Future missionary speaking now

Just because I am home from China doesn't mean that the adventures have stopped. I have received my mission call and am preparing now to serve the people of Louisville, Kentucky and I will be speaking spanish on my mission. I am so excited for the opportunity I have to share the word of the Lord with so many people. The gospel has changed my life and blessed me in more ways than I could possible count or imagine and I am so grateful I will be able to bring the great joy and peace this gospel brings into my life with others and change their lives for the better. May 10 can't come soon enough!

Amazing adventures ... China style

To start out sorry that these haven't exactly been consistent updates, we have had a lot happening here in China and it has been the best/hardest thing I have done so far in my life probably. I had a performance the Chinese teachers at our school wanted a couple of us girls to make up 5 dances and perform them and they all went really well actually. I also have another competitive dance they asked me to be apart of coming up this weekend representing the school.

Teaching is really hard because I am teaching 3 year old that have never heard English in their entire lives but it is rewarding and so much fun and I love the kids beyond comparison!! They are slowly learning the language and it makes me so happy to see their faces light up when they get a word right and I am proud of them. Leaving my babies is going to be one the hardest things hands down. I wish I could just bring some of them home with me.

My roommate, Jess, and I already have a countdown chain until we go home... I don't know if that is good or bad. We love it here but like they say, "There's no place like home."

My little travel group and I went on a vacation of a lifetime. We went to Beijing and Shanghai for a total of an 8-day vacation. We hiked the hardest part of the Great Wall of China, which is also the second most dangerous hike in the world, it includes free climbing up unsteady rocks at an alarming height, it was exhilarating, then we camped on the wall overnight in 0 degree weather which is technically illegal but hey we are making memories that will last a lifetime. The camping part was a spontaneous decision so all I had with me was my flannel and the clothes on my back. 2 of the girls happened to bring jackets with them but it was probably the coldest I had ever been. All 4 of us were literally laying on top of each other and in the weirdest positions just to retain any bit of body heat we could, which did work out really at all. We were all cuddled up with each other on the stony ground of the great wall when we heard a mans voice and it freaked us all out because no one in their right mind would be on the wall overnight but the man finding us ended up being a blessing in disguise. He spoke a little bit of English and he said he would protect us and that he did about every half hour he would walk around the area we were laying down at and make sure there wasn't anyone lurking. At around 3am we were all miserably cold the wind was hitting us really hard as well and all of a sudden he stood up and said he would be right back and ran off. We didn't know were he was going but when he came back and said there was a cave nearby where we could move to and that way at least the wind would be off of us and he was right it was a lot nicer there. He was a tender mercy sent to us that night to protect us from a situation that could have ended badly. At first light we headed our separate ways. Making memories I guess. The great wall was probably my favorite part. The climbing was actually pretty hard and there were parts where we had to use a rope that we had found on the side of the trail to help us down some parts, but the rest was free climbing. Only one other girl in our group of 4 besides me had ever even been rock climbing besides me and so it was up to me and her to tell the other 2 girls EXACTLY where to put their hands and feet when free climbing up or down many of the walls we had to venture up and down, but everyone is safe and sound so now looking back it was one of the most amazing experiences that not a lot of people get to experience. Not a lot of people get to do that because this part of the wall we did isn't well known usually only the locals know about it and are allowed on it because it is so run down and has had no restoration work done to it (they are starting the restoration work now). Oh and I found a dog and had to take a picture because I miss my dogs an unhealthy amount. The great wall is something I will always remember.

That night we explored Beijing and guess what?! I bought a guitar and am learning how to play. At the hostel we were staying at a couple of guys play and were teaching me how to play and in exchange I was teaching them some English it was really fun staying there and it became our nightly thing where we would spend hours upon hours practicing. Shanghai was our next adventure we rode elephants there and help little baby tigers. It was beyond amazing!!! You all probably know how much I love animals so as you can assume I was in heaven. 

I don't know if y'all know this, but one of my nephews that past away the elephant is their symbol or something that represents him. While I was riding the elephant I was not only overwhelmed with amazing joy because well I was on a freaking elephant but I also felt my nephews spirit with me and the amazing love that God has for all of his children and that he has a plan set in place for all of us. It was a brief but unforgettable spiritual moment of reassurance. It was a reminder that we are always under the Lords tender care. I was already aware of that because over the last little bit in China we have been blessed beyond compare and have seen the Lords hand in our life more than I have ever seen. He has helped us in everyday living and adjusting and in our travels when we were in very dangerous situations that I won't even write about to you, but I know that he has been there with me always watching and ready to send mercy and protection into my life whenever it is needed. I couldn't be more grateful for the role the Lord has been playing in my life lately! 

