I just wanted to add this note which helps explain Rachel's email. Krystal, Rach's older sister, has been working in South Korea and she had planned to go to Hong Kong way before Rachel got her call. So during her summer vacation from teaching, she planned a trip to Hong Kong. She packed up a bunch of "westerner" food that she had, filling her suitcase to the brim and took it to her starving sister, dropping it off at Rach's mission office that is located across the street from the Hong Kong Temple. Krystal actually had so much, she had to make two trips to the office and decided to go to the temple the second time. She had arrive early in the waiting area for the next session and had closed her eyes to ponder and pray. Her prayer was a sweet, simple prayer telling Heavenly Father that it was okay that she didn't get to see Rachel (it's not allowed in the mission) but that she was thankful for the opportunity to be there in the same city with Rachel and she could feel a bonding closeness and a sweet spirit. During her prayer she could hear people also entering the chapel area and sitting next to her. In the back of her mind she was curious why the person next to her sat so close to her (invading her personnal bubble). When she finished and opened her eyes, looking at the person sitting there and it was Rachel. Rachel was there with her whole zone for the very first time. It was a sweet tender mercy for Krystal and Rachel for they love each other so much. There is not a better place in the world to bump into your missionary sister than serving in the House of the Lord. So that is the story. It is sweet and brings tears to my eyes everytime I tell it. Love Mama Kiene
I can't believe how fast time flies!! It's out of control. I swear I was just writing home! hahaha well let's see, last week I did run into Krystal at the temple! I didn't feel guilty because it was a complete coincidence; I just made sure others knew it was too. Everyone was super cool about it and it was a special experience. We didn't talk much but it was still great! So last week we visited a family (S. Chinison, Me, E. Lau, E. Smith----we are all the missionaries over our area Tseung Kwan O) in our ward. It's a woman and her nine year old daughter Angel, who is absolutely adorable and super shy. We all got to know each other for a bit and then I shared a brief message. When we were getting ready to leave she said she had some food for us haha she pulled out a bowl of beautiful plums! I was so excited! Then she pulled out a bag that had what it looked like to me, as Elvis bread from Lord of the Rings hahaha! Well it was something wrapped in a bamboo leaf. We all open them up and inside were something she made out of a rice paste and red beans inside. S. Chinison and E. Lau are Chinese so they ate it without hesitation. E. Smith and I slowly nibbled on ours and pretty much focused all efforts we could produce to not throw up hahaha there is more to that story that I will have to share another time. I took a picture of the extras that she gave us. Anyway, the plum that followed was probably the best thing I've eaten since coming here! Haha oh I love experiences like this! And I'm not being sarcastic. They make me feel like I'm serving a mission. You always hear about the stories but actually experiencing them is so much cooler! So my zone (Hong Kong Island Zone) has been going on a lot of exchanges this move. We are the only zone in the mission that has more than 4 sisters, so we have a coordinating sister over all of us. She is required to go on 24's with each sister. So we have been playing musical chairs quite a bit! I have been able to serve on the Island near the Wan Chai chapel, which is absolutely beautiful! And Sister Cecil, the coordinating sister, came with me to Po Lam (TKO) this week. She is really cool, tall, white, and we get along really well! I met her cousin in the MTC and she said we were alike haha. She only has one move left though. The zone leaders said that our exchange theme was happiness and we had to capture that happiness via picture haha so we have some awesome pics that I'll send home sometime. Having correlation meeting in a child daycare facility, getting locked out of the chapel, haha good stuff. We also have an international zone that speaks English and works with the Philippian women. I was chosen to go on 24's with Sister Salenga and it was really cool! In the morning we went out finding and just contacted anyone that we could. Then we took a lady back to the church who turned out to be a less active! The Elders had a baptism at 11 so she and another investigator came for that and I visited with her a bit after. She has two children at home, and her son has Down's Syndrome. She is having a really hard time and cried quite a bit when I talked with her. But we just tried to comfort her and made sure that she understood that coming back to church would be the best thing for her. She knew that and I know she felt the spirit during the service. Because the women can't choose what day they want off, the church holds sacrament meeting from Tues-Sunday. So I went to sacrament meeting on Saturday! It is really amazing and special that the women have such a privilege.
The work in TKO is starting to pick up. My comp and I are working hard to find people, and we have made calls to past investigators and potential investigators and have set 3 appointments up from that. We have a few girls that have baptismal dates and we recently found out that Sybi (turned 12 today) may actually get permission from her parents to be baptized! That is one huge problem here. You'll find those that seem SO prepared to receive baptism and are stopped because they can't receive permission. It's sad, but at the same time, the Lord always provides a way. They will be baptized when they need to be. We have also been meeting with a woman, Wendy! She is also great! Last night we and a member Monica met with her. Monica and she clicked so well it was like magic! We planned on teaching the first lesson but it just led to the importance of attending church and what blessings come from baptism. I didn't understand a whole lot going on, but I knew that we needed to focus on those things. My companion and I were so happy afterwards because although we shared scripture and said things that were not planned, everything flowed so smoothly. We will meet with her again on Sat to help her with English and teach her a lesson and she said she would come to church! It's so hard getting people to commit to coming to church but it's so important! We have the opportunity to receive revelation, to reflect on the savior and his atonement, to renew our covenants, re-evaluate ourselves and our life, and become better. We partake of the sacrament which is so special and sacred. It's my prayer that the people here, especially those investigating the church can feel that. I'm out of time; I wish I could share more and more! But know that I love you all! I think about you every day! But I also know I'm supposed to be here. It's hard, but it's right. The language is difficult, but I know I can do it. It's taken me a bit to believe that, but I know I can. We have to go pick up our summer missionary (youth that will be our companion for a few weeks!) ga yauh! love you!
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