Happy Birthday to my sister, Ilona! Hope you had a wonderful day. I'm getting to know a little more about Hong Kong now, so when you come visit, we can show you around. We were in the Royal Plaza Hotel last week, where we all stayed when we toured China together in 2008. Great memories.
We found this restaurant called "Mr. Steak" and they served hamburgers and fries, so we got the gang together for lunch there. (Ball's, Bodily's, Nora and us). We were all excited to have a hamburger, but were so disappointed when they informed us that they were out of hamburger, and wouldn't have any till next week! Are you kidding me?!?!?! We haven't had a burger since we left Salt Lake.
August 4 (Tuesday)
Finally, my burger craving was finally satisfied tonight. It was just McDonald's, but it was a burger: Big Mac, fries and a strawberry shake!
August 5 (Wednesday)
Today we went to the Apple Store at Festival Walk. This place is amazing! Over 100 employees cruising around to help the hundreds of customers. This place was packed. The customer service was incredible, second to none. Daniel spent almost 2 hours with us one on one getting our new ipod touch set up and all John's information transferred and downloaded. We had a great conversation with him. The amount of product being sold was unbelievable, a steady stream of iphones, MacBook Air, computers, watches, and anything Apple were sold non stop. This was their smallest of 4 stores in Hong Kong. Their largest is 4 floors, with 4 times the area and 4 times the staff. You have to see it to believe it.
August 6 (Thursday)
I was privileged to work in baptisms this morning. What a joy it was to see this little 12 year old boy come to do baptisms for his first time. You could see the excitement in his eyes. He just beamed. He had such a sweet spirit about him. As he entered the baptismal font, you could see and feel his excitement. Upon arising from being immersed, he blinked the water from his eyes, raised his head and looked at his friends who were watching his every move. Then the biggest smile came across his face...it was priceless!
Sorry, no pictures to post this time. I think we need some training on how to get the pictures to transfer to my blog. We must be doing something wrong since it's not working. I'll have to come back later to insert pictures once we get things figured out.
August 7 (Friday)
A long day today. We didn't get home till after 8:00. I don't know if this picture is attached to the right day, but I finally got pictures uploaded so I'm plugging some into the blog. The BEST burger since we've been here are at the "Butcher's Club". Awesome! With jumbo fries cooked in duck fat.
 |
| Now that's BURGER! |
August 8 (Saturday)
Being on a mission is great, but sometimes it means missing out on important events. Today is our granddaughter, Addy's birthday. She turned 8 and got baptized on her birthday. This is the first grandchild that we will miss her baptism. Happy Birthday Addy! Hope you have an awesome day.
August 9 (Sunday)
I had the privilege to speak in Church today. I was asked to tell about myself and my conversion to the Mormon faith. I had shared my story many times before. Sometimes I feel that it is repetitious, but each time it is to a new audience. So this time I wanted to take it from a new angle. The theme of my talk was not just my conversion, but that Heavenly Father has a plan not just for me, but for each one of us. We all have a story to tell. Here is the prologue to my talk but I won't go into the full talk itself.
Once upon a time, long, long ago, there was a young man living in China. With hopes and dreams of a better life, he eventually made his way to Canada. The Chinese called it the land of the Golden Mountain, a land of milk and honey, where one could prosper. His journey took him from China, to Mexico, to Vancouver, Canada. He worked for the rail road and eventually settled in the small little community of Lethbridge, Alberta and started a dry cleaning business. That was my grandfather.
Then, once upon a time, long, long ago there was a young girl living in China. Her father was an opium addict (so the story goes), and in order to support his habit, he sold his daughter to another family as a maid. She was very fortunate for they treated her very well. She was like one of the family. That was my grandmother.
Grandfather became a successful business man. With a wife back in China, and he now living in Canada, he wanted a wife here too. So he took a second wife who was my grandmother. (I guess it wasn't only the Mormons who were polygamists.) He eventually ended up having 4 wives. My grandparents had 4 sons and 4 daughters. My father was the oldest son and as a teenager was basically running the business.
When my father was 19, it was decided that it was time for him to marry. So as it was in those days, one family was introduced to another and it was agreed that they would have their children marry each other. The first time that my father and mother met, was the day before their wedding! Mom was 18 and Dad was 19. They grew to love each other very deeply. There's a lot to be said about arranged marriages. They had 8 children, 2 sons and 6 daughters, myself being the 7th child.
Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us. As I think back into my family's history, I can't help but think that He was there preparing my future, planning where He was going to place me on my mortal journey.
Why didn't my grandfather settle in Vancouver where there were many Chinese immigrants? What made him come to a little place on the barren prairie to settle? There were only a handful of Chinese in Lethbridge at that time. Why here? I am convinced that it was because I needed to be introduced to His church.
Growing up and going to school in the 1960's, I was the only Chinese person in my class. The only other Chinese in our school, were our cousins. Some of my best friends, though I didn't know it at the time, were Mormons. I had no idea what a Mormon was. As I progressed into junior high school and met new friends, some of them were Mormon too, and so the trend continued into high school. Why were these Mormons always popping into my life? When I started my working career, my employer was a Mormon. Was there something that drew me to them? Were they drawn towards me? .......
(My conversion story.....rather lengthy so I won't be recording it on my blog at this point.)
.....so in conclusion, Heavenly Father does have a plan for each of us. Each of us has a story to tell. As you think upon your own life story, you will find the hand of the Lord leading you, guiding you, walking beside you, for He does indeed have a plan for you. Perhaps at this moment, you may not realize or understand what His plan is, but believe and have faith. And as all good stories end, "They lived happily ever after...eternally as a family."
From Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding, In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
No comments:
Post a Comment