This Great Work

It's been a very quiet year on my blog—not intentionally, but things are busy, and I got out of habit. So here is a very quick highlight list of our comings and goings for 2024.  January highlight:  strawberry picking.  The strawberries are SO amazing here! Tom won some kind of award (we still have no idea what it was for) from the city government.  We were informed about it 2 days before, and Tom had a board meeting that he couldn't miss.  So the government allowed me to go receive it for him.  He received a trophy and a large sum of money. Tom's business trip to Japan, the girls and I tagged along. One of the many amazing foods in Japan is kakigori.  Shaved ice.  To die for.  I'd go back just for that and I'm not usually one to prefer sweets over other foods. That says something.... Chinese New Year crowds. We stayed home to avoid them. We had the amazing opportunity to be invited into the home of some Chinese people.  We felt so honor...

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...

I live 478 miles from the nearest temple.  That is nearly the same distance between my home in American Fork, UT and Flagstaff, AZ.  My nearest temple is the Taipei, Taiwan temple.  Other 'nearby' temples are Korea, 562 miles away; Okinawa, Japan, 610 miles; and Hong Kong temple, 746 miles away (Hong Kong is our designated temple).  All of them require a flight (although we *could* take the train to Hong Kong, but it is an 8-hour train ride).  Getting to a temple is expensive and takes planning way ahead.  Yet, miraculously, in 2024, we have been to the following temples: Tokyo Hong Kong Vancouver, BC Mt. Timpanogos Saratoga Springs Taylorsville Orem St. George Red Cliffs Newport Beach Layton Seoul, Korea Bangkok Thailand Temple attendance is of highest priority to me.  I'm beyond thankful for these miraculous opportunities. I will share one unique experience.  While preparing to do initiatories in the Seoul temple, I let FamilySearch generate nam...