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Who We Found Waiting For Us

Though it was difficult to leave Hong Kong and all our Chinese friends behind, we found a lot of family anxiously awaiting our return: Our son and daughter-in-law (upper left) in Los Angeles, the two youngest grandchildren we left to serve the mission now grown taller (left center), two new grandchildren (lower left and lower right) we hadn't held, and other family members. Nine of our twelve grandchildren are pictured here (upper right). The other three, who live some distance away, we will get to visit later.

Good-byes

It is time to say our "good-byes." Our Sheung Shui Ward members had a going away social for us after Church Sunday and then many wanted to have their pictures taken with us.

Left column (top to bottom) includes Bishop Chan's family, the Tseng's, the Yeung's, and the Lam's.

Second colum (top to bottom) includes Chan Tak Fai and his parents, the Law's, the Chan's, and the Shiu's.

The large photo is of Stephen Tse, his wife and two daughters along with Elder and Sister Wong (Area Seventy). We knew Stephen 40 years ago and Elder Wong is his home teacher working to get him to the temple with his family. The families below their picture is the Choi's and the Young Women.

Right colum (top to bottom) includes the Chiu's, the extended Chan family, the YSA group, and the Poon's.

If you haven't already heard, our youngest daughter, Amy, just received her mission call to Hong Kong! You can read about it on our daughter, Stephanie's, blog through the link from our blog. We are all excited about her call!

The "Banquet Circuit"

We have definitely been on the "banquet circuit" as of late. There have been over 15 different people who have invited us to dinner in the last two months to say "good-bye." We have almost forgotten what it is like to fix dinner for ourselves at home.

Bro. Chan (Lowell's reactivated member) and family (upper left), Lowell's friend, Craig Norman, (top center), the Chiu's and a number of ward members (upper right), the temple missionary couples (center), The Mak family and their spread (bottom left), and Sister Kwok (bottom center) who first took us on a walk to a reservoir (lower right). There are still a few more to go this week.

We also attended a "viewing" for the mother of one of Susan's former missionary companions (left center and lower left). The funeral parlor was very busy and it was interesting to learn about some of their customs, a number of which are similar to ours (flowers).

Some of Our Favorite Friends

As we near the time of our departure, we are enjoying spending time (and eating with) some of our favorite Sheung Shui Ward friends. Someone asked the other day how we were enjoying the "banquet circuit." That is pretty much what it is. So many are asking that we come to dinner as a last time "good-bye."

We enjoyed a roasted goat (yes, I mean goat) hot pot dinner (upper left ) with ward members last Saturday and another meal at the Law's (upper right) on Tuesday last week. Sunday night we had the singles (though some are no longer single) at our place to which many brought food including sushi (lower left) brought by Bro. Chow. There are other dinners scheduled this week.

The tears are getting pretty close to the surface now. I don't know how we will make it through these last two weeks without them flowing freely. We do love these people!

Trip to Macau Materializes

Susan has been wanting to go to Macau (former Portuguese Colony attached to mainland China) ever since we came but it was looking like it wouldn't happen before we left. It finally came about as the other missionary couples encouraged her to just go (even though it ended up being on the coldest day of the year thus far). We traveled by turbo jet ferry for an hour to arrive there.

We visited several hotels but most of the pictures here (upper left and right) are from the Venetian including the canal on the third floor (upper left center) which actually sported gondola rides and the lantern festival (lower left). The huge ivory carving (lower left center) and gold plated carving (top center) were in the Grand Lisboa (lower right) which had an amazing architectural structure.

We enjoyed a scrumptuous buffet lunch at the Star World Hotel and saw the famous Ruins of St. Paul's (center and bottom center) and the Macau Fortress (lower left center) as well as walked through the traditionally Portuguese style city streets (right center).

Holiday Activities

We have not lacked for things to do during the holidays. We have attended two performances with other missionary couples. One, a musical performance by a group of members known as Songs of the Heart Singers, who have been singing together for years, was at the Tsuen Wan Town Hall (lower right). The other was a ballet performance of the Nutcracker (no pictures to show for that one).

