Pie Night At VanWagenens!

Inviting guests over for pie the night before Thanksgiving has been a family tradition for the VanWagenens for quite a few years.  It all started when they realized everyone is too full for pie after eating a Thanksgiving feast.  So hence, their tradition began, and being on a mission hasn't kept them from carrying on this tradition.  

This is the cherry pie I baked to contribute to the evening.

I appreciated Sister Towers loaning me her rolling pin,

because it is hard to make a pie without one.

Elder Smith, Sisters Macbeth and Edwards, Elder Edwards

Plenty of room to begin with, but by the time 34 showed up,

Pack, Holbrook, Powell, VanWagenen

Roberts, Brown, Crandall, Page

Crockett, Orton, Funk, Coffey, Whitman, Towers

it became standing room only.

Had a sampling of several tasty pies, got better acquainted with the area missionaries, and had an especially nice visit with Sister Funk.

It was an enjoyable evening, but we didn't stay late because we had a plane to catch the next day.

It Is Time To Celebrate Autumn!

We are posting this picture just for kicks,

Because today is when Autumn turns six.

It has been 7 months since we saw her last,

And, we expect she is growing up fast.

For now we just want to say, 'Hi', 

and

Happy Birthday, Cutie Pie!

With lots of love,

Grandpa and Grandma B

We miss you indeed!

Another Sunday Opening!

Today was the 3rd Sunday Opening of the temple that we have participated in 

since our mission began.

Three of the women receiving their own endowments were from Island 1 Branch.

Elder Bodily and I were assigned to escort them and their escorts to the temple after Sacrament Meeting, which was held across the street at the Kowloon Tong Chapel.

Rosalia was asked to share her testimony during Sacrament Meeting.  She spoke of the trials she had leading up to this day, and the faith she needed and the prayers she offered to get to the temple.

Lota was Rosalia's escort.  Analie was Clarissa's escort.  Elsa was Imely's escort.

This photo was taken on our way to the temple.

 Rosalia De Guzman, Analie Malaque, Clarissa Tale, Elsa Dulay, Imely Diaz, Lota Directo, Me
Elder Bodily was our photographer.

Got one photo with several from our branch as we left to go home. 

 I'm standing between Maribel Pedro and Sister Pulido (another ordinance worker)

Sister Rae Rancie is standing in the back on the left side.

Lota is in the front center.

As Elder and Sister Crockett have served in the Asia Area Mission, they have also served as ordinance workers in the temple once a week.   Their mission is coming to an end, and this was their last day to serve in the Hong Kong Temple.  We have seen their good examples as missionaries these past few months, and will miss them.

 I felt the Spirit especially strong as I assisted a sister with the Initiatory Ordinance, and again with a sister in the Endowment room.

It was a wonderful Sabbath Day!

Guess Who Is 4 Today?

Mailie Ryan turns 4 today,
So, we are sending birthday wishes her way.
We love her, which makes it hard to be apart
from this cutie who we miss with all our heart.

Have the happiest of birthdays, Dimples!

Dim Sum, Thanks To The Puns!

Lining up for the shuttle to take us to Tsim Sha Tsui for 

Dim Sum at the Star of Canton Restaurant

 on the 24th floor of I-Square

Brother and Sister Pun generously treated us all to Dim Sum.

They do this every year for the temple missionaries.

We had an enjoyable lunch with a large variety of dishes served.

I think I counted at least 11 different dishes, and that didn't include the three desserts.

A sampling of what was served.  I liked almost everything I tried. 

Couldn't bring myself to try chicken feet (pictured in the 2nd photo from top)

but Elder Bodily did, of course.

There was certainly something to suit everyone's taste.

Desserts - We both agreed all three were good, but

the best one is the bottom left.  A mango and coconut delicacy.

The entire gang was here.

Balls, Ngais, Lees, Chan, Puns

Bodilys, Chans, Rancies

We learned the lease was not renewed for this restaurant,

so tomorrow is its last day to be opened for this location.

Looks like we made it just in the knick of time.

Thank you, Daniel and Susan!

What A Coincidence!

When Elder and Sister Ball mentioned their friends from Boise were coming for a visit, we didn't expect to know them too.

It wasn't until we were at the MTR a few days ago at the same time and waiting in the same spot for the train, when a guy standing next to us approached us and asked, 'Aren't you the Bodilys?'

We thought, how would you know?

We didn't recognize him at first, but when he said he was Jeff Wilcox, Maryann Wilcox's son from Meridian 8th ward, we took a second look, and then knew exactly who he was.  Of course, he was just a teenager when we saw him last.  Now he is all grown up with a wife and kids,

 and low and behold, 

he works for the Balls in maintaining their landscaping.

He and his beautiful wife, Joann were in Hong Kong visiting Elder and Sister Ball for a week, and by coincidence we stood next to each other in a rather large train station with 4 possible platforms to be catching a train.

