Sunday, January 24, 2016

Sheila writes in black and Rick writes in blue


Monday, January 18, 2016

Today was our Preparation Day so we cleaned our little flat and had a great time skypeing with each of our children.  It is wonderful to have this ability to keep in touch.

I made sugar cookies frosted with with pink frosting, some of which to take with us to visit a sister in our ward, some to take with us to visit members in Wallangra tomorrow and some to take to an eleven year old boy with his birthday card Wednesday.

The sister we visited today is extremely shy and very sweet. She has never been married and is the only member of the church in her family. It is fun to hear the accents I have previously only heard on TV.  She talked about vacationing with her Mum and Da.  She has traveled a lot considering she only works mornings and lives in a little apartment. She loves to knit and has won first place with an absolutely beautiful baby blanket.  She loves to do puzzles.  She loves Lord of the Rings and has memorabilia for those movies and for Pirates of the Caribbean that she picked up on her visit to the United States..

We left her with prayer and cookies and headed out to communicate with the person over Seminary and Institute in Australia.  He is sending us the materials we need to start early morning Seminary.


Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Today we got up early and headed for Wallangra and Inverell to visit two different families.  These members live a 2-3 hour drive away so if they come to church it is a nine hour day from the driving and attending the 3 hour block.  Consequently, they only manage to attend once per month, if that. I love the names of the places here in Australia. We drove through Bundarra, Yarrowick, Booloominbah, Tingah, Gilgai, Wandera, Nullamanna, Bukkulla, and Coolatai. If ypu think they sound different than what you are used to, wait until an Australian accent gets involved.

We stopped in Invcerell for lunch at a Chinese Restaurant and walked around.  It is a cute town with a population of 12,000.  After lunch we headed for Wallangra and the farm where our first appointment is scheduled with the Jackmans. .

Brother and Sister Jackman live on 1500 acres of farm land a long distance away from civilization. If this is not the Outback, it is at least the bush. They had fresh Kangaroo droppings on their porch. We got lost and had to ask directions of some distant neighbors who couldn't help us but did let us use their phone to call the sister we were trying to visit, as our cell phone was out of area with no coverage there.

We finally arrived at our destination.  The one landmark Sister Jackman had mentioned was that their mailbox was a blue refrigerator and her paddock area where they live had an entrance with stacks of tires with witches hats on top and it was in front of their "shack" as she called it.  She is in her late sixties and he is seventy.  He is dying of terminal cancer and has been given a few weeks to live.   He is on fluids and pain killers so basically is starving.  He didn't want to fight a cancer that was already in his liver, bowels and pancreas when it was diagnosed.  He slept while we visited with his wife.   Visiting them was a very wonderful experience.

Brother Jackman woke up long enough for Rick to mention guns.  He was the Australian pistol champion. I could tell that he wanted to talk more but he was too weak. He did tell me that he loved the old Smith & Wesson revolvers just like I do. He also shot Practical Pistol matches with semi-automatic Colt Pistols.  His wife said they had shared many interests together: speed boating, shooting, motorcycles.  She said they had both had failed marriages and were so thankful to have found each other and been sealed in the temple as she loved him so much.  She said when he passes she will be very sad but she will know that he is just a ways away and they will reunite when Heavenly Father is ready for her to join him. I kept thinking about the Dolly Parton song, "Have you Seen My Dear Companion."

Her testimony born in various statements she made was very touching to us and tears were shed.  His father was the first bishop called in Australia so he was raised in the church but she was a convert as an adult and the only member in her family.  They built their home on this isolated but beautiful farm, with aluminum shed/buildings. They added on as they had the money.  Some of the house has dirt floors with carpet on top, some floors are cement.  They have kangaroos, wild pigs and wild goats and they shoot and eat the pigs and goats when they need meat.  They have solar panels and are trying to get self sufficient with power in the near future.  They also had photo collages of western movies and I think that she liked the fact that I could name them all. She seemed to enjoy the fact that there was someone else here that enjoyed the same movies that they did.

We left them with cookies, the Relief Society/Priesthood manual and a quote from Relief Society's Sunday lesson.  We told them we would try to visit every couple of months.

When we left we went back to Inverell to visit the Ali family.  She and her husband and daughter, are from Fiji.  Her daughter, Michelle, went on a mission to Trinidad. Sister Ali's husband is Muslim but is very tolerant. This is a second marriage for Sister Ali and she and Mr. Ali have a ten year old son, Rishaad, together.  Both of the Ali's are on work visas and want to stay here.  They were very gracious.  They support one another's activities in their separate religions.  They served us a wonderful cake with juice and egg rolls.  I left some cookies with them.  Sister Ali said  previously  the senior couples, had a monthly social with members in Inverell at the park and we said we would continue the practice.  She agreed to be our contact person. She and her daughter come to church once a month, usually on Fast Sunday.

