Week of Thanksgiving

This last week we had several memorable experiences beginning with a special moment last Sunday.  I was sitting on the stand, gazing at Karen, and pondering the reality of her having the opportunity to serve as a full time Missionary. It occurred to me that she has patiently waited many years to enjoy the reality of entering the realm of serving full time and then returning home with the honor of forever bearing the title of a “Returned Missionary. I was overwhelmed with a surreal feeling of gratitude to be a part of her opportunity to realize a lifelong dream.

We attended a devotional on Tuesday and were taught by Eder Meurs. He shared a video recording of an interview he did in Australia before being called into the Quorum of Seventy. The televised interview was a similar format to MSNBC Business with a news reporter like Lou Dobbs in America. The take-away of Elder Meurs message was the importance of relationships and the value added when developing and managing a project, especially of the size and scope of the one being discussed in the interview.

On Thanksgiving Day, which is not a Hong Kong holiday, we worked in the office in the morning and then met Elder and Sister Chatterton, their daughter and son in law at the Hopewell Center for Lunch. The Hopewell Center houses a revolving restaurant on the sixty-second floor of the building that serves one of the two finest buffets in the city. Our plan was to eat and then spend the afternoon catching up on some work in the office but after feasting and revolving for the better part of two hours we went back to the apartment and enjoyed a wonderful nap!

The day after Thanksgiving we worked in the office (I’m using the word work rather loosely here) until three o-clock and then went down to the lobby to help decorate for the Christmas holiday. The men that work at the security desk in the building oversaw bringing in all the boxes of decorations from storage. As they brought them in they were unpacked and put in their proper places based on photos of years past. The decorations included a large nativity set, wreaths, bells, lots of holly and ivy, and of course a larger than life Christmas tree.

The Christmas tree and all the decorations were opened, and the tree was assembled and decorated by at least a dozen people. All of them were warranted by the size of the tree and the multitude of boxes containing bows, ribbons, and decorative Christmas ornaments of every size and shape imaginable. Upon completion of this organized chaos, those involved stepped back to admire the now newly created work of art. No doubt it was beautiful, and just as everyone was congratulating one another on this miraculous feat of a human army working together someone noticed an undisturbed box somehow passed over. The group gasped when the box was opened and they found in it the Christmas tree lights that should have gone on the tree first.

Friday, we kicked off the “Light the World” campaign by hanging a large banner on the outside of the building. My personal opinion is; in the years that follow they find something different from this humongous piece of canvas hanging from this beautiful building. Hopefully some kind of high definition laser projection that does not have a negative impact to the architecture of the structure holding it up.

The end of the week featured a Thanksgiving feast worthy of the holiday being celebrated at home. Turkey with cranberry, stuffing and mashed potatoes with gravy, rolls with butter, sweat potatoes, and at least a dozen pies. Shared with the Senior Missionaries assigned to the Asia Area and a few others including Sister Evans. It was a time to be thankful for and to reflect upon another year of blessings received.

This is the TSZ Shan Monastery and Guan Yin Statue.  This is the world's tallest bronze Guan Yin (Goddess of Mercy, also known as Kwun Yum).  Yes, she's bronze, painted white!    We visited here with other senior missionaries,  it was beautiful.  Not to mention finally getting some perfect weather for adventures.

            Robert and Cheri Jenson,  us,  Teddi and Randy Jones,  Marilyn and John Chatterton.

On Thanksgiving we went to lunch with our friends the Chattertons,  their daughter and son-in-law.  This is the view from the Hopewell Center  - Grand Buffett.  It's a revolving restaurant on the 62nd floor.  The view was good,  the food was great!

Our decorating day was the day after Thanksgiving.   We can't believe it's almost our second Christmas here in Hong Kong!

Totally random,  this is the view from our office window,  (our view is looking behind our building).  Not very attractive,  but none the less,   I've grown accustomed to it !