September 3-9, 2012

Shopping at the Jade Market with some of the other senior sister missionaries.

We all found wonderful bargains. L to R: Sister Heiner, Sister Hamilton, Sister Castleton, Sister Rippy, and Garnalee.

Picture we took from the ferry crossing from Hong Kong Island heading to the Kowloon side.

Picture of our apartment building. We are on the 21st floor.

Picture of our kitchen. Small and compact making it easy to find things. Our oven is what looks like a microwave on the counter.

Tom writing in his journal sitting in our living room.

Our washer/dryer combo. It only does small loads (about 6 shirts) and takes about 4 hours. So do laundry daily.

This ship is an area called Whampoa. It is part of the shopping center we go to sometimes. It was built as a shopping center and was never meant to sail.

Shopping day. We are returning home which is about a mile away. Notice the puddles. It rained while we were shopping. We were glad it had stopped as we left our umbrellas in the apartment. We haven't gotten used to taking them with us wherever we go.

The week after we got here we were invited to dinner with the Area Presidency. What a scary and swesome opportunity. We were treated to a wonderful dinner prepared by Sister Gong. After dinner we had a tesimony meeting where we were asked to share our testimony begining with the newest couple which was us. The Area Presidency then shared their testimonies with us. Each sister was given a pillow box by Sister Gong. We will be given items to place in our pillow box during our mission. A pillow box, traditionally, is a box that a Chinese woman would keep her precious possessions in and sleep on the box each night. So if there were an emergency she could grab her most prized possessions and run.

We had a Skype confernece on Thursday with missionary couples from Taiwan, Cambodia, Mongolia, Thailand, and Indonesia. The presenters were in Taiwan and South Korea. Technology is wonderful.

Each Sunday we go to church at 11:15 am and get home around 6 pm. We go so early because we share the cost of a taxi with other couples. We have choir practice, then our block of meetings, and then the Phillipina sisters have fixed a meal to share. Today we had Family Home Evening and then a meal afterwards. The Branch provides the money for the meal as the the Phillipina sisters are basically kicked out of the home where they work on their day off which for our sisters is Sunday. They have nowhere to go but to the church.

I admire the Phillipina sisters who come to Hong Kong to work as domestics because there isn't any work for them in the Phillipines. They leave their family, usually a husband and children, and come here to work for many years going home for a brief visit each year. Some are treated well by their employers while others are not. They come here and find the gospel and are very strong in their testimonies.

Last night Tom attended District Leadership Meeting even though he hasn't yet been given a calling. He reports that it was an excellent training.