We left at 8:30 a.m. and returned home at 7:30 p.m.  The Sister missionaries are facing a transfer this weekend and Sister Preston-Turner, who is only five feet tall (I'm not sure that she is 5 feet but she is well over 4 feet tall)  was given two dresses from Sister Going, who is five feet eight so she asked me to hem up the dresses and they came over and left the dresses. It was a lovely day but a long one and I am very tired and sleepy.

Beautiful Sugar Cookies

Such hard work?

Check out the guards on the front of these Toyotas. They are for protection from smacking Kangaroos at dusk. These guards are on most of the trucks and SUVs and on lots of regular autos as well.

Beautiful Inverell

If you look closely you will see that the bank is the bank of St. George.

Scenes in a Chinese restaurant. The food was great, not spicy, and cost us about $16.00 US for the both of us.

Yeah, it's a selfie.

Inverell

The Ali's with Rishaad in front.

Bundarra, above and below

Here are several pictures of what I call the "Simpsons" clouds. If you have ever seen the intro to "The Simpsons" you will recognize these clouds. Go onto Google images and search Simpsons clouds and you will see what I mean.

Jackman Country

Leaving the pavement on the way to the Jackman's.

The blue fridge is the Jackman's Mailbox. If you have a somewhat checkered past you will recognize what the other mailbox was used for earlier in it's life.

Dirt roads on the way to the Jackman's ranch.

I saw this very tall (80' to 100') tree standing alone on the horizon and it reminded me of Brother 'Jackman for some reason. My feelings were that even though his faithful wife is constantly at his side, passing from this side of the veil to the other is something that he will do alone. It will only be for a moment and then he will again be standing tall as a joyful reunion will take place on the other side because he comes from a "Forever Family".

Many of the trees have no bark yet they are thriving. I thought that was impossible.

Finally, pavement again for the trip back to Armidale. 

Just for a laugh here is a riddle.

Question: What do you call a dog with no legs?

Answer: It doesn't matter, he won't come anyway.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

We went to the church where Sister Betts and I went through the music for Sunday.  She is a lovely person who like so many in the branch is the only member in her family.  We enjoyed a good visit after our practice.

We put together a birthday card for a branch member turning eleven along with a bag of candy and some of the sugar cookies for his family.  His card read, "The thing about eleven is you have run out of fingers to count with, good thing you have toes,  Eleven Rules!"  He is a darling young man.

Thursday, January 21, 2017

Today we changed our morning walk going in circles around the Cathedral and walked down to one of the parks.  Civic Park was filled with Kookaburra birds with their funny, easily recognizable chirps.  They are beautiful in flight but their sound sounds like they are insulting someone. Their call reminds me of a cell phone ringtone.

We traveled to Uralla to meet with Brother and Sister Styles.  His health is failing so his lovely wife is frequently tied to home.  They have been members for three years and went through the temple last year.  We so enjoyed our visit.  It is a wonderful experience, meeting these people whom we have never spoken to before and yet feeling their sweet spirits which makes us feel like family. Her son is a gunsmith so Rick hopes to have future conversations with him.

Once home we visited with the sister missionaries as one of them had requested a blessing because she hasn't been feeling well. I delivered the shortened, hemmed dresses to her that she had asked me to alter.  

Sister Betts and I after our music practice.  

Sister Berger enjoying the view from a member's driveway.

Pictures of the Kookaburras

This Kookabura bird in flight reminds me of the book "Jonathan Livingston Seagull"

This sign amuses me each time I see it.  This is the crosswalk sign here in Australia

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Friday, January 22, 2016

Today we traveled to Tamworth at the request of our mission president, President Checketts.  He asked us to bring the sister missionaries with us.  We enjoyed getting better acquainted with the sisters who will no doubt be transferred this Friday on transfer day.  We met President Checketts and the Tamworth elders at Hungry Jacks for lunch and then went to the Tamworth Ward chapel for interviews with the president.

The Tamworth meetinghouse is a very nice building that was built when attendance was between 100 and 200 people.  Today, the elders said, they have an attendance of about 25.  After President Checkett's interviewed all four missionaries, he and Sister Checketts talked to us about how we are feeling about our mission and what we are doing.  We all agreed that Member / Leader Support is a mission no one can understand until they are doing it.  Much of it is totally up to the individual missionaries.  President Checketts committed us to do a companion study of the New Testament Harmony of the Gospels which we plan to do on a daily basis.

We finished our discussion feeling good about what was talked about.  One thing President Checketts said all missionaries need to do more of is teach investigators and less actives about the present day joy of being members, not just the joy in the hereafter.  We were given commitment cards to give to members of the branch requesting their involvement in the missionary effort.  I really liked the quote at the bottom of the card by Neil Anderson: "If you're not a full-time missionary with the badge pinned on your coat, now is the time to pin one on your heart."

