tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10212040764581752992024-03-13T15:42:19.118-07:00Becksteads in Hong Kong 香港Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-29501491168581889612018-03-17T22:21:00.000-07:002018-03-18T00:24:29.994-07:00Farewell Hong Kong<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
One last great week of being Missionaries.</div>
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The week started with a special meeting with all the Hong Missionaries both old and young gathering together with Elder Stevenson, Elder Christenson and Bishop Causse. It was like other meetings we have enjoyed with Apostles and young Missionaries, very personal and insightful.</div>
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We heard from <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://www.lds.org/church/leader/david-f-evans?lang%3Deng&source=gmail&ust=1521441757431000&usg=AFQjCNH2M11kPjixzysen5EqQ9_q6ALelg" href="https://www.lds.org/church/leader/david-f-evans?lang=eng" style="color: #0563c1;" target="_blank">Elder Evans</a>, <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://www.lds.org/ensign/1995/03/a-blooming-in-france?lang%3Deng&source=gmail&ust=1521441757432000&usg=AFQjCNFGGiBkr_OCz9Dxtvx2jixFfmMaCw" href="https://www.lds.org/ensign/1995/03/a-blooming-in-france?lang=eng" style="color: #0563c1;" target="_blank">Sister Causse</a>, <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://www.lds.org/church/leader/gerald-j-causse?lang%3Deng&source=gmail&ust=1521441757432000&usg=AFQjCNFC3nGesWQKuT6bMmNgM8bP_Mxjew" href="https://www.lds.org/church/leader/gerald-j-causse?lang=eng" style="color: #0563c1;" target="_blank">Bishop Causse</a>, <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://www.lds.org/church/leader/craig-c-christensen?lang%3Deng&source=gmail&ust=1521441757432000&usg=AFQjCNEADoKTuEhdtOX2M8UHVnI9eWHNfw" href="https://www.lds.org/church/leader/craig-c-christensen?lang=eng" style="color: #0563c1;" target="_blank">Elder Christenson</a> and <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://www.lds.org/church/leader/gary-e-stevenson?lang%3Deng&source=gmail&ust=1521441757432000&usg=AFQjCNH1C0a6Xd5kfxfejlHUqRh5ILjU9Q" href="https://www.lds.org/church/leader/gary-e-stevenson?lang=eng" style="color: #0563c1;" target="_blank">Elder Stevenson</a>. Elder Evans shared personal relationships and experiences he had with the others. Sister Causse spoke of her family’s conversion and recited one sentence in Cantonese that she remembered from being a student here years ago. Bishop Causse reminded the Missionaries that he was here on assignment just as they were and the blessings received over a lifetime by fulfilling assignments received. Elder Christenson addressed the nature and role of the Holy Ghost as a member of the Godhead. He reminded the Missionaries that the Holy Ghost is significant in realizing all truth and the importance of seeking the spirit in all we do. Elder Stevenson brought a whiteboard into the room and taught the Missionaries how to teach a concept or principle, invite the investigator to live it, and then to promise them a result. In his presentation he left the rostrum, attached a wireless microphone to his lapel, then walked among the Missionaries teaching, asking questions, role playing and sharing personal experiences.<br />
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We believe t<span style="font-size: 11pt;">here were many Missionaries that attended the meeting and will be sharing stories to their grandchildren about the time they spent with Elder Stevenson.</span></div>
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The next morning, we shared Dim Sum with the Hui’s, Wong’s, Ted Yan and Sellers. The Hui’s and Wong’s wanted to thank us for working in the Temple with them and celebrate our friendship.</div>
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Later in the day we were invited to dinner at Elder and Sister Sorenson’s apartment with the Fergusons. Sister Sorenson had prepared stuffed porkchops and they were delicious. This is the Sorenson’s second Mission and he promised that after this Mission he would teach us how to catch fish at Otter Creek.</div>
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The next afternoon we took all eight Filipino Sister Missionaries to lunch at Triple O’s. It’s a such a satisfying experience to watch these little Filipino girls eat hamburgers, fries or onion rings, and a milkshake. They are so loving, innocent, and pure. As we realized this would be our last time to spoil them it broke our hearts.</div>
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We met Petts in TST at the clocktower at five pm for dinner. We arrived first and were able to see them before they saw us. It was obvious that not much had changed since they left their Mission nine months ago. They looked just the same, sounded just the same and we enjoyed being with them just as much as we did while they were here serving their Mission.</div>
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The next day all the Area Missionaries went to the YMCA Buffet for lunch and we all got a pleasant surprise when everyone got a twenty-five percent discount on their meal because there was a March birthday in the group. After lunch we met Chatterton’s and went to the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=http://www.ladies-market.hk/&source=gmail&ust=1521441757432000&usg=AFQjCNHdOJji9dSh3QDgyGAqAIgOlnv8Ew" href="http://www.ladies-market.hk/" style="color: #0563c1;" target="_blank">Lady’s Market</a> for the last time, Mom and Marilyn wanted to make one last contribution to the hawkers of Hong Kong.</div>
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On Friday, we cleaned out our cubicle and had our last Friday Lunch with all our Senior Missionary friends. Elder Hyde prepared two crock-pots of home made clam chowder and two big round loaves of home made bread. After lunch we said goodbye and left the office for our final time.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">We went home thinking our happiness tank was as full as it could be when we got word that Jess and Parker’s family just increased by one. The initial information we received was that a healthy grandchild had been born and that Jess had done a super job. No one dared share the gender with Karen. Parker had previously told Karen that the sex of our new grandchild would not be revealed to her until after she returned home. After what seemed a lifetime to my sweet wife Jess was well enough to share the news that the baby was a 6lb 4oz boy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">This is the Mission that just keeps on giving.</span></div>
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The only thing we had left to do was attend our Branch on Saturday for one last time, at least that is what we thought.</div>
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Later that night we received an unexpected call from the Young Elder’s notifying us that Tina Augusta, one of their investigators would be baptized tomorrow and she had requested me to speak at her baptism. The baptism was being held in the same building we attend Church, it would be held before our church started. It was just another blessing being added on to an already Mission full of blessings.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Saturday, we enjoyed a baptism, a confirmation, and a wonderful block of meetings in a Filipino Branch in the middle of eight million Chinese. It was our last hurrah as Missionaries and boy did the Sisters make sure we went out with a bang. After all of the meetings, they sat us in the middle of a room and we celebrated with song, dance and testimony of the time spent together.</span></div>
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We left the building Saturday night knowing that our work here is finished. We also realized that we have completed our service here with honor.</div>
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We hope that our Mission will be an example to all our children, grandchildren, their children and their grandchildren.</div>
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The End</div>
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Brother Chan, one of the security guards in the Office Building. Such a fun person, we'll miss him<br />
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Front Left to right: Sister Sellers, me, Lynn, Brother and Sister Hoi, Elder Yan. Back: Elder Sellers, Sister Wong. Elder Sellers was the missionary to Sister Wong's family when she was a little girl.<br />
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Sisters Salangad, Romero, Batista, Bannagad, Arago, Miranda, and Almanza</div>
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Welcome Griffin John Robertson. We haven't met and we love you already!</div>
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Baptism day for Tina</div>
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Our Saturday Branch made our last day with them amazing!</div>
<br />Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-6137899196767761912018-03-10T20:27:00.000-08:002018-03-10T20:27:34.540-08:00So Many Highlights this Week<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">We enjoyed our 75<sup>th</sup> week as Missionaries this last week and like the previous seventy-four it was a GREAT WEEK IN HONG KONG!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">We started the week with a visit to Tai O on our P-day with Chatterton’s hoping to see a pink dolphin. Mom had hopes of seeing one and is disappointed in my lack of faith that pink dolphins exist. We ended the day playing games and were glad when Elder and Sister Salmon joined us. It was a lot of fun, Elder Salmon is pretty sure Elder Gong will be called into the Quorum of the Twelve.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Tuesday, we and the Ferguson’s, who are coming home the first week of April, had our farewell lunch with the Asia Area Presidency. Elder Funk was curious as to whether or not we would make it home in time to see a spring baseball game. Karen replied that we had new grandchildren that are a higher priority.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">We had dinner that night with Bishop Jimmy Chan and his wife Jo. They are a wonderful couple who I am sure will visit us in Utah. Jimmy and Jo will continue to be a strong asset of the Church here in Hong Kong for many future years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">We were assigned to speak in the every-day Branch this week which means you speak every day. So, we were the speakers in a Sacrament Meeting every day this week. We think that by the end of the week we knew our talks all too well and so did the Jones and the Jensen’s who had to hear them every day this week.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">We went to the Temple and completed our last assignment as Ordinance Workers Wednesday night and after Officiating our last endowment session President Ng thanked us for our work and released us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">The next morning, we attended our monthly session as patrons with the Area Presidency. That night we had dinner with the Crockets and enjoyed the evening.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Friday, all the Senior Missionaries sang a farewell song to us at lunch time. Elder Ferguson wrote the lyrics to the toon of the yellow brick road. Sister Sellers accompanied on the keyboard and it sounded great. One of the blessings we have received while serving is making so many new friends.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">That night we met Joyce Chan, her three children and their spouses at the Temple to do sealings. You would think that seeing the blessing of four generations come into the Church would be as good as it can be, but we learned this to be short sighted. We brought several family names that needed some work done including my grandfather’s brother Lane, and they brought some family names including Joyce’s grandparents on both sides with all their siblings adding potentially multiple generations of converts to the Church. It also allowed their family a chance to help us with our family. It was an indescribable spiritual experience and an incomprehensible way to end a Mission.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Heavenly Father truly saved the best for last.</span></div>
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Our visit to Tai O fishing village was fun.</div>
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I captured this pose of Lynn standing under a blow fish.</div>
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We love our friends Jimmy and Jo Chan. It's been so wonderful spending time with them during our mission. <br />
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Our last evening to serve as Ordinance Workers in the Hong Kong Temple</div>
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Highlight of our mission. We spent the evening doing sealings with the Chan family. This is the family that Lynn baptized in 1973. We were so blessed to reconnect with them while were were here. We've spent time in the home of Grandma and Grandpa Chan who are now in their 90's. We've gone to lunch together with members of the family. We were at the Temple Marriage of Rita and Alvin (couple on the left). We went to the baptism and Lynn stood in the circle to confirm Lance's son a couple of weeks ago. What a way to conclude our mission doing sealings for their and our family names. Lynn Baptized 1st and 2nd generation Brother Chan's. Now being a part of ordinances for the 3rd and 4th generation, and even their ancestors! It doesn't get better than this.<br />
Left to right: Rita and Alvin, Tracy and Lance, Misty and Sheldon, Us, and Joyce.Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-52998560419290782642018-03-04T00:53:00.001-08:002018-03-04T01:46:22.530-08:00Birthday Week<br />
