Reflections of China

So, I kind of haven't posted a blog in...well a really long time. I guess that's what happens when you're in love, and there are just more important and exciting things happening in life. But life is wonderful, and I'm now almost a month into my semester at school and am really loving my classes. I'm doing three dance classes: clogging, ballet and the collegiate world team. My ballet teacher is the most awesome ever! She's a classically trained ballerina, like in her 70's and tiny, in the best shape, and can still drop into the splits! Totally an inspiration! I'm taking organ lessons, doing a sound engineering class and a hymn class, which I love. This last week one of our assignments was to memorize all the verses to "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief." It was hard work, and I feel so good to say that I did it! My last class is my Chinese class. Of course I love it, because I love Chinese, but can I say difficult? Yes. It's actually the highest level of Chinese they offer here, and I am in a class with a bunch of mandarin speaking returned missionaries. So it's a great push, and sometimes I really struggle, but it is good.

But I wanted to use the rest of this post to reflect on my time in China. You will have to excuse the disorganized pictures. I posted them in a random order, and I can't seem to switch them around.

It's so interesting to me to think back at what I was doing three years ago and never would have imagined the things Heavenly Father has allowed me to experience, and the "old friends" he has blessed me to see and meet. I found myself in China teaching English and then a year and half later, I found myself back in China (but up north in Beijing, instead of southern) studying Chinese!!! Sometimes I wondered, "What has led me here?" While I was in China this last time, the spirit taught me something very important, and that is...

One of the most important reasons while I was in China was to be a missionary. Because China is not open to missionaries and the preaching of the gospel at this time, the MEMBERS of the church in China ARE the Lord's missionaries!! I felt so blessed to be a part of the members there and that the Savior trusted us to do a "work without words," sharing our light through examples, and letting the natives see how LDS members live.

Along with "a work without words" among the natives of China, I never thought of all of the people from all around the world I would get to be friends with! Being at an international school, I was able to share the gospel and become friends with people from Italy, Korea, Ghana, Dubai, Iraq and many other places!! I learned SO much from all of these people! I also got offered many alcoholic drinks and through the many kindly declines, that is how many of these people started asking us Mormons questions about our faith. They started to see that we lived "differently" and they were curious about our beliefs. They saw the light and the happiness that naturally comes from the way we live.

This is one of my Chinese friends, Catherine. I met her out running on the track one day. She is a sweetheart.

This is my Chinese friend, Sofie. She is a doll! I met her on the bus one day on my way to church and then met her for lunch the next week. The first thing she said to me when we met for lunch was, "I want to go to church with you!" I was heart broken, as I had to explain that Chinese law doesn't allow us to do that, and I couldn't even tell her when and where the Chinese branch met. She was so sad, but we are still great friends.

I got to teach the sunbeams at the international branch while in China. This was one of the handsome little boys in my class.

This was my Chinese class. We had Italians, Koreans, Dubains, and us Americans all learning Chinese in the same class.

My dear friend Veronica from Italy.

My awesome friends Hamada and Abdu who are from Dubai who were in our class. They took us American girls out for Arabic food one day.

So, cool story about this guy! This is my friend Joseph from Ghana who was introduced to the gospel by my friends Brett and Adam at the beginning of the semester. Joseph was baptized the week before we left! The Lord really does place people in each other's paths for a reason. I bet Joseph wasn't thinking that when he came to China he would be introduced to and join the LDS church by members from America who are studying Chinese in Beijing and he would be baptized, but the Lord had a plan, and he is involved in every detail. It was the sweetest baptism in the world. I don't think there was a dry eye when Joseph stood up to bear his testimony after his baptism. This humble guy is full of so much love and had the biggest smile accross his face that entire baptism day.

Bartering at the silk market. These are two of my Chinese friends who I would always talk to at the silk market.

My friend Natalie from Korea! Natalie lived in Ireland so she speaks fluent English. Funny story, I met her in the grocery store. She had been in China for a few days, and didn't speak very much Chinese, so when she saw an English speaking American in the store she was delighted. The first thing she asked me was, "Do you know where the pots and pans are?" Instant friends right there in the produce section! I had this feeling to ask for her number so that we could get together, even though we had only known each other for a couple minutes. We ended up going shopping and hanging out. I invited Natalie to church one sunday and she came!

My great friend Sam from Iraq. This is a picture of us at a Muslim Mosque in Beijing. He invited a small group of us to go with him. We invited him to church and he came a couple times. Sam has a huge heart and I am so glad I was able to become friends with him.

I love and miss my friend Delal! She is from Iraq as well. She wasn't a student at CNU (the university I studied at) but her husband was. This is a picture of us in her apartment. She invited my friend and I over for Iraqi food one night.

This is another one of my adorable kids in my primary class. The branch was one of my favorite parts about Beijing. It really was a family who supported each other, you really are living in a foreign country. The members all keep each other strong.

These are some of the street vendors who I would buy food from. The sweet potato guy! I love my sweet potatoes...hehe.

And the banana lady!!

This tree has amazing significance! This is the tree where China was dedicated for missionary work. One of the guys in our group, his old mission President had mapped out the exact spot of where it was dedicated, so he told us how to find it and we found it in a beautiful park next to the forbidden city in Beijing. On January 9, 1921, David O Mackay was traveling with Brother Cannon and they stopped off in Beijing and felt inspired to dedicate this land for missionary work.

Brother Cannon recorded, "Elder David O. McKay, in the authority of the holy apostleship, dedicated and set apart the Chinese realm for the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, whenever the Church Authorities shall deem it advisable to send out missionaries for that purpose. Never was the power of his calling more apparent in his utterances. He blessed the land and its benighted people and supplicated the Almighty to acknowledge this blessing. He prayed that famine and pestilence might be stayed, that the government might become stable, either through its own initiative, or by the intervention of other powers, and that superstition and error, which for ages have enveloped the people, might be discarded, and truth take their place. He supplicated the Lord to send to this land broad-minded and intelligent men and women, that upon them might rest the spirit of discernment and the power to comprehend the Chinese nature, so that in the souls of this people an appreciation of the glorious gospel might be awakened.

"It was such a prayer and blessing as must be recognized in heaven, and though the effects may not be suddenly apparent, they will be nonetheless real."

This is David O. Mckay standing next to that same tree the day of the dedicatory prayer. Since then, the branch coming out to the left has been cut down, but it was cool because we saw where the branch had been cut from the tree.  There was an amazing spirit in that park! I think all of the Chinese people around were wondering what the heck five Americans were doing taking pictures next to a random tree, but we loved it. Missionary work is happening in China! I testify of it. Heavenly Father is involved in the details. If we keep our promises to Him, He will keep His promises to us. I am so grateful for my time that I have had in China and will never forget the abundance of blessings the Lord blesses us with always.