Taiwan Rocks!!

I just wanted to link to an article about the 100th congregation in Taiwan.  Having been a missionary in Taiwan, it delights me to see the gospel continuing to go forth and grow so quickly.  I sure do miss being a missionary, but I'm comforted knowing that there are great, capable people still doing the Lord's work in the country that I love.  Here's the article below:

MINGCHIEN, Taiwan /21 May 2008/

The Pacific island of Taiwan now has 100 congregations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Last month Mormon officials organized the new Mingchien Branch (small congregation) by dividing the larger Nantou Ward (large congregation).

Mingchien is a small central Taiwan town that sits in a scenic agricultural valley. From Taipei in the north to Kaohsiung in the south, the 100 congregations of the Church serve a total Latter-day Saint membership approaching 50,000.

The first handful of Mormon missionaries arrived in Taiwan in the late 1950s and began establishing the Church from scratch. One of the early Mormon missionaries to serve in Taiwan was Gerald Walker, who arrived on the island in January 1959. He is now back in Taiwan and, with his wife, Christie, directs the operation of the Church’s Taipei Taiwan Temple.

Members of the Church’s 100th congregation in Taiwan gather following organization of the Mingchien Branch. 

“When I was here as a young missionary, I don’t believe there was one member of the Church in the area where Nantou and Mingchien are located,” he says.  Walker notes that he and 40 other missionaries were thinly dispersed throughout the 36,000-square-mile island (about the size of Indiana).  There were just five scattered congregations organized then and about 600 Latter-day Saints. The young missionaries were often assigned to lead the congregations.

Today all lay ecclesiastical leaders of the Church in Taiwan come from the ranks of the local members.

The town of Mingchien is a 40-minute ride on public transportation from where the Nantou Ward meets, so the formation of the new congregation is welcomed by Church members who live in and around Mingchien.

“Having a large enough core of faithful Church members to begin a branch in Mingchien makes it much easier for the members to attend our services,” says Chen, Chu-huang, the newly assigned branch president. Adds his wife, Chen, Mei-shia, “We will do our best to make the congregation a warm and friendly place so that new members will join us and we will grow.”

Grow is what the Church has been doing in Taiwan for over 50 years now.  The establishment of the 100th congregation in Mingchien is proof of that. 

Now That's a Fish!!

I've been meaning to post these pictures since January, but haven't gotten around to it. This is Ashley's Grandfather Simmons. He caught this fish back in the 80's and I believe it was a lake record, maybe a state record? I'll have to double check. But catching a fish this size would be a dream come true! Just look at the size of that thing!!