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| Here's what my parents were seeing on the news over the weekend |
I'm alive! Here is the blow by blow of the great typhoon of the 21st century! Saturday evening Elder B and I were eating in a Chinese cafe when we heard the latest news from the chatty restaurant occupants and a few glances at the TV weather reporter. It sounded so ominous, we started asking ourselves if church was even going to happen the following day! After dinner we did some visiting in a remote village and looked to the skies for some kind of sign. Nothing. We thought maybe it was a hoax. Happily our severe weather hopes were confirmed when that Saturday night we got a text from President Hawks informing us of the coming storm. It was all we could talk about as we turned off the lights that night.
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| Here it is a little bit BIGGER:) |
Sunday morning it was HOT! Like really hot. High humidity and everything felt particularly sticky. All through church the rain never came and then there was just a light sprinkle as we walked out for some lessons we had in the evening. I started making district calls at 5:30 and it still just sprinkled. 7 PM the warning text came telling all missionaries to close and secure all windows and get in their apartments. By the time we went to sleep at 11 it was raining a little bit, but nothing out-of-the-Hong-Kong-ordinary. When we woke up this morning, lo and behold, cloudy with no rain, followed by 5-minute bouts of alternating heavy rain and clear skies.
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| Wow! Very close! |
So there you have it: the dreaded Super-typhoon Usagi! If you've ever lived or worked in Hong Kong, you know I'm just describing a typical summer's day. I wish I could say that it was scary or thrilling, but it was honestly just another day...in paradise--haha :) Typhoon signals were all taken down this morning at about 9:30 and P-Day continued like any other. Your prayers for our safety were answered mom; thank you very much:)
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| Usagi is the fearsome japanese word for bunny rabbit |
This week was incredibly fast-paced. I couldn't believe it when I realized today was P-day again!
On Tuesday I went on a special exchange with the District leader from Tung Chung area and the two of us made our way to Kowloon Tong for a Mission Leadership Training meeting. Elder Larry Y. Wilson and his wife presided and were the keynote speakers. They had amazing insights into the ministry and leadership of Jesus Christ. It was interesting to learn more about the plight of women at the time of Christ. They were treated very poorly, and more often than not, it sounds like the men didn't talk to the women unless they were at home or when absolutely necessary. Men wouldn't even touch them. The testimonies of women during Christ's time were not counted in the courts of law. Imagine everyone's surprise when Jesus went out of his way to talk to the woman of Samaria, heal the woman with the blood ailment, and especially when he appeared to Mary of Magdalene before the other 12. She 'witnessed' to the apostles of Christ's resurrection. I thought it was a really fascinating and well done presentation. They tied it into how we as members of the church are different than our times much as Christ was different from his times. We need to stand for truth and not lower our standards or engage in the world's standards.
The following day we took an early morning bus up into the New Territories and had Misson Tour. Elder and Sister Wilson presided again and shared about the 3 Pillars of Eternity: the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement. The 3 complete each other and are eternal in scope and magnitude. It was very interesting and something I will have to study further (CLICK HERE see Elder Bruce R McConkie's talk on the subject)--teaching something of that depth to me at 9:00 AM didn't sink in as well as it might have a little later in the day. Still, it was a fantastic experience and I got to see some of my friends whom I haven't seen since mid-May when President Andersen came to the mission.
I was also drawn out with a handful of other missionaries with whom President Wilson wanted to interview personally. We only had a few moments to speak together, so he just asked me about how I thought my mission was going, what was going well, what my family was like ( I said wonderful of course :)) and then we talked about working with wards and building unity and love among a people that are so independent and seemingly emotionless at times. He had some good insights and encouragement.
Thursday was Mid-Autumn Festival (CLICK HERE for a good description of what that is). Basically everyone works a half-day and celebrates by eating dinner with family and friends and eating these pastry things called "moon cakes". They're really pretty good! Fattening for sure, but good.
Because we missionaries have no family around the bishop called us that morning and scheduled us for lunch with him. It was a really thoughtful gesture and didn't go unappreciated. I think as missionaries the times we get the most homesick are during holidays since no one will schedule and they all say they have family stuff. It kinda causes you to dwell a bit more on your family than you usually do.
That evening we were able to schedule L and one other new member named M and the 5 of us were able to share a couple different flavored moon cakes and talk.
Friday was a public holiday for everyone and so Elder B and I went out and got some really good finding in. We both taught lessons on the street and met a lot of families.
Saturday morning we played American football with a few of the young men in our ward. A few hours later a drunk guy walked-in at the church, so that was a fun surprise to our otherwise typical lunch time. Afterward we went up and visited an less active member and did some finding/exploring in a part of my area that I haven't spent too much time in.
Dad mentioned to me last week in an email that I have neglected to record weird foods that I have eaten recently. So I gave it much thought and reflection and came up with some things I had this past week or two. First, I ate some nasty boiled-in-oil eggplant, some less-than-desireable pig liver, had some fresh squeezed durian drink (had to brush my teeth and tongue for a long time after that). I tried my first fig this morning for breakfast, and a week or two ago I ordered pigs blood in my soup. Pigs blood wasn't bad, it was just a hard thing to get over mentally.
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