Thanksgiving.... A lot to be thankful for!

The last few weeks have been a bustle of activity! It's hard to believe that December is almost here! Zone conferences went well and all was very smooth. The temple is closed for three weeks and will open again December 4th so we have had a few weeks off with that assignment.

Thanksgiving was a very different experience being here and we had an enjoyable time. On the actual day, Joe and I went to Cheesecake Factory and had an awesome meal. The next day we were invited to one of the wards (congregation) "Thanksgiving" meal. We were not in-charge, and just showed up to enjoy the evening with them. The next thing I know, the sisters of the ward asked me to go in the kitchen because they had some "questions"...  How to carve a turkey? How to heat up pizza? How to make the gravy, etc... First of all, turkey in Hong Kong is VERY expensive. In the States you can get a 20 pound turkey for about $10US. In HK a 10 pound turkey is about $50US. So the next thing I know, they have laid all the food out and they want me to carve the turkey and I'm hearing my name in Cantonese with the whole ward watching me. I know enough of the language to at least laugh at the right times (ha).  What's really funny is I have never carved a turkey in my life but I pretended like I knew what I was doing and it all worked out fine. They had turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, pizza, and about 15 other Chinese dishes... That was their Thanksgiving meal.  We had a great evening!

Saturday night we had a huge traditional American Thanksgiving meal with all of the senior couple missionaries which was amazing! My assignment was yams, and I actually found yams/sweet potatoes from California so that I could make my recipe. Really fun evening with all the missionaries and the Asia Area Presidency. There were 37 of us in total.

We have been working heavily with the YSA'a (Young Single Adults) and the different wards leadership. Our focus is on creating ways to support that age group (19-30) as well as to find and reach out to those who are less active. We meet with the core committee every month and plan activities and also support and attend committee meetings for the regional Hong Kong wide YSA group. We have some fun things planned for 2019.

We are beginning to spend a lot more time working on FSY (For the Strength of Youth) 2019. It is a week long program for the youth ages 14-18, which mirrors EFY (Especially for Youth) at Brigham Young University. FSY happens outside of the United States in other countries. The purpose is to help everyone involved develop and build a strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and His atonement and desire to live lives that reflect those convictions. It is also for the YSA's to get leadership experience and further strengthen their testimonies. We have been assigned to be the "Advisory Couple", which entails us making sure that the program stays within the guidelines set forth by the FSY committee in Salt Lake. It is VERY involved and requires a lot of meetings and us being trained, training others, and empowering others to develop their leadership skills. FSY Hong Kong will be July 22-27th, 2019 and there will be about 10 trainings, countless firesides, trips to the venue, and readjustments between now and then.

On Sunday both Joe and I spoke in Sacrament meeting. I spoke in English with a translator which is really interesting because I have to say one or two sentences, and then the translator repeats what I said in Cantonese. I gave the quotes and scriptures to her before hand so she could look them up and read them after I read mine. I joked with Joe that I only had to prepare half of the amount he did because mine was said twice. He gave his talk in Cantonese and it is still a big struggle but he's improving every day. He is involved in a lot of different Cantonese leadership meetings and councils that I am not a part of so he is "in it" in a different way than I am. Plus, he's Asian, so they all expect him to be fluent, ha ha. Lets just say he uses a translation tool on his phone A LOT, and he slept much better Sunday night after it was over. :):)

There is so much to be grateful for! There will always be plenty of things to struggle with, or wish were different in our lives wether it's people or situations. What we put in our mind and allow to stay is what we think about and in turn controls how we feel, which often controls what we do and how we see the world. I have taken on President Nelsons challenge to read the Book of Mormon before the end of the year, marking every passage that references the Savior. I definitely feel homesick sometimes and of course have tough days but I can tell you it has made a huge difference in my days and in my thoughts! I'm grateful for the tools that help us heal and keep moving forward. Grateful for a supportive companion, family, and others who continue to pray for us and our welfare. Thank you and thank you for being a part of our lives as we continue on this part of our journey.

We love you all!
Sister Kwan

At the senior missionary couples Thanksgiving dinner.

Here is the group of senior missionary couples.

At the Chinese Thanksgiving Ward dinner.

Pretending like I knew what I was doing carving the turkey. 

I couldn't stop laughing.

Cars and tons of people at 6:00pm at night in
an area called Tsim She Tsui.

In the middle of the street during rush hour, they stopped traffic
to remove debris off the side of the road. The streets
were packed with people and cars.

Thanksgiving with the senior couples complete
with nut cups, ha ha...  The food was fantastic!

Dessert after the Zone Conference for the young missionaries.
Pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
complete with a little candy corn pumpkin on the top.