June 20, 2016

Yep, I get to be a tourist now. I thought I was going to be stuck at school for all of this week, but today Miss Huang informed me that I don't have to be there. Of course, I still have to clean out my office and take care of things. And, whatever I do, I have to tell her where I'm going and be safe and stuff, so the school won't be held responsible if I get hurt or whatever. (Shouldn't be a problem. China is pretty safe.) I will probably still find excuses to go back to school, because I want to see the kids as much as possible before I leave and never see them again in this life. I love talking to them in the hall. Today a little boy was pretending to be a zombie and he tried to eat my brain. I bet no one tries to eat the other teachers' brains. I'm kind of special. I WILL MISS THEM SO MUCH!!

This next Sunday is my last week in the Suzhou branch. That makes me really sad, too. This Sunday I will get to go to relief society. That will be so weird. The one time I went to relief society in China was the day that I was in and out because I was talking to President Okeson because I was new in the branch. Other than that, I haven't been to relief society since. . . August last year? Wow. Who will play the piano in primary? I hope it's someone better than me.

Although I'm sad to be leaving China, I'm excited to see Natty, too. And, I will tell her all about silly Chinese kids, and the Monkey King, and whatever else. And, please make her write me an email. I would love to hear from her. If the boys wrote me an email, that would also be awesome. But, I know it's also not realistic to expect that much.

Yes, I have enough to make it home. I also have enough to make it through the last couple of weeks, and finish off my Suzhou bucket list, at least mostly. I might not get to see a panda. But, I'm also not in Western China, so even if I do see one, it won't be the same. Then, after I get home, I will still have a little, assuming I can find a way to put all my RMB in into Zions Bank. Although I'm definitely not going to be rich.

I need to go to bed. I didn't expect to be up this long. Amelia and I just watched a movie. (Our friend Ellie took her Kindle back, and now Amelia is struggling to cope without Harry Potter. She needs to meet Cami. So, the movie made it a little bit better.) I'm sure I will talk to you later.

Goodnight/good morning/whenver

Love,

Me

June 19, 2016

Dear Mom and everyone else,

Da jia hao again! I'm sorry I haven't written any fun emails recently. (The boring ones I sent Mom don't count.)

When last I wrote, I was worried about whether it would rain and if the branch picnic would get canceled. It didn't rain much. It only sprinkled, which was such a blessing! The hard part, as it turns out, was getting there. On the map it looked so simple. But, I wandered around Suzhou Industrial Park for literally two hours, trying to find where the heck this park was. Even the taxi driver didn't know! Finally, a nice British family helped me out and we were finally able to find this park that I was beginning to doubt the existence of, and I made it within half an hour of the opening prayer because they started late. And then, a group of us went to a KTV together and sat around singing karaoke. (KTV is a popular thing in China. Personally, I don't see what the big deal is about, but it beat just going home.) Then, we went to Pingjiang Road and just walked for a bit. It was a pretty good day, but Andrew and Monica weren't able to bring their phone that they'd said I could use.

The next day was Sunday, but, of course, I had to work. I wore my church clothes, and everyone said, "Oh, what a beautiful dress!" (Maybe I should wear church clothes more often?) Amelia had taken the umbrella to Nanjing and hadn't gotten back to the apartment since coming back to Suzhou, so I got to walk to work in the pouring rain. I was not only beautiful, I was drenched. (I wasn't feeling quite desperate enough to wear my umbrella hat.) So, the next day one of the male teachers gave me a brand new umbrella just for me. I don't quite feel like I deserve it, but it was very nice of him. With only a couple weeks left to go, I might get to use it at least once before I leave.

This last week was weird. It was the last week of class before finals, so the teachers and kids have been working hard. My lessons were canceled left and right. I don't think there was a day when I taught more than one lesson. On Wednesday, the day when I only have two classes scheduled, it was very sad, because they were both canceled. I've been really, really bored this week. Boredom on top of the stress of trying to find a plane ride is not a good thing, psychologically. But, at least the kids still say hi to me in the hall. Bless them!

One good thing about this week is that the music teacher, who just got married, went on her honeymoon, and before she left, she told me that she would leave the key to the piano room on her desk, and that I could use it as much as I wanted! Woohoo! I discretely practiced the songs that the primary was going to sing in Sacrament meeting on Father's Day. That was another reason I was able to stay sane. I wonder if the music room will be busy during finals week?

Friday was my last class. It was also the first 5th Grade lesson I had in the whole two-week cycle because the rest got caneled. It was the most chill lesson I have taught the whole school term, we learned nothing new, just played games mostly, but it was fun. It was the nice 5th Grade class, not the crazy one. Next week is going to be so boring! I have no class, and everyone else will be busy, and I get to do nothing! It will be so depressing. But, I can have plenty of time to finish my book. And read more articles on Yahoo!, because that's all I have to do sometimes.

On Friday, I utilized my free time by looking up more places to go in Suzhou. I found two gardens that are free, so I decided to check on of them out yesterday (Saturday). It probably exists. None of the locals in that area were able to tell me where it was, even though I followed the directions on the Internet exactly. But, it was a nice walk, and a nice day, so I thought, rather than get frustrated by continuing my futile mission, I'd do something fun where I knew I wouldn't get lost, so I took myself back to Pingjiang Road. (Three Saturdays in a row!) It was nice to be there by myself, because I was able to take some side streets and see things I'd never seen before. I found the way to Weidao Temple, which was closed, but nearby was Ligeng Hall, or whatever it was called. I'm not sure what it is, probably a former residence of someone important. Now, it's got a gift shop. There was a lovely Chinese woman who worked there, and she showed me around the gift shop, and her level of English is somewhere in the same zone as my Chinese, so we had fun teaching each other. I looked around the beautiful building for a bit, and found a quiet corner where some important guy might have sat and enjoyed the peace and quiet with his lovely wife, and I sat there a bit myself. On the way out, the nice lady gave me a taste of molihua cha, or jasmine tea. (It's okay if it's made of flowers.) It smells nice, but it's very bitter. There was a nice Chinese girl, also a tourist, and she told me that the reason why Chinese people drink bitter tea, is because it's good luck, as sweet things in life always come after the bitter.

I wandered all the way down to the end of Pingjiang Road, and met a nice man who knew some English, and we had fun talking about this and that as we made our way back. Then, I went home so I could get ready for Sunday.

Today, I got to play the piano for the primary in Sacrament meeting, I gave a Sacrament meeting talk, and I taught the CTR class. (Whew!) It was good. I didn't feel my talk was anything special, but what I said was from my heart, and people said they liked it. Julynda even said I made her cry. (Wow.) Primary was fun. Monica and her husband, Andrew usually teach it. Monica was gone, as were half the kids, but we had fun, and so did Andrew. And, he gave me that phone, so, for the next two weeks, at least, I won't be phone-less.

After church, I went to President Okeson's house, so his wife, Effie, could help me book a flight. She really knows what she's doing when it comes to finding cheap flights! I'm glad I didn't try to find one on my own! We found one that was too good to be true. It was super cheap and had a 24-hour layover in Seoul, but the Okesons have a family friend who they talked to on Facebook, and she would have been happy to let me stay with her, and then I could say I've been to Seoul! But, it didn't work out. Darn it! So, I will fly out of Shanghai on Sunday, July 3rd, have a two-hour layover in Seattle, and get to Las Vegas two hours after the time I left Shanghai. (Time difference is funny.) I have my flight booked, and life is good again. That is, if I can make it through this week without losing it. Then, I have a free week to do whatever.

Actually, now that my flight home is booked, I'm kind of depressed. I'm officially leaving Suzhou. I might cry. I don't wanna leave! But, at the same time, I'm excited to go home and see everyone again. Anyway, I hope all is well. Please keep the house standing t until I can get back to it. I love and miss you all.

Love,

Chelsey

June 10, 2016

Dear Mom and everyone,

Nimen hao! I'm still alive. Really tired, though. But, that's just normal lately. I'm recovering from another fabulous adventure that I didn't expect. This one is a lot more fun, though.

First, I'd better tell you more about what's going on at school. It's the last month of the school term, so everyone is getting ready for the big end of term exams. This week was weird, because it was a three day week. Wednesday was our Friday. It was almost like the week before a holiday at home, except that, instead of giving us a four day weekend, they're making us work on Sunday. Classes were good, for the most part. On Wednesday, two of my classes were canceled because the teachers wanted to do tests, and the one class I did teach was really rowdy, and most of the students didn't want to listen. It didn't help that there was a monstrous thunderstorm outside. I've been showing a picture of the characters of Big Hero 6 having a birthday party, so we could talk about birthdays a little, because I know they all know it. I learned that the Chinese name for Baymax is "Da Bai," or "Big White." Now you can check "learn a bit of random useless trivia" off your to-do list today. You're welcome.

Yesterday (Thursday) was Dragon Boat Festival. I was so excited last year when I learned that I would be in China for this. Cami and I had our own little "party" for it, but this year was way more exciting.

The history behind this holiday is kind of fun. There was a man called Qu Yuan, who was a famous ancient Chinese poet, and also the king's most trusted advisor. The king loved him. But, the king's other advisors were jealous of him, so they spread rumors about him. When the king wanted to make an alliance with a neighboring kingdom, Qu Yuan warned against it. The king not only wouldn't listen, he sent Qu Yuan to exile. The two kingdoms formed an alliance, but then the other kingdom attacked, just as Qu Yuan warned they would. Everything went wrong. When Qu Yuan learned about this, he was so upset, he went up to a cliff and jumped into the river below. The local people rushed out in their boats to save him, or at least to find his body, throwing rice in the water to keep the fish from eating him, but they never found him. The Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate Qu Yuan's death. The dragon boat races are to represent the villagers racing out to find his body, and the rice dumplings called zongzi are to represent the rice they threw in the water.