Here are the Tamworth Elders and the Sisters waiting for President Checketts.

Elder & Sister B. with President and Sister Checketts. Yeah, he is that big. I am 6'1" and 215 and I look like Casper Milqtoast standing next to him. The good thing is that his love for the Missionaries and the Missionary work is just as big as he is.

Here I am with the Tamworth Elders. The DL Elder Lynch is in the middle.

Saturday, January 23, 2016

We had some spectacular thunder and rain today.  We went to the church for the usual Saturday cleaning and copying of some materials we need.  We then walked down the street to the Produce market and suddenly there was a downpour.  I asked for an extra plastic bag and wore it over my head as we walked home.  We decided not to go to Kingstown to meet with a member because of the downpour and possibility of flooded muddy roads.

When we moved into our apartment we found that the security latch on the front door was broken. Of course, we had it fixed. Today we found out why it was broken when we moved in. When I tried to open the door today, it jiggled the mechanism over and it caught the bolt and we were locked out. Of course, we had ice cream in our bag and the temperature outside was about 85 degrees. We borrowed some tools from the neighbor and I was able to break the mechanism using a hammer and chisel and we were then able to enter our dwelling. I am sure that this happened to the previous missionary couple. I will repair the unit on the day that we leave. Won't that be a good joke on our replacements. The fun and adventures never end here in Armidale. Oh, by the way, the ice cream made it to the freezer just in time.

This is a picture of the intact latch on the inside of our other door.  I include this so that your understanding may be more complete.

Sunday, January 24, 2016


We arrived at church early to practice music with Sister Betts and then our 3-hour block began. Today a counselor in the district presidency, President Allfred and a counselor in the mission presidency, President Lenaham were there to both speak and teach about self-reliance. The self-reliance workbook is a wonderful help to anyone wanting to be wise in the choice of a profession, get more education, start a business, or find a job. One of our long time inactive members who came today caused a bit of a disruption during the presentation but Elder Berger took him out and handled it well. This person has a good heart, but has some personal issues. We need to be careful not to judge.


I am always so impressed with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ providing inspiration for the programs and teachings through the prophet and First Presidency to provide for the people prior to their needing it. I am sure this information on self-reliance will be a blessing mostly recognized in the future years. It seems as though it is a little easier to get government assistance here. If that is correct then there would be less incentive to take care of yourself. A large part of this program is to help people grow and develop into the Lord's people. "We all have work, let no one shirk, put your shoulder to the wheel" is the song that I am thinking of.

(Sheila write in black and Rick writes in blue.)

Monday, January 11, 2016

Today we used as our Prep day, cleaning, shopping for groceries and discussing how we can best serve the branch.  We have had numerous phone calls and questions from an investigator and discussed how to best deal with that.  Sister Bernadette, a retired nun living in our complex has arranged an afternoon tea for us to meet everyone this Thursday which will be lovely I am sure.  I have really enjoyed the interactions so far with her and Father Bernie, a retired priest who also lives here.

At the end of the day, we walked down to a park and watched some guys playing Cricket and then for dinner, we decided to try a local fish and chips place and walked home with the food presented to us in paper.  Once revealed, we found tons of french fries and 4 pieces of fish.  I don't think either of us care to sample this again, anyway not from this establishment.


Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Today we planned to take our branch address list, start with the beginning of the alphabet and try to find everyone.  We visited with many lovely but inactive people.  Some were baptized in the 1970s and stopped coming to church years ago.  One cute lady told me when she was baptized there were only 4 members.  At one time she was Relief Society president.  We visited her grandson and then went to her daughter's house, also inactive, and met with her.  She said she would try to get the entire family together the next time we scheduled a visit. It seemed to me that many of these people still had the spark of the truth in their hearts. The Spirit still seemed strong with some of them. As we continue to visit, we hope that we can help them to return to activity.

We met one young man on the stairs of his flat on his way to work at the Pub.  He was very friendly and gracious, saying it was fine for us to come again any day before noon.  We visited his mother on the porch who wasn't feeling well and she said we could come another time.  She too has been inactive for many years.  This day has really re-emphasized to me how important fellowship is in the church, to make friends with new members and include them in order to help their activity.

I tried a casserole from home with the beef mince and their cream of mushroom soup.  It was okay but something was lacking, I think the soup was missing something.  It filled us up though and was definitely better than the fish of yesterday.


Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Today was my day to go to the chapel and help the ward chorister with her leading of the music.  We talked to her for quite a while and enjoyed getting to know her.  She is the only member of the Church in her family and up until the previous senior missionary showing her how to lead music, had never done anything with music before.

