TIME TO SAY GOODBYE
Farewell to Hong Kong
It is hard to believe that our mission is about to end. Eighteen months has gone by so fast!! Our replacement couple will arrive in Hong Kong on April 7th and we will depart for home on April 12th. We will leave with mixed emotions as we have really enjoyed our time here in Hong Kong and have made many good friends among the other senior missionaries and also the local people who have been very kind to us and made us feel welcome. But we are looking forward at the same time to being home again with our family and friends there.
We spoke in our branch on Easter Sunday and Monday we did our last shift in the temple following which we were released as temple ordinance workers. Doing our weekly shift in the temple has been a real highlight for us. This coming Sunday will be our last Sunday in our branch. It is general conference weekend but conference is shown here the following week due to the time difference.On March 26 we were invited to a farewell dinner with the members of the Area Presidency and their wives in President and Sister Watson's apartment. We were served a wonderful meal, had a nice visit and shared testimonies. We shared this evening with another couple who are leaving for home the week after us and a couple who recently arrived to start their 4th mission.
We are happy to report that the Asia Area achieved 100% on time yearend audit completions. We have been able to maintain this achievement for all three audit cycles we were here. A total of 481 audits were completed. It took a coordinated effort of the local priesthood leaders, our Assistant Area Auditors, Church local country Service Center staff, mission presidents, etc, to get the job done. There are very few areas in the Church that get all their audits completed on time. So we like to brag about it.
Serving this mission has been a very rewarding experience for us and we are grateful for the blessings we have received from doing so. We hope we have made some small contribution to the growth of the Church here in the Asia Area. Here are just a few of the people and places we will miss.
With our Asia Area Presidency at our farewell dinner. They are all wonderful people.
Our young friend Mark played and sang for us when he came for dinner including a good Canadian song "Four Strong Winds"
Our special friend Jenny and her friend Nate
Couples we served with in our Branch full of Filipino and Indonesian domestic workers. President and Sister Nield are on the left standing. He is the Director of Temporal Affairs for the Church in the Asia Area and serves as the Branch President. Standing on the right is Elder and Sister Rhyasen - Jolayne's sister and husband who were here serving a temple mission. The other couple standing are the Jackson's. He serves as the Executive Secretary to the Area Presidency. Sitting are the Heiner's. He served as the Area Medical Adviser
Some of the sisters in our Branch Family Home Evening Group. we will miss all the sisters and brothers in our branch.
Jolayne will miss the little children of Asia who all seem to be so cute
We will miss the association with the other senior missionaries serving in the Area Office. This, for the most part, is the group we said hello to when we arrived. We have had the opportunity to work with 23 couples during our tenure here. All dedicated faithful people.
This is where we spent most of our time. The Church Administration Building (above) and our office cubicle (below)
We will miss the amazing Hong Kong skyline as we walked along the Promenade and the interesting Harbour sights
We quite often would ride the Star Ferry to and from the office
We will not miss the often crowded streets
We are thankful for the Lord's blessings in our lives and for this opportunity we have had to share this mission together. We are very grateful for the love and support of our family while we have been away and look forward to being with them again. We know the gospel is true, that Jesus is the Christ and that this is His work in which we have been engaged.
