Young Old Friends, Old New Friends, and BFF

August 15 (Monday)

A trip to the YMCA, not a likely place for a buffet lunch, but here in Hong Kong, the YMCA Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui is a very popular place. What makes this lunch so special is the special people we are having lunch with...Elder Love and Elder Taylor. Elder Zak Love was a member of the popular boy band "Beyond 5". Through the Burton's we became well acquainted with the boys in the band and Zak's family. Elder Taylor is his companion. We were excited to hear that Elder Love was called to Hong Kong. We finally had a chance to meet up with him for lunch and had a great visit. He's an awesome missionary and so is Elder Taylor!

Elder Love and Elder Taylor

Buff and Stuff @ the YMCA lunch buffet

While we were waiting for the Elders, we ran into a group from Canada. The red and white maple leaf was a dead giveaway, eh. They were students traveling through China on a Canadian promotional entrepreneurial tour. Great young ambassadors!


August 16 (Tuesday)

What a wonderful start to another week. Patron housing was full to capacity. I had the privilege of being the celestial room attendant. One by one the patrons came in. As I observed 3 special couples who had come to the Temple for their first time, my heart was full. I saw them holding hands with their eternal companion and their faces aglow. I wondered if they really realized to the full extent what blessings lie ahead for them and their families. This one single act of  being sealed together for time and eternity is the start of a family unit that will link families before and after into the eternities. I've been so blessed to witness these special moments and partake of the spirit therewith.

It's thrilling to see how the church is growing throughout Asia.

 After our shift, we went to a visa office where we were told we could apply for a visa into China. With passports in hand, we were excited about the prospect of being able to go into the mainland before we head home. The agent took a quick look at my passport and said that there'd be no problem. Then he looked at John's passport, paused, then shook his head. "Sorry, you don't qualify." What??? He said since John was born in China, then left, and had no documentation of birth, or ever having had a previous visa, he would not be approved to enter. "But I was born there! Can't I ever go back?" At this point, unless he provides some documentation, he will not qualify for a visa. Recently, the China Government has changed their ruling that anyone born in China, then leaves and wants to return must provide certain documents before being approved for entry. We'll try again when we get back to Canada. So-o-o frustrating!

Next stop, the church office building. John wanted to get some of his Hong Kong Temple pictures printed. The church is so efficient. We were introduced to Janet Cheong who handles a lot of the printing projects. She was able to get a quote for us for the pictures and we got the prints ordered.

I was informed that Janet was the Taobao master (on line ordering site like amazon). I mentioned that I wanted a get a traditional Chinese Emperor and Empress costume. With her quick fingers flying over her keyboard, she pulled up some sites with photos of various costumes. That's it! That's exactly what I was looking for. Janet was such a wiz on the computer, I asked her if she wouldn't mind ordering it for me. Within a few minutes it was done. And the price was amazingly cheap.


August 17 (Wednesday)

Happy Birthday our little Ellie Bun Bun. 6 years ago she joined our family. The first year was really rough with her rare condition known as heterotaxy syndrome. 3 surgeries in her first year, and thanks to modern medicine and Elder Russell M. Nelson's development of the heart/lung bypass machine, and a lot of prayer and fasting, she is now healthy and strong and a normal bright little 1st grader.

John cooked tomato beef for supper tonight. It was so awesome! I had 2 big helpings.

Man, you'd really have to be dying of thirst to drink this!
(Actually, the Chinese have really, really poor English skills!)

August 18 (Thursday)

I met the Ebbles family from Singapore today. She's a blue eyed blonde originally from South Africa and speaks Africano. I think her husband is American. Their children can speak English and Chinese. Their son was there to take out his endowments and was called on a mission to Japan. Such diversity.

Supper at our favorite noodle place: Lau Sum Kee. They make their own noodles and was highly rated by the food critiques. Just a little hole in the wall place, but they really pack them in, often with a long waiting line.

Portioning Noodles

Open kitchen, you can watch them prepare your meal.

On a scale of 1-10: Ambiance - 2, Flavour - 10!