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This week started with Karen’s Birthday! The Filipino Sister Missionaries and I pulled off a fun surprise party for her at our little apartment in Hung Hom. Four companionships of Sister Missionaries and two sets of Senior Missionaries knocked on our door with birthday cards and goodies to eat. Sister Chatterton brought a red velvet birthday cake and the Sister Missionaries brought mango floats. Karen had no idea and was surprised when everyone showed up.</div>
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The next day we spent the morning working in the office until lunch time. We then went to lunch with the Fergusons. They will be leaving two weeks after us, we wanted to have lunch together before we all left Hong Kong.</div>
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We also received an invitation from Elder Funk to join the Area Presidency and their wives for a farewell luncheon next Tuesday. It seems a little early to us for a farewell lunch but the Area Presidency and other Senior Area Directors will be leaving for Salt Lake soon to attend meetings associated with but held prior to General Conference.</div>
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Thursday, we had our first bi-weekly call with other Area Public Affairs Missionaries in Annie’s new office on her big screen TV. Later in the day we attended our weekly Welfare Meeting on the ninth floor. It was the third week in a row that I was listed on the agenda to give the opening prayer and the third week in a row that I have been late.</div>
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In the meeting there was a discussion led by legal concerning when and how we could help refugees migrating to different countries in the Area. There is a lot of state specific rules in the twenty-odd countries we work with from Mongolia to the north down to Timor Leste in the south.</div>
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Friday, we did some OLCRM training with the Montagues who are serving in Malaysia. The work-flow process was well accepted, and we believe it will be of great assistance to the Public Affairs work here going forward.</div>
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In the evening we were treated to dinner by Elder Stan Parry and his good wife Carol. We dined at a very nice Thai restaurant in Tsim Tsau Tsui on the Kowloon side. The restaurant was located next to the Star Ferry Terminal with a harbor view and we were able to watch the sunset and the heart of the Island business district in Central light up across the water.</div>
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The next morning, we met the Cory’s who treated us to breakfast before church. They took us to the “Flying Pan” a western restaurant operated and named by a Chinese entrepreneur that thinks he named his restaurant after a western cooking utensil. This is one of the few places that you can find a western breakfast and the only place in Hong Kong that we know of that serves biscuits and gravy. This was also a farewell meal that Elder Tim Cory and his good wife Joyce wanted to have before we left.</div>
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We spent five or six hours in church and then were treated to another meal, this time with the Jones and the Jensens. We served in the Every-Day Branch Presidency with these two Senior Missionary Couples in Wan Chai. It was another good meal, this time at the Outback Restaurant. We have been told that we will be released on the 17<sup>th</sup> from the Branch so this was another special occasion.</div>
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While eating dinner we discussed how excited the Branch members were when President Jones announced that President Nelsen and Elder Holland would be in Hong Kong on the 21<sup>st</sup> of April. They will be holding a special meeting in the Hong Kong Convention Center for all the members here in Hong Kong and because it will be on a Saturday night all the members in the Saturday Family will be able to attend.</div>
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Speaking of visits, Elder Stevenson with a member of the Presiding Bishopric and one of the First Quorum of the Seventy will also be visiting Hong Kong and hold a special meeting for all the Missionaries here on the twelfth of March. Fortunately for us it is before we leave so we will be able to attend.</div>
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A lot is going on right now including a lot of eating.</div>
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A surprise birthday visit from Chattertons, Jensens and the sister missionaries!</div>
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Lynn's turn, a birthday surprise for him! Left to right: Sister Bautista, Sister Romero, Sister Rodriguez, Lynn, Sister Salangad, Sister Miranda, Sister Almanzor, Sister Nelsen.<br />
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Outside of Sweet Basil Thai Restaurant in TST</div>
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Going home on the Ferry</div>
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Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-32330749016465186252018-02-24T22:40:00.001-08:002018-02-24T22:40:50.238-08:00Getting close to winding things up<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
President Kendell once described time spent in Missionary work as, ‘long days and short weeks”. This week we experienced a short week and short days, yet another fun week as Missionaries. As we near the end of our Mission it feels as though every hour of every day, “we are living the dream”.</div>
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Monday was a holiday here, so we just stayed in our apartment, made some Face Time calls, met Chatterton’s for lunch (at John’s favorite pork knuckle restaurant), then a tenacious game of five crowns at their apartment.</div>
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Traditionally the New Year is celebrated for two weeks, so the rest of the week was still being celebrated by the Chinese. We were in the office during the week working, mostly catching up on loose ends created by the change of leadership. Karen did attend institute but then didn't feel well enough for our Temple assignment, so upon the insistence of Karen stating that she would be fine left alone and the shortage of volunteers I attended by myself.</div>
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She felt fine the next day and we both attended our weekly Welfare Meeting. As I have mentioned before we enjoy being a part of this committee and recognize the blessing it is to us to be able to see all the humanitarian work the Church is involved with in Asia. It also gives us a glimpse of how the Church manages at a General Authority level.</div>
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The Area Presidency is going to hold a Mission President Seminar in Taiwan next week, so we helped Elder and Sister Hyde with several other Senior Missionaries prepare materials for the seminar.</div>
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President and Sister Funk joined us for lunch Friday to celebrate Sister Beckstead and Sister Seller’s February birthdays. They were both born on the 26<sup>th</sup> of February although Karen was several years later than Sister Sellers. (Sister Beckstead is not only the prettiest Sister Missionary in our group but one of the younger ones as well).</div>
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We ended the week with Branch Conference. President Holyoke and his wife attended with other District Officers. He was telling me that he is going home for a couple of weeks and that he lives in Cedar Hills. It sounds like he lives just a few streets west of the Sarah, so we’ll need to get is address so that we can see them after we come home.<span></span></div>
Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-41928852073548889122018-02-18T02:59:00.001-08:002018-02-18T20:13:42.415-08:00Happy Chinese New Year 2018<br />
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We love Hong Kong, it has become our home, it is where we live.</div>
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We share a five hundred square foot apartment with one couch, one chair, four cereal bowls, two rice bowls, and barely enough silver ware to set our small table. We take turns washing dishes after each meal usually consisting of a bowl of rice, a bowl of noodles or peanut butter and jam sandwich. Karen washes our clothes daily in a small machine made in Italy that both washes and dries up to three shirts at a time. The small oven provided is affectionately referred to as our “easy bake oven” and has the energy capacity and space to bake up to 8 cookies at a time at a temperature of 180 degrees Celsius in twenty to thirty minutes. The shower nozzle, with barely enough water pressure to force water up the pipe and out the nozzle, is aimed about four inches above my belly button. A height that makes a shower more of a gymnastic exercise for me but is just about right for Karen. We have one small bedroom measuring eight feet by twelve feet that Karen uses for her office and if I want to stay out of trouble, I never go in. Our master bedroom is just large enough for a queen size bed and a small wardrobe. To get between the bed and the wall, one has to stand with their back to the wall, and do a side step across the width of the bed.</div>
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This humble abode is apartment 1615 in the “C” building at the Harborfront apartments in Hung Hom on the peninsula side of Hong Kong. Our daily schedule includes a walk on the promenade, personal and companion study, reading the Book of Mormon each morning together, and prayer before we head out. Each morning we walk several hundred meters to the bus stop, catch the #104 double-decker which takes us under the harbor through a tunnel and drops us off in front of the old Wan Chai police station next to the Church’s Asia Area Administration building. We office on the tenth floor which is the executive office floor with all the Area Presidency offices on the same floor. We have 4 attorneys on the 10th floor also. Everyone on the floor with exception of the us and the Yans are in nice offices, we on the other hand have deluxe cubicles. Karen and I share a cubicle; two thirds and the window for her, leaving one third for me.</div>
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This week we went to Victoria park to the Chinese New Year Festival. It was crowded with people buying flowers, trees, bamboo, and pussy willows in preparation for the weekend of Chinese New Year. It is fun to share in another culture's holiday and observe traditions that have been practiced for centuries.</div>
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After the park Karen and I split up with her attending a hot pot dinner with the other missionaries and me meeting up with Edward Lai and Jerry Yu for dinner in Fan Ling. Karen and the other missionaries met the Wrights who are new arrivals at dinner and said goodbye to the Thongs who were leaving the next morning. I was able to meet the Wrights at lunch the next day. We will miss Roy and Pricilla Thong here in Hong Kong but look forward to a continued relationship with them going forward.</div>
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Rebekah and David Stringham arrived this week and we were able to spend some time with them. We spent the better part of a day showing them around both the Island and the Peninsula. It was fun seeing Bekah happily married and full of life.</div>
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We had a wonderful dinner with the Asia Area Missionaries and the Area Presidency the second night of the New Year. Sister Funk hosted it and went all out on the decorations and food. It was originally intended that after dinner we would watch the fireworks from the Funk’s patio on the top of the building, but because of a terrible tragedy killing nineteen people in a bus crash this week the fireworks were canceled.</div>
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The third day of the New Year we were invited out to the Fan Ling Ward for a special baptism. Ethan Chan, the great grandson of a man I helped baptize forty plus years ago, was being baptized. Ethan is the fourth generation to receive baptism in his family. It was a wonderful blessing for me to be included in the circle when he was confirmed a member of the Church. It is surreal to me that something I was involved with so long ago could come back into my life after so many years of not even being aware of what was going on in this wonderful family. And to be able to share it with Karen and have her participate in this experience has sealed our Mission with a real sense of purpose. She will return now with a feeling of fulfillment and honor in the title of a returned missionary. She is a firsthand witness of the power and change associated with conversion and her involvement in helping four generations experience the love of God. I would have never served a mission if I had not met Karen, therefore I would have never met grandpa Chan.</div>
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Although Hong Kong has been our home for the last seventeen months we are ready to relocate back to a home near our children and grandchildren, our real home.</div>
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We are beginning to tie things up here and hopefully prepare a soft landing for the next couple that will be taking our place. The Mortenson’s from Houston will be arriving shortly after we leave. We have talked to them on the phone and believe they will accomplish things here that we have never even thought of.<span></span></div>
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Happy Chinese New Year 2018</div>
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Elder and Sister Chiu are Temple Missionaries here. They are wonderful friends!</div>
