The #104 bus is a double-decker. We exit the subway station, walk about 300 yards and go down the stairs or the escalator to the ground level to the bus stop. But, today, the line waiting for #104 was so long that it wound up the steps up to the walkway of the subway with at least 100 people. It was amazing to see people keep piling into the bus. I was one of the last ones to get on. Elwin is such a gentleman as he always lets ladies go on first, which means he is way behind me. Each time I think he is not going to make it, but he does. Nice guy! (When he opens the door for me at the mall or somewhere, at least 10-15 people try to slip through before he makes it in.) Nice guy!
Today is a special day as the Asian Area Presidency and representatives came to visit. One of them was Elwin's companion when he was on the mission in Taiwan. As a counselor in the Area Presidency, he goes to various units in Asia to visit. I was so impressed that his whole speech was in Chinese and he explained gospel principles clearly with examples. Wow, what a good example he set for us. We better get cracking with our Chinese.
At 12:30, there was a baptismal service for a young girl, Tina, who just turned 8; and a lady from FuJian, who is in her 50's. The little girl was so cute. She gave a speech about why she wanted to be baptized. I met Sister Shih (the lady from FuJian) a couple of weeks ago at church. She told me she was investigating the church. She had already joined a Christian church in the Mainland. When she came to Hong Kong a year or so ago, she heard about the LDS church and decided to come for a visit. She loves coming because she feels the spirit so strongly. Her husband died in his 40's from being overworked. She talked about him and tears came. The lesson in Sunday School a couple of weeks ago was on "eternal families". The Spirit touched her so much. I told her one day she would see her husband again and she nodded. She understood. She was baptized by the missionary who taught her. She then gave a beautiful speech and bore her testimony about her conversion. She said that she is now ready to go home to teach her son, and her parents. It was a very beautiful ceremony. Just so everyone understands, people in China are allowed to teach members of their family about the Gospel, regardless of religious belief, but they are not allowed to teach others outside of their family. Missionaries are not allowed in China, regardless of religious belief. To be a Communist party member one must be an athiest, and atheism is the only "religion" legally taught to the masses in China.
Tina's mom and some other ladies prepared some refreshment for the occasion. It was a very special meeting for us all.
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