Christmas in Xi'an . . . and a glimpse at home!

We have had a wonderful Christmas in Xi'an, though very different from what we are used to. The highlight for us was being able to speak with and see Chi and David and kids and to talk with Adam and Kimmy and all their kids. THEN to make it even more special we received an email from Nya telling us all about their Christmas, her gifts, and the school play she is going to be in. That was such a treat. I think hearing from our kids and grandkids is the greatest joy we can think of. We have loved our weekly visits from Chi and family on Skype. Being able to see the kids growing up is really neat. We have missed having a similar experience with Patrick's and Adam's families. Adam has been traveling and their at-home computer died so we were thrilled to hear that they have a new computer at home for Christmas. Patrick and family don't do Skype so we really miss seeing and hearing from them but have appreciated Patrick's taking the time in recent weeks to write us an update about each of their family each week.

We are really enjoying our experiences here, as difficult as they are but all the same having contact with family makes a very special difference in our lives. It was wonderful to receive a picture card from Adam's family, though their envelop of pictures has yet to find its way to us. Hopefully sometime. China mail is not easy!

On Christmas Eve I gave my last two oral finals from 2:00 until nearly 5:00 pm, taking bus 313 from Rainbow bridge rather than my bike since we were getting our first snow of the season! How's that for perfect. A white Christmas!


After the final I scurried home to get the last touches of my dinner ready. I had done the earlier preparation in the morning. We had two couples and two single sisters in our branch for dinner to try to brighten their homesickness for family. One of the singles is a widow and Christmas without her sweetheart is a very difficult time--I can't even imagine it! We had an Italian/Norwegian dinner with artichoke/chicken/tomato panzanella salad, tomato basil soup, Ruby River-like yam disks, deep fried then served with cinnamon butter, and for dessert Norwegian rice and cream. Yummy (Thanks to Elaine's recipe from years ago), fruit--oranges, grapefruit (well here it had to be pemmellos, and pomegranates) as well as Christmas cookies I figured out how to bake in my TINY oven using a flattened 9" aluminum pan. It was a delightful evening, admittedly much smaller than our usual Christmas Eve open houses in our Maryland and Salt Lake years, but fun anyway. It made Christmas Eve for us too.


On Christmas day we slept in! We were bushed and had no little people to roust us out early. We enjoyed a Christmas breakfast of cinnamon rolls, orange juice, hot chocolate, granola/fruit/yogurt. It wasn't like going to Little America with Gledhills for our traditional outing but it was yummy, and we didn't end up eating as much.

In the afternoon we went to our branch president's house--they are back in town to make their official move to Xiamen, though they have been there for a couple of months, kind of camping out. It was wonderful to see them again.

For the Christmas Night party we had all the branch (all 21 of us) plus visitors who are here volunteering at the foster home. They had come from Norway, Sweden, Canada, Indonesia, etc. Wonderful young people, traveling around to see the world and stopping along the way to lend a hand in service. It was a pleasure to meet them--and to sample their contributions to our meal! Helena, the Swede, is a chef. Oh my! Once more we came home very tired but happy, so glad to be with good friends and feel the joy of the season.

Elise and Ed Britton spoke in our Sunday meetings today and they really touched our hearts with their desire to serve the Lord wherever He wants them to be. Turning their lives over to Him and allowing Him to lead and guide them has blessed them with great miracles, as we know happens to all of us when we do likewise.

After church today we had a pot luck while we all waited for our turn to give our tithing settlement declaration to Pres. Britton. Not many units in the Church where that can be done in one afternoon! I made Hard Rock Cafe's baked potato soup from the left over mashed potatoes and Aunt Margie's salad, and no-knead bread.

Because we never have the opportunity to have homemaking meetings, we took the first five minutes of our Relief Society time for me to demonstrate how to mix the bread and then put a batch I had brought with me ready to form and raise for second time, set it to raising and baking as part of our potluck, though it didn't get done in time for the main meal,it served its purpose and was gobbled up after dessert when it finally came out hot from Ruth Ann's little toaster oven.

