Another Week, Another Apostle :)

Leihdeih hou!
So for starters, last week Elder Bednar came to Hong Kong, but the missionaries didn't get a chance to meet with him (he was on a tight schedule), but we DID get the chance to meet with Elder Gong this past Thursday! Hong Kong is getting a lot of attention from the General Authorities lately and the missionaries are definitely not complaining. Elder Gong and his wife are so sweet! Elder Gong spoke to us a lot about loving your companions and making them your eternal friends, which I loved. No problems here because I've really been blessed with stellar companions my whole mission and I am so grateful for each of them.
Elder Gong meeting with the missionaries was also really special because it happened to fall on my ONE YEAR mark! ONE YEAR on the mission! It kind of blows my mind because on the one hand, I feel like I've lived in Hong Kong my whole life, and on the other hand, I feel like I just got here and still don't really know what I'm doing, haha. Regardless, 6 months left sounds like WAY too short of a time and I'm planning on living them out the very best I can. :)
We also had zone conference this week! It was mostly just training on our new smartphones and finding new ways to utilize them. I feel like I could better utilize them if I knew characters, but that's a work in progress. Really though, I'm so grateful for them already and we don't even have data yet! Smartphones were clearly an inspired move and I'm excited to see how the work moves forward with them.
Anyways, I'm doing well. The church is so true and I feel so blessed to be able to be in Hong Kong trying to share it. The work is hard but it's oh so good!
Love you all! Gayauh!
Sister Wasden
郭姊妹

Pictures:
1. MTC reunion at Elder Gong's meeting (minus Elder Bagley who booked it out before we could catch him)
2. My beautiful Sister Low :)
3. Sister Briggs and I and Sister Lee, a sweet old lady in our ward. Have I mentioned yet how much I love each of my comps?

This Weeeek

Leihdeih hou!
This week has been good! Busy, hot, but good. I don't have much time (again. I am so sorry), so here's a lame summary of what's going on:
1. We got smartphones! I was a little nervous about this new development but it's already so obvious how much they will bless the work. Also having Pleco (a Chinese dictionary app) is an actual lifesaver and studies have gotten so much better. Hallelujah.
2. Sister Lee flew back to Korea! We were only together for a few short weeks, but I learned so much from here while she was here and I'm so grateful for the time that we had.
3. My new companion is Sister Briggs from Utah! She was one of my very best friends back in Lion Rock (no one believes we're actually comps and I kind of keep expecting here to disappear when I turn around), so I'm of course expecting this transfer to be a party and a half.
4. We got a new investigator named Wing! He is seriously the coolest person in the world and I love getting to meet with him. He has a ton of really good sincere questions, and so much interest. The best.
5. I don't know why I've never mentioned this before, but the word for "children" in Cantonese directly translates to "small friend" and I think that's important for everyone to know.
The work is good. It's hard, but it's good. God is real, Jesus loves you, and the church is true. Have a good week everyone. :)
Gayauh!
Sister Wasden

郭姊妹

Pictures:
1. Saying goodbye to Sister Lee (yes I did feel 8 feet tall the whole time we were together)
2. Artsy picture of a ding-ding, taken from a ding-ding. Sister Kayla Wasden. Cell phone, digital. 2018.
3. Sister Briggs (on a ding-ding again. I love those things)
4. The view from a member's window

I LOVE MY MOM

Leihdeih hou!
Okay, so I know I say this a lot, but this is going to be the worst weekly ever. So sorry.
This week has been so busy that looking back on it, I can't really remember anything that happened. It's all a blur. A blur of wonderful people and oh so much food. Since Sister Lee is heading home this week, we've eaten with members every single day, and sometimes twice in a day, which has been crazy (I'm used to member meals maybe once a week). It's been so fun though and has been such a great chance for me to get to know the ward better before I take over the area on Thursday. This area seriously has such sweet members and I love them all so much.
I think I also went on exchanges this week but maybe that was last week? No, I think it was this week. Whenever it was, it was pretty fun.
Yesterday was Sister Lee's last Sunday in the ward, so we had a nice ward-wide photoshoot. Some pictures attached. The members here really love the missionaries and it's definitely reciprocated, trust me.
The best part of my week: I Skyped my mom (and the rest of my family) this morning! Moms are pretty much the best thing ever and I'm so grateful for mine. Everyone take a second to be grateful for your mom. Happy Mothers' Day, folks.
I know I also say this a lot but I don't think I'll ever be able to say it enough: I love Hong Kong! Also missions are great. Also my mom is the best. And the church is true. That's all.
Love you all! Gayauh!
Sister Wasden
郭姊妹

