Gimps and Zoos...

So the past week... or 2.... have been lots of fun! Last friday we found out that we got a place to live, which i already posted, but this time i thought i would include the picture of our cute little house we will be living in. We are very excited to live in a HOUSE! The following day we ate Papa Johns for lunch... YUMMY.... and had a big YM/YW activity where we were supposed to eat, bowl, and do a little kareoke at the end... it turned into 3 hours of Kareoke, some not so good food from the kareoke place, and dirty but fun bowling balls with the other leaders after the kids all left (but i would have left too if i wasn't a leader so i can't blame them!) I kicked but in bowling though... and was very excited about that. Sunday Samuel sang in church with Elena, which was really nice, and then we went to the Jones' (a older couple here teaching english) and Elena took the 1st discussion! it was really fun!

Monday Samuel stayed home from sick b/c his body was exhausted and he was all congested. I didn't complain at all... and in the late afternoon he even took me to do a little more christmas shopping. so i was really excited about that. Tuesday we got the wonderful news that Samuel got into the Business Program!! YAY!!! He was of course all smiles for the whole day and when he got home we celebrated by going out to dinner with someone of his work friends.

Wednesday we woke up bright and early to catch a train and be in Beijing by 8am... we were going to meet up with one of Samuels converts from Australia and go to the Zoo with her and Dong. Well we got there at like 8:30, Dong got there at like 8;45... and we waited and waited and couldn't find or get a hold of the other girl (who had to leave Beijing at like 2pm. so we did a little shopping across the street from the zoo while we waited. Dong bought Samuel a new sweater to say congrats for Business school, and she bought me a green hat b/c it was cold outside. Then one of Dong's friends who i had met before bought me Mittens!! i love my mittens. and we walked all around, and finaly at 11 (so like 2 hours later) we got a hold of the convert friend. She had just woken up... so i was flustered b/c i wanted to sleep in!!!! but she showed up at 12 and we ate lunch with her and then she left and we went to the ZOO!!!! and first on the list was of course the Panda house. Samuel even bought me a stuffed panda we named "pang" (pronounced like p-ah-ng) which means Fat in chinese!! hahaha!!! we also got a video of a panda climbing out of a tree... we thought he was going to fall and die... but its cute! we also saw elephants, gorillas, lions, tigers, etc. It was really fun. We were there until about 4ish. Then Dong and her friends left and Samuel and I headed to where the conference was with Elder Oaks. it didn't start until 7 and we got there just before 5, but we ate some food and chilled for a while. Then an older couple who was from one of the Beijing branches sat with us and told me to try the DQ Blueberry Blizard! i hadn't had any ice cream that was good in china so i was weary... but boy was that blizard heaven on earth!! it was freezing outside and i was already cold but it was well worth it! Then we went upstairs and got really good seats to hear elder oaks. 3rd Row! He had 2 members of the Seventy with him, Elder Perkins talked about how the Proclamation to the Family can all be found in 1st Nephi, and Elder Clayton talked about being an example to those around us. Elder Oaks got up and first talked to the youth. he talked about praying with "real intent" and how it means we have to be willing to act once we recieve an answer to our prayer, and how he wont answer if we are not. And then he talked to the adults and said we are headed into a depression, men's hearts are failing and life is full of uncertainties--- but we need to build our foundation on Christ, and if we do that we don't need to worry about the storms that are coming. it was really cool!! We got to shake his hand afterwards-- and then we got in a car with the Derby's and took the 2 1/2 hour car ride home.

Thursday Elena and I had an encounter with the CEO/Presdent of the Hotel we are staying at. We were eating breakfast (Samuel had already left for work) and this man comes up to us and says, "Excuse me, I run this hotel and i would like to throw you a dinner party!" we thought it was a joke, but sure enough he handed us his card and told us to call him to set a date and he is the CEO/President of the Tianjin Spa Plaza Hotel! we thought it was really funny... and are looking forward to more free food! YAY! We also had dinner and went bowling with our YM/YW. The dinner was really good korean food and the bowling was fun... Samuel beat me but we both bowled over 140!

Friday was fairly normal, except Samuel came home and said, i have good news and bad news, which would you like first? i of course opted for the bad news and he said he wasn't getting paid next week... i was like... WHAT!!! but then he said it was b/c his factory was shut down and he would get to stay home all week with me!! YAY!! But then Saturday morning he decided to trip down some stairs and twist his ankle pretty bad... so he is now a gimp and in bed for a few days!! haha!! but at least he didn't have to go to work and we can take care of his ankle! Saturday we had a lot of shopping we were supposed to get done with Elena, so Elena and i went out alone (not to my liking.. i wanted to be with my hurting husband) but she needed someone with her so we went and got some shopping done, and Samuel got a blessing when the Jones' came over to give Elena the 2nd discussion while i ran around trying to find an ankle wrap and get food for my husband. i was exhausted by the end of the day!

Sunday i went to church with Elena and samuel stayed in bed... i was immediatly attacked by the people at church wanting to know how Samuel was doing. It was Branch Conferance so the District President was there and even he asked about Samuel! Then some other guy comes up to me and says "You must be Anna Lattin"... i was like... Yeah! (having no idea who this guy was except i remembered seeing him at Elder Oaks thing) and i guess he was Samuel's Father's clerk in the bishopric in Virginia like 20 years ago and was really sad that Samuel wasn't there so he could meet him. He just went on and on about how wonderful the Lattin's are, even at the beginning of his talk he gave in Sacrament meeting. it made me really wish samuel was there. but he gave me his card and said the next time we were in Beijing we should stop by. Then Sis Derby invited us over for lunch, and gave us some to take home to Samuel, which was very nice. And then all craziness let loose and everyone was calling and coming by to check on samuel and make sure he was doing ok. We laughed b/c it is a twisted ankle... but it was nice to know that they cared to so much! We got some good pizza out of it too!

So today we just hung out... Samuel mostly in bed playing with his Electronic Chinese English Dictionary i "let him get" (so he says) 2 months ago and i have been doing laundry and getting things done. its been nice having him here!