Jeff and Joann Wilcox
This was taken as we just got back from church and once again, by coincidence, we ended up at the elevator at the same time as these two.
Side note:  I served with his mom in YW when she was the president and I was a camp leader.

Meeting The Translators!

 Elder Bodily and Whitman met these good men, who are in Hong Kong working on translating the new films into Tagalog, and Indonesian.  

They have a few more days left to complete this wonderful work.

They chose to attend church meetings in our branch yesterday.

A brother from Indonesia, Benjamin Guillermo Jr, Elder Bodily, Andrew Delrosario, Elder Whitman

Elder Bodily, Benjamin Guillermo Jr, Andrew Delrosario, Domingo Rollog, Evelyn Guillermo

 Brother Guillermo also brought his cousin, Evelyn to church.  She is a non-member, and had not attended our church before. We were pleased that they joined our family group for the FHE dinner. 

The work these men are doing will be a great blessing to the Filipinos who come to the temple.

Ryan Would Be 40 Today!

This is the Sabbath Day.  A day to worship the Lord and renew our baptismal covenants with Him.

It is also the day our son, Ryan was born 40 years ago. 

Today our thoughts go back to Saturday, November 15, 1975

It was the day we became parents, and our hearts were full of joy and excitement with the arrival of our baby boy.  We knew our lives had changed,

 but little did we know how much our lives were about to change.

For the next 17 years we loved and cared for our child who came with limitations.  Those years brought  challenges we did not foresee.  But, they brought increased love, laughter and many happy moments in our lives.  They also brought lessons for our children and family in having compassion and understanding for those who are given disabilities, and who are different.

We have been blessed to have a child who the Lord protected from the adversary,

and thank our Heavenly Father for providing a way for us to be not only with Ryan again, but with our entire family eternally in the presence of the Lord.

We know this to be true because of our faith and testimony of
our Heavenly Father's plan of happiness.

Our Oldest Granddaughter Turns 14!

14 years ago today, our first granddaughter came into this world.

It was a joyous day for our family, and we count her among one of our greatest blessings.

She is very bright and beautiful and quite witty.  

She makes us laugh, and delights us with her creative imagination.

We love you and miss you, sweet Jenna.

Happy 14th birthday!

Hiking Another Section of Wilson Trail

We took time on our P-day to explore part of the New Territories by way of hiking.

It was a nice day with some humidity, of course, but no rain or wind.

We started out by meeting up with Marj at the Tsuen Wan Station, and taking a short bus ride to the trailhead.   She suggested we hike the 7th section of the Wilson Trail.

We got started at 8:25am

These guys were waiting for us at the trailhead.

The trail follows along this pretty reservoir.

Hikers with umbrellas is a common sight around here.

Not quite what we come across back home in Idaho.

If you look closely, you will see I'm not alone.

Can you spot what I'm referring to?

Monkeys joined us along the way.  One even charged and hissed at Elder Bodily.

We tried to keep our distance after that, and avoided eye contact.

Spotted this fence sitter.

Made it to the summit.

Tai Wo ahead and Mainland China is in the distance.

After searching google, we think these enormous plants are called

Elephant Ears.  They are common in the forests of China.

7.75 miles and four hours later along with a couple of empty water bottles,

we reached the end at Tai Wo.

We are enjoying Marj as our hiking friend. 

 She has become well acquainted with the trails in the 8 years she has lived here,

and has hiked all but one of the trails in Hong Kong and the New Territories.

Before she leaves Hong Kong, she will conquer that one too.

As missionaries, that won't be happening for us, 

but we'll enjoy what trails we can take in the remaining 11 months we have left.

A Special Sisters' Devotional

Sister Neill F. Marriott and Sister Cheryl A. Esplin each spoke at a

Special Sisters' Devotional last night on the 1st floor of the Wan Chai building.

Approximately 750 girls and women, young and old, attended.

President Gerrit Gong presided.

Beautiful music was provided by a Primary and YW's choir,

which made my heart swell as it always does when I hear the youth sing.

We heard the testimonies of two exceptional girls, Lam Tse Chin and Siu Hoi Kei.

In Cantonese, of course.

With the help of tanslators, Sisters Esplin and Marriott gave inspiring talks

on serving the Lord by serving each other.

Sister Esplin showed paper hands that had been sent to Salt Lake representing the service given by children from all over the world.  

Sister Marriott told a story of a dedicated Relief Society President in the early days of the church, who helped a woman others refused to help.  

This woman's husband had abandoned her after their 3rd baby was born.  The RS Pres. walked to her home everyday for two weeks to bath the newborn baby, feed the other children and care for this woman.  It was a hardship for this faithful RS President because she was older, and not in the best of health.  Even though she was tired and thought of giving up, she didn't. 

  As a result, she had a dream, and in her dream, she was bathing the Christ-child.

