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. 

Doors

We are fascinated by apartment doors.  We have seen no evidence of burglary, but then how would a burglar get past all of the doors?

Wayne coming out of our apartment.

We call this "Cell Block 4"

The bottom on the stairs - another metal door before the street.

Entry way to the stairs.  Last night we found a full on motorcycle parked here.

The street side of the apartment building.

Our apartment is on the fourth floor, just below the pretty grill work and just above the pretty plants.  We don't have a balcony on this side of the apartment.  The air conditioner on the right is our livingroom and the one on the left is our bedroom.