An Invitation To The Eleventh Floor!

We received this invitation to join Elder and Sister Funk with the other missionaries for a dinner and fireworks at their home on the eleventh floor of the Area Office Building in Wan Chai.

It is all in celebration of Chinese New Year.

Their invitation cleverly illustrates this is

 The Year of the Monkey

The dinner was held on the 7th floor in the RS Room,

and was nicely decorated with cherry blossom floral arrangements and Chinese wall hangings.

The tables were beautifully set, complete with place cards.

An array of delicious food was served.
Sister Coffey's Jalapeño Cream Corn was a hit with everyone.

I would like to have had some of everything, but my plate wasn't large enough.

  We brought Coconut Blondies for dessert.

English cream cake, cinnamon rolls, and chocolate bundt cake were among the choices,
and of course, peanuts because the Chinese love those.

The most beautiful was a fruit tray created by Sister James, which even included the head of a swan.
Sister Funk was so impressed that she held it up for all to see.

We were seated with the Macbeths, Towers, Whitmans, and Ortons.

President Wong looked dapper in his Mandarin collared jacket.

Elder Bodily and Elder Towers thoroughly enjoy sharing hunting stories.

Sisters Coffey and Macbeth in their beautiful almost identical Chinese tunics.

Sister Funk explaining her gift to each of us, which had been wrapped around our napkins.

Elder Bodily's has a jade monkey attached to represent the

Year of the Monkey.  Sister Bodily's has gold coins to represent prosperity.

Elder Sam Wong telling of Chinese traditions.

The first day of the Chinese New Year is spent visiting the paternal parents, the second day is for visiting the maternal parents, with no arguing allowed.  

The third is to visit others and arguing is allowed.

Sister Funk gave each table an object to come up with a parable for,
and then share it with the group.
Elder Chamberlain and the Parable of the Flashlight.

Sister Pack and the Parable of the Glasses.

Elder and Sister Brown and the Parable of the Glove.

Sister Smith and the Parable of the Umbrella.

Elder Macbeth was spokesman for our group.

The Parable of the Spoon.

My personal favorite.

Our group included Elder & Sister Funk and Elder & Sister Sam Wong and Pres. & Sister Patrick Wong along with the Macbeths, Roberts, Smiths, Ortons, Browns, Towers, Us, Lees, Chamberlains, Whitmans, Packs, Coffeys, Edwards, James, Rancies, Chans, Nora Chan. The Carringtons and friends of the Chans were the only guests who are not missionaries.

The Ngais and the Holbrooks were the only missionaries unable to attend.

  Sister Wong and Sister James

Two wonderful women I have had the pleasure of serving with.

This is what fireworks looks like from the eleventh floor on Gloucester Road.

It was a great view, and the weather was ideal for watching, 

and it wasn't crowded like the streets below.

The display went off constantly for over 20 minutes.

If you used your imagination, some even looked like monkeys.

An opportunity to have President Wong take our photo while standing on the balcony of a general authority's residence with fireworks going off behind us in Hong Kong. 

 Quite an unexpected experience.

It surprised us when Sister Funk offered to give us a personal tour of their apartment while we waited for the fireworks to begin, and of course, we were all for it.

There is nothing ostentatious about their home.  It is not spacious, but more than adequate, and simply decorated with pictures of family and reminders of the Lord Jesus Christ.
 Most importantly, a home where the Spirit is felt.
Sister Funk pointed out a beautiful piece of artwork of a lotus flower hanging on their wall
 that reminds her of the temple and the purity of women.
This was one of the most special moments of the evening for us.
Getting a hug from Sister Funk as we said goodnight and expressed our thanks
was nice too.

Our mission here brings opportunities we didn't foresee, but are so grateful for.
Just being around these faithful servants of the Lord, is a privilege and an added bonus to the blessings we daily receive here on our mission.

Island 1st Goes To The Peak!

We spent the second day of Chinese New Year at The Peak with several of 

the Island 1st Branch members for a 'hike' and a picnic. 

Most of our group before we started our walk around the peak.

Mary Grace, Me, Ronalyn, Mary Joy

Bro. Yu, Joan (pronounced, Jo-ann), Elder Bodily

 

Juliet's friend, Juliet, Rose Marie, Gen Evieve

Just about to begin with Gen Evieve and Vee

 Asian Posing

Joan and Mary Grace and Mary Jean

Great views all along the walk.

 A big pot of spaghetti (thanks to Sister Orton) was served for all to enjoy.

 Getting better acquainted while devouring that spaghetti.

Bro. Yu and Elder Orton are the counselors in our branch presidency.

 Elder Orton , Vee, Rose Marie

 Clarissa, Rose Marie, Vee handing out scrumptious chocolates.

 Sister Linda Orton is one of those women who makes you feel comfortable to be around.

It was a perfect day for a picnic, and sure nice to have some time with our branch 

in a more relaxed and casual setting.

With our schedule at the temple, we don't get many opportunities to do so.

Hopefully, this won't be the last.

Lion Rock!

