Hong Kong 9-12-08 to 9-18-08

Aloha Familia and Friends! :)

This week has been amazing! I'll start with last Thursday cause I forgot to tell you all how my whole district woke up at 4 a.m. to hike up this ginormous mountain in Tuen Mun called Ting Saan. The Chinese idea of hiking is lots of STAIRS! Some pretty rocky ones too. Oh MY everyone was so beat by the time we reached the top, and there were several old men who went leaping by us with their canes and laughing at us! By the time we reached the top, they were lifting stone weights and doing all these bar routines. They were so friendly and kept calling out "Halloooo!" and "Goot maawwning!" Hahaha! I cannot BELIEVE how fit these old people are. They probably do this twice every morning and then sit in the park for the rest of the day. :)

This week went a lot better because we actually had appointments with people and some of them actually showed up! We've discovered as others have before that having a fellowshipper with you is SUCH a blessing! We asked Sara, a recent convert, to go with us to visit Wong Jimuih. We met her and her daughter at a McDonald's, and it was so amazing to see how Sara could talk with Wong Jimuih and help her in many ways we cannot since our language isn't as good and we don't know their culture. Plus, as missionaries, we won't be here forever! Wong Jimuih met the missionaries when she was around 20 or something and has since gotten married, had two kids, and recently got divorced. She's been through a lot, and has still read the Book of Mormon all the way through and has marked them up. She REALLY loves reading the scriptures! I am excited to visit her next time. We have another investigator who has just yesterday decided to get baptized! Hu-rah-ray!

The main highlight of my week as last Sunday at Jung Chau Jit (Moon Festival!). It seems like Dad called EVERYONE in Yuen Long plus relatives so that I could get the chance to meet with Mom's younger brother (Uncle Tim!), her sister (Yima), her sister's husband (Yijeung), and sister's daughter (Biuje). A lot of people kept coming up to me to ask if I was going to meet my relatives, and I had no idea how they all knew until I found out about all the calls Dad had made for me. Thank you so much, Dad! :) <3

So Sister Thompson and I traveled to Tuen Wan (only two stops on the MTR from Yuen Long) where Uncle Tim picked us up to go to his apartment. His wife was at work so I didn't meet her. Everyone is doing so well and they were all so nice! Once I got there, they whipped out this beautiful birthday cake with all this fruit stuff on it that Uncle Tim had picked out. And they brought out bags of treats and stuff for me to bring home! They sang happy birthday and then I got to blow out my one candle. Of course, my birthday wish is for all of them to get baptized so we'll see what I can do about that! :) Yima was so happy that I was able to understand a lot of what they're saying--she was really worried that we wouldn't be able to communicate. They were all so encouraging and said I would learn Canto in no time! It's so nice to know that they are cheering me on even though they barely know me. I feel even more motivated to learn how to speak more now!

As I was with them, I felt the importance more than ever of eternal families. I will pray for more opportunities to share our message with them. They asked all about what we do as missionaries, and they seem to be pretty supportive! I was also able to call Grandma while I was there and I've decided to call her every Sunday and maybe sing her a hymn or something. So, a quick summary of everyone:

Uncle Tim: doesn't look ANYTHING like Mom or Yima (actually, I don't think any of them look alike! They sent some pictures to the family for me so I hope you all got them!), is in the Marines, is happy-go-lucky, has ears like an elf, doesn't know how to cook, doesn't know how to use a rice cooker (we were waiting forever for the rice until we realized that he didn't press the button hahaha!), waved us good-bye at the MTR station till he couldn't see us anymore. :)

Yima: super talkative and super nice, surprised that I have so many memories of HK like when I was 4, she had to rescue my shoe because it fell off while we're crossing the road and I remembered that Biuje used to have this pink bunk bed thing, which is now long gone.

Yijeung: a famous cook (apparently, Dad ate so much of his food last time he visited HK!) whose creations are well known in the family, quieter, gravely voice, super nice!

Biuje: so cute, 26, has had the same boyfriend for 11 YEARS, bought me some Godiva chocolate for my birthday, is my height, super nice!

I love them all and felt like I was in a dream when I was with them cause I couldn't believe that I actually had relatives! Thanks so much for giving me a chance to meet with them. :)

And Family in NC . . . I got the birthday card you'd sent! Thank you so much! :)

I love you all!

Sister Chu :)

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Hong Kong 9-5-08 to 9-11-08

Aloha!

Here I am again! I so survived this first week hurrah! There is SO MUCH I want to tell you all so I'll try to get it all in. I've never walked so much in my life! You'd think there'd be people EVERYWHERE but for some reason, there haven't been--not in Yuen Long anyway! Go figure.

