Finding the Ability to Function

March 11-17 

Dear Family,

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function .”

 F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1936.

What a great week this has been. We've walked miles and miles, ridden subways, double decker buses, more subways, ferries, mini buses, bicycles, sampan boats, more ferries and more subways. And we have eaten ourselves silly. So many egg tarts, pineapple buns, dumplings, amazing donuts, ice cream, piles of stir fried wonderfulness, and even snake soup. We've talked, and laughed till way too late at night. In short, it has been a magical week.

But what it has really done is highlight the terrible place I find myself in now. In the spirit of this blog being a large part of our journal record of this mission I'm just going to prattle on about where my head is these days. After so many months of being very content here, lately I have been moving towards some homesickness. All week this week I have been reminded how much I really really want to come home and see you all. I find myself day dreaming about spending a Saturday cooking so you can all come to dinner, or getting ready for a cousins sleep over, walking around the block to see some grandkids or picking up Miles and Penny at school so we can stop and get ice cream, or walking with Harper and James as they head to Henry Ford Elementary. I want to re-meet Rosie, and I want to see for my self how tall everyone is not. I'm homesick from head to toe, and I miss you.  

But the problem is that I absolutely really LOVE Hong Kong too. This week, racing around with Jenni and Danny has only made me love it more. I love the food, I love the people, I love the work we do, I love the harbor view out my window, I love subways, noodles, hiking, big wide sidewalks full of people, small alleys that get you places, red lanterns, taxi drivers, little kids in their school uniforms, senior  couples, Dai Pai Dongs, morning walks on the promenade, my ward, and rainy weather. I love knowing that I've barely scratched the surface of this culture and learning that it has so much to teach me. I love the single mindedness of a mission, and I love doing all this with a badge that invites frequent conversations with strangers about Jesus Christ. 

I'm learning again that it is these contrasts that make life so rich. Contentment can indeed reside with homesickness, so we'll just keep plowing forward loving all the pieces of our life.

Love Grandma and Grandpa

____________________________________

Pictures of an AMAZING week!

The first evening we went to The Peak, a spot high above Hong Kong where people go for views of the city. Unfortunately the fog was so thick there were no views, but our walk around the Peak trail was misty and romantic.

Jenni and Danny kept taking kissing pictures so we did our best to keep up. If you take 70 steps past this water fall you find a 1949 etching in the side of the mountain marking the beginning of missionary work after WWII.

This is the only view we got that day, (or all week for that matter) and it only lasted less than one minute.

A beautiful little dumpling.

We went to our favorite Cheung Chau where we spent the day riding bikes before heading of to the temple. 

Daoist temple in Cheung Chau

I love the harbor on this island.

Loved going to the temple together.

Dad and Danny on the train ride home from the temple. I think they're dreaming about the dumplings we were about to eat!

A unique thing about Hong Kong is that women's clothing stores have clothing for smaller people with short legs, so Jenni and I spent a day shopping to update her professional wardrobe. And we may have both fallen in love with the same blouse. We'll have to be careful when I get home!!

After a morning of shopping and and afternoon at Stanley Market we spent the most delightful afternoon siting in this French Bakery that we discovered with Landon and Sarah. After eating a pastry we decided just to stay and have dinner. We were all tired after 3 days of going hard and we just sat and ate this delicious food and visited for two hours. It was one of our favorite days.

A new experience for Dad and I was going to Tai O, a small village near the big Buddha. It was charming, and the experience included a boat ride to see some pink dolphins...

...but the best best best part was these donuts. Unbelievably delicious egg donuts covered in sugar. We may have gone back to the store several times. 

We finished up Tai O with a glass of tea overlooking the canal.

Jenni playing a Steinway piano worth over $600,000, in part because it was personally signed by Lang Lang, one of the world's most famous pianists. The action on that piano was so perfectly balanced it was a joy to play and Jenni made some beautiful music.

We did our favorite hike and then

...ate my favorite noodles. I just never get tired of them.

After hiking Dragons Back in complete fog Dad and Danny still braved the waves! Such manly men they are!

On our way home from the hike we made a quick stop at the Annual Flower Show at Victoria Park. It felt like all of Hong Kong had showed up to wander through acres of spectacular flower sculptures and displays.

The Dai Pai Dong just never disappoints! We ate there twice and both times were so good.

The smiles say it all as Jenni holds one of the house favorites, Chinese steak and potatoes.

Danny marched us all over Sham Sui Po looking for this shop, where, on the advice of their friends, the Heckathorns, we found and ate snake soup. Would you believe me if I told you it was yummy? And that according to legend it has balanced our chi!