In Suzhou, they supposedly have the biggest dragon boat race event in all of China on Jinji Hu ("Golden Rooster Lake"), near the Culture and Expo Center. I was so excited to go to it! I know that watching boat races can only be exciting for so long, but I was excited to see the boats. Coming off the subway, I met with a group of other foreigners. I learned that most of them are actually in my branch, but I haven't met them because they're always traveling on weekends. Also, their friend, Ecki the German guy. (His real name is Eckhart.) I ended up spending the whole day with some of them. Also, I passed by a guy dressed as the Monkey King. It amuses me how obsessed everyone in China is with the Monkey King. Even I've developed a bit of an obsession. But, anyway. . . There were so many people! It was impossible to get a good view. Walking around and around the lake, I finally had at least a decent view, meaning I could actually see the boats racing. I was also able to see a couple takeoffs. It was very interesting. There was a guy in the front of every boat beating a drum. When we briefly met with President Okeson and his family, his wife said that the reason for the drummer is so the rowers can keep the rhythm. If they don't keep the rhythm, then the boat will tip over, which she says is hilarious. We didn't see that, though.

Having seen a couple races, we didn't feel the need to hang around where there were so many people. Personally, I wouldn't have minded staying a little longer, but I also knew it would get old really fast, so I went with them. We went and got something to eat, then everyone went divied up to go their separate ways. Some of the group went to go to some big music festival on Tai Hu somewhere. Ecki and two girls were going to Mudu to do something (they hadn't planned what yet) and they invited me to go with them. I was more than happy to go. Otherwise, I would have spent the remainder of the holiday cleaning house.

I'm a little confused about what Mudu is. It's like it's own town, but still part of Suzhou. I don't know. We talked about going to Mudu Ancient Town, or going further on to the islands. I didn't know what islands they were talking about, but the two girls had been there before and they said it was really good and worth doing again. So, that's what we ended up doing. Once we got to Mudu, we had to ride a bus for a long, long time. Finally, we made it across a long bridge to an island on Tai Hu, but we were going further on to another island. I realized that the island we were going to was Xishan, or "West Mountain" where the pipafruit that the teachers brought to school had come from. There was a lot of traffic, so we got off the bus on the first island, made a bathroom break, and walked across the bridge ourselves. On the water were some Chinese junks. They weren't moving, not even bobbing up and down, so I don't know if they're real. But, later on the way back, I noticed the sails had been furled up, so they must do something on them.

Once we got to Xishan, we did a fair amount of traveling around it. There was a mixture of walking and bus rides. I thought, "How big is this island?" I looked at my map of Suzhou later that night, and we had made it pretty far from home. But, Xishan is beautiful! It's so green, and looks like what you would imagine China to look like. Not the Westernized city that the rest of Suzhou has turned into. In fact, they must not get very many Westerners at all, because everyone who saw us walking past smiled and pointed, or took pictures on their phones, which we're all used to by now, but it was even more intense here. All the children exclaimed, "Waiguo ren! Waiguo ren!" Foreigners! Foreigners! One time, we responded by exclaiming, "Zhongguo ren!" Chinese people!

We spent a good amount of time on the island. We walked to some historic place, but it was fifty kuai to get in. The two girls had been before, and they didn't feel the need to spend that much again. I'm on a budget, so they didn't recommend that I pay that much, either. (Which is good, because then I couldn't afford the rest of my Suzhou bucket list.) We walked along Tai Hu and enjoyed the scenery, and Ecki and I went inside a small Buddhist shrine. It wasn't nearly as fancy as the other ones I'd been to, but in a way, that made it really nice. Sometime, I've seriously got to learn about the deities that are always in the temples. I wonder who they are every time.

At length, we decided to head back. We rode the bus all the way to the Mudu subway station, and it must have been about an hour and a half. Then, we all took the subway home, which was a different stop for each of us. I've spent today relaxing and doing the cleaning that I got out of yesterday. (My bathroom is clean! Hooray!) Tomorrow, if it's not raining too much, there's a branch picnic at some park near Jinji Hu. I hope it doesn't rain. If there's no picnic, I can't meet Monica, and then she can't give me her phone. Me having a phone or not depends on whether it rains tomorrow. That's so random! But, it is what it is.

So, Ally is all moved in to Cami's apartment, then? Crazy stuff. How are the rest of you? How are Jacques and Benson? I haven't heard from them at all. And, what about Grandma and Grandpa, the rest of you who read this? Give me news! Anyway, I love you. Zaijian!

Love,

Chelsey<3

June 6, 2016

Dear Mom, and anyone else who is reading this,

Da jia hao once again. I hope you're all having a blissful, relatively non-stressful time over in the U.S. Because, over here, I'm not. Although, I still love China. In fact, a lot of the stress is because I'm trying to figure out if I actually can/should stay here, and if I did stay, would it be in Suzhou or some other part of China? Who knows? Plans made in China are about as stable as leaves on the wind. Literally no one ever knows what's going on! Not even the Chinese! Which is what makes it such a crazy, wonderful, stressful adventure. So, as I've learned from experience, whatever I decide on and dare to get excited about, is only going to turn upside-down as soon as I do.

I believe I mentioned in last week's email that Amelia was going to go to church with me, but she had to figure things out because she lost her passport. Do you have any idea how scary that is? She was going crazy all last week. She had to go back to Shanghai twice, and the first time, she spent seven hours going every which way, and accomplishing very little. She's joked about how she's seen so much of Shanghai, like police stations, and the Australian, U.S., and British embassies, where apparently no one speaks English. However, she has yet to see the Bund. When she was telling everyone about this, I said I think Shanghai is bad luck. It seems like every time someone goes there, something goes wrong. (Or, maybe it's just me.)

I've been really impressed by how well she's handled it, though. I love how she comes home from a really awful day and smiles and says, "Hello! Are you all right?" And she always manages to have a smile on her face. I don't know how she does it. She was really looking forward to flying to Australia, but her plans have all changed, and she has to go back to England instead. She keeps saying, "There must be a reason." On Saturday, she and I had a conversation about why bad things happen to good people, and about how trials can make us bitter or stronger, depending how we take them.

On Friday night, a few of the other girls came over and we watched Kung Fu Panda. It was my third time watching in since coming to China, but Georgia had never seen it. And, Caitlin kept humming along with the soundtrack. But, it was a good pick-me-up.

Saturday was a really nice day. It was just what we needed after that stressful week. We didn't get to sleep in, which I was only a little miffed about. Irene from the company had a party for us in her office at 9 a.m. It was really nice! This week is Dragon Boat Festival, which is when people watch dragon boat races and eat zongzi, or pyramid-shaped rice dumplings with either pork or red beans in the middle, wrapped in leaves. At the party, we learned how to make dumplings, both baozi and zongzi. (Baoziare more like pot stickers.) When Chinese people make dumplings, they look nice and pretty. When foreigners attempt to make dumplings, they look like a misshapen mess. Except for Georgina's, but she's an overachiever or something, I don't know. But, at least they tasted good. When I come home, I can probably make you zongzi, as long as you don't care how pretty it is. We also got to meet Irene's mother and daughter. Zan Zan is such a cute little girl!

Amelia and I were planning to go to Pingjian Road in the ancient part of Suzhou for a nice, relaxing time together. But, after making (and consuming) countless dumplings and then walking home, we were exhausted. So, we had a two-hour nap, andthen we went to Pingjian Road! We met some college students who were stopping all the tourists and having them write their names and what country they were from and taking their pictures for some school project. We ate at a ridiculously cheap, and amazingly delicious restaurant (you don't find many cheap things on Pingjian), and then walked back the other way, where we met some more college students who wanted us to do the same thing again for the same school project. On the subway home, Amelia got a message from Julie, who had just gotten to Pingjian after we left, saying, "Did you meet some girls who made you write your name took your picture?" Then, we got home, she worked on booking another flight (which hopefully worked), and we had another movie night with just the two of us.

Sunday was cool, because after Caitlin had been saying for so long that she wanted to go to church with me and always having things come up, she finally made it! She had a good time, and she didn't seem weirded out or anything, so that's good. She even said she wanted to come back. She got to hear testimony meeting, which was such a new concept to her. There was no gospel doctrines class, as the teacher was gone, so we went to gospel principals. I guess it was all right. She didn't seem too lost. I had to play the piano in primary, and I would've felt weird making her go to relief society alone, but she was pretty excited about sitting in on sharing time. Brooke is the music director, and she's about the same age, so they got along pretty well while I sat at the keyboard. I've never taken a friend to church before, so it was a new experience for both of us.

Today (Monday) I woke up in a weird mood. It's another week. I struggled to get up, but somehow I still made it to work on time. I'm back to stewing about what I'm going to do. The Chinese teachers were talking in Suzhounese really loudly again. I was also informed that Alisa, the lovely girl who was kind enough to lend me her phone, needs it back because her brother's broke. She felt really bad, but it's her phone after all, and I'm sure I will get by. On the way home I bought a cheap little alarm clock, so part of the problem is solved. I told people on WeChat, and Monica from my branch says I may be able to borrow theirs if I go to the branch picnic on Saturday. I love my branch! The members are all like a family. And, a lot of them have lived in China for years and years, and they know how things work a lot better than naive little me. When they say you get blessings for going to church, they aren't kidding. Especially when you live in a crazy place like China.

