It's a Small World

When you hear the song "It's a Small World" in China, you know the street sweeper truck is coming and that you'd better move if you don't want to get wet.  When you hear a similar tune in Taiwan, it means that the garbage truck is coming, and you only have a few more minutes to take your trash (rubbish) out.  In America, this tune means that the ice cream truck is coming. (One of the many reasons I love America.) But, no matter where you are in the world, this tune is associated with Disney and all of the magic and beauty of cultures around the world. During our time in China, I truly learned the meaning of "It's a Small World after all".

We were fortunate enough to get to do some traveling at Christmas time, just before the craziness of our move settled in.  We traveled to Taiwan and Thailand.  It was amazing how many people we ran into that we have connections with. While in Taiwan, we had the opportunity to meet and get to spend time with my sister-in-law's cousins.  We also met up with a family that had recently relocated from Shanghai to Taiwan.  I won't bore you anymore, but the list goes on and on with the people we ran into in Taiwan.  Truly a small world.  We had the same type of experience as we traveled to Thailand and ended up running into a family from Nanjing International School in the hotel lobby where we were both staying. It's amazing just how small this big world is.

As we recently relocated our family to America, Minnesota to be specific, we've found connections once again.  This was not a planned move, but it was the right move. Best Buy sold the company they owned in China, and relocated us in just a little over a month's time. In the few short weeks that we have been here, we have already received numerous blessings and confirmations that this is where we are supposed to be right now.

This has been an extremely crazy time, not only are we in the middle of a move with 7 children and living in a hotel, but we are also preparing to send our oldest daughter on a mission for our church on March 25th.  I have no idea how we would've completed this move without her help.  The Lord was very mindful of us as He assigned a departure date for Mikayla.  The Lord was also very mindful of Mikayla and the people here in Minnesota.  I have seen amazing things happen for Mikayla in the time that we have been living here. One of the most exciting opportunities that she has had is that she met a missionary from Taiwan (where she will be serving) and has gotten to help teach a recently converted family from mainland China.  

I can't believe that Mikayla will be leaving us for 18 months in less than a week.  I'm not sure that I'm ready to let her go, but I know it's the right thing to do. I had a difficult time leaving her in America for University this last fall as we headed back to China.  When she received her mission call, I felt great comfort knowing that finally she would be closer to us as she served in Taiwan and we lived in China, but this was not the Lord's ultimate plan.  The Lord needs us in Minnesota right now, and He has done all that He can to comfort me thru this transition.  The Lord gave me the opportunity to go to Taiwan and see where Mikayla will be serving and the people she will be serving with.  He has let Mikayla experience where we will be living while she is in Taiwan. He has given me the opportunity to spend a lot of time with Mikayla during this move and to see what an amazing woman she has become and how prepared she is to serve.  This has definitely not been the typical mission preparation time. In fact, Mikayla has given 3 mission farewell talks because she has lived in 3 wards/branches since she received her mission call. It might not be typical, but it's all working out.

It truly is a "small world" for which I'm grateful because this means that I will have the opportunity to see all of my amazing friends from around the world once again.  Who would've thought that a few years ago I would now be blogging about my friends from around the world?  Certainly not me.  In China, I was able to meet and become friends with people that lived less than an hour from me in Utah to people that are from the other side of the world.  (So, crazy that we had to go clear to China to meet our Davis County friends.) I feel so blessed and am eternally grateful for the friendships that I have with so many wonderful people. "It's a Small World after all", and I'm so glad that I get to be a part of it.

Alauna

I'll Go Where You Want me to Go.

I’ll go where you want me to go.  These are the words of a popular hymn in our church.  This hymn is typically sung as missionaries prepare to leave for a place that they did not choose, but was assigned by inspiration from the brethren at the church headquarters.  

The words to this hymn have been going through my head over and over.  Maybe because we are on the move again, and again not by our choosing.  When we came to China I was the only one that was 100% excited about it.  We prayed about it as a family and each person felt it was the right thing to do, but they still were not excited about it.  

Now after many tears the past few days we are spending our last night in China.  No one wants to leave.  We love it here, we are thriving here, we have built deep relationships here.  But if we truly believe the words to this hymn that we have collectively sung hundreds if not thousands of times then we need to go.

And so tonight is our last night in China and tomorrow at 4am we will wake up and begin the journey of thousands of miles with 27 suitcases, 9 backpacks, 2 car seats, a stroller and a port-a-crib in tow.  About 25 hours later we will be heading to our new home in Chaska, Minnesota (Temp housing until the end of March and then move into our new house).

  

In church and the scriptures we are taught that faith requires action, and through that action we will receive a witness and our faith becomes stronger.  We are moving to the Minneapolis area because we feel like it is where our family needs to be at this time.  So amid all the craziness and madness of moving a family of nine half way around the world we have an incredible feeling of peace.  We are doing what we need to be doing.  We have been immensely blessed for moving to China, and I have no doubt that we will continued to be blessed in our new adventures in Minnesota.  

I realized that we have not blogged for almost a year.  The past few days as I have had some quiet time I have had idea after idea for blog posts come to my mind.  (These posts will come in the near future.)  Mostly, for our own benefit to remember the amazing experience that we have had here in China and to remember how much our lives have been blessed by listening to the promptings of the Spirit we had as a family to move to China.  

As our family prepared to come to China I told our kids it would be the most difficult thing and the best thing our family had ever done.  Both of these statements are true.  And for this, I am forever grateful.  

Boyd