China? Really?!? Everyday I wake up a freak out just a little...
...but the scariness of this whole situation is quickly replaced with excitement and anticipation. I keep getting the question, "Why China? What made you want to go there?". It's kind of a long story.
It's been a long journey these past two years trying to get my life on track. After I moved back home from being at LDS Business College for a semester in 2012 I immediately got a job working at an elementary school, and what a blessing that has been. During my two years of working at Longfellow Elementary I have learned so much. I've been given the opportunity to teach young children, and even children that don't have any English language skills. During this time I have also been attending Mesa Community College, and I'm very proud of the progress I have made. I recently finished all the credits necessary to receive my Associate's Degree, which should be coming to me in the mail next month! Yay! I've really been through a lot of ups and downs as I've had this job and as I've continued my education. I've made friends and meet some amazing people, and I've been able to learn and grow so much. But, I've learned that I'm not one for a quiet, consistent, safe lifestyle. I like adventure, new things, and learning and growing more and more. So, when the opportunity came for me to audition to be a Young Performing Missionary in Nauvoo this summer, I took it. I know what your thinking, "how did Nauvoo lead you to China?". Nauvoo has everything to do with China. Auditioning for Nauvoo was exactly what I needed to be doing at that time for me to want to go to China. Nauvoo put me into the mind-set of having change, of going somewhere, and of having an adventure. As you can probably guess, I was not accepted to be a Missionary in Nauvoo. As disappointing as I was by this news, from it I decided to do something about this need for an adventure.
Enter: China.
To be honest, I'm not completely sure how I came across International Language Program (ILP), which is the company I'm going with. I think my search started with a program called OSSO, which my best friend Alena had done a program with this past summer in Ecuador. This search, somehow, lead me to ILP. Everything happened very quickly. I initially wanted to do the program to go to Russia, but there were no more spots left for Spring. My immediate need for an adventure lead me to decided between China or waiting another semester. I made the decision, with guidance from Heavenly Father, to go to China. After that everything fell into place. My passport came extremely fast which helped immensely once I was accepted into the program. They needed my passport right away and had me fill out a lot of consent forms and conduct agreement forms, along with my Chinese Visa application. I was able to go to a training in Orem, UT on Jan. 2nd and 3rd. The training was very helpful, we were taught about the method of teaching we will be using and also a little about the culture. The last day a few volunteers who had gone on previous semesters came and talked to each group about the supplies that are needed for the area and also what to expect weather wise and what is culturally different.
I was recently assigned to the Jucheng School in Zhongshan, China. There I will be teaching Primary aged children English. I'm so excited to love on those Chinese babies!!!!! I feel so incredibly blessed to be given this opportunity to go serve those sweet children in China. I'm glad my adventurous spirit had lead me to a program where I can try to make a difference in someone's life. I'm so excited! I keep praying that I'm doing the right thing and to be mindful of the Lord while I'm in China. He's given me so much and I can't wait to see what this new adventure will bring.
Here's to COURAGE!