Well, this promises to be a very interesting week. As I mentioned, Dragon Boat Festival is this week, so I get Thursday, Friday, and Saturday off, and I'll teach Friday's lessons at school on Sunday. It will be so weird. But, I'm excited to see the dragon boat races, and sleep in two days in a row! I'm still figuring things out, but I know whatever I choose to do, it will be okay, because if we really try, the Lord won't let us fail. (That's what Jonah learned deep down inside the whale. I betcha I know what song is in your head now.) Anyway, good luck to you in everything. (Wow, Ally is moving out! That's so scary! But, exciting.) I love you all.

Love,

Chelsey

Check out this straw! This is what we need.
This is Eve Curtis from my branch. The one in blue is her sister, Lily. I went to their house. And we watched Veggie Tales!
I took a walk today in another part of town, just to get out. Here are some things I walked by.

May 29, 2016

Dear Mom and everyone else, Da jia hao! I hope everything is well at home. It seems you've had quite an exciting weekend, what with a graduation, and a temple trip! My week was pretty good, I think. My school has two sister schools, one in Shanghai, and one in Singapore. A group on Grade 5 students came from Singapore to visit for the week. I barely saw them, and the only reason their presence affected me at all, was because they stayed in the meeting room, which meant that, if the weather was bad and we couldn't do English corner outside, we couldn't use that room so we were outta luck. It wasn't a terribly exciting week, except for Thursday. The school was taking the students from Singapore on an outing to Qionglongshan. ("Chong long shan." Shan means mountain, and, if you hadn't noticed, I go to a lot of places with that in the name.) Miss Huang arranged for me to go with them. We didn't leave till the afternoon, which meant that I was going to be able to see the dance competition at noon, which I was pretty excited to see, so Miss Huang arranged for English corner to be cancelled. Except that the kids didn't get the memo. I was getting ready to go upstairs to the room where the dancing was, when the fourth graders came in the office and said, "It's time for English corner." Oops. There were a lot of them, and they were all so anxious to have English corner, so what was I supposed to do. I tried saying, "No English corner today," but they didn't understand. It was rainy outside, and we couldn't use the meeting room, so we had English corner in the rain. And, actually, we had a really nice time together. I love having English corner on Thursdays, because I have Grade 4 that day, and I have lots of regulars from that grade. Some are really hyper, like Mike and Salad, but they're so cute! Nancy and Mary like to ask me questions about myself, and one time, they even persuaded me to sing them a song. Although I was sad to miss the dance competition, no one there would have really cared if I was there or not. But, the kids who I spent time with that day will probably always remember that. I think I was right where I needed to be. That afternoon at one, we left on the outing. Alisa and I rode the bus with some of the Grade 5 students who had been chosen from our school to go with the students from Singapore. I never did get to officially meet any of the Singapore students, but after we arrived at Qionglongshan, I got to chat with a couple of teachers and the principal. I'd been wondering all week what you call someone from Singapore. Are they Singapore-nese, or what? But the teacher I was talking to told me a lot about Singaporeans, so I got that question answered without even having to ask. Apparently, in Singapore they know English a lot more than in China. And, 74% of the population is of Chinese descent. The principal was a lovely lady who looked Middle Eastern or something. The park itself was beautiful. Personally, I would have loved to stay longer and see more, but I was lucky to be able to go at all, so whatever. It was fun to learn a little about the birthplace of the famous Sun Wu, even if everything was in Chinese. A little about Sun Wu (also called Sun Zi): He was a great militarist in ancient China about 2500 years ago. He's the author of The Art of War, which I believe is the oldest book still currently being published. (I've seen it at Barnes and Noble.) I know one story about him, which I actually learned from a book in the Twin Falls library, but which I've come across a few times in Suzhou as well. The story goes that the king at the time had read his theories on war, and was very interested to see how well it worked. So, he had Sun Wu come to the palace for a demonstration. The soldiers were all busy, so Sun Wu trained the king's concubines instead, with the king's two favorite ones as the leaders. When he called a command, the ladies all giggled and didn't take it seriously. Sun Wu gave the command again, making sure they understood. They did. But, they still giggled and didn't take it seriously. So, Sun Wu had the two leaders executed. (This made the king unhappy, but when I read the story, it seemed like he got over it fairly quickly.) After that, the ladies took it very seriously, and Sun Wu trained them into quite an efficient army. Interesting guy. My school loves him. There are pictures of him everywhere. His military theories have been used for centuries in China, and all over the world. My weekend wasn't too terribly exciting. On Friday night I read my book. It's a Chinese book, and it has lots of pictures, and it's written in both characters and Pinyin, and I looked up the basic plot on the Internet, so with the little Chinese I already know, I can almost understand it. Why am I reading it? I don't know. I'm just crazy I guess. But, I like it for some reason, so I don't care. (The lady at the store made fun of me when I bought it.) I also had a movie night, which was awesome. I find my week generally goes better when I have a Friday night movie. On Saturday, after I Skyped home, I went on the subway and took a walk in another part of town to see what I could see. I found a pagoda, but it closed at four, so the lady showed me how to get to the Silk Trade Show instead. It's not as exciting as it sounds. It's basically just a store where they sell expensive clothes made of silk. So, I continued walking. Amelia was in Shanghai all day. She was supposed to be back by lunchtime, and then we were going to go to church together the next day because of the dinner afterward, but she lost her passport, so today she had to take care of things at the police station. (Not good!) She's actually been in Suzhou since last night, but I have yet to see her, because she's been out. So, today, I went to church by myself. I've been thinking a lot, ever since a couple days ago when I got the news that we can have the option to stay in China, after all. I was feeling a bit down, having missed Ally's graduation, and wondering what will happen in the future. I think there is still more I need to do in China, but I do wonder about home a lot. As I was sitting on the subway on the way to church, a series of inspiring movie quotes popped in my head. The last one was Master Oogway's voice from Kung Fu Panda, saying that same quote that hung on Grandma's wall for years and years: "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That is why it is called the present." Yes, the Spirit does use Kung Fu Panda to teach. I needed a reminder to focus on the here and now, and do what I can with the time that's been given me, and to not worry about things beyond my control. Then, the talks in Sacrament meeting were about listening to the Spirit, so it was kind of perfect. It's a tradition in the Suzhou Branch to have a Linger Longer Potluck dinner on the fifth Sunday, which meant I didn't have to go back to my lonely apartment right away. As I was lingering longer and longer, so were a handful of others, including the Curtis family. I was telling them about how I love having the excuse to linger, because I don't like being alone, and then they invited me to their house. I got to play with cute kids. We also watched VeggieTales, which was amazing. I've been feeling like I needed more VeggieTales in my life. I played princesses with Eve, Lily, and Isaac (the baby) while Sam and Amy cooked burritos and Jane had a nap. It was a perfect Sunday afternoon, and in the evening, Brother Swope came over and it was even better. They sure idolize him. He and I stayed until the kids' bedtime, and I got home feeling happy and peaceful. Also, as I got home, I checked the mail and my birthday card finally came!! You should have seen the vigorous happy dance that I did. (Actually, maybe it's good you didn't.) I was worried it wouldn't come. That brings me to right now. This email has taken ridiculously long to write. I hope you're doing all right. I'm proud of Ally for graduating, and I'm excited for Cami to have her endowments. That's so exciting! Good luck to you both! I love you all. Please remember to pray for me, and I will pray for you. I love you. Love, Chelsey<3 hpaich on

