Leaping Penguines: China is open :)

During the earlier session that day, President Gong was telling a story of when he went to Antarctica. He told of when he was observing the hundreds of thousands of penguins, he noticed something peculiar. When they would go out in the day, they would all line up together at the edge of the ice. They would wait till everyone was ready, and then they would all dive in together. President Gong questioned why they always did it all together, and it was because under the water were very hungry leopard seals. The large splash that was made by the synonymous leap confuses the leopards, so they can all get back to land without any casualties. Likewise, we are not alone. We are all meant to grow together and with one long, gradual, yet synonymous jump. Helping each other all the way to achieve the ultimate goal: return home whole, together. I truly feel all of us were empowered as the Holy Spirit testified that we are not alone, and we have an eternal purpose. We also have an eternal purpose in China specifically, or wherever we are in our lives and in the world. To endure doesn’t only mean to trek through, it means to withstand with courage. People always ask, when will China be open to the gospel? Well, China is already open. It’s OUR eyes and OUR hearts that have not been opened yet (Read Dallin H. Oaks’ talk “Getting to Know China”). As we strengthen our testimonies, the light that shows in our eyes becomes brighter, and that light of Christ has the power to instill the desire in the Chinese people to search for something more. When they have that desire, the Lord makes it happen. Whether it’s taking a vacation to Thailand and running in to missionaries there, then getting baptized and returning and being able to attend the local branch, or introducing them to the right people to befriend, the Lord has a way to bring his light to all of his children. Law or no law. We can still heed to the laws of the land while passively sharing the truth with them. Not to mention, there are hundreds of thousands of foreign passport holders that can be taught the gospel outright. It really is His work and His glory, and we are all a part of it, whether we realize it or not.  We have a great responsibility while in China (WHILE IN *INSERT YOUR CITY HERE*) to live our lives in such a way so others recognize that light; recognize Christ who, while in the pre-existance, THEY CHOSE right alongside you and I; so they recognize that light and accumulate that desire to change for the better. Have compassion and believe in the potential of those around you.

Smile. You have a purpose. “Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another” (D&C 90:24: see here). Have a wonderful day, and in the words of my best friend, “Jesus Loves You”.

Watch this about the light of Christ in us! (there's also a part II and III, I recommend all of them :)

District Conference (Like Stake Conference): AMAZING.

            Words cannot express how loved and blessed I am. I love this gospel so much, and this last weekend I have literally and truly felt the Lord’s spirit encompass me and buoy me up. This weekend was district conference hosted in my building, and I invited my Beijing friends (Marissa Anderson, Shelby Balif, Hadlee Jensen, Jessica Seward, Jonathan Blomquist, Jen Johnson, McCall Simmons and Maddy Barney—though the last 2 couldn’t com :/ ) to stay at my house for the weekend so we could all attend the Saturday  and Sunday sessions. They were traveling from all over. 2 came on an 8 our train ride (they weren’t in our district, but they really wanted to come), and the rest came from either 3 or 4 hour train rides plus subways and taxis making it around a 5 hour trip for them (troopers!). We got to meet up with a lot of our other friends from the tour and the BYU study abroad group as well! We did a full day, 9am to 9pm of touring shanghai (with a break in the middle for the Saturday Session).  It was so much fun! We got to see the Pearl tower (the tower with the ball on it), the Yuyan Gardens, markets, and the Bund! But man the conference, it was such a blessing for all of us!.  During all sessions, the spirit was so strong, and moved all of us to tears. The Lord truly had inspired the speakers to give us all that we needed. Priesthood session was earlier in the morning, so Jonathan left early Sunday morning, and he loved it

Jen Johnson, Shelby Ballif, Marissa Anderson, me, Hadlee Jensen, Jessica Seward, Jonathan Blomquist

           Some of the girls that are staying with me live in virtual branches, so their Church is actually a skype branch. They really wanted to take the sacrament so I asked President Larkin if he could arrange something. We had a little sacrament service after the Sunday session and it was the most spiritual sacrament meeting I have ever attended. It was short and sweet, but beautiful. I am blessed enough to be a part of an actual live branch, so I have been able to take the sacrament already, but the spirit that was in that room, man. You could feel the Lord’s pleasure in seeing His children have a desire to partake of the Sacrament. I even felt the Lord dumping blessings on us, and I get to take it every week already! I felt as if he was gazing down over us with a smile on His face, for we were doing something that he had asked, and made it a priority. Most of us were in tears during the service.

