The Hualien Experience

Bananas and papaya trees spring up seemingly randomly in every crook and cranny, while rice paddies are neatly tucked in between houses and earthen ridges. Palm trees are interspersed among thick tropical foliage. I wish I knew the name of every plant (there’s an app for that!)

We were on our way to Hualien to open an apartment and take a van full of furniture to outfit the new place. The trip down winding mountain roads was amazing in our 12 passenger mission van. The trip takes over 3 hours one way. 

Thick forested mountains on one side of the road - ocean views on the other.

The beautiful Hualien coastline and Pacific Ocean

After delivering the furniture, signing the contract and buying needed supplies for the sisters, we enjoyed a meal of dumplings with the office elders.

Apartment contract signing

Bafang Dumplings - amazing!

We finally pulled into the Hualien Holo Hostel Hotel where the Elders had kindly made arrangements for us to stay the night. They would stay with the missionaries serving in the area in their local apartment. They spoke to the person at the front desk, (no English here), got us set up, then left.

International "signatures" from
hostel visitors

The gentleman took us up two flights of stairs to our room. I was curious what a Hualien hostel might look like.

Our hostel room

My only requirement had been airconditioning – and it had a very good one in the corner of the room. I knew I’d be okay.

The room was very clean – even came with basic extras like a hair dryer, shampoo, bath gel and WiFi.

The room even came with a Gideon’s New Testament, vertical Chinese in the front, opening from left to right as in standard old style books, and English in the back.

We were exhausted. The mattress on the floor had about 675 very prominent springs and it seemed that 653 of them ended up massaging my back all night long. I woke up sore, but I wake up sore every morning these days! Lol Nevertheless, I had slept like a rock.

The sign above the toilet read, “Please do not throw tissue paper into the toilet bowl. P.S. Our toilet is not as powerful as you think.” So I left the toilet paper in the trash can instead of flushing it away, feeling a bit awkward but wanting to comply. I’ve seen that before in some areas, but still it seemed awkward.

At least they had toilet paper. And a garbage can. I was grateful.

The view from the window greeted our morning.

Now we’re off again, heading back up and down the winding mountain road overlooking the steep cliffs on the Pacific Ocean, heading back to Taipei. Elder Coffey is driving. Glad it's him and not me!

Click here for a test drive: Drive from Hualien to Taipei

The message on the wall of our room sums up the Hualien experience, English and all. 

It's amazing to see these servants of the Lord, in all corners of the island, bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to everyone they meet. They are determined, faithful, hard working, and dedicated. It's an honor to serve among them. May we all find ourselves farther down the road toward eternal life each day. 

It’s another very good day!

Villages along the Hualien highway

Village stacked up on the hillside

A cheerful elementary school!

The "chop" stamp - making it official.

A Good Day

Tuesday - August 27th -

Today was a good day.  But I feel like those little old ladies in the play A Christmas Carol. Do you remember them? As soon as Scrooge was determined to be dead, they rummaged through his earthly belongings, looking for useful items to pawn away for petty cash. Or perhaps they would find something useful for their own purposes- mulling over the pile of loot like hyenas at a kill. 

It was a good day, like I said. We did apartment inspections in 6 apartments throughout the West Zone in New Taipei City. We fixed broken items, took needed furniture to some elders and brought back superfluous items picked up at various apartments that they didn’t need anymore. 


An extra desk and fan. Several extra chairs. A broken dryer. A bag of clothes. A pile of unneeded sheets. An oven. 

Moving unneeded furniture - grateful for
the elevator!

Those items end up in the basement of the church building here in Taipei, where all extra furniture and miscellaneous items are stored, patiently waiting for the day when they’ll be called into service again at some new apartment. A row of refrigerators. Several long rows of mattresses. Desks, chairs, etc. They all end up in the basement.

And then I go “shopping” for our  sparsely furnished apartment. Whatever is needed for missionary apartments can be found there, so there I shop. And today was exceptionally good. 

Missionaries are always grateful when
 we  arrive!

Rummaging through old fridges I found a shelf that fit perfectly in our freezer, since ours was missing. A perfect rolling shelf came home too, making an ideal corner for our cooking appliances - a Martha Stewart corner as Elder Coffey calls it. A left over throw pillow added a nice touch to our couch. And a metal mixing bowl! I’m in heaven now! Ha!

I did leave the dulcimer at the sisters' apartment, but have plans to later go back and collect that along with the electric guitar with amplifier found in a second apartment. The electric dual foot and calf massager, unwanted in one apartment, was like Christmas to the elders in another apartment. I think we made their day. 

Electric leg and foot massager -
unwanted junk by one turning into
much loved treasures by another.

Missionaries staying focused on their missionary purpose! And with lots of cash to spend apparently! But these items get left behind when they leave - making happy hyenas rummaging through the left overs. 

Yes, it was a good day!

A happy trio of sister missionaries, complete with year-round
Christmas lights in their apartment.