Happy Chinese New Year

For a Chinese New Year celebration several of the young Elders, senior couples,  and our good friend Sheldon Poon met for a wonderful lunch.

These traditional trees are all over the place in Hong Kong for Chinese New Year.  They are  everywhere.  Especially the ones with the tiny oranges.  The red envelopes are "Lai See"  Chinese people put money in red envelopes and give as gifts to family members.

All the senior missionaries had a Chinese Hot Pot dinner on Chinese New Year's Eve.  Really authentic.  The 2 senior couples  who were  born and raised in Hong Kong prepared it all.   Communal cooking in one large hot pot -  as you can see mine was really hot,  as in temperature was really hot,  not the flavor.

Our friends John and Marilyn Chatterton arrived just last week.  They are serving in the Temple.  This is really fun for Lynn and John having served their missions here together in 1973-75.   What are the odds,  that couples who have been friends for years get called to the same place!   This was a good grocery shopping day for the 4 of us.  One of the first things we bought were the largest grocery bag/carts we could find.  These 2 we bought were the only 2 to choose from  in the size we wanted.   Lynn and John hate them because they are girly!

Walking through Victoria Park on Day 2  of Chinese New Year.

It’s easy to forget how wonderful a city is after forty years, but Hong Kong is truly one of the great places in the world.

This week was the week before Chinese New Year and reflected as much. At home, we could compare it to the week before Christmas. All the employees and businesses around the Wan Chai office were busy helping seven and a half million people making final preparations for the weekend.

 The Chinese New Year http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/chinese-new-year is something you cannot explain it can only be experienced. We began the New Year Celebrations by attending the parade in TST, a major population center in Hong Kong, where we were entertained by a myriad of marching bands, lion dancers, magicians, and acrobats. The evening was further enhanced by Elder and Sister Ferguson sitting next to us and Sister Ferguson sharing a bag full of goodies with us.

Besides the Parade, this week, we were able to make our weekly Skype calls to the other Public Affairs Missionary Couples serving in other countries in the Area. The Dowds, in Cambodia, had a particularly successful week and they were kind enough to share it with us. We also enjoyed another lunch with Sheldon Poon at the YMCA buffet.  He invited six young Elders and three other Senior Missionary couples to a pre-New Year lunch celebration. He is doing some great work with Craig Jessop, former Tabernacle Choir Director, through music conductor workshops in China.

Thursday night we arrived at the Temple for our weekly assignment and enjoyed a busy night. We were able to fill in for the Chinese workers who were busy with family commitments associated with the holiday. It was a special night and we enjoyed multiple opportunities in a few sessions that we probably could never experience in many sessions at home.

We continue to work with the Kendell’s, and Petts in the everyday Branch and we thoroughly enjoy this assignment. As far as I know this is the only place in the world that a full block of Sabbath Day meetings is held every day of the week.

We hope and pray that you will all be blessed with good health and prosperity in this new year of the rooster, “Gung Hei Faat Choi“!

Lynn and some of the Elders doing the Dragon Dance!

Our Temple Assignment

This week began with us taking a trolley to North Point, walking to Quarry Bay, getting back on the trolley, and getting off in Shau Kei Wan. Shau Kei Wan is a community on the far east side of the Island, and is the first place Elder Beckstead served as a young Elder. We were able to find the apartment building that he, Elder Ainscough, Elder Adamson, and Elder Woodward lived in close to forty-four (1973) years earlier. After this sentimental journey, we jumped on the Metro and headed back to North Point and ordered a hamburger at the Big Bite, a place that serves the most “American like” hamburger in Hong Kong.

Tuesday, we started the day with a special benefit that comes with our assignment here in Hong Kong, our monthly devotional with the Area Presidency. Elder Wong,  first counselor in the Area Presidency, in this meeting, shared with us that he received a call from Elder Stevenson asking, “how he and Sister Wong were doing”?  Elder Wong told him they were doing fine, Elder Stevenson replied, “I’m glad to hear that and you will probably be getting another phone call within a few days.” Elder Wong went on to say that he did get a second phone call, this call was from Elder Eyring asking him if he would serve as the Mission President of the Vancouver, Canada Mission. Although Elder Wong was completely surprised, he immediately accepted the Call, and will be serving in this new assignment for the next two years (General Authorities are called to serve two and not three years as Mission Presidents). So, we will be having a new General Authority join us in Hong Kong shortly.

