A week to remember, a break through on Elwin's condition...
Elwin had a checkup with Dr. Fung, his cardiologist, after the
stent was put in in April . Looking at the results of the blood tests,
all the numbers; total cholestrial, HDL, LDL, Blood sugar, A1C, all in
perfect range! Yet, he continued to be out of breath going up that
dreadful hill called Kent Road leading to the temple, on the steps going
up to Hong Hom MTR Station, and other tens of steps that's part of the
Hong Kong subway system. We thought it could be the hot and humid
weather contributing to his problems. Our son, Kong, said to check on
dad's medications and supplements, while Elwin was also starting to
suspect that some supplements might be the culprits. Elwin decided to
cut down on his Omega 3, ALA and baby aspirin intake. Each day, his
color seemed to look better and he seemed not to have as many struggles
going up those hills and steps. Yes, some supplements were causing his
blood to be too thin, hence, the dizziness and headaches when he climbed
steps. He is back on the ALA and the baby aspirin, and he is feeling
better each day. Thanks to Kong and y'all for keeping us in your
prayers.
On our P-day, we and the Deans went to Shenzhen for lunch at the
MixC Mall. The Teppanyaki lunch was delicious and we found yet another
Wal Mart next to the mall. The mall is only about 20-30 minutes away
from Fanling where we live making it very convenient for us to go.
P-day with the Dean's
We had the privilege of meeting a group of Malaysian members
who came to visit the Hong Kong Temple this week. It's always amazing
to see our visitors from afar, with various languages, peoples,
cultures, and yet with one same goal: to enter the House of the Lord.
The Malaysian members spoke mostly English, but translations into
various languages are always available to all who come.
We were also privileged to have visitors from Salt Lake on Tuesday,
August 30. Elder Russell T. Osguthorpe, the General Sunday School
President, and Elder Andrian Ochoa, the 2nd Counselor in the General
Young Men's Presidency, came to Hong Kong and conducted firesides for
the missionaries and the general membership of the Church here. The
Temple remained open during their firesides, so we didn't get a chance
to attend. Elder Osguthorpe was the Dean of Instructional Technology at
BYU and had offered me a job teaching there when I received my Ph.D.
He holds a special place in my heart. He is a master teacher and a man
of God. We so appreciate all of the leaders of the Church who come to
visit.
One of the temple workers from mainland China asked me to teach
her conversational English. Because she wasn't able to come to the
temple regularly, I suggested that we meet online on Skype. We started
this week and it was an interesting experience. Four of her church
friends asked to participate. Since we are doing a general everyday
conversation in English, I thought it would be okay. It was difficult
since each had very different experiences with English (or none), and
age group, it is quite a challenge. But, I was glad to be able to
provide a service to these members of the Church.
Elwin and I are especially happy to welcome temple visits from our
Mandarin Speaking Branch. Some of them aren't able to come during
their regularly scheduled temple day, so they come on a day when they
can. It makes our days very special to see how people take time to
come. One such person is Sister Feng. She took the temple preparation
class from us a couple of months ago, and has been faithful in coming to
visit the temple. We also met a sister from Beijing who came to spend 4
days at the temple this week. How special it is to see this young
lady's happy smiles as she enters the temple each day.
On Saturday, Sep. 3, the English Corner group met again on Skype
for 5 people. Our kids had purchased a premium Skype membership for us
to be able to have up to 10 people on video conference at the same
time. Unfortunately, because of the bandwidth, we were only able to
have audio with most of them. It's a challenge to teach a conversion
class using only audio. Later that day, we went to Shenzhen to meet a
former student from Shandong University that we met in our teaching days
back in 2008-2009. Henzer (his name) brought his girl friend and we
had a great reunion. They will come to Hong Kong to visit us when she
gets a visa.
Sunday, September 4 was a fast and testimony meeting and we
enjoyed hearing members bearing their testimonies. Following are some
excerpts:
Brother Yang: Went on vacation to Beijing and was able to find the spot
where President David O. McKay dedicated China for the preaching of the
gospel. He read the prayer to us and it was so special to hear that
President McKay did this on January 9, 1921. We all hope and pray that
the Chinese Government will allow missionaries to go into China in the
near future.
Brother Jamisen: He was given a couple of opportunities to work in Hong
Kong or China as a lawyer. After many prayers, he and his wife decided
that the Lord wanted him to make his own decision and do a good job. It
was a great realization for him. They are very happy living in Hong
Kong.
Sister Lo: Served a 2-week summer mission in Hong Kong. It was a great
experience for her even though all of her friends wanted her to spend
the last days of summer with them before graduation. She was touched by
the devotion of the missionaries for taking 18-24 months of their lives
to serve a mission in Hong Kong.
We had the missionaries over for dinner after church. Since it was
the U.S. Labor Day weekend, we decided to celebrate the holiday with
some traditional foods even though it's not celebrated here. Following
is a list of what we served for dinner:
Homemade Baked Beans (click on link for recipe, it's delicious)
Hamburgers, Teriyaki chicken sandwiches
Roasted Potatoes and Onions
Chinese Mango pudding with fruit cocktail
watermelon
brownies
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