Finding Christmas

December 21 (Monday)

The start of another week. Christmas is only 4 days away. I gave Victor a haircut before heading out to lunch in Shum Shui Po. Stopped by a street vendor and had fresh chestnuts roasted not on an open fire, but in a pit of sand pebbles. Yummy!

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..." 

How short did you want it?

 After Vic and Melisa left for Macau, John and I went over to Wan Chai to take care of some business. We checked out the creche display. There weren't a ton of them, but the ones they had were all so unique.

  

While wondering the streets of Hong Kong, we came across these real estate ads. Hong Kong is not a cheap place to live. Check out these prices!

 $468 means it is $4,680,000.00 HKD for 534 square feet.

Interpreted it is $850,900.00 Canadian for 534 square feet.

Which = about $1,600.00 per square foot.

As you can see by the photo, it is an older building and rather run down.

The newer building was $9,000,000.00 HKD for 686 square feet.

That's $1,636,400.00 Canadian or $2,385.00 per square foot.

Who can afford these prices?!

I guess living expenses in Lethbridge is pretty reasonable.






December 22 (Tuesday)

Another wonderful day at the Temple. We had so many Thai and Cambodian members come for the week to do temple work. They are such dedicated members and sacrifice so much to be here.

With the Ball's and Rancie's, we went out to dinner at Amaroni's Little Italy Restaurant. Let me tell you, nothing about this place was little! Pizza - huge. Salad - huge. Dinner- huge. I ordered chicken marsela with mushrooms. It came with 6 large full sized chicken breasts...enough to feed a small family. John ordered the grilled pork chops and got 3 huge pork chops. Left overs anyone?

Shrimp Caesar enough for 2 or 3

This is the left over portion of John's pork chops.

Judy's left over marsella chicken.

December 23 (Wednesday)

Tonight was our primary's night to do Christmas carolling on the steps at the church headquarters building. Because our primary only consists of 4 little girls, the parents and primary leaders pitched in to sing with them. It was a lot of fun. Fresh home made cookies were given out to the passer byers. Victor and Melisa had just returned from Macau, so they joined us. Victor didn't sing, but Melisa acted as our official photographer.

Colouring books and pencil crayons for singing so well.

On our way home, we stopped by Tsim Sha Tsui and watched the lazer light show. I don't quite know how to describe it. It was like nothing I've ever seen. It was an animated Christmas story on a super ginormous curved screen about a city block wide like an IMAX theatre with full stereo surround sound. Amazing...words just do it justice to try to describe it.

It's interesting to me that Christmas is such a big deal here...at least big commercially. Everything is so decked out in Christmas trees, snow, bells, snowmen, even Santa...sadly however, the most important part of Christmas is missing...the Savior, the real reason for Christmas in the beginning.

Well, we as a church are trying to get the real Christmas message out there, that Christmas is really all about Jesus Christ. One by one, we're making a little headway.


December 24 (Thursday)

It's hard to believe it's Christmas Eve. It just doesn't feel the same. We caught the Star Ferry to go to Aunt May Soo's for dinner at Maxim's. It's always fun to meet with Auntie. She's so full of life. She reminds me so much of my Mom, so being with her on Christmas Eve is extra special.

No turkey dinner, but chicken including the head!

On the way home we caught the MTR to the TST station. We usually go through Exit E and then catch the shuttle back to our apartment. However, on this particular night, the only exit open was "A" so all the people in the MTR were crammed out onto the street at that exit. As we hit the street, we were in a sea of shoulder to shoulder people. I'd never seen anything like it. Ridiculous. We soon realized that there were no vehicles on the streets, no shuttle, no buses, no taxis, no cars. We would have to walk back to our apartment.

The police were out patrolling, and though we just wanted to cross the street, they wouldn't let us. Instead, we had to walk about 3 blocks in the opposite direction to cross the street, only to back track and walk up the street where we initially started from. So annoying! So many people all moving at snail pace. I was tired and cranky by this time. I couldn't see the point in not letting people walk on the road since there was no vehicle traffic. Instead, 8 million people were crammed on the sidewalk and no one could get anywhere! Meanwhile, the streets remained empty...what's the point???!!!

