The Church in Xi'an

I keep intending to write about being an expat member of the Church in China in general and in Xi'an specifically, but have not taken the time to do so. But today is the day.

We arrived in Xi'an to find we were a part of a wonderful functioning group of expat members. The branch president, Edwin Britton and his wonderful wife Elise are here from British Columbia, Canada. They have three of their nine children here with them--Bethany, a lovely young woman with beautiful red hair, who is a student of Chinese at our university. She is one of a number of foreigners who are seeking to not only learn Chinese but also major in Chinese as a degree seeking student; Isaac, our one teacher in the branch; and Curtis, our one deacon. They have lived in Xi'an now for six years and have been the backbone of the branch for all those years as so much of the rest of the branch comes and goes as part of BYU's China Teachers Program.

We meet at a board room at the hotel for the Xian School of Foreign Language. Each week we arrive to find a different configuration of tables and chairs. It is always a surprise. This week we had the directors of the China Teachers Program, Midge and Kirk Evans, here from Provo and they were quickly coerced into speaking in Sacrament Meeting. A pleasant change from listening to all of us repeatedly.

For Relief Society we walk across the way to one of the teacher's apartments, leaving the hotel to the priesthood to enjoy. We are cozy but we can all fit.

Shortly after we arrived John was called to serve as President Britton's first counselor and branch clerk in the branch presidency with Dave Monson, another CTP teacher, the second counselor and executive secretary. (From left to right above: Gary Phillipi [mission leader], John, Pres. Toronto [district president], Pres. Britton, and Dave Monson.) Dave's wife Julie was called as Relief Society president with Elisa Britton as her first counselor and me as her second. We have made a great team, the double three of us.

The balance of the branch includes two other CTP couples, the Jefferies (here for their second year) and the Phillipis (former missionaries to Cambodia). We also have three single sisters who are teaching English, Karen Robinson, Ruth Ann Prather, and Sue Nibley. Those are the teachers. Between us we teach at three different universities.

Beyond the teachers we have Amanda DeLange, a remarkable woman who runs a foster home for some 45-60 babies who have serious physical difficulties in a variety of forms of spinal bifida, heart conditions, and cleft pallets. She arranges for surgeries and helps get them placed for adoption. Her foster care is called Starfish and was recently featured in several documentaries. She reminds me of Gladys Allwood of Inn of the Sixth Happiness fame, for those who saw that wonderful old movie starring Ingrid Bergman. Amanda in a similar manner is making a huge difference in the lives of some of Heavenly Father's most challenged little people and experiences some of his choicest tender mercies on a daily basis. She often comes bringing with her a volunteer or two whom she has staying with her, helping in the foster home in a variety of ways--contractors who are renovating a new facility for her, or folks who come to lend a hand in her work with the babies.

Recently the branch's limited numbers were expanded by two with the addition of the Judds, Conrad from California and his Chinese wife--of only one month--Ning Ning, a lovely young ophthalmologist. She has been having the missionary discussions and plans to be baptized in December. Because she is married to an American she is able to choose to meet either with the Chinese group or with us. We feel fortunate to have her with us. You may be aware that we are not allowed to meet with Chinese passport holders who are members of the Church nor may we share the gospel with any of them, even when asked about it. But we can love the people and we can try to let our light shine.

Shortly after our arrival we had the remarkable experience of sitting in the Brittons' front room participating in a District Conference over Skype. Our district president, Steve Toronto, who has been in China for some 20 years, is over the Bejing China International District which takes in all of China but for the Shanghai district and Hong Kong. With the amazing help of the Internet and Skype we heard from the presidency in Bejing and other speakers scattered across China. Elise Britton was one of the assigned speakers sitting with us in her own living room and speaking on cue to the rest of the district. President Toronto is fond of calling upon members to speak extemporaneously and would say, "We will now be pleased to hear from Brother or Sister X who will speak to us from X." One of those who spoke was visiting family in Tennessee and the fact that it was the middle of the night there didn't prevent his participating with us. What an amazing thing the Church is. The ability to adapt to meet the needs of members where ever they find themselves is such a marvelous thing. We are all part of a Church family which provides us with a place to truly call home.

We have enjoyed spiritually uplifting meetings weekly in spite of the challenges of sometimes being asked to teach classes on the weekends, in spite of our needing to travel some distance in buses with no shocks, or in taxis that we trust to take us where we want to go, hoping we are handing them the right instructions in Chinese, in spite of our small numbers, in spite of not having all the programs of the Church operative in our midst.

But even so, as President Toronto likes to remind us, we have the pearl of the gospel in its simplicity. We have all we need to function: We have the priesthood among us; inspired leadership both in our branch, the district, and the headquarters of the Church; we have the ordinances; the scriptures, and the pattern of worship of the Lord's true Church. We are blessed by the Atonement in our lives and have the privilege of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with those, like us, who are foreigners in this vast land, though we can not do so with the Chinese themselves. We can try to be an example of the believers by living our testimonies. It is enough . . . for now

We have been very happily going along in the comfort of what we knew for the last two months, until two weeks ago when President Britton announced that he had accepted new employment with a Canadian company in Xiamen--a city on the coast of China, directly across from Taiwan and a long, long way from Xi'an!

Today we bid farewell to Elise and the boys. President Britton left last week. We do get to keep Bethany here in the branch while she continues her schooling but goodness how we will miss these dear, dear people who have become such an important part of our lives in such a short time. Whoever said that it takes a long time to make an old friend was wrong. In two months, this couple has influenced our lives in incalculable ways. Elise has been our mentor and guide in everything from helping us find whipping cream in the restaurant supply shops, introducing us to her tailor and taking us to the fabric mecca in Xi'an (that's a story for another day), to sharing with us her favorite walk along the city wall to see the grandfathers out walking their birds, carrying the cages with pride, then hanging them in the trees to enjoy a songfest together while their owners chat below. We now pick up the gauntlet to share with those who come after us so that the legacy of knowledge can continue if only in a small way. We wish the Brittons the best of all good things and thank them for being who and what they are to us all.

John and Dave will continue to run the branch until President Toronto can come in December to reorganize it. Meanwhile we pray for others to move here to become a stable presence of the branch as the teachers come and go.

This week we will have our autumn social for Relief Society at Julie's apartment (she calls it her boxcar apartment--long and narrow). It will be a change from the spaciousness we have become accustomed to at the Brittons, but hey, it will work, and we will have a wonderful time listening together to a DVD of the women's conference broadcast from October in this little part of Zion.

Hope you all have a wonderful week.