Temple Day!

A quick wrap-up of Monday before I get to Tuesday I guess. I was at the office for over ten hours working on a couple projects. Most of my time was spent researching and writing a five page briefing paper for the Area Presidency on one of our current issues. That night at home we had an hour conference call with someone on the other side of the world about another one of our issues. I love how so much of my work is intertwined with the developments of the world. Coups, civil wars, diplomatic relations, and so many other factors play into what we do. For once all of my useless politics, world affairs, and Asia knowledge is advantageous. Another interesting fact that I heard at work Monday is that Hong Kong had its wettest June ever recorded this year. Hong Kong had over 45 inches of rain in June, of which probably only about 4 I witnessed. I did finally see the sun for the first time Tuesday, my 6th day in Hong Kong.

Tuesday (July 1) was a big holiday here in Hong Kong. It was the 11th Anniversary of the handover from British rule to Chinese rule and everyone gets the day off. The Church takes advantage of it by encouraging all of the members to attend the Temple. Lots of the Temple work is done by members of the International District (non-Chinese members), many of which are Filipina sisters working here in Hong Kong as maids. While there are lots of Filipina sisters who want to go to the Temple, there are not as many Priesthood brethren to help out so my boss and I volunteered.

I was in the Baptistry from before 8am until almost 12:30pm. When the only other guy in the room younger than 50 left before 10am I volunteered to do the baptizing, not quite realizing what I was getting myself into. Two and a half hours later we finally finished. It was a great experience as I was able to help baptize people from the Phillipines, mainland China, Hong Kong, and a couple other nationalities. Also, many of them were doing Baptisms for the first time since they became members of the Church so I had to brush up on my baptism instruction skills. This morning when I woke up my arm and shoulder felt like I had thrown a nine-inning, complete game shut-out but I didn’t mind. After helping in the Baptistry Elder Aki got me into the ordinance workers lunch in the basement and we chatted for a bit. From there I dropped by the Mission Home on the 2nd floor and volunteered my services to the missionaries if they ever need an extra body while I’m here and then went up to the 3rd floor to catch the one o’clock session. The whole day was wonderful. As I sat in the Celestial Room after my session thinking about all my blessings I was filled with amazing peace and happiness. I just feel so lucky to be able to come back to my mission and have this experience.

On the way home from the Temple I finally got to ride the subway for the first time in Hong Kong. My boss has a car and we usually drive to work and with my work and housing so close together I haven’t really had much opportunity to get out and about yet. I will try to be more adventurous and take more pictures in the future. On the way to the subway station I dropped by the massive Festival Walk mall and got a funny picture of a guy with the worst attempt at a come-over I’ve ever seen. After getting off the subway in Wan Chai I visited a street market to buy an umbrella and visited the grocery store to buy some frozen vegetable to ice my knee with after my morning workouts. The evening was spent watching a movie and trying to blog. Things are great and I am loving life!

Pictures are of the Temple, a 'Ding Ding' (trolley car) traffic jam in Wan Chai, the market where I bought an umbrella, comb-over guy, and me on the subway. Yes, I was probably at least four inches taller than anybody for the next 50 feet on the train.