I'll Be Home For Christmas...

(but only in mom's dreams)
Leihdeih hou!
Well, the moment has finally come. This is my last weekly email from Hong Kong! I cannot believe how the time has flown. I have learned so much in the past year and half and I can't imagine all the learning that I'll keep doing in the future.
This week was really good. I won't bother with the details too much, partially because I can explain in person soon and partly because this week flew by so fast that I can hardly remember it all myself. Lots and lots of friends to see before I leave. As much as I will miss Hong Kong, it's the people that are going to be the hardest for me to leave. These people have become my family and I am so grateful for all that they have taught me.
Guys, the church is so true. If I give myself more than a few minutes to think about it, I start to get overwhelmed by how much God loves each of us. There are so many things in our lives that are put there for reasons that we can't even comprehend, and looking back over my mission, those things are starting to become so obvious to me. God is our Father, Jesus is the Christ, and this is His Church. Pray always, read the Book of Mormon daily, and go to church weekly, and everything will be okay. I am so grateful for all the miracles I have seen here in Hong Kong. This has truly become a sacred place for me, and I am so thankful for all the things that I have learned in this special little city. Don't forget that God lives and God loves.
For the last time, lots of love from the Pearl of the Orient. See you all soon.
Gayauh!
Sister Wasden
郭姊妹

Pics (selfies galore):
1. Ferris wheel with Sister Lambert :)
2. You know I love my panos
3. P-day party!
4. Exchanges with Sister Nelson :)
5. Random dry spot on the ground in the middle of the rain? We are suspecting a UFO.
6. Exchanges with Sister Fung, and my last pineapple bread (my fave Hong Kong snack :))
7. Last cheng with our deaf members. I love these people.

Happy December :)

Leihdeih hou!!
This week has been busy busy busy! Lots of meetings with members and things! I also had my exit interview, which was really good (I LOVE PRESIDENT AND SISTER PHILLIPS) and also it's gotten really hot so now it feels like June instead of December. I think that's all the noteworthy things from this week.
Just wanted to remind you all to remember the reason for this wonderful Christmas season. I've been spending the last year and a half keeping Christ at the center of all I do (which will be continuing for the rest of forever, don't you worry), and I kind of love that this special time in my life is coming to an end at a time when He is the focus of the whole world. Check out the Light the World initiative and don't be afraid to make Him the center of your focus too. It will be the best choice you could make.
Love you all. Gayauh :)
Sister Wasden
郭姊妹

Pics:
Cheng out with the Wans. I love them.
Pic I snapped on the bus on the way to come email this morning since I didn't have any other pictures, you're welcome. ;)

Grateful

Leihdeih hou!
This week was good. Super busy. Lots of lessons, lots of members, the way we like it.
The best part of this week was Thanksgiving! We got two of them :) The mission provides a turkey for each zone and we all do our best to make the most accurate side dishes we can (this gets exciting because half of our zone is not from America), so we had a wonderful little missionary celebration, followed by a ward party a couple of days later. Happy Turkey Day, folks. Hope you found more reasons than you can count to be grateful.
Also this week I officially passed my 18 month mark! I'm basically on borrowed time now. ;) Seriously though, I've learned so much in the last 18 months and I'm grateful for every second, even if I wasn't always grateful for it in the moment. God is in charge everyone, and all your trials and good times are there specifically for you and your needs. Don't doubt it.
In other news, it got COLD this week and it also rained while we were finding yesterday. I ended with a broken umbrella and pruned fingertips. And numb toes. Hello autumn.
That's it from me this week! I'll try to be better next week haha. Remember to be grateful for all your blessings (even the blessings in disguise) and eat some leftover pumpkin pie for me (none of that to be found in China). Love you all! Gayauh!
Sister Wasden
郭姊妹

Pics:
1. We love our members :)
2. Thanksgiving fun
3. Cute lil zone sisters
4. I LOVE MY BABY
5. ... And we love cheesecake (this ward knows how to party)
6. My umbrella letting me down

Time is flying...

...so I can't remember anything that happened this week.
Leihdeih hou!
Haha. Seriously though, I feel like I just wrote my last weekly update yesterday. Let me think of something noteworthy to share..
Last week for p-day we went to this famous picture spot in Hong Kong called Choi Hung! Basically everything is retro and rainbow-y and covered in people taking pictures. Sister Lambert and I got to go with Sister Risenmay and her trainee though, and it was so fun to get caught up. :)
We also had zone conference this week! Because we have this White Christmas goal for the mission, we talked a lot about the importance of covenants and why baptism is such an important first step. PSA: God is really good and He is so merciful and loves you so much. I hope none of you ever forget that.
We've also been trying a new finding approach throughout the mission! It's been done in other missions with miraculous results, and it will be difficult to adjust to, but we're excited to see what happens! It's basically all about making sure that the we are allowing the Spirit to guide us in our finding activities, and it's been really cool to see what's happening. God will help us if we let Him, folks.
Anyways. That's all for this week. Love all of you. Gayauh :)
Sister Wasden
郭姊妹 

