thank you thank you do je mh goi sai!

I am sorry that I can't put a caption under each picture, but for some reason it is blocked. So the Kwun Tong District had summer missionaries. Kahn Ji Muih and Hoh Ji Muih (Maggie Ho) were companions and loved working together. Then THE STAIRS OF DEATH that lead to the Kwun Tong Chapel on top. And also Hong Kong Temple with Sister Kiene and Sister Kiene.






Thursday, October 6, 2011 12:00 AM

Thanks for the updates and letters and love and experiences and advice! Mom, I hope your knee gets better soon! That's funny you mentioned Kelsey Bingham cause I was just thinking about her the other day and wondering how she was doing! Oh man, everyone is just growin' up. so weird! haha sounds like you all had an amazing time at conference. I am SOOO excited to watch it on Sat and Sun! Seriously, it's like Christmas or something! When you are on your mission, General Conference is THAT much better! I think it's because it's something dear to my heart and it just gives me a feeling of peace and comfort. We have investigators planning on going too and I can't wait to hear what they think about everything our prophet, apostles, and church leaders have been guided and prompted to say. So those stories about Aurora and Ty are just classic! Those two crack me up! hahaha and I'm so glad to hear the good news about Jason's interview! Good luck!! I know that hard work and living in obedience with faith we can experience great miracles! I'm proud of him and Marilyn and their faith.

It's been a good week, we have been teaching a girl A-Choi (16) and her sisters are both members. I think I mentioned her before...anyway; her little sister who is 9 is also starting to take the lessons! They are really sweet and really good. I hope they keep progressing! they are coming to conference and they have been going to church and ward activities. yesterday, since it was a holiday, our ward had a BBQ in Tai Po. Haha, except BBQ's here are a lot different than at home. Everyone brings bags full of fish balls, chicken wings, random meats, and corn on the cob, bread, and then they all start cooking it all and then feeding it to everyone. haha good stuff! Oh so funny story...yeah since I still can hardly speak Cantonese, things like this happen all the time. So I was on the phone calling people from the potential investigator list and started talking to this kid named Zoe. I was telling him about us missionaries and about our church and then I was trying to tell him that this gospel could really bless his life but I accidently started saying this gospel could really bless his body hahaha I guess it technically could bless his body too but that's not what I meant. I quickly and embarrassingly corrected myself and hopefully my accent was thick enough that he didn't catch my mistake hehehe

Well I appreciate everything that you all have done for me and for your uplifting and encouraging words. We are all trying to work hard out here but we definitely need help finding those that are prepared to hear the message of the Restoration. We need the members to recognize their divine role and how important THEY are in this work. But we are pressing forward, praying for more love, more faith, and more patience each day. Applying what we teach to ourselves so that we can be better teachers and disciples of Christ. We had the opportunity to attend a temple session today and it was such a great experience. I learned so many valuable lessons that I hope I can apply better in my life. I also got to do initiatories after in Chinese and English. (Chinese is SOO fast!) It was pretty special. Anyway, this gospel is true and we need to try our best to live by its teachings and we will have true happiness! I LOVE YOU!

Kahm Ji Muih

PS Blue Bell?
Thursday, October 6, 2011 12:02 AM
Is it true that they sell Blue Bell in Utah now??

so much love! and I still don't like fish.

