Asia Area Mission: December 2011

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given........and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

As we celebrate the Saviour's birth we wish one and all a very Merry Christmas!! May God bless you and yours with happiness and joy. May His choicest blessings be upon you. We know the Saviour lives and that through Him we can find peace. We are grateful for the opportunity to be serving Him on this mission and deem it a privilege to do so.

Christmas is certainly different this year without family and friends but we are enjoying the season. We listened to the First Presidency Devotional, which is always a highlight to kick the season off. Last week we attended a devotional and Christmas dinner for all temple workers complete with two roast pigs - heads still on. Earlier this week we attended our Area Presidency's devotional for all the full-time staff and senior missionaries. Elder Gong gave a nice Christmas message. The devotional was followed by a Christmas lunch and social with the staff. This included a white elephant gift exchange. The present I received was a tin of Pork Paste - it will be good to give back to some lucky person next year.

Temple Worker's Christmas Dinner

This evening - Christmas Eve - the senior couples are having a Christmas progressive dinner in our apartments. We are hosting the salad course so we have been busy getting ready for that. We will attend Sacrament Meeting on Christmas Day in our Branch and hopefully do some Skyping with family. The temple is open for half a day on Boxing Day so we will work at the temple for the morning. Many of the Filipino sisters in our Branch will be able to attend as it will be an extra day off for them. Our Branch Christmas party and dinner will be that afternoon so the 26th will be a busy day. The Area Office is closed on the 27th so we will have a day off to rest up.

Other December activities included our monthly couple's P-Day outing. This month we visited a Buddhist Nunnery and gardens - Nan Lian Gardens - very beautiful. Pics below.

This is our group - great people !

Nan Lian Buddhist Nunnery

Another highlight was an invitation to play golf on the one and only public golf course- Kau Sai Chau - in Hong Kong with President Aki of the Hong Kong Temple and two others from the Area Office. This public layout is on an island accessible only by a 20 minute ferry ride. There are three 18 hole courses in the complex. There is nothing else on the island but the golf courses.

Our work is going well. We are starting to get geared up for the year-end audit season. We also have three newly called Assistant Area Auditors we will need to orient and train. We have also started planning for our annual Assistant Area Auditor training conference, which will be held here in Hong Kong in early March.

Some Hong Kong Christmas Scenes