John and I, with the Brittons finally dragged ourselves to the bus stop to catch our respective buses home. It has been a very long but very good day. Because John is not only first counselor but also the branch clerk we were there for the duration to get all the signed declarations, collect the little bit of tithing, and have all paper work in order. He has decided that one of the important reasons he is in Xi'an is to get the branch clerking tasks organized! He may be right!

We hope that your Christmases were filled with the greatest joy of the season and that you will treasure being together with your families. We love and miss you all. Next week sees the last of my finals--then I have hundreds of papers to correct and grades to give for my writing students. John gives his finals on January 4 and then he faces millions of papers to grade in order to wrap up his semester. But we will get it all done and deserve our upcoming break in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Southwestern China, and Gulangyu (Xiamen) directly across from Taiwan.

This Week in Xi'an

December is racing by so fast I almost wish for a Narnia-like delay of "always winter but never Christmas" just so I can get more done in this month before Christmas arrives, hard pressed by the New Year at its heels. But despite my wishes, Xi'an days do fly by.

John rarely gets away from his desk at home, grading his piles of papers or preparing a new powerpoint for the next day, but finally Saturday I got him on bus 700 and headed to the remarkable Xi'an fabric market to try to find material to have him some new trousers made. We had tried to buy him some new pants but everything he tried were floods on him so we decided to go the custom-made route. Dozens of shops loaded with fine woolens line several streets. Each has its tailor who can size you up in short order and write up an job slip before you have even decided that you are going to buy! Our tailor came highly recommended to us by our branch president's wife so we hoped we were in good hands. We came away with having ordered three pairs of trousers as well as a herringbone top coat, all for about $120. We are to pick them up on December 29 and then we will know how well the money was (or wasn't) spent.

Xi'an continues to provide sunshine and very crisp days that feel more like late autumn than winter. My students' journals all bewail their not having any snow to play in yet, but John and I are not complaining. It can stay this way all winter in our book. Christmas Eve is actually supposed to see a snow flurry so who knows, we just might have a white Christmas after all. That is OK with me (as long as it all blows away on the 26th!) It is invigorating to still be able to ride my bike to class--even bundled up in my down coat, Pashima shawl, gloves, and ear band.

Friday I taught my last classes for the term. John still has a week and a half to go (but he started much later than I did, so all is fair!) I still have finals to give and grade so the pressure is still on. This week I gathered all my students' personal narratives and formatted them before having them published in a little book called "Growing up in China"--my Christmas gift to them. I took it to be printed and bound with a nice red cover at the college print shop (two copy machines jammed between vegetable bins on one side and clothing racks on the other). When I picked up the 32 finished books the next morning and paid the bill it came to only 144 yuan--about $20, or about 62 cents each.

Besides school stuff I also made my monthly visiting-teaching trek to see Amanda Delange at Starfish foster home and had fun helping to weigh and chart the littlest babies before they are bathed and then fed. It was a busy place since Amanda is being pushed out of the four apartments she has had nannies and babies in for the last several years and the renovation of her new quarters is not yet finished but somehow Amanda will move, lock stock and baby, by the end of the month. She is a remarkable person who seems to me to do the Savior's own work in her service to the weakest of His little ones. She often has volunteers from all over the world who come to help out and take part in whatever way they are needed.




My favorite outing this week was a long-anticipated visit to the artists' street, just inside the city wall. Elise Britton, back in town from Xiamen for Christmas, met me with her artist daughter Bethany on Saturday morning so Bethany could show us all the treasures of this area. Because she loves art, and speaks Chinese, she has found a number of friends amongst the artists who are there working their craft as they welcome visitors to their shops. Many of these shops had been renovated and they were beautiful with wonderful doorways that drew us in to admire their works. Along the way we stopped to buy hot breads that were stuff with veggies to keep up our strength as we wandered. It was a lovely morning.




