Kwun Tong 7-17-09 to 7-23-09

Hello!

One week with a threesome! Wow it's been super busy and lots of fun! Sister Lau is always so cute . . . she looks like Pocahontas from Disney hehehe! I told her and she was like, "But I am Chinese!" No matter what, she is so pretty! Anyway, she has almost no idea what to do or what it means to be a missionary, but she is super enthusiastic and tries her best! She has a huge testimony and the desire to serve so that is enough for us to work with. :) AND she knows Cantonese and isn't illiterate like we are hahaha! She wants to learn Mandarin and English fast because when she serves in Oakland, she'll be a Mandarin-speaking missionary.

Last Friday, we had an awesome lesson with Maggie's friend Becky. Member referrals are always so good! I think Becky really wants to learn but then on Tuesday, we found out that Becky's mom really doesn't want her to learn. :( ! That's the second time that's happened, and it's always so sad! We are waiting for two more permission slips so we can keep teaching our two eleven-year-olds. I have faith that they will pull through!

We've been seeing a lot of President Chan lately because of getting Sister Lau and then our district had interviews with him Friday. President Chan always asks me about member-missionary work and how the members are doing in helping the missionaries. He kept asking me questions like, "How do you think you could help members with missionary work?" and then when I would answer, he would say, "Can you do that?" The whole interview went like that. I thought it was really interesting because he didn't ask those kinds of questions to Sister Black. I just love working with members so it's great to think of new ways to do it!

We have some really great members in our ward. First, there's Brother Jung, who is always joking around and making everyone laugh! He used to be Catholic for a long time before, and he is the one who puts together all of our activities! He had a really bad car accident years ago so he walks with a limp, but he is just so wonderful! He is the one who always gives us oatmeal LOL! Then, there's Brother Chan, who likes to talk a lot about health and stuff. The Sunday before, he came up to me and said that if we ever met anyone on the street who has health questions, to invite them to come to church and meet him! He really wants to help the missionaries and he is so happy because this is one way he can help. The Young Women are the best Young Women I have ever met! They come finding with us on the streets whenever we call them to go, especially Maggie! Last Tuesday, four of them came to help us at the same time. They are going to be the best missionaries ever!

We had a miracle last Sunday! We came to church early to greet members and saw this man standing just outside the gates. We went over to invite him in . . . and he DID! :) His name is Marco Chan and he wanted to come in, but since he didn't know anyone, he was too nervous to come in alone. It was so great cause he stayed for the first two hours! He left in the middle of sacrament meeting to take care of something, and I almost thought he wouldn't come back, but then he did. Phew! He is only free on Sundays so I can't wait to teach him then!

I did a 24-hour exchange with Sister Kuta in her area, Jeung Kwan O! I was hoping we would accidentally run into Mom's older sister but we didn't. It was fun being with another companion for the day! Sister Kuta is half American and half New Zealander and others. She just loves her family and could talk about them all day!

My legs are once again eaten by mosquitoes but it's not so bad anymore! In family home evening, I tried breaking a chopstick with one hand (you punch and twist your arm in the last second) . . . Sister Black did it and fulfilled one of her mission goals haha! Now all of the elders' chopsticks are broken LOL!

Well that's about it for the week!

I love you all!

Sister Chu :)

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Kwun Tong 7-10-09 to 7-16-09

WOAHHHHH!!!

Guess what I'm training a new missionary now starting TODAY!

So, from the beginning . . . last Saturday at 10:59 p.m., one minute before bedtime, President Chan called me and asked if I would accept a call to train! I am officially the first missionary he has ever called to train hehe! I was super shocked because it's in the middle of our moves, and I just didn't expect to train for a while! The HK mission is downsizing from 150 missionaries to 90 so lots of missionaries are finishing their missions with no replacements coming. Anyway, that day was so busy and tiring. We got sunburned from being in the sun all day volunteering at the city basketball competition, had a really awful and awkward lesson with a less active member (we had a really bad one on Friday night . . . I thought that Friday's lesson was the worst but this Saturday's definitely beat it!), and had been making lots of phone calls in preparing for Sunday. We're working non-stop to bedtime when President Chan called. I was literally shaking when I got off the phone, and then the other sisters were like, "So who's your summer missionary?" because we have this missionary program where the youth ages 16 and up can be a missionary with the full-timers for 1-2 weeks. I couldn't sleep for like an hour afterward LOL!