The Wong family in our ward invited the missionaries to their home to help celebrate their son's 19th birthday. Wong Chung's birthday is the day after Christmas so they have traditionally cooked him a turkey dinner and this year he had a cake made by Susan (lower left and bottom center).

An acquaintance of ours from forty years ago, Sister Anita Pok (now less active), invited us to her home for a scrumptious dinner (upper left) and to meet her non-member husband and son (upper right).

The Christmas Crunch

It seems like all we do is eat---and then eat some more. We have had several invites to dinner what with Christmas around the corner and our imminent departure next month. Recent Christmas socials: one with temple missionaries and temple staff (upper left, l to r: the Arnells and Wilsons, now in the temple presidency), our mission president and his wife (center top), and included our newest missionary couple, the Davises (bottom left) from St. George. The other temple social was for all temple workers and included quite a spread (upper right) highlighted by a roast pig (lower right center).

We also have our twice monthly dinners for our local elders, this time including the Davises who live just six floors above us and who speak Mandarin as do two of the elders sharing an apartment with "our" Cantonese speaking elders (far lower right).

First Things First

For more than a year now, Lowell has been fellowshipping Brother Chan Tak Fai, son of our stake patriarch and his wife (upper right). He has made great progress in that time---from several years of near total inactivity to a regular attender, now a counselor in the Young Men's presidency, and just recently, receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood and being made an elder---this all happened miraculously the same evening that his niece (daughter of his older sister and her husband, lower right) was baptized and he was able to stand in the circle as she was confirmed.

Brother Chan came to the temple to do baptisms for the dead the following day; something he hasn't done since he was a young teenager. Lowell was able to help him perform the proxy baptisms. The family thinks Lowell is the angel sent as an answer to their prayers to help reactivate their son and brother.

A Flurry of Thanksgiving Activities

The week of Thanksgiving came with a flurry of activities. The temple being closed, the Arnells had two of their married daughters visiting them (center bottom). We escorted them to Hong Kong Peak (night view - bottom right); then they treated us to a free Chinese instrumental concert participated in by a member of their ward, Janet Leung (right bottom), who plays the erhu.

Thanksgiving dinner was enjoyed by the temple missionary couples at the temple president's residence (part of the temple complex) where we enjoyed a traditional feast (left top and bottom).

The week ended with an invite to join the young men and young women of our ward at the home of the Wong's (upper right). He is our high priest group leader and she the Young Women's president. It was a barbeque with a Thanksgiving flare (complete with Indian headbands) and a pie eating contest (Susan's contribution) as pictured (center top and right center).

These activites were interspersed with cleaning and organizing a new temple missionary couple's apartment. They will live five floors above us in our building and arrive next Wednesday.

Still Things To Do

Though the temple is now closed for two-week's cleaning, there are plenty of things going to fill our days. A family (the Taylors, lower right) Lowell sealed in the temple just before it closed, came from the mainland where they and a number of other couples are teaching at a university. There were two teenage children sealed to their English-speaking father (gold suit) and Spanish-speaking mother (between them).

We toured reclaimed land areas (right center) on Hong Kong Island with Lowell's friend and wife, Craig and Tussy Norman (center middle) seeing the first post office built in Hong Kong (center top) and a 100-year old blue building (center bottom). The red brick Church administration building (background top right) is built on what used to be the waters edge.

We visited a touring exhibition of an animated (digitalized) famous Chinese scroll being anxiously photographed by approximately 3,500 visitors every hour (bottom right). (http://www.npm.gov.tw/exh96/orientation/flash_4/index.html) Tickets (which have been sold out) were provided to us by a wonderful sister in the Kwun Tong Ward who felt impressed, after standing in a 3-hour line to get tickets, to give them to the missionary couples. We met and thanked her at a function in the Kwun Tong Ward building to which we were invited by a young temple worker, Brother Kai Shing Yau (top and center left) who, with the help of other youth, provided a "Thanksgiving Dinner" to a large group of members and investigators (lower left).

Susan attended a Stake Evening in Excellence with the young women of our ward, whose presentation was a spiritual take on the Wizard of Oz complete with Dorothy, Lion, Scarecrow, and Tin man (center top and middle).

