Choosing Joy Amidst Challenges:
Five Life Lessons Learned from Five Decades of Asian Culture
Judy Jessiman Batschi (Beijing)
Like you, my life’s journey has not always looked like I expected it to. Potholes and detours appeared unexpectedly along the road. Surprisingly, many of the insights that helped me navigate these challenges have been gleaned from the Asian culture that surrounds us.
Biography Judy Jessiman Batschi calls herself a Scottish American, with a Chinese heart. Judy was born in Olympia, Washington, USA, a first generation American. After frustrating several sets of missionaries, she was ultimately baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at age 19 while attending college in California.
Combining a love of education and travel, Judy decided to see the United States by attending different universities and collecting degrees in Speech and Hearing Science, Education, China Regional Studies, as well as an MBA with an emphasis in International Business. A reluctant decision to become a full-time missionary led to an inspired and life-changing mission call to serve in Taiwan. Previous employment includes playing the bagpipes as a street musician in New York City, leading approximately 35 different tours in China, teaching deaf and hearing impaired students, freelance business consulting in Asia, teaching Chinese, and enjoying appearances on two games shows. Judy and her husband, Matt, have an “arranged marriage,” were engaged three weeks after meeting, and are blessed with five widely different children and four amazing grandchildren. Since 2019, Judy and Matt have taught at China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing as part of the Brigham Young University China Teachers Program. They have recently received a mission call to serve as the Coordinators of the BYU Kennedy Center China Teachers Program. They look forward to helping many others share their talents and enjoy an incredible life-changing experience through teaching at universities in China. |
Stretch it Out with Rachel
Rachel Tse (Hong Kong)
Want to feel joy and balance in your life? Anyone can benefit from practicing yoga. Join me on this gentle, tension-releasing, flexibility- and strength-improving practice that will teach you how to achieve your best mental, emotional, and spiritual self
**A reminder to wear comfy clothes/yoga pants/etc. **class will end a few minutes early to allow time to change clothes
**A reminder to wear comfy clothes/yoga pants/etc. **class will end a few minutes early to allow time to change clothes
BiographyRachel is a native from Hong Kong. She joined the Church when she was 18. Rachel has served as treasurer of the A.S.I.A. Women’s Conference since 2015; she has served on the committee for over 10 years, since the days with Nadine Christensen and Carrie Chiles.
Rachel has practiced yoga for 17 years. She is a certified yin yoga teacher and prenatal yoga teacher. This is the first time Rachel will be teaching yoga at Women's Conference. She will be leading classes on both Friday and Saturday. Come join her and see how yoga works for you! |
J.O.Y.
“Jewels of Yahweh”
Vicky Rogerson (Phnom Penh, Cambodia)
How can we become the “Jewels of Jehovah” when He comes again? Come learn the joy that Christ will have when He comes to gather His jewels and the joy that we will have in becoming His choice jewels.
BiographyVicky was born and raised in Delta, Utah, a small farming community in west central Utah. She served a mission to Madrid, Spain. She and her husband (Steve Rogerson) have two sons, a daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren.
Steve works for the U.S. government, and they have lived in 13 countries over the last 30 years. They are currently living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and when this assignment is completed, they plan to retire in Jacksonville, Florida. Vicky has served in the Relief Society, Young Women, Primary, Seminary, and Sunday School. |
Choose “Fu” to See You Through
Katie Hoskin (Beijing)
When mixed together with other ingredients, lemons make the sweetest, most delicious and fulfilling desserts ever. Life’s lemons are like that too. Come learn what ingredients I’ve added to my sour moments, allowing me to enjoy beautifully sweet, enriching, and fulfilling experiences in a variety of difficult circumstances. You too can choose “fu” to see you through! (P.S. If you don’t know what “fu” is, this will be the perfect opportunity to find out. ☺)
BiographyHi, everyone! My name is Katie Hoskin. I love Asia Women’s Conference and count it a JOY to gather together once again!
