OUR Journey Begins...

For those of you who missed WHY we are going to CHINA, here is a summary:

We applied for (in January) and were accepted into (in April) the China Teacher's Program!! http://kennedy.byu.edu/chinateachers/

The China Teachers Program (CTP) is a nonprofit outreach program of the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies at Brigham Young University. Its purpose is to provide seasoned U.S. teachers to Chinese universities. Since the program’s inception in 1989, almost one thousand teachers have taught more than 175,000 students at over forty wonderful universities in China.

Jordan and I just finished an amazing 2 week intensive and exhausting training course at BYU Kennedy Center and now we are off to Xi'an, China for 1 year to teach at Xi'an International Studies University (XISU). 

Xi'an is in the heart of China and is home of the Terracotta Army or the "Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses" that were discovered in 1974.

 

Although we consider this our first "mission" out and about, it should be noted that this is not an LDS mission.  Our main purpose is to make friends and build relationships while providing a professional service to XISU. 

Recently, Elder Oaks said, "The Church has no proselytizing missionaries in the PRC, nor does it have any plans to send missionaries or to engage in proselytizing activities in China."  The Church hopes that making information public will counter many unsubstantiated rumors that circulate about the Church in China, including whether the Church is sending missionaries to the PRC.  It is just not so. 

We are incredibly excited and look forward to an amazing adventure!!!  Please come and visit us while we are in China!  Or at least stop by the blog once in a while to see how we are doing!  We would love to hear from you!!!