We were really looking forward to our Christmas open house. Our freezer was filling up. Wedding cookies. Candied nuts. Ginger snaps. Mini butterhorn rolls. Chocolate mint crinkle cookies. Peanut butter kiss cookies (with M&M's). Caramels. Chocolate bark. I had made salsa and special ordered corn chips. I had ordered Jolly Time popcorn (Chinese popcorn pops very differently, not to our liking). I had ordered cute toothpicks for a veggie/cheese pick. I had procured a Christmas table runner, cute serving platters and small paper plates that said "Merry Christmas". I hoarded cranberries to make stove top potpourri to make our apartment smell like Christmas. Many of these were smallish feats given baking and Christmas supplies here.
But as Christmas drew closer, lock downs were beginning to happen very near us. The city started reporting 20-30 new cases a day which seemed to be alarming officials. Schools were tightening, one of our friends' complex locked down, negative Covid tests were required for almost everywhere. We were wondering if we would be in lock down ourselves.
As the Chinese people watched the World Cup, they watched in amazement and disbelief that so many people could be gathered from nations across the earth without masks. Protests started bubbling out of major cities. Things tightened a little more. Media stiffened. VPNs were a headache and a half. It felt a little bit dicey for a few weeks.
And then out of nowhere, the Chinese government said they were ending the zero Covid policy. Really? We were kind of pinching ourselves in unbelief.
While very happy with the news, we were concerned that Covid would spread quickly. That it did, but we have been astounded with how quickly. In a matter of days half the people at Tom's work were home sick. We were hearing from our Branch members all over China that their schools were drowning in illness. Busy places were deserted. Delivery and other services became unavailable. Now masks were not mandated, but EVERYONE whether inside or outside began wearing masks; often double masks.
A week before Christmas, I started reaching out to people we were inviting for the open house-- 100% of the people I messaged had Covid. Now, I don't have very many friends here in China, but 100% of the ones I do have were sick. That is an awfully high percentage. So we decided to ship the open house to them. I found boxes that could house the treats (not an easy thing.....), I bought some red tulle and made use of the pillow boxes I had purchased for last Christmas that I threw in our shipment. Greta had the idea to glue a Christmas charm on each one, we threw in a few greens from a left over wreath project with the YW and we had ourselves a cute little parcel.
You can't buy acetaminophen, ibuprofen or cough medicine over the counter here normally, but those became even more controlled since 2020 so that people couldn't mask the effects if they did have Covid. So pharmacies had very little on hand when the government canceled the Covid policy and said that for a short time you could buy it without a prescription. You can imagine the run that must have been on that, with such a high population that is a staggering thought. And since I had plenty, I also threw some ibuprofen into many packages. Having had a fairly lengthy bout with Covid myself back in 2021, I had such compassion on these dear people who were so ill without any relief other than their remedy of drinking hot water and taking some herbs.
I didn't have to wrap the packages, but I wanted them to stand out so that they would be noticed more than the average package. I wrote "Merry Christmas" on the outside of each one so that the name of Christ would be seen by every courier who handled the package and the recipient. These were very intentional additions. Then I prayed with great earnestness that those who handled those packages would feel something as they handled it and be curious about what Christmas is perhaps get online and search out the 'why' of Christmas and find information about Jesus Christ. Elder Stevenson said in April 2022 general conference, "Whenever we show Christlike love toward our neighbor, we preach the gospel--even if we do not voice a single word." President Nelson said that we need people "who know how to make important things happen by their faith" and I have great faith in these statements. I cannot actively or inactively proselyte, but I can share the joy of Christmas and the name of Christ written in that form. I may never know the outcome of these intentional actions, but I have great faith that Heavenly Father can create miracles for these people through them. They need the light of Christ so much.
Here is my package guy who comes up to our landing to pick up packages. So convenient!!
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