We wish you all a sparkling holiday week filled with love, laughter, good food, and music. Have a very Merry Christmas.

Children and Christmas in China

Since we came to China we have been entranced by the beautiful Chinese children and the riveting attention we see paid them by parents and grandparents alike. No sacrifice is too great to allow that child every opportunity money and time can buy. In this vast country with its burgeoning 1.3 billion population (and its strictly enforced, one-child policy--at least in the cities), we see young people who paradoxically long for a sister or a brother, while also fearing to share their parents love with any other child. But certainly these children are treasured as the embodiment of their hopes and dreams for the future. We just enjoy seeing them and their parents as we come and go.

It seems amazing to us that December is here already and Christmas is just around the corner. We love celebrating the season, wherever we are, but I have been surprised in large supermarkets like Walmart and Vanguard to find myself surrounded with tacky Christmas decor and clerks with Santa hats on while Christmas songs blare. I don't really like it much and can't quite explain why, except that it doesn't some how feel just right.

It is as commercialized as any American effort in order to make every day count at the register. I didn't care for that in the USA. I like it even less in China where any effort to celebrate our holiday is just on the surface--just for profit--with nothing under that surface. No understanding of the real Reason for the Season. And the worst part of it is that I can't tell anyone what is wrong with that picture.

That said, we are so glad that we do know what is beneath all the tinsel and the holiday cheer and are so grateful that the Savior was born into this world and that He was not only was born but also lived His sin-free life of love and service and died that each one of us--even the 1.3 billion Chinese who don't know of Him--might live again.


A Bright,
Shining Star

“There is no better time than now, this very Christmas season, for all of us to rededicate ourselves to the principles taught by Jesus the Christ.”

—President Thomas S. Monson

Downhill to the End of Term

Another week has flown by faster than I can believe. I can still remember as a kid that every day past Thanksgiving lasted 48 hours--not the usual 24. And Christmas Eve. . . well, I didn't think Christmas Eve would ever end so Christmas could come. But that kind of time warp happens in reverse for us oldsters in Xi'an. I have only two more class periods for each of my six classes and then we have exam weeks.

Examination time sends Chinese students into a panic and I don't blame them. The pressure they carry on their young shoulders is something to behold. My students keep daily journals, turning one in to me each week while they write in their second one and I read and comment on the first. Because I have the luxury of classes under 20 students (not like John's 40+ grad-student courses) it has been doable to read over 100 journals a week. I find it an awesome way to help them improve their ability to communicate in English but I also find it a very interesting way to get into their heads a bit. I am privy to their occasional fights with dorm mates, their successes and tragedies (their word) if they don't absolutely sparkle in every presentation, quiz, or role play they do. They are very competitive and "lose face" with themselves and anyone else around them if they aren't at the top. Since it isn't possible to have them all be at the top on everything--they are all in the same classes--there are always those on a high and those in the basement in their reporting their joys and woes.

Back to exam time for these kids. The standard for grading at JiaoDa is for course work to count 30% and final exams to count 70%. We have both successfully argued to alter those to 40% and 60% but could not get them any lower. A student could do very well in the coursework and bomb the final and seriously risk losing his or her spot at the university. The consequence for that is a very, very bleak future ahead. My kids are English majors. Most of them didn't choose that major--they got assigned to it. Overall they try to make the best of their lot and try to keep dusting off their dreams for the future. My writing students are junior and so are worried about how they are going to find work. Some of the kids freely write that they are trying to get in the Communist party in the hopes that it will augment their job opportunities, and explain that they all say this and that at the meetings to be viewed as they must be viewed. It doesn't seem to always mean a lot to them beyond that, though they are very loyal to their country. I hope they will do well in their exams. Suicide is all too common in China among students.