September 29, 2011

Man I got sent so much love this week! I love hearing from all of you and it's really interesting because although I'm a missionary across the entire world, we are all going through similar experiences. I guess that's just how life is. I'm SO happy that Garrett can stay on his mission. What a blessing. Keep me updated on that. I'm also glad to hear about the miracles about conference tickets and Dad's experience at the temple. That's such an amazing experience. Well a slightly sad temple experience for me is that today was my zone's temple day and we had to stay inside our apartment because of a #8 Typhoon! So frustrating! The temple even closes when it's that extreme. We didn't have any running water at first either. But maybe it was a blessing in disguise because I've been pretty sick the last little bit and maybe my body needed a break from walking so much. Not quite sure but hopefully we'll be able to go to the temple again soon! I'm sorry to hear that Mike had a rough week. I understand the feeling. I've learned out here to really seek and recognize those small things the Lord blesses us with, those tender mercies, those miracles. THOSE are what help us know we are on the right track and that we are doing what we need to be doing. One miracle we had this week: We are teaching these young girls who didn't make their baptismal date because they just weren't ready. Sybi is 12 and we were having a hard time keeping her interested and focused in the lesson. And as missionaries we felt that we were teaching lessons versus people. So we decided to read from the children Book of Mormon and act out Nephi retrieving the brass plates. They LOVED it! We discussed afterwards what we can learn and apply from it and Sybi talked about how it's important that we have faith in the Lord and he will help us. Then she said in her prayer that she was so grateful for the wonderful lesson and it was just so good. We did 24's on Monday and my comp was Sis Kelly (one of my comps in the MTC)! They let a toddler and baby run loose in Hong Kong! haha It wasn't too bad though. We had meetings and studies to do but I had to be in charge at correlation meeting and tell about all our investigators and it was pretty funny just because I wasn't sure how to say half the things. We tried contacting people while we traveled and no success but one lady did talk to us for a few minutes! That's better than nothing! We also had a crazy man come up to us on the MTR and he kept speaking Chenglish and said I looked like some celebrity and was trying to take pics of us on his phone. hahaha We just kept saying that we didn't want a picture and I was trying to hide from him! haha It sounds like we are the crazy ones but it was creepy and we were trying to be safe! Well I must say that I am so excited for General Conference. I have to wait a week after to watch but I'm just grateful I get to watch the whole thing! The brethren always have such amazing counsel to give us and I'm so grateful that we get to hear from them so soon! Well we are all working hard here in Hong Kong. It's not easy, but it's not really supposed to be. I do love this work and I am trying my best to understand and speak more. It's still very difficult and I fail quite often but I just have to pick myself up again and try again. There is so much I want to do help and it's not quite there because of the language barrier, but I know with Faith we can do anything! We are here to help people really develop a relationship with their Savior. There is just so much joy that comes from it and I wish that I could just hand it to everyone. But it doesn't work like that. There are special people that are prepared though and it's important that we always remain worthy so that we can be guided by the spirit to find them! And this is for EVERYONE! It doesn't say in the scriptures that only people wearing a skirt, wearing a white shirt and black slacks, wearing a black name tag declare repentance and do God's work...every member of the church should be actively seeking these opportunities! That's something that didn't hit me as much before the mission. Member work is VITAL! I hope you all pray for your own experiences and the Lord will bless you! I love you all! Thank you for your examples, your prayers, and your faith in me.

love,
Kahm Ji Muih

Ngoh ngoi leihdeih!

forgot to put in letter!
Thursday, September 29, 2011 3:10 AM

forgot to mention that for one of the cheng out's we had FISH SOUP with octopus balls and all sorts of goods. yeah, I still don't like fish. I actually like Dad's salmon better! I miss fish sticks and tartar sauce! hahaha ok that is all :)