May 23, 2016

kelly wadsworth Message body Sorry I can't send you more pictures of me. I can only do so many selfies. (I'm not really a "selfie" person.) Luckily, I　ｍａｄｅ　ａ　ｆｒｉｅｎｄ　ｔｈａｔ　ｄａｙ，　ａｎｄ　ｗｅ　ｔｏｏｋ　ｐｉｃｔｕｒｅｓ　ｏｆ　ｅａｃｈ　ｏｔｈｅｒ． Ｉｔ　ｓｏｕｎｄｓ　ｌｉｋｅ　ｙｏｕ＇ｖｅ　ｈａｄ　ｑｕｉｔｅ　ｔｈｅ　ｗｅｅｋ．　Ｔｅｌｌ　ｔｈｅ　ｂｏｙｓ　ｇｏｏｄ　ｊｏｂ　ｆｏｒ　ｍｅ．　Ａｌｌｙ　ａｃｔｕａｌｌｙ　ｔａｌｋｓ　ｔｏ　ｍｅ，　ｓｏ　Ｉ　ｃａｎ　ｔｅｌｌ　ｈｅｒ　ｇｏｏｄ　ｊｏｂ　ｍｙｓｅｌｆ． Ｉ　ｌｏｖｅ　ｔｈｅ　ｐｉｃｔｕｒｅｓ．　Ｔｈａｔ＇ｓ　ａ　ｌｏｖｅｌｙ　ｆｌｏｗｅｒ　ｔｈａｔ　Ｋｅｌｄｙｎ　ｆｏｕｎｄ．　Ｔｅｌｌ　Ｎａｔｔｙ　ｓｈｅ＇ｓ　ｎｏｔ　ｓｕｐｐｏｓｅｄ　ｔｏ　ｂｅ　ａ　ｍｉｄｄｌｅ　ｓｃｈｏｏｌｅｒ　ａｌｒｅａｄｙ！　Ｓｈｅ＇ｓ　ｎｏｔ　ａｌｌｏｗｅｄ！ Ａｓ　ｆａｒ　ａｓ　ｗｈｅｔｈｅｒ　ｏｒ　ｎｏｔ　Ｉ＇ｍ　ｓｔａｙｉｎｇ　ｌｏｎｇｅｒ，　Ｉｒｅｎｅ　ｆｒｏｍ　ｔｈｅ　ｃｏｍｐａｎｙ　ｉｓ　ｓｔｉｌｌ　ｔｒｙｉｎｇ，　ｂｕｔ　ｉｔ　ｄｏｅｓｎ＇ｔ　ｌｏｏｋ　ｇｏｏｄ．　Ｗｈｉｃｈ　ｉｓ　ｆｉｎｅ，　Ｉ　ｇｕｅｓｓ．　Ｉ＇ｄ　ｌｏｖｅ　ｔｏ　ｓｔａｙ　ａｎｄ　ｓｅｅ　ｍｏｒｅ，　ｂｕｔ　Ｉ＇ｍ　ａｌｓｏ　ｅｘｃｉｔｅｄ　ｔｏ　ｓｅｅ　ｅｖｅｒｙｏｎｅ　ａｇａｉｎ．　Ｉｆ　Ｉ　ｃｏｍｅ　ｈｏｍｅ，　ｃａｎ　ｗｅ　ｇｏ　ｃａｍｐｉｎｇ　ｔｏｇｅｔｈｅｒ？ Ｏｎ　Ｆｒｉｄａｙ，　Ｉ　ｗｏｒｋｅｄ　ｈａｒｄ　ａｎｄ　ｃａｍｅ　ｕｐ　ｗｉｔｈ　ａ　ｌｏｖｅｌｙ　ｌｅｓｓｏｎ　ｐｌａｎ　ｆｏｒ　Ｔｕｅｓｄａｙ．　Ｔｈｅｎ，　ｔｏｄａｙ　（Ｍｏｎｄａｙ），　Ｉ　ｆｏｕｎｄ　ｏｕｔ　ｔｈａｔ　ｔｈａｔ　ｐａｒｔｉｃｕｌａｒ　ｌｅｓｓｏｎ　ｐｌａｎ　ｗｉｌｌ　ｂｅ　ｂｅｔｔｅｒ　ｎｅｘｔ　ｗｅｅｋ．　Ｇｒｒ！　Ｗｈａｔ　ａｍ　Ｉ　ｇｏｎｎａ　ｄｏ？　Ｉｔ＇ｓ　ａ　ｆａｒｍ　ｌｅｓｓｏｎ，　ａｎｄ　Ｉ＇ｖｅ　ａｌｒｅａｄｙ　ｄｏｎｅ　ａｎｉｍａｌｓ　ｔｏ　ｄｅａｔｈ． Ｉ＇ｌｌ　ｔａｌｋ　ｔｏ　ｙｏｕ　ｌａｔｅｒ，　ａｎｄ　ｔｅｌｌ　ｙｏｕ　ａｂｏｕｔ　ｍｙ　ｗｅｅｋｅｎｄ　ａｄｖｅｎｔｕｒｅ． Ｌｏｖｅ， Ｍｅ On Monday, May 23, 2016 1:43 PM, kelly wadsworth wrote: Dear Rachel, Chelsey, and Cami, Oh, boy, what a week. It started out slow, but man, it gained some momentum. Monday was just a normal day. Regular set of kids, no unexpected or unusual events. Tuesday. Last minute calls for a couple of kids, but not too bad. Taryn and Ashton in the afternoon. Then run home and get ready for Awards night at school. Ally made the 3.5 honor roll, and got a $1000 scholarship for writing. Mrs. McHenry and Dylan sponsored it. It was so neat for her. She didn't make the top 10, but if effort counted, she would be in the top top of her class. She worked harder than just about anyone I know. Wednesday, the train wreck started. I ended up with 9 kids by the end of the day. Reiko, Ryder, Canon, (all in diapers and car seats), then add Traci Poulsens 2 girls (both in car seat/booster), plus Paislee and Keldyn. That was 5 carseats crammed in the van, and the door not working when we were loading and buckling them in. I was able to get it fixed when I got home, but it was sooooo frustrating. Then I got a call from Taryn and Ashton's mom. Yep. 9. they were only for an hour or so, and mostly after all the others were dropped off. Then there was YW/YM that night. I did get to enjoy some quiet while I waited for that to be over. Thursday we did that whole thing over again. By about 11, I told the kids they were staying in the house because I was tired of all the fighting and not being able to see the ones outside while I was inside with the others. But, I can look back now and laugh. Hopefully, I will be able to say no next time. It used to be soo easy. I guess I am getting old. Benson left for state Thursday morning. So it was just Ally, Jacques and Natty and me. (excuse my poor punctuation) We are really a very quiet, boring sort of people. But that is just what I needed. Benson ended up placing 2nd in the 4x100, but not placing in the long jump. Tyler did really well, placing in most of his events, even with an injury. He lunged across the finish line in the 110 hurdles, and crashed. Ended up in the ER. He didn't break his collar bone, (I think that was what it was), so was able to run the next day, and even placed in one of those races. The girls 4x800 placed 4th and broke the school record. They all did a good job. Brandon Zile was there too. His team took 2nd overall. Baseball ended up taking state. But softball lost their last 2 games, so didn't. Seminary graduation was tonight. It was good. Asia spoke. The cake was good. Then we had to wait for Benson to have his board of review for his Eagle project idea. It looks like his project will be approved, so he should be good to go. Jacques is just about ready for his, too. Ally is done with school. She gets to stay home and sleep in this week. Natty is going on her golden wildcat trip tomorrow. They are going roller skating in Veyo. I can't believe that the school year is over. It seems like it just started. Natty will be in Middle school. Wow. And Keldyn will start kindergarten. All my babies keep growing up. Some of them I don't mind, but others I wish could stay little and fun. Ally is waiting to use the computer. That is one drawback of graduating. She has to give back the netbook. I love you all. Can't wait for you to be home Cam. Thanks for all the pictures, Chelsey. I love when you send the ones with you in them. Rachel, you haven't sent pics in a while. It's a good thing Sister Woolsey's mom put a couple of you on facebook. Work hard. Love you Mom hpaich on

May 15, 2016

Weirdest Saturday Adventure Ever People Chelsey Wadsworth May 15 at 7:34 AM To mkwads@yahoo.com Message body Dear Mom and everyone else, Da jia hao, again! I hope everything is all right at home. Mom, I'm sure you're probably what was up with the pictures I sent you, so I thought I'd better send and email tonight instead of waiting till later. But first, I should tell you about my week. It had a bunch of ups and downs. I've been asked if it's lonely being the only foreigner where everyone is speaking in Chinese. I thought I didn't mind it so much, but now it's getting to me more and more. The teachers in my office all jabber in Suzhounese, and if I'm lucky, Miss Huang might tell me what the heck is going on, but not so much lately. At lunch I'm especially lonely, because I have no one to sit by, and even the ones who know me prefer to sit with other Chinese-speaking people. And, who can blame them? Basically, it feels just like high school. But, although I feel lonely around the adults, I get on just fine with the kids. I love English corner, when I can sit and chat with them. Even if we don't understand everything each other says, we still can have a good time. (Usually.) If I'm feeling down on myself, I only have to walk through the hall during break time, and I'm greeted by choruses of "Miss Wa! Hello, Miss Wa!" Another frustration I've been having, is the teachers keep cancelling my lessons on me. It would be one thing if they'd actually tell me in advance, but I always have to go to the classroom and find out what's going on. Sometimes the teachers just forget, but sometimes they tell me they need to teach, or whatever. It's been happening more and more lately. This past week, it's been every day. Then, I just have to "have a good rest," and then I get really bored. I'd rather be with the kids. During the week, Julie had been trying to plan a weekend adventure, and everyone was invited, but only three of us actually went. She spent literally hours putting together an amazing trip. It was going to be so amazing! At first the plan was to go to Luzhi, a water town just south of Suzhou, but she found out about a town a couple hours away called Wu Zhen, in the province just south of Jiangsu where we live. We were going to see live performances, like martial arts, a shadow puppet show, and an opera. We were going to have an amazing day, and it was going to be an adventure! Well, in the end, we did have an adventure. . . Julie and Chloe's Chinese neighbors got involved and kind of took over. They insisted on driving us, which was lovely because we didn't have to buy train tickets. They also really wanted to go to Xitang, another town, which was fine. They also wouldn't let us help pay for anything, so the whole day was free. Which was very, very nice of them. So, we can't even be mad at them. But, all the things we were so excited about, we never got to see. We got to have a rickshaw ride, and we got to see lovely old places, so it was fun. When we asked about the shows, the one who actually speaks English said, "What kind of shoes do you want?" We asked about the martial arts and shadow puppets, and he said, "Ooh. There's no time. We have to see Xitang. And, we have to buy tickets to get in." Okay. Whatever. You're the ones paying for stuff and driving us around. When we got to Xitang, they went to drive through the gates of the ancient town, but the guards stopped them. Apparently, we needed tickets, unless we waited till evening, when it would be all pretty and lit up. They said we'd go back at seven. So, they drove around town trying to find somewhere to kill time for five hours. What they came up with was a place to sit around and play pool. We chitchatted a lot, and I also got a nap. They have some very interesting ideas about what it's like in America. (Julie and I are the two Americans. Chloe is British.) After a few hours of being in the same place, we went to a restaurant for dinner, and spent a good couple hours there, because now we had to wait till seven-thirty. We finally left on foot from the restaurant to the ancient town, where the entrance was lit up by flashy, modern lights. We had to wait until eight- no, wait, eight-thirty- to cross the bridge to where we were going. I think we would have literally spent a half hour standing there, had I not looked at a store that looked interesting, said, "I want to go there," and started walking. (I felt so assertive!) Finally, eight-thirty rolled around, and we crossed the bridge, along with mobs of Chinese tourists. The first part we walked through was flashy and filled with loud, banging music on all sides. The kind that makes your whole body vibrate. Julie thought it was cool, but Chloe and I didn't like it one bit. We walked past that bit, and there were lots of cute side streets lit with lanterns and pretty lights. There were also lots of bars with live music, which was (mostly) pretty good. There were lots of people selling paper flowers with tea lights in the middle, which you're supposed to light and make a wish, then float the flower on the river. We were enjoying the scenery, but we were tired and ready to call it a day, but the two Chinese guys were having fun. We did make it home around eleven-thirty. (Then, I took a nap after church today.) All of Julie's hard work that she put into planning went out the window. It was a weird day. But, I can't help but feel glad that I went. It was so nice to get out of Suzhou, and drive through some countryside, and see more of China. My Sunday has mostly been just a normal, run-of-the-mill sort of Sunday. I was supposed to lead the music in Sacrament meeting, and I made extra sure to be a few minutes early, but they'd already gotten someone else. (Well, fine then. First cancelled classes, now this.) I was in nursery again, playing babies with Jane again. There are two dolls she's named Elsa and Anna, and Elsa is always is the mommy and Anna is always the baby. And, thanks to me, they also have a daddy, who happens to be Buzz Lightyear. And, I made friends with Isaac, Jane's adopted Chinese brother who can barely walk. I always linger after church, because I don't want to go back to my lonely apartment all by myself. But, today, I was able to have someone to talk to for most of the journey home. Ashley Burton and I met up with Jerwin and Monica and we all went together. (Jerwin is Chinese and married to Monica, who is Mexican. They're an adorable couple.) We found out Jerwin has an obsession with llamas. After that, it's been just a boring Sunday afternoon. Tomorrow starts another week. I wonder how this one will go? Good luck with your week back home. Ally, I can't believe you only have a few days left of being a high schooler! Quit getting old! I love you all. Let us all press on in the work of the Lord, whatever that may be for each of us. Love, Chelsey<3 hpaich on

