Week 65--November 11-17, 2013

 One of the workers who cleans the streets and sidewalks with a palm tree frond broom. Tom has decided he needs one of these umbrella hats for when he works in the garden.

 A beautiful clear morning that gave a great view of The Peak from the Kowloon side of Victoria Harbour. The Peak is on Hong Kong island.









Tom has been working out every morning before breakfast by climbing 648+ stairs in preparation for his climb from the harbour to the top of Big Buddha mountain which is an elevation of 4000 ft.

We had a great Family Home Evening in which the theme was an "Attitude of Gratitude." To conclude the evening we each had a piece of paper attached to our back and the other attendees were encouraged to write a positive message on the paper to that person.

Tom and Elder Aardema decided to go find the trail head for Big Buddha on Wednesday. Tom had printed off directions from the internet that someone who had walked the trail had posted. The directions were difficult to follow. It took them a couple of hours to find the trail head. It will be helpful for they actually do the hike as it will cut down on the time to get to the trail head. Elder Frandsen wants to do the Big Buddha hike but he goes home on November 22. Everyone was agreeable to moving the hike up to this Saturday. So it will be a couple of weeks earlier than planned.

Garnalee had a Skype call with Steve Tsai to work on the itinerary for our Salt Lake Family History visitors. We are on revision four or five of the itinerary.

We had a group of Mongolian members at the temple this week. One of the escorts was Debbie Armstrong's (she is in our ward in Blackfoot) aunt who is serving in Mongolia. It is a small world. I used to have monthly contact with her when I would email her requesting the monthly family history center report from Choibalson. They are somewhere else in Mongolia now where there isn't a family history computer so I don't get to have that contact any more. It was fun to visit with her for a few minutes.

Elder Phil and Sister Brenda Frandsen had their farewell lunch on Friday. Tom did a great job on their song. He used the tunes "The Day Dawn is Breaking," "Sherry Baby," and "The BYU Cougar Fight Song."









We had a meeting with Elder Wilson, Steve Tsai, and Hashick Hong to go over the itinerary for our Salt Lake visitors, and then a follow up Skype call to add the changes we discussed in the meeting. We have spent major amounts of time this week working on the itinerary.

Dinner with other senior missionaries before we go to the Cossack Russian dance program on Friday evening.

A beautiful Christmas tree in the mall where we ate dinner.

The hikers Saturday morning.
 Back row: Elder Watkins, Elder Sullivan, Elder Cowley, Elder Gregory, and Tom.
Front row: Elder Jackson, Sister Cowley, and Elder Aardema.

 This first set of stairs is about a 70 degree climb. In total to reach the first of five gondola towers we climbed 1330 stairs. Even though it was only about a fourth of the distance the effort to reach the first tower was probably about half of the hike.

This warning sign across the trail was wooden stairs going sharply down into a deep ravine and then up again. Tom was glad there was a hand rail to help pull himself up.

 End of the trail after three hours and 20 minutes. Elder Frandsen, Elder Sullivan, and the Cowleys did the hike in two hours. They are very competitive. Tom was just happy to finish the climb. The trail was built as a rescue trail in case of emergency on the gondola. Therefore the trail is almost always directly below the gondolas. There are no switchbacks. There are three helicopter pads along the trail in case someone had to be air lifted out. Those white flaggy things between the signs are fire beaters.

The shot of the Big Buddha through the town a little past the end of the trail. The group rode the bus back to the MTR station. Many hikers hike both directions on the trail.

Garnalee and several of the sisters went shopping while the others were on the hike. She bought a vest and jacket.




The branches in District are doing clothing and money donations for the Philippines. Fortunately the families of most of the sisters in our branch were not affected by the typhoon. However one our sisters did have family members who lost their home and had family members killed in the storm. The sisters were very generous in donating of their resources for the relief effort.

Week 64--November 4-10, 2013

Tom is planning on climbing the steps that go up to Big Buddha the first part of December. He has started doing some training by climbing the stairs at the end of our complex and the stairs at the office where we work each day. At the end of this week he was climbing 700 steps daily.

We have spent a lot of time this week going over the schedule for when Elder Brimhall and Steve Rockwood come to Hong Kong. We have just about every minute they are here planned out but will have to remain flexible as sometimes things don't go as planned. Also things will probably change after Steve Rockwood, Elder Brimhall, and Elder Allan Packer get the itinerary.

Thursday our day began and ended at the temple. We had our monthly session and devotional with the Area Presidency and then our service in the temple that evening. At the devotional we had the opportunity to hear from the Frandsens and the Jacksons who are going home soon and the Clarks who arrived last month.

