September 9

Hello Again!

This week was CRAZY! wow. Okay so last week so many things happened, i actually made a list to make sure I wrote it all, but unfortunately I left that list at home when we headed to the library. For starters, last friday we went all the way across hong kong to the tolo harbor area for sister l to have a doctor's appt. And while we were there I had the fun time of using my first squatter toilet. OH DEAR. it was an interesting experience. Peeing in the woods is hard enough and there it is quite sanitary haha! Ohh geesh! We also have been seeing this girl S, I dont know if i mentioned her last week, but she went to cornell and her fiance is a member and she wants to know for herself if it is true or not and just not join for her fiance. Anyways she is amazing and always has so many good questions and it is so cool to see her work out both the logic and the truth behind what we are teaching. I mean, we can feel truth and we can also reason truth, and the combination of the two is just dynamite. Oh and that night i had the most delicious meal ive had in hk so far. this noodle soup with pork on top ahhh so good. So then saturday I went on splits to teach a less active member in the ward and basically taught the whole thing by myself and this member. It was so tough as far as cantonese goes, but really good for me to be able to learn. We also had a surprise cheng-out (like when someone treats you to or invites you over for a meal) with a less-active member sister T. She invited 4 of her friends over and now we are teaching her friend AH and her two kids. This message is really life-changing, and it is such a blessing to see the gospel start to work in the lives of those you teach. On Monday night we started 24's where we go on splits for a day, and I stayed in Tuen Mun with sister l and sister m. It was an interesting day to say the least. We are teaching this woman WWJ and she talks SO fast and says SO much. it is only sister m's and sister l's 3rd move. and my 2nd. So... . . . yeah. that was a tough lesson, but really fun because everything we planned to share worked into what she was talking about and what her concerns are. Lets see... I also saw this philippina lady I met a month or so ago again in a park with her employer, which was cool but I couldn't talk to her since she was working.

Ok that gets you caught up to yesterday.

Then last night happened.. DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUN.

So today we went to the temple, so last night we needed to go to sleep early so we could get up early and leave. But around 10:30 I was out at my desk, post shower and in my towel and a Tshirt, when I was about to go to sleep (I had actually just finished writing in my journal, a very short entry, with "We're going to the temple tomorrow so im going to bed now") and I hear someone rattling the door handle to get into our room. Sister C always locks the door when she changes in the room, and somehow hadn't shut the door all the way when she locked it, so she left, and shut it behind her. Locking the door, and locking us all out of our bedroom which, with the AC on and at 82 degrees, felt really, really, nice. First, we tried all the keys both companionships had but to no avail. My companion sister e has had experience picking locks before (don't ask me how...) and she worked on it but the type of lock it was you couldn't get, couldn't card it, couldn't pick it, but then we thought of a new idea. We tried the envelope string thing that has worked, or so I hear, in the past, but again no success. We called the office elders in charge of housing, and they told us we had 2 options- 1. break the door down, or 2. wait for them to come and try the keys they have, and if it doesn't work, they'd break the door down. we decided to wait, and the elders started the hour and a half journey to tuen mun from kowloon tong.

Anyways, a few minutes after that phone call, we continued to work at getting the door open. Sister c was freaking out because it was her who got us into the mess. So we finally got her to go sit on the couch out of the way, sister l and I busied ourselves making a chocolate cake. Don't ask me why, we're girls. Then the biggest storm I have seen since Ive been here came in. I have never seen so much lightning in my life. It was like a ground shaking strobe light! Finally the elders came, and they had the key, but we didn't get to sleep until like 1:30 and they ended up sleeping at the Tuen Mun elders' apartment. All because of a silly locked door. And even at 1:30 I couldn't sleep because when I closed my eyes I could see the light from the lightning every 1/2 second or so.

So this morning we got up at 6:30 and headed to the temple. I am so tired right now, and tonight we are playing basketball again with a member and these two kids at a part across the street. Hope I can make it till then!

Oh also, to make today even better-- we had to haul 2 boxes of book of mormons back to tuen mun through all the MTR stations etc. And then when we got to Siu Hong (one of the stations in tuen mun, right before the tuen mun station where we usually get off) we decided to get off and take the hingtit (the lightrail type one) because it would take us RIGHT to our building and we wouldnt have to walk back from Tuenmun station. But just as we got down to the hingtit, there were electrical problems and it stopped working, so we ended up walking from Siu Hong all the way back to our apartment, carrying huge boxes of book of mormons. In actuality it was pretty funny because here are these white girls just carrying huge boxes on their heads/shoulders etc walking along the side of the hingtit.

Just for a quick note: I just wanted to say how grateful I am for being able to have the ability to choose. I can choose to be happy or to be sad. I can choose to focus on others, or on myself, I can choose to smile at someone or to keep to myself, I can choose to run an extra lap in the morning or stop, I can choose what to eat, to wear, to learn, to say, etc etc etc. Life is all about choice and what you do with the choices you are given. so choose good stuff! choose the right! It's so simple, but sometimes seems so hard!! haha! good luck everyone hope things are going well.

Also, thanks for the love, prayers, and letters! :)

-Baahk jimuih