            After the sacrament, the district had set up a lunch for the YSA’s, so we went and ate and then they had a YSA fireside conference as well. It was with President Gerrit W. Gong, President of the District, and he and his wife were wonderful speakers. Their goal was to get to know us better. He was going to take what he learned from that conference and take it to the prophet in a couple weeks when he goes for General Conference. President Monson always asks how the YSAs in China are doing, and President Gong makes a point to get all the factual information he can. He asked how we were doing, what we hoped to learn, our fears, possible solutions, and any questions we had for the Prophet. Once again, the spirit was strong.

 When we finished the conference, my heart was sad when people had to go home to their far away cities, but happy with the added strength we had all just received. The bond we have together in the church is unlike anything else. If you have time, please take a moment to read the next post Leaping Penguines: China is Open :).

School Started! :D

            Yesterday was the first day of school! Oh my, I LOVED it :) After spending the first week decorating the classroom and the second week preparing lessons, I was so happy to fill it with beautiful children! :D They are all filled with such innocence and sweetness it makes you want to gather them all up and take them all home with you! Oh their smiles are to die for! And I’m so proud of myself! I can tell them all apart by name! (well…their English names haha) Even the identical twins, Carl and Nick (Why is it that parents of twins always feel so inclined to dress their children exactly the same? Trust me; every one already knows they’re related).

  

This is Mark (I later learned). I love him
even when he's like this all day :)

           There was a frustrating factor however, on the issue of how many hours I’m supposed vs. actually working. Like I mentioned before, the program outlines only working 15-20 hours a week, and the school is demanding 40 hours. We’re not supposed to work 40 hours unless we’re being paid (but it’s illegal to get paid unless you have a degree), so my program coordinator negotiated with the school coordinator, yet both of them came to different conclusions hahaha. Considering the fact that they are both Chinese, this was VERY typical. So I insinuated a skype conference call with the two and explained in blunt words what the other person was saying. The call ended with the usual “I will talk to so and so and fix it”. So finally I asked Phyllis (the school’s coordinator), “If I cannot work the 40 hours, do you have to find a new teacher?” She replied, “no no no, I like you!” “Haha thank you, but that’s not what I asked. If I do not work 40 hours, do you need to find a new teacher?” “Yes.” Was her reply. So I went back to the room rather frustrated and sat at a desk.

           There was a little 3-year-old boy (see picture) who had been struggling all day long because he missed his mom. He was constantly moaning, sobbing, screaming, or whining, and it was 2 hours into nap time and he was doing a moaning routine. He was definitely over tired, and really needed to nap. He didn’t have an English name yet and I can’t speak Chinese, so it was rather difficult to try and communicate with him. But I scooped him up and started HUMMING ‘I Am a Child of God’ and he instantly stopped crying. The other teachers were so excited when he stopped crying. He fell asleep in about two minutes, and I just got to hold him with his little body all warm and sweet. And then I realized something (I don’t know why it never donned on me earlier). I never had a problem with the hours, so I texted my director and told him I wanted to work all 40 for free. He didn’t believe me at first, hahaha. I came here to teach and to love the little children, and I can’t really do that if I’m not there. I have already made a bond with these children, especially this little one; they know me. What else would I be doing? I can still travel on the weekends, so it doesn’t matter! They are all so beautiful and wonderful, I’m loving every minute of it :)

This is Max. oh my gosh when he smiles full on, he has the biggest dimples in the whole world!

This is Emily, she is very intelligent and wants to learn so much so badly!