Thursday night we go to English Corner to sit around and talk with anyone who shows up and wants to talk English. John decided that would be a chance to catch some of his students for conferences he hadn't fit in and this week he sent an email saying he'd be there from 8-10. He had about eight of his kids come and they had a great time talking about their writing and then eating plums and peanuts that the students supplied. I spent the time talking with a half a dozen others who were very interested in American politics and politicians. Interesting views they have of our country seen through their "red" lens. They have inquiring minds and good questions and know a lot more about our system than we do about theirs. We even had a five-year old come to English Corner this week with his mother determined for her son to get a head start on English.

The weather in Xi'an continues to be more autumny than wintery, but today was windy and dusty. The street sweepers are an absolute must around here and we are grateful for their constant efforts. If you ever get to thinking your life is dull or boring, just consider how you would enjoy doing nothing but sweeping the roads and dirt 18-20 hours every day, seven days a week. I can't imagine having every Sunday just another day in the week.

Our Sunday, on the other hand, abounds with the blessings of the Spirit as we take bus 408 for 1 yuan each (about .15) for 40 minutes to Church. We arrive to enjoy together a wonderful community of saints with whom we share the sacrament, our testimonies, Sunday School lessons, and our Priesthood and Relief Society, all working together with our few numbers just as well as in your large wards. Today John (as acting branch president, reorganized our RS presidency, moving me to first counselor, since Elise Britton has moved, and adding LaRee Phillipi as second counselor. How grateful we are that we all have each other. We try to make everyone feel at home and a part of things. In that effort, today we celebrated the 21st birthday of our youngest Relief Society sister, Bethany Britton, with chocolate cake and flowers.

Overall we are faring well physically with an up here and a down there. Mine this week has been a dislocated rib on my left side which has made getting out of bed a bit tough. On top of that I caught another cold with an accompanying cough. It isn't good to have a cough while dealing with a painful rib!

How have we managed to survive? While we were still in Utah serving in the Salt Lake Second Branch we were very blessed to have a reflexologist among our missionaries. For months Sister Cyr treated us twice a week to get us in shape to leave. The last few months she also began teaching us how to treat each other so that we would have the help we would need in China. She blessed us with a great gift which we have made regular use of! Just after arriving we ordered a massage table to make it possible to work on each other without having to lean over so much. What a boon that has been! More times than I can count, one or the other of us has been put on the table to have knees, or ribs, or feet worked on to help survive the next day. We are so grateful for her tutelage. Her efforts have proven to be our finest gift!

We also continue to improve our little apartment. Not only did we add swags to our ceiling in honor of Christmas, but we also have a new bathroom sink! Our former one had a lot of cracks and chips in it as well as a 3/4 inch gap at the back that had been filled with dirty caulking. John had noticed for weeks now that there was a filthy, but new looking sink on the floor in the corner of our bike garage. He finally got up the nerve to "ask" (by pantomime) if he could buy it. The nice lady--whose kitchen counter is inside the garage itself--gave it to him. He brought it home, cleaned and scrubbed it in John's thorough fashion, and got it ready to install.

While he was working on cleaning up the sink I was out trying to find my way back to a little market street where I had ordered a hood made for my down coat. Not only did I finally find the place again, but also had my hood put on the coat with a dandy zipper attachment for easy removal, while I sat in the shop and read the student papers I had fortunately thought to bring along. With my hood now attached, my next destination was to try to find Home Depot. Yes, there is one in Xi'an. I even had its business card someone had given me.

On my way out to find a taxi to take me there I came across a wonderful find! A street vendor with a huge wash tub full of what looked to be smoked pig meat items, ears, organs, and, what caught my eye--what looked to be a ham hock. I had earlier purchased bags of split peas at the "Hole in the Wall" (that is yet another story) restaurant supply and had tried making split pea soup with Chinese ham and, though it wasn't bad, was just not the same as having a real ham hock to cook in it. I quickly added that hock to my purchases and headed for where I could catch a cab.

