Taking It Home With Me

This was an EFY song but can also apply to me as I return home to Arizona. I hope to keep up the early to bed, early to rise pattern I started in Hong Kong. More importantly, I hope to keep being a missionary when I return home. Missionary work with Chinese people has always felt more natural/easy to me than with fellow Gwailos but I need to do better in this. I started off with a happy medium by helping invite a Chinese girl in Arizona to get to know the Church before I left Tempe and happily found out she was getting baptized a couple days after I returned from Hong Kong. Now I’m trying to help her transition to Church activity as she returns to her native land of Hong Kong. Before she goes we are having a last hurrah of fun at my family’s cabin with a bunch of friends from my singles ward. What would missionary work be without some partying mixed in?

Trip Takeaways

1) A testimony is precious. As I visited with the people I had taught/baptized and I discussed the Church with them it because apparent that they had not nurtured their testimony and over time it disappeared. Their circumstances varied and all had encountered difficult challenges, but I think the thing that really made them vulnerable was that they quit strengthening their testimonies. The simple principles of daily scripture study, daily prayer, Church attendance, and service in the kingdom build up our faith and prepare us for trials. If we don’t do anything to grow our testimony it doesn’t just stay stagnant, it shrinks.
2) I love Hong Kong and Asia. For some reason ever since my mission I have had a fascination with the events, countries, and development of Asia. This knowledge helped in my internship a lot and tempts me to keep coming back to Asia. However, what I learned on this trip is that my love of Hong Kong and Asia is mostly Church-centric. I love to see the gospel grow in this part of the world and hope I can play a small part again at some time. In time I hope to return to Hong Kong, but am pretty sure now it will be for the Church and not for career or other aspirations. It would take A LOT of money for me to live there unless it was the Lord directing me back.
3) I love the USA and especially Arizona. There were so many things about Arizona I missed. Sure Arizona is blazing hot, but it doesn’t rain every day and isn’t so humid you feel like you’re in a shower all day everyday. I love open spaces and sunshine. These two at times are very difficult to find in Hong Kong and Arizona often provides in abundance. Just having a yard, fairly clean air, and living on the ground are a few of the things I have a renewed appreciation for after my time in Hong Kong. Finally, I love my family and being around them. We are so lucky that all of us live within two hours of each other in Arizona and are able to get together often. The idea of moving away from this blessing is not really appealing.
4) The Lord moves in mysterious ways. I saw this often in my work and my activities in Hong Kong. Often things don’t seem to go according to the plan we want but God is always watching over us and things will work out in time. Sometimes we must endure struggles, setbacks, frustrations, and progress takes much longer than we would desire, but in the end, things will be OK. I relearned that I need to trust God in all and cultivate favor with the Lord. As a missionary I often remarked that there was no rhyme or reason to missionary success other than God’s grace (at least in Hong Kong it seemed that way). This might be applicable in many areas of my life.
5) I’m sure there are lots of others but I’ve been blogging for a few hours and my contacts are getting fuzzy.

Last Meeting in Hong Kong

I started the day by checking into my flight at the in-town check-in at 7:45am and then took a taxi to the Temple in Kowloon Tong. Elder and Sister Jackson had invited me to a special Temple session and testimony meeting. Once every month or two the Asia Area Presidency and senior couples do an endowment session together and then have a testimony meeting in the chapel floor of the Temple. It was an amazing experience. The session was great and I understood much more of the Cantonese than I had just five weeks before. When I walked into the room for the testimony meeting I knew it was going to be emotional for me. I loved these wonderful people so much and the room brought back so many powerful missionary experiences for me. It was the same room we had our zone and mission conferences in. It was the room I had been taken to after arriving in Hong Kong and the room we had our last meetings in before leaving Hong Kong as missionaries. I had even fallen asleep on the floor my 2nd day in Hong Kong I was so tired because of jet lag.
The testimony meeting was very powerful. President Hallstrom opened the meeting with a powerful testimony and message about families and the important work the missionaries do. Then senior missionaries followed sharing their experiences and how their missions had blessed their lives and families back home. I shared my testimony and started off by trying to compose myself and joking that they might need to get the tissues ready. Five of the sisters pulled out tissues for me as if on cue, it was funny. I was just so thankful for the blessings that have come into my life from the wonderful land of Hong Kong. It was here that I learned to see the Savior’s Atonement work in people’s lives, here where my testimony grew and matured so much, here where I learned to love and serve others, and so many other remarkable experiences. Being back in the room where I had so many choice experiences as a missionary was very humbling. Finally, I thanked the senior missionaries for their kindness and example. As I was the youngest person in the room by at least thirty years, the hymn ‘True to the Faith’ came to mind and I shared the first verse and pledged to them to do my part as a member of the youth of Zion. I’m not sure what else to say, it was one of the times in my life where I felt the Spirit in greatest abundance. I wanted to keep the feeling all day long. President Watson closed the meeting with his testimony and shared some of his remarkable experiences throughout Asia. I doubt I will ever again participate in another meeting with such a unique and small setting where I get to learn from General Authorities on that personal of a level.

