April 3, 2011

Monday, March 28 - Sunday, April 3

     Monday was a sad day as we said good-bye to the Arnell's.  We all went to the YMCA, Salisbury Restaurant for a buffet lunch.  It's our favorite spot as it serves International foods, so everyone finds something they like.  The Arnell's are going home for medical reasons.  They have served valiantly, and we will miss them a lot.  The Elia's were there too.  They'll finish their mission and go home this Thursday, March 31.  They served as the Public Affairs missionaries and are regular helpers at the temple.  The Elia's are from Hawaii.

    Monday was also a busy day for us as Elwin went to his doctor's appointment with Dr. Pei, then Dr. Fung.  A separate blog covers that part of the event.  This week has been very busy visiting doctors.  We worked the afternoon shift since the Arnell's have gone.  The temple has stayed busy even though we don't have foreign visitors this week.

    Sunday, April 3:  It's our fast and testimony meeting.  We've had a super meeting as we enjoyed listening to the testimonies.  Naomi from Japan bore her testimony about the kindness she found since the big earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March 11.  She thanked those who helped with the fundraiser and for their outpouring of love.  Then she told of a story about a boy at Miyagi where a town was almost wiped out.

     The boy was on the 3rd floor at school when the disaster hit.  He looked out the window and saw his father driving to the school to pick him up, but he saw his father and the car swept away by the tsunami.  Then he went home and his mother and sister were gone, so was the house.  So, he walked to the shelter and stayed there with the people.  A police officer saw him shivering, standing in line for food.  He asked him where his parents were and was saddened to hear the story.  The policeman took off his jacket and put it on the boy and told the boy there was food in the pockets.  The boy took the food out and started walking up to the table where the rations of food were.  He took the food out of the pockets and put it on the table, then walked back to the line where he was standing.  The police officer was puzzled and asked him why he did that.  The boy said everyone here had been waiting for food and he wanted to share his with others.  What a remarkable story.  I know there are many such stories unfolding.  We hope they continue to overcome all the challenges that are ahead of them.

    Another young lady also bore her testimony.  She is a recent return missionary from Oakland, California.  She's from Canada, but her parents' roots are Hong Kong, so she came back to Hong Kong to live.  She said she was a trainer on her mission in charge of many duties.  She was so busy that she felt her mission went very fast.  She told of her experience after the mission as being boring, not much to do, even though she has been looking for a job.  She finally got a job and is happy to be busy again.  She looks like a very happy, positive person.  I hope she enjoys her work and has a social life in Hong Kong.  

     We are enjoying our Victoria III Mandarin Speaking Branch.  The Spirit is strong there.  We had the Leonard's and the 4 Fanling missionaries over for dinner after church.  We had oven fried chicken, mashed potatoes, Elwin's milk gravy, salad, broccoli, rolls...We had a good time eating and visiting.  As usual, the topics covered Chinese history, etc.  Someone asked about the terra cotta soldiers, and, of course, that topic brought in the stories of  Emperor Qin Shi Huang.  It was very interesting and informing.  I hope the Elders are learning some Chinese history. The 4 missionaries are from Spokane, Springville, Hong Kong, and Salt Lake.

     This being the Conference weekend, the schedules are a different.  Because of the time difference (14 hours ahead for us), Hong Kong stake holds regular meetings on April 3.  A week later, we have our Conference on Saturday, April 9, at 10 and at 2, also, at 5 for the priesthood meeting.  On Sunday, April 10, we'll have meetings at 9 and 1.  All the Conference proceedings will be dubbed in Mandarin and Cantonese.  But, we couldn't wait and have already seen all but one of the Conference sessions, in English.  Please feel free to share your thoughts about the Conference through e-mail or comments.