Thursday, February 21, 2013
Chinese New Year fireworks
These pictures were taken by Elder Bertin. Not only is he a gifted, talented doctor and wonderful friend but an amazing photographer.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Pictures of Lamma Island
Here are pics of our visit yesterday to Lamma Island. We had lunch at a fun restaurant. Carlos had a bite (one was all it took) of his first oyster. On our way out of the restaurant we noticed their dish washing system and couldn't believe they washed dishes outside in what had to be cold water. Luckily we survived it. Pics included.
Chinese New Year
I certainly have been neglectful in my blogging. We have enjoyed many holiday activities and had many exciting experiences since my last post. Christmas was fine, certainly not the same as being at home. I missed the snow and the reminiscent feelings that go with a Pacific Northwest Christmas. We did have many wonderful activities to fill the time including; the Hong Kong Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker, a progressive dinner, three white elephant gift exchanges, and fun shopping experiences. I thought about a blog title of "Ah So, this is Christmas". Carlos didn't think the Japanese pun worked, so I didn't do it but thought it was funny just the same.
This year we ushered in the year of the snake by attending an international parade with participants from around the world including Bolivia and other countries I can't remember right now because I'm practically brain dead this Sunday evening. The picture below was my favorite exhibition. If you look closely you will see the people are dressed as insects and performed on stilts. There were also in the same company performers dressed as elaborate flowers. They were so beautiful. (I have added that photo also). Another amazing performance that you cannot tell from the picture was a person dressed as a dragon on top of a ten foot pole that was carried throughout the parade by others. All of them were dancing including the dragon on the pole. I can only say that the parade was just spectacular! The next evening was the most incredible display of fireworks that you can imagine. The pictures don't begin to represent what we experienced.
Carlos and I have been exploring on our Saturdays. We went searching for a bee farm one Saturday and found Ten Thousand Buddhas, I'm not sure there are really ten thousand there but I am certain there were a million stairs. We went to Lamma Island yesterday and Cheung Chau Island two weeks ago. The ferry rides were so fun and we loved seeing another side of Hong Kong. I loved the small village, rural feel of the villages. So fun and so beautiful!
Just so you don't think all we do is play, Carlos and I have spoken in two Sacrament meetings in the last two months, Carlos spoke another time without me, I have taught the Filipino sisters how to make filled cupcakes, I participated in a Senior Missionary luncheon, we will be presenting at the Mission President's seminar this week, Carlos escorted a missionary home last week ( that is his second one in two months) and we have visited with over 50 missionaries in one month. We also work in the temple and I serve as Gospel Doctrine teacher in our branch and Carlos is on the District Council and is our branch's Sunday School President. We are very busy and truly love what we do. I have volunteered and hope to be called to teach Institute. Our Asia area office has exciting things going on with public relations and other projects in which we play a small participatory roll. We love our mission yet have occasional longings for home. We love you all and are truly grateful for your letters, prayers, and expressions of support.
This year we ushered in the year of the snake by attending an international parade with participants from around the world including Bolivia and other countries I can't remember right now because I'm practically brain dead this Sunday evening. The picture below was my favorite exhibition. If you look closely you will see the people are dressed as insects and performed on stilts. There were also in the same company performers dressed as elaborate flowers. They were so beautiful. (I have added that photo also). Another amazing performance that you cannot tell from the picture was a person dressed as a dragon on top of a ten foot pole that was carried throughout the parade by others. All of them were dancing including the dragon on the pole. I can only say that the parade was just spectacular! The next evening was the most incredible display of fireworks that you can imagine. The pictures don't begin to represent what we experienced.
Carlos and I have been exploring on our Saturdays. We went searching for a bee farm one Saturday and found Ten Thousand Buddhas, I'm not sure there are really ten thousand there but I am certain there were a million stairs. We went to Lamma Island yesterday and Cheung Chau Island two weeks ago. The ferry rides were so fun and we loved seeing another side of Hong Kong. I loved the small village, rural feel of the villages. So fun and so beautiful!
