I (Mary) recently spoke with someone about my efforts to learn Chinese. I made some comment about how I am trying to learn a little at a time. With encouragement, she gave me the Chinese words to capture this idea: 好好学习，天天向上 Hǎo hào xuéxí, tiāntiān xiàngshàng (Study hard and make progress every day). Of course this phrase means more than learning a language for us–it’s our every day. Exploring. Settling in. Finding a place to live. Meeting and loving new people. Making progress every day.
Aug 28 – Aug 31
Leaving Home
Leaving our house in Ogden at 3:00 am the morning of our flight. Thanks to our families and friends who helped so much with packing, moving, and cleaning! We couldn’t have done it without you!
Salt Lake to Seoul to Shanghai
After our late night, our long flight from SLC to Seoul was a relief. We hoped to catch up on sleep and sleep we did! Both our long and short flight passed quickly. For those wanting to visit–don’t let the flights scare you away–this pales in comparison to flights to Africa! Just a hop, skip, and a jump across the Pacific.
Just starting
SLC to Seoul flight path
Quick break during Seoul layover
Last flight!
Almost there!
Breakfast the morning after our arrival
View from our hotel
Shanghai, China. Population 25M
Our first Saturday in China! We headed to “The Bund” in Shanghai to take in the river and city lights. The tall building on the right is the tallest in Asia (128 floors), and the third tallest in the world. When you visit us, we’ll take you there!Opposite the towering modern skyscrapers on the East side of the river are the colonial era buildings on the West side of the river. This contrast serves as a physical timeline of Shanghai’s history and reflects China’s present ambitions.
Sacrament in Shanghai
On Sunday, we attended the Shanghai English branch. In order to attend, you must be a foreign passport holder (or be married to a foreigner). Sacrament Meeting was held in a large meeting space in an office building. Second hour meetings were held in an adjacent building in rooms that looked like other church buildings around the world- familiar artwork and hymnals, etc. There were about 60 people in attendance, from all over the world. At the pot luck linger longer after the block, we met the Santana family from Brazil. They recently moved for Brother Santana’s job. They had flown in from another city in China where they are living. Because of the distance from any branch, they are typically attending an online only branch. (We were all excited to see each other the following Sunday in the online branch meetings!) Our friend Darci, from Brigham City, was also there! Last fall, we took a marriage class from the USU extension in Brigham City. Darci and her boyfriend, Freddie, were the only others in the class. We randomly ran into Darci and Freddie at an Independence Day parade in Hyrum this past summer, where Darci announced, to our great surprise, she was moving to China. “Us, too!” we replied, to her great surprise. Little did we know we’d end up in the same branch the same Sunday- the first for all of us in China.
Sept 1 – Sept 7
Saving More Lives in China
Here we are at Matt’s work with his new boss, Bobby Niu. Matt’s work is about 25 minutes by car from Jintan, where we’ve been staying.
An Eastern Take on a Broadbent Tradition
Celebrating the conclusion of our first full week in China at the local barbeque shop. There’s an a la cart line where you choose from a wide selection of skewered meats, vegetables, and tofu products, and then you grill them over your personal charcoal broiler. This came naturally to Mary, as her family has a multigeneration tradition of shish kabob, albeit with less exotic chicken parts.
Sept 8 – Sept 14
Thumbs up for HOT POT!
During our second week, Matt’s boss took the team to a hot pot restaurant. Hot pot is very popular in China, and the various restaurants compete fiercely for business. This brand entices customers by offering dry cleaning services, free pedicures, dog sitting, and special performances by the waiters (noodle pulling, Chinese face mask dance, and even modern dance). The food is pretty good, too!
‘Ultimate’ Surprise!
For those who don’t know, Matt is an avid Ultimate Frisbee player and has led a group in Riverdale for nine years. Of course frisbees fly all over the world, but we didn’t anticipate finding a group in China. To our great surprise, Matt’s coworker found a group that plays in the neighboring town. Playing with people so close to where we are is an unexpected blessing. ULTIMATE!!!
House Hunters International
Yours truly starring in: House Hunters International, Changzhou Episode! What will the decision be? Will we choose the one with the ornate throne? Or the one with the million-dollar view? Maybe the one overlooking the open green fields? Where will Mary and Matt live for this next chapter?? Stay tuned!
One of the HR employees, Rose, who has been helping us get settled came along for our house hunting adventure. She was so helpful and fun. Much to our surprise, she made our very own episode of House Hunters and posted it on China’s TikTok. Exclusively streaming here for a short time!
Our New Branch Family
Due to our wedding and moving across the world we have attended five different wards or branches in the past five weeks. We are grateful we’ve found our home and church family in this small branch in Suzhou (we made the attendance at church a record high of 19)!
I Love to See the Temple…
Best way to celebrate one-month of blissful, adventurous marriage? The temple of course! Knowing how much I miss attending and worshipping in the temple, Matt had suggested we go to this Buddhist Temple earlier in the week, so we took advantage of a quiet Sunday afternoon after church to enjoy some time in and around this beautiful edifice. It doesn’t reflect what we experience when participating in ordinances in our temples, but it was peaceful and beautiful and was evident it is a sacred space for those who come to pray and worship. Inside another temple, we found this figure of a large woman with a thousand hands, Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. The imagery reminded us of God’s grace and mercy and the way He works in our lives, so often through the hands of many others. In China, we cannot openly share our beliefs and witness of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, nor can we openly testify of Jesus Christ, however, we pray regularly that we’ll be able to be His hands in a way that will testify of Jesus Christ through our actions. We have also seen and recognized the Lord’s hands in the service of others, both from friends and acquaintances here, and also family and friends at home.
[…] On Sunday, we headed back to the Shanghai branch. (Only an hour commute from Jiading vs. two hours to Suzhou.) Attending the Shanghai branch is a delight! We appreciate the opportunity to gather and worship with members of the church from all over the world… including Brigham City! (We ran into Darci again, this time with her boyfriend Freddie, who’s visiting for a month. For more about Darci and Freddie, read about our first Sunday in China on this post.) […]
There is a Chinese phrase that captures the way we (Matt and Mary) feel about daily life—天天向上 tiāntiān xiàngshàng (make progress every day). —making progress is our every day. Exploring. Settling in. Finding a place to live. Meeting and loving new people. Working. Playing. Figuring out life. Making progress every day.
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Tiāntiān xiàngshàng 
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