While you were sleeping...

Ha! This entire time that you have been sleeping... I have been all around Hong Kong and be able to go to a Chinese BBQ with our ward! :) Can I just tell you how freaking awesome our ward is, and how awesome Hong Kong is?! 

We left our chapel on 2 huge buses this morning at 9:00 to head out to Sai Kung, which the natives say is the countryside... but it is still not really. But I love riding on buses here. Unlike Utah where there is pretty much nothing surrounding the freeways, here the freeways go right through the city, but they are raised up above the regular streets. So when you ride a bus it is like you are flying through these really tall buildings, or flying over the water right next to the bay. It is an amazing experience. Sai Kung is out by the waterside. It is just a bunch of jungle hills next to the water. Our ward reserved 6 fire pits and everyone got to roasting things right away. 

It is not just hot dogs and marshmallows, but sausages, fish, chicken wings, beef balls, steak, fish balls, and bread just to name a few. They cover everything they eat in a BBQ honey stuff that makes everything taste super good. Everyone was really excited that today was mine and Sister Wilcox's first Chinese BBQ. and I must say... it is super fun. One day I will teach you all how to really have a BBQ party. :)

But this week as been great. Conference was awesome. I am so grateful that we have an opportunity to be spiritually fed like that. I am sorry... I think that my letters are getting worse and worse. I find myself using more and more Chinese grammar... and it doesn't really make that much sense in  English. You all just have to deal with it. 

But I really really enjoyed conference, it was exactly what I needed to hear. It is hard to keep going for so long when everyday people just shut you down. So this weekend it was like an Extra super boast of spiritual gas. I was going to right more, and ask you all a few questions, but I dont have my notebook with me cause we just barely got back from the BBQ. We had to change at the church, and we are now emailing at the apple store cause the library already closed. So my letter this week might be a bit short. sorry. I will write more next week. But here are some pictures as well!

Love you all!!!!

Shea

3. the ward! but not really... there were so many non members! :)

 1. some of our awesome young women

2. the kids in our ward are SO cute!

Cheung Sha Wan

How is everyone?!

Cheung Sha Wan and our companionship is still doing wonderfully. Dad, I had that same fear for the next upcoming Tuesday (Transfer announcements), but this last transfer has been super weird and then moved all the sisters that were moving this morning. So that means Sister Wilcox and I will be staying together in Cheung Sha Wan for another 9 weeks!!!! HURRAY!!!! I was super stressed out all weekend, cause things are just starting to get great. Everyone else said I was silly to worry cause sister Wilcox and I have not yet been together for an entire transfer. But I no longer have need to worry. :) I love Cheung Sha Wan and working with sister Wilcox. 

I was just companions with Sister Ainge for a day. It was weird. She works in a crazy area. But it was fun. We played volleyball together for exercise in the morning. :) some old people got mad at us.

You all already watch conference?! Sometimes I forget that we are a week behind... yeah, we will watch it this upcoming Saturday and Sundayin our chapel. Last time they set it up in English so that we could watch it, so I will assume that they will in Kowloon Tong as well. I am super excited! Can you believe that a year ago... I started working on my papers. Holy Freak! I feel like it was just yesterday. Time goes by so fast. I dont know what I am going to do when this is all over... weird. Actually... I had a dream about that the other night. I was at home, and all the new to Hong Kong missionaries were staying at our house. Dad was going to make breakfast for them, and wanted me to help but I could only cry, cause my mission was already over, so Dad thought he would comfort me by telling me to go buy some Asian fruit. Then I woke up and was super happy that I was still in Hong Kong. :) 

We have started working with some awesome people this last week, and we are going to work with some more new ones this week. On SundayWuh Jimuih was able to come to church with us. I had contacted her walking through an apartment estate. She had just said that she is Christian and that she would try going to our church. I didnt get a chance to teach her or anything, just got her number and gave her the church address. Last week she couldnt come cause she was going out to eat with her husband, but then this week she said that she would. So we waiting at the MTR (train station) and we were able to walk to the church together! She stayed for all 3 hours, even though she had just worked all night cleaning for her job. After she said that she wanted me to meet her daughter sometime this week. She kept asking me why our church is different and why are there so many other churches, so we taught her the Restoration and she loved it. The Sisters in our ward love her, so she already has awesome fellowshippers. She is super golden. The only problem is.... she came from Mainland 10 years ago and her first language is Mandarin. Super poopy. So we have to turn her over to the Mandarin sisters. Man. People from mainland are so prepared it is ridiculous. Alot of mainlanders do have pretty darn good Cantonese, but President Hawks wants everyone taught in their native tongue, so that means the Mandarin sisters have to be pretty darn busy. It is good. Just sometimes frustrating. It is cool though. 

