萬聖節快樂!!🎃🎃

As the subject line says, Happy Halloween!!!!

Hong Kong doesn't really celebrate Halloween much so nothing has really been different around here but I did see a giant inflatable pumpkin!

The view from floor 7 in the Wan Chai building!

This week has sped by so fast! I feel like I was just writing emails yesterday 😂 But anyways, let's get into it!

Our hike last week!

For pday last week we went on another hike to this place called the Peak and it was super cool but it was 90% stairs! My calves were definitely sore for a few days after that haha. We were able to see so much of Hong Kong from way up there though so it was lowkey worth it. After that we got lunch and then went to the Wan Chai chapel to hang out and eat. We were able to find a Mexican food place and I got a burrito but it was like weirdly sweet so I'd only rate it like a 6/10

Pool with the zone

On Tuesday we had zone lunch, district council, and LPOs! As a zone we set up a sort of pool game by using some tables, ping pong balls, and PVC pipes for sticks. It was pretty ratchet and didn't work super well but we still had fun haha. And guess what? I PASSED MY FIRST LPO 🎉🎉🎉 Remember last week when I said I probably wouldn't pass for a few months? Haha well I surprised myself. Now I'm on to teaching the Restoration for my next LPO and that's going to be tough. I'll keep practicing though and hopefully then it won't take me too long to pass it. 

On Wednesday we were able to have dinner with a recent convert named Sister Mel for her birthday! It was super fun but we went really far away for it haha. We went to this Japanese style Italian restaurant (weird right?) and I got some spaghetti. It was alright but I'd only rate it like 6/10. Remember everyone to count your blessings for having access to good Italian food and Mexican food in America 😂

Pretty views at Victoria Harbor

On Thursday we had a district find and apartment FHE! For the district find (mind you our district is just us and one pair of elders) we went to Tsim Sha Tsui which is right on Victoria Harbor! It was so cool to see for the first time. We just walked up and down the promenade, talking to people and helping them take pictures. We didn't really have to much luck finding people with interest but it was still fun and very pretty. Then for apartment FHE we decided to try and make our own Mexican food! We didn't have any cheese but we had lettuce, tortillas, chicken, and ground beef so we made our own sort of tacos/burritos. They honestly weren't half bad. Definitely better than the other burrito I had. We had chips and salsa too but the salsa was kind of weird tasting unfortunately.

For Friday, we actually had another mission wide training meeting at Kowloon Tong. President Chan basically just talked to us about things that we were apparently supposed to learn in the MTC but didn't because they changed things for online MTC. We talked about being an energetic missionary, Pday safety and appropriate activities, and even separated into elders and sisters and as sisters we discussed things like proper posture and dress. It was interesting. We practiced how to sit and stand and walk and everything haha. Gotta be ladylike 😌 For lunch we had subway so that was pretty good. Nice to have a sandwich after its been a while haha.

Pretty views at Victoria Harbor

On Saturday we went to Wan Chai to record a member of the Filipino ward there for a meet the members video for our facebook page. By the way if you haven't checked out our facebook page @comeuntochristHK then you totally shoud ;) The Wan Chai building is actually super cool because it's 13 stories tall! They have 4 chapels in there, a bunch of classrooms, and church offices and such. The member we interviewed did the whole video in Tagalog so I didn't understand anything (I didn't know I had to learn TWO languages out here) but I think it went well. Tagalog is funny because it has some similarities with Spanish like they still say "pero" for "but" and "como estas" for "how are you" so sometimes it trips me up. After we finished filming, we headed back home but we decided to take the ferry which goes across Victoria Harbor from Wan Chai to Tsim Sha Tsui. It was only like 9 minutes but it was super cool! That's right I went on a boat on the mission 😎. After that we grabbed some boba at Tiger Sugar before heading home. A good day for sure.

Me and Sister Santos with Sister Mel!

View from our hike last week!

Sunday was a great day too. In the Kowloon City ward (that's the Cantonese one) they had their primary program so we got to watch that and it was so cute! Even though it was in Chinese and I could only understand about half of it, I could still feel the Spirit so strongly. And Chan jimuih came too! Sadly in the Peninsula branch Arnold didn't come to church so we didn't get to teach him this week, but the meeting was still good! Sister Santos and I got to join in a musical number and sing Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing with the other sister members and it was really sweet! All of the Filipino sisters are just so kind and loving that you can't help but be happy around them. For dinner/dessert that night, since it was Halloween, as an apartment we hung out and ate some sweets. The trio tried to make brownies in the toaster oven but they ended up super burnt on top and super undercooked underneath 😂 They still tasted good though! Brownies are good always. We also shared some spooky stories with each other and dressed up in whatever costume we could figure out with what we had around the house. It was a good night.

Us with the giant pumpkin!

Us in our silly costumes

As for lessons this week, things have been going pretty alright. We have two new people that we've started teaching, Hau Yau and Yuki. They both have been going to their own Christian churches but seem pretty open to us sharing about ours. They are also both mothers so I'm sure that this gospel can help them with their families. 

Sister Santos and I at Victoria Harbor!

Chan jimuih has been progressing well. We taught her the Restoration this week and she received it well. We invited her to read the Book of Mormon but she only had a traditional version and she can only read simplified characters so we had to give a new one to her on Sunday. Hopefully she can read it now😂!

As for Yip Taai, things have been about the same. We continue to share with her verses and inspirational messages each time we meet but she just isn't progressing that much. Lately we've been trying to help her improve her prayers and her ability to recognize the Spirit but she still says that she doesn't feel anything when she prays and reads. We'll be praying to know how to help her more and it'd be helpful if you guys could too!

That's about it for this week! I hope you guys have all been healthy and had a wonderful Halloween! Feel free to shoot me an email whenever! 加油！

Sister DelHoyo

丁姊妹

2 Nephi 2:2

2 Nevertheless, Jacob, my firstborn in the wilderness, thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain.

I know that life gets really tough sometimes but I also know that Heavenly Father is always watching over us. No matter what your affliction is, God will consecrate it for YOUR gain! As long as you are patient and have faith, you will see his hand guiding you in your life <3