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Casper-daughters Participate in Primary Program - Audible Gasps When Evelyn Recites Scripture in Chinese

The fam about to get a cab to church on Oct 25.

Sunday, Oct 25, EV and Eloise participated in the Tamsui ward's primary program. The program was a smashing success. The 17 children, including 2 from our family, sang their hearts out and put the Utah primaries of over 100 kids to shame. Also impressive was the participation of each child. Each shared a scripture from that year, told of a personal experience, and bore a unique and simple testimony. This was done from smallest to oldest without any help or prompting from parents or primary leaders.

The spirit could be felt through the entire meeting. I was brought to tears when one boy said simply, "I'd like to bear my testimony: I feel Jesus Christ's love for me. And I love him." Later, this same boy sang beautifully the versus of "I Feel My Savior's Love" with the entire primary filling in the chorus.

Evelyn and Eloise went at the very end. Their assignment, which I had not fully understood, was to prepare a similar thing to share. What we DID prepare was for the two of them to say together, in Chinese, the following scripture: "And now, after all the testimonies which have been given of Him, this is the testimony last of all which we give of Him, that he lives," spoken by Joseph Smith. I thought this would be their part in the primary sharing time.

Instead, they took turns separately standing in front of the ward. Eloise had less of a handle on the scripture and a kind primary worker prompted her to share each part of what she said in English, which is too bad because, had we known English was okay, and that this was for Sacrament Meeting, we could have done our own preparation and kept our family code of "no help."

EV spoke very last, directly after Eloise, and perhaps because of the help her sister received, and after Evelyn's self intro in English, there was an audible gasp from the congregation when she started into the scripture in Chinese. She only left out "and now" but otherwise nailed it all. The testimony that she bore was that Jesus Christ loves us and we will have happier lives if we follow Him.

(Below: the girls and their scripture, with Arthur as back-up scripture reciter)

It was a great Sabbath, and confirmed our feelings that the church seems "truer" here in Taiwan.

The Ballet Beat - Casperkids Find Ballet Classes

Kai preparing for his second class.

By another miracle, we have found what we hope will be a workable situation for all the kids to progress in their talents. First, the community in which we live has a grand piano for the access of it's residence. For EV, this has meant she can practice everyday. We considered contacting her teacher for lessons over the phone as well, but decided to save the money on her lessons for other adventures here. We hope she will be able to stay even in that skill.

Perhaps more rare than a piano is access to a dance studio - finding the open space alone can be a challenge. Add to that the preference for floors with some give and even mirrors, and it becomes a tall order. So you can imagine our delight when Sister Wu from our ward brought us to the "studio" in her community, which is not only quite large, but has wood floors, mirrors, AND barres!!! For the past two weeks we have been able to use this space twice a week for a class for EV and Kai. Furthermore, the fee of $5/hour has so far been payed by Sister Wu AND she has taken Eloise and Arthur to other play areas in the community so they are content - even delighted to go, safe, and occupied. I am hopeful with some focused coaching both older sibs will make good progress in their ballet technique! I'm seeing improvement already! (God bless Sister Wu!!)

Can you believe the size of this baby!?! A very LARGE blessing, indeed.

Finally, Eloise has also asked for ballet classes. I clarified with her and her request is as I suspected: she wants time to play with other little girls. We hope this can be accomplished as I offer a free class in this same space to anyone we come across who is interested in taking. The first of these classes (after a few false starts) will be tomorrow OR next Tuesday. It will be a good stretch for my Chinese. (I am not too worried remembering how much I grew from Russian teachers who didn't speak English.) And hopefully it will be the "ballet" experience Eloise will enjoy.

As post script to the Taipei ballet entry, Kai HAS been back for a second ballet class with the Taiwan Royal Ballet. Between knowing his mother didn't expect miracles, between appropriately setting his own expectations, attending an earlier Saturday afternoon class, two other boys in the class, and a male teacher for the last half whose combinations, while still plenty advanced weren't such a choreographic nightmare, a MUCH better experience was enjoyed. We'll be back for more, and we are hoping to make it a weekly event. (Though Saturdays are SO precious, so we'll see!)