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.