Macau August 4, 2015

Our mission will be a mix of Macau and Hong Kong for the time remaining.  With a change in the way Macau issues work visas, we have to exit the country periodically.  So, part of our assignment with be in Hong Kong and the other in Macau.  It certainly offers a variety...we will enjoy both!!

During the past month we had an old mission president (President and Sister Hawks) return home and a new one (President and Sister Lam) come.  We do not know where Our Heavely Father and the Church find these wonderful couples to come and direct 150 missionariies for 3 years.  It is hard work 7 days a week form 6:30AM to 11:00PM at night. (And sometimes they spend the night in the ER with a sick missionary, as the Lam's did the first few days they were here.) These men and their wives are a great blessing to these wonderful young people--the missionaries mature right before your eyes. The mission president's job goes far beyond the missionaries but they are his prime focus.

Holbrook's, Pack's, Lam's and Hawks

President Lam is a 20 year covert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Prior to coming on his mission he was a physcian in southern California.  He has had 2 of his sons serve in this same mission.  Both he and Sister Lam lived in Hong Kong before they went off to university in the USA and stayed.

First Day with President and Sister Lam

We have great young men and young women in Macau as missionaries.  We are the furtherest distance from the Mission Office.  Macau is a different part of China and acts as independent country Our zone has Mandarin speaking missionaries (mainly for the mainlander investigators), Cantonese speaking missionaries (for the Chinese in Macau), and Tagalog speaking missionaries (for the Philippino people). All speak or are learning English. Zone meetings are in English. Many of our missionaries are from Great Britain, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada since their visas let them stay longer in Macau. We also have a good share of American Born Chinese who also can stay longer. We love to see the missionaries learning a new language, and wish that our language skills were growing as fast as theirs. These young men and women are mature far beyond their years.  It is a pleasure working with them. We get quite attached to them and miss them when they are transferred. So we celebrate with ice cream at Dairy Queen. Yes, there is a Dairy Queen in Macau, complete with upside-down Blizzards, banana splits and Dilly Bars.

Macau Zone August 2015

This beautiful lady in the center (Sister Mui) is the person who has been a member the longest in Macau.  She was baptized in 1978.  The church seriously opened Macau in the 1976 timeframe for missionary work. She's a stalwart for the branch.

Sister Mui --a Church member longer than anyone in Macau--1978,

We have been blessed to have this mission experience.  It is hard to believe that we have been married for 44 years this month.  Nevertheless, Joy and I have learned new things about each other as we spend 24X7 together.  I love her more each day.  It is heart-warming to serve others and share our love for Our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We have met some truly amazing people.

Each day we recognize the great bounties we have been blessed with.  May I testify to you that I know God lives and He loves us.  I am so grateful for the Atonement and the sacrifice of Jesus Chirst on my behalf.  I feel unworthy of his the blessings I have recieved.

Hong Kong Temple at Night