Grabbing a cab just as someone else jumped out of it (the BEST way to get one!) I confidently handed the driver Home Depot's business card showing it to be on DaQing Lu. I knew it was somewhere on the other side of the west city wall, somewhere to the north of me. The driver looked at the card made a phone call and then waved his hand at me in the typical Chinese fashion that means "No way, Jose." Apparently the card (nor the person on the phone) were helpful in telling him where the place was. He wanted me to get out and go and I didn't want to. I figured that at least if he got me close to DaQing I could maybe find it on my own so I pointed in the direction I thought he should go. The driver, deciding that to get me out of his cab would be harder than just driving where I pointed to, laughed and drove, following my gestures to turn here or there.

To make a long ride a short story, bless him, he got me there, stopping more than one passerby to ask something unintelligible in Chinese. I happily paid him his 15 yuan and waved him goodbye and headed into the illusive shop to find a drill, a hammer, and a putty knife for John and his projects. Successfully finding most of what I needed, I headed out into the night to try to find my way to a bus that would get me home. Along the way I discovered a little plumbing shop that had the last item (which Home Depot didn't carry) that John needed to finish his bathroom project.

We end the week with a lovely new sink, my improved rib--much better this morning after John's reflexology treatment on it last night--and grateful hearts for all our blessings. We continue to keep you all in our thoughts and prayers and hope your life's opportunities and challenges--even when they are really, really tough--will prove to be blessings in sometimes ugly disguises.

Thanksgiving in Xi'an

We have enjoyed a most interesting Thanksgiving week in Xi'an and are glad to have a chance to say hello, to wish you well, and to tell you we are grateful for YOU.

Each time an American holiday rolls around I like to share it with my oral students and Thanksgiving was a very special time to be able to do so. I prepared a power point presentation to teach them about our traditions. Then to get them talking I passed out popcorn and raisins (in memory of corn and dried fruit that the Pilgrims may have eaten) and had each student stand in turn and talk about what they value, what they were grateful for and what they wished for in the coming year, before they could eat their popcorn and fruit.

The rules I set up required that they could not repeat what someone else said and they had to explain WHY they valued, were grateful, or wished for what they shared by telling of an experience or a story that illustrated those things. It was a very successful week and in the process I was filled with gratitude for all my blessings.

Certainly at the top of my list are family relationships. Whether we are near or far, they are treasures in our hearts. I am very grateful for the opportunities we have been blessed with and wish for the Lord’s choicest blessings to be with us all and that through His grace we can learn the things we are supposed to learn while we are on this beautiful earth, in whatever place we find ourselves.

We have had a glorious week of perfect autumn weather. Crisp and cold but nothing demanding the long underwear the Chinese wear every day from October until April. They even have furry lined long underwear that is amazing. If temperatures drop significantly we may follow their lead, but for now we are savoring the season and are not feeling sad about having missed Utah's bitter cold and stormy skies of this week.

Our week included our first Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday night at our friends, Dave and Julie Monson's apartment. I made "pumpkin" pie from Chinese squash, which we balanced on a bus without mishap.

Our branch then had a Thanksgiving dinner at the Tang Dynasty restaurant with our members as well as a number of guests--foreign passport holders from Germany, France, Mongolia, Armenia, and the USA. Most of them are teachers at one or another of our various universities. It was fun to reach out to others to join with us. The Algerian/French fellow, who brought his fiance, a beautiful Mongolian/Korean girl named Bulgan, made the comment to Julie Monson, that this was the first time anyone had invited him to anything since he came to China 18 months ago. It was fun to enjoy their company, sitting as they were across from us on the long, long dining table. It was a nice evening.

Friday was another big teaching day for both of us, though particularly for John, who had his usual eight-hour marathon, but with a twist. He had a ball with his students teaching process writing by distributing ziploc baggies of kiddie legos to groups of his students. They were asked to design a puzzle toy and to write a description of each step to assemble their creation. Once that was completed they disassembled their puzzles and passed their bags with their written instructions to another group to try to assemble it. The students loved the class. (They may look like they are 15, but these are serious, and very bright, graduate students!)

