On Sunday morning Katelyn and I went for a hike/nature walk with Sister Sanders. Not gonna lie, I was kind of shocked by how beautiful Hong Kong was. I never pictured a big city to be so green, mountainous, and CLEAN! The Sanders live at Parkview on a mountain and are surrounded by mountains, AND have an incredible view of the city! And I loved that every structure in a public place has a sign taped to it saying "this surface is sanitized every X hours"...and I have never seen more than 4 hours. Needless to say...Hong Kong was incredibly clean. Anyways...our walk was beautiful! and mostly downhill :) We passed several reservoirs and saw lots of fish and turtles! After the conference we just relaxed with the Sanders and the Gaylees. I loved it. We had a fabulous dinner of homemade chicken enchiladas and fresh fruit. It was Sister Sanders birthday, so dinner was followed with some delicious homemade chocolate cake, compliments of Katelyn and I :)
Monday was a good day. We woke up to strawberry crepes (Mama Sanders is the best) and I just took it easy until we met up with the group for lunch. We went to Stanley Market which was a darling little place, not to mention great shopping! We spent the afternoon resting and watching 'House' at the Lais. Her helper made us dinner and it was amazing! Felt kinda weird though. It may seem crazy, but I would never choose to live like that. That night we took the Star Ferry across the bay to Kowloon to see the light show on the buildings in downtown HK. It was sweet! We kept to our nightly HK tradition of a McFlurFlur before heading home to catch some 'NCIS' with Ma and Pa Sanders.
We woke up early on Tuesday to head back to Taiwanwan. After a wild bus ride of trying to keep our 100 pieces of luggage under control, we arrived at our Taipei Backpackers Hostel. There are two bunk beds in our room that has to be smaller than 10' x 10', but it is pretty great. We made a friend here. Matt is from San Diego and is just on a 4 month adventure to 'find himself'. I think he has been here less than a week and is already getting bored. He was thrilled to be speaking English to someone. Last night he joined us for a night market and the snake market, where they had lots of live snakes just waiting to be eaten! We all shared a barbecued snake and I thought it was quite delicious- just not enough meat for all those little bones!
Today we visited the Taipei Temple, but we weren't able to call for reservations beforehand so we weren't able to do baptisms. I was thrilled to find out they got permission from the Temple President for us to come tomorrow! (they normally only allow baptisms for the dead on Saturday) Who would have figured..the Taiwanese people going out of their way for us...ha, note the sarcasm :) While on the temple grounds we met an amazing woman, Meng Wei. I got talking to her and found out she had been a member for 10 years, and her husband was baptized 7 months ago. Immediately the tears came and they would not be held back. I was so touched by her story and the witness that was born to me that our Heavenly Father does answer prayers. Her daughter has recently returned from a mission and she and her husband are preparing to be able to go to the temple. What an amazing testimony.
I am continually amazed at how much my testimony has grown over these 5 weeks halfway across the world in Taiwan. I am realizing more and more how much our Father in Heaven is involved in the details of our lives. He concerns Himself with a group of nine women cluelessly traveling in Taiwan. He has placed countless people in our path that have had a huge part in the outcome of this trip. Without His guidance and the people we have met, this trip would be nothing in comparison to what it has been. I am grateful for my Father in Heaven, my Savior Jesus Christ, and their loving care and concern for me. I hope that I might become a better steward as an instrument in the Lord's hands that I may have opportunities to be an answer to someone's prayers.
This afternoon Meng Wei joined us to pay a visit to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. I loved looking through the art museum at the traditional Chinese paintings. We also got to watch the changing of the guards. As we parted and thanked Meng Wei for taking us there she sweetly said, "I pray every morning that I might find someone to help that day". How grateful I am that today WE had the blessing of being helped by Meng Wei. May this be our prayer each day, that we might bless the lives of God's children.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
HK Conference
The conference on Sunday was absolutely incredible. Bear with me while I share a few of the thoughts that were spoken.
President Barrett, the new Hong Kong District President, spoke about the importance of temple marriage. He reminded us that everything we do in the church is a means to the end of being sealed as an eternal family. He further explained to the HK members, "there is nothing worth gaining in Hong Kong if it means being apart from your spouse". I appreciated his advice in efforts toward keeping a temple marriage worthy of the blessings and powers for which it is intended.
President Perkins of the HK Area Presidency directed his talk toward young single adults and centered it around the principle that we should never forgo spiritual blessings in exchange for physical blessings. He introduced some ideas about characteristics of Nephi's wife that he concluded from 1 Nephi 7...very cool.
Sister Perkins gave an incredible talk on being willing to submit to the Lord's will in whatever He requests of us. She is an amazing scriptorian and truly inspired me to aspire to a higher level of scriptural understanding.
We had the pleasure of hearing from sweet Sister Oaks. She talked about how she remained single until her 50s but explained, "it wasn't a lonely time, because Jesus Christ was my best friend". What a beautiful testimony. We are so blessed to have an understanding of the divinity of Jesus Christ, but furthermore we are blessed to have the ability to develop a relationship with Him; to come to know Him, who He is, and how to be like Him.
