MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Leihdeih hou! This week has been good! Filled with Christmas fun and goodness, which has helped it to feel a little more Christmasy around here (because it's definitely super warm still. Definitely no white Christmas for us!). Some highlights from the week: We had our zone Christmas party. Sister Risenmay and I were in charge of mashed potatoes (again), and I'd like to say that I think I made Idaho proud. They were definitely a crowd favorite. ;) It was so fun to be able to celebrate the season with the other missionaries who are all in the same situation as us. So so so blessed. :) The missionaries were also invited to go caroling with the Young Men and Young Women. The cute old ladies we visited were so so happy to see us (for some old ladies, this included dancing around the room. So fun, hahaha) and it was so fun to spread some holiday cheer! It was also so fun to get to hang out for a little bit with the youth in our ward. They're so sweet and it was all in all one of my favorite parts of this week. On Saturday we had a ward mission barbecue! This was for the ward mission leader, the missionaries in the ward, and our investigators and less actives that we're working with. Unfortunately, all 5 people that had committed to come stood us up, but we had already bought all the food, so the missionaries ended up going barbecuing with some of the other members instead. It was pretty disappointing to not have any investigators there, but it was still a really fun time and a good opportunity to build relations with the ward. Let me tell you, Chinese barbecues are so different! You just skewer raw steaks and chicken wings and such and roast them over the open flames. Really delicious, and it's also kind of fun to not be sure if your meat is totally cooked or not and then wonder if you just gave yourself food poisoning and/or salmonella. We also had some wild boars running around (although no monkeys, which we were expecting) to keep things exciting. We're all safe though, and left full of good food. :) Yesterday we had a special Christmas sacrament meeting with the Tai Wai and Sha Tin wards combined, and the missionaries got to sing in it. Good thing Sister Risenmay has the voice of an angel--she saved us. It all went really well though, and we left loaded up with more treats than ever! #snacksunday Today we got to Skype our families! It was definitely the highlight of my whole Christmas. I've been so so so blessed with such love and support (from them and all of you), and spending a Christmas away from home in order to share Christ's love is worth it, no question. Today in personal study I read a little bit about the Christmas story, and this time through, the shepherds really stuck out to me. As soon as they gained their testimonies of Christ, they went out and shared the good news of Christ's birth, and I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to do the same, two thousand years later, here in Hong Kong. So many blessings! Thank you all so much for your love and support! Christ is so real, and He is the reason behind the season. Don't forget that! Gayauh! Sister Wasden 郭姊妹 Pics: Not really any pictures this week since my camera broke (sorry about that), but here's an artsy pic of me in our study room that Sister Risenmay got a few days ago. :)