"YOUR SON, ELDER MIKESELL HAS ACCEPTED THE ASSIGNMENT TO BE ONE OF MY ASSISTANTS."

ELDER MIKESELL IN THE CHURCH NEWS!

Check out this article in the Church News about the Saints in Hong Kong commemorating their mission's beginnings. Elder Mikesell is featured with his companion, Elder Kho in the article!


Saints in Hong Kong Commemorate Mission's Beginnings
Contributed By Elder Paul Richard Sullivan, Church News contributor
16 JULY 2014 

Missionaries currently serving in the China Hong Kong Mission pose on Victoria Peak with Hong Kong in the background. (From left) Elder Kho, Elder Mikesell, Elder Little, and Elder Tong. (In front) Sister law and Sister Garlitz. Photo by Janet Cheong.

GOT STOPPED BY THE POLICE THE FIRST DAY DRIVING IN HONG KONG!

July 13, 2014

I'm doing well. I'm adjusting. I picked up my license this week and drove home... it was pretty weird with everything on the wrong side... I kept turning on the stupid windshield wipers instead of the turn signals, and Elder Kho had to keep telling me to get back on the right side. Driving in Hong Kong is pretty intense. Imagine the strip but even worse, everything backwards and way more Asian drivers... but it was fun. I actually got pulled over that night, first time driving and I get stopped at a police stop check point. We pull up, say hello, and the cop said, "Are you guys church people?" And we were like, "yeah" and then he and his partner laughed and just told us to go ahead, haha. 

This is Elder Fong, his story is super awesome. He's 26, the only member of his family and a convert of only a few years. He had a lot of family opposition and stuff but is one of the hardest working, humblest missionaries I've ever met. We went on exchanges last week.

Yeah, I work pretty close to the mission president and his wife. He is good. He takes his calling really serious but makes jokes, too. I'm starting to learn when to laugh. His wife is really nice and is a really good cook. She will cook sometimes for meetings that we have and stuff. 

We also had a cool meeting with all the Asia presidency and seventy inside mainland. They also pulled down all the district presidents from Beijing to discuss procedures with the Mandarin missionaries working in Hong Kong for all the visitors. We've been getting a lot lately. If I can remember right, we baptized more visitors from China than we did for the entire mission of Hong Kong in the month of May.. and they keep coming. I don't know how many members there are inside mainland but judging from how many of the leadership of the church came down, it's pretty big. They aren't allowed to proselyte or even tell their friends about the gospel, but they can talk to their immediate family. The restrictions are pretty tight and enforced pretty hard. 

We also just had the 65th Anniversary Peak Service on Saturday. Back in the day, they used to do it every few years or so, but the last time they did it was in 1993. The Peak is the top of the mountain that looks over the harbor. It's really famous and where all the landscape pictures of Hong Kong are taken. It's also where the land of China and Hong Kong were dedicated for missionary work in July of 1949. The seventy who actually did it (Elder Cowley) carved the date into a rock on the Peak that is still there, which is cool. Originally, they had planned on having the serve on the Peak itself, but they couldn't get government permission to do it because there were thousands of people going and they didn't believe that a group that size wouldn't bring a drop of alcohol, haha. So, we did it in Wanchai but it was still cool. 

We went finding and ran into a park they made around some ancient Chinese ruins. They had a full zodiac in the middle and some cool gunman which is like really old Chinese characters. Kind of like Shakespeare to us but even older and people don't know what a lot of them mean, haha. 

Haha, that's funny Chase got his wisdom teeth out. Thanks for all the pictures. Sounds like you guys are doing well. I will try and send more pictures. Thanks for keeping me updated. I'm trying to do better at writing more. Everyone and their mom keeps telling me that they are following Sister Moody's blog. But since she is leaving soon, I guess I should step it up. Thanks for everything. I love you all. Keep the faith, never quit, just keep swimming.

This is a HUGE fish in a reservoir up above Aberdeen. We went on a hike and from the dam you  can see these massive coy fish, they look like giant gold fish. Then I saw this guy, I swear he is over 6 feet long, even though you can't tell from the picture!

Elder Mak

TWO BAPTISMAL DATES FOR JULY, LIVING ABOVE THE TEMPLE IS PRETTY COOL, BUT THE MISSION PRESIDENT LIVES ACROSS THE HALL AND THE TEMPLE PRESIDENT LIVES NEXT DOOR...

We went to a history museum on a P-day and saw this old ding ding. (Ding dings are tram things on the island, they go superrrrr slow, but they are really cheap.) It was cool, though, because our huge massive church building in Wan Chai is getting a name for itself, haha. 