My Boys are Grown Up

As I was wrapping up my time in Hong Kong I had an increased urgency to track down people I had taught and/or baptized on my mission. I tried calling them throughout my time there but had little success schedule many until my final week. In my last three days I tracked down three young men I taught the discussions to and had the pleasure of seeing be baptized. The only person I was not able to track down was Jasmine Lee and I think that is because she lives in mainland China now.
Chan Po Sing was the first person I ever taught who got baptized. He had a remarkable conversion in both outward appearance and inward feeling. Helping him come unto Christ was one of the true highlights of my mission. After I moved out of his area I hadn’t communicated with him in over six years but he agreed to meet with a few calls. It was funny how guys that I couldn’t get to schedule because they were too busy for three weeks urgently found time in their schedules when I told them I was leaving Hong Kong in three days. I took a bus out to Tin Shui Wai (over an hour) and met him at the bus terminal. We went to a McDonalds and chatted for over an hour. I wasn’t sure what to expect since we hadn’t talked in so long but he was very happy to see me. We caught up on each other’s lives and there was a real feeling of happiness there. He isn’t active now but he still has warm feelings for the Church and his time/associations there. He is very happy as he got his dream job as a cop and is doing really well in general. Since we met when he was 16 he has really grown up in maturity and is a man now who is planning his life and making wise decisions. We exchanged contact information (he’s already added me on IM so that was nice) and took some photos. After a hug and best wishes we said good bye for what I suspect will be another long time. It was so nice to see him again and see the happy smile on his face. The ride back to Wan Chai was so peaceful and happy as the visit had gone better than I ever expected.
Mui Jan Sing and I visited one more time before I left. He is the kid I watched Wimbledon with and regularly keep in contact with through IM and Facebook. Currently, he’s saving money and trying to visit the US so I told him to add Arizona to his itinerary and I’d show him around. Visits with him are always fun, I just wish he’d make some changes in his lifestyle and return to Church activity.
Shum Ga Git is the young man I taught while serving in Shau Kei Wan. Last year on my trip I arranged to meet him at the Library but we missed each other so that was bitterly disappointing. Thankfully this year we were able to see each other for about 15 minutes and catch up on life. He’s working as a courier now and all grown up. He even has a girlfriend which is kind of funny because at 16 he was more scared of girls than any guy I’ve ever seen. He stayed active for a few years after his baptism (and even met his girlfriend in the Church) but has gone inactive as he works lots of hours now and says he doesn’t have the time. It is disappointing because he had a really strong testimony and many spiritual experiences. He was really apologetic to me about not going to Church and I think kind of ashamed about it. Our visit finished about three hours before my flight and he had to get back to work so we said good bye after exchanging contact information and went our separate ways.
I care deeply about each of these young men and their welfare. The fact that they are all not active in the Church now is really disappointing but not surprising for Hong Kong. Each was active for months if not years and had real testimonies so I know there is a foundation still there. I will keep in touch with them better now than before and try to encourage them. This trip to Hong Kong at least let me know there is still a happy friendship between us and they were all happy to see me again.

