Jousahn!
Since multiple of you mentioned it, I'll address this right off the
bat-- My absentee ballot came in the mail yesterday because I put in my application for it back in March, so no need to freak out over my ability to vote. Haha. One of the natives thought it was hilarious
that I'd have my ballot sent to me, to which I responded that we tell people to vote when we teach the commandment Obey and Honor the Law, so I should do it too.
Also, to answer some other questions that apparently linger, I live in
an apartment in a high-rise in Kwai Fong on the 14th story. We have a nice view of the city and the port from our window, which is fun. We are great friends of the MTR, the metro system on Hong Kong. We'll use
buses and minibuses too sometimes to visit members or less-actives, but when they live close enough to an MTR station we'll just walk. Since Dad (and probably Mom too) wants to know, I'm in good health--running every morning has put me in better shape, although since the
members love to give us a ton of food, it's also a battle not to gain as much fat as we do muscle. This week I've been winning that battle, thank goodness. Haha. Luckily we don't ever have to climb stairs that
often. Actually the other day my companion and I had a small steep hill to climb, and we were both in awe at how much of our stair and hill-climbing muscles we've lost. It was pretty pathetic. No matter!
And I'm still with Sister Kiene. It's her last move here, so we're trying to make it great! And Waakje means "or," or "perhaps." I think that addresses most of the questions (Dad) asked, but are good general
information for you all to hear, I think.
To be honest, I don't remember much of what we've done this week
(story of my life), but I do have one pretty cool story. So there's one family in one of our wards, the Lee family, that it's been really cool to watch as they all come to know the gospel. It started with the
mom Erica (I've mentioned her before) and her older daughter, who were the first to get baptized. Then we taught her mom, Jeng Jimuih, who's also gotten baptized. Right now the elders are teaching her husband
Rex, who loves having the appearance of being a tough, cool guy who doesn't care much for spiritual things, but he's been changing a ton and now will pray over meals, etc. Apparently he works in construction
and part of his job is to break up fights, which usually means he'll just knock out the people trying to fight, but he said last time he did it he felt guilty! Yay! haha. He's so funny, and he offhand told
the elders that he might get baptized by the time they're off their missions. It's awesome. Right now, Sister Kiene and I are teaching their Philipina helper Lilibeth, because she'll usually go to church
with the family and the international sisters who would normally teach her are swamped. She's been reading the Book of Mormon for awhile now, and last week she prayed about it, and said she felt goosebumps and
this feeling that she didn't know how to describe. We told her that was the Spirit letting her know the Book of Mormon is true. We then asked her to read daily and pray about Joseph Smith. When we saw her on Tuesday, she said she didn't have the chance to read a couple of
days or pray about it because she was so busy with work. We then watched the Restoration DVD with her, and after that the Spirit was so strong there. It was so cool-- in the First Vision part, I saw her
kind of shudder as she got goosebumps again. She now definitely believes it's true. We bore testimony some, and to close the lesson she said the prayer. It was probably the most humble, heartfelt prayer
I have ever heard in my life. She started crying as she prayed for forgiveness for not reading God's word every day, and one thing she said has really stuck with me-- "Teach me how to love you, because I
know you love me so much." It was so simple and yet so profound. We were all crying by the end of the lesson. It was amazing. She accepted a baptismal date, and we're hoping that her husband will be okay with
her getting baptized. She's awesome! It was such a neat experience. We've also taught her a few Chinese words, and now she likes to use them whenever we're around, which always makes me laugh. She's so great.
Agatha's still slowly coming along, resisting prayer but continuing to
meet with us and come to church. We know she's felt the Spirit, we just don't know if she recognizes it or if she's denying that she's felt something. We love her though!
We also met with our new Sister Lau, Lau Pohpo (Pohpo means grandma,
and is how most people refer to old women), again this week, and determined that she's mentally sound, just goofy. She really likes watching movies, so we were like "Hey, come to the church and watch a
movie with us!" So we watched Finding Faith in Christ, and she said she felt happy after watching it. We think she'll be a slow-comer too, but she has real needs that the gospel can definitely meet.
I also got a letter from my friend Sister Bethany Paxton, who's
serving in France right now! That was kind of fun. We became friends through visiting teaching, and are still friends! Visiting Teaching works, people! It's awesome! Do it! Haha.
Today Sister Kiene and I went up north into the Tolo Harbour area of
the New Territories for a hike with Sister Law (from my younger MTC group) and her companion, Sister Lier. We hiked up around a reservoir to a waterfall-- it was so peaceful. Sitting by the waterfall was
probably the most relaxed I've felt my entire mission. Also, it was so quiet on our hike-- I guess I've never realized that there's always some noises going on until I hit complete silence. It was nice. It
was shocking how different and how rural the New Territories are compared to Kowloon and the Island. I took some good pictures, but I forgot my camera cord, so hopefully next week!
Anyway, I hope everyone's doing well! Daniel, feel better soon! Be
good member missionaries!
Love,
Sister Heaton
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