Sunday, March 6, 2011

Repulse Bay, Hong Kong

     This has been a busy week.  We started out visiting the Stanley Market on Southern HK Island on Monday, our p-day.  The Arnell's, a couple from Idaho who also work in the Temple went with us.  We took the East rail line, then Bus 104 to Exchange Square.  Then, we took Bus 260, sitting on the upper deck, to be delighted by beautiful Repulse Bay.  The Stanley Market wasn't very different from 30 years ago, when we were there.  Elaine and I took a shopping to Hong Kong before we left Taiwan after living there for 4 1/2 years in 1982.  It was fun to see all the souvenirs, but I didn't have much desire to buy any yet.  Perhaps, before we go home, we'll buy some.  I did get a blouse to go with the temple skirt that I got in Utah and also an outfit that cost only HK$50 (about US$6).  I'm still a good bargain shopper, but bargains don't mean much if I don't need it (Elwin speaking). On our way back, the Arnell's showed us a store named "Prize Mart" in ShaTin where one can buy a lot of American products. We bought a bag of almonds for HK$98 (US$13), and a few other things.  Then we headed home.  It was a full day!  Glad we cleaned up the apartment before we left; we were exhausted when we got back.

      Tuesday, 3/1 was Elaine's birthday.  I sure miss seeing that sweet girl of ours.  So, to celebrate her birthday, I went hiking on the Butterfly mountain.  It was beautiful, but I took a different path down and became very lost.  I knew I could take a taxi, but didn't want to.  When I saw a sign pointing  toward Tai Po, I knew I was way off.  A kind young lady walked me to the bus stop that she was going to, and I found myself at Wah Ming Estate.  I didn't know where that was from our apartment, but there was a bus going to Fanling Train Station, so I took it and got home after wandering for almost 3 hours.  Elwin was quite concerned.  I repeated the same thing again on Thursday, but was lost in yet another direction.  I made it back within 2 hours, before Elwin called for "search and rescue". 

     At the temple, we had a couple of young visitors from Thailand this week.  These sweet sisters and a brother were so full of spirit and we were so lucky to have them.  People may think we sacrifice our time to come to Hong Kong, but we are richly blessed because we meet humble members of the Church from places like Thailand, Indonesia, China, India and some other Southeast Asia locations.  I asked one of the ladies from China about the rich spirituality in these people and her reply was:  the gospel didn't come to us until just a few years ago from people who went overseas and found it.  We are so overjoyed that people are usually very devoted after they found the truth.  Wow, there is so much to learn from these people.

    We continue to see people like the ones I mentioned.  This coming week, we will have people coming from Malaysia and we are looking forward to meeting them.

    At the Victoria 3rd Branch where we attend church, we witnessed a young man being baptized today, Sunday, March 6.  He was about 22 years old.  He got up and expressed his feelings of being baptized and was overcome by the Spirit.  He told of his family having health and financial challenges, and it was a blessing that he found the missionaries, and they encouraged him to pray.  He was so grateful to have the gospel in his life at this difficult time.  I never saw young Chinese guys get emotional in public before.  We were very touched by his spirit.

    Our temple preparations class is going well too.  There are 4 sisters in the class, and they are so awesome.  They call us Teacher Davis.  I built a powerpoint presentation for them about the temple each week.  Elwin and I co-teach the class.  It has been a wonderful and rewarding experience.   
 
    Below are pictures of Repulse Bay, Hong Kong.