We have been wanting to hike the Lion Rock Trail for weeks, but bad weather or other commitments on our Mondays have prevented us from doing so.  Today was different, at least for Elder Bodily.  It was a beautiful day to get outdoors, and he had no commitments until evening.  However, Sister Bodily had to stay behind to get other things done in preparation for the

 Chinese New Year festivities tomorrow. 

Saw these two at the beginning of the trail.
 Looks like Mom is checking Little One out before he/she goes off to play.

This is the summit with the New Territories in the background.

Met Yau Kwok, and learned a few things about him.  
He used to hike Lion Rock three times a week, 

now only once or so a month.  He also ran marathons until 10 years ago when he got an injury, so now he only runs 13 miles a couple of times a week. He drives bus, but does not go to work until 2:00pm. So his favorite thing to do before work is exercise.  Can see why Kwok is in good shape.
He did this hike today, Chinese New Year Day,
 because it is good luck.
His birthday is July 15, 1954. He is 1 month younger than me.  

This is still at the summit, 

but with Kowloon Tong behind to the south.

The Hong Kong Temple is located a few miles away.

Got back in plenty of time to clean up and head on over to the

 Chinese New Year Night Parade in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Another Sewing Class Has Finished!

Pearl and Grace are two sweet sisters I have seen each Sunday morning for the past several weeks as they have worked on basic sewing skills.

This time around, they learned two different types of hems for pants,

 and how to make a pattern for and then sew an A-line skirt. 

  

Pearly Rose Corcha and Mary Grace Tigno

They look fabulous in their finished sewing projects.

I have enjoyed spending Sunday mornings with these two, and

 hope I have taught them a thing or two that will benefit them and their families.

I have especially enjoyed us each getting to know each other better

 as we have shared personal experiences together.

They have taught me a thing or two about hard work, determination, and sacrifice.

Our First and Most Likely Only Anniversary In Hong Kong!

I have been telling Elder Bodily for quite a few years now, that I don't expect him to continue sending me a rose for every year we have been married.  One rose would reassure me that he loves me.

But, he doesn't listen!

These were delivered on the 30th with the stems wrapped in several large leaves.

I should say they were delivered to the lobby.   Since my husband was running an errand for me when they arrived, I got to go to the lobby to pick them up.  May I just say that a glass vase filled with 41 roses and greenery is slightly heavy.

But, I didn't mind carrying them since they are a gift from the #1 man in my life.

Roses and diamond earrings!

I'm married to a romantic, and I'm a lucky girl.

He got a lemon pie from me, and a rather short, but original poem.

We waited until Monday to celebrate, and to reminisce our last five decades together.

 This was the view from our table at Grisinis in the Hyatt Grand Hotel on Hong Kong Island.

We were served the longest breadsticks we have had,

 and our appetizers were shrimp w/mushrooms and scallops w/green apple.

 Succulent Filet Mignon and the best Lobster Elder Bodily has had.

Dessert was grilled pineapple and mango stuffed ravioli with caramel.

  Loved the presentation, loved the flavors even more.

We were impressed with the food, the atmosphere, and the service.
Especially when our server brought us dessert accompanied with a white chocolate plaque which had
'Happy 41st Anniversary' written in dark chocolate.
Our waiter took a photo of us as we were finishing,
 and then he gave it to us in a frame when he brought the bill.
OH YES, THE BILL!
 We knew we would have to fork out a little more for this celebration dinner than normal, since we are in Hong Kong,
 but what we didn't expect was to be charged $98HK for
 NOT ordering any alcoholic beverages, and another $98HK for a bottle of water.
That seemed a bit steep and ridiculous.
As it turns out, this dinner broke last year's record for spending the most we ever have for an anniversary dinner.
However, we only celebrate our anniversary once a year, and we don't expect to be celebrating another one in this international city.
So, it will be a memorable, and we won't fret about it.

Our plaque, photo, and the cookies Grisinis threw in as a bonus.

Thanks for making this a special anniversary for us, my dear, my best friend, my eternal husband.

It was 41 years ago that we entered the Logan Temple around 6:00am to prepare to be married.

It was a cold winter's day, but so much warmth was felt by the Spirit inside the House of the Lord.

President Frederick Gregersen was our sealer who performed the sacred ordinance that bound us together for time and all eternity. 

Thank you, Elder Bodily for making the last 41 years happy and good ones for me.

The Translators Are Finished!

We met Brother Rick Starr who has been here for the past few weeks while the translation for the new films has been going on.  He has a distinct voice,  and I told him he sounded so much like someone I had heard before, but couldn't place where.  Then he admitted to being a producer for the church and had been the producer and interviewer on the program WHY I BELIEVE.  I immediately remembered listening to that on the radio, and I should have remembered the name Rick Starr, because he always began the program with announcing his name.  But, I didn't!  It has been awhile since we listened to that program, and just learned it is no longer produced.  That is too bad, because it was a good program to listen to with wonderful stories of faith and the miracles in people's lives, and it helped make those long stretches of road in the middle of Wyoming go by faster.

Brother Starr tells us the translation for the newer films has been completed, and hoping the films will be ready to view by summer.
We are hoping so too.