IT'S JACARANDA TIME!!! WITH LOTS OF BEAUTIFUL SKIES!

This time I will be posting many pictures of the beautiful jacaranda trees. I had been told they would be beautiful but oh my! they truly are amazing. We cannot drive a block without seeing delightful purple patches. What a delight! It seems like no matter where we are we see purple. There are also spots of red, orange and pink which we view from our balcony and our trips around the city. And the magnolias beginning to bloom.  

Sadly I am told, the jacarandas only last a couple of weeks. Tourists visit Australia during this time just to see the blossoms, kind of like the Hanami tradition with cherry blossoms in Japan which we were fortunate enough to experience in 2014 when we visited our family in Tokyo. The news reported that a 2 block area in Sydney is inundated with tourists, many Asian, taking selfies in front of the jacaranda tree  branches that  grow together across the street. The tourists are causing enough traffic jams to be featured on the news as they pose on the road.

We were lucky enough to spot a couple of streets full of jacaranda trees on our way to a meeting on Wednesday evening. Following our Thursday appointments we found that street again and parked so we could take pictures. Then Elder Jenkins decided he would just drive along with me as I walked the 2 - 3 blocks to take pictures   So, if you see a little white Holden constantly showing up in the street that is our car. We did not cause a traffic jam but it was interesting to see a photographer doing a photoshoot with the model in a bright blue wig, and a fringed dress with a bright blue skirt.

I hope you will enjoy the jacarandas!!! I just cannot get enough of them. Pretty obvious I suppose when you see all of these pictures. It just makes me sad that they soon will be gone.
But we will enjoy them while we can and then look forward to next year.

The Temple grounds are especially beautiful with the
half dozen blooming jacaranda trees.

They drop their blossoms,
so the ground is sometimes like a carpet of purple.

Elder Jenkins by our trusty Holden! We have
driven over 6,000 Kilometers in the 8 months we have been here.

I love to see the Angel Moroni
silhouetted by the jacaranda blossoms.

                                                                                                                                                           We have been keeping busy. This past week we have had many meetings. Some of the meetings require refreshments and I have gotten pretty good at putting humus inside of a red capsicum [pepper] and surrounding it with a variety of fresh veggies. The carrots here are especially good. I think I will be spoiled for any other carrots. But we have been running pretty fast.

It is hard to believe that November is here. Eight months ago we were just beginning this journey.

We love our time in the temple. Almost every Friday evening finds us in the temple which is a huge blessing for us.

We are also enjoying the BIRDS!!! There are so many - white, green, grey and pink, black, brown, etc and they sing so beautifully beginning about 5 AM.


The skies never fail to surprise and delight us. The sunsets, the moon sets and the clouds! Wow! So, here are some of my favorite sky photos. All from our balcony. I am so grateful that we are on the 4th floor so we have such a great vista before us. I love to be out there in the morning to feel the morning as I am on the elliptical. Even when it is raining as it is today we can be outside and just enjoy it.

It is Saturday evening now, cloudy so no sunset today. We had a Returned Missionary Seminar this morning. I gave short talk along with a couple of the other self reliance missionaries. Then we had a Stake President speak. The messages discussed how these returned missionaries could structure their lives to continue to stay close to the Savior, Jesus  Christ. And also some counsel about choosing a spouse and just living a life choosing to serve the Lord.

Tomorrow we will attend church in another ward and help facilitate a My Foundations Class for some Young Adults. It is a wonderful course which teaches so much that is necessary for a successful life.

We are loving our time here on our mission. There are hard days, especially when we get very tired. But there are wonderful days as we witness the principles of self-reliance begin to take hold. And we love the wonderful people we meet. It is so nice when we are at the temple to see many of the people we work with from week to week. There are just some great people here who are trying hard to live their lives in a way pleasing to the Lord.