It’s almost the middle of October. In Boise, the highs are in the 70’s and there has already been a hard freeze in the gardens. And here in Hong Kong, we are barely starting to feel some relief from the hot, sticky summer climate. The highs are in the 80’s and the lows are in the 70’s with the humidity tolerable, averaging about 60%. We don’t need a mop cloth to wipe the sweat from our eyes when we walk for any length of time. It’s almost pleasant to be outside now.
Elder Ball and I were busy at the temple for most of the week, but we did get in a couple of days of adventure. For P-Day, we went shopping in the textiles district, Sham Shui Po and met a lady with a pet parrot that could sing Happy Birthday. It didn’t sing for us, but it did pose for a photo. (Can you spot Elder Ball in the fabric store?)
Grandpa, especially, enjoyed fabric shopping. He compared it to sitting in the dentist chair.
On Thursday we took a bus through the Aberdeen Tunnel to the village of Aberdeen, which is on the southern tip of Hong Kong Island. It is a maritime village with a lot of water traffic, a floating resturant, the Jumbo, a floating B & B, many small touring junks as well as larger ones, yachts and big industrial boats. We took a junk out to the Jumbo floating restaurant and had some great dim sum for lunch.
Later in the afternoon, Elder Ball and I took the ferry to Peng Chung Island, thinking we would have dinner in one of the seafood restaurants there. But, there were no resaurants, and also no cars. Just thousands of bikes everywhere and one little market located in a narrow alley. We walked around the park and promenade next to the harbour and then went back to TST for dinner in a great Italian place. (Elder Ball is waiting for you to spot him in the alley.)
On Friday, we met a lovely couple at the temple who came from Pakistan, Anwar and Sharish Sahib. This couple, who came from Pakistan was an historical event for the church. The church is definitely spreading throughout the world as we see ancient prophesies being fulfilled every day.
Last weekend was conference weekend for us. Elder Ball and I took some time on Sunday to go to Victoria Park and witness one of Hong Kong’s famous traditions; the gathering of the domestic workers and Muslim women that happens every Sunday in the park. It is a time-honored tradition, but was an unusual sight for us to view this unfamiliar cultural event.
Elder Ball and I certainly enjoyed watching general conference on YouTube and listening to the inspired messages of our prophet.
We hope that all our family and friends are doing well.
Love and Prayers from Hong Kong,
Elder and Sister Ball
Hong Kong Temple Mission 
Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S® III mini, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone