#2 - We are doing it again

When we considered the situation of our 90+ year old parents, balanced by the continual encouragement and expressions of need by the general authorities of the church, we were led to begin our season of missionary service by sending in our papers to serve for a year in the Brigham Young University Kennedy Center China Teachers' Program. In a country that was not yet open to missionary work, the timing and service seemed ideal for us.

Are we coming or going? Either way, living
on the 5th floor with no elevator makes      
the luggage "wonderful."     

Leave Plymouth in August 2012, return home in July 2013, then figure out where/when to go for mission #2. That was our specific plan. We also put together and shared with our children what we thought might be a general plan for the next decade of our service. It absolutely did not include going back to China a 2nd time. But things change, the Lord has other plans, and yes indeed, we signed up for a 2nd time.



Sunny days are full of colorful umbrellas. A sun tan is a sign of poverty

BYU was more than happy to have us go again. It is like all senior missionary activities. A huge need and not a lot of available seniors. Our university was also happy to have us back. So we have returned to Xi'an, China for a 2nd year to the exact same situation.

The big watermelon are too heavy to carry back to our apartment and up the stairs. But is the knife clean enough to trust cutting the watermelon in half? We don't think so. No watermelon for us.

We have made some interesting discoveries. Preparing lessons for the exact same classes where we are beginning with what we taught last year is wonderful. Instead of trying to figure out what to do, we are spending about the same amount of time making lessons better - and feeling more positive and confident about it.



"Fresh" meat out in the sun and bugs for hours.

Correcting a mountain of essays takes the same hours. But there is an improved focus on what correcting is of greatest help to the students. Students are the same great people. And in fact about half the students we are currently teaching are ones we had last year in different classes. We love that.

So many green vegetables we have not see before but have come to enjoy. We will pay closer attention to the Asian booths at the farmers' markets when we get home.

Gospel related experiences are also happening more frequently and on a higher level since we seem to better understand how to impact on situations.



Eggs are never refrigerated. So colorful. So many sizes and varieties.

"Oh it's China," events still happen with the same (too often :)) frequency, but many are duplicates of last year so they are not so unsettlingly foreign. In general we interact with the culture, society, and daily living on a much more effective and comfortable basis.

Choosing mushrooms. How do they all squat like that? It kills my knees just watching.

We loved our experience last year. We love this year even more and know very clearly why the Lord wants us here. We are grateful to be able to serve him in this way.

Hair cut anyone? Conveniently located....everywhere! Only 50 cents.