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| I remember seeing this bush last year and wanting to take a picture. But by the time I had the chance the lovely blossoms were finished. So, this year I caught them before they were gone. |
Time is a strange thing. Right now I feel like I am in a time warp. It has been almost 3 weeks since I last wrote on this blog and it seems like so much has happened and yet I feel like time is not passing. Kind of hard to explain.
Actually I have been 'under the weather' the past 4 days so have not been very productive. I guess there is a lot of this 'stuff' going around so it is not surprising that I also fell victim to the coughing , sneezing, yucky symptoms. But I am on the mend. Our dear friends have supplied us with yummy chicken soup, lemsip [interesting therapeutic lemon drink], etc. I am certain that my getting better has been happening more quickly because of their ministrations.
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| I was sitting in the car one day while my husband went into the doctor's office to pick up my prescription. I was struck by this tree so snapped a photo. Realized it isn't the best tree photo but it does show the strip mall by the doctor's office, including the Post office. Just a little glimpse of stuff here. |
There is much going on with our mission right now. The decision has been made to combine the Australia Sydney North and Australia Sydney South Missions into the Australia Sydney Mission. This will occur on July 1, 2018 when Present and Sister Checketts will have finished their 3 year assignment in the North Mission . President and Sister Bingham who were in the South Mission were slated to take over the whole mission at that time. However as you may remember reading in the last blog, President Brigham was involved in a bicycle accident which broke his neck which has changed his life and also plans for the mission. He has made progress and thankfully his spinal cord, although badly bruised and swollen, was not severed. He is making a slow recovery but is making progress. He and Sister Bingham have returned to the United States.
That of course left a void as far as someone to direct the affairs of the South Mission until July 1 when the missions will be combined. Elder Leota, our Self Reliance manager has been asked to step up and be the interim mission president. So, now President and Sister Leota are busy caring for the many missionaries and their concerns in the South Mission. Since his time is filled with mission responsibilities his manager Paul Reid has taken over the self-reliance management for the time being. It is always a good thing to be flexible.
Last Friday all the missionaries from both missions were invited to a special meeting where Elder Clayton the President of the Seventies and President Ardern of the Area Presidency and their wives addressed us along with President and Sister Checketts and President and Sister Leota. What an amazing meeting! and what a delight to be taught by these great brothers and sisters. I was grateful for their uplifting counsel. All of the missionaries were invited to come up in an orderly manner to shake their hands. That was no small feat when you realize there were over 300 young missionaries plus the senior missionaries. It took about 25 minutes and it was a good experience.
We were counseled "that our future rests on the decisions we make now", "that we need to fortify ourselves against the 'fiery darts' that will come our way", "that we are not exempt from the hard experiences in this life, that the purpose of this life is to experience things and grow", "to fill our bottle of life with jewels that matter, not with junk" "we become the sum of our decisions" "that 'hearken' as quoted in the scriptures, does not mean to only hear, it means to 'hear and do' " At the end of the meeting Elder Clayton asked each of us to make a list of things we can change in our lives to become better as a result of hearing the things we heard during the meeting, and then to act!.
There have been lots of meetings, tests for missionaries, English classes and the new EnglishConnect curriculum to review, just lots of stuff. We also had the opportunity to be with the Botts to present a day long seminar to some departing missionaries using the Education for Better Work materials to help them consider things for their life after mission. It was a great experience to work with these 3 young people, to feel their spirits and to give them advice. President Leota has asked that we do the same thing for 9 more missionaries on April 2.
Last Sunday we attended a Special Sacrament Meeting for Hebersham Stake at which the whole Stake [think diocese] was realigned geographically to better serve the members of the church who live in that area. It was a massive undertaking and handled very well. And then we learned that there had also been realignment in the Harbour Stake on that same day. It is such a comforting feeling to know that Heavenly Father is in charge and that the leaders are directed through inspiration to care for the members.
General Conference is coming up March 31 & April 1. This is the world wide conference the church holds every 6 months when we get to hear the counsel of our prophet and the apostles and other leaders of the church. It is held in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City but is also broadcast on television and over the internet. This will be a special conference this time because it will be the first time that President Nelson will be sustained as the Prophet in conference. You can find out more about conference and all the other doings of the church at lds.org if you are interested.
