AN EVENING IN YEUN LONG

Sister Linda Ling invited us to listen to her son, Benjamin Wong perform on July 4th in Yuen Long.

He has a Master's degree in Piano Performance and is pursuing his Doctorate, and is here visiting.

We got to the church way ahead of schedule, in fact, an hour and a half early.

We went expecting to hear an enjoyable piano recital with a group of people we don't know.

What we didn't expect was seeing Elder and Sister Inouye already there. 

As it turns out, their daughters know Benjamin from BYU where they too, were piano majors.

A little while later, Elder and Sister Edwards showed up, and eventually several other familiar faces.

Elder and Sister Shum, who have known Benjamin since he was a little boy, came walking in, and

Brother Ko, one of the ordinance workers at the temple.

By the time President and Sister Wong showed up, we weren't surprised at all. 

 They were more surprised to see us.  

President Wong told us if he had known we were coming, he would have picked us up.  

That is the kind of man he is.

President Wong and Yuen Long 1st Ward's Bishop

Sister Wong

Elder and Sister Inouye and Elder Edwards

We learned that this was the first LDS church built in Hong Kong 50 years ago, and was built completely by the members.  It is where Sister Wong attended church.

We got a preview of what was to come while Brother Wong was warming up before his performance.

He is a gifted pianist, and played so beautifully, as if he had a magical touch with the piano.

He played a variety of pieces, but one especially touched me, and made me realize how much I enjoy oriental music because it sounds calming, peaceful, and so beautiful.

Half way through the evening, three guests performed before Benjamin played his last selections.

Brother Wong's father sang, Nearer My God, to Thee while accompanying himself on the guitar.  He too, is a talented musician.

A young woman, Miss Wong, played a couple of unfamiliar songs very nicely on her violin.

My feelings towards Chinese music was reinforced when a certain Brother Lai played one song on his dizi flute. 

I don't think we have seen fingers and lips move so fast.  At times he played soft and slow, other times quick and playful.

 He is incredible, yet modest about his ability to play.  

 We could have listened to him the rest of the night. 

Benjamin's last selection (or so, we thought) was The Story of Book of Mormon, which for those of us from the U.S. would know as Book of Mormon Stories.  However, he played his own arrangement,

and my golly sakes,

it was more intense than what the Primary children of the world usually sing.

He told us he has arranged a lot of music, but he hasn't written it down.  It is just in his head.

Amazing!

He played Til We Meet Again, as an extra bonus.  A perfect way to end the evening.

The Bodilys, the Inouyes, the Edwards, Linda Ling, Benjamin Wong

It was an uplifting night, and we are so glad we didn't talk ourselves out of going.

We thought we would be riding the train back, but President and Sister Wong treated the couple missionaries to a ride back to our apartments, without the stops along the way that we had prepared for on the train.

We are so blessed to be serving here in Hong Kong, having these great experiences

 and making new friends.