wayne was horrified when he saw me.  He and Elder Timothy gave me a Priesthood Blessing and then Wayne, Sister Day and I went to the Emergency room at the New Taiwan University Hospital.  Sister Day went with us because she had been there before and knew where to go and which line to get in to.  They didn't make me wait long.  They took xrays and the doctor recommended surgery.  I got a prescription for pain pills and we went home.  When we arrived, it was pouring down rain.  We had to climb to the fourth floor and I had a broken foot.  I sat on the bottom step and looked at Wayne and said, "Now what do we do?"  He said, "It's time for a prayer."  He told Heavenly Father that we had to get up the stairs because there was no other place for us to go.  When he ended the prayer, I said "I don't care how much it hurts, I'm going to ignore the pain and get up the stairs."  I stood up and began and went right up the stairs as if there was nothing wrong with me.  It was if I was as light as a feather.  We think the Lord blessed us with a miracle. 

Once in the apartment, I stayed there until we had plane tickets home.  It was about 6 days.  Sister Day had the hospital send the xrays to the Area Mission Doctor in Hong Kong.  We were amazed to find out he was and orthopedic surgeon.  (Our mission doctor in Nauvoo was an obstetrician.)  He said I had a really bad break and needed to go home for surgery.  If I stayed in Taiwan, I would be no good to anyone for 6 months.

The church booked us on Eva Air because they have a direct flight from Taipei to San Francisco.  Wayne upgraded our tickets to first class.  Our seats folded out into flat beds and we slept most of the way home.

Mark picked us up at the airport and took us straight to the emergency room at John Muir.  I had more xrays and began getting a doctor lined up.  Surgery was on Sept. 6.

We have been reassigned to the Colorado Denver North Mission.

Office

This is my work station.  I look out over the lobby area.  The work stations are enclosed in glass.  We call it "The Fishbowl".  Missionaries are not allowed to step over the line into The Fishbowl.  They stay in the lobby area.  There are four workstations.  Mine, Wayne's, the Recorder (Elder) and Operations (Elder).  The Assistants to the President use a big table in the back of the area.  It gets crowded when elders are training elders to take over.  Right now Operations is training an elder and in two days, Recorder will be training an elder.  We have enough chairs, but the "stuff" is messy.  Elders are no longer able to carry backpacks.  They are to use shoulder bags or brief cases.  They look really sharp.  It sets them apart from high school kids.

This is Wayne's work station.  He likes having a wall in front of him.  It gets noisy sometimes and he needs to concentrate.  He is in charge of finances.  He makes rent payments on all 84 apartments, reimburses missionaries for expenses that the church pays for, creates a budget for the mission, takes care of the missionaries ATM cards and whatever else needs to be done.  Last week, he cleaned the lowest garage in the Service Center because it had accumulated junk over a number of years of missionaries going home and dumping stuff.  It is now closed to all missionaries.

Dallin's wedding

Grandson, Dallin Edwards, married Angela Marie Hall on August 10.  We weren't there but received some stunning pictures.

Newport Beach Temple.  Angela had to stand a step up.

I love this picture of Janet and Wayne

 The whole Edwards Family:  Kristi, Nolan, Janet, Dallin, Angela, Wayne, Amy and Jonathan Carver.

Joy

Chaing Kai-Shek Memorial

This is the actual burial place of Chaing Kai-Shek

It's night time because it is too hot for us to visit during the day.

Opposite the burial building are these twin buildings.  This is the concert hall the other is a theater.  They are luxurious, opulent and state of the art accoustics.

We went to hear a choir sing.  We were given the tickets and they were 2nd row center.  The choir was wonderful and we enjoyed the music, the people around us and the opportunity to enjoy Chinese music.  (They sang "Summer Time" from Porgy and Bess.)  They did everything from classical to folk songs - 4 costume changes!

Friends

 

May I introduce you to some of our new friends.  The Petersons are on the left.  They are in charge of Humanitarian Aid and Welfare.  The Bairds are on the right.  They are in charge of Public Affairs.  We really enjoy working with these people, although they aren't in the office much and we aren't out of the office much.  We three couples work with the Young Single Adults on a rotating basis.

Taipei 101

 

This is Taipei 101.  It is the second tallest building in the world and the tallest building in Asia. It has 101 stories  It is on our list of things we want to see.  There is an observation deck on the 91st floor and the elevator only goes as far as the 89th.   I will post more about it when we get the chance to see it.  It is reachable by subway, but we need to allow half a day.  It is expensive to take the elevator and you have to stand in line to get a ticket.  We'll go when we have a half day and it isn't so hot.

Park

This is a pretty little park which we walk through morning and night to get to work.  There is always a guard somewhere.  It is between the Vatican Embassy and a huge elementary school.  It is always 10 degrees cooler in the park than on the street.  It is kept immaculate. Someone sweeps up falling leaves every morning.  The red thing in the middle is a little gazebo next to some play equipment.  This is one of our favorite places.  A sign has blown off of the school fence but it won't be there long.