Being Fed Spiritually and Physically: Satisfying and Delicious.

Sunday morning, I wake up, get ready, and walk over to the school where me and 6 other girls gather around a Chinese land line inside a small office to connect to a phone line along with 150 other members of the Church of Jesus Christ, who are scattered all throughout China. Before coming here, I was skeptical and worried about my church experience and Sunday worship. Attending church via phone line has reminded me that the spirit speaks and feels the same no matter what the communication line is.

Today I gave a talk in my branch. I was more worried to speak than normal. I was nervous about not seeing who I was speaking to and stressed about how I would connect with them. I don’t know how many times I have to be reminded that the Lord always provides a way. In our little church branch, we have a group chat over an app called WeChat, which is what everyone uses in China to communicate. In sacrament meeting today we had a baby blessing performed. The blessing was announced and while this new born babe was being blessed through the power of the priesthood in her own home somewhere in China, not only did I get to listen in, but through the group chat, I received a picture of the sweet girl as If I was really there. Everyone commented how beautiful she was and sent love and hearts. I started to see that the connection was just as if I had been with them. This put me at ease enough to be able to deliver my talk with the help of the spirt. Just like the baby blessing and the talk before me, I received warm, welcoming messages from members by way of social media.  I am astounded by the power of human connection and the ability to feel compassion and love for God’s children despite the varying circumstances.

In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Mosiah teaches in Mosiah 18:25 “And there was one day in every week that was set apart that they should gather themselves together to teach the people, and to worship the Lord their God, and also, as often as it was in their power, to assemble themselves together”. Even if that power to meet is through technology. One of my favorite scriptures is in 1 Nephi 3:7 in the Book of Mormon when the Lord explains to Nephi that when a commandment is given, the Lord always provides a way. I testify that is true because of the worship experience I have had while living in a land where Christ is seldom known and talking about him to natives is not permitted. I feel so close to him an I see and feel his light all around me daily. Especially on the Sabbath.

On more of a low key note, here are some highlights of the week:

1.     Visiting Martyrs park again. First highlight there was that there was an old man who set up a karaoke station and was signing these Asian country songs. He was really good! It was also really funny. Especially when we asked if we could try and he said no.

Also, we really wanted to rent a paddle boat to see more of the island. This turned out to be much more difficult than anticipated. Usually we can pay for things just fine because we know numbers in mandarin. But in this case we heard a number not only for the price, but for how may boats we wanted, how many of us were riding, and how long we were allowed to have the boats. None of which we understood. After about 10-15 min of confusing and horrible communication and throwing up lots of numbers on our hands, we successfully got two boats and were out on the beautiful lake. About 45 min later, a very angry boat owner caught up to us in his speed boat and started yelling at us in Mandarin. We paddled over to him and he very irritably attached both of our boats to his and toed us back to the docking station. We are assuming we went over our allotted time. Language barrier. Or ignorant American barrier. Oops.

2.     We went out to the city square where me and 3 other girls finally tried a dish that Changsha is famous for: Stinky Tofu. Plot twist, it’s actually delicious. It is also insanely spicy. All 4 of us that tried it LOVE spicy food, but this is one of the spiciest things I’ve ever tasted! We were all sweating and crying and enjoying every second. I would definitely eat it again. Two enthusiastic thumbs up. Next time I’m just going to make sure that I have some banana milk to wash it down. Which, side note, is my favorite beverage her in China. Haochi!

3.     At our school we have a chef named Wendy. For our culture class this week Wendy taught us how to make Chinese dumplings! They are more commonly known as pot stickers in the US. Quick shout out to my real fans: whoever is actually reading this, I’ll make you the best dumplings you’ve ever had when I get home.

4.     I’m realizing that this last highlight will make 3 out of 4 of my highlights about food, but I’m not sorry. Wendy made the most delicious thing this week, EGG CAKE. I’ve realized how American it is to love bready treats because we honestly flock to bakeries whenever we see them. I think we’ve been to 4 or 5 different bakeries by now, but Wendy’s Egg cake was by far better than all the treats we have tried. It’s kind of like yellow cake but spongier, and fluffier, and 10X better than any representation you are forming in your head right now.

