"Grand as it is, planet Earth is part of something even grander- that great plan of God. Simply summarized, the Earth was created that families might be." Elder Russell M. Nelson
Sunday, October 30, 2016
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

                



                                        Resting and rehydrating after we completed our tasks




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.  

















Sunday, October 23, 2016
Monday, October 17, 2016

Seminary and then skyping with our children, the hilight of our week.


Tuesday, October 18, 2016

We traveled to Glen Innes to see Sister Hidden.  The missionaries asked her to read the Book of Mormon which she hasn't read in many, many years and she has been doing it.  We enjoyed talking to her.  She is 80 years old and has a great mind.  We visited the craft store in Deepwater, Mr. Tumbles, in order for me to pick up additional primary gifts/visuals.  As we were only 30 minutes away from the border Elder Berger insisted we drive to and actually enter Queensland just to say we had visited Queensland..



Along the Emmaville road on our way to Deepwater, a slow pedestrian. It's a tortise.







Don't tell anyone that we are out of our area.





The entrance to Wallangarra, the state of Queensland



  Huge rock at the top of this hill on our way back from Deepwater




 Thursday, October 20, 2016

Sister Betz made cake, with candles, brought cookies and truffles to seminary for my birthday.  It was so sweet and I really appreciated it. After Seminary, we went and changed clothes and left for Coffs Harbour for Sheila's Birthday.





We left after Seminary for Coffs Harbor, checked in Pacific Bay Terrace and walked down to the beach.



Friday, Octoer 21, 2016


This is called Sandy Beach. Where is everyone?







I think that we are the only ones here. Amazing.






Sheila, on the rocks.



Yes, we love the ocean and can't seem to get enough of it 


It's OK, I can still see my companion.



I can't believe that we have this all to ourselves. It must be "Mormon Day" at the beach.






Saturday, October 22, 2016

We joined the Smith family at the Big Banana for breakfast.


Yes, we do the Tourist things.
 

 Elder Berger loved the mushrooms that were part of his breakfast.


This was a "Tasty Breakfast" including Toast, hashbrowns, tomatoes, eggs, bacon and delicious mushrooms. This kind of breakfast is hard to find here.



Eating Breakfast with Kristen, Brother and Sister Smith, and Joshua.




Later that day we went to the Jetty to have some fish and chips and Elder Berger looked like the Pied Piper as the seagulls tried to talk him into letting go of some of his chips.


This was not the "Flock" I expected to lead here in Australia.







A rare view to the sky from the rainforest.









A view from the top of the hill of the South Pacific Ocean.




We walked to Korona beach by our hotel and met a lizard on the path


We drove a little ways to Sandy Beach which we loved and even though it grew colder and windy, we enjoyed as long walk


The sun started to come out a little bit around noon.



Wind results in hair in mouth so my hood was a must

After we attended the Saturday evening session we joined the Elders and the Macdonald Family at Yogurt Land for delicious yogurts.





Michael and Kate MacDonald


Sunday, October 23, 2016

After a wonderful District Conference, the Coffs Harbor Relief Society fed us sandwiches and desserts and Elder Berger and I left for Armidale.  I couldn't resist once again, a picture of the glorious sky as we travelled the road.