We're not supposed to take photos of the security guards. Why, I have no idea. They are just so paranoid about taking any photos of anyone, doing anything. But John snuck this shot as they were getting their evening instructions. Most, if not all are from Nepal.

Harbourfront Security Team

August 19 (Friday)

Time is getting short before our mission will be done so we've been trying to get in as much shopping as we can and not leave it to the last minute. The costumes that Janet ordered for us arrived today. I was amazed at how quick it was. It was ordered on Tuesday. To my delight, the costumes looked amazing, bright beautiful embroidery and good heavy quality fabric. And mine fits perfectly. John fits great too, if he doesn't put on the sash. haha. Not sure when I'll have a chance to wear it, but it's a great keepsake.

The Dragon Lady - Empress Jude of the Dragon Dynasty

Emperor "Bruce" of the Dragon Dynasty

August 20 (Saturday)

An early shift at the Temple means we get home early. I'd like to go for a swim, but of course the pool is closed. What else is new? Went and picked up some groceries to help stock up supplies for Elder and Sister Chan, a new senior temple missionary couple who will be arriving tonight. Charles and Fanny Chan are from California, though they did live in Calgary and Edmonton for a short while. We are looking forward to getting to know them better.

Welcoming Elder Charles and Sister Fanny Chan (lens fogged up from the humidity)

Sister Fanny Chan and Elder Charles Chan

August 21 (Sunday)

Today is the quarterly Special Sunday Temple Opening for the Filipino sisters. It's always an exciting, spiritual day. I made the mistake of counting how many days we have left before we are released from our temple calling, only 75 days left! Then about 2 weeks after that, when we get home, we will be officially released from our mission.

Maribel and Veronica registering at the Sunday Temple Opening

As I sat in the chapel and thought that this would be my last Sunday Temple Day, I got all emotional, you know that feeling when your eyes well up with tears. Then across the room 2 sisters from our branch smiled and waved at me and gave me thumbs up. Again, emotions came to the surface and I thought how much I'm going to miss all these dear sisters. Then the meeting began and the choir sang. Today, I heard the choir of angels. This week has been so full of blessings as I have been touch by the spirit of so many faithful saints that have enriched my life and made my mission so incredible.
I thank my Heavenly Father for the blessings that he has bestowed upon me.

First day at the Temple for new Temple Missionaries Fanny and Charles Chan.

Last Special Sunday Temple Opening for Ngai's, Bodily's, and Chan's.

Singing Sayonara

August 8 (Monday)

Happy 9th Birthday to our sweet granddaughter, Addie! She's had her party planned for weeks. I'm sure it'll be a big hit!

Went for an early swim this morning. Ran into Sister Brown at the pool. We had a nice little visit. She's right...it is like a spa here.Unfortunately, their hours aren't very accommodating, but on a positive note, the surroundings are like paradise.

We went to visit Phoenix in the hospital. She's been there since before we left on our break. Just as we were trying to get in to see her, we were informed that she was checking out. We went back down stairs and found her in the lobby, just waiting for her final release documents. We only had a short visit since she still had meds to get and it would take some time. She seems to be doing well, but it was hard to say if there was any significant improvement in her mental condition. We didn't get a chance to speak with her doctor.

Constance is doing well and is continuing to meet with the Elders. It sure would be nice if he got baptized before we go home. Though Phoenix wants to get baptized, I don't know if she will be able to unless we get clarification on her level of understanding.

Elder and Sister Towers who work in the area office are finishing their mission this week, so there was a farewell dinner for them tonight. Seems like this is the beginning of quite a few senior couples who will be leaving shortly. We will miss this wonderful couple. They were a great help at the temple.

A fun farewell parody song written by Sister Roberts.

I don't know it. Keep your mouth closed, and you won't make a mistake.

Us with Sister and Elder Towers - He does, she doesn't, "tower" I mean.

August 9 (Tuesday)

The Temple will be busy again this week with more patrons from India and lots of new endowments of Chinese members. It's amazing how the church is spreading in these areas.