Just so you don't think all we do is play, Carlos and I have spoken in two Sacrament meetings in the last two months, Carlos spoke another time without me, I have taught the Filipino sisters how to make filled cupcakes, I participated in a Senior Missionary luncheon, we will be presenting at the Mission President's seminar this week, Carlos escorted a missionary home last week ( that is his second one in two months) and we have visited with over 50 missionaries in one month. We also work in the temple and I serve as Gospel Doctrine teacher in our branch and Carlos is on the District Council and is our branch's Sunday School President. We are very busy and truly love what we do. I have volunteered and hope to be called to teach Institute. Our Asia area office has exciting things going on with public relations and other projects in which we play a small participatory roll. We love our mission yet have occasional longings for home. We love you all and are truly grateful for your letters, prayers, and expressions of support.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Fun Chinese people.
Carlos took the pic of the little girl with the Winnie the Pooh hat on our way to the train to begin our day today. She was with her grandma who said"pose" and this is what we got. Isn't she adorable? The lady was walking up monkey mountain and laughed when Carlos ran after her to take her pic.
Monkey mountain
We had a great day today and we wanted to share it with you. It has been a busy week so let me start there. Last weekend was District Conference. We have a district rather than a Stake because of the large number of Filipino sisters. We don't have enough Priesthood brethren for a Stake. Carlos was called to the District Council. That is exciting and he is looking forward to serving with an incredible District President whose office is next to ours. He is an employee of the church. He heads up the legal team in the Asia Area.
We also had an assignment to speak Tuesday through today (Saturday) in the "Everyday Branch." Which really is just daily church to accommodate the Filipino workers who only get one day of work off per week. So different members meet on different days and we spoke everyday.
We also worked in the temple this week. A wonderful experience. A deeply spiritual experience. Especially since we, English speakers, are the minority. Imagine being the only English speaking worker during a session (or other ordinances) of the temple. So tender and humbling. I truly am gaining a testimony that Americans do not have a corner on happiness, love, and spiritual strength. I am learning so much.
So back to today. We had a Senior missionary outing this morning.
we went to a place called "Monkey Mountain." (I have attached pictures). So there is a mountain here that grows a plant that is poisonous to humans but monkeys love it. Monkeys are not indigenous to Hong Kong. People had pet monkeys, knew they loved this plant and let the monkeys go (or they escaped) on this mountain. The monkeys reproduced into the thousands. Sterilization projects have been utilized over the past several years to control the population.
The monkeys truly are everywhere. They come really close. There are fines (stiff fines) for feeding them. They can also be aggressive. Well rather than me go on and on just google Monkey Mountain Hong Kong there are some youtube videos or here is a pretty good article explaining the mountain: http://www.abctales.com/story/wevvywoo/monkey-mountain. It was great fun. We ended the outing with a yummy lunch at a Canadian hamburger place called Triple O. I thoroughly enjoyed my grilled chicken sandwich. It truly was a taste of home.
Carlos and I had to scurry back to give our last talk of the week. In the other meetings there were between 15 and 20 members in the congregation. We were well received every day. The women are just so tender and sweet. Many of them hugged me and kissed me on my face when they thanked me for my talk. Today there were around 100 in the congregation. I wish I could record their songs and prayers. They are so beautiful and tug at us. They were so tender, cried through my talk and afterward swarmed Carlos and I. For some reason the women each had one rose today. They gathered up some of the roses, hugged, kissed me and gave me the roses. One sweet lady wrapped her arms around me and sobbed into my shoulder Thanking me for my talk. (I have attached a copy of my talk).
We decided to take the Star Ferry home after our talks. Normally we would ride the bus but we wanted the extra walk on the way home. As we approached the dock we could see that there was a ferry and we were going to miss it. We walked faster but missed it anyway. We were a bit disappointed then heard, "Look! Missionaries!" Can I just say how hearing that thrilled me? We looked and sitting, waiting for the next ferry was an American family, mom, dad and four children (oldest was 12 and youngest was 2).
