A baptism and make believe Dragons

Isn't this a nice photo?  We had another baptism last week in the Thursday branch of sweet Eva Marie.  She also joined our self-reliance class!

Eva Marie asked Elder White to baptize her.  He told us he was dressed just like his name. Ha!  Ha!

Elder and Sister Towers, the sweet couple who have been in charge of the Everyday branch went home, too.  We will miss them very much. They were sad to go leave all of the sweet Filipino sisters and brothers, but Elder Towers was excited to go home because he has always wanted to go moose hunting and he just got a permit.  Do you wonder how moose tastes? We do, too.

We liked this photo from sweet sister, Ami, and what she posted on Facebook:

Twas my first time rowing a kayak. At first we were so excited so we jumped into the boat without any sunblock! We dont care as long as were having fun! From the picture u may recognized that the first image we didnt wear life vest, because we were so excited! And our priesthood leader says we shouldn't go to a deeper area yet, as he cant look after us, because he needs to prep our food for lunch on the seaside! We're so excited like even we didn't know how to row a boat we tried hard to row and indeed in a couple of minutes we learned how to drive a kayak lol! The second pic is with lifeguard jacket, its a secure feeling to me because i don't know how to swim haha! I can go in a deeper area of the ocean! Was all fun I'm still afraid in the deep while rowing but what we did is we sing out loud to scare the sharks! That's only in my mind because there's no shark there anyway!

LESSONS

Life vest is a security because I don't know how to swim!

(Many of the sisters aren't able to do very much because they are so poor.  It's great that some of them were able to go on this activity.)

Since there hasn't been a lot of extra things going on with us because of having lots and lots of rain as you can see if you click this:Lots of Rain

How about a Chinese folk tale?

The Four Dragons, a Chinese folk story

Long ago in China, there were no rivers or lakes in all the land. Only the Eastern Sea, where four dragons lived. They were the Long Dragon, the Yellow Dragon, the Black Dragon, and the Pearl Dragon. One day, the four dragons soared up from the ocean to frolic among the clouds.

Suddenly the Pearl Dragon cried, “Come look at this!”

“What’s the matter?” the other three dragons asked, and they came to join their friend.
People had gathered on the earth below, burning incense and laying out offerings of fruit and cakes. When they got closer, the dragons heard that the people were praying desperately.
An old woman with a skinny child on her back knelt down and cried, “God in Heaven, please send rain! Our children have no rice to eat!”

When the four dragons looked around, they could see that it hadn’t rained in a very long time. The grass had turned yellow and crops were withering in fields that were cracked and dry.

“How sad they are,” said the Yellow Dragon. The Black Dragon said, “They will all die soon if no rain comes.” The Long Dragon told them, “We should go to the Jade Emperor and ask him to make it rain.” The Pearl Dragon also agreed, and so they all flew up to the Heavenly Palace, where the Jade Emperor lived.

The Jade Emperor was very busy, since he ruled over all of Heaven, Earth and Hell. He was angry when the four dragons burst into his palace. “What are you doing here, when you should be in the sea?”

“Your majesty,” said the Long Dragon, “please send rain to the Earth right away. The crops have shriveled and the people will starve!”

“Oh, very well. Return to your places, and I will send the rain tomorrow,” the Jade Emperor said. But he wasn’t really paying attention them, as he watched some fairies sing and dance.

“Thank you, o mighty Emperor.”

The dragons were happy and returned to the sea, but as soon as they were gone, the Emperor forgot his promise. Ten days passed, and still not a drop of rain fell on the land. The people were so hungry that they ate bark, or the roots of grass, or even clay.

The four dragons came to visit and were very upset by what they saw. “How sad that the Jade Emperor cares more for his own pleasure than for people who need him,” the Pearl Dragon said.

“If only there was a way that we could help them,” said the Black Dragon.

Then the Long Dragon looked back at the vast sea, and he said, “I have an idea.”

“Out with it!” cried the other dragons.

“There’s plenty of water in the sea, where we live,” said the Long Dragon. “If we spray it into the sky, surely it will fall down like rain. The people and the crops will be saved.”

“Very good!” said the others.

“But if the Jade Emperor finds out, he might be angry,” the Long Dragon warned. “He will think we took too much upon ourselves.”

“The people need us,” said the Yellow Dragon resolutely. “I will do anything to help them.”

“We will never regret it,” said the Black Dragon, and the Pearl Dragon said, “Let’s begin.”

So the four dragons scooped up water from the sea in their mouths, and they flew over the land, spraying it everywhere. Back and forth they went, until the clouds were dark and the sea water fell onto the earth as rain. The withered crops began to straighten up and grow green again.

People down below cheered and lept with joy. “It’s raining, it’s raining! We are saved!”

But the sea god didn’t like them taking his water away. When he figured out what they had done, he went and told the Jade Emperor.

“How dare those four dragons give rain without my permission! ” The Jade Emperor was very angry. He sent his armies and all his heavenly generals to arrest them. The four dragons were out-numbered and couldn’t defend themselves. Soon they were dragged back to the heavenly palace.

“Bring me four mountains,” the Jade Emperor ordered the Mountain God. “Lay them upon these dragons so that they can never escape.”

The Mountain God used his magic to summon four mountains, and so the four dragons were imprisoned forever. But even then, they did not give up their love for the people. They turned themselves into rivers that flowed out of the mountains, through valleys and fields, and finally returned to the sea.

And this was the creation of China’s four great rivers — the Heilongjian (Black Dragon) in the north; the Huanghe (Yellow Dragon) in central China, the Changjiang (Yangtze, or Long River) farther south, and the Zhujiang (Pearl River) in the very far south.

And if you're not bored yet, you can watch this dragon movie we saw on the internet: Dragon Movie

The Dragon’s Pearl

In pictures of Asian dragons, you often see the dragon holding or chasing after a round object covered in flames. Is this some strange draconic sport? Not at all.

From ancient times, dragons in Asia were associated with nature and particularly the weather. In the oldest depictions, the dragon is holding the sun — a red, flaming ball. As time passed, artists started to show the sun as white rather than red, which is actually more accurate if you’ve ever looked at the sun. (But don’t look too long; you can damage your vision.) Legend then said that the dragon was seeking the Night Shining Pearl. This pearl is what we see most often in Asian art.

The pearl itself has strong meaning in Asian folklore. Both Taoism and Buddhism use pearls as symbols of wisdom or enlightenment. Buddhism particularly depicts the pearl in the center of a lotus blossom as the ultimate wisdom in life. Since dragons were believed to be supernaturally wise, perhaps it is only natural that they should seek or hold such a treasure.

In addition, pearls resemble the round, white form of the full moon. Many legends state that dragons and other spirits of the sea preferred pearls over all other treasure. Dragons, being associated with rain and the seas, easily fell into this category.

Since dragons appear in Chinese, Korean, Tibetan, Japanese, and so many other Asian cultures, it’s nearly impossible to pin down where and when dragons and the sun were first linked in folklore. That would be a quest as endless as the dragon’s pursuit of the pearl. Yet that very search for wisdom is something that links all humans — to the ancient past, and to the magical creatures we call dragons.

 

And there you have it, everything you ever wanted to know about fictitious Chinese Dragons and more!

Okay, back to real life: We love to see the temple, don't you? We will be helping again in the temple on Sunday as it is open once a quarter on Sunday for the Filipino sisters and brothers who only have Sunday as their day off.  They are very excited to go and it will be the first time for several of the sisters. We think you would find this interesting to read about the Hong Kong Temple, too:

Interesting facts about the Hong Kong Temple

and 

more about the temple

We wish you all the very best in all that you do!