On Friday Garnalee gave the message at the senior missionary lunch. Her message was about peace we feel through prayer, scriptures, conference talks, and hymns. She talked about her neck surgery and the peace she finally felt through the hymns that were played at the Sacrament meeting a couple of days before her surgery. The hymns gave her the comfort that she was in the Savior's hands and that everything would be okay.

We practiced the farewell song for the Frandsens that Tom wrote to the tune of "The Day Dawn is Breaking."

Saturday morning we went to the movie "Ender's Game" and lunch with several of the other couples. Tom read the book years ago. The special effects were very good.

We had our District Conference this weekend. The Saturday evening session focused on missionary work. One of the speakers talks wherein he said if we are inviting to come to church with us we are doing all that the Lord expects of us and often there won't be a positive result immediately. But it is our responsibility to invite.

President Tai, the District President, tied the typhoon in the Philippines to the storms we all face in life. He reminded us of the places we can find refuge from the storm.

Week 63--October 28-November 3, 2013

At our weekly devotional a story was told about a boy who had leukemia who wanted to be a fireman. His Mother just wanted to have him be able to sit in the fire engine. However the Fire Chief said, "We can do better than that." So the boy was allowed to spend the day at the day at the fire house, eat with the fireman, and ride in the engine to calls. Each step along the way the Fire Chief always said, "We can do better than that." We were reminded that we can each do a little better than we think we can.

We had the Aardemas and the Bertins to dinner Monday evening. The Aardemas had just gotten back from being in the US for two weeks and the Bertins will be going home early to fulfill their new assignment as mission president.

Tom has written a farewell song for the Bertins to the tune of "I Will Go Where You Want Me to Go."

We had dinner with Elder and Sister Funk on Tuesday. He is the newest member to the Area Presidency. They decided they wanted to have each of the couples to their home so they could get to know them in a relaxed atmosphere.

We had two conference calls with Steve Tsai, the Asia Area Family History Manager, on Wednesday. The first one was to discuss the visit of Elder Alan Packer, Elder Dennis Brimhall and Steve Rockwood. We discussed things they would like to do while here in Hong Kong such as holding member firesides and visiting with the Temple Presidency. The second call was to discuss Asia Area 2014 goals that we help write.

We had our first practice of the song for the Bertins and Tom has some fine tuning to do.

Thursday was Halloween. I made cookies and Sister Aardema had made lemon meringue pies. Yummy treats for us instead of tricks.  Garnalee's hip was bothering her so she didn't go to the Temple. The new Temple Presidency arrived this week and took the opportunity to introduce themselves.

On Friday Tom counted how many days we have left which is 105. The time has flown by and we have been blessed. We had a conference call with Elder Shirley from the Family History Department. They are now giving the family history missionaries an extra week of training before they are sent to their assigned area. The information we provided last January has been a real help to all of the missionaries.

Elder and Sister Bertin at the farewell lunch. They loved their song.

 On Saturday we decided to go see the movie "Captain Phillips." Garnalee had the time wrong so we had some time to wander. We had been told about Kowloon Park so we went exploring. We discovered this beautiful park with a sculpture garden. Tom is standing next to a three faced statue.

Each sculpture had a  name. This one was titled "Figure." Tom thought it should be "Go Figure."

 Elder and Sister Cowley and Tom standing by a tall sculpture.

 "Transition"

This area had many people being lead by an instructor in doing many different types of activities. The people here were walking in a slow circle and they would move their arms from one side to the other.

We enjoyed the movie. It was very intense. Garnalee thinks that Tom Hanks should get an Academy Award for his portrayal.

Tom has finished knitting a sweater vest for Garnalee. He just needs to block it now.

At Church today we had a group of Indonesian members. A group comes to the Temple every year at this time. They attend our Branch because we have a group of Indonesian sisters. They fix Indonesian food for the meal after our block of meetings. Elder Funk attended our meetings because he served a mission to Indonesia in 1971-1973. He knew one of the Indonesian members, Han King Ishar who with two of his friends took seven years to translate the Book of Mormon into Bahasa Indonesian. Elder Funk was able to greet them and visit with them in Indonesian.

Week 62--October 21-27, 2013

Our Family Home Evening was a review of General Conference. Each missionary was asked to pick a special quote from one of the conference talks and explain why it impressed them. We got to recall each of the talks that we had read and analyzed for our assignment for the Area Presidency. We realized that the Spirit touches each person's heart in different ways that will be most meaningful to that person. 