May 10, 2016

Dear Mom and everyone else, Nimen hao! Here is the long-awaited email. Well, I don't know if you were waiting for it, but I was anxious to write it, and I haven't been able to. Last week was a four-day school week, which is really the only consolation for going back after a three-day weekend. But, it wasn't too hard of a week. Or, if it was, I'm used to it by now, so it doesn't bother me. Amelia spends very little time in the apartment, so I spend a lot of time alone in the evenings. To keep from going crazy, last week I went for a walk every night. I got to bed later as a result, so now I'm tired all the time, but I had fun exploring. One night, I came upon a dance performance on a street next to my school. And, of course, they were all impressed by the white girl in the crowd. But, tonight I've decided to stay home and relax and get things done. The weather is still crazy. Mom, don't ever come to Suzhou at this time of year. You will die. Last week was so muggy! I couldn't help but imagine you here, complaining. The one night last week that Amelia was actually home for a little while before leaving again, we were talking about how our mothers are both the same when it comes to heat. She jokingly said, "My mum and your mum can go on holiday together. To Antarctica. We'll go to Spain." But then, it rains a lot, too, and cools down a lot. Yesterday I wore a sweater and a jacket. It makes me so happy to feel the rain on my face, and I try to imagine the smell of wet sage brush, and Ally and me going outside and dancing in it. It really wasn't too exciting of a week, but the weekend was interesting. It was another rainy Saturday. (Big surprise.) Also the air pollution was supposedly really high. But, I can't sit inside all day. I just can't. Conference weekend was a killer, and I can't do that again. I have to get out and go somewhere. I've been wanting to find Stone Lake, which is only about a half hour's walk from my house, so I went there. There were hardly any people there, except for a group that stopped to get their pictures with me. Other than that, it was quiet and peaceful, and the sight of the willows by the side of the lake in the rain made it feel a bit like a fairy tale setting. There is some nice, old building with a nice courtyard that probably has some kind of historical significance, and I found the entrance seven minutes before the guards closed it, but I walked through it a little. It felt like something from a ghost story on that particular day, but I'm sure it's really nice on a bright, sunny day when there are other people there. Across the lake, there's the entrance to Shangfangshan Park, which has a giant golden Buddha and a pagoda. I didn't go in there. It costs forty kuai, and it will have to wait until after payday, but I know where it is, now. After finding that, I was trying to find how to get back into the park by the lake, so I turned down a little side road and ended up in what seemed like a secluded little farming village from another time. It was nice to look at, but the few people who I saw there didn't seem very welcoming. They stopped what they were doing to stare at me as I passed, as if to say, "What the heck is she doing here?" I was thinking, "Don't mind me. I ended up here by accident. I'm literally just passing through to find how to get the heck out of here. Don't hurt me." (They wouldn't have hurt me, I'm sure, but it was still awkward.) Then, I eventually found the way back to the park and meandered on my way home. I'll admit, it was nice to have that humbling experience after all those people who act like I'm a celebrity. Also, I learned just how close to the edge of town I really am. Sunday was beautiful. Not only was it another spiritual feast in church, but after church, the Swopes invited me, along with three others, to eat dinner at their house. We had hamburgers and hot dogs. Brother Swope was trying to get his new grill to work, but in the end, they just gave up and cooked in the kitchen, because the Chinese charcoal was too slow. When the fire was just right, we roasted marshmallows on the balcony and made s'mores. It wasn't the same, especially since there were no real Graham crackers, but it was fun. We sat and talked about lots of different things, and Heather Swope and Joan gave me the visiting teaching message. For the first time since I've been here, it felt like a real Sunday. I mean, I've kept the Sabbath day holy, but it's not the same when you have to spend Sunday afternoons by yourself, and dinner is leftovers. I've been so blessed in America to be able to be surrounded by friends and family where we could enjoy the Sabbath together, and I was finally able to feel like that again. I feel so much more strengthened for the week now. This week is already almost half over. Time flies so quickly! Then, I'll blink again, and it will be Friday, and time for another weekend. This week hasn't been very exciting so far. I've started another two-week cycle, so I'm getting through more writer's block and lesson planning, and whatnot. But, so far, so good. Monday night was our weekly Chinese lesson. Mr. Wang always teaches us a Chinese song when we start to get tired. So far, the only one I'm actually able to sing is "Tian Mimi," but it's always fun. At least, I have fun. I guess that's it. Today I saw the most gorgeous butterfly. Seriously, I have never seen a butterfly like that one. I needed to take a walk in the garden outside, because being in the office all day makes me so sleepy, and I saw it flying around. He wasn't camera shy at all! And on the way home, I bought a snack that tasted really nice, although I suspect it may have been dog meat. (I really hope not. Scoop would never forgive me!) Other than that, nothing exciting really happened today, and that's not always a bad thing. I hope your Mothers' Day was nice. I though of you, and drew a moose and ElastiGirl on my Sacrament program in honor of you. I'm glad you got to talk to Rachel. Mom, thanks for the WeChat message. It made my day. I love you, and more importantly, God loves you. He knows you and your frustrations and your joys, and He is always mindful of you. Don't be afraid to accept help when you need it. We're all mortal, and we all depend on each other. (Sorry to go all sappy on you there, but it's true.) I had better go now, and get things done, so I can get to bed early for once. Love, Chelsey<3 hpaich on

