Skip to main content

This Great Work

When I first heard the youth theme song for 2021 I was impressed that that was to be our purpose in China.  That song got me through a lot of difficult pockets of doubt, insecurity and fear.  It moved me to tears nearly every time I listened to it. 

A few of the words really spoke to me:  

    There is a work to do

    that was prepared for you

    long before the world was made.

    You have the strength you need

    to cross the stormy seas

    that you will find along the way.....

    

    This is a great work that we’ve been given.

    This is a part of His grand design.

    So don’t be weary. He will be with you,

    And He will lead you through the night

    in this great work. This great work. This is a great work.

There were times on this journey that were filled with great disappointment.  One such came right before April 2021 General Conference.  With Tom's contract, we get 3 trips out of the country per year.  I looked forward to coming home for at least one and the others to hop to nearby Asian temples.  But right before conference, I talked to the RS president of the branch we would be in and she told me that we wouldn't be able to come back if we left because getting back in is so difficult.   (Covid related; it's not like that all of the time.)  I was crushed.  Crushed.  But during conference the Spirit kept whispering "You're not going for your good time.  You're going for me."  While that is a difficult answer, I can do anything for Jesus Christ.  He makes everything all right.  Oh how much I am going to miss home and temples and the great opportunity to travel and give my girls that experience, but it pales in comparison to my love for Jesus Christ and His great work.  

Hence the name of this blog.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

While We Are Waiting: Temples!

I love the temple.  When I first learned of the possibility of us moving to China in December 2019, one of my first questions was "How can I leave the temple?"  That question was answered in part during the closure of temples in 2020. However, when the joint venture was signed and Tom was officially offered the position in China in November 2020, I began fasting and praying that I would be able to attend the temple just once before we left.  Our original flights were for July 7, 2021 and just a few weeks before that, our temple opened up and miraculously we were able to get 2 appointments for baptisms and 4 other appointments for Tom and I before our departure date.  I can't express my deep gratitude for those 6 precious appointments.  Then when we didn't obtain a visa in time for those flights and access to nearby temples was given, I took up a new hobby.  Temple scheduling.  The girls teased me it was a bit of an obsessed hobby; but since we will go ...

Bamboo Forest

There is a bamboo forest nearby.  A few weeks ago we paid it a visit. It was about an hour drive and after we got off the freeway it was a meandering road through some cute villages.  I started getting excited for some hiking and a lovely nature experience. I should have known better.  This is China.  If people will come, they will find a way to make some money.  The bamboo forest was no different---it was a tourist trap. That didn't mean we didn't enjoy it.  We did. It was a lot of fun.  But our expectations were shot down yet again.  (Pro tip, Darcee, drop all expectations, you're in China!) At the bamboo forest, you can see shops,  get a hot dog at "Fatty Dogg WestCoast Hot Dog",  (perhaps I should try it, my expectations may be happily surprised; but I highly doubt it) get measured 3 times,   (in China, children's prices are determined by your height, not your age.  When we came to China, both girls were under 150cm so they...

Food

Food has been one of the hardest aspects of our quarantine.  Food is emotionally comforting, so we're missing out on that--especially the girls.  We're not used to the smells.  It is cafeteria type foods.  Much of the time we don't know what it is.  Always an adventure...not always a pleasant one!  That said, incoming meals are the most exciting time of the day.  Originally we were getting 4 meals a day.  But the only thing the girls were eating from them was the rice and there is way too much rice in that container for one person.  So we had it cut back to two. Breakfast is the hardest meal of the day.  I already knew I didn't love Chinese breakfasts.  Tom had told me that every breakfast he saw from watching quarantining videos had a boiled egg.  I knew I could eat that if I had some salt and pepper.  So I brought some.  We're doing okay on the salt--supply wise.  We're rationing on the pepper.  I'm so tha...