Jess and I went to Shanghai Disneyland, they call it the happiest place in the world but that statement has never been more true, it felt like we were in America for a day and it was really the perfect day. I met Captain America, Mickey Mouse and Spiderman!! It was just the day we needed of carefree child like wonder. I felt as though I were a kid again seeing it all for the first time, we had huge smiles on our faces all day and it was just what the doctor ordered. We even met some people who were LDS, which is unheard of here, but the guys came up to us and asked to take a picture with us, which happens a lot because well we are white, and then they saw my CTR ring and the rest is history but it was pretty neat. 

Our 8-day trip was perfect honestly which was much needed because our trip before to Zhangjiajie was well I don’t really have words for it. 

True adventure is when you don’t plan anything and you find miraculous things along the way, true disaster is when the faults of a trip begin overcoming a journey, and Zhanjiajie was very much this kind of trip. 

What started out to be a beautiful idea turned into a memorable experience that we still aren’t too sure about. It all began when we arrived in the city at 3 o’clock in the morning from our 14-hour train ride that we almost missed, but made by seconds. We all hopped into a taxi and told him we wanted to be taken to the national park where our hostel was tucked away deep into the mountains. The taxi driver was very kind and took us to our destination, but when we arrived he would not let us leave the car. “Not safe……….closed” he told us as a creepy man walked around the park gates. “Well can we stay here til the park opens?” we asked. “No you cannot” he replied. Confused he took us to a tourist agency after an hour of discussion where we waited in a dingy smoke scented room covered in cockroaches, any bug you can think of, and bugs you could have never imagined all wrapped into one. Some of our girls were leaping onto couches and off again because they looked like ones from a crack house, and also it is very rude in Chinese culture to sit or stand on furniture. Finally a man came who knew enough English to tell us he had a tour guide for us, but we wouldn’t be able to go to our hostel until after the tour. We had been up all night… 

Trying to be enthusiastic we met with our guide who we named David. He showed us some of the greatest views when he wasn’t trying to get us to take a bathroom break so he could smoke. 

On the bright side the weather was beautiful that whole weekend. We could wear shorts and the slight breezes made it so we could wear our flannels as well. We loved it, and we loved our simple hostel as well. It became the most important place to us by far. 

The next day we woke up and realized that our tour guide had ditched us the rest of the trip, so we decided to go out and explore ourselves. The evening hikes and morning walks were a blast. One hike would bring a toll to the whole trip. 

So Jess and I decided we wanted to go down the large glass elevator just outside the mountain while the other girls would wait. Down, up, no big deal or so we thought. 

At the bottom we realized we didn’t know where to buy a ticket to get back to the top. Some Chinese told us to get on a bus, and after beautiful scenic bus ride around a crystal blue lake and curvy roads; we were out of the park. The gate guard would not let us back in and we told him that “we have to get back to our hostel, our friends are waiting for us, and we can’t stay out of the park away from them overnight or we will get in trouble with our program. 

We also have no money with us. We have to get back in.” He still wouldn’t listen. He said, “the park is closed, and the elevator is turned off”. We talked to the man for hours it felt like. Finally it was getting dark, the guard wouldn’t budge, and strange men were pointing and talking about us as we sat on a street curb, so we did what anyone else would do… we called the Chinese police. 

When they arrived we had a hard time explaining the situation so they told us to get in the back of their cop car. The translator barely worked because they spoke some bizarre dialect but somehow they told us that it wouldn’t be possible for us to get back to the park, even though we told them we had to. They pulled in front of an extremely fancy hotel where a lady who knew a little English translated that we would have to buy a room. The Chinese people were starting to laugh at us and point. Jess lost it and started to cry. We didn’t have money for this and we didn’t want to spend the night in a prison cell, which they were saying was our other option. I couldn’t calm her down, so from then on it was up to me to try to communicate with locals to figure out our situation, and finally we felt like they were starting to listen. They found a new translator who told us “the government will cover all costs for us and will help us get back in the morning.” Our hearts were finally at ease. I love the Chinese government now.

It was by far the nicest place we would ever stay at while in china. They got us instant Asian ramen and we were off to bed where we called our moms and tried to explain ourselves. Our mom’s was convinced we were going to be taken or prostitutes were going to knock on our door, so we moved a giant side table in front of the door. We didn’t mean to scare them, but the call made us even more worried. We tried not to regret that call and lounged while we watched the Asian voice. As bizarre as it all was it’ll be one of my wildest memories to smile at. 

The cop helped us get back to our hostel in the morning and before we knew it we were on a ghetto farm bus going across rocky roads to the train station. It gave me a lot of time to think. 

I realized how blessed we were. I realized that even though chaos was happening all around us that we were being guided through and looked after and there was no way it was luck. We were all praying so hard on that trip and God was listening. It was a good reminder to me that he cares about every single person out there and knows him or her individually. Also that he is in control of my life, and that I need to have faith in him to make it beautiful.

