So an update came out of the blue from the Bishop of my last
area, 上水支會.
I was not initially scheduled on Wednesday to go to the temple, but because
Elder Aldridge had to speak on Thursday at church, we were permitted to go on Wednesday. This happened to be the same day that both Elder Love AND Elder
McGrath were attending, two of my companions from the past year and six months. That was a
good reunion and many pictures taken (which may have to be sent later because I
only have a few and my camera's not the best in the world (but it get's the job
done:)). THEN (it gets better) as Elder Love and I were walking into the
temple, the Bishop that we served under together in 上水, Bishop Choi, shows up
(because he works there...). He proceeded to hug us and tell us about all the investigators
that we taught that are still coming to church. One of them who's grandpa is a
recent convert that just got the melchizedek priesthood brought his grandpa to
church and stayed for all three hours plus a lesson with the missionaries, and
has been doing this for the past three weeks. That's probably the best
preparation for a temple session that anyone could ask for! I also got to see a
bunch of missionaries from my previous zone! Elder Gibson, Sister Kessen,
Sister Cote, the list goes on. It's fun to just be able to walk into a
different area in the mission because we were asked to speak somewhere or were
invited to an investigator's baptismal service (because we are everywhere) and
scare the missionaries that are in that area, wondering what on earth I'm doing
on their turf. Sister Kessen and Cote especially freaked out because they
thought that I was out of their hair for good (they are both almost done with
their missions), but NOPE! Sadly, I forgot my camera yesterday, so no pictures
with them, but oh well.
One other interesting story. In the same day, we had a less
active walk into the chapel on a weekday with his non-member wife and told us
his entire life story and how he was having some health challenges that are not
yet diagnosed. His family counseled him to get a priesthood blessing. Then a
man with VERY good english came saying that he didn't have much time, but he
needed as much reading material that we had available and as much information
that we could cram into his head a bout baptism. We took about fifteen minutes
to do so, and then he left as quickly as he came with a promise to come back
when he was done reading.
Then we went and taught a teacher of the Islamic
religion. I learned a lot, and found out that they have MANY similarities to
our religion, but you see also the many breakout points in the doctrine. They
believe that Muhammed is the seal of the Prophets. They believe that God
doesn't have children because he doesn't need them. He only has creations.
There are a lot more points, and DON'T base any judgement of religion upon what
I just shared because it's neither thorough nor complete. Just some interesting
points.
Busy for sure, but happy. I love being a missionary. I
always have. I always will! Have a wonderful week!
A couple of pictures: 1) Elder Aldridge (my companion with
18 days left) 2) with me, Elder Love, and Elder Guinn (used to live with him in
Fanling) and 3) Elder McGrath and I chilling at the temple entrance!
Notes from Mom: Sundy night was busy and we were not home when Ian emailed. We were at the Young Women New Beginnings program. We got home in time to get a few notes referencing the ecclesiastical endorsement and the potential for buying suits. "Yeah, sorry for the tone of impatience. Elder Aldridge pointed it out too late that it was 1 in the morning when I was sending them. My bad...As far as the suits, I left out a couple of details: Cheung
Hong's has THOUSANDS OF OPTIONS! They inscribe your name in the suit and have
some more options for what you can do with the suit (additions or types of
coat-tails or changes in the lapels etc...) but their stitching quality at
times is questionable. If you give it enough time (no longer than 2 months) I
could make them do a better job so that it has better stitch quality. Erics has
maybe 3 or 4 hundred options, works a little slower, but is more reliable to do
a good job on the stitching. They don't let you do as much with changing the
style of suit, and I haven't experimented as much there with what they can do
with the suit (her cantonese is a little rough). You can choose a flap or slit
style coattail though. Eric's is 700 HKD. Cheung Hing's is 1100 HKD (normally
1000, but because simon is bigger than normal, they require more fabric, so the
price goes up. That was a surprise for me too...)"
Notes from Mom: One of the missionaries from Ian's mission lives in Lehi. I attended her homecoming last year. "I heard that Sister Escher got married. Random, but I wanted
to see if you had heard about that."
Notes from Mom: Ian ate last week with Ruth's sister and Ian wondered if we got pictures. "Did you see the pictures from the Burns'?" We did and love that people do that for us!
No comments:
Post a Comment