Monday, October 24, 2016
At Distrrict conference, one of the quotes that I wrote down and put in my scriptures for reference, was:
"Don't let what matters most be overcome by that which matters least." President Thacker said that quote had helped him continually in his life, perhaps more than any other.
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
We visited with a single sister with two children that is in the middle of serious challenges both with health and with spirit. We arranged to teach a home evening lesson to the family each week to see if we could help them improve how they are feeling about life and worship..
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Elder Berger didn't feel well so we stayed in. I has a wicked headache caused, I think, from sleeping in an odd and uncomfortable position. I am alright now due to Sheila's loving care. I made monster cookie bars to take to Sister Jackman's tomorrow. I worked on my seminary lesson for tomorrow which is in Micah. The main theme is to serve God with ALL our hearts. I decided to talk about what the difference was between all our hearts and just going through the motions and how those in the Celestial kingdom would definitely be serving with "ALL" their hearts.
Thursday, October 27, 2016
After teaching seminary we picked up the elders and drove to Sister Chambers home for a visit and then on to Sister Jackman, three hours from Armidale, who needed help once again at her property. Sister Jackman lives right at the top of our Mission at the very edge of our Branch boundary. Think of the Armidale Chapel as though it is in Santa Clara, Utah and think of Sister Jackman living in Fillmore, Utah (or Holden, Bishop Condie). It is "way the heck and gone" from here especially when the speed limit is only 100 kph or about 61 mph.
She has continued to decorate her redo in kitchen and family room
Sister Jackman collects dragons which she now has displayed The Elders look tough but they were actually terrified of the dragons.
Elder Berger turned a dining table into a coffee table reducing the height considerably to Sister Jackman's specifications. This involved disassembling the table, cutting off the appropriate sized piece of wood from the top of the supporting structure and re-making the support in order to reattach it. No one was happier than I was after I was finished to find that the table was level and did not wobble. Sister Jackman will now refinish the wood on this old table so that it looks just right for her great room.
Completed table
My job was removing these purple weeds with long roots from 8 of these tire containers so new soil could be added and tomatoes planted. It was hard work but satisfying.
The elders hauled away garbage and moved compost to various planting areas and cultivated
We didn't finish until five and drove home surrounded by changing, beautiful sunsets; with the only glitch being we hit a jumping kangaroo which came out in front of us in the dark. Our front bumper sustained some damage
The ride home was a visual feast with a gorgeous sunset aided by the moisture in the air with thunderstorms
On the way home from Sister Jackman's, we saw about 35 kangaroos and wallabee's. One of the smaller kangaroos challenged us to a Joust. He lost. We impacted the roo at about 80 kph, killing it instantly. We had a bit of damage to our grill in the front of the car. We are fortunate that it was not one of the large red kangaroos. They can stand over 6 feet tall and weigh several hundred pounds. They can do substantial damage to the vehicle and sometimes the occupants. It is not too bad, I only hit 3% of the kangaroos that we saw.
Friday, October 28, 2016
Lots of thunderstorms and lightning today and this lovely triple rainbow, impossible for me to show accurately.
Saturday, October 29, 2016
After cleaning the flat and grocery shopping we took a ride to the Gosford chapel which we took pictures of in the fall when the ivy had turned red but thought it fun to show in its spring state.
Once a month a religous service is held here
Sunday, October 30, 2016
The MacDonalds did not attend church because of a sick child and only one other primary member attended so no Primary for me which provided a relaxing change. The talks were good in Sacrament meeting from Sister Mueller and Elder Moulton. Elder Berger taught Gospel Doctrine and then introduced the Pacific Area's "Success Begins at Home" self-reliance course which stresses that home is the place to teach and encourage secular as well as spiritual education.
After church we fed the elders swiss steak, gravy, potatoes and icecream. We had not planned on feeding them but their regular meal at the MacDonalds was cancelled because of illness.