Last Friday, I decided that finding on the MTR is really fun! At least they can't run away from you hehe! I just remember that if it weren't for some missionaries finding and teaching Dad and Mom, I wouldn't be here! It's my goal to start talking to someone right away cause if I wait too long to say hi, it gets even more awkward to approach people! The Chinese people are so funny when they "reject" you cause they will literally wilt like a drooping flower and become lifeless as you try to talk with them. It's funny to see how many people all of a sudden fall asleep or have to talk to people on the phone when they see you coming!

Our first teaching appointment was with Wuh Jimuih and her friend Jan Jeh. They ended up making us food and Wuh Jimuih was SO HARD to understand! She's in her 60s but is not in good health so Jan Jeh takes care of her. I just nodded most of the time, and tried to help my companion when I could. I basically just bear testimony when Taahm Jimuih (Sister Thompson) gives me that look LOL! Otherwise, I only know what's going on half the time. They said they would come to church this Sunday, and we got them a ride so I'm really excited!

Sister Thompson and I also teach an English class every Friday evening at a language center run by one of the ladies in one of the wards we cover (she's either from Yuen 1 or Yuen 2 . . . sisters get to cover two wards because there aren't enough of us to go around!). Last Friday, we had seven very energetic girls and one less-than-energetic boy who refused to tell us his name. The girls have names like January and we've heard stranger ones like Pancake and Vickle. Gotta love them! I wonder who chooses these names for them. It's a great missionary opportunity cause none of these kids are members so we're teaching them how to pray and will tell more Book of Mormon stories. :)

Thanks to Dad and permission from President Van Dam, I got to meet with Grandma, Dad's brother's wife, brother (I think!), and Dad's two older sisters. And Dad's sister's little girl (I think!). We met them in the MTR last Sunday afternoon, and it was so fun to finally meet them! I didn't recognize anyone except for Grandma. Healthwise, she said she is doing better and they're all worried about Darilyn. They gave me all these snacks and forced me to take money. They are way too nice! They say to try acupuncture but I told them we already tried that LOL! I could barely understand them . . . it's really funny cause my companion is super good at Canto after just seven months. Everyone always is so shocked that she can speak so well, and it somehow makes a huge difference to them because she's white and from Canada. We laugh all the time when people think I am native, and they tell me how amazing it is that she can speak Chinese. And then I can only nod LOL! I felt a little bad because last Sunday, people kept telling me how bad it is that I don't speak Chinese "because you are Chinese!" Oh well, I've learned that God wants this work done more that I do, and He will help me learn how to speak Canto if I just do all I can! So in the end, I'm glad that I got the chance to meet with my family, and we even got to share with them a little of what we're doing as missionaries!

Monday was perhaps the hardest day for my companion in her whole mission so far! We dub this day the "Crazies Day" cause this day was seriously the WEIRDEST day ever! First, we went with the Mandarin-speaking elders to their teaching appointment, and it turned out that the lady just wanted the elders to come for the wrong reasons and didn't believe in any of our message. She kept feeding them grapes, while Sister Thompson and I were trying to stifle our laughter because the whole situation was ridiculous! Then, we went to this park--where there was NO ONE except for this guy from China who basically just wanted my number to hang out. And then the next guy just wanted Sister Thompson's number to hang out! We ran away from both and by the end of the day, were really tired of finding in places where there are no people. Yuen Long is the booniest of boonies LOL! At least we're getting around better. This is what happens when you whitewash an area and know nothing and no one!

We thought the next day would get better because after trying to schedule people for hours and getting no one, we felt inspired to paakmuhn (go tracting!) in Ping Shan. We ended up in this backwoods kind of area and found a tin village. All of the houses were made of tin or some sort of rusting sheet metal. It was a dump, and we felt so humbled and blessed to have an apartment and everything. It's so weird to see so many broken-down homes hidden away in a hill and then a mansion right next door. I'd like to say that we found a tiny, old man at the last door (well it you could call those doors!) at the very end of a hidden road, but we didn't. In fact, we found no one again! Well, no one except for this excitable guy who had to run to work. We found a squashed frog, tons of the fattest dragonflies I've ever seen, and a graveyard hidden away up a long flight of broken stone steps. Sister Thompson said the area looked a lot like her home in Alberta and that all we needed was a cow to cross the road to complete the picture. Well, God really has a sense of humor cause within the next hour, a cow appeared out of no where! We took many fun pictures of us trying to proselyte to it hehehe! It was so fun to go exploring even though we didn't find anyone, though!

We went finding once again yesterday and we finally were able to teach eight people! Hurrah! God loves us! We even found a man at the very last door at the very top of a hidden staircase wanting to hear the gospel. :) Even though we don't have very many investigators so far, things are looking up.

I love and miss you all!

The Church is true!

Sister Chu :)

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Hong Kong Week !!!

Leih Hou!

