June 29, 2015: I am my great-grandfather's great-granddaughter

So, to explain the subject of this email... My great-grandpa Hendricks loved his chocolate. A lot. and I love chocolate too. I didn't realize how much until I came to Hong Kong and good chocolate is SUPER CHEAP. About a month ago, Sister Jackson and I decided that we would do a companionship sacrifice of chocolate for the month of June to show the Lord we are willing to sacrifice the things we love to see more miracles. And we have literally not seen the end of the miracles because of it! (I mean, she left like two weeks ago, but I'm still seeing miracles here so I assume she's in a similar situation in her new area.) But as I'm nearing the end of the month and the day when I can eat chocolate again grows closer, I realize that I am so much like my great-grandpa Hendricks. Chocolate is more important to me than any other food group. (Yes, chocolate is a food group.) I'm so proud to be out on a mission right now serving the Lord, and so grateful to have the opportunity to sacrifice my time, because it's not really a sacrifice at all. It's a blessing. I feel like chocolate is the same way.

...but I'm really looking forward to Wednesday. I have several chocolate bars just sitting in the freezer that members gave to us because they know how much Sister Tu'avao and I love chocolate. Also we bought chocolate chunk brownie mix and andes mints to make to break my chocolate fast. mmmmmm.

Grace is still doing well. I feel like every time we meet with her she gets closer to wanting to come to church. Turns out her real fear is that she just doesn't like people to ask her questions about herself, or shake anyone's hands. If that's her only concern, getting her to church will be a piece of cake. She's doing really, really well with her scripture reading and we are so proud of her progress.

Mr. Chan is doing alright as well. The first time we met him last week he literally just went off about his problems for an hour (apparently, according to the elders who taught him before, that is normal). But the second time we saw him, he was really focused and doing well. He loves loves LOVES meeting with us. Sunday we had a new investigator come to church, and Mr. Chan went up to him and was like "you need to listen to what these missionaries have to say. Their message is so good! It will help you so much and you will just change your whole life!" I have to laugh that he did that. The new guy was a little freaked out, but it's all good. Mr. Chan does have a desire to change his life. He expressed how badly he wants to be baptized- the only thing he struggles with now is tithing. We're going to see him tonight and talk about how God asks us to "fear not". I think he'll have a baptismal date pretty soon. We just need to make it up this mountain of helping him sort out his priorities. He's doing well though.

We met with several new investigators this week, one of which is named Martin. he's a 20 year old college student who is studying physics and has a desire to know if God is real. We had a pretty good lesson with him and I think that he'll probably progress pretty well.

We met with Sam, who was taught by the elders for about 5 months before turning him over to us. I was a little worried at first because he is pretty quiet and we were worried the lesson would be awkward (I mean, sister missionaries teaching a 17 year old kid? kinda awkward.) but Sister Tu'avao and her hilarious personality helped him open right up. His fellowshipper was amazing and he says he wants to work harder at coming back to church. I think he'll progress pretty well as well.

Met with a less active named Joe who is awesome. Our ward mission leader fellowshipped for us and it was such a good lesson. We taught Faith in Jesus Christ from Preach My Gospel and got a really good discussion going. The spirit in that lesson was really strong and I'm excited to keep meeting with him. He knows he needs to come back, so if we can get him to feel comfortable meeting with us, I think things will go well as well.

Pon Ka Man (LA) is also doing well. We had a fellowshipper at her lesson and it was AWESOME. The last couple times we haven't been able to find anyone to help us. But this time was awesome. We read and discussed Alma 32 and that's really what she needed to hear. I think she's doing very well. She needs to come to church more and even knows it. Her dad was baptized (we're not sure into what church) in Canada a little while ago and he told her she needs to come back to church, so she's willing to start that process.

We finally met with Dave, a guy the elders called "golden" but lost track of for a few months. He is SOLID. He knows he needs to be baptized. it's just getting him to quit smoking first. We were on splits when Sister Tu'avao and a few members taught him, so I'm not totally sure how it went but from what she said it went well.

While on said splits, I taught our new investigator, Mr. Fung. he had a stroke a few years ago that left him in pretty bad shape, but now his body has healed almost perfectly. He said the trials in his life have made him wonder about God, so when the elders met him a few weeks ago he was really prepared to hear the gospel. He came to the last hour of church and I taught him on splits. He has some pretty good potential to be progressing quickly.