So basically I’m in love with China and I might live her forever.  I love you all, and I hope you have a beautiful week!

Hiking to Heaven

“I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me, confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me”. That song was truly put in perspective for me after a weekend of trudging through buckets and buckets of pouring rain, being amidst wild life, trekking through misty green foliage, and a climbing few thousand stair steps to the top of the most breathtaking mountains I’ve ever laid my eyes on. Every breathe I take in China continues to be an adventure of a life time.

This weekend was our first set vacation. An average day for me here in China is that I wake up in the morning and leave for the school at 7:30. After eating breakfast, the other teachers and I greet the kids and do opening activities around 8. We begin teaching at 8:45 until 10:45, rotating classes every 25 min. We then go outside with the kids and play with them for an hour. After eating lunch made by our amazing chef, Wendy, we head back to our apartment. Besides a couple of weekly meetings, making lesson plans, and having a culture class once a week, the rest of the day is ours. We only teach Monday through Friday so we also have every weekend plus 4 vacations spread out through the semester. This week we had Friday and the following Monday off so we headed to Zhangjajie by train.

The train was 5 hours long, but one of the greatest things about China is everyone is so friendly, and meeting friends makes our travels feel short. I’m not exaggeration when I say we make friends everywhere we go. Many people here, especially the younger generation, learn English, but it is very rare for them to interact or even see Americans. When they are given the opportunity to speak English with natives, they are anxious and excited to help. On our Train we met two recently graduated University students named Pajaro and Josephine. Pajaro graduated in English speaking and has been living in the UK for the past several months. She came back to China for a week to take some exams. Her and Josephine helped us get to our hotel and brought us with them to their university where we had lunch and took pictures. Pajaro also taught me how to say “I’m a foodie” in Chinese; so now when I try and buy the crazy food here, the venders won’t think I’m just a crazy, white tourist who doesn’t know what I’m buying. I just say “Chihuo” and they understand that I’m down for the adventure. Thank you, Pajaro. This little tip would have come in handy when I was at the market this weekend and wanted to try scorpion! The man selling it laughed but I DID buy one and I DID eat it. It wasn’t bad.

We woke up the next day to a huge rain storm. We each wrapped ourselves up in as many waterproof layers as we could get our hands on, and journeyed to the Tianmen Mountain National Park. The first bus ride up allowed us to see the bottom of the green mountains with the tips covered in beautiful, white fog. It was very mystic and we couldn’t wait to get to the base where we would walk 999 stairs up to heaven’s gate. We then rode a bus on one of the most dangerous roads in the world! The danger didn’t stop me from sliding down my window and sticking my whole head out the side of the bus to get a true view of the world around me. We arrived at the top to find we were literally in a dream. I’m not trying to sound poetic, it was white. Pure fog. We didn’t see the mountain. Anywhere. BUT, we didn’t let the rain put a damper on our adventure, so not seeing the mountain sure wasn’t about to get us down! We climbed those 999 steps higher and higher into the clouds, (now I am trying to be poetic), until we arrived at the top of the world. Or so we thought. From there we took about 8 flights of escalators. They were escalators because the length and steepness of those escalators would’ve given a marathon runner a heart attack if they had been normal stairs. Wait. I ran a marathon once. Yeah, I would’ve died. After a quick lunch break and the top of the blessed moving stairs, we found there was still more to see. We walked around the edge of the mountain for a couple of hours, gradually climbing higher and seeing more beauty around every corner. We met a man who hiking alone and spoke a little English. He became kind of like a tour guide for us, filling us in about a few cultural things. One of my favorite things to see was trees that every inch was covered by red ribbons with Chinese characters on them. The man told us they were peoples wishes that they were sending up to the Buddhist God’s. “Like a prayer.” I uttered. This man had no idea what a prayer was. The ribbons symbolize more of a wish than a prayer because they don’t have two-way communication with their God’s. This made me sad and also very grateful for the personal relationship I have with my Heavenly father and Savior Jesus Christ. At the top of the mountain was the biggest Buddhist temple I have seen so far. Again, it was so filled with peace.

