May 1, 2018

Tuggerah Lake at Sunset

In April a wonderful Toukley ward member invited us to stay at an AirB&B that she manages for the owner.  It was off season so the owner was gracious enough to let us spend a weekend.  Our friend said she felt bad for us as we always looked tired at church???  This weekend was a very nice, relaxing, and much enjoyed mini vacation.  As you will see from the pictures it was BEAUTIFUL.

Some of our ward members would say something like "Do you know where they are building the new Woolworth's"  or you know where such and such is?  I would always say, "We get off the freeway and drive to the church.  That is all we know about this area".  Since we now stayed the weekend in the Toukley area we know where a few more things are.

It was nice enough weather that we would open the windows at night and have a nice lake breeze cool off the house.  The neighbors were wearing heavy hoodies and long pants like it was cold.  Elder Ellison and I thought it was heavenly.

May is here and we are saying goodbye to Elder & Sister Cox.  They have served in the office for 2 years.  They have been wonderful to work with and will be greatly missed.  It seems like yesterday when Elder Ellison and I arrived in Sydney and the Cox's picked us up from the airport.  Now it is their turn for us to take them to the airport for their departure.  Bittersweet.  Elder and Sister Cox I had planned to do some touring of Australia and New Zealand before returning home but unfortunately Elder Cox ended up with a kidney stone and spent last night in the hospital.  Not sure how their extended travel plans will work out.  Their visas run out in 5 days so they will need to be heading to the States at that time.

Today is 21 May  and I am now getting back to the my blog for May.  Last night we had an AMAZING Conference with The Sydney North and South Missions, missionaries, Area Presidency, Elder Stevenson, and President Ballard.  They were in New South Wales for multiple assignments.  A Stake Conference, meeting with Ward and Stake Leaders in the Sydney area, special Mission Conference and and FHE via Facebook.  These were very busy men and wives.  So many impressive thoughts were taught at our conference. 

President Stevenson talked about how he had been called as a Mission President with the assignment to join together THREE Missions, Tokyo North, Tokyo South and another mission that I did not catch the name of.  Oh, my, what a job that would be.  Maybe our new President won't be too overwhelmed with just two missions????? 

President Ballard told when he was the Mission President of the Ontario Canada mission over 50 years ago, he had the following experience. 

A senior couple was coming to serve in his Mission.  He gave the Zone Leaders the assignment to go and purchase some food items and stock up the fridge for the senior couple as they would be getting in late and might need something to eat over the weekend.  This was before credit cards were readily used so the President informed the Elders to use their cash and he would reimburse them in the future. (maybe that was the problem)  President Ballard said these missionaries had been out way too long and didn't remember how to stock a fridge let alone for a senior couple.  The Elders stocked the fridge with the bare minimum, A loaf of bread, a jar of PB, a jar of jam and a carton of milk.  When President Ballard learned of this he was embarrassed, but such is missionary life. 

President Ballard interviewed the husband who had been a Patriarch and had also been a missionary as a young man.  When he interviewed the wife privately she admitted that she was "scared to death" and did not know the first thing about missionary work. (This was long before Preach My Gospel).  President Ballard assured her that all would be well and then practiced a couple of approaches with her.  For example if she saw a mother with children in tow she might say, "I see you have  beautiful children that you greatly enjoy and love.  Would you like to learn how you can be an Eternal Family?"  After their meeting she felt a little more comfortable. 

They drove to their assigned area in a small town, quite some distance from the Mission home, it was minus 20 degrees.  After finding the limited food, they made a quick stop at a little store nearby.  They rushed in picked up a few items, the husband paid for the groceries then hurried out to the car.  His wife was struggling to work up courage to approach the woman working behind the counter.  A few minutes passed by, then the Sister missionary walked up to the counter and said something like this.  "My husband and I have come all the way from SLC Ut.  to share a message with people we come in contact with.  Would you be willing to have us come share this message with you and your husband?"  The clerk was taken with the gentle and genuine approach of this missionary and agreed to have them to her home the next evening.  When the Sister got out to the car her husband said "where have you been?  I am about frozen to death?"  "I have been doing what we have been assigned to do and we have an appointment tomorrow night."   The husband was shocked.  They went the next night and gave the message with another appointment a couple of nights later.  When they arrived they found 2 more people the brother and sister in-law in were now in attendance.  They gave the next lesson, another appointment was set and they then had 4 more people listening to their message.  In the end 18 people were baptized.  Just from this one nervous but committed Sister and her Husband.  The way President Ballard told the story had everyone laughing and crying at the same time. 

President Ballard challenged the missionaries to each talk to 10 people every day.  For some of our missionaries that is challenging due to the areas they work in.  Other missionaries walk up and down one specific street in different parts of the downtown area.  They cross paths with many more pedestrians.  Last week Elder Ellison and I were driving down the street in one of these areas (on a furniture run for a new flat being opened).   I got to observe 2 of our missionaries at work. 

Sunsets & Clouds were Spectacular!

