Happy Sunday, everybody!!!
Today we had the opportunity to attend the first semblance of a church meeting for the first time since arriving. The last two Sundays we have done a mini devotional with those in our group who wanted to participate.
The closest LDS branch (mini-ward/congregation) is about 3-4 hours away from Xiaolan, in Shenzhen. We dutiful Sisters in Zion decided to make the trek there this weekend for Shenzhen's district conference (a large meeting with multiple congregations).
Yesterday we rode a one hour bus to Shiqi, where there a few other groups of ILP teachers. After a series of attempts to navigate the newly altered bus routes, we made it back to the ILP apartment at 9 p.m. for a big girl sleepover. It was wonderful to interact with ILP volunteers outside my group and swap stories.
In order to arrive at the 10:30 meeting, we caught a 7 a.m. bus and finally arrived at the International Conference Center, which is smack dab in the middle of Millionaire neighborhood. Needless to say, the Conference Center and surrounding area were way more gorgeous, well kept, and clean than anywhere else we'd been in China. Even the other ILP apartments were hotels compared to our ghetto residence.
You'll have to pardon my triteness, but missing sacrament meeting the last few weeks and being thrown into a completely new environment mostly devoid of religion really made me appreciate the familiarity of church. Never have I been so happy to sing hymns at a funeral dirge temp, accompanied by an electronic keyboard and wailing babies. Even the terrible self-deprecating jokes cracked by middle aged, balding, pot bellied church leaders brought on a welcome feeling of home.
One thing that differed: instead of the traditional bag of Cheerios, there were a few hungry toddlers who were appeased by a delicious pack of dried seaweed. Mmmmmm.
I also experienced an especially lovely moment and testament of God's individual love for me today. Immediately after walking through the door, I heard the introduction to "Lead, Kindly Light" the hymn that I sang in my home ward on my last Sunday before leaving. I chose that specific hymn to sing because I felt it encapsulated what I would be experiencing in the coming months. Hearing it again was spirit strengthening, especially in this difficult period of culture shock. They say that the 2-3 weeks after arriving are the most challenging, and I'm starting to feel it.
For those of you who don't know, China's policy concerning religion prohibits all proselyting- passive or active- to it's residents. Although, mormon congregations for foreigners are permitted and congregations for locals are permitted, never the two shall mix. If asked about our religion, we supposed to deflect the question by saying that we are unable to answer in respect to the law of their land.
After the district conference, there was a Young Single Adult meeting with the district presidency during which they addressed this issue. Most of the people there were ILP volunteers, but there was one 20 something woman who was staying with a host family. After learning that she was a member of the Mormon church, her host mother looked it up on the internet and, when translated, a few of the sited referred to it as "the Polygamist Church". Understandably, the Chinese lady was confused and asked for further information on this heathen religion her American was a part of. The district leader advised that the American lady not elaborate on the church any further than naming it, so she couldn't give any more information to her host mother. We can't even refer them to the wonderful http://www.mormon.org, supposing they even had a VPN to sidestep the Great Firewall of China. It's a crazy situation.
Hopefully we'll be able to attend church at least once a month while we're here. I will be participating in the conference call set up every week for members across China, I just won't be able to have the sacrament.
It's been interesting figuring out the role of the LDS church in China, but for now, I'm looking forward to visiting my first Buddhist temple.
http://holysheetmusic.com/music/lead-kindly-light/
I don't know you, but a facebook friend referenced your blog. Thank you for delightfully sharing, Laurie. My husband and I taught two years at a university in Xian through BYU's China Teacher's Program. How we love those people! And yes, how we wished we could share what was so dear to us. Happiness to you in this new adventure.
ReplyDeleteSister Terry! Thanks so much. I was able to read some of your emails from Ukraine. We are actually going to Xian at the beginning of October for a few days on vacation. Do you have any tips or suggestions on where to go? We are planning on visiting the Terracotta Warriors, Famen temple, and the Qianling museum.
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