Miracles are still happening today!

It's only been about a week since I last wrote but so much has happened.

Great story.... Friday night we decided we were going to go into a part of town called Tsim She Tsui for dinner. They have several good Mexican food restaurants and we wanted to try one so off we went. Joe had been working on some of the engineering  projects and was working with BYU that afternoon and so we left later than planned. We were on the shuttle that took an hour instead of 15 minutes because of a traffic jam, but we just let go and thought that this was an adventure and we would get there eventually. We went to this "swanky" part of town... It is really cool and reminds me a lot of So Ho in New York with its eclectic artsy vibe and it's just a fun part of town. We get to this restaurant called Tequila Jacks, and they tried to sit us at the bar and we thought that was not a good idea (Imagine that picture with the caption, "Two LDS missionaries at the BAR" ... Yeah, not good.) So they sat us at a table and we ordered steak fajitas which were excellent and we enjoyed dinner and walked around town. Because of all the weird delays, we got back to the shuttle bus to go back to our apartment several hours later than planned.

While waiting in line, I saw these three boys who were playing around and this woman talking to them. I thought she was the mom, but she was the domestic helper of that family and is from the Philippines. We were just chatting and it turns out that she had changed employers and had only worked for this family for a few months and is looking for a new "church home". I shared a few things and then mentioned that there are congregations of women just like her and that there was a lot of support. She also turned out to not only live in the same apartment complex as us, but the same building three floors up! We exchanged numbers and she messaged me that night saying thank you and that she was wanting to go to church.... Now, out of eight million people in this city, we just happened to be in the same line, in the part of town that is 30 minutes from where we both live at the same time to have this conversation. It was a witness and reminder to me that we are not in charge! Heavenly Father knows us and loves us. He knows what we need even when we think we have the answers. Sometimes, when things are not going the way we think they should, remembering to trust that things are as they should be and quite often there is a higher purpose that we may not understand at the time. Most of the time it's just not about us. She is now meeting with the missionaries.

Our week was filled with many different things. We fed 140 missionaries for zone conferences, and had lots of meetings and worked with some of the young single adults which is always fun. Saturday we were invited by some friends to go on a "junk boat" for the day. It is really just a big boat that has a kitchen and huge covered sitting area, as well as several open areas and a deck on top. They attached a slide to the top of the boat and also tugged a ski boat with "toys" that could be used as well. We went to an area called Sai Kung which is a beautiful area by the ocean with a lot of islands, beaches and rainforest areas in the South China Sea. It took an hour to boat out to where they dropped anchor and we stayed for the day. They served food all day and we had a great time!  It was awesome to be in the beautiful surroundings with fun people!

Something else amazing that happened is that when we first got here two months ago, we met a man named Payton Kwan, and because of the last name, Joe talked to him about genealogy. Joe brought some copied pages from home of what he was told was his genealogy, but he doesn't read Chinese so he had no idea what he had. Payton said he could connect Joe to his mother-in-law, Sister Chiu who is a master genealogist thinking that their families might connect somewhere up the line.

In China they take their ancestors very seriously, so all Sister Chiu needed was the village that Joe's family was origionally from, any papers he had and see what she could find. The story is pretty crazy but in the South of China (remember that is different than Hong Kong) they have these "temples" for their ancestors that they keep books of all the many generations of family. They have them with different family names and she found his family's Temple with their name on it.... She also found the grave of Kwan Nam Hing and his wife, who were the ones who migrated from the North down to the South of China only a few hours from Hong Kong around 1200AD. She brought back a completed book of 24 generations of Joe's family all the way back to the Song Dynasty.... THOUSANDS of names of people in his family. He was also able to provide current information, so now his name, and his children's names are in the "Kwan temple" in China. Isn't that the coolest thing??

It is interesting because before we left on our mission, we were "set apart" as missionaries by our Stake President. In that blessing, Joe was told that there were "multitudes of people on the other side of the vail who were excited he was coming to Hong Kong". At the time, we didn't know what that meant and now it makes sense with this incredible miracle that has happened.

There is such a bigger plan in play in all of our lives and often we will find meaning as we look back at different things that have brought us to where we are right now. Sometimes we don't understand the timing of things, like us going on a mission right now when we are young and most couples don't do this for another decade or so.  We just never know what is around the corner or where life will take us or what lessons we will learn along the way. What I do know is that when we have faith in God's plan and stop fighting what He's trying to do in our lives we are a lot happier and have much more peace.  I'm grateful to be here and to be building the relationships we are right now. We love the YSA's, humanitarian work, working with the young missionaries, working with congregations, working in the temple etc. Usually these are all separate types of missions for couples. How cool is it that we are blessed to be a part of all of these things in Hong Kong. It took a bit to settle in and find our place. The Lord knows us and what we need and we feel a lot of peace and are so grateful.

John 14:26-27
"But the comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you not as the world giveth, I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

No matter what is happening in our lives, peace is available to us if we choose it.
Love,
Sister Kwan

Inside the Kwan Temple that holds all of the genealogical books of the Kwan family.

The door of the Kwan temple with the name written in Chinese on the top of the door frame.

Dinner with Payton, his wife, two kids, and his mother-in law, Sister Chiu.

This is the grave of  Kwan Nam Hing and his wife who were the original "Grandparents" where his Kwan genealogy book begins in about 1200AD.

This is Noble and Eleanor Coker, who rented the "Junk Boat" for everyone.  He is the CEO of a company that builds amusement parks in Asia.

This is a picture of the boat.

Gorgeous hills and rainforest in the distance.

Ready to get on the boat.

Seafood, noodles, fried rice, and a few salads. No one left hungry..

In Sai Kung they have random cows running around in the village. We were cracking up that  they literally were jumping over bushes and walking in front of cars and walkways by the restaurants.

Another friend on the boat.  We had so much fun.

This is a picture close to the LDS temple in Hong Kong as we were walking to the MTR station (subway train). People don't realize how much green rainforest there really is in Hong Kong.

This was the coolest place. It is called "Smile", and it is a frozen yogurt place with only a vanilla tart flavor, but they make all these creations and layer stuff in between. I definitely was smiling. :) Zoom in on the picture.  It's worth seeing all the detail.