Australians in Whistler BC - definition of Self Reliance

Disclaimer: reading over some of my past posts I have noticed typos and misspellings - sorry! Hope my meaning still comes through.

Well here I am again. Time keeps marching forward at an amazing pace. We have just returned from a few days of a badly needed break in Whistler BC. Such a beautiful place to sooth the soul.

We were surprised to be checked in to our room by a nice young Australian man named Simon. His accent was a dead give away verified by his name tag that he was from Australia. He is from Sydney, Australia working in Whistler on a 2 year visa, so we had something to talk about. He was surprised to learn we would be going to his home area come December. We hope he will keep in touch.

It continued to be a shock to discover that there were MANY international visitors and workers in that area. We learned that almost 60% are from Australia. Everywhere we went we heard that distinctive accent and often struck up a conversation. On  a hiking trail we met Eddy and Pat who are from Terrigal on the beach a bit NE of Sydney. We had a delightful conversation with them and explained what our mission entailed. They asked if our service was the same kind of service given by the young men with black names tags. :)  They knew we had a center in Carlingford and have probably driven by the Temple there. I was brought to tears as Pat explained the things they had been doing in their family to help those who are less fortunate. There are so many good people who are trying to help others.

The people we have met from Australia have been warm and friendly which causes us to look forward to our time there with even greater anticipation.

I am sure we will be busy as we try to work with those who need our help. We studied more of our materials and watched more videos discussing our responsibilities.  There is so much to learn and I am grateful we will have the Lord's help as we move forward in our responsibilities. Here is a definition of self -reliance found in some of our training materials:

Self-reliance is the "ability, commitment, and effort to provide the spiritual and temporal necessities of life for self and family."

Wow! first we need to make sure we are self-reliant so we can feel comfortable encouraging others to be the same.

The organizing continues. Some furniture and canning jars left our house this weekend. This upcoming week should end with many more boxes getting packed. Grateful for friends who are saving boxes!