CHICKENS from MAINLAND

September 21, 2011

From: Sister Rachel Kiene

Leih hou ma!? So we had many miracles this week! And something I’ve realized more and more out here is that even very small things are HUGE miracles! A few miracles are on Saturday we planned for a few lessons and then one miracle lesson. Well turns out that for 2 of the planned ones we got fonged ('fong' is a term we use meaning they didn't show up haha) but a recent convert in the ward called us and said her sister wants to go to church and asked if we could meet with her later that day! We said of course! Except we had another lesson scheduled at the same time, so we had to split and have members be our companion. So I was with A-Sin and her sister A-Choi. They also have an older sister who is a member too, A-Saan, and she helped Sis. Chinison teach. Anyway, I had to teach this girl the first lesson alone and it was pretty nerve wracking! You'd think after two months of being in Hong Kong I would have everything down right? haha not quite. but I know I had a lot of help from Heavenly Father. A-Sin helped me so much too! She was such a blessing! Miracle number two...we had 4 people come to church!! And A-Choi was one of them. She is so humble and sweet and I really hope that she continues to learn more!! Another miracle we had was seeing a girl we contacted on the street, Mag. She is SO hard to contact and we finally were able to see her again! we watched the restoration video and she felt the spirit. she is very shy and quiet too but so sweet. I just know how much the gospel can bless all these people's lives and I wish they could see it too!! but it all comes with time. Another miracle was we had English class last night and afterwards we were putting the TV away from when we taught Mag. Two girls who are also hard to schedule, but like learning languages, asked why we had a TV and said they wanted to watch a movie! we told them it was the Restoration movie and if they wanted to watch it they could. they said yes hahaha and we thought they were joking! but they said they would and then after we had a really good discussion. They had no idea that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ were two different people. Sometimes you forget that even those small little things need to be taught. And although small and simple, they are all vital pieces of information that make up the amazing gospel. One more thing, we realized there is a CD player at the church so I brought the CD's you all sent me and we had a partially active Thai sister, Lam Ji Muih come so we could go over the lessons. Anyway, she hasn't been feeling well and she has had a lot of problems from the past..she went to a church that would play really loud harsh music and do weird things and she didn’t feel good when she went. anyway, it caused her to start taking medicine to sleep at nights. she's not taking medicine anymore but she has problems sleeping. so we put in jenny oaks baker's CD and sat and listened to a few songs. she said she never heard music like that before and really loved it! so we are going to try to get her some uplifting peaceful music. The power of music and the hymns is incredible!!

Sister Chinison and I get along really well. We are different in so many ways but when it comes to the gospel and what we want to achieve, we are exactly the same. We have a good time together and she is such a hard worker and good example to me. We experience opposition, like everyone does, because the work here can be harder at times, but we draw closer together as we try to uplift each other and work on becoming better missionaries. Things are going well and we have found many people that have so much potential!! We pray that their hearts will open more and more and their desires will increase! The gospel has changed my life in more ways than I could ever express, and the only way for others to understand is learning, growing, and experiencing for themselves!! I’m so grateful for the spirit and pray constantly that the people we teach will also recognize it. Well, love you all and hope everything is going well! Aubs is having a girl! woo hooo! So fun! Named after me of course ;) haha just jokes, Krystal survived the Philippines without disease...or so we think...Jason and Mar sound good and the girls are just growing up!! Mike sounds like he's working hard and enjoying everything, mom, hopefully you get my letter soon, I’ll send pics today and take care of your knee! Dad, thanks for the uplifting letters and everything. I love my family!! You have no idea how grateful and blessed I feel to have you as my parents and siblings! soo blessed!!

Kahm Lohk Yih Ji Muih

Come to Zion Come to Zion!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011, 7:55 PM
from: Sis. Rachel Kiene
What a week it has been! The new missionaries have come and it's fun seeing familiar faces! They are all doing really well and seem to be adjusting just fine. It's been yet ANOTHER roller coaster week :) haha it's so hard because we are constantly finding new investigators and losing others. My comp and I are trying to be patient and trying our best to help anyone we can. I totally understand how Mike feels when he says that they can't get people to come to church! there is one thing that Hong Kong and Montana have in common! haha sadly none of our investigators came :(. However, Sister Lam, the less active Thai sister came for the whole 3 hours! She is so good and so humble! She has been sick and so she asked if she could get a priesthood blessing. The bishop was able to interview and meet her since she just came from a different ward and then they were able to give her a blessing. As we shared our message she was just in tears the whole time. She has a strong testimony and the more and more we see her and the more she comes back to church she has been realizing how important the gospel is to her. Saturday we had our stake music night and the missionaries performed Israel Israel God is Calling! I have it on video hahaha our little duet at the beginning was alright. we were a little off but I don't think anyone cared! the other performances were HILARIOUS! There was a group that sang some English Spanish song! bahahaha then some other dances and songs and it just reminded me of William hung on American Idol :) haha they just have so much spirit and happiness when they sing and perform. it's so cute! I got a couple of them on video so no worries, you'll have a chance to see them!

