March on

The cardboard boat race

I've considered not doing this blog anymore after missing a couple of weeks. I do best when I can just continue on in a regular pattern. If I miss doing it for too long, it will be hard for me to start again because it feels too overwhelming to go back and summarize. But I have decided to march on and keep posting.
March has been a busy month, as they all seem to be these days.
One of the biggest things is that my oldest turned 12 and I was able to ordain him a deacon. It has been great seeing him take on Aaronic priesthood responsibilities and watching him as he passes the sacrament and helps take care of the building. It has also been fun to have him in the Aaronic priesthood meeting with me, since I am still teaching the lessons every week there. It is a little different to remember to say everything twice in the lessons, once in English and once in Indonesian. I don't want anyone to get shortchanged so I try to make sure to repeat things evenly in both directions and translate comments from the youth.
There were also some big things at the school this month. There was a big production where they march all of the kids by country with a flag like the Olympics and then have them perform something that has to do with their country. My wife and children, of course, were really involved in it. It was fun to see. There was also a race on Pi day (March 14, 3.14) of boats that the middle school students built from cardboard and then raced in the school swimming pool. It was also a lot of fun. My son's group spent a lot of time on it in the months leading up to it and did really well.

Buddha on a peak in Hong Kong

We had a really fun vacation in Hong Kong for spring break this past week. We did so many things and spent the entire day every day out and about. Some friends of ours met us there and went around with us which was also really nice and fun for us even if it may not have been as much fun for them to just do family things.
Among other things, one of the highlights was going to Disneyland with our children from open to close. For the youngest it was his first time and for the one just older than that the last time we went was too long ago to remember. I can't believe that our entire family went on the Space Mountain roller coaster at the same time! Since the lines were really short, some of us went multiple times. We also loved going on the Buzz Lightyear ride and trying to rack up as many points as possible shooting the little Zurg targets with a laser. We had some pretty awesome scores. A tip if you go: the ones that move are worth more points when you hit them and you can just keep hitting those as fast as you can to really accumulate points. (I guess it's pretty clear I liked this one too.)

Hong Kong Temple

Anyway, there were a lot of other fun things to do like take the cable car on Hong Kong island and go to the peak, go to the Buddha statue on the tram, check out markets, go on the ferry across the bay, ride the MTR, watch all the people, see the tall buildings, find places to eat, find our way around, etc. The main reason we chose to go to Hong Kong for spring break is so that we could go to the temple since we don't have one here in Indonesia. It was good to go to the temple again even if a little challenging since I do not speak any Chinese languages. The very best part was that my oldest was able to go to do proxy baptisms for his first time. He had a good experience and really wants to go again. We already have plans.
It was great to be on vacation and get away to some place really different from where we're living, especially some place as clean and modern as Hong Kong, but it's always nice to come back home, too. I'm familiar with how things work here and my body is definitely more used to the warm weather. I wore my jacket almost the entire time in Hong Kong and it felt cold since the temperature never even made it as high as the low temperature here in Indonesia.
I'll go back to work tomorrow and tackle the hundreds of Emails that have accumulated as well as all of the rest of the work I have to do. It's a good thing I like the work! Just marching on, continuing the blog and finishing up March.

Hong Kong street