Senior Couples

One of the best things about my time in Hong Kong was the chance I had to associate with so many wonderful senior couple missionaries. They were some of my closest co-workers and we shared many wonderful jokes, lunches, spiritual meetings, and other experiences. The work they do is so vital to the Church. In the Asia Area Offices alone there are about ten couples with another 30-40 couples scattered throughout the Asia Area who carry on the Church’s operations in humanitarian efforts, family history, local leadership, legal affairs, CES, proselyting, and many other important activities. They leave family (grandchildren are what they really miss), friends, comfort, and go into the world to new challenges. It is not easy for them, but they love the work they do and the lives they bless. Before this trip I already looked forward to the day when I will serve missions with my eternal companion but I look forward to it even more now. They taught me an important lesson that serving a senior mission doesn’t just happen when you’re 65 or whatever age you leave at. It starts early in your life with a willingness to serve, wise financial management to get yourself in the position you can support yourself, and an ability to put your comforts and family aside for a time. I guess I have one more thing on my short list of things I desire in an eternal companion: a desire to serve senior missions. Here are some of the couples that I got to know in Hong Kong. I didn’t get pictures of everyone I would have liked to as some were traveling around Asia but I thank all of them for their example of faith and the love they shared with me. Also, a big thanks for all the meals they took me out to eat and all the baked good shared! It was like I had an extra 5 or 10 sets of grandparents for six weeks.

Elder and Sister Gibbons are the Asia Area Employment Resource specialists. They help train local leadership and membership throughout Asia on how to find and improve their employment. This is their second time serving in Asia as they also served a remarkable mission in Mongolia. Elder and Sister Aki are the public relations missionaries for Hong Kong. I wrote a blog entry about them earlier but they were such a pleasure to work with. Elder Aki is absolutely hilarious and Sister Aki is tons of fun too. For the last two weeks I think it was her personal goal to hook me and Annie up. Elder/Dr. and Sister Bench serve as the Asia Area Medical Advisors. They help keep the missionaries throughout Asia healthy and also train about health issues. Sadly they were down on the 8th floor so I didn’t get to spend as much time with them, but they offered me some wise advice about career-planning. Elder and Sister Workman serve as Branch President in the Victoria II Branch. They go to Church every day Tuesday to Sunday and help the wonderful branch members progress. This calling has to be one of the strangest in the world. Elder and Sister Baldwin (no picture) serves as Asia Area Humanitarian missionaries. They were always very kind and supportive to me. My last day in Hong Kong they gave me a granddaughter’s number and said to give her a call when I got back to Arizona. Elder and Sister Newell were my closest colleagues as they worked with me in the legal department. They were always providing laughs and making feel like a slacker because of their amazing work ethic. Elder and Sister Jackson serve as the Asia Area Presidency Executive Secretary. I’m not sure exactly how to describe these two but they are amazing. They have skills I can only dream about with technology and are some of the nicest people I have ever met. Elder and Sister Smith are the Asia Area Family History Specialists. Elder Smith served in the Southern Far East Mission when it included Thailand where he served. They were always very generous to me with their time and insights. Additionally, they were lots of fun and Elders Smith and Jackson, and myself enjoyed making Annie’s life difficult at times. Elder and Sister Toone are the Asia Area Auditors. They travel a lot around Asia visiting the local leaders and teaching them how to keep the books. They are from Gilbert in Arizona and were always there with a kind smile and word. Elder Toone is another Hong Kong mission alum so that’s worth big points. I love these senior couples! The Lord’s work needs all the help it can get and every Latter-day Saint couple should prepare to spend some time out in the Lord’s vineyard when the time is right in their life.

Wan Chai Bridge

One of Hong Kong’s busiest pedestrian walkways is bridge that runs from the Wan Chai MTR station to a collection of huge office buildings in downtown Wan Chai. During the morning and evening commutes times it is jammed with people to the point that you just have to walk with the pace of traffic as there is no room to maneuver and you would bump into people if you tried to move quickly. When the bridge is slightly less crowded the rest of the day there is always people out there passing out leaflets/advertisements. As I walk down the bridge I like to collect a handful to help them do their job and see what is for sale. Sure I can’t read the Chinese but most have some pictures. Other attractions on the bridge are musicians and singers. Occasionally there are even protests or sit-ins. On this trip I even learned that the bridge is deserted if you walk down it around 2am on a weekday. You don’t learn such things as a missionary. The bridge really is a fascinating piece of real estate.
One of my best/craziest mission stories happened on this bridge. Sadly I don’t have any pictures to illustrate it although I did debate asking the missionaries to help me re-enact it. One day while serving in the Causeway Bay Ward my companion Elder Vang and I were contacted people on the bridge. While contacting a notorious Mormon-hater in Hong Kong who went by Elijah came upon us. Elijah is British, about 6’5”, 230 pounds, with long straight hair that goes down to his shoulders. Nobody could ever establish if he worked for another Church or why he hated the missionaries but every time he ran into some there was an unpleasant confrontation. Elder Vang was down the bridge a bit contacting when Elijah walked up to me and started yelling at me. I paid him no attention and continued trying to talk to the Chinese people. This did not make him happy. He yelled at me some more, a little louder, and yelled at the Chinese people to stay away from me. I continued to ignore him. Next thing I know, he puts his hands on my head and says something like, “In the name of Jesus, I cast the devil out of you!” and then pushed off my head, causing me to stumble a bit to the side. I kept vertical and went back to contacting the Chinese people and he started yelling and screaming, when Elder Vang comes running up. Elder Vang is 5’6” maybe, somewhere in the neighborhood of 120 pounds when soaked, tiny guy. He did come from the ghetto though and had been in his share of fights. So Elder Vang comes up to Elijah with his fists cocked and ready to go. Thankfully, Elijah gives up and storms away. According to Elder Vang, I looked white as a ghost and was scared to death. I don’t think I’d argue with him, it was not a fun experience.