Though born and raised in the USA, I’ve been blessed to call many different places “home”: California, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Taiwan, Nanjing, Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai, and now Beijing for the third time. I married my best friend, Joe, 29 years ago next month, and we have five children—three adopted from China, two adopted from the States—ages 27-20. (Let me share the only family planning advice we’re qualified to offer: don’t add three children in two years!) Four of the five are married, and we’ll be welcoming our fifth grandchild in June. My passions include the gospel, family, friends, God’s creations, hot chocolate (good thing I like to exercise), and ANYTHING CHINESE! I speak Mandarin and Cantonese and love serving my Chinese brothers and sisters throughout the world. My mother says I’m an egg: white on the outside, yellow on the inside. Thankfully, Joe is an egg too, so when life gets scrambled a bit, it works! EnJOY the conference! |
See and Feel the Stories from Israel!
Lee Ann Scott (Singapore)
Come enjoy a visual slide show of where selected stories from the New Testament took place and discover life lessons learned from these stories: Lazarus being raised from the dead ~ prayer; The Sea of Galilee and the Mt. of Beatitudes ~ peace and joy; St. Ann’s Church and the Pools of Bethesda ~ the miracles of Christ’s love; The Garden Tomb ~ HOPE.
BiographyLee Ann Scott is in the last year of a six-year Singapore work assignment with her husband Richard. She is now living in Sandy, Utah, and travels to Singapore a few times a year. She is the mother of four children and grandmother of 11 grandchildren. When she got laid off from her favorite job as a full-time mom, she taught kindergarten and borrowed other people’s kids for several hours a day. Lee Ann and her husband have been blessed to be volunteer tour guides to Israel. She considers the opportunity to walk where Jesus walked and learn of Him and share that experience with others as one of the greatest blessings in her life. Being a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and coming from a long line of Jewish rabbi ancestors makes the Israel experience even more personal for her.
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Thriving in Uncertainty through Bitter-Sweet Perspective
Lori Qian (Guangzhou, China)
How often do we find ourselves surviving life circumstances rather than thriving and making the very most of our lives? Deep down, are we wishing away uncertainty, hoping for a way to control everything around us? That’s no way to live! Other than the eternal truths of the gospel and objective scientific reality, the truth is that most things are uncertain. When we forget this, we waste a lot of precious energy worrying. What if we embraced life more fully, truly turned toward the Savior, and learned to thrive even when things are messy, hard, and uncertain?
BiographyI love Asia Women’s Conference and really resonate with this year’s theme. Choosing joy is a powerful approach to life, and there is no way I’d be able to do anything I do without the practice of choosing joy! I’m grateful for my family, with whom I have traveled the world and learned some of life’s most powerful lessons. We raised our family in Guangzhou, China, and in Alpine, Utah, the best of two worlds. My husband and I have three children: our oldest is a missionary in Hong Kong; our daughter is a university student in North Carolina; and our youngest is a junior attending an international school in Guangzhou. I love being a mom to these three amazing people! For fun, I love to travel, read, watch movies, and spend time with family and friends. Professionally, I am an author, teacher, and life coach and am finishing my PhD in Literacy and Leadership. I love living in Asia and am excited to be a part of A.S.I.A. 2024.
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Meditation: A Tool for Finding Peace and Joy
Megan Barrus (India)
Sharing meditation tools to help you feel more mindful of your thoughts. Bringing more peace and joy into your life using meditation as a tool to connect better with yourself, God, and others.
BiographyMegan was born and raised in Utah with four siblings that have all remained super close to each other. Having siblings that she gets along with really well has been a huge blessing in her life.
Living in India with her family, Megan is mom to two active boys and is navigating motherhood with the help of God and meditation. She was introduced to the blessing of meditation in her teenage years to help combat depression and has found it a very helpful tool for life ever since. Another joyful blessing for Megan was the opportunity to teach the mission prep class. To date this stands out as her favorite church calling. |
Your Partner in Joy
Allison Walker Toronto (Manila, Phillippines)
Much better than a partner in crime is a partner in joy. Christ is the dream partner—He makes joy possible, points the way, and finds great joy in seeing yours. Come rediscover why there’s “great reason to rejoice” (Alma 26:13) with Christ by your side.