Pictures:
Some members. I am so tall here.
One of our favorite members works at a Japanese restaurant. This makes for a wonderful cheng out.
I've never been so tired. This is starting to become a nightly ritual.
My apartment pals :)
This lady in our ward has cute twins and they are 100% accessories. They get passed around for photo ops every single week, hahaha. Here's one of them with some of our other members.
​​Brother Si (our ward Bible expert) and A-Him (our stellar ward mission leader)

I Love the Bible

Leihdeih hou!
This week has been good! We've had lots of lessons and member visits and it's been so good. Something I really love about this area is how involved the members are with the missionaries and with the work. They keep us really busy and I love it! One such member visit was with Si Hingdaih (Brother). Si Hingdaih meets us about once a week to do comp/language study with us, and it's pretty much my favorite part of the week because he's a Bible expert and he just tells us deep doctrines from the Bible (and how they're confirmed in the Book of Mormon), which is fun because 1. I love deep doctrine and 2. I really love the Bible (and the Book of Mormon. And D&C. And actually just all the scriptures?). It's a big challenge: when I don't understand what he's teaching us about the Bible, I have to fill in the gaps with my (limited) knowledge of Cantonese, and when I don't understand his Cantonese, I have to try to connect the dots with my (also pretty limited) Bible knowledge. It's mentally exhausting but SO FUN.
We also had a really good lesson with one of our investigators named Mr. Jeung. It was really cool to meet him and see how much the gospel means to him. He has a really hard family life (because he's raising a teenager and a 3-year-old by himself) and it was really awesome to watch him as he learned how Christ can help him. He already has such a testimony that this church is true and I'm so excited to keep working with him.
Yesterday we had a really cool meeting! It was a multi-stake conference with all 6 stakes in Hong Kong, as well as all of Taiwan. It was a broadcast from Salt Lake City especially for this area (President Nelson said that he was inspired to put it together after visiting Hong Kong a few weeks ago), and Elder Neil L. Andersen, Elder L. Whitney Clayton, Sister Bonnie H. Cordon, and Bishop W. Christopher Waddell all spoke to us. I was listening to the already translated version, and my Canto isn't THAT good yet, but from what I could understand, it was a lot about ministering and studying the scriptures. Kind of like a mini general conference, just for Hong Kong and Taiwan. :) Between Elder Stevenson visiting two months ago, President Nelson and Elder Holland visiting a few weeks ago, Elder Andersen being broadcast in yesterday, and Elder Bednar visiting Hong Kong in just a couple weeks, the work is really picking up here in Hong Kong, we can feel it! Exciting stuff!
Also I'd just like to announce to everyone that this is my first time being the American minority in my apartment and I'm loving it. I've been informed that I have an Australian sense of humor, I eat delicious Korean food all the time, and last week my life was changed by Australian Sipahh straws (Google 'em). Life is good.
Life is good and God is good. I'm so grateful for my mission and for the person that it's made me, and I'm glad that I get to keep working and keep changing and keep improving (and hopefully keep learning Cantonese, haha. Lots to learn). Keep praying and reading your scriptures--God is there and He's listening. Also give your local missionaries some love for me. :)
Love you all so much! Thanks for all the support. Gayauh!
Sister Wasden
郭姊妹

Pictures:
1. Burritos make us happy.
2. So we all decided that we wanted Mexican food (basically non-existent here), so this week my apartment splurged a little bit and made some homemade Cafe Rio! Pork barbocoa burritos, complete with REAL cheese (I haven't owned real cheese since coming to Hong Kong. Dairy is crazy expensive here) and horchata on the side. So. Good. Worth every penny.
3. The Bank of China tower, on our way back from district meeting.
4. Chilling on the beach :)