We got to sit and visit with them and learned that they were in Bejing for 2 years on a work contract. They are members of the church and taught us about how being a member of the church in mainland China was for them. It was so good to be around kids again, although it did make us miss our dear grandchildren even more than we already do.
On the way home a man came up to us and using sign language let us know he was hungry. Carlos took him to a store close to us. The man picked out some rolls, milk, and biscuits of some kind, bowed and escorted us back to where he had met us.
I am grateful, grateful, grateful; for the spirit I feel, this great opportunity, and to have a wonderful, loving companion to share it with.
We also had an assignment to speak Tuesday through today (Saturday) in the "Everyday Branch." Which really is just daily church to accommodate the Filipino workers who only get one day of work off per week. So different members meet on different days and we spoke everyday.
We also worked in the temple this week. A wonderful experience. A deeply spiritual experience. Especially since we, English speakers, are the minority. Imagine being the only English speaking worker during a session (or other ordinances) of the temple. So tender and humbling. I truly am gaining a testimony that Americans do not have a corner on happiness, love, and spiritual strength. I am learning so much.
So back to today. We had a Senior missionary outing this morning.
we went to a place called "Monkey Mountain." (I have attached pictures). So there is a mountain here that grows a plant that is poisonous to humans but monkeys love it. Monkeys are not indigenous to Hong Kong. People had pet monkeys, knew they loved this plant and let the monkeys go (or they escaped) on this mountain. The monkeys reproduced into the thousands. Sterilization projects have been utilized over the past several years to control the population.
The monkeys truly are everywhere. They come really close. There are fines (stiff fines) for feeding them. They can also be aggressive. Well rather than me go on and on just google Monkey Mountain Hong Kong there are some youtube videos or here is a pretty good article explaining the mountain: http://www.abctales.com/story/wevvywoo/monkey-mountain. It was great fun. We ended the outing with a yummy lunch at a Canadian hamburger place called Triple O. I thoroughly enjoyed my grilled chicken sandwich. It truly was a taste of home.
Carlos and I had to scurry back to give our last talk of the week. In the other meetings there were between 15 and 20 members in the congregation. We were well received every day. The women are just so tender and sweet. Many of them hugged me and kissed me on my face when they thanked me for my talk. Today there were around 100 in the congregation. I wish I could record their songs and prayers. They are so beautiful and tug at us. They were so tender, cried through my talk and afterward swarmed Carlos and I. For some reason the women each had one rose today. They gathered up some of the roses, hugged, kissed me and gave me the roses. One sweet lady wrapped her arms around me and sobbed into my shoulder Thanking me for my talk. (I have attached a copy of my talk).
We decided to take the Star Ferry home after our talks. Normally we would ride the bus but we wanted the extra walk on the way home. As we approached the dock we could see that there was a ferry and we were going to miss it. We walked faster but missed it anyway. We were a bit disappointed then heard, "Look! Missionaries!" Can I just say how hearing that thrilled me? We looked and sitting, waiting for the next ferry was an American family, mom, dad and four children (oldest was 12 and youngest was 2).
We got to sit and visit with them and learned that they were in Bejing for 2 years on a work contract. They are members of the church and taught us about how being a member of the church in mainland China was for them. It was so good to be around kids again, although it did make us miss our dear grandchildren even more than we already do.
On the way home a man came up to us and using sign language let us know he was hungry. Carlos took him to a store close to us. The man picked out some rolls, milk, and biscuits of some kind, bowed and escorted us back to where he had met us.
I am grateful, grateful, grateful; for the spirit I feel, this great opportunity, and to have a wonderful, loving companion to share it with.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Pictures of my first hair cut and color
Carlos colored and I cut my hair. It actually is bearable. I did ok with the front but got frustrated and gathered it into a pony tail and chopped the ponytail short which made it short in the center and long on the sides. Here are the pics. 
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