BiographyAllison moved to Manila in 2020 (now there’s a story), where her husband Jonathan serves as Philippines Area Legal Counsel for the Church. Since meeting in their first week as freshmen at BYU (!), they have been inseparable. Her greatest life’s work and joy is her seven children and her two adorable grandchildren. She wears a variety of work hats, but her labor of love is deep gospel study and writing.
Allison has a high tolerance for pain—born of delivering an eleven-pound baby, experiencing second degree burns, walking 50 miles in 20 hours on a scout leader’s dare, and (just this past year) surviving breast cancer. However, this strength surrenders in the face of anything sweet. She’s served as a Seminary and Institute Instructor, YW President, Ward and Stake Relief Society President, and Stake Public Affairs Director, but Primary Chorister was the most fun. She enjoys photography, BBC mysteries and K-Drama, and finds nature better than therapy. Allison loves making new friends and discovering new places, which makes this conference her happy place. |
Emotional Resilience for Expat Women
Amber Chen (Singapore)
How do we feel grounded and find joy in the middle of transitions and uncertainty? In this session, you will learn easy tools and tips to help you build emotional resilience in any phase of life.
Biography Amber is a professional life coach who lives in Singapore with her husband and three children. Originally from Taiwan, she has lived in eight cities across the United States and Asia over the past 12 years.
Amber first came to appreciate life coaching when it helped her overcome post-partum depression during a brutal New England winter. Through wellness workshops and 1:1 coaching, she now helps clients from throughout the world get "unstuck" from bottlenecks in relationships and work. Amber holds a Master's Degree in Organizational Leadership and Learning from George Washington University and a Bachelor's Degree from National Chengchi University. She sings and plays guitar in her spare time. You can follow her work (if you speak Mandarin Chinese) at @life.unstuck.coaching on Instagram. |
Flourishing in Our Fumbles: Finding Joy in Failure
Ashley Stevens Chenn (Hong Kong)
We often try to avoid failure at all costs; after all, we invest a lot in our marriages, children, careers, education, mental and physical health, church callings, civic responsibilities, etc. But what happens when things don’t turn out the way you had planned or at least hoped they would turn out? Discover how we can find joy, not just in spite of our failures but through them as well.
BiographyAshley Stevens Chenn grew up in a small town in Kentucky. In high school, she quit the varsity dance team to focus on her studies but only managed to eke out a ‘novice’ score on her writing portfolio. She later disappointed her parents and almost her entire ward by choosing to attend the University of Kentucky over Brigham Young University, graduating with a bachelor’s in communication and a lot of debt. Perhaps she made up for it by attending graduate school at BYU, obtaining a master’s in communication but no husband. Many sighed that it was ‘about time’ when she and her then-boyfriend (now husband) finally tied the knot after almost two years of dating.
After being fired from a salami factory, she worked in tech for five years and learned to code by watching YouTube videos. She failed to gain acceptance the first time she applied to the PhD program she’s currently enrolled in, but tried again and now researches marketing and entrepreneurship in the School of Fashion & Textiles at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Despite living in Hong Kong with her husband and son for the last six or seven years, she still speaks quite dismal Cantonese and only marginally better Mandarin Chinese. She hopes you enjoy and learn something from her thoughts and experiences on bouncing back from failure. |
The Joyful Empty Nest
Barbara Toronto (Beijing)
You may be in the throes of potty training your wee one, the traumas of tween/teenager years, or missing your Missionary....but soon THE NEST will be empty. Then what?
BiographyAlong with my husband Steve and family, I have resided in Asia since 1994. I am Domestic CEO to a family of five offspring, three of whom are married, and the NaiNai to almost six grandchildren. Together, we have lived in Salt Lake City, New York City, Xi'an China, Hong Kong (two times), and Beijing.
I enjoy walking/hiking, baking (always!), PBS mini-series, collecting Chinese oddities, and renovating homes. My favorite food is pork fried noodles, but I also require a daily dose of Vitamin Chocolate. |
Empowered to Choose Joy & Empowering Joy to Choose You
Carrie Chiles (Taipei, Taiwan)
We hear the word Vietnam and often think ‘War.’ How about Vietnam ‘Mission’ instead? Miracles witnessed serving in the only communist country in the world that has invited the Church to establish a mission taught me the Lord can turn everything to our good.