In my head my thoughts were, "I hate this! This is the worst Christmas eve ever! I just want to be home. I miss my family. I miss my kind of Christmas! This is so annoying!" I tried to be positive, but the negative thoughts were so overwhelming. Finally, after about an hour, we made it back to our apartment, which normally would have been about 15 minutes, but not without incident. Poor Victor, barely made it as his knee/leg was giving out on him. He had done about 24,000 steps that day, about 14 km. It was way too much.

Home safe and sound, but it still didn't feel like Christmas. And what Christmas spirit I held felt with Auntie May Soo were dashed because of the traffic congestion. I pondered about all the people out on the street "celebrating", but exactly what were they celebrating? They had no clue. Very few people understand the true celebration of Christmas.


December 25 (Friday)

Merry Christmas! It's here. but where was that Christmas spirit? No excitement of children opening gifts. No story of the nativity. No smell of turkey baking in the oven. No snow. At least we had some family here with Victor and Melisa.

Victor woke up and could barely get out of bed and walk. So John went out to get him some Chinese ointment to rub on his knee. We had him ice it last night, but it was still pretty sore and stiff.

We were to spend the day with our Branch Family. John decided he'd better stay with Vic, so Melisa and I headed over to the Church.

Finding Christmas

We were to go over to the seniors home across the street from the church to sing Christmas carols and present all the elderly tenants with the home made blankets we had made as a service project. Melisa was wonderful to come as our unofficial, official photographer.

As we entered the building and I got my first glimpse of the accommodations; my heart sank. How sad it was to see the cramped conditions. I had to turn away and try to compose myself and get control of my emotions. Each patron lived in a small cubicle about 6' X 4' at best. One by one, they brought the elderly out from their cubicle and sat them in the open area to hear us sing.

The small 6 X 4 foot cubicles the residents live in.

It was hard to sing at first as thoughts kept running through my head, about how sad it was to see the condition these people lived under. Their faces looked lifeless. Did they even know why we were there? I tried to smile and think about the meaning of Christmas as we sang. Slowly, one here, then one there, yes, I could see some smiles coming out. As the singing continued, a few more smiles, some light in their eyes, and then clapping in time to the music. It was working. A Christmas Miracle! Joy to the world, even a little joy to their little world. To see those smiles warmed my heart.

After the singing was over, we presented each person with a blanket. I went around shaking hands with each of them, giving them a warm smile and in my "Chinglish" wished them, "Sing don fei lok", or in other words, "Merry Christmas". Some clasped my hand in theirs and gently shook it, not wanting to let it go and in their own way saying, "Thank You". I wrapped a blanket around one lady. With a big smile on her face, she pulled up her pants to show me she only had half a leg. We hugged. Another saying, "Come, we must have tea together sometime". So sweet. Another was also from Toisan where my family originated. Being from the same area, "we are kindred" she said. Yes, we are sisters! We are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

Blessed Christmas Morning! Finally, I had found Christmas! My heart was full!

Sister of Peninsula 3 Branch

Perhaps not pitch perfect, but we sang with a lot of heart.

A solemn assembly.

Sister and President Smart and Elder Coffey

This employee was singing along with us, so I invited her to join in. 

The clapping begins...

The smiles break out... 

 Feel the Love...

A blanket for ME?

I like my Santa hat! 

Merry Christmas...joy!

Wrapped in Christmas warmth - my lady with one leg and one BIG smile!

Sharing the Love

Merry Christmas!

So that was the start of my Christmas day. What a wonderful feeling. As we returned to the church for our Christmas Devotional, the feeling lingered. Sister Ball had put together a beautiful power point presentation with narration by Elder Ball and Elder Coffey and the primary children sang some special songs of Christmas. I was privileged to end the program with the reading of "The Living Christ", The Testimony of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I was glad that John was able to join us half way through the program since Victor was good on his own, just taking it easy and resting his leg.