Wednesday we were invited to the Temple to be set apart as Ordinance Workers. It was a wonderful experience, we both had a very spiritual moment when President Nihipali, in the setting apart pronounced the words, “The China Hong Kong Temple”. We returned the next evening, Thursday January 19, and served our first shift, another wonderful benefit associated with our Mission assignment.

Friday and Saturday we were very busy with our Branch assignments and our Public Affairs work. Sister Beckstead continues to monitor the Self Reliance Course and was so pleased this week with the effort of those participating. She often shares her poignant feelings concerning the love and humility she encounters each week they all gather together.

All in all, we had a busy and what feels like a productive week, We hope you all experienced the same. We love and miss you all but are able to find peace and comfort in serving here in Hong Kong.

 Thanks for all your prayers and support, talk to you again soon.

Street and Mall decorations everywhere for Chinese New Year.  This year is the year of the Rooster.  The Chinese New Year is  Saturday, January 28 - February 3.  Lots of celebrating,  food,  parades and  fireworks for the first few days.  Then the last few days are focused on visiting relatives and having lots of feasts.   Businesses close,  and employees get several days off to spend with their families.  

Every week brings new experiences and opportunities

The city is getting ready for Chinese New Year.  Sister Orton and I are on our way home from lunch.  

We got in line at 5:00 a.m. to get tickets for the Chinese New Year parade (January 28).  We were finally able to get our tickets at 9:00a.m.     Left to right:  Elder Pett,  Sister Yan,  Sister Lee,  me,  Sister Orton.   I'm not a fan of parades,  but we aren't going to miss this one!

We started this week meeting with Jerry Yu. Jerry is one of the members referred to us by Peter Chan and Caroline Gwok while we were still in Utah.  He is an investment banker in Hong Kong and knows many “persons of influence” here in Hong Kong.  He has served on the National Public Affairs Council, in Hong Kong, and understands the objectives of the Church’s Public Affairs Department.  He shared some of his ideas with us, specifically projects that he believes can help struggling neighborhoods. It was a productive meeting and we will be following up with him soon.

We also sat down this week with Patrick Cheuk and the Nielsen’s, to discuss how Public Affairs can most effectively work with the Humanitarian Group. We discussed better communication and follow up with all the various humanitarian initiatives in the twenty-plus countries here in the area. We then spent a second morning in a similar meeting with the Self-reliance Missionaries, Elder and Sister Chandler. It was our first glimpse into the number of individuals benefiting from a strong teaching focus regarding financial independence, and the hope that springs from institutional educational opportunities.

We also  received a call this week from the Temple Presidency and were invited to come in and interview for a Temple assignment. We were called as Ordinance Workers and will be working on Thursday nights. The Hong Kong Temple typically involves multiple languages in every session and sometimes will have temple workers and patrons speaking up to three different languages at the same time.

We ended the week with our Saturday Church Meetings and a fun Relief society dinner. The Sisters set up five or six folding tables end to end forming a single row stretching from one side of the cultural hall to the other. They then covered them with white plastic tablecloths and banana leaves lying flat on the center of the tables. Next, they scooped white rice probably eight inches wide and three inches high on the banana leaves from one end of the tables to the other end. Then they decorated the rice with chicken wings, vegetables, fish and assorted spiced pastes and sauces. It was quite a sight and very artful. We were then, (all fourty-plus) invited to line up on both sides of the tables shoulder to shoulder facing each other with the food between us. We stared at each other for a minute and then someone said something in Tagalog which must of meant go because everyone started eating the food. Keep in mind that there are no utensils allowed in this exercise and it was not a team sport.

