I left Tuesday with Madi and we went to Chicago and then Los Angeles and by midnight Wednesday morning we were on a plane to Korea. Oh, and in the LAX airport we saw some missionaries, about 8, heading from the MTC in Provo to the Philippines and some were on the phone and I asked how many were calling their gf’s. I got a few smirks. Well we arrived the 14 hours to Korea and then stayed a few hours and then finally arrived in Hong Kong 11:30pm US Central time on Wednesday evening but Thursday 1:30pm Hong Kong time. Needless to say it’s taken a while to get used to the time change of 14 hours ahead with all the touring we’ve done the past few days. When we got here we left the air port and there was a dramatic difference from the US. The trees, the construction, the tall vertical but narrow buildings, the random poverty. Much of it reminds me of third world pictures I’ve seen from missionaries. I’m surrounded by palm trees, which I’ve never been that close to in my life.
The group of about 23 of us and Jacob came first to the temple housing which isn’t 5 star accommodations by any means. It’s all tiny, relatively dirty, cramped, and with 15 girls and 10 guys in a 2-room, 250 square foot apartment there is absolutely no personal space whatsoever-welcome to China! J Well we’ve had the great privilege of being able to do temple work 3 days straight at the Hong Kong Temple. The baptistry is beautiful-absolutely. There is so much symbolism there you’ll have to remind me to share with you when I get home. Today we got to have church in the temple too in a Cantonese Branch and we got to hear from the temple president (President Gu), the area 70 President Li, and Sister Wen, a sister about to leave for a mission to the US. President Gu shared much with us about the work in China and how it’s going to infiltrate throughout the nation, which is pretty confidential information, but if you want to know and swear to secrecy, let me know and I’ll give you some insights.
As far as touring goes, we’ve been able to go to downtown Hong Kong, Victoria Peak, which overlooks Hong Kong and the harbors which is gorgeous, NGong Pong which is a giant tribute to Buddha and it’s got beautiful gardens and a Love Sutra forest with trees cut in half the long way and on each one in a figure 8 has parts of the sutra scriptures. Oh it’s SO pretty here! I honestly feel like I’ve been here for years, yet I don’t actively miss anyone much except Tristan. I’m sure I will when I finally get the chance to relax and get to the school. I haven’t had much time to do anything or time to myself with all the touring and sharing a tiny apartment, etc, but it’s been amazing. I’ve taken hundreds of pictures already and I’m so happy to be here! I almost can’t wait to start teaching-I’m so thrilled. Apparently discipline is different here with children. We can punish children here unlike the US, lol. I’ve done so much here it’s crazy. I’d have to say the bakeries, fruit, art, and nature are so beautiful, and the people are so kind and sweet, but they have no concept of personal space, especially on the trams, subways, air planes, buses-it’s all cram cram quick. I’ll get used to it. So yeah, Asian drivers are named appropriately. Although I won’t be able to really share the gospel in the mainland, I can serve with love and answer questions briefly that can touch people and help them recognize truth and light. God has GREAT plans for China and I feel so privileged to be a part of this work. Oh it is glorious and I feel so unworthy yet as prepared as possible to provide the faith and obedience for the greatest miracles in these last days. The church is true, and I will be too!
So this week tomorrow we cross the border into the mainland into Shenzhen where we get out training on lessons plans and such until Wednesday and then we travel the rest of the week to our locations. Madi and I and another teacher named Sam are going to the same school in Ling Ling City, Yongzhou, Hunan, so we’ll have a priesthood holder in the same apartments as us which is amazing! Sam is cool. Served his mission in Australia quite a while back (he’s 26), and he’s the youngest of 9 children, so we’ll get along well. So life is grood! I have TONS of pictures, and if they are worth 1,000 words, I could just give those to you and end this email. Well I do have to go for orientation, but I HAD to make sure I wrote you, because I love you lots and lots. I’ll let all of you know my address when I get there. Apparently from the US it only takes mail about 10 days to get to my school, that’s what Sam said and he’s been there a while, so I expect a few things from home…maybe hot chocolate periodically and some love. I miss cheese here…a lot. Oh well I’ll live. I’ve got my 10lb bag of chocolate from home, so I’ll be good. Once I get things settled I’ll give you another update.
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