What is Christmas without FOOD! The sisters in the branch are famous for their delicious meals. We ate, then ate, then ate more...followed by games. We showed our famous "Chan Chinese Chopstix Number Game". Got them all stumped except for a couple keeners. Then on to the "Cops and Robbers Scarf Game". We've got to do that one again. We all split a gut from laughing so hard!

I forgot that it wasn't a white Christmas. I forgot about presents wrapped under the tree. I forgot about a huge turkey dinner. Though I didn't forget about my family, I was blessed to be surrounded by my other family, the members of Pen. 3 (our little branch). Christmas had arrived, and this was my very special Christmas in Hong Kong! Hark the Herald Angels Sing...Glory to the New Born King!

Our Christmas Feast

Merry Christmas from the Peninsula 3 Branch

December 26 (Saturday)

So Christmas came and went. It was a Christmas like no other. We'll have such fond memories of our first Christmas as missionaries. Traditionally it is Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. Big, huge, sale day...but not here, just another day. The Temple was opened and was actually quite busy.

We were invited out to dinner with Victor's cousin. She never did give us her name. She just said to call her "auntie" which I thought was weird since we are both the same age. Her sister is Christine and she is younger, but was out of town. She is rather well off, and sent her driver to pick us up for dinner. We felt very pampered having our own "chauffeur". We enjoyed a marvelous seafood dinner.
"Auntie's" daughter Joely and her husband Peter, joined us for dinner. It was great to get to know them.

John's happy with his giant crab claw!

Lobster with saucy noodles. I could have eaten the whole dish myself!

Peter, Joely, Melisa, Judy, John, Victor, Auntie

December 27 (Sunday)

Another full day of church. A lot of the sisters are still away on holiday, so our numbers were small. Since I was called as the Primary Advisor, I had to pick up the slack with our leaders away. Today I did the sharing time. We normally only have 3 girls, Michelle, Gillian and Megan. They are such sweet girls.

Michelle, Gillian, Megan

Victor's cousin invited us out to dinner again. She wanted us to try this other seafood place to compare which one was better. Hard choice, they were both excellent each in different dishes. Auntie's husband joined us this night for dinner. Unfortunately, he had throat cancer and his voice box was removed, so he couldn't speak, but was such a nice smiley man. His name is "Siu" which means "smile". I found out Auntie's name is Yuk Hing Szeto.

Siu, Yuk Hing, and Victor

Sweet and Sour Thai Pork Chops

Squid on Brocolli Bed

Deep Fried Oysters on Steroids (They were Huge!)

Lobster with Saucy Noodles

Tiger Prawns on Steroids (The clear winner this night)

Looks like I am on Steroids too, haha...

 And so ended Christmas week. I had found Christmas.  I had felt the true spirit of Christmas. The spirit of giving and not receiving. The spirit of a feeling within that brings joy to my soul. The love of family, though far away, are never really far away at all. The love of our Heavenly Father and his beloved son Jesus Christ for which we celebrate Christmas. Life is good. Missionary life is awesome. And I am so thankful for all my countless blessings.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night!

"LOVE" is in the Air...

December 14 (Monday)

Today all the Senior Temple Missionaries and Temple Employees and Temple Presidency were invited out to a buffet luncheon at the Kimberley Hotel, sponsored by the area temple department. Elder Solomon was our host. He is the one in charge of all the Asia area temples. I love all the little perks of being a Senior Missionary. Another wonderful meal!

Lunch with Elder Solomon head of the Asia Area Temple Department

December 15 (Tuesday)

Happy Birthday, Brayden, our 6 year old grandson! He loves Mindcraft and had an awesome Mindcraft themed party.

Back to work at the Temple. I love it when it's busy. It was a very busy day with overflowing sessions. So good to see so many come from surrounding countries. I got to spend some time in the baptistry with some American sisters. It's so nice to have English speaking patrons to talk to and actually have a real conversation in a language that I can understand. These 5 young ladies had been teaching English in Beijing and were on their way back to the U.S. Two of them have their mission calls, one going to Singapore and the other to Taiwan.