We put together a birthday list for the members and hope to take something to them on their birthday emphasizing the Savior, the gospel and the joy of being members along with a plate of cookies.

We listened to the sister missionaries teaching an investigator at the chapel, showing him the baptismal font and then spent a couple of hours working on our talks for Sunday and our lessons.  It is hard to find card-stock here and when you do it is quite expensive so for handouts, I copied them on copy paper, pasted them to a poster board and then cut them out.  It rained heavily in the early evening which was nice as it cooled things off a bit. We also got a reply to our e-mail to the previous senior couple assigned here. It was full of encouragement, suggestions and information to help us in the work. We were grateful for it and we hope that we will continue to correspond.

Some young men at the city sports field playing Cricket.


Thuirsday, December 14, 2016

When we were asked to give talks on Sunday, we were "formally" invited with an invitation, very different but special.

Today we copied handouts for lessons, put classroom visual aids together and tracked down another inactive to meet.  Each flat in our complex has a little plot of ground to care for.  The previous senior couple planted lots of large plants.  I did a bit of trimming and need to stake the Dahlias and trim the bigger bushes.  I enjoy having a bit of garden. I enjoy using my new bottle of Round-Up on any plant that is not where I want it to be. I have also been killing ants with my new bottle of "Ant, Spider & Cockroach" Killer. Hunters Hunt! enough said.

We attended the complex "Tea" held in our honor.  It was very nice.  They had coffee, tea, juice and water along with many delicious treats. The inevitable Word of Wisdom questions came up to which they all agreed that none of them smoked and they thought it very healthy of us to avoid alcohol. One 93 year old lady said she drinks coffee with a double dose of caffeine and has done her entire life. The Holts are a couple who lived for 45 years in Africa.  They lived there when there was no internet, TV or phone connection.  They are from Scotland and it was fun to listen to their accent.  He went completely blind from a hemorrhage in his eyes five months ago.  They are 88 years old. He has invited me to sit with him on his porch some morning and he will tell me the stories of Africa in the 1950s and 60s. He was sent there originally to grow Virginia tobacco although he has never smoked.

All of them were helpful in telling us things they thought we should know and making us feel very welcome.  One other man lives here, Father Bernie, the retired priest.

Elder Berger attended his branch presidency meeting at 6:30 and I worked on my Relief Society lesson.  He came home excited about the tasks assigned to us.  President Sully wants us to teach early morning Seminary to the 2-3 eligible teenagers in our branch.  We called the mission office to find out who to talk to about materials.  Seminary is to be taught 5 days a week at 7:00 AM at the Branch. They tell me that it is so easy that even I can do it. Since the former Senior Sister Missionary taught it, I think that it would be a fine assignment for Sister Berger. I'm sure that deep down, (really deep), she is in agreement. They put me in charge of the Sunday School. Since I am the only Sunday School Teacher, I guess it will not be much trouble. We have been asked to visit a couple who live a long way away from us. I understand that he is dying of cancer. He was the Champion Australian Pistol Champ for 3 years running some years ago. We will make the trip on Tuesday and I am looking forward to hearing his story. We live in an out of the way place but they live about 175 miles further out. I'm sure that it will be an interesting trip. We will visit other members on the way back.

Formal invitation to give a talk at Sacrament meeting

Our little bit of jungle after some weeding out but still in need of some work

Beautiful table and the Holts, Father Bernie, And Sister Bernadette.

Another Table Picture, our juice glasses are at the bottom of the picture. 

More Neighbors

On the left, Jan, Mrs. Holt in the blue and Mr. Holt to the right

Mr. Holt & Father Bernie

More Neighbors

Me and Sister Bernadette, the lovely lady who organized the Tea

Friday, January 15, 2016

What an interesting climate here in Armidale - it started raining with wind and was approximately 62 degrees and this is their July temperature. It is really their January. Sister Berger struggles with the whole northern hemisphere southern hemisphere tilted axis thing. It is summer here and the seasons are opposite the ones in the northern hemisphere.  Elder Berger spent quite some time today talking to an investigator on the phone.  We were asked to purchase birthday cards for everyone in the branch so we put together a birthday list on our laptop and purchased enough cards to get us through January.  The branch presidency plans on signing them at their meeting.

This evening we went to tea at the Clarksons.  She is 75 and a sweet lady, he is about ten years younger, second marriage.  They have been married for 35 years.  It was fun to observe the differences as Australians eat with both hands, the fork in the left.  She made roasted chicken with roasted potatoes, yams and pumpkin.  She is gluten free and made a delicious blueberry crumble dessert with fresh whipped cream without sugar added.  The whipped cream comes already thick out of the container as it has gelatin in it.  The Clarksons have been in Armidale for quite a while.  Brother Clarkson said one Fast Sunday he went to church and there was only him and the branch president there.  They had the Sacrament, each bore their testimonies and then they watched a church movie.

