I initially wrote the following for my mom to share with her RS when she asked me too:
However, she used it for FHE and so upon request by my sister and her - I am going to post it!
It really is amazing how the church is everywhere, and just a little piece of my growing testimony at this time!
When I found out we were moving to China I was more than a little nervous. I was Terrified, anxious, maybe even a lot scared. I worried about being in place where I didn't speak the language, couldn't communicate with hardly anyone, didn't have access to all of my normal luxuries (and yes, even being able to drive to the grocery store is a HUGE luxury I realize now), and most of all feeling so alone so far away from everything I have ever known.
Where did I find any comfort you might ask? Well, awhile back I listened to a talk given by the then CEO of Deloitte & Touche, an accounting firm. He is Mormon and he was talking about how when they ask people to move their families to a new place, whether it be a new city, a new state, or a new country, they never worried about asking the Mormon employees - because they always did just find. There is such a big network of them all over the world that wherever they are asked to go, they will have an "instant" family and friends and group of people with which to associate, socialize, worship, and they always manage to get along just fine. They were the only ones they could count on to figure things out an stay for however long they were asked, and while doing so find happiness.
I have thought of this talk as I have moved MANY times over the past 3.5 years of my marriage. I have found it to be so true. Each time I have thought that there is no way I will find a ward of group of RS sisters that is as great as the one that I am currently in. I have been apprehensive, not given some the best attitude, and yet I have learned something each time. Each time I make GREAT friends, each time I find LOTS of friends, and each time I think, as cliche as it sounds, I won't find better people than this if I move again. Time and time again I fall in love with those sisters in my RS, and I have made some of the best friends I have today in the different wards I have lived in all over the country and now in a foreign land.
Currently I am in Beijing, China, and I have found joy in living here - something I would never have thought I would hear myself say. It is largely due to the sisters I have met in RS and their kindness and friendship they have shown me. The first week I was here I was SO homesick. Nothing seemed to go well, I was sick and nauseous from my pregnancy and the food wasn't tasting good to me, I ruined 2 computers, had no access to people back home, and had many breakdowns. By the time Sunday came I didn't even want to go to church. Chip had to work anyways, and I told him maybe it would be better if he just went in early so he could come home and not be there all night. He convinced me it would be better if we just went to church and so we set off. I didn't have a good attitude, an found myself fighting back tears the entire sacrament meeting. I felt so alone. Immediately following sacrament meeting one of the members of the RS presidency came up, introduced herself, and asked how I was doing. Then, in Sunday School we were bombarded with more people introducing themselves, asking how we were settling in, and if there was anything they could do to help us. I had people asking me if they could help show me the grocery markets (i currently go to 4 different ones to get all our food), people offering to meet me on the metro to help get to playgroups, people offering to have us come over and hang out, etc etc. I was blown away by the friendshipping and welcome we receieved, and also at the connections I was able to make that first week we were there.
When I went to Sunday School I met someone who had been a fellow Timpviewite - she graduated a year ahead of me, but I had remembered her and we made an instant connection. She lives in the building next to me and has taken me to 2 different grocery stores and helped me out a lot just figuring out things that are close to us. Then, in RS I reconnected with a girl (who also was there for the first sunday), and had been in my BYU married ward in Provo 4 years ago. She has a daughter one month older than Cash, and is due with their second baby girl exactly 1 month before our little boy is due. I also sat next to an older woman, who at first I would have thought I had nothing in common with. However, something was said and I mentioned something about ballroom dancing and my sister being in a competition soon - she then told me that she toured with the ballroom dance company over 25 years ago. It was an instant connection and I found we had lots in common and we had a great chat. Then, I made a connection with another lady who is in the branch here and used to live in Shanghai last year and knows one of my great friends who also lived in Shanghai last year. As if this isn't enough, I met another girl who was mission companions with a good friend from my NC ward, cousins of another NC friend, a niece of someone in my VA ward, and really good friends with a fellow worker of Chip from NC. Boy what a small world - and I thought I would be so lonely.
