MONKEYS! And other exciting things.

Leihdeih hou!! This week has been so good! First things first, MONKEYS! I'd been here in Hong Kong for around 15 weeks and had yet to see a monkey. Everyone told me that since I'm in Tai Wai (which is a little more jungle-y than other parts of Hong Kong) that I would see them for sure around people houses, and still no luck, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. Last week for p-day, we took the trek to Monkey Mountain. Fun fact: since monkeys are definitely a thing here in Hong Kong (a fact I was previously very doubtful of), if you ask a taxi driver to take you to Monkey Mountain, they will in fact just drive you up a random mountain and drop you off, so the key to enjoying this particular adventure is to go with a member who knows their way around. Our member of choice was Tanner, our fabulous ward mission leader, and his mom, who is one of our investigators! Apparently I am natural monkey repellant (which I am now grateful for after actually meeting monkeys) and there were not nearly as many monkeys as there usually are, but I saw enough to be content. Baby monkeys are adorable, adult monkeys are terrifying. That is all. We also did a cool hike around a lake that involved walking through a mini bamboo forest, and after all the monkey excitement we went to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, which is for the most part shamelessly dedicated to Bruce Lee. I've since determined that becoming a martial arts master is part of my future plans. Among other adventures this week: I finally tried chicken feet! We were eating at a member's house, and she was serving us some fish, and her cute two-year-old daughter Ouji (who I LOVE) also wanted to serve us some food, so she grabbed the serving spoon, dipped it into the bowl of various chicken parts, and somehow got one of only two chicken feet in the whole bowl. I was sitting right across from her and saw the danger I was in. My heart dropped. Ouji moved the spoon (and the chicken foot) towards my bowl, and her mother saw what was happening and quickly said "Oh, missionaries don't like those! Don't give it to her!" but Ouji was DETERMINED to be a good host and serve me food, so into my bowl it went. (P.S., it's Chinese culture that if something goes into your bowl, you have to eat it unless you can sneakily slip it into your bones pile or into your purse or some other hidden place.) Sister Tohng told me that I could just put it on the table and not eat it (bless her soul), but I was determined to try it. I asked Ying Ying (the seven-year-old daughter) to show me how to eat it (you bite off the toes, suck off the meat, and then spit the bone out. I wasn't really digging that), and then the pressure was on me. Sister Tohng kept telling me to just put it on the table, Ying Ying kept saying "It's SO GOOD! TRY IT," Sister Christensen was telling me to go for it, and Ouji got excited by all the noise and started yelling her two-year-old Cantonese gibberish at me and waving her arms. The pressure was high. The moment was now. I ended up chickening out (pun intended) and just gnawing off a tiny little bit of the skin (none of that bone-biting business for me, thank you very much). I'll stick to chicken wings for the time being. Also, during our regularly scheduled English class finding session this week, I had not one, but TWO people come up and ask to take a picture with me (because I'm white). So that was definitely a big milestone for me as a missionary here. This week we also had a lot of miracles in our missionary work! We have been trying SO HARD to find new investigators, especially through the members, and this week it finally happened! We had the opportunity to meet with FIVE new people this week, THREE of whom became new investigators! That kind of miracle doesn't happen often here, and we are so so grateful for it! Two of those new invesigators accepted baptismal dates already, and they all have so much potential. I love being a missionary! God is really watching out for us. This is His work, and when we really show Him that we're willing to do things His way, it all works out for the better. Life is good, and life with God on your side is even better! Thanks for all the love and support! Keep smiling, don't get too close to monkeys, and avoid the chicken feet. Sending love to you all! Gayauh! Sister Wasden 郭姊妹 Pictures: 1. The hiking crew (me, Sister Christensen, Tanner, Sister Lai, Sister Lee, and Sister Bannagao) 2. MONKEYS! They got a lot closer than that, but when they did, I didn't dare turn my back on them 3. Be water, my friend​​