December 16 (Wednesday)

Another busy day with a full missionary session which John officiated in. I love it when we have an English session and I don't need to use the headset. During a later session, I had all Cantonese sisters so had a chance to practice my Cantonese. I'm not getting very conversational, but I can memorize certain phrases.

Tonight we had an evaluation meeting with Sister Chamberlain to discuss the concerts. Feedback was mostly positive. Aside from the "odd" person who complained about it being in a "Mormon" church, everyone else in attendance thoroughly enjoyed the concerts.  We hope someone will carry on the concept for next year since the Chamberlain's, Coffey's and ourselves will all be done our mission by then. At least the groundwork has been laid and they have a template to go by. Overall, it was viewed as a huge success. I loved that I got to work on this project.


December 17 (Thursday)

*I love it when I wake up in the morning and it is a bright, clear, sunny day.
*I love it when I get a good nights sleep.
*I love it when I'm not coughing all night long.
*I love the Christmas season and seeing all the wonderful Christmas decorations all around.
*I love the huge 20' tree in our lobby.
*I love that we get to serve in the HK Temple.
*I love the friends we've made here.
*I love the gospel in my life.
*I love my Heavenly Father and I know he loves me too.
*But today, my special love goes out to Elder Zac Love who just arrived in Hong Kong last night to start his 2 year missionary service here.  We were so excited to see him when we went to drop off a welcome package for him from the Burton's at the mission home. He had just been assigned to his companion, Elder Anderson. Welcome to Hong Kong Elder Love. Hope to see you around and in the Temple.

Elder Love's first day in Hong Kong with Elder & Sister Chan

Elder Love and his trainer Elder Anderson

P.S. For those who don't know Elder Love, he was a member of a boy band called Beyond 5. The group had become close friends of the Burton family. John was their unofficial cook every time they came to Lethbridge. When we were in Utah, we had cooked for them and their families. Fun times! Other members of the group include Ammon Tuimaualuga now serving in Samoa, Tanner Myler serving in Mexico, and Patch Crowe serving in Scotland/Ireland. TJ Ryan was the only non LDS member and is currently residing in Utah.


December 18 (Friday)

Today was our OAD. Now that the weather has cooled off, I decided I'd better buy myself a coat. Not much luck finding one...too short, too long, too heavy, too tight, too casual, then when I finally found one that I thought would do, it was too expensive. Winter is only cool for a couple of months and I figure it's not worth it for the few times I would wear it. Anyways, today was still warm enough I could go out without a coat.

I love massage day. John and I both had massages from Sister Hung. I sure miss my monthly massages from Linda, but glad we found Sister Hung. She is excellent!


December 19 (Saturday)

I love being a Temple Missionary. We had a wonderful Christmas devotional for the Hong Kong China Temple workers with President Funk, President of the Asia Area and President Gong, the newly called President of the Seventies. They spoke along with President Wong, President of the Hong Kong Temple.

The devotional was incredible, not that anything profound was said, but you could just feel a special spirit there. As we sung the closing hymn, "Hark The Herald Angels Sing", tears just started rolling down my face. I was so touched by the music. I am so thankful for the birth of our Savior and for His life. Today, I truly felt the true spirit of Christmas. I wished that that feeling would stay with me all season long.

Sister and President Funk, Sister and Elder Chan, President and Sister Gong 

 After the devotional we were all invited to dinner and were privileged to dine at the same table with President and Sister Funk. He connected with John as they have a common friend in Terry Smith, from Raymond who is now serving in the Quorum of the Seventies. John had taught all their kids. Elder Funk was quite familiar with Raymond and southern Alberta.

The Temple Presidency with some of the Temple Workers

December 20 (Sunday)

A knock came early at our door...Victor and Melisa had returned from their cruise. They had a wonderful time, and now I'm all excited to go on a cruise...maybe next November before we go home.

I had to teach in primary for the first time in the branch. We also had singing practice with the primary kids since we will be caroling on Wednesday at Wan Chai. So Vic and Melisa were on their own. Good thing Vic knows his way around Hong Kong. Even though it was the Sabbath, we cheated and went out for dinner. Victor paid, so does that make it OK?

