ASIA Conference 2013

At the beginning of the month, the Associated Sisters in Asia Women’s Conference was held here in Hong Kong at our church building. 

I believe it was the sixth annual conference this year.

 

I think they said there were nearly 200 sisters in attendance from 14 different countries!  Can you spot me?  I’m clear in the back row, approximately sixth from the right.

These are the lovely women from Hong Kong; about 50 of us attended the conference I believe.  I obviously wasn’t ready for the picture to be taken.  Everyone else was so I don’t what my problem was! 

This year we had the honor of having Sister Julie B. Beck, former Relief Society General President speak at the conference.  Her niece previously lived in Asia and worked it out for her Aunt to attend!  It was incredible.  Not only did she do a question and answer session, but she also spoke for probably an hour.  Although the seat was getting hard, I didn’t want it to end.  It felt like an outpouring of knowledge, wisdom, and spiritual blessings.  She is one amazing woman!!

Sister Stevenson (below, right) also spoke at the conference.  She is the wife of Gary E. Stevenson, the presiding bishop of the church.  We also heard from the area presidency and their wives, as well as many of the women living in Asia who spoke in the breakout sessions.

Every year we have an opportunity to participate in a service project.  This year we tied fleece blankets for the Hong Kong Crossroads Foundation.  The gal who headed up the project said the blankets are so desperately needed, the blankets won’t even sit on a shelf; they will be immediately sent out to children and families around the world.  I think she said we completed about 80 blankets—and that was in a matter of several hours!

 

This year I was on the committee.  I was the person in charge of the food. That meant lunch on Friday and a small brunch on Saturday. In fact, I was so preoccupied during the conference with that responsibility, I failed to take any pictures.  All the photos in this post were downloaded from the conference website. 

The below picture is the conference committee. Not sure why no one told me my shirt was un-tucked, but I sure look sloppy!

There were some miscommunications and I had some issues with a couple of the food deliveries.  Thursday the waters, juices, and other items were not delivered like they were supposed to.  After arguing on the phone with the store for a bit at 9:30 p.m. Thursday night, my dear friend, Shauna, took charge and we hopped in a taxi to a nearby grocery store that was actually still open (no 24-hour convenience here).  We frantically grabbed grocery carts and store personnel to help us get 200 waters, 200 juices, napkins, plates, and I can’t remember what else.  It was a nightmare.  The store didn’t have boxes of the stuff, so we were grabbing the bottles off the shelf.  We ended up with probably 20+ boxes in 3 grocery carts with no way to haul back to the church and into the gym.  Shauna used her Chinese to persuade three of the store workers to come with us in two different taxis and carry the boxes into the church, up the elevator, and into the gym.  I honestly don’t know what I would have done without her and her Chinese and persuasive ways and get it done attitude!  She is the best!!  I think the picture to the right is funny because it shows all the different brands of water we had to buy; we basically cleaned out the store!  

Then Subway was late making their delivery on Friday morning.  They thought lunch for 200 people could fit on a scooter.  After they tried that, they realized they needed to get a van.  Finally, they showed up with the food about 10 minutes before lunch was to start.  I was sweating bullets!  200 hungry women + no food + all my fault = really, really not good.  Thankfully, I had a couple great women helping me set up!  We had everything done, so soon as the food got there we quickly pulled it out of the boxes and onto the tables.  Everything was there and ready literally a minute before people started walking into eat!  It was a miracle!

 

After all that, I just wanted to sit down and eat my sandwich.  Looks like the photographer captured my joy that it all worked out.

The brunch went a lot more smoothly.  The bakery was on time with their delivery and we set up Saturday morning before the meetings started for the day.  It was great.

On a final note, one of the best parts about conference is seeing old friends and making new friends from around Asia.  I especially adore seeing all the women from Taiwan each year! This is me and my dear, dear friend, Erin.  It was such a delight to see her and hang out again!  Love this girl so much!!