The One Where We Go To The Cooked Food Centre

 

各位早安！

☆ We went to the temple last Tuesday and had my last temple session with sister Stakkey. She leaves tonight  gonna miss seeing her in this mission so much and just all the fun memories we had together. I had such a great transfer and a half with her! 

☆ After the temple we went to meet Lorainne. We ate at Paisano's and just got to know her better. She looks happier and trying to find joy despite of her struggles. She shared how after the day we met she felt more inspired. I think she found more hope in the future and seeing her grandma again. We got to share a little bit about prayer and the Plan of Salvation. We asked if she knew Jesus Christ and has never even heard of His name before. Another crazy experience! Please pray that this girl will continue finding for hope and peace through prayer.

☆ This week I have been praying so hard for Grace. I was wondering whether we should extend a baptismal invitation or not and the Spirit was just so strong and I knew we had to. As we were having our lesson I was so scared to extend the baptismal invitation because I was scared that she would say no and if she said no maybe that would make things awkward or that I would lose a really good friend but as we were sharing and teaching her with the Filipina sisters, she started speaking in Tagalog and I had to translate for Sister Brady. She started opening up again about her past and then as she started to share she talked about considering getting baptized into our church and learning more about what we believe in. It was an answered prayer! She made it very clear to us that she was interested and it made all my fears go away. It was so natural. It was also such a blessing that none of her friends came with her to church that day because it was just her and we were able to focus on just her needs. Divine arrangement! After the lesson, we went to the beach together with the Wednesday family and had barbecue together. She got a chance to meet the sisters and a chance to know the people. She kept saying thank you for inviting her and said she came home with a big smile on her face. On the way home we got to talk about her life and she was just so cute! I had to translate the whole time haha wish I could do that in Mandarin. I can't imagine not going to Wednesday church every week. We built such a good relationship with her.

☆ We were finding at KLT and got to practice our Mandarin with some people! As we were going home we were just talking and finding a bus to go home since we wanted to take the bus. And as we were talking, there was this old lady who looked back and asked us something in Cantonese. Yeah, we are literally lost Mandarin speakers in this Cantonese speaking place. Then we tried helping her so we called our ZL since he has perfect Cantonese. Not even the locals knew how to help her. But we went to the place she wanted to go to and we hopped on the bus with her. But when we got there she said okay I'm going home now. WHAAAAAA hahaha then we were so scared cause we didn't know if she would actually make it home lol  and then we got ice cream to treat ourselves! She called us and kept saying "I wish you good health and peace. Thank you thank you 姊妹!"

☆ Last Saturday we had a chance to do a little fun exercise in the morning. We went to the chapel since one of the members of Vic 1 was holding a High Fitness class. It was kind of intense but it was so fun! It was like dance + exercise but not Zumba. So nice of her to hold that class for free. I was sweating so much and my muscles started to feel sore haha but it was so so fun!!

☆ We had a lesson with Liu JM and asked her if she wanted to get baptized and she had so many reasons why she couldn't. I literally don't know how to help her haha. We try to help her understand, language barrier is hard, she says she is different from everyone else and that she still has a lot to learn, she wouldn't make us speak. But everyone in relief society class was telling her to get baptized already and she would laugh hahaha I love that old lady but I wish we could help her better.

☆ We had a little lunch together with some of our members. It was fun getting to meet new people and faces and strengthening our relationship with them more. Also got to practice a lot of Mandarin. We heard a lot of good testimonies / insights from our members especially Scot Mo. Why is he so cool? I love his family so much, his children are the best and I'm turning them into my best friends!!! 

☆ I was about to cry cause I didn't know if I would make it to the departing devotional. That would be my last time for now seeing sister Stakkey. She bore her testimony and shared some of her experiences in Cantonese and she is cracked at it! So hard to say goodbye to some people who mean so much to you even if you were only together for a short period of time. Can't believe she's ending her mission already. It was just December yesterday when we were talking about how 4 months would come by so fast and it actually came really fast. 

How are y'all? Hope you're having an awesome week!

PICTURES:

• temple day!