I have had experiences here that will shape the rest of my life. There has been so much happening here so unfortunately I can't write about all of it, but I am truly grateful for the opportunity to come here and teach these amazing, beautiful children of god and feel of his love for them and develop my own love for each of them. 

I miss you all and love you so much!!

I hope everything is going well at home.

Love always,

Meg 

China life

Hello everyone!

We are finally teaching!!! After a lot of waiting and patience we are finally doing it! We were worried we wouldn’t get to at all because of rumors that were coming from outside schools, but after a last minute late night meeting we started teaching the next day. 

We literally have the cutest class. All the kids have such different personalities and silly quirks.

Total there are about 30 kids. We have three stations and each of us are in charge of an activity. This session I was in charge of crafts. We made (well tried to make) pipe cleaner flowers. I teach the 3-4 year olds and I learned very quickly that all they can do is color really. The Chinese teachers that help us informed me that the only things they can use are crayons and paper for arts and crafts so that makes it harder to come up with crafts for them to do. I feel like now I am picking up the style of teaching here pretty well. The craziest time is in between classes. 

This is when we get to joke around with the kids and get to know them better. I know it has only been a couple days but I already have my favorites. There is this girl named Elma and she is the sweetest girl. She carries a stuffed penguin around everywhere with her and always wants to be in my group and holding my hand. She is quiet but when other kids start acting out of line she will get mad at them and they actually listen to her which is the funniest part because she is one of the smallest kids in the class. 

I have a lot of favorite kids but Elma is definitely my favorite. The other little babies in my group are rowdy and fun. They all smack our butts, poke us, and climb all over us like a jungle gym. It’s quite the show. These little nuggets bring me so much joy. I’ve learned that going to a foreign country is not the easiest. There’s a lot of physical and emotional changes that occur personally. The most important thing to do when that happens (not only in a new country but always) is to reach outwards positively to others. It’s easy to get wrapped up in selfish routines, but the best moments in life are always the ones that are shared

So we went on our first vacation and we got in kinda late and to our surprise we went off roading in the bus from the train station. It was exhilarating. It’s hard to explain the idiotic situations here but to cut it short… It was pitch black and we were laughing the whole way there as we bumped around with a bus full of asians.We got to our hostel thanks to the help of locals and we were very pleased with it. Can’t complain with 10 bucks a night.

When we woke up we saw this little peep through our hostel window. We were so stoked to be in such an awesome hostel and such an awesome place. At 8:30 our tour guide Lilly Lou picked us up and took us to some local restaurants. The food was literally heaven. Dumplings are life. 

Next she drove us up the mountain where we were supposed to hike up to the peak and overlook the beautiful valley… It was pouring and hard.. Lily explained that it hadn’t rained in forever and that it probably wouldn’t stop for a couple days.  I haven’t seen it pour that hard since forever. Apparently the mountains are only visible 60 days out of the whole year so that didn’t help, and The weather app gave similar sadness and let’s just say we were extremely frustrated. 

We all prayed so hard and were so worried. Even Lilly was upset. We just waited and waited. It was when we finally accepted our fate and started the slow desent down the mountain that the clouds started to part and the rain began to stop. We all cheered. It was seriously a miracle. We drove back up to the top, hiked to the peak, took pictures, and headed back down as the clouds closed back behind us and rain began falling again.

Having the struggle before the reward made it all the more worth it. Sometimes that just how life works. The best things in life are definitely the hardest to get, but they are by far the greatest. 

Sometimes the simple things are pretty great too. Lilly was telling us that Yangshuo doesn’t have any particular history and she likes it that way. She said that all you really need are mountains and the river. I’m right on board with that one. Lilly also told us about the herbs that heal the body that come from the mountains, but I feel like we received healing today without the herbs. There is such solitude in these mountains. It’s so quiet and mysterious but yet it says so much. The mountains really speak or at least give you the opportunity to hear your own soul. There is no other place like it. She says that there isn’t anywhere else in the world she would rather be; I can see why. It really is heaven here and Lilly is definitely one of its Angels. She’s the type of woman that would give you the clothes off her back having nothing and still see what else she can give you.

Oh and the bamboo rafts are pretty rad too. The driver on the raft let me use the long bamboo stick he was using to steer to try and steer I actually got the hang of it pretty quickly. It was gorgeous and so serene on the rafts, we'll all the times we weren't going down the mini waterfalls they had on the river which was super sketch on a bamboo raft but a total blast. 

