David and Myrna's Latest Adventures: Derrick.....and BIG Buddha!

We have a 17 year old young man named Derrick who comes to church most days. He is an orphan who has been on his own since his parents died when he was 11. How he managed alone in Hong Kong is amazing. The missionaries found him and he joined the church 4 months ago. He is thrilled to have a family. All the sisters treat him like a son or a brother and he can’t stop smiling. He goes to school and had a job until a few days ago. His dream is to become a missionary next year when he turns 18. Every other week we have Filipina food fixed by the sisters and he never misses a meal. The rest of the time somebody is always fixing food for whoever stays around after church. We usually go home about 7 or 8, but they stay until their curfew, whenever that is! A woman today said she was so upset this week because she had been sick and was so afraid she wouldn’t be able to come to church…..”to come home and be with my family”, as she put it.

Here is a picture of Derrick next to David and some of our "Happy Thursday Family". They are some of the most thoughtful and kind-hearted women I have ever met!

It has been another Chinese holiday the past few days and since many women are given extra days off, we have had many more people come to church. Any day they have off, they are here. Thursday I met a woman who’s day off is Sunday, so she isn’t in our branch. I told her I was happy to meet her and she said I would meet her again because she would be able to be there Friday and Saturday as well! We also had an American woman who lives in mainland China and has church via Skype,come here because her son had to come to HK for surgery. She came to church 3 days in a row and was so excited to be able to take the sacrament. There is so much we took for granted before we came here. How much we have learned already about what is really important!

Hong Kong is a place filled with an amazing array of things to see and do. Friday we had tickets to hear the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra play Handel's Fireworks and the Water Music Suite among other pieces. It was a lovely night out!

Today we visited the world's tallest, outdoor, seated bronze Buddha and Po Lin Monastery. To get there, we took about a 30 minute cable car up the mountain and could see the South China Sea as well as most of Lantau Island.

The Buddha is so big that it's face alone weighs 5 tons. Can you see him up there behind us on the top of the mountain? The Sun-brella has UV protection.... It was a beautiful, cool, but sunny day.