Hong Kong Lite

 Dear Family,

It has been a very busy week at work. Lots of work to do every day. I think I am more busy here than I have ever been in my "pay" jobs. But busy is good. As usual, every day brings new and very interesting issues. But we did find a little time on the side to do stuff. So here we go

Yesterday was our Preparation Day. A bunch of the seniors got together and visited this Bhuddist Monastary. This is a giant statue of Guan Yin, a Bhuddist goddess of compassion and mercy. The statue itself is taller than the Statue of Liberty. This was a quiet, peaceful place way out in the country.Very Impressive.

When we arrived there were hundreds of worshippers there all chanting together. When they finished, these monks then took their umbrellas and walked, two by two back to their rooms.

This is the actual statue. You can see Mom on the left side with her back to us, talking to another couple.

We've talked about the Thurstons before. They served with us in Cambodia. He is the very hard-core bike rider who takes his bike wherever they serve. After Cambodia, the Thurstons served in Africa and are now serving with us in HK. We could not be happier to be serving with them again, they are true disciples.

Mom studying in the courtyard outside the front door of our apartment building. We like to sit out here when it is hot because there is always a breeze blowing through this area.

If you look closely you can see me swimming in our pool. Mom took the picture from our room. I try to swim laps a couple of times a week.

This was a big week for Jak. Here we are talking to him on Mom's phone while he was on a break with his on-line MTC. Is graduation picture came up as a screen saver while we were visiting so we had to take this picture to mark the changes that have already begun for him! We are so excited to have him sharing "the badge" with us. 

Here I am with Jenny, the 12 year old daughter of one of the couples we have made friends with here in our apartment building. She is teaching me a new sign; this shows that I'm cool.,

This is a picture of our Thursday night dinner club. This group of five gets together for a good Chinese meal every Thursday night after work. The couple at the back are getting ready to go home. They have been here for 17 months. They know a lot of good places to eat so they show us a new one every week. He was a missionary here (like me) around thirty-five years ago. I inherited his bonsai tree. The woman taking the selfie here is Maralyn Snell, a truly remarkable woman. She is single and is the Asia Area psychologist. She talks to struggling missionaries all day. She is smart and always positive. She has been fun to get to know and lives just two doors down from us.

Because she is here by herself, Mom and I try to spend some time with her every week. 

 We just finished spending the evening with Jeff, a middle-aged man from mainland China (Mandarin again). He is here alone -- his wife and two sons live in Japan (although they are all from China). He runs the software that controls the big cranes at the shipping yards. Very interesting work. We see him at the gym in the mornings and we play ping pong together on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. We gave him a Book of Mormon this evening and read some of our favorite scriptures to him. He is a very sweet person. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

We love and miss every one of you. You are in our prayers several times every day.

Dad and Mom