January 13 - 19, 2014

Monday the Senior Temple couples, under the direction of the Victors, went to Sai Kung for the day.  We took the MTR to Diamond Hill then caught bus 92 to the fishing village.  A beautiful place.  We walked along the promenade, thru the village and took a junket boat out to a small island, walked across the foot bridge to another island, climbed to the top to see the beautiful scenery and then back to the boat.  Our captain was a 78 year old Chinese woman.

We had lunch at Anthony's Ranch where we all had pulled pork or brisket with fries, coleslaw, drink and soup or salad. Very yummy.  Really fun day together.

Waiting for the MTR

Steps going into Diamond Hill Mall

A little vegetable/fruit market where we tried beet juicer and mango.

The boat we took out to the island

Scott and his daughter Abgail who took us around the village.  They are friends of the Victors from Oregon years ago.

Tuesday we were invited to speak in the Victoria 2 Every Day Branch.  It was very small (maybe 8 sisters) but very strong spirit.  We so admire Elder & Sister Walker and Clark.  They do a wonderful job with these sisters.  They have church every day, Tuesday thru Saturday and work about 16 hrs. a day.

Paul preparing his talk

Sisters from the Branch.  They were surprised when Elder Lewis bore his testimony in Tagalo.

Sunny Wed and Ken, Security at the WanChai Bldg.

We had some wonderful groups at the temple this week.  One family which Paul had contact with were from China.  The father is in a wheelchair and Paul was able to help him several times.  Their daughter served a mission in Australia before they were members.  The father was so angry at her he would not talk to her for a year and then his heart softened and they joined.  During this temple trip the family was sealed.  Paul got to participate in the sealing and be the proxy for his father.  They were all really overcome by the spirit.  We have seen them every day in the temple.  Also we meet a lovely girl from Thailand, Pinky Saociwit.  She has been here for two weeks.  She has been a member for 20 years.  Her son is a member but inactive at the present time but very supportive.  He gave her this temple trip for Christmas and makes it possible for her to attend church every week even though she has to leave her home on Saturday in order to get to Church on Sunday.  A bus does not leave her city in time to make it to church.  Such dedication.  

Brother & Sister Choi, temple assist recorder and Bishop

Saturday after the temple day we had a wonderful dinner and testimony meeting with The Temple Presidency, recorder and three couples who are going home.  It was a wonderful evening, great food made by the sisters and wonderful testimonies of how the Lord provided a way for each one of us to serve here in HK.   

Patrick and Kathy Wong, Temple President & Matron from Brisbane, Australia

President Wong shared with us again how he was serving as Stake President in HK the second time when President Hinckley came to look for a site for the temple.  They were in a Priesthood meeting and President Wong mentioned that where the Stake Center and Mission Home were was not a good area.  lots of motels.  Pres. Hinckley said "that is great, we will have lots of people coming and they will have a place to stay".  Another Brother said, not that kind of hotel, these are love hotels."  As President Hinckley left he turned and shook his head and said "I come for advice and you confuse me."  After the temple was begun one by one each motel shut down.  Not only is the temple holy but area around it.

President & Sister Yuen, 1st Counselor

TheYuens have been members for 40 years.  Pres. Yuen said he learned early to never turn down a calling.  They had to have special permission to serve in the presidency because they are not yet retired.  He is temple security and she is custodian of the temple and patron housing.  Finer people you could not know anywhere.  So humble and loving.

President & Sister Hui, 2nd Counselor

 President and Sister Hui also had receive special permission.  To be in a temple presidency you need to be 55.  He was not turning 55 until December.  They saw the Lord's hand in their lives preparing them for this call at least two years ago.  At the time they did not know it.  Their daughter graduated and took a job in HK.  He came to find her an apartment.  They had always lived on HK Island before immigrating to Canada but he found an apartment in the New Territories.  They had a large home in Toronto and his mother lived with them.  He had decided to go back to work since they have a son serving in Irvine, CA and would be traveling into China a lot.  They were able to sell their home and get his mother settled and then the call came to serve in the HK Temple.

Brother & Sister Lee

Brother Lee has been the temple recorder since the temple opened.  Sister Lee and her children went to the States for 7 years but Brother Lee would not come because he would not leave the temple.  She is an ordinance worker one day a week and finds many answers to her prayers in the temple.  She has just been called as RS president for the 4th time.  

Sister & Elder Hoskins (Jackie & Jerald)

 Jackie thought this mission was Jerry's mission.  He served here 50 years ago as a young missionary but she thinks she is the one who has grown the most.

Elder & Sister Victor (Sue & Mike)

 Elder & Sister Victor serve the Lord with zest and love wherever they go.  They are great ambassadors and missionaries to everyone they come in contact with.  They speak to everyone on the MTR, buses or stores.  What an example of love for the Savior.  We love Mike's sense of humor, he is fun to be around.