May 2, 2016

Dear Mom, and all who are reading this, Da jia hao! I survived another week. This one actually felt pretty easy. Since we had the field trip on Monday, it was really more like a four-day week. And, we all had a three-day weekend to look forward to. The kids in fourth and fifth grades love "Little Red Riding Hood". In Chinese, it's called "Xiao Hong Ma," or something, in case you ever wondered. In second and third grades I used pictures of one of their favorite things, Kung Fu Panda, to teach them action words. In first grade, I'm teaching them "inside" and "outside", but on Friday, we had extra time at the end of the lessons, so I taught them "Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree." It was great! They always get so excited when the crocodile snaps a monkey out of the tree. In one class we even had time to role-play it, and I learned which kids would sacrifice their friends to the hungry crocodile to stay alive longer. Hilarious! Then, at the end of the day I went home, and Amelia, Ellie, Lola, and I hung out together at our apartment and watched Lilo and Stitch. The next day we went to Mudu, the section of town where Rosie and Ali live, because Ali's birthday was on Thursday, and we had his birthday party. The plan was to hike to a pagoda in the Ancient Town, but we got a late start, so we couldn't. We did walk around a bit and look around, though. It's so nice! I finally found myself a Chinese bamboo flute, which I've been looking for since I got to China. There was a man selling them, and I almost bought one from him, because I thought he was saying "fourteen," bu he was actually saying "forty." ("Si shi," or "forty," and "shi si," or "fourteen," sound almost the same, and even Chinese people have trouble with that.) But there was a store that sold them for a lot cheaper. There were a lot of pretty things to see there, and it felt less tourist-y than Pingjian Road, where all the prices are insanely high. We walked through Little Hong Kong, which is really not all that exciting, and then went back to Ali's apartment, where he fed us pasta. They wanted to go to a KTV, but it was too late to do that and still catch the subway home. Sunday was testimony meeting. A lot of people were traveling for the holiday, and most of the Curtis family was sick with chicken pox, so we had a very small, intimate group. There were some awesome testimonies. We learned that the government may be making changes soon, so after this year, we may be able to share the gospel with our Chinese friends. That will be so wonderful! But, there will be some kind of catch, by the sound of it. I didn't understand completely, but it's very interesting news. I bore my testimony, and I talked about the same thing that we learned in Sunday school, which was about King Benjamin, so they kept referring to my testimony, which was interesting. Primary was also interesting. There was only one white kid, and Eve is pretty fluent in Chinese, so most of primary wasn't in English. It was fun, though. After church, the rest of the day was pretty boring. I went for a little walk in our park, just for the sake of getting out of the house. (Amelia was out, and it was lonely and boring.) There was a firework show in the distance, and I had a pretty good view of it. I could also see a few stars in the sky, which is a big deal here. I wanted to do something for the holiday today, so I sent a WeChat message to my Chinese friend, Owen, asking for a suggestion. He teaches English in Grade 6, and we're about the same age. He suggested we go to the Suzhou Museum together, and he would be my "guider," so we made plans to meet at Panli Lu Subway Station. He was waiting outside exit 4, and I actually went inside and bought a ticket, so we couldn't find each other for a long time. (I seriously need to top up my phone.) But, in the end, we had a really nice time. He showed me Shantong Street, which is another old-time China place. We went to the Suzhou Museum, but the line was monstrously huge, and we didn't want to wait two hours to go inside, so instead we went to the Lion Forest Garden and went for a boat ride. Lion Forest Garden was really fun. It's got a labyrinth of stones from Tai Hu, so it feels a bit like Indiana Jones. It was built by some monk several hundred years ago. We had to walk with a group to get on a bus to ride to the place with the boat rides. The tour guide on our boat talked in Chinese, so I have no idea what he said, except for when Owen translated the jokes. But, Owen said he learned a lot of things about Suzhou that he never knew, so I guess I was missing out. I think we were meant to go to another garden, but Owen had things to do, and we didn't have time, so we went back home. I'm now relaxing at home after the big adventure today. (I have many souvenirs, and a lot of them are for you at home.) I was very glad to get your email. It's so weird to think that at home it's snowing still, when it's getting so hot here. Although it does rain a lot, so I can relate with you on that. It sounds like Dad had a nice birthday party, or as nice as can be expected, anyway. I guess Keldyn would be old enough for tee ball now, wouldn't he? Time flies by so quickly! Thank you for praying for me. Please don't stop. I love you. Love, Chelsey<3 hpaich on

April 26, 2016

Dear Mom and everyone, Nimen hao! Hello! I'm very sorry I wasn't able to write you last week. Believe me, I wanted to, but my Internet was being weird again. It does this thing where I can view emails, except not pictures, but I can't write any. And then, some days it seems to work perfectly fine as if there was never any problem. Oh, China. I finally saw your pictures from last week during my free time at school today. Benson looks very cool in his sunglasses, and Wheeler Peak looks lovely with all the snow. I also read your email from last week, and then I got a little teary-eyed. What's wrong with me? I miss you so much! The boring Saturdays seem so unbearable at home at times, but then I go away, and that's exactly the sort of thing I miss. That's not to say I'm not having a good time here, of course. Things are just as good as ever. Cute kids that swarm around me and jump up and down excitedly until one falls and bonks her head on the floor (true story). People who stare at me as if confused why the heck I'm not Asian. Old people who sell vegetables wearing cool hats. Oh, yeah, and the cute toy store across the street from my school where I like to go browse, and then the cute little girl whose family works there gives me free ice cream. It's pretty much awesome here. I can't think of anything particularly interesting to tell you about from last week, except fourth and fifth grades during English corner. There was much talk of tae kwon do and Chinese gongfu (known in English as "kung fu"). In fourth grade, the boys love tae kwon do and gongfu, especially Mike, an adorable and very energetic boy who's built about like Po from Kung Fu Panda. (He's a lot more hyper, though.) But the fourth grade girls aren't too interested. The fifth graders were even more interesting. On Friday they were so full of sass. The boys kept laughing and throwing playful insults at each other. There was also a girl who was just like a little gangster. She knew tae kwon do and gongfu, and she would threaten (jokingly) to go after the boys. ("She can Chinese gongfu!") It was all in good fun, but I have no doubt that she could have taken them on. Meanwhile, there were two girls who were not part of any of this, and just sat and behaved, and were probably as lost as I was. I wasn't sure if I should be concerned or not, but if you were there at the time, it was just a little bit funny. At least they were speaking English. On Friday night, Amelia and I went to try a Korean restaurant that I pass on the way to school, and then we carried out our plan of watching Kung Fu Panda 2. Amelia had never seen it, so that made it even more fun. The next day we had planned to go to Stone Lake, as I had been there before and wanted to go again, but it was raining quite hard, and Amelia wasn't up for it. (I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that likes rain. I need Ally, so I have someone to frolic with.) But, she had to go to her school and get some things from her office, and I wanted to go shopping, so we went out together, and had a lovely time in spite of the rain. On Sunday, I went to church again. I helped in the nursery. There are three kids, and there were three of us, so we were evenly matched. I got to play baby dolls with Jane, a tiny little blonde girl who speaks English but knows Chinese as if she was Chinese herself. In singing time/sharing time, they talked about the Resurrection. The kids said some really good comments. The teacher was telling about how Jesus' family was gathered around the cross, and the little boy who's usually hyper said, "But, we're all Jesus's family, so everyone should be at the cross." Those kids can have such a hard time sitting still, but they can also get really deep. The Swopes lent me their keyboard that they never use, so that I could be able to practice the Primary songs, and then President Okeson's driver gave me a ride home so I wouldn't have to carry it on the subway. That night, Amelia, Ellie, and Lola came and were so happy to see the keyboard. They had a little too much fun with it. I wanted to send a picture or something to Elder Swope, but he doesn't answer his WeChat, so it would have done no good. I also can now practice my songs that Miss Peng, the music teacher, let me borrow. One of them is the theme from Castle in the Sky. It's funny that you said you watched that movie, because the music from it is literally everywhere here. (They're really big on Studio Ghibli.) On Monday I went on an outing with Grade 5 to the "ninth Horticultural Exposition of Jiangsu Province" thingy. It was at a park by Tai Hu that I think I've been to parts of before. I was put with Miss Tang, who I vaguely knew as one of the English teachers whose classes I teach. By the end of the day, she and I became friends. It was raining when we got off the bus, and some people were selling rainbow-colored umbrellas that you wear on your head like a hat, and a nice little boy gave me one. It's not a fashion statement, but it was such a nice gesture, and it's also a little bit awesome. We looked at some flowers, and then we went into the Museum of Intangible Culture, or whatever it was called. It was a really cool museum, full of things that showed what life was like in the old days. Miss Tang and I took our time looking at everything, and we got separated from the rest of the group. It was so worth it, though! Museums are fun! Then we had to find where everyone had gone for lunch. After we'd eaten (after everyone else had already finished, of course), Miss Tang said we didn't need to stay with the class, since they had the guide, so we went off walking. It's such a big park, full of such nice things. We went in one of the little gardens and saw some pretty little trees. The kind that make me think, "Bonsai!" Then we went to meet with a couple other teachers at a restaurant next to the Yixi Teahouse, where we pretty much just sat and talked. Well, they talked in Chinese. We made it back to the bus with our class, and went back to school, where I got going on the lesson planning that I'd missed out on that day. That night, at our weekly Chinese lesson, I got to show off my snazzy rainbow umbrella hat to the other interns. That brings me to today. The fourth graders liked the book I'd made of "Little Red Riding Hood", which is good, because it took a lot of time to make it. The teachers who saw it also appreciated it. Miss Huang confirmed that next week is a three-day weekend, because of Labor Day, which is the first of May. The others are deliberating going to Shanghai or Wuxi or wherever, but I don't know that I'll go traveling. I think I'll have an adventure here in Suzhou. I'd like to track down some more Buddhist temples or something fun like that. Well, that's about it. If you have any specific questions, I would love to answer them, but that's all I have to say for now. Sorry for another long email that will probably take forever to read. I hope all is well with you. From your email, it sounds like you're doing fine. I miss you more than words can say, but I'm doing well and loving China. I love you all! Wo ai nimen! Love, Chelsey<3