Friday night John and I spend our traditional day-after-Thanksgiving by decorating our Christmas tree. I had been shopping at Kung Fu Lu--an amazing assemblage of tiny stores where you can find just about everything Light Industry doesn't have, including a couple of little holes in the wall that had pint-sized Christmas trees. I had bought one for 30 kuai (about $4.50) only to then find one that was taller for Julie that was only 10 kuai ($1.50)! I think I was taken advantage of. But whatever, we laughed our way through shop after shop and I came home with an odd assortment of this and that. John then decorated the tree while I looked on. He said it was sure easy this year. He could pick up the tree and wind the lights all in one step. The various little lights and lighted fruits we put on are pretty amazing. They have a little box attached to the strand that allows you to click a button to change the pattern of the way the lights work: blinking in different colors, fading in and dimming out, holding steady, etc. etc. There are eight variations in all. All worth a laugh. Anyway, we hope the beginning of your Christmas holiday season is a happy one.

Our Week in Xi'an

Last week we enjoyed a visit from Midge and Kirk Evans, our China Teachers Program (CTP) directors, who were here to meet with our university officials, visit our classes, check out our living quarters, and make sure we were all surviving our adventures. They were at JiaoDa with us on Friday and slipped in after their meetings to catch the last half of my 10:10 two-hour oral English class. The students were all on their very best behavior, so impressed to have foreign visitors from America! After class I took the Evanses home to our apartment to give them a welcome break from Chinese food. At this mid-point of their lengthy sweep of China they had been under way for some two and a half weeks with a lot of cities and teachers to visit still to go.

They laughed with us about our apartment's charming exterior with its piles of concrete stacked just outside our door saying, "Well, your place is not the best we have seen, but its not the worst either." We remain grateful for the blessings we enjoy of being so close to campus and having such great folks at our school to work with. Later that evening, after John's usual Friday marathon day, we met with all the Xi'an BYU teachers for dinner with the Evanses. They were with us again on Sunday for our meetings, where we enjoyed hearing from them. (So nice to have new faces to speak in our branch!) After our meetings and lunch we bid them farewell as they headed for the airport then on to Jinan on the next leg of their journey.

Monday evening that week I had been "invited" by the dean, through Mr. Chen, to judge the second-leg of the public speaking contest at our university prior to JiaoDa's winner moving on to the national competition on Saturday the 20th. I had already spent Wednesday evening in a similar fashion on the first level contest. I didn't mind doing it through having to judge each contestant and then being the Question Master to ask each student to respond to a question was sometimes a little tricky since I had to concentrate carefully on their English that was too often a bit difficult to understand. John and I had both been fighting colds and staying on top of our regular teaching and preparation loads while also taking on these extra curricula was becoming a challenge. Tuesday between my morning sections, Mr. Chen was waiting for me outside the classroom with the winner of the competition from the night before in tow. He told me that the dean had "invited" (there's that word again!) me to be the "guide" for the winner to work with her to get her ready for the upcoming final competition. I wished her well but told Mr. Chen to tell the dean that I was not able to take on more right now. All the extras were cutting into my being able to do my best with the classes I had full responsibility for. My extra class teaching the primary school teachers was also taking much more time than I had anticipated and I simply could do no more. He told me he would send me an email about it. He did, again inviting me to coach the winner. I replied by saying "no." I was doing all I could right now without getting seriously ill. I received a very nice email back saying that the dean was very pleased with my teaching and understood my not taking on more. I was relieved and had learned something about how things work here.