• Uniqlo models

• with Lorainne at Paisano's! cutie <3

• HOW CAN I FORGET, our security guard in wan chai, tino, invited us to eat at the cooked food center. it was by far THE MOST HONG KONG place i've ever been to. great experience lol

• us at the cooked food center

• us with Grace!!! ♡

• smores!

• dinner at a Taiwanese place

• cheng jimoi, my favorite bundei

• brother chan, such a funny security guard

• wanchai branch!!!! 小小午餐

• SISTER STAKKEY 

• compy polaroid

薛姐妹

XUE JIEMEI

SISTER SY

                                                           

S4:E12 The One Where We Find Lorainne ♡

                                                       

早安！你们这个星期过的怎么样？

We went to Stanley last PDAY and I got myself a kalimba!! It's the best thing ever just playing it during my free time. It has the calmest sound ever ♡

☆ We met with some Jehovah's Witnesses this week and it was so crazy cause I met the same Jehovah's Witness I met like 6 months ago  and they shared about what they believed in and tbh they're kinda close to it  but it was just interesting getting to meet the JWs and learn more about what they believe in!

☆ We went to Chai Wan for the first time to do some finding and explore the area. We got to talk to a couple of people and it was... as usual haha. And then we got ICE CREAM with WAFFLES it was so good!! It was so fun eating it because Hong Kong is getting so hot. It feels like the Philippines haha and we need more water. I feel like I'm always sweating when I usually don't. So it's time to adjust to the weather and insect bites jajaja

☆ We were walking on our way to the chapel when we saw a girl sitting down outside the Wan Chai chapel. She looked so sad and we were also wondering why she was sitting there. We asked her if she was okay and then she started crying because her grandma passed away. And her parents didn't let her know. She kept saying she lost everything because her grandma was the only one who loved her and took care of her. It was so sad and she was so heartbroken. She said there was no hope or happiness for the future and it was really amazing how we were like her angels being sent to her to comfort her in the time she needed it the most. We told her that she would be able to see her grandma again someday and then she started asking if she died today would she see her grandma earlier :( and then she shared with us how she suffers from depression and her friends left her because she thinks her emotional issues push them away. She also shared how everyone she's loved in her life or cared about is gone. It was really so sad! But it was the perfect time and perfect place for us to meet Lorainne. It was really by divine design for us to meet her and be her friend. Literally a shoulder to cry on.

☆ We were already at home from all the things we need to do. And then sister Frear and sister Wright called us to help them do their visitor Centre shift. As we were walking we heard 2 girls behind us, Lori and Xiao Yan, speak Mandarin. We had to say something of course. Then we started talking to them and just chatting them up! They were from Shenzhen and were visiting Hong Kong. They just arrived in the morning and would go back in the evening. We got to know them a little bit and what they already did, asked them if they ate Hong Kong food and said the one they had was really bad. It didn't seem like they had a plan to go anywhere and as awesome missionaries we had to introduce who we were, why we were learning Mandarin and why we were in Hong Kong. We told them we were on our way to our chapel and asked them if they wanted a tour. They agreed cause they didn't really have any special plans. And it was so funny cause when one of the girls saw lots of people from America she started speaking English to us lol she was so patient with our Mandarin. We introduced our church so briefly and then Winnie came! Sent by God haha. She started sharing about church, exchanged phone numbers on WeChat, literally a queen cause we don't have WeChat. And then she gave them a Book of Mormon, she took away our job basically and did it for us lol. The other girl was looking at the family history kiosk too, she was so interested and surprised that we had family history records in our chapel. They were so cute! It's a privilege to help plant seeds in people's lives just briefly introducing restored truth.

☆ We attended the Saturday session with Liu JM and she loved general conference so much. She was writing her notes and telling us what her favorite part was. And she was asking why no one attended the Saturday session at church she was wondering why no one was participating in such an important event. She's awesome! She really has to get baptized but can't cause she's part of the CCP. She also started singing in front of us. Literally a singing queen! It was so funny cause she closed the doors and was facing back and singing her heart out. I love her with my whole heart!

