The Best of Times

We had a wonderful Sunday temple session this week with the Filipino sisters. Here are a few of them posing with Elder Chandler in front of the temple.

Okay, back to work, once in a while we go to KFC for lunch.  Here they give you nice little plastic gloves to eat with so you don't get messy but they don't have chicken breasts here.  Chicken breasts are considered the worst part of the chicken.  (It looks like Elder Chandler is ready to operate, don't you think?)

On Thursday and Friday we had family home evening with the Filipino sisters as part of our assignment, but we only took photos on Friday.  Time for Friday Family Family Home Evening!

This game is called, "I Want It"!  There are two teams and the leader says something to the effect, "I want a red purse".  Can you tell who won that round?

They wanted a black shoe so Elder Chandler was the first one up.

Then they wanted a sock but only a couple of people had socks. Fortunately for his team, Elder Chandler remembered to wear socks.

This is Elder Chandler's sock that won the game.  We hope he put on clean socks today.

Isn't she sweet?  We were glad that there was one child there for family home evening, too!

Preparing for dinner--usually noodles of some sort with chicken, ham and shrimp.  Chicken wings are very popular and very tasty.  It's amazing that the young missionaries always show up, too, when there is food.

Do they look hungry?  They can sure eat plenty.

The sisters purchase and prepare all the food and it's good food.

Everyone wants their picture taken with us old people.  Even thought theses sisters often have really difficult lives they are always trying to be happy 

Everyone had a good time eating and visiting.

The last couple of nights we left the office around 7 pm and it takes about 45 minutes to get home even though it is less than two miles as the crow flies.  This is the Cross Harbor Tunnel that we go through every day, twice a day to get to the office and then get home.  It is very crowded as you can see.

Shopping day is Saturday so we thought you might like to see some of the unusual foods that we might want to eat. Here are some foods available at the local grocery store where we shop.  Pig knuckles are very popular and very fatty.  See some more specialties below.

Does that look yummy? Check it out on Wikipedia:   Yummy Pig Trotters

If you want to live a long time, here's what you need to eat.

Funghi pizza, anyone?

All kinds of corn soups are really, really popular in China and in Japan.

Haven't tried this yet--I wonder what they did with the rest of the ox?

Every store has huge piles of rice to choose from, and this is only a small portion of their selection.  Has anybody seen Elder Chandler lately?

Lots of people love seaweed, do you?

Here's how you teach your Chinese child how to read English!

Of course, there's the ever present Pocky sticks, popular here and in Japan and in the U.S, now, we understand.

These might be French.

The fruit drinks are really quite good, especially the mango.  Some items you can read only with the pictures and you have to be careful not to get the tea.

Milk tea, anyone?

There is every kind of milk tea in the world that the Chinese love to drink.

Anyone for a little sweat?  That's all we do here in the heat and humidity.

So this is chicken bouillon.

Whatever it is, I think I'll take some with the sumo wrestler on it.  Of course, there are no sumo wrestlers in China, only in Japan. Actually, Wikipedia says there is Mongolian wresting, Chinese Shui jiao and Korean Ssireum, too, whatever those are.

Anyone for a little curry ramyun? Actually it's quite good.

And there is every kind of Ramen that you could ever imagine.

 cou

You probably have dried mushrooms at your stores, too.

The kids love this!  We get our milk on the shelf, too.  We're kind of getting used to it as it isn't too bad when it's cold.  There is fresh milk but it isn't our favorite either.

We didn't have time to take photos of the baby food.  How about some sweet potato and Ba... or pumpkin cranberry apple, or pumpkin and spinach?

Notice that all the hair coloring is pretty much the same color--too bad for the blonds.  In Japan it was the same.  The sisters in the office said that they don't put people's  hair color on their drivers' licences for obvious reasons. 

We saved the best for last: Our family's best news is that little Evan Brandon Chandler was born this week, and as grandparents, we couldn't be more pleased!!!  (Since we've seen this photo on Facebook, we didn't think his parents would mind if we posted and bragged a bit, too.) We hope you all have a Happy Week, too!

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!

Celebrations, Weddings, and Shopping

The best news was that Elder Chandler celebrated his birthday last week.  Here are some of his favorite things on his birthday photo: Building his power plants, cruises, Hawaii, Japan and Hong Kong Missions, working in self-reliance, etc.

The sisters in the Everyday branch helped celebrate during the self-reliance group meeting with a cake.

That night we went to hear the Asian Youth Orchestra, too.If you would like to click on the link below, you can learn more about the history and music of this wonderful group:

Asian youth Orchestra

This is a photo of when we went to the temple and, as always, there were people there from other countries.  This day, they were from India. Elder Funk had the privilege of performing the marriage for this sweet couple. The bride was an orphan and had never had a family so it is extra special for her to now have an eternal family. The sweet bridal couple were waiting outside the temple and wanted photos with some of us when we came out.

