We have had too many days of fog and dreariness - we are hoping April will bring some sunny skies!
We had our Branch Conference yesterday - and it was a wonderful day (we can say that now that it's over!) Our mission presidency came from Hong Kong, and were kept busy doing interviews before the meetings. And - our attendance was the largest since we've been here.
Here's one of our recent adventures: An Indonesian lady (not a member of the Church) has been coming to our meetings since last fall. She looked pregnant, but said that she was not. She disappeared for about a month, and when she came back, she had a tiny baby boy in her arms! Well, she lost her job, and in Macau, if you are a foreigner and don't have a job, you don't have a visa; so she was illegal. Roland took pity on her (mainly for the baby) and we decided to help her get back to Indonesia. On the day she was supposed to leave, some of the sisters took their only day off for the week to help out, and we got her to the airport at 6 a.m. for an early flight to Jakarta. We arrived at the airport only to find that the airline had gone bankrupt overnight, and all of their flights were cancelled. So, here we are with a homeless woman and little baby, all of their worldly goods in a "borrowed" suitcase, and no flight and no where to go. The transportation authority (after MUCH waiting) got all those who were stranded into a hotel room across the street from the airport and tried to help. I'm sure it was because there was a baby involved, but some of them got papers in order fairly rapidly and were arranging a flight - until they found out that the lady's passport and baby's travel papers were at Immigration, because she had overstayed. Things came to a screeching halt, and the authorities came to take them into custody until a flight could be arranged. Roland's advice to her was to let the baby cry, and that might spur them on to do something quickly.
In all of this, our heroes are our sweet Indonesian sisters, who helped her after the baby was born with money for diapers and formula - money that they could ill-afford to give since they send every extra pataca they earn to their own families back home. They helped her care for the baby, and before she was to leave, arranged to spend their one day off helping her, and helping us get her to the airport. They took up a collection so there would be bus fare to get to their province once they reached Jakarta, and one of them even gave her only piece of luggage so they'd have something to travel with. What a lesson to us this is in charity - the pure love of Christ! Note: We heard that they DID in fact get on a flight, albeit several days later.
We continue to enjoy interesting things here in Macau. (See pictures below.) One day we were in one of the markets (the "markets" are just sections of town where there are lots of little shops and stands in a three or four-block area - just foot-traffic, no automobiles - but the scooters go through!), and we heard music coming from nearby. We saw that a place had been cleared, a "loft" cleaned out, and a Chinese Opera was going on. What a treat to watch and listen.
In all of the parks, plazas and little "squares" or gathering places there are always groups of men playing chess or card games. Some of the games must get pretty interesting (or the stakes are high) because of the number of spectators they draw!
We are looking forward to General Conference - I know, it was last weekend! Thanks to the wonders of computers and internet, we can get it here in our apartment, but since we are 14 hours "ahead" of what's happening there, we have to wait to view it. Our Branch will receive the DVD's sometime this week (hopefully) and we will watch the sessions as a Branch this coming Saturday and Sunday. I will have to admit that I sneaked in the Saturday Morning session yesterday while Roland was at the church getting ready for meetings!
We are two days away from the 7-month mark in our mission - hard to believe!
Chinese Opera at the market
Guys playing cards/chess in the park
Lou Lim Ieoc Garden-across from church. This is a classical Chinese garden--narrow pathways winding through groves of bamboo and flowering bushes, molded concrete "mountains" and a large pond with golden carp and lotus flowers. There is a nine-turn bridge, zig-zagging across the pond (according to legends, evil spirits can only move in straight lines).
