We are in enjoying the Christmas season this year with so many opportunities to celebrate, participate, and reflect on all the goodness that can be felt at this time of year.
Hong Kong is always a spectacular view at night with hundreds if not thousands of building structures as tall as anywhere else in the world, creating a skyline of millions of colored lights reflecting in the harbor.
During Christmas time the City, as awesome as it is, really amps it up by adopting a Christmas theme of red and green with Merry Christmas and Happy New Year salutations illuminating in every kind of way you can imagine. Unfortunately, the motive behind this gargantuan effort and beautiful display is commercial rather than spiritual. None the less with the right attitude we can transform this mirage into something that feels very special and recognize all the goodness taking place in the present that “Charles Dickens” described so well in the past.
This week we spent some time seeking out and spending time at a few of the numerous Christmas displays here in Hong Kong. Some were way out there like the one with the “Snoopy” theme, but then there were some very impressive and thought-provoking themes as well. We particularly enjoyed the Land Mark Mall’s atrium with robotic characters singing and a Christmas tree the size of the ones they used to have downtown when we were kids.
Each year a member of the Area Presidency teaches the sister's institute class the week before Christmas, (for this lesson the husbands are invited to attend). For some reason this year not one of the three were available, so I was asked to step in as a replacement. I felt a lot of pressure and was very nervous, so I spent a lot of time preparing. The lesson went well because of the participation and testimonies of those in the class, it turned out to be a lesson to me of fear versus faith even though the lesson material was something completely different. Faith will always trump fear!
This week brought another special opportunity for Karen and I to work a session together in the Temple. Our temple assignment has been a great influence of balance to us as Missionaries, and we understand that it’s a unique opportunity for us and appreciate this wonderful blessing.
Karen attended her first musical production in Cantonese, “Scrooge the Musical” performed by the Hong Kong Academy of Arts. It was a lot of fun and seeing a Chinese Scrooge made out to look Caucasian was a different twist for Karen and I. The songs were all in English and if you are interested, you can get a flavor of what they sounded like if you refer to the final scene of the “Christmas Story” where Ralph and his family end up in a Chinese restaurant on Christmas Day.
This week also included Christmas caroling with the younger Missionaries, our Branch Christmas Dinner, and a special Christmas Family Concert performed by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
Merry Christmas!
I couldn't help asking this little guy's mother if I could take his picture!
Christmas Caroling with the senior couples and a few young Elders and Sisters. We passed out about 150 Light the World pamphlets. We also had cookies for the little kids!
The Elder and Sisters were able to talk to quite a few people, it was really fun!
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