Homeless no longer!

So Sunday has to be one of the best days of the week.  When I have Sundays in China I feel as if I am at home.  There is no sense of missing anything on this day.  I am close to my Lord here in China as I am anywhere else in the day.  Truly the Sabbath is a sanctified day.  As long as I have my Sundays I think I could get along anywhere in the world.

Monday started with a test to determine which of the two writing classes I would be in.  We had to write a story based on some pictures.  While others wrote some interesting life moral stories, or something like that, I wrote a funny story about a man who used trickery to get his daughter married.  It was pretty funny.  I ended up testing into the higher writing class.  At first I was a little bummed as I knew that teacher was really strict, but after I had the first day of class with her I am now really excited to take the class.

In the afternoon we had our flagship orientation meeting.  I have to admit that I was a little nervous about all the work that we are going to do.  I feel this way at the beginning of every semester though, so hopefully everything will turn out okay.

Late afternoon I went and bought stuff to setup my new apartment.  If you want to see pictures of it, I have uploaded a bunch to my Facebook profile.  You should all go and see them.  It is really small, but it is also extremely nice.  I feel really blessed of the Lord to live in this place.  I think this might even be the nicest apartment I have lived in, even if it is missing a dryer =/  Well back to buying stuff, apparently I have a king bed, which caused problems when I tried to put my sheets on.  The first set was too small so I took it back and got the largest sheets possible.  They were also too small.  Luckily there is no fitted sheet in China, so I was able to make it work out.

The only problem with my apartment was that I can’t get internet in the same was as the other apartments because that company was not yet to my place, and all the other plans I found were for two years.  On Tuesday I was able to figure out a way to get the internet working.  Lets just say, trying to get someone in China to change a contract themselves is a very hard thing.  We had to eventually talk to the manager who finally made us a deal.  I have to pay an arm and a leg, but I think that it is worth it so that I can talk to my family and friends in America.

Tuesday and Wednesday I also cleaned the apartment from top to bottom.  It was actually pretty clean to start with, but I just wanted to get it undusted and perfectly cleaned.  It looks really nice now that it is clean.

On Wednesday I learned of the terror that is hang drying ones clothes.  Unlike other missionaries, I never had the opportunity to learn this skill.  I was able to figure it out, but it took about 24 hours for my clothes to dry.  Another day when I did another load it took 48 hours.  With how damp it always is in this country it takes for ever for things to dry.  I have to admit I am very tempted to buy a small drying machine.  They sell them for not too much here, and it would be nice to have clothes that I didn’t have to iron every morning.

That night I went with Trevor, Drew, and Cassi to see the Confucius temple.  It was a lot of fun.  We didn’t go into the main part of the temple because it costs money, and if I have to pay money I want it to be in the day when I can see more things.  We did go around to all of the stores.  I even got to put my haggling skills to the test.  Sad to say, they are not as great as they should be.  I did end up getting a should bag, which I have wanted.  I can now take the bag around instead of my large back when I am being a tourist.  There were also some really cool swords, hopefully I can find a traditional sword while I am here and buy it.

 

On Thursday I started school.  I started feeling a little better about my ability to do well this year.  There is a lot of work for me to do, but I don’t think that any one piece will kill me.  I just need to be diligent.  Both of the teachers are really cool which is good.

On Friday I finally started the process of getting my residence card.  Once that is done I will no longer have to take my Visa around with me.  That will be so convenient.  Friday was also a fun day in that Bank of America decided to put a hold on my card.  Staying up to midnight to fix that was a fun way to finish the night =/

Saturday we got to go to the Sun Yat-Sen （孙中山） and Ming dynasty mausoleums.  They were really amazing, and it was fun to spend the day with other flagship students.

 

I ended this week with another really good Sunday.  We ended up singing hymns for an hour in sacrament as we waited for a person from the district presidency to show up.  Sacrament meeting ended up being two hours, but I must say that it was fun.  Sorry that this post was so long.  If you ever find these too long, feel free to just skim and look at pictures.  I only know that mom and dad will like them being this long, and since they are the main reason I blog, I guess post will continue to be this long

 

As for my spiritual study, this week has been kind of a continuation of last week.  I returned to thinking about what you often hear in Utah, that we need to stop just believing in Jesus, and come to actually believe his promises.  It is so easy for us to believe that Jesus successfully wrought the atonement, but one of the hardest things to do is to truly believe that it applies to our lives in all the ways that the Savior has promised.

I find myself often caught as Nephi is in 2 Nephi 4.  I see my weakness in every direction, I see the sins that do so easily beset me, and it becomes really hard for to see the fact that I am meant to succeed in in this life.  I know that Christ can bring peace and joy to every life, but sometimes I find myself doubting that I will ever fully obtain these blessings.  Much as Nephi, though, I shout for my soul to give no more room for these thoughts, and I remind myself of the greatness of God.  As I do this the Lord teaches me once again who I am, and what I truly destined for.

When we are focused on the Lord, and lose ourselves we find our true selves.  The self that we think we are, is nothing more than a pale imitation of what we are.  All mankind are spiritual children of our Father.  We came forward at this time as capable children.  All of us are destined to be happy and find our hearts desires in this life.  It is easy to forget this, but as we lose “ourselves” the Lord shows us who we truly are.  This true self is outward centered, and is one who will always find happiness because they know of their inherit worth.

To believe this fact takes no more than knowing that what Christ has taught is true.  Yet sometimes how hard is it to believe.  As I read the scriptures tied with those that saw God, the common thread I found was that they knew God was a God of truth that could not lie.  This one fact seemed to be enough to allow one to return to the presence of the Lord. How easy is it for us to say that we know this, yet if we knew truly that God could not lie, we would all live with true power.  We would not fear, we would not doubt, we could do all things in Christ.  To truly know that God is a God of truth is to have perfect faith.  This is one thing that I am going to strive really hard to come to know while I am in China.  I want to know for a surety that all things will be as the Lord has said.  His promises to us our great, and I want to know that I shall obtain.

 

As I write this, I think I come to understand a little better how Moroni felt.  Putting things to paper is much harder then saying them.  Sorry if what I wrote is jumbled and confused reading, my writing skills need some practice.  Good thing I am writing a blog every week to practice them