6 Months already....

Well...  It's been the longest, fastest, weirdest, hardest, fulfilling six months of my life! That’s a lot of emotion in one sentence, and let me tell you, try living it! It can be summed up in four words. Learning to let go... I think Heavenly Father is trying to teach this to me in about five million different ways.

Going on vacation to a new land is a very different experience than learning to live, function and work in a culture that couldn’t be more different than your own. After the initial shock of the first 6 weeks or so, we both (well, me really, ha ha) settled in and adjusted to life here in Hong Kong. I learned how to shop, get around, do laundry, and use my little Easy Bake oven etc. and our assignments continued to evolve and get more spread out and interesting!

* Supporting and having assignments in a Cantonese Ward/Stake (multiple congregations).

* In charge of YSAs in our assigned Stake (Joe is High Council)

* Support YSAs in the whole Hong Kong region (6 Stakes)

* Work a 4 hour temple shift a week

* Advisory couple for FSY 2019

* Planning, buying, preparing food every six weeks for two days of Zone conference and one day of MLC.

* Social media for the Mission

* 3 engineering projects Joe has in Taiwan and Mongolia with the Asia Area Presidency.

There are other short term projects and assignments that come up that are fun too. We. Are. Not. Board...  I need a nap, is what I need!

As Senior missionaries the rules are very different for us. We don’t have to be "within sight and/or sound of each other at all times" and our work is different than the young missionaries. They primarily proselyte, and as you can see our assignments include many different things. Sometimes Joe is working over in Wan Chai on HK Island and I'm in Kowloon Tong at a different building an hour away. We do wear dress clothes EVERY DAY... shirt/tie for Joe, dress/skirt for me.

One of the recent assignments I had is, the mission president and his wife asked me to go purchase what we need to complete the supplies/equipment for the kitchen. Last Thursday I gloriously wore tennis shoes and pants and went with a friend to this area where there are a lot of stores that have restaurant kitchen equipment.The goal is to get things set up so when the next person comes it will be a lot easier! So here I am on the streets of Hong Kong with a 4 gallon stainless steel pot, a HUGE bowl for mixing stuff, several knives, and more. We decided we should jump in a taxi instead of taking all that stuff 40 minutes on public transportation (eek) and then walking with it for another half a mile. That is life here in Hong Kong.

Speaking of changing things, the mission office is part of a huge two story church building. (Kowloon Tong) where other meetings are held. It is across the street from the temple and is a different building than where the church office is. (Wan Chai) This is also the place where Zone conferences and other missionary trainings are held. There is a tiny kitchen in this big building with one little oven, bigger than the Easy Bake in our apartment but small by American standards, and a small refrigerator.

I had asked the powers that be why they only had one oven and a small refrigerator in the kitchen where we hold these Zone conferences and asked how hard it would be to get another one? They said, "Not hard at all! Do you want another one??" I said, "YES!" So they are completely redoing the kitchen in the Kowloon Tong building and added a second oven and stove top. Life changing for sure.

We also got an American size refrigerator in the mission office which is just down the hall from the church buildings kitchen. It needed to be in a separate place from the main kitchen because everyone traveling from China, Mongolia, Cambodia etc plus the a few Chinese wards use the kitchen so it needed to be in a place that can be locked. It was so funny because again, Sister Phillips (mission presidents wife) said, "Order what you want"! I said, "Are you sure?" and she said, "Yes, really get what you think is best!"... So I said, "OK...." The facilities employees who are Chinese that handle the ordering and installation of these appliances see this huge monstrosity of a refrigerator and said, "Sister Kwan... This is really big!" I said ,"I know isn't it great"?? Ha ha.. Our mission president is so happy! It's big enough to fit large trays of food, etc. and plenty of freezer space as well. Changing Hong Kong, one refrigerator and oven at a time! We are still cracking up.

We just had our first 3 1/2 hour FSY training with 13 people tonight from 7:30-10:30pm. It was very successful and we feel like the group of leaders are moving forward. One thing about the Asian culture is, in general they are very responsible and duty bound. If they commit to something, they are all in. I love that about them.

Hard to believe Christmas is around the corner! We are involved in several fun Christmas projects that bring the spirit of Christmas into our hearts and that is really fun. A beautiful video, "He is the gift"... reminds us all of what this season is about. You can go to Youtube, "He Is The Gift"and it's worth the 2 1/2 minutes. This time of year can get crazy with so many things to do and it's quite often a bustle of activity. For some, it can also be a difficult time of year reminding many of losses, and other things. May you feel the love of the Savior at this time of year and know that He is the author of all peace.

Love,
Sister Kwan

All the Senior Missionary couples combined resources and created some Christmas boxes for about 12 missionaries who could use a little extra support. Some are the only member in their families and have zero support from home.  It was a very fun project. Joe was working away while I put the boxes together. :)

Decorating the Christmas tree in the lobby at the church office building, otherwise known as the "Wan Chai building". This tree was huge.

Adding ribbon!

I was pretty high up there... in. a. skirt. :)

Finished tree! The signs on the Christmas gifts say, "Peace", "Faith", "Joy", "His Love", etc.

This was a show in a mall!  It was really cute and they had professional dancers, singers, and acrobats.

Part of the show.

Our tiny Christmas tree with a baby can of honey roasted cashews in honor of my Dad. :)

Dinner with the sister missionaries and a new member, Alex.

A Chinese cat!  For real...