"9/11" "11/11" "The 11th Hour..." "The 11:11 Phenominum"

Catching up with photos as we rode home yesterday from Church Conference...

The famous Star Ferry from Wan Chai to Tsim Sha Tsui

HK Convention Centre and IFC Tower

Star Ferry Pier with ICC Sky 100 tower - 7th highest building in the world. 

Just a small sampling of the Hong Kong Skyline.

Ngai's, Lee's, Bodily's, Sister Concepcion, Chan's

November 9 (Monday)

Nothing like getting your exercise by walking, and that's just what we did today. I walked to the market to get groceries for FHE. Walked home pulling 50 pounds of groceries. Walked to the shuttle to catch it to Tsim Sha Tsui. Walked to the MTR. Transfered trains. Got off and walked to the exit (the wrong one). And that's where all the real walking began. We were looking for my "dishes" store, but because we came out at the wrong exit, we couldn't find it. Walked up and down the streets trying to find something that looked familiar. Walked in circles and circled around again.

We finally gave up on trying to find it, so decided to go to the Wan Chai street vendors market. Here we go again. Up and down the streets, round, and round, looking for where it was. I know it was just across the street from the MTR exit...but which exit?! Retrace our way back to the MTR, go back inside, find a map to locate the market and find the correct exit. Ta Da! Finally, after walking around for over an hour, we finally found the market.

Up and down the streets of vendors...fresh fruit, fresh fish (poor little fishies were just flaying out of water. I could just feel them suffocating.) clothes, shoes, handbags, socks, scarves, linens, underwear, kids clothing, trinkets, "hole in the wall" eating places, street food, pastries, and lots of other stuff. This is a real fun place to explore.

We hosted FHE tonight and showed the video "The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment" by Jonathan Cahn, one of my favorite documentaries relating to Bible prophecy and 9/11, an ancient mystery that foretells America's future. Is America following in the footsteps of ancient Israel with a spirit of defiance against God leading to increasingly severe judgments? Wow, this is powerful and thought provoking.

We showed it in the Clubhouse Theatre in our apartment complex. Then everyone came to our place for refreshments. I made a fruit salad with almond jelly, and had phylo style almond bars which we bought during our travels today. Both were a hit, the video and the refreshments.

November 10 (Tuesday)

Nothing too exciting to report so I'll share a quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.

"The future of this world has long been declared; the final outcome between good and evil is already known. There is absolutely no question as to who wins because the victory has already been posted on the scoreboard. The only really strange thing in all of this is that we are still down here on the field trying to decide which team's jersey we want to wear."

With the opening of the new "Star Wars" movie coming next month, I'm reminded of the conflict between good and evil, between the light side and the dark side. The battle between good and evil goes back long before our journey here on earth began. All of us here chose the white jersey team. However, somewhere along the line, some decided to go to the "dark side". We will pray for them, and like Luke Skywalker, never give up hope, that they will have enough of a spark of light within to return to the Light.

Never give up?

November 11 (Wednesday)

Today is Remembrance Day, 11/11. Let us pause, even if just for a moment, to pay tribute to all those who fought and sacrificed for our freedom. Each day we can count our many blessings and cherish the thing which is one of the greatest treasures of this life. Freedom--we fought for it in our premortal existence, we will fight for it here and now. In remembrance, thank you to all the freedom fighters
and their families.

We took the Rancie's shopping at the wet market and introduced them to our favorite meet vendors.

The Pork Lady

The Beef Guy

November 12 (Thursday)

Today's post is bought to you by numbers:

      6 - shifts left before the Temple break
      7 - days until cousin Edward Lee arrives
    10 - days until the Goodman family arrives
    12 - days until the Burton family and brother-in-law Victor arrive
    25 - days until the Temple re-opens
    42 - days until Christmas
    43 - weeks left of Temple work (not including the 6 week summer break and 6 week winter break)

So much to do, so little time. I just got a call from Sister Mendoza, a young sister missionary. She and her companion saw Phoenix tonight and had a brief visit with her. They reported to me that she looked really good (last time she was not feeling well), and was happy to see them. They will meet with her again tomorrow. Slow progress is better than no progress. Hope all goes well.

One couple from India - first time to the Temple with Sis. & Elder Lee

I met another sister from the US. She is serving in India on a photography mission. She came to escort another Indian sister who came to the Temple before leaving on her mission. She is documenting her travels from India to Hong Kong through photos. How cool is that!


November 13 (Friday)

After an unusually slow day at the Temple, we decided to grab some supper with the Rancie's. We went to MOKO, a nice mall connected to the MTR at Mong Kok. There's a food court there call the "Food Opera", lots and lots of choices. It's clean, bright, and fresh with plenty of seating space.

November 14 (Saturday)

I was really tired after work today, so I came home for a nap. John decided to go shopping. He saw an advertisement for "lup cheung" chinese sausage, buy 2 get 1 free. I don't know if it was such a great deal, as it came to $450.00 HKD for 3 packages, that's $25.00 CAD each! I can buy a package at home for less than $5.00. These better taste fantastic is all I can say!

Sad, sad day for the world as ISIS strikes again, this time in Paris. What's this world coming to? Another sign of the times, wars and rumors of war, as prophesied in the scriptures. How much more wickedness must we endure?

However, no matter how bad things get, we are admonished to "be of good cheer". There is still much in this world that is good and we must fight for that goodness. You can kill humans, but you cannot kill the human spirit. Hold fast to your faith. Have hope and charity. We have much to be thankful for.

We are in the 11th hour...the final countdown. Oh how I look forward the His second coming, when the Savior will come to rule and reign personally in righteousness; all wickedness will end; and peace will return as the earth is renewed and receives its paradisiacal glory!


November 15 (Sunday)

Another farewell. Elder and Sister Crocket are heading home. They were communications missionaries. I'm not sure what that all involved. Their home is in San Diego. It's a revolving door when it comes to missionaries, they come, they go. The one thing in common is that they all love serving their mission. Such a great experience.

Elder Tom and Sister Cori Crockett 

A farewell song for Elder and Sister Crockett