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| Bell Tower in the very center of the Old City. |
We have been asked to be circumspect regarding this topic. So we thought we would cover it as completely as we could for the entirety of the blog with this entry: some official Church links; a talk by Elder Dallin H. Oaks; an article about the branch in our city, Xi’an; and then some other stuff from church news sources. Pretty good reading!
No matter how public our sources or the fact we are publishing this itself, please do not quote, post, link, forward, paraphrase, etc any of this particular section (sharing our blog address as a whole, www.annandpauljr.blogspot.com, is fine). Area Authority request.
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| In front of Drum Tower, next to the Muslim Quarter |
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| Jacqueline is one of our student volunteers. She goes with us wherever we need/desire to both guide and translate. |
We take a taxi 30 minutes each way on Sunday to a hotel next to some BYU teachers’ housing on a different university campus. $3 taxi ride.
There are 13 of us from the BYU program, a family from Meridian, Idaho (he works for Micron; kids 8, 6, 3), a couple from Seattle (he works for Boeing), a doctor and her retired husband, a BYU student on scholarship to a Chinese university, a recent female American graduate from an American university in China seeking employment here, a 70 yr old Utah woman who is part of a different service program. Smaller than the branch talked about in the Church News article (the 2nd one listed above), but expats constantly come and go.
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| Another picture of the Bell Tower, better capturing the crazy round-about and the impossible traffic - and still a park. |
It would seem there are "Chinese passport holders" who joined the church in other parts of the world. We know nothing about their status - except for one thing - they may NOT attend our "non-Chinese passport holders" (like us Americans) meetings and we may NEVER interact with them in ANY way.
When you come as a tourist to China, in some of the big cities you may be able to go to church. Today Paul and I were sustained as Gospel Doctrine teachers and Paul was additionally sustained as Branch Mission Leader. And surprise of surprises, Karla Thompson is our new Branch Relief Society President.
A "non-Chinese passport holder" will be over to our apartment in a few hours for a formal discussion. We wonder how we can get our hands on a BofM in Farsi? PDF or paper.
Tender Mercies
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| Out our west apartment window. Fall is coming. |
Everywhere we turn someone will volunteer their services when they see we don’t speak Chinese. Even people who feel they don’t speak English very well have summoned courage and helped us by translating. Most of the time we get close to what we thought we ordered in a restaurant (+/- the spiciness) and taxi directions have not failed us yet.
The first time we went to the new campus, we went to where we thought we would catch the shuttle bus. A group of individuals got excited by our presence and tried to tell us something. Shortly a young woman stepped over and told us they were telling us we were in the wrong spot, and she offered to walk us the 6 blocks to where the actual bus stop for us was.
We had a wonderful conversation. Turns out she just graduated this spring in English and was now in graduate school in International Relations. Her favorite teachers during her undergraduate years were the couple we replaced. She is hoping to go to school in America in a year or two: BYU, Ohio State, or Georgetown. Without us offering any advice but just answering her questions about us and our kids, she is now more BYU inclined. And that can lead to all kinds of wonderful consequences. These types of experiences are happening so regularly. It is the greatest.
Please send us what we forgot
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| Out our south apartment window. |
As our predecessors have said “You can get everything you need in China; maybe not all you want, but definitely all you need.” Another pithy truism is “Everything in the world may be made in China, but that does not mean it is reasonably accessible to a consumer in China.” That is ok. We are fine.
Actually, we do have a request
If you are really kind hearted and still want to send us something, we do have a request. How about a PowerPoint presentation? Or 2 or 3 or more? Our classes are full of learning activities building upon the particular English skill we are working on that day. But we need content to be the focus of the skill. We particularly like PowerPoint Presentations which teach some aspect of American life and/or culture at the same time. Makes the classes much more interesting. The first day we used a PowerPoint of Paul and his family sledding which led to discussions, etc. on the merits of various types of winters. We have used great ones from Laura, Jenny, and Lisa as well. It will be fun to have more FROM YOU. Our students will appreciate any change of pace you can add. Thanks!
Those of you who are YM or YW advisors – listen up
Brainstorm!! Those of you who are YM or YW advisors – listen up. Most of what our students know about American Culture they pick up from the garbage in raunchy movies and TV. Not too realistic.
Think about it. How do you answer a students question for the name of a movie or TV show that best portrays American culture and values?
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| Out our north facing kitchen window. |
- “Life of an LDS teen”
- “Friday night HS football and all”
- “HS in America”
- “Seminary, School, Sports and a part time job”
- “Marching Band and music”
- On a college level
- A young married level
- Starting a career as a college grad
- An FHE activity for the whole family
- "Church and Church activities for a YSA" (which is what all these students are)
These could be the basis of lots of great learning activities and our students would love the content. How about passing this along to someone you think might be willing/interested/to help. Thanks again.
So far I've only looked at the first link you posted but what a great devotional!
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