We went to a cooking class in Yangshuo on the last day and the entire class walked to their local market to pick up our ingredients. The market we went to is nothing like the markets you will see in the US. Everything they eat here is super fresh ... everything. All the vegetables are brought in from local farms and all the meat is brought in from butchers. The animals though are all still alive. You pick which one you want then they will butcher them right then and there. I decided I would only be here once and so I would go to the butcher section it was all good and normal. At first it was geese, chicken, and other birds then things started to get more odd there were mountain goats, bunnies, kittens and worst of all dogs. I legitimately started crying when I saw them slaughter a dog and add it to their pile of ones they already had drying out. One of the saddest things I have ever seen, but for them that is their culture they don't wast anything. Once we left the market and got over the shock the cooking class was really cool. We learned how to make a bunch of different Chinese dishes and we got aprons and cooking hats so we looked legit. They also gave us the recipes so we can make them again on our own. 

We had some interesting adventures on our way back to Xiaolan , where we live, from Yangshuo. Long story short let just say that we didn't book one of the legs of our train ride that we needed, we had a police escort at one point and took a taxi ride for 2.5 hours all so we could make in back to teach before Monday morning.  

All in all, coming here was the best decision ever. What we thought was going to be a disaster has become one of my newest fondest memories. 

I love you all! 

️-Meg

Week 1 in China

Hey everyone! 

Honestly my culture shock is through the roof right now. After a 9 hour flight delay in Dallas a 17 hour flight to Hong Kong where we finally got onto a ferry after waiting 7 hours there for one to take us across the bay from Hong Kong to Zhongshan. The smog here was so thick that everything looked like a somber grey as if it were a black and white movie. When we arrived in Zhongshan we went through customs and immigration where none of them spoke english so trying to communicate with them was ... well lets just say interesting. We then went by bus through the city which was an adventure within itself. China driving is unlike anything else I have ever seen before. If there is even the tiniest bit of an inch they take it, but of course not without laying on their horns first. They will come within millimeters of each other. In order to drive in China you have to be fast, risky, aware of everything, and sometimes patient because the Chinese drivers definitely aren't. The typical day of driving is enough to put someone in their grave, but it doesn't even phase the locals. Whenever you have to cross the streets here they don't have very many cross walks so you literally just slowly walk across at snails pace as cars and mopeds whip around you. They don't believe in the road lines here, its more about just dodging other vehicles. Speaking of mopeds that is the "cool" vehicle to drive here. They will stack so many people onto the mopeds. I have seen as many as five people on it at a time, with the little kids on the handle bars and anywhere in-between they also will tack their mopeds with so many things that you think their wheels are going to pop. It's insane! 

Our apartment is unique. In our group there are 3 apartments total there are 6 girls in each apartment. Some apartments have squatty toilets and one apartment is lucky enough to have a normal toilet. There isn't an actual shower in our bathroom it is a hose coming out of the wall and we have a washing machine in our bathroom so we can shower, brush our teeth, wash our clothes and go to bathroom at the same time. There are 2 girls in each bedroom, there is a queen bed and a bunk bed. I am on the bunk bed and my room mate Kenya is on the queen. The mattresses here aren't actually mattresses at all they are pieces of wood with a sheet over it. I have a bruise on my hip from laying on my side while sleeping. Luckily we have AC though in our apartments. A lot of places here don't have any AC at all and just rely heavily on fans that they can plug into the outlets. The weather here is basically like a sauna from 10am - 9pm after that though it is perfect outside. 

I was able to coordinate a bus for the 7 girls from our group who wanted to go to church last Sunday. We each only had to pay 100UN which is about $15 US dollars which isn't that bad at all for a 2 hour ride there and a 2 hour ride back. The church is so cool. It is just held in someones apartment. There are about 25 people in their branch and they love having us come so every week we come they feed us lunch afterwards. I got called to the relief society first counselor already which I am actually really excited for because it makes it so I get to know some of the LDS locals here. 

We have had some interesting experiences here thus far though. The guys here will try to hug you and we were told not to but one of the girls forgot and went to give the guy a hug back and he started kissing her neck. It was really freaky because it was just the 2 of us so she tried to push him off of her and I had to help pull him off all meanwhile the guys around him were like cheering him on. It was really weird and scary. 

The food here is good as long as you actually order what the picture says it is. We don't read Chinese obviously so we just pick what picture looks good and take a picture of it and show it to the waiter or just point at what we want. One time I accidentally ordered fried rice with chicken feet and squid legs in it ... honestly grossest thing I have ever tried. But their noodles here! Oh my goodness they are to die for!! One of the girls, Jess, and I found an amazing popsicle place here that puts fresh fruit in them. 

It is really fun to just explore the city and I can't wait till we start to teach the kids english! I am teaching one of the babies classes (3-4 years old) with 2 other girls. I am so excited to start that portion of this adventure!! 

All about my Summer...

i miss hawaii so much! it was so amazing. I went with my sisters and my mom.  it was the perfect trip! defiantly a highlight of my summer.  I also went to maine and boston for a family reunion with my mom.  now summer is over, and I am going to school.  I love my teacher and I love going to school.  I miss kailey and kaisey so much and i am going to miss trista so much when she leaves for Russia.  This is all for now!