However, my best friend out here so far was made with someone I didn't have a connection, but someone who has given me so much service and shown me so much love and friendship and honestly made this move easier more than anyone. She is someone who has lived here for 3 years, and just is so kind, helpful, and so christ-like. I feel like she is my personal angel. I met her the first weekend we were here at dinner on Friday. After 5 minutes I knew we would be great friends. She is just someone I instantly clicked with. She has a son who is 2, and altho she lives far away she comes over to our side of the city every day and is my 24/7 call person for anything I need. She has done NUMEROUS acts of service, but I will share the one to me that has meant the most. Chip called one day in a panic. My VISA had been rejected because they didn't accept my DR. note from back home saying I was pregnant to get me out of the chest x-ray. He said if I didn't get in to see a Dr. here and get a typed note on Dr. letterhead by the next tuesday, I would be deported back home. I was stressed at trying to figure it out, tried looking up the hospital number and Drs. to call but found nothing. I felt helpless. Who did I call - my friend Ashley. She was wonderful. She gave me the phone number, told me of a Dr. who is great, told me what to say to get right in, and then went way above and beyond. She offered to get her driver to bring her over to my place and watch Cash while I went so I didn't have to take him. She lives 40 minutes away, and it would be her son's naptime too; but she just said she would bring her pack n'play and set it up for him in a different room. Then, when I asked her how long it takes to get there so I could plan - she said she would just have her driver take me so I wouldn't get lost or have to take a cab since it is a 40 minutes to an hour drive. UNBELIEVABLE!!!! She said it was NO big deal at all, but let me tell you --- to me, it was a HUGE deal. To me, it was a huge stress relief, super kind, and made my life so much easier.
This act of service is just one of many that has been shown to me since we moved here from our RS sisters. I have been so grateful to have this network of "instant" friends. It has turned what might have been a super hard, very lonely experience for me into one of fun. I am so grateful for RS sisters everywhere, and for the chance to meet great friends everywhere. I realize how important the program is, and how the Lord wants us to find joy wherever we are, and has provided the networks and opportunites for us, we just have to make an effort. I know my experiences and friends here will be some I treasure forever. Even in China, a land we can't actively proselyte in, we are lucky to have the chance to attend a branch, and be a part of this sisterhood. I am thankful for that, for RS, and for this gospel!
Where did I find any comfort you might ask? Well, awhile back I listened to a talk given by the then CEO of Deloitte & Touche, an accounting firm. He is Mormon and he was talking about how when they ask people to move their families to a new place, whether it be a new city, a new state, or a new country, they never worried about asking the Mormon employees - because they always did just find. There is such a big network of them all over the world that wherever they are asked to go, they will have an "instant" family and friends and group of people with which to associate, socialize, worship, and they always manage to get along just fine. They were the only ones they could count on to figure things out an stay for however long they were asked, and while doing so find happiness.
I have thought of this talk as I have moved MANY times over the past 3.5 years of my marriage. I have found it to be so true. Each time I have thought that there is no way I will find a ward of group of RS sisters that is as great as the one that I am currently in. I have been apprehensive, not given some the best attitude, and yet I have learned something each time. Each time I make GREAT friends, each time I find LOTS of friends, and each time I think, as cliche as it sounds, I won't find better people than this if I move again. Time and time again I fall in love with those sisters in my RS, and I have made some of the best friends I have today in the different wards I have lived in all over the country and now in a foreign land.
Currently I am in Beijing, China, and I have found joy in living here - something I would never have thought I would hear myself say. It is largely due to the sisters I have met in RS and their kindness and friendship they have shown me. The first week I was here I was SO homesick. Nothing seemed to go well, I was sick and nauseous from my pregnancy and the food wasn't tasting good to me, I ruined 2 computers, had no access to people back home, and had many breakdowns. By the time Sunday came I didn't even want to go to church. Chip had to work anyways, and I told him maybe it would be better if he just went in early so he could come home and not be there all night. He convinced me it would be better if we just went to church and so we set off. I didn't have a good attitude, an found myself fighting back tears the entire sacrament meeting. I felt so alone. Immediately following sacrament meeting one of the members of the RS presidency came up, introduced herself, and asked how I was doing. Then, in Sunday School we were bombarded with more people introducing themselves, asking how we were settling in, and if there was anything they could do to help us. I had people asking me if they could help show me the grocery markets (i currently go to 4 different ones to get all our food), people offering to meet me on the metro to help get to playgroups, people offering to have us come over and hang out, etc etc. I was blown away by the friendshipping and welcome we receieved, and also at the connections I was able to make that first week we were there.
