We are really enjoying our weekly temple assignment and are starting to learn the ropes and feel more comfortable. We have had patrons on our shifts from Mongolia, Thailand, Indonesia, India and mainland China. It is humbling to see the sacrifices they make to come such distances to receive the blessings of the temple. The Church has constructed temple patron housing across the street from the temple which allows these people to stay at very reasonable rates. The senior couples working in the Area Office also have the privilege of attending the temple on the first Thursday of each month with the members of the Area Presidency and their wives, followed by a testimony meeting and a pizza lunch. We attended our first of these sessions in November.
Most Monday mornings there is a 30 minute devotional for all the Church employees in the Area Office as well as the senior missionaries which is a nice way to start each week. There is an opening song and prayer and a staff member or senior missionary is assigned to give a brief spiritual message. One week per month the devotional is held on a Tuesday and a member of the Area Presidency gives the spiritual message. We have attended two of these so far and they have been real highlights. We actually feel quite spoiled to have such close and regular interaction with the members of the Area Presidency, who are all very nice men and very approachable.
For the Area Audit Committee meeting in November, I decided to give a presentation we were given by Church HQ as part of our training materials on the role of the Area Audit Committee. Elder Gong, the member of the Area Presidency who chairs the committee said that would be fine and sat through the presentation and asked a couple of questions at the end. Then a few days later we told someone in the Church Audit Department in Salt Lake that I had given this presentation and he told us that Elder Gong actually wrote it. But Elder Gong never did let on to us that he did - a great example of humility.
The Church Administration Building here in Hong Kong was completed in 2005. It is a multi use facility with the first 7 floors containing 3 chapels, cultural halls and various offices for the wards and branches which attend there. The Asia Area Office is housed on the next three floors and the top two floors have apartments for the Area Presidency. The big round window you can see near the top of the building is Elder and Sister Gong's living room window. We were invited to a welcome dinner in their apartment with the other members of the Area Presidency. Another special highlight.
The Senior Couples also had the pleasure of enjoying a delicious Thanksgiving Feast on the 26th. It was hosted by the Area Presidency and their wives. These people really are nice to us. The Area Presidency brought the Butterball turkeys imported from the USA and the Senior Missionaries provided all the trimmings. It was delightful.
Digging Into The Thanksgiving Feast
We gave our first real live orientation and training to a new Assistant Area Auditor who has recently been called to cover the southern part of India and Sri Lanka. Since India is so far away it was decided it would not be practical to make the trip for a single training session. We did the session using Cisco Meeting Place. Not the most ideal way to do training as you cannot see each other like a video conference but it went OK. We will have a chance to meet face to face when we have the annual training session for all Assistant Area Auditors in the new year.
The Senior Couple activity in November was an open top bus tour of the main areas of Hong Kong Island. The photos below provide an overview of what we saw in the Streets of Hong Kong.
Luxury Hotels - Marriott, Conrad Hilton and Shangri La
And Some Not So Sleek and Luxurious



Some Typical Shopping Streets



The Cat Street Antique Market

A Sea of Humanity

These Old Streetcars Date From The 1950's
They Call Them The 'Ding Ding' Because
They Are Constantly Dinging The Bell To Warn
People to Get Out Of The Way
They Use Bamboo Here For Scaffolding
Lashed Together With Twine - Even On
The New Highrises

A Couple Of Buddhist Shrines

The First Christian Cathedral In Hong Kong
These Old Streetcars Date From The 1950's
They Call Them The 'Ding Ding' Because
They Are Constantly Dinging The Bell To Warn
People to Get Out Of The Way
Lashed Together With Twine - Even On
The New Highrises
A Couple Of Buddhist Shrines