A perfect example of Matthew 25:40 and a good reminder for me 

to reach out of my comfort zone, and serve others.

A gift was given to each young girl and young woman.

A sugar cookie with the Salt Lake Temple embossed on top, a bookmark, and a charm with the 

2015 YW Theme:  Embark in the service of God!

However there were extras, so even us older women were given one.

Sisters Yau, Chan, Bodily, Chan, Lee, and Ngai

Several sisters who we usually don't see except at the temple were in attendance.

I wish I could have shot a photo of each one.

But, with the massive amount of women everywhere, 

I only managed to get Sisters Yau, Chan, and Concepcion on camera.

President Gong agreed to having a photo with us, 

and then shook each of our hands.

After stepping outside, a nice woman gave each of the senior missionaries a beautiful handmade necklace.  I don't know who she is or where she is from.  She took me by such surprise that before I knew it, she had disappeared.

She made me feel special though, and I appreciate her kindness.

Katherine Concepcion, Judy Chan, Shirley Ngai, June Lee, 

Deb B, Wanphen Butara, Ellen Pack

It was an uplifting evening, 

and a reminder of what a blessing it is to be serving here in Hong Kong.

Our 2nd Hong Kong China District Conference

We attended the Saturday evening session of District Conference with

E/S Rancie, E/S Lee, and E/S Chan, 

which was a great meeting with beautiful music and good counsel to heed.

It put a smile on my face to see Sister Pack singing in the choir, because she was the only blonde woman in a sea of dark-haired Filipino women, and considerably taller than the rest.

We agreed to have dinner together afterwards, but as to where, we hadn't a clue.

So, one of the Asia Area missionaries suggested a short walk away to Thai Chilis.

None of us had been there before, so it sounded like a good idea.

As we proceeded down Lockhart Street, 

we wondered if she and her husband had been to this place at night.  

We discovered it wasn't exactly the nicest street in Wan Chai.

But, once inside, the atmosphere was much more appealing.

The food was good, and the company was even better.

Lots of laughs were shared throughout the evening.

Pineapple Rice is one of my favorite Thai dishes.

When it was time to leave, we thought it best not to dally, but to hurry quickly past the bar crowds and the 'ladies of the evening' as we headed back to catch the train.

We must have stuck out like sore thumbs!

It was a treat to be able to attend a church service the next morning

 with the other temple missionaries for a change.

We were spiritually fed during the Sunday morning session.

Wonderful talks were given from outstanding youth and young adults in the Hong Kong District.

Our sweet Wilma Galcon from our branch spoke as well, and gave a wonderful and heart-felt talk.

Enjoyed hearing from President and Sister Lam, 

and learning a little about our new mission president and his wife.

President Tai (pronounced Dye) is a good leader for this district, as well as a good speaker.

He spoke of the importance of making changes in our lives.

Repentance is a good word for that.

Its hard to believe we have been here long enough to be attending our 2nd District Conference.

Great blessings have happened to us since the last District Conference, of which we are grateful.

Translating the Scriptures!

This is Tun Naing (Albert).  

 He has attended the temple everyday this week, and was rarely found without a smile on his face.

Brother Naing is from Burma and is about to begin something remarkable.  This month he will begin training in preparation for translating the four Standard Works into Burmese.  He will be working with a team to accomplish this, and expects this will be at least a one-year project, and possibly more.

Brother Tun Naing comes across as a happy man.  He is a husband and father of two teenage sons, a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he is about to be instrumental in helping the people of Burma to have the scriptures available to them

 in their native tongue.

He has a lot to be happy about.

We continue to meet outstanding individuals as we serve in the Hong Kong Temple,

and feel very blessed for it.

Thumbs Up!

Had a nice ride on the train this evening as we came back from the temple with Elder and Sister James.   They are Asia Area missionaries who we have been assigned to train as temple ordinance workers, which is a story for another posting.

As I sat next to an older Chinese woman, she quickly glanced at my name tag, then looked at me.  Then leaned over closer and with a squint, she read my tag.  A smile came to her face and she looked at me then gave me a thumbs up, and said, 'I'm Christian too'.

Just a simple little thing, but it warmed my heart to know there are good people here in Hong Kong who believe in Christ, and are okay with us being here.

Saints From Thailand!

A group of saints from Thailand came to the temple this past Tuesday.  Among them are Brother and Sister Wongchinda who came to be sealed as a family for all eternity.

 While they attended Endowment sessions everyday of this week,  their son was in the baptistry serving as proxy for many of their ancestors.

Sisters Boonyasarn and Phansri are also from Thailand, 

and came prepared to do work for their own kindred dead.

Thawon Wongchinda, Chuanphit Wongchinda,
Surarak Boonyasarn, Rotsokon Phansri (Rose)

The happiness that comes from being here and serving in this temple shows on their faces.