Our Social September

September was certainly a Social Month for us!  It was our turn to host the Senior Family Home Evening and we decided to share a little of Cambodia with our fellow missionaries.  

We had our former Elder Trevor Wright send us copies of the book his father wrote and passed them out with this bookmark inviting everyone to come.

We usually only get about half the people to FHE, but we had everyone there  We even had Elder and Sister Wong (counselor in our Asia Area Presidency) and couples from the Hong Kong Mission and the Temple.

Tom and Zach helped us get our pictures of Cambodia onto our computer here so we could show them as people arrived and during refreshments.  Everyone thought that was really fun to see.

We went to the wet market in Wan Chi in a big rain storm and bought all kinds of Cambodian fruits..... mangoes, papaya, dragon fruit, pineapple, oranges, watermelon, pomelos, mangostiens, dragon fruit, means, rhuambutans (hairy strawberries) finger bananas, star fruit and jackfruit. We even found some tamarinds in the pods!  We were drenched when we came back, but it was really fun to balance umbrellas and our little shopping trolley through the puddles and the throngs of people.    I made several loaves of banana bread to go with the fruit.  Here we are at the fruit market.  I was so busy at the last minute I forgot to take a picture of the serving table.  It looked so pretty.  

Elder and Sister Smith were in charge of the September lunch we have after our monthly temple trip with the Area Presidency.  She did a Back to School theme with sack lunches....so clever!  I did think to take a picture of her table decorations!

For our Senior Missionary Activity this month we attended Cirque de la Symphonie....an amazing circus performance accompanied by the Hong Kong Symphony Orchestra!  It was awesome. 

 Our favorite act was "Strongmen - Jarek & Darek"  Check them out on Youtube!

The guy on the bottom was sitting flat on the floor while the other guy balanced on his head, then the one on the floor STOOD UP!!!

Last month we attended The Legend of the Silk Road which we also enjoyed.

Sister Liza is going back to the Philippines to be married.  Wednesday Family planned a Bridal Shower for her.  Note all the decorations!

David got to walk the  blindfolded bride-to-be into the room.  All the "fathers" of the family danced with her. This is Brother Estrellia "cutting in" while she was dancing with David.

Sister Amor, one of my best piano students was terminated.  She was caring for a woman 103 years old.  The family put the grandma in a care center and fired Amor, so she decided to go home to her daughter.  Hooray for her!!!

Saturday Family put on a great Visiting Teaching presentation all about Ants.....

We also had a competition between FHE groups.  Our Heleman Family put on a Filipino folk Dance and won 2nd place.  You can check out the actual performance video on Facebook.

One morning, Sister Shirley, pictured below, spent almost 2 hours trying to find the temple so she could do baptisms for the dead for the first time.  When she found us, we were just leaving, but she wanted a picture of her standing in front of the temple even if she didn't go in.

This is Sister Marlene.  She has this big grin the whole time she is having her piano lesson.  The other day she burst out with "I"m having FUN!!"  What a joy she is to teach!

Here we are with some of our Branch Missionaries practicing a song to perform at a baptism.  I have been helping Sister Jona on the left to prepare her mission papers so she can serve a full time mission.

If anyone arrives with a camera, choir practice dissolves into a photo-op!

Sister Queenie on the left is a professional masseuse.  She taught us how to give real massages.  Sister Smith is her willing patron.

We have great lessons taught by our Sisters.  This is Sister Joy.....it's not hard to remember her name when she always wears that huge smile!

Mid Autumn Festival was enjoyable.  These huge lanterns were alight in many spots of the city.  These are in Victoria Park.

The Mid-Autumn Fireworks were the most amazing we've ever seen!  (Except for the ones in our back yard!!)  They shot them off from 3 barges in the harbour in perfect synchronization.  It lasted 23 minutes without a single pause.

Our whole Branch was invited to "go on vacation" to Cheung Chow Island on a Statutory Holiday. About 140 people showed up and had a great time.

