The Process.....

It is one thing to move.  

It's another thing to move internationally. 

It is totally another thing to move to China with Covid.   As one of our flight attendants said, "It is a big adventure to move internationally, but to do so in China right now is an EXTREME high adventure!"

And then everything is taken to a whole new level when you have to personally obtain visas for a family to get into China during Covid. Most people who move abroad have companies or government agencies doing all of that work for them; but this has been a 'from the ground up' kind of experience.  Tom has tenaciously done all of the footwork and research himself with help from Ortho's Chinese employee, Jacky, doing all of the footwork and research within China.

To obtain visas has been such a strenuous, stretching and difficult process.  All that we had heard about moving internationally and moving to China has been heightened because of Covid and China's response to it.  We would make some progress only to have it halted.  We would be told the process to make it happen only to find new, difficult layers of requirements. Add to that, any time frame we were given would be multiplied by 3 or higher!  Early on we packed up and booked tickets and cancelled everything in our life because that's how we were told it would roll out.  But it didn't.  We waited and waited and waited.  School started; Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas came and went. (I planned Christmas 3 times--one as if we were settled in China, one as if we were in quarantine and then finally just a few weeks before Christmas a plan to spend it at home.) New Years, Valentine's Day and Easter all moved into the rear view mirror.  We lived out of boxes and with life on hold for nearly 11 months.  

So many times we wondered why hedges and roadblocks showed up left and right.  It would have been much easier to give up.  But we felt compelled to press forward despite world conditions, China's responses to Covid and many other uncertain and unpleasant circumstances.

A few days before departing, we had a couple of experiences of severe testing as to whether we would keep our covenants and whether or not we would let God prevail.  We also have been tutored in many areas over this past year teaching us how to live with extreme uncertainty and how to obtain the power to press forward.  President Nelson has taught that "Turbulent times are an opportunity for us to thrive spiritually."  We have found this to be true.  We have been led to know for ourselves that as President Nelson promised, "There is so much more that your Father in Heaven wants you to know."  Although difficult, it has been a very sacred year.

A few things we've learned:

⭐You don't really need pictures on your walls.  

⭐Patience is a spiritual capacity that is given as divine laws are followed, such as great effort put in to not complain.

⭐Mattresses directly on the floor make rolling out of bed really easy!

⭐Stuff isn't really that important.  Having much of your belongings in boxes makes it feel quite needless.

⭐"The Savior is never closer than when you are climbing a mountain with faith." (President Nelson)

⭐Really cherish family relationships.

⭐The temples really do help you build a strong spiritual foundation.

⭐“Waiting faithfully upon the Lord for His blessings is a holy position. It must not be met with pity, ...but instead with sacred honor.”  (Elder Gong)

⭐You can get pretty good at living out of boxes after a few months.

⭐But most of all:  "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."  (Proverbs 3:5-6)

In one of my yoga workouts, the instructor said "The reward is the process."  It really is true.  The process we have undergone to get to this point really has been rewarding because of increased confidence in our Savior, Jesus Christ.