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Saying goodbye to Elder and Sister Thong was hard. They finished their mission, we are really going to miss them!</div>
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Lynn's assistant from his days at Security National, Bekah, and her husband David. We enjoyed getting to see them while they were here in Hong Kong</div>
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One of our favorite things we do here in Hong Kong, taking the missionaries to lunch! Front left - Elder Larsen. Back right - Elder Cabrae, middle - Elder Earls, and front Elder Parker.</div>
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Baptism for Ethan Chan. In 1973 Lynn baptized Ethan's grandfather and great-grandfather. What a blessing to be gathered with their family, 4 generations now living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.</div>
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Brother and Sister Wong live here in Hong Kong. They serve in the Temple on Wednesday nights with us. </div>
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Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-64472360364791817072018-02-10T22:57:00.000-08:002018-02-11T20:07:31.538-08:00Visits, Service, and More<br />
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Another great week in Hong Kong!</div>
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This week we had visitors from the States. The Founders Group of Entrepreneurship & Technology from BYU, the same group we traveled to Africa with a few years ago. They arrived <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_859936366" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Saturday</span></span> night and left on the following <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_859936367" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Saturday </span></span>morning. Among others that we knew, Lanny and Carla Smith, our neighbors from Alpine, were in the group visiting. We joined them all for dinner <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_859936368" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Sunday</span></span> night in Wan Chai which for us was a fun reunion.</div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_859936369" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Monday</span></span>, after leaving Karen still in bed I caught the bus over to Wan Chai to watch the first half of the Super Bowl with the Cory’s and Hansen’s in the Executive Conference room on the tenth floor. I then left Wan Chai and caught a taxi up to the Peak and showed the Founders Group the rock with the date 7/14/49 scratched in it. It is the site that Mathew Cowley dedicated Hong Kong for the preaching of the Gospel. I then hustled back to Hung Hum to meet Karen and the Chatterton’s for lunch and a movie.</div>
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We were in the Temple early morning <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_859936370" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Tuesday</span></span> and officiated a special morning session for the Founders Group. What a great opportunity for us to be able to participate in this manner with our friends visiting from the states. We spent the rest of the day in the office taking care of this week’s business because we knew that we would be spending more time this week with our friends.</div>
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The next day we met Lanny and Carla at their hotel in the morning and took them first to <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://www.yha.org.hk/en/our-services/mei-ho-house-revitalisation-project/heritage-mei-ho-house/https:/www.yha.org.hk/en/our-services/mei-ho-house-revitalisation-project/heritage-mei-ho-house/&source=gmail&ust=1518494050119000&usg=AFQjCNF_2kb4erdpwLZupnXz1K3kJQE7VQ" href="https://www.yha.org.hk/en/our-services/mei-ho-house-revitalisation-project/heritage-mei-ho-house/https:/www.yha.org.hk/en/our-services/mei-ho-house-revitalisation-project/heritage-mei-ho-house/" style="color: #0563c1;" target="_blank">Mei Ho House</a>. We wanted them to see a H-Block housing building, and to familiarize them with the history of how the British responded to the huge migration of Chinese in the late sixties and early seventies.</div>
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We then went to Hung Hum and the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://www.afoodieworld.com/joanne/4699-largest-wet-markets-in-hong-kong&source=gmail&ust=1518494050119000&usg=AFQjCNFGNpGbljeSByh6SQ5T0e297MlemQ" href="https://www.afoodieworld.com/joanne/4699-largest-wet-markets-in-hong-kong" style="color: #0563c1;" target="_blank">wet market</a>. This is a must stop tourist site that is guaranteed to make you gag. We then crossed the harbor and met Annie for a wonderful Thai lunch. Probably the best meal the Smith’s ate while in Hong Kong. After that we came back to Hung Hum to our apartment and visited until they needed to get back and meet their group for dinner. It was a wonderful opportunity to spend time with Lanny and Carla, they have been good friends to us for years.</div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_859936371" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Thursday</span></span>, we took all six of the Filipino Sister missionaries out to lunch at <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://tripleos.com/&source=gmail&ust=1518494050119000&usg=AFQjCNEXNNvNxli-8bXayjJJsiHsCBMH4w" href="https://tripleos.com/" style="color: #0563c1;" target="_blank">Triple O’s</a>. This has become quite the monthly tradition for us and we are going to miss this experience a lot. We insist that in addition to a burger and fries that each Sister order a milk shake with their meal. This is one of our favorite activities here in Hong Kong, spoiling the Filipino Sister Missionaries. Needless to say, we are one of their favorite Senior Missionary Couples.</div>
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Karen and Annie helped supervise a Missionary service project <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_859936372" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Friday</span></span> with a Charity here, Food-Link. This is a Charity sponsored by Wendy Gwok who is a very influential person here in Hong Kong that we have been developing a relationship with for most of our Mission. It was a big step and the beginning of a great new relationship.</div>
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Learned something interesting this week that we want to share. While in a meeting this week one of the Senior Couple Missionaries shared with the group that a Missionary Couple replacement for Cambodia will not be coming. Apparently while processing their Missionary application they failed the health exam. The doctor found a cancerous tumor on the Brother’s thyroid. Elder Evans commented that he has seen a lot of members lives prolonged because they had committed to serve a Mission, and in the process of getting a call, a health issue was revealed that would otherwise not have been discovered in time for treatment. He mentioned that he has witnessed many members that have had decades of years added to their lives to enjoy their posterity because of the medical exams during preparation to serve missions.</div>
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It was so nice having our friends Lanny and Carla Smith here.</div>
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Elder and Sister's service project bagging rice for the needy.</div>
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<br />Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-80294729462988933712018-02-03T20:35:00.001-08:002018-02-03T20:38:24.043-08:00More Mission Experiences<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
This week we bid farewell to Lisa and Ryan, spent more time than usual in the Temple, and ended the week with the Vienna Boys’ Choir.</div>
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Lisa and Ryan left Tuesday morning to return to the States. We already miss them but know we will see them and the rest of our family soon. We have less than two months left to serve and are beginning to feel the reality that we are in the home stretch of our Mission.</div>
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We worked in the Temple Wednesday evening as weekly Ordinance Workers with Patrons from Cambodia, China, and Hong Kong. The Cambodians are always a special session because most of them cannot read as a result of the Khmer Rouge Occupation. They are all relatively young but are so attentive and so eager to learn when receiving their Endowment. We had a wonderful evening.</div>
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The next morning, we attended our monthly special Session with the Area Presidency. Because we will be going home soon Karen and I were asked to Officiate and Follow the Session. After the Session we met for our small testimony meeting where Elder and Sister Tong shared their final testimonies before returning home this month. Elder and Sister Hyde then shared their testimonies as the newest Missionaries to arrive. President Funk then shared as part of his Testimony a story that we think is worth sharing.</div>
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He said that while sitting in the session he was pondering how wonderful the Temple is and how good it feels to be in the Temple. While thinking, he reflected to a time some years ago when he was released as a Stake President. In the process of selecting a new Stake President and all the distraction associated with the change he had neglected to renew his recommend knowing that it would expire in a few weeks. He attended the Temple a few days after the release and the worker at the front desk pointed out to him that his recommend would soon expire. Even with this reminder he forgot to renew his recommend, and the next week went to the Temple with his now expired recommend. As he got out of his car in the Temple parking lot and began to walk toward the Temple it occurred to him that he did not have a current recommend. He knew, because he had been a Stake President, that without a current recommend he could not enter the Temple. He knew the worker at the front desk, he knew the Recorder the Assistant Recorder, and all the Temple Presidency personally and they knew him, but he also knew that without a current recommend that he could not enter the Temple. He went back to his car feeling terrible and made a promise to himself that he would never allow himself to be in a position again of not being able to enter the Temple. </div>
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After our testimony meeting, the Temple President then asked if any Senior Couples could help Friday morning because forty American couples were coming in from China. These couples all teach English in different Universities throughout China and can come to Hong Kong and attend the Temple once a year. We saw this as a good opportunity so we spent the morning in the Temple helping out.</div>
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The Vienna Boys Choir performed Saturday night at the Town Hall in Sha Tin and we with several other Senior Couples attended the concert. I was a bit apprehensive, but I thought it would be a special treat for Karen, so I attended in support. It was, after all, a once in a life time experience to hear them in Hong Kong. I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed the performance, although not my preferred music genre, they were very impressive. Maybe all Karen’s effort over the years is paying off and I am a diamond in the rough! Actually, we always enjoy all the activities we do with all the other Senior Missionaries!</div>
Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-55561701140014934672018-02-02T02:39:00.003-08:002018-02-02T02:39:55.099-08:00Lisa and Ryan's Visit<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
And I thought last week was a great week here in Hong Kong….</div>
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This week began with the two of us joining some of the other Senior Missionaries on a hike called “Dragon Back”. Before we committed to go it had been represented to us that this would not be a difficult assault against nature but a moderate effort with spectacular views, and a “must do” before our Mission ended. My only comment is that although we set records of steps, miles, and calories burned in a single day, we are both glad we can say, “we did it”.</div>
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We then had a couple of normal days in the office before a formal announcement was circulated that Annie Wong is being promoted to be the Area Director of Public Affairs effective February first. Helping her prepare for this promotion was one of our primary objectives when we arrived as new Missionaries sixteen months ago. She is so capable, and we are so happy that someone of her caliber will be overseeing the work of bringing the Church out of obscurity here in the Asia Area. The opportunity to be here for this well deserved promotion is a wonderful blessing for us.</div>
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Lisa and Ryan arrived Thursday night. Karen had her pedal to the metal without stopping for the next four days. It all began visiting the tailor we like here, Mario. Ryan was fitted for a suit, which was finished before they left to go home. Then we went to Mei Ho House, Monkey Mountain, Ikea in Sha Tin where we enjoyed lunch in the restaurant there. Hong Kong Temple, cable ride with transparent floor, Big Buddha, Stanley Market, Goldfish Market (and all the pet stores on that street so Lisa could check all the puppies!). Wan Chai Office, Victoria First Branch, Wong Tai Sin Temple (which was closed, so we only saw the outside). Aqua Luna Harbour Night Cruise (Red Sail Boat), Symphony of Light Show, Hung Hum Wet Market, Wan Chai Dim Sum (with Annie), Office tour and meeting all the Senior Couples, and Cheesecake Factory. We rode in taxies, busses, ferries, and trains. Sometimes we walked, actually, we walked a lot. After spending the rest of a great week with them we hugged, said goodbye and put them back on the plane. Karen went back to the office to work and I went back to the apartment to sleep.</div>