We did a lot of finding this week! (Finding=contacting) Monday we had a zone find and we went on exchanges but each companionship had a different number and color. The number indicated how we were contacting the person, 1 lesson -2 lesson -3 lesson -testimony -word of wisdom -Joseph Smith- proclamation to the family- etc. The color was the color shirt they were wearing haha we do A LOT of finding here and so over time they have tried to be creative. So Sister Cecil (from Cedar City--she is going home next move) was my comp and our contacting weapon was our testimony and color was light blue. So as we traveled to our area and once we got there we were just chasing down anyone wearing light blue! it was pretty funny but at the same time we experienced so many miracles! one guy was on the MTR and he was pretty far down but since he was wearing blue we trekked over to him. His eyes were closed so we just said hello a few times and then he opened them and we began talking to him about the gospel! hahaha turns out he was a less active! but from a long time ago. he doesn't have a book of Mormon or anything anymore...not sure if he even remembers it much. so we got his name and number, gave him a book and told him that we were going to help him come back to church! James looks like he's maybe 28...turns out he's 19! haha so we told him he can even go on a mission still! he asked if mission are fun and of course we told him they are the BEST! We also met a lot of other really good people and some cute school girls in their light blue dresses that were willing to learn more! There were some elders that were near us also finding and their color was fuchsia haha well since that's not a super common color they were contacting pretty much anyone and one of the Elder's is a mandarin speaking so he was just finding anyone that knew mandarin. So as we headed back to the MTR to meet the other missionaries there was a woman walking with a little girl in a light blue dress! so we stopped her and talked to her for a bit and turns out she speaks Mandarin better than Cantonese! we told her there was a mandarin elder just back behind us that she could meet! so they met and exchanged numbers and it was awesome! and guess what, she was wearing fuchsia!! haha Some other elders were finding and their color was apple red. They said not a whole lot of people would listen to them and then they saw a guy walk out of the bread store wearing apple red so they darted over to him and I guess he's played soccer with other missionaries! haha it was just really cool and I don't know, I felt like the brother of Jared. We were telling God that we need to find a way to preach this gospel to them and he allowed us to come up with an inspired way of doing it. Some may think it sounded silly or funny, but it worked! The lord works in hysterical ways. But we have to be willing to act and to have faith in the work that we are doing!

Tuesday I had the opportunity to help the International Zone with statutories. International zone (except one companionship who works in the English branch) teaches the Philippine women in Hong Kong. whenever there is a big holiday (lunar moon festival and Tuesday! big holiday!) they get a day off. So the zone needs extra missionaries to go finding and teach lessons! so we all headed over in the morning to central/ worldwide and I had a member, Berna, help me! We just went up to tons of women and contacted as many people as we could! It's hard though because they ALL go to church and believe that it doesn't matter what religion you are because there is only one God and etc. But we did our best to help them and with the help of the Lord, were able to get quite a few numbers. Then after that we had a lesson with Daisy, a cute girl Sis Chinison and I contacted on the street last week. Now on the other end of the spectrum, she doesn't believe in God. It's just crazy how you deal with literally all sorts of people with all sorts of believes and you have to learn how to help each of them. We talked a lot about families and we really feel like she can learn so much and realize how much the gospel will bless her and her family! we'll see her again before Sunday and I pray that she will come to church!! We also did more contacting yesterday after visiting Hoh Poh Po our 80 year old investigator (who is coming to relief society activity on Saturday! yeah!) and at first we had no success. People see our tag and instantly run away. But we were able to teach a lesson to two sweet girls on the street! They just finished school and they were so nice! One is struggling in school so we taught about prayer and how it can really help her with her studies. Despite all the hard things that we've been going through like losing investigators or feeling like we are giving everything to help them and not seeing the results, we have been able to witness the tender mercies of the lord. Sis Chinison and I are learning and growing a lot together as we share our insights, thoughts, and feelings about everything we are experiencing and how we can become better teachers, missionaries, and representatives of Jesus Christ. I love this work. I am so grateful for everything God has given me. A family that loves me and supports me in all that I do, a family who also loves the gospel and as we all strive to live by its teachings, we become closer to not only our Savior, but each other! I love you all so much! Thank you for the package! it was soooo good! We roasted Starburst last night on our gas burner right before bed hehe and I’m exposing Hong Kong to REAL food like Fruit roll-ups! hahaha Mom, I sent you a letter last week and this week printed pics that I will send you! Hope you are enjoying Ohio and tell everyone hello! Send the girls my love! And the story about Ty and putting himself in time-out is hilarious! What a cutie. Thank you everyone for your support, love, and prayers. The language is slowly coming but I still need a lot of help! haha you all rock! Hello Grandma Peterson, Grandma Kiene and Grandpa Kiene! I love you all too!!