My favorite day so far in this trip, though, was the next day when we saw the avatar mountains at Zhangjajie National park. I’ve been grappling about how I would describe this to all of you because there simply are no words. Every step I took I kept thinking to myself, “there is no way this can get any prettier.” And every step proved me wrong. After making it about half way up the mountain, I said out loud, “if this world that God gave us to live in is really less than heaven, than His love for us is more incomprehensible than I have ever or could ever imagine”. God made this beauty and He made it for us. He made it for me, and for you, and for every child that has ever lived and will ever live. I simply can’t wrap my mind around it. Reminder: these are my thoughts only half way up the mountain. A few hundred steps more and I found myself surrounded by wild monkeys! Seeing these sweet and silly creatures interact with me and my group filled me with pure joy! They were swinging from branch to branch and then landing at our feet, scoping out if we would feed them. We didn’t, but they did manage to snag some fruit from our bags. They are sneaky little guys! I could have watched them for hours. A few hundred steps more and I finally found myself standing at the top of Hallelujah Mountain: the tallest of the Avatar Mountains. As a group we worshiped God by singing together the hymn, “I Stand all Amazed”, and “How Great Thou Art”. I had such a fullness in my heart. I felt so close to my Savior. I never wanted to leave. We finally left but my heart has remained full for the experience of getting to witness more of the vastness of God’s love for me and for all his children.

On the bus ride back to the hotel I met the cutest little old man. Neither of us could speak one another’s language but his smile every time he turned around to see the American girls melted my heart. I waved at him and he leaned over to his wife and I saw him trying to tell her about the rings on my fingers. I held my hands out for him to see them better. He pointed at the different bands and jewels and gave me two big thumbs up. He really liked the gold band on my thumb. Through google translate I told him it was my grandmothers wedding band. He lit up and got very excited and even stood up to tell another girl at the front of the bus who I think was his daughter. This was a simple experience but I wanted to share it because I learned from this man that bonding through common interest is universal. I do not understand Chinese. He does not understand English. But we both love rings! We bonded over something so simple with no words. I love meeting individuals all around the world and connecting to them in a way that makes me feel compassion for them. It helps me understand a little better how God can love each and every one of us all around the world.

Tianmen Mountain

My Sweet...

Crazy...

Kids!

Josephine and Pajaro on the Train

At the University

Everyone else spent money on souveniers. I spent it on food. #Chihuo

Red Wish Ribbons 

Temple at the top of Tianmen Mountain 

Avatar Mountains

I think the monkeys have seen tourists, but maybe not white girls. 

Hallelujah Mountain

The Light of Christ Through Buddha

China Immersion has continued. It’s been about 11 days now and, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, but I’m starting to feel like a native. I can navigate the metro, wave down a bus when we don’t make it to the stop on time, find my way around the city with thousands of people in one location, say hello and thank you in very poor mandarin, cook crystal rice dumplings like a pro, and I’ve mastered chopsticks. I’m practically Asian.

In all seriousness, this week has been a treasure. We began teaching the kids on Tuesday and I’m obsessed! I love everything about teaching! It definitely comes with challenges, especially when you are trying to talk to 3-6-year-old kids who speak a different language that you don’t understand, but wow, it is worth it. These kids are so sweet, and so funny, and so smart! On Friday, for example, the kids were drawing. I saw one 5-year-old named Yi drawing circles. I pointed at the shape and said “circle, you’re drawing a circle.” He looked up at me and said “no, teacha, oval.” They are such bright lights and they bring me so much joy.