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Their visit was so good for us, it was great to connect with one of our children again. While serving we have learned how much we love our family and how important they are to our wellbeing. There is simply nothing dearer to us than our children and grandchildren, and we feel that by serving this Mission we set an example for all of them. </div>
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We are so glad that while we were here Sarah, Jill, Lisa and Ryan were able to come over and visit. We also appreciate all of our children for supporting us in their own personal way, there is no way we could have taken on this assignment without each and everyone of them.</div>
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Hong Kong Temple</div>
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Dim Sum with Annie</div>
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Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-27301266455443542702018-01-19T17:47:00.000-08:002018-01-19T19:52:24.218-08:00Many Changes, Lots of Work<br />
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This has been one of the busiest weeks of our Mission life!<br />
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We started the week attending a wonderful Devotional with the other Senior Missionaries and employees presided by the Area Presidency (Elder’s Funk, Evans and Meurs). Each took a turn at the pulpit and shared personal experiences with President Nelson and then bore their individual testimonies of the process concerning the succession of the President and First Presidency of the Church. They pointed out the professional and academic accomplishments of President Nelson and his two Counselors; President Oaks and President Eyring, and specifically their work in our part of the world. It’s such a special experience as a Missionary to be taught by members of the Quorum of the Seventy, and we have had the privilege and blessing of multiple opportunities here in Hong Kong.<br />
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We thought that we had finished the work on the Country Fact Sheets last week but were informed early this week that the numbers provided us by the Humanitarian Group were inaccurate, so we need to start over. It is a bit strange that we have not experienced much frustration with the obvious inefficiency of this event, but “like water off of a duck’s back” we just make it all work with a positive attitude.<br />
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I had a personal experience at the Temple this week in the first session while working the veil. I had an overwhelming feeling of peace, love, and confidence come over me when I recognized Karen’s hand, heard her voice, and felt her spirit assisting a patron on the other side. It was “a tender mercy” I am sure that could only be received in a Temple. I am also confident that the opportunities we have in front of us are beyond our comprehension.<br />
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Tomorrow is another Sunday opening of the Temple and we will be involved with Sealings, Initiatory, and Baptisms. This will be our last Sunday Temple Session for a while unless they start opening Temples on Sunday in the U.S. of A. We are glad that we have been able to participate in these sessions and be a part of the Temple experience with so many Sisters that can not come on any other day.<br />
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We helped Elder and Sister Yan with the English Class they teach every week. This was the last week of the class and we helped give the students their oral exams. They are working to pass a test qualifying them for acceptance to an American University.<br />
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Most of our week was spent on updating all the Church literature and dealing with a multitude of issues arising with the changes announced this week. It seems like everything in the closet (we share a closet with the legal department) became obsolete after the Press Conference, which started a race for information worldwide. Karen was busy scouring hundreds of online newspaper articles (here in Asia), for information being published by the press that she could share with the Area Presidency. They like to be aware of what the press in the different countries are saying about the Church.<br />
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I was coordinating with Salt Lake and posting the latest updates on Newsroom. It’s interesting that with all the changes in leadership announced this week photos are still unavailable of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as now constituted. If you were to go to Mormon Newsroom Hong Kong under leadership you would find current information with current photos of all but the Quorum of the Twelve. The names are updated with Acting President Ballard and Elder Uchtdorf but the picture is noticeably not accurate.<br />
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We are now officially trunky with such a short time left to serve. We received our return home flight itineraries, so we realize that we need to start preparing to wind down.<br />
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We are so looking forward to Ryan and Lisa coming this next week so that we can share Hong Kong with them! There coming was a milestone that not long ago seemed so far in the future, but one that marked an event that we realized was toward the tail end of this experience. We can’t think of a better way to bring our Mission to a close than with members of our family.<br />
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Having lunch together before Elder and Sister Norman go home next week. Left to right: Elder Norman, Lynn, Elder Sellers, Sister Sellers, Karen, Sister Norman. We will really miss the Normans.</div>
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This happens every once in awhile. I'll order a sandwich and it will come out on black bread. The bread has absolutely no flavor at all! The chicken mango inside of it was really good! </div>
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Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-74363164636205678562018-01-13T20:27:00.000-08:002018-01-14T04:00:25.443-08:00A Great Week<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
We started this week by meeting several of the Temple Missionaries in the central lobby here at Harbor Front on Monday, walked down to the North Point ferry, and crossed the harbor. We enjoyed a lunch buffet on the Hong Kong side at the Rosedale Hotel in Causeway Bay. The buffet was mostly Chinese food but had an automatic pancake making machine that was nifty. You pushed a button indicating how many pancakes you wanted then held your plate up to a shute and after about sixty seconds pancakes would start dropping on your plate.</div>
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After lunch the group went across the road to the food market, except for the two of us. It looked like rain, so we headed back to the apartment and sure enough it began to rain and they all got wet and cold.</div>
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Tuesday morning, we worked feverishly on updating a Vietnam Country Fact Sheet for the Area Presidency that reconciled with a Power Point presentation being developed by the Humanitarian Missionaries. The Power Point and Fact Sheets were part of a bundle of information needed for President Funk and Elder Evans before they left that afternoon for Vietnam.</div>
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Wednesday, Karen taught Institute in the morning, afterwards we met with Annie to coordinate the weeks workload. We were in the office for a few hours then went to the Temple for our weekly assignment there. It was a fairly busy night with a number of patrons from the Mainland attending.</div>
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Thursday, we had a wonderful video call with the Pollmanns. They have family coming at the end of the month and then will be going home to Alpine, Utah the first week of February. They will be taking their five children and spouses up to Chiang Mai to ride elephants and see tigers. Then down to Phuket and the sunny beaches for a few days. We have never seen Sister Pollmann so happy as she was this week!</div>
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We attended the Welfare Meeting in the early afternoon and were able to review some projects with the committee. This is always a great opportunity to participate and become aware of the temporal assistance offered to those in need by the Church.</div>
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After our meeting we hooked up with Annie and the Montagues for dinner. We went to the Crystal Jade, a higher end Chinese restaurant just up the street from our office.</div>
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On Friday after spending the morning in the office we met the Montagues at the Temple where they had just attended two sessions. We brought them back to the office for an hour or so, and then took them to their hotel where they could change clothes. We wanted to show them <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=http://www.hk-victoria-peak.com/&source=gmail&ust=1516017048930000&usg=AFQjCNFP5i6vVr5_r4-5DKrv1-grydm1Sg" href="http://www.hk-victoria-peak.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Victoria Peak</a>, so we arranged for dinner at Bubba Gump’s at Victoria Station. It was a beautiful night, we ate shrimp and clam chowder, and were able to get to know each other better. They are from Saint George Utah and have six children, four boys and two girls. Karen was an answer to prayer when Sister Montague inquired as to whether the time of Karen’s mission went fast, and Karen told her, “yes, that it went very fast”. The Sister Missionaries miss their children and grandchildren from the minute they get on the plane. Yet they are all willing to serve for the blessings received by those they miss so much.</div>
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It was a very busy week and I should not leave out mentioning the work associated in the passing of President Monson. His passing is news to every country in our mission and in every language. He will have a lot to talk to the Prophet Joseph about.</div>
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Transfer week. Sister Arago leaves tomorrow to serve in Macau. We love these sisters. We really miss them when they get transferred to other areas. Left to right: Sister Rodriegez, Sister Arago, Me, Sister Labangco, Sister Salangad, Sister Romero, and Sister Bautista.<br />
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We had visitors this week from Malaysia coming to attend the Temple. Elder and Sister Montague are our Public Affairs missionaries in Malaysia. Our good friend Carol Ng came too. Elder and Sister Coleman are the Humanitarian missionaries (Elder Coleman is taking the picture). The group consisted of around 20 Malaysians who are staying in Patron Housing for a couple of days while they do Temple Work. Montagues are standing next to us in this picture. This is just a small handful of the group.Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-81828324644821028312018-01-06T18:28:00.002-08:002018-01-06T18:51:58.370-08:00Happy New Year<br />
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This week brought in the new year and more celebrating. Also our 42nd Anniversary! </div>
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New Year’s Eve the Senior Missionaries met at Elder and Sister Cory’s apartment, which has the best view of the harbor, to eat waffles and watch the fireworks. The <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3Dm15eDI1u5Bg&source=gmail&ust=1515378638937000&usg=AFQjCNHgNOezsQAQvwpKeYWwAV3EK2klFA" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m15eDI1u5Bg" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">fireworks</a> were spectacular and being able to view them from inside the comfortable confines of the Cory’s apartment was terrific.</div>
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The morning after the latest night of our Mission we were able to drag ourselves out of bed on the morning of our latest sleep-in of our Mission, and head over to the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://www.google.com.hk/search?q%3Dhong%2BKong%2Bjade%2Bmarket%26dcr%3D0%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du%26source%3Duniv%26sa%3DX%26ved%3D0ahUKEwiHyrSj3MTYAhXEJZQKHUp7D2oQsAQIXA%26biw%3D1368%26bih%3D792&source=gmail&ust=1515378638937000&usg=AFQjCNGBQ3cV3roF_8YT8fBKTK2J9eKksg" href="https://www.google.com.hk/search?q=hong+Kong+jade+market&dcr=0&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiHyrSj3MTYAhXEJZQKHUp7D2oQsAQIXA&biw=1368&bih=792" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Jade Market</a> with the Chatterton’s. We wanted to find something for our forty-second Wedding Anniversary that would be small and light enough to take home, that would create sentiment towards our time here, and would not be too expensive. We were hoping to find something Jade because of the cultural value it has here in Hong Kong. After searching and haggling for most of the morning, we settled on some Jade carvings in the shape of multiple layers of balls and a Chinese Christmas Nativity where each piece is hand carved and painted out of some kind of nut. We also bought some Chinese Christmas tree ornaments. We left the market and went to lunch, my favorite part of the day.</div>
