Sister BriAnna Crook in Hong Kong: September 29, 2014: Safe Amongst Political Unrest in Hong Kong

Wow. Can I say what a crazy week here in Hong Kong! No worries, dear friends and families, I am totally and completely safe. I guess there's been some kind of protest going on in Central, but it truly is nothing to be concerned about. The Lord is protecting His missionaries. Please don't be worried or email the mission president...he totally hates that. I promise if there was something to be concerned about he'd email you! It's no different than the typhoons- we're just instructed to stay away from the areas where the protests happen and it's no problem. I'm very safe on my little island, so no worries. (:

Last Monday was fun. We took a trip to Kwun Tong (the other side of the country) to get my real Hong Kong ID card. it's legit- I'm a citizen of Hong Kong! (temporarily, anyways...) But it's wonderful. I love it and China is THE BOMB. I ran into Sister Anderson and her trainer (served in the MTC with her) and she seems to be doing wonderfully. It's good to know that I'm really not alone in this struggle! That evening we had the opportunity to teach Lau Siu Je- a lady we met on the street a couple of weeks ago. She's really progressing. And her daughter is freaking adorable. Fat Chinese babies are just adorable. Her name is Ching Ching and I'll have to see if I can get a picture this week. Lau SJ is moving to Tung Chung (long story) so I may get to see her once more before we turn her over and have the Elders there teach her.

Tuesday was pretty good. We had a wild goose chase to meet with a less active member, Tung Mui. She's super cute. I met her my first week here and she's slowly warming up to me. She has pretty bad anxiety and doesn't like new people, but I think she's starting to be okay with the fact that I'm here...hahaha. Love her though. She told us Tuesday that she can feel her faith coming back. I'm so proud of her and her willingness to learn- even though it means we have to teach all the missionary lessons again. She's such a blessing to the ward.

Wednesday was also good. I guess every day is pretty good, anyways. I went on an exchange with the Sham Shui Po sisters- meaning I served in the area where the temple is. It was...special. I served with Sister Probst (leaving this next move) and Sister Chan, my first MTC companion! What a blessing. We started out teaching a less active sister and her babies are so cute. then we had dinner and met a turnover lesson from the TST sisters at the MTR (train/subway) station. She was.... interesting. We think she's slightly schizophrenic. She'd zone out sometimes and start whispering to herself and we literally had to yell at her to get her to wake up from her trance. We taught her, gave her a church tour, and then went to English class with her. Then we sent her on her way- only to find out when we were on our way home that she had no money to take the MTR. So we walked her home...only she couldn't remember where she lived. So we went on this crazy adventure trying to help her get home. Eventually she made it and we only made it home a few minutes late, so that was good. My feet hurt super bad the next day and I literally had to tear my contacts off my eyes because the pollution up there was so bad and they were so dry... needless to say, I had to wear my glasses for a couple of days. Thank goodness for my little Island of Tsing Yi and it's clean air!!

Thursday I was still with the SSP sisters for the morning. We met with a recent convert A-may. She was so cute and made us this amazing lemon honey water. it's super easy and I'm gonna make it when I get home. Better than ice cream. After that we returned to Kwai Fong to exchange back (we did zone 24's, so the whole zone exchanged comps) and we went home and did our weekly plan, some finding, and then hit the sack. It was an exhausting 24 hours but I was glad we had that experience.

Friday we went back to Kwai Fong for interviews with President Hawks and his wife. I just love them so much. I'm not going to lie, President Hawks intimidated me. Everyone said how scary he was about being obedient (not that I was worried about that one, but still) and how strict he was. Nope. I mean, yeah, he is, but I love him. He's wonderful. And Sister Hawks is like a mom to us all. We're all so appreciative of her and her love for all of us. After that, we taught A-Ting, our recent convert, about patriarchal blessings and the temple. Then we taught English class which was a BLAST (probably because I planned it...just kidding.) and then we taught Kelly. It came out that she hadn't talked to her parents yet about her baptism...and that they weren't okay with it. They don't want her going to church to interfere with her schoolwork- very typical of Hong Kong yahn. (people). We're doing our very best to keep working with her, but I don't think her parents will let her get baptized this coming Sunday like was planned... we'll just keep praying and hope that all goes well.