As you may know, I cannot eat spicy food. The good news is that we have not encountered any. There are some restaurants that we avoid, but even places like KFC serve food that is milder than at home. I am loving it! We just tasted our first watermelon. It was really good and sweet and it cost $1 Australian per Kilo or about 35 cents a pound US.

It may be hard to see but this is really red and it was very sweet.

Saturday, 16 January,2016

Today we started with cleaning the chapel. It is not such a big job, but for two people it takes a couple of hours. It is nice to see the difference when we are finished. I think that the Branch members feel the difference even if they do not know why. Many of the sisters notice the difference. 

We spoke on the phone to a married couple whom we seldom see at church as she is on dialysis and he works lots of Sundays.  They kindly invited us to dinner next week.  It has rained on and off today with a temperature high of 70 degrees F.  I am really trying on the Celsius conversions here but it hasn't become easy yet.  Elder Berger is able to figure the conversions in his head.


Sunday, January 17, 2016

Today at church was the Rick and Sheila show.  When I played the last prelude song for Sacrament meeting there were only six people in the audience but by the time the closing prayer was over, it had filled up quite nicely. I spoke on my assigned topic, "Celestial marriage" and then played the rest hymn and then Elder Berger spoke on his assigned topic, "Jesus' Perfect Example". After that Elder Berger taught Gospel Doctrine and then I played the songs for Relief Society and taught the lesson. Now you can see why I said the Rick and Sheila Show.  We were not picked up for a second week, next week I don't even have to teach as there will be a special presentation on Self Reliance by the District Presidency. 

We had three investigators attend today.  One is an artist of sorts and stopped being active a few years after his baptism 30 some years ago.  One is searching to know if there is a God and says his life is so miserable he cannot imagine there is a God and one seems to go back and forth between his childhood religion and ours.  I think their attending Elder Berger's Gospel Doctrine lesson on the Tree of Life was good for them. It was a good lesson focusing on the symbolism that Joseph Smith would not have known and therefore would have not been able to create himself giving us just one more piece of evidence of the Book of Mormon's truthfulness, A little advanced for investigators, but the members seemed to be fascinated with the comparisons to Isaiah's writings.

I cooked our first Beef stew in the crock-pot for dinner which tasted pretty close to home.

Monday, January 4, 2016

Today was our District P Day where we went to a Koala refuge.  The place had lots of birds, kangaroos, emus, deer, wombats and six Koalas. We took the sister missionaries with us and met the other elders at the refuge.  It was a 5 hour drive going and returning.  We had left-over meatloaf when we got home.  Ground beef is called mince here.

Rick with Koala at the top of the tree

Sheila with Koala

I would buy this if I could!

Sleepy Koalas

Look, he woke up!

Two Wallabees

The endangered Bilby

Sheila with a new friend.

Sister Going feeding a kangaroo

The claws are sharp!

Big old Kangaroo

A much younger one.

Colorful Peafowl

Wombat

Elder Berger at the Koala park with the Sister Missionaries and the 5 dollar bill that he got from Virgil Steele who got it from Gary Green at the dinner party thrown by Alice Steele. There will be photos of this 5 dollar bill throughout our mission posted on this blog. That was President Lyman Hafen's idea and it is a good one. The Jayhawk hat will also be along for the trip.

Sleepy nocturnal Koala. The Koalas were so sweet and very sleepy, nocturnal that they are. 

This is what we call ground beef. Pay no attention to the kangaroo silhouette on the label.  I know, it freaked me out a little too!

Tuesday, January 5, 2015

Today I tested out the oven and made chocolate chip cookies which turned our rather well, and we visited two of the sisters in our branch.  It was pouring rain and it would have been fun to get a picture of the two of us under one umbrella, considering our height differences,  One of the sisters lives in a small flat and has done for fourteen years.  We enjoyed talking to her and finding out what some of her interests are.  She said this is the third time she has returned to activity.  We hope we can assist her as she works on strengthening her testimony.

The other sister rents a house and has two children living with her some of the week and with their father some of the week.  She is very smart and we really enjoyed our visit with her as well.

After our visits we went back to the flat and I made spaghetti and Rick had some of that and more of Kentucky Fried chicken.  We have found an Artisan bread we like to get fresh in the morning and it really complemented the spaghetti.

Wednesday, January 6, 2015

Today we visited the Public Library and signed up for a card.  We talked to a young man who gave us information about a website showing Armidale activities which I was hoping for.  We want to get involved volunteering in the community.

