Today – Monday September 13, It rained so hard all of the ditches were full with 2 feet of water standing under most of the overpasses. There were a lot of stalled cars from trying to drive through the puddles. Last week we had a typhoon that just missed Shanghai but still left a lot of rainfall. So most of the ditches had not drained out. It was the first day of regular school and it was cancelled because the typhoon was supposed to directly hit Shanghai. Lucky us it missed. There was a lot of lightning and very loud thunder because it was right on top of our heads.

We live in Xuihui (shew way) neighborhood, which is right next to one of the largest commercial centers, of which there are many, in Shanghai. What that means is that we are three blocks from Shanghai's Times Square. Wow! Is it ever big, lighted, and full of people and excitement. The stores close at 10:00 pm. McDonalds stays open 24 hours. Everybody is out and about at night. It's still plenty warm. One feels perfectly safe at all times. Of course, there are lots of cars, bikes, and motorbikes and even though they are not supposed to, they often drive on the sidewalks. You always have to look around you at all times. I think Brigham Young might have been Chinese, because the sidewalks here are almost are wide as the streets in Salt Lake.

There are two really tall skyscrapers at the center. They are called the Grand Gateway Mall. Go on line and see if you can see it. The mall inside has at least 13 escalators and 4 glass elevators, all within one view. It goes up about 7 floors and gigantic. There is a book store and there are lots of English novels for sale. I believe the Chinese are definitely changing from just a producing country to a consumer country as well.

We took the subway Line 10 find Walmart. It took 45 minutes on the subway and another 15 minutes of walking to get there. I needed an electric hairbrush, and I couldn't find one here. Sure enough Walmart had it. But most people around here have never ever even heard of Walmart. They didn't know what it was. Amazing when you think most of Walmart's stuff is made in China, and that Walmart is the largest company in the world. Anyway, Shanghai's Walmart was about 4 stories tall. It was a Super Walmart.

Our first trip to church by subway took us 8 hours from when we left the apartment and returned; the second time took us 6 hours. We took a different line. It was better and less crowded. The subways are beautiful, clean, well-organized, with English written and spoken directions. They are much better then London's or New York's; but, of course, they are much newer. Also, they have escalators coming up out of the tunnels, so they are less exhausting. At Church, one young mother bore her testimony, telling us that it takes her 1 ½ hours by subway to get her and her two little kids to church by herself; her husband often travels. She said it was so difficult, and that a Brother So and So, learned of her situation, and he started sending his private driver to pick her and her kids up to get them to church. She cried when she expressed her gratitude to him. Wow, and we have trouble in the US getting our kids into our own cars and driving to church on time. Lots of interesting people at church, most are young 20s, 30s, and 40s. Most are business people. We are the oldest people in the Branch.

More from Shanghai later.