One of our wards recent converts A-lan said yesterday that her only wish is for Mainland to have a temple. A-lan said that if she had good legs (which she doesnt, in fact she is missing one...), if she had good legs, she would go around to every house in mainland, knock on their doors and say "Help us build a temple!". 

We are so blessed to have a temple here in Hong Kong. Even more blessed at home in Utah. Keep doing those temple names!:) 

I love you all! 

Gai yauh!

Shea

PS. the cookies turned out wonderfully. I little weird cause we used red sugar instead of brown sugar, but still super tasty. :) That cheese was like the best thing ever. It made it just fine! If you put more of it in that Christmas package I wouldnt complain. :) 

I want Luna. 

Miracles out the WAZOO!!!!

But really! This week has been flippin awesome!!!! It has been chalk full of miracles. Almost everyone we talked to this week were just so nice! We contacted so many good potentials and taught so many lessons just on the street.

One of the highlights is that Yip jimuih came back! She came back like a week early! We had just gotten fonged (stood up) for an appointment at 10:00am when as soon as we walk back into our apartment the phone rings. When we saw that it was Yip jimuih we just looked at it in wonder and then looked back at each other then back at the phone. Then we started screaming and jumping up and down! She came back!!!! She took us to yam chah (out for breakfast chinese style) the next day. She is so cute. When we met her in the train station she ran to us and gave us one of the best hugs I have ever felt. She said she missed us so much, she even had tears in her eyes. Oh my goodness. I just love her so much. She has said several times that we are her best friends and that she just feels so happy every time she sees us. We gave her a new baptismal date for October 20, but it might have to change since it is stake conference.

We dont ever have to worry about getting yip jimuih to church, she just comes on her own and just hangs out with the ward members. But yesterday we were stressed out about getting Grandma Chan to church. She is an 89 year old LA who said she would come to church if we found a car for her to take. Carol (who gave you the flash drive) was nice enough to take us and Chan pohpoh in her car, but we ended up at church a bit late.

This week we also met Hoh tai (Mrs Hoh). She met her Friday night in the park with her 7 year old son Samson. She is originally from Mainland but speaks Cantonese as her first language, but she has ZERO religious background. She is so awesome and wants more in her life. She came to church as well, and found the chapel on her own! Crazy! But she got a bit overwhelmed cause she had no idea what anyone was talking about. But Samson had a great time and him and King (Yip jimuih's son) and like the best of friends. Sharing juice boxes and everything. Hoh tai is a single mom and has to work a ton though, so she is really busy. We will still meet with her and Sunday's are her day off, so she should be able to keep coming.

We met so many awesome people this week, I wish I could describe everyone to you! I dont even know if you like to hear about all the people I have the blessing of working with... they are all just so great, all I can do is talk about them! You know... I always knew that where ever I was called to that I would love the people. Every missionary I have ever heard talk about their mission always said that the best part was the people. But I never realized to the extent that I would love these people. Hong Kong is awesome, the food is crazy, the language is a kick in the pants, the spirit that we feel is so powerful, there are so many things that we could choose as our favorite part of our missions. but really.... nothing can ever top the people that we get to meet and the feeling you get when you see them start to change their lives. I dont think that there is anyway possible for me to ever forget some of these people. They are all so important to me and important to our Heavenly Father.

I am so grateful that I am here. I love this work so much!!!!!

miss and love you!

Shea

 

Typhoon my butt...

Hey guess what! We are all alive and doing well! I dont even know what everyone is talking about. There was a typhoon signal raised all day yesterday just at a level 3, which is no problem. But in the evening it got raised to a level 8 and we are not allowed to go out in a level 8 or 10. Everyone at church was saying how it is supposed to be the biggest typhoon they have had in like 30 years so we were getting pretty excited! I have seen some black rain and a smaller typhoon but I was actually kinda excited to see what I real storm would be like. We were getting texts throughout the afternoon updating us about the storm and telling us to stay away from the windows and make sure everything is secure, but every time we looked out the windows we wondered when it was coming... it was just a bit of rain and wind. Kinda a bummer that we had to stay inside. We just ended up organizing our less active records hard core for a couple of hours. We were afraid that it might just end up coming today and that we wouldnt be able to go out on pday, but when we woke up this morning, it just went back down to a level 3. It is not even raining outside.... the sky just is super de duper gray. Soyih... mh sai daam saam! :) (So... no need to worry!)

 

But this week as been super great! The work is moving a bit slower than I would like... but it is not my work it is His. We learned on Tuesday that Sister Yip has to lay on her back for the next two weeks. in mainland. poop. I hate that place. We were thinking before it wouldnt be so bad if she just had to lay flat and then we could go and visit her and then teach her family in the process... maybe that would have even been a blessing. But then she said she had to stay in mainland and we were super bummed. We have in Mainland number as well, but we asked for permission to call her a couple times a week and we got denied. Extra poopy. They said it is to risky. Mainland is very very strict and we have to abide by their rules.  