My baby is Sister Lau Tse Kwen from HK TST Ward! A native Hong Kong-er! :) It's so funny because I knew her before at BYU Hawaii . . . she is the friend of the brother of my friend Freddy hahaha! So random and we're SUPER EXCITED! Sister Black will still be with us so we'll just be a happy threesome till the end of moves on August 6. Sister Lau is supposed to go the Oakland California Mission, but now her visa is not ready. There's been all sorts of problems with the future missionaries from HK . . . a lot of them are now just waiting to get their visas to start their missions in the U.S. or Canada. Sister Lau is super lucky cause she just gets to go ahead and start first in HK, the BEST mission in the world! :) So, she has never been to the MTC at all. At least she's helped fellowship a few lessons before! We have this mini MTC planned for her hehehe . . . she will love being a missionary!

We had our mission conference last Tuesday. It was different this time cause we went to a place called Mount Austin's Playground. It took us almost 2 hours to get there from Kwun Tong to Central by MTR and then the rest of the way by bus! The scenery was gorgeous as we rode up the mountain. Hong Kong is so GREEN and tropically in some places! Like there are still plumeria flowers and palm trees here like in Hawaii! The theme for the conference was pioneers. President Chan spoke to us about remembering our identity and forgetting the worldly things. He said to just keep smiling and give thanks! I admire him very much. He is very humble and smiley . . . we all just KNOW that he is our mission president, the right one chosen by a prophet! He spoke to us in English very well, but we know it is not easy for him to speak English. Sister Chan is so nice . . . she invited us to have lunch with her and President Chan in the mission home today with Sister Lau!

So why is this month so special for pioneers? On July 14, 1949, Hong Kong was dedicated for missionary work! It's the 60 year anniversary! The first missionaries came to China in 1852, and in 1955, the No. 2 Cornwall Street property was purchased where the temple stands today! President and Sister Goo of the HK Temple also came to speak to us. I had no idea that President Goo served here as a missionary, too! I just love that he didn't know Cantonese either when he first started his mission (back then, missions were 2 1/2 years!) . . . he didn't even have an MTC to teach him! Then, he was also the HK mission president with Sister Goo in 1986. Back then, they said there were around 70 native HK missionaries serving in HK, and Sister Goo would have to read all of their bougous (missionary weekly letters to the president) to him! I just love thinking about all this history. Because of these great people who came before us, I now have the priviledge to serve, too, and stand on the shoulders of giants.

I love you all!

Love,
Sister Chu :)

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Kwun Tong 7-3-09 to 7-9-09

Hello!!!

This week had so many miracles!

Last Sunday, we had 7 non-member friends with us! Horray! The Kwun Tong Ward has 2 sets of elders and us sisters. It's so fun because our district sees everyone everyday just like in Macau! The church is right above a HUGE flight of stairs . . . if it weren't for the air conditioning, I don't think we would go there too much hehehe!

Those stairs are a fun and miracle place to go finding because people are always resting halfway up because it's just so hard to carry so much stuff up in one go! You can always help people and talk to them because they can't really run away cause the stairs take so much energy. Horray! We've been having a lot of Young Women come finding with us so we've been going on more splits and getting more lessons! Last time, I was with Maggie, Bishop Ho's daughter (oh Dad and Mom, Bishop Ho says HI!) and we got our first pullback to the church! This guy's name was Dahng and we were able to show him the sacrament chapel and share about Joseph Smith. :)! I think he is very lonely because he works so much and he says he doesn't have many friends. He lives in another area, though, so I really hope that he will go to church over there!

Usually, I don't have any weird food experiences because I'm used to eating Chinese food, but last Tuesday, we went up 10 flights of stairs to visit our investigator Jasmine. Her apartment building is so ancient that it has no elevator! We made it to the top of her building only to get . . . some duck feet! Arg! They're her favorite food from her home city in the mainland. Haha it was so funny to see Sister Black's face when Jasmine presented them to us! Even the members in our ward refuse to eat them. Anyway, we managed to eat them even though we had no idea how to eat them (they were cold from the refrigerator, salty, with nails) . . . they really weren't too bad, though! :) Just kind of scary looking. And lots of skin. She was going to make us eat more when her cat attacked the bowl and to our relief, contaminated the rest!

Heavenly Father has really been helping us to find more new investigators! We've taught many lessons with members so next week we'll see if any of these people come back! Last Sunday, we taught the cutest grandma! Her last name is Wong, and she is 64 and SO energetic and loves learning! She was so shocked to find out that Jehovah and Jesus Christ is the same and just soaked everything up . . . her prayer at the end was beautiful. She prayed saying that she believed that this church is true already so please let her know if she's right. !!! When I called her to see how she was doing, her first question to me was, "Have you prayed today?" I said yes, and then, when I asked her the same question, she said, "OF COURSE I did because you taught me how!" She's amazing!