We took cookies and visited a single young man in the branch who loves American football teams and works at a tomato factory. They grow tomatoes hydroponically, and they employ several people who live here. The plant is in Guyra, NSW. He gave us tomatoes, peaches and plums which were much appreciated by us. The tomatoes are picture perfect and taste great.

At 7:00 we attended a correlation meeting with President Sully and the sister missionaries and went over the entire branch address list correlating who knew what.  The sisters have tried to visit all those living in Armidale and determine their activity levels.  It was productive  After, we cleaned President Sully's office as we have not had a key and been able to clean it with our previous cleaning. It seems that when you don't know what to do all of the time, there are always things to be cleaned. The Branch President said that the Chapel has never looked better.

Thursday, January 7, 2015

Today we took the branch address list and looked for members who have not been at Sunday meetings.  We confirmed some had moved and did not have forwarding addresses.  After, we drove outside Armidale confirming another incorrect address and then met with an investigator who had particular questions about baptism and taught him about the restoration and Elder Berger did a fine job explaining the difference between baptism in the Pentecostal  church of the investigator's youth and baptism in the LDS church.

Friday, January 8, 2015

In the midst of many challenging days in life, once in a while there is a wonderful day.  Today was such a day.  We awoke to a quite cool morning after a good night's sleep, feeling really good, took a walk, got ready to visit some branch members and headed out.  Sunglasses on our faces, a destination in mind, I felt like the Blues Brothers. 

The sky was so gorgeous, very blue with tons of white clouds Rick referred to as the Simpson's clouds from the cartoon show. Please do not get the idea that I watch The Simpsons TV show. I just recognize the cloud intro because when I see it I leap to my feet, find the remote, and change the channel. No, I do not appreciate their subtle humor.  The air was warm but the breeze remained cool.  We met with an elderly couple in the branch who are active but dealing with stress in their lives.  We drove out of town and met with another family.  We had a subway sandwich in the little town and walked the streets.  Elder Berger, much to his pleasure, found a gun shop and was able to converse with the owner.  

                                                      

This was their Sign, Safari World, optimistic indeed!

                                                

These are the toys.

Once home, we purchased some needed items and back home to prepare for our talks in nine days.  

                                                 

   No, we chose not to partake.

                               

Ground up Kangaroo just seems like it would probably be prohibited by the Word of Wisdom if the early Apostles were eating it in Emma's house. It may taste great, I will never know.

Saturday, January 9, 2016

Today after cleaning the church and me practicing the organ for tomorrow, we drove my an active branch member house whose occupants have been away for the holiday and two of their children, Lucy, who is 7 and Jeremy 5, were selling honey (1 kilogram) for $10.00 and a bag of peaches off their tree for $2.00,  outside their home.  It was a perfect time to introduce ourselves as Rick has been really enjoying the Australian honey on his bread. Australian honey has a different flavor than what we are used to in Utah. It is a very subtle difference but it is real. You see, north of the equator, the bees move their wings up and down whereas down under they move their wings down and up creating a difference that the truly pure in heart can detect. When you put the honey on a piece of toast that has been buttered with Australian butter (Australian cows swish their tales left to right and Utah cows go right to left) you are in for a real treat. I try and eat some every day. Sometime I will describe how the wheat for the bread waves in the breeze and is affected by the Latitude and how the taste is somewhat more delicate. 

Their grandfather owns a bee farm in Brisbane and happily talked to us and told Lucy to give us the missionary discount of honey and peaches for $10.00 for both which we were happy to pay. Lucy's parents had just driven away so we will meet them and their two other children at church tomorrow. Their mother is in the Masters program getting a teaching degree an their father is in the first year of Medical school at our local university.  

Oh, by the way, the water does swirl in the other direction when it goes down the drain.

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Today our District President, President Owen spoke along with his wife at our Sacrament meeting.  He asked to meet with Elder Berger at 9:15 a.m. and called him to be the second counselor in the Branch Presidency.  Elder Berger was set apart after the block.  I play the organ in Sacrament meeting and in Relief Society.  Sister Sully, the Relief Society president, asked if I would teach Relief Society every few weeks and my first lesson to teach will be next week the same day I am speaking in church so the women, at least, will probably have their fill of hearing Sister Berger talk.

Our investigator attended church today.  He has been investigating for seven years so only time will tell what he ends up doing,  

Monday, December 28, 2015

(Reminder: Black print is Sheila, Blue is Rick)

We were eager to greet the day and hoped to accomplish the errands we needed to complete in order to be comfortable at the flat.  We are unable to do much as far as our missionary call as we still need a list of branch members with addresses.

We began our day with a lovely walk in brisk, blue sky air walking around the cathedral across the street.  Making the loop 5-7 times will add up to my 3 miles I hope.  We still need to drive it and make sure.

