Prophet of God
I am the worst blogger is the world. Having a slow internet and sometimes non-existent doesn't help. On April 20 Kim and I flew to Hong Kong so we could attend the devotional with President Nelson and Elder Holland. It was a fantastic weekend. We are so glad we went. At first, I thought maybe we shouldn't go and take a seat away from the Asian people but decided we are brothers and sisters and he is the Prophet for all of us. It was so great to feel the enthusiasm in the conference hall where the meeting was held. We talked to a young family from Singapore that had gotten up at 4:00 that morning to catch a flight and come to the devotional. They are from America and are working and living in Singapore. They were so excited to see the prophet. Then we sat next to a woman from the Philippines. She was just giddy with excitement. She didn't think she was going to get to come because she was suppose to work that weekend. But 2 weeks ago her boss told her she could have the time off so she could go. She also told me that they would be going to the temple on Sunday. She said that every 3 months they have sessions in the Hong Kong Temple for the people in the Philippines to attend. I had never heard that before but I have to say, Why not? She also felt like she had been especially blessed because there was a very small man sitting in front of her and she had a perfect view of the pulpit. Can you see how cute she was?
When Pres. Nelson came in you could feel without any question that this was God's prophet. You could feel the love and respect that the people had for him and the love he had for the people. It's hard to describe but the feeling/spirit was strong. They had a Cantonese interpreter for both his speech and Elder Holland's. (which made it much easier for note taking.) But there were many people from mainland China who speak Mandarin. As well as I'm sure there were many other languages there. But it didn't damper their attitude or excitement or spirit.
When Pres. Nelson began, he first asked for the missionaries to stand. There were a lot of missionaries! Then he had people stand according to where they were from. There were people there from all over the world-including main land China. It was held in a large conference hall. Apparently there were about 4,000 people there. We were sitting about 1/4 of the way back and right in the middle. We had great seats.
Both Pres. Nelson and Elder Holland spoke about temples. It tells you how important temples are in our lives. Pres. Nelson also spoke about tithing. He told the people that paying their tithing would take them out of poverty. What a profound and interesting thought. Paying your tithing will help you meet your financial obligations. Logistically you think it can't work or help but it makes a huge difference. I'm grateful for tithing and for temples. I especially am grateful that we have a prophet of God that leads us as if Jesus Christ were here himself. At the end of his talk, Pres. Nelson gave a special blessing for the people. Then when he went to leave he told us he wished he could shake every one of our hands and give us a kiss on the cheek. He just stood by the door for several minutes waving. It was if he hated to go. I know that we all hated to have him leave. What a fabulous evening. The hour and a half sped by quickly.
The line waiting to get in. The woman behind me is the mother of the family from Singapore.
Our view of the podium. Waiting for the devotional to start. We waited about 45 minutes.
We were sitting about 5 rows in front of the 2nd pillar on the left. I'm sure we're in this picture. 😂
On Sunday we went to church at a Hong Kong English speaking branch. We were only going to stay for Sacrament meeting because we had an early afternoon flight back to Xi'an. But we decided last minute to stay at least for a little bit of Sunday School. We ended up staying the whole time and soooo glad we did. During Sacrament meeting, we sat behind a family with 4 young boys who are from Las Vegas but are working and living in Malaysia. We met them Saturday at the devotional and then saw them again at church. They were an impressive family. The boys were well behaved and seemed very interested in everything that was happening, both the night before and on Sunday again.
When we sat down for Sunday School, a man came by and introduced himself and asked where we were from, etc. Then he went on to the couple behind us. I heard the man sitting behind us introduce himself as Bro. Abbott and his wife. He was working at a school in Shenzhen, blah, blah, blah. I didn't think much about it but when the local man walked away, Kim turned around and started talking to him because he too had heard him talking and he heard him say he was an assistant principal at the school. Kim asked him his name and he said Nate Abbott. Then a light flashed on in my head. I turned around and sure enough it was Nate Abbott. I had taught with him at Cascade Elementary. He was the first grade Chinese Immersion teacher for 2 or 3 years while I was there. I was in his classroom everyday. I had heard that he had moved to China but I hadn't heard where. I had often wondered where he was. As soon as I turned around he looked at me and we both stood up and embraced. Kim had no idea what was going on. It was pretty funny and pretty cool.