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Tuesday, the day of our Anniversary we spent the morning in the office and the afternoon at the Cheese Cake Factory and a movie. It’s our second Anniversary celebration here in Hong Kong and probably our last. We have really enjoyed our time together here, it will always be a special place for us but we probably will never be back.</div>
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This week we attended the Temple with the Area Presidency and met for lunch after. The Area President, Elder Funk took the opportunity to share with us some personal experiences he had with President Monson. He told us about a Tabernacle Choir visit at Red Rock, an amphitheater outside of Denver, that President Monson attended and that after the concert he stayed and shook as many hands as he could. He also gave his card to a woman in need so that she could call him personally at her convenience when they could talk without interruption.</div>
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Our Welfare Correlation Meeting was held this week, (after not meeting the last few weeks while the Area Presidency and Department Managers were traveling for the holidays). This is one of our favorite assignments because we are exposed to all the wonderful ways the Church is helping those in need in this part of the world. </div>
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Because we have not met for a couple of weeks there was a back log of projects that were reviewed and a longer than normal meeting. All of the Senior Humanitarian Couples in the numerous countries in the area keep churning away and finding projects that require funding. It doesn’t take attending many of these meetings that it becomes apparent that there will never be enough money to solve all the problems of the earth’s poor and needy. The challenges will only truly be met with the Priesthood being properly magnified after being properly authorized throughout the world.</div>
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We spent several hours this week tying up loose ends and preparing for the launch and training of the CRM project that we have been working on for most of the Mission. The work we have done is now live on the site and we are now organizing the data into business units by country and national directors. I think we will finish up about the time we are replaced. Good Luck Elder and Sister Mortenson!</div>
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We celebrated NYE at the Cory's enjoying waffles and watching the fireworks (they have a great view of the habor). We have made so many wonderful friends here on our mission.</div>
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Elder Beckstead is chief waffle maker</div>
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Happy New Year in Hong Kong 2018</div>
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We enjoyed walking around the street on New Year's Day. </div>
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One of the many interesting things we see at the street markets. Dried lizards on a stick! You just can't believe the things they eat here. They eat every part of every living, swimming, creeping, crawling thing! They dry it, fry it, or eat it raw!</div>
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Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-64657675098915187312017-12-31T01:17:00.001-08:002017-12-31T01:39:26.570-08:00Christmas Time<div class="m_-3215777176310279175gmail-MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
This was the last week of December and closed out the year 2017. A very special time for us, an entire year that we were able to focus twenty-four seven without worldly interruption in developing stronger testimonies and an increased awareness of the reality of Jesus Christ. </div>
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We have been blessed in so many ways since our arrival here in Hong Kong including the expectations we brought into this Mission of how we would build the Kingdom versus the reality of how little it seems we have contributed. Yet our Father in Heaven has showered blessings on us and those we love and care about. We have learned that we are not measured by what we do here as much as it is that we came here. We simply answered a call and came, and by so doing have felt the appreciation and love from on high.</div>
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We spent most of the week celebrating with Branch parties, office parties, Temple worker parties, and other parties of other friends. It was a partying week. We met for breakfasts, we met for lunches, and we met for dinners. We indulged in really good food and some food we would rather not think about. We had some quiet time with some of our closest friends listening to Christmas music and watching Christmas movies with nothing but light from our little Christmas tree and some illuminating fake candles. We also spent time on the busy streets of Hong Kong with all the noise of a big city and all the Christmas lights and decorations you can imagine. It even got cold one day last week as we approached Christmas day.</div>
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We called all our daughters and their families on the day after Christmas here in Hong Kong which was Christmas day in the states. It was so fun to see that all of them enjoyed a wonderful Christmas and Karen loved reminding them all that we would be with them next Christmas. I agree with Karen, two Christmas’s away from home is enough and we will appreciate being home next year a lot.<br />
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Our Sisters in our Branch love to party! They sing and dance and prepare an unbelievable amount of food.</div>
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We had a devotional and dinner with all of the Temple Workers. The members here who serve are amazing!</div>
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Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-54245556982364667072017-12-23T19:35:00.002-08:002017-12-26T22:41:28.782-08:00Our Second Chistmas in Hong Kong<div class="m_8380969394955342241gmail-MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
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.</div>
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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.<br />
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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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!</div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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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.<br />
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Merry Christmas!</div>
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I couldn't help asking this little guy's mother if I could take his picture! </div>
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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!</div>
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The Elder and Sisters were able to talk to quite a few people, it was really fun!</div>
Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-51946904480576019842017-12-16T20:04:00.004-08:002017-12-19T03:57:05.257-08:00Cambodia<div class="m_-4712191348187910989gmail-MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
We traveled to Cambodia this week and met with Elder and Sister Dowd. They will be returning home at the end of the month and their replacements, the Smiths, will not be arriving until mid-April. We have been asked if we can help, “bridge the gap” by supporting the Director of Public Affairs and the National Council of Cambodia during the absence of a Senior Missionary Couple being there. Very similar to what we did a few months ago with Sister Carol Ng in Malaysia.</div>
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It was close to a three-hour flight from Hong Kong to Phnom Penn and another hour or so getting through immigration because we had to get a Visa there at the airport. After collecting our baggage, we quickly found the shuttle driver sent by the hotel. We then experienced another hour of moving very slowly through narrow and congested streets to the hotel. After settling in we called the Dowds who picked us up, took us out to eat, and then to their apartment. We visited there for a while before they took us back to our hotel, “The Luminer”, where we then enjoyed a well deserved good night of sleep!</div>
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The Dowds introduced us to Sister Theany, the Director, with the rest of the Council the second night of our visit at a dinner organized for all of us to meet each other. It was a wonderful evening and a great opportunity for us to get to know the members who serve in Cambodia in Public Affairs. The dinner also served as the end-of-a Mission thank you event for Elder and Sister Dowd. It was well deserved and a great blessing for us to witness the love that has developed between the Dowd’s and the Cambodian delegation attending the dinner.</div>
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Earlier that day we met Brother Lee who owns a <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://www.google.com.hk/search?q%3Dtuk%2Btuk%2Bcambodia%26dcr%3D0%26tbm%3Disch%26source%3Diu%26ictx%3D1%26fir%3DPSJjf8AStjgpdM%25253A%25252CzH_fSPKs0fkxYM%25252C_%26usg%3D__akqD6bQ9P4QyWteC2ba4PTbm3x4%253D%26sa%3DX%26ved%3D0ahUKEwiWrcqoopPYAhXLGZQKHQrKC50Q9QEIJzAA%23imgrc%3DPSJjf8AStjgpdM:&source=gmail&ust=1513770394809000&usg=AFQjCNFWu5k1rVjcLFeJkuiCNqORXxNFHw" href="https://www.google.com.hk/search?q=tuk+tuk+cambodia&dcr=0&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=PSJjf8AStjgpdM%253A%252CzH_fSPKs0fkxYM%252C_&usg=__akqD6bQ9P4QyWteC2ba4PTbm3x4%3D&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiWrcqoopPYAhXLGZQKHQrKC50Q9QEIJzAA#imgrc=PSJjf8AStjgpdM:" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">tuk-tuk</a> and makes a living moving people around in the City. He took us out to the “<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge_Killing_Fieldshttps:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge_Killing_Fields&source=gmail&ust=1513770394809000&usg=AFQjCNElrCft-mHLCCWwUh-WFteyd0F2aQ" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge_Killing_Fieldshttps:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge_Killing_Fields" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Killing Fields</a>” and “<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=http://www.killingfieldsmuseum.com/s21-victims.html&source=gmail&ust=1513770394809000&usg=AFQjCNHy9hfo79yZWbsyQV4WJ1mmnumWrw" href="http://www.killingfieldsmuseum.com/s21-victims.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">S-21</a>”. It was a very sobering experience and an introduction to unimaginable atrocities. Three million Cambodians of a total population of eight million killed by fellow Cambodians and an evil leader. Visiting these sights is probably an experience that would be good for everyone to do once, but I know Karen and I hope never to do again.</div>
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The next evening, we met with Theany and Vannak reviewing and teaching them how to use Corus, Newsroom, and the Public Affairs Network. They were great and were able to learn how to use the software in about one-tenth the time it took me. It will be fun working with them from Hong Kong for the next few months while there are no Senior Public Affairs Missionaries in Cambodia.</div>
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We had another chance before our meeting with Theany and Vannak for Brother Lee to spend some time motoring us around town in his tuk-tuk. Besides seeing all the back allies and markets of Phnom Penn he also found his way to the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Palace,_Phnom_Penh&source=gmail&ust=1513770394809000&usg=AFQjCNG5dyhD9kliSiRgJnSb_btvyls1Tg" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Palace,_Phnom_Penh" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">King’s Palace</a>. We hired a woman tour guide to walk us through the royal complex including several royal buildings and gardens. </div>
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Before we left Cambodia, the Dowd's took us to the Service Center and to the Mission Home. We were able to meet Elder and Sister Thurston who are serving a Humanitarian Mission, and Elder and Sister Scott who serve as the Senior Missionary couple in the Mission Home.</div>
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Our Tuk Tuk driver, Tree, was wonderful. He is a member of the Church, and a survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-79). He serves on the District High Council. He told me the most wonderful day of his life was when he took his 6 children (made possible through the Temple Patron fund), to the Hong Kong Temple where they were sealed together in 2006. </div>
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This little house is a very very nice house for Cambodia! The people are so poor, they are so humble, and they are so happy.</div>
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Getting around in a Tuk Tuk was such a fun experience. The Tuk Tuk is an icon for Cambodia. It's a little cart pulled by a motorcycle. There are hundreds of them everywhere. There are also hundreds and hundreds of scooters. In the city, there are lots of cars that share the road with the Tuk Tuk's and the scooters. It's an adventure.</div>
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Our ride a little way out of the city to see the "Killing Fields". An experience that was very somber and we'll never forget.</div>
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It was fun to ride up next to the Elders. Our driver Tree was honking and waving at them, they were waving to him, calling him by name, it's obvious the missionaries and the members are very close. The Church in Cambodia is very small, having only been in the country for a short time.</div>
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Most definitely a third world country. Electricity throughout the city at it's finest!</div>
Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-31489901588248834202017-12-09T19:54:00.000-08:002017-12-10T01:20:43.968-08:00Christmas FHE<div class="m_2549831149866974554gmail-MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
This week began with a special Christmas Family Home Evening with all the Senior Missionaries serving in the Area. The Seller’s, who were in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for ten years, were in charge of this activity and with Sister Marian Sellers playing the piano we all participated in a group sing along. We sang all the Christmas songs Karen and I know and then some we did not know both traditional and spiritual, and I must say it was not that bad and I enjoyed it a little bit.</div>
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A group from Salt Lake working in Church publishing visited us this week as part of a world-wide tour of all the Areas of the Church. The purpose is to introduce a new approach the Church is taking to protect the integrity of published products. In addition to the Church’s visual identity we are now including proprietary developed fonts, light and color schemes, and patented style guides to protect the integrity of future Church published products. Going forward it will be much easier for you to determine whether or not what your looking at or reading has been produced by the Church.</div>
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The temple reopened this week after being closed for three weeks, so we were able to attend our Wednesday evening assignment and again for our first Thursday of the monthy morning session with the Area Presidency. </div>
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Thursday morning after the session we gathered across the street for a Testimony meeting and an official welcome of the new Missionaries that have arrived since our last Thursday Morning meeting with the Presidency. This included Elder Randy and Sister Teddi Jones, Elder Stanley and Sister Carol Parry, and Elder Allan and Sister Arendje Whidden. The Jone’s will be serving as the Branch President of the every-day Branch, the Parry’s are legal, and Whidden’s are the Mental Health Couple.</div>
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We worked in the office and had another good week from our cubicle, we also had a fun play day. Elder Thong and I were the first to ever ride the Ocean Park Mine Train roller coaster with Virtual Reality Goggles. It was really fun to have this pioneering experience as a missionary, it connected me to my pioneering ancestors. Elder Thong is from Singapore and Sister Thong is from Hong Kong and were called from Seattle where they will be returning after their Mission. They met while attending school at BYU Hawaii and he is currently serving as the Area Financial Auditor. We have become good friends and will miss the daily association we share with them as Missionaries. Developing new life time friendships has been another wonderful perk allowed us by serving here in Hong Kong.<br />
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Ocean Park with Elder and Sister Thong</div>
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We went to lunch with Thongs to the "Jumbo Floating Restaurant" in Aberdeen. We had Dim Sum. A little scary having Chinese people make your menu selections for Dim Sum, but we survived!</div>
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FHE with the Senior Missionaries. Dad and Eder Thong trying to make music with the pop bottles. They did pretty good! </div>
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Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-81477481079429334872017-12-03T20:45:00.003-08:002017-12-05T00:25:28.792-08:00Saying Goodbye to Sister Barcocols<br />
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Our December calendar is beginning to look the Chinese New Year fireworks. We have so much going on here right now that it will be difficult to keep up with it all. Karen knows how to use the invite function in Outlook and is wearing it out here in December.</div>
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This week begin visiting a secluded white sand beach on the east side of the peninsula at Clear Water Bay. The temperature was in the low sixties so besides ourselves there were only a couple other people on the beach. We enjoyed the sounds and sights of the serf as each wave would form, crest, and crash before disappearing into the sand.</div>
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After about an hour we left and stopped for lunch at Big Bite when we received a message that Sister Barcolcols’ brother had passed away unexpectedly, and she would be leaving to go home to the Philippines later that day or in the morning. Her flight was postponed a day, so we were able to see her and offer our condolences before she left.</div>
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We love and worry about the Sister Missionaries serving here that after their Missions are returning to a quality of life that would be difficult to endure. We wish there was more we could do for them and their families.</div>
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Horse racing is big here in Hong Kong and has been for years. I remember as a young Missionary seeing billboards advertising the races at the “Happy Valley Race Track” and hearing the name, “the Hong Kong Jockey Club”. So, Karen and I mostly out of curiosity decided to go to the races this week. Having never been we did not know quite what to expect and are pleased to report that it was a lot of fun. The horses were amazing, not only were they physically marvelous but the way they competed against each other to win was more like a human than an animal.</div>
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We had a good week at the office and continue to progress with the Opinion Leader Data Base and CRM. We had productive conference calls with both Salt Lake and Washington D.C. concerning how we can best utilize the system. We also saw “Light the World” kick off in all the countries in our area and are excited about the campaign being a great success similar to last year.</div>
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We took the Filipino Sister Missionaries (Sister Cory joined us), to lunch to say a sad goodbye to Sister Barcolcols (sitting to the left of me). Her brother passed away, President Lam sent her home to stay. She would have completed her mission here in February. He told her she needed to be home with her family and finish her mission teaching them the gospel. Sister Barcolcols and her brother were the only 2 members in all of her immediate and extended family. Her brother had completed his mission and was engaged to be married in the Manilla Temple in May. <br />
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Left to right: E/S Beckstead, Sister Barcolcols, Sister Cory, Sister Salangnad.<br />
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Who would have thought our first horse race would be in Hong Kong! This was really fun!<br />
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<br />Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-81950481455112707852017-11-26T01:49:00.000-08:002017-11-27T01:54:12.441-08:00Week of Thanksgiving<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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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!</div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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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.<br />
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Robert and Cheri Jenson, us, Teddi and Randy Jones, Marilyn and John Chatterton.<br />
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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!<br />
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Our decorating day was the day after Thanksgiving. We can't believe it's almost our second Christmas here in Hong Kong!<br />
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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 !<br />
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<br />Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-80749195942524056452017-11-18T23:43:00.001-08:002017-11-20T02:11:52.240-08:00A Really Good Week<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
This week was a much better week than last week because Karen was feeling much better. The antibiotic given to her by Elder Sellers finally kicked in and she was “up and at um” like she had never been sick a day in her life. She completed a couple of her newsbriefs to the Area Presidency and attended her Institute Class.</div>
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We had a video call this week with the Hubbard’s and Montague’s. The Hubbard’s are serving in India and the Montague’s in Malaysia. The Montague’s stayed on the video call after the group call and shared with us that they have been asked to keep a low profile by the Mission President for a while because of some political issues in the Country. It was sad because they have recently arrived and are so eager to bring the Church out of obscurity and to have to sit still for the foreseeable future is very disappointing and difficult. It will be interesting to observe the windows that will open for them in the next few weeks through patience and obedience.</div>
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We had multiple video calls with Elder and Sister Dowd this week. We were able to help her post some pictures in a Newsroom article and reviewed with her a second article. Their departure date moved up a week, so they will be leaving the end of December. They are a lot of fun and we enjoy visiting with them a lot. Their home is in Houston but they have children in Utah so we are hoping that we will be able to spend time with them after our Mission.</div>
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We attended a concert at the Hong Kong Concert Hall this week featuring the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and a world-famous pianist named Luganski. Review:<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=http://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2120697/review-nikolai-lugansky/hk-phil/charles-dutoit-masterful-rachmaninov&source=gmail&ust=1511258750704000&usg=AFQjCNEzvMygAYq_zraMWJCDgOhmEOfgEQ" href="http://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2120697/review-nikolai-lugansky/hk-phil/charles-dutoit-masterful-rachmaninov" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"> Nikolai Lugnaski/HK Phil/Charles Dutoit</a>-masterful Rachmaninov, effortless Stravinsky, restrained Ravel. I enjoyed it and was particularly emotionally moved by the last number, as I listened to it I felt like I was musically being led through the Temple Endowment. It was a remarkable experience to see Luganski play the piano, Karen and I talked about it and are agreed that he wore out the piano by the of the program.</div>
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Sister Lee’s replacements arrived Saturday, Karen and I took them to church on Sunday. We attended a Cantonese Ward because we wanted to see a primary program in Chinese. Elder and Sister Whidden were great sports and enjoyed the experience as much as we did. It is so fun to participate in a Sacrament Meeting in China and know that the same program is being held all over the world this month by primary children of most every nation, kindred, and tongue.</div>
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Lynn had fun flying Elder Yan's droan this week. Boys will be boys, even if they're boys in men's bodies!<br />
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Sister Norman (left) and Sister Cory didn't have to work too hard to persuade Lynn to help them with preparations for our Senior Missionary Thanksgiving!<br />
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I love that wherever you are in the world, this is the time of year for the Primary Presentation! We attended a Cantonese Ward having theirs today. Afterwards I snapped this photo of the poster they used to help the kids with the program! We are all so different, but at the same time, we are so much the same!<br />
<br />Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-29146840926692363482017-11-12T19:58:00.002-08:002017-11-12T19:58:57.461-08:00Next Week Will Be Better!<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
This week’s entry will be short because Karen has spent the week in the apartment with a Urinary Tract Infection, and I have been running all over trying to find what she needs to help her feel better. Elder Sellers (our mission Doctor), has had her try three different antibiotics to fight the infection, finally, this last one seems to be working.</div>
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Tom and Annie have both been out of the office as well, so I spent as much time in the apartment this week as in the office. I did however have an opportunity to meet all the Area Service Center Managers at a Conference being held here in Hong Kong. </div>
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We also attended the Temple Wednesday night, (which Karen probably should not have) and were asked to attend a Session as the Witness Couple. We don’t have the opportunity to attend the Temple often as Patrons so this was fun to experience the Temple in this capacity.</div>
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Karen and I were invited to speak in the Peninsula 3rd Branch Sunday, but Karen did not feel well enough to attend, so I spoke for about forty minutes and the Branch President made a few comments. I enjoy the confidence that we have as Missionaries to teach and testify without apprehension when called upon. A speaking assignment as a Missionary does not seem to carry the burden of the same assignment at home. We love to find opportunities to share the feelings of our hearts out here.</div>