 

I now know what Mid Autumn Festival is like! It is awesome! I love it so much. So many families all in one place! It is like a missionaries true come true! .... wow... I sound so creepy.... But anyway, everyone goes to the park and walks around with lanterns and watches the moon. We have one of the biggest parks I have ever seen in our area and the city decorated it with all this Chinese stuff and made it look so cool. We went out finding in the evening in that park and got to enjoy the decor and contact some families at the same time. It is kinda awkward interrupting families when they are busy playing with each other, but we just had to remember that what we have to share is going to make their families even happier! It was really awesome to see that Hong Kong actually does have families. I feel like they should have a mid autumn festival every week so that people can stop focusing on work and see what is really important.

 

Anyway.... you should just read sister Wilcox's blog... I am sure it is much better. I like reading all of your emails much better than writing my own... sorry I am such a crappy writer... hopefully she can help you all get a bit of a better idea of how things really are over here. It is just awesome. I love Hong Kong and being a missionary.

 

I love you all! and I miss you alot!

Shea

 

Pictures:

1. the view from my desk... if you look to the windows on the building across, someone actually taped their windows before the "typhoon" came.

2. Park at mid autumn

3. park at mid autumn

4. We have so many freakin mooncakes...

She is alive!

Hey family!!!!

 

Guess what!!!!! Sister Yip answered her phone Tuesday night! Apparently she was in mainland. I hate mainland. It sucks everyone away and you never know what happened to them. But she is still doing super great. She had to go back to mainland a couple more times this last week so we didnt get to meet with her until yesterday. She has been seeing a doctor there. Apparently she has been wanting to have a baby girl, but has had problems having kids since she had King. But she made sure that she could come to church on Sunday!

 

Yesterday when he and King came to church we gave them the biggest hugs. We missed them SOOOOO much. King is seriously one of the funniest kids I have ever met and Sister Yip is just amazing. She is still looking forward to her baptism. She actually called us on Thursday and told us about how one of her friends from America that she hadnt had contact with for like 10 years or so, called her out of the blue and started talking to her about how she got to know Jesus and how he changed her life. Sister Yip just kept saying over and over how it was just miraculous. She had been praying for more faith and then her friend called her. Sister Yip is a very prepared soul. God has blessed us so much by giving us an opportunity to work with her. She was also able to stay after church for the other wards baptism which was also super good. Then she also got a priesthood blessing. The spirit was so strong, Gah! I cant even explain to you all what the feeling was like after the blessing. Yip jimuih was just so grateful and she is so humble. Bah! I love that lady!

 

But we might have to push her baptism back depending on what the doctor says this week. If the doctor says she might have to lay flat for 2 weeks.... dont ask me why.... mainland doctors... they are weird. But laying flat for 2 weeks could put a damper on things.

 

Yip jimuih was pretty much the highlight of the week. We had a possibility of 8 investigators coming to church... but only Yip jimuih came. She made up for the rest. :)

 

This next Thursday is Autumn Festival. Everywhere is covered in lanterns and everyone and their dogs gives us moon cakes. Have any of you ever tried a mooncake? They are actually quite gross. It is like a butter brick that is really lotus root paste with egg cooked in the middle. We. have. so. many. I am not exactly sure what we are going to do with all of them. But Sister Berry told me if we eat them cold and just dont eat the egg part that it tastes just like peanut butter. I am not sure though....

 

I actually am not sure why they celebrate Autumn Festival or what will happen on Thursday... but I think that I will like it. :) I have thought of sending a package home with some mooncakes and lanterns just so that you all can get a little taste of Autumn Festival. Maybe I will just have to buy some mooncakes before I go back to the states.

 

Well... Hong Kong is awesome and Cheung Sha Wan is an awesome ward. Honestly this week... even though the only investigator we have is Yip jimuih and we didnt even get to meet with her this week, I have never been happier. In the evenings when sister Wilcox and I are walking home from the train station, we just look at each other and are just so surprised about how happy we are. We both agree that the only way life could get better right now is if we had more investigators. We have a great area, a great apartment, a great ward, an awesome opportunity to bear testimony everyday, and we love being companions with each other. I have never been happier. Sister Wilcox and I laugh so much. Even when we are finding all day together and have zero success... we are still happy at the end of the day. It is so weird to me that we can have sacrificed so much and yet be so happy! The Lord works in mysterious ways. But he has blessed us so much.

 

So how is everyone doing? Black rain? In Utah? It is funny cause it hasnt rained very much here lately. It has just been hot hot hot. Keep doing the family names! 

 

Ok! I love you!

