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| So a lot has transpired since I last blogged. I'm not going to even try to document my life these past few years. Lets just say part of my heart now belongs to the Chinese people.
This is the first area I lived in, and it was the smallest and dirtiest apartment I'd ever seen. Turns out it was pretty nice and spacious compared to the average home. China taught me a lot about life and people, and I trust in God more than I ever did before. The world I've returned to has also changed a bit (at least I hope it's not just me). This whole economic recession has thrown a lot of my preconceived (i before e except after c!) plans to the wind and now I think I'm going back to grad school. I have this desire to buy a lot of things and get "cool" again with some newfangled electronics and maybe this sweet road bike.
But I just can't justify it until I have a steady income, so I guess I'll just have to find a different way to be "cool" for a while. Oh the sacrifices. My social situation is in flux as well. Of course the post mission awkwardness, which isn't helped by the fact that half of my friends are married or engaged or living far away. Just got to start at square one and search out some new best friends, and a new job. If anybody has a friend of a mother's great aunt's cousin twice removed that could hook me up with a summer job, I would love you forever. Or maybe just be very grateful and make you a plate of cookies. The future is so mysterious right now, it's kind of exciting. I just hope there's a happy ending.
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| Okay, so on Wednesday I enter the MTC to learn some good ol' Cantonese.
If you want to contact me in the near future you can use these addresses.
(July 18 ~ Oct 18?)
Sister Lindsay Dobrusky Esplin
China Hong Kong Mission
Provo Missionary Training Center
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604
(Oct 18? ~ Whenever)
Sister Lindsay Dobrusky Esplin
China Hong Kong Mission
2 Cornwall Street
Kowloon Tong
Kowloon
HONG KONG
So goodbye for a while friends. Please write me and I WILL write back. Thanks everybody!
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| I watched motorcycle diaries this morning, about Che Guevara traveling around South America. It reminded me that I love America. Obviously we have tons of problems in this country, but Americans are a loyal bunch that appreciate their freedom. A Japanese admiral after the Pearl Harbor attack feared they'd "awakened a sleeping tiger," and so they had. That's how I've always thought about this country, a sleeping tiger. We have a great economy and a stable system of government that leads to a content population. But we'll wake up when we have to. It's fitting that we just celebrated the 4th of July and that I went on a road trip last week to see America. It's all culminated in my feelings of gratitude this morning. I just rode my bike around Provo and watched people's activities on a Monday afternoon. Center street is pretty busy around lunch time and you see all different types of people. It makes me wonder what I'll end up doing with my life. I don't want to just sit back and enjoy my blessings without paying back my debt. I guess that's one reason I'm going on a mission. To share the gospel, to learn more about the world, and maybe figure out how to live a life where I give more than I receive. Because I've definitely been on the receiving end for as long as I can remember. It's dang fun, and sometimes I feel entitled to everything good in my life. But I'm not. So in 9 days I'll go the mtc to learn some Cantonese and attempt to help some people on the other side of the world.
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| This story will be much more entertaining if you first understand that
we have a very tense family. If one thing goes wrong, it's the end of the world. Okay, so I came home from California on Thursday because my dad planned a boat trip for Friday. We started at 7 am, despite some reservations about the tread on one of the tires. But we made it to Lake Pleasant, even though the tread came off enroute, and planned on using the spare for the trip home. The boat started just fine. So we went to the other side of the lake and put Shell and Brooke out on the tube. After Brooke got thrown on a wide turn, we doubled back to pick her up. Right when she got to the tube, the boat died. Dad tried to start it for about 10 minutes. The tension was rising as everybody realized we were stuck. I picked up mom's cell phone and dialed 411 while dad tried to flag down passing boaters. The 411 operators were incompetent and directed my call to Lake Powell three times in a row despite my specific spelling of Lake P-L-E-A-S-A-N-T. About this time my dad flagged down some people that pretty much refused to help. Finally I got through to Lake Pleasant and they directed me to the consierge. Did you know that lakes have consierge service? Anyway, it was just a message machine. And it took them 20 minutes to call us back. By that time we had flagged down somebody with a spare battery, which failed to start our poor boat. Eventually we got towed back by the sheriff after him driving by us 5 times and dad waving frantically. It was all I could do to not laugh. The tow was $150.
When we got back to the dock, dad and I set out to put the spare on the trailer. We had to locate some bolt cutters for the lock and a different size lug wrench. It took some uniformed guy we found about 15 minutes to track these two things down. So we changed the tire and went back to the dock to load the boat. When we got out to put the tie-downs on somebody noticed the spare was as flat as a pancake. I just started laughing, cracked open a can of squirt and passed it around. Shelley offered some to mom and she flatly refused, which was somehow fitting. We went to the marina to find a new tire (it was $6 to get in) and all they had were huge chromed out wheels for $800. Yeah right. So they sent us to the nearest tire place which they claimed was 10 miles away and ended up being 20. While we were there we got the suburban tire fixed as well. You're welcome Eric. And bought a lug wrench. They had this fish and chips place next door where we picked up some "Thrifty" brand ice cream. It was all grainy like it had been melted and refrozen, which we should have expected from the name. After we drove the 20 miles back, changed the tire, drove all the way to the boat repair shop, and got home it was about 4:30. Then we had to unpack all of the gear we hadn't even used. Seriously, it was not the trip I expected. But we had some good family bonding time, taught the girls how to change a tire and hook up a boat, and nobody got sunburned or injured. So it was worth coming home for.
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| I always want what I don't have. Right now I wish I were in Provo going to school, but when I'm in school I dream of summer break. These travel entries are the super exciting half of my current life. The other half is not worth writing about. Let's just say I hate idleness, it is the bane of my existence. So here's something uplifting.
Mt. Hood
Crazy sisters! (Brooke is symbolically present)
The crew.
I even got to go skiing after the hike, and they had a killer hot tub and heated pool. I can't think of a better way to spend a weekend. And tomorrow morning we leave for Costa Rica for 10 days! Hallelujah!
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