Something special:
On January 17th, Sister Kwok and I had the privilege of having 2 of our friends/investigators get baptized! They are both adorable and miracles because they had only been coming to church for a month. One is named Ivy and she is the smartest little girl i have ever met. One of our recent converts brought her to church and she has become almost a permanent resident...:) She is an only child and her mom works all day...literally (5am-11pm 7 days a week), so she loves coming to church and feeling like she has a family. She has so much personality and always surprises me because she remembers everything we teach her word for word and can quote the scriptures like you've never heard. she's amazing! Our other friend is Janice and she is the younger sister of a member in the ward. She had been coming to church for a month before anyone realized that she wasn't a member yet! She was taught and baptized in 3 weeks! SO much faith and so mature for her age. These 2 girls are heaven sent and I love them so much! (see pictures of their baptism.)
Something happy!
So, as you may have guessed, I didn't get transferred! Sister Kwok and I are at it for at least another 6 weeks! Wahoo!!! We saw so many miracles together and I'm so excited to be with her for this moves because Chinese New Year is coming and she can tell me why they do everything and help me appreciate it more! Another fun surprise is that a sister from my good ole MTC days moved in to the apartment to serve with sister Lew in TKO - sister Black! I love her and haven't served with her or really seen her for a year! so long ago! She is a joy and makes every day even more fun and worthwhile. Heavenly Father has blessed me so much with so many good companions and friends the last several months that I can't even begin to thank Him. It makes all the difference when you love the people you live and serve with. Mostly because we are happy and have the spirit in our apartment and companionships!
Something long in the making:
The same day as Janice and Ivy's baptisms, I finally finished my requirements for becoming a Cantonese Master! wahoo!! it was a fabulous day. There are basically 3 levels of language skill: giant, master and legend. to be a master you need to be able to read a chapter in the chinese book of mormon, know 1,000 characters, do 2 week-long english fasts, and know all the vocab in our missionary vocab and phrases book. It took a while, but it's finished! Now onto more characters! To be a legend is harder for us sisters as we only have 18 months instead of 24, but I'm going to try and go for it. It includes translating, knowing 3000 characters and writing in chinese and a bunch of other difficult stuff. It will at least motivate me to keep pushing my chinese to be better!
Something different:
Here in Kwun Tong, many of our friends and investigators are very common people, mostly very humble and hard working, struggling to make a living in a city of 7 million people where they are just another face in the crowd. The Gospel of Jesus Christ means a lot to them because they learn for the first time (some of them) that there is someone who cares and knows them individually by name - that someone being God. Well, this last week sister Kwok and I had the opportunity to teach someone very different. VERY DIFFERENT. At first we called her "princess" because we were actually never told her real name. she is a friend of a member who lives in mainland now, but he was her economics tutor about 10 years ago. She lived in the states for a while studying in Boston and is now back in HK getting her masters in Business (MBA). She is special. We didn't realize how special until the first time we met her and she had an assistant/helper carrying her bags and things and opening her door for her...:) When we first met her, it was hard to not be distracted by the string of diamonds in her headband and the very professional manner in which we discussed our church and what we do as missionaries. As we come to find out, she is the daughter of a very prominent businessman and politician here in Hong Kong. She said we can look up her family online...:o! She lives a very different life than that of my previous investigators and friends that i've taught and introduced to the church here in Hong Kong. Teaching her was something of a new experience, especially as we sat in the very humble setting of the Kwun Tong chapel library...:) Sister Kwok and I laughed so hard afterward and wondered what she must have thought! Either way, she has a lot of interesting goals and wants to "change Hong Kong," but is also looking for something stable in her life. I know the gospel will give her the answers to her questions, so I hope she continues to see us. To schedule her, we have to go through her secretary, who schedules her time and appointments....:) goodness, so different!....it's fun and I'll keep you updated on any other further developments with "princess."
That's all folks! Happy Groundhogs day!!!!
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