Return to Yeun Long

Last Sunday I had the wonderful opportunity to go back to the Yeun Long First Ward and see many of the people I first met when I came to Hong Kong. I caught a bus about 7:45am near where I live in Wan Chai and rode it for about 45 minutes under the harbor, up the Kowloon Peninsula, past the dockyards, and out into the New Territories. It was a fun ride to see many sights again and think about my many prior bus rides in Hong Kong.
I didn’t have any converts or people I was trying to specifically find in Yeun Long so I just went out there to see the sights and meet with the members. As the bus pulled into Yeun Long it came to a stop at the exact same bus stop I had gotten off seven years before as a brand new missionary. I stepped down onto the street and a flood of memories came back. My first apartment, companions, street contacting referrals, etc all were fresh in my mind. I loved it! I took a bridge over the highway and made the fifteen minute walk out to the Church. The outside hadn’t changed at all in the six-plus years since I had been there but the inside has been renovated and looks very nice. Much to my surprise I remembered some of the members' names and even a few of them remembered me. The two that I really wanted to get pictures with were my Gospel Essentials teacher and ward mission leader. They now serve as the Bishop and First Counselor, respectively.
We had Priesthood first and I probably got 50% of what was going on. Considering as a missionary I topped out at around 80% I wasn’t too disappointed. It was funny too cause I could understand everything Bro. Sum spoke, but people I interacted with less back in the day I had a harder time getting. In Elder’s Quorum they were having a lesson on Priesthood Power, Quorums, and Service. The teacher told a story about visiting the US and going to a Elder’s Quorum meeting and they had 100% home teaching for the month and how much power there was in that. Then he turns to me and asked, “Isn’t it like that?” I laughed inside and replied, “Maybe in Utah.”
After Priesthood I went to Gospel Essentials and it was a really good lesson about the Temple and eternal families. The teacher asked me to say the opening prayer and I hadn’t been that nervous in a while. I pray in Cantonese once in a while still, but rarely vocally and definitely not in public. Who knows if anybody understood what I was saying but it totally reminded me of being a new missionary in the same building trying to do the same thing.
My favorite part about visiting was catching up with friends and seeing how the ward had developed and matured. When I was there as a missionary lots of kids were running around and the atmosphere was fun but crazy. There is still a descent contingent of primary kids but not they have a large Young Men / Young Women group many of them are the same people sprinting through the halls that I had to dodge back in the day. Besides making me feel old, it made me feel really happy to see families continuing on valiantly in the Church, magnifying their callings, raising their children in the Gospel, and standing steady in the challenging environment that is Hong Kong. It was Seminary Recognition Day in Sacrament Meeting and over a dozen kids walked to the front to receive their awards, a huge total for one ward in Hong Kong. The Yeun Long First Ward is growing up and maturing beautifully. I wish I could have contributed more to their success but I enjoyed being able to come back and see it.
Pictures are of me and the building. The second is of Bishop Au Yeung. Hearing he is the Bishop now didn't surprise me a bit. He totally knew the gospel, was very patient/kind, and had the personality of a wiseman/sage. Third picture is of me and Sister Zu. She is from the mainland and Cantonese isn't her native tongue so understanding her can be a little tough at times but she was someone I admired a lot. She bore her testimony once about how life hasn't turned out quite like she planned/wanted (basically her whole family is members but don't go to Church) but she still is carrying on and holding out hope that they will return and trusts in God to take care of things. The next picture is of the HK dockyard. It was a small portion I could capture from the bus window but they are something like the 3rd busiest in the world. The last picture is me and the Sum Family. They are great! On top of being a really good ward mission leader they would have us out to dinner once a month, were really friendly, and lots of fun.