Who Has Time to Sleep?

With our new time schedule at the temple, we are back to working either mornings or evenings again. This should make finding sufficient time to sleep a little easier, though Susan is still generally tuckered out by the time any of our shifts (regardless of time of day) are over. We did manage to go to dinner with four other missionary couples and catch a ballet performance of Sleeping Beauty last Saturday after a busy shift at the temple that day. The performance wasn't over until 10:30 p.m. however, which made catching enough sleep before Sunday's meetings a little challenging. Lowell fortunately had his Sunday School lesson prepared ahead of time.

Release From The Temple Presidency

Though is has only been 7 1/2 months for us serving with them in the presidency, President Charles Goo and his wife Helen have completed their three years as temple president and matron of the Hong Kong Temple. The Goos return home to Hawaii tomorrow and the new temple president (pictured at left), John Aki, and his wife who are also from Hawaii (though she is a native of Hong Kong) have arrived and selected two new counselors to serve with them. We will resume our role as temple missionaries for our remaining three months here. A farewell (for the Goos) and welcoming event (for the Akis) was held last evening and attending were a number of temple workers, two of whom (pictured at bottom right) were Sister Ruth Lau Shiu Yuk King (a former missionary companion of Susan's) and Brother John Yim Yeuk Hon (one of Susan's converts). This temple mission has been and will continue to be a great blessing in our lives.

Disneyland? On a Mission?

That's what we thought too---going to Disneyland while on your mission? Whoever heard of such a thing? But, go we did. Susan had been wanting to go for a long time and we finally found a few other venturing couples who thought they might enjoy it as well. We did select a perfect weather-day, so that made it nice. There were two great shows making the costliness worth it. Disneyland in Hong Kong is really small comparatively, but they do a great job and we were excited to see some of the Chinese in an "out of the box" kind of role! They are usually so quiet and to themselves. Seeing them lively and encouraging others' participation was worth more than the rides.

Juggling All We Need To Do

It seems that we can never get used to our rotating schedule at the temple necessitated by our being associated with the temple presidency. Out schedule rotates every week and rotates within the week. Lowell is always having to check his schedule to be able to answer anyone about whether we are free on such and such a day.

We have had a number of groups to the temple these past couple of weeks. A large group from Thailand, smaller groups from India and presently a group from Indonesia. Each has brought its attendant blessings---family file names to be baptized for, own endowments to prepare for, sealings to perform. Unfortunately, we seldom get a chance to catch a picture with any of these people, being that we are usually inside the temple.

President Goo and his wife will be leaving in another week having completed their three year assignment. This of course means we will be released from the presidency and so will have another new schedule to adjust to. There have been and will continue to be firesides and farewells, dinners and other get-togethers until they actually do leave, so we will continue juggling our schedules for at least the next week.

We did squeeze in an acrobatic performance last week with a few other missionary couples. The group was from Xinjiang, China and are actually of Uygur ethnicity. They performed some heart-stopping stunts, most without safety cords (and no safety nets) many feet above the stage. You can imagine how high the performers are in the air (upper left) as they perform on the outside and then inside of two revolving wheels which themselves are propelled by the shifting weight of the performers. One is even jump-roping on top of a spinning wheel as it reaches its zenith.

Focus on the Temple

The focus really is on the temple! The architects who designed the new Kowloon Tong chapel, part of the Legacy Center now functioning directly across from the Hong Kong Temple on Cornwall Street, did a marvelous job of placing a window on the floor above the chapel (upper right) in just the right position to capture a view of the temple across the street. This reminder for all who pass by directs their attention to that holy place in which they may paricipate in saving ordinances. The oldest son of the Lam family, Angus, (back left, lower left) has recently been ordained a deacon and has now had opportunity to perform baptisms for the dead as has Brother Leung Kai Chung (left, lower right) who we assisted in teaching before his baptism last year. Here, the missionary (Elder Cope) who taught him (back center, lower right) and his present companion came for a last "good-bye" prior to his returning home next month.

