life in china: shenzen district conference

This past weekend we had the opportunity to go to Shenzen for the weekend to attend a district conference. The expat members here are so nice!

I booked my first hotel room in Chinese hotel room all by myself!! And guess what...I booked the wrong nights....I didn't even realize it until we got to check-in. But all worked out (thank goodness) and we stayed in this sweet apartment style hotel for the night. The beds were soooo comfortable and the floor was so clean we could walk around and shower without shoes on!!! We were all stoked to use the gym, pool, and bowling alley until we realized China is nothing like America and you had to pay to use them all. Bummer. When we got in the elevator we didn't realize you had to use your card to get to your floor so it took us up to the 21st floor. The door opened and it was just a wood panel and we totally thought we were stuck. Then at breakfast that next morning only four people were allowed to have free breakfast (no idea why) but when they realized we were trying to like sneak it to other people they stationed themselves next to our table and watched us like hawks.

That day before the conference started we went to explore "Sea World." It basically just looks like a boardwalk with restaurants and a water show at night. Nothing like the real Sea World but we found this Tex Mex place that was absolutely to die for and so delicious and tasted a million times better after eating rice and dumplings for a month. I was so happy I could've cried.

That night we had a YSA activity that was actually really fun which was a relief because usually things like that are relatively awkward when you know no one. After we had an adult session with Elder Zeno Chow, of the Seventy. During that meeting Rachel had accidentally left a boiled egg in her backpack that cracked open and it smelled so bad. We could not stop laughing. The next morning we had another meeting and then a fireside. It was so cool to be able to attend something like that in China. Elder Chow was an excellent speaker. A few things he said that really stuck out to me were:

"He will NEVER forget you. You are marked on His hands, sides, and feet. You are with Him wherever He goes. But we must remember to remember Him."

"Your efforts to come to church so far from home will not go unnoticed by the Lord."

"If you trust Him enough, He will lead you through."
He gave an example from when he and his wife were young and couldn't afford things like toilet paper. He told us that one particular time the toilet paper went on sale on the exact day they needed to buy some. He talked about it was a little miracle for them but such a testimony builder than the Lord knows each of our struggles, however small they may be.
This reminded me of a story about my grandparents. My grandpa had been inactive since high school and my grandma had never been a member. Long story short,one day when they were young they went to the store and after they came home they realized they had forgotten toothpaste but that they didn't have enough money left to go buy some. That day a toothpaste ad was mailed to their home and it had a small sample toothpaste in in. My grandpa said to my grandma something along the lines of 'If the Lord can look after our teeth, we need to look after His gospel in our lives.' My grandma took the discussions and they've been faithful and active ever since. I love that story because it reminds me that sometimes even the smallest and insignificant things can make such a huge difference in our lives and our testimonies.

"Reverence stems from love for your Heavenly Father."

He told us that the Book of Mormon has recently been reprinted in Chinese, one of the reasons being because the word 'always' was translated to 'from time to time' and they wanted a more exact translation. He gave the example of the Sacrament prayer and our promise to 'always remember Him.' We do not want to remember Him from time to time, but rather to always remember Him. I thought that was really cool.

I started reading the Book of Mormon here. Hoping to finish before I get home!