love,
Sister Piano

Week 5?? oh and early p-day!

August 31, 2011

So sorry! I forgot to tell you that we had p-day today (Wednesday) instead of Thursday this week. It is ONLY for this week though. I was wondering why I only got an email from dad and then realized that I was retarded and forgot to mention it. but I still want to know what's going on! Dad told me about Greg and Aubs Ragnar race and that is SO awesome! I'm so proud of them both! How did soccer go for them? Oh and WHAT IS AUBREY HAVING?!?! I'm dying to know and pretty sure she already knows by now. And what is her due date? January baby?!?! (represent!!) Anyway, it's been a great week! So we finished up EEFY and because it was in Kwun Tong and we serve in TKO we didn't get any new investigators from it. but we did have investigators come and Kwun Tong got 7 investigators! There was one guy that I started talking to, Tommy, and he was so good. I knew that he would be open to listening more about the gospel. He was in my group when I taught the first lesson and at the end we had them write down questions. He wrote, "Where was I before this life?" My face was beaming when I read those words! And I wasn't even going to teach him! (b/c he was in a diff area and he is a male. we can only teach males if there is also a female in the family listening to the missionaries) So Tommy is 26 and he said that he was getting of the MTR (the train) and was praying because he wanted to know more about his purpose in life. Then all of the sudden Elder Smith came up to him and gave him an EEFY flyer! He was really excited and felt that it was an answer to his prayer! Another girl Vicky who is 15, also received a flyer while walking. She and her mom showed up and I talked with them for a bit. Vicky was in my class for a few days and she was so good too! Afterwards she told us that she wanted to be baptized!! So amazing! She's also in Kwun Tong but it's just all so exciting! We also got to watch prince of Egypt and Mulan! (oh and before we joined to watch Mulan, we grabbed lunch and it started POURING! We ran back to the church with no umbrella and were completely drenched. The market has coverage so all the Hong Kong people just stayed under them and here were are sprinting around. everyone thought we were crazy!)

So our summer missionaries left us on Monday and it was pretty sad. I got really close with ours and it was sad to say goodbye but I will see her again, I can feel it! My listening has gotten a lot better but my speaking is still at the same spot. I’m learning a lot of patience though and it's all coming slowly. I'm being very blessed and noticing the small tender mercies of the Lord. Right now we are working with a lot of less active members and trying to help them strengthen their testimonies. There is little improvement which is better than none. One girl came to ALL of church for the first time this entire year! woohooo!! Our investigator Cherry's grandma came to church to see what it was about and it see why she talks about getting baptized. We talked with her and she is giving Cherry permission! but now cherry is nervous and scared. She's 11 and thinks she's too young and it's hard sometimes because she knows all the answers and understands everything but isn't willing to step forward with faith. it's something that has to develop with time and we are trying to be patient with her. It was super funny though because usually they kind of make fun of my Chinese and stuff because their kids and that's what kids do haha so we were teaching and reading from 2 Ne 32 and Cherry read the first verse, then Michelle (her member friend) the second verse, and then Sis. Chinison asked me to read the next verse and Michelle turns to me and says, "Jung Mahn!" which is 'Chinese'. haha usually what we'll do is just read in English and they'll read along in Chinese and vice versa. So anyway, I grab the Chinese scriptures from her and start reading it. You should have seen the look on their faces when I started reading this verse! Hahaha little did they know that that verse, 2 Ne 32:3 is the ONLY complete verse that I know in all the scriptures! Hahaha it was just so perfect! I just hope that they don't ask me to read something else another time :) haha.