Mom's Visit

Trying to write blog entries nearly three weeks after events occurred is not a good idea, but I’ll try nonetheless. My mom and Don’s visit to Hong Kong was very enjoyable. My favorite part was just having some family in town. The first day we went and visited the Kowloon Peninsula, did some shopping, and visited some sights. Don was a sport putting up with my mom and me shopping, but both Don and I enjoyed cracking jokes every time we passed a store/market with baby clothes. Grandma mode kicked in and she couldn’t resist looking for a while, although she didn’t end up buying much.
The next day we made a big lap around Hong Kong Island. We started with the peak and got some photos up there mixed in with rain and wind. After a nice lunch we took a bus down to Wan Chai and hopped on the DingDing which we road east along the harbor front all the way until it ended in Shau Kei Wan. From Shau Kei Wan we took a bus to Sehk O (really nice residential/beach area), a taxi to Stanley (more shopping), and then a bus to Aberdeen to the Jumbo Floating Restaurant. This last visit was totally a tourist thing as it is in all the guidebooks and well-known. You take a boat out to the restaurant and have a beautiful view of Aberdeen Marian and its many multi-million dollar boats. The food was not good at all, which was a major disappointment considering the bill.
Our next day Don and Mom wanted to take it easy so we lounged around the hotel for a while and visited a few sights close-by. In the evening we went and visited the NightMarket on Temple Street (not the LDS Temple). It was interesting and fun as this was the first night market I had been to and was much more orderly and clean than most markets I had shopped at.
The last full day Don and Mom visited we caught a boat and visited Macau. Macau is a former Portuguese colony that was returned to China in 1999. It is administered separately from the rest of China, much like Hong Kong. About five years ago Macau decided to open up its gambling licenses to foreign companies and big corporations like MGMGrand, Wynn, Venetian, and others moved in. The change and development in the tiny little colony is rapidly increasing with all the gambling money that is flowing. Asians love to gamble and now they don’t have to fly to Las Vegas to do it anymore. I read somewhere that Macau passed Las Vegas in terms of gambling revenue last year and is increasing at something like a 30% annual basis. What makes it even more remarkable is that Macau is probably less than 15 square miles of land. Its tiny, and any growth they have no comes from reclaimed land created by filling the sea/ocean.
Photos Description 1) Hong Kong skyline during the nightly lights/music extravaganza. 2) A picture of some of the stalls in Lady’s Market. 3) My reaction to news that Mom has found another store with baby clothes, or maybe just taking a picture when I wasn’t paying attention. 4) Mom and Don on the road of tall buildings in Admiralty. 5) Mom and Don at the Peak. 6) Me in front of the curry restaurant I ate at almost every week when I lived in Shau Kei Wan as a missionary. Our apartment was upstairs 20+ floors. 7) Sehk O Golf Course. Sehk O is amazing. The houses are on acre-plus lots and there is lots of open space with no buildings over 2 stories. 8) Jumbo Floating Restaurant 9) Me on Nathan Road, just down the street from the Night Market. This picture is a good example of the craziness/energy of Hong Kong. 10) Me and St. Paul’s in Macau. Catholic Church ruins that date to 1500-something. 11-13) Various pictures of/in the Venetian. I took a nap in Starbucks when Mom and Don went off to gamble. They came back poorer while I left energized.