I can't believe another week has gone by so quickly. The first 3 months here really seemed to drag along slowly. I was even at the point when I thought this mission seems like such a long time. They said that the first 3 months are the hardest. But now that we've past that point, time really seems to be flying by. Perhaps it was the adjustment to the incredibly hot and humid weather that made time seem so slow. I never did adjust to it. The weather is finally starting to cool down a bit, though we still get hot days now and again.
Auntie Mei Soo is home now and able to walk again. Such a relief. There is a lot of company coming to visit over the next month, so it is great that she is mobile. We'll all get together again soon for dinner.
We took a long ride on the ding ding to explore another area called North Point. These double-decker streetcars have been travelling through Hong Kong's busiest thoroughfares since 1904.
PS: You might notice that the date on the picture does not match the date of the post. It is because Hong Kong time is 14 hours ahead of Alberta time and I didn't reset the camera time.
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| Double Decker Ding Ding Trolley Car |
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| No matter where you ride to the fare is $2.30 HKD = $.38 CAD...an inexpensive way to see the sites. |
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| Lunch at the Kung Fu Hot Pot |
What a wonderful day at the Temple! We had a group come from India. I was privileged to witness 3 couples sealed for time and eternity and their children all sealed to them. What a magnificent blessing it is that families are linked together forever...we had a spiritual feast. In India, a land that is predominantly Hindu and Muslim, it is rewarding to see the growth of our Church in that country.
October 28 (Wednesday)
Another busy day at the Temple. The Indian and Thai people will be here all week.
Had another planning meeting for the Christmas event. Everything seems to be falling into place. Sister Chamberlain has done a wonderful job organizing the event. It won't be long before the Christmas season is upon us. Already there are Christmas lights lighting up many buildings. It's nice to see them celebrating this special time of year.
October 29 (Thursday)
From the Palestine Herald-Press, the headline reads, "Judge Sets Atheist Holiday".
In a small town in East Texas, an atheist filed a case against Easter and Passover Holy days. He hired an attorney from up North to bring a discrimination case against Christians and Jews and observances of their holy days. The argument was that it was unfair that atheists had no such recognized days.
The case was brought before a judge, a lifelong resident of East Texas. After listening to the passionate presentation by the lawyer, the judge banged his gavel declaring, "Case dismissed!"
The lawyer immediately stood and objecting to the ruling said, "Your honor! How can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas, Easter and other religious holidays. The Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, yet my client and other atheists have no such holidays," the attorney argued.
The judge leaned forward in his chair and slowly said, "But you do. Your client, counselor, is woefully ignorant."
The lawyer said, "Your Honor, we are unaware of any special observance or holiday for atheists."
The judge said, "Psalms 14:1 states, "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God."
Thus, it is the opinion of this court, that if your client says there is no God, then he is a fool. Therefore, April 1st is his holiday. Court's adjourned."
You gotta love an East Texas judge who knows his scriptures.
Our church leaders have admonished us to have daily scripture study. It's a great practice to implement into our lives. You never know when it will serve you well.
October 30 (Friday)
Woohoo!!! I scored big time! Nora took me shopping to her friend, Wendy's. She has a wholesale clothing outlet. Because Nora is a good friend and customer, anyone she takes there gets their purchases at wholesale price and sometimes even less. Factory direct. They distribute to the little boutique shops in Hong Kong. The designs are Korean, but factory made in HK. I got 16 pieces of clothing averaging under $15.00 CAD each, including 2 dresses, 3 pants, 2 sweaters, 1 vest, 8 tops, and a free scarf. All I need now are some boots.
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| Nora, Wendy, and Me |
We went to a drum and Chinese symphony concert tonight. I was expecting that it was Taiko drumming, but it wasn't. Disappointed :( 7/10 OK not that great.
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| John wanted to steal my drum...no way Jose! The VanWagenen's and Robert's sitting behind us. |
October 31 (Saturday)
Happy Halloween. I miss all the little trick and treater that come to the mall, and the trunk and treat activity at the church parking lot. I only saw a couple kids in costumes. I'm not sure what they do since there are no houses here to go door to door trick or treating.
The Temple Presidency put on another wonderful meal for all of the senior temple missionaries to welcome the Rancies. It was also to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving (late) and American Thanksgiving (early). What a treat...we had turkey and pumpkin pie! along with many other yummy dishes. I think this just might have been the best meal I've had in HK since we've been here.
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| Pres. Hui carving the turkey. |
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| Sister Nora Chan enjoying her turkey drumstick. |
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| Smoked Duck Breast...now that's duck I LIKE! |
It's a first! First time out "tracting" or "finding" as they call it here in Hong Kong. John and I were paired up with Sister Mercy to go out and find people to share a gospel message with. Yikes! That's scary having never done it before. So we loaded up with Book of Mormons and pamphlets to give away and headed over to a busy MTR area. Mercy is a return missionary and has had a lot of experience, so we just hung back and watched her at work for the first contact. The second and third contact was a little easier and we talked a bit more. We had been targeting Filipino domestic workers since they seem very approachable and Mercy is Filipino. John hadn't approached anyone yet, so we picked out a small group of Chinese and told him to approach them. He did a great job and we had a good visit with them. We invited them to come to Wayne's concert next month and they seemed very excited about that. I will contact them again as the concert draws closer.
It's another first! First missionary we are sending out from our branch since we've been here. Sister Mary Jane Mondragon is the sweetest little young lady. She was a domestic worker here but is returning to the Phillipines to await her mission call. Hope she gets called to Canada, eh! We enjoyed a wonderful farewell dinner.
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| Asian Pose meets Filipino Cutie Wave |