This week in our travels we had to opportunity to visit a few Buddhist Temples and it was a highlight to say the least. The First temple we visited was called the Kaifu Temple. We arrived by metro and payed 20 Yuan (about $3) to get to the temple grounds. When we got to the grounds they gave us incense for praying inside the temples. The first thing you see is a beautiful white statue of a women covered in flowers and there are Chinese dragons on the sides of her. From what we could tell, we were not allowed to take pictures inside the actual temple, but outside was okay. However, when I stood next to the statue to get a picture, a gentle Chinese man, came up to us and said “girls, that not right in China.” Embarrassed, we apologized and hurried to the first temple.

Stepping back and looking at all the temples and the beautiful ponds and bridges surrounding me filled me with so much peace. A sense of love fell upon me as I entered into the dim temple and witnessed a Chinese lady worshiping. There was incense burning, calm music, beautiful idols, a prayer bench, and an alter with sacrifices such as fruit and little trinkets. I continued to walk around to the different temples. Each one had a different idol but a similar set up. The largest temple in the very center of the rounds had a huge Buddha. I thought about what little knowledge I have a Buddha: A man seeking light and enlightenment. Not only seeking, but dedicating his whole life to finding it.

Walking around, we also saw lots of monks, which was incredible. I passed by a large room where hundreds of monks were sitting at tables. One monk was repeatedly banging a gong while chanting a continuous prayer. Many of the monks were following a long the prayer in a book, some were chanting along with her, some were playing little instruments. Their dedication to give their whole lives to their religion in such an intense way was so inspiring to see.

I pondered more about Buddha. He was seeking light. I know that Christ is the light, yet Christ, and the knowledge of his gospel was not around when Buddha was, yet he did everything in his power to access the light. He seeking and good works brought so much light, goodness, and love into the world and the people in it. Right now I am living in a land where there is a whole nation of people who know little or nothing about Christ and few have access to knowledge of him, but many are following the footsteps of one who sought his own light, just as Christians strive to follow the footsteps of the savior. Thinking about it like that made me realize that, Christian or not, anyone who strives to be a good person, is trying to get on the same path, a path towards light. I believe that the path that Buddhist lead is a path of light and will help his followers eventually come to Christ. I’m so grateful for a Savior who reaches out to all of God’s children in whatever means he can. I know he loves us so much and is anxiously waiting to bless us as we continue towards the lights. The Savior said: “I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands, thy walls are continually before me” (1 Nephi 21:16). He remembers all his children, “[He] is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in” (Alma 26:37).

China Obsessed by day 3

I’m in China and I’m in love. In love with the city, in love with the food, in love with the people, in love with the children, in love with the nature and the houses and life style and the language and the vibes… I could go on and on!

At 2:30 AM on Wednesday the 27th my mom and I set off for the SLC airport. After meeting with lots of other ILP China members and getting all airport affairs in order, I said good bye to my mom and departed for my first stop in Los Angeles. We landed a quick hour later and boarded for our 13-hour flight to Beijing, China. At this point my carry-on was taken from me to be checked because it exceeded the weight limit. Who knew international flights had weight limits for the carry on?? Not me. 

One of my worries with this trip was the flight. I get pretty anxious flying and my farthest plane ride up to this point had been Arizona to Florida. This long flight was definitely no cup of tea but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had expected. Prayer number one of many answered. I was able to knock out 2 movies, 1 book, 4-5 hours of sleep, a semi-decent scripture study, and some stretching in the back of the plane. 

By the time we had landed in Beijing It was a nearly March 1st in China. We had one more 3-hour flight to Guangzhou and 2-hour bus ride to the apt we stayed at for the night. When we landed in Guangzhou, I found that my checked carryon never made the connecting flight. I still don’t have that bag so pray that I get it soon. Adventure around every corner. 