Only 5 days till Christmas...I guess we won't be having a white Christmas here.

Bo-o-o-r-r-r-ing...

December 7 (Monday) 

P-day. Getting back to normal. One day left before returning to work at the Temple. It's been a quick 2 week break. We hired a cleaning service to come clean the apartment every week. Sure is nice to have done especially after all the company.

Christmas is less than 3 weeks away. I feel so out of it. No shopping done. No cards sent. No tree decorated. No baking. No planning a big Christmas feast. Yes, Christmas will certainly be different this year.

I've inherited this horrible cold passed down from Wayne, to Jasmine, now me. Hope it passes soon. We went to the pharmacy to get some Tylenol, but they didn't know what I was asking for. He typed it into his computer and this is what came up, "Biogesic", (HK form of Tylenol) so that's what I've been taking.


December 8 (Tuesday)

I coughed so much last night, that every time I coughed my insides hurt so bad. My head was stuffy and my nose was running. Ahhhh I hate having colds. I decided I'd better not go in to the Temple and spread my germs around, so my 2 week break is being extended, though I'd rather be healthy and back at work.


December 9 (Wednesday)

I was hoping I'd be better today, but the cough is still deep in my chest. I was hoping to just sleep in and get a good rest. BUT...at 7:30 there was someone at the door. Phoenix. John answered and said that I was sick in bed. She had a gift for me. Now why did she do that! She gave me a jade bracelet. I fell asleep again only to be woken by the phone. It was Sister Ball checking to see how I was doing. Then back to sleep.

Interruption #3 was Sister Stromberg with her report about their meeting with Phoenix. She had great news. They had also been teaching Constance, her son, and he is progressing very well. Looks like I won't be getting any more rest for now. I called Elder Macbeth to set up a meeting with Phoenix. He's a psychologist, and Phoenix has agreed to meet with him. However, as a missionary, he does not have a license to practice here so he referred me to Timothy Gartz, who is also a member of the Church. I contacted him and he has agreed to see Phoenix.


December 10 (Thursday)

Another day at home. Cough has subsided a bit. Dare I say, I should be back to work tomorrow? Hope so. If there is anything positive with having this cold, it is that I've lost 2 pounds. Now if I can just lose a few more. Fat chance...no pun intended...haha.


December 11 (Friday)

Hallelujah! Finally felt good enough to return to work at the Temple. Not 100%, but good enough. It wasn't very busy.


December 12 (Saturday)

After such an uneventful week, I felt like I needed to get out and do something. Eat...what else. So we hooked up with Richard and June Lee and went to dinner at "Kitchen J". It was a blend of western, Japanese, and Italian. On my rating scale, they get a 9. Good value, good atmosphere, good food. We ordered a set meal for 4. It included soup, salad, appetizer platter, a grill item, a main course, a side, a dessert, and a beverage. Sounds like a lot of food, but we polished it all off. OK, I'm stuffed!

Listed on menu as "Very Nice Crab Salad

Appetizer Platter: French Fries, Fish Fillets, Sausage, Chicken Wings

Grilled Salmon

Chicken and Mushroom Dorian

Grilled Pork Chop

Creme Brule 

December 13 (Sunday)

Happy Anniversary Jade and Mike Goodman! 11 years, 3 awesome kids, and new house #3 under construction, successful chiropractic business, and young entrepreneur. Not bad in only 11 years.

Just another Sunday in our Peninsula 3 Branch. Today was my first day in Primary as the Primary Advisor. There are only 4 little girls that make up our Primary. They are all terrific!

Sister Bortong is finishing her mission this week. She was an awesome missionary. Bye bye and good luck in all your future endeavors.

Coincidence? Timothy Gartz, whom I had spoken with earlier this week re: Phoenix,  just happened to be speaking in our Branch today. Hm, go figure. His wife is Chinese and they have 3 little children. The youngest one is a real handful, extremely active. Guess who got to teach him in primary? Yup, yours truly, since they had no teacher for him. A spur of the moment lesson with no preparation and no materials for a hyperactive 3 year old...we coloured, made paper airplanes, drew finger puppets on his hand and rolled up mats to make tunnels to crawl through. I don't know how it all related to the lesson of "I Know That My Redeemer Lives", but we made it through the class time and managed to keep him in the room as he kept trying to escape. Needless to say, I was relieved when lesson time was over.