☆ Our friend Melody is really such a great progressing friend sometimes I overlook her progress just because we haven't seen her in person yet since we last saw her and we have just been calling over phone. But we watched general conference together with her and she was actually paying attention haha sometimes I think she doesn't. We invited her to pray and she did! It was a very genuine prayer. She included being fortunate that she could watch general conference even if she's so busy and can't come to church. She included cherishing the moment that we had to watch it together. She also shared what she liked about President Nelson's talk at the end :)

☆ Yesterday we had to sit for General Conference in Mandarin from 10 to 3.  Let me tell you, I had 1000 new words just listening and adding to my cards. Will I ever use these 1000 words? Probably not! But hey it was fun trying to actually learn. I feel like I'm better at memorizing idioms than 2 sets of words for some reason. And then a friend we met a few weeks ago came to church. Her name is Sumita and she is so funny lol she's from India and the first time we met her she was really shy but yesterday it was so funny. She asked us if we had husbands or boyfriends and was asking why we didn't then she told us she had a husband and 2 boyfriends lol it was so funny and she would stick her tongue out to be funny. It really was so funny and then she saw an elder and said oh my goodness so handsome! Don't be shy LOL she's so funny and so weird and creepy and for whatever reason the Victoria 1st sisters put her on baptism date  idk what reason there was to put her on bap date but 加油

I love President Nelson's talk about becoming peacemakers. And I loved Camille Johnson's talk about sharing our burdens with Christ so He can help us carry them. I love M. Russell Ballard's talk about the things that matter most. So my invitation to everyone, especially my brother who will probably not read this email, is to be a peacemaker and say kind and nice things. I invite you to repent 

Hope you have a wonderful week!

PICTURES:

♡ waffles and ice cream!! From Chai Wan

♡ path to success... I'm on my way!

♡ Lori and Xiao Yan from Shenzhen! Cute girls with the cutest outfits.

♡ Yan Gui Rong! Finally have a picture with her after so long, she's the cutest little gramma

♡ Sumita the boy obsessed queen that she is

♡ Cindy and her mom came to church! Her mom is visiting from Mongolia. Cindy is such a sweetheart and is so so pretty!

薛姐妹

XUE JIEMEI

Sister Sy

                                                      

                                                     

S4:E11 The One Where We Eat to Our Heart's Content

 

                                                      

 大家好！早上好！

How did everyone's week go? As I am thinking about what to include in my weekly email. I have completely forgotten what has happened this week. As I open my area book planner to remind myself of what has happened this week, it feels unreal because I feel like these things happened like a month ago haha! Time goes by so fast! It's crazy 

Here are some of the memorable meetings and events that happened this week: 

♡ Grace and Joy at General Conference!! We invited our friends to come to church last Tuesday and we all sat down for 2 hours listening to the Sunday Morning session. I was so scared and nervous because I knew they wouldn't be able to understand what the apostles and leaders were talking about. I was just praying in my heart that they would feel the spirit! We gave them an opportunity to make friendships with other people in the branch too. Grace is just so golden and ready! She needs the gospel so much in her life right now. The next day I received a message from her in which she sent us a screenshot of her watching the video of President Nelson talking about forgiveness. She said that the message struck her heart and then she opened up so much about her life and what she has been through. It was so crazy because we didn't even send her a link or anything. She searched it herself on YouTube. She said she didn't get over about the General Conference. It's so exciting to see people progress and develop their faith! It makes you so excited for who they can become and what blessings they can receive. I'm so happy we met Grace at Victoria Park. Victoria Park has some amazing miracles  please pray together with me so Grace will be ready to receive the restored message and will soon make commitments in her life! 