Heavenly Father has also been helping me learn lots of Canto! Lots of ward members know English pretty well so now I know lots of useful words like "zombie," "hallucination," and "alien!"

We're able to go the temple for the first time in a while . . . it was so great cause after our endowment session, we had a special missionary meeting on the fifth floor of the temple with Brother Heaton, the second counselor of the HK temple presidency! One of the things he told us was that it doesn't matter what we don't have but what we do have! Heavenly Father loves us and sees us as wonderful just the way we are!

Abe had a dream the other night, and she told us that she remembered seeing a beautiful, bright room with lots of couches. I instantly thought of the temple! I know that God wants her to go there someday, and I know that God loves all His children. As a missionary, everything I do is to lead people to the temple to receive the ordinances and blessings!

Have a great day!

Love,
Sister Chu :)

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Kwun Tong 6-26-09 to 7-2-09

Hello! :)

I LOVE KWUN TONG! I think this might be my favorite area already!

So all the weird stories I heard about this area? So far, they're all false! Like I heard there are all sorts of crazies here. Like there's one named The Grabber and he grabs the foreign people. So far, none are to be found! But Sister Kuta has stories so I believe her. And the fish market? The one in Yuen Long is like 5 times bigger with much more splashing haha! The only thing true so far is that there is a long flight of stairs up to the church building. And it's right across the street from another church, which is interesting. So what's true? The people here are so nice and willing to listen! We've met all sorts on buses, in parks, on the stairs by the church . . . we will have more investigators soon! :)

Sister Black is absolutely amazing! I am her third companion in this area. We were talking about the color personality test yesterday while we're eating gelato (it was my first time and it was SO YUMMY! It's like ice-cream but extra smooth and creamy!). I took it a couple years ago hehe . . . I am red (meaning I tend to lead) and yellow (happy) while she is the other two colors blue (laid back) and white (likes peace)! So we're good! I'm trying to get to learn as fast as possible so we can get the most done! Our district is pretty much awesome too! There's Elders McAllister and Greiko and Elders Tucker and Fung (a native yeah!). We have zone conference tomorrow so we'll get to see everyone else!

I love speaking in Cantonese again! :) It's really a miracle that I can speak any after a half year, and I know God has really blessed me! I don't know how, but somehow, I can lead all of the discussions and understand almost everything that's being said. Sister Black is such a great help because she has no fear to speak up even if she doesn't know what's going on half of the time! :) Last night was a momentous occasion because . . . dun Dun DUN! . . . in my dream I was teaching in Cantonese! Horrah!

Right now, our most progressing investigator is 11-year-old Winnie. She is the cutest girl and so tiny too! She looks like she's 6, and she has so many questions about life! I asked her what she likes to do in her free time and she said "thinking." I was more like a daydreamer when I was her age and am so amazed . . . I want her brain! She has so much faith too. She is willing to do what we ask and was so shocked that we gave her a Book of Mormon last Sunday! She said, "Oh no! Is it really for me?!" :)

Abe (pronounced Abby) is another investigator too. She has the biggest 18 month old baby I have EVER seen! He is a giant and is seriously twice as big as the other kids his age. I know because I've seen LOL! She puts him in a little wheely crib when we come over, and last time, he kept chucking his milk bottle at us. We taught the Plan of Salvation between splashes of milk. Abe has such a good heart! She is a single mother and is working to quit smoking. She always gives us great big hugs when we come and leave, which is strange for a Chinese, but I love it!

We have some amazing recent converts: Elise (17), Miu (15), and Beverly (17). Elise will come help us go finding tonight, and after, we'll teach her more English! The youth in this ward are very strong and I love them! Some of our goals is to strengthen the Relief Society.

Bishop Ho of the Kwun Tong Ward is one of the greatest bishops I have ever met! I have never known someone to have such care and love for everyone! He makes time to meet with all the missionaries individually every month on top of all the other interviews and paperwork he has to do and asks us all if we need clothes, shoes, anything! Bishop Ho has the greatest smile when he talks and he NEVER stops smiling either! I have no idea how he does it because it's always sincere! He said that he wants to make sure that we are cared for and happy. He said that if we're happy, we'll be able to help others be happy. Then, the work will go well! He said that that I seemed familiar to him, and we figured out why! Remember how I was in a photo shoot about 2 years ago at BYU Provo to promote high school students going to BYU schools? Well, the BYU people made all sorts of postcards, magazines, and slideshows with the photos, and they even sent them here in HK! So I guess I was up on one of their bulletin boards for a while haha!

So I must go! I love you all!

Love,
Sister Chu :)

P.S. I'm glad Mom got the Mother's Day card! That's so weird that you just got it cause I sent it way before I sent Dad's card! Oh well!

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