Finally, after close to 20 hours of travel. We left whatever city we were in at 4:30 PM on March 1st (1:30AM in America) for our 4-hour train ride to Changsha. The whole experience getting to Changsha was definitely my favorite travel memory. First of all, the Chinese man that took us on a small bus to the train station was very excited to be chauffeuring a 7 crazy American girls so he blasted some American tunes for us. He giggled at us as we screamed the top of our lungs to the Spice Girls and Shakira. This was of course after we had relaxed a little from the shock of how they drive here. At the beginning or our excursion, the driver needed to talk to our coordinator who was half a block down the street on foot. He stopped the bus in an intersection and got out of the vehicle to go talk to her. Cars were zooming all around us. Left and right. I don’t know how we didn’t get in an accident. Upon learning we were going the wrong way, he reversed the car out of the extremely busy intersection to switch directions. 

At the train station we were pretty unsure about where to get on. We weren’t sure if we were getting on the right train but after struggling to get our luggage on, the train took off. We prayed with all our might that it was correct. Turns out it was right but we got on about 8 carts to early so we accidently ended up on the first class station rather than economy seating! Oops. I think the people felt bad for us because of how confused and flustered we were so they just let us stay!  They are all SO nice! People are always waving and taking pictures of us and sometimes slightly laughing. I’m not sure if they are making fun of us or admiring us, but either way, I really enjoy it. Half way through the train ride, a very giddy Chinese man came to our cart with a bag full of waters he bought for each of us. We thanked him in broken mandarin but he kept returning. First he came to get our contact information, and then to give us his business card, and then to invite us to a club he and his friend were attending that night. We couldn’t stop laughing! He got off the station before us and told us to call him. Hilarious. 

When we arrived in Changsha life just went so uphill. I had already thoroughly enjoyed the things we saw in the city we were in previously, but Changsha is beautiful, amazing, spectacular to the extreme! It is one of the most ancient cities in China and even in the dark we were dumbfounded. We arrived at our apartment and I just wanted to cry. It is incredible! So nice and clean. We share the building with the Chinese teachers who teach at the same school as us. They are so sweet and cute. 

Today, March 2nd was our first official full day in Changsha and I can’t wait for what the rest of these 4.5 months will bring. At 8AM we got to go to the school to see what it looks like. Walking onto campus was a dream that nearly had me in tears. All the Chinese kids were playing outside and they rushed to the gate when they saw us coming. The kids swarmed us, gave us hugs, told us their names and smiles and waived like we were superstars. They are the brightest lights I have ever seen and I don’t know how I can resist taking them all home with me! Our school is so nice! We have our own chef that makes us breakfast, lunch, and dinner on all the school days. Her name is Wendy and holy cow she is GOOD! My main motivation for learning the language now is just to know what the foods I try are called so I can remember them and get them later! 

 After touring the school with our coordinator, Tina, we went to run some errands in the city. While a couple of the girls in my group were buying phone plans, I spent about an hour playing with a little 2-year-old boy who was son of the phone shop owners. Soon after, a 4-year-old girl came and joined us. We laughed and through a ball around and played little games. I had a beautiful feeling of God’s love for sweet kids. I realized that kindness and human interaction is universal. Both of them kept repeating little phrases to me and I was talking to talk with them too. We couldn’t understand one another’s language but I think we still understood each other; just  on a more spiritual level. I felt very full just being able to love on these cute kids and see their faces fill with smiles and light. 

We had many more adventures jam packed into just these few short days here in China. We’ve explored tons. We’ve been forced into a parade photo op. We’ve seen the biggest fireworks I’ve ever seen in my life and so much more. I Feel so blessed to be here. I feel the spirit all around me all the time. I know God lives and loves everyone one all around the world. 

All my besties the night before my departure. Love you all!

My mom was so sweet to stay a few extra days to be able to take me to the airport and send me off! 

Our first stay in China after the LONG plane ride. My carry on didn' t make the connecting flight which is why I'm uncharacteristically wearing a t-shirt

My first authentic Chinese noodles. I'm obsessed!

I pretend to be a native here.

I think China suits me well.

Driving here is actually terrifying

Party bus or entertainment for our driver? Probs both

An adventure around our neighborhood. I found so many beautiful flowers on our walk! (One is in my hair). 100% making a flower crown soon.