We also met with a former investigator named Mr. Kwok at his home. It was such a blessing to be able to visit him in his home. Our fellowshipper was female (that's all that was available to help us at that time) so that was a little weird, but the man has a genuine interest to learn the gospel. there's only one problem- he's an eternigator. But it's been a few years since missionaries have visited him, so we thought we'd give it a try and just see how he is.

It's been quite the adventure trying to call all the elders' investigators, formers, etc. We've been so so so busy this week that we've hardly had time for finding, but it's okay. We're meeting new friends and helping lots of people come unto Christ. I'm so grateful for this new challenge- and a challenge it is. But it's okay. The area is blossoming and we're finding new investigators through all sorts of strange ways. I love it! The work here is amazing!! Thanks for all the love and support! love you all!

-Sister Crook
Kuk Jimuih

P.S. I got the package! Thank you so much. I love love love this camera. It's so... fongbihn. umm..... convenient? That just sounds weird in English. (if it makes you feel better, my companion can't remember how to speak hardly any Tongan, so when she goes home she'll struggle pretty bad..hahaha.) Do my pictures this week look any better?

(For all those who wrote letters to Sister Crook for her 1-year): But really, thank you most for the letters. I spent my prep time in the morning and evenings for several days reading those letters. I truly am so blessed to have so many people (some of which I don't really even know) that love and care about me, and that support missionary work. I am so blessed! I absolutely loved those letters from everyone! The funniest thing that I have seen though is the fact that everyone thinks I speak Mandarin Chinese.....

I don't. Haha.

I can understand a little, especially gospel terms since they're similar. But I actually don't speak the Chinese that all the American people think I speak. SO it's funny to read all those letters with "Ni hao ma!" Because that's Mandarin, not Cantonese. (; but I love it anyways! (I mean come on, I had to google Cantonese when I got my call...haha.) So there's no judgement!


Photos: My companion made me Tongan pancakes for breakfast. MMM. Also, when the 24th floor stinks so bad that you have to smell the Book of Mormon to be able to breathe.

June 22, 2015: malo e lelei

It's been a crazy week. We started last Monday out by getting ourselves lost in Mong Kok and Kowloon City trying to find California Pizza Kitchen. but we found it at last and I ATE AMERICAN FOOD. Wow, I miss true American food. It was SO GOOD. expensive. but so good and 100% worth every second. On the way home I tripped on the bus and fell onto a seat, but not without hitting my face on the chair in front of my first. My chin started to bleed and I have a pretty awesome goose egg on the bottom of my chin now. Still there. one week later. OH well. The rest of me is fine, so it's all good.

Tuesday we found out Sister Jackson would be leaving and I am pretty sure I've cried every night since. We got along so well and I was so so so sad to see her leave. We were just starting to really see some incredible miracles. Last week we found out the elders would be closing West Point, so it's just a sister companionship here. I was seriously so freaked out. I've only been serving here like... 6 weeks. Which seems normal to the rest of the world. but my area is about a bajillion times bigger than my first two areas with more people and way more complicated roads, since I'm on Hong Kong Island and it's insanely busy. So I just have pretty much had a crazy mental breakdown like every day. But it's okay. I'm fine. Just stressed. Keep us in your prayers! (: I was so nervous because I still don't feel like I know the area or these investigators. But when I talked with Sister Cochran about it, she just reminded me of something I knew but have forgotten in the craziness of this week- that the Lord put me here for a reason. He must trust me, since I've only been here a few short weeks and am with a new companion. He must trust me. It's something I need to keep constantly telling myself because sometimes I have a hard time even trusting myself. But the Lord has a plan for this area, and I'm a part of it, so I'm going to keep working hard and loving these people.

The elders turned over Mr. Chan to us this week. He is really pretty much unfazed by the fact that we're teaching him rather than the elders. He thinks we're great. I think he's great too, actually. The elders have done an amazing job to this point teaching him. He very clearly knows what he needs to do and understands that the gospel can bless his life. He has some personal money problems that we're hoping the members can help him resolve because I think when he does, he'll start progressing more rapidly. So far he's doing really well. He still reads scriptures and knows they're the word of God. He prays and comes to church regularly and though we've only taught him once by ourselves (without elders) so far, I think he's doing well. We are going to give him a new baptismal date this week. I know he can make it.