One of the challenges of teaching in China is that the Chinese work harder than any people I've ever seen. They work from early to late, seven days a week and think everyone else ought to as well. We had been cautioned about escalating schedules and reminded that since we were the first at our school, what we agreed to do would set the pace for all the BYU teachers who would follow after us, so be careful. Though we had tried to follow that counsel things were getting a bit out of hand! Three different preparations with classes Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (seven two-hour sections), English Corner on Thursday evening from 8:00-10:00 pm, my branch RS presidency responsibilities, and other branch assignments (we spoke in sacrament meeting today, for the second time in two months) all keep me relatively busy. John's schedule is similar with its own heavy load while he also is acting branch president with the Brittons' move. Being branch clerk adds to keeping him scrambling.

If, as you read this description, you think that I am complaining, you are mistaken. It is a glorious journey that we love very much, despite our working harder than we have for years. We feel it such a blessing to be here doing what we are doing with the people we are serving.

Friday evening this week we had a wonderful time at our fall social for our Relief Society. We met in Julie Monson's boxcar apartment to enjoy dinner and watch the Women's Conference. All but two of our numbers were able to be there. A wonderful warm gathering on a crisp autumn evening. Julie had made hot chicken salad. I brought broccoli cheese soup and homemade bread. (It is an adventure in and of itself to transport soup on a bus:) Because my companion and I were going visit teaching before the event with no time to make the trip home before the social I lugged soup in quart-sized yogurt containers in my handy canvas bag to Starfish and back, actually making it with no mishaps.

Bethany and I are Amanda Delange's visiting teachers. She is the director of Starfish foster home, where, in three apartments, she remarkably oversees some forty-five to sixty at-risk babies for whom she provides wonderful care, overseeing her Chinese nannies and foreign volunteers, and arranging for the baby's many surgeries always hoping to get them well and then facilitate their eventual adoptions. Sometimes we go and just hold babies who are always happy for warm hugs and cuddles, sometimes we actually get a little message in, but just being at Amanda's we are privileged to watch someone doing Christ's own work of caring for and loving the "one."

Amanda, born in South Africa, joined the Church at 23, served a mission, went to Taiwan where she learned Chinese, never knowing why. Through a remarkable series of miracles, she was able to set up a foster home with the support of the Chinese government (you have to be in China to know how remarkable THAT is!) She has never married but is mother to hundreds of babies over the six plus years since she has been in China making a difference. (She told Heavenly Father on one occasion that she understood that she was not going to have the chance to marry and she was OK with that IF he would give her something really interesting to do with her life. Well, He has certainly honored her request! Interesting is an understatement for sure.)

To conclude our week, on Saturday morning the Monsons met John and me at one of the south gates of the city for us to enjoy a really beautiful autumn morning to walk in the park and observe the older generation at play. The park runs between the wall and the moat and is home to taichi devotees, kungfu groups (with swords), the coolest adult playground mechanical equipment of every kind that can be imagined.

It is an older generation playground. Children are welcome--they come with their grandparents--but it is the adults who come to play. In the park you can see men out walking their birds, hanging their cages from trees in order to sing to others likewise brought while their owners chat below. (I never knew owning a bird was such a responsibility!)

From the park we walked up into the old city to enjoy a morning market (Xi'an's answer to Salt Lake's Farmers' Market) where we bought breakfast on the street--egg crepes and hot scones--wandered here and there looking at and sampling the fresh veggies, fruits, candies, and looking at the wares of clothing, buttons, shoe repairs, and anything else you can think of intermixed along the way.

John and Dave left to go home teaching together while Julie and I walked on to the Muslim Market to do a little shopping before heading home to get ready for Sunday. What a week. We hope yours is a full of joy as ours has been. Talk with you next week.

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.

