At home in China
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XIAN, CHINA
The nine children of Edwin and Elise Britton's family are scattered across three continents and in four nations, but Mom and Dad are holding down the home front with their three youngest sons near the center of the People's Republic of China.
After coming to give living and working in China a two-year try, it's four years and counting for the Brittons, who are doing just fine, thank you, in what many would consider isolated conditions.
Not only are they among the few North Americans living in Xian, they are among the even fewer number of expatriate members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Chinese city of 8-plus million.
Xian's branch is the most remote of the Church's international units in China.
"The thing about Church here is that it's just like Church anywhere else," said Edwin Britton, who serves a branch president.
Yet the branch's remoteness and smallness draw members close. "You have something unusual to share," he said. "You have an experience you haven't had before in your life, so you're going to tend to stay closer — and stay closer for a long time."
For the Brittons, native Canadians who call Vancouver Island home, being in a small Church branch is nothing new — and nothing hard.
The Church's early groups in Xian consisted primarily of expatriate members aligned with local universities — English instructors from BYU's China Teachers Program or foreign students.
The Xian International Branch was formed in May 2007 and is comprised still in good part by members residing in the city due to educational ties. It also welcomes the occasional visiting LDS tourists, in town because of the famous terra-cotta warriors and Xian's other historical draws.
The branch will be vibrant with consistent attendance during the school year, meeting at a room at the Xian International Studies University. However, it often dwindles down to a handful of members meeting at members' apartments in the summer when the universities close and as members return to native lands for annual summer vacations.
"The thing we don't like is that people come and go all the time," Brother Britton said. "Most usually come in September and leave in June."
Sister Britton and the boys have made their annual summer return to Canada, with this stay longer since there are weddings for two Britton children this year. Bethany, an 18-year-old daughter, lived in China for three years before leaving to attend college in Canada.
With a relatively new job in market research and human resources and an eye on starting his own business arranging university internships, Brother Britton had to return to Xian and go solo for much of the summer before rejoining them.
The result is the trio "have a skewed, paradisaical view of Canada," he said. "They think Canada is heaven, with perfect summer weather and no school."
But 16-year-old Caleb said something about this summer's extended Canada trip that caught his parents' attention: "That's too long to be away from home."
Branch members in Xian appreciate the allowances made for them to worship while in China, despite the Church not yet being fully recognized as a religion in the People's Republic of China. And members work hard to continue the established trust and honor sensitivities with Chinese government officials.
"It means that they understand that we understand that this is their country," Edwin Britton said, adding that it's important not to simply go "no-profile" but to help create a comfort zone for all involved.
Like other branch members, the Brittons go online for the lesson materials and guidelines for Sunday use. "We rely heavily on lds.org — it's a life-saver," Brother Britton said. "It makes it all possible."
E-mail to: taylor@desnews.com