"and inasmuch as ye are humble and faithful and call upon my name, behold I will give you the victory." D&C 104:82

Shea

Ga tihng! (family!)

How are things going on the other side of the world? I like it so much that you can all read Sister Wilcox's blog. She is a much better writer than I am and I am sure hers are a much better read. But things are still doing pretty good here. Nothing to new has happened since the last time I wrote... just a painfully disappointing Sunday. 

During the week it seemed like things were going to turn out awesome on Sunday. I was thinking there was a possibility of having like 7 people come to church. Which would have been freakin awesome! Since we have only had a max of 2 investigators since I got here. I actually woke up last Thursday (which was our P-day) and the first thought in my head was... "Oh man... I cant wait till Sunday" So when Saturday night came around and we started calling everyone to remind them of church, there were at least 4 who cancelled on us. Boo. But I still had hope for 3 others coming to church! The time came for church and I was waiting anxiously. Tereace, a 14 year old that we contacted on the street came, but had to leave extra earlier for tutoring, so only got to go to Young Womens. and that was it. No one else came. at all. 

I was very disappointed to say the least. Our Elders have been rocking it. They had 7 investigators in sacrament meeting, and a baptism just yesterday.  It seems like we have been really good at finding investigators for other people to teach lately. Last week we did two turnovers, gave the Elders purple underwear man (Which I think that you know about from Sister Wilcox's blog), and taught a former investigator that at the end of our lesson we learned does not live in our area which means this week we will do yet another turn over lesson. 

So it has been rough... but what makes things worse is that this week Sister Yip has not answered any of our calls or texts. She answered one on Monday saying that King loves church and missed not going last Sunday, and then nothing the rest of the week. So after an awesome Zone Training on Friday, Sister Wilcox and I decided that we wanted to draw upon the powers of heaven. President Hawks as given us these 9 points that he got from a book Drawing on the Powers of Heaven. Each is supposed to increase our faith and help us become better missionaries. One of the points is choosing something to sacrifice to the Lord, and find joy in the sacrifice. So we brainstormed together eating our gummies we had just bought after zone training and decided that we were going to sacrifice sugar. So we put our gummies in a drawer in the fridge along with all the other treats and goodies that the members had given us and labeled it as Sister Yips baptismal celebration candy. We didn't realize how much sugary stuff we actually had till it was all piled up. There was alot! Sister Yip's baptism is planned for Sept. 22. We still have faith that she can make her date. We are not eating any sugar till she gets baptized. We want to help her sooooo badly. 

I know the Lord sees our sacrifice. I know that even though he didn't prove our faith this last Sunday. He soon will. Our faith just has to be tried first.  Sister Wilcox has been helping me out alot. Every time I get frustrated as to why I cant see the blessings flowing, she helps me see the bigger picture. I am so grateful that she is my companion. I am also so grateful that God allows our faith to be tried. It only makes us stronger. He knows we need to learn and grow. This mission is truly turning me into the person that he wants me to become. 

I love you all!

Shea

A few things Shea forgot to tell us

Shea's companion has a blog also. She wrote a story that was so funny I thought I should share on Shea's blog. This is from Sister Wilcox:

Sister Aldana and I are getting along great! We laugh A LOT, which is so good. I'm so happy that all of my companions and I can laugh together. We had the funniest thing happen. We were paak muhning (knocking doors... we have a few places where we can do that here!) and we knocked on this one door and this little bald Chinese man answered... wearing NOTHING but purple polka dotted panties. Panties. Not boxers. Panties. He saw us, screamed bloody murder and then yelled, "Dang a dang!" (wait a second!) and slammed the door. OH MY GOSH. Sis Aldana and I couldn't hold it in. We busted up laughing sooooo hard. It was so funny! We barely got it together by the time he answered the door wearing clothes. Anyway, he is so great! He came to ward FHE the other night, we turned him over to the elders to teach, and now he wants to get baptized! What a miracle! Yay! :)

Some things you should all know about Chinese culture:

1. Talking with your mouth full is TOTALLY appropriate. Everyone does it. And if you don't do it, you're weird. 

2. However acceptable talking with your mouth full is, picking your teeth with a toothpick without covering your mouth with your hand is NOT. I'm not really sure why, but it's very rude to just pick your teeth without covering it up.

3. Burping. ALL. THE. TIME. Like, in the middle of a conversation, when you're giving a talk in church, literally all the time. It's so gross. haha, I'm used to it now though. But at first I thought it was sick. 

4. You HAVE to eat what people give you. So if they make too much food, there's no saving it. Eat it. Even if it's nasty. 

5. Stand on the right side of the escalator if you just want to stand. If you want to run up the escalator, go up the left side. If you want to walk.... that's just not an option. Everyone is in too big a hurry.

Okay I can't think of anymore right now. There are some good ones :)