Grace is doing well. We were worried she would take the news of Sister Jackson leaving pretty hard, but she did just fine. She misses her but will meet Sister Tu'avao tonight and I know she will be in good hands. She'll love Sister Tu'avao.

We met with Mak Mei Fong this week, a recently reactivated member. She's been reactivated before and went less active pretty quick, so we're going to try to work closely with the ward to ensure that she stays active this time. She's doing alright, nothing too special or significant to point out.

We have a new investigator this week, Sophie. The Causeway Bay elders found her when she walked into the Wan Chai chapel. Sophie met with missionaries a few years ago but they went home and she moved to America- but she stayed in contact with one of them. When she as having a really hard day, that elder (or returned missionary, I guess) invited her to come find us. SO she did. She has made a lot of mistakes in her past that she regrets and feels really guilty about, and wants a new start. We promised her that she can have that new start through the gospel of Jesus Christ. She's agreed to be baptized, and we'll give her a date when we see her tomorrow. She doesn't know what to think of the idea of a new start- but she's pretty excited to learn how that happens. We're so grateful for this wonderful miracle we've seen!

Pon Ka Man (LA) came to CHURCH! Biggest miracle ever. She hasn't been to church in ages. But I guess Sister Tu'avao's persistence is good, because she showed up early to church on Sunday and came to sacrament. What a miracle.

We have another new investigator, Elizabeth. She has a lot of trials from her life that she isn't sure how to overcome, so we talked about Christ and promised her that as she continues to meet with us and keep her commitments, she'll do well. The only problem is despite the fact that we've told her several times, she hasn't come to our ward yet. She's been to Causeway Bay twice and Chai Wan once. We're going to have to help her understand that West Point is where she's supposed to be, and that's where the Lord wants her too.

Met with Kacey (RCLA) and she's...okay. She knows she's not being  very good example for her family, and it's something she wants to change. She just doesn't have the motivation to do so. We are going to keep working with her to help her feel that motivation to change. We also met with a less active that I thought was a myth (not really, I've just only ever heard of her but never seen her) named Sister Cheng. She told us she's ready to start coming back to church this coming week so I think it'll be good. She seems to have pretty good potential, so we'll just have to wait and see.

I love you all and am so grateful for your prayers and support. You're truly the best. (:

-Kuk Jimuih
Sister Crook


PS my companion is Tongan. Don't be jealous or anything... malo e lelei means hello in Tongan.

PPS: pictures are of me and Sister Tu'avao (new comp) and Sister Jackson and I with the elders and Mr. Chan, the investigator they turned over to us.

June 15, 2015: Reflections

It's been an interesting week, full of miracles and stress.

Last Monday we really tried to faithen our finding at a park in Admiralty, and it worked. I had the thought to head up a certain direction and on our way there, we ran into a Chinese girl from America who was beyond impressed by our Chinese. It resulted in a lesson and giving her a copy of the Book of Mormon before she heads back to the states. It was a tiny miracle- just helping another person get a copy of the Book of Mormon, but it was awesome. It really boosted our faith and was a great way to start the week.

We saw Grace three times this week. The first time, we saw her with a member and they did not hit it off well. Grace is kind of quick to judge others' opinions of her (she's kind of paranoid about them, actually) and immediately thinks that all the members are out to get her. Our lesson was kind of a disaster, because Grace just totally shut down. So we made plans for another member to help us the second time we saw her, but that member couldn't find us in the chapel (not sure how that happened) and it ended up just being us. But we did splits on Sunday at Wan Chai right before the My Conversion Fireside and the member from the first time was my companion. I'm not sure what happened, but Grace really, really opened up to her and we had an amazing lesson reading 1 Nephi 5 together. Grace enjoys reading the scriptures with us and really understands them. Now that that's out of the way, our next goal is to work on getting her to church with us. She's still not too keen on that idea.

We taught Ding Ding this week and she's doing awesome! She shared her testimony at the My Conversion Fireside and was awesome. She's going to accomplish her goal of coming to all of church for an entire month straight this coming Sunday, so we're keeping her in our prayers. She's almost ready for a temple recommend as well. We're so proud of her and the progress she's making!

