Lamma Island

So the first island we went to was Lamma Island. This was by far my most favorite island of the four we went to. The island is smaller than Hong Kong Island, but was far more interesting. Once we got out of the main village, it was very peaceful. We could not even hear anything, but the ocean and the birds. So calming and peaceful and wonderful.

This is the path that leads from the pier. Bikes, bikes everywhere.

There were many ships in the bay. Gary loves ships.

Part of the market place on Lamma Island.

An apartment.

 This is a banana tree. Ann and I are pointing to the bananas, but I could not get my hand near it. Just look above Ann's fingertips and you will see them. It was very interesting to see then on the tree. The bananas grow toward the sun or upwards.

The following are pictures of the island. I don't think there is any need to say anything about them. The pictures speak for themselves.

Looking at tide pools. I love tide pools.

Resting at the top of a hill.

This is Japanese kamikaze cave. The Japanese started to carve these caves in the rocks during World War II. They were going to hide speedboats in them to go up against enemy warships. These boats would be like the airplanes and ram into boats to blow them up. However, the war ended before the caves could be completed. 

The cave was pretty cool. Ann and I went to the back of it.

If you look in the distance, there is a restaurant next to the blue canopy. We had the food below at the restaurant. It is owned and run by a woman who's mother is Maltese and her father is Chinese. Her mother has lived on Lamma Island for 46 years. 

The food was wonderful especially the fish and chips.

We spent a wonderful day on Lamma Island. I am so glad we went here. I loved it. We even left part of the island to explore the next time we go down to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Ferry

So besides going to the temple a couple of times, the best places Gary and I visited in Hong Kong were the islands surrounding Hong Kong. There are many of them, but the ferry only goes to four, Cheung Chau, Peng Chau, Lamma, and Lantau. We visited all four of them. Lamma was my favorite, but Cheung Chau and Peng Chau were pretty up near my favorite. Lantau was my least favorite because it is more inhabited. 

The only way to get to Lamma, Cheung Chau, and Peng Chau are by ferry. You can get to Lantau by ferry or by subway. We went there by ferry. The subway is a great way to get around, but we preferred the ferry. It was less expensive than the subway and you got to see the sea, ships and other islands when you went on the ferry.

 

This is the Central Ferry Pier where all of the ships to the other islands left from. We had to take the ferry from Kowloon over to the Central Ferry Pier. We were on the ferry many times.

Things we saw from the ferry on our way to the other islands.

Gary and I sitting on the ferry. Loved the ferry!

The two couples behind us are the couples we traveled with for most of our trip, the Lovells and the Perrys.

Hong Kong Temple

We had the wonderful experience of going to the Hong Kong Temple twice while we were in Hong Kong. It was so wonderful to be able to actually go to the Temple after 5 months of missing it. The closest temple to us is the Seoul Temple. Our branch is going to go some time this spring, so it will also be a wonderful trip.

Our first night in Hong Kong, we stayed at the Temple Housing. My bunk is the bottom one there. These are the same type of bunks we slept in a Heber Valley Camp. Ann Perry and I stayed in this room. Gary and Kent Perry stayed in another room. They did have a small mattress on the bed, so it was not completely hard.

This is the view from Temple Housing.

This is the view of the temple from across the street. You can see the little opening in the wall at the bottom. This opens to a courtyard into the temple. This courtyard is open 24 hours a day and it is very beautiful. It is a beautiful temple in a quieter part of Kowloon. You can feel The Spirit just being in the courtyard.

We checked into temple housing and then went to tour part of Hong Kong. We went to Hong Kong Island and went to a dumpling shop. There we had the most amazing fried dumplings. Yummy!

Anyway, after dumplings and the Apple Store, we came back to temple housing to get ready to do an endowment session that evening. I was able to do a Chinese person. That was pretty cool. Of course, the Spirit was very strong during the session. I was taken through the veil by the Temple President and Gary did his in Cantonese (well not his part, but the other part). We actually got to speak to the Temple President and his wife while we were waiting to leave the temple. What a wonderful couple!