Pics:
1. Choi Hung
2. artsy la
3. Me and my posterity
4. Ngoh daih yat go leuih
5. Chilling with Jacky
6. Zone find! Passed out lots of copies of the Book of Mormon :)

Make the Most of It

Leihdeih hou!
This week was good! Training is going well and Sister Lambert is so sweet. :)
This week we had a big announcement from the mission: we are starting a "White Christmas" initiative, where we want every companionship to baptize somebody in December (because no snow in HK, so we can't get a white Christmas any other way, hahaha). It's definitely an ambitious goal but it is POSSIBLE and it's been so fun seeing the whole mission get excited for it! We had MLC this week (always a highlight for me :)) and we spent most of the time setting plans for how to make it all happen. We are so excited!
Also for p-day this past week, we hiked the famous Lion Rock. I lived so close to it in my last area and never went (because too hot), so we finally went this last week (update: it was still hot). I'd heard it was a TON of stairs but HOLY COW I was sore for days, hahaha. The view was phenomenal though so definitely worth it! And we got to go with the West Point sisters and our pal Sin Yau, which was so fun! Would do again... after I've gotten in shape, maybe.
As for the subject line, that's the phrase it says on the back of my study notebook that I got from a cheap little stationery store. I laughed at first but now it's kind of becoming my last transfer's motto. You get what you get, so you might as well make the most of it and God will take those efforts and spin them into miracles. :)
Anyways, that's all this week!
Love you all! Gayauh!
Sister Wasden
郭姊妹

Pics:
Lots of Lion Rock pics because I WORKED HARD FOR THESE.
The elders had a couple of baptisms this Sunday and we are SO HAPPY!

San ge bihbi (who is also Sahn ge bihbi haha @Cantonese)

Leihdeih hou!
This week has been pretty good. The most noteworthy thing is that my sweet Sister Gaillard finished her mission and went home to her beloved land of bread (i.e. France. The only thing I really learned about France in the 3 months we were together is bread bread bread hahahaha). And I picked up a new companion! A VERY new companion! Haha my cute trainee is named Sister Lambert and she is from American Fork, Utah! It's been fun to see her get so excited about all the things in Hong Kong that are just so normal to me now, and kind of surprising to see how much I've adjusted to life here in contrast. (She panicked when we got to the butcher section at the grocery store, hahahaha.)
Honestly, other than that, I can't really remember much about this week. We met with a LOT of members (everyone wanted to say goodbye to Sister G and meet Sister Lambert), which has been delightful. The members are my favorite part of Hong Kong. :)
Lately I've been studying a lot about God's commandments and how important they are. How cool is it that we have Someone on our side who literally knows EVERYTHING and cares enough to tell us about the best ways to navigate this life? Make sure you listen.
Love you all. Gayauh :)
Sister Wasden
郭姊妹

Pics:
1. Sister G is the cutest and I miss her
2. P-day last week! Met with our cute pals to go to an Indian buffet. So fun and so delicious. :)
3. Farewell cheng outs with the members!
4. The last MTR ride together (on the way to the mission office to transfer)
5. My new companion, Sister Lambert!
6. The group of trainers and their trainees, featuring our favorite people, President and Sister Phillips :)
7. Games night party!

New Transfer on the Way

Leihdeih hou!
Okay, it's been a really good, crazy, good, crazy, week. Since Sister Gaillard is going home this week, the members and all the people we're teaching are SCRAMBLING to see us before she goes, and we're having a hard time finding places to slide them into in our planners! Busy is good though so we are definitely not upset!
Two of these meals were HOT POT. Hot pot is this really delicious thing they do here where there is basically a huge pot of boiling water/soup in the middle of the table and you use it to cook raw meats and veggies and all sorts of other goodness. It was outlawed in the mission for a while because a missionary a while back got really sick from it (understandable if you're not being careful haha), but now it's okay again. Kind of in love with it.
This week I got to go on exchanges with my pal Sister Chan! Sister Chan is my favorite person to talk about the universe and everything in it with, so we definitely had a lot of fun and got to teach some cool lessons.
We also had a Halloween party for games night this week! Everyone had a lot of fun and there were a lot of people there. I love Halloween and I love parties so this was a good time for me. :)
This week we also got our transfer calls! Sister Gaillard will be leaving for France (and I will definitely miss her more than I can say), and my new companion will be... new! I will be training! I'm definitely just as nervous for it this time as I was the first time around, but I'm looking forward to the adventure.
Only one transfer left, and I'm going to make it the best one yet! Pray for me :)
Love you all! Thank you for all the love and support!
Gayauh!
Sister Wasden
郭姊妹

Pics:
1. Halloween party fun :)
2. Chyuhn fukyam (preach the gospel). You can't tell, but I'm blocking a really cute couple with my Book of Mormon. #page33folks
3. Harry Potter ma?
4. Birthday party cheng out! Love these members :)
5. Farewell cheng out for Sister Gaillard. I ALSO love these members (including Tim, who is taking the picture, hahaha)
6. We've been together for months and of all those pictures I have yet to find a picture that describes our companionship better than this one.