Mar Jean & Paul

 This is the best time of life--serving the Lord and being together.  We complement each other in our abilities and support and love each other.  We are truly blessed.  The examples we have seen of humility and love for the Savior have changed our lives forever.

Three sets of senior missionaries going home in January & February

Presidency and Missionaries

Shannon playing prelude

Michelle's employer family and Sister Missionaries

Pen 3 having some after Church dinner

WHAT A GREAT WEEK

January 6 - 12, 2014

Monday we decided to head back to Stanley for a few things.  We knew the Hoskins would be leaving soon and so invited Jackie to go with us.  We had a really fun day.  She was able to find a really cute reversible jacket and some scarves and ties for her grandchildren and we picked up a couple more ties and nail files.  We had lunch outside at NYF and McDonalds and enjoyed walking thru the stalls.  

Tuesday, our OAD, we went to Wanchai and visited with Dora and several of the Senior Missionaries and also saw Tim Fife.  We set up a time to get together with his family before we leave.  He is headed off to Bangkok for a few days.  I think he does a lot of traveling.  Candy does a great job with the kids and home while he is gone.  She is such an energetic Mom and wife.

At the temple this week they have started to put in the New Year's flowers.  We learned that the orange trees are seen everywhere because they represent prosperity.  

 We had a lot of local patrons at the temple this week.  Also the Taylor family from Shenzhan came for their son to receive his endowment before leaving for a mission to Brisbane, Australia Mandarin speaking.  They also have a daughter serving in Sweden.  It is so amazing.  We also had a young couple from Mongolia and India who were us all week and into this coming week.

Sunday at Church Paul left early for a Presidency meeting and Branch Council meeting.  I came an hour later.  We were expecting President Collins to be back and he was except that he came back sick and so did not make it to Church.  We have missed him.

It was 2nd Sunday so we had a dinner afterwards.  Always a great time to visit and enjoy each other.  we seem to have a lot of new members coming into the Branch.

Yessie and Paul 

Janet getting the food on the table.

Sisters gathering around Sister Watkins and Dodson

Sisters Watkins, Dodson, Lewis and Brother Sunny Wen

Paul had asked Brother Holmes to teach the Gospel Doctrine class and during the Presidency meeting he called and said his Boss called and he would not make it.  Paul had prepared next weeks lesson so gave it and Brother Holmes will try again next week.  My Primary class went very well.  We reviewed the Plan of Salvation and then Jesus's role in creating the world and how Satan wanted to take away our agency.

While reading last weeks lesson I came across this statement from the Institute manual and loved it.  This should be the motto of our FAMILY.

Moses 7:16–20—Building and Establishing Zion

President Spencer W. Kimball spoke of establishing Zion in our day:

“May I suggest three fundamental things we must do if we are to ‘bring again Zion.’ …

“First, we must eliminate the individual tendency to selfishness that snares the soul, shrinks the heart, and darkens the mind. …

“Second, we must cooperate completely and work in harmony one with the other. There must be unanimity in our decisions and unity in our actions.…

“‘If the Spirit of the Lord is to magnify our labors, then this spirit of oneness and cooperation must be the prevailing spirit in all that we do’ …(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 1983.) …

“Third, we must lay on the altar and sacrifice whatever is required by the Lord. We begin by offering a ‘broken heart and a contrite spirit.’ We follow this by giving our best effort in our assigned fields of labor and callings.We learn our duty and execute it fully. Finally we consecrate our time,talents and means as called upon by our file leaders and as prompted by the whisperings of the Spirit” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1978, 122–24; or Ensign, May 1978, 81).

December 30 - January 5, 2014

It is hard to believe the year is coming to an end.  Monday we went to the movies and saw "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" at the Wampoa center.  That evening the Salmons hosted a FHE for us.  We had a delicious dinner of stir fry and rice and each of us brought something to add.  Later we had a wonderful lesson on how the Joseph Smith Sr. family could have spent Christmas.  We divided into groups of three and were given about 5 dates (years) each to determine what might have happened that year and how it would have affected the Smith family and their Christmas.

 New Year's Eve the temple was open.  We had a fairly good turnout.  We went home at 3:45 and decided we had better go back for the evening session in case no one was there.  As it turned out there were 12 patrons on the session and we were the witness couple.  We decided it was a great way to end the year.  We were still up at midnight and heard the fireworks but did not see them and by the time I found it on TV they were just ending.  They only last about 8 minutes on this New Year's eve.  The big fireworks will on the Chinese New Year at the end of January.

They are taking down the tree in the lobby.  They cut it up into pieces to get it out. It smelled so good.

The Salmons' kitchen

Sister Warner, Hoskins, Castleton and Salmon dishing up the food

New Year's Day all the Temple Missionaries headed off for Lamma Island for a hike.  We left on the shuttle at 9:15 and arrived at the Island about 11:00.  We have been here before but this time we hiked around the small village side.  Very beautiful beaches.  We caught the ferry back around 2:45 and then went to the mid level elevators hoping to go to the Mexican Restaurant  but it was closed so we walked down the street to the Italian restaurant the Rhysens always took us to and had dinner.  Got home at 6 pm.  Lucky for us we don't go in until 2 pm on Thursday so we did not have to get up early the next day.

Getting on Ferry 4

View from the top

Paul taking a rest on his best bed.

Sister and Elder Castleton

Elder Salmon using a local broom. 

This day January 2 was our 43rd Wedding Anniversary.  We went to lunch at JOJO's, an Indian Restaurant the Elders introduced us to.  They have a great buffet and we love all the foods.  From there we went to the temple and that evening we were both assigned to Sealings.  A  great way to spend our anniversary.

Happy 43rd!!!

The  temple was fairly quiet the rest of the week with local patrons and a few out-of-town patrons.  Saturday the Area Seventies were in town for meetings and they had a special session.  Saturday is usually our OAD but since we were all off on Wednesday we are all suppose to come in on Saturday.  They need the men but I was not needed so I was a follower on the 9 am session, so everyone could go to preparation meeting, and then a patron on the 11.  After that I left and went to WanChai to meet Velma.  She was giving her first talk in Church and I didn't want to miss it.  She did a wonderful job.  I was so proud of her even though she was very nervous.  She spoke on how the Book of Mormon has influenced her life.  Afterwards we did some practicing on the piano.  Her piano book came in and she has been practicing.  We then went to dinner at Subway and I came on home.  She called me about 8:30 just before she arrived home to check on us.  What a sweetheart.  We are going to miss her immensely.

Velma at the Victoria 2nd Branch

Velma giving her first talk on The Book of Mormon

Sunday we left early to attend the last of the Chinese Wards, Bishop Lau, temple engineer's Ward.  Many people we knew from the temple are in this Ward. Sister Lee and Bro. Cheung among them.  People were very friendly.  Also two of the Seventies were assigned to attend this Ward.  They each bore their testimony.  Elder Woo said the most important thing we can do is to love and keep our families intact.  There is nothing more important than this for our eternal salvation.

The Lau family.  He is 13 and passed the sacrament.  He's much smaller than Tyler.  

Paul also bore his testimony.  I am so proud of him.  Every visit to these Chinese Wards he has bourne his testimony and ended by saying it in Cantonese.  He couldn't get me to do it.  From there we caught a taxi to the Mon Kok Station where we caught the train to our Branch in Kwai Fang.  We arrived early and were able to get a little work done before others needed the computer.  Paul gave his first lesson in the Old Testament in Gospel Doctrine and I gave the Plan of Salvation in Primary.
It was FHE and the missionaries were in charge.  The Sister Missionaries were on splits and so had to leave so Brother Jacinto gave the lesson on how as members we are needed in the missionary effort.  Elder Victor bore a strong testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and their (The Victors and all the Sr. Couples) love for the Peninsula 3 Branch.  We then had a delicious potluck dinner.  We helped clean up and then took off.  Just before we got to the train station Paul remembered he hadn't finished the quarterly report so he headed back and I went on home.  He ended up being only 30 minutes behind me.

Sister Victor and Megan after cleaning the bathrooms

Waiting for FHE to begin.

Elder & Sister Victor

Elder Lewis actually here at the dinner with a full plate, wondering where I am.

A bounteous table

Lisa, Taeia and Yessie

In the middle of the night we talked with Kelly and Rob and found out that our Ward at home has been changed.  We lost the Cottages and the new subdivision and are back with Palmer Park and King Benjamin.  Our new Bishop is Steve Jackson, with Steve Bowers and Scott Jones as Counselors and Wade Palmer as Clerk.  What a great group of Priesthood men to guide us.

We are well into 2014.   May it bring happiness and joy to us as we continue to grow in the gospel of Jesus Christ, learn better to keep His commandments so that every blessing may be ours.  Remember the gospel is:  Faith, Repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost and ENDURING TO THE END.

I am happy to say that I was able to pay out a bit of money to several children and grandchildren who were able to attend the temple every month in 2013.  What a great job.  Keep up the good work.  You have a wonderful habit going, DON'T STOP NOW.  Several of you also finished the D&C, great job.  Also another great habit, keep reading the scriptures.  They will give you power to overcome evil and keep the Holy Ghost close to you.  Let's all set a goal to do better this year.

Our challenge this year is to memorize the Proclamation to the Family.  I know you can all do this.  Start one paragraph at a time and let us know how it is coming.  I'm sure there will be a reward for all those who can attend the temple in 2014 every month and maybe for those of you who reached that goal last year you might want to add an additional visit as time permits.  Let us know who is in.

And here is something Riley, Gage and Brody can work on.  Memorize the Articles of Faith.  Start with the first 3 and let me know.

We love our eternal family.  WHO WILL SEE THIS???