Yeeaaahh I'm in Hong Kong! Good bye fake world of the MTC haha! It's fun to see how everyone's reacted to this transfer now that we're not in Provo. The first couple hours out, Sister Bostwick and I got to talk to several people about the Church and even gave away a couple copies of the Book of Mormon! I was in Cali when I tried calling Dar a kazillion times but she never picked up till the last try. And then we met Helen from Taiwan, her husband from Hong Kong, and David who is ABC like me! We were busy telling them about the Church so sorry I didn't call you back Darilyn! Helen is seriously golden because she kept telling us how wonderful she thought we were to dedicate this time to tell others about the gospel, and she says she now has more time to investigate a church. She's a doctor and goes on so many volunteer trips. Amazing! I also talked to a man named Sam from Cambodia in the Taiwan airport (which is super colorful and decked out with Hello Kitty EVERYWHERE hahaha!). He's this small, cute, old man who was just so humble! I shared with him the first vision and I hope he really calls in for a Book of Mormon and prays about it like he said he would! Another was one from Afghanistan I met right before I left the last plane. I can't BELIEVE how diverse Hong Kong is! There's people from ALL OVER like Indonesia, Europe, . . . basically everywhere except for South America.

My district and I arrived yesterday around 10 a.m. Hong Kong time. This place is just amazingly crazy! The flight was pretty nice . . . we flew during the time when we normally would have slept anyway so some of us got some sleep. We rode with EVA Airlines (which I'd never heard of before) for the big flight across the Pacific and that airplane is seriously the biggest plane I've ever been on! It defies the laws of gravity LOL! They fed us so much (yaya for real Chinese food!) which was good because I was always hungry. It was fun watching the elders and my companion try the rice soup and noodles hehehe because it's all foreign stuff to them except for Elder Ling and Elder Lindsey. By the time we landed, we all felt really gross and the humidity here is something else! I haven't really felt dry this whole time! President and Sister Van Dam along with the AP missionaries and others came to pick us up. The APs are Elder Chen and Elder Williams, who are both just amazing missionaries! EVERYONE here is amazing and they have really set the bar for the rest of my mission.

I rode with the Van Dam's back to the Hong Kong Temple where they live to drop off our luggage (ahhhh the airplane people BROKE my luggage! One wheel is broken on one and the zipper is halfway ripped off the other . . . it was mummified with tons of plastic wrap when I picked it up LOL! Good thing nothing's missing, but I think I'll have to buy some new ones sometime), and then we went to the Peak. The Peak is this really touristy area so they handed us all copies of the Book of Mormon with pass-along cards to give away during our trip. Several of us were seriously wondering how we were going to give them away after our first experience on the MTR, the public transportation system. There were SO MANY people crammed together and NONE of them talk to each other so it was just all of us trying to get them to even look at us. Good grief I'm not gonna lie--it's pretty daunting! It's hard to read the people because they don't really smile or show emotion (haha when we see random people who wave to us and smile, it's because they are members of the Church hahaha!) Elder Chen is a pro and just showed us all how it's done. I learned that I just have to open my mouth and not get scared! I can barely communicate but I do my best. Those Chu siblings at home--LEARN CANTONESE NOW while you can! Make Mom and Dad speak the Canto cause you might find yourself in China one day trying to bear your testimony, but you've gotta know how to first! You won't regret it! So, I'm learning that regection isn't the funnest, although the most people have done to me is not respond. Drives me nuts! So back to the going-to-the-Peak story, I prayed on the plane that God would give me a miracle so that I could find someone who is ready to hear the gospel. On the peak, there's a guy whose job is to take pictures of people on the peak cause the view is AMAZING! He was so patient with me cause my Canto is NOT GOOD but he was all encouraging and listened to me tell him about the plan of salvation. He didn't want the Book of Mormon at first but then I told him that it would help him to know what his purpose in life is. More tourists came by so I had to go. BUT I saw him reading it as I left! Hurrah!!! Later, Sister Van Dam told me that so many missionaries have tried to give him the book. I am so happy that God let me have this miracle!

There are seriously so many people here who are waiting to know the gospel and I just have to put myself out there. It kind of helps that so many speak English! I try to speak as much Canto as possible. It will just take some time!

This morning, we ate breakfast at the Van Dam's and had yummy buns! Soo good! The elders were in pretty high spirits because I think they were all bracing themselves for chicken feet all this time! Well now they know they will actually like some Chinese food. :) I just got assigned to my first companion, Taahm Jimuih! She's super nice, is from Canada, has been here for seven months, and we're assigned to serve the people of Yuen Long. Who knows where that is but I'm there now! My companion has never been here before so we are going to learn a lot together! Like how to cook or something. Our apartment is pretty nice! The Church provides all missionaries with water filters so no worries, Dad! I'm glad I won't be drinking too much boiled water!

I'm in this computer-game room or something. Justin would just LOVE this place! There are boys EVERYWHERE gaming to their hearts desire. We're going to buy food for the first time next and I'm trying to stay awake. I still can't believe I'm here!

To the Hong Kong Club and the Chan Family: Thank you so much for the letters! Thanks for the support and I miss you!

The Church is true!

I love and miss you all!

Love,
Sister Chu :)

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