When I went to Sunday School I met someone who had been a fellow Timpviewite - she graduated a year ahead of me, but I had remembered her and we made an instant connection. She lives in the building next to me and has taken me to 2 different grocery stores and helped me out a lot just figuring out things that are close to us. Then, in RS I reconnected with a girl (who also was there for the first sunday), and had been in my BYU married ward in Provo 4 years ago. She has a daughter one month older than Cash, and is due with their second baby girl exactly 1 month before our little boy is due. I also sat next to an older woman, who at first I would have thought I had nothing in common with. However, something was said and I mentioned something about ballroom dancing and my sister being in a competition soon - she then told me that she toured with the ballroom dance company over 25 years ago. It was an instant connection and I found we had lots in common and we had a great chat. Then, I made a connection with another lady who is in the branch here and used to live in Shanghai last year and knows one of my great friends who also lived in Shanghai last year. As if this isn't enough, I met another girl who was mission companions with a good friend from my NC ward, cousins of another NC friend, a niece of someone in my VA ward, and really good friends with a fellow worker of Chip from NC. Boy what a small world - and I thought I would be so lonely.
However, my best friend out here so far was made with someone I didn't have a connection, but someone who has given me so much service and shown me so much love and friendship and honestly made this move easier more than anyone. She is someone who has lived here for 3 years, and just is so kind, helpful, and so christ-like. I feel like she is my personal angel. I met her the first weekend we were here at dinner on Friday. After 5 minutes I knew we would be great friends. She is just someone I instantly clicked with. She has a son who is 2, and altho she lives far away she comes over to our side of the city every day and is my 24/7 call person for anything I need. She has done NUMEROUS acts of service, but I will share the one to me that has meant the most. Chip called one day in a panic. My VISA had been rejected because they didn't accept my DR. note from back home saying I was pregnant to get me out of the chest x-ray. He said if I didn't get in to see a Dr. here and get a typed note on Dr. letterhead by the next tuesday, I would be deported back home. I was stressed at trying to figure it out, tried looking up the hospital number and Drs. to call but found nothing. I felt helpless. Who did I call - my friend Ashley. She was wonderful. She gave me the phone number, told me of a Dr. who is great, told me what to say to get right in, and then went way above and beyond. She offered to get her driver to bring her over to my place and watch Cash while I went so I didn't have to take him. She lives 40 minutes away, and it would be her son's naptime too; but she just said she would bring her pack n'play and set it up for him in a different room. Then, when I asked her how long it takes to get there so I could plan - she said she would just have her driver take me so I wouldn't get lost or have to take a cab since it is a 40 minutes to an hour drive. UNBELIEVABLE!!!! She said it was NO big deal at all, but let me tell you --- to me, it was a HUGE deal. To me, it was a huge stress relief, super kind, and made my life so much easier.
This act of service is just one of many that has been shown to me since we moved here from our RS sisters. I have been so grateful to have this network of "instant" friends. It has turned what might have been a super hard, very lonely experience for me into one of fun. I am so grateful for RS sisters everywhere, and for the chance to meet great friends everywhere. I realize how important the program is, and how the Lord wants us to find joy wherever we are, and has provided the networks and opportunites for us, we just have to make an effort. I know my experiences and friends here will be some I treasure forever. Even in China, a land we can't actively proselyte in, we are lucky to have the chance to attend a branch, and be a part of this sisterhood. I am thankful for that, for RS, and for this gospel!
6 comments:
I am so glad you are making friends and settling, I knew you would but it's great to get along well with your ward family. I miss you call me sometime and I can call you right back because I am having trouble getting through!
That is so crazy that Hillary is in your ward! I clicked on that picture before I read your post and thought I know her! Small world! Tell her his for me and congratulations on her little ones. You too as well! Nice to hear you are having such a great adventure and surrounded by so many great sisters!
I loved reading this and am so glad you are making friends and learning so much. I have always felt the same way about RS. I tried to call again bit no answer.
Call me when you can. xoxoxo
This warms my heart :) So glad you have such great support over there! We miss you!
That makes me happy for you! I've been wondering if you got my message, or met Sarah. This message was inspiring to me that even though I'm not moving all over the place, I can find support in my own RS as long as I put forth the effort. Thank you!
how did kimmie do? love you. so happy you are adjusting and finding peace. know that we love you :)
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