April 17, 2016

To Kelly Wadsworth Message body I made it through another week. I struggled with more lesson planning, survived more encounters with the adorable little terrors, and all that good stuff I think that, as the weather gets hotter, the kids get more and more hyper. I often walk out of the classroom feeling exhausted. It makes me appreciated the classes where the kids actually listen more and more. The nice thing about this next week is that now I have all my lessons planned already, so I can start preparing for the week after. I sure love those kids! I hope I can teach them well enough. English corner can be rough with the younger kids, but on Friday, I had a lovely time chatting with the fifth graders. We talked about fairy tales, which they seem to love. We mostly talked about the English ones, like "Cinderella" and "Snow White", but they told me about a couple of Chinese ones. There's one called "Monkey King and Nezza" that they know. They don't know enough English to tell it to me, but I got some bits and pieces, so I will have to look that up later. On top of school, this week has been even more interesting because I've been getting ready for the variety show that my branch was holding on Saturday. I had signed up for it, thinking I could do some kind of musical number. I don't have access to a piano to practice, so I downloaded the karaoke version of a song I know well onto my phone. The song was "On My Own" from Les Miserables. I practiced that dang song so many times! I can hear what's going on outside my apartment so well, I know there's no logical way that no one could hear me, and I felt so awkward, but I did my best to ignore that. I also decided to send out a WeChat message to the other interns to invite them. The most I expected in reply was a couple excuses. I was pleasantly surprised when several of them replied that they not only wanted to go, but that they were excited! Then, I redoubled my efforts to make sure I could sing the song well. Saturday came around. It was another rainy weekend, but, once again, I didn't mind. I listened to an awesome thunder storm that morning. I didn't have to leave for the church until after 3, so I had a little adventure. I walked to the mall to see if I could find any good deals. I didn't, but I had fun window shopping. Then, I walked to the Eiffel Tower and found that park that I saw last week. Then, I found a shortcut back home through a small network of alleyways that made me feel like I was in old China in the middle of the modern city. I bought dumpling from a woman's stall, and it was delicious. When I got back, I rested, ate, and got ready to go. Amelia, Caitlyn, and Georgia were also getting ready to go. Unfortunately, I had to leave early so the primary could practice a musical number, but I had given them some detailed directions, and I also told them I'd meet them at the subway. It was a good thing I did, because even with my directions, they said they couldn't have found it. Poor Lola had to teach on Saturday afternoon, so she was over an hour late, but she wanted to at least make it to part of it. She couldn't find it. (English people can't understand "crosswalk." It's called a "zebra crossing.") We all felt so bad. Those that did make it had a lovely time. It was fun for my friends and my fellow branch members to meet each other. There was a delicious potluck dinner before the show, with lots of food! It seemed my efforts of making a dish and carrying it on the subway so there would be enough were for nothing. We all stuffed ourselves full. My friends were very interested in my church, and how everyone was so nice, and they were even curious about the hymnbook. They loved seeing the Hiatt home, which is big and gorgeous. Of course, the show was great.Our branch has lots of talent. Everyone loved my song. I was so relieved that it went well. The best part was the Curtis family. They made a video of themselves dressed as Kung Fu Panda characters, and Tai Lung (who was actually the dad) kidnapped Mantis (who was actually the baby). Then, the Swopes helped out and they had a kung fu show down. It was pretty epic. Also, we got a preview of "Star Wars: A New Swope." (Sister Swope is due in October. They did a clever Star Wars thing to make the announcement.) Everyone had a great time, which made me very happy. They all want to come back. Lola wants to come, too. (We gave her some cookies. Oh, sorry- biscuits.) Amelia and I both went home and watched Kung Fu Panda together finally, after two months of saying we would. Basically, Saturday was a really good day. Then, today I went to church and got set apart for my calling as primary pianist. It was branch conference, so we had some visitors from Shanghai, so we were really full. So, that's my life. I hope everything is well with you. I know that, even though it doesn't make much sense for me to be here, I'm where I'm supposed to be. I love my fellow foreigners who I deal with, and I love the Chinese people. I also love my friends and family back home. Take care! Good luck with everything. Love, Chelsey<3 hpaich on

April 12, 2016

To Kelly Wadsworth Message body Dear Mom and everyone, Da jia hao! Hello, everyone! Sorry I didn't email last week. The plan was to do it sometime on the weekend, but I was really busy, even though nothing much happened. Last week wasn't that exciting. I guess all the excitement got used up on Monday, when it was Qingmingjie, and then there wasn't much left for the rest of the week. I feel like I'm turning into a work zombie. I sit at a desk all day and try (and fail) to get over writer's block for lesson planning. I feel like I have the personality of a block of cement when I'm sitting there. I have the creativity of one, anyway. On Friday, it was a nice day, so I went and sat outside, hoping it would be more conducive to good ideas and stuff. Thursday (the seventh) was Amelia's birthday. She turned twenty-one. Caitlyn and Georgia made her a birthday meal, so we went to their apartment. She got Oreos and toilet paper for birthday presents, which made her happy. Most of the handful of people who were there were planning on going to Shanghai for the weekend. Amelia had been planning it for her birthday weekend. She stayed over that night, so when I left was the last time I saw her until Sunday night. On Friday afternoon, right after work, I went with Alisa to go shopping. It was a typical Chinese clothing store- small and scrunched up, and the employees there were eager to sell. I pretty much just went along for the ride. A lot of people don't like window shopping, but, usually, it's the only kind I can afford to do. Alisa persuaded me to just try some things on, which was fine. But, since the store lady knew I was even remotely interested, she kept trying to sell me things, which is what they do in China. The store seemed similar to the idea of T.J. Maxx, in that it sold really nice, expensive clothes for lower prices, but I still couldn't afford them. (It's almost payday.) I had fun not being holed up in my apartment, though, and the ride on the back of Alisa's e-bike was nice. We drove past an Eiffel Tower. (Not the Eiffel Tower, obviously.) They seem quite obsessed with Paris here. There was also a nice park I might try to walk to sometime. That was the excitement of the weekend, other than watching general conference. My Friday night consisted of working on TurboTax, eating dinner, watching a movie, and going to bed. General conference was great. I wasn't sure if it would be able to play on my laptop, but I managed to watch it with only a couple minor problems. In order to get the heck out of the house, I walked around the block, just to see what was there. A young boy on his mother's e-bike recognized me and called out, "Hey! Laoshi hao!" I waved but didn't have time to say hi back. That was the closest thing I had to a spoken conversation all day. Other than that, what saved my sanity was talking to Cami and Piper through Skype messages. (Isn't technology awesome?) After conference, I worked more on taxes and went to bed. On Sunday, they showed the Sunday morning session of conference at church, and I needed human interaction, so I figured it was worth the eight kuai it takes for a round trip on the subway. It was lovely to be with other people. It felt more like watching conference should. Then, to avoid going back to my lonely apartment, I walked through the park on Jinji Lake. (Remember the story of how I got lost on Easter morning?) It's such a pretty park! Then I went home, ate dinner, took a nap, and watched the last session of conference. Amelia finally made it back. It sounded like they had a nice time, although they didn't get to see the Bund like I did. I was glad she was safe. Also, I was glad to not be alone. It's only Tuesday, but this week is stressful so far. I began another two-week cycle of lessons. Remember that writer's block I talked about before? After much sitting there staring at my lesson planner, and much prayer, I finally came up with some plans for my first few classes. After a couple days' experience, I may need to revise one or two of them. Like a lot. I had a bit of a hard day today. I had one class where the kids had way too much energy. They love having a foreign teacher, but they're too excited to learn much. They were so noisy, in fact, that I didn't even notice at first the boy who was crying because another boy hit him. And, after I talked to the hitter, they kept right on hitting each other. That bell could not go off soon enough! Then, as I hurried out of the classroom, they flashed their cute little grinning faces at me, shouted, "Good bye! See you next time!" and gave me high fives. You know on How to Train Your Dragon, how they have the adorable little mini dragons called the Terrible Terrors? That's what I thought of. Suzhou is still a beautiful place. The ancient Chinese weren't kidding when they said, "Above there is heaven. Below there are Suzhou and Hangzhou." It rains quite a bit, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only person who's so happy about it. (The others are mostly English. See Rachel's email.) But, it also gets warm and sunny. It's perfect! Right in front of my apartment are a couple of trees with fluffy pink blossoms. Lately, the petals have started raining down. Today, as I got home from a bad workday, I saw it, and watched as the pink petals floated down on the breeze and felt happy inside as I remembered that God loves us. He loves us enough to gives us beautiful blossoms and "popcorn trees." I enjoyed the last email from home. It made for a nice pick-me-up at work today. Remi looks beautiful in the dance picture. I'm glad you're surviving baby-sitting. I miss you all. In fact, I often find myself thinking that the only way Suzhou could be more beautiful, is if you were all here enjoying it with me. (Don't try to drive, though.) I love you all. Zaijian! Love, Chelsey*:x lovestruck hpaich on

April 4, 2016

Dear everyone, As I've told you, today was Qingming Festival, so we had a lovely three day weekend. Although Friday was beautiful and sunny, Saturday and Sunday were wet and rainy, though personally, I thought it was beautiful, being from Nevada. I didn't even mind shopping in the street market and carrying all my groceries home, even though I was pretty soggy by the time I made it back. Sunday was pretty uneventful. I made it to church and back with no incidents. I have a calling. I'm the pianist in primary. (Saw that one coming from a mile away.) Amelia's been out all weekend, so I've had the apartment to myself. It's a good thing I have the TV, otherwise it would get really lonely here. Even though I have no idea what they're saying, and I can't get the remote to work to flip through channels, there's a couple of shows on in the evening that I kind of like watching. Today, as we had no school, a few of us went out on an adventure. Thankfully, the weather was nice and sunny again. There were only three of us, as a lot of other interns were either traveling or had friends in town, but I thought it was nice to have a smaller group. It was Julie (the only other American) and Amy and me. For once, the Americans outnumbered the English. We went to one of the famous Suzhou Gardens. The one we visited is called Ou Yuan, or "Couple's Retreat Garden." It was originally built long ago, so that a man and a woman could live a "harmonious life in seclusion" or something. It's one of the lesser known ones, but it's SO PRETTY!! There are lots of flowers and pretty things, and there were even a couple of old women playing stringed instruments and singing. I recognized the instrument called the pipa, but I don't know what the other one was called. We took tons of pictures. We wanted to get a group picture, and we found some Chinese people who were eager to have their pictures taken with us. So, we posed for several pictures with several Chinese people, and in return, they took a picture on Amy's camera for us. It was a good choice to visit that particular place today, because, as it's lesser known, there were fewer people there, which was good for a holiday weekend, and also, after April 15th, the ticket price raises. After the garden, we did some exploring in the surrounding park. We sat and had a picnic with the snacks that the students gave me in Baimajian, then walked along the river on the "Ancient Moatring Fitness Trail." We enjoyed the spring weather and the flowers and trees. We found a spot called Swan Lake, and saw some black and white swans. We came across a big sign that showed a map, and thought we might try and find the pagoda, but after a while decided it wasn't worth risking getting lost when Julie had to be back at the subway in time to catch her bus later. We did explore an intriguing food market for a couple minutes, though. As we walked back through the park, we found a spot with some kids' rides, like a mini-amusement park. We were a little tempted to ride the roller coaster, but decided against spending more money. Then, we made our way back to the subway station, which was a nice walk in itself. It was a pretty good day. Now, I have to think about going back to school tomorrow. Good thing I got my lesson planning done last week. Tomorrow is just a normal Tuesday of teaching. Man, I hope those kids are more cooperative than they were when I last had them. Oh, well. Best not worry about it till I have to. Anyway, I hope all is well at home. Mom, thanks for the email. Keep the news coming. I wish you the best. I love you all! Love, Chelsey*:x lovestruck hpaich on

