Michael Bay—Massachusetts, Social Work, Bass

Today was our first day of tour. Saturday and Sunday only kind of count because they were just travel all day long.

We started out today with a devotional where we were reminded of our purpose here and to keep in mind the people we are her for. We took a small tour of Kaohsiung and visited the county offices. We were treated so well there. We then traveled to [Chung Shan Industrial Commercial] High school where we would do our small performance. On our tour around campus we saw some boys playing kickball. Travis got in there and did some good kicking. The funniest moment of the day was when he pushed the kid down who was blocking him from reaching home plate. The boy was very good natured about it and played it off well.

Our performance was received very well. We were given a few minutes for picture taking and the students were crazy about us, especially Sone, he really played to the crowd. He went out there and just got to as many of them as possible.

Again we were treated so well. I don’t feel like we deserve to be treated so well because I know many visitors come to our school who aren’t treated nearly as well as we were.

From there we went to [Chung Shan] University for an exchange. We heard their women’s choir and shared songs with them. It was very fun. I sat next to a girl named Alison who was very nice. She is a freshman piano major. She was very fluent in English and I enjoyed talking to her about school and family. Later she brought her friends over to meet me. It was a neat experience.

After that exchange was the highlight of the day—FHE. Dallin and I went with the Lin Family. They were so awesome. They had 4 children—Albert (9 almost 10), In (9), Ting Ling (5), and Where Where (4). For me it reminded me of being a missionary even though none of the kids spoke English. They were just as lively as the kids on my mission. Dallin and I know that we were assigned to this family for a reason. It was inspiration that somehow put Dallin with this family tonight. Where Where has Down syndrome and Dallin’s younger sister also has Down syndrome. As Dallin talked with Sister Lin there were a lot of similarities with the situations they had to deal with.

There really were some awesome connections made and we absolutely love that family. It was a very short visit, but very worthwhile.

If every day of tour will have experiences like we had today, it will be so amazing. I love what the Lord is doing through us.