Return to Lantau

Yesterday for Church I went to the Tung Chung and Discovery Bay Branches. The Mui Wo branch was closed a few years back and the members now have to travel well over an hour to the nearest Church building in Tsing Yi. At Church I was able to see the Ho and Lee families again which was very nice. Ho Jing was the eight year old boy I baptized and he is now a lot more grown up and mature. His mom is still doing great and taking him plus two little sisters to Church every week. Bless her heart! The Lee family I remembered well because their dad served as a counselor in the Branch Presidency and our branch mission leader. They surprisingly remembered me and we reminisced about some good times. Their son was an absolute terror six years ago, running all over the Church, making all kinds of noise during Sacrament meeting, and just generally being a handful. Now he’s almost as tall as me and a really cool teenager. He was humble, funny, and seems like he is very capable. I really hope he goes on a mission because he’d be a great missionary. I took a picture with me and the two boys and told them they should both be on missions in five years. They were non-committal. We took group photos and caught up on old times, they asked about why I’m not married and requested a picture when I get married. I’ve gotten that request a lot the last few weeks. As they walked away from the Church building I was so impressed by the families’ faith and sacrifice. They had their local Church building taken away (ten minutes from their houses) because attendance wasn’t high enough and are now asked to take an uncomfortable hour bus ride followed by another 30 minutes of riding the train and walking to Church, and then do the same on the way home. They weren’t bitter and faithfully met the challenge.
After meeting with the Tung Chung Branch I attended Church with the Discovery Bay Branch (currently the two meet in the same building). There were only three families still there but it was fun nevertheless. The Sloans, Maks, and Suzukis were there when I was and they filled me in on all the developments about the branch, Discovery Bay, and the families who moved away. After Church Brother Sloan invited me over to his place to his place for dinner and offered to drive me around Discovery Bay in their golf cart to see all the changes. Dinner and visiting at their place was lots of fun as they have 4 kids under eight who are all a delight. It was like playing with my own nieces and nephews except with New Zealand accents. The same family had had Elder Newman and myself over six plus years, three kids, four apartments, and a few other things previously. It was wonderful to be back and feel their warmth all over again. They are an awesome family!
All in all the day was really great. I got to see some of the families I loved most from my mission and one of my favorite areas. Discovery Bay had grown/changed a lot but still felt like a resort compared to the rest of Hong Kong. That is the last unit I planned to visit on my Sundays in Hong Kong so I’m not real sure what to do with myself next week.
Photos LS 1) Lee's son and Ho Jing (on my right) 2 & 3) Discovery Bay International School = where we had Church and Discovery Bay's private beach 4)Lee family 5) Ho family, plus a few other kids mixed in RS 1) Brothers Sloan and Suzuki 2 & 3) Waterfront at DB and DB Plaza