Miscellenous Pictures

Every first Tuesday of the month Cam and I head to the Season's to have lunch before the TISPA meeting. He is so fun to have lunch with. Usually when he is done with lunch he will come sit on my lap and fall asleep until it is time for the meeting. These are the moments I will miss when he is at school all day next year. 

On this day we helped set up of the disco dance. This is the backdrop the 6th graders made for the photo booth. While I was helping set up Cam played with his 6th grade "buddy". His buddy comes to his class every now and again to play and read with him. All of the other students in his class have a 6th grade "buddy" too. 

 On this day Cam, Connor, and I were waiting for Kade and Kyle to finish with their clubs. Usually the soccer practice is on the other side of the building on the really big field. However, they were doing something to the grass so practice needed to be on this side. The coach was kind enough to let Cam and Connor practice with them. They absolutely LOVED it!! I would sign them up in a heartbeat, but it is so expensive. They have a monthly fee to just practice. That fee is way more than we paid for an entire season in Las Vegas. I wish there was more options here because they really enjoyed it. 

 On this day it was raining really super hard. We thought we would be able to get to school without getting wet, especially since we took a taxi. However as soon as we stepped out of the taxi the wind was making the rain fall sideways. We had a really difficult time even keeping the umbrellas up. The wind kept blowing them away. Needless to say, because the boys were so soaked, I bought them each of new, dry uniform. Later that day it was still suppose to be raining so I ended up having to pick them up from school early because the government decided everyone should go home. At the time I picked them up it was raining quite hard again. What is funny is if the government never made that call the parents would have been able to pick up their kids at the regular time when it was perfectly sunny. So crazy!! Made for a fun memory though! 

Art by Kade and Connor. 

Kyle probably took this video of Cam when they were playing after school. Kyle is always doing things like this with my phone. 

Special District Conference and Easter

Macau China District held a very special conference. Everyone was really grateful for the opportunity to meet and hear from Elder Stevenson. He is a newly called apostle. Like the other special district conferences I had the special opportunity of leading the choir. They did a great job and the Spirit was definitely in the room. 

Here are some before pictures. Eric unfortunately had to stay home with Connor and Cam because they were sick. :( Kade, Kyle, and I. 

With Sister Tammy. She is one of the sisters who always translates for everyone. She helps me when I am leading the choir. She is an incredible person! Her niece is our tutor. 

 One of the older Chinese sisters. She always has a smile on her face. She noticed Kyle was taking pictures so she waved and let him take her picture. 

 Some of the other primary children. All of the primary kids, including Kade and Kyle, sat on the very front row. 

Here is Sister Gong, wife of President Gong. She has a very strong testimony and is always inspiring when she bares it. This time she told a story about a sister in India being an inspiration to her husband. The ladies husband is now a church leader in India. 

President Lam, with Sister Lam, is the China Hong Kong mission president. Before their call they lived in California and was an OB/GYN. 

 I didn't take this picture one of the sisters did. Here are the names from left to right. Elder Funk-Asia area President, Elder Stevenson-apostle in the quorum of the twelve, Elder Gong-Asia Area Presidency, President Hong-Macau China District President, President Lam-Hong Kong China mission president. I never thought I would actually meet an apostle. It was such a great experience. I will always remember what Sister Stevenson said to us when she walked in and saw us. She said, "well don't you stick out." Yes, yes we do! All of conference was very spiritually inspiring and motivating. However, one of the best moments was when Elder Stevenson looked at the front row of primary children and spoke directly to them. He told a story that was just recently published in one of the church magazines. I noticed that Kade, and even Kyle, was paying very close attention. I hope it is an experience they will always remember. They don't know how incredibly lucky they are to meet an apostle, especially in this intimate of a setting.

Eric and I had the opportunity of helping with the missionary open house. Here are some of the members we have came to know. The girl with the glasses is Jessica. She served her mission in the Sacramento, CA mission, so she is usually the one translating for me also. The cute couple at the end were the ones we just happened to see get married at the Hong Kong temple last year. On the left side is Krista. She is the district YW president. She is with her nine year old son and her brother is the district president. I don't know who the guy is next to her. 

Right before Easter the school had an Easter Raffle. I spent 100 mop to buy 10 tickets. I was able to help when the tickets were drawn by the head of the school, Mr. Stribell. I was kind of bummed none of the boys' tickets were drawn but then when they picked the last one it was Kade. Unfortunately Kade was sick that day so I thought it would be fun for Kat, the lady in the bunny costume, to deliver it to Cam. All of the little pre-k students were so excited. Cam definitely thought the entire basket was his though. He was kind of bummed he had to share with his brothers, but he happily did. 

The Clubhouse held another Easter party. Unfortunately this is the first year I did not get a picture of all the boys with the Easter bunny. I think we were just worn out by everybody being sick. 

All of the boys received these fun dinosaur digs from the Easter bunny. They loved being an archaeologist and finding the bones. 

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter this year! Hopefully nobody is sick! To Kade, Kyle, Connor and Cam, may you always remember the real reason we celebrate Easter. It is because our Savior lives and because of Him and His sacrifice we can continuously became better, especially as we are striving to live our lives the way He expects and wants us to. Always live your lives to the best of your ability. When you make a mistake take advantage of the Savior's atonement. He will always love you regardless of anything you do, but always try to stay on the straight and narrow road that leads to eternal life. 

University of Macau-Henquin Campus

We had been told by missionaries and friends that we needed to see the new University of Macau campus by the Henquin border. We thought people needed a China visa to get to it but it is on Macau land so no visa is necessary. One morning we went to breakfast with our church friend Gerard and his daughter Courtney (one of the young women I teach). He drove us in a car so it was really easy for all of us to get over there. After we went through the tunnel and saw the school I was amazed. There were so many buildings but everything was spread apart. There was lots of grass and open areas. As we walked through the campus we noticed the stream running through it. Since it was a holiday there was hardly anybody there. The boys could run, play, and be loud since there was no one there. 

The library was enormous. When we first walked in there was a huge open space. We decided to walk up the stairs. When we were on the next level we noticed all of the books written in Chinese. There was also glass enclosures with Chinese artifacts in them. Everything was very interesting! 

All of the boys needed to use the restroom. When I took Cam I noticed this sign on the back of the door. I thought it was really funny how it says " Please DO NOT squat on the toilet." There must be a bunch of mainlanders who come over and think they need to do that because of how the majority of bathrooms are in China. Usually the toilet is in the ground and they need to squat over it. I am sure grateful we have ever had to do that. 

View from the library. 

Artifacts

When we were done walking around we relaxed at Pacific Coffee and had a snack. They serve some amazing drinks that are not coffee. They also had lamingtons, one of Australia's yummiest desserts. 

Eric relaxing! 

This is definitely one of my favorite places in Macau. There are so many buildings in Macau that are so close together that having a space where everything is spread apart is really nice. The campus reminded us of the Boise State Campus and also a little bit of the UNR campus. We will for sure be visiting here again and during the summer.