Making Memories

November 30 (Monday)

Today's adventure took us to the Prince Edward MTR area, Fa Yuen Street. Went for congee and oily sticks. Not bad. not good. Rated: 6 for flavor. Rated: 1 for ambiance.

On the MTR we came across this very interesting person. She definitely was making her own fashion statement. She had about a dozen colourful mismatched hair clips in her dyed red hair, make up that was more like war paint, and enough rings and bracelets that she could open her own store. It's too bad you can't see her outfit which was a smattering of pinks, reds, orange and purple with blingy sandels...a bag lady at best.

John tried to be as inconspicuous as possible when taking this picture. You can see our reflection in the window. Her appearance was what caught our eye, but her personality was nothing short of schizophrenic. She was constantly talking to her imaginary friend and would laugh and carry on as if someone was there talking with her. At one point, as our ride progressed people filled the seats next to her. One lady came on the train and stood next to her because there were no more seats. The strange lady kicked her in the legs and yelled something like, "get out of here!"  Everyone just stared and moved away. One way to keep people from invading your space. Pretty crazy!

Went to Kwai Fong to order chops (Chinese name stamps) for the kids. Also wanted to pick up the spinning tops that the kids were having so much fun with. Jade had bought 1, but all the kids wanted one, so we thought we'd go back and buy more. After roaming and wandering up and down and round and round all the aisles, we could not find the store! Frustrated after an hour, we gave up. I'll have to ask Jade if she remembers which level and what area the store was. 4 levels of shopping in a mall designed as a maze, did us in.

The GooBur Tour is in Xian today leaving for Beijing. Because of poor visibility, flight was delayed.

December 1 (Tuesday)

It's so nice to have Victor with us this week. He knows the area fairly well and is a great tour guide when it comes to places to eat. Today he suggested that we go to Yuen Long in the New Territories to try the Tai Wing Wah Restaurant famous for "Village Cuisine". The place was packed and we had to wait in line for a table. Of course, like many other restaurants, if there is room at a table that is not full, they just seat you there with complete strangers. The food was not a disappointment. Rated: 9.  It could have been a 10 if we had our own table and the rest rooms were clean.

Exploring the streets of Yuen Long

I found a nice little brass Buddha to add to my miniature collection. 

Now that's one honkin' kettle! 

John loves his chicken feet!

On the way home, we stopped by Kwai Fong in hopes of finding the lazer spinning top store again and order more chops for the rest of the grandkids. After talking with Jade and picking her memory about where the toy store was located, we finally found it! Do you know why we couldn't find it yesterday even though we walked past it many times? They were closed!!! When the shops are closed, there is a metal garage-like door that  completely covers the store, so you don't know what is behind it. No wonder we couldn't find it! So we loaded up on the spinning tops, actually called "UFO Gyros". Everyone will be happy now, especially me.

GooBur Tour - The Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square


December 2 (Wednesday)

Today's itinerary took us by bus to Kowloon City. This is an older area and there were many Thai businesses. We decided to try a "hot pot" restaurant. This is a unique style of cooking. In the middle of your table is a gas burner. They put a pot of boiling water on it and you start throwing in your various ingredients to cook. It started with tomatoes for the base. Add to it sliced pork, beef, shrimp, fish, and intestines? (I didn't touch that), and lettuce and water cress. Toss in what you want, and fish out what you tossed in. Rated: 6. At least I can say I've tried it.

Ready...

Set... 

Go...

Any resemblance? 

Budgies for sale, for pets, not lunch.

Sweet little girl in front of Thai restaurant (owner's daughter?)

Not quite like a Wal-Mart Service Centre

We came across this street of auto services. You better hope your car never needs servicing because their garages are only large enough to fit one vehicle, barely. What is pictured above is the whole size of the garage! Oh how spoiled we are when it comes to space.