WE also have some new investigators- Linda and Terry! Linda is a mom from Mainland somewhere and Terry is her 8 year old son. They came to church yesterday and last week and we've taught them twice. Terry isn't so much interested in the gospel as his mom is, but we'll work on it. We're planning to make some plans to teach him the lessons in a way that's entertaining to him and enjoyable. I did that a TON in Tsing Yi with Cammy, so I'm grateful for that experience that can help us out now. Linda is progressing very well and is so accepting of everything. She's so prepared!

With transfers coming up we're super stressed. We have some changes happening in the area that I can't tell anyone about till next week (just in case by some weird reason it gets to other missionaries before tomorrow) but we're prepared. We have spent a lot of time together and on our own on our knees pleading with our Father in Heaven to take these burdens from us, and He has. I can testify that I know with all my heart that the Savior loves us and wants to take our burdens from us- all we have to do is ask. It's amazing. I'd like to invite you all to go out and invite somebody (friend, family member, neighbor, etc) to learn about the healing and enabling power of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. It's truly amazing.

While on exchanges this week I learned about humility and the importance of talking to everyone, even if they're not Chinese. (For those of you who don't know, I have a completely rational fear of white people. They're TERRIFYING.) We met an amazing Hindu girl named Jayoti and I can't even begin to tell the world how prepared she is to hear the gospel. She's from India, so the whole lesson was in English. But it was fun. She's so cute. We're going to turn her over this week to the international elders.

It's been a fun week and a few days of reflecting as I was given my release date today. I can't believe one year ago this coming week I went into the MTC. It feels like an entirely different world, and I know I'm an entirely different person in so many ways. I am so blessed for all the people that I've been able to spend time with here. They've truly changed my life in so many ways. I love my area and my companion and am just truly so blessed and grateful for being able to serve the Lord in Hong Kong! It's the best mission ever. Don't argue with me about that. (;

Love you all. thanks for the support! (:

-Kuk Jimuih

PS We're hitting up California Pizza Kitchen for lunch today after emails. In case you were wondering, California Pizza Kitchen does indeed exist in Hong Kong China. I LOVE AMERICAN FOOD.

P.S. So. Just for a heads up. I am doing this personal sanctification thing and trying to be more focused in my missionary work, especially now that I'm on the downhill of the last 6 months. I really want to give the Lord my everything- heart, might, mind, and strength. I will still email you weekly but probably won't chat back and forth with you unless I'm dying or something. So don't be freaked out. so if you have anything that needs an answer, please send it in its own email and I'll respond- just won't be around to chat. If that makes sense, awesome. thanks for supporting me in doing this. (: love you!

*No photos this week :(

June 8, 2015: The Drought

Grace is actually doing really well. She does have some pretty serious social anxieties so we're being very careful with how we teach and are working to bring a member into the picture. When she was taught before (about three years ago) they used members her own age and it didn't work out too well. We've got a couple of older sisters in mind and pray that Grace will be accepting of them joining in on our visits. We saw her twice this week. The first time we got her into the Book of Mormon by helping read 1 Nephi with her. She has a very clear understanding of the scriptures. She doesn't really like reading, but if we call her every few days and follow up on her reading she will do it. We pray that as she begins to feel the spirit she'll be willing to read more on her own. The second time we saw her we prepared to share the beginning of lesson two. She got a little sidetracked because she's really stressed about finding a job, but we ended up sharing about how God loves us, and she is His daughter. She really enjoyed that message and you could see a change in her countenance. Then we tied it into the beginning of the plan of salvation and will finish that this week. I personally think she's doing well. She's not ready to commit to church yet because she's really afraid the members will remember her from before, so we're slowly working through that to help her have the faith and courage to come to church. She's come really far from our first meeting and we're grateful to be able to help her. She tells us she loves learning about God and the gospel and the Book of Mormon, so I think she'll continue to progress okay.

We saw Ding Ding (RC) and she is also doing really well! She's come two weeks in a row to church for all three hours, and if she comes for two more the bishop will meet with her about getting a temple recommend. She's doing really well to  keep her commitments and the ward is even noticing a change in her. Our ward correlator especially is really proud of the progress she's making. She will share her testimony at the My Conversion Fireside this coming Sunday, and she's really excited.

