Initiation

The group of missionaries is dwindling as I await to see who I will be spending the next 3-6 months with and where I will be serving as missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know only one thing—I will be somewhere in Southern Taiwan. My friends around me are being called to places like the busy Gaoxiong City, rural Puli, and hot Kending. As I sit attentively awaiting to be called up to open my Hongbao 紅包 (a red envelope that usually holds money but instead, for this special assignment, contains our call to serve and trainer’s name), my imagination envisions miraculous adventures in this foreign land complete with profound Chinese proverbs and fortune cookies galore. I have no idea what is in store for me and can’t hold back my excitement.

Finally I hear my name, “Brother Smith, come on up and open your Hongbao,” exclaims my Mission President, Pres. Bishop.  I immediately feel dread and fear as my future becomes reality. Next thing I know I am getting a warm embrace from some skinny blond guy I have never before met. With glasses and the biggest grin you can imagine he escorts me to a seat not far from where I was originally sitting. I do not like touchy-feely gestures, and the public embrace makes me embarrassed and discombobulated throwing me off my groove. Millions of questions rush through my head as I sit through the rest of the meeting awaiting the next phase of my mission. I have no idea what Pres. Bishop is saying because I am just overcome with thoughts of uncertainty and inadequacy. As odd as it sounds I feel so distant and confused despite having the arm of my companion around my shoulder suggesting everything will be all right. “What am I doing here? Where are we going next? Who the heck is this Elder Boshard that seriously likes hugging people?” are all thoughts I have as the last of the Hongbaos are opened. I don’t believe the reassuring smile Elder Boshard gives me just before the closing prayer. I can’t even order dinner in Chinese, how is it all going to be just fine?

The next few hours are a blur. Amid the haze I figure out that my area of service for the next couple of months is a heavily populated district within the main city of Taizhong called NanTun 南屯. I can barely pronounce the name let alone find it on the map of the city my trainer shows me—this isn’t good. Since our area is so close to the mission home where Pres. Bishop lives, we ride our bikes the 30 min ride through the most populated city I have ever seen. It is surreal as I smell the exotic smells of incense and stinky tofu, observe and avoid the precarious scooter traffic, and feel the heavy topical air move in and out of my lungs as I futilely try to keep up with Elder Boshard’s superior bike-riding skills.

I don’t quite know what to think of Taiwan yet. The whole bike ride I just passively watch the Taiwanese people go about their day thinking, “I’ve got to be in the most realistic movie ever!” As authentic as my surroundings appear, it all seems artificial. The contrast to what I have known for the 19 years prior is so great that what my senses are telling me just can’t be real. I keep asking my trainer, “When are we going to be in NanTun? When we get there you have to tell me.” I am dying to know.

We then get to the biggest intersection I have ever seen and Elder Boshard turns to me and nonchalantly proclaims, “Oh hey, we are here.” Before me I see this:

These pictures don’t adequately describe the insane amount of activity and life I see in front of me during the rush hour traffic of NanTun’s busiest intersection. Restaurants, motorists, and pedestrians create a scene of organized chaos that are the roads of Taiwan, leaving me in awe.

In that same moment I realize I am responsible for the salvation of every single soul before me.

Fear, dread, dismay, panic, and shock paralyze me completely and unexpectedly. As a 19 year old kid without any genuine real-life experience, I have no idea what to do. No amount of religious study or church worship could have prepared me for the responsibility that now lays on my shoulders. What do I do? My companion and I are 100% responsible for teaching the gospel to these people. No one else in the world has that same stewardship. Only me and Smiley.

As if sensing my plight, Elder Boshard knowingly turns to me, smiles, and says, “Go talk to them.” Those words just ring in my ears like a call to arms. I don’t know who these people are, what they need in their life, or how they can build their relationship with God, but I can at least tell them where to start. Through Jesus Christ they can receive the support and help they need in their life to feel everlasting joy and happiness, overcome insurmountable trials, and gain the remission of their sins. No matter the problem, Jesus Christ, their savior, can help. Even though my Chinese is broken, I can at least try. I will tell everyone this message because it has guided me through my life and I know it can help them. My only prayer is they just might listen hard enough to understand my message and my Chinese.

What the guy in the scooter next to me doesn’t know is he is the start of my mission in Taiwan.

有信心有辦法！