Our Week in Xi'an

We have had an eventful week. Early in the week while we were preparing for classes we were startled by what sounded like a bomb going off outside our building. I ran to the kitchen window to discover a long line of black decorated Mercedes and BMWs lining our alley parked right beneath me. The bomb was a huge number of firecrackers announcing the arrival of the groom to pick up his bride. After sometime she descended our very dirty stairs in her white gown before being carried to the lead car to be taken to the restaurant for the wedding festivities (including more fireworks!)
After a full week of teaching we enjoyed a Halloween party with our branch on Friday night, to which we took a couple of fellow teachers. Costumes were in order so our friends, one with whom John works (from the University of Washington) and one from Germany (with whom John LOVEs to practice his German!)went with us dressed as "foreign teachers"--right from school. John was a debonair Chinese gentleman in his new ultrasuede jacket we bought for 180 Kaui (about $28) at the Muslim market, Conrad and his tiny little Chinese wife showed up as doctors (costumes readily available to Ning Ning, an opthamologist), and one fellow made do with what was readily at hand by gathering this or that (maybe from our stairwell--plenty there) showed up as "white trash."

Among the Brittons, President looked worse for wear as an accident victim of Xi'an traffic--bandaged from head to toe, Elisa was a charming chimney sweep, and their children were a butcher, a cereal killer,and a facial-mask beauty. I was a witch (so appropriate to those who think of me as one anyway:). Earlier in the day I had introduced my students to Halloween wearing my hat and cape while we practiced pronunciation of Halloween words, learned Halloween idioms, and played Halloween bingo before I made the students earn their Trick or Treat goodies by speaking hard words and sentences. They and I had a fun time.

The adventure for the evening began en route as I got to balance a pie plate of bean dip in a plastic bag on top of my head on a crowded bus. We arrived without mishap, climbed the upteem steps up to the Brittons' flat and enjoyed a warm evening of friendship.

John and I have decided to work each Saturday morning and then go out and see something in Xi'an each week so after my reading tons of student journals and John getting branch work caught up, while we were also having a new toilet installed thanks to our wonderful Mr. Chen. (We had put up with the old one's constant running since we came. Chen finally went to the school and requested a new one for us and arranged for it to be put in this morning). Oh happy day! We will give proper honor to this event by including a photo!

After the banging while our old one was literally beaten off the wall and from the floor, broken apart, and hauled away, the new one was put in place, we headed for the Big Wild Goose Pagoda park—one of Xi’an wonderful, ancient sites (the pagoda was built in AD 648). We went by bus (of course) hoping to see its Las Vegas style Biaggi-like musical water show that goes off twice a day.

We waited for what we thought was a 2:00 event, and waited and waited. We finally learned that it was at 12:00 and 8:00 pm so we missed it, but the day was not a loss anyway. The Chinese love to go to parks and wander around and visit with family and friends. We, and they, enjoyed the perfectly lovely autumn day, crisp and clear, with the sun shinning—a rare occurrence in Xi’an. We sat and watched people—while we were watched ourselves.

Until we went over to the Pagoda entrance itself (which the locals probably could not afford to visit)with its tour buses with an odd group or two of foreign visitors there were no white faces to be found but our own and we became a hit wherever we walked or sat. I suppose those who live up by our university get used to the foreign faces here and there but that wasn’t the case at the park.

One grandmother sitting not far from us encouraged her little granddaughter to come show off for us. The brave little mite came and sang to us “Ye like oranges, Yum, Yum, Yum” “Ye like banana, yum, yum, yum” and said “Hello, how are you” and then ran away to the protection of her grandma.
While we walked around the grounds a group of school girls and their teacher saw us and came running up with their cameras in hand to take pictures of us and then of them with us, then threw their arms around us while we hugged them back.

A young woman came up to ask if her mother and aunt could have a picture taken with us. We were happy to oblige them and then talked with the bashful young lady, who had graduated as an English major in July but had not found an opportunity to say one word of English to anyone in the last four months.

We talked at length encouraging her to do what it took to keep her skills (which were very good) and then got her email address to connect her up with a friend of ours in Australia who was anxious to be a pen pal to a Chinese young person who needed help with English.

We loved our day, came home tired but happy, grateful once more to have this wonderful opportunity in this remarkable place. Happy Halloween everyone! We can't believe tomorrow begins November.