We had a cheng out (where people treat us to dinner) last night and it was really good! I was nervous because apparently in the past Gwok Ji Muih will put frogs in the potatoes and whatnot. Anyway, we had chicken and veggies and taro and these peanut sauce on other vegetables and this yummy taro drink and fruit and shrimp rice and there was just SOO much food! She kept bringing out more and more and more and more! It was amazing and I was so full by the end! The Chinese people LOVE food. Food is how the show their love. They always offer whatever they have to anyone and everyone. And they feed you more and more whether you want it or not! They grab your bowls and just fill them up. At another cheng out they put blended tofu and fish in my bowl. I survived!! haha anyway, I gotta wrap this up but today for p-day we had a combined zone activity and hiked this mountain! the scenery was beautiful, we found a waterfall, and we walked through this old village in the middle of nowhere! I LOVED it! then we went to the beach and played football and Frisbee. I had my first squatter experience (not sure what they're called but the toilets that are holes in the ground) and I got super sweaty and I smell nasty. I share this with you because guess what...we have no running water til tonight! so I get to go to English class like this :) yummy! Anyway, things are amazing and good! I’m learning so much! we had members of the general Sunday school presidency and ym presidency come speak to us yesterday and they gave incredible advice and really boosted our spirits and fire! We are all ready to give all that we have and add oil! I love you all and pray that you are safe and healthy and doing well! I hope you know how much I love and appreciate all of you and my love for you and everyone in Hong Kong grows every day. Ga yauh!

Sis Kiene

salted cookies and sushi

It's hard believe I've been out a month! Time really does fly. This last week was pretty crazy! Let's see...on Thursday we visited Hoh Poh Po, a grandma that's in the hospital because of her back. She was a former investigator and now we are trying to visit her twice a week. She is the sweetest lady and she is so nice to me haha she always compliments me and smiles, she asks us to sit on the bed with her and everything! It's so funny. Our investigator Wendy is doing pretty well. She is so sweet and she came to church! She really enjoyed it too and gets along with the members like magic! She isn't reading the book of mormon though because she says she is too busy reading other things. We finished teaching her the restoration last night and really stressed that this isn't just any book. I think she knows that but she just needs to recognize that she knows. We showed her the restoration video and the spirit was really strong. I just want her to have the witness and testimony, to feel what i feel whenever I talk about or listen to Joseph's experience, but I have to remember to be patient. Everyone is different, everyone learns and grows at different paces. Kind of like with this language. You just can't ever compare...life just doesn't work that way. One of our investigators, Cherry who is 11, is doing well. She retains everything we teach her like nobodies business! I'm always in awe when she answers questions or teaches others things about the gospel. But she feels she's too young to be baptized. She's also an 11-year-old girl hahah you know how we can be at 11...pretty wild! haha we just hope and pray that she really strengthens her testimony and has that burning desire to be baptized. Another thing about coming out here and something i have learned is the Lord's timing is HUGE. Sometimes we blame ourselves for not teaching well enough, speaking well enough or whatever it may be because the person decides to ignore our phone calls and doesn't want to be baptized. But the Lord provides a way and he has a plan for each of us. When those people are prepared, they will be baptized.