The Celestial room was beautiful as you can imagine! Gary and I and Perry's were deciding if we wanted to go out to eat. It was about 8:30 pm by that time. I did not know why, but I got the feeling that we should not go to dinner, that we should go back to temple housing. Gary did not seem like he wanted to go to dinner either, so we decided to send the Perry's off by themselves and we headed back to our room at temple housing. 

The temple housing building is also the mission office. We had seen a couple of Elders there before we went into the temple. These same Elders were there at the mission office when we got out. I had heard earlier that perhaps one of the Elders was from Utah. I asked the Elder where he was from and he said that he was from Springville, Utah. That was neat, so I told him we were from Layton, Utah. He immediately said, "Oh, we have a sister missionary from Layton, Utah." I was thinking that Becca Stromberg was in Hong Kong, but I did not think it could possibly be her. Then the missionary said, "Sister Stromberg is from Layton." I said, "Rebecca?" He said, "Yes, and she may still be here in the building." 

Another part of the same building holds a church where the missionaries were having an activity for some recent converts. The Elder (I do not even remember his name) told us to go check and see if Sister Stromberg was still there. We walked to the cultural hall and I took a look. I could not see her, so I was ready to leave when Gary called me back. I came back to the door of the cultural hall just as Becca Stromberg was coming out. We both saw each other at the same time and our faces lit up. Well that's what Gary said anyway. She recognized me and was genuinely happy to see me.

It was such an amazing experience for me. I had been feeling like I wanted to go home to Utah, I mean, not to China. the Lord knew I was feeling this way and He brought a little bit of home to me. It renewed my spirit and rejuvenated me to return to China and continue to help the Chinese people. Before going to the Temple, I had no idea that something so wonderful would happen besides the opportunity to be in the temple. It reaffirmed to me how much The Lord loves me and how well He know me and knows what I need when I need it. Even now, the feeling about this incident are so wonderful! The other young woman is a recent convert to the church. She was baptized in October.

The next morning we left temple housing and went to a hotel, but Gary and I were able to get back to the temple on the next Tuesday to do some sealings. I had brought some family names with me from the U.S. One of the names that we did was Gary's uncle. We were able to seal him to Gary's grandparents. What a wonderful experience that was. We also sealed some of my relatives to their spouse or parents. The first few couple sealings were done in English. When we got to the sealings to parents, the sealer struggled to say it in English, so he asked if he could do it in Cantonese. We agreed wholeheartedly. What a wonderfully spiritual experience that was. Once we finished all of our family names, we did temple names. The sealer continued to do the sealings in Cantonese. Gary and I answered our part in Cantonese, too. This was amazing. I was trying very hard to remember the words I have heard so many times in English, so that I could maybe understand some of the Cantonese. I didn't really, but I still felt the Spirit very strongly. 

It does not matter what language you speak or what country you live in, the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. The Holy Ghost speaks to all of us through our spirits. We can understand the Lord's love for us and the truthfulness of temple work despite not understanding the language. What a wonderful experience I had being in and near the temple of the Lord. I can't wait to go to Seoul this year and back to Hong Kong next year knowing that I will be able to go to the temple again. I am even going to try to find some more names to take with us. 

Please go to the temple as often as circumstances allow you. For those in Utah, please go often because you have access to so many beautiful temples. I am so proud to know that the young women in the Adamswood Ward go do baptisms often! It makes me so proud of them! The temple is one of the best places on earth!

Hi Everyone,

Suzette and I are in the south of China in the city of Guangzhou. I thought the medium size city of Qingdao is big. Guangzhou is about 3 times bigger with a population exceeding 23 million souls. It is the capitol of Guangdong Province. It is an interesting city.

The people here are known for the food they prepare. Every city in China is famous for something; that is what I am told. The story of Guangzhou is that Beijing investigates whether something can be eaten. Guangzhou investigates how it can be prepared.

It was a nice flight here. I observed mountains. I was amazed at how mountainous this country is. When the plate the India sets on crashed into the plate the China sets on, it caused the mountains to rise, It is like an accordion; mountains and valleys as far as the eye can see from 30,000 feet.

Our flight was  not a non-stop flight. I am glad. We had one-stop. It was a small airport, but it was also an air force base. I don’t know how active, but I saw a half dozen what appeared to be MIG 25s and another 30 or so older fights that were covered with a tarp. I wished I could have seen one of the aircraft take off. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.