Got an email from the girls today. They finally found an amazing shopping place... now they're happy. GooBur Tour - The Great Wall of China


December 3 (Thursday)

This past week has just flown by. The kids will be back in Hong Kong tonight. Their trip to Xian and Beijing had its ups and downs. Flight delays were a definite downer as it wasted one whole day. Weather was cold and windy, but clear, so they got a good view while on the Great Wall of China.  Shopping was good at one point, but not enough time. Of course seeing the Terracotta Warriors is simply amazing. All in all, I think it was a great experience for them all.

Sick of Chinese food? Yup. Tonight I've made reservations for just the adults at Dan Ryan's Chicago Grill, an American franchise. It will be nice to have "normal" food. Emmy, Azia and Parker will watch the little kids tonight. I made tacos for them. That will be a treat after a week of Chinese.

Just got an email from Wayne requesting prayers on his behalf...he has a bad cold and hoping that it won't turn into laryngitis. YIKES! That would be disastrous. With concerts on Friday and Saturday, this couldn't come at a worse time.

Victor leaves today for Singapore to catch a cruise with Melisa. They will return in time to spend Christmas with us.

The Goodman's arrived first, back from Beijing. We waited and waited and waited for the Burton's to arrive. We thought they would be right behind since they were on the same flight, and we booked the same shuttle company for pick up. However...the Goodman's ride was there waiting, but the Burton's ride never showed up!!! Ultimately they ended up catching 2 taxi's back to our place. Someone sure messed up the reservation. Not impressed!

Oh well, carry on. I got the kids fed their tacos, then the adults rushed off to our dinner reservation at Dan Ryan's. It was a wonderful meal and a much needed time out without the kids.

I booked a hotel room for the Goodman's for one night since they were leaving the next day. the Burton's stayed with us. 9 people in our little unit was rather crowded, but we all survived.


December 4 (Friday)

Jade, Jasmine, and Emmy did a quick trip back to Shenzhen to pick up Emmy's grad dress which she had custom made. She looks gorgeous in it! It was a rush trip since Jade had to get back for the return home with the shuttle coming at 4:30. Sad to say good-bye. I'm missing them so much. I hope we will be able to go visit during our summer break. By then their new house should be built. It would be fun to check it out. Or, it would be awesome if she could make another trip back!

One last picture with Anna and Elsa at Harbour City

All packed and ready to go home...We'll miss you...Bye bye Hong Kong.

No time for tears, we had to get ready for Wayne's concert. Jas and the kids decided not to attend the Friday concert, but would go on Saturday. So John decided to stay with them as Jas wanted to return to Ladies' Market.

The concert was awesome. The only disappointment was the crowd, which was smaller than we had anticipated. Nevertheless, the concert was great and very spiritual. Other performers for the evening were Leah Cerbolles and Songs of the Heart Singers. Wayne did an incredible job, as usual, especially considering he was battling a cold. Having a priesthood blessing sure helped him make it through. He had glowing comments by many who had attended.

Guest singer - Leah Cerbollos

When we got back home and off the elevator, I noticed someone sleeping on the bench. It was Phoenix! I woke her up and asked what she was doing there. She was waiting for me. She felt like she needed to talk to me and that I could help her. Without going into a lot of detail, we sat and visited for about 1/2 hour. She actually seemed to be listening to what I had to say this time. She seemed focused and her mind didn't wander and she didn't interrupt. That's progress. Anyways, I managed to get her to agree to meet with one of our church psychologists in hopes that they can help her. I invited her to come to Wayne's concert with us tomorrow. I think it would be good for her to hear some good uplifting music and feel the spirit of Christmas.

December 5 (Saturday)

Another busy packed day planned. First on the agenda, pictures at the Hong Kong Temple. Target time: 9:30 am. John went ahead with the little boys, the rest of us followed momentarily. We thought they would wait for us in the lobby, but when we got there, they were no where to be found. So we thought they probably had just gone ahead to the MTR station, so we headed there. When we arrived, they were not there. What? Where could they be? They left before us, yet we didn't pass them. There's only one way to go. Wait, wait, wait. So much for keeping to our schedule.