We met with Sister Poon this week (LA). She's really struggling reading scriptures because she thinks she's too busy. We spent a whole lesson teaching how we can make our scripture study more meaningful, and I think it went well. She's committed to read more scriptures every day.

We met with Kasey this week as well (RC/LA). We walked out of our lesson feeling like she's made tremendous improvement. We read 3 Nephi 18 with her and discussed the sacrament and she really understood the scriptures. She did say that she struggles reading every day but does pray. She promised she'd come to church because she's quit her job, but she didn't come on Sunday. We know we definitely need to start meeting with her more often and pray that we can help her find the faith to come to church.

The elders taught an amazing, super spiritual lesson at scripture class- about the Isaiah chapters. All of those who attended walked away spiritually uplifted and more understanding of the Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon. I am never ceased to be amazed at how well Elders Copley and Tseng teach. They do such a good job at relating everything to real life, and I am so grateful for their example. I definitely want to be more meaningful in my teaching and apply it to my investigators' lives, and I think besides studying and practicing, it'll be awesome to continue to observe them teach every few weeks. I learn something new every time.

We taught a really good lesson at the Welcome Center to a 15 year old kid named Justin. He's Filipino, so it was fun to experience that work again. He brought up a lot of concerns that I wouldn't really know how to answer (or even try!) unless I had served in the International zone, so I am so grateful. By the end he seemed more like he just wanted to convert us to his religion, but he took a ton of materials and was going to compare it all to the Bible. He's willing to meet again as soon as we give him a call. I think he has good potential, if he'll open his heart to the Book of Mormon.

Saturday we took an adventure our to Peng Chau and tried some weekend finding. I'd never been before, but I guess compared to last time there were more people out. We actually taught a man in the stairway of his home after knocking on his door. He was the nicest man, though no interest really because he was a Jehovah's Witness minister or something similar to it. He taught us about their beliefs and we shared about ours, and it was a really nice discussion. I really appreciate those kinds of people. I love when they're willing to be nice and share and be willing to listen, even if they're not interested. We taught a couple that we're pretty sure are a family. They were both so nice and open and so willing to listen, though the whole idea of eternal families was kind of foreign to them. They're from Sham Shui Po so we'll be doing a turnover here soon! We also met with a less active who has some weird ideas about how she's old, so therefore she doesn't have to keep the commandments. She's kind of lonely and hasn't been to church in a long time so we try to visit her if we go all the way out there. She was happy to see us, but no commitment. We'll keep praying for her heart to be softened unto understanding.

Zone training this month was amazing. One of our Zone Leaders shared something with us in a discussion. He said that there are basically three emotions that motivate one to do something- fear, duty, and love. As I thought back on the last year of my mission I can see a time where I would do things out of fear- fear that my trainer would be mad, or that I would disappoint my family, or the mission president, or my companions, or whatever. And then I can see a shift to where I started to serve out of duty- knowing my calling, understanding the importance of it, and knowing that I am doing what the Lord wants me to do.  And more recently, I can see a shift to love. I am serving more and more out of true, pure love for the people of Hong Kong than I am of anything else. Sure, there are times when the lesser two feelings take over, but I am coming more and more close to the pure love of Christ every day. I am so truly grateful to be able to serve here. It's such a blessing, and my companion and I comment every day on what a miracle it is that we love in Hong Kong, China and are doing missionary work. It truly is a miracle. Thank you for your prayers for us.

Funnies that happened this week:

-We saw some real jellyfish just chilling in the ocean. So that was fun. In case you're wondering, they're actually really ugly. Haha. Kinda nasty looking, really. Don't know why anybody would want to swim with those.
-We had a really long finding day and had just gotten done talking with a man who told us God was just made up because people need something to blame their problems on. We said hi to this man who proceeded to tell us that he thinks the two of us are wicked people. But then he said "But Jesus. Jesus was a superstar." You're right, crazy man. That he was. the funniest part was that this guy was anciently old and said that in English. Haha. Old people that speak English here are so funny.
-While on Peng Chau (it's a tiny island almost clear up by the airport- about 45 minutes boat ride from Central, HK Island) we stopped to talk with three really old people in front of their houses. (out there there are real houses! I mean, more real than the skyscrapers everywhere else). They were just chilling on their chairs and the old man commented on my mosquito bites, and then all three of them went off about how I could fix them. Then the old man leaps off his chair and comes out with this sketchy looking Chinese medicine and tells me to put it on. So after reading the ingredients (wintergreen, lavender, some other weird natural junk) I rub it all over my arms and legs and went about the rest of the day smelling like old chinese people. It was fun. There was one old lady who was 89 or something, and had these giant sunglasses sliding off her face with the sticker still on the lens. SO funny.
-Sister Chun (she's like my mom here. literally. she adores us and does everything for us. so great.) invited us to the church to discuss less actives, and ended up buying us a GIANT pizza. I'll attach a picture to show the size, compared to a Chinese Book of Mormon (which by the way is bigger than the English one by about an inch on both sides.)