August 10 (Wednesday)

I've been trying to book tickets for "STOMP" at the Venetian in Macao. The Bodily's, Hathaway's, Chamberlain's and us have all decided to make a special weekend, taking in the show and staying at the Venetian. After many phone calls, and trying to juggle the time and date and booking show tickets to accommodate what we were looking for, we finally confirmed our get away weekend. I'm looking forward to staying at the Venetian and seeing this incredible group. The best part however, will be spending time with these wonderful people before we all depart and go our separate ways.


August 11 (Thursday)

Rain, Rain, Rain, and more Rain...wish we could send it all to California!


August 12 (Friday)

We were on the early shift and as usual, I didn't get a very good night sleep. So glad to get home and have a nap. John went to pick up Aunt May Soo to bring her to dinner in Hung Hom. Then we came back to our apartment so we could Facetime with Mom. May Soo is my Mom's little sister. We sure wish she could come back to Canada with us, but she is too hesitant to travel.

Belated anniversary dinner.

Looks like a mah jong tournament in the restaurant.

Mom made this Minion cushion for Auntie May Soo.

August 13 (Saturday)

We took the 6:30 shift this morning so we could get home early. We had planned a swimming party for the primary girls. Sister Nielson took them all to McDonald's for lunch, then we met at 2:00 to go swimming here. Unfortunately, the pool was closed due to a storm warning. Really? Are you kidding me? Doesn't look like any storm to us, and it's stinkin' hot! This really upsets me about this place because 50% of the time the pool is closed, even if the storm is hours away. Don't even get me started!!!

Back: Rowena Jacinto, Shannon Jacinto, Elder Roberts, Jessie Perdomao
Centre: Sister Nielson, Sister Roberts, Michelle Perdomo
Front: John, Judy, Gillian Jacinto, Megan Jacinto

We'd rather be swimming!

So we decided to rent the theatre and show a DVD "Rigoletto". It's my favorite movie, a cross between "Phantom of the Opera" and "Beauty and the Beast". When the movie was done, we went to see if the pool was open, only to be told it was just closing again! They opened it for about 1 hour (while we were in the movie), and now closed it again, saying there was another storm warning, even though there were only a few clouds in the sky. As it was, there never was any rain, not a single drop! Awww...so annoying this place!The girls were so disappointed. We went back to our apartment for pizza and watched another movie, "I Was Once a Beehive". Though the movies were fun, it wasn't swimming. We'll try again in a couple of weeks.

August 14 (Sunday)

John had an early meeting at church but I decided to go on my own later. As the day progressed, I began to feel nauseous and head achy but decided I'd go to church anyways. I made it through sacrament meeting, but felt I needed to go home. Came home and slept away the afternoon.

A New Angel Moroni

August 1 (Monday)

Today started off as one of the most exciting P-days we have experienced in Hong Kong. The Angel Moroni statue that sits on top of the Temple will be taken down today and replaced with a new one. Because of the weather conditions here, the statue has become dirty from all the pollution. It lost its shine, so it is being replaced. I never thought I would ever get to experience the raising of the Angel Moroni. It's such a historic event.

Removing the Angel Moroni

20 years ago Moroni was mounted on the Temple.

New, gold and shining, the crated new Moroni.

Pictures only...DO NOT TOUCH!

Well, we got to touch the "old" one in the truck.

Covered with smog and dirt, dulled by weather.

John and the old Moroni.

The day was hot and sunny but patches of clouds rolled in. They only had a 5 hour time slot in which the replacement could take place. It was scheduled for 10:00 am and to be done before 3:00 pm after which there was a typhoon warning. Unfortunately, there was a slight mishap with the removal of the statue which prevented the installation of the new statue. So after waiting for almost 3 hours, we went for lunch and on our return found out that Moroni would not be erected today.

Anyone else hot? We're melting!

Lunch with the Ngai's, Bodily's and President & Sister Wong

However, all was not lost. We did get to participate in another big event...the "big reveal" of our 14th grandchild...boy or girl? Thanks to facetime, we were included in the ultrasound reveal of Rylan and Molly's baby... (Drum roll... dah dah dah dah... trumpet) It's a......girl! Yeah!!! That makes 6 granddaughters, and 8 grandsons for us. We've been so blessed!


