Eastern Hopes and Baby Faces

Its been awhile since I've posted on our blog. After my last post remembering my uncle Jim its now several weeks of posting updates about my dad's recovery on his blog I suppose this one has fallen between the cracks a bit... also, while my wife absolutely loves investigating numerous blogs of our friends daily, she still hasn't quite made a habit of adding anything to our own. I'll try to do better and write more regularly.

I had a very special experience yesterday while visiting the Fan Family. As some of you know I've been asked by the missionaries in our ward to help teach the discussions to a Chinese family from Shanghai who have been very receptive so far to the gospel teachings and enjoy coming to church. In preparation for yesterday's discussion the elders did a companionship exchange so that Elder Li, from Sichuan, China could teach with us (this was a great relief as the Fans speak no English and I have been doing all the teaching during discussions and translating at church up till this point). I was absolutely blown away by Elder Li. His mother had heard about the church from her boss in China who was a member and later she and her family took a visit to Hong Kong to get baptized. They joined the branch in their hometown and Elder Li reports that their are currently 20 missionaries out serving from that branch.

Having lived in the mainland and felt the religious intolerance of communist China first-hand my hopes for growth in the church there had dwindled

a bit. They kept us wound up so tight so that we couldn't tell people what we believed in if they asked. Yet, despite all that Elder Li was as mighty of a missionary as I have ever seen. He had a firm testimony and his teaching ability was off the charts. He knew perfectly how to teach the Fans regarding their concerns and invited them boldly. The Fan family has a tough road ahead of them, because there is no Chinese branch here and they speak virtually NO english, so they really do not have a strong foundation to enter the church, but they are very willing. We promised the Fans that if they continued to learn, to pray, to read the scriptures, and come to church when they can that the Lord will provide a way for them to enter his church. Whether that means their language improves or a branch opens here in Sacramento, I don't know, but I am amazed at their faith. Also, the example that this young elder has shown to me, through all he has overcome to become such a great servant of the Lord, has truly inspired me. It has raised my hopes and given me cause to pray for the gospel to be opened and spread throughout China and to the Chinese people I have come to love and respect.

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Jacque and I are still eagerly awaiting the arrival of our little baby girl. Jacque had another ultrasound appointment recently and the

baby kept pouting her lips together, Jacque said the technician kept commenting on how big her lips looked. In this picture you can see her pouting and her nose is scrunched up a bit, Jacque is afraid the baby won't have her treasured "Allen-Slope Nose" which all the kids in her family get from her mom's side. They love their little turned up pixie noses and she's afraid my big, round, dip-down Skaggs nose has overcome and passed down to our first born. Whether that is the case or the babies nose is just pushed flat in this picture we'll just have to wait and see. Either way know she'll be so cute.

We've come to like our ward here and have attended baseball games, joined in a barbeque, and enjoyed dinner together with a few of our member friends. There is a lot of good things about Sacramento and it is a good place to live, but we still miss the company of our family and friends on a regular basis very much. We love you all.