Letter #35

This is one scene from Amanda's orphanage. Amanda is from South Africa and got her education to be a teacher. A series of events placed her in China caring for unwanted babies who had some type of a birth defect -- mostly cleft palate or spina bifida. She does have some babies with heart problems. She runs her orphanage on donations. She will care for the baby until it is well enough for corrective surgery and has the money to pay for the surgery. She has many nannies who help her and many volunteers who come to help. This picture shows the nannies folding laundry and caring for the babies. I am holding Jack. He has water on the brain -- the enlarged head. He cannot support his own head.

This is Elise Britton. She volunteers once a week to weigh the babies and keep the vital statistics and records straight for Amanda. Elise is our branch president's wife.

This is Amanda. She is truly an amazing woman and a good example to all of us. She is the only member in her family and joined when she was a young adult. She attended BYU. She received the "family" award from BYU in October 2009.

This is Parkson's mother, neice and nephew. They came to our house for an "American" meal. We prepared chicken nuggets, rolls and fruit. Dessert was apple pie at the Orton's.

Letter #35 (May 17, 2009 – May 23, 2009_
Sunday, May 17, 2009 – Dad – Mom has resorted to bribery (reward) in primary and it worked like a charm. Just like we used to bribe our children. When they became older we took away activities if they misbehaved – remember. Good to take the sacrament today. Steve Orton, our neighbor, was supposed to give the Priesthood lesson today but contacted me a few minutes before meetings and asked if I could do it. His back was giving him fits so I printed off a copy and winged it. Such is the mission field!

Monday, May 18, 2009 – Mom – Yeah, another beautiful day. We washed our bedding, finished getting everything ready for this week’s lesson. We are going to have the students perform a reader’s theater. We have quite a few stories for them to practice and retell. We got the stories from the Summers who live above us. They have taught in China for 5 years, with the last 3 years being here in Xi’an. We went on a long walk this morning to a big shopping area to the north of where we live. We had been told that this area was a very popular area for shopping especially for the college age student. There were many different shops with a lot of choices for clothing. We have been looking for some shirts for Dad, but have learned that there are not many shops that carry the size that he needs. Remember, the Chinese are smaller people. We watched a couple of movies, had popcorn, read in our books. I prepared my talk for next week’s sacrament meeting. I also got my suitcase down and began packing some of our winter thingsJ!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009 – Dad – Yes the entrees are getting shorter as we have experienced almost all there is in China. Time to come home. Thirty-nine days left! As they do construction on the main road close to us they are digging trenches to house wires and pipes. They are open tranches and when it rained the sides caved in and refilled the trenches. Now it is just mud and will take a long time to dry so they can again re-dig the trenches. Today we saw a bamboo ladder at least 35 feet long. The funny thing is it had no nails or holders to hold the bamboo cross members in place. Don’t ask me to climb it! Notice the wires held above the traffic with bamboo sticks tied together.Wednesday, May 20, 2009 – Liz’ Birthday – Mom – On our way to school this morning, at our busy corner turning left onto the main road, there was a traffic jam due to the construction. Because drivers in China will pull into the oncoming lanes to go around stopped vehicles and because they always follow close behind so that no one can pull in front of them, we had a major traffic jam. Those cars creating the problem in the first place could not move either direction because other cars had pulled up so close to them that they could not back up or go forward. It took 15 minutes before a policeman came to untangle everyone. Every day is an adventure in China and something new and interesting to watch and observe. Our maid came today, so we took a long walk, bought some ice cream and shoelaces, and looked for shirts in a big enough size for Dad. No luck. We ran into Helena whose class had just been canceled, so she walked with us. We like it when she comes because she can interpret for us and tell us what signs and people say.

Thursday, May 21, 2009 – Dad – Wow, it is getting harder to write in you! The news of the day is that we found out through our neighbor that the university will close down one of the apartments occupied by the BYU couples since there will be three couples here next year rather than four. So, you guessed it, our apartment will be let go and all important items will have to move to our neighbor’s apartment. That will put an extra burden on us to move items the last week that we are here. I called early this morning to the Home Run Grant department of the state of Utah. They offer a $6000 grant for those financing new homes – we qualify but it turns out we may miss getting one since they have a specific number and we may fall short. We will just have to wait and see – the home should be finished in 40 days – almost the same time we arrive back.

Friday, May 22, 2009 – Mom – On Tuesday, Elva Orton and I went visiting teaching at Amanda’s little orphanage. We usually visit Elise Britton, the branch president’s wife, and they just added Amanda to us. Elise usually goes to volunteer at the orphanage on Tuesday afternoons. She weighs all the babies and measures their heads and growth. So, we spent a couple of hours holding babies. That is really an amazing operation. Amanda has rented three spacious apartments. The first apartment has 25 cleft palate babies. The next apartment has older babies and then the 3rd apartment is used for the nannies to sleep. I think they work 10 hour shifts and it is a busy place - babies crying, diapers being changed, bottles being fed and just holding and playing with the children. There are many volunteers who spend an hour a week and others who come for 2 weeks at a time. Another week is finished with the lessons. We had fun watching the students do The Little Red Hen, Three Billy Goats Gruff, Jack and the Beanstalk, Princess and the Pea, The Enchanted Frog, The Crying Princess, etc. etc. Some of the students are very dramatic and entertaining.

Saturday, May 23, 2009 – Today we were ready to walk out the door on a walk and shopping. But, our neighbors, the Jessop’s came and asked if we wanted to go to the Muslim market for some shopping. We had planned to go later next week but decided to go with. I purchased three polo shirts, a tea pot of particular design and some nuts. Right in the middle of our shopping Edith got sick, could not stand or walk without getting dizzy. So, after waiting we along with a Chinese person got her to the toilet where she stayed. We finally got home by taxi and she is doing much better. This same illness has happened every Saturday for the last four weeks. We think it may be the eggs we eat on Saturday mornings. However, I eat the same eggs and do fine. Tonight we had Parkson, his mom and niece and nephew over for an American meal. Desert was with the Orton’s and then some family movies. We had a good time. We are invited to their home for the last time on June 6th.