August 2 (Tuesday)

The category 3 typhoon warning from yesterday turned into a category 8 typhoon overnight. John and I had the early shift at the Temple. With the rain pouring down, we decided to catch a taxi. There were no buses or trains running, so the taxis were charging double. We got to the temple, only to find out that it was closed. We didn't know that everything shuts down, like everything, when there is a category 8 warning. So we rode the same taxi back to our apartment and paid double again. It was kind of nice to have the day off. I tried to catch up on some stories and blogging, however, I'm still behind.

Damaged vegetation all around our apartment.

Typhoon aftermath...trees were down all along the streets.

A little rain and a little wind, and the city comes to a stand still. Everything shuts down. Stores are closed and streets are bare. Back home, this would be nothing. They need to experience our Canadian blizzard...now that's a storm!

"Smiley" just finished cleaning the street after storm.

August 3 (Wednesday)

Happy Birthday to my sister Ilona! It was 8 years ago in 2008, just before the Beijing Olympics that Ilona and Keong, and John and I came on a 17 day tour to China. Such a memorable time together!

With the Temple open today, we had to do an orientation for the new patrons. It's always such a blessing to get to meet those who come from afar to the House of the Lord. We were privileged to participate in their endowment and sealing ordinances.

Aarchan (aka: Ava) and Alugu 

Katuka and Ramraj 

Raju, Bairavi, Darwin, Dallin Devaraju and President & Sister Funk

President Funk, Asia Area President, served his mission in India and now, years later, was privileged to seal these families.

August 4 (Thursday) 

Just another day at the Temple. So blessed to be serving a mission here. So many amazing faithful members.

Carolina Yue Yang and her aunt, first time to the Temple.

August 5 (Friday)

We got word that the Moroni statue would be raised today. President Wong announced that the Temple would be closed at 11:00, so we could all go out to watch this historic event. Things always seem to take longer than anticipated, but finally the crane started hoisting the statue up, up, and up.  A small impromptu choir began singing. I don't know what it is about seeing the statue of Moroni, but it brings a swelling to my breast and joy in my heart. I suppose it's the symbol of what it represents, the heralding of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, a sounding forth of the trumpet to aīll the world to come hear the word of the Lord. Such a thrill.

Moving Moroni on site.

Lowering Moroni into place. 

Impromptu Choir 

Some of our fellow Temple workers. 

Some of the male temple workers.

After we got off our shift, the Bodily's, and Hathaway's and us along with Ventatesh Alugu and Archana A.V. Vuppoda, a couple from India that were just sealed in the temple, all decided to go to Jumbo the Floating Restaurant. It was sort of a small celebration for the couple. We had an amazing time with them. Names from other countries are so hard to remember, so I gave Archana a nickname of "Ava". She quite liked it. And as for Alugu, he said his named meant "lightning", so we just called him "Lightning". The Church is growing so rapidly in India.

 World Famous Jumbo Floating Restaurant in Aberdeen

Once famous and visited by many Hollywood stars. 

Can't leave Hong Kong without the Jumbo Experience.

Dinner in "private" dining room...it seemed private 'cause we were the only ones there. 

Ornate dragon scuptures

"Ava" and "Lightning" Alugu - Newly weds Sealed in the Temple.

August 6 (Saturday)

President Wong wanted some changes made to the schedule. During the summer, there seems to be a shortage of workers in the Temple. We don't have our OAD during the summer, and we needed to adjust the schedule so that there is one couple who will cover Friday evenings.

I've been trying to research the best tickets for "Stomp". The Bodily's, Hathaway's, and Chamberlain's and us are planning to make a weekend getaway in Macao. Stomp is playing at the Venetian, so we are looking at getting a package deal with show tickets, hotel, and breakfast.

Bodily's came to help me get pictures from my ipad to my computer. Unfortunately, it didn't work, so there are a number of pictures that I wanted to include in my blog, but I can't figure out how to get them to where I need. Quickie late dinner at KFC then off to get groceries before the store closes at 11:00. How did it get so late already?


August 7 (Sunday)

Fast Sunday. Potluck Supper. 3 interviews. Another week gone.