Last week was great fun. Four leaders from the great state of Mississippi came for a visit. We took them out (John and I) to one of our areas. After an interesting bus ride, and a short wait until the road opened, we headed into the area. We left at 7 in the morning and finally arrived about 6. It was good that this was one of our closer groups. They were able to see many things about not only the area - bad roads, interesting accommodations, new foods (that didn't match the American version of Chinese food) - but also the people. They met shopkeepers, visited homes, saw farms, got to go into schools and met tons of kids. These kids had great fun walking around with the foreigners, singing to us, playing games and just laughing with (and at) us. We visited the school and got invited in to meet the teachers. We talked (some, 'cause I was the translator!) and then went out and played with the kids. Something as simple as a frisbee brought tons of entertainment. Later, one of the guys bought a basketball and gave it to the school. They returned the favor by giving them some handmade crafts. We spent the mornings and evenings sharing about the work and how all of their clubs could get involved. Through the process, I realized that there are many options for people in America to have an active involvement in what goes on over here.

Here are some pictures from our October holiday trip. The first is of 2 little Tibetan girls staring at the foreigners on the bus. Anna had a great time with them while our tire was being changed. The next two are of mountains - one with sunlight streaming in and the other with beautiful snow. The next one is our friends the Smiths (with Irene) in Yushu and the Nofsingers in Xining. We also met up with our old friend Joseph - think about him as his TB is back. The last, well our other girl. She now has an English name: Lydia Grace Masters. She knows the story of Lydia, the meaning of Grace and the Masters indicates that we belong to each other!