Summertime!

 June 5th was our 52nd wedding anniversary!
We celebrated by spending a couple of days at one of our favorite places....Chueng Chau Island.  We aren't pro's at selfies, but these weren't too bad.....

We hiked, relaxed, ate yummy food and just enjoyed the ambiance of the tiny island where there are few people and there is no traffic because no cars are allowed.  A real change from Hong Kong!


                 A hike on the Mini Great Wall......


                                                                The view from the top of the mountain.

 Elder Kendell said when he was in Hong Kong 60 years ago he ate delicious Chicken Kiev at a Russian Restaurant.  The closest thing we could find was Ivan the Kozak, so we tried it out.

We invited the rest of the couples to join us.

David had lamb shank stew.....DELICIOUS!

One ages quickly when one has a birthday in Victoria 2nd Branch!!! 

It's a Birthday-a-Day until....... instead of 74...... you are almost 80 before you know it!

Mary Ann is going home for good at the same time we are.

Tuesday Family took pictures from our Facebook and wrote birthday messages on the back of them.  Then they tied each wish to a balloon.  
So Fun!

They fixed the most beautiful meal to celebrate!

                                  

This is Sister Marjorie, Wednesday Family Relief Society President. She couldn't get the day off, but she took time to buy a cake and flowers and rush over to the church to surprise me. 

As you can see, I WAS surprised!

The rest of Wednesday family prepared a lovely meal and a fun party. 

We played "Sister Towers Trivia"

I hope I remember about this so we can play this game about whoever's birthday we celebrate in our family back home!

Luckily, on Thursday, I got to share the birthday fun with Jean!

                

With Friday family, we enjoyed lots of good wishes, yummy food, and fun games.

On Saturday, my birthday was celebrated as part of the Father's Day Celebration. 

We didn't get pictures of the cake and flowers, but it was a fun time. 

More pictures of the Father's Day program coming up!

By the end of the week, my office resembled a beautiful and fun flower shop!

David thought it was more like a funeral parlor!

Saturday Family did an amazing Father's Day program to honor the men they look up to as fathers.

Can you believe these are our beautiful women!

They even got us up there to dance to one of David's favorite songs

"I Walk the Line"

The two fathers of our branch.....

                           (or father and grandfather as Elder Kendell likes to say) .                                             

David and Siska having a tie tying contest.

 Our Happy Tuesday Family

On every other Thursday night we work as ordinance workers at the temple.  Sister Francia decided to come with us this night as she couldn't go in the morning with our group, so we stopped for a bite to eat on the way where she took a selfie.

Here she is at the temple. 

That was last week. 

This week she was terminated and is now back in the Philippines......we hope forever.

The picture taking fun never stops with Tuesday Family........

And Wednesday family........

and Thursday Family......

and Friday Family......

We smile a lot on our mission! 

One can't help but feel uplifted every time we meet with these fantastic women!

                                  

One of my most favorite things I get to do is teach piano! 

These are my newest students....Sister MaryAnn and Sister Fe.  Sister Pett has just been assigned to our Saturday family and will take over teaching piano and helping with the choir when we leave. 

I'm so grateful that our sisters can keep learning to play. 

They are so excited about it!

This is Marissel and Elisa.  I hope someone will be able to continue teaching them on Wednesday.

When I asked Mary Ann if she would teach an extra lesson this month, she quickly agreed to do it. When I gave her the material, she hugged it to her and said, "One more blessing!"
I just love this girl!

 
Nowelyn has such gorgeous hair!
She shared it with me!

 Joyce is a Chinese housekeeper at our apartment building. 
She always tries to speak English with us.
This day, she wiped all the rain off the bench so we could sit down.

 We had a wild and crazy sports night with Thursday family.
Basketball, badminton and ping pong all going on at once!

Sister Edelyn was just baptized a couple of weeks ago.

Now she is doing a cooking demonstration for us!

Here is one of our great RS teachers, Sister Leah. 
They all dress up nicely to teach.

       

Before church, all of these women went finding with the missionaries,

then came to all their meetings.

Afterwards, we took them all to Jollybee's for dinner.

Veronica on the left, has been our FHE coordinator and Dolly in the front has been our chief cook.  They are both amazing women. 

Veronica just got her visa to finally go to the US to live with her husband. 

This activity was her last hurrah.

 

After many competitions, the FHE King and Queen were announced.  Ms. FHE from last month's competitions, crowned the royal couple.  The king is Dipal Barua, a political refugee from Sri Lanka, who joined the church last fall.  He is the nicest guy!  He and Daisy (in the stripes) are trying to figure out a way to be married here in Hong Kong. 

The queen is a great member, Eden.

 Two of our wonderful Elders are leaving us to go back home! 

The Sisters gave them a fun send-off!

 These are all the great missionaries, young and older, that we get to work with every day!

  It's no wonder we enjoy being here, with all the energy these young men and women generate!

Here's a shot of our awesome young missionary force! 

We have 4 Elders and 8 Sisters who work in our branch and work out of the office right across the hall from mine. 

We LOVE working with them! 

They radiate enthusiasm, love of missionary work, and are filled with the spirit!

This week, Elder Copely, (left) and Elder Phung (second from right) finished their missions.

Elder Mangrobong, (right) was transferred after 10 months with us!

We will miss these awesome young men!

Marisel and Leah are two of their converts.

Just another fun selfie!

We are so EXCITED to get a computer in our office! 

Who knows how long we will have it, but we will enjoy it while it lasts!

Every night we take the Star Ferry home. 

This is a sight we will really miss when we leave Hong Kong.

Even though this picture is horrible, you can see the fun we have with our friends,

the Ortons and Chamberlains.
It's so nice to unwind if we get home early enough to play!

Here's a better picture!