We invited everyone to bring a friend, so we took all the missionaries as well to visit with them.

Jammin' on the beach......

September 30th was a big day for David!  The other Senior couples made a poster for his birthday and gave him a really cute hat!   He kind of looks like Papa Elf....

Wednesday Family surprised him with a birthday cake and a beautiful boutonniere.

The Smith's took us out for Birthday Dinner at Al Dente.....a great little Italian Place we like to frequent.

The manager surprised him with dessert of Terimasu.  Note the chocolate message!

As you can see, we are still smiling.  I like this picture, but can't make it any bigger so this will have to do.

Once in a Blue Moon!

 

Elder and Sister Johnson, our friends and fellow Victoria II Branch leaders on Saturdays, had a change in their mission and were called to open the small island of Timor Leste near Malaysia.  We are excited for the rare opportunity they have, but we really miss them and their enthusiasm!  They are the ones holding the shirts.

We had kind of a sparse month of leaders after the Johnson's left because Elder Smith, standing next to me,  ended up in the hospital after suffering severe chest pain.  They were able to put in a stent to prevent a full on heart attack, but he is still suffering from double vision as a strange result of the surgery and doesn't have much energy.  Then, our other Saturday helpers, Elder and Sister Pack, on the right, started a Saturday evening missionary effort at our apartment to inform anyone interested as to why there are 22 Senior couples living in our complex, so they have to run off as soon as our meetings end.  Still, the branch hasn't fallen apart so far.

We were so excited to have our friend, Shelley Li come to visit us from Mainland China.  She joined the church in Cambodia and was our 2nd Chinese convert.  She is still active in the church and it was interesting to hear about her group in Shenzhen.

Our Sisters made her feel at home.

One of our Sisters, Jenny, went back to the Philippines in June to get married, and then came back to Hong Kong to work.  Her husband is a domestic worker in Brunei.  After a couple of months, they decided they didn't want to be apart, so she broke her contract and left to join him and hopefully get a job there.  Here she is at the farewell party for her.

This is one of our favorite friends, "The Paper Lady" who sits out on the steps of the Wan Chi Building selling her newspapers and collecting all the cast off newspapers people would otherwise just throw in the trash.  She always has a smile and a thumbs up or wave for us!

Our building is right next door to the Maserati Dealership and the Porsche Dealership is almost next door to that.  I have never seen so many expensive cars on the road!  Here is David checking out a baby blue Lotus with a sticker price of over $1 Million HKD.

We are the "parents" of Heleman Family FHE group on Saturdays.  We had a big sports competition  with the other groups playing basketball, badminton, table tennis and relay games.  Check out David's neon shirt he bought at the market!

This is some more of our Heleman Family in a more dignified setting.

Our activities continue to be fun and interesting.

We had a sewing class where everyone began to make something that they will wear in a Fashion Show planned by May Ann in the purple.

Here's May Ann in her finished outfit.....

Note the shoes!

Sister Myrna showed us how to make bead art and then the next week presented me and Sister Smith with these lovely little Bead Lights that she made.

Sister Kriska, a registered nurse, gave us a First Aid Class and took our blood pressure.

I am busy teaching piano lessons......  This is my prize student, Nimfa.

And helping people with Family History....

Here we are with the Smiths and Sister Nimfa at the Temple after our Quarterly Sunday Opening.  On her only day off, she is an ordinance worker at the temple in the morning and comes to church in the afternoon.  We love her!!

You can see we also have a few men in our branch.  They are great to come and help us man the Baptistery on our weekday Temple Trips.

An interesting Filipino meal we had one night where all the food was just spread out down the table and we all stood around and ate it with our hands!




We had a Blue Moon this month.  I have seldom seen the moon so big.  This picture just doesn't do it justice.  It was amazing!  This is right in our front yard so to speak!

We'll probably only get to be Hong Kong once in a Blue Moon!!!