Jacob Stewart Bennett

We continued to learn and grow this week as Missionaries serving in China, thousands of miles from our home and family. We experienced the harsh reality of being away from our children this week when our eighteenth grandchild was born. Jake came to us on the 6th of July and is doing his part in bringing a fair balance of the number of boys versus girls in our family. Although we could not be there it was a wonderful experience for us to see photos of all Shannon’s sisters and their families at the hospital supporting her. As parents of five very independent stubborn girls it’s hard to hold back tears when they gather in love and show Christlike compassion to each other. It’s a testimony that having mom’s wonderful example has taken root in our family and will flow into future generations forever.

We had a new experience at the Temple this week. In the past, we have participated in sessions narrated in Thai, Mandarin, Mongolian, Cantonese, and English. In addition, we have also experienced patrons speaking Russian, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and Indonesian. We can now add Khmer, the official language spoken in Cambodia. We worked with a group of fifteen or so Cambodian patrons this week and it was a spiritual treat. It’s hard to wrap our minds around the sacrifice and commitment required for members in this part of the world to receive their Temple Ordinances. The patrons that we met this week understand and except in all likeliness that they will never see the inside of a Temple again in their lifetime.

 With this knowledge, they come to the Temple with a determination to absorb all they can in the sessions they are able to attend in the few days they are here. It is a lesson to us to witness that because of the righteous desires of their hearts and through the influence of the Spirit their minds are enlightened and they learn in those few days what it takes most of us a lifetime to learn. They leave here stronger and better prepared for whatever challenges await them in their future lives. Our testimonies of the Temple Ordinances have grown significantly as we have participated in Temple work here in Hong Kong.

Each week we experience a good week with our Mission Companion. An immense benefit of being a Senior Missionary is that you bring your companion with you into the Mission Field.  Another is that in our case one of us will never be saddled with the burden of being the Senior. (you can guess which one of us wears the pants) We love being together 24/7 and getting the chance to remember why we fell in love, I’ve learned that if I were not already married to mom I would seriously be chasing her. Our Mission has confirmed to me what one of my High School friends told me years ago, “Lynn, when you got Karen you got the catch of West High School.”

Our newest Branch member,  Lynette.  She is amazing!

Our Sister Missionaries.  They are wonderful.  These Sisters  are from the Philippines.  They work really hard with the Philipino people.   

The men who patrol our apartment complex are all Gurkha soldiers from Nepal.   This is Jimmy.  They are all so nice and they love all of us senior missionaries who live here.  "Better to die than be a coward" is the motto of the world-famous Nepalese Gurkha soldiers who are a part of the British Army.   The weapon of the Gurkha is a special knife called a Khukuri Knife.  Lynn used to see these soldiers when he was a missionary here,  they carried their knives tucked in the back of their pants.   Jimmy told us that's how they carry them when they aren't on active duty.  Otherwise they carry them on their hips.   When Lynn asked Jimmy where his knife was,  he said they weren't allowed to carry them here,   they keep them at home.   The tradition is if you draw your knife,   you must draw blood,  if they don't draw the blood of another, they knick themselves on their hands and draw their own blood.  These soldiers  are very respected and it is fun to see them around here all the time.

Elder and Sister Funk invited the senior missionaries to a 4th of July Barbecue.  Their apartment is on the 11th floor of the Wan Chai building that includes a nice patio.  It was so fun.  

Best part of our week,  welcome Jacob Stewart Bennett.  Jake arrived on July 6th.  Congratulations to Shannon, Dave, Madi, Ryan, Abigail, Chloe, and Kaitlynn!   What a blessing to your family and to all of us!