The last several weeks have been full of preparations for several events coming up. Thanksgiving Zone Conference with the young missionaries, a leadership meeting they had as well, and a lot of time spent with the young single adults. Because of protests, public transportation has been severely disrupted which has made the "no car, no Costco, walking a lot" to "no car, no Costco, WALKING A LOT". Interesting times here for sure with feelings raging on both sides and generally very unsettled.
Regardless of any of that as God does, he uses situations and everything around us to move the work forward and what is needed is always there. We (as in all of the missionaries) have seen so many miracles! We are reminded everyday that God is in the details of our lives and that as we trust him not only will things be ok, but it also brings tremendous joy.
Last week Joe went to Mongolia for government meetings as well as following up on the continuation of the Ger retrofitting project. November in Mongolia was a mere -28 degrees (yes that is negative 28), which is giving these families the ability to test out the new insulation/heating system. I have to say, I'm glad I saw it through pictures, ha ha. As it sits right now, he will continue this project from California when we get home for two more years as a "technical specialist" for the church. He will go to Mongolia as needed during that time, but will work it from our home. Joe still has conference calls every week with the four student BYU engineering teams working on different aspects of this project and will continue through April of 2020. SOOOO.... December 7th, our Hong Kong mission responsibilities end and we will officially be released as missionaries, but the rest of it will continue for Joe.
During the week he was in Mongolia, I actually went home to be with my daughter and her husband who had a baby girl! Sweet baby Kinsley. I'm so grateful I could be there and support them on the beginning of this journey. No matter what we have going on in our lives, our "assignment" as mothers does not end. It just changes. I'm so grateful that I could be there and excited to welcome a new baby into our family. :)
Joe and I both spoke in Stake Conference Sunday. I spoke in English so that means my 15 minute talk was really only 7.5 minutes because there was a translator. It is an interesting process that has taken me a while to get used to. I say a line or a thought, and then the translator repeats it in Cantonese, and then I say the next one. There has to be a lot of focus so that I don't lose my train of thought. As for the rest of the meeting in Cantonese, there are headphones for those who do not know the language with someone translating it into English so that the few of us can understand (I say that loosely, ha ha) what is happening in the meeting. Joe on the other hand, did speak in Cantonese and the translation I got back was pretty good. :):).
With all of the upheaval here, we were asked to speak about finding strength through our faith in Christ. What struck me during the last general conference in October was the messages of joy and happiness. That as we trust God and his plan for our lives, that is the part that brings hope and peace but we have to choose it. There is always plenty of stuff to focus on that is hard, painful, or even scary.... but that is a choice so what's it going to be?
We can be that hope for others. When they are scared, unsure, and afraid we can support and love others so that they can see Gods light through us. As we do that, we are also strengthened and our faith grows. This is the "fruit" of the gospel. It breeds peace, love and a feeling that we are never truly alone no matter what our circumstances are. It shifts our perspective and allows us to have compassion, serve others and truly be the conduit to see lives change. How cool is that??
A few more weeks! We can do this. :)
Love to you all!
Sister Kwan
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| Missionaries and GkaGka with her daughter at our house. She is still progressing with the lessons and plans to be baptized this month! |
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| YSA dinner at our apartment. |
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| YSA dinner at our apartment. |
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| KoPing and I after Stake Conference. We worked on FSY together. |
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| Noahs Ark Park. They have a full actual size/shape of what the ark was at this park. Very interesting. |
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| Group of the couple/older missionaries in Hong Kong. Went to a new shopping mall called MUSEA that is hard to describe other than it's like an extremely high end entertainment mall of shops. |
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| MUSEA shop... A Ferrari store for CHILDREN. Kids clothing, and paraphernalia. So funny. |
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| A big group of people doing Tai Chi in an area outside a business building in the morning. Very common in the Asian culture. |
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| Meeting Kinsley for the first time. |
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| This is how I feel about being a Grandma. :):) |
