Coooooold

It has been crazy in Hong Kong. It snowed. I repeat, it SNOWED! Not a lot...but parts of Hong Kong were hit. The average winter temperature in Hong Kong is about 55 F .....on Sunday it was freezing (32 F). Sunday was the coldest it has been in Hong Kong in over 50 years. We have been freezing!! I have discovered the genius of wearing 4 layers of clothes and gloves to bed. It has been a memorable week.

Even though Sunday was unnaturally cold, we were able to see the faith of members and investigators as they made their way to church. And then Sunday afternoon we had a lesson with our investigator, Lily, scheduled in a park. Instead of cancelling she braved the cold and rain and met with us anyways. We have not seen her in a long time, so it was such a miracle to be able to meet. She has finished reading the Book of Mormon and is now preparing for baptism. Winter miracles!

Anna has now left for Australia! She is doing great!!!

On Thursday we met a really energetic woman on the bus. She was the most energetic 67 year old I have ever met. We asked the secret to her success and she said "I drink - wine, beer, everything!  And sometimes I smoke too!" We were a little surprised. She is a Christian but not super active in her faith.  We will  be meeting with her again. I am excited to help her find where true happiness comes from.

I LOVE DAD AND MOM AND HAZEL AND LILLY AND EMMETT!

 

Our missionary zone at the temple!  Best Place Ever!

Going Hiking

We have had a lovely week. It got a little cool, but we wore jackets and were very comfortable. The miracle for the week is that Anna was confirmed. At first I didn't know if it was going to happen or not. When Sacrament meeting started she still wasn't there. We called like a bazillion times but she didn't answer. We were freaking out. But, our prayers were answered and she came just in time. She also brought her less active mother!

Unfortunately, yesterday it rained. When it rains it is near impossible to have investigators come to church. They are pretty scared of the rain I guess..... oh well.

BUT, we had an fun lesson on Saturday. We had FHE with a member family and our investigator, Ethel. It was cute and Ethel was really happy.

We met with Anna this week to help her prepare for confirmation. She does not like to eat alone, and so we always eat at our lessons. On Wednesday she took us for Dim Sum. She ordered 26 dishes. TWENTY SIX! There were only 4 people. We ate sooooo much. But, the lesson went nicely even though we were about to explode.

We met some new investigators. One of them is named Hannah (weirdddd). It is really fun to meet new investigators. I hope we meet some more in the next coming week.

Good news of the week is that two of our YSA , Jimmy and Becky, were married and sealed in the TEMPLE!!! So happy for them!

(Dad) Hannah sent us a bunch of hiking pictures this week!

Anna's Baptism

I hope you had a good week. Our week was lovely. The most exciting thing was Anna's baptism yesterday. It went wonderfully. Sometimes I am afraid that baptismal services will not go very smoothly, but Anna's was wonderful. She also bore the sweetest testimony. After her baptism she was practically glowing. She is normally a bit shy and does not talk very much, but after her baptism she was the happiest I had ever seen her. She was such a chatter box too.  (hahaha) I think she was definitely feeling Heavenly Father's love. She is so sweet and it has been such a privledge to get to work with her.

On Saturday we also had a really good, but also really heart breaking lesson with our investigator, Ethel. At the start we asked how her day was and she said "really bad." We were a bit surprised by her response and so of course we followed up with "Oh no, why?" She then cried and told us the saddest story I have ever heard. Basically, her family is falling apart. I feel so grateful that she trusted us enough to tell us these things. We threw our lesson plan out the window and instead shared about Christ and the power of His Atonement. We also shared with her that even though her earthly family is having some big challenges, her heavenly parents still love her so much. I have been meeting with Ethel for a long time. In the last couple of months she has changed so much. She has lots of challenges, but she is slowly starting to understand how much Heavenly Father actually loves her and wants to help her (and her family).

Even though Christmas break is long gone we still have a lot of investigators in Mainland on Vacation. So, it seems that our teaching pool has evaporated a little bit. We expected it to fill back this last week when our investigators came back from mainland, but so far not too many people have returned. I guess now we have lots of room to invite new souls to come unto Christ. :) 

At a Service Project at church

And Happy (American) New Year!

Happy New Year! I cannot believe that it is 2016. Though, to be honest I say, "Wow, I cannot believe it's already...." every year. Time has flown by really fast and I am super grateful for the blessings in 2015 (I spent all of 2015 in Hong Kong as a missioanry!!)  and am excited for the experiences to be had in 2016!

Our investigators are doing well. We still have a lot in mainland, but we are hoping that within the next two weeks most of them will be back. If not, then we will have lots of room to find new investigators! We struggled a bit with new investigators this week. The new investigator that we thought we had ended up canceling our rescheduled lesson. So, it seems we are in the perfect situation to find lots of new ones!

Anna is set to be baptized on Sunday. She came home early from her trip to mainland and has met with us several times. She has also come to church and met with our branch president. On Wednesday she will have her baptismal interview. She is so awesome. Her understanding of the gospel is really good. She also has a desire to keep the commandments. When we taught about wearing modest clothing she said "Oh no! Where can I buy long skirts?" Luckily, I know where to buy the cheapest and cutest modest clothing in Hong Kong! After she is baptized and confirmed she will be leaving for Australia. We will miss her, but I am confident that when she leaves she will continue to do the things she needs to do.

Last Monday we went to see Big Buddha with some other sisters. It's very big! And cool!