That of course left a void as far as someone to direct the affairs of the South Mission until July 1 when the missions will be combined. Elder Leota, our Self Reliance manager has been asked to step up and be the interim mission president. So, now President and Sister Leota are busy caring for the many missionaries and their concerns in the South Mission. Since his time is filled with mission responsibilities his manager Paul Reid has taken over the self-reliance management for the time being. It is always a good thing to be flexible.
Last Friday all the missionaries from both missions were invited to a special meeting where Elder Clayton the President of the Seventies and President Ardern of the Area Presidency and their wives addressed us along with President and Sister Checketts and President and Sister Leota. What an amazing meeting! and what a delight to be taught by these great brothers and sisters. I was grateful for their uplifting counsel. All of the missionaries were invited to come up in an orderly manner to shake their hands. That was no small feat when you realize there were over 300 young missionaries plus the senior missionaries. It took about 25 minutes and it was a good experience.
We were counseled "that our future rests on the decisions we make now", "that we need to fortify ourselves against the 'fiery darts' that will come our way", "that we are not exempt from the hard experiences in this life, that the purpose of this life is to experience things and grow", "to fill our bottle of life with jewels that matter, not with junk" "we become the sum of our decisions" "that 'hearken' as quoted in the scriptures, does not mean to only hear, it means to 'hear and do' " At the end of the meeting Elder Clayton asked each of us to make a list of things we can change in our lives to become better as a result of hearing the things we heard during the meeting, and then to act!.
There have been lots of meetings, tests for missionaries, English classes and the new EnglishConnect curriculum to review, just lots of stuff. We also had the opportunity to be with the Botts to present a day long seminar to some departing missionaries using the Education for Better Work materials to help them consider things for their life after mission. It was a great experience to work with these 3 young people, to feel their spirits and to give them advice. President Leota has asked that we do the same thing for 9 more missionaries on April 2.
Last Sunday we attended a Special Sacrament Meeting for Hebersham Stake at which the whole Stake [think diocese] was realigned geographically to better serve the members of the church who live in that area. It was a massive undertaking and handled very well. And then we learned that there had also been realignment in the Harbour Stake on that same day. It is such a comforting feeling to know that Heavenly Father is in charge and that the leaders are directed through inspiration to care for the members.
General Conference is coming up March 31 & April 1. This is the world wide conference the church holds every 6 months when we get to hear the counsel of our prophet and the apostles and other leaders of the church. It is held in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City but is also broadcast on television and over the internet. This will be a special conference this time because it will be the first time that President Nelson will be sustained as the Prophet in conference. You can find out more about conference and all the other doings of the church at lds.org if you are interested.
As I review my 'to do' lists for the past few weeks I can see that we have been busy but it all seems so long ago. We have had our teeth cleaned! It has been over a year and we were due. I have seen the physio weekly for a while now and she is taking care of my pinched nerve which is fantastic! But rather than give you a complete run down again I will only say that our missionary responsibilities keep us busy. We also love it when we can connect with our family via phone or Skype or Facetime. Modern technology is a marvel. There are some arrangements which we have been making for our own 'after mission' life when we plan to do a family history research trip to Wales, etc.
Pretty much there is never a dull moment. This time there are only 3 photos. We just have not been going to many new places to take many pictures. So....
Pretty much there is never a dull moment. This time there are only 3 photos. We just have not been going to many new places to take many pictures. So....
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| The sunsets never fail to amaze! Each day is different and it's own kind of beautiful. They make me smile and sometimes I actually get out my camera in time to capture them. |
I had that yuck respiratory flu for six solid weeks. Didn't even go get the mail downstairs from the tiny pigeon hole mail box until I was certain all the neighbors were in for the night. Even though the contagion period is long over, still have to get rid of stuff from nasal passages. Warning: Just because the person "feels better" and goes to church, still are highly contagious. People won't thank that person for such an unwelcome "gift" that knocks them out for several weeks. Better to stay home and get completely well. Not only that, even when you're thinking you're over it, you're still immune suppressed, therefore, subject to a worse case of the same virus. Many, all over the world, have already died from this awful "bug". God bless.
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