On Tuesday we organized the conference talks into the four area invitations which are members renewing their baptismal covenants, young men receiving the priesthood and preparing for missions, members holding temple recommends, and couples married in the temple and families sealed as requested by the Area Presidency. We were then left with twelve pages and by changing the margins and the font size it was brought down to seven pages. So we are done. Elder Jackson reported to us the Area Presidency was very pleased with the job we had done. 

We spent some time on Wednesday creating a one page lesson for the bishop/branch president to use to introduce the "My Family: Stories That Bring Us Together" booklet. 

Tom finished up the Frandsens' farewell song on Friday. He found out on Friday that he needs to have a song ready for next week for the Bertins. The Bertins have been called as a mission president and wife to start their assignment on July 1. They are going home to spend time with their children before they begin their new assignment. 

Saturday we went to Stanley Market with the Copes. We had an enjoyable time wandering and making a few purchases and then lunch. We always enjoy going to Stanley as it is on the west side of Hong Kong island. It is very quiet and serene there. 

An outcropping of rocks with the high rises in the background. 

After our excursion to Stanley we helped serve a dinner for the Area Seventy and to honor the out going Hong Kong Temple presidency. We served the food and washed the dishes. The Seventy come from various countries of Asia and they were treated to an American meal of BBQ ribs, baked potato with toppings, and Skor cake. Even in Hong Kong you can find BBQ ribs. 

 The crowds on the platform across from us waiting to catch the train to mainland China on Sunday afternoon.

This one is looking to the left and below is the right. Thousands of shoppers come to Hong Kong from mainland China every week.

We met with the four Hong Kong stakes for their quarterly Family History meeting. President Chun reminded everyone that 2014 marks the 65th anniversary of the dedication of Hong Kong for missionary work.  He proposed that 65,000 names be submitted to the during the year. He broke it down that each ward or branch would be challenged to submit 2000 names. A worthy goal to strive to achieve. 

Week 61--October 14-20, 2013

October 14 was a holiday in Hong Kong similar to Memorial Day in the United States. The temple was open to allow the Filipino sisters the opportunity to attend and us the opportunity to serve. We attended our branch activity. We had just studied about the Martin and Willie Handcart Companies in Sunday School so we showed the movie Ephraim's Rescue and had popcorn, pop,  and Hershey's Kisses. The sisters loved the movie. It made all of us thankful for our individual trials rather than those of others.

Tuesday began with the Area Presidency devotional that is simulcast to all the service centers in Asia. The presenter was Elder Funk. He shared some of the things they had been instructed on in Salt Lake City during their meetings.  He also shared two stories of missionaries from India where he had been mission president. One was of a young man who was a top student in his high school and received a full scholarship to a school in Coimbatore. Because there are units of the Church in Coimbatore there were missionaries there. This young man was introduced to the Gospel and joined the Church. After graduating from college he decided he wanted to serve a mission. He went to Bangalore to work for a year to save money to pay for his mission and to give money to his family for their support while he was on his mission.

The YSA committee made the first presentation of the document we have working on to the Area Presidency. While they discuss it we will continue to polish what we have done.

The weather has cooled off so that we can start to walk the Promenade again.

Tom has been working on getting the printers and computers to talk to each other in the Wan Chai and Homantin buildings. We appreciate the help of the district councilman who has been assigned to help with the computers.

We are excited for the arrival of the new product from the Family History Department--"My Family: Stories That Bring Us Together" booklet. We feel it will be a real benefit to the members in Asia who have limited or no access to computers for the recording of their family stories. In anticipation of the roll out of this booklet Elder Wilson asked us to compose a letter that will instruct Asia area Church leaders on to present the booklet. It will be a fifth Sunday combined meeting for all members 12 and up. Tom spent Friday morning working on the letter. After Sisters' Institute we critiqued it together and then sent it to our Area Manager for his input before we give it to Elder Wilson.

Saturday we had a Senior couple activity, the first one in several months. We went to the Wong Tai Sin temple. It is one of the most beautiful and well maintained that we have seen in Hong Kong.

 The entrance to the temple.

 In one area of the temple grounds are Chinese zodiac statutes for the year of your birth. Tom is with his statute which is the Pig which is also this year.

 Garnalee is year of the tiger.

 Very colorful Chinese lanterns.

