Are you two dating?
I was in Shanghai this weekend for District Conference, and had some experiences, both awkward and awesome.
District Conference is held twice a year and gives church members from all over the Shanghai area the opportunity to gather together. Our district covers several huge cities, which are all close to the size of New York City (or larger) as Spencer pointed out to me. Nanjing, Changzhou, Wuxi, Suzhou, Kunshan, Shanghai, Hangzhou and all the little cities in between. There are 6 branches that make up our district. On Friday night, the conference started at 7 pm with dinner and a lesson for any young single adults that could make it. This was held at the home of the Messicks, an awesome family that lives in Shanghai. Owen Messick is from Idaho, and Athena Messick is from China. I'm not sure how exactly they met, except that she claims it was just normal, and not very romantic, but of course now that they are married, it is romantic (in her own words).
Spencer and I stayed the night at the Messicks home, which meant we had a very interesting/awkward conversation. Actually, I've learned to love awkward, so it was more hilarious than anything else. We stayed with the Messicks before we went to Mongolia, and at that time Sister Messick had asked Spencer and I if we're dating each other, and we explained that we're not. This time, Sister Messick said to us something like this, "Last time you were here, you were not dating, but now we think that you are dating. Are you dating?" Spencer and I said no again and that we're just friends, so she shared her insight into how many couples start as friends. At this point I couldn't stop laughing because the awkward was so real. Our friend Megan said that next time we're asked if we're dating, one of us should say yes, and the other no. haha - we're going to try it and see if that will make it even more awkward.
The next morning, we went with a group to visit some sites in Shanghai, mainly the Qibao water town. If you ever visit Shanghai, I would suggest that if you want to see the best water towns, skip Qibao and head to Suzhou for a day. Qibao wasn't amazing, but we had fun getting to know some more people from the district.
Later in the afternoon, we had the adult meeting of the conference, then a dance, meetings for all members (including children) on Sunday, and then lunch and finally a short devotional for all the young adults. Elder Randy Funk came and spoke. He's a member of the church quorum of the 70 and is the Asia Area President.
Here are some cool things I learned and some inspirational thoughts.
1. The Asia area of the church has the largest number of people and largest geographical area of any area in the church - but the fewest number of church members.
2. There are 132,000 LDS members in the Asia Area.
3. Asia area covers Mongolia in the north, down to Indonesia, and west to Pakistan. Does not include Korea, Japan or the Philippines
1. "You can go into a home and see what is important to people." Elder Funk shared this regarding a small home he visited in Cambodia. It was super tiny, but on the wall the sister put pictures of all the missionaries who taught her, the 1st Presidency and 12 Apostles, 3 temples, and Jesus Christ.
2. To enter into the kingdom of Heaven, I not only need to become like a little child, I also need to become like my mother and father (referring to how much our parents serve us). This was shared by District President Dyer.
3. Hope leads to joy. If we can't hope that the Savior will eventually make things right in our lives and in the world, then we won't be able to have joy NOW.
4. Serving a mission is difficult, but brings so much joy. Just like a mission, our lives are difficult, but can also be full of joy. That joy comes from feeling God's love for us and for others.
I felt like joy was a theme of general conference this year as well as this district conference. It is a Christlike attribute that I want to study more and develop in my life. Soon, I'll be starting a blog with a friend about being LDS single adults who live joyful lives. I'll let you know when it is ready!
♥ Ash
District Conference is held twice a year and gives church members from all over the Shanghai area the opportunity to gather together. Our district covers several huge cities, which are all close to the size of New York City (or larger) as Spencer pointed out to me. Nanjing, Changzhou, Wuxi, Suzhou, Kunshan, Shanghai, Hangzhou and all the little cities in between. There are 6 branches that make up our district. On Friday night, the conference started at 7 pm with dinner and a lesson for any young single adults that could make it. This was held at the home of the Messicks, an awesome family that lives in Shanghai. Owen Messick is from Idaho, and Athena Messick is from China. I'm not sure how exactly they met, except that she claims it was just normal, and not very romantic, but of course now that they are married, it is romantic (in her own words).
Spencer and I stayed the night at the Messicks home, which meant we had a very interesting/awkward conversation. Actually, I've learned to love awkward, so it was more hilarious than anything else. We stayed with the Messicks before we went to Mongolia, and at that time Sister Messick had asked Spencer and I if we're dating each other, and we explained that we're not. This time, Sister Messick said to us something like this, "Last time you were here, you were not dating, but now we think that you are dating. Are you dating?" Spencer and I said no again and that we're just friends, so she shared her insight into how many couples start as friends. At this point I couldn't stop laughing because the awkward was so real. Our friend Megan said that next time we're asked if we're dating, one of us should say yes, and the other no. haha - we're going to try it and see if that will make it even more awkward.
The next morning, we went with a group to visit some sites in Shanghai, mainly the Qibao water town. If you ever visit Shanghai, I would suggest that if you want to see the best water towns, skip Qibao and head to Suzhou for a day. Qibao wasn't amazing, but we had fun getting to know some more people from the district.
Later in the afternoon, we had the adult meeting of the conference, then a dance, meetings for all members (including children) on Sunday, and then lunch and finally a short devotional for all the young adults. Elder Randy Funk came and spoke. He's a member of the church quorum of the 70 and is the Asia Area President.
Here are some cool things I learned and some inspirational thoughts.
1. The Asia area of the church has the largest number of people and largest geographical area of any area in the church - but the fewest number of church members.
2. There are 132,000 LDS members in the Asia Area.
3. Asia area covers Mongolia in the north, down to Indonesia, and west to Pakistan. Does not include Korea, Japan or the Philippines
1. "You can go into a home and see what is important to people." Elder Funk shared this regarding a small home he visited in Cambodia. It was super tiny, but on the wall the sister put pictures of all the missionaries who taught her, the 1st Presidency and 12 Apostles, 3 temples, and Jesus Christ.
2. To enter into the kingdom of Heaven, I not only need to become like a little child, I also need to become like my mother and father (referring to how much our parents serve us). This was shared by District President Dyer.
3. Hope leads to joy. If we can't hope that the Savior will eventually make things right in our lives and in the world, then we won't be able to have joy NOW.
4. Serving a mission is difficult, but brings so much joy. Just like a mission, our lives are difficult, but can also be full of joy. That joy comes from feeling God's love for us and for others.
I felt like joy was a theme of general conference this year as well as this district conference. It is a Christlike attribute that I want to study more and develop in my life. Soon, I'll be starting a blog with a friend about being LDS single adults who live joyful lives. I'll let you know when it is ready!
♥ Ash
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