Okay, so the drought. Basically we needed to change our water filters. All three of them. So I taught cute green Sister Escher how to change them, and then we find out the whole filter is totally moldy. So we tore the thing to pieces and cleaned it really well. But for whatever reason it's not filtering water very fast, so we have to run down across the street to the church if we want water that's clean. No clean water for the West Point apartment for a few days. But it's all good. Just makes me glad to live in Good ole AMERICA.

June 1, 2015: Please Bless the Missionaries

It's been a really wonderful week (as it always is!) and I'm just always so happy to be serving in Hong Kong. This week has been pretty hot, so that's always hard, but I feel like the Lord is always strengthening us and helping us to endure the changing weather.  What a blessing.

The ward members this week have prayed for us several times. "Please bless the missionaries to speak better Cantonese." and "Please bless the missionaries to be able to endure the heat." I think it's adorable. It's been over 30 degrees all week (about 90 degrees in America) but the humidity has been SUPER high and it's been INSANELY hot. everything is always wet. But its raining a bit today s that's nice.

Wednesday evening we had the opportunity to meet with a member for dinner and to share a message to practice our teaching. Neither of us really new her very well and were more than happy to have the chance to get to know her. When we got there, it was just her and her daughter that were there, and it gave us such a wonderful opportunity to build a relationship with her. It's so hard when the members don't trust you, so we're been working really hard and praying that the Lord will continually bless this ward that we serve in. Our lesson went awesome and she helped us learn a lot. I always love teaching people who are returned missionaries from other missions because they always have such different insights and things to help with how we can improve. Also she cooked really good food- real Caesar salad and salmon and bell pepper spaghetti. SO GOOD.

Thursday we had the chance to see Sister Mak (LA) again. We've seen her almost every week since I've been here in West Point. She understands the doctrine quite clearly, but she just has a hard time applying it to herself. If you have any suggestions on ways that we could help her understand how to apply the gospel principles to herself, that'd be awesome. But we understand that you're super busy, so no worries if not. We have been really focusing on teaching really simply and clearly and our last lesson with her about sincere prayer was really good. We walked out of there feeling like it helped her understand her relationship with Heavenly Father better. We've really been focusing on spirit focused lessons with her and I think she's progressing- it's just slow. She did come to church though, which is good. She comes pretty regularly- every other week. This coming week we plan to talk with the ward council about what we can do to be helping her prepare for reactivation.

Our scripture class is still a wonderful success. I am never ceased to be amazed at the comments that our recent converts and less actives bring up when we study the scriptures together. It's fun to learn from each other and help each other build our testimonies. It also gives us missionaries a wonderful opportunity to practice teaching straight from the scriptures, as we are assigned to teach once every three weeks.

Friday was pretty busy. We met with Sister Chu (LA) and it went well. She also has a marvelous understanding of the doctrine and a huge desire to change...just no motivation. Her son has a weird sleep schedule and she's always so exhausted. We had a really good lesson focused on family prayer and the example she needs to set for her children, and she very clearly understands what she needs to do- just lacks the motivation to do it. Her son comes with her to the lessons and is pretty distracting, so we're going to have to try to find ways to keep him entertained. This week he ended up playing on the piano for several minutes straight and poor Sister Chu just doesn't really know what to do with him. it definitely helps when we can get a member with us- Sister Chu just thought we were meeting at 3 rather than 2 when the member showed up (even though we confirmed). We're working on finding some people to help us help her out.