The very same afternoon, this sweet couple from Cambodia were married here in Hong Kong. They didn't have anyone with them to celebrate so Elder and Sister Orton bought a wedding cake and invited the senior missionaries and some of the sisters who were attending the branch that day to come.

The bride was really touched that people in the church who didn't know them would do this for them.  It was special for all of us!

This isn't related but we also shopped again at the "Wet Market" and never tire of taking photos there.

Where's Waldo?  (No, where's Elder Chandler?)

Okay, back to self-reliance. We also started a new, "Education for Better Work" class as the sweet sister on the left, Genevieve, would like to use the Perpetual Education Fund to help her with her education so she can return to the Philippines. Before a person can be considered for this loan he or she needs to complete this twelve week self-reliance course. She is a domestic worker here but her employer will let her study at night. She already has a degree but is unable to teach in the Philippines until she takes additional classes.  She hopes to take an on-line course from a university in the Philippines so that she can teach when she returns there.  The Perpetual Education fund is just opening in Hong Kong so we're glad she should be able to do this. If you would like to learn more about this, click on the link below:
A BRIGHT RAY OF HOPE

Elder Chandler and I love to serve in the Hong Kong Temple.  It has been 20 years since it was built here.  There are people from all over Asia who come here for the blessings of the temple. Sometimes it is very challenging because most of the workers speak Cantonese and we're English speakers and there are so many different languages that the people who come speak. However, they are able to receive much of the instruction in their own languages using headphones, though. This last week there was a new gold-leafed statue of the Angel Moroni placed on top.

Here is a link about the 20th anniversary of the Hong Kong Temple:  Hong Kong Temple
We wish you all a great weekend and a great week ahead!

Typhoon Nida!

Hi Everybody,

We just thought we'd report that we are surviving Typhoon Nida.  There is a lot of wind and tons of rain that has been going on through the night.  Bus and taxi service has been shut down and there are very few cars on the roads.  Maybe this means we won't be going to the office or the temple today, too? A wind alert 8 (out of 10) has been effect since about 8 pm last night (it's currently 8 am) which means that everything shuts down--no buses, trains, ferries, etc.

This is what it looked like yesterday afternoon from our office before the storm; kind of a weird hazy scene.  Since our office temperature is always so cold, we thought there might be a snow storm coming!!!!

After getting off the bus when coming home, here's a photo looking ant the entrance to the Cross Harbor Tunnel and back across the harbor toward Hong Kong Island; looking ominous and hazy at about 4 pm.

Here's a photo from the news of the gathering clouds before the typhoon.  I liked what the news said about it yesterday:  Nida is coming, Coconauts.

The Typhoon Signal No. 3 was raised just before noon today, as Hong Kong is set to be hit with a blistering tropical cyclone tonight... and we promise you, last week’s storm ain't got nothin' on this one.

At 1pm today, the cyclone was reported to be just 420 kilometres away from the city, moving at 25 kilometres per hour. 

The Hong Kong Observatory will consider issuing a No. 8 Gale or Storm Signal between 6pm and 10pm today. 

(Just for good measure, the Very Hot Weather Warning has also been in force since 11:45am.) 

"The weather will deteriorate rapidly after sunset," warned the observatory, adding that there will be "squalls, heavy rain, rough seas" and maybe flooding in low-lying areas. 

The typhoon's past and predicted track. Photo: Hong Kong Observatory 

Nida is currently moving speedily towards the coast of Guangdong, according to the Observatory’s cyclone track. The typhoon will be within closest proximity to Hong Kong from tonight until tomorrow morning.

HKO, US National Hurricane Centre and the Korea Meteorological Administration all predict that Nida will strike Lantau Island the most severely, according to local blog Lantau Confidential. 

Hongkongers are advised by the government to check that gutters and drains are free of blockage, and to lock windows and doors.

This is what greeted us at the doors of our apartment building.  Fortunately, they left one door open to enter!

They placed barriers all around and staked down some of the trees, etc. 

In the evening, we walked out to look at the harbor and the waves were larger than normal and there weren't any boats which was really weird to see as there are usually lots of them.

The waves in the harbor are probably much larger now but we are on the wrong side of the building to see them and we don't want to go outside in the storm.  Gary is worried that the wind might mess up his hair (ha, ha).

Here are some pretty red flowers that just started blossoming in front of our apartment building.

 



Click on the links below to learn more about Typhoon Nida

More on Nida two hours ago

CNN reporting on Nida

We could hear lots of rain and wind last night and this is the scene we see out our window this morning.  Every now and then the building rumbles and shakes a little bit but nothing dangerous.  

Below are a couple of videos we took this morning from our apartment.  You can see broken trees and branches in the trees.

So we decided to go out a few minutes ago and it is a lot more intense outside than it looks from the inside.  Our umbrellas all blew out the wrong way and when we were coming back there was such a strong gust of wind that just kept coming that some of us had to hold on to a barrier.  Elder Chandler got soaked from the rain and from a fountain in front of our hotel that continued to blow all over him as he was walking.  We wish we could have taken more videos but the gale was too strong to take any more.