Every week here brings us new experiences!  Hope you all have a great week.

Here with our Filipina Sisters,  they have prepared a "Boodle Fight"  This Philippine tradition is patterned after the Philippine Guerrilla fighters who would eat in the jungle by spreading out banana leaves on the ground,  spread  out their food on the banana leaves,  and of course without utensils would eat with their hands.    The Sisters in our branch love to put on these Boodle Fights.    They line up on both sides of the table,  and when everyone is ready they just start eating with their hands.  Rice,  dried fish (including the heads), and chicken,  I have no idea what the rest of it was.  

Lynn and Elder Pett wanting it to look like they were eating the fish,  but they weren't!  However,  Elder Kendell (our Branch President),  he was eating it!

I love the Filipina sisters in our branch.  Sister Pett and I were called and trained to teach a Self-Reliance Coarse in our branch.   We have a group of 19 sisters enrolled.  We meet every Saturday morning before  Sacrament Meeting from 10:00-12:00,  the coarse runs for 13 weeks.   I really enjoy this experience.  These classes are being taught all over Asia,  and as I understand it,  it's   becoming more widespread in the states now.   

Panda Bears, Harps, and the Temple

Panda Bears, Harps, and the Temple…

We ventured out to Ocean Park on Monday and saw a couple of lazy Panda Bears sleeping. They were rolled up in a ball so although I can now say I saw live Panda Bears I would not be able to tell you what they look like. That evening we had the opportunity to attend a charity event in Chai Wan at a very nice community theatre. The charity is operated by Caroline Kwok, a member of the Church, who is currently living in China but originally from Hong Kong.  The program featured a youth choir, several different chamber orchestras, pianists, and a group of Harpists. The talent level was excellent, providing wonderful musical performances throughout the night. One of the unique performances was a group of fifteen or more harps on stage all at the same time.

Later in the week after a long day in the office we met up with the Fergusons for dinner. The Fergusons are from Bountiful, Utah and work in the legal department. Brother Ferguson is a BYU law graduate and studied there in the mid 70’s. They are good friends with our friends at home Steve and Peggy Geurts, so we already feel like we have something in common with them. They are a wonderful couple and I am sure that we will become close friends in the next year and a half. One of the great rewards in serving here is the number of Senior Missionary Couples you meet.

Another amazing benefit we realize form this Mission is  the first Thursday of every month we attend the Temple with the Area Presidency. We then meet after the session for lunch and a meeting with these three General Authorities. This last week they discussed very specifically with us what they would like to see happen in the Area. It always seems to make you feel important when they say, “the things discussed today are for this room only”, but it does not help much to fill up blog space. I believe all three of these men have spoken in General Conference so if you’re interested you might want to look them up. Elder Randy D Funk, Elder Chi Hong (Sam) Wong, and Elder David F. Evans.

We will have a few weeks of office work before the Chinese New Year begins, on the 28th, when any momentum developed between now and then hits a wall for a week of celebration.

Looking Ahead to a New Year

We closed out the year with more celebration and two baptisms on Christmas Eve. The week after Christmas the senior Missionaries and the Area Presidency met on New Year’s Eve, at the Wan Chai Building, for dinner and games. Karen and I were late because it was Saturday and we attend church on Saturday. We not only had the three-hour church block but it was Elder Mark White's last meeting, he will be leaving for home the following Friday. Elder White served in the International District for eleven months (which strikes me as a long time to serve in one area) and had developed strong ties with the members in the district. It was a very emotional night for both he and the members, and many tears bore witness to the love that can develop between those that teach and those that are taught.

The Senior Couple party ended at about 9:00 p.m., after the party Karen and I caught a bus back to Hung Hum and our apartment. The fireworks began at midnight but the first I saw of them was on an email we received from Jill the next morning. I was told that the building we live in was shaking from the shock of the fireworks but I can’t remember anything after my head hit the pillow. It was one of my best nights of sleep last year.

We begin the New Year with the Area Presidencies Area goals which I have attached.

Happy New Year!!!!