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