Abbey with 3.1 kids to care for at home is something of the extraordinary. She keeps them busy by teaching, training, planning and feeding all three while keeping herself sane by talking with other moms. At the end of the each day she wonders why she keeps this up; because at the beginning of each morning she is reminded with the great smiles and kisses from all her kids: Zhao Kids.
While Brennan was home and Jacob Yang frequent our house more, we did a lot of things.
The family eating Chipotle
Abbey making/boiling some apple cider with dried red dates and herbs. It was so delicious she practically boil 2-3 pots per week b/c everyone loved it
Abbey trying to be more healthy and eating regular meals
Abbey and Kim Harris girls date night shopping
So apparently Labubu are hot toys now. They are like monster dolls. Well, we went to eat at a hot pot place and they gave away knock off Labubu, FF call them Lafufu (fakes). They didn't look good so she took the time to personalize them
FF got mom fuzzy animal socks for the Winter. She loves them!
FF continues to be in the Dragon Boat team. This year she is a senior rower so she's teaching the younger kids the proper form to row.
Brennan going back to BYU
Abbey and Da celebrated their 24 years anniversary by going to a stake house so Abbey can get her Prime Rib. It was a nice date night.
FF took grandma shopping.
More of Abbey's cooking
Since Jacob Yang comes to our house often, FF is treated like his little sister he never had. So he let her paint nails on him.
Jacob will get massages from FF only to be exchanged with washing dishes.
For another FF bday treat, we took her out to eat at Hot Pot Hero :)
Abbey woke up early to clean the kitchen and stove .
This week was such a fun week but unfortunately I have just about 40 minutes to write! This morning we hiked Castle Peak, one of Hong Kong's highest mountains, and got back to play a couple hours of sports before getting groceries and now heading home. So sorry if this is shorter than usual :')
This week we had the chance to meet some new friends and also schedule times to meet with members, which made the week seem to fly by. On Tuesday we were running from our home first thing in the morning to our members house who needed help moving, when we rushed to Kowloon Tong for half an hour interviews and then back to Yuen Long for an appointment with a member and her friend! His name is Tony, or Tam Sin Sang, and he had been waiting for a long while before he decided that he might try to start learning about the gospel. We extended him the invitation to read the introduction, and even though since then he's been in Shenzhen, we have such high faith in him.
This week we also had the chance to meet members! We had a chance to have dinner with both the Lee couple and the Yeung family, who we have seen all around church for a while but we finally found a time to meet with. Dinner at the Lees was so fancy; they had a car security check that led into the whole neighborhood, and every house was secluded in its own little block. It was kind of dystopian even. But the Lees were so so nice, they talked about their profession in acupuncture and East Asian medicine, and also were so so supportive with anything we needed help with! Their whole family is in the church and it is so cool to see the fruits of their labor over the years :)
Yeung family was even more fun! They have two sons and a daughter, and live in a chyun that is named after their ancestors! They have a son named Helaman, which is already awesome, and then their youngest son is named Zenos! They are such an amazing and wholesome family, and they love animation, violin, and volleyball as much as I do.
Sometime later in the week I was on exchanges with one of my Zone Leaders, Elder Chan, who lives in our same apartment. Well, all of the elders in the district live in the same apartment. Anyways, we had a blast in Yuen Long and we were able to talk so much about the mission and about leadership responsibilities. I wanted to mention this because during the last part of the day, we had one of the most heartfelt lessons with one of our friends, who took the time to lay out his situation with us over the course of about an hour and half. He talked about his family situation and his past, and his reason with meeting with us missionaries and trying to come unto Christ. It was such a special, special time.
During the lesson, rather than giving him advice from our thoughts in the moment, I had the chance to see Elder Chan do something so special; over and over again, with each challenge our friend mentioned, he would flip open to a different part of the Book of Mormon, each and every time.
It was so cool to see Elder Chan so efficiently but also so caringly nurture this friend through the Book of Mormon, which truly is the most powerful tool in helping someone understand our religion.
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During a recent read through of 1 Nephi for one of our friends this week, I came across these couple of scriptures which went perfectly with this principle:
1 Nephi 19, 23-24 "And I did read many things unto them which were written in the [scriptures]... For I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning...
Wherefore I spake unto them, saying: Hear ye the words of the prophet and liken them unto yourselves, that you may have hope, as well as your brethren... "
These scriptures that we have today, written by prophets thousands of years ago, contain things that are specifically for our profit and learning today. Nephi himself testifies of the hope it can provide, helping us understand many of the questions we might not be able to understand though a purely secular view!
I genuinely encourage each and every one of you to read the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon! You will not ever know what it truly means until you read it yourself. It testifies so simply of Jesus Christ and will show unto us the things which are true through the Holy Spirit if we individually seek them with an open mind and a willing heart.
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I am almost to the end of my time today and I might not get to shower, but I wanted to end this super long email (because I am just typing whatever comes to my head) with the super special experience we were able to have yesterday at the temple!
Since many domestic workers are not typically available on days other than Sundays, the English branches in Hong Kong are able to come together every quarter of a year to have a "Temple Sunday" where branches go together to the temple following Sunday service, where the temple (which is usually closed on Sunday) is open for this special occasion!
Just yesterday, we were able to see four of our recent converts, Gabriel, Maria, Marvin, and Vino go into the temple for the first time to perform ordinances for their family!
It is truly and will continue to be a blessing to serve in Yuen Long and see all of the wonderful converts, long time members, and new friends here in the area. As transfers just came in, I will be staying here continuing as District Leader with my same companion, Elder McClellan for the next six weeks!
That is all for this week! This has been super duper long. I am so so sorry for anyone who I haven't replied to since last week or the week before, and I will make sure I get to them as soon as I can! I read all of them throughout the week and cannot reply until Monday. Thank you genuinely for all of your support and emails.
Also so sorry dad, I totally forgot to write in Cantonese this week cause I was on keyboard..
Abbey with 3.1 kids to care for at home is something of the extraordinary. She keeps them busy by teaching, training, planning and feeding all three while keeping herself sane by talking with other moms. At the end of the each day she wonders why she keeps this up; because at the beginning of each morning she is reminded with the great smiles and kisses from all her kids: Zhao Kids.