When we had left the apartment, it was very chilly and extremely windy, so John and the boys decided to go back and get their jackets. Apparently, we must of missed each other as they were going up the elevator, we were coming down. We finally met us and headed off to the Temple. Took a quick walk around the Temple and took some pictures. The Temple is closed till December 8.

Azia, Cardiff, Sawyer, Parker, and Emmy with Grammy and Grampy in front of the Hong Kong Temple.

 Next stop, lunch. We decided to go to the MOKO Food Opera (food court). We introduced the Burton's to "Pepper Lunch" and they loved it. Added some dim sum items and specialty drinks. then off to our next shopping adventure at Kwai Fong for the girls. John took the boys to Li Yuen street to the Knick Knack store. The girls found lots to shop for but only had time to get through 2 out of the 4 floors of shops. I guess they'll just have to come again.

Rush, rush, rush home, change and get to the Wan Chai for the concert. Poor Wayne! he was trying to get his family to sing with him, but everyone was being so defiant. I don't know what happened between the time we left the apartment to when we arrived at the church, but suffice it to say, thank God for small miracles. When we got to the Church, the whole family, including Jasmine were up on the stage practicing The First Noel...amazing. They all sang during the concert. It was heartwarming!

The Concert was magnificent! We could sure feel a special spirit. There were many VIP non member guests and the parents of the young performers plus many other friends of members. It was estimated that there were about 200 non members attending! The Children's Choirs were so delightful as only children can do. The strength of the missionaries also added to the spirit of the evening. So many people commented how wonderful it was to be able to see and hear Wayne's family perform. It added such a personal touch to the evening.

Children's Show Choir 

Junior Show Choir

The highlight for Azia was the photo op with all the missionaries. That made her day. That made her trip all worth while! She's so cute that way. She loves missionaries, elders and sisters alike. She'll make an incredible missionary herself someday.

Some of the 150 Hong Kong Missionaries with Emmy, Parker and Azia 

Elder Peacock (AP), President Lam (Mission President), Elder Liew (AP)

President and Sister Lam and us.

Oh yes, Phoenix did come to the concert with us. She was very silent the whole evening. However, when someone asked her, "Are you a member of the church?" She looked at me then smiled and said, "Not yet." That to me was hope, and a sign of good things to come in the future.

Me and Phoenix 

The Family with Elder and Sister Chamberlain

These last 2 nights wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for the coordinated efforts of Sister Chamberlain of the public affairs department. A very successful event.

December 6 (Sunday)

The night was short. Now here we are at another good-bye. I didn't think it would affect me as much as it did. It was wonderful having some of my family here and I'm so grateful they were able to come. I didn't think I would be so emotional about them leaving.

Company is great, but there is something to be said about a house of order. I did manage to get things tidied up before heading off to church. However, as the day wore on, my occasional cough turned into a constant cough. Add in a runny nose and watery eyes, and a sore throat, I think it all adds up to a full blown cold.

I decided to go to church, but by the time sacrament meeting was over, I knew it was best to go home and not spread my germs around...especially since the sisters in the branch are always so huggie. It was fast and testimony meeting and there were many tender moments. This didn't help my weepy cold. I couldn't tell if it was emotional tears, or tears from my congested head and runny nose.

As I looked at my calendar today, I had looked at it with such great anticipation with family coming and the daily agenda of activities. Suddenly it had come and gone in a flash. 2 weeks. Now I'm having withdrawal. I'm so grateful for the time we had together. There were stressful moments for sure, but overall, the great memories will out weigh the sibling fighting and bickering. And we'll laugh at all the things that stressed us out..rides that weren't there to pick you up, flights delayed, fear of abduction, fear of getting lost, fear of not knowing the language, annoyances of rude sales persons, ill mannered people, not being able to keep on schedule, smog, etc. etc.  There will be stories to be told and retold as wonderful memories were made. But for now, I'm just suffering withdrawal. I miss my family and count down the months till we'll be home. That's the hardest part of my mission.