♡ We visited Alice and Sunny's new home together with Winnie. It was the best hotpot I've ever had. And it was homemade hotpot which makes it so much more special. She had this sauce that was just so FIRE and it was just so so good. We had a great time with their family. The food was so spicy, their home was a little hot and I just started coughing because of how spicy it was hahaha I had to go to the bathroom to cough out loud. And as a companion I had to save my companion cause she didn't want to waste the softdrink Alice served us. I had to drink so much softdrink when they were all in the kitchen so we wouldn't waste anything haha. Then she added more softdrinks  I was so full at that point and couldn't eat anything else. But we had a great time getting to know our relief society leaders and their families. They have 2 dogs, a bird, 2 fishes and a lizard. Sunny showed us how she feeds her lizards with cockroaches. Their home is a literal zoo. During dinner I was just looking down at my socks because I wore black socks and my socks were covered with their dog's fur. It was so gross haha but it is what it is! After we got home, we were talking about how good the food is. And I shared how being a missionary has changed me because I used to be so picky with food but now I eat anything and so sister Brady told me we just had like blood on that hotpot... I honestly thought it was like a mushroom of some kind but hey! #themissionchangesyou

♡ We had lunch with Joy at HKU. Before meeting with her, we were stopped by some Jehovah's Witnesses and they were trying to share a message with us. They actually gave us a call the other day asking us to go back to HKU so they can teach us more. They're probably better missionaries lol jokes aside we are excited to learn more about Jehovah's Witnesses! We had a lovely time with Joy sharing with her more about the Book of Mormon and what we believe in and getting to know her more. She was so cute. She reminds me a lot of someone back home.

♡ We went to Deep Water Bay with Christina! We thought we were just gonna sit down by the ocean and enjoy the view until she sent us a message saying she bought a swimsuit hahaha I forget people swim lol. It was our last day with her. She's going to Turkey now. I hope to see her again someday  it was a super special relationship that we had with her. A friendship with someone whose language we cannot even speak. Our story feels like a movie haha. 3 girls in Hong Kong from different parts of the world speaking to each other using Google Translate. It was such a sweet time with her and I really do hope that one day we can see each other again.

♡ We also had exchanges and I went with sister Frear. We passed out a lot of Easter devotional flyers. Got to visit someone's home near Ocean Park and leave a pamphlet by their door. During our exchange we were walking for 6 hours! Our feet were so dead that day. Not just us but also the other companionships. That was the longest exchange I have had so far. It was fun getting to do exchanges and just hear all the miracles that everyone had that day. I was craving for ice cream and just wanted the mobile softie to be there that day but there wasn't one. And then a guy came to the chapel, he was from Taiwan and had so many questions about church. We immediately passed him off to the Elders and later that night we found out he was put on date. ISN'T THAT CRAZY?? 

♡ We had dinner at the Furness' home and the food was so good. We were able to talk about the temples since Chad works in with the Asia department for the temples and church buildings. We were also able to talk about general conference and share our testimonies of Jesus Christ. It was a spirit-filled home

♡ Yesterday we had an unexpected lesson with Echo. She's from Mainland and has been learning about Christianity for awhile now. She wants to learn more about our church and the Book of Mormon but will only be here for awhile. She was also just the sweetest because as we were teaching her the Restoration with the pamphlet, she invited us to read the characters! It was such a cool experience. She helped us define the other characters that we didn't know. It was so pure! She even asked us to sing Silent Night together because it was her favorite song. Another sweet miracle we as Mandarin missionaries witness. 

♡ We had our Easter devotional last night and we sang "Savior Redeemer of My Soul", it's on the China Hong Kong mission page! It was so fun to listen to music and hear testimonies through songs. I'm grateful for the power that music brings. Hope you guys can rewatch that live! We sang 2nd to the last.

*PS. Yesterday I was reminded that I hit 7 months. dang that was fast

PICTURES:

• Zone Korean BBQ

• Break the Fast with some YSAs

• Lunch with Joy

• Beach with Christina

• My 2 previous comps who are now comps together haha

• Families can be together forever frame! It's so cute ♡

• Exchanges with sister Frear

• I fell asleep during language study for a full 45 minutes  found this picture 2 days later during device audit LOL

• Cute little selfie with Echo!!!

• Dinner at the Furness' (May and Chad) love them so much!

• Easter devotional with the sistaaahs

• Chinese hats with braids ;)

• Hotpot with Alice, Sunny and Winnie

• Me and my Porsche .... peek how much cash I got 

薛姐妹

XUE JIEMEI

SISTER SY