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Karen’s starting to feel better, so I’m sure that this next week will be better for her. A lesson for us that not every week as Missionaries can be “a walk in the park”.</div>
Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-62437088495891016882017-11-05T07:00:00.001-08:002017-11-05T07:04:17.072-08:00Sui Kung Village<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
This week Karen and I were walking home on the promenade enjoying the beautiful lights of Hong Kong Island reflecting off the water in the harbor and realized that someday we will be leaving all this behind. We experienced a bit of separation anxiety before concluding the fallacy of the thought and realized the truth; that we will never leave this experience behind because going forward it will be a part of us forever.</div>
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This epiphany applies not just to the view we enjoy every night, but also to the many wonderful people, the culture, the food and even the smells, as well as every other “good or bad” experience we have enjoyed as missionaries on this side of the world. The Lord revealed to Joseph that all his experiences “shall be for thy good’, and we have lived to enjoy this lesson as Missionaries.</div>
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This week we visited Yuen Long, in the New Territories (they were called the New Territories the last time I was a Missionary here forty-years ago) not so new anymore. We found a hiking trail and walked towards China for a while and soon came to a river. The river similar in size, depth, and smell to the Jordon back home had a ferry service that we paid a fee and were carried across. The farrier rowed us across the river in this rag tag piece of junk that defied the laws of physics by floating. After we boarded he offered a disclaimer warning us that we may get wet, but the water was only a few feet deep. Of course, this was in Chinese and he seemed quite surprised when we responded to him in his native tongue.</div>
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In addition to our weekly Temple Assignment we attended our monthly Area Presidency Temple Session. This was different than any previous like session because the Area Presidency were all out of the country, so they were not able to attend. Our zealous District Leader claimed that someone told us that we should do it anyway, so we did. The Sellers and Beckstead’s provided lunch after, pizza, green salad, and doughnuts.</div>
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In the office we spent most of the week working closely with Annie, we really enjoy this part of our Mission. She is always making sure that we are having a good Mission and loves to side with Karen in helping me stay humble. She reminds me often of the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DTwivg7GkYts&source=gmail&ust=1509980066186000&usg=AFQjCNFy8WAvTcG8TIa_0LmNCfk9qcNSVQ" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twivg7GkYts" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Dog House</a> video and that I should stay out of the dog house.</div>
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Speaking about staying out of the doghouse, we were talking the other night and we are hoping that all our children will be able to serve a Senior Mission because of the opportunity to spend so much time together. It is a wonderful blessing to spend time with your best friend in the Mission Field because it is an environment that is magical. You are in a realm of the world but not of the world, a place where we can escape the noise of mortality and find stillness. We have experienced glimpses beyond the present into immortality and what we are promised if faithful.</div>
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I would caution our grandchildren that as they serve Missions that the growth experienced as a Missionary does not come fast. It comes slowly, day by day, hour by hour, through faith, obedience, love and a lot of hard work. None the less, it will happen and just like us, before you leave your Mission you will realize that all the hard work, obedience, and love will lead you to experiences gained that will be a part of you forever.</div>
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<a class="aQy aZR e aZr" data-tooltip-align="t,c" data-tooltip-class="a1V" data-tooltip="Beware of the Doghouse- Hilarious!" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twivg7GkYts&authuser=0" id=":pa" role="link" style="color: #222222; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 12.8px; height: 120px; outline: none; overflow: hidden; position: relative; white-space: nowrap; width: 180px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0" target="_blank"><span class="a3I" id=":pi" style="display: inline !important; height: 1px; left: -10000px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: -10000px; width: 1px;">Preview YouTube video Beware of the Doghouse- Hilarious!</span></a></div>
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<a class="aQy aZR e aZr" data-tooltip-align="t,c" data-tooltip-class="a1V" data-tooltip="Beware of the Doghouse- Hilarious!" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twivg7GkYts&authuser=0" id=":pa" role="link" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; height: 120px; outline: none; overflow: hidden; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: nowrap; width: 180px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0" target="_blank"></a><br />
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<span class="aV3 a6U" id=":pe" style="color: white; user-select: none;">Beware of the Doghouse- Hilarious!</span></div>
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Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-90472721832240483662017-10-29T03:04:00.002-07:002017-10-29T04:34:42.045-07:00Chan Family - Highlight of Our Week<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1021204076458175299" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1021204076458175299" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1021204076458175299" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1021204076458175299" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1021204076458175299" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1021204076458175299" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1021204076458175299" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1021204076458175299" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1021204076458175299" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1021204076458175299" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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This week flew by faster than the speed of light, or so it felt. I had a WebEx conference scheduled for Friday morning with Salt Lake that I did not realize I missed until Sunday morning.</div>
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We were able to visit <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sai_Kung_Town&source=gmail&ust=1509361658658000&usg=AFQjCNGaM7hfHgH7Rq-9bwgCKSw1CSeTYA" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sai_Kung_Town" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Sail Kung</a>, this week with Elders and Sisters Salmon and Chatterton, a small fishing village located about eight miles northwest of Hung Hum. Although it is not very far it still takes an hour to get there by bus and a bus is the only way to get there. It is an interesting little village that has somehow resisted the changes that come with time. It felt as though we left the present and returned to the past several decades ago, as we walked through the small alleys and came to the central plaza of the village. Fortunately, for us there was great food and we had a great lunch.</div>
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We had a fun call this week with the other PA missionaries. There are three couples including ourselves that have hit fill stride as Missionaries and all will be returning in the first quarter of next year. The Dowds in January, The Pollmanns in February and the Becksteads in March. Sister Dowd sent us a link with her great granddaughter.</div>
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Karen spent two days preparing meals with some of the other Sisters for the Mission President Seminar that the Area Presidency held this week.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">It has been interesting for me to observe how the Twelve meet with all the Area Presidencies every six months to teach and counsel. The Area Presidencies around the world then meet with the Area Seventies, District and Stake Presidents then meet with the Bishops and Quorum Leaders who then meet with the Auxiliaries. Six months seems like a very short time to me for information, instruction, and policy to be integrated into such a large organization, but somehow, they are able to do it just in time to start the cycle all over again. </span></div>
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This week was President and Sister Jones first week of everyday presiding over a full block of meetings. They handled it very well and will be great leaders for the next twenty-three months to the Sisters in the Branch here. I conducted the meeting Saturday and Karen said I only maid two mistakes.</div>
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We were given a challenge by one of the Chinese Temple workers a few weeks ago that we invite Grandma and Grandpa Chan to the Chai Wan Ward. They are old and have not been active for several years now and he thought that if we invited them they may consider attending. Later the Relief Society President of the Chai Wan Ward called and asked us if we would be interested in asking the Chan’s if she could visit them with us, and then the Elders Quorum President called and left a similar message. So, I talked with their grandson Lance and asked him what he thought they would be most responsive to. He suggested that I send a message to his mother and ask her to pick them up and meet us at the Ward, he also went on to say that this would help his family in several ways but did not elaborate nor did I ask.</div>
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This week I sent a message to his mother and she immediately responded that she could do it this Sunday. We met them at the Ward this morning and it was a wonderful experience. Lances mother showed up with Grandma and Grandpa and three great grandsons. The ward was thrilled to see them and embraced them with fellowship and love. Karen and I were so pleased to be introduced as their special friends from forty-plus years ago as they were recognized by one of the older members to Ward Members as some of the first members of Chai Wan Branch.</div>
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Sai Kung Fishing Village. Here you just buy your fish directly from the boat. Not just fish, but giant shrimp, turtles, and lots of other live sea creatures that I have no idea what they were. They throw them in a sack, you take them home, kill them, cook them (sometimes!), and dinner is ready!<br />
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A wonderful day having Brother and Sister Chan, their daughter-in-law Joyce Chan, and their great grandsons at Church with us. Definitely the highlight of our week!Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-88338824417780916312017-10-23T21:21:00.002-07:002017-10-23T21:28:18.656-07:00A Week with Many Changes and Challenges<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
This week we are at the office on our day off, at a time when I am usually sleeping. I am carefully weighing if it is a benefit to pick a wonderful righteous person to be my eternal partner. I am also considering calling for a vote for a role reversal on who gets to be the Senior Companion these next few months.</div>
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Every week begins with a Church employee/office missionary devotional followed by a district meeting. We never attend because we are the only Area Missionaries that have Monday as our prep-day. The others have Saturday, but because of our Saturday Church assignment we are never here on Monday. This week we are rolling out a new program that will involve all the Senior Missionaries, so Annie asked us to be here.</div>
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Because of the size and diversity of the Asia Area, Public Affairs are inviting each Senior Missionary Couple to choose a Country in the Area they would be willing to research and become familiar enough with that they can brief a member of the Area Presidency prior to a visit to that Country. We are providing a templet for the information that will be entered into a shared-drive that can be accessed through the internet. A vault of information developed by our Missionaries that will hopefully enrich their Mission experience through the process.</div>
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This week is a week of coming and goings. Elder and Sister Jones arrived, and he was sustained as the New Branch President this last Saturday. Elder and Sister Parry also arrived and will be serving as another Legal Couple. Sister Parry said, “she is interested in and loves family history”. She has previously served a Family History Mission. She'll be sitting in the office next to us. We hope she will share some of her knowledge and know how with us. </div>
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We had a farewell lunch with Sister Lee, who will be leaving the first week of November. The Sellers and Chatterton’s joined us taking her to the Cheesecake Factory, and in sharing a special time with such a special person as Sister Lee. </div>
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This week included a farewell party every day in the Everyday Branch for Elder and Sister Kendell. With Elder Kendell’s release, I am now serving as the Second Counselor to Elder Jones in the Everyday Branch.</div>
