My First Sunset in China

If we ever see a sunset, it looks something like this:

That's my view out of my kitchen window. If you are on the ground, you rarely see much because there is always a building in the way. On this particular night, however, I decided to get my selfie stick and put my phone out the window as far as I safely could to get a bit of a better shot.

After doing that, I decided to climb on top of my kitchen counter to go out even farther. As I did this, I caught a small glimpse of something else. I changed the direction of my phone and shot these photos:

I had no idea that you could see the sky on the other side of that building from here. (Well, you can't actually see this without unsafely hanging out the window.....) This doesn't seem like much to you, but this is as much of a sunset I've seen the whole time we've been in China. So while I couldn't actually see the full skyline, I was thankful to enjoy more of it with my camera. This was a sweet night 😊. I recommend that wherever you are in the world, enjoy your sunsets!!

Comments

Final Service Project--you can help!

Our time in China is quickly coming to an end. We will be moving back to the US at the end of June. I have had several impressions to conclude our time here with a service project. I have learned that the local children's hospital is building a library and is in need of books. My original plan was to involve many Chinese people in this project so they could feel the joy of service. However as I have experienced over and over again, service is a very difficult concept for the Chinese people. Their culture requires them to keep tabs of who they owe and who owes them. They will not give if they don't see a direct benefit for themselves. In addition to this, they lack trust because scams are rampant. Thus, my requests for them to help with my project haven't gone anywhere. I don't blame them and I feel deeply for them. So my goals for the project have changed. While Tom and I can provide many books to the library because books are ...

Christmas Wishes

Christmas is hard to find in China. Most external things that signal to us that Christmastime coming is missing here. We have to look hard to find Christmas trees and decorations. The typical holiday events and gatherings are missing. Snow or anticipation of snow is absent. The music is almost non-existent. Giving to others is not accepted (it causes extreme embarrassment because they feel like they owe you). This has caused me to look harder and be thankful for the Merry Christmas wishes I do find. I've also had to use my own initiative to fulfil my other Christmas wishes. Here are some of my Christmas wishes for 2024 found and created: Generally, the government discourages the people from celebrating the 'Western' holiday. But a few places do find a way to wish me a Merry Christmas! This year we had very vibrant Christmas colors in our complex. They were stunning, Christmasy and very cheerful! (pictures taken mid December) Th...

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 ...

This Great Work

Search This Blog