Our First Day of Training

We have three days of training in the Salt Lake Temple before heading to Hong Kong, and our first day has been wonderful and uplifting.  It is marvelous being instructed by Elder Richard and Sister Kathleen H. Walker.  They have had a great deal of experience doing the Lord's work, and have much wisdom to share.

We are among 15 other missionary couples headed for various temples throughout the world, some of which have served missions before.  One of the couples are the parents of a good friend of our daughter's.  Another will be serving in the same mission as my cousin and her husband in Hawaii. 

It is amazing how we have some kind of connection with a few of the other temple missionaries.

President Gordon B. Hinckley's son and daughter-in-law were kind enough to take this photo of us just outside of the temple at the end of our first day.  

NAME TAGS

We were given our name tags on our first day of training.

Now we feel like official full-time missionaries.

Our Cousin Served In Hong Kong!

After spending the night in Burley, we got up early to pay my cousin, Marilyn Miller a visit before going the rest of the way to SLC.  When we received our mission call, she was one of the first to call and tell us how excited she was for us.

  That is partly because 50 years ago, she also served a mission in Hong Kong.

I have some memory of her returning from her mission.  I was only 8 years old at the time, but I remember her giving me Chinese coins that she had brought back from Asia.

I was tickled that she thought of me.  She made me feel special that day.

Now I am 58 years old and in all these years I have never dreamt I would also go to Hong Kong someday as a missionary.

We wanted to have a chance to talk with Marilyn and hear of her experiences as a young missionary in the same place that we are soon to be.

We visited in her art studio that is located behind her home.

She taught us a little history of China, and spoke of the food and culture in Hong Kong,

and shared her photo album with us.  

Marilyn showed us how to write a few Chinese characters.

There are thousands of characters.

Sister Miller

A street in Hong Kong 50 years ago.

Before tall skyscrapers began to appear.

Sister Miller with church members on Hong Kong Island

Our visit with her sure went quickly, but
we'll stop back by in another 18 months.

A Father's Blessing!

We stopped in Jerome to visit with Grandpa Stanger and Joyce for awhile before continuing on our way.  It was nice to listen to him talk of our time together, and to have him share his memories of when I was born and my childhood.
He mentioned some things that were new to me, which I appreciated.
 Before we left, Grandpa gave me a Father's Blessing.
He blessed me with safety as we traveled on.  He blessed me to draw people to me and to be a bright influence on others.  He mentioned that I am a choice daughter of our Heavenly Father.
To my knowledge this is the second blessing I have received at the hands of my father.
I am grateful that he is worthy to use the priesthood he holds to do so.
This Father's Blessing meant a lot to me.
We look forward to seeing him again in 18 months.

As we drove out the driveway headed for SLC for our mission training. 

Practicing Cantonese

It's almost time to leave for our mission.

Let's hope we can remember half of what we've been practicing these past three months, in order to communicate somewhat with the Chinese people of Hong Kong. Thanks so much to Brother Fong, Sister Dall, Eugenia, and Hong Li. We couldn't have gotten as far along as we did without their help.

Our Setting Apart

On April 5th, 2015, President Joseph Kiehl set us apart as full-time missionaries to serve in the Hong Kong China Temple Mission.

This was a perfect way to spend our Easter Sunday, and we were grateful some of our children were able to be apart of this special day with us.