After cleaning up we walked downtown and found that many of the business places were still closed.  Being on vacation until the middle of January seems a common practice here.  We walked around finding the library, computer stores and a K-Mart which had many of the household items we needed at cheaper prices than we have found in other stores so we came home and got in the car and went back to purchase those things.

We found the video store filled with DVDs for purchase for 50 cents or a $1.00.  We found old TV series and a couple of old movies and a movie about the Australian Outback.  We have been in our flat for six days without news from the outside as we do not have internet or radio or TV, so we thought we would enjoy the option of a video prior to bed-time. They are all G or PG rated. We do listen to Bishop Terry and follow his council. 

We talked with pour next door neighbor, Jean, who is 93 years old and her children are hours away.  She said she is a Christian but has her own religion and does not attend church.  She said she is on her last legs and is thankful for heavy duty pain medication.  It was sad to think she will die alone and no one will know until the government agency she uses checks on her.

In Sydney, President Checketts told us to be sure to see the new Star Wars movie if we wanted so we decided to do so.  We were both disappointed in the movie as we thought the first three Star Wars movies were so much better and this movie had a poor story in our opinion. It was sad for me to watch Harrison Ford try to move like a young man. He gave it a valiant effort, but I can't seem to stop thinking that he sold out for the money that they must have paid him. It even hurt my knees when I saw him struggle to run down the corridor of the starship.

This Sunday, I get to teach the Gospel Doctrine Class for the first time here. I will use this picture to illustrate the Keystone of our religion.

 Our first full blue sky in Armidale. Notice Sheila on the sidewalk in front of St. Mary's Cathedral. We walk around this Cathedral several times every day. I hope that they don't think that my name is Joshua.

Bright Blue Sky.

There is Sheila again.

And Again.

Beautiful stained glass window depicting the Outback of Australia.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015       Sheila / Rick

We are trying to create a routine for us while we are here.  We get up, say our prayer, go for a walk, eat breakfast and then cleanup for the day.  It was unseasonably cold today so I wore a sweater for the second day in a row.  We went to the church to check emails and do a few google searches we needed to do. As I will be playing the branch electronic piano/organ this Sunday, which I am not accustomed to, I also take the opportunity when we are at the church to practice. The sisters met us there and brought us an address list for the branch.  They told us they visited with a man who plays his guitar and sings in front of Coles Supermarket and is listed as a member.  They told us he says he would go to church if someone picked him up. 

After lunch we decided to see if we could find him.  We saw him just as he was closing up, putting his guitar in the store's fire extinguisher closet.  When Rick asked him if he was John, he said, “I’ve been wondering when I would meet you guys.  How about riding in a taxi with me to get my laundry and take it to my office and we can jaw a while.  Rick agreed.  John is extremely skinny and about 68 years old he told us.  I asked when he was baptized and he said in 1975 but that he stopped attending about 4 years later.  He joined with his second or third of six wives.

He does his laundry in a converted bus he owns and keeps in an RV park but does art work in a run-down apartment in a run-down neighborhood.  His place was dirty and had porn on some of his walls.  As he talked with us he told us all kinds of stories about his life, who knows if they are true.  He is obviously well read but could not in any way be considered a Christian let alone a Mormon.  He thinks he is a preacher of sorts preaching about plants with spirits, that Christ learned how to fake miracles when he stayed in the Eastern desert and that there is definitely no life after death as he has had 3 near death experiences and saw there was nothing after death.  Rick and I were eager to get away and did so as quickly as we could. The spirit in John's home seemed very dark and heavy. In the New Testament, Paul calls faithful members "children of The Light"(the Light of Christ). We look for the Light, and we love the Light. We pray that John may find the Light again at some point.  We will probably contact him again but we will not enter his home until things change. John got a taxi back to Coles and we left him there.  We will report what we experienced to the branch president.

As we talked with John in the taxi, the driver listened.  As we got out, he asked about our religion and Rick gave him a card with the temple on the front and information about LDS.org. along with our telephone number.  The driver was a Sikh from India and said he believes there is good in all religions and we need to understand one another and appreciate that good.  Maybe there is value in his taking the card.  He asked for our phone number and Rick gave it to him. 

We met Father Bernie and Sister Bernadette (no relation) who are both retired and living in our complex.  They seemed very nice.  Sister Bernadette (who is a retired Catholic nun) is helping to arrange a welcoming tea for us when everyone comes back from vacation.  Many businesses here take two weeks off during Christmas and are closed.   Sister Bernadette is from Peoria, Illinois.

We walked to McDonalds and Rick got his favorite vanilla soft serve ice cream cone for 50 cents and then back to our flat where we watched some more of the DVD documentary on the Australian outback before bed.

