A New Beginning

We are loving life here in Hangzhou! It is a big change to go from rural Korea to a busy crowded City in China. This place is so dreamy with a language we can communicate in and with weather that doesn't freeze our eyeballs.

There aren't very many foreigners in this particular area of Hangzhou so we feel like quite the spectacle. Pretty much every time we get in our apartment elevator there's someone in there that says "wow. how are you that tall?" The other day while we were in line at the grocery store an inquisitive little boy asked Jon-David "what color is your hair?".

We are currently sharing a very spacious apartment with another couple from the company until early March when our living quarters will be ready. They are really nice and help us figure everything out. We finally met Jon-David's boss yesterday and I was offered a job working as an intern here too. We are a package deal:)

The branch gave us a great big welcome today equipped with a giant 'Welcome to Hangzhou' gift bag. There are over 20 of us that meet together in an apartment of one of the members. It was awesome sitting on leather couches through sacrament meeting, yet still being in the second/back row. Church is condensed to only 2 hours started with a quick sacrament meeting and then for Relief Society, Primary, etc. we separate into different bedrooms for our lessons. It's fun during priesthood and relief society all the guys, deacons to high priests, all sat in the kitchen and the ladies all in the living room. We said our opening and closing prayers as well as our opening songs at the same time. It makes the timing really good. And I can keep an eye on Becky while she's with the other sisters. (Yes, she did write most of this blog, I'm just adding stuff). It was a really great meeting. The spirit was really strong. I have missed really being able to understand what people are saying.

The branch has grown considerably this last year and has grown out of this families apartment space. In China there are many regulations for church meetings, foreigners and native Chinese must meet separately, and the meeting house must be in a members home. So the church leaders here have been searching for a large home in the area to use as a meeting house. They have found a villa that they are going to be closing on within the week and guess who gets to live there???.....Us!! We get to live in the church house/Villa! It's the best calling ever. Plenty of room for visitors.....