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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