Saturday we taught Lau Siu Je again. it was so great. Her prayer at the end of the lesson was so sincere and she said "Thank you for letting me and Ching Ching meet these missionaries and Sister Lau [our fellowshipper]. God, help me learn about your...umm...stuff." It was cute. She has such a desire to learn. Also, Sister Lau (Lau Lee, the wife of our coordinator) made me a cute journal from Chinese-y things and it's adorable. I'll have to take a picture next week since I forgot. And she gave us egg tarts. SO good. love her. She is literally like, my mother here in Tsing Yi. If we needed anything she'd be happy to help us out. So great.

Sunday was emotional. Kelly didn't come to church- probably because her parents said no. but still. It was so sad to see her not be able to come. She has such a desire to be baptized. We're going to try to work with her parents but we don't know how well that'll go... but Cammie, someone Sister Lubeck and her temp companion Wednesday met! (Met on Wednesday? Hmm... Chinese grammar... I apologize.) She and her two kids came to English class and then they came to church! and they're coming to our activity on Thursday too! So cute. She's so nice, very quiet, and seems to want to learn more. Her kids are Ivan and Natalie, ages 5 and 7. They're adorable. I love Chinese kids! Then we taught them a lesson after church.

Today, today! GAH. So crazy. So there are these protests going on, and at first they told us to avoid Central in our P-day activities. No big deal, since we weren't going that direction. Then they said don't go out at all. Then they said nevermind, they've died down so you're good, just avoid those areas. So we changed our plans no joke, four times. SO crazy. Anyways, we ended up going out to Lantau Island (where the airport is, just west of where I live, 20 minutes by train) and took an hour long very scenic bus ride up to the big Buddha statue! It was so cool. I'm fascinated by the culture here and can't wait to have the opportunity to learn more. I attached a picture of a beach that we drove past. It was weird, because Lantau Island is SO much different than the rest of Hong Kong- it looks a lot like Costa Rica, actually. really weird. but very pretty and I was really happy to go. We climbed up like 250 stairs to get up to Buddha and it was just awesome.

Missionary work is the DANG hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life. Days like Sunday make you just want to quit, because nobody is listening, or when they want to they're not able to. You experience so many different religions and cultures and it's hard to remember how to not offend each type of person. And the language kills. It's so hard. Everybody says my Chinese is good, but I still don't know anything. but that's okay. The Lord will protect me and help me. I know it. I love this opportunity and I literally love these people with all my heart. I know I'll come back here someday, because I just love them so much. I love you all too! Thank you for your support. (:

Love,

曲姊妹 (look! I learned how to write my name this week! YAY!)

Kuk Jimuih

Love you!

P.S.Before I forget, foot long centipedes are a thing. Just inform the family that they exist. My companion saw one on the exchange on Wednesday... I'm lucky to have not seen one, but they're a foot long and an inch wide with like a trillion legs. So that's a thing. Sister Tidwell saw one yesterday but some guy stepped on it while Sister Tu'Avao was freaking out... so yeah. but it's real. and cockroaches that live under our table. super nasty. Once upon a time I almost beat the mission record for most mosquito bites on one leg.... 56. bah. They're going away slowly though. No disease yet. We're really good about putting on bugspray now.

P.P.S. (in response to mom's letter)

I am 100 percent safe- no worries. We were asked to stay inside this morning but as soon as it lessened they lifted the request. Don't worry about it, the mission president knows when it's okay to be out and when it's not. Just pray for these people to have peace.

I get along with Sister Lubeck pretty okay. I'm "killing her" (meaning she goes home in December at the end of my training) and we have a lot more rough moments than I did with my MTC companions... but we're working through it slowly. I love and adore Sisters Tu'Avao and Tidwell who I live with. As for Chinses/English names, a lady in my ward is named Purple. She's cute. And Sister Lubeck and I gave ourselves Chinese English names. As in if I were a Chinese person, my English name would be Cookie. But only because my last name character 曲 "kuk" is part of the word kukkeihbeng, meaning cookie. And her middle name (we were given full Chinese names) is Hiu, and she likes to paint so her name would be Hue. It's just a funny thing here. My full Chinese name is Kuk Hiu Lihng. but I don't know how to write the other two characters yet...

Wish Jaiden happy birthday for me. I was hoping to have more time to write him a letter today but things got a little crazy so it may just be an email... sorry! enjoy those fajitas... I want Mexican food so bad.

love you all!

曲姊妹