We were stopped at a red light when I saw the 2 missionaries say something to a lady walking toward them...she just kept walking past the Elders.  By this time our light had turned green and I quick turned my head to see what the Elders would do.  I was surprised to see they had big smiles on their faces even though they had been rejected.  I felt bad for them so I quick got on my phone and called them.  I said "Elders you are Amazing!"  Elder T said, Sister Ellison where are you?  I said "I just saw your approach and when you were turned down you were still smiling!  AMAZING Elders!"  They didn't know we would see them in action.  This was just a normal work day for them.  I still think of that smile I saw on Elder T's face.  He was definitely enjoying his work.  He was not taking rejection personally.  They kept at it and they got an appointment from someone later on that day.  Maybe you had to be there to understand, but I was sure impressed with the effort these missionaries put in day in and day out.

Time to end this blog, another busy day in the office, but it sure makes time fly by.

A Busy and Great Week!

It is Sunday evening and I am feeling great. I gave the YSA Sunday School lesson today. I was happy with how it came out. So, I decided to take a little time and post a blog about this last week.

One of the best things for me about this job is how much work there is. Strange, right? 11 hours a day is the norm. The time flies by. And it is great to give service. Every night I try to read about 1/2 hour from a set of novels I am reading about the founding of Australia. I always go to bed and fall right to sleep.

This last week was one of the busiest week I have had.

On Monday Linda and drove to Charlestown which is 2 1/4 hours away. In Charlestown I loaded up a trailer with furniture from a flat we are closing. I will finish the job next Monday. Was late before I got to bed.

Got up at 5 am, which is our normal time. I left to be at the Zone Training at 7:30 am to give driver training. While the missionaries involved were watching a video I went back to the hotel to get Linda. We listened to part of the training which was about how to use smart phones. Our mission gets smart phones June 1st. To say the least, the missionaries are excited. The phones they have now are terrible. Both Linda and I went out and bought a phone instead of using the mission supplied phones. We helped with lunch. After lunch we interviewed missionaries who had done flat self inspections. They take pictures of their flats, fill out a checklist, and give themselves a grade. Guess what, they all gave themselves As, some with plusses. Okay, do you believe that? Let me just say I do not know a flat that my wife would be willing to live in without a major cleaning before moving in. :-).

After that we headed home and still worked in the office for a couple of hours.

On Wednesday and Thursday we had two more zone trainings that we did the flat self inspections interviews. Still mostly As. I know one of those flats we are having holes in the walls fixed that were put there by weight lifting equipment. Of course, it is alway the previous elders that do the damage. That is always there answer when asked who did the damage. I just smile.

After zone training Thursday at 5 pm I picked up a moving truck. I then went to 2 flat's garages that had senior couples furniture We loaded up furniture for a new seniors couple flat that we are opening in Armidale. I had missionaries meet me there to help. A very late night

Up on Friday at 3:30 am, 4 1/2 hours of sleep, for a long day of driving. I drove to Grafton. 7 hours drive. Loaded up some more furniture from another storage unit I have. I have 7 garages that have furniture in them. Then drove to Armidale which was another 2 1/2 hours. Missionaries met me there, and we unloaded the truck into the new flat. After that I took the missionaries out for pizza. It is fun to do. After pizza I followed a senior couple to their flat in Tamworth. Another 1 1/2 drive. Boy, I slept good that night. 11 hours of driving a moving truck with a very tight suspension. I bounced all over the cab.

Up and on my way at 6:16 am Saturday morning. I had to have the truck back by 3 pm. It was an easy drive. Only 5 hours. :-). After unloading some furniture and bikes that I brought back I dropped the truck off. We then went to diner to celebrate mothers day. After that I went to the office and prepared my Sunday School lesson. Another late night.

If was a great week with never stopping. How else would you want it if you are out serving, away from your family, and the fun activities you like to do?

I hope you are all enjoying your life as much as I am. Time is flying by fast.

Narrabri Trip - 29 April 2018

This last weekend we were assigned to speak in the Narrabri Branch. It is a 6 1/2 hour drive one way. On Friday we traveled to Tamworth, NSW (4 1/2 hour drive). On Saturday we attended a Narrabri Branch / Tamworth Ward activity. We went to a local zoo. It was a great place. Not very large, but plenty of picnick areas and different animals to see. It was very enjoyable.

After the activity we drove to Narrabri. On Sunday we spoke. There were about 15 people there. It reminded me of when I was a young missionary and served in a branch. Good memories. Branches are special places, but I think very difficult to live in one. After the meeting we drove home (6 1/2 hours) driving.

I took my talk from a BYU devotional talk. I would recommend it. It is by Brad Wilcox who was a professor at BYU. The title is "His Grace is Sufficient". It was easy to find on the internet. You can also watch in on Youtube. It gave me a better understanding of Grace and how much it really is there to help us. Hope you take the time to listen, or read it.

lorikeet

It is a beautiful bird. We have a lot of them at our temple compound area where we live.

cockatoo

Very pretty bird, but can be mean. They are very loud. Their beaks are very strong. They chop / cut off branches of trees. One tried to bight my camera. I kept it away. I am sure it would have broken my camera.