Saturday our ward had an open house and it was phenomenal! It was really awesome. In the relief society room they had it all decorated and would teach about family history and whatnot, (they had activities in each room and you could win prizes) the primary room just had things to color for the kids, the young men's room had these cool games and activities that the young men or scouts built, in the young women's room they had music playing and the personal progress things set up and then they had beads for all the different values to make keychains. Any non-members that came, the members would teach them about what yw, ym, rs, whatever it was and they could do the activities. Upstairs in the cultural hall they had a mini talent show singing songs, primary kids signing songs, and so on and then dinner at the end. We basically taught lessons throughout it to anyone that wanted to learn more and it was pretty crazy! Luckily we had a summer missionary with us so we could go on splits! Our summer missionary, Maggie Ho, is AWESOME! I love her so much! We totally clicked and have had such a good time. She helps me with my Cantonese and I help her with her English. She is such a good missionary and knows so much about the gospel. She's only 16 but she says she would like to serve a full-time mission some day :) haha her brother is serving in Cali. I'm trying to convince her that byu-provo is the best plus I will be there in a few years, but we'll see what she ends up doing haha. She's just been a huge blessing this last week and I know that she was called to serve with us. I tell her about the US and how everyone drives cars and she's amazed! haha and how we have a pool! She loves swimming! I told her about our dogs and their personalities haha she thinks it's so funny and wants to visit our home someday haha. So this week has been crazy because we've been doing EEFY again! Mon we played games and taught lesson 1, and tuesday we set up an iron rod/ plan of salvation course in the church which was the BOMB.com! Each person went through and had to hold to the string. There were obstacles in the way and everything as well and then we had people trying to tempt. In one room we had Elder Smith with cookies and he would tell them they could try a little. The cookies were COVERED in salt haha let's just say there were some hilarious reactions. Then outside there was water (after eating the cookies being in the sun and all, that would feel quite refreshing!) But Elder Sutherland created some terrible tasting drink haha only one kid drank it and i have it on video haha so awesome. At the end we had ice cream and everyone seemed to enjoy the game! Then we taught lesson 2 and tied in the plan of salvation with the game. Yesterday we had two ladies from our ward come and teach us to make sushi (no raw meat though). I made and ate my first sushi roll haha I think it made me sick but I at least can say it tried now. I have pics that i'll send sometime soon. So Mulan is on our movie list and we get to watch it today!! Booo ya!There's nothing like watching Mulan in China! Am i right or am i right?

So i'll tell you quickly about where I live. It's in Kwun Tong and I'm right next to a huge market! I'm pretty sure I told you about it but it smells horrid. It's always busy and crowded and they sell a lot of food just on the streets. We don't have any buildings other than apartments around. The church in Kwun Tong is up on this hill and you have to walk up these steep stairs to get to it. It's a nice workout :) My church buidling in Po Lam is really nice. One of the nicer ones in Hong Kong. It has three stories, the bottom is the offices, classrooms, and baptistry, first floor is primary, ym, yw, rs, and chapel. and on the 2 floor is the cultural hall and kitchen. Good stuff! haha There are a lot of trees in my area and it's really beautiful. Not a touristy area. I think I mentioned that these people play chinese music each night in the park by the bus station so last night we went over and listened to a few songs. I really felt like I was in China :). A few more funny facts about Hong kong, the ambulances drive SUPER slow! ha kind of sad. I may have written this before too but if umberellas are out it's because it's sunny. if NO people are out it's because it's raining. It's so funny! You just grow to love the quirks of different cultures even if you don't always understand them. I am continuing to learn each day. The Lord is blessing me and I'm so grateful that I've had this opportunity to serve the Lord and these people. I have changed so much and I hope to continue to change. I have so much to work on still but I'm noticing my weaknesses and figure out ways I can strengthen them. But the only way that is possible is through the help of the Lord. I love you all and think of you often. Keep pressing forward! Add oil! Ga yauh!

Love,
Kahm Ji Muih

another week bites the dust!

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!