We are staying in a nice, comfortable hotel. It is convenient to the metro, so we were able to see more of the sites and get home quite easily.

Our first site was Canton Tower. This tower is almost 500 meters high (1500 feet). I am known for my acrophobia, but I felt quite comfortable on the tower. We can see much of the city from this height. We got some great pictures. At the top, we took sat in the plexiglass spheres that extended out from the tower. It afforded the opportunity to see much more, including looking down. I really liked the experience. Although there are stairs that we could have taken from the observation deck down some 40 stories, we took the elevator.

Food is important so we went to a lovely Vietnamese Restaurant for dinner. By time we were finished, the crowds trying to get in were incredible. This is one place you want to want to eat early, otherwise, you simply may not get a table.

Finally, we went on the Pearl River for a evening cruise. Suzette and our friends walk around the edge of the boat. I seemed to be always talking to parents with young elementary school age children. I met three different families on the ride. I had so much fun with them.

This girl was with her kindergarten teacher who also happened to be best friends with her mom

My little buddy. This little boy was really fun, even though he may not look like it in the photo.

This boat was great. It had a dragon symbol all over it and it was really wide.

I often tease the Chinese. They will ask me where I am from. I reply, “Qingdao.” They look at me with some questioning on their faces and always repeat the question. I respond, Qingdao, Shandong Province.” “No, no, no.” they reply. “Oh, I am from Mei Guo.” Then they feel better; at least until I ask, “Where are you from?” They look at me strangely for a moment and then say, “China.” It is so fun to play this out with them.

Saturday found us at the tomb of Nanyue King of the Western Han Dynasty, Zhao Mo. This was very interesting to me and I think Suzette was also quite fascinated.  The tomb was discovered as a result of an excavation to build a new building. What was exciting is that this tomb had been undisturbed since it was sealed about 2000 years ago.

That is not always the case. This King was a bright guy. He wanted the location of his tomb to be a secret. The orders were to kill his wife, all of his servants, concubines and anyone involved in the building of the tomb. These orders were carried out by a select group was done soldiers who would be the last to know and the ones who would seal the tomb. Many of these were placed in the tomb with the King. Then the group of soldiers who carried out the King’s orders returned only to be killed by another group. Thus, know living soul knew the location.

To further protect the tomb, an ingenious locking mechanism was employed so no one could enter the doors once they were closed.

This discovery turned out to be a treasure trove, both in history and in the artifacts of the time. The amount of jade was incredible. One display was only a small representation of the find. I think his seal was most interesting. It consisted of a dragon, representing the male, and the phoenix, representing the female, facing each other. It is symbolic of love.


This is above the tomb showing the position of the rooms

The door knobs on the tomb's entry doors


Suzette is a big person in these rooms. The Chinese of 2000 years ago were very short.





Locking Mechanism


Jade Disks


Emperor Seal


Emperor Seal of the Son






One of the Guides


Suzette is the Champion







When concluded the day with a quick stop to see the Five Fairies Park and then going to a very nice restaurant to get a hamburger and to see the Chimelong International Circus. This was spectacular. I cannot remember when I went to a circus last. It was certainly when I was very young. I had forgotten how enjoyable the circus is. This was an exceptional program with all the animals (PETA would not be happy) and the trapeze, the clowns, and the pageantry. One is our party took some videos even though we were asked not to. I think he may send those at some point. If not, all I can say is “Wow!!!”

A bit of American food near the hamburger restaurant. The Cheerios are about $8 per box.

The Uniforms for the workers were interesting

 Suzette trying on a funny hat at the gift shop at the circus

Suzette, Marsha Lovell, Marcella Humphries, and Ann Perry

I liked this symbol on the building for the circus. It reminded me of the Tree of Life.

We went to church on Sunday. The branch here meets at a Ramada Inn. Not so convenient since they have to bring everything each Sunday, but it was a nice meeting and the people were great. The Branch President is in his 22^nd year with Nike and works with the factories here. He also played basketball for BYU some time ago. He is one tall guy.

I am enjoying the break from classes. It will be nice to see Hong Kong. I will tell you more later.