"How Can I Be a Missionary Without My High Tones?" --Me

Leihdeih hou!
HELLO EVERYONE.
It's been a wild week.
This week I came down with this awful cold. It's been 8 days now and I'm still trying to kick it. It's been funny though--I nearly completely lost my voice for a couple of days there, but I TOTALLY lost my higher registers. This, in English, is no problem, but in Cantonese, a tonal language, it proved to be a bit of a (hilarious) challenge. ALL OF MY HIGH TONES WERE GONE. That means that I'd speak a sentence and only like every other word would come out, leaving me dying laughing (and dying coughing) and the person I was trying to communicate with confused (good thing on the Island I can get away with English). Lots and lots of laughs here.
We did Helping Hands service on the beach again! And our cute new friend Nida came! SO FUN.
I also went on exchanges in Chai Wan with Sister Mangubat (from the Philippines)! So fun and I love all the cute sisters in my zone. :)
We had interviews this past week too! President and Sister Phillips are ANGELS. That is all.
Also, I've been afraid to announce it for the past few weeks in fear of a heat relapse, but I'm going to say it now: AUTUMN IS HERE. We're having less and less rain and more and more cool weather (I even wore a CARDIGAN the other day) and We. Are. Living for it. Bless.
Anyways, time for pictures.
Love you all. God is good. Please go review conference, again and again and again. Remember that God loves us, so He'll never give us more trails than we can handle, but because He loves us, He'll also never give us less trials than we need.
Gayauh!
Sister Wasden
郭姊妹

Pics:
Beach service :)
Card games and cereal for dinner, anyone?
Games night with SO MANY FUN PEOPLE
Saying goodbye to the Chan family, who is moving out of our ward :( :( :(
Cute shirts given to us by an even cuter member :)

SO MANY GOOD THINGS

Leihdeih hou!
A list of good things that happened this week!
1. Got a special opportunity to meet with my uncle, who just happened to be in Hong Kong. This was actually super cool and I'm really grateful for the chance.
2. One of our cute investigators accepted a baptismal date! So happy for her!!
3. Okay so general conference though! SO. GOOD. Hey everyone, I LOVE THE PROPHET. All of our church leaders are so inspired and I felt like so many of their messages were just for me. I hope you felt the same. I'm also loving the direction the Lord is taking the church with home-centered worship. So good.
4. Went to the temple! I love the temple. Just what I needed.
5. Met some new really cool people! I also love new friends.
6. Saw some miracles, as usual. God is here and He's involved in His work (which is my exaltation and yours too), don't forget that.
Anyways, this week was actually kind of a hard week, but looking back I can only see the good. I love how that works. I think that's the beauty of the gospel, is that all things work together for your good, so even in retrospect all the hard things turn into good things in the end too.
Love you all. Have a good week.
Gayauh!
Sister Wasden
郭姊妹

Pics:
Temple temple temple
Fancy dinner with fancy people
Our Helping Hands squad from a couple weeks ago!
I love these ladies :)

[Still Need Better Subject Lines...]

Leihdeih hou!
This week was good! A brief summary:
We went golfing last week for p-day! I actually have never really been golfing before, so it was an adventure, but our sweet member was so patient with us. I made enough progress that I might show some promise in 15 years or so!
This week was full of lots of good things. Lots of good finding sessions, with lots of good new friends. The kind that leaves you best friends after 3 minutes of talking. I love those. We also had some delicious changs this week (meals with members), and best of all, we got to spend time with our cute members! They're the sweetest and feel like family. Our games night was also really good this week--over 7 non-members there! It's a nice casual way to get to know everyone better and let them see the church, without all the formality. We love it.
This week we also got the rare opportunity to do some service! We don't get to do service very much in Hong Kong since they already pay people to do everything, so when we get a chance we take it! This was a stake service project (complete with Helping Hands uniforms and everything) at Deep Water Bay! The typhoon had blown trash all over and had also pushed a bunch of the sand into dunes by the road, so we showed up Saturday morning to pick up trash and move sand. It was hot, it was tiring, and I am still sore, but it was so fun!
This week I've learned a lot about including the Lord in our plans. It's such a simple thing, but it's so important. Our best finding comes out when we say a prayer on the street right before we start and ask the Lord to guide us. Who would have thought He'd be so willing to help out? ;)
Life is good folks. I heard conference was crazy. Excited to watch next week!
Love you all!
Gayauh!
Sister Wasden
郭姊妹

Pics:
1. [help I don't know what I'm doing] Golfing!
2. Hanging out at the driving range
3. I love the members here
4. [help it's so bright] Helping Hands :)