One of the things that many of  the people come to the temple for is to practice kau cim which  is shake a bamboo container full of sticks that have a number on each one. The container is shaken until one of the sticks falls out. The stick is then taken to a window where the person is given a piece of paper with the same number on it.  The paper is then taken to fortune teller who will interpret the fortune for the person.

 The Moon Gate at the entrance to the garden behind the temple.

Below is a beautiful waterfall contained within the garden. Notice the skyscrapers that completely surround the temple grounds.

 In the garden area is a pool of coy fish.

And in another area is a pool of turtles. The turtles enjoy the morning sun as they sun themselves on the rock.








We had a special conference from Salt Lake City that was broadcast to all 18 countries in Asia where there are units of the Church. Elder Hales, Elder Holland, Elder Evans, and Sister Stevens addressed us. Elder Holland has been given the assignment to oversee the work in Asia replacing Elder Oaks. The messages all focused on missionary work.

Week 60--October 7-13, 2013

It has been a pretty quiet week. We have worked on various projects. We have been keeping very busy. Tom likes to say, "It seems like we've been in Hong Kong three or four months now." In actuality it's been 14 months with only four months left.

Tom has begun working on learning to play the piano. We have a keyboard from our branch at the apartment. He is working on recognizing the notes and getting the timing down. Sister Lasson purchased a piano program from the Distribution Center that Tom is using as a guide.

The Frandsens go home in five weeks so Tom has begun composing a farewell song for them.

We helped with a two-hour presentation on Sharepoint to the secretaries of the various departments.  Family History is the biggest user of Sharepoint in Asia. Because we use it so extensively Sister Frandsen has noted that we are experts and can help train.

This is our General Conference weekend. We went to the Wan Chai building to watch the broadcast. The talks were very inspiring. We receive conference a week after it happens in Salt Lake City to allow time for translation to occur. It was nice to be able to print out the talks and listen with printout in hand to be able to highlight the thoughts we plan to extract for the Area Presidency. This makes us pay close attention as the talks are delivered as we strive to be in tune with the Spirit.

When we arrived last August this area was open harbor.  We understand that the fill has come from excavation of the MTR as they extend the lines. This fill is next to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center.

Originally the harbor was 1.7 miles wide. Today it is just over 0.7 miles. So over the years they have filled in nearly 1 mile of the harbor.

It would be a shame if they fill in the entire harbor because it is such a scenic landscape. This harbor is one of the deepest and most beautiful in the world.

Week 59--September 30-October 6, 2013

October 1 was National Day in China which is similar to 4th of July in America. Since it is a holiday the Filippina sisters have the day as a holiday so they come to the Temple. It was an extremely busy day with some of the sisters not being able to attend an ordinance session because they were so full. We wondered if this might be what it will be like at the temples during the millennium. We officiated at the 9 AM session in which there was a group from Thailand. It was a very rewarding day.

Tom has started walking the Promenade as the weather is cooling off. Garnalee isn't walking as she has a foot that is bothering her. Tom encountered about 10 young Americans on the ferry who were headed to the Immigration Building and wondered if they were going in the right direction. He had the opportunity to assure them that they were.

Sister Jackson wanted to go to Stanley to exchange an item. She invited anyone who wanted to go to accompany  her. Garnalee decided to go thinking it was going to be a quick trip out and back. It turned out to be an all day shopping trip. She bought a couple of cute tops and necklaces. Tom stayed at the office and worked away.

Friday was a busy hectic day. We have a new missionary couple in Cambodia. We are trying to help them learn how to use Meeting Place. We weren't successful and decided to just visit with them on Skype. Garnalee visited with them until she had to go Sisters' Institute and then turned them over to Tom to continue answering their questions. Garnalee then went to the Family History Center to help a Filippina sister create an account on Family Search and start to put her information into Family Tree. It was then off to senior luncheon in which Sister Frandsen gave the presentation. She asked us to give our input on the value of SharePoint. Family History is the biggest user of SharePoint. After lunch we helped introduce Annie Wong to SharePoint who will be the program manager when the Frandsens go home in a few weeks.

Tom called his brother Skip on Saturday to wish him a Happy Birthday.

We then went to see "Gravity" with some of the other senior missionaries. The movie theater is housed in the ICC building which is the tallest building in Hong Kong. It wasn't a clear day or we would have gone up to the 100th floor to see the view of Hong Kong and the surrounding islands. Close to the movie theater was an ice rink. We saw young Hong Kong hockey players practicing. Who knew they had hockey in Hong Kong?

 

Located on one of the levels of the mall was this huge floral decorated chair. I felt like Alice in Wonderland. Where is the rabbit hole?