April 1, 2016

Nimen hao! Happy April Fools Day, everyone! I'm no good with pranks, so let's play two realsies and a whopper, and see if you can figure it out. 1) I got lost when I rode the subway. 2) I took food away from little kids. 3) I totally talked about church with a native Chinese person. Hmm. . . While you're stewing about that, let me tell you about my week. School seemed to go really well this week, as far as classes. After going through the two-week cycle of all the classes twice, I think I'm getting the hang of this. It helps that I keep a teaching journal. At the end of each day of teaching, I jot down how each class went and what did and didn't work, and things I want to work on and such. It's handy to keep track of how each class works, because even the ones that are in the same grade work so differently. For the Grade 1 classes, we're reviewing the animals that we learned last time, and then I added two more, and then we learn happy/sad and big/little. At the end of the lesson, I do "Five Little Ducks." I don't sing it, I just say the lines, and erase a duck off the board each verse. I get them really involved by making them count and helping me quack. Then, when all the little ducks are gone, I make Mother Duck look sad. I have so much fun hamming it up for the kids. In Grades 2 and 3, we're talking about birthdays. I have a super simple story that I made for them. They needed something fun like that. I can't just talk to them. (It's sad that the easiest way to get a storybook is to go through the effort of making one myself, but it turned out cute.) I think they like it. They better, because I made it just for them. I also incorporate a lot of animal vocabulary in the lessons. Most people might feel weird acting like a rabbit or a chicken in front of a classroom. It's a good thing I'm not most people. Yesterday (Thursday) was a field trip to Baimajian (White Horse Valley) for Grades 1-3. I was invited to go. Alisa and Yuki were chaperones. I don't think I was really necessary, but I sure had fun, and the kids were sure happy that I went. Before we went to Baimajian, we went to a tram station to learn about the history of the tram. (It was in Chinese, and I don't know that I would have found it very interesting even if I'd understood.) Baimajian looked much the same as the last time I was there, but with a lot more flowers, and I got to see more of it this time. (Remember the day I went hiking and saw a Buddhist monastery? This is the same valley we ended up at that day.) We started out with a picnic, and I couldn't help but remember the school outings to Kershaw Ryan. I had left my bag of food on the bus, but it was no problem, because the kids were eager to share their food with me. Seriously, the food wouldn't stop coming. I felt bad taking food from little kids, but they were so anxious to give it to me, that I would have felt worse saying no. I had a plastic bag that was fat and heavy from all the snack food that the kids' mothers had so lovingly packed for their children. So. . .much. . .food! It was better than Halloween. I also got really, really tired of waving at everyone who shouted, "Hello, Miss Wa!" Oh, the life of a celebrity is rough. (JK) As for the valley, it was absolutely lovely. We walked right by Xishi's tower, but we went to another spot that I hadn't seen the last time. They were having the Tulip Festival. There were so many beautiful tulips! We saw the lake, which is divided into two parts: the Horse Pool, and the Dragon Pool. We got back to school in time for the last couple of classes, but they didn't make me teach, which made me very happy. I didn't feel like doing anything. After work that day (if, indeed, it can be called work), I got home, changed into my comfy shoes, swept the messy floor, got my food and my scripture journal (both the bag from the outing and some rolls I'd bought), and headed to the subway station to go to the Hyatt home where we have church. That night was a potluck dinner for those who wanted to watch the recording of the General Women's Broadcast. We were few in numbers, but that made it more cozy. The food was good, and the talks and music were even better. I felt like it was just what I needed to hear. One of the ladies there, who is a Suzhou native, but who is allowed to be in our branch because she's married to an expat, gave me a ride to Xinghai Station, which isn't much more convenient, but it was a little closer. On the subway home, another foreigner and I saw each other and said, "Hey!" I asked her where she was from and we got to know each other. Her name is Paula, she's from Columbia in South America, she's also twenty-three, she's an intern teaching English, and she was also headed to Panli Lu, because she also lives in Wuzhong District. How awesome is that? I have a new friend, and we're friends on WeChat! Maybe we'll see each other more. Today was such a nice Friday. It was warm and sunny, and also the day before a three-day weekend. Qingming Jie is on Monday, which is the day when the Chinese nation-wide honor their dead and go on a spring outing. Also this weekend, on Sunday, someone from the branch presidency wants to meet with me. (Do I have a calling?) Have you figured out the two realsies and the whopper? If you read the email all the way through, you should have figured out that it was the first one. Did I get you? I'm actually becoming quite good at navigating the Suzhou metro system, which is a miracle in unto itself. Well, I love you. Remember who you are and what you stand for, and I'll strive to do the same. Love, Chelsey*:x lovestruck

March 28, 2016

Hello again, This weekend didn't really go as planned, but that's not entirely a bad thing. In fact, I thought it was quite nice. All the cleaning that I was going to do went out the window, but I did manage to clean my bathroom and most of the dishes. All in all, it was a lovely Easter weekend. On Friday night, as I said before, I went to a restaurant with some teachers after school. It's surprising to me how easily I can pop off snail heads with a toothpick and eat them. Seriously, how did I get past the thought of eating snails so fast? Also, there was stinky tofu. They don't call it stinky tofu for nothing. But, it was a very good dinner. And, the teachers started asking me if I wanted to marry a Chinese man. They were joking (I think). It was funny, because earlier that same day, some students were asking me if I had a boyfriend, because they were thinking of setting me up with someone. (I'm too young, I think.) Yeah. . . On Saturday, I'd been invited to go with some of the other interns to look at a couple of museums in the old part of town. It was a fun walk just getting there from the metro station. The three of us who had ridden the subway together went to a fun noodle shop where you could pick your own soup ingredients and waited for the others. As we walked, the closer we got, the more old buildings we saw. And then, suddenly, we were in a place that was distinctly old-time Chinese. We went to the Folk Customs Museum, or whatever it's called. Inside there are a lot of displays of things from ancient China. The woodwork was carved with a lot of bats, which I remember from watching Sagwa means good luck. (I love how so much of what I know about China is from cartoons.) I honestly don't know what most of what I was looking at was, but it was pretty, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We found the Lion Forest Garden, but didn't go in, because none of us had thirty kuai to spend on that, but we will go back after payday. We found and ocarina shop, and a bunch more stores full of pretty things. I found a silk tunic on sale for a good price. We also found the other museum we wanted to go to, but the line was huge. It was right next to the Humble Administrator's Garden, which we also didn't go to. But, I know where it is, kind of. We found our way leisurely to Pingjian Street, which is a long street that looks like it's from another time. Most everyone was excited about finding the Cat Cafe, which is a cafe that you can go in, and pet cats while you eat. I'm a cat person, but I didn't see the point of paying so much money to pet a cat. There were three of us who stayed out and got spring rolls for a few kuai and enjoyed the scenery instead. Then we wandered, and we were there till after the sun went down. Pingjian Street was beautiful with all the lights reflecting on the canals. The others wanted to get drinks at a hostel. Fortunately for me, one of the other girls needed to leave to catch her bus, which meant I had someone to leave with. I went home and did some cleaning before bed. On Sunday, I went to church. Caitlynn wasn't able to make it, after all, but it was probably a good thing, because I got lost trying to get from the metro to the church. The park on Jinji Lake was lovely, and I got to see people flying kites, but I the ones who I asked for directions to Furong Jie didn't know what I was talking about. I missed the Sacrament, but I made it for the last few minutes of Sacrament meeting. I needed to meet with President Okeson, and when I did, I asked him if there was a way I could still take the Sacrament. Where last week was district conference, and where there aren't a lot of times during the week when my environment is spiritually stimulating, I really felt a need to take the Sacrament. So, President Okeson talked to the Aaronic priesthood and I was able to at the end of church. It was weird having it just for me. It makes me feel like I need to try harder this week, so that it was worth it. After church, the Okeson's had an American-style Easter dinner at their home. After dinner, we decorated sugar cookies (which I shared with the teachers today, although I'm not sure how they liked them). I also played the piano, which was awesome! When I got back, I decided I really needed to watch The Testaments for Easter, so I invited Amelia to watch it with me. We both enjoyed it. Then, I stayed up late trying to get ready for Monday. I apologize for writing such a long email- again! I hope you had a good Easter. I was very glad to take the time to appreciate the Atonement, and I hope for you it was the same. I love you! Love, Chelsey*:x lovestruck