March 2, 2015 Transfers...or Not

Yep, nothing happened. Sorry ya'll. Sister Kuk (Sister Crook) is still hanging out serving the crap out of Tsing Yi! I'm still senior comp over Sister Killpack. I have to admit I was kind of sad I wasn't training (Sister Robinson is though...bahaha. her trainee is adorable) or going anywhere new (for the new experience, something different!) but it's all good because WE HAVE A BAPTISM THIS WEEK.

Remember Lan Yi? Cute little old pohpo (grandma) that we're teaching? Yep, she passed her interview with flying colors. WOO.​ She is seriously just the cutest thing and I'm so blessed to be the one who gets to teach her. She's going to be a great blessing to the ward!! They announced her baptism in church yesterday and she was so excited. Her grandsons (one of which was suspecting things but didn't actually know till yesterday) were so happy. We've been in close contact with her older grandson who's also a ward missionary, and when we called him Saturday to let him know about her interview, he was like "Wait. She passed?!" Haha. people worried about her intent because of how fast it has happened, but she's changed so much in the last two weeks. it's incredible the experiences we have! Woo.

Also, apparently Chinese New Year is still going on. We got to see a cool lion dance, and I have a video. if you want it, ask my mom or... check out my blog, probably? Last week we went up to Big Buddha again and checked out a really cool monastery and then took the cable cars down. it was so worth every second! It was so cool. Except are cabin mates didn't really like the fact that we were Christians. but oh well. It was a fun adventure for reals.

Also this week, we had the most incredible opportunity to listen to an apostle of the Lord speak to us. Wednesday at the missionary meeting, I had the privilege to play the piano! Ah. I have missed playing the piano, and it really was so wonderful to help bring the spirit to that meeting. I got to shake hands with Elder Ballard! so cool. Also got to meet the presiding bishop and joigin (meet again) the Asia area presidency and Elder Rasband. It was so cool to sit literally at Elder Ballard's feet (pianists get the front row seats) and listen to the words of a living prophet. It only strengthens my testimony that prophets are called of God! Woo. Thursday night we got to go to Wan Chi again and elder Ballard spoke with all the members in Hong Kong that could make it. As we were walking out and pushing our way through crowds and crowds of Hong Kong members, I was just totally overcome with this huge feeling that the Lord truly loves the members of the church, no matter where you are in the world. It was such a blessing.

Funny thing of the week: Sister Killpack, Robinson, and I all got to serve as a trio again, as Sister Robinson's trainee didn't make it until late, late Thursday night. So we were a trio all day Thursday, super fun!

Also funny thing about apostle meetings in Wan Chi. Obviously Elder Ballard doesn't speak Cantonese (he greeted us missionaries with the typical "ni hao" that we get... silly Elder Ballard, we say "leih hou" here... Haha. good stuff.) so when he spoke, a guy translated. So Obviously I understand English. And now I understand Cantonese. So hearing the side by side translation just killed anyone who could understand both languages, because the translation was..... iffy. And some things were translated super funny, so it was really entertaining.

Wow. I talked a lot this week. Hope everyone is doing fine and dandy. Sending my love from the humid tropics of Hong Kong! Ngoh ngoi leihdeih! (:

-Kuk Jimuih

P.S. Sister Lan Yi, soon to be member's grandson Kenny is leaving to England on a mission in a few weeks!

In reference to our new house: That is a behemoth garage. Literally. Haha. oh well, I'm sure it'll look alright when it's all done. It's looking so nice! yeah, sorry, didn't get transferred this time... almost positive I will next time. President h\Hawks really likes sisters to serve no more than three areas their mission, but two is common I guess. Haha. oh well. Almost everybody else that came with my group but me and sister Killpack is training, and I had a hard time with that for a while. What about us two isn't good enough to train this transfer? Oh well. Guess I still have lots to learn.
In reference to a photo of a random cow Sister Crook took this week: We were just up by the Big Buddha and there was a cow up there... that's it. haha. just thought it was funny that it was wandering, since we don't see many cows. like ever. it's only the second once since I've been in HK and both have been in Tung Chung by big buddha.
In reference to photos of signs declaring "no public urination": Yeah, public urination and pooping is a huge problem. Haha. we just found those two signs like, right after each other. super funny.

Because everyone has a pet cow tied to a tree right?

February 23, 2015 Happy Chinese New Year!

*Note from mom: This was the first time EVER we didn't get photos.  Maybe next week.

I'm so blessed to have the opportunity to be serving in China during Chinese New Year. It truly is the coolest experience ever. WE started off the year of the sheep with a bang! Everyone you see everywhere is always saying four character phrases, such as "Santai ginhong!" (have health) "Gung hei faat choih" (have wealth) and "Sam seung sih sihng" (something about getting all your heart's desires). It's pretty cool. People also give out these things called "red pockets" with money in them. I got quite a few from members and random strangers on the street, and all the money goes back to the general missionary fund. Who'd have thought that the random strangers on the streets are helping out the missionaries? Haha. We also got to see a lion dance. People wear this big lion costume and dance around and light off MASSIVE firecrackers in front of stores- supposed to bring luck or something for the new year.

