Church in China

The chapel is one apartment and includes a couple of class rooms and a bathroom. The apartment next to it is the primary and nursery rooms, plus a couple of classrooms. Our speakers today were the temple president and his wife (Hong Kong temple). There were probably between 50 and 70 people there. It's an international branch with people from all over the world -- except China. The church respects the government's wishes to not have any proselyting, so they try hard to avoid even the "appearance of evil". The branch president told us that they occasionally have Chinese nationals come to meetings, wanting to worship with us, and as much as it hurts, he thanks them for coming but asks them to leave. There are native members of the church in Guangzhou who have joined the church elsewhere (Hong Kong, for example), but we are not allowed contact with those groups; apparently the government does not prohibit them from meeting together privately, but neither does it want outside encouragement. Jonathan actually did fairly well in his first Sacrament Meeting. Michele didn't end up having to take him out at all (which she was really hoping not to have to do, because the hallways weren't air-conditioned like the apartments were).

The meeting block was only 2 hours because during the summer months the branch is so small that there aren't enough people to staff everything. This was the first “big” week back and probably the last abbreviated meeting schedule. In nursery Jonathan was one of four little ones and he played really well with the other kids. We were quite pleased. He also LOVED coloring (something he hasn't done with us yet).

Michele struck up a conversation with the nursery leader while she was in there with Jonathan. Her family is from Utah and they have two kids, ages 4 and 6. She said that they had lived there a year and just loved it. She said they might not go back to the states. She and her husband both teach at an international school (he teaches English and she teaches Kindergarten). She said their quality of life is much higher here than in Utah. The school pays their board, their children's school tuition, a $4000 a year bonus (to use for flying back to the states if they wish), and a 5 day-a-week maid (who cleans and cooks). She said they lived in a really nice gated community that had everything, including skyscrapers, grocery stores, pools and parks. She never left it except to go to church. She said she really liked not having to cook, clean or do laundry– it gave her much more free time for her kids and for socializing. Michele really pondered that, because something didn't settle right with her as she was listening to her. She came to realize that what she didn't like about it was the lack of work – both for for the mom and for the kids. Charles said it reminiscent of the old plantation owners and the slaves. Why go back to Utah where you have to work more? Why not have it as easy as you can? Because we aren't put on this Earth to have it easy. We are here to learn and to grow and to teach our children to do the same. Work is a good thing. It builds your mind, body and spirit. Of course leisure time is important, for everyone, but avoiding work doesn't improve you or anyone around you. Guess that's why we have eight kids :-)....