Friday, August 24, 2012

August 20-24, 2012

We arrived safely in Hong Kong. Our apartment is very nice and we have about 650 square feet. We have a large bedroom with a queen bed, a desk, and wardrobe that Tom's clothes are in. In the other bedroom there is a twin size bed, a desk, and a second wardrobe with Garnalee's clothes in it. Both of the beds lift up with storage space under them. That is where we have stored our suitcases. We have a nice dining area with a table that seats 6 people very comfortably. Our kitchen is a u-shape that is just big enough for one person. We have a small washer and dryer combo machine in our kitchen. It only does small loads so we have to do laundry every three to four days. It takes aboutf five hours for the machine to run the complete cycle. The living room has a couch that can seat three people, a large cabinet with a TV, and a rocking chair. There is an air conditioner unit in each bedroom and in the living room. The church has provided a dehumidifier for each apartment. Our living and bedroom windows look out at a beautiful pool area of a hotel across the freeway. Our hotel/apartment building is right on the harbor. We are on the Kowloon side which is the penisula and Hong Kong island is across the harbor.
We have about a 15 minute walk to the bus station each morning. We can take the hotel shuttle to the bus station if we want but it takes about the same amount of time to get there. The building we work in is across the harbor in Hong Kong and it takes about 15-20 minutes to there after we get on the bus. The transportation system is very good and inexpensive. Tom gets to ride for half price because he is 65, lucky him!
The weather has been fairly mild for our first few days here. It rained the morning of our first day. Then has been partly cloudly and sunny. One can feel the humidity in the air when we are outside. When we went out this morning we discovered the windows had been taped with big X's which is for a predicted typoon. The typoon went by the southern edge of Taiwan yesterday.
We have been enveloped in the love of the other senior couples. We were invited to the homes of three other couples for dinner so Garnalee wouldn't have to worry about cooking andcould just get adjusted to the new environment and the time change.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

August 13-19, 2012

We arrived at the Missionary Training Center in Provo on Monday, August 13. We got checked in and then started right to work receiving the training that was prepared for us. We were challenged to stretch beyond ourselves and to get out of our comfort zone. We had the opportunity to teach in a role play situation with either investigators or people who had assumed the role of an investigator from experiences with a close friend who is not a member.

We have worked with our language tutor this week and finally got to meet him after working with him over Skype for several months. To me the highlight of the week was the testimony meeting we had for those who are taking the language training. Each person had the opportunity to share their testimony of the truthfulness of the restored Gospel and of our Savior Jesus Christ in the language they have been learning. Even though you couldn't understand the person the you could feel the Spirit.

We have very wonderful accommodations at the MTC. Our room has a queen size bath with a window that looks out on an enclosed patio area.

The meals are very good and we have to be careful that we don't overheat. Each day we have a selection of several main dish items and then there is a selection of fresh fruit and items for a salad and they always have cookies. Wednesday and Sunday are ice cream days where ice cream from the BYU creamery is served. YUM!

We leave the MTC at 6 am tomorrow, fly to Los Angeles, and then on to Hong Kong.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

August 9, 2012

Chad will take us to Provo, UT where we will enter the MTC on Monday morning (Aug. 13).
We're excited to get to work. We fly to Hong Kong on Monday, Aug 20, after a week in the MTC.