The Temple, Kam Tong, and Po Lin Monastery, Ngong Ping, Lantau Island, Hong Kong

We met McKay and Loida and took family names to the temple.  It was a very small temple and we did baptisms so Loida could be with us. 

The best part was seeing us big Americans wearing the temple clothes made for the Chinese.  It was pretty funny seeing how uncomfortable we were.   Afterwards we spent some time walking around the grounds as Kim recalled his missionary experiences.  This is the spot where the mission home was when Kim was here in 1971.    Where Tyler and Dallin are standing is the place where a pool was.  Kim spent time as the Mission Recorder in the Mission Home and he has special memories of his service there.  

The back of the temple.

 After walking around the temple, we went across the street to the church we had attended on Sunday morning.  It is also the Mission home and the Distribution Center.  We had a package for one of the missionaries that was serving in Hong Kong from our cute just returned from Hungary mission neighbor.  She asked us to take a package to the mission home for a boy she had been dating at BYU. 
We were greeted by the Mission President and his wife went and got the missionary because he was there for some training.  It was fun to meet him and report back to our friend that we got to hand deliver her package.  It was great to see the mission home and the missionaries in action! 

 Next we headed to Kim's first area as a missionary.  He lived in the building where the meetinghouse was.  It was way up the hill.  We did a lot of hiking until we discovered escalators going up the hill that were connected to shopping malls.  What a break!  I can't imagine Kim taking on those hills every day as a young missionary. 

Headed to Kam Tong...it was one long climb!

 Imagine our disappointment when we finally made it and discovered that it is closed on Wednesdays.  The church sold the building to Hong Kong and later it was made into a museum where the first baptismal font still remains.  Slurpees saved the day when we made the return trip down the hill and found a 7-11.  It was hot, hot, hot Senora.  Shake your body right.  Kim shared some stories so it was worth the effort.


 We boarded a bus and it took us to the side of the island where the airport is.  It was very windy roads and on the way back Kira and Dallin had to stand and hold on for dear life.  It was fun to watch them sway back and forth...I got a back seat.   It was so beautiful there...like the jungle.  There were lots of different butterflies.   And...lots of stairs.   It was nice because it wasn't crowded like everywhere in Hong Kong.   Ty and Nat found lots of great deals for the kids and Kim found wah muies(dried plums...very sour). 

Wild Bus Ride...Kira had to hold on for most of the trip!

We were getting pretty used to stairs!

268 steps

The statue is named Tian Tan Buddha because its base is a model of the Altar of Heaven or Earthly Mount of Tian Tan, the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. It is one of the five large Buddha statues in China. The Buddha statue sits on a lotus throne on top of a three-platform altar. It is surrounded by six smaller bronze statues known as "The Offering of the Six Devas" and are posed offering flowers, incense, lamp, ointment, fruit, and music to the Buddha. These offerings symbolize charity, morality, patience, zeal, meditation, and wisdom, all of which are necessary to enter into nirvana.

A five minute walk past the tea garden leads to the "Wisdom Path" - 38 calligraphies by famous contemporary scholar Professor Jao Tsung-I of verses from the Heart Sutra on as many high wooden columns reminiscent of bamboo tiles (zhujian),^[5] set within a figure 8 to symbolise infinity.^[6]

 What's a Christensen outing without a great pose?  This is on the way back from the Wisdom Path.  There were some great views from these bamboo tiles where you could see the city and the harbor.   
There is also a great hike to see all around but we had to hurry back to catch McKay and Loida and do some shopping. 

Notice the monastery against the mountain...it was under renovation.

This is the entrance or exit..notice the monks. 

 In our hurry we picked the wrong bus to take and ended up in a small fishing village.  We took  a really nice ferry from there and could see Hong Kong island from a different view.  Kira took her cute Chinese fan where ever she went...she may not like this picture of her but I think she looks kinda Chinese y. 

Loida's dad and brother

Ladies Market...called that because it has everything

Bargain shoppers

After shopping everyone went to eat where you write down what you want on a piece of paper and the waitress comes around delivering your food at intervals during the meal.  It was very yummy but no fruits and veggies. 

It was a very busy day full of things that make Hong Kong unique and amazing.  You have to see it to understand how very different Hong Kong is from other places.  Needless to say, when our heads hit the pillows that night, we were out!