This and That

 Christmas 2012

We enjoyed another nice Christmas season in Hong Kong.  We attended several events including the Area Office staff devotional and party, the Temple workers dinner and our Branch dinner and party.

Christmas tree in our apartment lobby

 Five story tree at Festival Walk Mall

 

 Santa and his entourage at the Festival Walk Mall

Some of the food at the Area Office Christmas party

President and Sister Aki of the Hong Kong Temple

Below are some pics from our Branch party

 

A Round of Golf

I was fortunate to get a round of golf in during the month of January.  Played with President Aki of the Hong Kong Temple and David Berrett, Area Legal Counsel and his brother who was here for a visit.  There is only one public golf club in Hong Kong.  It is on an island and has three courses to choose from.  Beautiful setting.

Assistant Area Auditor Training Conference

On February 1 and 2 we held our annual Assistant Area Auditor Training Conference here in Hong Kong.  We had 10 of our 14 AAAs here plus a few Area Office Finance staff.  Micheal Beck, Director of the Church Auditing Department in SLC attended and assisted with the training sessions.  Elder Gong of our Area Presidency and Chairman of the Area Audit Committee also participated in the conference.  The session was a great success and the AAAs seemed to enjoy the opportunity to get together and share experiences  and exchange ideas and challenges.

Jana and Ethan Come to Visit

Jana and Ethan came to visit us for two weeks the first of February.  They stayed with us in our little apartment and it was fun to show them some of the sights of Hong Kong.  We visited Big Budha, Tai O fishing village, Nan Lian Gardens, The Peak, Lamma Island, Stanley Market, the Night Market, the mid-levels.  We enjoyed having them here.

Here are a few pics of their visit.

  

The Year of the Snake

We  enjoyed the hype of the Chinese lunar new year.  It is a big deal for the Chinese.  Hong Kong was invaded by over one million visitors from mainland China.  We joined the throngs along the harbour to watch the amazing fireworks. 

 
 Jana and Ethan enjoying the New Year Wishing Tree

  

It is hard to believe that we are two months away from being finished our mission here in the Asia Area Office.  We are now into the year end audit cycle and are hopeful that the Area will maintain its' 100% on time audit completion record.