Thursday we had the chance to clean out our house. And I mean literally. It took us like.... all day. We finished studies, ate lunch, cleaned, ate dinner, cleaned, planned, and cleaned. But now our house is beautifully sparkly clean and it's SO GREAT. Man, I never thought I'd say this, but I miss deep cleaning things! You just feel so good afterwards. (That and it's a good stress relief.) It's been pretty rainy for the last few days, and the humidity level has skyrocketed. my hair is like a lion's mane. It's great.

Sorry I don't have a ton of time today to write, or a lot of exciting things... both our investigators are doing well. Lan Yi is on track to have a baptismal interview this week! Woo.

Oh, also transfers are this week. So next week I may or may not be in Tsing Yi. So that's fun.

Yep, that's the end, folks. Thanks for the love and support!

Love Sister Crook

P.S.
(about the progress of our new house): House is looking good. I'm sure I'll be excited to come home, but right now my focus just really needs to be on the people I'm serving here... I can't tell you how much I love the people here. Chinese people are the best. Especially when they speak English. super funny. I've become really close to the members, and Cherry (recent convert) has become an awesome friend to me. I'd come back to Hong Kong just for her in a heartbeat. she's hilarious. She'll have to visit us sometime.

Oh that reminds me. Some members here may come visit us someday... apparently they have good family friends like, right outside of Boise and promised to stop by to say hi when they visit Idaho. They go every couple years or so to America to visit their daughter. so you better learn some Chinese so you can communicate! haha.​

oh I forgot. I ate chicken feet yesterday.​  Skiny. Haha. not very good. you literally slurp the skin off the bones, and that's it. super... mahfaan... umm, inconvenient? to eat. really hard to eat. yep. can't speak English anymore.​

February 16, 2015 Don't Tell Kenny!

We have a new investigator this week, and lo and behold we're teaching a pohpo. It's the best thing in the whole world. Lan Yi is a little pohpo (grandma) that has been exposed to the church for many, many years. Her daughter went to school in Taiwan and met the gospel over there and came home already having been baptized. Her daughter died some years ago, but that daughter left behind two sons- both of which are active members. One is preparing to leave on a mission in March. Lan Yi has many, many friends in the Tsing Yi ward and is a regular at the weekly gospel class. A member came up to us last week at church and said Lan Yi said she wants to be baptized. The best part is Lan Yi wants to get baptized before her grandson Kenny goes on a mission........on March 12th. WAH. Our entire first lesson was fun, and she stressed "Don't tell Kenny! I want to surprise him!!" What a cute little grandma. I'm so excited to have the opportunity to teach her. She's adorable. I think I'll adopt her someday as another, Chinese grandma. She's so so so cute.

Found a praying mantis (tohng lohng) while finding the other day. So that was fun. No fear. Just picked it up. I wanted to take it finding with us but Sister Killpack said no...

Went shopping in Mong Kok for the first time last week. that was INSANE. but way fun. Sister Cheng (from TY ward, just finished mission) came to be with us on her last day. She told me my hair isn't blonde, it's mango colored. Pretty funny. Haven't heard that yet. Taught Cherry and took her finding with us and we just love her a lot. She's doing SO well. Also really grateful to spend my valentines day with my companion! It was great. Love you all, so much! Thanks for the support!

-Kuk Jimuih

PS- HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR. More stories to come next week, I'm sure. Basically everyone is migrating to Mainland to celebrate, but it will be okay. No worries. Should be fun. Santai ginhong! (have health!)

Wow, sounds like everything is going good. (About choosing to serve a mission) I didn't want to serve either, and then one day it just hit me that there's someone somewhere that needs my testimony. Now, I see Cherry preparing to go to the temple and I understand why I'm here. It's cool. Glad to hear everybody's doing good. Anybody can serve a mission. Even if it's just online in the MTC, it's still a calling.  I wondered for a long time why I was here, because I felt I needed to serve a mission but didn't know why, and why here. but now I do. and it's all good.

I'm grateful that you taught me to be righteous. Its amazing to see so many of these members here, almost all of which are converts, and how they raise their families. The church is the same worldwide- moms still love their kids and want the best for them. And the examples of people make such a difference in people's lives. I'm so blessed to serve here. Thank you for sacrificing so much so I can be here.

(About a missing package) Yeah it had my glasses. oh well. it'll be alright. we're on KT today again so we'll check the mail. we're baking with sister hawks again for p day... best thing ever. she can cook like nobody's business. today we're making homemade lemon poppy-seed muffins from scratch.

Speaking of. the cookie mixes you send don't really work very well... they taste good but they are super flat- don't rise here. but the muffin mixes are super yummy. thanks!