Lowell had the sweet opportunity this past week to seal Brother and Sister Narambat of Mongolia (he is standing directly behind his wife in the flowered dress, upper left) to each other after they and a son of their's (second to the left of Brother Narambat) were endowed. Lowell also sealed the oldest daughter (very pregnant to her mother's right) to her husband (standing behind Brother Narambat) and then all six living children and two deceased children to Brother and Sister Narambat. A son and daughter of the couple are currently serving missions in Mongolia but were permitted to come for the sealing to their parents. The youngest two boys performed hundreds of baptisms during the week. The foreign couple pictured are the Lassons (who were in the MTC the same time Lowell and Susan were last July) who accompanied the family from Mongolia.

The Narambat family have a remarkable story to tell. The oldest son (deceased) was murdered about ten years ago when he was nineteen. The family discovered a Book of Mormon among his belongings; read it, and subsequently came in contact with the Church. All joined. The oldest daughter also served a mission. It doesn't get any better than this!

Celebrating Susan's Birthday in China

The Lam family in our ward helped Susan celebrate her birthday by inviting us and the elders over to dinner (lower left). Susan and Lowell took advantage of having Susan's birthday off from the temple to go into China (making use of our remaining visa entry) and visit the Chinese Folk Cultural Villages in Shenzhen. We saw representative ethnic groups including (clockwise from upper left) the Dai, Miao, Wa, Uygur, Li, Mongol, Musuo, and Yi tribes in their native costumes and cultural display of dancing, singing, feats of agility and instrument playing. The festive entry (left center) to the place was spectacular and the day was a success.

Some of This, Some of That

We have done a little of this and that lately---all part of the weekly scheduling of things that should, need, or are wanting to be done.
We have had groups to the temple recently from Thailand and Cambodia, and individuals from mainland China, Singapore, and Indonesia. Pictured here (upper left) is Elder Gong and his parents from Szechwan, mainland China. Elder Gong returned from his mission in Adelaide, Australia to Hong Kong enroute home so he could meet up with his parents who were both coming to the temple for their own endowments. He was then of course sealed to them later that day. The parents left the next morning to go back to China with his passport and airline ticket accidentally in their possession. Our assistant temple recorder performed a small miracle by contacting the parents before they crossed the border, taking a bus to meet them and retrieve the documents; then taking a taxi to the airport just in time to give the son what he needed to be able to continue his flight home.

We went with the other temple couple missionaries to the revolving restaurant at the Hopewell Center on Hong Kong Island (far left center and lower left). We enjoyed a wonderful buffet on the 62nd floor of the cylindrical building (note elevators going up the outside of the building providing a breathtaking view). We also had the local sister missionaries over for dinner that same week before one of them was transfered.

At the end of the week, Susan prepared dinner for about eight young women and their leaders and a few of the leader's children (center top and bottom) following an activity they had participated in earlier in the day. Needless to say, our small apartment is often frequented by "hungry" visitors.

Today, we visited the jade market in Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon (right top and bottom) with the other missionary couples. With a little bartering help from Lowell in Cantonese, some were able to leave satisfied that they been on the right end of a good bargain.

1881 Heritage and Cheung Chau Island

During the past couple of weeks we have been to a few new places. One, the 1881 Heritage Building (lower left) in Tsim Sha Tsui, once housed the Hong Kong Marine Police Headquarters. It is now a hotel, shops, and somewhat of a museum. The metal time ball (far right center) used to be manually hoisted and dropped at 1:00pm each day for ship captains in the harbor to reset their instruments before going out to sea again. The view is now of course obscured by numerous high rise buildings, etc.

We also went by ferry to Cheung Chau Island which has a quaint feel and gave Susan an opportunity to wade in the ocean for a moment (upper left). It was a very hot day and many people were using umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun. We saw a blind man playing a native Chinese instrument (lower right) on our way to the ferry.

And Now, Another Grandson

Our most recent grandson, Bryce Joseph Bishop, born to our oldest son, Mark, and his wife, Emily, on 30 June 2010 weighed in at 7 lbs. 3 oz. and was 18.5 inches long. He is their fifth child and our twelfth grandchild (ninth grandson).

It took us a little while to get a picture of him to post on our blog.