Thursday, January 27, 2011

Hong Kong is Here to Stay

My paper chain that started with 90 links is now down to 4. My parents come home in 4 days, and I can hardly believe it. We thought we would be saying goodbye to Hong Kong, but now we are saying HELLO to it again. My little sister opened her mission call last night and believe it or not, she got called to the China Hong Kong mission speaking Cantonese!!!!! Holy cow I can hardly believe it!!!!

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I stole this picture from my cousin's facebook of her opening her call. The kids surrounding her are my cousins' kids, my mom and dad are on skype (in Hong Kong, how ironic) on the computer in front of her, and most of her siblings were on a conference call on the phone with her. So there are actually quite a few more people in this picture than you think.
(side note: she had just spent 8 days in the wilderness with no shower, toothbrush, toilet paper, etc. so she showered first, and that's why her hair's all wet)
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Okay, I don't know how many of you care to hear the story, but you're all going to get it.
So my little sister Amy is living in Arizona with my cousin Ryan while she is working at the Anasazi Youth Wilderness Camp. She goes out into the wilderness with troubled youth for 8 days at a time and like I said above, has no showers, toothbrush, toothpaste, toilet paper, deodorant, cell phone, etc. Anything the rest of the world thinks is crucial, they don't have it. It's pure craziness.
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Anyway, while down in Arizona she got her mission papers all sent in. Last week when she was home her call didn't come so she assumed it might come while she was gone. She left last Wednesday and the call came two days later, on Friday. It's been sitting in my cousin's house, patiently waiting for her to come home and open it.
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Ryan texted me this picture and said "The next 18 months of your sister's life is in my hands. Wish she was here!"

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So anyway, while she was gone, I told all my siblings to stand by on Wednesday (seeing as we had no idea what time she would get home) and then my brother set up a conference call for all of us to call in and listen. My parents had the day off in Hong Kong and were home packing so it was perfect.
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So last night at 8:00 she called me and was out of the wilderness and I told her the mission call had come and that we were all waiting for her to open it. So we all got on the phone and man, when she read those words, "You are hereby called, yaddy yaddy yadda, you are assigned to labor in the China Hong Kong Mission" we just couldn't believe it! Sounds just like my parents' mission call 18 months ago. And like each of their mission calls when they were single. Yes, people, my mom and my dad both served in Hong Kong when they were single (yes, they were in the same mission at the same time, but no, they did not meet or fall in love there). So this is seriously just the coolest thing ever.
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Amy knows Spanish pretty well so I think some of us thought she might get called spanish speaking but wow, now she has to learn Cantonese! A super hard language. Hopefully my parents can teach her a few words before she goes to the MTC. Which is on March 30th by the way. Only 2 months away!!! That is super quick.
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So, last night Amy made a quick decision to quit her job in Arizona and come home to Utah and stay here for the next 2 months before she leaves. She was planning on just coming home for about a week to see my parents and then go right back to work and stay there till she left on her mission. I don't think she was expecting to leave so soon. So, needless to say, I am EXTATIC that for the next two months she will be here and can play with Mckinley and me. I have missed her.
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Well, that's the story, and if any of you made it this far, I fixed the link in the post below, so that video should work now.
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Man, life is so AWESOME right now. So many exciting things going on.

13 comments:

Stacey said...

WOW!!! That is the coolest story ever! I guess your family really has lots of work to do with those people in Hong Kong. Brett's nephew just got his call last night and he is going to the West Indies. Ya, none of us had any clue where that was. It's pretty much the Bahamas though. I guess it was kind of nice that you all knew where Hong Kong was huh? Haha. That's so exciting that your parents are coming home so soon.

3boys2girls said...

Congrats Amy!!! We will all have to get together before she leaves, an early Girls weekend or at least lunch!!

Ryan + Jess said...

I can't believe that! How cool. So much going on in your family right now! Yahoo!

Jennie said...

That is so neat. First I am so glad that she is going-I had been wondering. And then to Hong Kong!! Cool. I wished I had served there too (as my dad went there as well). I bet your parents are very excited about that call.

nora.lakehurst said...

How fun! Totally excited for your sister. Those people in Hong Kong must be needing some more of your families love. How fun is all of that.

Megan Erickson said...

Very cool.. and exciting. Jordan's brother did that Anasazi thing in Arizona.. he really liked it too. So did my friend Melissa.
How fun to have her home for two months before she leaves...

Kellie said...

Wow that is incredible! I would say that Hong Kong holds a special place within your family's hearts. What a cool story. I just checked out your video of McKinley. Could she be any cuter? You are right, her and Averie look a lot a like and they act a like too! Just love these little monkeys!

Hannah S said...

yes, that is so awesome!!! No coincidences there! My dad served there as well (though Jennie already said that). What happened to that boy she liked?
Anyway, pretty cool!!!

Adam and Hilary said...

AWESOME! Hong Kong! What are the chances???

Kris said...

1. That's so fun that you only have 4 days to wait to see your parents again!
2. Congrats to Amy's crazy mission call!
3. That video is the cutest! I love how she even sticks her tongue out when Brandon just says, "do it again". ha ha. Very sweet!

Haley said...

WOOHOO!!!! Loved the text from Ry ;) And thank goodness for technology! How neat you were all able to see/hear Amy read her call...Hong Kong is going to be lucky to have her serve the people there! (that place obviously loves the Bishops!) She's going to be a stellar missionary :)

PS - Thank you so, so much for you heart-felt comments and prayers for my sister-in-law & her family. It means the world Steph...

Jamie said...

we did the paper chain thing too when my parnts were serving spanish speaking in Texas/New MExico a couple of years ago. The fun thing was we had promised them a letter a week while they were gone as our going away gift and so to help us remember our promise we made a link for every week they would be gone and made a paper chain. The first time I sent a letter I threw the link into the letter just because and continued to do it thinking they would just throw it away but a few weeks later they told me that they were making the chain again on their side. It was pretty cool.

Congratulations to amy and this link your family has to Hong Kong is amazing. thanks for sharing the story.

Lucky to be the mom said...

How cool! Talk about miracles!