I love my "job" :)

            

            

        

The Saints Are The Same :)

Welp! The church is true :) haha. (Oh I forgot to tell you, my two beautiful roommates decided that for their situations home was the right place to be, so they’ve headed back to the states, and I got a new one named Sabrina!). Sabrina is an inactive member who has so graciously agreed to come to church with me once a month (though I know she’ll be coming more ;D). We tried mapping it out, and it was going to take about an hour and a half to get to church on the bus, or a 30 minute taxi drive. Once a week round trip, that was gonna be a bit pricy (280 Yuan which is about $45 a month) so we decided bus was the best way :) However, I was really confused at how to use the bus routes, so we decided to take the taxi the first time so we actually knew what building we were supposed to be at haha. We got there on time and walked in to a big conference center. It’s so crazy though, at the beginning of every meeting, whoever is presiding has to announce this:

“The Chinese government requires that all religious activities in China comply with relevant laws and regulations. Our church’s twelfth article of faith states: ‘We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.’ With that in mind, please note that: 1) our church’s international member group religious activities in China are limited to FOREIGN PASSPORT HOLDERS and their immediate family members ONLY; 2) our international members do not proselyte in any way among Chinese nationals in China; and 3) our international members do not disseminate religious materials to Chinese nationals in China Your strict observance of these policies is essential for us to build a long term foundation of trust with the government authorities in China.”

And the saddest story you’ll ever hear? There was a Chinese girl dressed very western who just moved in from Scotland. She was telling the branch president that she joined the church 3 years ago while going to school in Scotland, so he asked if that was where her passport was from. She said no, she’s Chinese. He said he knew that, but he needed to know what type of visa she had. She said once again, “chinese”. Because it wasn’t a foreign passport, he had to tell her that she couldn’t come to church. She protested and said that she moved to this area so she could be close to the branch! But he couldn’t let her stay L It made me want to cry! Luckily, they do have a few Chinese branches, but they aren’t related in any way to the English branches, so he had to find a member who’s mother-in-law was attending the Chinese branch so they could talk. He’s actually not allowed to know where it is. I can’t wait until the laws of the land change…

But on a happier note, Branch President Larkin and his wife, Monique, are angels! They apparently live only 10 minutes away from us! (Which is AMAZING for Chinese branches). The said that they would have their driver, Mr. Pan, pick us up every Sunday for church so we wouldn’t have to 1) wake up at 5:30 to get ready, and 2) pay for a bus or taxi! They brought us home and had dinner ready for us, then got two huge grocery bags and filled it with tons of food they didn’t need, drove us around the area we live in so we would know what was accessible to us. They also gave us bus routes to get to those places! They were so wonderful I wanted to cry with thanks. Plus, Sabrina loved the spirit that she felt at church, she said she would come more often! "It makes you feel good, such positive energy" hahaha. Where there’s a will to go to church, the Lord always provides away…and dumps a bucket full of other blessings as well :)

Creepy Critters

Bugs. Let me tell you about the bugs here.When it comes to critters, I like to think I’m a brave girl, daring even. Mama didn’t raise me to be a city wimp, and I have often found a lot of them to be cute even. But when I don’t know what they are, nor what they do, and they’re ten times the size I’m used to? I’m not too keen on the whole “bug” idea. Oh but I have NEVER done cockroaches. Nuh uh. That’s where I draw the line on the whole tolerance thing. Oh and did I mention I just found one in the middle of my laundry room floor? Yeah…..YEAH.

A little bit paranoid right now….not gonna lie. 

Yes I took this, it's a real China Bug. Blech. And it's about 3 inches long.

....Okay so I just went and checked to see if it was still there....and it is! But...it's not a cockroach....hahaha. But let me tell you, that is one GIANT beatle. And I am NOT exaggerating when I say it's two inches long and an inch wide. It's been stuck on it's back for the last hour, so I took pity on it (and desperately wanted it gone) so I took a bowl hoping to scoop it up and throw it over the edge....but I accidentally shot it across the room and it hit the wall. Well I know 2 things now. It's shell is incredibly hard because it sounded like I through a plastic pen. And it's very good at playing dead. Either way, I'm done thinking about it.