Yeah, Sister Moody and I are in the same ward and district. I'm not a big fan of being in leadership positions. It's cool because you stay busy, which I like, but it's just a lot of responsibility and everyone looks up to you and expects perfection and stuff. I'm trying to be a better example, so hopefully I get better. Being busy with errands and stuff is better than not having anything to do but find. It's really hot outside, and I stay in an office typing or in a car driving most of the time. We still go out, but not as often... I feel so guilty sometimes like I'm not actually working. I feel more tired but more mentally than physically. There is too much stuff to do and it hit me like a train cuz the assistant I replaced went home, so I couldn't call him or anything to ask for help on what to do. Elder Kho helps a lot though. He's great. He's an ABC (American Born Chinese) so both of his parents are from Hong Kong and his Chinese is perfect... so it's nice for language study. Kind of like my old trainie, Elder Wong, who was CBC (Canadian Born Chinese). He's really cool and loves soccer, so we get along okay, haha. Some of the elders who have gone home are keeping us up to date on the World Cup... it's huge here, and I cry myself to sleep knowing that I'm missing it all and that it won't be back for another 4 years... and the US is actually doing pretty well! But anyway...

I have a lot of new responsibilities but one of my major ones is I'm in charge of the numbers reports. So, I have to input all the numbers and different values for the mission as far as the key indicators go. I use most of my time on Excel which at first I was really slow on.. and made a lot of mistakes, but I'm getting better with memorizing all the formulas and stuff. As hard as it is, though, I'd rather have that job than Elder Kho's. One of his responsibilities is to set up all the main lander visitor baptisms with the Mandarin missionaries, and that can get pretty scary cuz you are dealing with international and federal laws of religion.

Yeah, I'll probably be in this ward for a while. This ward is good. It's probably the same size as my last ward before it split. I haven't gotten a cheng out here but a lot of times we don't have time for dinner anyway so it doesn't matter. Living above the temple is pretty cool, but the mission president lives across the hall and the temple president lives next door...   I'm in an apartment with five other elders. One of them is my trainer Elder Kwan. It's kind of weird but cool to see him again.

I haven't gotten my license yet because we haven't had time, but hopefully next week. I'm in no rush though, cuz it's been a long time, everything is on the wrong side, and the streets of Hong Kong are insane. Elder Kho is a good driver, though. I actually saw from the number report that Cotton was baptized! I couldn't go see him, but I think he's doing okay. I was sad I couldn't be there... but other than that it's just been really busy. 

We have a couple really solid baptismal dates for July. One was kind of crazy actually. Elder Walter and I found a guy in Aberdeen one night by super good chance we went down a super industrialized street, full of construction sites (not normally where you would go to find people) and ran into a guy named Mr. Lau. We taught him on the street and found out he lived in Sham Shui Po, and when I found out, I can't lie, I was pretty disappointed... He was golden, and we had to turn him over. So, we scheduled him and went to the turn over lesson with the assistants who work that area. That same day, I found out I was getting transferred to Sham Shui Po! So, President Hawk told me, "Looks like you will follow your investigator over", and we've been teaching him ever since. He's super awesome. Yesterday, he came to church and after he told us that he had gotten off work at 7 in the morning (church starts at 9:30), and he really wanted to go home and sleep but he felt like he needed to go to church, so he did and he was really happy he did. He does that every week because he works graveyards. So, pretty cool. 

Oh, also, the craziest thing happened. Elder Loderup, who came in with me, got attacked by a huge dog last week!! He's been in the hospital since then, doing okay but had to have a couple surgeries. We go visit him every day. It reminded me of Kam Tin because the dogs outnumbered the people like six to one. I think the biggest mistake he made was he ran... Whenever a dog would get mad at us and growl or bark, we would just stand up really tall and sometimes pick up our bikes over our heads to make ourselves look really big and they would normally not do anything until we could walk backwards and get out of there. But he's super tough and will be okay. Pray for him. He said his mom is kind of worried. Thanks for everything, love you all. Keep the faith, just keep swimming, never quit. 

Love,

Elder Mak

This is our bishop and his family in Aberdeen. Super awesome people.

This was in Stan Lee during the dragon boat festival. There were a stupid amount of people there. These guys were doing Brazilian capoeira which is like a martial art/dance. They were pretty good.

This was taken from Lama Island. One of the places we would go knock doors. Full of the biggest spiders you'll ever see and a ton of mosquitoes but really pretty. It's a weird place because of all the different cultures mixed in such a small area.

​

Sister Moody & Elder Mikesell at a hot dog eating contest.

Sister Moody & Elder Mikesell at a hot dog eating contest.

DEAF LESSON WITH SISTER MOODY

June 22, 2014

Thanks Sister Moody for the picture!

It's been a really busy transfer week. We got new missionaries in and had a group leave, which was sad because I knew them all and they were good friends. It's been hard to keep up with some stuff, but I'm getting more used to the new area. We were also able to teach a deaf less active which was cool. Sister Moody, who is serving in my ward too, was meeting with her but wanted me there to try and communicate more with her. She's really nice and super funny. We have permission for our next lesson to bring Sister Chan from my last area with us to teach and fellowship her which will be awesome! Hoping to try and get her to come back because right now she is going to an all deaf church, but we think if we can get her some deaf friends in the Pok Fu Lam Ward, even though it's farther, she might be willing to come. 


