TAIPEI, TAIWAN
To highlight the value of saving energy in Taipei County, the county government recently supported International Car-Free Day by sponsoring a bicycle ride in Taipei that drew 55,000 bicyclists.
A zone of missionaries from the Taipei Taiwan Mission was invited by the government to join the ride.
Throughout Taiwan, the Church's young missionaries are easily identified as they pedal to their appointments on bicycles — elders in their signature dark pants, white shirts and ties, sisters nicely attired in skirts and blouses. All wear the distinctive black missionary name tag.
"Some of our zone's missionaries got up early and rode an hour just to get to the starting point by 7 a.m.," said Elder John Macfarlane of Fruit Heights, Utah, zone leader of the Taipei West zone. All 18 elders and sisters in the zone made the ride.
When Church leaders visited with Taiwan President Ying-Jeou Ma in 2008 he offered praise for the Mormon missionaries serving there, saying they have helped instill positive values and spirit in the public.
An article in The China Post, a prominent Taiwan English newspaper, quoted President Ma as saying of the missionaries: "Their clean image elicits good feelings and they promote energy conservation by using bicycles as their main mode of transport."
"It is our honor to have your riders in this event," said Gong-Shin Fei, a Taipei County representative who invited the mission to participate.