We can be so empowered by combining our conscious thinking and our trust in the Lord. Then, like a skilled Vietnamese fisherman, we can cast wide our net of faith and, with a wave of joy, find that Christ’s net has gathered us.
We can be so empowered by combining our conscious thinking and our trust in the Lord. Then, like a skilled Vietnamese fisherman, we can cast wide our net of faith and, with a wave of joy, find that Christ’s net has gathered us.
BiographyCarrie is from Alberta, Canada and was sure, like all her family before her, that she would spend her whole life there. She has now spent 28 years living and pioneering in some very remote and unique situations in China, Taiwan, and Vietnam and can honestly say that she is happy to know the adventure is not over yet! She is a living testament that putting the Lord first and letting Him take your life where He wants you to go can result in completely unexpected turns and will far exceed your greatest expectations.
Carrie is a University of Alberta graduate with a degree in Family Resource Management. She is the mother of six amazing children and loves being called ‘Mimi’ by her three delightful grandchildren. Carrie has always found joy serving in the Church and community, especially as a Seminary and Gospel Doctrine teacher, conductor of the Taipei International Community Choir, and serving on the organizing committee of the A.S.I.A. Women’s Conference for more than a decade. She loves people and has wrapped her arms and heart around so many families whose lives have been woven through hers during this Asia adventure. Carrie and her husband Ross A. Chiles served together as Mission Leaders in Vietnam from 2018-2021. Ross is currently an Area Seventy in the Asia Area, with assignment in northern Taiwan. Carrie can often be found biking, hiking, playing pickle ball, conducting music, and serving as a Taipei temple worker. |
Finding Joy in Mediocrity Through Our Covenants
Alison Roberts (Singapore)
My children are amazing humans but not over the top wonderful in school or sports. I have never written a book or blog or even posted those cute “first day of school” photos with letter boards of my children. I still don’t speak Mandarin…sigh. We really are a rather mediocre family. But, what does God see in us that is more than we see in ourselves as COVENANT KEEPERS, and how can we find joy in who we are?
BiographyAlison Roberts grew up in Merced, California, the only daughter of eight. Yep, seven brothers. Once hearing Mandarin on TV, she remembers thinking… "Oy! I would never want to learn that language!” She was blessed to serve an English-speaking mission in Leeds, England, convinced the Lord knew she wasn’t meant to learn foreign languages.
After she and her husband, whom she met on a blind date, naively opted to have their first daughter in South Korea (c-section), they had the opportunity a few years later to move to Beijing for five years where Alison shockingly found herself attempting to learn Mandarin. And the Lord was right. She is way better at English. She is currently attempting again to learn it after moving to Singapore two years ago. She has four children, the youngest about to fly the coop. She is anxiously awaiting any announcement from either married daughter that she will be a grandma. So far, in vain. Alison volunteers at her daughter’s school, teaches English, and recently helped deliver Days for Girls kits to Kota Kinabalu. She especially loves serving the Lord in her callings. She has served in every Church organization, from nursery leader to Stake YW President. Her favorite calling is usually the one she is currently serving in. Her most recent favorites, therefore, are teaching seminary and Stake Temple Readiness Coordinator with her husband. |
"If life is a bowl of cherries, what am I doing in the pits?" - Erma Bombeck
Finding the Joy in Our Everyday Struggles
Charisse Holyoak (Hong Kong)
How can we find joy in our trials and tribulations? Come learn how to see the Lord’s tender mercies and angels in our lives. We will highlight scriptural passages and general conference messages to inspire and edify us in our journey.
BiographyCharisse has lived in Hong Kong 15 of the last 17 years. She is the mother of five children and grandmother of 14 darling little ones. She lived in Utah, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Hong Kong. She has served in the Primary, Young Women, and Relief Society, both at the branch and the distrct level. She taught Home Study Seminary for one year and is a temple worker. Charisse loves painting, quilting, reading, working on puzzles, and being with family.
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