Just Another Week

February 22 (Monday)

With the month of February drawing to a close, the end of the Chinese New Year celebration is also approaching. The Temple Presidency invited all the Senior Temple Missionaries and office staff to a Korean BBQ Feast. What a spread! All kinds of raw meats and vegetables. You pick out what you want, then in the middle of your table, there is a BBQ grill that your cook your food on. There were all kinds of sauces and seasonings to add to your meal. It was really a test of how good a cook you were, making sure you had the proper ingredients to make a fabulous dish...or not, if you didn't know what you were doing. That would be me. Mine was pretty bland, as I wasn't very adventuresome.

Besides the uncooked items, they also had prepared foods like deep fried chicken drum sticks, french fried wedges, chicken nuggests, spring rolls, and all sorts of Korean style noodle dishes, a circulating sushi bar, hot and cold soups, a variety of desserts and ice cream. Well fed, we all waddled out! Thank you Temple Presidency for such a wonderful treat!

So many choices...

Bro. & Sis. Choi and Bro. & Sis. Chan - Temple Recorders

Pres. & Sis. Hui (2nd Counselor), Nora Chan 

Pres. & Sis. Yuen (1st Counselor), Pres. & Sis. Wong (Temple President)

Sister Yu - Secretary, Deb and Gary Bodily

 After we left the restaurant, we came across a lion dance...colourful and noisy. Quite often during the month, you will hear the drums beating throughout the city as the lion dances are performed at various businesses to bring good luck and prosperity.

At Tsim Sha Tsui, they had a display of "The Monkey King" a famous Chinese folk lore. This is the Monkey King's famous pose. Today was the day of the Lantern Festival, but because of the rain, we didn't go.

February 23 (Tuesday) 

Back to work. In the evening we went over to the Hathaways to do inventory on the things in their apartment. Contacted Tony Chan for items that were missing, cushions and router.


February 24 (Wednesday)

OAD. It seems like since I've been in Hong Kong, my hair has gotten thinner. I noticed that so many of the Chinese ladies have really, really, bad thinning hair. I wondered if it had something to do with the water or something causing it to be so prevalent. I decided to make an appointment with Advanced Hair Studio for a free hair analysis and consultation. They examined my scalp and showed me on a magnified screen how sparse my follicles are. I was told that through their hair restoration program, a combination of nutrition, special shampoo and serum, along with laser stimulation, they could rebuild, regrown, my thinning hair. I thought I would give it a try. He said I should be able to see improvement within 2-3 months. What have I got to loose?...except hair!


February 25 (Thursday)

This evening we met with Constance for a discussion with Elders Phung and White. Constance has come such a long ways since we first met him. From barely saying 2 words, to now having deep discussions on gospel topics, it's amazing to see the growth in him. He is really an intelligent young man and I can see him being an elder's quorum president some day.


February 26 (Friday)

I had a terrible sleep last night and woke up around 3:00 then again around 5:00 with an excruciating cramp in my right leg. I could barely stay awake in the sessions today. After supper, I laid down for a nap and woke up at midnight. So here it is 2:50 am and I have finally caught up on my blog! Yeah! But I better go to bed now. Still have to work tomorrow. Can't believe how this week has just flown by.

February 27 (Saturday)

We had a group of about 124 people come to the Temple yesterday so we held some extra sessions. Most of them were here for leadership training. It's so rewarding to see the growth in the Church.

After a long day, we decided to go out for dinner with the Bodily's. Everyone else had other plans. Shirley had told us about a huge food court sort of place at the Dragon Centre, so we thought we would try it out. We walked in, walked around, and then walked out. Not the kind of place we wanted to eat at...crowded, stuffy, unclean, unappetizing. So we walked around a bit and found a lovely restaurant called Cafe Med. So much nicer. Clean, comfortable atmosphere, friendly staff and great food. I had a AAA Canadian sirloin streak...yummy, tender, tasty, and it came with real french fries! It was a winner. Rating: 8.5.

February 28 (Sunday)

Today Elder and Sister Coffey spoke as this was their second last Sunday before they return home. It's always a bitter sweet time for missionaries. Happy to be going home, but sad to leave the many friends they have made over their time here. They have been incredible teachers for many classes. John and I will be taking over the Self Reliance Class. It's a very interesting class and I'm actually looking forward to getting more involved with it.

A couple of weeks ago, I handed out a form to all the sisters in which I wanted to collect information about them so I could compile a sort of yearbook. I'm hoping to interview them all and get a little life history of each sister. I did my first interview today. It is so emotional to hear this sister's story of her life. I was thinking of titling the book, "Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs". I look forward to my next interview. Each sister has such amazing stories to tell.

Only 14 weeks until we come home for a 6 week summer break while the Temple is under renovations.