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The week also included a monthly meeting with the Government Relations Committee as well as the weekly Welfare Coordination Council. There is a lot going on right now and humanitarian aid is much needed in this part of the world. There are a lot of Emergency Response demands such as floods, typhoons, draughts, and fires that are the results of natural events. These are difficult and emotional for us because of the suffering of the innocent and weak that are exposed to the natural consequences of such events. Unfortunately, we are also witnessing an ethnic purging that is atrocious. <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41566561&source=gmail&ust=1508904798127000&usg=AFQjCNHiWuXthJpVXtry7xeG_FsYesB-Ag" href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41566561" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">The Rohingya refugee crisis</a> is a problem we have joined with a multiple of NGO’s for the relief of more than six-hundred thousand refugees in Bangladesh.<br />
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Saying goodbye to Elder and Sister Kendell was a special evening for all of us!</div>
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Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-39847269288042391962017-10-15T19:45:00.002-07:002017-10-16T03:14:20.335-07:00Back to Normal after General Conference<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
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This week everyone returned from Salt Lake, so the tenth floor was back to its crazy busy self. </div>
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Annie had a birthday while she was gone so we took her to dinner for a belated birthday dinner Tuesday night. Jimmy Chan and his wife Jo were planning on meeting us at the Cheesecake Factory, however, Jo was sick and couldn't make it, but Jimmy and the three of us had a great meal together to celebrate Annie’s thirty-third birthday.</div>
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The Montagues were able to join our bi-weekly Senior Missionary Public Affairs call this week. This is a significant note that needs to be recorded in our Missionary Blog because it typically takes several weeks for us to be able to connect with a new Missionary couple. Getting the hard wiring and software installed and connected with new users online is usually a nightmare. The major issue discussed in the call was this year’s Christmas Campaign which will be the same as last year, “Light the World".</div>
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We also had a good meeting this week with Paul Hanson and the rest of the Welfare Coordination Council. Elder Evans attended and plans to attend whenever he is in town going forward. We had a backlog of projects to catch up on, if I remember right we reviewed eleven or twelve. The Harmon’s are doing a great job and each meeting are feeling more comfortable with their presentations. The humanitarian needs worldwide is more than we could have ever imagined prior to coming over here.</div>
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The Kendell’s will be leaving October 25<sup>th</sup> and are busy getting ready to meet the Jones who will be replacing them. The Jensen’s and ourselves took Elder and Sister Kendell out for dinner as a token of appreciation for all they have done here in the Filipino Branch. He has served as the Branch President and Elder Jensen and I have served as his counselors. After dinner the six of us went to a movie, “<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://helperdocumentary.com/&source=gmail&ust=1508234737831000&usg=AFQjCNFf9yZOYRXt1Ys1Up4i3mLY6hsCzA" href="https://helperdocumentary.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">The Helper</a>” a documentary about the domestic workers here in Hong Kong.</div>
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We were scheduled to speak in the Pennisula 3rd Ward on Sunday but Church was canceled because of the sixth typhoon we have experienced as Missionaries. This typhoon, <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-asia-storm-hongkong/typhoon-khanun-to-hit-southern-china-monday-as-hong-kong-eases-warning-idUSKBN1CK01C&source=gmail&ust=1508234737831000&usg=AFQjCNFmfod4w20mpqGNL0sOEldsqtYLww" href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-asia-storm-hongkong/typhoon-khanun-to-hit-southern-china-monday-as-hong-kong-eases-warning-idUSKBN1CK01C" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Khanun</a> caused a T8 storm signal warning which means everybody in Hong Kong stays home. This weeks typhoon was not near as strong as the last one and by Sunday night the weather was calm.</div>
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Enjoying the newly opened Cheesecake Factory with our friend Jimmy Chun, and Annie (for Annie's birthday).<br />
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We love working with Annie in Public Affairs. One of the many blessings we have from our mission is the wonderful friendships we've made.<br />
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Elder and Sister Kendell, sitting across from Lynn and I, and the Jensons. The Kendells will be leaving to go home next week. We had a nice dinner together, the Saturday Branch Presidency and wives). Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-28189063029523527472017-10-08T20:31:00.001-07:002017-10-08T21:18:55.264-07:00Mid Autumn Festival<br />
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This week we celebrated two holidays, completed one assignment, started another, and enjoyed another week without any leadership in the office. I only mention this last item because it is so quiet every October and April during General Conference on the tenth floor. The lack of noise created by all the activity at the office gives us a chance to get caught up both mentally and emotionally. We never felt old until we accepted this assignment in this crazy busy environment we live in.</div>
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We were asked to do some research on why the Seventh-Day Adventist Church has been so successful with conversion growth in India. Neither Karen or I knew much about the Adventist Church so it was fun to learn about their history and beliefs. Of course, like any other student of this generation, we went right to “Google” for our source of information. We turned in an impressive report but have no idea of the accuracy of the content and included a disclaimer to protect our integrity<span style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji" , sans-serif;"><img alt="😊" class="CToWUd" data-goomoji="1f60a" goomoji="1f60a" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/e/1f60a" style="margin: 0px 0.2ex; max-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle;" /></span>.</div>
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We began working with the Montagues this week and their first effort to insert an article into Newsroom. They are so smart that it felt like we were being trained by them. After close to an hour of working together we ended the session and set up a time for another call next week. We expect that in this next call they will show us how the software works in the first few minutes and the rest of the call will just be time for a fun personal visit.</div>
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This last Sunday was <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/festival/national.htm&source=gmail&ust=1507608122343000&usg=AFQjCNFMvKdPx9dAwxMQRLo10fw8DqlvEw" href="https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/festival/national.htm" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">China’s National Day</a>. Several of the Senior Missionary Couple’s converged on Elder and Sister Cory’s apartment because of the beautiful view of the harbor they have. Each couple brought a desert and we enjoyed the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DJDit7jrInPw&source=gmail&ust=1507608122344000&usg=AFQjCNGtoWl6NqesCEOLlTMTm2Rl-wYsMw" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDit7jrInPw" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">firework display</a> while devouring sugar.</div>
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Karen and I spent our off-day Monday with the Chatterton’s, in North Point browsing small local shops, and having lunch at Big Bite, a good place for burgers and fries. Karen ordered a root beer float will real ice cream and with my help she was able to eat just a small amount of it. We were supposedly looking for ribbon or something our wives wanted, but John and I were more interested in cheap electronic gadgets. I bought an LED light that plugs into a USB port for ten dollars HK, (1.28 USD). I am not sure how I will use it but it is really cool.</div>
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We worked in the office Tuesday and Wednesday morning. The office closed at 3:00 Wednesday and was closed all day Thursday for the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://www.chinahighlights.com/festivals/mid-autumn-festival-history-origin.htm&source=gmail&ust=1507608122344000&usg=AFQjCNHF89IJscAKfUXJxqS6_oblyiu17Q" href="https://www.chinahighlights.com/festivals/mid-autumn-festival-history-origin.htm" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Mid-Autumn Festival</a>. We were asked if we could help out at the Temple on Thursday and had a very busy morning there.</div>
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That evening Karen and I walked along the promenade and could see families enjoying the holiday. The children were especially happy with their lanterns. I remember my first Mid-Autumn Festival years ago as a young missionary and tasting my first “<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooncake&source=gmail&ust=1507608122344000&usg=AFQjCNEWqIERuJrx6e0AcFrtzrxCCwtf0g" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooncake" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Moon Cake</a>”. Fortunately for me, I somehow survived and this time around was not tempted in the least to eat one. I talked Karen in to taking a bite just for the cultural experience. She was quick to spit it out. You would think that after all these years she would quit listening to me.</div>
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A great day in Hong Kong. Left to right: Lynn and Karen, Sister Alamanzor, Rowenalyn, Elder Jenson, Sister Jenson, Sister Bacolcol, Sister Kendell, Elder Kendell. </div>
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It was so fun walking along the harbor during the Mid Autumn Festival. </div>
Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021204076458175299.post-48271426485484001072017-09-30T21:49:00.002-07:002017-10-02T04:23:07.328-07:00Baptism<br />
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This week we had some new experiences beginning with a new place to eat and a new Senior Couple arriving in Malaysia.</div>
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We enjoyed a great meal with one of the members of our branch who is returning to the Philippines next week. We treated Melody Avena to the Cheesecake Factory, which just opened about a month ago in Tshim Shao Tsui. It was like experiencing a bit of paradise to eat something that did not look, smell, or taste Chinese. Melody is retuning to get married and, as one Sister stated in her testimony Sunday, is going home to multiply and replenish the earth. </div>
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Karen and Melody have become very close in the months that we have served in the Branch and is feeling bad that her friend is leaving but good that she can go home and live a life without being separated from those she loves.</div>
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The Montagues arrived this week from St. George to serve as the Public Affairs Senior Couple in Malaysia this week. We talked to them on the phone for a few minutes to introduce ourselves and are excited to get to know them better. We know that he is a retired Radiologist and that she is a stay-at-home-mom. They have six children and seven grandchildren. One of their grandchildren was born two weeks before they entered the MTC and one of their sons was married just two days before they entered the MTC.</div>
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Mary Rose Ellerma, one of the investigators that the Sisters have been teaching, asked me to baptize her this week. This was a very unexpected blessing for me because we were told in Salt Lake before we came that Public Affairs Missionaries seldom have an opportunity to perform a baptism.</div>
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In the Temple this week we experienced a Mongolian company of ten or twelve. In the group of men attending was a really old brother that could not hear and also a middle-aged brother that was blind. This created a few challenges but somehow it all works and we get to be a part of it.</div>
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We have been able to watch a few sessions of conference and are looking forward to seeing more.</div>
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I suppose that we have been guilty of framing a Senior Mission as nothing but fun in our blogs. It is easy in the social media age to glamorize our lives and not include some of the hardships that are also part of Missionary life. So, I’ll share some of the difficulties associated with the work we do. It’s sometimes hard to be a long way from home and we are not fond of a lot of the food or the effect that it has on our digestive tract. Other than that, things are great.</div>
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Lynn had the opportunity to baptize Mary Rose. The sister missionaries, Sister Alamanzor, and Sister Bacolcols, are amazing missionaries.Elder and Sister Becksteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950683313172174354noreply@blogger.com0