Because of the timing of our arrival, Christmas Eve, starting our assignment has been challenging because several families in the branch are away taking advantage of the two weeks vacation/ One of the active families is away for two more weeks.and many businesses are closed, which has slowed our getting our home life in order, i.e. internet, repairs, obtaining proper electrical converters.  

We have prayed to feel the spirit when interacting with the people here. We know that our Father in Heaven has prepared some of them to receive his truth. We have felt it from time to time and we have tried to take advantage of incidental contacts with people. We pray that we can help in the missionary effort. We have a distorted view of life here in Armidale because we have only been here during the Holiday season when most people are gone or are on vacation. Things should return to a more normal state by February 1^st when school will be back in session and their summer vacation is over.

I have been listening to the Australian accent and it is difficult to get a handle on. It is like understanding English when you have one person from Boston, another from Mississippi and still another from Laverkin, Utah. Some of them have the sweet accent of Olivia Newton John and Mel Gibson, while others have the almost redneck accent of Paul Hogan and Steve Irwin. We have also heard some very proper English accents mixed with Australian. The hardest for me to understand is what I would call the outback dialect. I don’t know if it is from the outback but it is to Australian as a Scottish accent is to a London accent. I have to lean in and listen closely. I do know one thing. These people are wonderful, friendly people, and we like them.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

We arose to a beautiful sky, did our walk and then continued a walk to the local fruit market where we purchased some fruit.  It was a very clean and organized store.  We returned to our flat for breakfast and prepared for our District Training Meeting by phone.  The meeting was sweet and encouraging.  We were able to hear from other missionaries in our district.  We were instructed to be inside our flats by 5:00 p.m. New Years Eve and not to leave on New Years Day until noon.  It was suggested that we do a "temple cleaning" of our flats. The meeting lasted about an hour.  We have a dryer in the extra bedroom but it is not vented outside.  We also have a little enclosed courtyard with a clothes line which I hung some laundry on.  I really enjoy having the clothesline, something I haven't had at home for many years. 

I went through our branch list and determined the actives from the less actives and we will create a sign-up sheet to pass around Sunday asking for times we can meet with the members.  We will also schedule times to travel to the more distant areas covered by our branch to meet those members.


Thursday, December 31, 2015

New Years Eve with not much to report.  We shopped for food among tons of people getting ready for festivities.  We were told to be in our flat by 5:00 p.m. so we were.  About 8:00 p.m. there were wonderful fireworks clearly visible from our flat which we enjoyed.


Friday, January 1, 2016

We were told not to leave our flats until noon so we did a thorough cleaning of the flat and I finished up laundry started yesterday.  Afterwards, we went for a drive part way up Waterfall Way and then had Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner.  As we took a walk downtown today, it was so very quiet, and few people on the streets.  Once again, most businesses were closed.  We are really looking forward to Sunday and getting into our missionary work next week.  We went through Sister Hokanson's wonderful notes about the branch members again, determining who needs a visit most. We prepared a sign-up sheet to pass around to the members Sunday to schedule our get acquainted visits.

This sign is typical of most of the signs in store windows all over town.

 The local fruit market

One walk too many or "Sheila, it may not look like I am listening, but I am".

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Our major task for today was cleaning our church. The previous senior couple left in October.  They did the weekly cleaning and we are happy to take that over.  We cleaned everything and Rick set up the chapel area for Sacrament meeting while I practiced the organ for tomorrow.  The black recliner type chair is for one of the elderly sisters who has a bad back.  It is stored in a classroom and brought out each Sunday. The building is very small but it is big enough and we are very thankful for it to meet in. There are many places on this earth where the Saints do not have it so good.

Sunday, January 3, 2016

We happily attended our branch Fast and Testimony and other meetings today, eager to meet additional branch members.  The only additional attendees were the Smith Family.  Brother Smith is in the branch presidency.  His 16 year old son, 14 year old daughter and 12 year old son attend with him.  His wife is not a member.  I admire their faithfulness.

It was a good testimony meeting with testimonies born without long pauses.  Rick's Gospel Doctrine lesson on the Book of Mormon went well with plenty of discussion.  This little branch has five sisters in Relief Society with the 14 year old daughter of President Smith's attending when the Young Women's leader is absent which she was today.  In addition to those, there were the two sister missionaries, the Relief Society President, Sister Sully and myself.

After the block, we skyped with daughter Heather to congratulate granddaughter Hannah on her baptism which was completed earlier in the day.  We were so happy that John and Natalie and girls were able to attend, when it is a challenge to drive so far with little ones but having family support is so special on these occasions.

It rained all day; a gentle, cool rain. The members say that it is unseasonably cold for this time of year. It is comparable to July in North America. Usually the temps would average about 80-85 degrees this time of year. We have actually had to put the heat on in the car as well as our flat especially early morning. We will enjoy it while it lasts.