Then close to end of the meeting another man and his wife and young child came in and sat behind us. It was obvious the Abbotts knew them as they had motioned them to come in and sit down. When they sat down, Kim turned around to look at them--just a natural reaction. And low and behold it was Kim's cousin's son, Brigham Dye. We had seen Brigham and all his family in August before we left for China at his younger sister's wedding reception. He had told us then that he was going to China to teach English but we couldn't remember where and hadn't heard from him since. We have often talked about him saying we wonder where Brigham and his family is. He teaches at the school where Nate is the assistant principal. Such a small world--especially when you factor in the church. We loved running into both of them and were thrilled to know where they were and make that connection. Here's a couple of pictures we took before heading off to the airport.
When Pres. Nelson came in you could feel without any question that this was God's prophet. You could feel the love and respect that the people had for him and the love he had for the people. It's hard to describe but the feeling/spirit was strong. They had a Cantonese interpreter for both his speech and Elder Holland's. (which made it much easier for note taking.) But there were many people from mainland China who speak Mandarin. As well as I'm sure there were many other languages there. But it didn't damper their attitude or excitement or spirit.
When Pres. Nelson began, he first asked for the missionaries to stand. There were a lot of missionaries! Then he had people stand according to where they were from. There were people there from all over the world-including main land China. It was held in a large conference hall. Apparently there were about 4,000 people there. We were sitting about 1/4 of the way back and right in the middle. We had great seats.
Both Pres. Nelson and Elder Holland spoke about temples. It tells you how important temples are in our lives. Pres. Nelson also spoke about tithing. He told the people that paying their tithing would take them out of poverty. What a profound and interesting thought. Paying your tithing will help you meet your financial obligations. Logistically you think it can't work or help but it makes a huge difference. I'm grateful for tithing and for temples. I especially am grateful that we have a prophet of God that leads us as if Jesus Christ were here himself. At the end of his talk, Pres. Nelson gave a special blessing for the people. Then when he went to leave he told us he wished he could shake every one of our hands and give us a kiss on the cheek. He just stood by the door for several minutes waving. It was if he hated to go. I know that we all hated to have him leave. What a fabulous evening. The hour and a half sped by quickly.
Our view of the podium. Waiting for the devotional to start. We waited about 45 minutes. 
On Sunday we went to church at a Hong Kong English speaking branch. We were only going to stay for Sacrament meeting because we had an early afternoon flight back to Xi'an. But we decided last minute to stay at least for a little bit of Sunday School. We ended up staying the whole time and soooo glad we did. During Sacrament meeting, we sat behind a family with 4 young boys who are from Las Vegas but are working and living in Malaysia. We met them Saturday at the devotional and then saw them again at church. They were an impressive family. The boys were well behaved and seemed very interested in everything that was happening, both the night before and on Sunday again.
When we sat down for Sunday School, a man came by and introduced himself and asked where we were from, etc. Then he went on to the couple behind us. I heard the man sitting behind us introduce himself as Bro. Abbott and his wife. He was working at a school in Shenzhen, blah, blah, blah. I didn't think much about it but when the local man walked away, Kim turned around and started talking to him because he too had heard him talking and he heard him say he was an assistant principal at the school. Kim asked him his name and he said Nate Abbott. Then a light flashed on in my head. I turned around and sure enough it was Nate Abbott. I had taught with him at Cascade Elementary. He was the first grade Chinese Immersion teacher for 2 or 3 years while I was there. I was in his classroom everyday. I had heard that he had moved to China but I hadn't heard where. I had often wondered where he was. As soon as I turned around he looked at me and we both stood up and embraced. Kim had no idea what was going on. It was pretty funny and pretty cool.
Then close to end of the meeting another man and his wife and young child came in and sat behind us. It was obvious the Abbotts knew them as they had motioned them to come in and sit down. When they sat down, Kim turned around to look at them--just a natural reaction. And low and behold it was Kim's cousin's son, Brigham Dye. We had seen Brigham and all his family in August before we left for China at his younger sister's wedding reception. He had told us then that he was going to China to teach English but we couldn't remember where and hadn't heard from him since. We have often talked about him saying we wonder where Brigham and his family is. He teaches at the school where Nate is the assistant principal. Such a small world--especially when you factor in the church. We loved running into both of them and were thrilled to know where they were and make that connection. Here's a couple of pictures we took before heading off to the airport.
Nate Abbott holding his youngest son.
Brigham Dye with his wife. I can't remember her name.
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