Lastly, Elder Oaks shared an amazing message. He reminded the congregation that he was there to speak general principles, but that it is an individual responsibility to learn and apply what is needed in our given circumstance. I am always grateful for this reminder and encouragement to rely on the Holy Ghost to gain spiritual experiences and understanding. Elder Oaks directed a strong message to the Filipina sisters of the ward. Many families in Hong Kong "employ" women from the Philippines as "helper" to care for their children, clean the house, provide transportation, cook their meals, pretty much to do everything for them and the living conditions provided them are usually less than ideal. Several of the women who fill these positions have left behind families in the Philippines, whether by their own choice or by the encouragement or force of their families, husbands, etc. They have an incredible sisterhood within the church, but are sort of living in a false reality away from their husbands and children. Elder Oaks gave a powerful message urging these sisters to flee from their positions of servitude. He counseled, "Set goals and take charge of your life; only you can decide where your life will go." It was heart wrenching to watch these dear sisters as they were admonished to change their life so drastically, entering into an unknown and uncomfortable furture, but I have faith that they will be blessed in following the direction of Elder Oaks. So often we are encouraged to take action that is out of our comfort zone, walk a few steps in the dark, before we understand the significance of what our Father in Heaven has in store for us. I believe it is through practicing our agency and experiencing the peace of obedience that we come to trust our Heavenly Father and our Savior; it is through learning of them that we understand their only wish for us is success and happiness. Elder Oaks went on to discuss two components necessary to enjoy the blessings of the gospel, holy habits and righteous routines. Holy habits are the same for every latter0day saint and help us to keep the companionship of the Holy Spirit, such as personal prayer, reading the scriptures, partaking of the sacrament, and avoiding anything that would drive away the spiritual of the Lord. Righteous Routines however, are individual protections from temptation. I appreciated his thoughts on discovering what our personal vulnerabilities are in order to construct routines that will help keep us on the path. What an incredible blessing and opportunity it was to hear the words of one of the Lord's servants.
President Barrett, the new Hong Kong District President, spoke about the importance of temple marriage. He reminded us that everything we do in the church is a means to the end of being sealed as an eternal family. He further explained to the HK members, "there is nothing worth gaining in Hong Kong if it means being apart from your spouse". I appreciated his advice in efforts toward keeping a temple marriage worthy of the blessings and powers for which it is intended.
President Perkins of the HK Area Presidency directed his talk toward young single adults and centered it around the principle that we should never forgo spiritual blessings in exchange for physical blessings. He introduced some ideas about characteristics of Nephi's wife that he concluded from 1 Nephi 7...very cool.
Sister Perkins gave an incredible talk on being willing to submit to the Lord's will in whatever He requests of us. She is an amazing scriptorian and truly inspired me to aspire to a higher level of scriptural understanding.
We had the pleasure of hearing from sweet Sister Oaks. She talked about how she remained single until her 50s but explained, "it wasn't a lonely time, because Jesus Christ was my best friend". What a beautiful testimony. We are so blessed to have an understanding of the divinity of Jesus Christ, but furthermore we are blessed to have the ability to develop a relationship with Him; to come to know Him, who He is, and how to be like Him.
Lastly, Elder Oaks shared an amazing message. He reminded the congregation that he was there to speak general principles, but that it is an individual responsibility to learn and apply what is needed in our given circumstance. I am always grateful for this reminder and encouragement to rely on the Holy Ghost to gain spiritual experiences and understanding. Elder Oaks directed a strong message to the Filipina sisters of the ward. Many families in Hong Kong "employ" women from the Philippines as "helper" to care for their children, clean the house, provide transportation, cook their meals, pretty much to do everything for them and the living conditions provided them are usually less than ideal. Several of the women who fill these positions have left behind families in the Philippines, whether by their own choice or by the encouragement or force of their families, husbands, etc. They have an incredible sisterhood within the church, but are sort of living in a false reality away from their husbands and children. Elder Oaks gave a powerful message urging these sisters to flee from their positions of servitude. He counseled, "Set goals and take charge of your life; only you can decide where your life will go." It was heart wrenching to watch these dear sisters as they were admonished to change their life so drastically, entering into an unknown and uncomfortable furture, but I have faith that they will be blessed in following the direction of Elder Oaks. So often we are encouraged to take action that is out of our comfort zone, walk a few steps in the dark, before we understand the significance of what our Father in Heaven has in store for us. I believe it is through practicing our agency and experiencing the peace of obedience that we come to trust our Heavenly Father and our Savior; it is through learning of them that we understand their only wish for us is success and happiness. Elder Oaks went on to discuss two components necessary to enjoy the blessings of the gospel, holy habits and righteous routines. Holy habits are the same for every latter0day saint and help us to keep the companionship of the Holy Spirit, such as personal prayer, reading the scriptures, partaking of the sacrament, and avoiding anything that would drive away the spiritual of the Lord. Righteous Routines however, are individual protections from temptation. I appreciated his thoughts on discovering what our personal vulnerabilities are in order to construct routines that will help keep us on the path. What an incredible blessing and opportunity it was to hear the words of one of the Lord's servants.
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