Friday we also saw Grace. She is our newish investigator and has a really, really hard time focusing in the lesson. We didn't have a member the first couple of times meeting with her because she has some social anxieties, but that lesson just showed we definitely need to have someone with us. Grace seems to have a little ADD to me, so we are going to find her a steady fellowship that can help us control the lesson in a loving way. She had a really clear understanding of what we taught last time though, so that was good.

Friday after English class we saw Vicky (RC). I wasn't there last time, but I guess she told the sisters that she doesn't feel confident in her testimony of Joseph Smith, so they taught the restoration last time, and this time we focused on temples. She really wants to go to the temple but doesn't feel prepared yet, so we shared the story from last conference about the 10 virgins and how everything we do in the church helps add oil to our lamps. She set a goal to make it to the temple in the next six months. She promised she would come to church too, but she didn't. I feel like she also has a motivation problem, so we're going to continue to support her and help her build her testimony. I feel like as she builds her faith and testimony by doing little things, she'll be able to better understand what that means for her in the long run.

Friday I also got to take a picture with the infamous "Lai Yi" who is this adorable old lady who is an English junkie and literally goes to almost all the English classes in Hong Kong. Her English is AWESOME and she says the funniest prayers. "Dear Heavenly father. I am Chinese, and my English is not very good, but we are grateful to be here to learn English." and then more random stuff about how she's Chinese and please forgive her English. it's hilarious and adorable. So I'm attaching a pic with her.

Saturday we met with Nancy (and it truly was the most awful 30 minutes of my whole life. Almost. We met her at a park in Admiralty (the ward asked us not to meet with her alone at the church for safety reasons) and she got upset when we wouldn't let her go eat lunch first. We sat down on a bench and retaught the importance of the Book of Mormon and where it came from, and she went off about her thoughts about Christ. She believes a lot of really crazy stuff and I won't repeat it because it's not respectful in the least. We told her if she wanted to see us again she has to read the Book of Mormon. Start to finish. She was upset about that too, but we really laid it down. She swore several times in the lesson and the spirit just truly wasn't there. We're grateful to be free of that for now. If she has a mighty change of heart, somebody can teach her someday but I feel like she has no interest or true desire right now, so it's all good. We gave her the opportunity to hear the gospel and she rejected it, so it's okay. She'll have another chance someday.

We met a really amazing lady from Mainland while doing the Welcome Center on Saturday. She told us "I am amazed. My eyes have been opened- I had no idea there was more than the Bible!" She subscribed to the email program within a few hours and she is set to head back to mainland with two copies of the Book of Mormon and several pamphlets. She didn't give us a phone number but said she would go to church on Sunday. We don't know if she did or not, but it was a miracle to even meet her. We even had a member present while we taught her to help us translate, because she doesn't know hardly any Cantonese. members are so great.

It's always amazing to look back at how much as happened each week. I'm so grateful to be serving here! It's such a wonderful experience. I love Hong Kong! and I love you all. Happy June! (:

-Kuk Jimuih

P.S.
(About the weather): I can't imagine what no humidity feels like. because you say 90 degrees and I want to cry because you walk outside and almost can't breathe, the air is so hot and sticky.  The buildings have AC, but it takes a while to turn on (like in the chapel) but most of the day we're outside. it's expensive so we don't run the AC in our apartment unless it's nighttime, otherwise sleeping is impossible. we're outside for several hours every day.  You're just wet and hot all the time. yeah, the natives feel hot too and they stink worse since they don't believe in deodorant. haven't had to change clothes yet,  yeah, the rain helps a TON but it has to rain a bunch to let it cool down. it's cooler out here in central than it is in Kennedy town. so that's nice.

My companion and I are sacrificing eating chocolate for a month so the Lord will bless us with more investigators since all of ours disappeared when I got here. so no chocolate for a long time. but it'll be okay.

(About Aunt Tam's new puppy):  I want a puppy. Every time we walk past the pet stores here Sister Jackson and I just look at each other and say "we should get a puppy." but nothing ever comes of it. Someday, la. someday.

(Random conversation): Everything here happens so insanely fast that the days just fly by. I can't believe it's June. I'm trying not to think about it. I remember feeling like March would never end, and then April and may just flew by because that's what happens in a new area. Sorry I don't have more pictures this week, but we've been pretty busy and to be honest, I don't look very good in any pictures we take these days because my hair is a mess and my makeup is always melting. I've given up trying to look good. Maybe someday in the future, but not for now.