Elder Jonathan Poon: Back to Work December 27, 2015

It was nothing short of a magical Christmas week in Minxiong! My first Christmas in Taiwan (and my first Christmas away from home) was a memorable one no doubt! Elder Mitton and I celebrated Christmas Eve by eating a ton of cheesecake that we bought from Costco. Christmas day we went over to our branch president, President Li's house to Skype. Our branch president and his wife are so awesome, they prepared cake for us and gave us gifts. These gifts ended up being just a ton of Ferrero Rocher (Mom's favorite). Elder Mitton Skyped first and then the Li's took us out to "the nicest restaurant in Minxiong" and I got Norweigan salmon which was super good. Then I Skyped! It was super weird and I feel like I had just saw them a few days before. 45 minutes is a really short time when you're talking to your family! Anyways, then Elder Mitton and I had a great Xmas dinner at Mr. Steak (there's another one Minxiong wahoo!). Then later that night a family in our ward invited us over to share a xmas message and eat a ton of curry. A great Christmas! It was amazing how it really felt like Christmas. As Elder Mitton and I went out to spread the cheer to ALL, we found that the people seemed merrier and nicer than usual. I think it's cool that the celebration of the savior of the world is able to bring a spirit to even a predominantly Buddhist small island in Asia. Then the day after Christmas, the Barlows, a half American family in our branch, invited us to dinner... It was the best dinner I've had in Taiwan. It was a REAL Christmas dinner. It was a REAL Christmas miracle. But now it's time to get back to work. Elder Mitton and I just found out yesterday that we'll be together for another move-call which we are stoked about. Just gotta set some good goals to keep us moving forward!

Hope everyone had an awesome Christmas and hope you all have a fantastic new year!