We also had a guy named Mr. Lau come to church today, and he really liked it. It was super funny cuz we found him in Aberdeen but found out he lived in Sham Shui Po (where I am now) and scheduled a turn over lesson with the Sham Shui Po elders, but it turns out that I was turning him over to myself because I moved here, haha. Other than that, it's just been a lot of adjusting. Thanks for everything, love you all, keep the faith, never quit, just keep swimming.

Elder Mak

BEING THE 'ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT' IS DIFFERENT THAN WHAT I'M USED TO... PLEASE PRAY FOR ME

June 15, 2014

So, I left Aberdeen on Saturday... it was kind of sad because Cotton is going to be baptized soon, and I won't be able to see it... and also, we've been going months with getting nothing and then right as it starts getting better, and we start finding people who are willing to meet and stuff, I leave. But that's normal. I'm used to it. 

My new area is called Sham Shui Po. It's in Kowloon, so kind of in the middle of everything. I actually live in the temple which is pretty cool, and it's right next to the mission office. It's been a pretty crazy last few days. We've been really busy. The Sham Shui Po Elders have a car, so I have to be the navigator and get my companion to the right place using the GPS... it's pretty hard because the Hong Kong streets are crazyyy. I mean, I thought I knew they were crazy, but I didn't know it was this bad, haha. As soon as we get some time, I'll go get my Hong Kong driver license, and I will have to drive. I think it will be pretty weird because everything is like England, where it's on the wrong side. So, the steering wheel and the lanes are opposite... My companion is cool, though. Well, right now, I'm in a tripanionship, but the other one will be going home on Thursday. The one I'll be working with is Elder Kho. He's from Utah, but he's an ABC (American born Chinese). His parents are both from Hong Kong, but he is from Utah. His Chinese is perfect and so is his English, so it's awesome cuz he's like a walking dictionary. His dad actually does a lot of the translation of conferences for Cantonese, so when we watch conference talks we can hear his voice, haha.

Anyway, yeah, so it's different and it will take a while to get used to, but it is what it is. Please pray fro me. It's pretty different than what I'm used to. Thanks for everything, oh, I just got your package Kelly, thanks a ton!! I sent a package home a while back did it ever get there?? Anyways, love you all, just keep swimming, keep the faith, never quit.

Love,
Elder Mak

Check out the new website that our mission put together. It's pretty cool. http://www.chkm.org

WILD BORES, MISSIONARY PANSIES & COTTON HAS A BAPTISMAL DATE!

This week was good, we have an investigator named Cotton (cuz his Chinese name means Cotton). He's cool. He met with the missionaries a few years ago here in China, but he couldn't get baptized because his family is Buddhist and were anti-ing him a ton. He moved to St. George to go to school at Dixie and had a bunch of member roommates. He heard all the lessons there in English, but he didn't understand everything. So, he's back for the summer, and we are re-teaching him in Chinese. He wants to get baptized and has a baptismal date set for June 29th! He's been meeting with us regularly and coming to church which is awesome. So, it's way cool. 


Haha, wow! Your missionaries are PANSIES!! I want you to tell them that, too. I went entire moves (9 weeks, not baby 6 week moves like them) without getting one cheng out (dinner appointment), and when I do get them, they are normally cuddle fish or something... Anyways, that is AWESOME that Chase is going out with them to teach lessons. If they aren't doing it already, tell Chase to ask them specifically what the lesson is, and what part they want him to teach/testify about. Then read through Preach My Gospel. If Chase reads and studies Preach My Gospel now, he'll be miles ahead of anyone else in the field. He won't have to waste time learning it in the MTC, so he can focus everything on teaching skills. 


The mission president has set a goal for the mission that in July we need to have 65 baptisms. That is the 65th anniversary of the church in Hong Kong. He told us to change our study schedule from the morning to the evening twice a week and go to Lamma Island at least once a week to try and contact people we normally wouldn't. We tried it for the first time the week before and hadn't found anyone, but if you guys pray for it, and anyone and everyone who reads this prays for it, it might happen! Lamma is a weird mix of a ton of different kinds of cultures and people. I can't even explain it, but it's different. It's like a jungle with South American villages in it but then a bunch of nice American and European restaurants and beaches and a HUGE factory of some kind. I don't know what the power plant is for, but it looks like they build transformers there.There are HUGE bugs, and I've never sweat so much in my life, but it's cool. Apparently, there is a wild bore problem, too, so we are hoping to find, kill and eat one. Worst of all, there are a bunch of white people... but you do what you have to do, I guess. Anyways, we are banking that there is someone ready on that island! The members are doing well. We've started a plan where we work a lot closer with every family and member of the ward to try and get referrals, and it's starting to pick up. We get together for zone conferences once every move so every nine weeks, but we have zone meeting every month. Our district is really small right now. It's just my companionship and another companionship. On temple day, we go with our district. We have district meeting every week. 

The weather is hot and humid, but we've been getting a tonnnnn of rain cuz the rainy season is starting. It's kind of hard to find while it's raining, so hopefully it's not too bad this year. 

Thanks for everything! I love you guys! Keep the faith, never quit, and just keep swimming.

Love Elder Mak