The Gift of Love

Dear Friends and Family, 

Don't even have an hour to write but I will do my best to respond to questions and update you in the time that I have.

On the very first Sunday that I was in Hong Kong, Elder B told me that since we didn't have any investigators to sit with I should try to get to know the members and sit with them during Sacrament Meeting. In very broken Cantonese I asked a man if I could sit next to him, which he graciously allowed. I didn't see him again until a few months later when I went to visit him as a less-active. Then last week he was at church again! His name is Brother C and openly admits that he's kinda lazy about going to church and could do better (this is a big step for any Chinese man or woman to admit since they usually keep up a facade of busy-ness.) Well, when I saw him I immediately went over and talked to him and he asked if he could take us out to breakfast on Tuesday! So that was sweet! We went to the very typical and traditional Chinese dumpling restaurants and as usually happens for me, I ate a ton of stuff that I didn't know what exactly it was. I ate some boiled pork skin that I can't say was my favorite either. However, I will have you know that I eat the chicken legs like a native now! Just bite right in, swish around the mouth, pull, tug, suck, and with chopsticks remove the bone after consuming all the skin. They don't taste too bad either.

Pretty much everyone who lives in Hong Kong lives in an apartment building; but not all apartment buildings are the same size, height, fanciness obviously. It just so happens that from our apartment on floor 15 we can look across a major thoroughfare and be exactly even with the top of another, smaller apartment building. Starting on Monday this week we saw an increase in activity on the top of this building and were surprised by Tuesday to see the makings of a makeshift apartment, most likely illegal since they have a lot of those here too. On Wednesday we were surprised to see huge lights being put up, and by Wednesday evening we finally put it all together that they are shooting scenes for a movie across the way from us! We find ourselves gravitating to the lights and action much like fireflies to lights. Anyway, I don't really know what they're doing but there are always like 25 people packed on the top of it and they are working before we are up to after we go to sleep. This past Saturday for some reason they didn't work for the day. However they were prompt to get started again on Sunday morning because the next thing I know, its 5:35 AM Sunday morning and the wall of our bedroom is lit like noonday! Turns out mechanics were across the way working on the Spotlights for the props. We'll see how long they are there.

As of Friday afternoon I am in a tri-panionship now. Elder L from the other Chaiwan companionship got pulled a week before transfers so that he could be trained in the mission office. We're not supposed to know transfers until we're being told, but I happen to know that he is going AP. So good for him! We'll miss him, but my parting words to him were, "Make some GOOD rules for us." We'll see what happens:)

Taking a break---

ANSWERING A FEW QUESTIONS: Mom, I do have a sweater, bought it about a month ago, so thanks for your concern, I'll be fine whenever it gets cold enough for one :) Dad: I really hate to compare Cantonese since it seems to be about all my companion talks about, and I don't think its productive or needful, but my Cantonese is pretty good! I make calls regularly in Cantonese, that doesn't always mean that I understand them, but they pretty well understand me which is half good. I'm feeling more confident, but obviously I have a very long way to go. I spend a lot of time in Sacrament meeting listening for comprehension as well as trying to write down Pingyam for words that I don't know and want to look up later. I'm understanding a lot more though. Not flawless, but that's why I have the next 1.5 years. Family: Thanks for the Christmas gifts! I got the package last week and spent a few days debating whether to open it or not. I finally did this morning mostly out of fear that any perishables were probably attracting "gokzot" or cockroaches... We have a few of those in our apartment so I'm trying to be careful. Everything perishable was put in the refrigerator and will not be consumed until starting on December 13th :) Thanks for all of it! Very thoughtful, fun, funny, and sweet! I like the Texas things too! My gifts to y'all should go in the mail sometime in the next week or so judging that I probably won't have time today to get everything off. My investigators: doing ok. C is scared to give her parents the Baptismal Permission Sheet...her baptism was supposed to be yesterday but is now undetermined but we hope this month still. C and A's dates are for this next week but they won't make it. Neither one made it to church this week, gonna try to contact them this week. We didn't have a chance to meet with D yet. He's been busy and lost his phone and wallet Friday (we were supposed to meet on Saturday) and he called us Saturday morning from a landline to let us know. Speaking of phone calls. I will most likely call you on Christmas day, we can't use members computers, President Hawks is serious about the 30-40 minute rule too.

Now back to this week...

A couple weeks ago we started meeting with 3 girls that live in our area. Two are sisters, N and J, and the third is a friend, L. N and J are pretty awesome! Not super super interested, but very pleasant, fun, and willing to learn. On Thursday night I had scheduled an appointment, teaching a mom and her child English, but it fell through, so we called N and J and asked if they could meet. They also live in ShauKeiWan and told us we could meet them in the Subway Station exit and come to their apartment. On our way up to their apartment we met their dad who was a very friendly, happy man who unfortunately was headed out the door for his overnight shift as a security guard. Their little brother, Alex, was home though so that was good. The family is originally from Mainland, but their mother tongue isn't Mandarin but rather some other dialect. They have perfect Mandarin and Cantonese though. After only a few minutes in their home like 6 of their cousins came plowing through the door so we got to meet all of them too! It was a fun night because we were able to explain what we do as missionaries, as well as build our relationships with this family, and help them with English. From the moment we stepped into their house we knew they were poor. They had very few material possessions, and all 6 of them live in one back room (to put this in perspective they only have 2 rooms; a main room which is the entry/living room/dining room/ a tiny kitchen in one corner, and a sliding door hides the closet-sized bathroom. Half the overhead lights are burned out too. They don't have much, but both the family and extended family are happy. They love each other, they laugh, they play, and they tease. I just sat there in awe for the 2 hours we were there. I almost had tears come to my eyes because I felt so much love for them. I couldn't have hugged the two girls since they are 19 and 17, but if I could have I would. I truly believe that God had bestowed on me the wonderful gift of love. I saw these girls as my sisters and would do anything I could for them--much like I know Heavenly Father would and does for them. It was a profound experience for me because they also gave what little they had to us; they furnished cold sodas and some chinese candies. I hope to have many more experiences like these. I think God can give many gifts to people; for me language is super important, as is the gift of perseverance  gift of faith, gift of testimony, but the most important to me is love. "People don't care how much you know, even if it is the gospel, until they know how much you care."

I wish I had more time to write, I had scriptures I also wanted to share, but there is always next week. I love you all!

Love,

Elder Siebach