(About the weird warm weather here) WEIRD. haha. the weather here has been really warm, but that's because there's this massive rain cloud just sitting on us and it's been super hot and very humid. sticky. it's gross. it's a good time to visit Hong Kong though- not too cold. just shoes, really. that's all. I really can buy almost everything but shoes here.

P.P.S. I found the COOLEST stuff in Mong Kok last week... your Christmas present is gonna be shweeeeeeettttt.

February 9, 2015

**Note from mom: Sister Crook has the opportunity to "email chat" for about an hour each Sunday night with us.  Many of the questions we ask and the often funny responses are the result of the "P.S.'s" at the end of each weekly email.  Sister Crook is also able to send a lot of photos each week thanks to her access to Dropbox.  To see more, we post most of those on her mission blog site at www.sistercrookinhk.blogspot.com.

Dear Family and Friends,
Last week on exchanges, Sister Dudley and I met this cute little lady who wanted to learn about the church. But her friends that she was running with came back and wanted her to keep running with them. We took a picture together really quick (she's from Mainland...mainlanders love to take pictures with white people) and she went on her way after giving us her number.

So when I called her the first time, she was super super sick and couldn't meet us. But she was still wanting to meet us! So I called Thursday and invited her to English class. After running halfway around the island to try to find her (apparently I can't give directions in Chinese...) we brought her back to English class and taught her afterwards.

Her name is Kelly and she's a mom of an 8 year old girl. Kelly came in contact with a Restoration pamphlet years ago on a trip to Hong Kong from Mainland, where she lived at the time. When we gave her a Book of Mormon and a new pamphlet, she had an overwhelming "really hot" feeling. She said she distinctly remembers having had that before, because of the picture of Joseph Smith receiving the priesthood. She said she didn't know what that picture meant but she knew it was good and could feel it. Our lesson was so spiritual. Kelly is so prepared to hear the gospel! She couldn't make it to church this week but said she'll definitely one next week. She's excited we will let her bring her daughter with her.

Wah. She's literally so prepared. She's so cute too! She barely comes up to my shoulders and has this cute short hair and she's got a fireball of a personality. She's so humble and willing to learn. We're so excited to start working with her! She's so so so so so cute.

Last week for P Day we went to 10,000 Buddhas and literally there are that many. It was so cool. You can't take pictures of the temple, obviously, but even just walking up the massive hill was incredible! I loved it. I got some sweet pictures with lots of Buddhas. When Sister Robinson and I were talking at the top, though, some crazy man came up and lifted his hand to the square as if to greet us, and then proceeded to curse us in some sketchy language that definitely wasn't Chinese. He was chanting and waving his hands at us and doing all sorts of crazy stuff. So that was fun. We got outta there pretty quick...haha. Good times.

FYI, Elder Ballard is coming to HK on the 25-26, and is doing a special meeting just for the missionaries. President Hawks had the assistants call me and ask me to play piano for that, so that'll be fun. The presiding bishop will also be there, and Elder Easband, and probably the Asia area people. Cool huh?  And transfers are the 26th. I will probably be leaving my area but no idea where.  I want to serve somewhere new and be ready for a new adventure, but I'm going to be sad about leaving the ward (Sister Lau is like, my mom in Hong Kong) and leaving Cammy and her kids and our new investigator Kelly.

It's been a good week. Thanks for the prayers and love! (:

-Kuk Jimuih

P.S. So I know nobody here celebrates Valentine's Day, but I wanted to wish you all a happy valentine's day and tell you that I love you! (: Ngoh ngoi leihdeih!

(In reference to some videos we sent of our dog): Haha the videos of the dog are funny. Hope you enjoy my many Buddha pictures this week- I took a TON. and we went to Ikea. that's the first time I've ever been to Ikea and it is AMAZING. I could live in that store for eternity.

(In reference to a question about transfers and if she is excited about something new and where she might go): No idea. I don't think so, but I really don't know. My little island is in the boonies. I really want to serve in the new territories like, really really bad, that would be so cool. I've actually been to the Disneyland train station a few times on my way to Tung Chung, so that's fun. I've actually been a lot of places. Been on the far east end of the Island, Wan Chi, been to Ma On Shan (far northeast corner) and Tung Chung/Lantau Island, where the airport is. just haven't been up to the northwest corner yet.

(In reference to a possible trip to Orlando next winter to see Aunt Tam if they move there): I'm all for whatever you want to do, just give me time to sleep a couple days and get a pedicure. My feet are looking pretty sad, haha.  Yeah, my feet just look like I walk several miles a day in shoes.  SPEAKING OF. Can you send me new shoes for my birthday? I checked out the Clarks store here and they don't carry stuff big enough for my feet. I uploaded pictures of my shoes on dropbox- those are the ones I want. mine are just worn and falling apart. I don't know what size they are (the inserts have worn off the size) but they're just over 11 inches long. if you can't find the exact same pair though, don't buy them- they're the only shoes that really fit my orthotics.
Photos: Visiting 10,000 Budhas

happy valentines day family!